Page:The empire and the century.djvu/407

 two elements, which many of Rome's subjects found incompatible—'Empire' and 'liberty.' A Constitution which secures equal rights for all under the ample folds of the British flag has given a new meaning to the old motto, &apos;Imperium et Libertas.' Never before in history has the unique spectacle been presented to the world of sovereignty wielded by the parent State on the slender basis of mutual consent. The philosophic spectator of all time and all existence may wonder, perchance, what changes the future has in store for the teeming millions of British India, which is still a dependency in the true sense of the word. Such speculation is equally applicable, on a lower political level, to the native races of South Africa, and even to the negro population of the United States. But if Britain's Imperial temper remains as it has been—and there is little danger of any change—the element of the consent of the governed will never be lost sight of. India is in a state of tutelage, and for the rest the Empire may be aptly described as a system of democratic republics under the gentle sovereignty of the Mother-land. By the admission, even of those who love it least, it has stood in the main for justice and liberty, for honest and efficient administration, for the expansion of freedom of trade, and for a strict and scrupulous impartiality between races and religions. If these had not been its strongest pillars, the loosely-compacted structure which we know to-day would hardly have stood the test of time.

Whatever may be the ultimate destiny of Canada, she will never have cause to regret that she grew up with the Empire. The story of that growth cannot be told, even in outline, without reference to the history of the two nations whose friendship is to-day one of our greatest Imperial assets—France and the United States. It was her successful termination of the long wars against Napoleon that secured to England her remaining