26o RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



" ' The prosperity of Central America concerns the 

 interests of civilisation at large, and the best way of 

 labouring for the good of humanity is to break down 

 the barriers which divide nations, races, and indi- 

 viduals. It is the course indicated to us by Chris- 

 tianity, and by the efforts of the great men who have 

 appeared at intervals upon the world's stage. The 

 Christian religion teaches us that we are all brothers, 

 and that in the eyes of God the slave is the equal of 

 his master; so in the same way the Asiatic, the 

 African, and the Indian are the equal of the European. 

 Upon the other hand, the great men of the earth have, 

 by means of the wars which they have waged, min- 

 gled together different races, and left behind them 

 some of those imperishable monuments, such as the 

 levelling of mountains, the clearing of forests and the 

 canalizing of rivers, which, by facilitating communica- 

 tions, tend to bring nearer together and to knit in 

 friendship individuals and nations. War and com- 

 merce have civilised the world. Commerce is still 

 following up its conquests. Let us open a new 

 route for it. Let us bring Europe closer to the 

 peoples of Oceania and Australia, and enable the 

 latter to share in the blessings of Christianity and 

 civilisation. 



u i In order to carry out this great enterprise, we 

 appeal to all men of religion and of intelligence, for it 

 is one worthy of their zeal and sympathy. We invoke 

 the assistance of all statesmen, because every nation 



