Oct. of the enemy's line, not unlike the diecplus of the Greeks. Each side will be equally an attacking party. The movements of two hostile fleets in collision will probably bear no inconsiderable resemblance to the dashing charges of heavy cavalry in the earlier wars of this century; and our old cavalry tactics may furnish useful hints to the new school of naval evolutions. The ships on either side will be intently occupied in endeavouring to make use of, and avoid, the ramming attack. Skill in handling ships will be more than ever important; and if the torpedo-system of Captain Harvey be perfected, there seems more than a probability that the gun will reassert its claim to the position from which the ram had appeared to extrude it. Speed and precision of movement will henceforth be the great desiderata in manoeuvring fleets. From the dark background of the long history of naval tactics there stand out, clear and unquestionable, these two facts-that by the aid of diagram and letter-press Paul Hoste taught the French navy how to shun defeat, and Clerk of Eldin taught the British how to win great victories. In all their calculations, in all their suggested manœuvres, they had to take into account one fickle, unstable element which the tactician of the present day may at once eliminate from his, or treat with almost total unconcern. The work of him who would devise the tactics of the future is less arduous than was theirs at least in this, that he need take but little note of the wind, which was the sole propelling force at their disposal. It is somewhat humiliating to reflect that, as yet, in spite of the immense progress made in every other branch of the naval art, the very stones wherewith to raise our tactical structure are, as has been well said, 'still unhewn.' Some malignant fairy appears to have been slighted at the birth-time of that mighty fleet which has won the admiration, and has become the model, of all the navies of the world. It possesses all the elements of perfection, but lacks one gift-the power to use them with effect. Given, for example, a magnificent fleet such as we saw the other day assembled in Portland Roads; can any one say in what precise order or manner it should be used against an enemy? Yet surely this is a problem which may be worked out on paper. The two most necessary factors-the speed, and the handiness or turning-power, of each ship-are known, or, at least, easily ascertained, quantities. The various formations in which two fleets would meet one another are not likely to be so numerous as to baffle the algebraic law of permutations, or, in other words, are not undiscoverable. We have as yet found out no proper system of tactics, not because the invention of one is impossible, but because we have neglected to follow the roads which lead to it. What Hoste and Clerk have done before, surely it is not too much to hope, may-the facilities being increased-be done again." The experience of war, both by land and sea, shows distinctly that elaborations of tactics for advantageous use in both are possible in peace. What has been done for naval war we have already shown. With regard to what has been done for land war, we may recall the fact that the army which conquered at Königgratz had, for the fifty years previous, seen less active service than that of any other Power in Europe. Yet who can take up even a Prussian drill-book and not be struck by the practical tone of its directions ?-directions which point to such stern encounters as took place on the rolling plateau of Gravelotte and amid the hopgardens and vineyards of Woerth rather than to the bloodless charges of Wormwood Scrubs or the skirmishes of Cocked-Hat Wood and the Long Valley. Still, this has been the work of peace-time. That body of naval officers who silently and steadily have been long training the seamen of the navy to use their warlike engines with the best effect, have adopted a motto, which bids those who wish for peace prepare for war. With the sentiment of that motto we heartily concur. We would only carry our preparation one step further, into the hitherto almost uninvaded realm of naval tactics. That done, the horrors of war will probably be farther from us than ever; and we may rely upon the moral effect only of our maritime power to gain for us a right to share in the prophetic eulogium passed on Rinaldo's descendants by the Hermit; and that it may still, though in more peaceful ways, be the part of the British navy 'Premer gli alteri, e sollevar gl' imbelli, Gerusal. Lib., canto x. st. 76. * We are rejoiced to be in a position to state that the possibility of applying the Kriegsspiel or Game of War, hitherto exclusively devised to assist the study of land war, to that of naval campaigns, has for some time past occupied the serious attention of an officer of the navy, the pressure of whose duties have alone prevented him from already making known the result of his occupation. †The motto of H.M.S. 'Excellent,' in which the seamen-gunners of the royal navy are trained, is Si vis pacem, para bellum. No. CCLXXIX. will be published in January, 1873. INDEX. B Bennett Judgment, the, 270-charges against Mr. Bennett, 270- Burckhardt, J., review of his 'Cultur der Renaissance,' 114. C Colebrooke, Henry Thomas, review of the Life of, 461-his career as a Corea, review of works relating to, 299-description of a recent writer, F Fiji Islands, review of correspondence and documents relating to, 429- Fraser, Professor, review of his edition of the complete works of Bishop G Grote's Aristotle, review of, 515-the life of Aristotle, 519-Peri- H Helps, Arthur, review of his 'Thoughts upon Government,' 83-the J Japan, Reform in, 244-Marco Polo's account, 245-Mendez Pinto, L Life and Disease, Researches on, review of works relating to, 216- ᎷᎥ Medicine and Surgery, review of works relating to, 488-experience N Naval Tactics, the Past and the Future of, review of works relating to, |