This is the last important occasion on which a naval brigade was in action until the European War. So far no naval brigade, in the sense of a force of bluejackets and marines disembarked from their ships, has taken part in the fighting, except perhaps at the Dardanelles. The Naval Division which went to Antwerp was composed of marines and reservists from their head-quarters and of naval reservists and volunteers, but we have so little reliable information of what happened on that occasion that it would be very inadvisable to attempt to give any account of its performances at the present time. FOOTNOTES: [57] Possibly not, as there was a composite battalion at Tangier composed of companies from various regiments, including one of marines. [58] "Five or six hundred seamen and others of the Marine Regiment."--_Reminiscences of Cork_, by Crofton Croker (MS.). [59] Lutterell. [60] Several years ago the Kaiser bestowed this distinction on a Hessian Regiment on account of its ancestors--so it is stated--having participated in the capture. I have studied the taking of Gibraltar pretty thoroughly, but have never found any mention of a German regiment taking part in it. [61] _Life and Adventures of Matthew Bishop_. London, 1744. [62] Quoted in Cassell's _British Sea Kings and Sea Fights_. [63] A soldier who used to be placed in front of a regiment, by whose motions the movements of the exercises with arms were directed. In some regiments at the present day the right-hand man steps a pace forward on the order "Fix bayonets", to give the time and ensure all moving together. [64] _Blackwood's Magazine_, October, 1858. [65] Now Brigadier-General Marchant, C.B., A.D.C. [66] Now Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., the famous commander of our Grand Fleet. [67] Now Major-General Johnstone, C.B. CHAPTER XIV War-ships of all Sorts "The King's Navy exceeds all others in the World for three things, viz.: Beauty, Strength, and Safety. For Beauty, they are so many Royal Palaces; for Strength, so many moving Castles and Barbicans; and for Safety, they are the Most Defensive Walls of the Realm. Amongst the Ships of other Nations, they are like Lions amongst silly Beasts, or Falcons, amongst fearful Fowle."--_Lord Cokes Fourth Institute._