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Rh fortresses, no mountain passes, no natural fastnesses. Our whole reliance has hitherto been on the sea; but from the moment that we lose the command of the sea, and yield up our supremacy there, that which formerly was our surest defence becomes the chief source of our danger, and we become exposed to invasion, and consequently destruction, along the whole periphery of our coasts. To defend England (to say nothing of India) territorially, without the command of the sea, is a simple strategical and military impossibility. A continental army, constituted as continental armies now are, would cut through this defenceless island as a knife cuts through a pat of butter.

This consideration seems to me conclusive. It is a mere bathos to point out other consequences which must follow from adhering to the Declaration of Paris. But it may nevertheless be interesting to trace out some of the secondary consequences which must ensue. It used formerly to be well