early exhausted by the necessity of keeping up a large army and
carrying on expensive wars to preserve her independence while the
policy of France was constantly diverted, sometimes wisely and
sometimes most foolishly, from the sea to projects of continental
extension. These military efforts expended wealth; whereas a wiser and
consistent use of her geographical position would have added to it.

The geographical position may be such as of itself to promote a
concentration, or to necessitate a dispersion, of the naval forces.
Here again the British Islands have an advantage over France. The
position of the latter, touching the Mediterranean as well as the
ocean, while it has its advantages, is on the whole a source of
military weakness at sea. The eastern and western French fleets have
only been able to unite after passing through the Straits of
Gibraltar, in attempting which they have often risked and sometimes
suffered loss. The position of the United States upon the two oceans
would be either a source of great weakness or a cause of enormous
expense, had it a large sea commerce on both coasts.

England, by her immense colonial empire, has sacrificed much of this
advantage of concentration of force around her own shores; but the
sacrifice was wisely made, for the gain was greater than the loss, as
the event proved. With the growth of her colonial system her war
fleets also grew, but her merchant shipping and wealth grew yet
faster. Still, in the wars of the American Revolution, and of the
French Republic and Empire, to use the strong expression of a French
author, "England, despite the immense development of her navy, seemed
ever, in the midst of riches, to feel all the embarrassment of
poverty." The might of England was sufficient to keep alive the heart
and the members whereas the equally extensive colonial empire of