as will be seen from what has been already said.
Improvements in armour and guns, as well in machinery, are ever being
made, which may alter the present type of ship altogether. Sad it is to
think of the enormous expenditure of money and ingenuity in providing
means of destroying our fellow-men with the greatest facility, and what
a relief it would be to everybody if only the nations could agree to
disarm--and keep disarmed! But as this may not be, for the present at
any rate, we must be content to bear the burden of our national
insurance policy, and, however much we may grudge its necessity, see
that our naval power is sufficient to keep the command of the sea, on
which our very existence as a nation depends. Of one thing we may rest
certain, that the same spirit, the same indomitable courage and
readiness to sacrifice their lives in defence of their country, exists
among our officers and men in not less proportion than it did before
England was engaged in that glorious struggle, with the world in arms
against her, for her liberties and independence, the successful
termination of which secured for her that peace which has now endured,
with few interruptions, for well-nigh a century. That peace it will be
our wise policy to maintain while we can do so with honour; at the same
time guarding ourselves by every means in our power against the assaults
of envious foes who may venture to attack us.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves, by
W.H.G. Kingston

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