me absolutely independent of the country
whence it sprang. Carthage and Syracuse were as free as Tyre or Sidon,
as Corinth or Athens. Thus under the Roman method the empire grew, at
the cost of the colonies losing their independence. Under the Greek and
Carthaginian method the colonies acquired the same freedom that was
enjoyed by the mother cities; but there was no extension of empire, no
growth of a great and enduring nationality. The modern European nations
had followed the Roman system. Until the United States sprang into being
every great colonizing people followed one system or the other.

The American Republic, taking advantage of its fortunate federal
features and of its strong central government, boldly struck out on a
new path, which secured the freedom-giving properties of the Greek
method, while preserving national Union as carefully as it was preserved
by the Roman Empire. New States were created, which stood on exactly the
same footing as the old; and yet these new States formed integral and
inseparable parts of a great and rapidly growing nation. This movement
was original with the American Republic; she was dealing with new
conditions, and on this point the history of England merely taught her
what to avoid. The English colonies were subject to the British Crown,
and therefore to Great Britain. The new American States, themselves
colonies in the old Greek sense, were subject only to a government which
they helped administer on equal terms with the old States. No State was
subject to another, new or old. All paid a common allegiance to a
central power which was identical with none.

The absolute novelty of this feature, as the world then stood, fails to
impress us now because we are so used to it. But it was at that time
without precedent; and though since then the idea has made rapid
progress, there seems in most cases to have been very great difficulty
in applying it in practice. The Spanish-American states proved wholly
unable to apply it at all. In Australia and South Africa all that can be
said is that events now apparently show a trend in the direction of
adopting this system. At present all these British colonies, as regards
one another, are independent but disunited; as regards the mother
country, they remain united with her, but in the condition of
dependencies.

The Question of Slavery.

The vital feature of the ordinance was the prohibition of slavery. This
prohibition was not retroacti