The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-21

France. but It IL also to defend Ba-
varia against France In this case
the weaker nation should forget and
look beyond the conquest and become
/, one with the nation which is better
able to defend It.
There cases vary Infinitely. hut the
principle Is always the same: Love
your little country. love 1t as circum-
stances will permit you to love It.
love 1t even M part of greater one
| which has absorbed It.. when this
greater ono permits you to love it by
granting you equal political rights.
Always love your little country. for
this Is the very unalterable foundation
OF patriotism: everything else does
| nothing but give II "A new color or a
new appearance.
France II my country" =
| what do you mean:"
| Il mean that France Is the country
/ which contains. protects. favors. as
| glorious and brilliant life. the little
spot which love better than any
other In all the world.
There is even q word to be said to
| those who have no little country. who.
| for Instance. though they are French
men. do not come either from u pro-
| vince or from Paris. There are such
strange creatures. ! know ii. being
one of them myself. Children OF off,
Gals conceived at Laon. born at Drag
nignan, brought up at Laval Macon,
| Nancy or Boreaux. and living In Tou--
| louise. Their patriotism cannot be To-
cal / expect relatively those who
have spent a number of the years If
| their childhood or youth in the same
| town. To these "the little country.
| believe, In the place where they
| have lived from their twelfth to their
eighteenth year. 1t is during these
! years that your moral self is formed
and that your feelings begin TO ex-
| tend beyond your family honie.
come from La Roche-sur- You. but my
| little country is Poitiers. where was
brought up and lived Until was sew
enteen. Those who have been nomads
altogether have no other country but
| France itself.
One objection to patriotism which
+, is often heard Is this: Patriotism mar
| rows person. The "societas generis
human does not exist for the pa
! triot."
voItaire. of course. raised this OBJ
| lection. accompanying 1t with this re-
mark: 1T Is sad. that. in order to be
a good patriot, one must be an enemy
of the rest Of humanity. Whenevr
the good citizen Cato spoke In the
| Roman senate he always concluded his
speech with the sentence: "praeterea
conseo Carthaginem esse delendam"
| tbesides. ! think. Carthage ought to be
destroyel). To be a good patriot
means TO wish that your own city may
flourish and grow prosperous by COM
merce and conquest of arms. 1t Is
evident that a country cannot gain
anything without causing some oth%r
country TO lose and that you cannot
conquer without making others un-
happy Human conditions are such
that to wish the grandeur of your own
country is to wish evil to come to your
neighbors. The one who would wish
that his country might never be either
larger or smaller. would be the citizen
of the universe"
This would mean to wish that The
desire for power should cease to en-
list among man. / cannot imagine
what man would be without indlvid-
uai or collective desire for power. /
believe indeed that he would be 30
worthless that any kind of animal
might take his place In governing
this planet and would domesticate
him In SHORT order. But let US ad-
NIT that IL might be preferable that
man should have no desire for pow
err. The trouble Is that there have
always been In this world certain
number of men who have had this
desire and II Ia these who have SUBJ
dued the rest 1t In tn erneaos