The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-12 00:00:00

OUR BULWARKS AFLOAT.

BRITAIN has ever boasted that her greatest
strength, her bulwarks, and her towers, lie afloat
upon the deep. On the rolling wave the stalwart
sons of our little sea-girt island are as much at
home, and rejoice as freely, as on the firm-set shore.
On the giddy topmast, on the swinging yard-
arm, on the tempest beaten main-100k-out, on the
surge-swept deck, the jolly tars of England are
more in their element, and as light and firm of
heart and foot, and certainly much more at ease,
than they would be in the gay and luxurious
salons of fashionable terrestrial life. Our children
betake themselves to the sea-shore, to toy with
the dashing billows, or pick up the shells of ocean,
as instinctively, and with as much nafural glee, as
the young sea-bird first expands its white wings,
and utters its earliest scream over the bosom of
the foaming, briny deep. The highest genius of
our insulated population seems to breathe most
amply and refreshingly, while standing on the
pebbly beach, or on the high perched rock, or on
the elevated cliff, gazing on the roaring, restless,
illimitable, horizon-kissing sea—fit emblem of
that high destiny in which we believe and aspire
to, whether as individuals or as a nation. In all
its aspects, we love and confide in the trackless
ocean. In smiling sunshine or in frowning dark-
ness, in glassy repose or in tempestuous storms,
we still pride ourselves as having our homes upon
the bosom of the mighty deep, Nay, more, we
are not merely at home on the face of that subtle
element, for there, before an armed, envious, and
jealous world, we boast ourselves supremely
powerful, whether in skilful industry, in com-
mercial enterprise, or in naval warfare. We can
dictate our will to all who would traverse the
high seas ; for still " Britannia rules the waves."
May it long—may it ever be so!

An effort has been made to convince us that
our ancient supremacy on the waters is about to
be wrested from us. When the French iron-
plated steam-frigate La Gloire was set afloat, we
were told that nothing could withstand her, while
she could withstand anything. The launch
this day week of our own armour-plated frigate
Warrior, which we duly announced, has again
been made the text from which we have been
lectured and warned of our impending humilia-
tion, if not ruin. But we do not believe any such
thing. That the present Government deserve
all that has been said and written against its
tardiness, jobbery, and indecision, we need not
care to deny. But with all its faults, it has not
been altogether indifferent or supine ; and we
• have no scruple in saying that, after all, there is
every reasonable prospect of our being able to keep
sufficiently near the van of improvements in
naval warfare and ordnance to prevent the possi-
bility of our losing any measure of that glorious
' prestige afloat upon which we have been accus-
tomed so largely to depend for the maintenance
of our maritime and national supremacy among
all the nations of the world. What does it matter
to us that La Gloire was first on the water, if the
Warrior now afloat is her superior? Why should
we grudge the speed whereby our French neigh-
bours expect to have some half-score Gloires
before we have above five or six Warriors ?
Even then ours will be quite a match for theirs
and were it otherwise, they only challenge us in
a direction where our resources are inex-
haustible. Already supreme upon the sea, it
is not our part to hasten forward preparations
designed to question our own sovereignty. Surely
it is enough that we see our way to keeping our
oivn in all respects. Not twice ten Gloires shall
shake our self-confidence. The nation which
owns the Warrior afloat, and the Resistance in
forward progress, need not doubt her ability to
maintain her ancient power and glory.
The real danger does not lie in our being too
slow, but in our being too fast. La Gloire has
not been proved to have been positively success-
ful, any more than the still unfinished Warrior.
What we want, therefore, is a fair trial. Let the
Warrior proceed as rapidly as possible to sea. Let
her disport herself in the Bay of Biscay and return
to tell us of her speed and good behaviour in
a heavy sea. Why should we go on building
such enormously costly machines until after we
have ascertained how far they are really good
for anything, and how far they are capable of
improvement. There have been very contradic-
tory statements about the conduct of La Gloire
at sea. The warmest admirers of the Warrior
suspend their judgment as to her utility until
they have ascertained how far trial will bear out
promises and appearances. She is said to have
been launched with admirable skill ; and her
magnificent appearance when she first floated
on the Thames is represented as having
actually disarmed criticism, and the whole of
the spectators . seem to have been willing to
believe that such a noble and graceful ship
deserves all that has ever been said in praise