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Excerpt from Clearing the Ground The records which have been collected, and the remarks which are made in this book, may assist some of those who would see Great Britain secure from attack and in the best position for developing her resources and for improving the lives of her citizens. The greater the dangers and the difficulties ahead, in the voyage of the ship of state, the more it is necessary to take soundings, and to enter them in the log - the pages of a book. The lead-line used may be faulty, the lead or plummet too light, the leadsman inexpert, or the position of affairs to-day too complex to permit a full entry to be made. Yet any help whereby the depths and the shallows may be gauged is better than none to those who would advance the voyage and bring the vessel in safety to her next port. Each on board to-day can take his spell, and by conning the log prevent the mistakes of the past being renewed in the days to come; but let none forget that, great as such help may be. Each must keep a close look-out and scan the broad horizon; whilst, by chart and reckoning, those on the bridge can lessen the voyage-time and increase the voyage-success. Into more distant harbours other hands will take our craft, rougher yet may the waters be through which the ship of state must sail, but, with the crew more closely watching, and those who have been passengers doing their best to aid, all should be well. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully;