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

by C. S. Dawe

KING EDWARD'S REALM.

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.