A Notebook of Empire History [antikvár]

PREFACE The increasing interest in the British Empire and Commonwealth indicates that there may be a use for a book of reference on its history. The present volume is intended for the convenience of writers, lecturers and teachers, and its form and scope are the result of some experience in those capacities on the part of its compiler. The entries are not purely annalistic, and explanations of the significance and connection of events are included. In the period of the Old Colonial Empire difficulties of time and distance retarded communication and caused actions in one part of the world to be less influenced by those in another than was afterwards usual, while the range of parliamentary and public ideas on imperial questions was much less extensive than in modern times. In Part I, accordingly, it has seemed best to group under their own sub-headings the notes on distinct trains of action, even though they may have, been contemporaneous; for it would be a forced att'empt at unity that would seek to treat as one story explorations in the Pacific, wars in India and political disputes in the American colonies. In the modern period, on the other hand, the greatest interest is the Empire as a whole, the attention devoted to it by statesmen, the criticisms and demands of Parliament and the public, the cry for fair play not only for struggling colonists but for weaker peoples under British control, and the remarkable co-operation of colonies and mother country in working out the constitutional status of liberty in fellowship which is called the British Commonwealth.