Four hundred years ago today, the hurricane-shocked crew and passengers of the Sea Venture stumbled onto the sands of what is now St. Catherine's Beach from the wreck of their ship.

Since that day, Bermuda has enjoyed 400 years of continuous settlement, a four century span that has seen success, suffering, wars, protests and a gradual improvement in the lives of all the residents of these shores. Today the Island can claim to the be one of the wealthiest and successful in the world.

This has not been accomplished without struggle, and no one would pretend today that the Bermuda of 2009 is without problems.

But it has come a long way since the day those few hundred bedraggled survivors landed here and, in the process, began a remarkable story that is still being told.

Two strands of history run through the development of Bermuda. One is that it was settled initially by a company and, since then, has always had a powerful commercial instinct. Concomitant with that, Bermudians, with almost no natural resources to call on, have always had to live by their wits and rely on their own ingenuity.

It has also demanded that Bermuda has always had to look out to the world for its survival and livelihood, whether to build ships, trade salt or onions, or to welcome tourists or international companies. Bermuda cannot afford to turn away from the outside world. We would not survive.

The other strand of history with which Bermuda is utterly intertwined is race, slavery and its long legacy. It is not to Bermuda's credit, but it is a fact that this Island was one of the first to take slaves from Africa and from North America. The fact that Bermuda did not develop a plantation economy of the sort common in the Southern states or the Caribbean does not take away from the horror and injustice of one man holding another as property.

Nor is the history of segregation after Emancipation one which Bermuda, and white Bermudians in particular, can take any pride in. Bermuda is still grappling with that legacy and will do so for some to come.

But Bermuda does have the opportunity to be an example to the world in how it emerges from the world of segregation and how it creates a model of race relations and equality.

And we can take pride in the people, black and white, who fought to end segregation and to bring about universal adult suffrage. Their names are too numerous to mention here, but this is their day.

What is incontrovertible about the last 400 years is this. Bermuda has grown from a tiny settlement to a world famous tourism and business centre. Somehow, despite a lack of natural resources and even easily accessible fresh water, a unique people have survived and thrived on this rock.

That in itself is a miracle, and is only due to the fact that despite the manifest inequities that existed, Bermudians of all descents worked together to make this Island a better place for their children and grandchildren.

Whatever our differences, more unites us than divides us. To the outside world, we are Bermudians and we say it with pride.

Happy birthday Bermuda! May we celebrate 400 more!