CONSTITUTION AND RESOURCES OF THE 

 BRITISH EMPIRE. 



'HE British Empire consists of the United 

 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 

 3me small islands off their coasts, and numerous 

 3lonies and possessions in every part of the 

 arid ; these making it a kingly commonwealth 

 on which 'the sun never sets.' Though Great 

 Britain is not a republic, though it is ruled by a 

 hereditary monarch, and some of its legislators 

 are hereditary also, the central principle of its 

 political system is, that the law in theory and 

 practice is no respecter of persons, and that before 

 it all classes, even those politically privileged, 

 are on an equal footing. This practically insures 

 for the people an amount of personal freedom, 

 untainted by license, equal to that possessed by 

 most democratic republics in the world. Per- 

 sonal freedom freedom to do anything that is 

 not detrimental or hurtful to one's neighbours, 

 is enjoyed by all classes in Britain, from the 

 highest to the lowest ; and in no part of the 

 empire or in any of its dependencies is slavery in 

 any shape or form tolerated. Another cardinal 

 principle of the political system of Britain is, that 

 the only absolute power in the land is the power 

 of public opinion. It is not merely that every 

 British subject has the personal right of private 

 judgment, but that he has the right of giving it 

 free public expression, so long as he does not 

 thereby infringe on the rights of his neighbours. 

 The proved aggregate opinion of the majority of 

 the nation crystallises itself into definitive law, by 

 means of certain constitutional machinery here- 

 after to be described, and thus the government is 

 carried on, even under a hereditary monarchy 

 and aristocracy, in such a way that the country is 

 practically as free and as much self-governed as 

 any republic, and the people do not regard the 

 commands of constitutional and recognised author- 

 ity as unbearable and tyrannical restraints. One 

 of the most jealously guarded of the constitutional 

 privileges of all classes of British subjects is this 

 right of forming and expressing their opinions on 

 public affairs, of petitioning for the redress of 

 grievances, or in favour of reforms ; and it is only 

 a logical consequence of this that they maintain 

 their 'right of public meeting,' as it is called, for 

 the purpose of forming and giving publicity to 

 their wishes or their suggestions on all ques- 

 tions of practical importance to the commonweal. 

 Hence Britain is a democratic monarchy, a 

 kingly commonwealth, an aristocratic republic, in 

 which the personal freedom of the individual, in 

 respect of thought, speech, or action, is unham- 

 pered by pressure of hereditary caste privileges or 

 unjust laws, the practical equality of all subjects 

 before the law strictly maintained, and in which 

 the unrestricted political liberty of a republic is 

 preserved, in combination with the pageantry, the 

 moral order, and concentration of controlling force 

 characteristic of more despotic monarchical forms 

 of government. 

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Great Britain and Ireland occupy a position as 

 a first-rate power much higher than we should 

 expect, considering the comparatively small amount 

 of the population of the islands themselves. A 

 glance at the statistics of her commerce and 

 revenues, and even a superficial review of the 

 history of Europe for the last two centuries, will 

 lead to the conclusion, that Britain enjoys an 

 influence, prestige, and power beyond that of 

 other nations far more populous, and more highly 

 favoured by nature. This is partly owing to phys- 

 ical, and partly to moral causes. Of the first, 

 one of the most important is its insular position 

 \ the streak of silver sea,' as Mr Gladstone called 

 it, severs Britain from the continent, protecting 

 it from the perils of invasion and aggression, which 

 have done so much to impoverish other European 

 states. Then the temperate climate and natural 

 fertility of the country, and the extent of its 

 mineral wealth, have enabled it to outstrip all com- 

 petitors in agriculture and manufactures; whilst 

 its extensive sea-board has given to the maritime 

 genius of the people ample scope for development, 

 and secured to its shipping the largest share of 

 the carrying-trade of the world. Of the moral 

 causes, we may say that the Teutonic origin of the 

 British people has had much to do with their 

 aptitude for orderly political and social progress. 

 A passion for regulated freedom, and a rever- 

 ence for law and justice, are inherent in the race. 

 Their painstaking industry and perseverance de- 

 veloped their own internal resources ; and the 

 greater amount of personal freedom, the greater 

 security from political revolutions and convulsions, 

 attracted to the country not only large numbers of 

 foreigners of ability, who were driven into exile 

 by the more tyrannical governments of their own 

 lands, but also drew to Britain the capital neces- 

 sary for the development of commercial greatness, 

 on account of the greater security the country 

 offered for its employment. 



FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 



The British government is a constitutional 

 monarchy. Regarding it as a law-making and 

 law-enforcing power, we may divide it into two 

 branches (i) the legislative, consisting of Sover- 

 eign, Lords, and Commons; (2) the executive, 

 which in theory at least consists of the sovereign 

 alone, though in these days in practice it is vested 

 in a committee of responsible ministers, called a 

 cabinet, which has taken the place of the old Privy- 

 council, or ' the King in Council' The cabinet is 

 chosen by the sovereign from the chiefs of the most 

 powerful political party in the Houses of Lords and 

 Commons, and its members, as privy-councillors, 

 are sworn to 'ad vise the king (or queen) according 

 to the best of their cunning and discretion,' and 

 to help and strengthen the execution of what 

 may be resolved. The sovereign, or head of the 



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