The Navy as a Fighting Machine | Page 4

brought to bear upon a man was a
threat against his life, and as it was the province of military power to
threaten life, it was unavoidable that military power should be the most
potent influence that could be brought to bear upon a nation.
The history of the world has been in the main a history of war and a
narrative of wars. No matter how far back we go, the same horrible but
stimulating story meets our eyes. In ancient days, when every weapon
was rude, and manipulated by one man only, the injury a single weapon
could do was small, the time required for preparation was but brief, and
the time required for recuperation after war was also brief. At that time,
military power was almost the sole element in the longevity of a tribe,
or clan, or nation; and the warriors were the most important men
among the people. But as civilization increased, the life not only of
individuals but of nations became more complex, and warriors had to

dispute with statesmen, diplomatists, poets, historians, and artists of
various types, the title to pre-eminence. Yet even in savage tribes and
even in the conduct of savage wars, the value of wisdom and cunning
was perceived, and the stimulating aid of the poet and the orator was
secured. The relative value of men of war and men of peace depended
during each period on the conditions prevailing then--in war, warriors
held the stage; in peace, statesmen and artists had their day.
Naturally, during periods when war was the normal condition, the
warrior was the normal pillar of the state. In how great a proportion of
the time that history describes, war was the normal condition and peace
the abnormal, few realize now in our country, because of the aloofness
of the present generation from even the memory of war. Our last great
war ended in 1865; and since then only the light and transient touch of
the Spanish War has been laid upon us. Even that war ended seventeen
years ago and since then only the distant rumblings of battles in foreign
lands have been borne across the ocean to our ears.
These rumblings have disturbed us very little. Feeling secure behind
the 3,000-mile barrier of the ocean, we have lent an almost incredulous
ear to the story that they tell and the menace that they bear; though the
story of the influence of successful and unsuccessful wars upon the rise
and fall of nations is told so harshly and so loudly that, in order not to
hear it, one must tightly stop his ears.
That war has not been the only factor, however, in the longevity of
nations is obviously true; and it is also true that nations which have
developed the warlike arts alone have never even approximated
greatness. In all complex matters, in all processes of nature and human
nature, many elements are present, and many factors combine to
produce a given result. Man is a very complex individual, and the more
highly he is developed the more complex he becomes. A savage is
mainly an animal; but the civilized and highly educated man is an
animal on whose elemental nature have been superposed very highly
organized mental, moral, and spiritual natures. Yet even a savage of the
most primitive or warlike character has an instinctive desire for rest and
softness and beauty, and loves a primitive music; and even the most

highly refined and educated gentleman raises his head a little higher,
and draws his breath a little deeper, when war draws near. Thus in the
breast of every man are two opposing forces; one urging him to the
action and excitement of war, the other to the comparative inaction and
tranquillity of peace. On the side that urges war, we see hate, ambition,
courage, energy, and strength; on the side that urges peace we see love,
contentment, cowardice, indolence, and weakness. We see arrayed for
war the forceful faults and virtues; for peace the gentle faults and
virtues. Both the forceful and the gentle qualities tend to longevity in
certain ways and tend to its prevention in other ways; but history
clearly shows that the _forceful qualities have tended more to the
longevity of nations than the gentle_. If ever two nations, or two tribes,
have found themselves contiguous, one forceful and the other not, the
forceful one has usually, if not always, obtained the mastery over the
other, and therefore has outlived it. If any cow and any lion have found
themselves alone together, the lion has outlived the cow.
It is true that the mere fact of being a lion has not insured long life, and
that the mere fact of being a cow has not precluded it; and some
warlike tribes