the general tenor of the work
itself; and they suggest, moreover, another line of reflection upon
the influence, imperceptibly exerted, and passively accepted in men's
minds, by the quiet passing of even a single calendar year.

The very lapse of time and subsidence of excitement which tend to
insure dispassionate and impartial treatment by the historian, and a
juster proportion of impression in spectators, tend also to produce
indifference and lethargy in the people at large; whereas in fact the
need for sustained interest of a practical character still exists.
Intelligent provision for the present and future ought now to succeed
to the emotional experiences of the actual war. The reading public has
been gorged and surfeited with war literature, a fact which has been
only too painfully realized by publishers and editors, who purvey for
its appetite and have overstocked the larder. Coincident with this has
come an immense wave of national prosperity and consequent business
activity, which increasingly engross the attention of men's minds. So
far as the mere movement of the imagination, or the stirring of the
heart is concerned, this reaction to indifference after excessive
agitation was inevitable, and is not in itself unduly to be deplored;
but it will be a matter, not merely of lasting regret, but of
permanent harm, if the nation again sinks into the general apathy
concerning its military and naval necessities which previously
existed, and which, as the experience of Great Britain has shown, is
unfortunately characteristic of popular representative governments,
where present votes are more considered than future emergencies. Not
the least striking among the analogies of warfare are the sufferings
undergone, and the risks of failure incurred, through imperfect
organization, in the Crimea, and in our own recent hostilities with
Spain. And let not the public deceive itself, nor lay the fault
exclusively, or even chiefly, upon its servants, whether in the
military services or in the halls of Congress. The one and the other
will respond adequately to any demand made upon them, if the means are
placed betimes in their hands; and the officers of the army and navy
certainly have not to reproach themselves, as a body, with official
failure to represent the dangers, the exposure, and the needs of the
commonwealth. It should be needless to add that circumstances now are
greatly changed, through the occurrences of last year; and