d
from England prior to the earlier date, and who constituted the bulk
of the force shut up in Ladysmith under Sir George White. But the
practical importance of a common sentiment--of a great moral fact--is
not to be measured by figures only. The idea of Imperial Federation
justifies itself to the intelligence as well as to the imagination,
resting upon the solid foundation of common interests as well as of
common traditions.

[Footnote 5: More have sailed since the above
information, but exact figures are wanting to the
author.]

In the adjustment of relative importance in men's intellects--which
must precede any useful adjustment of mutual relations, benefits and
responsibilities, by former political agreement--the colonies on the
one hand will have to recognize the immensely greater burden, as
indicated by the above figures and by the size of the fleet, borne by
the United Kingdom. The latter on its part must acknowledge, as
{p.085} in practice she has done, not merely the right of the colonies
to their local administration and self-government, but also the
indispensable contribution to the mutual interests of all parts in the
Federation, that results from local naval bases of operations in many
decisive parts of the world, resting everywhere upon the one sure
foundation for such bases--an enthusiastically loyal, self-dependent,
and military population. Military power, in analysis, consists
principally of two factors--force and position--and if the greater
wealth and population of the home country causes it to exceed in the
former, the dispersion and character of the dependencies contribute
decisively to the latter.

The transportation of the above immense body of soldiers, with all the
equipment and supplies of war needed for a protracted campaign a
distance of 6,000 miles[6] by sea, is an incident unprecedented, and
in its success unsurpassed, in military history. The nature of the
war, it is true, removed from the undertaking all {p.086} military or
naval risk; there was in it nothing corresponding to the anxious
solicitude imposed upon the British generals, by the length of their
thin railroad line and its exposure in numerous critical points to a
mobile enemy. But as a triumph of organisation--of method, of system,
and of sedulous competent attention to details--the performance has
reflected the utmost credit not only upon the Admiralty, to which,
con