It was all a
knitting of the Empire; the uniting of its strands by blood and bone and
sentiment; that federation, based on race and the human qualities, which
had budded and bloomed in Sir George Grey's mind.
'For instance,' he wrote from Cape Town, 'there is not one of the
gentlemen in this part of the country who will now, in his turn, abandon
his bed, to sleep for the night in the guard-house, and to walk his beat
as sentry, who will not think that he has made some sacrifice for Her
Majesty's honour and for the safety of even a distant part of the Empire,
and who will not henceforth regard any persons that assail the interests
of the Queen, or her possessions, very much in the light of personal
antagonists. In fact, all here now feel that they are useful members of a
great body corporate, in which they have their personal interest, which
arises from having made some sacrifices to promote the common good of the
whole. Such a feeling, pervading the Empire, must immeasurably increase
its strength, unity, and stability.'
Sir George sent his own carriage horses to India, there to be yoked to
smoking guns, and went afoot in Cape Town. The maintenance of peace,
among the pugnacious chiefs of South Africa, depended mainly upon his
personal influence with them.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177