4 NOVEMBER 1916, Page 15

If we may sum up this splendid torrent of words,

the men wire are to govern the British Empire, though they should be encouraged to be good Orientalists, must first of all remember that it is their duty to think of the welfare and prosperity of the peoples whom Providence has committed to their care. Before everything else they have a sacred trust confided to them, from which they, must never flinch. As Lord Cromer, who has done so much for the founda- tion of the College, always insisted, we must think of the British Empire as a whole; and our Oriental Provinces must be governed, not in the interests of the British people, but in the interests of the governed. Such an object steadily pursued will sanctify the uses of Empire. Any less high standard must inevitably end in that ex- ploitation which ruined all the ancient Empires of the world, and sowed the seeds of destruction in the Empire of Spain. If we were once to think of it as something which would produce material dividends for the inhabitants of the British Islands, our Empire would fall, and would deserve to fall.