CONCLUSION. 127

world, they have conquered the rigours of climate,
the rudeness of the land, the jealous rivalry of the
nations of the world. In the struggle they did not
ask, and did not often receive, the help of their
Spartan mother, who steadily, though often coldly
and carelessly, pursued her policy of decentralisation
and non-interference. How far Britain's colonial
policy came of her own volition, how far it was
forced upon her by the colonies, or how far it was
the outcome of mere ignorance or neglect on her
part, it is not necessary to discuss here ; it is the
fact that under this continuous policy the Empire
has grown up that matters to us now. For results
have abundantly justified the wisdom of the policy.
The British Empire presents to-day a spectacle
unique in history. Instead of the central country
with its dependencies shackled to it by chains,
that the world has hitherto called an Empire, it
beholds a group of sister nations held together by
sonds of blood relationship, mutual support and
community of interests. It is an Empire which
girdles the earth ; its strength lies in the strength
and vitality of every one of the units of which it is
composed ; its prosperity is derived from the
commerce which such an Empire can drive to the
uttermost ends of the earth. We have called it a
group of sister nations—sister nations they are, and
the sooner that Britain realises that her self
governing colonies have outgrown their childhood,
and that she has to deal not with dependencies
but with equals, the better it will be for the