The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-17 00:00:00

V L,. Ana 47: mt.

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1852

Measures are at last being taken by her MAJESTY'S
Government with a view to render our defensive
position, in some respects at least, more satisfactory.
The discussion which took place last evening in the
House of Commons will, we are satisfied, be a cause
of gratulation throughout the community. It evi-
dences_ a tardy recognition of the insecurity resulting
Ibroeufmetlthioeu:rtinnitegl.ec.t of precautionary regulations. That
the Legislature should in the end appreciate the
peril of past
indifference upon those points
Would alone have been matter for exultation •
the initiative should have been adventured
uPcni by the Ministry is still more peculiarly worthy
lfraomlY us some expressions of gratification.
Su c hhe
proved the case, as will be per-
ceived on reference bp
ouse of
to the dembat,es reported yesterday
in the Lower R
determined that the militia shallprfioartl Pbwariltiabmbeentp.laleet isd
upon a proper footing, and shall be proved to be in
of
every way efficient by periodical
the
an_ . more than
deter-
mined upon at the
ties. So far the determinationdiscret.ou inspections,
an . circumstances,
1 of the
Cabi-
netauthori-
is admirable. Bat something
this, we conceive, is, under
insular
Bettertan
standing
nuas—v
yasthan power—
betterreq ui s iftoer.
usas the most
excellent
militia that could by possibility be
raised in the
United Kingdom ! Better for us to prevent the
possibility of hostile forces landing on our coasts than
to beat them after they have landed! Better the
prevention of a battle than the achievement of a tie.
tory ! The preference is obviously the one demanded
by a common sense view of the matter under consi-
deration. Not that we would by any means be sup.
posed to discountenance the idea of re-organizing the
militia In England, but that we would wish to see
this movement preceded or at any rate accompanied
by the formation of a Standing in the Chan-
nel. Navy
"Not that we love the Militia less, but that
we love a Standing Navy more !" In the very mas-
terly, because practical and plain-spoken pamphlet
upon the National Defences, * recently issued from

*" A Letter on ate DeteLee ut Eioghnu, ny Uvilis of
Volunteers and Miii ia. Addressed to the Members of
Parliament." By Sir Charles James Napier, G.C.8.,
Lieutenant-General and Colonel of the 22d Regiment
of Foot. Bvo. pp .28. London: Edward ISloxon, 1852,

the press by one of the most distinguished captains of
the age, the conqueror and administrator of Scinde,
the sound and delicate judgment of General Sir
CHARLES NAPIER has prompted him to restrict his
advice to the military part of the question, leaving
our present naval difficulties to be commented upon

by those whose remarks could in no way be deemed

invidious. At the same time we feel assured that

Sir Caeauis did not the less clearly recognise the

exigency of our national position in reference to the

want of a more accurate and comprehensive arrange•
ment of the maritime forces of the country. As a
soldier, however, he sagaciously perceived
at once that it would be more in ac-
cordance with the ideas of professional
etiquette to leave that branch of the subject for
direct investigation elsewhere. Besides, the absence
of anything like the desired amount of efficiency in
the army was too manifest to render any reference by
him to the like situation of the navy other than abso-
lutely imprudent and ridiculous. It would, if we
may say so without profanity, have illustrated anew
the parable of the mote and the beam. It would have
been like the administration of medical advice by an
infected physician. AXXo, tarpon arroc AKE Crt &vow.
Sir CHARLES Names?, therefore, restricts himself in his
argument to the consideration of the necessities for
improvement in the land (not extending it to the sea)
forces of the United Kingdom. Writing from his
country residence, and addressing his observations to
the Gentlemen of the House of Commons, the victor
of Meanee and Hyderabad facetiously says—" For my
part, I feel no disposition to sit down unresistingly
at Oaklands till a French general of brigade walks
into my house and cleans his boots by kicking me out
of it 1" Therefore, and with the judicious intention cf
preventing the chance of any such catastrophe, he
earnestly recommends the organization of regular
corps of volunteers and militia by order of the Le-
gislature. "We have," says he, in elucidation of his
reasoning, "we have in the life of the Emperor
NAPOLEON a brilliant example of the course we
ought to follow. When he returned from Elba he
wanted peace. Peace was necessary both to him
and to France. He sent out his negotiators ; he did
all that diplomacy could do ; but, at the same time,
he prepared for war with a vigour perhaps never
before witnessed in ancient or modern times.
The storm buret, and he was beaten. Yes ;
but you have the man who beat him !
And the country calls upon you to give
power to, and trust that man with your
defence." That is the unambiguous advice of one
of the bravest and most experienced among the great
captains of our generation. The manner in which he
enters into the examination of our defensive capabi-
lities is such, that we would here commend it to the
serious perusal of the population. More particularly
now that the Ministry has evinced a disposition to
demand the actual re-organization of the militia by
an appeal to the patriotism of the Legislature.
Another portion of Sir CHARLES NAPIER'S pam-
phlet is entitled to a more than usually ri-
gorous scrutiny. It is where he,enters into the
enumeration of the accoutrements desirable for
the volunteer. His predilection for the red coats we
(len of course comprehend as readily as we can his
affection for those old and tattered colours his sol-
diers have borne so often triumphantly through the
ranks of an opposing foe. But that he should insist
so very strongly upon the retention, almost at any
hazard, of the "brown Bess" and the " trianguler
prong," of the old Musket and the old
Bayonet, is to us matter of very considerable astonish-
ment. Use precaution of course in the adoption of
any new-fangled invention, but don't be precipitate in
throwing it aside, simply because it does happen to
be new-fangled. Keep the old musket and the old
bayonet, until their efficiency as destructive imple-
ments has been proved to be altogether surpassed by
recent contrivances. But don't, out of a mere preju-
dice in favour of the weapons hitherto employed by
our victorious soldiers, deride as preposterous the
powers attributed to the needle gun, and the minis
bullet, and COLT'S revolver, and the sword bayonet
habitually used by the Chasseurs de Vincennes
That, and merely that, is our recommendation. Be
not precipitate in adoption, but still less be pre-
cipitate in rejection.
England, let us add, before closing our present
argument in allusion to last night's debate in the
House of Commons, and in reference to Sir CHARLES
NAPIER'S letter upon the national defences—England
is impelled to the adoption of energetic measures of
the character intimated by more than one considera-
tion. Peace is the necessity of our age—it is more-
over peculiarly the necessity of our country, a country
(as the Emperor NAPOLEON called it) of shopkeepers,
a country whose greatness is dependent upon its
colonies and its commerce. Prepared for war, you
can best secure tranquillity. What says the old
Roman ? The very same thought only in different
pars bellum. Centuries language. Si Iris pacem
upon centuries of experience have testified the cor-
rectness of the adage. History tells it now in letters
of blood, and now again in characters of glory.
Therefore, " forewarned, forearmed ;" therefore
establish corps of volunteers ; therefore re-organize
the militia; therefore, beyond all and above
all, form at once and for ever, a Standing Navy
for the Defence of England! Let us act thus and
for these reasons. But do not, in Heaven's name, let
us be involved in any manner in the plea put for-
ward last evening with such flagrant hardihood
by Lord JOHN RUSSELL. To that plea we would
especially direct the attention of the people
of these islands, disclosing as it does the interior
motive of the whole of the recent policy
adventured upon by her MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment. Demanding strong measures in the way
of defence, in the way of the re-organization of our
warlike forces, the PREMIER advances as ene of his
most powerful arguments for the adoption of such
a course of proceeding, that "we are bound by
treaty with respect to several of the countries of
Europe to defend them, if attacked !" The
allusion was to the treaty of the Quadruple Alliance 1
For, on an expression of dissent falling from the lips
of an Honourable Member, Lord Joule RUSSELL
exclaimed Yes ! that he would only give
one instance and that was—Portugal Pa-
triotism was a very subordinate consideration with
the PRIME MINISTER in those his bellicose arrange-
ments, but then there was—Portugal ! Marvellous
enough surely this is. Talking of Portugal and its
defence from foreign invasion, Lord JOHN becomes
more enthusiastic in his tone than another
man might be—and a patriotic man too—if he were
talking instead of a possible incursion into this
" precious stone set in the silver sea," this our own
England. Why, the disproportion of this fervour
on the part of the PREMIER, when the
subject of it is borne in recollection, is something
ridiculous ! " What's Hecuba to him, or he to
Hecuba!" What? In truth, just now, every-
thing. For the maintenance of the present dynasty
in Portugal by British arms and British influence is
only "of a piece" with the general upholding of
German ideas by her Britannic MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment. Every day the secret is becoming more and
more transparent. Will the nation regard its revelation
with complacency ? We think not. We think
its sentiments will be the very reverse. At any
rate, we do not think it will very soon be forgotten
that to this same German line of policy is attri-
butable the loss—the national loss—of the services of
a truly patriotic and English statesman, like Viscount
PALMERSTON.

have, after mature
It is stated, and we believceontreuidleyr,attihoant, Protec-
tioniststdheeterminedof the pseudo-Reform
gRussELL and his otniloi,pwiposthingwhthicehseLcoorndd rjeoadmiNn
we
eetmteoar
col-
leagues are endeavouring
Although we have not many sympathies. .
t 0 hoodwink
in country.
comm on
With the parties who have arrived at this conclusion,
flourish of
such stunted and meagre proportions as that
heartilytthat there and a
hould unequivocally
be no
measure wish t htehmans uocncee sosf.
gratulation
which bag been introduced with so. loud a
the part of its author as the
result of his thirty years' lucubration&
tension of the franchise, and There
are unquestionably. good
on the
and such vaunting self-
gratulation
woulde ther s
points in the Bill. The ex-
Parliamentary qualification, are steps in the right
similar
ble e "
spirit, and'
the if
lil
portion of the popularity Which has long been
waning, but bas at length, by their manifold trans-
dire
foencis i di enr aa-
wreaegrbea:ilnittria:en of
the