lation at the disposal
of Government. Nor is this all. Regular drafts are made upon the seamen;
and it is computed that in every period of nine years all the sailors of
France serve in their turn in the navy. They are trained in all that
belongs to naval duty: in the use of ships' guns, in the sailing of
great ships, and in the evolutions of fleets. No matter how sudden the
call, or from what direction the sailors are taken, no French fleet
leaves or can leave port with a crew of green hands.

The training which is given to sailors actually in service is an equally
important matter. The French Admiralty keeps no drones in its employ;
certainly it does not promote them to places of trust. Honors are won,
not bought. Every step up, from midshipman to admiral, must be the
result of honorable service, and actual proficiency both in the theory
and practice of a sailor's profession. The modern French naval officer
is master of his business, fit to compete with the best skill of the
best maritime races. Then the sailors themselves are trained. Even in
time of peace, twenty-five thousand are kept in service. Gathered on
board great experimental fleets, officers and men alike are schooled in
all branches of nautical duty. In port or out of it, they are not idle.
Every day a prescribed routine of exercise is rigidly enforced. Great
have been the results. The French sailor of 1863 is not a reproduction
of the sailor of 1800. In alertness, in knowledge, in silent obedience,
he is a great improvement upon his predecessor. Actual experiment shows
that a French crew will weigh anchor, spread and furl sail, replace
spars or running-ringing, lower or raise topmasts, or perform any other
duty pertaining to a ship, with as much celerity as the crew of any
other nation. And no confusion, no babbling of many voices, such as the
British writers of the last generations delighted to describe, mars the
beauty of the evolutions. One mind directs, and one voice alone breaks
the stillness. Since the Crimean War, the English speak with respect of
French seamanship; and though they do not believe that it is equal to
their own, they do not scruple to allow that a naval battle would be
disputed now with a fierceness hitherto unknown.

All that sagacity and experience would prompt has been attempted. All
that training and discipline can do has already been accomplished. Yet
there is one source of weakness for which there can be no remedy. France
has n