Expansion and Peace 35 



and the nations which shall have sprung from their 

 loins, England standing as the archetype and best 

 exemplar of all such mighty nations. But the peo 

 ples that do not expand leave, and can leave, noth 

 ing behind them. 



It is only the warlike power of a civilized people 

 that can give peace to the world. The Arab wrecked 

 the civilization of the Mediterranean coasts, the 

 Turk wrecked the civilization of southeastern Eu 

 rope, and the Tartar desolated from China to Russia 

 and to Persia, setting back the progress of the world 

 for centuries, solely because the civilized nations 

 opposed to them had lost the great fighting qualities, 

 and, in becoming overpeaceful, had lost the power of 

 keeping peace with a strong hand. Their passing 

 away marked the beginning of a period of chaotic 

 barbarian warfare. Those whose memories are not 

 so short as to have forgotten the defeat of the 

 Greeks by the Turks, of the Italians by the Abys- 

 sinians, and the feeble campaigns waged by Spain 

 against feeble Morocco, must realize that at the pres 

 ent moment the Mediterranean coasts would be over 

 run either by the Turks or by the Soudan Mahdists 

 if these warlike barbarians had only to fear those 

 southern European powers which have lost the 

 fighting edge. Such a barbarian conquest would 

 mean endless war; and the fact that nowadays the 

 reverse takes place, and that the barbarians recede 



