Pursuing his enquiries, he would discover that this country of Great
Britain had conducted at great cost of life and money, less than ten
years ago, a war to prevent the separation and secession of one great
white community--that of South Africa--and that, having carried that
war to a successful conclusion, the central government had followed up
that war by granting to that great white community a strong central
local government, with complete control of its local affairs. "You talk
about the tendency to unity," he would say, "but have we not here a
clear instance of division?"
To all of which we should reply, and reply correctly--"Not at all! The
secret of our Empire is that we have found unity in difference. We have
achieved the miracle of combination by means of division of power."
We should probably have some difficulty in persuading him of this
truth. He might be some Rip Van Winkle, who had gone to sleep during
the War of American Independence, and still derived from those days his
notions of the right principles of colonial government. But if he
conducted his enquiries further he would end by being fully persuaded.
For what would he discover? He would find out that in spite of, or
perhaps by means of, this principle of division the British Empire was
now the most united Empire in the world.
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