We may
regard two facts as well established, one leading out of the
other,--that England has ever been, and is, the most selfish of
nationalities, and that she does not desire the prosperity of any power
which may become a rival. With her politicians and her philosophers,
Tory and Whig, Churchmen and Dissenters, the ascendancy of Great Britain
has lain at the bottom of every policy, and has been the postulate of
every theory. Her history is that of a nationality eager to attain the
distinction of the first of powers. This fact, and this alone, can
reconcile the apparent inconsistencies of her record. At one time the
bold accuser of Despotism, she has with marvellous celerity turned to
the inthralment of oppressed races. Maxim has superseded maxim, until
her code of international law is a bewildering complication of anomaly
and contradiction. To humble her rivals by every means, and to encourage
the efforts of a people striving for freedom only when decided advantage
would accrue to herself, has been her constant policy. This is true of
the general tone of her successive cabinets, of the press, and of those
politicians who have by comfortable doctrines most successfully gained
the public ear.
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