which has grown up since the introduction of steam.

10. Eastern and Western Britain compared.

As the southern and eastern coasts of Britain were in most direct communication with the Continent, and were first settled, they continued until modern times to be the wealthiest, most civilized, and progressive part of the island. Much of the western portion is a rough, wild country. To it the East Britons retreated, keeping their primitive customs and language, as in Wales and Cornwall.

In all the great movements of religious or political reform, up to the middle of the seventeenth century, we find that the people of the eastern half of the island were usually on the side of a larger measure of liberty; while those of the western half were generally in favor of increasing the power of the King and the Church.

11. Influence of the Island Form on the Roman Invasion

Geologists tell us that Great Britain was once connected with the mainland of western Europe. It was fortunate for Britain that this connection was severed and that it became an island. We see an illustration of this advantage in the case of the Roman invasion. It was easy for the Romans to march great armies into Gaul and take complete possession of that country, but it was with no little difficulty that they sent fleets across the tempestuous waters of the Channel. This may have been one reason why they never succeeded in permanently establishing their language and their laws in the island of Britain. It is true that they conquered and held it for several centuries, but they never destroyed its individuality,—they never Latinized it as they did France and Spain.

12. Influence of the Island Form on the Saxon Invasion.

In like manner, when the northern tribes of Europe overran the Roman Empire, they found themselves, in some measure, shut out from Britain by its wall of sea. The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles could not enter it in countless hordes, but only in small numbers and by occasional attacks. Because of this, the invaders could only drive back the Britons by slow degrees, and they never entirely crushed them.

Again, the conquerers could not build up a strong, united kinigdom, but they had to content themselves with establishing a number of petty kingdoms which were constantly at war with each other. Later, the whole of England became subject to a sing sovereign. But the chief men of the separate kingdoms, which had now become simply shires or counties, retained a certain degree of control over the government. This prevented the royal power from becoming the unchecked will of an arbitrary ruler. Finally, it may be said that the isolation of England had much to do with the development of the strong individual character of its people.

13. Influence of the Island Form on the Danes and Normans.

In the course of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries the Danes invaded England, but the sea prevented their coming all at once and with overwhelming force. They got possession of the throne (S63) and permanently established themselves in the northern half of the country. The English, however, held their own so well that the Danes were eventually compelled to unite with them. Even when the Normans invaded England and conquered it (SS74, 107), they felt obliged to make many concessions to both the English and the Danes. The result was that every invasion of the island ended in a compromise, so that no one race ever got complete predominance. In time all the elements mingled and became one people.

14. Influence of the Channel in Later History.

Furthermore, the immense protective value of the Channel to England may be traced down to our own day. In the great crisis when Simon de Montfort was fighting (1264) to secure parliamentary representation for the people (S213), King Henry III sought help from France. The French monarcy got a fleet ready to send to England, but bad weather held it back, and Henry was obliged to concede De Montfort's demands for reform.[1]

[1] W. Stubb's "Select Charters," p. 401

Again, when the Spanish Armada swooped down upn England (1588) a terrible tempest dispersed a part of the enemy's fleet. Many of the vessels were wrecked (S399) and only a few were left to creep back, crippled and disheartened, to the ports of Spain. When Queen Elizabeth publicly thanked the leaders of her valiant navy for what they had done to repel the Spanish forces, she also acknowledged how much England owed to the protective power of wind and wave.

The same elements taught Napoleon a lesson which he never forgot. He had carefully planned an expedition against England (S557), but violent and long-continued storms compelled him to abandon the hazardous undertaking (1804). The great French commander felt himself invincible on land, but he was obliged to confess that "a few leagues of salt water" had completely out-generaled him.

In fact, ever since England organized a regular navy (1512) the encircling arms of the ocean have been her closest and surest friend. They have exempted her from keeping up a large standing army and so preserved her from the danger of military despotism at home. They too have made her the greatest sea power,[1] and, at the same time, the greatest colonizing power[2] the world has yet seen. They have also made her the greatest commercial power on the globe.[3]

[1] The English navy far outranks that of any other nation in the number of its warships. [2] The English colonial possessions and "spheres of influence" cover an area of more than 11,400,000 square miles. (See map between pp. 422, 423.) [3] The total commerce of the United Kingdom in 1910 was nearly 912,000,000 pounds and that of the British Empire exceeded 1,990,680,000 pounds.

It is true that the use of steam for vessels of war has diminished the natural protective service of the Channel, since a hostile fleet can now move against England in almost any weather. Still, the "silver streak," as the English call that waterway, will always remain, in some degree, a defense against sudden invasion, except, of course, from a squadron of military airships.

15. England as a Commercial Center.

In closing this period, the position of England, with respect to facilities for commerce, deserves particular attention. In the first place the country has many excellent harbors; next, it is situated in the ocean which is the great highway between the two continents having the highest civilization and the most constant intercourse. Finally, a glance at the maps on pages 185 and 420 will show that geographically England is located at about the center of the land masses of the globe.

It is evident that a large island so placed stands in the favorable position for easy and rapid trade communications with every quarter of the world. For this reason England has been able to attain, and thus far to maintain, the highest rank among maritime and commercial powers. It is true that since the opening of the Suez Canal (1869) the trade with the Indies, China, and Japan has considerably changed. Many cargoes of teas, silks, spices, and other Eastern products, which formerly went to London, Liverpool, or Southampton, to be reshipped to different countries of Europe, now pass by other routes direct to the consumer. Furthermore, it is a question what effect the completion of the Panama Canal will have on English trade in parts of the Pacific. But for the present England retains her supremacy as the great carrier and distributor of the productions of the earth,—a fact which has had a very decided influence on her history, and on her relations with other nations, both in peace and war.

[Industrial Map of England (S9)]