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    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 confessliis most faithful and valuable aids to have been his maps and charts . Prom 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 sens of the

    British isles . Of these , 270 were total wrecks , 84 were sunk by leaks or collisions , 16 were abandoned , and 304 were stranded and damaged so as to require them to discharge cargo . As nearly as can be 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 be ascertained , was 750 ; and the name documents inform us that tho past year ( 1852 ) far exceeded the 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 valuableinstitution has contributed , through the instrumentality of its lifeboats and other means , to the saving of nearly 0000 lives fjinco its first establishment in 1824 . "

    After reading those facts , the mind is pleasantly relieved when it reflects upon tho groat and noble work in the hands of Lieutenant Maury and his coadjutors , — competitors with Britannia for tho honour of ruling the waves . Tito chart of Maury will bo to tho mariner tho direct invorso of tho " Wreck Chart . " While tho one in tho dark record of calamity , the other is tho enlightening index to avoid calamity . Ono records tho consequences of postponing tho endeavour to obtain tho other , which points out tho pa 1-11 of safety from which so many vessels havo strayed . 11- is not to bo supposed that Mr . jVJaury ' s charts can Pm . present tho perfect form which will ultimately . ; s ,- . i \ ^ fy Qfofaq ^ from thorn . Probably , tho earlier ^ '' VV ¦¦¦ '' " £ jy ? p ^ - \ r bjch he constructs will be interoKl-ing at ( , / - ^* * . J no ^ difirtant period , to mark tho progress made- by , _ ,. / - .- ; : ; t . Jhgfcp ' perfect charts of the samo kind ; but at tho r (' .- ' , ! 'f V ' , fl ^ n x ^ time we must remember thai ; this uho of OV ' .:, "' :. / ^ Jcjiimtific moans will in itself be ono great assist-\ , < : ¦/' £ , - T 74 fc ^ o ,. . ' elevating tho standard of ability and ac-- - r '"* ' ^ ttonV ( jliHb . ment amongst master mariners ; nnd $ & -4 Q ' $ h $ J . ' » $ uiii must bo attended by a corresponding improvement of tho men under their charge . The nation that possesses the moHt perfect charts will possess also the most neconiplished mariners .

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    CHARLES JAMES NAPIER . If it were merely as a brave and trained soldier 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 .

    Few 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 lie 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 sustained 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 , the temper of the 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 l < abian stylo of fighting which may save defeat , and wear out an enemy by procrastination ; but tno true method of active victory is an aggression severer than that of tho enemy , and a defence

    more rapid . The rushing conflict may bo more certain death to tho very few ; but it is still more certain death to tho enemy ; and as an example of success in such warfare as that of Meanee . Napier was in his own person a living stand '"' to the soldiers . And wo must have tho }> " *« men of fresh fields before bo can bo quito replaced . But , in many other respects , ho was a rt > mmaiuler peculiarly suited to our day : that shared the confidence of Wellington is prove d 0

    by the anecdote told of them . It waH «»' moral coercion from the great Captain that-IN ' M ' ^ undertook his hist command in India . JJ | ! A reluctant to accept it , and declined . .. '„ then , " naid Wellington , " I must tf ° my B ' ^ But to proven I ; ho great a sacrifice , by an » ¦ , man , Napier wont . Tho anecdote shows < Wellington considered Napier as being im ° j . valeut for himself . Nevertheless , tll < L ^! jjl 0 U t torisf-irH o , f the men greatly differed . j ;| ,,. ir entering into a professional distinction n ^< ^ Htyle of warfare quite unnuitod to our P ° ' <<) r distinctions appeared in their porsonal onw ^ Cool , systematic , mathematical in Jub p lnriH , ^ Jingf-on was perhaps of 'ill men the """ ofioiifl likely to eovnbino a power of largo <' V | in (; t suflioienl ; to moot ; Napoleon with M »"' . ^ of unquestioning discipline which outu ^ to aecoi ) fc a pout an tho instrument < h ™

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    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 r an advantage for the English people to be trained in the 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 men , 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 be equally ready to perform . It is a pity that steps are not taken to extend this experiment to all parts of England . Why should not the whole military force of the United

    Kingdom , including tho Militia and Volunteer Corps , benefit , at least once in tho year , by the practical experience of camp-life ? By no other proceeding , short of actual service , can tho soldier and tho officer acquire so much knowledge of the realities of thoir profession , and ho becomo duly fitted to tho exigencies of the time . Strenuously as our diplomatists battle for peace , war may burst upon Europe at any moment ; for tho passions of mankind are stronger even than their interests , and we have not yet learned to place national honour as second to material prosperity . But apart from this imperial

    consideration , ivo are disposed to advocate encampments on the ground of their good effects on tho men . Our defensive forces have a right to the completes !; education they can obtain , and an inkling of what regular service is can only be secured to tho Militia by camp-lifo . Every rustic labourer and village mechanic who goes through even the brief discipline of the Militia ,, is a bettor man physically and morally , and if he got his training under canvass , in company with some thousands of his fellows , whore i ; ho whole of his fiicultioH " would bo absorbed in bis military duties , the improvement would be far greater .

    Lei ; us observe some effects illustrated by tho experiments beyond the purely military knowledge acquired . Tho men were tried in discipline and temper . They were taught many tlungH which they did not know before . They conceived some ideas which probably never entered their heads until | , | ,., | , day- —knowledge , for example , of warlike instrumen ' tH , and their scale of action . They could better appreciate any

    danger that threatened their country and ft means of resisting it . But perhaps the nw useful fact of all was , that the y underwen t tV duties for thqsake of their country . The dured hardship , they earne d praise , they accmir ^ practice in handling warlike weap ons— -and tl associated these things with the idea of chit t the nation . The men henceforward will be m handy ; more capable of self-control , doubt , with some sense of patriotic feeling 1 ? °

    yond the plain instinct which sleeps in tha W of a Suffolk labourer . Could the same awalL ing be worked in the minds of all E nglishmen " how much more powerful would our country b at this moment , how much more capable would the people be even for other things than mere military work .

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    852 THE LEADER . [ Satur ^ y - ¦ ¦ , r —rinrr i - ¦ n r i n « . ' * .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1853, page 852, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2002/page/12/