Page:The organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers explained.djvu/8

4 patriotism of the nautical and aquatic sections of the community, will not be urged in vain.

Eminent naval authorities have, for many years past, recommended the formation of a corps, for the purposes of coast defence, composed of persons who, while not possessing the wider experience of the seaman, are accustomed to the management of boats, and in the constant habit of going afloat. The Act for the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers, passed in the last session at the instance of the Admiralty, and the regulations recently issued under that Act, afford the most convincing proof that, in the estimation of those who are actually responsible for the efficiency of the naval service, such a force is desirable. The concurrence of the naval members of the late administration in the various steps which have been taken, may likewise be quoted, in order to show that there is a general desire, among those to whom the welfare of the navy is an especial object of solicitude, for the success of the movement, which it is the object of the present writer to explain.

It has been already stated that coast defence, and not service at sea, constitutes the especial sphere proposed for the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers. The term coast defence is perhaps, in a certain sense, a misnomer. The defence of the most important of our commercial harbours against an attack from the sea could not be effectually conducted by a force composed exclusively of men trained for the land service alone. The approach to all the great ports of the United