War in Disguise , or, The Frauds of the Neutral
Flags. By James Stephen. Edited by Sir F. Piggott. (University of London Press. 5s. net.)—Even if history never repeats itself, there is a very close analogy between the conditions under which Stephen wrote this able pamphlet just before Trafalgar, and our present circumstances before they were modified by the entry of America as a combatant. Napoleon in 1805 was proclaiming that he sought to free the seas from English tyranny ; the neutrals wore doing a roaring trade with France and the French colonies despite our blockade, and protesting in the name of international law whenever we stopped their ships from helping the enemy. Englishmen were much concerned about the apparent failure of the Navy to clear all hostile craft from the seas, and were hoping that America might come to our assistance. Stephen, Wilberforce's brother-in-law and a close friend of Percoval, practised in the Prize Court, and he wrote this pamphlet to expose the fraudulent neutrality of many neutrals, and to show the need for sterner measures such as were taken under the Orders in Council of 1807. The editor, who has been helped by Mr. Leyland, can now modify his references to America ; in other respects, his introduction and notes bring out clearly the historical parallels between those days and ours, when with many trusty allies we have to face a foe who, with all his cunning, lacks Napoleon's genius. " You may make treaties with Buonaparte," says Stephen, " but you cannot make peace."
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