indeed an aim?
Short-sighted people, who are ready at once with a reply on any
question, will say: The only aim of this great Empire is the
exploitation of every country and every body by the English with the
pretext of civilisation. So may think some English too. What can we say
about THE AIM OF THE GREATEST EMPIRE? The truth is that the real aim of
this Empire is larger than the selfishness of any person or of any
nation. The real aim is:

_First_, to exchange the material products of the countries, and so to
create a greater comfort for the people that live in them. In the
wildest islands in the Pacific you can find--I will mention only little
things--the same fine sofas, fireplaces, draperies, modern kitchens,
piano and library, electric light and cablegrams, as in London. And in
foggy and smoky London you can have all the African fruits, Australian
wine and wool, Canadian metals and wood, Indian beasts and African
ivory.

_Second_, to exchange the spiritual good of races and nations. The
wisdom of the world is not concentrated in the brains of any single
nation. Every nation has some original experiences of its own about this
life. The Eskimos have certainly something new to say to the people from
the plains of the Ganges and the Nile. And these people, these
descendants, of Buddha and Rameses, as well as the descendants of Moses
and Hamurrabai, have things to say that never were thought possible in
the countries of perpetual snow and ice in Northern Canada. Such is of
the greatest profit for science, religion, ethics, sociology, art.
Darwin and Spencer, with their immense scientific experiences, were
possible only in such a world-Empire as the English. The words of
Tagore, the Indian thinker, can be heard to-day without great delay on
the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as in India. When a genius is born in
New Zealand his message reaches the world, and his glory cannot be
concealed in the southern hemisphere.

_Third_: this Empire is an experiment in the realisation of human
brotherhood. I repeat, through the medium of this Empire man is brought
near to man, and nation to nation, and race to race. It was very
difficult in the ancient Roman Empire to become _civis Romanus_, because
this Empire was founded upon the Pagan philosophy of lords and
servants. It is, on the contrary, very easy in the British Empire of
to-day to become a British citizen, because the British Empire is
founded upon the Christian philosop