THR ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
Ml 
abroad. The advice which Shakespeare had given her in "King John” was 
as true now as in the days of Queen Elizabeth:— 
“ Whafc! shall they seek the lion in his den 
And fright him there; and make him tremble there ? 
Oh, let it not be said! Eorage, and run 
To meet displeasure further from the doors; 
And grapple with him ere he come so nigh.” 
Colonel Chesney resumed his seat amid long-continued applause. 
Major-General Wilmot then invited any officer present to discuss the 
subject, and after a few moments' pause, said the duty devolved upon him 
of proposing a vote of thanks to Colonel Chesney, with whom he was sure 
they all agreed as to the necessity for study in those higher branches of 
military science and organisation which this war was teaching us. England, 
however, in his opinion was, with regard to such matters, the most wretched 
country in the world. (Applause, and a laugh.) If we want to make any 
military change, we go to Prussia or Prance, or some other place, for our 
models, and we never had a man rise amongst us to take into consideration 
the peculiar features of our country, our national character, constitution, 
and requirements, and cause our army and national defences to rest upon 
one basis. (Applause.) He believed that the universal feeling in the service 
was an anxious desire that our defences should not rest wholly upon the 
army, but that the army should preserve an intimate connection with the 
nation—that the soldier, in becoming a soldier, should not cease to be an 
Englishman. (Applause.) What we required was some one to bring before 
the country a scheme of defence which should embrace in one head the 
army, militia, and volunteers, all intimately connected with and depending 
upon each other. There is a little nation in Europe, but little thought of, 
which offered us a great example in this respect—a nation which, small 
though it be, was able on the first rumour of danger to send an army of 
40,000 men to the frontier, fully armed and equipped—a feat which he did 
not think that a nation which prided itself upon being one of the greatest in 
Europe could do. More than that, he believed that in six weeks the little 
nation he spoke of could, if the danger increased, have sent forward an army 
of 200,000 men, to do which the larger nation would, according to present 
indications, require a very considerable time. The country which had set 
us this example was Switzerland, where they had a national army always 
ready organised, without interfering with the national industry. (Hear, 
hear.) It appeared to him that in the organisation of any true military 
system, including one of defence, our ordinary industrial character must be 
taken into consideration. He did not think it was requisite for England to 
adopt (if he might use a strong term) a despotic system. She wanted a 
system of defence suited to her character as a commercial country, and there 
was no reason why a commercial country should not—and we know that it 
does—produce men as able and patriotic as any nation in the world, even 
where the people wei| all soldiers. (Applause.) He hoped the lecture 
they had heard vmuld convince them, if they had any doubts, of the value 
of an advanced education for officers of the army. It was the extent of his 
knowledge which made the Prussian soldier formidable in the field; and he 
hoped that every officer present, and especially those who were young and 
would have to meet the requirements of future years, would take the lesson 
33 
