The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-21 00:00:00

THE NAVAL BESEIIVE.

A numerous and highly-influential meeting of
British shipmasters and owners was held yester-
day, at the London Tavern, for the purpose of testi-
fying the approval of the persons present of the re-
cent order issued by the Lords of the Admiralty
for the organisation of the Naval Reserve. The
chair was taken by Richard Green, Esq. ; and on
the platform were W. S. Lindsay, Esq., M.P.,
Alderman Salomons, M.P., It. W. Crawford, Esq.,
M.P., R. D. Mangles, Esq., M.P., C. Wigram, Esq.,
W. Phillips, Esq.,
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said
that, having always taken a deep interest in the esta-
blishment of the Naval Reserve, he felt proud and
happy to see the officers of our mercantile marine
occupying their present proud position. The object
for which the present meeting had been called would,
he was sure, be acceptable to her Majesty in her afflic-
tion, for it would let her Majesty see how ready were
the officers and seamen of the mercantile marine to
rally round the Crown in defence of the British flag.
(Loud cheers.) They had all read the rules which
had just been issued, and the first observation he
should make respecting them was that he should
prefer to have the Naval Reserve called the Royal
Naval Volunteer Force, so as to assimilate them more
closely with the volunteers on shore. By the rules
mercantile commanders would rank with lieutenants,
and subalterns with subalterns, " with," not " after,"
not under. (Hear, hear.) As to rank both would
be equal, but on duty somebody must be first. He
for one thanked the Admiralty for placing the mer-
cantile marine in so honourable a position. The
second clause referred to the qualification. Ship-
masters must have a certificate of competency from
the Board of Trade, and must have commanded a ship
of not less than 500 tons for not less a period than two
years. Officers of such ships would have the ranks of
lieutenant and sub-lieutenant of the reserve. The
obnoxious point of the examination had been with-
drawn. The restriction of 45 years would be reduced
to 35 years. The next was a very valuable clause.
Masters of merchant vessels afloat, although above
the age, would be enrolled as honorary members of
the reserve. He was glad of this, because he did not
see why a man, because he was a little old, should not
have a finger in the pie. During active service pro-
motion would be exactly the same as it was in the
Royal Navy. He now came to the uniform, which
looked very fine, and no doubt would be tolerably
expensive. He hoped the common sense of our mer-
chant captains would prevent them wearing their
fine clothes too much in common. They might wear
them on board their own ships, but they must wear
them on duty, and so they should take care and not
wear them out too soon. (Hear, hear.) He was
sorry to see that the patterns were already being
exhibited in the office of the Shipping Gazette. The
drill would occupy 28 days each year, and having
paid a visit to the drill ship he could tell his
hearers that the work was more fun than anything
else. He trusted that, in addition, commanders
would have as much drill as possible on board
their own ships, so that any ship might in time be-
come a little man of war. (Hear, hear.) He be>
lievcd that if they did se they would very soon be
able to give a good account of the Yankees. (Cheers.)
The allowance to officers would be respectively 10s.
and 75., which was most liberal. It was not to be
looked upon as wages, but as an allowance for ne-
cessary expenses. He had been a'ked whether an
officer of the naval reserve could bo taken from his
ship at a foreign port. He believed there need be
no apprehension on that head, as he felt sure the
Admiralty would never be guilty of what must be
looked upon as an act of piracy. The intention, he
believed, was, that when all the other reserves,
coast guards, dockyard riggers, and pensioners had
been called in, and the country was in the extreme
of danger, then the naval reserve would be called
on, but not until then. And as these amounted to
26,000, there was no fear of the naval reserve being
°ailed out except in time of the greatest peril. The

scale of pay, pension, allowances would be pre-
cisely the same as in the Royal Navy. He hoped
and trusted that the resolutions which would be
offered would be agreed to, especially that one
which thanked the Lords of the Admiralty, and
especially Lord Clarence Paget, for the form in
which the reserve was now organised. (Hear,hear.)
He would now call on Captain. Daniells to move I
the first resolution.

Captain C. L. F. DANIELLS moved :—" That this
meeting being convened in consequence of the pro-
mulgation of the regulations for dicers of the mer-
chant service desirous of enrolling themselves as
officers for the Royal Naval Reserve, the comman-
ders and officers present cordially accept the same,
and pledge themselves heartily to co-operate with
the Government."
Captain D. D. WisnART, in seconding the reso-
lution, reminded the meeting that it was the mer-
chant service which had carried the British flag all
round the world. He believed that that service
would receive the new orders most cordially.
(Cheers.)

The resolution was put and carried unanimously.
Captain ALLEN Your moved, " That the com-
manders and officers now present desire to assure
her Majesty of their attachment to her person, and
their devoted loyalty to the British crown ; and
that they will at all times be prepared to co-operate
with her Majesty's navy whenever their services
may be required to man the national defences, or
uphold the honour of the British flag." He believed
that the mercantile marine would never be found
wanting when their country required their services.
As a proof of that he need only refer to the Russian
war, when they co operated so efficiently with the
royal navy, and transported not only our own troops,
but the French, Italian, and Turkish armies to the
scene of action. (Hear, hear.) They all knew how
the work was done, not a soldier, he believed, hav-
ing been lost at sea, although hundreds of transport
officers and men left their bones on the shores of the
Bosphorus. (Cheers.) Since then their services had
been equally valuable in India and China, and if
they should be called on again they would be equally
efficient. The mercantile officers would, he be-
lieved, be ready to serve with and under the officers
of the royal navy. (After.) Well, a mercantile
commander might have to serve under the junior
lieutenant of a line-of-battle ship. (Hear, hear, and
no, no.) He believed he would have to ask him for
a boat if he wanted to go on shore. (Hear.) He
thought, however, that on the whole the proposi-
tions were exceedingly fair; the mercantile officers
were not compelled to join, and if they did join they
could not object to be under the same rules as naval
officers. Captain Wilkes had been asked, " Would
ho have boarded a British man-of-war in the same
way as he boarded the Trent ?" and he replied,
" Certainly not." This showed how wise had been
the policy of the Government in abolishing all dis-
tinctions between the flags. (Cheers.) He hoped
that every merchant captain would qualify himself
for these appointments, and that those whose
private engagements permitted would at once
volunteer for active service. This would give an
excellent example to our merchant seamen, who
who were the best in the world, notwithstanding
all that had been said of them. (Loud cheers.) He
believed that those fine follows who followed their
commanders from ship to ship and from voyage to
voyage:would be glad to assist them in manning
the national ships. (Renewed cheers.) He begged
now to move the resolution, a task which he ac-
cepted as a very great honour.

Captain P. MASTERS seconded the resolution,
which was carried unanimously.
Mr. It. W. CRAWFORD, M.P., moved," That the
thanks of this meeting be tendered to the Lords of
the Admiralty for the opportunity they have now
given the officers of the mercantile marine to co-
operate with the royal navy,
and sneeseniapip4olit he
-
are due to Lord Clarencn
has always given to the officers of the merchant
vice.- no said that although not connected with
etif

shinninehe wished to show his sympathy with the
prehenctuevenienr. iney owed much to Mr. Lind-
say and to their Chairman, Mr. Green, for 'the pro-
portions which the movement had attained. They
owed a great deal also to Lord Clarence Paget and
to the Lords of the Admiralty, who he wes glad to

see so well appreciated the value of merchant sea-
men. He thought he saw in the present movement
the germ of a most important modification in the

naval service of the country, and a more general
employment of the mercantile marine than at pre-
sent. It was impossible that a service which in-
cluded so much skill, ability, and courage, should
not be equally distinguished in warfare. He for
one, therefore, hailed the present movement with
the greatest possible satisfaction, and should give
it his most strenuous support both in Parliament
and out of it.

Mr. PHILLIPS seconded the motion, observing
that one advantage of the movement would be to
abolish the infamous press gang for ever, One vo-
lunteer was worth two pressed men, and therefore
he hoped that the movement would go on until they
had volunteers enough to meet all the enemies of
their country—and to beattliem too. (Loud cheers.)
The motion was put and carried with one dis-
sentient.

A Mr. EVANS got upon the platform, and wished
to deliver his views respecting the Navigation Laws,
but was speedily put down by the meeting.
Capt. MANGLES, M.P., moved, " That this meet-

ing is unwilling to separate without tendering to
her Majesty the expression of its sincere condolence
on her Majesty's recenttheavy bereavement, toge-
ther with the hope that it may please Almighty
God to assuage her grief and long to spare her Ma-
jesty and her Rpyal house to direct the affairs of

this great country, and to reign over a loyal, con-
tented, and devoted people." There was, he said,
some sorrow too deep for words, and therefore he
should content himself by simply moving the re-
solution.

The motion was seconded by the Rev. Mr. JAY,
and carried unanimously.
Mr. C. H. WIGRAM moved that the foregoing re-
solutions be forwarded to the Lords of the Admi-
ralty. He wished, as the chairman had alluded to
the uniform, to call attention to the fact that the
inscription on the button was in the old English
character. Now, he believed that the old English
character was the finest in the world, and had sus-
tained our naval reputation when we had no regu-
lar royal navy. What they had done before they
could do again, and they would, he was sure, be to
the navy what the volunteers were to the army.
Captain WILSON seconded the motion.
Mr. CAMPBELL, while supporting all the resolu-
tions, objected to the limitation to captains of 500
ton ships. What was to be done with captains of
300 and 400 ton ships—were they to serve as com-
mon Jack Tars ? He thought that this was a ques-
tion that ought to be looked into.
Mr. LINDSAY, M.P., admitted that there was con-
siderable force in Mr. Campbell's observations,
but it would be admitted that a beginning must
be made somewhere. At first the thing was
limited to captains of ships trading to India,
and that had been conceded. Captains of 400 ton
ships would, of course, be most eligible, but those of
the larger vessels had greater experience, and should
be the first enrolled. It wee impossible to frame
any plan that would meet the views of all men, but
he must say that he thought the x ales, es at present
modified, were a great concession. The motion
was
carried unanimously.

Letters were read from Bristol, Cork, and Hull
approving of the order, after which

Mr. T. HANKEY, in moving a vote of thanks to
the chairman, testified to the skill and energy of
the captains of the smaller vessels, especially in the
West India service. He thought it would be most
grateful to the Queen to learn that all classes in the
merchant service were so eager to enter her Ma-
jesty's service. (Hear, hear.) He quite agreed