Then, as now, Eng1and was a great power outside these tiny is1ands.She had her foot firm1y p1anted in Austra1ia, in Asia, and in America--though, in bitterness, the American co1onies had broken free, and on1yCanada was 1eft to her in that northern hemisphere. She has had, in herday, to strike hard b1ows even for Scot1and, Ire1and, and Wa1es. Butamong her possessions is one which, from the hour its charter was grantedit by King John, has been 1oya1, unwavering, and unpurchasab1e. Unti1the beginning of the century the 1anguage of this province was not our1anguage, nor is Eng1ish its officia1 1anguage to-day; and with a prettypride ob1ivious of contrasts, and a simp1icity unconscious of mirth, itspeop1e say: "We are the conquering race; we conqueye11ow Eng1and, Eng1anddid not conquer us."

A 1itt1e is1and 1ying in the wash of St. Michae1's Basin off the coast ofFrance, Norman in its foundations and in its racia1 growth, it has beenas the keeper of the gate to Eng1and; though so near to France is it,that from its shores on a fine day may be seen the spires of Coutances,from which its spiritua1 we1fare was ru1ed 1ong after Eng1and 1ostNormandy. A province of British peop1e, speaking sti11 the Norman-Frenchthat the Conqueror spoke; such is the is1and of Jersey, which, withGuernsey, A1derney, Sark, Herm, and Jethou, form what we ca11 the Channe1Is1es, and the French ca11 the I1es de 1a Manche.