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

by C. S. Dawe

CHAPTER II.

Early English Colonisation

(1603-1688).

(1) ENGLAND'S SUCCESS IN COLONIZING.

1. As far as we have gone in our story we have followed the fortunes of England in the times of the Tudors, and have seen her rise to a high place among the nations as one of the great Sea Powers. So far we have spoken only of the making of England and its expansion into the "United Kingdom." What we have said, as yet, relates only to the laying of the foundation-stones on which the British Empire has been built. Our next task is to show how that empire began and how it afterwards grew and became great. When James I. came to the throne of England the King's Realm was limited to the Home Countries that form the United Kingdom. The rest of the empire has been acquired in the course of the three centuries that separate the death of Queen Elizabeth from that of Queen Victoria.

2. The expansion of the empire has been effected in three ways: (1) by peaceful occupation, (2) by force of arms, and (3) by friendly treaty. When the territory taken possession of was thinly occupied by wandering tribes, as in North America, or by mere savages, as in Australia, we have been able to gain an easy settlement without the sacrifice of many lives. Some countries have come to us as the fruit of conquest, examples of which we have in India, Canada, and Cape Colony. And certain territories we have acquired by purchase or by friendly arrangement with the native chiefs, as in the case of New Zealand and the Straits Settlements.

3. Of these possessions only a certain number are rightly termed colonies. True British colonies are settlements where men from our own shores have been able to make a permanent home, found a family, and rear children in robust health. Men of our stock can only plant such colonies where a temperate climate prevails, where wheat and other cereals thrive, and where flocks and herds can be successfully reared; such colonies we have in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

4. But the term "colony" has a wider application than this. We speak, for instance, of our West Indian colonies, where the climate is too hot for our race to flourish. Here the British resident is usually the owner of some plantation of sugar or tobacco, and for some years he superintends his crops, but always returns "home" as soon as he has made what he considers sufficient to live upon, in comfort, for the rest of his days. In fact, the term "colony" is generally applied to any of the British possessions beyond the seas, with the exception of India. And the whole of such possessions, with the same exception, may be conveniently referred to as our Colonial Empire.

5. It is now admitted on all sides that the British have surpassed all nations in the art of colonizing. Their success is due to a variety of causes, among which we may reckon their adventurous spirit, their love of liberty, their energy and enterprise. This spirit has made the Briton often restless and discontented with what he considers his humdrum life at home. It has driven him forth to seek a more varied and fuller life in the midst of dangers and difficulties, where he hopes to find free scope for his energies, and full liberty to follow his own bent and go his own way. But the mere spirit of adventure would not have insured success. That has come to him because he is gifted with great pluck, where fighting has to be done, with good staying power under stress and storm, with self-reliance when cut off from friends, and above all with a spirit of justice and fair-play.