Still, he was not going beyond the
bounds of his commission, and there were the specious reasons why South
Africa should fly to the aid of India.
He set them out then, and their reperusal, in the armchair of his London
retirement, but emphasised their purport. As a great empire, set hither
and thither, could only be governed by the free consent of all concerned,
so it must be a unit when danger threatened any part. Here was the
British Empire, a vast area, scattered over the globe. It was essential
that everybody should see it had not overgrown its strength. Be manifest
that its vitality, its power of action, were as keen at the extremities
as at the centre. Should a portion be gravely endangered, the world must
behold all the other sections stirring themselves to meet the emergency.
Each should be a leader for the whole body, the supreme weight of which
would thus be focussed upon the menaced quarter. In the process, our
varied peoples would determine their common interests and a common pride
of dominion, incalculable in worth.
Within this singleness of the Empire, came Colonel Adrian Hope and his
gallant 93rd Highlanders, then at Cape Town on their way to China. Only,
Sir George Grey's commission, as Cape Governor, gave him no authority to
divert from its mission, an over-sea military expedition.
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