oppression, it was perhaps salutary for Europe that England
should have maintained her ancient constitutional polity.
When in the rush of these fearful events the first Napoleon
climbed to power, and, to quote Lord Rosebery, "his
genius had enlarged indefinitely the scope of human con-
ception and possibility," it was the resilient strength of
the United Kingdom which clashed with his boundless
ambition. Aided by the reaction of his stupendous gifts,
she defeated the final efforts of the conqueror who had
carried the faculties of war and administration to their far-
thest point and held a continent in awe. Few severer tests
could be imposed on any people than those which Britons
then met and satisfied. The outcome goes beyond the period
with which we are directly concerned, but its causes belong
there. Certainly the statesmanship of Pitt and Burke,
Clive's conquest of India, the campaigns of Moore and
Wellington, and the naval victories of Hood and Nelson,
regained in the East the prestige which had been lost in the
West, and Great Britain never stood so high in the councils
of the world as after Waterloo. That the Evangelical Re-
vival was one of the chief factors in evoking and conserving
the solidarity and discipline of the forces thus engaged can-
not be seriously gainsaid; and, although domestic reforms
were too long postponed, eventually they could not be re-
strained. The same trustworthy reserves of character which
had furnished Wesleyanism with its constituencies, defended
the Homeland from invasion, and extended the boundaries
of the Empire, also helped to secure the social advantages
which have never ceased to accrue to English democracy.

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