King Edward's realm: Story of the making of the Empire

by C. S. Dawe

INTRODUCTORY.

The Empire and its Living Link.

1. A glance at the map of the world in which the parts of the British Empire are coloured red may well fill us with astonishment that the little spot marked England has expanded into an empire that covers one-sixth of the habitable globe, and measures more than one hundred times as much as the little island that forms its heart and home.

2. The only other empire that approaches it in size is that of Russia, and we can well imagine a patriotic Russian thinking that his sovereign had a much better realm than had ours, even if it was not so large. "For see," he might say to a countryman of ours, "what a sprawling, disjointed empire yours is, whereas ours is so compact that we can pass through its length and breadth without crossing a single sea."

What reply should a Briton make to this boast?

3. "True," he might say, "the British Empire looks like a giant with his limbs outstretched, having his head in one sea, and his arms and legs in as many others; true it is that our king's realm is so widely spread that the sun never sets on his dominions, still it is far easier for us to go from end to end of our empire than it would be if built like yours."

4. We could not expect the Russian to agree to this, but nevertheless it is true; for the sundered portions of the British dominions are connected by the sea, and the sea offers a ready-made road to every ship that sails. No hills have to be levelled, no tunnels bored, no rails laid down, and hence it is much cheaper to travel on sea than on land, and often much easier and quicker. We may rightly regard the seas that come between our shores and the rest of the empire, not as separating but as connecting its several parts, and enabling the motherland to keep in constant touch with her daughter states in other lands.

5. Steam and electricity have worked wonders in bringing all the members of the English family of nations into close connection with each other in spite of the many thousands of miles that separate them. By means of our great ocean-liners we can cross a wide ocean in a few days, and by means of electric cables beneath the sea each part of the empire can converse with any other part in the course of a few hours, or even in a few minutes.

6. This ready means of communicating with each other, draws us all more closely together in thought and feeling. The same incidents and events, to a great extent, occupy the minds of all our race at the same time, and send a thrill of joy or sorrow throughout the empire. Whether living in London, Sydney, or Montreal, the Briton finds in his daily paper a great deal of the same news, showing how much of common interest there is between ourselves and our brothers beyond the seas.

7. Away then with the idea that seas act as barriers. They serve rather to unite. Has not steam bridged the ocean, and electricity brought its shores within speaking distance? For trading purposes, especially, the sea is much more a uniter than a divider, since goods may be carried so much more cheaply by water than by land. It costs less to bring wheat by sea from Montreal or New York to London, a distance of 3500 miles, than to bring the same by rail from Liverpool to London.

8. The British Empire, it is true, is scattered over the face of the globe, but in some respects this is an advantage. Being so widely sundered its different portions differ much in climate and productions, and thus can the better supply each others' wants. England, for instance, serves as the great manufacturing shop for her colonies, whilst they in return send her the raw material for her factories and food for her children. England, indeed, would soon suffer from famine if a constant supply of food did not come from other lands. To insure this supply without interruption to our traffic, we must be able to keep the seas open to our merchant-ships, whether in peace or war, and for this purpose our navy must be supreme.

9. Nothing is more interesting in the story we have to tell than the daring exploits of our seamen, by which we have risen to the command of the seas, and are able to sing Rule Britannia with the proud happy feeling that Britannia does indeed still rule the waves, and that as far as in us lies it shall never cease to do so, since it is only by thus "ruling the waves" that we can look to the sea as a friend that unites the whole family of English-speaking peoples, and enables them to aid one another.

10. But we need something warmer than sea-water to unite us all, and make us in heart and mind one people, in whatever quarter of the globe we live, and that is the spirit and sentiment that spring from the fact that we are of kindred race, that we all speak the same language, read the same books, enjoy the same freedom, make our own laws, and passionately love justice and fair-play. We have recently had striking evidence of the warm feeling that pervades the whole empire, and welds its several parts into one. When the Boer war broke out and the British arms met with reverses, the whole empire throbbed with one heart and kindled with one spirit, revealing to ourselves and the whole world that though the British Empire is widely scattered, it is in heart and mind closely united.

11. As a symbol of that unity we have one king, one flag. The king, indeed, is more than a symbol of unity, he is a link, a living link, that actually binds the parts together. Every true Briton, throughout the empire, looks to the sovereign as the head and centre of the national life, from whom all who administer the laws, or exercise command in the army or navy, derive their authority. Whilst the king takes a personal share in the government in the homeland only, he has his representatives who act as governors, in his name, in every province of the empire. The king, therefore, may be regarded as the living link which unites the sundry and sundered parts of his mighty empire.

12. The relation of King Edward to the different portions of his realm is thus expressed in the title which he has assumed: Edward the Seventh, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King; Defender of the Faith; Emperor of India.