Page:Cheskian Anthology.pdf/8

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allowance must be made for the feelings of the one, whose political independence has been so often sacrificed to the domineering influence of the other. But I would minister to no hostile sentiments. If men were as prone to look for what is good, in order to encourage charity, as they are to discover what is evil, in order to foster prejudice, the sum of evil would be wonderfully diminished, and the sum of good prodigiously increased. The place of our birth is accidental, and uncertain is the history of our ancestry; but in human improvement and happiness we have each and all of us a common interest and heritage. From the moment that nationality intrudes upon the general weal, it is pernicious, and unless closely watched, may become profligate. To the emotions and the exertions which embrace the widest field of generous thought and action, I desire to bring another contribution. What is narrow or exclusive in benevolence I would widen; all that is selfish I would fain control. The virtues become more intellectual—the intellect becomes more virtuous, by sometimes travelling beyond the little limits of family, and tribe, and nation. It is most delightful and most im-