told you that I should not be an
infallible guide and now that we have almost reached the end, I
repeat the warning. I was born and educated in an atmosphere of the
old-fashioned liberalism which had followed the discoveries of Darwin
and the other pioneers of the nineteenth century. As a child, I happened
to spend most of my waking hours with an uncle who was a great collector
of the books written by Montaigne, the great French essayist of the
sixteenth century. Because I was born in Rotterdam and educated in the
city of Gouda, I ran continually across Erasmus and for some unknown
reason this great exponent of tolerance took hold of my intolerant
self. Later I discovered Anatole France and my first experience with
the English language came about through an accidental encounter with
Thackeray's "Henry Esmond," a story which made more impression upon me
than any other book in the English language.

If I had been born in a pleasant middle western city I probably
should have a certain affection for the hymns which I had heard in
my childhood. But my earliest recollection of music goes back to the
afternoon when my Mother took me to hear nothing less than a Bach
fugue. And the mathematical perfection of the great Protestant master
influenced me to such an extent that I cannot hear the usual hymns of
our prayer-meetings without a feeling of intense agony and direct pain.

Again, if I had been born in Italy and had been warmed by the sunshine
of the happy valley of the Arno, I might love many colourful and sunny
pictures which now leave me indifferent because I got my first artistic
impressions in a country where the rare sun beats down upon the
rain-soaked land with almost cruel brutality and throws everything into
violent contrasts of dark and light.

I state these few facts deliberately that you may know the personal bias
of the man who wrote this history and may understand his point-of-view.
The bibliography at the end of this book, which represents all sorts
of opinions and views, will allow you to compare my ideas with those of
other people. And in this way, you will be able to reach your own final
conclusions with a greater degree of fairness than would otherwise be
possible.

After this short but necessary excursion, we return to the history of
the last fifty years. Many things happened during this period but very
little occurred which at the time seemed to be of paramount importance.
The majority of the greater