[To THE EDITOR OF THE " specrAros.")
Sin,—Within the last twenty years, the world has witnessed the reconstruction of three great nationalities,—those of "Italy," of the "United States of America," and of the "German Empire."
In the case of Italy, the various petty States into which for centuries she had been so unhappily divided, and the separate independence of which had been a source of such untold misery and bloodshed, — the country itself being contemptuously described by Talleyrand as a " mere geographical expression,"— were at length fortunately united, in 1870, in one great Con- stitutional Monarchy.
In the case of the "United States of America," the better " welding-together " of the vast Northern and Southern Terri- tories, and the extinction of the institution of slavery, were the direct results of the suppression of the attempt at separation on the part of the Southern States, and as every American will now admit, they have contributed largely to the power of the great Republic and the well-being of its citizens.
Lastly, the events of 1868, 1869, and 1870 had the effect of converting Germany from a powerless aggregation of insignificant States, with one only (Prussia) of any importance among them, into the proud position of one of the greatest and most respected Powers in the world.
Each of these great transformations has been the means not only of raising the nationalities into positions of far greater political weight than they ever occupied before, but in each instance also of directly promoting the well-being of the peoples affected by them, and of establishing more firmly among them the great principles of law and order, as well as those of civil and religious liberty.
Surely, the lesson taught by these great national movements —and they are the greatest of the present century—is that it is by the drawing closer of the bonds which unite the component parts of great communities, and not by their relaxation, that their power as nations is most surely promoted, and the well- being and liberties of their peoples best insured.—I am, Sir, Sze.,
WEST BRISTOL.
Previous page
