The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-30 00:00:00

NAVAL OPERATIONS.

The delay in the military movements postponed naval
operations, and the afternoon had far advanced ere it was
known that the sea attack would form part of the pro-
gramme. The order " Beat to quarters" on board the
Royal Sovereign was answered smartly by the picked
crew on board, and the hinged bulwarks were lowered in
a few seconds, leaving the deck clear for action. The
guns were run out, the seamen gunners at their posts,
and the turning gear free from all impediments. Onboard
Captain Brooker's ship all obstructions on either side
the turret were removed, and both vessels awaited
orders to engage the enemy. At half-past four the Royal
Sovereign opened fire with her big guns pointed at the
Guildford Battery, near the Dover promenade. The
practice was smart and exceedingly well regulated, and
the turrets worked smoothly and without a hitch in the
rotary motion. The reverberation was remarkable after
each discharge, and the peltering of rifles and the sharp
bang of the small cannon on shore were almost lost when the
booming from the sea had once begun. Then the Scorpion
opened fire, and the two ships did good service in the mock
battle, in assisting the invading army to accomplish its work.
The Royal Sovereign delivered her fire much quicker
than the other turret ship, and both men-of-war did
good service in assisting the invaders. The contest on
shore slackened, and then the order was given to cease
firing ; the bulwarks were raised, guns hauled in, and so
the naval movements ended. Had the weather per-
mitted the smaller war-ships to come out and attack
Archcliffe Fort, the spectacle would have been much
more interesting ; as it was, the attack from the sea wag
entirely directed towards the eastern fortifications.

THE PRESS UN REVIEW.
The Times declares that Monday was a day to try the
prowess of the volunteers. March is not thiS year going
out like a lamb. A mild, rainy, relaxing winter
has been
followed by a sharp, cold, squally spring, which was at its
worst on Monday morning. The thousands who awoke
and bestirred themselves before sunrise to take part in the
national gathering must have felt that their task would be
one or duty, and not of pleasure. All through tile early
hours the wind blew in fierce gusts, and the rain or snow
fell heavily. In the country the fields were white with
snow ; in London the flakes soon resolved themselves into
the ordinary slush. But on the smith coast the visitation was
the most severe. But, at any rate, the volunteers have the
satisfaction that the Easter Monday of 1869 has not been a
blank in their annals. It would certainly have been a
subject for discontent ana ill-natured criticism if the
metropolitan volunteers had gone ninety miles for a review
and had then been stopped by the rain. The end of the
day, in short, made amends for the beginning. Though
one or two heavy showers fell in the course of the after-
noon, yet the evening turned out fine and comparatively
genial, and the trains brought the men to town at night
without accident, the railway service being not the least
creditable and satisfactory part of the day's proceedings.
"We trust that in future the volunteers will select Whit
Monday, instead of Easter Monday, for their annual
review. They will have at least a better chance of favour-
able weather.

The Daily News gives the volunteers great credit for
their conduct under very trying circumstances, The slid-
den call to the review after their dispersal put them at a
most unusual disadvantage. It was a gathering in hot
baste, which put their discipline to the severest trial.
The wonder is that they got through the review at all,
much more that they got through it with some credit.
Such a test would have tried the discipline even of profes-
sional soldiers, and it is never fair to the volunteers to
forget that they are not professionalsoldiers, but a citizen
guard. They do a great national service almost at a
private cost, and that the numbers are so well kept tin
and the efficiency of the force so satisfactorily sustained,
does infinite credit to the patriotism and public spirit of

01l ulinet e2eier Ise g
our people.
•c: p
thath
tshaeyys tslumete
egerdeeadt cinr e dtirt isut
triumphing
itnoot he gallant
Easter Monday weather. The aspect of the fieolvdermsiugchht
have daunted the most seasonable and redoubtable war-
riors. But " Duty" is not a name to be washed out of
existence by equinoctial storms, or blown to the winds by
the hurricane of an expiring British winter ; and on Mon-
day duty again brought a prompt and satisfactory reward.
Wet and weary enough, perhaps, but covered with well-
earned glory, the volunteers have " enjoyed" their field-
day, and displayed a patience and an amount of discipline
under the severest difficulties that must reinforce
the arguments of those who know and 'main-
tain the national value of this force. But
we would press on the volunteers, and on
those who lead them, our counsel as to the season
for this national event. Let Easter Mondaybe henceforth
abandoned as the day of the annual grand parade. Even
when it falls later, that day is too near the winter season
to be safely chosen for a spectacle so popular and impor-
tant. Why should not Whit Monday, on which there is
a relaxation of business demands and pursuits scarcely
smaller than that of Easter Monday, be selected for taking
our citizen soldiers to the country on their great field-day ?
Whit Monday is the "feast of gladness, when woods and
fields put off their sadness ;" which, being translated into
sober prose, means that even in this foggy and wind-lashed
kingdom, there is a pretty good chance of obtaining at
that more advanced period firm ground to march upon,
and a bit of blue sky overhead. The volunteers, no doubt,
have ere now proved that they don't care for a " wet
jacket ;" but a dry one is more comfortable ; and the
public will not trust in Easter Monday weather, after
Monday's narrow escape from disappointment and
disaster.
The Star observes that with us Easter Monday has been
regarded for a very long period as purely a secular holi-
day, on which any spectacle may properly take place
which is lawful at any other period. Nor are abstract
opinions on the rightfulness of war at all involved in the
proceedings of the volunteers. Of all branches of the
armed force, they at least come nearest to the perfect
model of an army, being by the very nature of their Organi-
sation enrolled simply for purposes of defence, and not to
be used by any ambitious despot as the means for carrying
out a policy of ambition. They do not choose Easter
Monday for the purposes of their annual exercise in
arms from any other consideration than that of
convenience. They do not muster to make an offensive
display of strength in the eyes of any supposed enemy,
but solely to keep alive their organisation, and to Perfect
themselves in an art which is not opposed to the spirit of
Christianity if intended solely to preserve the institutions
of a free country from any polluting touch by alien hands.
A volunteer army is essentially a peaceful force, not in a
cynical and debasing point of view, but in the highest
sense in which such terms can be employed. It. forms the
natural and true reserve of the country. Alre know very
well that should war unfortunately menace this country,
the Government and the people would at once throw aside
all abortive plans in regard to semi-discharged soldiers,
militia, and what not, and would place their sole reliance
uponotlllmienteeri. numbers, the spirit, the efficiency, and arms of
the N.