Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-29 00:00:00

ENGLAND AS A GREAT POWER.

ENGLAND must either be a Great Power, or no
Power at all. Such is now her peculiar position—
such are the circumstances by which she is sur-.
rounded—that she must stand or fall by her own
national influence : stand, to remain among the
greatest, or fall down to comparative nothingness
among the least of the Powers of Europe, and
therefore of the world. Now, with regard to our
national influence, we must give a foremost place to
arms, as a means of asserting it. Infinitely better
would it

be, we admit, were it otherwise. But
constituted as nations now are, the readiness to have
recourse to arms, in case of need, is an indispensable
requisite to a people's safety ; and without slich a
sense of security as is thus afforded, where would be
a nation's dependence for any continuance of welfare
and prosperity ? A time, we are divinely assured,
will come, when men "shall beat their swords. into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks "
—when "nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more." And
would to GOD. that such a time were indeed come.
But whatever hope there might be of its approach a
few years ago, there is assuredly-none now. Nay, to
look abroad, at the present time, on Continental
Europe, the most civilised —we had almost said the
most Christianised—quarter of the globe, one would
really imagine it were further off than ever, in spite
of the popular boast of this being, par excellence, an
age of great enlightenment. At any rate, it is
evident that swords and spears —or rather cannon
and rifles—are still essential to our national defence.
We cannot possibly do without them, if we are to
preserve our national existence, —to have them fully
available for all the purposes for which they may

happen to be required. England must maintain her
ground, and retain her resources, as a Great Power,
that she may be in a position to assert her authority
as such. Besides, _

" The arms are fair,
When the intent of bearing them is just.','

And if ever such an intent can be called forth, it
assuredly must' be when it is to defend one's country
from assaults from without ; or even to be in a
position so to defend it, in case of need. This, it
must be confessed, is a very different thing from
having recourse to arms for purposes of offence—
whatever the ulterior object may be. At the same
time, " the arms are fair" sometimes, even where
they may have to be used on the offensive rather
than the defensive. For there undoubtedly are
justifying causes of war, as, for instance, deliberate
invasions of right, or even the necessity of
maintaining such a balance of power among
neighbouring nations, as that no single State, or
Confederacy of States, shall be strong enough to
overwhelm the rest.

: Now, we contend that England, as a Great Power,
must take care to be ever-in-a- position-to' act, not
only in defence of her own island territory, but of
all her other possessions, and of all her national
rights and privileges, and even for the maintenance,
whenever it is threatened, of such a proper balance
of power as may conduce to her own national
security. England, we say, cannot possibly
continue a Great Power unless she be thus pre-
pared ; and it is impossible she can ever be so
prepared without being fully provided with