The English people were certain of the invincible superiority of their nation.

Every Englishman was taught, as Disraeli said of a later period, to believe that he occupied a position better than any one else of his own degree in any other country in the world.

The merchant in England was believed to surpass all others in wealth and integrity, the manufacturer to have no rivals in skill, the British sailor to stand in a class by himself, the British officer to express the last word in chivalry.

It followed, of course, that the motherland was superior to her children overseas.

The colonies had no aristocracy, no great landowners living in stately palaces.