On Thursday night, a banquet was given at St. James's
Hall to Rear-Admiral Erben, Captain Mahan, and the officers of the United States ship Chicago,' now lying in the Thames. Owing to the enthusiasm for Captain Mahan's writing felt not only among Naval men, but among all Englishmen who care for our honour and safety at sea, the banquet assumed the proportions of a national demonstration. Almost all our leading sailors, and many of our ablest soldiers, were present, and not a few distinguished civilians, such as Lord Lingen. Lord Roberts, who proposed the health of Captain Mahan, dwelt strongly, but not in the least too strongly, on the ex- cellent effect on English public opinion produced by Captain Mahan's books. "They have produced a most beneficial effect on the public mind in this country ; and they have done much to arouse us to the necessity for maintaining that maritime predominance which was the origin of our commercial prosperity, and which is the safeguard of our Colonial Empire." Captain Mahan, evidently much touched by his reception, insisted once again on the necessity for a strong Navy. "In maintaining the strength of the British Navy, I consider, lies one of the best hopes of the peace of the world." The good feeling between England and the States was abundantly displayed at the banquet. Facing the chairman was the inscription, "Blood is thicker than water,"—the words of the American Captain who helped our ships at the Peiho Forts.
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