enemies.) The merit of the histories lies almost 
entirely in the character of Falstaff, who has nothing 
to do with the period.  And the political errors of 
Shakespeare show how difficult it is, even for one 
who has the vision of the eternal, to keep straight 
when he comes to deal with the temporal.  But the 
explanation is that Shakespeare was a snob, the 
lackey of debauched noblemen, without virility or 
independence of character.  Courage is certainly the 
first of the virtues, for without it none of the others 
can be exercised.  In the case of statesmen a little 
more latitude must be allowed, because they are 
compelled to deal with the conditions of the 
moment.  But, even there, the best epithet that can 
be applied in praise of such a man is that he is far-
sighted; and the way to be far-seeing is to refuse to 
be obsessed by the expediencies of the hour.  And 
while it is of course impossible to make every 
particular conform to the general, it can at least be 
arranged that it should not be in flagrant 
contradiction to the first principles.  
As a concrete example, the annexation of 
conquered countries.  Economic or military reasons 
have often been allowed to over-ride considerations 
of the will of the inhabitants.  Such acts have almost 
invariable cause trouble later on, and such trouble 
frequently extends far beyond the territory in 
dispute.  The injury to the fingertip poisons the 
whole body.  The Germans in 1870, when asked 
whom they were fighting, replied: “Louis XIV.”  
And it was because that monarch tried to extend his 
dominions that they, at this present moment of 
writing, are invaded.  The need of an independent