Mr. Trevelyan illustrated this belief qf his that Governments will
be stronger in refusing to meddle in what does not concern them, even though they might gain a certain showy reputation by so doing, from the foreign policy of the aristocratic, middle- class, and popular periods of government in England. During the last century we poured.out English blood and treasure, first for Maria Theresa, then for Frederick the Great, though the English people had no real concern in the quarrels between those two Powers. After the Reform of 1832 the aristocracy pulled one way and the middle-classes the other ; and conse- quently individual statesmen could often plunge the country into a dangerous war in which we had no real concern, or hold the country back at their own discretion. But now the popular feeling would be all one way,—against a meddling policy, but in favour of pushing on heartily any just cause in which the people may feel that England has a real duty to perform. "If Britain speaks defiance, she will speak with a voice which no man can mistake." The foreign policy of England will be twice as strong for being twice as reticent.
