and liberal hand, the fisheries.  Every spring, twenty thousand men have set sail to that best nursery of seamanship,—­the Banks of Newfoundland.  These men are paid a bounty by Government, and, in return, are subjected to a naval discipline, and, upon an emergency, are liable at a moment’s notice to enter into the naval service.  To quicken mercantile enterprise, by which alone mariners can be called into existence, enormous subsidies have been paid to the great lines of steamers to Brazil and the East.  And the yearning for colonies, which in our day has led to almost simultaneous attempts to found settlements in both hemispheres and in all waters, has no doubt for a leading cause the desire to build up a mercantile marine, and with it a numerous body of expert seamen.  If these efforts have not accomplished all that their projectors could wish, it is not because their plans lacked sagacity, but because it is hard to put the genius of the sea into the breasts of men who are essentially landsmen.

To increase the number of French sailors would unquestionably be the best possible method of adding to French naval power.  But suppose that this cannot be done.  Supposes that there is in the heart of the French people an invincible attachment to the soil, which makes them deaf to every siren of the sea.  What is the next counsel of wisdom?  This, is it not?  To make what sailors you have efficient and available for naval emergencies.  In this respect the French authorities have achieved an entire success.  Every sailor, nay, every man whose employment savors at all of maritime life, though he be only a boatman plying the river, or a laborer in harbor or dock, is enrolled in what is called the marine inscription,—­thenceforward in all times of need to be called into active service.  This puts the whole seafaring population at the disposal of Government.  Nor is this all.  Regular drafts are made upon the seamen; and it is computed that in every period of nine years all the sailors of France serve in their turn in the navy.  They are trained in all that belongs to naval duty:  in the use of ships’ guns, in the sailing of great ships, and in the evolutions of fleets.  No matter how sudden the call, or from what direction the sailors are taken, no French fleet leaves or can leave port with a crew of green hands.

The training which is given to sailors actually in service is an equally important matter.  The French Admiralty keeps no drones in its employ; certainly it does not promote them to places of trust.  Honors are won, not bought.  Every step up, from midshipman to admiral, must be the result of honorable service, and actual proficiency both in the theory and practice of a sailor’s profession.  The modern French naval officer is master of his business, fit to compete with the best skill of the best maritime races.  Then the sailors themselves are trained.  Even in time of peace, twenty-five thousand are kept in service.  Gathered on board great experimental