seem probable that a government in full accord with the
natural bias of its people would most successfully advance its growth
in every respect; and, in the matter of sea power, the most brilliant
successes have followed where there has been intelligent direction by
a government fully imbued with the spirit of the people and conscious
of its true general bent. Such a government is most certainly secured
when the will of the people, or of their best natural exponents, has
some large share in making it; but such free governments have
sometimes fallen short, while on the other hand despotic power,
wielded with judgment and consistency, has created at times a great
sea commerce and a brilliant navy with greater directness than can be
reached by the slower processes of a free people. The difficulty in
the latter case is to insure perseverance after the death of a
particular despot.

England having undoubtedly reached the greatest height of sea power of
any modern nation, the action of her government first claims
attention. In general direction this action has been consistent,
though often far from praiseworthy. It has aimed steadily at the
control of the sea. One of its most arrogant expressions dates back as
far as the reign of James I., when she had scarce any possessions
outside her own islands; before Virginia or Massachusetts was settled.
Here is Richelieu's account of it:--

"The Duke of Sully, minister of Henry IV. [one of the most
chivalrous princes that ever lived], having embarked at Calais
in a French ship wearing the French flag at the main, was no
sooner in the Channel than, meeting an English despatch-boat
which was there to receive him, the commander of the latter
ordered the French ship to lower her flag. The Duke, considering
that his quality freed him from such an affront, boldly refused;
but this refusal was followed by three cannon-shot, which,
piercing his ship, pierced the heart likewise of all good
Frenchmen. Might forced him to yield what right forbade, and for
all the complaints he made he could get no better reply from the
English captain than this: 'That just as his duty obliged him to
honor the ambassador's rank, it also obliged him to exact the
honor due to the flag of his master as sovereign of the sea.' If
the words of King James himself were more polite, they
nevertheless had no other effect than to compel the Duke to take
c