Unity is the longing and tendency of Humanity: not the enforced Unity of military power; not the Unity of might triumphant over right; not the Unity of Inequality; not the Unity which occupied the soul of Dante, when, in his treatise _De Monarchia_, the earliest political work of modern times, he strove to show that all the world belonged to a single ruler, the successor of the Roman Emperor: not these; but the voluntary Unity of nations in fraternal labor; the Unity promised, when it was said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus"; the Unity which has filled the delighted vision of good men, prophets, sages, and poets, in times past; the Unity which, in our own age, prompted Béranger, the incomparable lyric of France, in an immortal ode, to salute the Holy Alliance of the Peoples,[318] summoning them in all lands, and by whatever names they may be called, French, English, Belgian, German, Russian, to give each other the hand, that the useless thunderbolts of War may all be quenched, and Peace sow the earth with gold, with flowers, and with corn; the Unity which prompted an early American diplomatist and poet to anticipate the time when nations shall meet in Congress,-- "To give each realm its limit and its laws, Bid the last breath of dire contention cease, And bind all regions in the leagues of Peace; Bid one great empire, with extensive sway, Spread with the sun, and bound the walks of day, One centred system, one all-ruling soul, Live through the parts, and regulate the whole";[319] the Unity which inspired our contemporary British poet of exquisite genius, Alfred Tennyson, to hail the certain day,-- "When the war-drum throb no longer, and the battle-flags be furled, In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World."[320] [318] "Peuples, formez une sainte alliance, Et donnez-vous la main." _La Sainte Alliance des Peuples._ [319] Barlow, Vision of Columbus, Book IX. 432-438. [320] Locksley Hall. Such is Unity in the bond of Peace. The common good and mutual consent are its enduring base, Justice and Love its animating soul. These alone can give permanence to combinations of men, whether in states or confederacies. Here is the vital elixir of nations, the true philosopher's stone of divine efficacy to enrich the civilization of mankind. So far as these are neglected or forgotten, will the people, though under one apparent head, fail to be really united. So far as these are regarded, will the people, within the sphere of their influence, constitute one body, and be inspired by one spirit. And just in proportion as these find recognition from individuals and from nations will War be impossible. * * * * *