ilization. When Latium became too narrow for the Romans, they
cured their political ills by conquering the rest of Italy. When
Italy became too narrow, Caesar crossed the Alps.

So far Mommsen. The conclusions drawn from his "law" by some of
his successors are ingenious. They amount to this: As Rome grew
in power and culture, so Brandenburg, since the days of the
Great Elector, has been expanding in spirit and in territory.
That illustrious prince began by absorbing Prussia. Frederick
the Great added Silesia and a slice of Poland. Wilhelm I
obtained Schleswig, Holstein, Alsace, and Lorraine by war, and
Saxony and Bavaria by benevolent assimilation. The present
Kaiser has already acquired Belgium by the former and Austria by
the latter process. Like the Rome of Caesar, the German Empire is
now at war on the one hand with decadent civilizations and on
the other with a horde of barbarians. What Greece and Carthage
were to Rome, France and England are to Germany, while Russia is
the modern counterpart of the Gauls, Britons, and Germans of the
_Commentaries_. Such at least is what certain writers think the
Germans think.

VII. Notes and Exercises

1. Note the framework: (Par. 1) Mommsen's Law; (Par. 2)
Illustration 1--Rome; (Par. 3) Illustration 2--Germany.

2. Topics for short speeches: Theodor Mommsen; The Rise of the
Roman Empire; The Greeks; The People of the West; The Samnites
and Etruscans; Brandenburg; The Great Elector; Prussia;
Frederick the Great; Silesia; Poland; Schleswig and Holstein;
Alsace and Lorraine; Saxony and Bavaria; Carthage; Julius Caesar
and his _Commentaries_.

3. Add to the model paragraphs on the expansion of Spain, France,
Russia, England, and the United States, or on any one of them.

VIII. Suggested Reading

Caesar's _Commentaries on the Gallic War_. Macaulay's _Frederick the
Great_. Southey's _Life of Nelson_. Parkman's _The Conspiracy of
Pontiac_. Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_. Fiske's _The Mississippi
Valley in the Civil War_.

IX. Memorize

HUMANITY

I would not enter on my list of friends,
Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility, the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarned,
W