Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/291

THE DEMEAKOUJt OF ENGLAND. 247 proportion of sound, sterling matter, that the chap, whole mass taken together must have imparted, '. — along with some errors, a great abundance of truth ; but it was not of course in the nature of things that any such wholesale distribution of insular writings would ever take place abroad, and, on the contrary, all might foresee that each sentence in which military incapacity was im- puted to England by Englishmen would be eagerly caught up by the foreigner, like a gem frcon the midst of coarse pebbles, and — without the slightest admixture of counteracting citations — would be not only quoted and requoted, Imt long remembered against her. Therefore, wild and wrong as they were, these confessions of military weakness so fastened upon the minds of people on the Continent as to make them greatly alter their reckoning of England's strength in land warfare. When a nation stands engaged in armed strife, Thciangers . and mis- lier warlike repute is a treasure not smiply con- ciiiefsthus •^ . , caused. ferring bare honour, like a star or a cross, but largely, visibly, practically conducing to make her strong, and by its opposite bearing on tho heart of her enemy conducing to make him weak ; whilst, again, in negotiation, the measure of warlike power which opinion con- cedes to each nation stands of course for the power itself ; so that, plainly, to destroy such a treasure — a treasure like ' credit ' in commerce, like ' character ' in private life — is to weaken any State thus depreciated for the purposes of both combat and treaty. Yet the time our wild