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of the consequences to despotism his overthrow may entail, in one thing we may all agree, and that is, in applauding the great man who has never swerved in his endeavours to make Italy a united and free nation. Had Garibaldi been less disinterested than he is, he might now be high on the list of general officers in France, and the marshal's staff might be within his grasp; but he is not the man to truckle to a despot, whatever glittering rewards he may have it in his power to offer. Garibaldi recognises but one master, and that is Victor Emmanuel, and, by his unswerving purpose, he has rescued that master from a position which was becoming most humiliating. The King of Sardinia has now the opportunity for breaking those silken trammels which Louis Napoleon has woven round the independence of his nation, and we sincerely hope that he will take advantage of it.

Compare the two liberators of Italy, and how immeasurably small Louis Napoleon appears by the side of Garibaldi! The former issued pompous proclamations, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing; and what became of his boast of freeing Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic? So soon as he had secured the object of his ambition, he deserted the Italians, and the condition of Venetia is a sufficient proof of the faith to be placed in his promises. He accepted pledges from Francis Joseph, which he gave that monarch an opportunity of evading; but what did he care for the liberation of Italy when his own purpose was served? Garibaldi, on the other hand, has never boasted; the world learns with amazement of his achievements when they are accomplished; he scorns any promise which he is unable to perform, and he advances from conquest to conquest with the dignity of a truly great man. Both men have had their fair share of calumny in their time, but while the greater portion has adhered to the character of Louis Napoleon, and left ugly patches upon it, Garibaldi has shaken them from him, and stands forth now, with unstained reputation, as the Washington of Italy.

Louis Napoleon may go down amid blood and smoke, and leave a name which will serve as a warning to future despots, if Providence allow such to emerge henceforth; but whatever may be the destiny of Garibaldi, his name will be enshrined in the page of history as that of an ardent, unselfish patriot, whose whole life was devoted to the cause of liberty, and who, when his work was accomplished, retired from the scene of his exploits the same simple-minded man, whom no victory could intoxicate, no defeat depress. Such instances are rare, and it has, therefore, been to us a grateful task to lay before our readers the life of a man who has been traduced for party purposes, but who now stands forth so prominently as the champion of his nation, that no calumny can injure him, no perversion of truth undermine the glorious reputation he has slowly and painfully built up for himself. A chosen instrument of Providence to work out great ends, his life may be cut short when his mission is accomplished; but we earnestly hope that he may long be spared to the world, for at the present day we possess too few of such men to serve as a model and an example.

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

THE BRITISH VOLUNTEERS.

THE experiment of the Rifle Volunteers, so far as it has gone, has proved a decided success, more decided than even the most sanguine partisans of the great movement could have hoped. Bands of fullytrained riflemen have sprung as it were from the ground, and the alarm felt nine months ago at the ambition of Louis Napoleon has to a considerable extent subsided. The country is now in a position not to allow itself to be bearded; and even the French, who began by ridiculing the movement, have now so fully recognised its importance, that it has been deemed advisable to institute a Tir national, in imitation of our Wimbledon experiment. But the best part of the business is that, while we have inspired respect in Gallic minds, they have also been led to see that the movement has nothing of an aggressive nature about it. The nation felt justly alarmed at its unsatisfactory position; trade was stagnating, rumours of a possible and speedy invasion were current, and, to put a stop to such inconveniences, the men of England resolved to make a considerable sacrifice of time and money. Our volunteers have laid upon themselves, ungrudgingly, an impost of at least a million, in providing themselves with their equipment, and the value of the time they have surrendered can hardly be estimated. We think, then, we are justified in devoting a portion of our pages to this movement, and, while describing cursorily the past, offer some practical suggestions as to the future.

One of the most interesting features to which we would call attention is the difference of the movement of the day from that which agitated the nation during the long war. When the treaty of Campo Formio left England to contend in arms alone against France, Bonaparte drew up an army of 300,000 men along the Channel coast, with the avowed determination of humiliating the haughty leopard of Albion. Massena pledged himself to render England uninhabitable, if he did not occupy it permanently. At this menace the British nation burst out into action with spontaneous enthusiasm. In a few weeks 150,000 volunteers were enrolled and under arms. Within seven months of the enrolment the king announced in his speech to parliament that "the demonstrations of zeal and spirit among all ranks had deterred the enemy from attempting to execute their vain threat of invading the coasts of the kingdom." This was, however, only a spurt; and by 1803 the volunteer force again existed only in name. In that year, however, Napoleon, exasperated by the non-evacuation of Malta, renewed his intention of invasion, and recourse was once again had to the volunteers. Aug.-VOL. CXIX. NO. CCCCLXXVI.

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A levy en masse was ordered, and all men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five enrolled. The movement flourished to such an extent, and spread so rapidly, that in 1806 the whole volunteer forces of the kingdom amounted to

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In 1804 the volunteer establishment entailed on government a cost of upwards of two millions, and it gradually fell off each year up to 1814, when the total cost was about 165,000l. From that date the volunteers drop out of the estimates.

But this force was, probably, only formidable in its numbers. The men were improperly trained, and armed with heavy, clumsy muskets, They were the object of very general amusement, and figure to a large extent in the caricatures of the day. There is one we remember of the "Heaven-born Minister," as Colonel of the Cinque-Ports Volunteers, the point of which consists in the exaggerated tenuity of his legs. With our forefathers a small amount of pictorial wit went a great way. But, in spite of the ridicule, it was a great sight to see the whole nation turn out as one man to resist invasion of their sacred soil.

The present movement, however, is of a very different nature and tendency. While the old volunteers bore considerable likeness to the trained bands, it does not appear at the present day as if more is needed of the volunteers than a thoroughly practical knowledge of the weapon with which they are armed. If able to bring down their man with every shot fired, our volunteers will be rendered the most formidable force with which an invader could have to contend, and would prove a most valuable aid to the regular army. It is to be regretted (as we shall show presently) that the movement has not been carried further, and that the volunteers cannot be rendered in every respect the substitute for a standing army, but we ought to feel grateful at any rate for what they have done. Still, we deem it right to warn our readers against any exaggerated idea of the value of volunteers in a pitched battle.

Such a system would be, of course, impossible, were it not for the gradual improvements effected in our fire-arms. Volunteers, animated with the best spirit in the world, would be comparatively of small value if they could not place perfect reliance in their weapon, for that begets confidence, which, in its turn, ensures success. So important do we deem this point, that we do not hesitate to append a few remarks as to the progressive improvements in firelocks, drawing our data to a considerable extent from the eminently practical works on Projectiles, published by Dr. Scoffern, one of the first authorities of the day in such matters.

When the French first conquered Algeria, they found their men picked off at distances far beyond the range of their own muskets. The Arabs, it is true, used smooth bores, but they were longer in the barrel, and the natives were better marksmen. The French, however, had an intuitive dislike for rifles in the field: throughout the revolutionary wars, and up to a period soon after the invasion of Algeria, there was not one special corps of French military rifles. To quote from our author:

The great Napoleon used to say rifles were phlegmatic arms; well enough adapted, perhaps, to the stolid temperament of the Teuton or Anglo-Briton, but not congenial to the hot blood and quicker temperament of the mercurial Gaul. Frequently during the last war, as any old campaigner will corroborate, Frenchmen used to load their muskets without using the ramrod at all. To bite the cartridge, turn in the powder, insert the ball, and give the butt-end a thump on the ground, was in the heat of battle the Frenchman's notion of loading. The flash and rattle of platoon firing, conducted on this principle, was indeed considerable; but the actual amount of devastation caused by smooth bores in the hands of the French or other troops was not great, in comparison with the ammunition expended. Whatever other military powers might have done, or might decree to do, in the way of adopting rifles for military arms, the French had long resolved that, until some method should be devised for loading a rifle as easily as a smooth-bore musket, the rifle would never be used by them. To counteract, as far as might be, the slaughter effected by the Algerines, several Frenchmen, about the same time, set themselves to discover the solution of this problem. The proposition was to drop the projectile loosely into a muzzleloading rifle, and to make it come out tight. The celebrated carabine à tige was the result of entertaining this notion.

The tige system was, however, found in practice to possess many inherent defects, and Captain Minié introduced the curious system of expansion, by which the ball, though readily dropped into the barrel, was obliged to take the rifling as it emerged again. This weapon, with which the greater part of the Crimean war was fought, was eventually superseded by the Enfield, which is now the regulation arm of the volunteers. There have, however, been strenuous efforts made to supersede it by the Whitworth, but we doubt as to the expediency of expending ten millions in an experiment until the merits of the Whitworth rifle have been fully established. This is a point which deserves closer investigation.

It is a well established fact that, cæteris paribus, the smaller the bore the more correct the firing. But there are other accessories which must not be overlooked before small bore guns can be used by large bodies of men and in the field. The greatest of these is indubitably the fouling of the piece, which the Whitworthites attempt to obviate by lubrication. But, as Dr. Scoffern justly reminds us, there is another fouling, that behind the bullet. "Each charge of gunpowder fired leaves a fixed deposit, which must remain in the barrel." It stands to reason, then, that the Enfield, with its greater diameter, will not foul to so large an extent as the smaller bored Whitworth. Now, it is known that the deposit in an Enfield, after firing one thousand rounds, is, on the average, one inch. If the experiment has been tried with the Whitworth, the result has certainly been kept a profound secret; but it is fair to assume that it can be easily estimated.

At the time Whitworth's rifle was introduced, and a trial made with it, at very great expense, against the Enfield, the result was so largely in its favour that sanguine persons imagined it must supersede the regular musket. Mr. Greener, however, in his excellent work, "Gunnery in 1858," has most satisfactorily exposed the fallacy under which the trial was made. Whitworth's rifle was only one-half the diameter of bore of the Enfield, and yet the same charge of powder was used with both. Besides, the hexagonal principle of grooving employed by Mr. Whitworth renders it necessary to clean the rifle repeatedly, which could not be expected in the field. The simplicity of the grooving in the Enfield is a

great preservative against fouling, than which nothing is more detrimental in the field. Even this slight grooving was found very injurious in India, and we were conversing lately with a sergeant engaged before Lucknow, who told us that for the last three days of the siege he was unable to fire a shot, owing to the barrel of his musket having leaded. With our home appliances there is not much fear of this occurring, still the simpler the weapon the better in the event of any emergency.

The short Enfield possesses no great superiority over the long one, except in being sighted to a thousand yards. It is an equally serviceable weapon, and, indeed, a short barrel possesses considerable advantages over a long one, as Captain Busk tells us, "in the greater quickness with which the sight can be brought to bear upon the mark, especially if that mark be moving, while the effects of want of steadiness and of accidental deflection at the moment of pulling the trigger are diminished in proportion to the reduction of the time under which the bullet is exposed to the guidance of the barrel." This rifle is also very solidly built, and does credit to the government factory.

Other muskets have been put forward as the arm for the volunteers: some breech-loaders, others muzzle-loaders, on improved principles. Captain Busk is one of the most ardent defenders of the breech-loading rifle, and, owing to the careful study he has devoted to the subject, his statements possess considerable weight. He positively asserts that such guns must eventually carry the day, and supports his statement by a reference to Captain Norton, also a competent authority. Mr. Greener, however, disposes of these arms in a very summary manner, by saying "that breech-loaders do not shoot nearly so well, and are not half so safe, as muzzle-loading guns.' We have not space here to enter into the arguments he employs, but will refer our readers desirous of further information to his already quoted work. To us the insurmountable objection to breech-loaders is the impossibility of preventing the escape of gas, and consequent weakening of the propellant power of the gunpowder.

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The Lancaster gun holds a very high place among scientific authorities, and deserves it. Having no grooves, it stands to reason that the fouling is greatly reduced. Dr. Scoffern has shot with this gun frequently, and states that he found it fulfil all the requirements he could demand from a fire-arm. It is also the favourite weapon of the champion at the Wimbledon rifle match.

We have thus briefly alluded to the merits and defects of the weapons which are chiefly selected by the volunteer corps, and cannot but come to the conclusion that the regulation Enfield best fulfils the conditions required. Besides, it must not be forgotten that the government factory can turn out nearly two thousand a week; and if there be any reason for the national armament, the arm that can be supplied most quickly should be the regulation arm of the volunteers. But there is another great point. In the event of an action, and of volunteers being brigaded together, it would be very awkward for the military train to distribute ammunition of different calibres. We can supply an instance from our own experience. During the occupation of Kertch by the Turkish Contingent, news came in that the Russians were advancing in force on the town, and orders were given to arm the batteries at once. Shot were slung in bags, and carried up the heights by the Turks, but, in the con

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