The Washington herald., 1921-07-28
Queries for Justinian.

10 the EDITOR, Inc Warrington hsttn.
have no quarrel with Justinisn
when he proposes to drink such dry
toasts as ''Old England. with all thy
faults. ! love thee still" or May her
sun never set" as a mans sympa-
thies and feelings are at his own
disposal, and i believe that he
should be allowed to indulge them
to the fullest extent as long as he
keeps within the law. He makes
two broad statements. however,
which. though frequently heard
nowadays, have never been entirely
substantiated. and. as Justinia n
! says that he does not like genersli-
ties we will endeavor to give a few
! particular points that seem to mega
tive his contentious.
First. he makes the statement
! that England has had more in
/ fluence in the advancement of civil
izztion than any other nation" Here
at least are some grounds for dis
pute. Up to the time of the Norman
| conquest the Saxon Inhabitants OF
England were sef-centered
churlish lot, and nowhere outside
| of England can be found any trace
of a distinct or worthy achievement
to act as a monument to their great
ness or culture. This Is said in full
view of the achievements of Alfred
Edward the Conqueror, and the few
other illustrious names that have
come down to US in history, and the
| writer will welcome, but does not
fear successful contradiction by
Justinian or any other.
Perhaps it will be argued that
this is going too FAR back, and that
the English have only made them
selves felt in more modern times
Let us examine this. From the
coming of William the Conqueror tC
the close of the reign of Henry VII
the entire period. with but very few
intervals, was occupied with a Sc
ries OF civil wars. and occasiona
expeditions against France thai
gave but very little scope fol
spreading the blessings of civiliZa
tion in foreign lands. To be SURF
there were the expeditions of Rich
ard Coeur-de-Lion against thu
Saracens. but as every Christian
nation in Europe was represented II
these crusadcs. and all efforts e
recover the holy sepulchre were il
vain. England did not gain man!
laureIs except such as fell to th'
lot Of the vaIorous Richard 1.
1t was also during this periot
that King John. after rebellin,
against his father. contriving tn,
Imprisonment of his brother, Rich
ard. and causing the foul murder o
the son of his brother. Geoffry, wa
compelled to sign Magma Charta b.
hA 4f the noble
and churchmen. or how much con
sequence were the blessings prom
Used in that great document tn
later record OF John and his tyran
nical successors are the best evi
Il dence. The reigns of Henry VIII
Mary and Elizabeth. were devote'
to religious prosecutions of a mos
revolving type and again the op
portunities for spreading thos
blessings further afield were lost il
the effort to put down heresy
home. Out of the reign of Eliza
beth two figures stand gloriousl,
apart-Walter Raleigh and William
Shakespeare. Against these, an
any lesser lights that may be con
sidered as representing the best o
that period. Cranmer. Cromwell an
Drake may be set down as repre-
senting the worst that bigotry o
brutality could produce.
The successive reigns of tn
Stuart monarchs form a chapter o
English history which Few English
men and no Scotchmen take an
pride in recalling, and, that bring
us down to the close of the seven
) teenth century when the ancestor
of the present King assumed tn
crown. Meantime the other nation
of Europe had been busy colonizin
foreign lands-the Spanish an
! Portuguese in South America. tn
French in North America and 1ndi'
! the Dutch in Africa and the Eas
; and West Indies. and even anon
, English historians II is general
' conceded that the methods adopte
later by the British in securin
lordship over some Of these colonie
consisted OF burnings. butcherinE
: hangings and such other disciplir
ary measures as British warrior
:. considered effectual in spreadin
the blessings Of civilization.
To seize and hold by force {
= arms territory belonging to anotht
nation. to tax the subject peoples
the point of starvation and extinC
. proper means Of educating then
q selves, to murder them in cold bloc
81 by hundreds can scarcely be col
sidercd conducive to modern civi
ization. and yet these are exactl