It was a half century before the explosion occurred, but when it came its echoes resounded all over the world, carrying joy to some and fear to others, fear of this young giant of the New World.
Again in 1852, in a speech made before the Senate upon the question of American commerce in the Pacific, Mr. Seward thus addressed his colleagues:
"The discovery of this continent and of those islands and the organization upon their soil of societies and governments have been great and important events. After all, they are merely preliminaries, a preparation by secondary incidents, in comparison with the sublime result which is about to be consummated—the junction of the two civilizations upon the coast and in the islands of the Pacific. There certainly never happened upon this earth any purely human event which is comparable to that in grandeur and in importance. It will be followed by the levelling of social conditions and by the re-establishment of the unity of the human family. We now see clearly why it did not come about sooner and why it is coming now."
At a reception given to his honor in Paris, just after the close of the Franco-Prussian war, Mr. Seward found himself the centre of a group, mostly composed of young Americans.
He had just almost completed a tour around the world, and in answer to a question as to what had impressed him most during his travels, he answered practically as follows:
"Boys, the fact is the Americans are the only nation that has and understands liberty. With us a man is a man, absolutely free and politically equal with all, with special privileges for none. Every one has a chance, whereas, wherever I have been I was impressed with the subjugation and oppression of the people. I had all my life talked in public and private of the greatness of our mission of civilization and progress, of the ideas we represented, and the lessons we were teaching the world, but I never realized how true it was that we were of all others the representatives of human progress. Now I know it. I am sure now, from what I have myself seen, that nothing I have ever said or others have said, as to the destiny of our country was exaggerated. I am an old man now and may not see it, but some of you boys may live to see American ideas and principles and civilization spread around the world, and lift up and regenerate mankind."
The opinion of another old-time statesman, given some quarter of a century ago, is of vivid interest to-day.
In 1872, when the Geneva Convention was holding its deliberations, Mr. William M. Evarts spoke words of wisdom to a company of distinguished guests at a luncheon given by him at the house in which he was then living.
Among others present were Charles Francis Adams, Caleb Cushing, Morrison R. Waite, afterward Chief Justice; J. Bancroft Davis, Charles C. Beaman, and others of the American Commission.
What Mr. Evarts said was in substance as follows: