The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-01 00:00:00

TILE NAVAL RESERVE.

In a quiet corner of the West India Docks lies
the Brilliant, 26, a frigate of the old school. There
is no place for such a vessel in the navy now-a•days,
so she, with others of her class, have been tem-
porarily fitted with heavy guns, and turned into
training-ships for our naval volunteers. Just now
the subject of our Naval Reserve has very properly
attracted much attention, and, as usual, the utmost
diversity of opinion obtains. For those who wish
to judge for themselves, and judge impartially, we
would recommend a visit to some of the training-
ships which are now stationed in most of the sea-
ports, and in which all day the guns are run in and
run out, trained ahead and astern, and even fired

now and then as the volunteers progress in their
drill. Those who go on board expecting to see the
neat discipline and uniformity of dress which pre-
vail on board a regular man-of-war will be disap-
pointed. Gold lace and quarter .deck is wisely kept
as much in the background as possible. On this
point the injunctions to the officers in command are
strict—" to bear in mind the difference between the
rules and practices of the Royal Navy and those of
the merchant service, and to endeavour, while en-
forcing order and regularity, to do so in such a way
as may best conciliate the feelings of the merchant
seamep:Mhus- the,.mgnr !)cinf;ll4,7gter\phant sea-
men, come- in. what cress tey ike and .;13 long
as they go through their 28 days' drill in the course
of the year—doing duty at whatever periods are
most convenient to themselves—they earn their £lO,
and can go about their business till the twelvemonth
has expired, when they take 28 more in the same
manner. Those on board the Brilliant are all in
the West India trade, and as a matter of
course prefer to take their 28 days' drill at once.
Those in the coasting and home trades take four
drills of seven days each, whenever they choose, in
the intervals between their regular voyages. On
board the Brilliant, as in all the other vessels, the
men come on board at 9.30 in the morning, when
they are mustered and told off to their guns in time
to commence at 10 o'clock. From this till 12 they
work at the guns, when they are allowed two hours
for dinner, falling in again at 2 and drilling till
4.30, when they dismiss and go home, having of
course all the rest of the day to themselves. These
hours are easy enough, yet, short as they are, from
the men liking the exercise (especially the broad
sword), they contrive to make astonishing profi-
ciency when the time of their drill is taken into
coesideration. Yesterday on board the Brilliant,
from the time the word was given to fall in till
they had fired three rounds from each gun at 400,
600, and 800 yards' elevation, was only four minutes

—a most creditable result when it is recollected
that some of the- men had only been a week at
quarters, and none had fully completed their 28
days.

The advantages which are held out to induce the
able seamen to join this reserve are apparently so
great that one requires to investigate carefully the
causes which have led the mass of the able seamen,
up to almost the present time, to regard the whole
plan with a feeling which, if not quite dislike, was
at least one of considerable suspicion. Each man
during drill receives a guinea a week pay, in addi-
tion to the .£6 yearly, paid every quarter, half year,
or year, as he may please. During actual service
in the navy (if they are ever called upon) they re-
ceive the same pay as continuous service men, or
about 9s. a month more than other able seamen.
They are entitled to receive the same bedding,
clothing, and mess traps on joining as those that
ship for continuous service; and after enrolment in
the volunteers for 15 years, whether called out or
not, they can claim their discharge and their pen-
sion forthwith. With such inducements it was
not unnaturally thought that the men would flock
to be enrolled in hundreds. Yet, though some
three months have elapsed since the scheme
was promulgated, very little more than 1,000
able seamen have been entered, These, however, it
must be admitted, are all picked men ; and, as the
weekly number of enrolments now shows a steady
increase there seems very little doubt but that be-
fore the year expires at least between 3,000 and
4,000 will be on the lists. The proportion of petty
officers and able seamen to ordinary seamen and
boys employed in the navy is about one-third, and
scarcely any of the best manned vessels now in the
Channel Fleet muster more than 250 able seamen
among their blue-jackets.

According to this computation, then, already the
reserve can furnish crews for four sail•of-the-line,
and there is no reason why this number should not
be at least quadrupled under proper management,
as we have said, even before the year is out. The
first fear of the seamen, that immediately after en-
tering the reserve they would be sent out to China
and other foreign stations, is now fast wearing out,
and, except at one or two little ports in the north,
has almost disappeared. One cause of dissatisfac-
tion, however, still remains, and that is that the sea-
men do not receive their quarter's bounty on enter-
ing the reserve, but only when they have completed
the three months, and this rule is adhered to,
though in the great majority of instances no drill is
demanded at all during this first quarter. No class
of the community is more accessible to the induce-
ments of ready money payment than sailors, and
none, as a general rule, are so little influenced by
prospective advantages. Therefore, when to the
suspicion of being sent abroad is added the draw-
back of having to wait three months before they get
their bounty, a very superior and provident class of