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And with what consummate tact Nelson adjusted any little differences that arose between any members of the 'Band of Brothers' is shown in his letter to Keats on the 30th of March 1805:

Most Private. My dear Keats, I felt most exceedingly last night, at finding your friend Admiral Murray so exceedingly hurt at some conversation which had passed between you and him, about some hammocks. I can most solemnly assure you, that so far from Admiral Murray withholding any stores from the Superb, that he would stretch the point to comply with your wishes, well knowing that in our scanty supplies you would take no more than was absolutely necessary for present use. The Superb, upon every consideration, whether I consider the value of her captain as an officer, or the importance of preserving her ship's company, ought to have every comfort which the Service will possibly allow. I have, therefore, desired that Admiral Murray will get from you an account of the number of hammocks wanted to complete the Superb for Channel service, that I may send to Naples to purchase them; and I again assure you that Admiral Murray would stretch any length which you could desire, to meet your wants and wishes. The situation of first captain is certainly a very unthankful office, for if there is a deficiency of stores, he must displease, probably, the whole fleet; for no ship can have her demands complied with. I wish, my dear Keats, you would turn this in your mind, and relieve Admiral Murray from the uneasiness your conversation has given him; for I will venture to say, that if he could (or ought to) show a partiality, it would be to the Superb, because her captain husbands the stores in a most exemplary manner. You will readily conceive what I must feel upon this occasion, being truly your most obliged and faithful friend, Nelson and Bronte.

camp.

The charm of Nelson's spirit penetrated even into the enemy's His late opponent, Admiral Gravina, the Spanish Commander-in-Chief at Trafalgar, lying mortally wounded on his death-bed, exclaimed, 'I am a dying man, but I die happy: I am going, I hope and trust, to join Nelson, the greatest hero that the world perhaps has produced!' His last thoughts, like those of his opponent, were connected with his duty; for the sentiment he uttered at the moment of his death was 'Rey immortal de los cielos: quien os hubiese servido con aquel zelo y eficacia con que he servido á los Reyes de la tierra!' ('Immortal King of Heaven: would I had served Thee with equal zeal and efficacy to that with which I have served the Kings of the earth').

If thus his enemies, how much more his friends! Later in the century, when the time had come for the gallant Hardy to follow his loved chief into the unknown sea, he gave his last order in these words 'Lay Nelson's picture on my breast, and bury it with me in my coffin.'

And all these years after we can still feel his charm, and so understand Lord St. Vincent when he said, 'There is but one Nelson.' But if that is all we have acquired, the lesson is not

complete. We may not hope to have his charm or imagination, but we should have learned the lesson of duty and patriotism, and how to emulate his spirit in that.

No other man than Nelson has, at the time of his death, so entirely fulfilled the work of his life. Indeed, so finished was his task and so undoubted was its completeness that the whole world witnessed ungrudgingly to the truth of those last immortal words of our sailor hero :

'THANK GOD, I HAVE DONE MY DUTY.'

MARK KERR.

The Editor of THE NINETEENTH CENTURY cannot undertake

to return unaccepted MSS.

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ONE of the most remarkable phenomena of modern times is the rise and growth of Imperialist feeling throughout the United Kingdom and the British Dominions.

History runs in cycles. The glorious period of the Napoleonic wars was not unnaturally followed by a great reaction. After the tremendous warlike exertions which had cost Great Britain approximately 1,000,000,000l. the nation required peace and rest. The great influence which the landowning aristocracy used to exercise declined owing to the growth of the manufacturing industries and the manufacturing towns. Through the Reform Bill the middle class, composed of merchants, manufacturers, shipowners, &c., became the controlling element in the legislature, and these hastened to make the best use of their opportunities. The utilitarian era began. Henceforth national policy was to be subservient to individual advantage, to commercial considerations. The people were told that the Colonies were unprofitable, that they were an encumbrance and a burden to the Motherland. The planful development of the Empire which

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former generations had pursued was discontinued. A sentiment frankly hostile to the Empire arose. Free Trade was introduced. Its essence was, in the words of Cobden : Buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market.' The trading interest was enthusiastically in favour of Free Trade in the expectation that it would be extremely beneficial to the manufacturing industries of the country. Incidentally it was hoped that Free Trade would break up the Empire and rid Great Britain of her Colonies. Cobden prophesied that Free Trade would gradually and imperceptibly loosen the bonds between Motherland and Colonies, and looked forward to their amicable separation.

The rule of the middle class has come to an end. Democracy has arrived. A democratic national policy has taken the place of the ancient utilitarianism, and Imperialism is merely the latest, and I think the highest, incarnation of our democratic nationalism. It is a conscious manifestation of the solidarity of the race. British Imperialism is not, as its opponents assert, an empty, vain-glorious, and aggressive policy advocated by Jingoes,' by the aristocracy, the leisured classes, and the army. It is a thoroughly democratic policy. This can be seen by the fact that it is strongest not in these islands, but in our most democratic possessions. Imperialism, contrary to widely held opinion, is democratic, peaceful, and utilitarian in the best sense of the word, for it is useful and necessary.

It is a trite but true saying that peace is the greatest interest of Great and Greater Britain. Only in peace can we develop our magnificent resources. But our peace is threatened.

The British Empire extends over 11,447,954 square miles. It is nearly one hundred times as large as the United Kingdom. It embraces vast areas situated in a temperate zone, which have room for hundreds of millions of white settlers. We possess

besides most valuable tropical Colonies, countless islands and nearly all the most important strategical positions in the world which dominate all seas. Very naturally the British Empire is the envy of the universe, and especially of those nations which desire or require colonies and well-situated naval bases.

A nation can be secure only if its armed strength is commensurate with its possessions. The British Empire is by far the largest Empire which the world has seen. It is essentially a maritime Empire, and it is most vulnerable from the sea. While the principal towns of most countries lie far inland, all the largest towns of the British Empire, such as London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Dublin, Belfast, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Colombo, Aden, Singapore,

Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver, Victoria, St. John's, Cape Town, Durban, and many others, lie on, or close to, the sea. All these towns can easily be shelled or seized by a foreign Power possessing the command of the sea.

The British Empire is a sea empire. It depends for its livelihood very largely upon the sea. The value of its sea-borne trade should in the present year amount to the stupendous sum of 2,000,000,000l. The British Empire possesses one-half of the world's shipping. We may say that one-half of the world's trade is carried under the British flag. Out of every two ships which sail the ocean one flies the British flag. Our merchant marine will therefore be exposed to enormous losses in time of war unless our Navy is overwhelmingly strong. The British Empire does not possess the sea, but it has certainly a predominant interest on all seas.

While the prosperity of the British Dominions depends on the free flow of their enormous exports over sea, the existence of the United Kingdom depends on the free and uninterrupted flow of our sea-borne imports of food and raw materials. One-half of the meat, seven-eighths of the wheat, and all the sugar which we consume are imported by sea. Our factories are dependent on cotton, wool, timber, hides, ores, oil, and other raw materials borne by ships to these shores. Sometimes the stock of wheat in the United Kingdom suffices for only six weeks. A short stoppage of our imports, even if it be only a partial one, would close our factories and cause starvation.

If a hostile Power, or combination of Powers, should defeat our fleet, it need not invade this country. A powerful enemy can bombard the principal towns of Great Britain and of her possessions, starve out the garrisons of her naval bases, ruin our shipping trade, prey upon the export trade of our Dominions and Colonies, and starve the United Kingdom into surrender. It is therefore clear that Motherland and Colonies require for their protection a fleet strong enough to meet any possible combination of Powers. These considerations prompted Great Britain to establish the two-Power standard, according to which the British fleet was to be at least as strong as the combined fleets of the two strongest foreign Powers.

Formerly the naval supremacy of Great Britain was undisputed and indisputable, but changing circumstances have affected our position in the world. A few decades ago Germany consisted of a number of disunited and impecunious States which had no fleet, the population of the United States was smaller

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