The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

NEW WORKS OF DEFENCE AT GOSPORT.

THe Government have just completed the purchase
of a tract of land encompassing the town of Gosport,
at a distance of about two miles from it, for the pur-
pose of establishing upon it a new line of fortifica-
tions. The land purchased is a broad belt of about
three hundred yards in width, and extends from
Frater's Point, at the upper part of Portsmouth
Harbour, to the sea in the neighbourhood of Stokes
Bay. In its direction it bisects the Fareham.road a
short distance to the northward of the hamlet of
Brockhurst, then crosses the Itchfield-road to the
eastward of the picturesque chapel of Rowner, from
which point it bears away towards Grange, part of
which estate it includes, and terminates, as before
stated, at the sea at the west horn of Stokes Bay,
hear which, and included in the Government pur-
ehase, is the new fort already built, named Gower,
after the estate of Levet:on Gower, Esq., which has
also been purchased.

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There is no doubt but that all this is a move in
the right direction. The Gosport side of Ports-
mouth Harbour has long been a source of anxiety
to military engineers, as hitherto the simple line
of earthworks surrounding Gosport has been quite
inadequate to bear any serious pressure from an
enemy, who, having once possession of that side of
the harbour, would have the dockyard entirely at
command. The contemplated extended works will,
however, give great security to this point, and the
public may be congratulated on the undertaking.
Before closing these remarks we must refer to the
gunboat establishment on Stokes Lake. The
arrangements which at present exist for disposing
of this new arm of our naval defences is to haul them
up on a slip, from which they are transferred to a
kind of huge railway carriage or truck, which moving
laterally deposits the gunboats into sheds constructed
for the purpose. By the present arrangement, the
tide is allowed to flow and ebb into and from the
lalce, and the consequence is that the process of
hauling up the gunboats, and of course launching
them again, can only be performed at high water,
and at low neap tide there is not sufficient water
even for this. Now, the entranre to this fine lake is
narrow, and, at the point where Haslar-bridge crosses
it, is admirably adapted for a dam, which, by being
thrown across, and furnished of course with gates,
would transform this now almost useless creek into
one of the finest wet docks in the kingdom, and
which would not only enable the gunboats to be
launched or hauled up at any time, but also provide
a safe and out of the way place for any vessels of
this description now blocking up our principal
harbours.

THE MILITIA.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS."

Sir,—ln reply to some questionings as to the
defences of the country, Lord Palmerston replied,
among other grounds of confidence, " We have the
militia." I regret to have to say, as a militia officer,
that that statement must be received with the very
greatest reserve.
At the disembodiment, at the close of the late
war, the militia were about 70,000 strong, and this,
though 50,000 under their proper complement, and
30,000 less than the number with which the Great
Duke deliberately declared that he would be con-
sidered rash in undertaking the defence of the
country with, is still on paper a considerable force.
But let us remember that the constant drain upon
the militia for volunteers for the line swept off the
best and oldest militiamen, so that at the last the
militia regiments were in a great proportion com-
posed of raw recruits or of men rejected from the
line for physical or other defects. So that these
70,000 men are anything but a force requiring only
a moment's notice, after more than a year's disem-
bodiment, to constitute a serviceable force.
But even such as they are, shall we ever see them
again? lam confident that I speak within bounds
when I say that, drawn as they were from the most
fluctuating classes of eur population, and not unna-
turally disgusted with their recent abrupt and thank-
less dismissal, very little more than one•half will
ever again join their colours. I may add that there
is a very great deficiency even on paper of officers,
especially subalterns, and that numbers of those
whose names still appear in the Armf List have
already found other and more lucrative employments
which would render it impossible for them to rejoin.
As a militia offizer, therefore, I beg to protest
against Lord Palmerston inducing the nation to lean
blindly on such a broken reed as, deprived of the
necessary training, the militia must prove in the
hour of need, and I entreat the public not to expect
from either officers or men that knowledge of their
duties which they are refused the means of acquiring.
—I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
A MILITIA OFFICER.
July 21, 1857.

THE Ftrisr VOYAGE OF H.M.S. Shannon, 51, screw
frigate, Captain Peel, has proved fairly successful.
She made her passage to the Cape in 52 days under
sail, having experienced fine weather all the way.
She made 302 miles the last 24 hours ; force of wind 8,
and north ; and sailed 15 knots without pressing
her, wind abeam. Two fatal accidents occurred on
board during the passage—Mr. Coaker, master's
assistant, fell from aloft, struck the fore chains, end
fell dead into the water; and the other, George
Brown, a boy of the first-class, who fell from aloft
inboard, and was killed. But for the admirable
facility afforded by Clifford's plan of lowering boats
with which the frigate was fitted, the body of the un-
foitunate young officer could not have been recovered,
nor the life of another boy, who fell overboard, have
been saved. On both occasions the vessel was going
at from 11 to 12 knots under all sail, notwithstanding
which the boat was manned and lowered in little
more than a minute. The boats were 30 feet. cutters,
the largest hung from man of-war's davits, and
carrying from 17 to 20 men each, and weighing, with
gear complete, from 2 to 3 tons.