The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-21 00:00:00

THE VOLUNTEERS.

On Saturday the Lady Mayoress presented a
magnificent set of regimental colours and a pair of
silver bugles of great beauty and value to the Lon-
don Rifle Brigade at the Crystal Palace, in the pre-
sence of upwards of 10,000 people, the corps in-
cluded. The colours, 16 in number, included among
others, a royal standard and a saluting flag, bearing
the initials of the brigade and the well-known civic
arms and motto, in gold. They are the gift of the
Corporation of London, the Court of Common Coun-
cil having some months ago, on the motion of Mr.
Anderton, a member of their body, unanimously
voted a sum of £lOO for the purpose, to mark their
sense of the patriotism which, at the very beginning
of the volunteer movement, led some 1,500 of the
citizens spontaneously to band themselves together
with the view to the national defence, placing
themselves eventually under the command of his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.
The ceremony took place in the centre transept,
the extraordinary beauty of the day lending it ad-
, ditional attraction. The corps, which was under
; the command of Major Itoso for the day, attended
1 by their band, forming three sides of a square, was
. drawn up in front of the Handel Orchestra, which
I was expressly and tastefully decorated for the occa-
-1 sion. The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress,
who had been received at the principal entrance
to the building by a guard of honour composed of
members of the brigade, occupied seats on a dais
in front of the orchestra. They were accompanied
by Lord Clyde and Lord Frederick Paulett ; by
Sheriffs Cockerell and Twentyman ; Alderman
Sir Henry Muggeridge, Alderman Sir R. W. Car-
den, Alderman Finnis, Alderman Mechi, Alderman
Gabriel, Alderman and Captain Allen, Alderman
Dakin ; Mr. Anderton, the mover of the resolution
in the Court of Common Council ; Deputy Lloyd,
and Deputies Ferrer and Gammon, the Under-
Sheriffs. Lieutenant-Colonel Grey was also present.
The front seats of the orchestra were reserved for
the members of the Corporation and their friends,
who mustered in great numbers. The rest of the
amphitheatre was crowded. Mr. Webster, as Chair-
man of the Committee for General Purposes, in the
name of the Corporation, delivered the camp colours
to Lady 011iffe, explaining to her the feeling which
I had prompted the gift by the CommonXouncil, and
j that the patterns and design of them had met with
the approval of his Royal Highness the Commander-
in• Chief. He added an expression of his belief that,
beside their intrinsic value, they would be the more
appreciated for being presented by a lady who, dur-
ing her father's mayoralty, had won for herself the
respect of the citizens at large. Then, the Lady
Mayoress, addressing the officers and men of the
brigade said,—On behalf of the Corporation of the
city of London, in token of the sympathy of their
fellow-citizens, she had the honour of offering them
l those colours. They would, she hoped, remind them
1 that by their earnest endeavours to attain military
1 proficiency, they had won the respect and admira-
-1 tion of those whom they had nobly undertaken to
defend. At the close of Lady 011iffes address the
cempany raised a responsive cheer. She then pre-
sented the Royal standard to Captain Sewell, and
the saluting flag to Lieutenant Frodsham, who were
summoned forward far the purpose, and also bore
them to the ranks amid the cheers of the spectators.
The rest of the flags were then handed by Lady
011iffe to Sergeants Drane, Davids, Heath, Good-
win, Cross, Coombe, Britt, Wingate, and Bell, Cor-
porals Elms, Cuthbert, and Bing, and Privates
Painter and Wadd. This ceremony over, Major Rose
addressing the Lady Mayoress, said, in the absence
of his two commanding officers, he had the honour
of accepting from her ladyship's hands those
colours as tokens of the approbation of the Cor-
poration of London for having formed themselves
into a Volunteer regiment. ,They had received from
the Corporation many marks of their sympathy,
and they should very highly prize that fresh mark
of their approval and that expression of their opi-
nion that they had done their duty in coming for-
ward for the defence of their country. As citizen
soldiers, their object had been d Defence, and not
defiance." They valued most highly the privileges
they possessed, and were prepared to saerifice not
only their time, but, if need were, their lives for the
safety of their beloved fatherland. It had been said
weA
e were " a nation of shopkeepers." He *believed
would be found that we were not only a free
people, but that
should any occasion arise, eer,efrwomortthheypetoopblee
themselves
; me
sealvneds,
there would emanate an army, such as that part
which they then saw before them, which would
place this country in a tte of perfect security.
That was their intention in
endeavouring
military proficiency, and the
proceedings
to acquire
p
would afford additional encouragement to
that day
to continue
their exertions. In the city of
London, as well as
in every part of the country, the Volunteer move-
ment was, he believed, properly appreciated as be-
ing one solely of a defensive and not of an offensive
character. The delivery of this address was cheered
again and again.
The silver bugles were then handed by Deputy
Lloyd to the Lady Mayoress for presentation. They
bore each the following insOription::—". Presented
by Lady 011ifft.,
the Lady
,Mayoress, on behalf of
of the la,lies of the City of London, who offer to
the officers and members of the London Rifle Yolun-
teer Brigade this testimony of their sympathy with