Only centuries of waiting for their superiors in rank to do things
for them, and the slow formation of the habit of realising that not
to submit to disappointment was no use, could have produced the almost
SERENITY of their attitude. It is all very well for newborn republican
nations--meaning my native land--to sniff sternly and say that such a
state of affairs is an insult to the spirit of the race. Perhaps it
is now, but it was not apparently centuries ago, which was when it all
began and when 'Man' and the 'Race' had not developed to the point of
asking questions, to which they demand replies, about themselves and
the things which happened to them. It began in the time of Egbert
and Canute, and earlier, in the days of the Druids, when they used
peacefully to allow themselves to be burned by the score, enclosed
in wicker idols, as natural offerings to placate the gods. The modern
acceptance of things is only a somewhat attenuated remnant of the
ancient idea. And this is what I have to deal with and understand.
When I begin to do the things I am going to do, with the aid of your
practical advice, if I have your approval, the people will be at first
rather afraid of me. They will privately suspect I am mad.
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