Christianity and Patriotism
To assist those of the public who might be desirous of visiting Toulon, and taking part in the welcome of the Russian squadron, fares were lowered to one-half on the railways and special extra trains were provided.
And when by a whole series of simultaneous measures, which a Government can always take, owing to the power that is in its hands, a section of the population, principally the scum of the people, the rabble of the towns, has been worked up to a condition of abnormal excitement, people say: "Look, this is a spontaneous expression of the will of a whole people."
Such manifestations as those which have recently taken place in Toulon and Paris, and those which are continually repeated in Russia, on every ceremonial occasion, prove nothing but that the means for skilfully exciting the crowd, which are now in the hands of Governments and ruling classes, are so powerful that the latter can always, at their will, evoke any patriotic manifestation they want. Nothing, on the other hand, proves so clearly the absence of patriotism in the masses as the intense efforts expended now by Governments and ruling classes to arouse it artificially, and the trifling results obtained in spite of all those efforts.
If patriotic feelings were so innate in the peoples, they might be left to appear freely of themselves, and not be worked up by continual
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