THE VOLUNTEER REVTEW.

Southland Times, Issue 987, 17 July 1868, Page 3

THE VOLUNTEER REVTEW.

(From the " Pall Mall Gazette," April 14.)

As our morning contemporaries each devote some four or five columns to an account of the volunteer review at Portsmouth, we may, perhaps, venture to assume that the public has had about enough about the subject for one day. The newspaper descriptions of * these affairs have now been reduced to what lawyers call a " common form." On the occasion of the first visit of the volunteers to Brighton the " Times " gave an honest straightforward narrative of the proceedings; but for some reason or other it repentsd of its candour, and has since set the example of flattering instead of critising the volunteers. Everything and everybody are praised all round, and whatever happens in reality, there is never any hitch or shortcoming in the ideal picture of the imaginative reporters. One of the stereotyped absurdities of these articles is the boast which is annually made of the number of men carried by rail from one point to another. A moment's reflection, of course, would show that there is really nothing remarkable in the tsansaction. The number of visitors carried to Epsom and back on a Derby day is much larger than the number of volunteers who travel by rail on an Easter Monday, and it is necesarily more difficult in such a case to deal with a confused and struggling crowd than with men who are under the restraint of discipline, and whose movements are directed by recognised leaders. It is needless to point out that this sort of treatment on the part of the Press is as uncomplimentary as it is injurious to the volunteers, the more manly and sensible among whom would prefer to be less flattered and more respected. Of the doings at Portsmouth yesterday there is no need to say much. Although the programme as finally adjusted was carried out, the previous blundering unmistakably left its mark on the # proceedings. The first error of the volunteer officers on the committee was in choosing a " march past " in preference to a sham fight when it was declared that the two could not be combined ; and the next in retaining that foolish formality in addition to the sham fight when- it was discovered the volunteers insisted upon the latter. The experience of yesterday proved conclusively that active evolutions are far more attractive both to the troops and the spectators. All the best corps used their utmost influence to escape the march past, and to enlist under the " enemy's " flag ; and, compared with Portsdown HiU, where the fight look place, Southsea Common, the scene of the march, past, waa almost deserted. The volunteer regiments concerned in the latter ceremony certainly failed to gain much credit thereby, for their marching was for the most part loose and slovenly, in marked contrast to the firm and solid lines of the regulars on the ground. Nearly an hour and a-half was wasted at the saluting post, and the result was that a portion of the defending force was rather behind time in joining the sham fight. The chief feature of the contest — the attempt of the enemy to hold the villages of Cosham and Wymering — was exceedingly picturesque, and gave the volunteers a very good conception of fighting among streets and houses, though the delighted interest of the spectators seated comfortably at the windows had rather a ludicrous effect. "Another striking incident was the construction of a pontoon-bridge across Wymering Creek by the Eoyal Engineers ; in ten minutes it was ready for the infantry, and other five minutes were enough to prepare it for the passage of artillery. It was a mistake, however, for the enemy to stand quiety gazing at the operation without firing a shot to interrupt it. Tha number of volunteers who took part in the sham fight is estimated at nearly 28,000, of whom 18,000 joined in the march past. About 6,000 regulars also took part in the engagement.