at the ancient tradition of despotism was far too strong to
be overcome, at least in our time. "From the dawn of history," he
asserts, "Eastern politics have been stricken with a fatal simplicity.
Do not let us for one moment imagine that the fatally simple idea of
despotic rule will readily give way to the far more complex conception
of ordered liberty. The transformation, if it ever takes place at all,
will probably be the work, not of generations, but of centuries.... Our
primary duty, therefore, is, not to introduce a system which, under the
specious cloak of free institutions, will enable a small minority of
natives to misgovern their countrymen, but to establish one which will
enable the mass of the population to be governed according to the code
of Christian morality. A freely elected Egyptian parliament, supposing
such a thing to be possible, would not improbably legislate for the
protection of the slave-owner, if not the slave-dealer, and no assurance
can be felt that the electors of Rajputana, if they had their own way,
would not re-establish suttee. Good government has the merit of
presenting a more or less attainable ideal. Before Orientals can attain
anything approaching to the British ideal of self-government, they will
have to undergo very numerous transmigrations of political thought." And
Lord Cromer concludes pessimistically: "It will probably never be
possible to make a Western silk purse out of an Eastern sow's ear."[119]

In similar vein, the veteran English publicist Doctor Dillon, writing
after the Turkish and Persian revolutions, had little hope in their
success, and ridiculed the current "faith in the sacramental virtue of
constitutional government." For, he continues: "No parchment yet
manufactured, and no constitution drafted by the sons of men, can do
away with the foundations of national character. Flashy phrases and
elegant declamations may persuade people that they have been transmuted;
but they alter no facts, and in Persia's case the facts point to utter
incapacity for self-government." Referring to the Persian revolution,
Doctor Dillon continues: "At bottom, only names of persons and things
have been altered; men may come and men may go, but anarchy goes on for
ever.... Financial support of the new government is impossible. For
foreign capitalists will not give money to be squandered by filibusters
and irresponsible agitators who, like bubbles in boiling water, appear
on the surface and