THE UNCHANGING TAR.

WE wrote last week of the unchanging sea fight. This week we must deal with the unchanging sea fighter—the man behind the gun and in front of the furnace. Just as the character of sea fighting does not change, so the character of our seamen remains unchanged with it. As we read the letters to their homes of the " tam " who took part In the Jutland Battle we see the old jollity, the old zest, the old looking forward to shore pleasures which will be the brighter for the shade of hard- ship before. The tar is still the tar of a hundred or two hundred years ago. His routine has less to do with tar now than then ; perhaps even tarpaulins, from which he takes his nickname, are fewer than in the days of sailing ships ; but the nation's " tar- paulins," to give the seamen their nickname in full, are the reincar- nations' of the men who handled Nelson's ships and about whom Dibdin wrote. It has been said that Dibdin's songs brought more men into the Navy than all the recruiting officers and the pressgang put together. The exaggeration pays a just enough tribute to the manner in which Dibdin interpreted the tar's view of life. Dibdin made the Navy romantic. He framed a philosophy of sea life, raising light-heartedness to an ideaL He also made the tar dramatic. Dibdin was not an actor for nothing. The song " Grieving's a Folly" is a summary of the philosophy which he suggested, and which was rapturously accepted as expressing the Navy's way :— " Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly,

Though winds blow groat guns, still he'd whistle and sing, For Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly, And, if honour gives greatness, was great as a king i

One night as we drove with two reefs in the main-sail, And the scud came on low'ring upon a lee shore,

Jack went up aloft for to hand the top-ga'nt sail,

A spray wash'd him off, and we ne'er saw him more

But grieving's a folly, Come let us be jolly ;

If we've troubles on sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore."

Oddly enough, the stage itself has done nothing for the seaman but to mis-suggest his character by such conventions as the un- ceasing hitching-up of trousers—which are made baggier than trousers ever were by land or sea—and by the refining of the rollick. ing clatter of a hornpipe into a too mincing accuracy of step.

The Navy has a dramatic instinct, in the proper sense, that in not necessarily an endowment of the sea, for it does not exist In anything like the same form in the Mercantile Marine. The Mer- cantile Marine has always had its own virtues, and they are many, but the only dramatic advantage it has ever had over the Navy was the use of chanties. Any one who has seen and heard an anchor raised to a song and chorus cannot have envied the naval mon who performed some similar feat of hauling in disciplined silence. But take the letters of men and officers in the Navy, written for the edification of friends and relations at home, and they explain our meaning. Here is a seaman's letter "At last I have a chance to write a few lines just to let you know that I came out of last Wednesday's memorable and glorious set-to. No mistake, I've got what I joined for, and more besides. Of coupes, being a light cruiser, I don't suppose you will have heard much about our little squadron, but we were there—right there—and the Germans knew it too. The same time, it's a wonder we are here, for the enemy's battle-cruisers are not exactly what we are designed for, but it points at the desperation to get at the enemy at all costs, whioh is the motive of all our lads in action."

How pleasing is the antithesis between the glory of being " there," and the marvel, after such an experience. of being " here." Every sentence suggests the effect of long and careful instruction on board ship, not in the arts of grammar, but in the motive that must inspire it Fleet which is out to win. The writer goes on :-

"Everything worked admirably aboard. Cool and calm was everyone. We are to be considered one of the luckiest ships in the Navy after this, as shells of all calibre were bursting all around us. We were close handy when the — blew up. It was worded round that it was one of our ships, which redoubled the energy of the lads. It is said we have the blame of a Hun battle-cruiser, and furthermore one of those beloved creatures (the Zepps.). Of course, the truth will out eventually, and we shall hear really who killed Cock Robin. Up to now it is the little ' Yarmouth' with her 6 in. aboard her. Anyway, the papers are radually revealing all. I received letter and cigarettes, which came in very handy on arrival in. The news of your shift to new quarters comes like another victory. You could not have done better—splendid, in fact. You had best name it Jutland Villa, in commemoration of the conflict and our safe return. Well, I must say good-bye, as this leaves me in the pink of condition. I don't think there will be another naval battle this year."

The rush of the writer's mind "to home-bred pleasures and to simple scenes " is delightful. Jutland Villa—of course ! But what if, after their annoying fashion, people should settle down to speak of the Horn Reef Battle ? Perhaps it would be better to suspend the choice of a name for a little. After all, " Horn Reef "—if some perverse fate doss not insist on " Skagerrak "—as a name by itself, would be very distinguished among the " Belle Vues," " The Elms," " The Nooks," and the " Belmonts."

Here is another dramatic effort from a petty officer in one of the light cruisers :-

" Ono shell went through our two funnels, another salvo dropped on our port quarter and helped to shove us on a bit. We were practically surrounded by shells, and the terrible roar of our guns, coupled with the deafening sound of the enemy shells and the hot air blast, made the experience one which will never be forgotten. We saw a cruiser— I think it must have been the Warrior '—looming out of action with her bridge gone and severely damaged. We were watching the German Fleet and saw two of their ships go. It was nothing short of a miracle that we came out of action safely, seeing that we were the first engaged and had practically all the enemy fire concentrated on us and the `Galatea.' We were right in the thick of it. But the end came with no casualties ; not a single shell had taken effect on any of the crew. A salvo of big shells dropped over cur stern, and then came some shells over our bridge. One of these got entangled in our fore-stay. It twisted round it three times and then bounced away still screaming."

An officer's letter has very similar touches. " The first shell," he writes, " ricocheted across the forecastle. He was a big lad, and we could see him quite plainly toppling over in the air. . . . We put a few salvoes into a light cruiser, and I don't think she'll go back to harbour. Then we changed our attention to another light cruiser, and gave him a few peas. Next we saw some destroyers attacking, and one of them went up. . . . I have a splinter of shell that came into the tap, and also a piece of the driving-band of Cie pea that hit us. (He was a ' 12' gentleman.) " Wherever one looks among the letters, whether they are written by officers or men, there is this vividness and gusto. It is the same with Admiral Beatty's address to the " Cat " squadron :— " OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE TIGER,' PRINCESS ROYAL,' AND ' LION,' —I offer you my sincere thanks for what will ever remain in history a gallant day. I told a lot of you hero present on August 4th what we hoped to do. What I said then is that which we have now carried out. I suppose most of you have girls—some of you more than one—who will ask what you have done. Tell them you did your duty, which the British are always doing. You can take it from me now that the damage we inflicted on the Germans was far greater than that which they inflicted on us. They have lost two battleships, two battle-cruisers of the most modern type, including the battle-cruiser Liitzow,' four light cruisers, and destroyers so numerous that we have not managed to count them. I want to offer you my sincere sympathy. We have all lost relatives, friends, and shipmates who have given up their lives in a most gallant manner. But their valuable lives have not been wasted, and there will be a day when wo will take further toll for them. Wins my kindest sympathy and regards to the relatives of those who died so gloriously. We have now to get our ships in a good condition for the second round. We have only had the first round, but in the second 1 think they will finally throw up the sponge."

But the happy irresponsibility of language which always sparkles on the surface in itself gives no indication whatever of the deadly earnestness and passionate loyalty beneath. What is beneath is proved alone by deeds, even to the death. Dibdin was right again in his interpretation of the essential truth, honesty, and fidelity of the tar:-

" Yet though I've no fortune to offer, I've something to put on a par ; Come, then, and accept of my proffer, 'Tis the kind honest heart of a tar."

So, again, Dibdin praises the guileless simplicity of Tom Bowling kt the most beautiful of all his songs:- " Tom never from his word departed, His virtues were so rare, His friends were many and true-hearted, His Poll was kind and fair ; And then he'd sing so blithe and jolly, Ah, many's the time and oft ! But mirth is turned. to melancholy, For Tom is gone aloft."

The Navy is the Service, above all others, which is able to speak in dramatic terms of its achievements, and is yet saved by unfailing scruples from boasting. The dramatic instinct of the Navy in time past has made of naval despatches some of the most arresting and picturesque pieess of writing in our literature. The sailor— God bless him !—is not afraid of words. When he sees his oppor- tunity to impress the mind of his countrymen, to cheer every one up, and harden the resolution of the people in a work that requires grit and endurance, he lets fly. Our Admirals in the French wars were never in the least afraid of trying to make a great picture of the battle they described. They never trembled at their own emotion. Sometimes their writing glowed with the flash of genius. Consider the burning grandeur of Nelson's language when he wrote to Howe of the Battle of the Nile :- " I had the happiness to command a band of brothers ; therefore night was to my advantage. Each knew his duty, and I was sure each would feel for a French ship. By attacking the enemy's van and centre, the wind blowing directly along their line, I was enabled to throw what force I pleased on a few ships. This plan my friends readily conceived by the signals . . . and we always kept a superior force to the enemy. At twenty-eight minutes past six, the sun in the horizon, the firing commenced. At five minutes past ten, when the Orient blew up, having burnt seventy minutes, the six van ships had surrendered. I then pressed hut' er towards the rear ; and had it pleased God that I had not been wounded and stone blind, there cannot be a doubt but that every ship would have been in our possession."

But of all majestic naval deal- etches give us Collingwood's account of Trafalgar :- " On Monday, the 21st of October, at daylight, when Cape Trafalgar bore east by south about seven leagues, the enemy was discovered six or seven miles to the eastward, the winds/put west and very light ; the Commander-in-Chief immediately madelfas signal for the fleet to bear up in two columns, as they are formed in order of sailing ; a mode of attack his Lordship had previously directed, to avoid the incon- venience and delay in forming a line of battle in the usual manner. . . . The action began at twelve o'clock, by the leading ships of the columns breaking through the enemy's line . . . the succeeding ships breaking through, in all parts, astern of their leaders, and engaging the enemy at the muzzles of their guns ; the conflict was severe ; the enemy's ships were fought with a gallantry highly honourable to their officers ; but the attack on them was irresistible and it pleased the Almighty Disposer of Events to grant his Majesty's arms a complete and glorious victory about 3 p.m. Many of the enemy's ships having struck their colours, their line gave way ; Admiral Gravina, with fourteen ships . . . stood towards Cadiz, leaving (as prizes . . .) to his Majesty's squadron nineteen ships of the line. . . . Such a battle could not be fought without sus- taining a great loss of men. I have not only to lament, in common with the British navy, and the British nation, in the fall of the Commander-in- Chief, Viscount Nelson, the loss of a hero whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to his country ; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many years' intimacy and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I was bound by the strongest ties of affection ;—a grief to which even the glorious occasion on which he fell does not bring that consolation which perhaps it ought. His Lordship received a musket-ball in his left breast about the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last farewell, and soon afterwards expired. . . . The whole fleet were now in a perilous situation, many dismasted, all shattered, in thirteen fathoms of water, off the shoals of Trafalgar ; and, when I made signal to prepare to anchor, few of the ships had an anchor to let go, their cables being shot. But the same good Providence which aided us through such a day preserved us in the night by the wind shifting a few points and drifting the ships off the land. . . . Having thus detailed the proceedings of the fleet on this occasion, I beg to congratulate their Lordships on a victory which, I hope, will add a ray to the glory of his Majesty's crown and be attended with public benefit to our country."

This despatch seems the more wonderful when one reflects that Collingwood was counted in the Service a cold man. He had little of the charm and radiant courtesy of Nelson, just as he certainly had none of his ehiers excessive histrionic talent. Let us add the resounding names of the ships which won Nelson's immortal victory :— " Van : Victory, Temeraire, Neptune, Conqueror, Leviathan, Ajar, Orion, Agamemnon, Minotaur, Spartiate, Britannia, Africa, Euryalus, Sirius, Phoebe, Naiad, Pickle (schooner), Entreprenante (cutter). Rear : Royal Sovereign, Mars, Belleisle, Tennant, Bellerophon, Colossus, Achille, Polyphemus, Revenge, Swiftsure, Defence, Thunderer, Defiance, Prince, Dreadnought."

Is it because the Navy lives and moves and has its being among such names as these that it cannot fail to speak in dramatic terms of all that it undertakes ?