eme, and plan checked and supervised by the
chief officers of the State. Such was the system adopted in France by
Napoleon III. But cohesion without the enforcement of a hard and rigid
connection, a general supervision without severe tyrannical
jurisdiction, are the best methods of securing the unity of composite
States.

But the force of cohesion is evidently at work in the nation apart from
centralization. Men who have a community of interests unite together
for the purposes of strength and mutual assistance. They combine for the
sake of securing means of support in sickness, and form benefit
societies, such as the Order of Oddfellows or Foresters. This force of
cohesion has produced trade unions, and similar institutions which exist
for the purpose of protecting a common interest, and giving expression
to the concurrent opinions of the members. These have their legitimate
use in every civilized State, in spite of some of the disadvantages
which follow in their train. There are, of course, opposed interests in
every community: _attractive_ forces, which produce trade unions,
guilds, corporations, companies, and the like; and _repulsive_ forces,
which result from the opposed interests of employers and employed,
landlords and tenants, and similar pairs of different classes in the
community. As time goes on, and the State advances with it, these forces
will gain in strength; the cohesion of classes will become greater;
association will grow as naturally as the bubbles form on the surface
of our evening beverage. It is a law of nature, and therefore cannot be
resisted. But the repulsive forces will be no less strong, and to
calculate the resultant of these contending interests will be the
problem for practical statesmen to solve.

The force of cohesion is also evidently at work, not only in individual
States, but also amongst the nations of Europe, and of the world. That
is to say, there is an evident desire for co-operation on the part of
those nations who have attained to the highest degree of civilization
and internal cohesion. International law is based on the principle of
cohesion, and every day it is gaining power and favour in the eyes of
our leading statesmen. The doctrine of Free Trade, which, if universally
adopted, would be of the greatest service to mankind, results from a
desire for co-operation; and whatever evils may result from one-sided
Free Trade in this country at the present time, there can be no doub