prepared to make a descent on our coasts. I ask what measures have been
taken to meet an attack upon our mother country?"

"The British fleet," replied the First Lord of the Admiralty, "is strong
enough to crush the fleets of our enemies should they dare to show
themselves on the open seas. But the Russian, French, and German
navies are clever enough to remain in harbour under the cover of
the fortifications. We have, too, fleets in the Channel, one of ten
battleships and eighteen cruisers, and the necessary smaller vessels,
told off to engage the German fleet; and a second, a stronger force, of
fourteen battleships and twenty-four cruisers, destined to annihilate
the French fleet. A third fleet is in the harbour of Copenhagen in order
to prevent a union being effected between the Russian and German
fleets. The plan of sailing for Cronstadt has been abandoned, from the
experiences of the Crimean War and the fear that we should be keeping
our naval forces too far apart. Our admirals and captains will, owing to
the Russian successes, be convinced that England's honour and England's
very existence are now at stake. When in the eighteenth century we swept
the sea power of France from all the seas and vanquished the fleet of
the Great Napoleon, the rule was laid down that every defeated admiral
and captain in our navy should be court-martialled and shot, and that
even where the victory of our ships of war was not followed up and taken
the utmost advantage of, the court-martial was to remove the commander.
The time has now arrived when those old, strict rules must be again
enforced."

"According to the last Admiralty reports," said the First Lord of the
Treasury, "the fleet consists of twenty-seven new ironclads, the oldest
of which is of the year 1895. The ironclads of 1902, the Albemarle,
Cornwallis, Duncan, Exmouth, Montagu, and Russell, as well as those
of 1899, Bulwark, Formidable, Implacable, Irresistible, London, and
Venerable are, as I see from the report, constructed and armed according
to the latest technical principles. Are all the most recent twenty-seven
battleships with the Channel fleet?"

"No; the Albion, the Ocean, and the Glory are in other waters. The
twelve newest ironclads which your lordship mentioned are included in
both Channel fleets; in addition, several older battleships, such as the
Centurion, Royal Sovereign, and Empress of India are in the Channel. I
may say with truth that both the Channel Sq