dventure, the unswerving
devotion of the ecclesiastics to the cause of Catholic supremacy,
each bearing intense privations, cannot fail to excite the wonder of
succeeding generations. But they were satisfied with conquering and
leaving unimproved their conquests, for whilst only a small fraction
of this Archipelago was subdued, millions of dollars and hundreds
of lives were expended in futile attempts at conquest in Gamboge,
Siam, Pegu, Moluccas, Borneo, Japan, etc.--and for all these toils
there came no reward, not even the sterile laurels of victory. The
Manila seat of government had not been founded five years when the
Governor-General solicited royal permission to conquer China!

Extension of dominion seized them like a mania. Had they followed up
their discoveries by progressive social enlightenment, by encouragement
to commerce, by the concentration of their efforts in the development
of the territory and the new resources already under their sway, half
the money and energy squandered on fruitless and inglorious expeditions
would have sufficed to make high roads crossing and recrossing the
Islands; tenfold wealth would have accrued; civilization would have
followed as a natural consequence; and they would, perhaps even
to this day, have preserved the loyalty of those who struggled for
and obtained freer institutions. But they had elected to follow the
principles of that religious age, and all we can credit them with
is the conversion of millions to Christianity and the consequent
civility at the expense of cherished liberty, for ever on the track
of that fearless band of warriors followed the monk, ready to pass
the breach opened for him by the sword, to conclude the conquest by
the persuasive influence of the Holy Cross.

The civilization of the world is but the outcome of wars, and probably
as long as the world lasts the ultimate appeal in all questions will
be made to force, notwithstanding Peace Conferences. The hope of ever
extinguishing warfare is as meagre as the advantage such a state of
things would be. The idea of totally suppressing martial instinct in
the whole civilized community is as hopeless as the effort to convert
all the human race to one religious system. Moreover, the common
good derived from war generally exceeds the losses it inflicts on
individuals; nor is war an isolated instance of the few suffering
for the good of the many. "_Salus populi suprema lex_." "Nearly
every step in the world'