Page 178 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

American Naval Power. 159

recognized in the recent development of the
navy. Nations, as a rule, do not move with
the foresight and the fixed plan which distin-
guish a very few individuals of the human race.
They do not practise on the pistol-range before
sending a challenge; if they did, wars would
be fewer, as is proved by the present long-
continued armed peace in Europe. Gradually
and imperceptibly the popular feeling, which
underlies most lasting national movements, is
aroused and swayed by incidents, often trivial,
but of the same general type, whose recurrence
gradually moulds public opinion and evokes
national action, until at last there issues that
settled public conviction which alone, in a free
state, deserves the name of national policy.
What the origin of those particular events
whose interaction establishes a strong political
current in a particular direction, it is perhaps
unprofitable to inquire. Some will see in the
chain of cause and effect only a chapter of
accidents, presenting an interesting philosophi-
cal study, and nothing more others, equally
;
persuaded that nations do not effectively shape
their mission in the world, will find in them
the ordering of a Divine ruler, who does not