Page:Handbook of maritime rights.djvu/135

Rh 2. The eidolon invulnerabile, viz., that after all our maritime power is so overwhelming that we could at any rate blockade all our enemy's coasts, and seal up his ports, which would make maritime captures unnecessary. It is superfluous to remark that this idol is in flagrant contradiction with the last, and I would leave them to fight it out between them if I had not particularly examined the subject of blockade in Chapter I.

3. The eidolon timidum, or the coward's plea, viz., that, however advantageous to us maritime rights might be, neutral nations would never allow us to exercise them, and therefore it is better to give up with a good grace in peace what we should not be allowed to profit by in war.

I will answer this objection both generally and particularly. Speaking generally, it is a gross reflection on the courage and manliness of our country to insinuate that