who looked to see mankind win its way
to a higher level of thought on international affairs. The level of
thought in these matters could scarcely be lower than it has been since
the Armenian massacres. The collective conscience of Europe is as torpid
as it was in the eighteenth century, when weak States were crushed or
partitioned, and armed strength came to be the only guarantee of safety.

At the close of this volume we shall glance at some of the influences
which the Tantalus toil of the European nations has exerted on the life
of our age. It is not for nothing that hundreds of millions of men are
ever striving to provide the sinews of war, and that rulers keep those
sinews in a state of tension. The result is felt in all the other organs
of the body politic. Certainly the governing classes of the Continent
must be suffering from atrophy of the humorous instinct if they fail to
note the practical nullity of the efforts which they and their subjects
have long put forth. Perhaps some statistical satirist of the twentieth
century will assess the economy of the process which requires nearly
twelve millions of soldiers for the maintenance of peace in the most
enlightened quarter of the globe.

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION

In the _Echo de Paris_ of July 3, 1905, the Comte de Nion published
documents which further prove the importance of the services rendered by
Great Britain to France at the time of the war scare of May 1875. They
confirm the account as given in this chapter, but add a few more
details. See, too, corroborative evidence in the _Times_ for July
4, 1905.

NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION

It has been stated, apparently on good authority, that the informal
conversations which went on during the Congress of Berlin between the
plenipotentiaries of the Powers (see _ante_, p. 328) furnished Italy
with an assurance that, in the event of France expanding in North
Africa, Italy should find "compensation" in Tripoli. Apparently this
explains her recent action there (October 1911).

CHAPTER XIII

THE CENTRAL ASIAN QUESTION

"The Germans have reached their day, the English their
mid-day, the French their afternoon, the Italians their
evening, the Spanish their night; but the Slavs stand on the
threshold of the morning."--MADAME NOVIKOFF ("O.K.")--_The
Friends and Foes of Russia_.

The years 1879-85 which witnessed the conclusion of the various
questions opened up by the Treaty of Be