Unity of the Empire.
(1) GROWTH OF FREEDOM.
1. It cannot be said that such is the unity of the British Empire
that go where you will in it, you will find the same amount of
liberty as at home, and exercise as large a share in the making of
the laws. That can only be said if you go to one of the
self-governing colonies, like Canada and Australia. But wherever you
go within the limits of the empire, you may be pretty sure of being
governed by law and not by caprice, and if wronged, of getting
justice in a court of law. The empire stands for law and justice.
These are two strands of the cord that unites the whole empire,
independently of race and colour.
2. But the colonies which are peopled mainly by our own kinsmen
enjoy with us the advantage of liberty in its fullest sense. It is
worth while considering what is included in that word _liberty_. It
means the right to form our own opinion on all subjects, and to
express the same freely, without injury to others, in speaking or
writing. It means the right for employers and workmen, like buyers
and sellers, to settle their own terms without interference. It
means the right to worship God according to conscience without having
to suffer penalties or disabilities on account of our religion. It
means the right to be governed according to law, and to be judged
without fear or favour; and above all, the right to take part in
levying taxes and making new laws by means of our representatives in
Parliament.
3. So far as a people enjoys the right last named, it may in a real
sense be said to govern itself. And it is this self-government which
constitutes the crown of liberty. Only it must be remembered that it
is not every nation, nor all in any nation, that are fit to govern
themselves. Some nations are like children, not wise enough to know
what is for their own good. Every nation, indeed, passes through the
stages of childhood and youth before it reaches an age when it
becomes capable of managing its own affairs with discretion.
4. In the colonies where men of our own race have chiefly settled,
the period of childhood and youth has soon passed away, because I
suppose their ancestors had spent a long period in these stages in
the old country. It is astonishing on looking back a hundred years
to see how much remained to be done in the cause of freedom even in
England, which is now able to boast of being free and the mother of
free nations. The mention of a few of the evils then existing will
show how far we have travelled on the path of freedom since the
centenarian of to-day was born.
5. The slave trade still went on, and slaves were still employed in
our colonies; Roman Catholics were still at a serious disadvantage on
account of their religion; children were permitted to work in mines
and factories, however young, and even to climb chimneys for the
purpose of sweeping them; crimes like stealing a sheep or a horse
were punishable by hanging; trade was in fetters--scarcely was a
thing imported duty free, even wheat from abroad was heavily taxed.
6. For a nation to be free the law must be supreme, and the people
must have a share in making it through their representatives. Yet, a
century ago, such large towns as Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham,
sent no members to Parliament at all; whilst old decayed boroughs
sent two. And the franchise, or right to vote at Parliamentary
Elections, was limited to a privileged few. Thus one class of the
people made the laws which all were expected to obey. These blots
were removed by three Reform Bills, which were passed at intervals of
twenty or thirty years.
7. It is worth observing from this example how gradual have been the
changes made in our Constitution, or system of government. We seem
to have learnt the lesson that true freedom can only be obtained when
it is allowed to grow, when time is given for it to strike its roots
deep in the life of the people. For the enjoyment of real freedom
the law must be adapted to the wishes as well as the needs of the
governed; that is to say, it must be moulded by public opinion, and
the two must grow together so as to fit in with each other.
8. This is the secret of the ready obedience paid to the law by
English people in general. Nothing so strikes a foreigner, on
entering "the land of the free," as this willing submission to
authority, especially as exemplified in the crowded streets of
London, where all drivers instantly obey the policeman whose duty it
is to direct the traffic. The coachman may have a prince or a duke
in his carriage. It makes no difference. He must wait his turn.
All alike willingly obey the officer in authority because he acts
without fear or favour, with a single eye to the public convenience.
Here we have a typical instance of the close connection that exists
between _law_, _order_, and _liberty_, those three watchwords of
every true Briton throughout the empire. The British are a
law-abiding nation, because they join in making their laws, and as a
practical people realise the fact that without obedience to law there
can be no order, and without order no enjoyment of liberty.
9. It is interesting to read the impressions of an Eastern Potentate
in his recent visit to England. "I have been particularly struck in
this enormous metropolis with the loyal, willing recognition of
lawful authority which pervades all classes, enabling your civil and
municipal government to work smoothly, and your press to speak out
fearlessly, and like watchdogs to bark at the least sign of
encroachment upon the liberties of the subject. By a wave of his
hand the police officer directs traffic at crossings and junctions of
streets. By his writ or summons the magistrate orders you to appear
to bear witness in a court of law. No one thinks of disobeying the
policeman or the magistrate. Both are recognised as acting in the
execution of their respective spheres of duty. I cannot think of
Britain without realising how the source of all her strength is
founded upon obedience. You detest tyranny. You love liberty. You
bow to authority."
10. Much of what is here said about us resolves itself into one
great characteristic, which stamps us all as one people, in whatever
part of the empire we may chance to live, and that is the passionate
love of justice or _fair-play_. What men of our race ask for is a
fair field and no favour.
(2) IMPERIAL SPIRIT OF OUR RACE.
1. Not long ago a discovery was made which turned all eyes to South
Africa as the land paved with gold (1886). In a district known as
the Rand, in the west of the Transvaal, gold reefs were discovered of
extraordinary richness. Many important results have grown out of
this discovery, the most momentous being the great Boer War.
2. The gold-fields of the Transvaal drew a large stream of
adventurers and gold-miners from all parts of the world. These
"outlanders," as the Boers called them, included a large proportion
of men of British nationality. These men were treated by the Boer
government with gross injustice, and by Boer officials with open
contempt. And when our government demanded fair treatment for
British subjects, the Boers took offence at what they considered
undue interference. Here then was one cause of the quarrel which
ended in war.
3. But there was another cause not less potent. The gold mines of
the Transvaal were so productive that the Boer treasury soon
overflowed with gold. This wealth stirred the ambition of the Boer
leaders, and made them dream of South Africa as a great federal
Republic, with the Transvaal as the leading state, and the Boer flag
as the national standard. This, of course, meant the sweeping of
British authority out of South Africa.
4. The gold at their disposal seemed to the Boers to give them a
fair chance of accomplishing this result. At any rate, it enabled
them to build forts, to provide arms of the best modern type in
abundance, and to employ European officers as artillery instructors.
It is true, they may have reflected, our numbers are comparatively
small, but all our forces are close at hand, whilst the British will
have to draw theirs from a country 6,000 miles away.
5. And so at last the die was cast, and, on the 11th October, 1899,
a Boer force entered Natal in the hope of driving the small British
army into the sea before reinforcements could arrive from England.
In this they failed, as we know, by the splendid stand made by our
troops, under Sir George White, at Ladysmith. It is not our
intention to tell the story of the war, whose main incidents are
fresh in our minds, but to show what a marvellous effect that war has
had in drawing out the great qualities of our race, and in uniting
the whole empire.
6. In the beginning of the war our arms met with serious reverses.
In one dark week of December came the news of three disastrous
failures, in our attack on the enemy's position, in three different
quarters. But what was the effect of this threefold misfortune? It
braced the nation to put forth its strength, it stiffened their
resolve to conquer in the end, whatever the cost in blood or
treasure. A mighty wave of patriotism swept over the land, and
thousands of our best and bravest responded to the call to arms.
Regulars, militia, volunteers, yeomanry--all alike, men of all
classes from prince to peasant, eagerly proffered their services.
7. Still more remarkable was the effect which the need of the great
mother had upon her sons in all parts of the empire. From Canada,
from Australia, from New Zealand thousands of brave men hastened to
the rescue, all sent off from their distant homes with the
acclamations of enthusiastic crowds. Offers of help came from every
corner of the empire; nor were such offers limited to men of British
origin. Indian princes pressed their services on our acceptance, and
the Maoris of New Zealand were as eager as any in their land to fight
for the flag. But the British government wisely declined the
services of all who were not of British blood. The war was a contest
between the Boers and the British for supremacy in South Africa, and
it was resolved to make it a fair stand-up fight between the two
races.
8. The spirit in which our nation girded themselves for the fight,
when the blows of misfortune fell hard upon them in that dark
December week, is well exemplified in the prompt response of Lord
Roberts to the call made upon his services, as commander-in-chief of
our army in South Africa, at the very moment when he had received the
crushing news of the death of his son, in a gallant attempt to rescue
some guns after the battle of Colenso.
9. No need to tell of the splendid services Lord Roberts rendered at
the seat of war, how, within six months from his departure from
England, he led his army in triumph into the capitals of the two Boer
states, and made their conquest in the end almost a certainty. In
taking his farewell of the army, the general paid a well-deserved
tribute of praise to our soldiers, who "by their pluck, endurance,
discipline, and devotion to duty" had covered themselves with glory.
"For months together," said their commander, "in fierce heat, in
biting cold, in pouring rain, you have marched and fought without
halt, and bivouacked without shelter... You have forced your way
through dense jungles, over precipitous mountains, through and over
which, with infinite labour, you have had to drag heavy guns and
ox-waggons.... You have endured the suffering, inevitable in war, to
sick and wounded men, without murmur, and even with cheerfulness."
10. And if any other testimony is needed in favour of "Tommy
Atkins," as we fondly call our soldiers, we have it in the despatch
of a German officer: "We can only marvel," he says, "at the heroism
with which British troops in close order attempt to scale steep
heights under a fierce hail of bullets. We can only marvel at the
intrepidity with which they try to force a passage through narrow
mountain passes where the enemy lie concealed."
11. A thrill of pride, then, may well go through the heart of every
Briton when he thinks of the deeds of courage, the splendid
resolution, and the cheerful patience of our troops in South Africa.
The nation, too, has given full proof that the spirit of their
fathers, the same old spirit that has carried the old flag through so
many times of stress and strain, is still active as ever, that the
fibre of our race is as hard and well-knit as in days of yore.
12. War is at best a great calamity, but the war we have waged with
the Boers has brought us compensations. It has proved that our
soldiers and sailors are as truly hearts of oak now as formerly, and
that our brothers in the colonies are made of the same stuff as the
best of ourselves. It has done still more in revealing to the whole
world that the British Empire is not a mere name for a number of
territories scattered over the globe, but that it is a living whole
animated by one and the same spirit. All nations may now know that
the honour and interests of the empire are dear not to Britain alone,
but to the whole family of nations that have sprung from her; and
that in any future contest with Great Britain they will have to
reckon also with the Greater Britain beyond the seas. "Shoulder to
shoulder, _all for each_, and _each for all_, we stand united before
the world, and our children have shown that they are not unwilling to
share with us the obligations as well as the dignity of the empire."
13. The union of the empire has now been cemented by the blood so
freely shed by our kinsmen in South Africa. In confirmation of the
hope that the bonds of that union will only grow stronger with the
increasing years, we may mention the impressions that the Prince of
Wales has brought home with him from his tour round the empire. "If
asked," he says, "to specify any particular impressions derived from
our journey, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of
loyalty to the Crown, and of attachment to the old country, which
they invariably referred to as _Home_. And with this loyalty was
unmistakable evidence of the consciousness of strength, of a true and
living membership in the empire, and of power and readiness to share
the burden and responsibility of that membership."
14. Everywhere the prince had evidence of that pride of race, that
unity of sentiment and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and
obligation, that eager desire to claim their share in the glories of
a great empire with a great past and, perchance, a greater future--in
a word, that imperial patriotism, which keeps in view the welfare of
the whole empire,--
"One with Britain, heart and soul!
One life, one flag, one fleet, one throne!"
(3) THE SOVEREIGN IN RELATION TO THE EMPIRE.
1. Our sovereign serves the same purpose in the empire that a
keystone does in an arch, and that is to lock the whole fabric
together. The recognition of this fact has led King Edward in
assuming his title to call himself king, not only of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, but also of the British
Dominions beyond the seas. It has led him also to send his son the
Prince of Wales, round the empire to carry his message of sympathy
with his subjects on the loss of their beloved queen, and of thanks
for the splendid way in which they had rallied round the old flag in
South Africa.
2. It is by the interchange of such kind offices and services that
the various parts of the empire are knit together; and it is the
sovereign who has in his keeping the chief power of drawing them all
more closely together by a common attachment to his person and
loyalty to his throne. That the spirit of unity in the empire has
for many years been steadily growing in strength is largely due to
the character and example of our great Queen Victoria.
3. When Her Majesty celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, the
demonstrations of love and loyalty, on the part of her people, in all
parts of her empire, were so striking that it seemed impossible for
that love and loyalty to be surpassed; yet it is certain that the
noble part the queen played in the course of the Boer war intensified
those feelings of devotion, and placed her on a still higher pinnacle
of glory, not only in the eyes of her subjects, but of the civilised
world.
4. It would take too long to mention one tithe of the queen's kind
acts and words of comfort to the mourners and sufferers as the war
went on. Her many kind messages to the besieged as well as the sick
and wounded, her hearty congratulations to generals and soldiers on
their gaining some victory or important success, her farewells to
those going out to hazard their lives, her reception of troops
returning from the war, and her visits to the military hospitals with
her words of sympathy to those maimed or wounded in their country's
service--all these things are written indelibly on the hearts and
memories of the British people.
5. Nor will they ever forget the example of calm fortitude the queen
set the nation in the days darkened by sad news from the seat of war,
nor her self-sacrifice in visiting London and Dublin, after the turn
of the tide, to show her admiration and gratitude for the devotion
and bravery of her troops, and the patriotic spirit of her people.
The task was only achieved at the cost of great fatigue and
exhausting excitement, for Her Majesty's years numbered more than
fourscore. As in this Boer war, so throughout her long reign, Queen
Victoria was ever the centre of our national life, and the vital link
between all parts of her world-wide empire.
6. The great Queen is dead, but we have every reason to believe that
her son and successor, King Edward VII., will prove equally worthy of
his exalted position. As Prince of Wales we all know he did his
utmost to promote the well-being of the whole nation. His name is
associated with numberless institutions set on foot for benevolent
purposes. The affectionate relation existing between King Edward,
when Prince of Wales, and the British people have been especially
shown on two turning points in his life--his happy marriage and his
dangerous illness.
7. Nothing could have exceeded the warm welcome given to the
Princess Alexandra when she entered London to become his bride, or
the great rejoicing throughout the land when she became the Princess
of Wales (1863). But the joy of the nation on this happy event was
of small significance compared with the wondrous sympathy manifested
when the Prince seemed on the bed of death, and the Princess on the
point of becoming a widow. All the nation seemed to stand around
that bed, and to watch with increased hope or fear, every change in
the progress of the disease. It was then perceived that as a nation
we had a heart that could throb as with one pulse.
8. When the Prince was raised from the bed of sickness, a day of
National Thanksgiving was solemnly observed. The Queen, accompanied
by the Prince and Princess of Wales, appeared in St. Paul's
Cathedral, with ten thousand of her subjects, to, acknowledge the
hand of God in restoring health to the Prince, and the Prince to the
nation (1872). Since then both prince and people have felt that they
belong to each other.
9. We may, therefore, confidently hope that the link between the
King and the nation will only grow stronger with the advancing years.
And this hope is confirmed by the assurance that the King's solemn
resolution, as he withdrew from the death-bed of the good and wise
Queen, was to reign in the same spirit and after her example. This
is apparent from his address, on the following morning, to his Privy
Council:--
Your Royal Highnesses, my Lords and Gentlemen,
This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called
upon to address you.
My first and melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of
my beloved mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you, the
whole nation, and I think I may say the whole world, sympathise
with me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained.
I need hardly say that my constant endeavour will be always to
walk in her footsteps. In undertaking the heavy load which now
devolves upon me, I am fully determined to be a Constitutional
Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and as long as
there is breath in my body to work for the good and amelioration
of my people....
In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me
in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance,
and to which I am determined to devote my whole strength during
the remainder of my life.
[Illustration: King's address]
10. In this address, we observe, the King solemnly declares that he
will act as "a Constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the
word." This means that in his official acts the Sovereign will be
guided by the advice of his ministers, not merely by his own personal
will and wisdom. This principle is the corner-stone of the British
Constitution, as it makes the King's ministers responsible for his
action, in all state affairs, and enables the nation, through
Parliament, to call them to account for the same.
11. It is a maxim of our Constitution that "the king never dies,"
which implies that at the moment one reign ends the next begins.
Hence the accession of Edward VII. dates from the 22nd January, 1901,
but his solemn installation as king was deferred until June 26th,
1902, a day that will long be remembered as _Coronation-day_, when
King Edward received the crown, as the symbol of sovereignty, in the
presence of representatives from every corner of his wide dominions.