NATIONAL DEFENCE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Sm—I have been a subscriber to your newspaper since the year 1840; and I will not yield to Sir William Molesworth or any other gentleman in the respect I feel for the ability, honesty, and independence, which mark the character of your journal. I therefore request permission to put the following queries to Sir Wil- liam Molesworth, in return for the numerous questions put in his letter to you; and the drift and object of which questions I confess it seems to me difficult to comprehend.
1. Why do the French maintain a Standing Army of 850,000 regular troops, more formidable for their discipline, organization, and materiel, than the French Army has ever been /mown at any former period, together with a Militia, it may be called, of nearly 1,000,000, and this without any colonies or distant possessions to defend; whilst England, with about one hundred colonies to protect, has an Army of 105,000 men, and no Militia?
2. On what principles are we called upon to place such implicit reliance on the promises and friendly feelings of the French, when the falsehood, deceit, and treachery, which marked the Spanish marriages are still fresh in our recollection?
3. When every Naval officer in the service, of any rank or professional name, states that the Navy alone cannot secure this country from invasion is it prts. dent to trust to that branch of the service, merely on the authority of a few igno- rant and interested individuals, who are totally unacquainted either with naval or
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