TRAFALGAR DAY AND SEA-POWER. T HE English have suddenly found an
anniversary which they care to celebrate. For two generations they have persistently neglected every great event in their past history, and have refused to take the slightest trouble to notice the red-letter days of their calendar. Waterloo Day was once a day of national rejoicing, but the " loud Sabbath " has long ago passed out of popular remem- brance. Now, however, it really seems as if the anniversary of Trafalgar were going to be established as the nation's day. And truly there could be no better event chosen for public commemoration than Nelson's victory,—the first great national victory, if we remember rightly, over which the Union Jack ever waved. It was not till the Union with Ireland that the Union Jack as we now know it became the flag of England, and between the battle of the Nile and the battle of Trafalgar there was no action by sea or land which deserves to be considered of the first rank.
That the popular instinct is right in fastening on Trafalgar Day as the day in our fighting annals most worthy of commemoration, no one who considers the subject will doubt for a moment. The greatness of England is absolutely and entirely bound up with the command of the sea. Without the command of the sea, what are we but a huge city ?—a straggling city, no doubt, and with many parks, but essentially a city, since, like all cities, we cannot grow the food on which we live. But a city which has not the power to keep open the roads that lead to it, and by which comes its daily bread, lies at the mercy of the first nation bold enough to hold it to ransom. If we lose the command of the sea we may not perish instantly, but we can in future only live on suffer- ance, and by the good-will of those who have the strongest fleet. But Trafalgar gave us the command of the sea, and put us out of reach of danger. Hence, in commemorating Trafalgar we commemorate the acquisition of the com- mand of the sea. Let any one who does not realise fully the difference between possessing and not possessing the command of the sea contrast the position of England before Trafalgar and after it. Before Trafalgar had been fought it was still an open question whether France, joined with Spain or some other ally, might not be able to beat us at sea. If that had happened our commerce would have gone, and our shores would have been open to invasion and to pillage. Therefore, for the ten years previous to Trafalgar there was constant dread and danger of invasion. The country was in a state of alarm such as was never known before and has never been known since. The Government spent millions on peppering the coast with martello-frwers, volunteers were raised in thousands, and in Kent te..v actually went so far as to copy the Mahratta ditch and to dig a dyke to defend themselves from possible invaders. So great, and indeed we must say so natural, was the fear of attack, that men actually refused to buy or build houses close to the South Coast, and so" put themselves, as it were, into the line of fire. Men treated the water-line, in fact, as if it were the enemies' frontier, and, just as in foreign countries, resigned a broad strip of land as too dangeroue for occupation by peaceable citizens. Then came Trafalgar, and with the victory of Cadiz the command of the sea passed into our haIe'le. After Trafalgar all dread of invasion soon faded away. The martello-towers were disregarded or allowed to go out of repair, the Kentish ditch became a table or a laughing-stock, and men ceased to consider the sea as the frontier of a hostile nation. Instead, they came to look upon the sea as a part of British territory, and no more feared to live beside it than in the heart of England. The war still went on in Europe, and Napoleon grew stronger and stronger, and seemed on the eve of creating a Universal Empire over the land. But though England felt obliged to use every effort to prevent the accomplish- ment of the Napoleon policy, she had no dread as to her own safety. Since we held command of the sea, and could treat it as our own, the people at large felt little anxiety, even when they heard of Jena and Wagram, and the rest of the victories gained by Napoleon. From that day to this the popular mind has been entirely at ease on the question of invasion. For ninety years we have treated the sea as ours, and our coasts as absolutely secure—as secure as the most inland"- parts of the Kingdom. But during the last few years the wiser minds in the nation have been not a little con- cerned with the question whether we are not living in so fool's paradise. "We are acting as if we possess the- command of the sea, but are we sure that we do possess it still ? Is it not possible that what gives command of the• sea, a Navy superior to all others in all possible con- tingencies, is no longer ours ? " So run the questions of those who are occupied with the problem of our national' defences. On the whole the true answer seems to be,- " We still have the command of the sea, but in our apathy we have been perilously near losing it, and if we do not in the future make a great and sustained effort we shall most certainly lose it." But if this is the true position of affairs, as we believe it is, then we must rejoice most heartily that the nation—prompted, we admit, by the- efforts of the Navy League—has suddenly awakened to, the importance of Trafalgar Day. As soon as people- begin to get interested in an anniversary they ask what is the reason for its special commemoration. When this question is asked in regard to Trafalgar Day only one answer is possible. " On Trafalgar Day we call to mind how we gained the command of the sea." But the public when they grasp this will soma realise that it is necessary to keep as well as to take,. and from congratulating themselves on Nelson's victory they will go on to ask whether its fruits are secure, and if' they are not to insist that they shall be made secure_ Once teach men to be proud of having gained something precious and it is an easy step to persuade them to take- means for keeping it. Explain to a man that his silver bowl is absolutely unique, and worth a vast sum of money, and he orders a burglar-proof safe next day. We have, then, only to show that the command of the sea which was gained at Trafalgar is of priceless value- to make sure that the nation will try to preserve it.
But though we hold that the awakening of the nation- to the knowledge of Trafalgar Day and what it means is of real importance, we are fully aware that a vague and undirected national impulse will not avail to secure our position as a nation. We want a great deal more than la mere general desire that England shall be supreme at sea. It is something that the nation should clearly give that order, as we trust and believe it will, but it is not enough, by itself. What is wanted is not only a Navy which' outnumbers all possible competitors, but a general preparedness for war which shall make successful resistance to us at sea an impossibility. We want our Admiralty not merely to build a vast fleet, but to have the men and the guns and the stores ready, in sufficient quantities at a mo-eent's notice. We want them also to think out beforehand not only schemes, for preventing an invasion of these islands, but also schemes for sealing up or capturing every foreign fleet that now keeps the sea. These plans must, no doubt,. change from year to year, but that is no impediment It merely means that the body of clingers charged with the duty shall be constantly revising their work. It ought to be possible for the Board of Admiralty not only to mobi- lise their resources at a moment's notice, but also to mobilise their ideas. If adequate provision, indeed, is nob made for this latter form of mobilisation, our fleets may' be running hither and thither without a proper purpose,. or wasting most precious days in a useless marking of time. In war almost any plan is a good one as long as it is resolutely and swiftly carried out. Our Admiralty ought to know exactly where to deliver a crushing blow the moment war is declared. The intention and the- ability to do this is a necessary part of the force on which' rests the command of the sea.
That England may long keep the command of the sew is the fervent prayer of all her sons. But she must never forget that in honour she won that command, and that in honour she must keep it. And by this we mean that if England were to attempt to use the command of the sea for purely selfish ends she would deserve to lose it.. The command of the sea comes perilously near a Universal Empire, and in the end no nation would be allowed to• retain it that did not moralise the idea and hold the con- trol of the blue water more as a trustee than as a bent*. ficial owner. Fortunately there is little fear of our ever holding the command of the sea except for the general benefit of mankind. We have not done otherwise in the past. One of the first uses we made of the command of I) • the sea was to put down the slave-trade,—surely no selfish or anti-social act. Again, we have never used the command of the sea to impede or restrict commerce, or to monopolise trade in our own hands. If we continue to act on these wise and noble traditions we shall still deserve to command the sea, and in spite of the snarlings of the Continental Press, shall command it without exciting any undue jealousy. Remember it was a German who wrote what is perhaps the finest invocation to England as a sea-Power. Schiller, in his poem on the Armada, makes the Almighty save England and secure to her the empire of the seas, because she was worthy of the trust. We quote Bulwer Lytton's translation :- `And who,' saith He, 'shall lay mine England low— The stem that blooms with hero deeds—
The rock when man from wrong a refuge needs— The stronghold where the tyrant comes in vain ? Who shall bid England vanish from the main ? Ne'er be this only Eden Freedom knew, Man's stout defence from Power, to fate consign'd.' God the Almighty blew, And the Armada went to every wind !"
With these words we may fittingly close our attempt to press home the lessons and glories of Trafalgar Day. Let England spare no effort to maintain the command of the sea, and when it is put beyond all question and doubt, let her treat it as a duty and a trust, and keep herself worthy of praise such as was accorded to her by the German poet.
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