ABSTRACT
Lord Avebury referred approvingly to a proposal mooted by the Chinese government for an International Federal Council, a suggestion which drew criticism from Conservative commentators, notably J. Ellis-Barker, who referred to the corrosive influence of free-trade cosmopolitanism and to Avebury's romantic and idealistic ideas of a league of international peace and goodwill. In April 1910 he was one of the founder members of the Albert Committee, seeking to draw on the nations remembered affection for its German-born one-time Prince Consort. He wrote the preface to a pamphlet on Anglo-German relations, issued to counter the fear and misunderstanding of German intention. Avebury thought that war between the European powers was unthinkable: France was friendly and peaceful, whilst Germany had nothing to gain which could possibly recompense her for the enormous risk of a war. The idea of an immutable law of progress that applied equally to biological evolution and to technological progress.
