TRUE-BIEVIVER FOR A FADED NAVY. Orizsz -- -ap — On a time the jolly
sailor sang a sung addressed to "you etP_,ditlemen of England, who sit at home at ease" ; telling themlow -little did they think upon 44 the dangers of the seas." A sailor of is later generation, who ventured on shore, tliscovered that the -land 91130 has its perils, though the intrepid Cockney so habitually disregards them as to be unaware of their.existence ; and the ma- riner hastened back to the sea, telling his comrades how the house-tiles fly about in storms on shore, how people are run over, And se forth. Now-a-days, the 'dangers seem altogether trans- ferred to theland. Your ship is an asylum into which superan- nuated Admirals retirefor a fortnight's physicking, as to a sana- torium. On the other hand, a field of glory opens to railway- travellers, who meet death at every stationhouse, seeking. the bub- ble reputation even in the boiler's mouth. In these piping times of peace, the crash of battle is imitated in the collision of trains; the thundering broadside in the boiler-explosion ; the blood-stained -deck in the embankment or "cutting"; the after-terrors of the -cockpit in the labours of the surgeon at the neighbouring infir- mary Were it not for these casualties, we might fear that the boldness of the British race would die for want of use; since sailors give zis:amiserable report of inanition in the marine profession, once -so distinguished for its activity and reckless bravery. All the officers.entitled by rank to be leaders in active service are super- ..annuated—a sort of Greenwich pensioners, only not pensioned off; we have not ships enough at sea—it is doubted whether the mrolerto equip thirty or so that are now in ordinary is not-a sham; and even if we had ships, so little national pride is felt in the ser- vice that it is impossible to find enough men to man them. Our -coasting-service dwindles away, and the race of stokers super- -tedes that of able seamen. Our ships go to sea short of hands, Trove indifferent sea-boats ; they poke about with not much more earnestness than an old gentleman who has nothing to do, and jig more direct motive for exercise than the hope of getting an :appetite for his dinner; and while they are out, ten to one the venerable commander is in bed, under the care of the nurse. In 'Ake late cruise of the experimental squadron, which paddled about -'the sea just below our island in these summer-days, Admiral Parker was confined to his cabin for a fortnight. Perhaps, as a large portion of the men are " boys," it is thoughtthat the lands- -men at home will regard the-extreme old age of the officers as a kind of set-off, making the "'united ages" the average prime of fife '" Tell that to the marines"; for even on land we have other boys besides the adolescent,--poet-boys, "boys of Kilkenny," uld bays," and such samples of vieux garcons, to prevent our -being -deceived by the word. We do not assert these things, but iseerrthem -with regret, from sailors themselves. . jjt used not always to be so. Our.navel zerrime -was the pride
of the nation ; ,its jolly tarsmadea familiar plaything of danger, and took cut a sweet reward in the admiration of " all the world and his wife "—of the wife especially, to say nothing of the
daughter. It may be allnrery to rejoice in the decline of warfare as a source of glory, but until other nations,abandon the bloody trade we must be .prepared at least for defence ; and no defence for us, the sea-girt island, can be so appropriate, so effee- tive,_ so little aggressive, as an efficient marine. Our officers are possibly as brave as ever; but it' does not suffice to have brave officers, or even to have such as will retain presence of mind'in the face of danger : we want men familiar with danger, to whom the encounter is a task undertaken and performed with all the coolness and skill of constant practice. Not only our marine 'is getting idler than it was wont to be, when sailing-vessels required more labour than steamers, when voyages were less reduced to -a matter of calculation, but ashore our customs are less conducive to manly energy : our highly utilitarian pursuits, disregardizlg all but immediate and tangibly advantageous results, hinder manly exercises—dalliance with otherwise fruitless dangers for the very sake of the risk and excitement ; and bravery is be- coming too much a matter of principle, rather than instinctive habit. That is not the way to have an efficient marine. It is said of a distinguished living sea-captain that he declared mere courage insufficient for a sailor, who should be " foolhardy"; an hyperbole in the practice of which that same sea-captain won some of his proudest laurels. But men cannot be foolhardy on principle. They must be familiar with danger until it grows stale and flat, before they are thus tempted to snatch a grace be- yond the reach of intrepidity. If the advance of steam-navigation cripples our nursery for seamen—if the exacter systems of voyagieg deprive the sailor cif some healthy risks and chances—if our more tradesmanlike pur- suits make us less manly in our habits—and if protracted peace has extinguished some of the incentives and opportunities for naval prowess—let us supply the defects. No defence can super- sede an efficient navy for England, who now meets more rivals on the waters than ever she used to do ; and therefore we should male that force as efficient as possible. If we have no adventi- tious nursery for seamen, let the Navybe its own nursery. If there are no opportunities for the display of valour incidental to war, let us make them in peace, by finding pmployments, good to be followed, which involve risks and dangers : there are may experiences to be attained by practice in cruising in stormytimes, many aids to be extended to ships in distress, which would well become a marine representing the bravery of the nation. For- merly, when a warlike spirit was sought as a national virtue, and war offered not opportunity for its exercise, rulers made oppor- tunities in chivalric sports and manly exercises which imitated the hazard of the real field. Without encouraging war, we can cultivate in peace the manly valour which is fit to defend the helpless in danger, whether of sword or element. A model squadron perpetually cruising about near our blustering coasts, in fair weather or in foul, manned by volunteers, well paid, the Ob- ject of promotion, would be a nursery,and school for seamen, a terror to the world, a nucleus for the iiiiest iiaarine. The weal+ might strain the ships, and occasion sehses for repairs or the supply of losses ; brave men mightnen : but it would be a wise _ economy which cultivated the sailoii spirit rather thrill multi- plicity, of ships or " boys " ; and the7ife sacrificed to maintain for England peace and power would be cheerfully rendered in sight -of the nation. Depend upon it, the Coast Squadron would be the object of an eager and generous ambition.
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