Mr. Bonar Law's speech was worthy of the leader of
the Opposition and of the head of the Unionist Party, and shows that though before he became the leader of the Unionists he had not devoted special attention to Foreign Affairs, he has what is far more important than expert knowledge in detail— that can always be supplied to him—judgment, force of character, and good sense on the positive side. Further, he is not "awed by rumour," and his intellectual balance is not upset by panic, or even by that anxiety of mind which of necessity tends to haunt the discussion of great affairs. As regards the naval question, Mr. Bonar Law pointed out, though without undue pessimism, that whereas ten years ago we had not only the command of the sea, but the command of every sea, we have now the command of no sea in the world except the North Sea. The decline of the Roman Empire was marked by the call of their legions home to Rome—a recall forced by pressure at the heart. We have had to call back our legions, and to call them back for precisely the same reason.
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