Imperialism too often means 'Jingoism,'--wild waving of flags and
chanting of such melodies as:
We don't want to fight,
But, by Jingo, if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men,
We've got the money too.
The true Imperialism is "defence, not defiance." Beaconsfield looked
back into the past and sought to "resume the thread of our ancient
empire." For him empire meant no easy burden but a solemn duty, a
knitting together of all the varied races and religions in one common
cause. "Peace with honour" was his and England's watchword. He
believed, in fact, like Shakespeare, in saying
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,
Bear't, that th' opposed may beware of thee.
He was very particular on the duty of "if necessary, saying rough
things kindly, and not kind things roughly," which was a lesson Lord
Palmerston never seemed to be capable of learning. Another of his
maxims was that it was wiser from every point of view to treat
semi-barbarous nations with due respect for their customs and
feelings. He preached Confederation and not Annexation. "By pursuing
the policy of Confederation," he declared, "we bind states together,
we consolidate their resources, and we enable them to establish a
strong frontier, that is the best security against annexation."
His whole policy was to foster the growth of independence and build
the foundations of a peace which should be enduring.
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