YEOMANRY CAVALRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7203, 11 February 1892, Page 4

YEOMANRY CAVALRY.

+ I FABEWELL DINNER TO THE \ GOVERNOR. ' Last night the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry entertained their Honorary Colonel, his Excellency the Governor, at a farewell dinner at the Commercial Hotel. There was a large muster of memberß of the corps. Captain Wright occupied the chair, having on hia right his Excellency the Governor, Colonel Lean, Mr S. Garfcrth (President of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association), Honorary Surgeon Irving of the Mounted Rifles, and Lieutenants Archer and Chapman. On his left were Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, Major Slater, Mr P. Strouta (formerly Captain of the C.V.C.). Honorary Surgeon Jennings, Captain Guthiie, A.D.C., and Mr H. O'Rorke. The vice-chairs were occupied by Sergeant - Major Lindsay and Sergeant Dampier-Croasley. After dinner Captain Wright announced that he had received apologies for the absence of Lieutenant-Colonels Hume and Newall, Captain - Commandant Laing Meeson, Captains Coleman and Recce, Mr Inspector Pender and Mr A. E. G. Rhodea. His Excellency the Governor, as Honorary Colonel of the Corps, proposed the health of her Majesty the Queen, remarking that he was aure all present would feel Bympathy for her Majesty in the grievous affliction which had recently fallen upon her Majesty in the death of her grandson. The toast was drunk with the customary honours. His Excellency then proposed the health of the Prince of Wales and the Royal Family, which was loyally honoured. Mr Strouta proposed the Army, Navy and Volunteers, coupled with the name 3 of Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon and Colonel Lean. Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon responded on i behalf of the Army and Navy, and Colonel Lean on behalf of the Volunteers. <; Captain Wright then proposed the toast | of the evening, the health of his Excel- ' lency Lord Oublow, Honorary-Colonel of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. He said that it was with very mixed feelings that he did bo. While they felt honoured by the presence of hi 3 Excellency, it waa with great regret that they met to say good-bye to their Colonel. His Excellency had not been contented with merely holding the rank of Honorary Colonel of the corpa, but had shown as much interest in it as if he had held an active instead of an honorary ' appointment. At the last annual training, no matter how eariy the parade, he bad been on the ground to ace the men march off. He had attended the annual volley firing, and had taken the keenest interest ; in all questions as to disputed Bhota. At their annual sports, their Colonel had . done whatever he could by acting as judge, : and in other ways. This waa the first i instance of a Governor of New Zealand j accepting the post of Honorary Colonel : of a corps in the colony, and the i Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry should feel ! very proud that such an honour had been j conferred upon them, while the whole of Canterbury should feel proud that such an honour had been conferred upon a corps in | their Province. He (Captain Wright) wbb certain that when hia Excellency returned to England he would look back to the time he had spent in New Zealand with a certain amount of pleasure, and that he would think with pleasure of his old corps. As his Excellency was leaving the Colony, he was bound to send in the resignation of his commission ; but it was the unanimous wish of the corps that he should remain as their Honorary Colonel. (Loud applause). And he (Captain Wright) had it on very good authority that the resignation would not be accepted— (loud applause) — and though hia Excellency returned to England he would still be their chief. His Excellency would carry Home with him the beat wishes, not only of the corps, but of tbe whole of New Zealand. (Loud and prolonged applause). The toast was drunk with musical honours and hearty cheers for the Governor and Lady Onslow. His Excellency the Governor who was received with hearty and long continued applause, said that it afforded him the greatest gratification to he present. He had been very much surprised at the difference he had found in the Colony from what he had been led to expect. He had been told, when he went down the west coast of this island, that he must not be surprised if he found big riverß in high flood preventing him from getting to hia destination, but that on the east coast of this island there was a fine railway, with magnificent bridges, and that nothing could prevent his keeping any engagements he might ma&e. He had found that the conditions were precisely reversed, and it had been only with considerable difficulty and a great amount of good luck that he had been able to be present in response to their kind invitation. He felt that he was quite unworthy of the honourable position which they had been pleased to desire the Government to confer upon him. (No, no.) At the same timo he recognised that in asking that, they had ' looked not so much upon the humble j individual as on the position which he had the honour to fill as the representative of J their Gracious Sovereign. On that account ' alone he had taken upon himself to accept , the position which the Government de- ' sired to confer upon him ; but he had felt that, though he was only an honorary officer of the corps, its interests and efficiency were in most capable hands. When he knew that so experienced an officer as Captain Wright would be always at hand to give him counsel, he felt that he could not go very far wrong. He was not going to make a long speech, nor to enter into the rival merits of the rifle and the sword, or the scarlet cloth and the kharkee. Were he to do so, he would be treading upon delicate ground, and might say something which, considering the neutral position which was expected of the Governor, he might afterwards regret ; but he would like to tell them how people in England looked upon their yeomanry regiments. The word yeomanry represented to the English mind one of the finest bodies of men in the land. The ancient yeomanry of England were not the great feudal lord 3 nor their vassals ; they were a wholly independent and well-organised body of landed proprietors. They were always esteemed. They were esteemed in days gone by, when it was not the fashion to Bay hard words about landed proprietors — (loud and longcontinued applause) — and, although, he regretted to say, they were now a fastdiminiahing quantity, tbey were never- I theless respected by all Englishmen, possibly because they combined in their own persons the stalwart Englishmen and the small proprietors. In England people were very proud of thoir Colonies, very proud that the old institutions of England were reproduced and maintained in their Colonies ; and he was quite sure j that there was no class of men whom i Englishmen of all ranks were more glad to see preserved in these young lands than the intelligent yeomanry of England. Not only did they furnish gallant defenders of their country or their Colony, but they did a great deal more from a social point of view. In the first place they took a very great interest in the breeding and training of horses. There was not an Englishman worthy of the name who did not love a horse — (loud applause) — and if there were no other reason for the existence of the yeomanry, it would be amply justified by the fact that they loved and delighted in their horses. In this respect the Canter- ' bury Yeomanry Calvalry held a high place. He hoped that the Canterbury Yeomanry ( Calvalry might long continue to flourish. ; He was satisfied that they formed a very '- valuable part of colonial defence, and now 1 that two of her Majesty's vessels were always cruising upon the coasts he hoped i that they would make some arrangement c to get a practical demonstration oil the value of New Zealand cavalry. He would I like for it to be arranged during some of the Easter encampments, for the men of her Majesty's thips to attempt a landing upon some part of the coasts of New Zealand and for the volunteers to do all that a. lay in their power to prevent that landing. That wonld be a practical exemplification al

)f the utility of cavalry. They would have, as in war, a long stretch of coast line to protect, and the responsibility of protecting the country would fall on the well-horßed cavalry of New Zealand. [Applause). He would venture to recommend the idea to their attention, as he had to that of his advisers. Cap am "Wright had been pleased to refer in very graceful terms to the resignation which it would Bhortly be his (his Excellency's) duty to send in to his succeasor; he could only say if it did not please the next Governor to appoint a successor to him as Honorary Colonel, it would be a great pleasure and privilege to him to continue in that honourable position. (Loud applause.) If it should ever fall to his lot to serve her Majesty the Queen in any other regiment, in any other Volunteer Corps, or to wear her uniform in any service at Home, he would never forget that he first wore the scarlet uniform of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen a3 the Honorary Colonel of the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. (Loud applause). He had only one thing more to say, and that was to make a request. It was perhups an unuEual and unorthodox one, but he hoped that the occasion would excuse his making it. Though he had the honour to be colonel of the regiment, there were in the ranks many who were hie personal friends, and he would ask that after the proceedings of the evening were over they would go into an adjoining room, where he could bid good-bye to them. (Loud and long-continued applause). Tbe toasts of "The Visitors," proposed by Lieutenant Archer, and "The Noncommissioned Officers," proposed by Major Slater, and responded to by SergeantDdajor Lindsay, were drunk. During the evening Mr Fleming's etring . band played appropriate music. ' After the close of the formal proceedings his Excellency bade farewell to the members of the corps, and drove away from the hotel amid their hearty cheers.