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

by C. S. Dawe

8. Gibraltar owes its great importance to the fact that it is situated on the strait that forms the gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It is, in consequence, called the Key to the Mediterranean. In time of war it would be invaluable to our shipping, serving as a place of refuge to our merchantmen, a coaling-station for our men-of-war, a dockyard for their repair, and a storehouse for providing them with guns, ammunition, and provisions.

NOTE I. By the Peace of Utrecht (1713), which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, it was agreed that to Britain should belong—(1) Gibraltar and Minorca, (2) Newfoundland and Acadia (Nova Scotia), and (3) Hudson Bay Territory.

NOTE 2. It should be remembered that the union between England and Scotland was effected in 1707. Hitherto we have spoken almost entirely of England and the English; we shall now have to speak chiefly of Britain and the British, not forgetting that Ireland and the Irish are included in these terms.

(3) GRANDMOTHERLY GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH IN CANADA.

1. We are now on the threshold of one of the most important parts of our story. In the eighteenth century was fought out the question: Should the British or the French be the ruling race of North America? In answering that question, the British navy had much to say, although the battles which decided the contest were fought mostly on land; for it was owing to Britain's command of the seas, that we were able to send our soldiers in safety across the ocean, and to supply them with all things necessary for a fighting force, whilst depriving the enemy of all succour from their friends at home.

2. The commanding position which the British navy had reached at that time is undisputed. "Before the war of the Spanish Succession," says a distinguished naval officer of the United States, "England was one of the sea powers; after it, she was the sea power, without any second. This power also she held alone, unshared by friend, unchecked by foe."

3. The Englishman who first enters Canada by way of Quebec is surprised to find himself among a people speaking French, whilst Quebec itself looks to him like a quaint old Norman town. The fact is, the majority of the inhabitants are of French descent, although at the present day as loyal to the British flag as any could desire. The explanation of this French air about the place is, of course, the fact that Canada was at first a French colony.

4. The French began to plant a colony in Canada about the same time as did the English in Virginia, but for the first fifty years it dragged out a miserable existence. A new day dawned upon Canada, when Louis XIV. took the colony in hand (1665), with the resolution that a new France should be added to the old. Soldiers, settlers, horses, sheep, cattle, were all sent out in abundance, and the well-being of the colony became the object of the king's fatherly care. Before winter set in, about two thousand persons had landed at Quebec at Louis's expense. "Thus a sunbeam from the court of France fell for a moment on the rock of Quebec." Indeed the light of the king's favour continued to fall on the colony for some years, but it failed to insure prosperity.

5. The way in which Louis treated the French colonists in Canada is a striking illustration of the difference between the French and English methods of dealing with colonies; it is the difference between liberty and restraint, between leaving the colonists to manage their own affairs under friendly help and guidance, and hampering them by foolish meddling. The French colonists were treated as children and kept in leading-strings. The king acting for some time the part of a fond father, and coddling them most unwisely. Not only were their actual wants relieved by his bounty, but every branch of trade and industry received liberal grants. They were thus trained to dependence on their rulers to whom they were expected to pay unquestioning obedience.

6. "It is God's will," wrote Louis, "that whoever is born a subject should not reason but obey." Every one of his officials seemed to be of the same opinion. "It is of very great consequence," wrote one of them, "that the people should not be left at liberty to speak their own minds." They were not free so much as to go home to France when they pleased; leave had first to be obtained. They were even told at what age to marry, and fines were imposed unless they conformed. The colonists, in fact, were in the position of a papoose, or Indian baby, bound up tight from head to foot and carried on its mother's shoulders like a pack. What was the consequence?