3. Of these possessions only a certain number are rightly termed _colonies_. True British colonies are settlements where men from our own shores have been able to make a permanent home, found a family, and rear children in robust health. Men of our stock can only plant such colonies where a temperate climate prevails, where wheat and other cereals thrive, and where flocks and herds can be successfully reared; such colonies we have in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. 4. But the term "colony" has a wider application than this. We speak, for instance, of our West Indian colonies, where the climate is too hot for our race to flourish. Here the British resident is usually the owner of some plantation of sugar or tobacco, and for some years he superintends his crops, but always returns "home" as soon as he has made what he considers sufficient to live upon, in comfort, for the rest of his days. In fact, the term "colony" is generally applied to any of the British possessions beyond the seas, with the exception of India. And the whole of such possessions, with the same exception, may be conveniently referred to as our _Colonial Empire_. 5. It is now admitted on all sides that the British have surpassed all nations in the art of colonizing. Their success is due to a variety of causes, among which we may reckon their adventurous spirit, their love of liberty, their energy and enterprise. This spirit has made the Briton often restless and discontented with what he considers his humdrum life at home. It has driven him forth to seek a more varied and fuller life in the midst of dangers and difficulties, where he hopes to find free scope for his energies, and full liberty to follow his own bent and go his own way. But the mere spirit of adventure would not have insured success. That has come to him because he is gifted with great pluck, where fighting has to be done, with good staying power under stress and storm, with self-reliance when cut off from friends, and above all with a spirit of justice and fair-play. 6. Possessing these qualities he has been able to conquer his foes and afterwards to gain their good-will. When, for instance, the brave Sikhs of India were thoroughly beaten, they readily took service under our flag and helped us to put down the Sepoy Mutiny. To make the men you have conquered follow you gladly; that is the secret of empire. England's success in colonizing and ruling the native races within the borders of her realm is also largely due to the fact that she has avoided that common fault of most other nations in dealing with their colonies--over-governing, treating them as children needing precise rules and many restrictions. England, on the other hand, has seldom kept her colonies in leading-strings longer than it was necessary.