the sufficient substitute in what is called _esprit de corps_. But
although full of class feeling and class prejudice, which made
themselves felt in the navy as well as elsewhere, their practical
sense left open the way of promotion to its highest honors to the more
humbly born and every age saw individuals who had sprung from the
lowest of the people. In this the temper of the English upper class
differed markedly from that of the French. As late as 1789, at the
outbreak of the Revolution, the French Navy List still bore the name
of an official whose duty was to verify the proofs of noble birth on
the part of those intending to enter the naval school.

Since 1815, and especially in our own day, the government of England
has passed very much more into the hands of the people at large.
Whether her sea power will suffer therefrom remains to be seen. Its
broad basis still remains in a great trade, large mechanical
industries, and an extensive colonial system. Whether a democratic
government will have the foresight, the keen sensitiveness to national
position and credit, the willingness to insure its prosperity by
adequate outpouring of money in times of peace, all which are
necessary for military preparation, is yet an open question. Popular
governments are not generally favorable to military expenditure,
however necessary, and there are signs that England tends to drop
behind.

It has already been seen that the Dutch Republic, even more than the
English nation, drew its prosperity and its very life from the sea.
The character and policy of its government were far less favorable to
a consistent support of sea power. Composed of seven provinces, with
the political name of the United Provinces, the national distribution
of power may be roughly described to Americans as an exaggerated