298 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



As for England having made a greater advance In the 

 eighteenth century than In the nineteenth, that Is 

 decidedly not the case, as although the nineteenth 

 century is not yet completed, there is not the faintest 

 doubt but what, when It Is completed, It will be a 

 period of the very greatest advance In civilisation that 

 has ever been known ; but perhaps not, so far as 

 regards conquest, as annexation is generally the 

 result of war. A country who annexes now, either by 

 force of arms and right of conquest, or by diplomatic 

 measures, is called upon by the great Powers of the 

 world to offer an explanation for doing so ; and it has 

 been decided by the unanimous voice of the great 

 nations of the world that a balance of power must 

 be maintained, that aggression must be punished, that 

 even colonies that can maintain their own independence 

 should be permitted to make the attempt If they desire 

 to do so, and that annexation is only justifiable where 

 the annexed country Is to reap a benefit ; consequently 

 the frontier of this nation has not expanded to any 

 considerable extent in this century. The eighteenth 

 century was spent In war, the nineteenth century has 

 been spent more in the establishment of peace and the 

 solidification of the empire. 



Although this book is upon Highways and Horses, 

 I am not unmindful of the fact that, when speaking 

 of the advance of civilisation in England, we should 

 remember that It is the nineteenth century that 

 witnessed the invention of the locomotive, and that 

 George Stephenson's Invention has left a greater 

 Impression upon the civilisation of the world than 

 the distinguished deeds, marvellous performances, and 

 profound wisdom of any other man, however dis- 

 tinguished ; and it is a singular fact that such a man 



