New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
TUE EXPANSION OF ENGLAND.

,ybicb that method leads him are such as 10 Nlhd-
cate its soundness. He holds that English historl-
ans. in dealing with the events OF the elSh'eeh'h
"entnrv and onward, have been too much addicted
TO taking the Parliamentary view OF thihgs; 'llas
;rstead ofregarding measures and occuTencesint the
LIGHT of their results they have taken the contempt
raneors and consequently the incorrect view OF
them that they have been Lampered and niisled by
ot.emnts TO divide history by reigns"; and that
they have failed almost entirely to realize the nhu
ence of the New World upon the DID, lie points
ont that the English habit has been to regard Bit
ish colonies either as possessions or as mere tempo
rarv holdings. to be abandoned when they nave
become eapable of self-gOveTnment which view
tends to apathy and indifference The first theory
led TO the separation of the United States and that
separation has been Leld TO justify the subsequent
conclusion that all colonies drop off from the mother
country as soon as they arc ripe. Professor Sceley
undertakes to show that there snO warrant for TINS
latter belief; that it is based upon condition OF
things which has ceased to exist that there Is no
reason why the present colonies OF England snoUiu
not be made part and parcel OF herself anu
that in this way, with the ald OF MOI
erp Science, a great and homogeneous ma
ton nav lie firmly established lie holuS
that "what we call an Empire is not properly "n
Empire at all, that it is g a vast tns'lSii ia'ion
only q naticu so widely dispersed that before tie
ace of steam AID electricity its strong natural
hands of race and religion seemed practically dls-
solved by distance. AS soon thep as distance Is
abolished by science, SO soon as II is proved u!
tie example Of the United States and Russia 'haI
noIitical union over vast areas has begun to be
possbie. so soon Greater Britain starts up not
only reality. but robust reality. Ii will belong
10 The stronger class of political unions. it Will
NOT be stronger than the United States, we may
say with confidence that il will be far stronger
than the great condemnation of Slays, Germans
'Tnrcomans and AImenims, of Greek Christians
Catholics PrOtestants, Mussulnans and Buddh
lists. which we call Russia"
The most interesting and instructive OF tIlese
lectures are those in which tic eject OF thc Ne"
World upon the Old is traced 1t is not TOO huch 10
say that in making this exposition I1ol'SSoI oeV'E
has thrown a new and strcng light urcn inc ms
tory of modern Europe, and that he has lhpal'eua
fresh significance to many events whose occurrence
the ordinary historian has been accustomed to re-
card from purely European and therefore narrow
Sta, ipoints. The way il which tho New World
reacted mon the Old, almost Unconsciou3ly to the
statesmen Of the eighteenth century, is very
evident when ones attontiOn has been directed
70 the fact 1t was in fact Tor INC
nossession of this New World thai
France, England. Spain. Portugal ana honah"
coutended even when dynastlc reasons LOT lh'H
ouarrels were assigned. There was hot rNauy
between Greater Spain, Greater France Greater
Holland aud Greater Britain. And II the latter
finally triulaphod over her connections, her success
ms Professor Scecy shows, was due far more ~ eN
formal circumstances to the European cOnphca-
tiops of her rivals, I, the decay Of Spanish power
through ecccslasticsui, "a tie fcruitcds develop
nent of Ter own commerce. than to any superior
wisdom in her statesmen or any superior spirit OF
entcrrrise in her people And lie is careful to en-
nbasize the fact that tie high rank England now
holds among tie nations is by no means an ancient
possession. 1t is not so very long ago thal her
rivals Haunted their aggressive flags III hcr lace;
when her navy was too weak to keep the Challnei;
when foreign pirates ventuTcd boldly INTO hcr own
seas: when her Ilcn-Of-war were no Dc'ter IMAM
privateers and her prvatccrs were pirates III Iac''
The maritime greatness of England only dates Ioil
the civil wars of the seventeenth century. The
navy of Elizabeth won plenty Of glory. but 1t Is
nerbaps not uf,icieutyromembcrcdt that the medals
struok in commemo1atiOn Of the defeat Of the
Spanish Armada bore the motto: ".lLaGrd Heas, ct
eissjpaa sapt." But for the tempest which scat
tered and dismantlcd the awkward and unSca-
worthy Spanish gallcOns, il Is questionable whether
the gallantry of Drake and Howard and Grenvi!e
and their colleagues would have awaited TO beat of
the invaders.
And when England began 10 have colonies shp did
not know how to utilize them She lost the United
States because she would regard them As possess
sions." She came into control of India almost de-
spite herself. The enterprise which thus resulted
was originally and for many years purely coin
mercial one. Like many other commercial enter
prses, from the founding of Carthage onward, il
became a military undertaking, and presently a
policy of annexation was developed which has re-
suited in the Empire of India Bat the conquest of
India if conquest it be called which entails
none of the usual consequences Of military subjuga-
ton which does not bring any direct national bene-
fit to the ruler, not the outcome oil any deIbcr
ate policy Indeed II is impossible TO suppose That
any English statesman couid have adopted such
policy had an intelligent perception Of its results
been attainable Aud India, as Professor Secley
demonstrates is and must ever be a source Of con
slant peril and anxiety to England. The country
rather endures her rule than accepts il. Perhaps
this endurance is due maiay to the fact that India
had been the prey of foreign invaders for centuries
before the AngO-SaXOn came, and had thus be-
come so habtuated to foreign government that
one seemed as tocrable another India too, is not
homogeneous. Its races are not united by common
language, nor by a common religion. They
may possibly acquire feeling OF ma
tionality by being held together under
British rule, but if they should ever come
to possess such a sentiment, Professor Seeley thinks
the end Of the English occupation will be at hand.
Nevertheless he is of opinion that England has no
option. She must continue to govern India, even at
a loss to herself. She cannot abandon what has be-
come duty, merely because it entails diff
culties upon her. 1t is possible that the Indian
races may take on European civilization, though
there is not much to base such an expectation upon
Should any national movement ever arise i'll India,
resistance to it will be vain. But Notwithstanding
the danger of the Indian situation, both internal
I flara io f,pa all
enterprise.
Apart from India the colonial question is not too
difficult. What is chiefly wanted, Professor Seeley
thinks is the elevation OF the colonies complete