ill take good care that
Heligoland does not disappear from the earth's surface. But if, in spite
of the bombardment of Heligoland, the Germans do not come out into the
open sea, let us send our fleet up the Elbe and lay Hamburg in ashes.
Let our warships put to sea from Copenhagen and destroy Kiel harbour
and all the German coast towns on the Baltic. Then the German fleet will
soon enough put out to meet us!"

"This plan has already been considered, and will perhaps be acted upon.
There are, however, two difficulties in the way. First of all, by the
destruction of unfortified towns we should be conjuring up odium against
us, which--"

"Nonsense! there is no 'odium' for a victor! England would never have
attained its present might and grandeur had it allowed itself to be
deterred by a too delicate regard for humanity and the law of nations
from taking practical steps."

"Well, and then there is, at any rate, the second consideration."

"And that is, my lord?"

"A battle of ships, even though they have the finest possible armour,
against land fortifications, is always a hazardous undertaking, and more
especially when the coasts are defended by innumerable mines and torpedo
boats. Moreover, ironclads are very expensive, and are, in a certain
sense, very fragile things."

"Fragile things?"

"The Germans have removed all their light-ships, all their buoys,
and, like the French, the German ports are also defended by mines. An
ironclad, given calm sea, is strong as against another ship, but the
nature of its build makes it weak in a storm and in insecure waters.
An ironclad, owing to its enormously heavy armament, goes to the bottom
very rapidly, as soon as it gets a heavy list either on the one side or
the other. Again, owing to its enormous weight, it can never ram another
vessel for fear of breaking to pieces itself; if a torpedo strikes its
armour, or if the ship runs upon a mine, the explosion will send it to
the bottom with greater ease than it would a wooden ship of a century
ago. And then, if it runs on a shallow or a rock it cannot be brought
off again. Moreover, its supply of coal requires to be constantly
renewed, so that it cannot be sent on long expeditions. Our ironclads
have their own specific purpose--they are intended for a naval battle.
But they are like giants, are rendered top-heavy by their own weight,
and are thus easily capsized, and the loss of an ironclad battleship,
apart from the effect it m