GENERAL PREFACE.
It is upon the Navy that, under the good providence of God, the wealth, the prosperity, and the peace of these islands, and of the Empire, mainly depend. Such, in effect, is the declaration of the preamble to the Articles of War. No thoughtful and unprejudiced Briton doubts the truth of the assertion. His knowledge, superficial though it be, of the general course of modern history, tells him that, but for the Navy, Great Britain, on numerous occasions, would have lain at the mercy of foreign powers, which, had they had their will, would have left her neither riches nor liberty. It tells him also that the Navy has played as great a role in the development as in the protection of Britain's commerce and Empire. It has been instrumental in the discovery of some colonies, and in the acquisition of many others; and it is, to this day, responsible for the maintenance of secure communication with all, and of pacific trade and traffic between the various portions of the Empire and other parts of the world. And while it has advanced in a peculiar manner the special interests of Great Britain, the Navy has been not without influence upon the progress of civilisation generally. There has been no more powerful factor in the putting down of piracy, and in the practical suppression of the slave trade.
These things are known broadly to all, and are admitted by every one. Not monarchs, not statesmen, not scientists, not reformers, not manufacturers, not even merchants or soldiers have contributed as much as the Navy has contributed towards the building up, the extension, and the preservation of the British Empire. But the nature and the working of this all-important force have been strangely neglected by the British historian, and more especially by the British student. The acts of our kings, our statesmen, our reformers, and our soldiers have been voluminously and exactly chronicled, so that he who runs may read. And for the
