Whether  this  policy  was  a  wise  one  is  open  to  question.  It  may  be
that  Great  Britain  caused  more  harm  than  it  cured.  Only  for  its  persistant
hostility  the  rapid  succession  of  Napoleonic  wars  might  not  have  taken  place,


GREAT  BRITAIN  AS  A   WORLD  EMPIRE  143

and  much  of  the  terrible  bloodshed  and  misery  caused  by  them  might  have
been  obviated.  It  seems  to  have  been,  in  its  way,  disastrous  was  England's
to  the  interests  of  mankind.  Napoleon,  it  is  true,  had  no  Policy  a  Wise
regard  for  the  stability  of  dynasties  and  kingdoms,  but  he
wrought  for  the  overthrow  of  the  old-time  tyranny,  and  his  marches  and
campaigns  had  the  effect  of  stirring  up  the  dormant  peoples  of  Europe,  and
spreading  far  and  wide  that  doctrine  of  human  equality  and  the  rights  of
man  which  was  the  outcome  of  the  French  Revolution.  Had  he  been
permitted  to  die  in  peace  upon  the  throne  and  transmit  his  crown  to  his
descendant,  the  long  era  of  reaction  would  doubtless  have  been  avoided
and  the  people  of  Europe  have  become  the  freer  and  happier  as  a  result  of
Napoleon's  work.
