The first Boer war still smarted in our minds, and we knew the prowess of the indomitable burghers.

But our people, if gloomy, were none the less resolute, for that national instinct which is beyond the wisdom of statesmen had borne it in upon them that this was no local quarrel, but one upon which the whole existence of the empire hung.

The cohesion of that empire was to be tested.

Men had emptied their glasses to it in time of peace.

Was it a meaningless pouring of wine, or were they ready to pour their hearts' blood also in time of war?
Had we really founded a series of disconnected nations, with no common sentiment or interest, or was the empire an organic whole, as ready to thrill with one emotion or to harden into one resolve as are the several States of the Union?
That was the question at issue, and much of the future history of the world was at stake upon the answer.
Already there were indications that the colonies appreciated the fact that the contention was no affair of the mother country alone, but that she was upholding the rights of the empire as a whole, and might fairly look to them to support her in any quarrel which might arise from it.