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852 THE L E AD E R. [Saturday ,
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THE SUFFOLK ARTILLERY CORPS AS AN EXAMPL...
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CHARLES JAMES NAPIER. If it were merely ...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Charts. Many A Man How Foremost Amongst ...
passed from the bottom to the top of his class by having , while not forgetting details , thoroughly mastered the essentials of his subject ; and amongst the materiel of his study he will confess his most faithful and valuable aids to have been his maps and charts .. From these , landmarks and boundaries , orbits and eclipses , social convulsions and treaty settlements , were daguerreotyped upon his brain . With his chart he sailed along the stream of history , ascended at pleasure Mont Blanc or his subordinates ; could
tell the various shades of criminal degradation in different parts of his island by corresponding shades of colour . He was taught to use his chart to learn the course of the eccentric comet , and he now uses a little chart , triangularly lined , to describe the course and distance of his daily ride with the eccentric cabman . A chart is an artistic impression of results , frequently arrived at through the most lengthened and elaborate investigation , and its great value arises from its comprehensiveness . It . enables you to possess the outline of your subject , leaving the interstices to be supplied at leisure .
By a " Wreck Chart of the British Isles , " which has issued from the " Harbour Department of the Admiralty , " we learn the sacrifice of life amongst mariners , —a sacrifice which appears to have been on the increase . " The whole line of sea coast , from the Orkneys to the Lizard , is dotted with a series of black marks , each mark indicating a shipwreck . The whole coast of the United ^ Kingdom bristles with these lugubrious dottings . " Acting on ¦ the good old rule , that , when the horse is gone you lock the stable door , our rulers have procrastinated the use of proper
machinery for the preservation of human life , until the day after the calamity . " The promptitude with which our brave fishermen and seamen peril their lives to save those of others is above all praise ; " while , on the other hand , " the unprovided state of our coasts in regard to lights , life boats , mortars , and rockets , is disgraceful" to an executive which has the power to make it otherwise . The loss of half a million of property yearly is of small account in comparison to the loss of human life—in this case the real property of the widows and orphans .
" In the year 1850 no less than 681 vessels were wrecked on the coasts and within the seas of the British isles . Of these , 270 were total wrecks , 84 were sunk hy leaks or collisions , 1 G were abandoned , and 304 were stranded and damaged so as to require them to discharge cargo . As nearly as can bo ascertained , 780 lives were lost from these casualties . We also learn , from the reports of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck , that , during the year 1851 , 701 vessels were wrecked on our coasts , and tho number of lives lost , as far as could bo ascertained , was 750 : and the same
documents inform us that the past year ( 1852 ) far exceeded tho two former periods , as respected shipwrecks , in amount and fatality , no less than 1100 vessels having been wrecked , accompanied by the fearful loss of 900 lives . It is gratifying to add that this old and valuable institution has contributed , through the instrmncnttility of its lifeboats and other means , to tho saving of nearly 9000 lives since its first establishment in 18 ^ i . "
After reading those facts , tho mind is pleasantly rclioved when it reflects upon tho great and noble ? work in tho hands of Lieutonji . nl ; Maury and hi . s coadjutors , — competitors with Britannia for tho honour of ruling the waves . Tho chart of Maury will bo to the mariner tho direct inverse of the " Wreck Chart . " While tho one is tho dark record of calamity , the other is tho enlightening index to avoid cjiljunity . One records tho consequences of postponing
the endeavour to obtain tho other , which points out tho path of safety from which ho many vessels havo strayed . Jt is not to bo supposed ( hat Mr . jvlaury's charts can present tho perfect form which , will ultimately bo derived from thorn . Probably , the earl i or charts which ho constructs will be interesting at no distant period , to mark tho progress made by more perfect charts of tho same kind ; but at tho samn time we must remomber that this use of
scientific means will in itself bo one great nssistjmco in elevating the- standard of ability and accomplishment amongst master murincrs ; and that again must be attended by a corresponding ¦ improvement of the men under their charge . The nation that possesses tho most perfect charts will possess also the mowt ucuomplitfiiod marinura .
852 The L E Ad E R. [Saturday ,
852 THE L E AD E R . [ Saturday ,
The Suffolk Artillery Corps As An Exampl...
THE SUFFOLK ARTILLERY CORPS AS AN EXAMPLE . That which we have often argued from our conviction on general grounds , has been worked out in practice , through considerable difficulties , by the population of Suffolk . We have contended that it would be an advantage t for the English people to be trained in" ihe necessary knowledge and practice of military life , so far as the knowledge and practice are required for an effective defence of the country . It has been presumed that such training would be difficult , — that the means could not be found , —that if the
men were actually mustered , the apparatus collected , still they would want the life and zeal for the purpose . It has been said that the English disposition is so thoroughly averse from the restraints , as well as the excitements , of military life , that the men could only be got to do the duty by the process of regular enlistment . Some of us could have told better than this , from the experience gained in the time of the war ; but most are too young to have a practical knowledge how it was then effected . Certain Suffolk people , however , have worked out the proposition for themselves , and we may now start from their
experience . The regiment was raised in 1852 ; it is five hundred strong ; and it was trained for three weeks without arms in November last . At first it was destined for light infantry service , but it was transferred to the artillery branch of the militia ; and on the first of July it assembled for a month ' s training under canvass . It was encamped on a peninsula at the mouth of the Orwell , stretching into the estuary . The strip of land , about a mile broad , is entirely surrounded by water , except at the point where it is cut off from the main land by marsh . The regiment
is almost entirely composed of young mep , who had only the three weeks '" training which we have mentioned , and had no knowledge of camp life , its duties , contrivances , or hardships . The whole body went through the service admirably —could perform the manual and platoon exercise , and the ordinary evolutions ; could furnish two detachments for field guns ; could man the battery guns on Languard Fort ; could keep their tents and themselves in cleanliness and order ; could cook well , and could endure the rains and gales in that spot in a harsh summer without losing temper or cheerfulness .
These men , however , were nothing more than farm-labourers or mechanics from the town of Suffolk ;—in other words , Englishmen ; and what they could do , other Englishmen do ; what they would do , other Englishmen would bo equally ready to perform . It is a pity that steps are not taken to extend this experiment to all parts of England . Whyshould not tho whole military force of the United Kingdom , including tho Militia and Volunteer Corps , benefit , at least once in the year , by tho of
practical experience camp-life F By no other proceeding , short of actual service , can the soldier and the officer acquire so much knowledge of the realities of their profession , and so becomo duly fitted to the exigencies of the time . Strenuously as our diplomatists buttle i ' peace , war may burst upon Europe at any moment ; for the passions of mankind are stronger even than their interests , and we havo not yet learned to place national honour jis second to material prosperity . But apart from this imperial consideration , wo are disposed to advocate encamp-I . ^ a s a m a ' ¦ s u k ments the
* on ground of their good effects on tho men . Our defensive forces have aright to tho completes ! , education they can obtain , : \ ud an inkling of what regular service is can only bo secured to the Militia by eamp-Jife . Every rustic labourer and village mechanic who goes through even the brief discipline of tho Militia ,, in a better man physically and morally , and if he got his training -under canvass , in company with some thousands of Jiis fellows , whore- ibe whole of his faculties would be absorbed in his , military duties , the improvement would be . far grdator . ,
Let us observe somo effects illustrated by tho experiments beyond the purely military knowledge Jioquired . Tho men were tried in discipline and temper . They were taught many things which they did not iniow before . They conceived some ideas which probably never entered their heads until Mint day—Wow ledge , for example , of warlike , instrument , and their sealo of action . They could better appreciate any
danger that threatened their country , andtl means of resisting it . But perhaps the nio f useful fact of all was , that they underwent th duties for the sake of their country . Thev ° dured hardship , they earned praise , they acquirer ! practice in handling warlike weapons aiicf th associated these things with the idea ' of duty t ^ the nation . ^ The men . henceforward will be mor ° handy ; more capable of self-control , and n ° doubt , with some sense of patriotic feelinV L *
yond the plain instinct which sleeps in the . bosom of a Suffolk labourer . Could the same awaken ing be worked in the minds of all Englishmen * how much more powerful would our country be at this moment , how much more capable-w ould the people be even for other things than mere military work .
Charles James Napier. If It Were Merely ...
CHARLES JAMES NAPIER . If it were merely as a brave and trained sold ier that we had to regard General Napier , we might say that for the one who has died , to-day , there are many to take his place . Bravery , or love of military life , and aptitude for the more businesslike part of military affairs are characteristics of the Englishman . But there were attributes of Napier which are not to be replaced until fresh opportunities shall have enabled new men to earn them .
Pew have been tried as he was in vicissitudes and danger , and have been able to come forth alive and sound . He ran the risk of so many deaths , that it was ten to one that he should have died before he reached the position which he ultimately acquired . Entering the army at twelve years of age , he was of course exposed to additional risk through his extreme youth .. In . 1804 , commanding a regiment as Major in Sir John Moore ' s retreat from Corunna > he sustain ed three great , wounds .: in attempting to storm a battery , the outer bone of his leg was
broken by a bullet ; trying to hobble back to his regiment , with his sword as a walking-stick , a soldier pierced him in the back with a bayonet ; having turned and defended himself vigorously with his sword , he was felled by a third man with a sabre cut on the skull , and was then rescued by one of the enemy whom he had made his friend by such determined courage . At that time he was twenty years of age . At Busaco he was shot through the face . Passing through the storm of Cambray unscathed , we find him , in 1842 , conquering with two thousand men the Beloochee force of 35 , 000 at Meanee . In 1847 he again arrived to command in India , only too late to take his share in the Sikh victories .
Through this long career of active service , with an unusual share of danger and actual wounds , tho temper of tho metal from which he was made underwent a trial which few could have sustained ; and he stood , therefore , to the British army as a model of that extreme audacity through which victory is won . There is a prudent . Fabian style of fighting which may save defeat , and 1 A 71 ' 11 < s ~ \ I * i " mi ^ - * v \ i ~» % v » - » r l \ ir rviiArti'O cW ' i Tr » OT"l /~^ T 1 Itilu LIlU wear out an bprocrastination but tho
enemy y ; true method of active victory is an aggression severer than that of tho enemy , Jind a defence more rapid . The rushing conflict nmy bo moro certain death to the very few ; but it is still moro certain death to the enemy ; and as an examp le of success in such warfare as that of Mcaneo . Napier was in his own person a living standard to the soldiers . And we must havo tho picKOi
men of fresh fields before ho can be quito replaced . But , in many other respects , ho was a ^ ' mander peculiarly suited to our day : that Ji shared tho confidence of Wellington is pr ° " by the anecdote told of them . It w « fl u " ¦' moral coercion from the great Captain thatJN ajM ^ undertook his last command in India , - ^^' reluctant to accept it , and declined . v .., > iuii . ii ; i > uui > i , o accept n , ana tu . t ; iuiuu . ,,. >¦
then , " said Wellington , " I must go myBtj ^ But to prevent so great a sacrifice ,. by » " ° \\ man , Napier went . The anecdote bIiom'S t Wellington couriered Napier as being nil < " 1 valent for himself . Nevertheless , lll ( LA . } ,, ( JHt teristicH of the men greatly differed . VyH- ^ entering into a professional distinction m ' ^ style of warfare quite unsuited to our I ' ( '>(() r > distinctions appeared in their personal (! 'im'' ^( lj . Coo ] , systematic , mathematical in ] ii » p lnnn , ^ ^ lingtoii was perhaps of all men the one ' likely to combine n power of largo coin !"" n _ t Hullicient to meet Napoleon with t » j " ^ of unquestioning discipline- which enal > 1 ( _ ^ to accept a post aw tho instrument ot wo
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03091853/page/12/
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