e extensive than any others. In one other
important direction England exerted an immense influence on the rest
of the world. From this vast colonial empire there had been flowing
for generations a steady stream of unequaled riches into the coffers
of England. And much of the surplus wealth accumulated in this way
was invested by Englishmen in other countries, and, even though
there were quite a number of countries on the government of which
England possessed no direct influence, still there were very few
nations who were not financially entirely, or at least partly,
dependent on England. The vastness of English interests may readily
be understood if we remember that out of the total inhabited surface
of the earth of about 50,000,000 square miles with 1,750,000,000
inhabitants, 13,500,000 square miles with 500,000,000 inhabitants
are under the rule of England.

Comparatively little of this empire was acquired by England during
the last half century, but the acquisitions which were made in that
period were at once greater and more desirable than similar
acquisitions by other nations. With very few exceptions England's
new territorial conquests during the last fifty years were made at
the expense of uncivilized and unorganized nations, and there was,
therefore, comparatively little direct cause for animosity. But, on
the other hand, a great many of the choice morsels which England
gathered in were desired by some other nation or nations, and
England's successes, therefore, gave plenty of indirect causes for
animosity, especially if it is borne in mind that English statesmen
were not only at all times striving very hard to secure for their
country the best of everything, but were also working equally hard
to prevent, if at all possible, other nations from getting anything.

In the period of European history, to which we are restricting our
attention, the first milestone of the long line of conflicts between
the different nations and countries has been the war between Prussia
and Austria on one hand and Denmark on the other for the possession
of Schleswig-Holstein. In this matter England, previous to the
outbreak of actual hostilities, expressed very strongly that anyone
who would attack Denmark would have to reckon with other than
Denmark; but when the English Foreign Secretary of that period, Lord
John Russell, found that he could not get the active support of
Napoleon III in opposing Prussia and Austria's aggressive ste