AMERICA AND THE WAR—A PROPHECY OF 1852. [To THE EDITOR
or THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—The recent official statement made by President Wilson fulfils in a way an interesting prophecy made in a work by Samuel Laing, published in 1852, Observations on the Social and Political Condition of Denmark, 1851. The author, who emphasizes the value of the harbour at Kiel in case the Prussians were allowed to dismember Denmark, and charges 'Lord Palmerston with neglecting this question, prophesies as follows :-
"A day may come when the Government of the United States will take a seat and voice in the family of civilized nations and justify an interference in the affairs of Hungary, Italy, or Poland by the example of Austrian and Prussian interference in the Danish territory of Slesvig. There is an acute and powerful antagonist to the autocratic principle of government and to monarchical misrule on the other aide of the Atlantic, and which may have now, by the facility of communications, an effective
influence in European affairs. It is to the future political influence of the United States in European affairs that the enlightened, the liberal, and the constitutional States in Europa must look for a restraint upon autocratic misrule and aggression."
—I am, Sir, &c., W. R. Paioe. National Liberal Club, Victoria Street, S.W.
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