432 The Power of Great Britain 



where and when wanted, we should then be in the enviable 

 position of a nation to be let alone. We should have no 

 question with the United States of America and Venezuela, 

 with France and Newfoundland, Siam and Egypt, with 

 Russia and Afghanistan, or with the German Empire and 

 Paul Kruger. Our old Scottish motto, often quoted by 

 Prince Bismarck, would express a warning as well as a 

 fact " Nemo me impune lacessit." What did Great Britain 

 do at that critical time in the history of Europe ? It accepted 

 Lord Cardwell's Act, which doubled the quantity of paper 

 between the red covers of the army list. And now, our 

 activity is confined to every man encouraging his neighbour 

 to serve his country. 



Exception must also be taken to the statement of the 

 Hamburg newspaper, that " it is now too late for England 

 to adopt this method," etc. The world is going to last for 

 many thousands of years yet ; and it is not too late for 

 Great Britain to make provision for continuing to occupy 

 the paramount position, which has been hers in fact, and 

 which we believe is hers by right. But Bismarck long ago 

 taught us that "Might is Right." The truly advantageous 

 situation for a nation is to start with both the might and 

 the right, and to use the might to improve the right. It no 

 doubt takes many years to arm, train, and equip a nation 

 at all points so that absolutely the whole force of the nation 

 is ready to be exercised at once at the call of one man ; 

 but a great deal can be done even in a year. For instance, 

 the personnel of the navy could be put on a perfectly satis- 

 factory provisional footing, which would at once reduce our 

 war risks and give us time. What we stand to lose in the 

 event of our navy being over-matched is shortly but very 

 bluntly told by the Hamburg paper. Reminding us that 

 most of our foreign possessions have been captured from 

 other nations, and are, therefore, held under the provisions 

 of the Lex talionis, it points out "that in case of a great 

 war Russia and France would at once cut off England's 

 route to India by the Suez Canal, that she would soon 

 lose that dependency, Ireland, South Africa, Gibraltar, and 



