(Tre Admit and other naval officers have been making their voices heard at home of late, The state of the navy, its inability to cope with certain contingencies such as the alliance against England of two or more European naval powers, the want of a sufficient number of fast cruisers and coaling stations and of guns to arm some ships that are built and others that. are building have all \been discussed in public meetings, in letters to the newspapers, and articles in reviews, The First Lord of the Admiralty says in reply that he and his Department have done a great deal to put the navy in a proper condition, that they are doing more to this end, and that things naval are not nearly so bad his assailants make them out to be. Meanwhile, such addresses as that delivered by Admiral Colomb and Admiral Hornby, and the papers which Lord Charles Beresford has contributed to Nineteenth Century cannot fail to do a. great deal to enlighten the public mind, as to what the navy and the Service is and what it should be. Admiral Colomb's address at the Royal United Service Institution was mainly of an historical character, and its applicability to the present times rested onthe opinions which he gave on the kind of defence for Great Britain which should be adopted. Should it be a purely naval defence or should it depend toa large extent on fortifications on land? The Admiral gave an interesting account of the system of Lord St. Vincent, who kept the combined fleets of France and Spain in check at Brest, and he reviewed the work performed by the commanders at Toulon, Cadiz, Cherbourg and other ports.. This he said amic cheers was the true first line of- defence; the second was the Downs Squadron, and it would be prudent to have a third behind this, a local guard in Ireland, guarding the St. George's Channel as well. Lord Howe's system was to give up blockading the enemy's ports, his ideal line of defence being a reserve fleet at St. Helens and a grand fleet at Torbay. Admiral Colomb preferred Lord St. Vincent's system, and shewed that it was that of the Federals in the American civil war, which had proved successful. Comparing the diffetences in the position of Britain now
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.