Evening star., 1897-04-17

songs. in the speeches. we shall celebrate
the glorfes and the victories of the race;
we shall remember the great days of old:
We shall acknowledge the great days Of the
present. Once more 1t must be borne in
mind that we are seeking to move the null
fitude, not those of Piccadilly; We are get
ersed by that iilustrious thoroughfare: We
are going to Mile End, to Whitechapel, TO
Hoxton. to Isiington, to Birmingham. to
Bradford, where the people live who elect
our rulers and shape our policy; whom We
wish to move.
What do We want. then, to represent?
Our common ancestry, our common pos
sessions, our common laws, liberties and
Institutions and our common literature.
Our literature Is generally acknowledged
to he our most precious possession. For
my own part. I think Of a little scrap OF
parchment in the Guildhall of London
which seems to me more precious still /;
partly because without it great literature
would be impossible; the parchment is the
Conqueror's charter to London. which
made all our liberties possible. However,
let us accept the general opinion. Of all the
possessions which these four nations and
erature is most valuable When far-off
cousins agree to celebrate their ancestors
they may choose between the lawgiver.
the captain, the prophet or the poet. 1
think that our cousins will agree to put up
the poet as the representative of all the an
cestors. Let, therefore. the 23d day of
April be the day of celebration of the
Anglo-Saxon race. and let Engiand's great
est poet give his name to that imperial
holiday.
For Closer Union.
Why, it may be asked. cannot the United
States come in? Are they not Anglo-Saxon
as well? They are certainly Anglo-Saxon
as much as ourselves. We have absorbed
Fleming, Frenchman, Italian, German.
Jolt ,v,1 n,,t~
The states have received from every ma
tionality tens OF thousands; they are all
absorbed, they are become Anglo-Saxon
WIN. then. America join in such celebra-
ton! l am not prepared to offer an opin-
ion, Perhaps. If it was thoroughly real
lied that there was no secret intention on
the part of Great Britain to exalt herself
above other nations of the race the
United States would also join us in rejoic-
ing over the past and present of the race
which made them what they are. They
Will come in, they must come in, and then
the final federation will take place; then
shall be witnessed the reconciliation of all
who speak our common tongue. and the
future of the race with such federation
may be-must be-greater and more glo-
rious than poet has sung or dreamer has
dreamed, for the widening of knowledge
and the advancement of humanity.
say that the final federation Of the
whole of our race is q cCnsumma ton that
Is not only so ardently desired, but is also
certain to occur if we take steps or ordi-
nary prudence. The treaty of arbitra ton.
when We get it, will go far to soften the
tone of the American papers; viii disarm
hostility, will in time change the spirit of
the school books. AS for their flag it will
remain theirs: as for their position in the
federation, it will be exactly the same as
that of Australia or any other state in the
federation There will be no loss of inde-
pendence or of national pride The old SEN
timent will remain. Every American, every
Australian, every Afrcander will be free
to consider himself the finest specimen of
humanity in the world. Only to the senti-
ment CT patriotism we shall add the senti-
ment of race, and to the day of indepen-
dence the American will add the day of
race, when he shall celebrate the giories
of the achievements of his people, There
Will be one thing of which he will be more
proud than of achieving his independence
and that will be symbolized by the day of
race. the rejoicings on the 23d of April.