, 1889-09-07

patriotic SuppllcallOn WHICH, ueuIcdieS W
protection "The persons of us Thy servants
and the fleet in which we serve. Preserve
ma from the dangers of the sea, and from the
violence of the enemy that we may be a
safeguard unto Our Most Gracious Sovereign
Lady, Queen Victoria, and her dominions,
and a security for such as pass on the seas
upon their law fuloccaSionS; that the inhabi-
tants OF our Island may in peace and qul-
etness serve Thee, our God and that we
may return in safety to enjoy the blessings
of the land, with the fruits of our labOurS,
and with a thankful remembrance OF Thy
m ercies to praise and gIorify Thy holy
name" The words of this petition. and
the manly piety breathed III the address
which followed upon the text ''Ihy roWerS
have brought thee into great waters, had
special force and interest in sight OF the
long sea columns of the Queens fighting
ships stretching in dusky and pulSsant
: lines from the Spithead forts far away into
the grey haze of the Solent.
To-day opened with dubious and fearful
weather, slight d~rizzling showers a%lternat-
ing with CLEANS of blue sky. At eight a.
M, upon a signal from the flagship, the
whole feet dressed, streams of vivid col
ours going suddenly up aloft from mast
head TO masthead, the most powerful war.
ships, unluckily, furnishing the worst
show, for want of anything, except their
signalling pole, on which to stretch the
bunting. All the yachts and merchant
vessels anchored round the fleet, or cruis-
ing hither and thither, ran up every dis
possible ensign and p%ennant, so that the
heavy sky became spangled with
lively luttering patches of glad colour,
which seemed to signal better temper to
the clerk of the weather, who put on an
ovfCo hlOT onA lpnVn tho haOly Ot pIOudS
to leeward past Soutbsea and SelSea Bill,
exposing once more the blue sky. Encou,
ragged by this improvement, parties were
: organised for an interchange OF visits be-
tween the great passenger steamers, our
tender, the little Cambria, passing and
repassing over a dancing sea.
To-day the melancholy disappointment
of Saturday was to be atOned for and
effaced. At $50 the German Emperor
would surely make his desired progress in
State through the sea lines, and Sc" the
warships and hear their voices laundering
a salute. Neither his Imperial Majesty,
however, nor anyone else who IS not at
once a naval officer and an expert can TO IN
from inspection any adequate idea of the
belligerent value Of this vast Armada
through which he is now starting TO pass.
To an ordinary eye which has witnessed
bygone sea reviews, it is less imposing
than the black Warriors and Lord WaIdens
OF the early age of armour, ard far less
like queens of the water" than Sir John
Pakington's grand old three-deckerS, with
their clouds of canvas. Naked, meagre,
grim, and little appear most Of these
elaborate and deadly monsters into the
midst of which the Royal yacht steamS. A
certain bedute de didble attaches no doubt
TO the ponderous AdmiralS,' but who
can admire the hIdeouS Citation, Rupert,
and Hotspur. or find any sea charm in
the pyramidal Devastation or the insight
fcant sable Spider and Sandhy? The
belted cruisers of the frst-claSs, such as
the Undaunted, NarcisSuS, Galatea, and
Aurora, have certainly a touch of c0mell-
ness as we'll as of prodigious power in their
low, square barbetteS and trim bulls, pick
ed out with dove colour, drab, light blue,
or grey. But what a difference in grace
between the " Saucy Arethusa " Of the sea
pictures and the sea stories and that dark
pole-maSted slooplOoking craft, which the
Emperor approaches, bearing her ancient
and honoured name! The white Magl-
cienne would look we'll in a marine paint
ing; and the Northampton and the Shan
non, frSt-claSS armoured cruisers, take
the sailors fancy but he would say be-
yOnd all question that the handsOmeSt
vessel in the feet is yOnder stately and
graceful Black Prince, whose majestic hull
and towering mastS and yards rise above