SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL ON SEA POWER. [To THE EDITOR OF
THE "SPECTATOR.']
SIR,—We have had very brave words about the Fleet from members of the present Government, but when asked to translate words into ironclads, they reply that no increase the Estimates for the Navy will be made. Speaking at Dundee, Mr. Winston Churchill said bow
"vain it was for a nation like ourselves to trust merely to the stipulations of international agreement, or to the smooth phrases of ceremonious diplomacy. No; if we wish to keep ourselves in
these islands free and independent then I say it is indispensable that these islands should be guarded by the strength of a Navy sufficiently powerful to make us immune from all possibility of attack."
Mr. Winston Churchill's words remind one of that terse and vigorous description of the effect of sea power given by his ancestor, father of the great Duke of Marlborough, in his "Divi Britannici," or "Remarks upon the Lives of the Kings of this Isle," published in 1675,—most delightful of old histories. After quoting Cicero's epigram on sea power, Nam qui mare teneat eum necesse est rerura potiri,
he adds :-
" But to recite the benefits of the Sea, were to enter upon a subject as profound as that is, and give occasion to our next neighbour the Dutch (who can give a better account thereof than ourselves) to upbraid our glory, with the shame of having so long suffer'd their depredations, who with indefatigable Patience penetrate the Womb of that dark element, to seek for Treasure, which we know not how to find, or how to value."
This is from Sir Winston Churchill's introduction to his work, which throughout breathes the highest spirit of
patriotism, perhaps nowhere more strongly than in his tribute to King Edgar (A.D. 959). After describing how
Edgar's barge was rowed over the Dee by the five Kings, he
says :—
"The King was not unworthily reputed the most, not to say
first absolute Monarch of the whole Isle Neither is it strange that he should be so much above any Kings that were before him, since he took a different way from them all to enlarge his empire; for they only busy'd themselves to Fortifie by Land, whereas he made the Ocean, as Nature first intended it, the Bulwark of his dominions ; and was indeed the very first that made it so by providing such a Fleet, as met with danger before it could approach too near him, whereby he had this double advantage, not only to take off the Fears of his own People, which had so long abus'd their Courage, but added so much to the Terror of his Neighbours, that they submitted to him without being conquer'd ; and having never seen him, paid him Tribute on condition that they never might: Fame, as it were, so out- sayling his Navy, that they who before made it their business to invade his Territories, counted it happiness enough that he did not invade theirs. Hence it was that there was not the least Noise of War all his Time, nor scarce a whisper of Rebellion."
It would be difficult, I think, to find a better description of what Captain Mahan's genius calls " the influence of sea power" than in Sir Winston Churchill's account of the naval policy of Edgar. The echo of it is heard in Mr. Winston Churchill's speech at Dundee : "It is indispensable that these islands should be guarded by the strength of a Navy suffi- ciently powerful to make us immune from all possibility of attack." Nor can we doubt, however much we may regret his views as to the way our democracy is to " pursue its destiny," that be is determined England shall remain as his ancestor, quoting Matthew Paris, describes her : "the Lady, Queen, and Mistress of the Sea." But brave words will not secure us in that position.—I am, Sir, &c., Surrey Lodge, Denmark Hill, S.E. R. B. MARsrox.
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