Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913

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

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1908-1913
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Title: Political and Literary essays, 1908-1913
Author: Evelyn Baring
Release Date: December 16, 2005 [EBook #17320]
Language: English
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POLITICAL AND LITERARY ESSAYS ***

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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