THE Thames Advertiser. WEDNESDAY, DECR. 4, 1878.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XI, Issue 3185, 4 December 1878, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. WEDNESDAY, DECR. 4, 1878.

e It is patent to the'ablest and most thoughtful officers in the British service, that the present military strength of Great Britain is utterly below the mighty position our great Empire occupies in the affairs of the world ', in fact, if an emergency suddenly arose, it would be found to be insufficient.

Glancing our eyes across the silver streak that separates Old England from the rest of Europe, we find, not armies, but whole nations armed to the teeth with the best weapons, and leaving nothing undone that can contribute to their astounding strength. The political horizon in Europe is far from clear or satisfactory; in fact it indicates an approach to stormy. It must be admitted by the peace-al-any-price party—who form a large portion of the community in the old country—that there are national interests, and such a thing as national honour, that may compel a Government to send their troops into the field, notwithstanding their non - intervention principle—carried of late to an extent that, if practised in our forefathers' time, would never have given us the various military and commercial positions they have dotted the face of the globe with. What of Holland and Belgium—have we no vital interests and national honour placed there? Why did Nelson inscribe "Copenhagen" amongst the roll of our great feats of arms, but that we were afraid of the Baltic Sea becoming a Russo-F;e-jch lake? What enormous interests have we not in Egypt, the high road to our Indian possessions ? Look at India and the steady, incessant, encroachment of Russia. Now, to protect those vital interests, what have we? Leaving out our Indian forces, which have yet to be proved, our entire available force wou'd barely amount to one of our neighbours' corps d'arui6e, whilst almost every one of them could produce a dozen. We are proud, and rightly so, of our "thin red line," but then the " stuff" composing that line is as different as a strong, muscular, well-developed man is to a weak, puny, lad; and this latter, we are sorry to say, from what we can gather, is the stuff composing the " thin red line" of the present day. The difference in the physique of the rank and file of the line and that of the Home volunteers was mentioned repeatedly in the last session of the House of Commons. Of the Home Militia, recruited as it is in many districts from the dregs of society, the same remarks will apply. The remedy for this state of affairs has been suggested in the shape of a proposition that the volunteers of Great Britain and her dependencies shall be taken for foreign service in case of necessity. In the case of war the volunteers would be called out for garrison duties under any circumstances, and we see no reason why the more ardent spirits should not be accepted for more active service. That indomitable spirit of enterprise, which even sends its annual victims to the dangers of scaling Swiss mountains, which is so constantly seen by flood and field, will in a period of strife require other outlets than manning city walls.