The later part of the Bishop of Durham's striking charge,
to the earliest part of which we drew attention last week, and draw attention again this, proceeds on a very questionable assumption indeed. In his desire for peace, the Bishop says that the insular position of the United Kingdom gives us a great advantage over the nations of Europe, as regards international impartiality ; and he thinks that we are in a position to urge on the other Kingdoms of Europe the advisa- bility of settling international disputes by arbitration. So far as our example goes, this is true. Whenever we can safely and wisely submit our own disputes to arbitration, and take the consequences loyally, even if the arbitration goes against us, no doubt we ought to do so, though there are issues which we should certainly be right in refusing to submit to arbitration. Bat as for Dr. Westcott's view that our position gives us any particular influence on the counsels of other European nations in questions of war and peace, we do not believe it. On the Continent we are regarded as the most deliberately self- regarding of all European nations, and as keeping out of war only for the sake of our own chiefly commercial self-interest. It will take a good many Alabama and Behring Sea arbitra- tions before we gain any sort of special reputation for pre- ferring the interests of Europe at large to our own narrow British ends. The assumption by England of a high im- partiality of purpose would only be regarded as the sure sign of our political Pharisaism.
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