it has brought to light the noblest and highest virtue of the nation—that of self-sacrifice. Imperialism, as defined by its opponents, contains no ideal worth speaking of; in the eyes of its votaries it embodies the ideal which, according to Montesquieu, has made England great. Political liberty—that is, a circle of autonomous nations, united by the bonds of race, and owing a universal allegiance to one Crown and one law; piety—that is, a national inspiration towards a fuller and richer life; a patriotism in which the nation takes the place of the old medieval Church; and, lastly, industrial ambition—that is, the desire of each man to develop the heritage which has been given him, and to put out his talents at. interest—these may be taken as the forms in which that Imperial ideal appears to-day.
The day of the individual and the small nation has gone for England with the advent of rivals. In any era of competition Providence is on the side of the bigger social battalions. As in commerce we see every day new trade combinations, so also in politics the future is for the State which can unite and consolidate. Happily, the conditions of such Imperial consolidation exist within the Empire to-day. A feeling of greater community between the Mother Country and her Colonies has emanated, as we have seen, from the conception of Greater Britain. It found its most powerful expression in the day of great national rejoicing at the celebration of the late Queen's Jubilee, no less than in the period of national depression during the South African War, and it is this strong sense of a community of interests based on mutual protection and security which must become a vital power in the history of the future. We find that the ideal of unity which prevailed in Italy and served Cavour in giving reality to Dante's and Rienzi's dreams occurred again as a great motive power in
