to call impossible (who can say what is impossible?), but which certainly deprives the nation of much, if not all, the hard-wrought achievement of centuries.  Disunion, loss of national identity, changes of constitution more than radical, the exchange of a world-wide empire for a subordinate part in a great federation,—­such may be the destiny of Great Britain in the distant future.  I know not; but sure I am, were I a citizen of Great Britain, the prospect would not allure me now to move an inch in such a direction.  Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

The suggestions of Sir George Clarke and of Mr. White are not open to the reproach of repelling those whom they seek to convince.  They are clear, plain, business-like propositions, based upon indisputable reasons of mutual advantage, and in the case of the former quickened, as I have the pleasure of knowing through personal acquaintance, by a more than cordial good-will and breadth of view in all that relates to the United States.  Avoiding criticism of details—­of which I have little to offer—­my objection to them is simply that I do not think the time is yet ripe.  The ground is not prepared yet in the hearts and understandings of Americans, and I doubt whether in those of British citizens.  Both proposals contemplate a naval alliance, though on differing terms.  The difficulty is that the United States, as a nation, does not realize or admit as yet that it has any strong interest in the sea; and that the great majority of our people rest firmly in a belief, deep rooted in the political history of our past, that our ambitions should be limited by the three seas that wash our eastern, western, and southern coasts.  For myself, I believe that this, once a truth, can be considered so no longer with reference even to the present—­much less to a future so near that it scarcely needs a prophet’s eye to read; but even if it be but a prejudice, it must be removed before a further step can be taken.  In our country national policy, if it is to be steadfast and consistent, must be identical with public conviction.  The latter, when formed, may remain long quiescent; but given the appointed time, it will spring to mighty action—­aye, to arms—­as did the North and the South under their several impulses in 1861.

It is impossible that one who sees in the sea—­in the function which it discharges towards the world at large—­the most potent factor in national prosperity and in the course of history, should not desire a change in the mental attitude of our countrymen towards maritime affairs.  The subject presents itself not merely as one of national importance, but as one concerning the world’s history and the welfare of mankind, which are bound up, so far as we can see, in the security and strength of that civilization which is identified with Europe and its offshoots in America.  For what, after all, is our not unjustly vaunted European and American civilization?  An