endence. In life, as in politics, a democratic minority has no
rights. It cannot set its own pace; it cannot choose its own route;
it must follow the will of others, not its own desire; and it is small
comfort to the slave, whose chains gall him, that the slave-driver bears
the name of a free man.

Liberty, in brief, is a private, not a public, virtue. It has naught
to do with extended franchises or forms of government. The free man
may thrive as easily under a tyranny as in a republic. Is it not true
Liberty to live in accord with one's temperament or talent? And as the
best laws cannot help this enterprise, so the worst cannot hinder it.
You will discover Liberty in Russia as in America, in England as
in France,--everywhere, indeed, where men refuse to accept the
superstitions and doctrines of the mob. But the Americans are not
content to possess the Liberty which satisfies the rest of the world.
With characteristic optimism they boast the possession of a rare and
curious quality. In Europe we strive after Freedom in all humility
of spirit, as after a happy state of mind. In America they advertise
it--like a patent medicine.

America's view of Patriotism is distinguished by the same ingenious
exaggeration as her view of Liberty. She has as little doubt of her
Grandeur as of her Freedom. She is, in brief, "God's own country,"
and in her esteem Columbus was no mere earthly explorer; he was
the authentic discoverer of the Promised Land. Neither argument nor
experience will ever shake the American's confidence in his noble
destiny. On all other questions uncertainty is possible. It is not
possible to discuss America's supremacy. In arms as in arts, the United
States are unrivalled. They alone enjoy the blessings of civilisation.
They alone have been permitted to combine material with moral progress.
They alone have solved the intricate problems of life and politics. They
have the biggest houses, the best government, and the purest law
that the world has ever known. Their universities surpass Oxford and
Cambridge, Paris and Leipzig, in learning, as their Churches surpass the
Churches of the old world in the proper understanding of theology. In
brief, to use their own phrase, America is "It," the sole home of the
good and great.

Patriotism such as this, quick in enthusiasm, simple in faith, may
prove, if properly handled, a national asset of immeasurable value. And
in public the Americans admit no doubt. Though they do