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The Right Honorable W. E. Gladstone, Member of Parliament, and lately the leading spirit in English political affairs, contributed to the Worti American Bevww (September-October, 1878) a notable paper entitled' 'Kin Beyond Sea, a paper chiefly devoted to a comparative study of American and British institutions. Mr. Gladstone saw fit, however, to make a few preliminary remarks, in the course of which,speaking of the U nited States, he said : I do not speak of political controversies between them and us, which are happily, as I trust, at an end. I do not speak of the vast contribution which, from year to year, through the operations of a colossal trade, each makes to the wealth and comfort of the .other; nor of the friendly controversy, which in its own place it might be well to raise, between the leanings of America to protectionism, and the more daring reliance of the old country upon free and unrestricted intercourse with all the world; nor of the menace which, in the prospective development of her resources, America offers to the commercial pre-eminence of England. On this subject I will only say that it is she alone who, at a coming time, can, and probably will, wrest from us that commercial primacy. We have no title, I have no inclination, to murmur at the prospect. If she acquires it, she will make the acquisition by the right of the strongest; but, in this instance, the strongest means the best. She will probably become what we are now, the head servant in the great household of the world, the employer of all employed, because her service will be the most and ablest. We have no more title against her than Venice, or Genoa, or Holland has had against us. One great duty is entailed upon us which we, unfortunately, neglect--the duty of preparing, by a resolute and sturdy effort, to reduce our public burdens, in preparation for a day when we shall probably have less capacity than we have now to bear them." To the American mind all this seems no more startling or unreasonable than if Mr. Gladstone had stated the commonplace geographical fact that the sun shines every day on America after it has set in England. Bishop Berkeley's star of empire takes its way westward as surely and as inevitably as the sun, and no man deserves any great amount of credit or of discredit for franklyrecognizmg the fact. It seems, however, that it is a very risky thing to do in England, particularly if it is done byone in Mr. Gladstone's position. At any rate the British journals express their disapproval of Mr. Gladstone's utterance in as vigorous terms as they have at command. As Americans we must confess that we see no occasion for such a flurry; much less occasion for accusing Mr. Gladstone of predicting the rapid decadence of his own country. Indeed, it is only too apparent that a determination to find fault with a great man in temporary disfavor for his opposition to the present drift of imperial policy. rather than anything actually said by him, is the impelling cause of this outburst of passion. It is in the nature of things that, with the life and energy of the Anglo-Saxon race, re-enforced by the best elements of all Britain and half of Europe, with British institutions as a basis, and almost unlimited territory to flourish in, Amer-ca should ultimately become greater and more powerful than the small blind which has hitherto been the center and seat of Anglo-Saxondom. Australia must sooner or later outstrip England in like manner, and Canada also; and who knows what other future nations, speaking English speech, in Africa, Asia, or the islands of the Pacific? Surely every true Englishman must feel that England's highest glory is in these, her stalwart children, whether England maintains political supremacy hr not. It must be sheer Cockrleyism, inspired by party spirit, therefore, that makes the Graphic suspect that hatred of the Americans would be the only outcome of a recognition of the destiny which Mr. Gladstone foresees. The better minds of Great Britain have already adjusted themselves to the existence of the Greater Britain that Sir Charles Dilke has sowell described; and the circumstance that the larger part of that Greater Britain was driven to political independence by an old-time attempt to arrest the inevitable, should emphasize the folly of keeping up the needless struggle, even in spirit. It is too late to discuss the question whether America would have been greater or less successful, as a nation, under such government as England now accords her colonies. Had such a policy been possible to England without the American re-bellion,the rebellion would never have occurred. As it is, the undetached portions of the Greater Britain are largely indebted to the American colonies for the liberties they enjoy. And England is, to-day. in consequence of America, a greater power than she could have been in the absence of the contributions which free America has made to her commercial and industrial prosperity. If primacy in these fields of human enterprise is to fall to and remain with the United States, the change will be attributable not to England's decay, but rather to the relatively more rapid growth ofAmer-ica, made possible by material advantages and a more numerous population.
