CONCLUSION. 375 



belief shared by priests and conquerors alike not a 

 mere sham, as is ours when we defend our conduct by the 

 plea of introducing the " blessings of civilization." 

 And, in wild romance, boldness of conception, reckless 

 daring, and the successful achievement of the well-nigh 

 impossible, we are nowhere when compared with Cortez 

 and his five hundred Spaniards, who, with no base of 

 supplies, no rapid steam communication, no supports, 

 imperfect weapons and the ammunition they carried 

 with them, conquered great, populous, and civilized em- 

 pires. It is quite possible that both the conquests of 

 Mexico and Peru by the Spaniards, and our conquests of 

 South Africa, may have been real steps in advance, 

 essential to human progress, and helping on the future 

 reign of true civilization and the well-being of the hu- 

 man race. But if so, we have been, and are, uncon- 

 scious agents, in hastening the great 



" far-off, divine event 

 To which the whole creation moves." 



We deserve no credit for it. Our aims have been, for 

 the most part, sordid and selfish; and if, in the end, all 

 should work out for good, as no doubt it will, much of 

 our conduct in the matter will yet deserve, and will cer- 

 tainly receive, the severest condemnation. 



Our whole dealings with subject races have been a 

 strange mixture of good and evil, of success and failure, 

 due, I believe, to the fact that, along with a genuine de- 

 sire to do good and to govern well, our rule has always 

 been largely influenced, and often entirely directed, by 

 the necessity of finding well-paid places for the less 

 wealthy members of our aristocracy, and also by the 



