QO The Destiny of Man. 



quest, but a voluntary union of small po- 

 litical groups into a great political group. 

 Each little group preserves its local inde- 

 pendence intact, while forming part of an 

 indissoluble whole. Obviously this method 

 of political union requires both high in- 

 telligence and high ethical development 

 In early times it was impracticable. It 

 was first attempted, with brilliant though 

 ephemeral success, by the Greeks, but it 

 failed for want of the device of representa- 

 tion. In later times it was put into opera- 

 tion, with permanent success, on a small 

 scale by the Swiss, and on a great scale 

 by our forefathers in England. The co- 

 alescence of shires into the kingdom of 

 England, effected as it was by means of 

 a representative assembly, and accompa- 

 nied by the general retention of local 

 self-government, afforded a distinct pre- 

 cedent for such a gigantic federal union 

 as men of English race have since con- 

 structed in America. The principle of 

 federation was there, though not the name. 



