Nothing seems more obvious than to draw
conclusions from the existing union of American States to a
possible union of European nations; but no fancied analogy is
to be applied with greater caution than this one. The American
Union's origin was the common struggle of several English
colonies, now States, for their emancipation; unity of purpose
was the main principle of their growth, union its natural
result.
Europe, on the other hand, is, in her origin and in her
present state, a compound of conflicting interests and
struggling potentialities. Mutual antagonism remained the
principle of growth embodied in the several national lives.
The juridical formula of this system is the principle of
national sovereignty in its most uncompromising interpretation
and most limitless conception. As such it is the natural
result of a historical growth mainly filled with antagonism;
in the consciousness of (European) nations it lives as
synonymous with national honor, as something above doubt and
discussion.
Let me add to this the following remarks:
1. Any sort of union among the nations of Europe appears impossible if
it is meant to include Russia.
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