INTRODUCTION
'As it was in the beginning … it shall be … '
If there is any truth in Schiller's saying, 'Men rise by their higher purposes,' it is as applicable to nations as to individuals. In no period in history has it fallen to the lot of mankind to witness a greater Empire than the British Empire of to-day, and it follows as a logical conclusion that the administration of such an Empire must needs imply a heavy weight of responsibility. Are we conscious of these responsibilities, and is the nation rising to meet them? Surely, on no occasion is the question of its future more vital, is, in fact, the duty of reflection and examination more in keeping with national rejoicing, than on the centenary of the great naval battle which determined the future of the Empire and laid the foundations of modern Europe. To serious men Trafalgar should be considered in the light of a national sacrament. The lessons of the past are weighed, our vows for the future renewed. Rejoicing must be combined with national self-examination, and the conditions of our success in the past used as a guide to our conduct in the future.
As in the realm of thought and of matter, organic and inorganic, forms and conditions show an evolutionary progress, so with the forces and ideals which create and
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