ave almost no seaboard are
trying to bring theirs up within measurable distance of England's, it is
impossible to say. Even before the outbreak of the war with America
there were but a few battle-ships, and these were wanting in guns and in
almost all that could make them effective--save and except the men, who
behaved like heroes. It seems to be a consolation to Spaniards to
remember that it was in the pages of an English journal that an
Englishman, who had seen the whole of the disastrous war, wrote: "If
Spain were served by her statesmen as she has been served by her navy,
she would be one of the greatest nations of the world to-day."

The history of the part borne by the Spanish navy in the late war with
America, as written by one of Admiral Cervera's captains,[1] with the
publication of the actual telegrams which passed between the Government
and the fleet, and the military commanders in the colonies, is one of
the most heartrending examples of the sacrifice, not only of brave men,
but of a country's honour to political intrigue or the desire to retain
office. This, at least, is the opinion of the writer of this painful
history, and his statements are fully borne out by the original
telegrams, since published. It is impossible to imagine that any
definite policy at all was followed by the advisers of the Queen Regent
in this matter, unless it were the incredible one ascribed to it by
Captain Concas Palan of deliberately allowing the fleet, such as it was,
to be destroyed--in fact, in the case of Admiral Cervera's squadron,
sending it out to certain and foreseen annihilation--so as to make the
disaster an excuse for suing for peace, without raising such a storm at
home as might have upset the Ministry. With both fleets sunk, and those
of their men not slain, prisoners of war, there was no alternative
policy but peace. Captain Concas Palan claims for his chief and the
comrades who fell in this futile and disastrous affair "a right to the
legitimate defence which our country expects from us, though it is
against the interested silence which those who were the cause of our
misfortunes would fain impose on us," and says that "some day, and that
probably much sooner than seems probable at present," the judgment of
Spain on this episode will be that of the English _Review_, which he
quotes as the heading of his chapter. He goes on: "War was accepted by
Spain when the island of Cuba was already lost to her, and when the
di