are nothing worth talking about. We are at the threshold of our career.
Our record thus far is full of faults, and presents not a few deformities,
due to our human frailties and limitations; but our general direction has
been onward and upward. At the moment when this book is finished, we seem
to be entering upon a fresh phase of our journey, and a vast horizon opens
around us. It was inevitable that America should not be confined to any
special area on the map of the world; it is of little importance that we
fill our own continent with men and riches. We are to teach men in all
parts of the world what freedom is, and thereby institute other Americas
in the very strongholds of oppression. In order to accomplish this,
Americans will be drawn forth and will obtain foothold in remote regions,
there to disseminate their genius and inculcate their aims. In Europe and
Asia are wars and rumors of wars; but there seems no reason why the true
revolution, which Americanism involves, should not be a peaceful and quiet
one. Our real enemies may be set in high places, but they are very few,
and their power depends wholly on those myriads who are at heart our
allies. If we can assure the latter of our good faith and
disinterestedness, the battle is won without fighting. Indeed, the day for
Mohammedan conquests is gone by, and any such conquest would be far worse
than futile.

These are theories and speculations, and so far as they enter into my
book, they do so as atmosphere and aim only; they are not permitted to
mold the character of the narrative, so that it may illustrate a foregone
conclusion. I have related the historical story as simply and directly as
I could, making use of the best established authorities. Here and there I
have called attention to what seemed to me the significance of events; but
any one is at liberty to interpret them otherwise if he will. After all
the best use of a history is probably to stimulate readers to think for
themselves about the events portrayed; and if I have succeeded in doing