The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-03 00:00:00

VOLUNTEER BL'EVIETV AT ANOWSLEY.

Saturday was quiff e a festal day in Lancashire.
Throughout its wide extent there were unusual stir
and bustle, and the p deasant sense of holiday enjoy-
ment. Tuch exciteis cent as London knows on the
morning of a Derby- -day reigned in Liverpool, and
Manchester, and Pr e ston, and all the country round.
The occasion was ,o ne of those military displays
which, ever since her
.s, Majesty reviewed the Volun-
teers in the metropo h have, on a scale more or less
extensive, become EX) frequent throughout the land,
contributing in their progress to lend to a great
movement an eclat ,which during the days of its in-
fancy—the days of 'drill and patient and unostenta-
tious labour—it narturally lacked. Originating in
the independent impulses of a free people, the Vo-
lunteer force posses vied within itself the germs of a
robust vitality. It required not to be nursed and
dandled into healthy and energetic life. It en-
countered difficulties at the outset of its still brief
existence, but to ov excome them ; and it now finds
itself, after some 113 or 18 months of earnest work,
the subject of Royal approbation, the theme of lordly
compliment, and th e object of national hope. It is a
proud position to l Lave won in so short a time. It
is a position which. by the simple aid of unbought
effort it would seer a difficult to maintain. Yet each
successive display of the efficiency of the Volunteer
force but serves to furnish fresh materials for praise,
and fresh grounds 3 for exultation that it continues
to do its work so Ibravely and so well. Day by day
in our columns riC to is made of the principal fea-
tures in its prop( .Is. Nor is it an easy task to keep
pace with the. rap idity'of its march. To-day it is
the record of a re, view in the capital, graced by the
presence of the S overeign ; to-morrow, of half-a-
dozen others, hell 1 in various parts of the provinces,
we will not say 111 ader the patronage, but with the
free and hearty 12 a-operation, of the influential and
the noble. Sh i tra fights, inspections, and rifle
meetings follow lone another in quick and varied
succession. The movement, in short, is in its " hot
youth," and is ru yelling in all the exuberance of its
newly awaken 6 I energies, and all the fulness
of its unquestiox ed popularity. There is about
it, however, an 4 !arnest spirit which forbids one to
entertain the apprehension that, this period of its
career being ove:t , it will dwindle into comparative
inactivity, or astriume a less imposing aspect. Nor
can events like th It which took place in Knowsley-
park on Saturdaj fail to do much to keep such a
kpirit alive.
To all the Volutnteers of Lancashire—and they are
some 14,000 stro•o g—the Earl of Derby, more than
six weeks since, c ;aused intimation to be given that
the grounds of Knowsley should on that day be
placed at their ii isposal for the purposes of a re-
view. Before a t ortnight had elapsed some 10,000
Volunteers had 3 ignified their acceptance of the
noble Earl's invi4i; ation. Active preparations were
at once set on fo o t to render the occasion worthy
both of those vvl 113 were to take the chief part in its
proceedings, an, 3. of him who was its prime and libe-
ral promoter. The Volunteers of Lancashire, on
their part, drilled with assiduous energy. Each
corps hoped by• means of increased exertion to win
for itself at lea at some small portion of the honours
,of the day, or, at all events, to do its work in such a
nure ner as to r vflect no discredit on the county to
which it belcaged. A "Knowsley Review Com-
mittee" was formed to settle the requisite military
details. Its sucretary, Captain Melly, laboured
with the most ir tdefatigable zeal to secure that ob-
ject. His exertions were ably seconded by Major
Harman, Assistant Inspector of Volunteers. The
result was the rapid and satisfactory completion of
the necessary arrangements. No longer than a
week or ten days back, however, one important
thing yet remained to be done. The ground for the
review had not yet been selected—the eye of more
than one person conversant with military matters
had, indeed, been .fixed by anticipation on a parti-
cular spot in Kno wsley-park as that which was the
most eligible for the purpose; but it was not until
the close of the week preceding the review that this
ground was, with the entire approval of General
Sir G. Wetherail, Commander-in-Chief, and Colo-
nel Wilbraham, Adjutant-General, of the district,
Major Harman, Captain Melly, and Captain H.
Hornby, of the Liverpool Artillery, definitcl3
chosen.

Knowsley-hall stands on an elevated space in
"one of the finest of the old domains of England. It
is a vast pile of building, constructed for the most
part of red stone, and is at once massive and irregu-
lar. Its most ancient portions are said to have
been erected so far back as the days of Henry VII.
Additions have at various times since been made to
it—in themselves of the dimensions of noble man-
sions. It is imposing because of its great extent,
rather than by reason of symmetry of architectural
design. The surrounding grounds are beautiful
and extensive. Lawn and woodland alternate in
picturesque variety. Frequent clumps of majestic
trees crown the summit of verdant slopes. Broad
avenues open up charming views. Of these views
none is fairer than that which presents itself from
the front of the Hall, which stands facing the west,
a solid, oblong, and stately mass. A wide expanse
ofpark-land, comparatively free from trees, stretches
from Knowsley in this direction. The prospect
which it reveals is that of beautiful grounds, gently
gliding to a lower level, becoming in the distance
more thickly wooded, then rising again to a higher
degree of elevation, and forming small eminences
topped at intervals by the spire of a church, or
some public building conspicuous by its size and
position. Of course, when such objects become
visible the eye must have wandered beyond the
limits of Knowsley ; but then it cannot fix the line
by which those limits are bounded, so like one great
park is the whole scene on which it gazes, and
which extends to Ormskirk and Formby, and so on
towards St. George's Channel. It is on this western
side of the Hall, and at a distance from it of some-
what less than a quarter of a mile, that the spot is
situate of which choice was made for the review.
At that distance a flat space of ground, about 120
yards wide runs from east to west for about a mile.
On its north side it is bounded by a ridge of more
elevated land, into which it gradually slopes, and
whose summit is crowned by a plateau of pretty con-
siderable extent. Its south side is defined by a similar
but a still more gradual elevation. Along the
centre of this level strip of ground, up the east and
west slopes of its northern boundary, and so on
along its north side, so as to embrace the plateau
which has just been mentioned, a neatly-constructed
white wire fence was run. The ground thus
hemmed in formed a sort of irregular oval, elevated
at its northern, depressed to a level space about 60
feet wide at its southern side, and blending so gra-
dually together elevation and depression at its wes-
tern extremity as to enable the troops engaged in
the review to make without inconvenience that end
their wheeling point as they marched past the re-
viewing officer. At the centre of the ground on the
south side were erected two stands, the one being
set apart for the Earl and Countess of Derby and
their guests; the other devoted to the use of Capt.
Ilornby, upon whom, under the general direc-
tion of the noble owner of Knowsley himself, the
burden of necessary preparations for the review in
all military respects principally rested. Behind
those stands the remaining space of level ground,
(30 feet wide, which was wired off for pedestrians, the
elevated ground immediately outside being set
apart for carriages and vehicles of every descrip-
tion. The space round the inner fence was, as far as
the nature of the ground and the necessity of afford-
ing due facility of entrance to the Oval to Volun•
teers would permit, similarly apportioned, except
that a single line of seats, running from Lord Derby's
stand, close by the fence, for npwards of one-third
of its extent, was appropriated exclusively to ladies.
Thus much was well and expeditiously done. It
was, however, the least part of the work which
Capt. Hornby had undertaken to accomplish. Lord
Derby had invited 14,000 Volunteers to assemble in
his magnificent park, but he had done more. He
had, in the spirit of a princely hospitality, deter-
mined to provide refreshments for them. Now, to
furnish so large a number with even a single meal
s, as Sir R. Airy and, indeed, every military man of
experience well knows, no mean achievement. It is a
great work, and not to bell gh tly undertaken. It was,
however, undertaken by Lord Derby, and with the
able and energetic assistance of Captain Hornby
triumphantly executed. At the rear of the plateau

on which it was arranged the Volunteers on their
arrival on the ground should form line, 10 large tents
were erected. Each of those tents was divided into
two compartments, and in each of those compart-
ments were provided refreshments for the number
of men in a battalion, of which 20 went to com-
pose the five brigades which were expected to take
part in the review. The number of each brigade
as well as of the several battalions was attached to
the tents and divisions of tents thus allotted to the
purposes of the commissariat, so that with the most
ordinary care all confusion in serving out the re-
freshments could be avoided. In those tents 11,340
meat pies were by 11 o'clock on Saturday morning
safely lodged. To wash them down 59 hogsheads
of beer, brewed at the hall—but wisely kept below
the strength of the famous " Knowsley ale," so well
known in Lancashire for its fine flavour and highly
levelling qualities—were placed under canvass.
Nor were the wants of the general public—for Lord
Derby had bidden all comers to be present at that
which he had done all in his power to make a bril-
liant spectacle—forgotten. Tents for their accom-
modation were erected at convenient points
throughout the park, and refreshments supplied to
them by Mr. Morrish, of Liverpool, at a reasonable
and regulated rate of charge. Waterbutts for their
use were also placed at intervals along the ground.
To bring about these results, and to go through
much more, to which it is needless further to advert,
was what Captain Hornby had in a brief space of
time to effect, and no work could be done in a man-
ner more courteous or with a success more com-
plete. Devout were the expectations as the day
fixed for the review approached in the busy cen-
tres of industry in Lancashire that unpropitious
weather might not come to mar the enjoyment
of that which it had been arranged should be a
general holiday. Saturday morning at length
dawned to dispel for the moment all doubts and
fears upon the subject. The sun rose bright and
cloudless. Alas! his brilliant promise was but of
brief duration. By 10 o'clock his beams were en-
tirely shorn of their splendour. The sky became
overcast. Rain fell in a smart shower. Again for a
few minutes came sunshine and hope ; then, again,
a slight sprinkling of rain, partially to obscure the
one and damp the other. Nothing daunted, Liver-
pool and Manchester, and the other towns of Lan-
cashire, began to pour forth their thousands. Con-
veyances of all sorts—save carts, to which alone
admission was denied within the precincts of
Knowsley—were put into active requisition. There
were abroad the signs of unusual stir, and bustle,
and life. The small and usually quiet stations in
the vicinity of Knowsley were deluged by a constant
influx of people. With admirable forethought, a
plan of the park, drawn up by authority, embody-
ing the chief features in the review ground, and
pointing out the positions to be taken up by the
Volunteers as well as by the public at large, was
published by Messrs. Benson and Mallett, and ex-
posed for sale in all directions. To avoid confusion,
too, written instructions were printed on the back
of this plan, setting forth the particular entrances
to the park by which, as it might be, carriages or
Volunteers only, or pedestrians generally, were to
obtain admission. It was still very early in the
day when crowds of visitors from Liverpool, and
Manchester, and Bolton, and hundreds of places
beside, found themselves passing into the park by
the Liverpool, Huyton, Ormskirk, and Croxteth
gateways, from the summit of each of which floated
a large flag bearing the inscription " Welcome,
Volunteers," and having streaming by its side an-
other emblazoned with the arms of the house of
Stanley, with the appropriate Conservativ.e motto
" sans changer." By 12 o'clock some 6,000 or 7,000
persons were, after a walk of two or three miles
across a fine, breezy country, assembled on the re-
view ground, which, with its white lines of posts
and fences, looked picturesque in the extreme. The
weather by this time had assumed a more favoura-
ble aspect. Clouds still occupied the sky, but then
there were frequent gleams of sunshine, all the
more welcome because of the contrast after the pre-
vious sombre aspect of the heavens. After half-
past 12 no rain fell, while the few showers of the
morning but served to lend the turf a livelier hue
and to tint the foliage with a brighter green.
About half-past two the first regiments of Volun •
teers came upon the scene and took up their posi-
tion on the plateau on the north side of the ground.
From that time forward the various corps, some of
which were loudly cheered in their progress
through the crowd, arrived in rapid succession,
with their respective bands playing before them.
Meanwhile, the space allotted to pedestrians on the
south side of the enclosure had become filled with
one dense mass of human beings, yet the various
avenues of approach still continued to contribute
their thousands to the already vast assemblage.
Splendid equipages, freighted with the rank,
beauty, and fashion of Lancashire, lined as with a
fringe of many colours the crest of the rising
ground set apart for their accommodation. It was
neat five o'clock. The troops, amounting to about
11,000 strong, were all assembled, and had taken
up their position in a line, the front of which ex-
tended along the verge of the high ground on which
they formed. The day had become fine as the most
ardent wisher of success to the review as a spec-
tacle could desire. There was about the landscape
itself a glow and a warmth of colouring which
were quite refreshing. All now was expectation for
the commencement of the proceedings which had
drawn such numbers—numbers variously computed
at from 150,000 to 200,000 people—together. On a
sudden the union jack was hoisted on the flagstaff at
Knowsley. It was the signal that Sir G. Wetherell
and his staff were quitting the hall, of the splendid
hospitality of the noble owner of which they had,
in common with an immense number of other
guests, been partaking. A salute from the guns of
the Liverpool Artillery, who were stationed on the
extreme left of the line of Volunteers, heralded the
nearer approach of the brilliant cavalcade. On it
came, at a quick pace, headed by Sir G. Wetherell,
with whom, mounted on a powerful horse, rode
the Earl of Derby himself. The Earl of Sefton,
Lord Lieutenant of the county, Colonel Ve
braham, Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot, Lieute-
nant-Colonel P. W. M. Talbot, and the other
members of the Staff, immediately followed. The
rear was brought up by two open carriages with
outriders, in the first of which were seated the
Countess of Derby and Lady Emma Stanley.
Rapidly the cortege entered the ground at the south-
eastern side and proceeded around the inclosure, the
Earl of Derby being greeted with repeated • cheers
and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs by the
assembled spectators as he passed upon his way, and
SirG.Wetherall being received with a general salute
as he rode by the troops in line. This ceremony being
over, the Countess of Derby and Lady Emma Stan-
ley drove up to their stand on the south side of the
enclosure, where they took their seats in front of a
brilliant circle. Between this stand and Captain
Hornby was the Staff flag, where Sir G. Wetherell
took up his post. The Earl of Derby still continued,
as he did throughout the day, to ride about the
ground on horseback. The Volunteers up to this
moment maintained their original position, which
they had taken up in the following order :—On the
extreme right were placed the Lancashire Hussars
and the Lancashire Mounted Rifle Volunteers, com-
manded by Sir R. T. Gerard, the men of the latter
corps brilliant in scarlet uniforms, but numbering
only 13 or 14 strong ; next the Cavalry, and on their
left were posted the Liverpool Artillery, consisting
of four battalions 2,068 strong. They took up their
ground in lines of contiguous columnA of battalions
at intervals of 6 paces. Then came the Ist, 2d, 3d,
and 4th Lancashire Rifle Brigades, each being
drawn up in the same order as the Artillery, and
the last mentioned brigade ocettpying the extreme
left of the line.
The position of the several brigades, commencing
with the Artillery, was indicated by means of blue,
white, yellow, red and white, and green flags.
Sir G. Wetherell having rode by the troops iu
this order, end having returned to the Staff flag,
as before mentioned, the cavalry at the extreme
west end of the ground and the extreme right
of the line formed column and the movement
of marching past the reviewing General com-
menced, the evolutions of forming mass of close
columns-of brigades, and opening out to wheeling
distance by battalions in succession from the
front, having in due count:, before they began to'