t we could not know that almost on the
same day England suspended the Orders of Council, so far as they
affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable been in existence at the
time, there would have been no war.

ENGLAND'S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH.

England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her
strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had
1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which
carried less than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by
144,000 men. The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few
gunboats of little value. Indeed, the relative strength of the warring
nations was so disproportionate that the intention of the United States
at first was not to attempt a conflict on the ocean. Captains Bainbridge
and Stewart, however, persuaded the government to allow our little navy
to try its hand.

Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some
advantages for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them
to find the enemy than for the latter to find them, because of the
disproportion between the number of their vessels. More important,
however, than all was the fact that our navy contained no politicians.
The men were brave sailors, and marvelously skillful in handling guns.
With these conditions they were sure to win glory on the ocean.

Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the
incidents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant
so long on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless.
She held the surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant
for doing so. Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the
insignificant American navy. When such a mistake is made the
consequences are sure to be disastrous to the one committing the
blunder.

Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has
been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to
the politicians. They have the "pull," as it is called, with the
government, and secure the appointment of men as leaders who are
totally lacking in military skill. When defeat has followed defeat, with
exasperating regularity, the government gradually awakes to the fact
that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a politician in
charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the same
position, merely because his fa