but the nation solved
these difficulties. The second test was the test of unity, and was
settled only after civil war. Out of the struggle the nation emerged
stronger than it had ever been, because henceforth it was based on the
principle of an indissoluble union. With its second century have come
new tests--the test of absorbing millions of aliens in speech and
habits, the test of wisely governing itself through an intelligent
citizenship, the test of educating all of its people to their
political and social responsibilities. Whether these tests will be
met successfully is for the future to decide, but if the past is any
criterion, the American republic will not fail. National structures
have risen to a certain height and then fallen, because they were not
built on the solid foundations of mutual confidence, co-operation, and
loyalty. Building a self-governing nation that will stand the test of
centuries is possible only for a people that is conscious of its
community of interests, and is willing to sacrifice personal
preferences and even personal profits for the common good.

READING REFERENCES

BRYCE: _The American Commonwealth_ (Abridged Edition), pages
3-21.

DEALEY: _Development of the State_, pages 26-48.

BLUNTSCHLI: _Theory of the State_, pages 82-102.

MULFORD: _The Nation_, pages 37-60.

BAGEHOT: _Physics and Politics_, pages 81-155.

USHER: _Rise of the American People_, pages 151-167, 182-195,
269-281.

CHAPTER XLI

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE PEOPLE AS A NATION

319. =The Reality of the Nation.=--Ordinarily the individual is not
pressed upon heavily by his national relationships. He is conscious of
them as he reads the newspaper or goes to the post-office, but except
at congressional or presidential elections they are not brought home
to him vividly. He thinks and acts in terms of the community. The
nation is an artificial structure and most of its operations are
centralized at a few points. The President lives and Congress meets at
the national capital. The departments of government are located there,
and the Supreme Court holds its sessions in the same city. Here and
there at the busy ports are the custom-houses, with their revenue
officers, and at convenient distances are district courts and United
States officers for the maintenance of national order and justice. The
post-office is the one national institution that is found everywhere,
matched i