CHAPTER XL.

CONCLUSION.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ERA UPON WHICH WE ARE ENTERING: THE ERA OF POPULAR POWER AND POPULAR PROGRESS-THE FORCES WHICH WORK IN HARMONY WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW AGE-THE POWERS THAT STILL CLING TO AND STRIVE TO RETAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE DESPOTISMS WHICH ARE PASSING AWAY-PROBABLE RESULTS.

ALTHOUGH the whole movement of society may be regarded as a progress from a definite starting point toward a definite end, yet this movement is so marked off into divisions, stages in the grand march, that we are able to see where one great system ends and another begins. There is hardly room for doubt that the nations are just now standing at the close of a political era, just at the beginning of one of those revolutions in which old institutions, having lived beyond their time, either silently crumble or are shattered by violence and swept away, and the world enters upon the life of a new age; and the spirit of that age embodies itself in new forms of social, political, and perhaps religious life.

At such periods the powers which have ruled the world through an age, and which have controlled and divided among them its authority, its honors, and emoluments, struggle desperately to maintain their position. The wealth, the power, the rank, the religious institutions, in short the external forces of society, are at first all at their disposal, and these for a time are used to force back the coming age, to trample out the light of new truth, to perpetuate the old abuses, and retain the vanishing past.

In such a struggle the era of the old military despotisms closed; Rome, the last of these, fell and crumbled away, and the feudal system was built upon its ruins. Nationalities then almost disappeared. The European populations were a loosely joined conglomerate of baronial tribes nearly independent of each other, a structure of society which presented no basis on which to rear a civilization.

This era was followed by what may be called the period of national consolidation; the age in which the monarchies of modern Europe assumed their present forms, and the power of the crown swallowed up that of the great nobles, and the separated tribes-for they were little more—became a united nation, the population crystalized upon the throne. Thus was laid the foundation upon which modern civilization has been raised. This system is distinguished by the mingled despotism of capital and classes, the never-ending attempt to subject the laborers, nominally free, to the dependence, the degradation, the ignorance, and the poverty of slavery, without its name.

The spirit of the Gospel, and especially since the Reformation, has exerted against this whole system a counterworking force, by separating the individual man, declaring his worth, setting forth and demanding his rights, instructing and elevating him, until these monarchies and aristocracies no longer suit the spirit of the age. They belong to the past, their limit of life is nearly reached, and we are just about entering upon a new era, in which popular institutions must take the place of thrones, and despotism. must give place to freedom. Here, and elsewhere, this is the meaning of the world's struggle, and Europe will probably be the theater of a conflict as fierce and desperate as that which is raging here; but through this agony of nations, the era of the people will be born.

Since the first chapters of this book were written, the decided progress which has been made in putting down the rebellion, and the character of our recent military operations in Virginia and Georgia, have produced a profound impression in Europe. Not only has it been

rendered certain that our free institutions are to triumph over a slaveholding despotism, though. so powerfully sustained by European sympathy and aid, but the powers of the old world are amazed at the strength and resources of our Republic, at the gigantic character of our military operations, and the courage, skill, and matchless endurance of our soldiers.

Our bitterest enemies, who at first assailed us both with reproaches and sneers, are compelled to admit that all the previous history of war shows no parallel to this American fighting; and, much as they are disposed to lavish all their praise upon the armies of the South, they can not conceal the fact that the soldiers of the free North are steadily pressing them back, and are showing on every battle-field a decided superiority.

The ennobling power of freedom is manifested, also, in the delivered slaves. Touched by this transforming spell of liberty, they have risen, at a single step, from brutehood to a manhood which compels our admiration. By common consent they are heroes; respected by their fellowsoldiers and trusted by their commanders, they form a very important part of our national army even now, and it is easy to see that this enfranchised race will be invaluable in defending America from foreign aggression.

These things have caused already a marked change in the sentiments of Europe, and a new impulse has been given to the hopes and the power of the people. The friends of liberal institutions, encouraged by our success, are devoting themselves with new energy to their work, and some among the ranks of power are, like Mr. Gladstone, keen-sighted enough to discern the coming change, and are preparing themselves to be leaders in a revolutior. which they are convinced must come, either by sudden violence or peaceful reform.

In England, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, the popular power is making swift progress, and our final success will be a signal for important movements,

which may end in the overthrow of the present institutions of Western Europe.

There is, however, little reason to hope that such a change can be speedily made, or without such bloody convulsions as usually occur at the close of an era—the earthquakes that heave and shatter the foundations and the structures of society. Our own rebellion shows with what desperation privileged classes will defend their wealth wrung from unrequited labor, their social rank, and their political power; and the thrones and aristocracies, the rulers and owners of Western Europe will, in like manner, fill their lands with all the horrors of modern war, sooner than yield to the just demands of the people. The spirit of the English aristocracy, in regard to the progress of popular freedom here, indicates the intensity of passion and hate with which they will oppose a similar movement at home; and the leaders of the Papacy, dazzled with the new prospects which are opening before them through the policy of France, will be as eager for blood as they have been in the ages past. In Europe, moreover, the liberal movement will be made at a great disadvantage compared with our own. With us, in the North, the life and power of our great conflict are derived from the religious sentiment of the country. It is supported by the cordial sympathies, the teachings and prayers, of the evangelical Churches; it receives its impulse from the faith of the people.

But in Europe the popular revolution must proceed, for the most part, against the established Churches and the prevailing religious sentiment; and, as in the former French revolution, the tendency will, almost from necessity, be not only against the present ecclesiastical despotisms, but against Christianity itself.

Here, as the old structures, social and political, pass away, the vigorous religious sentiment forms, speedily and safely, new ones that fit the spirit of the new era; but in Europe we have reason to fear that society may be reduced

to chaos, thrones, aristocracies, and hierarchies crushed together, with no religious power to shape a new creation. Should this be so, then the example and united power of Russia and America may, under God, prove the salvation of the nations, presenting, as they will, two stable forms of government, both based upon and animated by the spirit of a true Christianity, and both using alike political and religious power to bless, instruct, and elevate the people.

These two great powers will work in harmony with the spirit of the new age upon which we have entered, and, consequently, will be in alliance with each other; the one seeking the regeneration of the East, the other the helper and protector of these Western worlds.

England clings, with as much desperation as the slaveholders here, to systems that are passing away, and dreams as vainly of binding the nations to her mills and workshops as they did of ruling the world by their cotton. Lord Palmerston, eighty years old, and struggling to force back the future, is a fit representative of the present England. Great Britain, as it would seem, is committed to a struggle against popular progress, and she

must bide the issue.

France is preparing to head the last onset of the Papacy against religious liberty and the civil rights of man. Satan is striving to rally the people of Europe under an antiChristian banner, and thus it appears as if the elements of a world-wide battle were being prepared and arranged, and as if the shock could not be long delayed. In this coming conflict, it is clear that the general interests of Russia and America will be identical, whether they are formally allied or not; and some of the results may, perhaps, be foreseen without any pretension to prophetic vision, or even uncommon intelligence.

It is evident that the events of our war have essentially changed the relative power of the great nations. The naval supremacy of England and France is gone, to return no more. It is impossible for them, henceforth, to regain

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