For this kind of professional arithmetic, Howe felt and expressed just and utter contempt.

Two and two make four in a primer, but in the field they may make three, or they may make five.

Not to speak of the greater defensive power of heavy ships, nor of the concentration of their fire, the unity of direction under one captain possesses here also that importance which has caused unity of command and of effort to be recognised as the prime element in military efficiency, from the greatest things to the smallest.

Taken together, the three elements--greater defensive power, concentration of fire, and unity of direction--constitute a decisive and permanent argument in favor of big ships, in Howe's days as in our own.

Doubtless, now, as then, there is a limit; most arguments can be pushed to an _absurdum_, intellectual or practical.