Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913

疔A free download from http://www.dertz.in ----dertz ebooks publisher !----

Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913, by the Earl of Cromer

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913
by Evelyn Baring This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913
Author: Evelyn Baring
Release Date: December 16, 2005 [EBook #17320]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POLITICAL AND LITERARY ESSAYS ***

Produced by Taavi Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Million Book Project)

POLITICAL AND LITERARY
ESSAYS
1908-1913
BY THE
EARL OF CROMER
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1913
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA · MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO

PREFACE
I have to thank the editors of The Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, The Nineteenth Century and After, and The Spectator for allowing the republication of these essays, all of which appeared originally in their respective columns.
No important alterations or additions have been made, but I should like to observe, as regards the first essay of the series--on "The Government of Subject Races"--that, although only six years have elapsed since it was written, events in India have moved rapidly during that short period. I adhere to the opinions expressed in that essay so far as they go, but it will be obvious to any one who has paid attention to Indian affairs that, if the subject had to be treated now, many very important issues, to which I have not alluded, would have to be imported into the discussion.
CROMER.
_September 30, 1913._

CONTENTS
PAGE "THE EDINBURGH REVIEW"
I. THE GOVERNMENT OF SUBJECT RACES 3 II. TRANSLATION AND PARAPHRASE 54
"THE QUARTERLY REVIEW"
III. SIR ALFRED LYALL 77
"THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER"
IV. ARMY REFORM 107 V. THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF FREE TRADE 127 VI. CHINA 141 VII. THE CAPITULATIONS IN EGYPT 156
"THE SPECTATOR"
VIII. DISRAELI 177 IX. RUSSIAN ROMANCE 204 X. THE WRITING OF HISTORY 214 XI. THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY 226 XII. LORD MILNER AND PARTY 237 XIII. THE FRENCH IN ALGERIA 250 XIV. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 264 XV. WELLINGTONIANA 277 XVI. BURMA 287 XVII. A PSEUDO-HERO OF THE REVOLUTION 298 XVIII. THE FUTURE OF THE CLASSICS 307 XIX. AN INDIAN IDEALIST 317 XX. THE FISCAL QUESTION IN INDIA 227 XXI. ROME AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 340 XXII. A ROYAL PHILOSOPHER 351 XXIII. ANCIENT ART AND RITUAL 361 XXIV. PORTUGUESE SLAVERY 372 XXV. ENGLAND AND ISLAM 407 XXVI. SOME INDIAN PROBLEMS 416 XXVII. THE NAPOLEON OF TAINE 427 XXVIII. SONGS, PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL 439 XXIX. SONGS, NAVAL AND MILITARY 449
INDEX 459

"THE EDINBURGH REVIEW"

I
THE GOVERNMENT OF SUBJECT RACES[1]
_"The Edinburgh Review," January 1908_
The "courtly Claudian," as Mr. Hodgkin, in his admirable and instructive work, calls the poet of the Roman decadence, concluded some lines which have often been quoted as applicable to the British Empire, with the dogmatic assertion that no limit could be assigned to the duration of Roman sway. _Nec terminus unquam Romanae ditionis erit._ At the time this hazardous prophecy was made, the huge overgrown Roman Empire was tottering to its fall. Does a similar fate await the British Empire? Are we so far self-deceived, and are we so incapable of peering into the future as to be unable to see that many of the steps which now appear calculated to enhance and to stereotype Anglo-Saxon domination, are but the precursors of a period of national decay and senility?
A thorough examination of this vital question would necessarily involve the treatment of a great variety of subjects. The heart of the British Empire is to be found in Great Britain. It is not proposed in this place to deal either with the working of British political institutions, or with the various important social and economic problems which the actual condition of England presents, but only with the extremities of the body politic, and more especially with those where the inhabitants of the countries under British rule are not of Anglo-Saxon origin.
What should be the profession of faith of a sound but reasonable Imperialist? He will not be possessed with any secret desire to see the whole of Africa or of Asia painted red on the maps. He will entertain not only a moral dislike, but also a political mistrust of that excessive earth-hunger, which views with jealous eyes the extension of other and neighbouring European nations. He will have no fear of competition. He will believe that, in the treatment of subject races, the methods of government practised by England, though sometimes open to legitimate criticism, are superior, morally