The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-07 00:00:00

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1878,

THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

In the late Session of Parliament which was
occupied almost suloly with debates on foreign
affairs, one great object appeared to stand out
clear from the strife of politics, and free from
the stormy surroundings of party warfare. No
matter upon which side of the House a member
might sit, the interest of the empire rose superior
to the fortunes of a faction, and the welfare of
the vast populations owing the sway of Queen
Victoria was paramount to every other consider-
ation. Nor is the feeling of national pride in
the breadth of our dominions are 300 millions of
human beings, scattered over an area of four
million square miles. If we look at the centre
of this enormous domain, which contains the
seat of government and the leverage of the rul-
ing power, we see what some poets have called
" little gem set in the silver sea," sod described
by others less sentimentally inclined as a weather.
beaten island in a northern ocean. In size Great
Britain is so small that when compared with
India, Australia, or Canada, scarcely equals in
extent the principality of a petty potentate, the
kangaroo grounds of a savage tribe, or the
hunting range of a camp of Red Indians. Yet
this apparently insignificant piece of land, a
mere speck as compared with the waters of the
Atlantic, by whose waves it is constantly washed
has girdled the world with the emblems of its
power. It has made its influence felt upon all
languages, nations, peoples, and tongues. It has
belted the earth with its colonies, dotted the
surface of the globe with its fortresses, and
anchored its navies in every harbour. Britiah
manners, ideas, art, science, literature, and laws
are daily permeating in a greater or less degree
all the races, creeds, colours, customs, modes of
life, and social orders of mankind under the
British sceptre. The banners of St. George
waee over the stunted tribes who shiver and
freeze in the bleak regions of the north, or who
languish amid the sultry heat of the tropics.
White black, yellow, brown, copper coloured,
tattooal—what a heterogeneous collection of the
representatives of humanity ! The little island
of Great Britain is the heart of an empire which
stretches from the poles to the equator. Em-
bracing a vaster territory than that of the
Romans of old, like them the British people have
long manifested a marvellous faculty for coloniza-
tion. It was they who founded the United
Statis of America ; and although the political
bond which joined them was broken just a cen-
tury ago, British America still remains a terri-
tory larger than Russia.
If the mind, in its imagination, turns towards
the East, the swarthy millions of Hindostan,
the sallow C'nivatnau the bronze-hided Malay,
the tawny Tarter, and the sable negro, may be
reckoned amongst the subjects to the Queen.
Southwards there are the fierce natives of
Australia and New Z,2aland, and westward the
great Canadian Dominion. An eloquent American
has declared that the morning drum-beat, keep-
i,g company with the sun, and following the
hours, encircles the earth with a Continuous
and
an
unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.
Her flag is floating in every clitoe, d her ships
plough the surface of every sea. The sun, hi
his course from east to west, rises upon the
distant waters of China or Japan to find the
Englishman astir by the sea side stores of bis
rnerchandi3e It awakens him whilst pursuing
his way amongst the rivers of Burznali, it sees
him in India and the eastern archipelago, in
Ceylon, and in Africa. He is found in the West
Indies and the South Pacific; he is -making his
way over the Atlantic, or contending with the
Aden gusts that sweep across the Mediterranean.
Canada, unquestionably the most important
possession of Great Britain, is an immense tract
of country, which only the length of its winters
prevents from becoming a second United States.
It has river, lake, forest, and prairie on that
gigantic scale which is the distinguishing
characteristic of American scenery. Timber,
grain, furs, and skins are amongst its ers,norts ;
copper, coal, lead, and ilon are included in its
mineral rl'he-;. Its scai, river:, and hikes
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a considerable proportion of its population ; its
cities are alive with civilizing agencies and ,
influences. In strong contrast, both as regards I
distance from England, in climate and in general
features, far away in the Pacific, lies that enor-
mous island, not much smAller than Europe—
Austrulia. There the rivers are not locked up
half the year by the unrelenting grasp of frost
and ice, and climate is healthy and agreeable.
Then there are the beautiful islands of New
Zealand, England's antipodes—our night being
their day, and our summer their winter. If we
go to South Africa, we find a country twice the
size of Great Britain—not counting the recently
annexed Transvaal, which is quite as large as
France. Then there are West Indian islands,
with their tropical perils and beauties—the
latter abounding, and manifold in their nature.
If Canada is our most important colony, India
is our most populous possession ; and its varied
racesand religions—some worshipping inMoslem
mosque, and others in Pagan shrine—look, like
all the others, to our sea-washed land as the
arbiter of their destinies.
The shadows of a thousand years look down
upon the history of England, and her sons have
won countless victories by land and sea. Vast
' realms and populated kingdoms as well as
petty States and principalities, have fallen to
our sway. The annals of our progress are sur-
rounded with a national glory which time itself
can never dim. Bat it is as the just, beneficent
and wise ruler of many peoples and races, that
we shall be judged by posterity. Like Carthage
of old, we have ships, colonies, and commerce ;
but unlike Carthage, we shall not go down to
history as the oppressor of the nationalities
under our rule.