Q. And is not our officers' acquaintance with the characteristics of the sea rather indefinite and distinctly limited?
A. It is bound to be with defective charts and other false guides to naval knowledge.
Q. Then may it be justly assumed that we cannot count upon our ships, guns, and commanders?
A. Why, certainly.
Q. And yet you declare that England possesses the best possible fleet?
A. I do, and the little drawbacks I have admitted have no force in qualifying the assertion.
Q. Why have they not?
A. Because all the drawbacks exist in the piping times of peace, and consequently the British navy will prove its superiority in the more dangerous days of war.
