they any idea of where Russia would now be if there had been no Crimean War? They say, "Oh, but she has regained all she lost." Possibly; but she has been kept back for forty-five years, and in the meantime other nations have become stronger. That you will be hungry tomorrow is not a good reason for eating no dinner to-day.

It would be well, indeed, for the future peace and prosperity of all Europe if the German Powers, including Austria, could be got to see the question with the eyes of their great strategist; and better still if some good fairy would whisper into the ear of La Belle France, and tell her that she is preparing for her own and her neighbor's destruction. No doubt her anarchists would be delighted to see the whole European fabric destroyed with one common explosion, even if they went up with it themselves; but all Frenchmen are not anarchists; there must be some sensible men left in France, even if the nation-as a nation-seems to have gone mad on more than one subject; and it is to be hoped that France will see before it is too late the folly of her infatuated love for the great autocratic Power, which plays upon her vanity, borrows her money, uses her as a tool to further her own unscrupulous and ambitious schemes, and who will assuredly throw her over as soon as she has squeezed her dry, and finds that she can make no more use of her.

Colonel Bell's paper is devoted to a full explanation of the proposal-which is not new-that a railway should be run from the Mediterranean through Mesopotamia to the head of the Persian Gulf, and then on through India to the Far East; and that this railway should be constructed by the European Powers, exclusive of Russia, as a means of counteracting the effect of the great Siberian railway, and to prevent the whole of Asia from becoming

absolutely Russian. It is evident that Colonel Bell has deeply studied the whole question, not only from its military and strategic aspect, but from its political and commercial aspect also. He says:

Europe has lent Russia money to construct communications, whereby she has placed her in a position to injure herself. Let her now lend herself a little, to be laid out in Turkey and Persia, etc., to be administered by herself, and not as heretofore by venal Pashas, to counteract the harm she has done, in order to construct counter-communications.

Yes, truly, this is the best of the joke, from Russia's point of view; she is making gigantic preparations, both by land and sea, to obtain the supreme dominion in Europe and Asia; and-as we have before pointed out she is doing it with other people's money! with the money of those whom she intends to oust, both strategically and commercially.

For those who desire further information on the very interesting subject of the proposed Mesopotamian railway, we would strongly recommend a perusal of Colonel Bell's paper, though we cannot part company with him without further quoting one or two of his pregnant remarks. He tells us:

Napoleon considered the valley of the Tigris to be the strategical key of the whole world. Such sayings are not unimportant, although the present generation may be unable to assign specific reasons for them.

And again:

If the belt (the Mesopotamia-Persian belt) is occupied by Russia, the doom of both Turkey and Persia, the Persian Gulf and the Dardanelles, is sealed, and she will have gained a position from which she cannot be ousted, strengthened as it would be by art, and backed by millions of soldiers.

Colonel Bell sums up the situation in the following words:

Russia, with youthful energy and great forethought and fertility of resource, is leading the world; she leads enterprise, and is running her rails longitudinally (sic) through Asia, and under her own guarding, from Moscow to the Chinese seas, and from Batoum through Trans-Caspia, to the Kuldja gate of China, and is gaining inestimable advantages from her magnificent enterprise. She is gradually pushing her feeder lines southward into Europe's sphere of influence, to gain a predominating influence in Turkey and Persia as well as in China, and to Charjui and Tashkend to put an end to the inconvenience of the trans-shipment across the Caspian, and Europe can no longer stagnate, and rely upon her shortest line-the Suez Canal-to Asia, and along which now all nations run steamers to India and the Far East and Australia. She now requires three commercial lines to the East-i.e., via the long-sea routes, the Suez Canal, and by rail across Mesopotamia; no line through Russia could possibly serve Europe's purpose. She must now enter into keener competition for the trade of Asia, a railway competition with Russia, and inaugurate a quicker route than any she yet possesses by running her rails across Mesopotamia, via Mosul and Baghdad, to Kawait or Grain on the Persian Gulf, and across Persia to the gates of India, via Karmanshah, Ispahan, Yazd, Kirman, and Seistan. Its Persian terminus, Seistan, is a fertile oasis, capable of great expansion, and a centre of trade-routes between Persia and India, the Caspian and the Persian Gulf. Commerce and strategy adhere to natural directions, and this line is as necessary to her commercial as her political requirements.

We have laid before our readers two opposite views of the relations existing between Great Britain and Russia, and two opposite opinions as to the wisest policy to be pursued in our future relations.

Some will probably agree with Sir George Clarke and Mr. Jane that we ought to use every possible means to come to a friendly agreement with Russia upon questions whereon our interests appear to be opposed; and others will, no doubt, be found to agree with Colonel Bell in his proposed policy of trying to thwart and forestall Russian expansion in Asia by constructing, or helping to construct, a line of railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, and thence onward to India and the Far East. But we imagine there will be a universal consensus of opinion to condemn a vacillating, halting, or half-and-half policy. Surely upon a question of such vital importance to the future of the British empire it ought not to be impossible for the political parties in the state to come to some understanding as to the main lines, at any rate, of our future policy. Europe has not yet awakened to a sense of the danger which threatens her in the further expansion of the already prodigious extent and power of the Russian empire-prodigious not only as to actual territory (which might mean much or little), but as to her newly-acquired strategical positions, and the millions of well-armed and well-drilled soldiers which she has to defend them.

As von Moltke pointed out nearly half a century ago, the German Powers will be the first to suffer; England, perhaps, last of all, as England could live without India, though with diminished glory, for, as long as she maintains adequate sea power, she could defend her other possessions, and still have a mighty empire. And yet, such is the superiority of Russian diplomacy and intrigue, that she has succeeded in persuading all Europe into the belief that England is the common enemy-the enemy of all freedom and progress, the tyrant and the bully.

England may not, perhaps, be quite

the lamb which some of our advanced Radical politicians would like to make her, but it is absurd to depict her as the wolf; yet, however absurd it may be in fact, it is nevertheless done, and, what is more, millions believe it, especially in France, and lend their money to holy Russia to help her to check England from conquering the world.

Russian advance and expansion have hitherto been comparatively slow, and not free from checks and reverses, though never halting longer than necessary to gain strength and await opportunity for another advance; so that it has, on the whole, been continuous, from Peter the Great to Nicholas II. But now she seems to be preparing for a rush, or, perhaps, two rushes simultaneously-one for Pekin, and the other for the Persian Gulf. She knows, or at any rate believes, that England will not, if she can help it, permit either; and she is, therefore, preparing the means by which she thinks she will be able to threaten and overawe England, by attacking her in her tenderest place-viz., her sea-borne commerce. For this reason, and for no other, is she now spending millions of money, and straining every nerve to construct that very powerful fleet of warships, the list of which we have given to our readers at the beginning of this article; and we would once more emphasize the point that the great majority of these ships are not such as Russia requires for defence, but are simply "commercedestroyers."

Our duty is clear. We are already building battleships in sufficient numbers to maintain our superiority in this respect; we are also building several large, fast, and powerful armored cruisers, though not nearly in sufficient numbers to meet and deal with the immense fleet of this class of ship which Russia and France combined will, in two or three years, be able to let loose upon our ocean trade.

Sir George Clarke tells us that "Fate has, however, ordained that Asiatic dominion should be shared by two great nations. There is ample room for both, and could they attain to a reasonable measure of mutual understanding, fairer hopes of peace and progress would dawn upon the world." We do not profess to know what "Fate" has decreed; but we have a very decided opinion that Russian statesmen have decreed that they do not intend to go shares with any one in Asia, if they can keep it. We can, therefore, only regard this enormous increase in the war navy of an inland power, possessing an insignificant mercantile marine, and practically unattackable by sea, as a direct menace to some one who does possess a mercantile marine, and who is particularly vulnerable in this respect; for the nature of the ships under construction clearly indicates the purpose for which they are intended. The production of such a fleet of "commerce-destroyers" does not appear to us to be merely a phase in the legitimate expansion of a friendly and peace-loving Power, possessing the largest army that the world has ever seen. And yet we take leave of Sir George Clarke with the most sincere and hearty wish that his visions of "a better understanding with Russia" may be speedily accomplished; though always with the proviso that our national dignity and interests be in no wise compromised in our efforts to obtain it, and that we take due precautions to provide against the possible failure of those efforts.

England's large fleet of unarmored cruisers was sufficient for yesterday; is, perhaps, sufficient for to-day; but it will not suffice for tomorrow, either in speed or in power of individual ships. If her rivals build commerce-destroyers she must build anti-commerce destroyers-larger, more powerful, and slightly faster. We would, therefore, most

strenuously urge the First Lord of the Admiralty, and through him the Government, to make immediate provision for, at least, a dozen more of the "King Alfred" type of armored cruisers; and, perhaps, half a dozen of a type somewhat larger, faster, and more powerful than the Novik." Such a program, in addition to the ships we already have building, would, undoubtedly, be expensive. It would "cost a lot of money," as the expression goes; but it would be far cheaper than the loss of our ocean commerce. This competition in armaments is not of our seeking; it is the act of those who wish to destroy our commerce, and, with it, our empire.

All the great moves in war-ship construction which have taken place during the last half-century, almost all the innovations in type, armor, speed, armament, boilers, and some other minor but not unimportant matters, seem to have originated in foreign countries, and to have been simply and solely designed with the object of depriving conservative John Bull of his boasted naval supremacy, by rendering his "fleet in being" obsolete. Fortunately, we have the great advantage of being able to build more Blackwood's Magazine.

rapidly and more economically than our rivals.

The competition in naval armaments may be extravagant, but it is one in which we must take the lead, regardless of cost, or perish as a nation. Dark clouds are rising around our horizon, and there is no time to be lost.

Thoughtful Englishmen sometimes ask themselves, and one another, why they are so generally hated and cursed on the continent of Europe. The answer may be given in a very few words: Envy and jealousy of their unprecedented commercial prosperity. That

is a sufficient cause; no other is necessary.

Since the above was written, the interference of Russia in Persia, where she seeks, by various means, to obtain complete dominion over the weak government of the Shah, lends additional force to Colonel Mark Bell's arguments.

Russia's move is, undoubtedly, due to the fact that Great Britain has her hands full at present in South Africa. It is sufficient to show the insincerity of the famous disarmament proposals, even if unsupported by other acts. A straw will show all but blind men how the wind blows.

It is surely rather a strange thing that the progress of refinement, of habits and customs, with all the facilities and luxuries of life which the new discov

Mr. Goschen lately told the House of Commons that he was unable to spend all the money voted for shipbuilding last year, thus implying that the resources of the country had been stretched to their fullest extent. Such an assumption has, however, been contradicted by

eries of science and industry are perpetually pouring in upon us, should be accompanied, in this England of ours, by a decline-not to say a decay

various letters to the press, and there can be no doubt that the resources of our private yards have not nearly been exhausted. They are building largely for foreign countries, and they might just as well be building for their own country, if orders are placed in time.