The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—We have had the report of the Commission on our
National Defences, and it is sufficiently elaborate. The Corne
missioners state, " that they are led to the opinion that,
neither our fleet, our standing army, nor our volunteers, or
even the three combined, can be relied on to secure the
country from foreign invasion." It would be said, indeed,
if they could find a majority of Englishmen to coincide
with them in this opinion, and in giving it to the world
they must have taken a very contracted and partial view
of the constitution of the British empire. It is not by the
defence of our stockyards and naval stations alone that the
mighty fabric of the British empire is to be maintained.
It is not confined to, or comprised within, one isolated spot,
but encircles the globe, and exists in every clime. An
Englishman may truly say with Byron,— .
" Far as the breeze can drive the billows' foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home."
Now, this being the case, it becomes necessary, in consider-
ing any scheme of defence, to take a comprehensive view
of the British empire as a whole, and to determine the best
means of giving security to each member of this compli-
cated community ; for we must always remember that the
greatness and might of Britain arises, not from her own
intrinsic resources alone, but from the combined power and
wealth of her many possessions. Futile, indeed, would be
the mere defence of our colonies, if the colonies, those
members of our empire which impart life and energy to its
people, were severed from it. No I England's very exist-
ence depends upon not only retaining her colonial depen-
dencies intact, but also in maintaining a constant and cer-
tain communication with them.

Hitherto Englishmen have been accustomed to look
upon her " wooden, walls" as the surest protection from
foreign invasion or insult, and every truly patriotic states-
man will still consider them as the true bulwarks of British
power, and, what is of infinitely more consequence, of Bri-
tish liberty. It may be all very well to protect our dock-
yards from the possibility of the sudden attack of an enemy:
which, if successful, might cause infinite loss ; but do not
let us for one moment admit the possibility of a successful
invasion of our shores, so as to lead to a protracted defence
of either the dockyards or London, because, before such a
descent on our coast could be made, the enemy must have
become master of the seas, and this implies the de-
struction of Britain's naval supremacy. It requires little
power of prophecy to predict what would be the result
should Great Britain cease to be paramount on the waters.
Not only would the spring of her wealth be dried up, but
the blockade of our ports would cut off those supplies of
the necessaries of life, without which we could not maintain
for one month the existence of our teeming population.
Anarchy and the disruption of society would be the result
—the complicated machinery of our social system would
collapse—the majesty of Britain's might would vanish--

" And, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave Rot a 'rack behind."
No doubt that, since the the introduction of propulsion by
steam, great facility is given to an invading force coming
by sea. But I firmly believe that, as the like advantage is
possessed by the ships of the country to be defended, there
is little or no gain to the invaders now, as compared with
the time when both fleets had to depend only on the
wind for locomotive power, whilst the rapid transit by rail-
way, and speedy communication by electric telegraph,
would secure the concentration of a large opposing force,
much more rapidly than troops could be disembarked, even
if unopposed in landing—which immunity would scarcely be
accorded to them. Taking all this into consideration, we
may safely rest assured that to effect a successful invasion
of our shores would be even more difficult than it was
prior to the introduction of steam.

The inference to be drawn from the above remarks is,
that it behoves Great Britain, at any cost, to maintain the
supremacy of the seas. In order to do this, it is essential
for her to have a prosperous, contented, and loyal maritime
population, with a numerous and actively employed mer-
cantile marine. Our legislature, since the predominance
of the Manchester party in Parliament, have been too apt
to ignore the merchant navy, and treat them as if not a
necessary adjunct to the power of Britain; this has been a
great mistake, arising, like the report on National Defences,
from taking a partial and limited view of the construction
of the British oommunity, and, I am sorry to say, it is now
bearing fruit in the existence of an apathy and indifference
to British interests on the part of our seamen, which
exhibits its effects in the small numbers enrolled in the
Naval Volunteer Reserve. I trust some means may be
adopted to reanimate the dormant patriotism of our seamen,
and if this is once fairly brought about, adieu to fears of
invasion, or to doubts of our supremacy on the waters. Our
wooden walls will be animated by such a spirit
that none will be able to stand before them.
Before closing this letter, I may be allowed to suggest that
most nautical men (not connected with the Admiralty) con-
sider that the vessels best adapted for coast defence are
gunboats. Built for speed, and armed with heavy, long-
range guns, ten or a dozen of these would be more than a
match for a line-of-battle ship, as they would be so placed
as to strike her with every shot, whilst from their rapid
movements and distant position none of her guns could be
brought to bear upon them. It .would be well to have
several of those gunboats laid up in all the large
norts, say the Mersey, Clyde, Tyne, and Hum-
ber. They might be placed in perfect safety
in any of these rivers, and would be available where most
wanted in case of war—requiring merely officers to be sent
down, as they would be quickly manned by the volunteers
residing is the port. There is little doubt, iq case of a
war with France, an attempt would be made to destroy the
shipping in the north-eastern port, which is all within the
wage of the guns of a vessel at sea. A few gunboats on
the spot would obviate this danger at once.
June 18, 1860. NAUTICUS.