PROPHETIC VOICES CONCERNING AMERICA.
A MONOGRAPH.
I have another and a far brighter vision before my gaze. It may be but a vision, but I will cherish it. I see one vast confederation stretching from the frozen North in unbroken line to the glowing South, and from the wild billows of the Atlantic westward to the calmer waters of the Pacific main,—and I see one people, and one language, and one law, and one faith, and, over all that wide continent, the home of Freedom, and a refuge for the oppressed of every race and of every clime.—John Bright, Speech at Birmingham, December 18, 1862: Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, ed. Rogers, (London, 1868,) Vol. I. p. 225.
This monograph appeared originally in the “Atlantic Monthly” for September, 1867. It is now revised and enlarged. In the celebration of our hundredth birthday as a nation, now fast approaching, these prophetic voices will be heard, teaching how much of present fame and power was foreseen, also what remains to be accomplished.
C. S.
March, 1874.