The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1961-08-25
De BoINvILLEs ADDRESS
AT FORT RALEIGH AUG. 10


am very honoured to have been
invited here to participate IN the
21st season of the magnificent
irama that is unfolding before our
ewes. The British Ambassador, Sir
Harold Caccia, has asked me to
express his regret at not being able
to attend on this day, the 374th an
niversary Of the birth of Virginia
Dare; / am glad to have been ask
ed to represent him here, and to
convey to You. his good wishes and
congratulations on another success
full season - and on the brilliant |
and unforgettable spectacle that we
are witnessing.
The inspiring and mysterious
story of "The Lost Colony" which
has captured the imaginations OF
all of us has particular attraction
for the subjects of Queen Elizabeth
the Second. The splendours and
hardships of the first Elizabethan
era are known to every British
schoolboy and girl; the excitement
of the new discoveries as the world
expanded can be felt even today
(when it sometimes seems as
though each new discovery has
made the world uncomfortably
small); the exploration of new con-
tinents and the bringing of civiliza-
ton to the New World can be shar-
led with our ancestors, even while
we, their descendants, are contenl-
plating the exploration of Outer
Space and feeling concern for the
future of that civilization; we
share with them a belief in free
dom, if We. sonaetines lack their
confidence in God( their sense OF
divine mission robustly supported
|by their own efforts. We have
much still to learn from our Eliza
bethan ancestors: some of it we are
learning as this pageant of Eng
lish and American history is played
before us. Those of you who know
/ the England of the second Queen
Elizabeth know how strong is our
sense Of the past, how precious to|
US are our old buildings, our insti-
buttons, our customs. But you will,
| ] hope, also have noticed that We
have inherited at least one charac-
lteristic from our forbears - we
have really always been people
who have kept our eyes on the
future rather than the past. 1t
should not be forgotten that in
this Second Elizabethan Age, an
age of amazing, celebrating scien-
tific and industrial advance, Brit
ain, this old country, is as before al
pioneer. Nor must it be forgotten
that we are the centre and pivot -
| to use the Prime Minister'S words
- of great Commonwealth OF ma
| lions stretching around the world
and including peoples of the utmost
diversity. The basic ideals Of free
dom of the individual, the parlia-
mentary institutions (some of them
dating from even before the days
of Good Queen Bess), these from a
nation which lives by exporting
have been our proudest and most
valuable exports. We are witness
ling the story of THE LOST COL
ONY, a 18th century mystery IN
which the triumph and the tragedy
lintermingle; two hundred years
later, it may be recalled, Britain
| had lost no fewer than Is colonies
for vastly different reasons and
under circumstances which reflect
ed rather more credit on the colo
lnists than ON the colonial power;
and today, getting on for another
200 years later, we are engaged In
a deliberate process which has been
going on now for many years OF
closing" colonies, and gaining
friends and equals. There are now
sLost Colonies" around the world.
But they were lost in sorrow and
disaster, or mislaid in fit of abb
sence Of mind las an English his
torian once said the British Empire
was acquiredl, or torn from our
| grasp. They have been allowed to
become, they have been encouraged
to become, free and independent ma
|tions. And the vast majority are
members of the Commonwealth Of
Nations. our friends and partners
= and your friends and partners.
We may. not always see eye-to-eye
with them, nod they with US - few
members of any family live in per-
petual uninterrupted harmony -
but we sit down together an in q
family, we are enriched by the ex-
Ichange of viewpoints, we work to-
Igether for the future. We too have
q dream, and it is this - in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth II -
(which links us with the stirring
and inspiring days of Virginia
lDare; and is the bond between the
England Of yesterday, the Conn
monwealth Of Nations Of today, and
the new world, unknown and excit-
ing, Just over the horizon, that Is