Sin,—As soon as I have all the facts and figures
at my dis- posal, I propose, with your permission, to write a full report of our proceedings, results, and expenses for the information of your readers. Pending the publication of the proposed report, I have now only to say that the Company was dis- banded on the 11th inst., and that the few of us who are still engaged in winding up its affairs are very desolate without the cheery, willing lads of whom we had one and all grown so fond. Without the cordial co-operation of the recruits them- selves we could have effected little ; but I venture to boast that no officer has ever been better served than I have been by Mr. Walsh, Sergeant-Major Shepard, Quartermaster-Sergeant Fairley, and Sergeants P. Smith, T. Smith, Hyde, Kelly, Martin, and Everett. Moreover, I would call attention to the fact that I obtained my non-commissioned officers, not by selection, but merely as the result of an application, made through the Employment Department of the Recruiting Office at St. George's Barracks, to the National Society for seven sergeants or corporals possessed of certain stated qualifications. Sergeants Martin and Everett, our two gymnastic instructors, are actually ex-corporals. Finally, Quartermaster-Sergeant Fairley was engaged—further assist- ance being found necessary—simply because his home is at Hounslow. These men, obtained as I have explained, one and all put their shoulders to the wheel, with results that have astonished me beyond measure. We have done far more than I expected to do, and the extraordinary zeal of my assistants, from Mr. Walsh downwards, furnishes the full explanation of this happy consummation. No amount of selection could have provided me with a better staff. It should be borne in mind that each section is what its own sergeant has made it, Mr. Walsh and I having merely directed the training of the Company as a whole.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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