wings of France have been clipped; the German Empire has become a solid
thing; but England still holds her watery dominion; Britannia does still
rule the waves, and in this proud position she has spread the English
race over the globe; she has created the great American nation; she is
peopling new Englands at the Antipodes; she has made her Queen Empress
of India; and is in fact the very considerable phenomenon in the social
and political world which all acknowledge her to be. And all this she
has achieved in the course of three centuries, entirely in consequence
of her predominance as an ocean power. Take away her merchant fleets;
take away the navy that guards them: her empire will come to an end; her
colonies will fall off, like leaves from a withered tree; and Britain
will become once more an insignificant island in the North Sea, for the
future students in Australian and New Zealand universities to discuss
the fate of in their debating societies.

How the English navy came to hold so extraordinary a position is worth
reflecting on. Much has been written about it, but little, as it seems
to me, which touches the heart of the matter. We are shown the power of
our country growing and expanding. But how it grew, why, after a sleep
of so many hundred years, the genius of our Scandinavian forefathers
suddenly sprang again into life--of this we are left without
explanation.

The beginning was undoubtedly the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Down to that time the sea sovereignty belonged to the Spaniards, and had
been fairly won by them. The conquest of Granada had stimulated and
elevated the Spanish character. The subjects of Ferdinand and Isabella,
of Charles V. and Philip II., were extraordinary men, and accomplished
extraordinary things. They stretched the limits of the known world; they
conquered Mexico and Peru; they planted their colonies over the South