Knaplund-—A Study in British Colonial Policy 
5 
resolution favoring “a union or alliance with the Cape Colony’’/® 
and in September, 1858, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton invited Grey to give 
liis opinion on the question of federating the South African col¬ 
onies. Replying in a dispatch of November 19th, the high Com¬ 
missioner urged consolidation of all the European communities 
and suggested that the government should take the initiative by 
.securing the passage of an enabling act. In doing this Grey doubt¬ 
less went further than Lytton had originally intended him to go. 
The considerations of imperial interests which had made the pre¬ 
vious withdrawal desirable were opposed to the forward policy 
suggested by the zealous governor. In his eagerness to promote 
the cause of union Grey disobeyed orders and was recalled. While 
the colonial office later cancelled this recall, the attitude towards 
federation remained unchanged. Disappointed, the governor 
voiced his fear that ‘‘the opportunity of establishing such a fed¬ 
eration as I had proposed has now been lost forever.^*^ 
Two events of the succeeding decade deeply influenced Britain’s 
colonial relations and caused the imperial statesmen to modify 
their views regarding a South African union. The first of these, 
the withdrawing of the garrisons from the self-governing colonies, 
took place largely because it was deemed necessary to strengthen 
the home defenses without increasing the burden on the British 
taxpayers. The wishes of the colonies were completely disre¬ 
garded.^® On the other hand, the second, the establishment of the 
Dominion of Canada, was the result of a movement which orig¬ 
inated in British North America and received the hearty support 
of the colonial office “on the ground, among others, that [federa¬ 
tion] was eminently calculated to render easier and more effectual 
the provisions for the defence of the several Provinces. 
Once having accepted the principle of colonial federation the 
Rome government showed considerable zeal in attempting to secure 
a wdde application for it. The Leeward Islands were federated 
according to a plan prepared by Governor Sir B. C. C. Pine. In 
this instance the impetus came from home. The Gladstone govern¬ 
ment seem to have entertained hopes that consolidation would ulti- 
G. McCall Theal, The History of South Africa Since 1795 (5 Vols., London, 1908), 
III, p. 175. 
Despatch of July 31, 1859, P.P. 1860, Vol. XLV No. 357, p. 1. For the text of 
Sir George Grey’s confederation despatch see Frank R. Cana, South Africa from the 
Great Trek to the Union (London, 1909), pp. 298—309. 
2** See Paul Knaplund “Intra-Imperial Aspects of Britain’s Defence Question” in 
The Canadian Historical Review, III, pp. 120—125. 
Cardwell to Arthur Gordon, April 12, 1865, P.P. 1867, XLVIII, cd. 3769, p. 117. 
