The Express.
London, England, 1861-12-28 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 28.

Tut meeting, at the London Tavern last week,
of Owners and Masters of the Mercantile Marine,
to consider the Admiralty Regulations for the en-
rolment of officers in the Royal Naval Reserve,
was characterized by all the good feeling and good
will that might have been expected of • body of
men in whom the high national spirit, the world-
wide enterprise, and the commanding interests of
(:neat Britain are so eminently personified. There
was no disposition to put too fine • point upon
those nice conditions of rank and precedence
which, as we ventured to suggest the other day, un-
avoidably present some difficulties in adjustment in
so far as they touch the professional susceptibilities
of either service. These are, after all, subordinate
consideration; which yield to a temper of mutual
concession and hearty co-operation towards •
common purpose, without loss of dignity on
either side, and to the satisfaction and contentment
of both. The distinguished Chairman at the
London Tavern, moved by a genuine patriotism
and a true self-respect, struck the right note at
woe whoa be declared the object of the meeting to
be to " let her Ks/tom see how ready were the
" officers and seamen of the Mercantile Marine to
" rally round the Crown in defence of the British
" flag." These words, from the mouth of a mer-
chant who has a " service " of his own, officered by
English gentlemen and manned by British seamen,
and ships of the tonnage and measurement of

frigates, traversing all the great highways of the
ocean, were no empty and unmeaning compliment.
It is no vain boast to say that they mark an epoch
in the maritime history of England. What the
creation and organization of • Volunteer :ores of
a hundred thousand picked men was to the
British Army, the enrolment of the Royal Naval
Reserve is to the British Navy. The Volunteer
force on shore to all intents and purposes doubles
the effective of the regular army, since in times of
national peril it enables the Government to make
the entire regular army an "offensive" force.
The Volunteer force has never pretended to
supersede a regular army ; by its very nature and
composition it is only available es a defensive force
in national emergencies, when the whole regular
army is called away to resist or anticipate attack.
So, too, the Royal Naval Reserve is not in time
of peace an offensive force ; it is only avail-
able in extreme national emergencies, but when
available it nuiy be said in some sort to double the
naval strength of England, inasmuch as it con-
vene an immense mercantile marine into an
almost inexhaustible reserve of trained and skilful
executive officers and seamen gunners.

In all questions of national defence, where feelings
rather than interests are appealed to, the name is
scarcely Mee important than thsthing. Mr. Clanzsr's
suggestion, that the Royal Naval Reserve should be
preferably called the Royal Naval Volunteer Force,
" so se to assimilate them ISOM closely with the
" Volunteers on shore," strikes us as particularly
valuable and significant. It determines at
once with breadth and precision the scope
and purpose of the Admiralty order, as
interpreted and accepted by the Merchant Ser-
vice. A cordial union of the two Services is an
event of incalculable importance to this country,
and the Lords of the Admiralty under whose
administration it has been promoted and secured,
deserve to be well and gratefully remembered.
One has only to look back to our naval history
during the great war, when we were alone against
all Europe, with • force of 145,000 seamen
scraped and dragged together by pressgangs,
swept on board the fleet in batches, to under-
stand what progress naval reform has made within
less than half a century ; or, strictly speaking,
within the last five years. If M. Ceram .=
Duriir some six and twenty years ago was amased
at the maritime resources of England, when it
was all but impossible to man without impress-'
ment • navy reduced to • pesos establishment ;
when the Merchant Service and the Navy regarded
each other with jealousy and distrust; what would
an observant foreigner say now that fair play and
goed treatment have made the Navy so popular with
good t...""tuen th't t.%C., whole Merchant Venice is
manly at the whisper of a war to " rally round
the Crown in defence of the British Beg"? The
fact is that the successful organization of the
Naval Reserve decides so conclusively the ques-
tion of maritime superiority, that all the systems of
" maritime inscription " that can possibly be de-
vised by continental Powers may be regarded with
indifference. From the moment that the Merchant
Service of Great Britain becomes a NavalVoluntear
force it is idle for any European Power to compete
with resources which have practically no limit.
Nor need this new development of the pro-
digious nisrninic capacities of England give um-
brage to any foreign State, however jealous of the
freedom of the seas, or of its own rank and
influence in the world. Whatever may have been
tho doctrine or practice of the British Government
and people when they were fighting for dear life
against the ph:sum/A omnipotence of the FIRST