Elected by Nature to command the impotent races, he possesses all
the qualifications that distinguish the superior leader. The French
Revolution was merely a clash between Teutons and Celts. The nobility of
France were descended from Germanic warriors established in the country
after the so-called invasion of the barbarians. The middle and lower
classes were the Gallic-Celtic element. The inferior race had conquered
the superior, disorganizing the country and perturbing the world.
Celtism was the inventor of Democracy, of the doctrines of Socialism and
Anarchy. Now the hour of Germanic retaliation was about to strike, and
the Northern race would re-establish order, since God had favored it by
demonstrating its indisputable superiority.

"A nation," he added, "can aspire to great destinies only when it is
fundamentally Teutonic. The less German it is, the less its civilization
amounts to. We represent 'the aristocracy of humanity,' 'the salt of the
earth,' as our William said."

Argensola was listening with astonishment to this outpouring of conceit.
All the great nations had passed through the fever of Imperialism. The
Greeks aspired to world-rule because they were the most civilized and
believed themselves the most fit to give civilization to the rest of
mankind. The Romans, upon conquering countries, implanted law and the
rule of justice. The French of the Revolution and the Empire justified
their invasions on the plea that they wished to liberate mankind and
spread abroad new ideas. Even the Spaniards of the sixteenth century,
when battling with half of Europe for religious unity and the
extermination of heresy, were working toward their ideals obscure and
perhaps erroneous, but disinterested.

All the nations of history had been struggling for something which they