ut factious, leader of the opposition."
In proofreading I struck out "factious;" as needless, and as a
generalization on insufficient premises.

It was not till the following December--1890--that I began the two
chapters next in order of composition, on "The Warfare against
Commerce." These occupied me late into the winter, covering as they
did the entire period 1793-1814, and embracing a great deal of
detail. Taken together, these three chapters, final but first written,
contain the main argument of the book. The naval occurrences,
brilliant and interesting as they were, are logically but the prelude
to the death grapple. Pitt's policy stood justified, because naval
supremacy, established by war, secured control of the seas and of
maritime commerce, and so exhausted Napoleon. Not till this
demonstration had been accomplished to my own satisfaction did I take
up the narrative and discussion of warfare, land and sea. Thus the
prelude followed the play. My memory retains associations which enable
me definitely to fix the progress of the work. Thus the chapter on
"The Brest Blockade," from its characteristics, long continuance, and
incidents, one of the most interesting of the purely naval operations,
was composed in the summer of 1891, at Richfield; while the campaign
and battle of Trafalgar, the last done of all, passed through my hands
in April, 1892, in Richmond, Virginia, where I then was on
court-martial duty.

This second book was written under much more encouraging circumstances
than its predecessor, and with much greater deliberation. The first
occupied me little over one year; the second, though covering only
one-fifth the time, was in hand three. There were long interruptions,
it is true; the Puget Sound business, and the writing of a short _Life
of Farragut_. But the chief cause of delay was a much more extensive
preparation. This was owing largely to the crowded activities of the
brief twenty years treated, and still more to wider outlook. I
attempted, indeed, nothing that could be called original research. I
still relied wholly upon printed matter, but in that I wandered far.
The privilege was accorded me of free access to the alcoves of what
was then the Astor Library, now, while keeping its name, incorporated
with the New York Public Library; and I rummaged its well-stocked
shelves, following up every clue, especially memoirs, pamphlets, and
magazines, contemporary with my period. From the estimate I had