40 The earth itself, the gentle mother earth, adored of the Greeks, forged the links of North American confederation. Man comes and learns; he touches and conceives; he needs and he creates. In the war of secession this truth was demonstrated in the clearest manner.
As at that time this immense facility of communication did not exist, the people of the South were not acquainted with and did not understand the people of the North. The hand of man had not riven the mountains nor drilled the rocks for the construction of highways.
Consequently, North American evolution which, in the end, shall guide the world, is already visible, although it may not be recognized by unenlightened people. And this is one of the reasons, and, indeed, the most cogent one, why we should permit the United States to guide us through the intricate labyrinth, in the same way as the planets are guided by the sun in the center of the system, larger of size and more powerful, with the force of universal gravitation glowing in its fiery breast.
If the highest aspiration of humanity be perfection; and through the operation of exceptional circumstances the people of the United States have discovered the road, as Columbus discovered the New World, the other countries of America must necessarily revolve around the new sun and find warmth in its light, all travelling together towards Fraternity, as if this were, for the social world, what the Constellation of Hercules is for the planetary system.
This is a duty, the performance of which cannot be neglected, because civilization has rights which nations and men must respect. Furthermore, it is a peremptory necessity of existence, because the currents of prosperity