The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-08 00:00:00

THE QUEEN'S RECEPTION OF THE

VOLUNT.EE.R OFFICERS.

"This was indeed a proud day for England! It
presented the sublime spectacle of a patriotmonarch,
wha reigns no less distinguished in the hearts of
his people than on his throne, meeting the bra've
citizens of hig metropolis, armed in defence of his
crown and of the British constitution, and, with the
characteristic virtue of the sons of Albion, resolved
to continue free, or gloriously to fall with the liberty
and independence of their country. Such a spec-
tacle is worthy of such a people; such a people are
deserving the superior blessings they possess."
A chronicler of the memorable occurrences of the
year 1803 thus prefaces his narrative of one of the
most remarkable incidents of that epoch—an inci-
dent which has not since recurred, though its
analogy to the striking event and brilliant ceremony
which took place yesterday at St. James's, renders
the sentiments expressed in the observation just
quoted, almost equally applicable to the present
occasion.

On the 26th and 28th October, 1803, George 111.
inspected 27,077 volunteers in Hyde-park, the re-
presentatives of a total metropolitan force of 46,000
men, at a time when the numbers throughout Eng-
land amounted to 379,900; the population of the
country being then only half what it is at present.
It was computed that on each day more than
200,000 human beings were congregated to witness
the extraordinary spectacle ; that all within a circle
of twenty miles who could leave their homes at-
tended ; and it is recorded that at a period when tra-
vellers had few facilities and the season many dis-
comforts, a vast number accomplished journeys of
many hundred miles, in order that they might be-
hold this remarkable display of the zeal and
patriotism of their countrymen. "It was alto-
gether," adds the writer just quoted, " a day on
which we have to congratulate London and the
empire at large. It was a day which afforded the
most glorious sight we ever witnessed, without a
single circumstance to excite the smallest regret."
Two generations since then have passed away.
The Sovereign before whom those gallant troops de-
filed ; the Dukes of Combridge, of York, of Cumber-
land, of Clarence, and of Kent, by whom he was
surrounded ; the Queen, the Princesses Augusta,
Elizabeth, Sophia, and Mary, the Prince de Conde,
the Duke de Bourbon, the Duke de Berri, among
the more distinguished and the more conspicuous of
the spectators—have all long since descended to the
grave. The Earl of Harrington, who commanded
on the occasion, and the whole staff of general
officers who accompanied him, are gone ; and pro-
bably a room of very moderate dimensions would
now contain all the survivors of those who assisted
at that memorable pageant.

The position of the country has materially changed
too, since then. We cannot quite say, in the words
of a grace of the University of Cambridge, passed at
that period, on the subject of arming the under-
graduates, that " Bellum in dies singulos
ingravescat hotesque jam tandem sese in ipsam
Britanniam irrupturos esse minitentur"—never-
theless, it is not very long since a cabinet mini-
ster publicly declared, that " our pacific relations
with France were not a question of weeks, or
days, but of hours ;" however secure, there-
fore, we may now feel, the important faet cannot be
blinked that our increased security and confidence
are dus, in no slight degree, to the prompt and
vigorous measures that have of late been taken, not
so much by our naval and military authorities as by
the nation at large.

The array of officers who assembled yesterday,
from all parts of the kingdom, to pay their homage
to the Throne, represented not only some of the
noblest and most illustrious families in the land, but
they came forward as the delegates of an army that
can now actually muster many thousand fighting
men, comprising too, as it unquestionably does, in
its ranks the very elite of the population of these
Isles. It is not at all too much to assert, that no
country but our own could have sent forth so stately
on array as that which then marched silently in re-
view before the Queen. In their aspect and manly
bearing, in that cool, resolute, and undaunted look,
the unmistakeable characteristic of Englishmen,
they did honour to the soil that gave" them birth,
and our gracious Sovereign could not but have felt
a secret emotion of exultation as she gazed upon
that assemblage of gallant gentlemen, as they passed
through the Throne-room, and reflected, as no doubt
she did, that in the hour of England's need, she
could count upon the services of an almost innu-
merable host of such men, who come forward, not
from any motives of professional or personal ambi-
tion, proffering freely their time, and, if need were,
their lives, in the defence of that island home aver
which she rules.

Since Monday morning, the arrivals from all
parts of the kingdom have been incessant. The
Lord Chamberlain's office has been fairly besieged
by those who were anxious to avail themselves of
the opportunity afforded them, of approaching her
Majesty, their numbers demonstrating that the
precautionary measures recently published in the
Gazette, with a view to prevent confusion, had not
been unwisely promulgated.

Long before half-past 12 (the hour at which it had
been announced that the Palace doors would be
thrown open), St. James's-street and Pall-mall were
thronged by numerous groups, displaying a great
variety of uniforms. As the stated moment ap-
proached, a crowd gradually formed at the corridor
entrance, opposite Marlborough House, in front of
which a vast marquee had been erected. When the
door was opened, the long narrow passage leading
to a room appropriated as the first of a series of
waiting rooms was speedily filled. The precedence
of each regiment was settled by reference to the
Army List having in the first instance been deter-
mined by the date at whichits services had been
originally accepted.
The Artillery, of which there are already no less
than 43 distinct corps, are allowed precedence; they
were well represented yesterday, Next in order
follow the Middlesex, the Lanarkshire,
and the
Edinburgh Engineers, the Huntingdonshire and
Devonshire Mounted Rifles ; then come
the
theB3
Rifle corps, constituting an army of which
nation may justly be proud.
Devonshire, Middlesex, and Lancashire form the
van; and as the representatives of the hundred and
two corps which it seems those three counties can
muster "fell in—two deep,' considerable interest
was evinced at the appearance of the officers of the
Victoria Rifles. That regiment, from its long stand-
ing, its perfect state of discipline, and the reputa-
tion its members have long since achieved, by the
soldierlike precision of their movements and evolu-
tions in the field, is universally admitted to be, par
excellence, the " crack volunteer corps." It is not
generally known that this fine regiment has existed
continuously since the commencement of the cen-
tury, its original designation being—the " Duke of
Cumberland's sharpshooters." When all the other
volunteer corps were disbanded, this one alone was
allowed to remain, so that it forms, in fact, the only
connecting link between the by-gone and the pre-
sent body of Volunteers. The Duke of Wellington,
the lieut.-colonel of this regiment, headed his offi-
cers, whose martial bearing and eminently military
uniform elicited general approbation.
As this was the first public occasion on which
there has been a reunion of this kind, it afforded the
only opportunity we have yet had, of fairly con-
trasting the different colours as well as the cut and
facings of the uniforms selected for the adoption of
the numerous volunteer corps.
fitness
as regards ease and apps arance, no less than
for hard work, the uniform of the Victories
unquestionably stands first, and this seems so gene-
rally acknowledged that several other corps have
adopted it as their model, and copied it- closely. It
appears to be perfectily black, or of the darkest tint
of green, relieved
on the cross belt ando nb3frosted silver mountings
pouch, and looked yesterday
perhaps, all the more striking from the brilli
colouring observable around. Of greys and drabs
‘hadesi
there were all coneeivahlo
varied with green
black, scarlet, and crimson
so fue Cit;sand embroidery,bram lace and in
drainstances,obs are forr wonder-
ful design. The buffs and greys and
the most part mistakes, as many afh thse wearers
palpably
evi-
dently seemed to opine. Too much ha
sacrificed to the absurd notion of rendering bee
then,aris
nearly invisible as possible, a matter which every
_military man of experience knows to be of very little
real moment in actual warfare. The result in some
instances of this strange passion has been the pro-
duction of as unsightly and bizarre a set of costumes
.as the wildest imaginatiou of a maniacal man-mil-
liner could possibly have devised. Happily this
a blander that can easily be rectified when the
tre.,;forms have to be renewed, and there can be little
doe b ''t that the lesson acquired both at the levee and
the bull yesterday will not be lost in the future.
'But ti. '0 throng and the pressure have been in-
c.