Writing for a contemporary British middle and upper class audience, Mill gives an overview of some world events that were important for that particular time.
Second, barbarians are apt to benefit from civilised intervenors, said Mill, citing Roman conquests of Gaul, Spain, Numidia and Dacia.
The only test possessing any real value, of a people’s having become fit for popular institutions, is that they, or a sufficient portion of them to prevail in the contest, are willing to brave labour and danger for their liberation.
No people ever was and remained free, but because it was determined to be so...Noam Chomsky has made reference to Mill's essay in a number of his books, including Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (2006), Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (2002) and Peering into the Abyss of the Future (2002).
Chomsky writes that even "individuals of the highest intelligence and moral integrity succumb to the pathology" of taking exception to universal human standards.
Mill's imperialistic views are incompatible with his alleged liberalism, since maintenance of the British Empire would require government repression.