The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-29 00:00:00

more than any mere idle and fantastic playing at
soldiers. As a recognised and thoroughly organised,
we will even add, as a permanent defensive force,
as one among the number of our great national in-
stitutions, the Army of Rifle Volunteers has,within
the last half-dozen years, sprung into existence and
taken up an assured position among patriot Eng-
lishmen. It is a defiance of no one. It is simply
a defensive force, established with a provident
eye to future warlike contingencies. That para
bellum which in the old axiom is the onl y
rational sequel or reponse to the conjectural si vis
paean, has never been more aptly illustrated than
it has been, encreasingly, during these six years last
past, since that first rifle corps was raised which
has gradually multiplied to this noble total of
150,000 well-appointed and highly-disciplined
volunteers. The Rifle Volunteers have so effectually
and efficiently made good their way, indeed, that
they have long ago surpassed both the old forces of
the Militia and the Yeomanry. The position
they have won is such as neither the militia nor
the yeomanry have ever been able to attain. It
is such, in truth, it is so respectable, or rather
respected, it is a position already of so much
distinction that, for a long while past, in the
regular order of the toasts at our public banquets
the Three National Services are there, as an ordi-
nary rule, now pledged together—" The Army,
the Navy, and the Volunteers." It was thus last
evening, in accordance with the customary routine
at the Easter Banquetalready referred to, the annual
entertainment, that is given upon every recurring
Easter Monday by the Chief Magistrate of the City
of London. And it was when, replying to that toast,
in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, that
the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, spok3 both for the
Army and for the Volunteers, as Admiral WALe OTT
afterwards did on the part of the maritime ser-
vice—it was then, we say, that the Prince
observed, in addition to that remark of his,
already particularised, that it was a satisfaction
for him to think that there had that day
been a large concentration of volunteer troops
in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. A
satisfaction, he said, because of the immense im-
portance of these very kind of demonstrations.
It must be acknowledged, however, now that those
proceedings of yesterday can be looked back at, that
it is matter for serious regret that they can hardly
be regarded altogether as satisfactory. The de-
monstration, there is no doubt, might have been
in every way more successful. Whatever failure
there has been in the ordering of the arrangements
of the Volunteer review this year, however, arose,
we believe, exclusively out of a very mistaken
choice of the locality. In this respect the Easter
Monday of 15G4 must be allowed to have rather dis-
agreeably contrasted with its immediatepredecessor.
The neighbourhood of Guildford, as the scene of the
display, can never for an instant vie with what is
remembered from last year in regard to the neigh-
bourhood of Brighton. In effect, we may be tole-
rably certain of this, that Guildford will not
very soon have the chance of entering thus into
competition with Brighton as the chosen arena for
this annual Review of the Rifle Volunteers. So
far, something has been learnt this year, rather
disagreeably, by experience,.

Nothing is of more consequence in the mainte-
nance of authority than that discretion should
guide and govern all the steps taken, and be the
prevailing influence that reigns paramount to all
other considerations. In point of fact this is the
most important quality in any one who attempts to
command, and, devoid of this attribute, all other
gifts are valueless. A striking instanca of the
want of this occurred the other day on board the

Resistance. This ship is now at Malta, and rumour
I tells of a very unhappy feeling which prevails

among her crew. It is even said that a mutiny

nearly occurred, and that some guns were tam

pered with. The means adopted by the captain to
put a stop to this distorted condition of affairs was
certainly a strange one, and it is to be trusted may
long remain an exception, and not a rule in the
•

procedare of other commanders. The captain
ordered all hands on deck, and then and there in-
vited the men to " state their reasons for dissatis-
faction." This might have answered if the matter

had not gone too far for a compromise, and douh

Less with tact and discernment considerate C3M

menders may avert many outbreaks by thus smooth-
ing down difficulties, and meeting offenders half-
way. On the present occasion, however, no such
satisfactory solution of the difficulty took place, and

no such skilful adjustment of affairs was apparen

When, in answer to the request of the captain,
three men stood forth and stated their grounds of
complaint, ho ordered them to be placed in irons,
and piped 311 hands below. Such a proceeding
is most amazing, and it is difficult to decide which

should be most deplored, the immediate or the ill
mate results of a hasty action like the one recorded.
What must have been the feelings of those who
were put in custody? Why, they must have felt
that they had been entrapped into a snare, and it
need hardly be added, that such are not the senti-
ments which it is wise, safe, or prudent to allow to
take root. The companions of the sufferers must
have returned to their posts burning with indigna-
tion at the treatment of their mates. It is almost
impossible to over-estimate or exaggerate the
grievous and injurious effects produced on all
hands by this arbitrary conduct of affairs. It might
have been the result of mistaken motives, but the
act anyhow is open to this interpretation, that there
was not sufficient evidence to convict, and, therefore,
the men were arraigned against themselves. This is
not the way to read the laws which are to rule and
regulate our sailors. It will never do for the nation
to give ground for believing that fair play and no
favour is no longer the maxim that is inculcated
above all others by authorities. It is as unwise and
ungenerous a proceeding as can be imagined, to
call men together and invite a frank avowal of
grievances, and then to turn round and resume
the hard and harsh functions of command. Of the
two it is always safest to err on the side of
leniency than on that of severity, and many ex-
amples have shown the authority possessed by the
commander who has not the hearts of his men, but
a certain amount of influence may be acquired even
by one who regards his men as machines and keeps
all things up to the mark stern and unflinching, if
those who are subjected to the rigid discipline feel
that all is straight and aboveboard in their treat-
ment, and that justice is as prompt to redress their
wrongs as to maintain the rights of those put over
them by authority. It is neither one thing or the
other, however, if men once get it into their L
that they are made to act a part, and form part of a
system of espionage fur the convenience of those
who may seek to possess themeelves of the necessary
information regarding events. It is to be earnestly
trusted that this may remain a solitary instance,
and an isolated. case in the records of our naval
annals. If a crew is disaffected, is it the way
to re-establish confidence by resorting to a
system of Mantling and attempting to play
fast and loose, as it were. A more irritating
mode of proc:edure can hardly be imagined. The
only use of •punishment is to produce an impression,
and that ca n never be done if any lingering notion
prevails of unfairness. All beneficial ifects are at an
end then, awl what might at other OLIO have been

regerded as a mild sentence will infallibly be con-
sidered as harsh and cruel, and all other obnoxious
epithets will be freely applied by those who have
had their temper tried beyond endurance, and who
are wound up to frenzy by the thought that redress
is impossible for them, and they may any day
expect a similar treatment for themselves as that
just applied to their fellows. It is all very well to
say that these feelings are exaggerated, but has
not irritation at oppression in our times been the
most fearful source of disturbances, and occasioned
the most direful calamities. At the present time
it behoves all those in authority to use their utmost
efforts and make all their arrangements, so as to
render the service of our navy as popular as may
be: If a riot should break out, as it may at any
day, it will be a great shame to our rulers, and a
deplorable calamity to our people, that our " hearts
of oak" have been mismanaged and tampered with
till in their disgust they have, in many instances,
transferred their services to more genial shores, and
left their native land for ever. Such mistakes
are fatal to the welfare of a country, and no nation
can flourish at home or abroad if the right treat-
ment of her soldiers and sailors is not one of the
chief objects of solicitude, and rigidly maintained
by all who are concerned with them.

We are not surprised to find a rapid success
attending the movement on behalf of the wounded
Danes. The public sympathy and indignation, re-
pressed from more open and vigorous display, have
promptly shown themselves in contributing to the
consolation and succour of those brave but unfortu-
nate soldiers who have been left to struggle unaided
against desperate odds. Already large sums have been
remitted, and subscription lists have been opened
in different quarters for the same benevolent pur-
pose. English women, always prompt to minister
to the suffering, have come prominently forward on
this occasion;while other collections are being:made
under the auspices of the Lord Mayor, some of our
leading noblemen, and other influential persons.
The movement will probably spread very widely
over the country, and we need not doubt that the
amount subscribed will be fully commensurate with
the necessities of the case and worthy of the giver.
One of the most conspicuous of the provincial meet-
ings was held in the Merchants' Hall, Glasgow,
one day last week, when the eloquent voice of Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON was raised in support of the
good cause. The resolution proposed by the emi-
nent Scottish historian ran as follows :—" That in

;he opinion of this meeting, the circumstances in
which Denmark is at present placed are such as to
call for the warmest sympathy from the people of
England." It can easily be imagined bow Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON would enlarge upon such a
scheme, what rich historic lore, what argumenta-
tive eloquence, what honest indignation he would
bring to point his moral, and the meeting accepted
hid resolution with unanimous applause. After
remarking upon the consanguinity of the races,
and the histories of England and Denmark, Sir
ARCHIBALD went on to show that the present
reigning House of this country was actually de-
scended from a Danish Princess—ANNE of Den-
mark, wife of JAMES 1,, and mother of ELIZA-
BETH of Bohemia, through whom the House
of Hanover claimed the right to the
British Throne. More powerful still in awaking
onr national sympathies is the royal alliance of the
present day, an alliance so popular that it would of
itself have been sufficient to arouse our warmest
interest in the family and people of the fair and
fascinating Princess, who has taken up her dwelling
among us. But in a political point of view the
geographical position of Denmark is a matter
of more moment. It holds the key of our northern
commerce, being, as Sir ARCHIBALD very happily
phrased it, a porter at the gate of the Baltic. It is
this important situation which has gained for the
sturdy little kingdom the fortune or misfortune of
being so constantly discussed and disputed over in
European Cabinets, and which has elevated it into
sufficient consequence to induce the great Powers
to come forward and endeavour to settle the suc-
cession by the famcus protocol of 1852. How far
this arrangement has produced the desired effect by
preserving peace and avoiding an arbitraiion by the
sword of all the disputed points of German gene-
alogy, we all know ; but certainly its authors
would have found it very difficult to tie the Prus•
sians down tight enough to make them sacrifice
their favourite ambition. The acknowledgment of
the independence of Denmark, says Sir ARCHIBALD
ALISON, was simple and unconditional, and cannot
possibly be got rid of by any of the Powers that
signed the treaty. His authority may also b 3 taken
with regard to another matter whose details are less
familiar to the general reader. The author of the
History of Europe during the most eventful years
of modern times is certainly no contemptible referee
in such a case. He maintains stoutly that the Ger-
mans have no right whatever to meddle beyond the
Eider; that even the German Princes of Denmark
have no right to interfere in the private concerns of
the Danish Monarchy; that the Act of Federation
of 1815 nowhere alludes to any obligation as to a par-
ticular form of Government. The only point insisted
on being the existence of State assemblies. Sir
ARCHIBALD concluded a long and brilliant harangue
by urging the necessity of an immediate display of
English power, and denouncing that system of non-
intervention which, however excellent it
may be in
some respects, is now being carried to an extent
that is disgraceful to ourselves and damaging to the
best interests of mankind. The speaker told us
nothing new when he asserted that a declaration of
war would have been by no means necessary to
arrest the headlong course of the invader. How
far the peacemongers are attaining their ends by
this means, and how far they are over-reaching
themselves by preparing a storm against us, at pre-
sent nothing can be more friendly than the actual
sentiments and feelings of the Danish people towards
the English, however much they may, or rather
must, resent the treacherous fast and loose alliance
which has only served to weaken them before the
struggle began. Since, then, we have such good
and potent allies sitting at this important gateway,
let us make the most of such an advantage even on
interested grounds. The great and powerful claims
of right and justice are, however, making them-
selves heard independently of all selfish considers.
tions. Let the Cabinet look to it, for this Glasgow
meeting is assuredly a sign of the times—a sign of
the growing and spreading of that strong feeling of
popular indignation which will before long call
kings and cabinets to account.
e ads

MONSTER STEAM HAMMER.—Messrs. R. and W.
Morrison, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, have just forged
the largest and most powerful steam hammer in the world
for the Russian Government. The piston rod to which the
hammer is attached is a ponderous piece of metal, weighing
no less than 42 tons in its rough forged state, and now,
when dressed down to the required dimensions, it has only
been reduced to 35 tons. The length of the piston rod is
38ft, the diameter 2ft 4in, having a stroke of 14ft bin, the
piston being Oft Bin. The forging of this mass of metal oc-
cupied 44 days. The cylinder for this hammer was cast at
the Eiswick Engine Works. Its diameter inside is 6ft Bin,
its weight upwards of 40 tons. The two standards weigh
nearly 40 tons each. The united weights of the hammer
bar, the cylinders, and standards amount to over 160 tons.
LORD NORBURY, the famous Irish hanging judge,
is reported to have wept once, and once only, shedding tears
upon this occasion, at the close of the 44 )3eggaea Opera,'
Wbsp, NacheAtlA Wad reprieved,