The rewards for long and meritorious service which are bestowed upon our brave defenders, form a more pleasing subject than the last these are given in the shape of titles, pensions, promotions, and decorations. The sovereign has, as you know, the right of bestowing any distinction upon a subject. Peerages and baronetcies are frequently given to the heroes of great military achievements, and the people of England are by no means backward in granting the substantial means necessary for keeping up those dignities, as witness the provision made for Marlborough and Wellington by a grateful nation, and in our time for Williams, the gallant defender of Kars, for the son of the brave and lamented Havelock, and for Lord Napier of Magdala. The Order of the Bath is a decoration much coveted by military and naval officers. There is also a civil branch of this Order for non-combatants: it is divided into three ranks : Knights Grand Crosses-G.C.B.; Knights Commanders-K.C.B.; and The decoration is a star. The order of St. Michael and St. George is bestowed upon officers in the army and navy who have distinguished themselves in the Mediterranean. But perhaps the most highly-prized decoration worn by our army and navy is the lately instituted Victoria Cross. This is a plain piece of bronze, but upon it is imprinted the magic motto, For Valour," and it is only awarded for the most devoted and daring bravery in the field. 66 Medals are often struck to commemorate successful actions or campaigns, and are distributed to, and worn by, all ranks that have taken part in them. The medal itself commemorates the campaign; and clasps are frequently added to the ribbon which suspends it, upon each of which is engraved the name of the particular action for which the wearer has received it. Pensions are given to non-commissioned officers and privates, who from wounds or infirmity are no longer fit for service. Out-pensioners receive their pay, and live where they please. Some, the youngest and most vigorous of these, are enrolled for further service, if required, and are called out for exercise every year. In-pensioners are lodged and maintained in the Hospitals at Chelsea near London, and Kilmainham in Dublin. MILITIA AND YEOMANRY. 95 I must now draw this very long Letter to a conclusion, although, perhaps, I have not told you all you might like to hear about our soldiers. But, before I close it, there is a force which I must not omit to describe, as it is the ancient constitutional guardian of our shores, and of late years has proved an admirable nursery for the regular army, I mean the Militia. This term, in its general sense, signifies the whole body of persons, stipendiary or not, who bear arms for the defence of the State; but now its meaning is restricted to the forces raised in our counties and commanded by their lordslieutenant. Formerly the Militia was raised by ballot-every person upon whom the lot fell was bound to serve or find a substitute—but now its recruits are enlisted and bounty given to them as in the regular army. Every county has its regiment of Militia, the large ones having several: thus Middlesex has five, and Lancashire and Yorkshire eight apiece. Counties upon the sea-coast form regiments of artillery and rifles; those in the interior, infantry. These are generally called together once every year for training during a period of from twenty to twenty-seven days, or longer, at the option of the Government. Under recent Acts of Parliament the Militia may be permanently embodied, and even sent abroad. During the late war with Russia, many garrisons, both at home and in the Mediterranean, were manned by Militia regiments so embodied, much to their own credit and greatly to the advantage of the State, for we were thus enabled to withdraw the regular troops from those places, and to send them to reinforce our hard-worked battalions before Sebastopol. Moreover, the Militia supplied thousands of recruits for the line,men who had had some experience of a soldier's life, liked it, and were already more than half-trained to their duties. The officers and men of the Militia, except the adjutant and staff, are only paid when called out for training, or as long as they are embodied. The commissions of the former are signed by the lord-lieutenant of the county, but the adjutant is appointed by the Queen. In England and Wales we have ninety-nine regiments of Militia; in Scotland, sixteen; and in Ireland, forty-five. The number of men to be called up for 27 days' training is stated at 128,969. A somewhat similarly constituted force to the Militia is the Yeomanry, but greatly subordinate to it in importance; one object for which it is kept up being apparently to provide certain country gentlemen with a showy uniform, wherewith to make a figure at court, instead of the unbecoming footmanlike costume in which etiquette demands that simple gentlemen must appear at Her Majesty's levees and drawing-rooms. The last branch of the military service to which it is necessary for me to refer is the Volunteer force. Owing its origin to the dread of a French invasion, it has survived the cause from which it sprang, and has now become a permanent element in our system of national defence. At present it consists of about 160,000 men, who give their services gratuitously, although a small sum is annually voted by Parliament in order to defray a portion at least of the necessary expenses of the various corps. LETTER XII. THE NAVY. Popularity of the Navy-Early History-Naval Ascendancy-Prizes of War-Size of Men-of-War-The Board of Admiralty-Rating of Ships-Officers of a Man-of-War-Stations of Ships-Pay of Officers -Relative Army and Navy Rank-Commissions in the Navy-Pay of Warrant Officers-of Sailors-Pensioners-The Coast GuardRoyal Marines-Pay in the Marines. THE navy of Great Britain is perhaps the most popular of our national forces, and deservedly so. Our army has won us honour and triumphs abroad, but it is to the navy that we owe our security at home. From the time when Lord Howard of Effingham, with his great sea captains Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, scattered before them the wrecks of the socalled "Invincible" Spanish Armada, down to that eventful day when Nelson's victorious cannons roared in the Bay of Trafalgar, it has been our best bulwark against the invader, and but for our stout wooden walls, his devastating footsteps might even now be traced upon our pleasant pastures. The navy has never been looked upon with suspicion as a force which might be employed by an unconstitutional sovereign to curtail the liberties and rights of the people. On the contrary, save during that humiliating epoch in our history when our king was the pensioner of a French monarch, and applied to his vices and pleasures the sums which should have gone to maintain the fleet, it has been the special care both of governors and governed to keep up its strength and efficiency. In the year 1707 the House of Lords, in an address to Queen Anne, said, “that the honour, security, and wealth of this kingdom depend upon the protection and encouragement of trade, and the improving and right encouraging its naval strength. . . therefore we do, in the most earnest manner, beseech your majesty that the sea affairs may always be your first and most peculiar care." It will be an evil day for H England when the principle laid down in this address is departed from. Previous to the reign of Elizabeth our sovereigns had but few ships of war. The naval force collected to oppose the Armada was the largest armament that had ever been brought together under an English commander. It consisted of 176 ships and about 15,000 men. But of this fleet only 40 ships and 6000 sailors belonged to the royal navy; the rest were contributed by London, Bristol, Yarmouth, the Cinque Ports, &c. The navy had not yet become a separate service and distinct profession. Our captains were soldiers or sailors as occasion required. At the battle of Flodden Field the admiral of England led the right wing of the army, and Lord Howard of Effingham was never bred up to the sea. The career of John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, shows how naval appointments were made in the latter part of the sixteenth century. At the age of seventeen he volunteered to serve at sea against the Dutch, and after six weeks returned home to take the command of a troop of horse. Six years afterwards he was made captain of an eighty-four gun ship, although in the whole course of his life he had never been three months afloat. A short time afterwards he was given a regiment of foot! Under the first sovereigns of the house of Stuart our navy degenerated; but the vigorous and able administration of Oliver Cromwell speedily raised it to a magnitude and power hitherto unknown. He divided it into rates and classes, and under the command of Admiral Blake it not only equalled, but surpassed, the famous marine of Holland. James II.—himself a naval commander and his own Lord High Admiral—also paid great attention to marine affairs. At his abdication, the fleet amounted to 173 sail, measuring 101,892 tons, and having on board 6930 guns, and 42,000 seamen. Since this time the efficiency of the royal navy has steadily increased, and although there have been periods in which the combined fleets of France and Spain and other coalitions have deprived us for a short time of our ascendancy, the victories of Rodney, Howe, Duncan, St. Vincent, and Nelson soon restored to us that sovereignty of the sea to which, from our extended empire, our enormous commerce,* and our maritime habits and prowess, we may still justly lay claim. * Some idea may be formed of the gigantic extent of the British commercial marine, from the fact that in 1863 it comprised 20,877 vessels, of 4,795,279 tons, and manned by 184,727 sailors. |