Page 134 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

Anglo-American Reunion. 115

was the grip which the constant insistence upon
the predominant claim of the State upon in-
dividual loyalty had struck into the hearts of
her sons. What paper bonds, treaties, or
alliances could have availed then to hold to-
gether people whose ideals had drifted so far
apart, whose interests, as each at that time
saw them, had become so opposed?
Although I am convinced firmly that it
would be to the interest of Great Britain and
the United States, and for the benefit of the
world, that the two nations should act together
cordially on the seas, I am equally sure that
the result not only must be hoped but also
quietly waited for, while the conditions upon
which such cordiality depends are being realized
by men. All are familiar with the idea con-
veyed by the words " forcing process." There
are things that cannot be forced, processes
which cannot be hurried, growths which are
strong and noble in proportion as they imbibe
slowly the beneficent influence of the sun and
air in which they are bathed. How far the
forcing process can be attempted by an extrava-
gant imagination, and what the inevitable recoil
of the mind you seek to take by storm, is amus-