had formed essentially the same plan, with the
same humane desire to put an end to interminable wars; but he had
adopted far nobler principles of toleration. "One of my great plans,"
said he at St. Helena, "was the rejoining, the concentration of those
same geographical nations which have been disunited and parcelled out by
revolution and policy. There are dispersed in Europe upwards of thirty
millions of French, fifteen millions of Spaniards, fifteen millions of
Italians, and thirty millions of Germans. It was my intention to
incorporate these several people each into one nation. It would have
been a noble thing to have advanced into posterity with such a train,
and attended by the blessings of future ages. I felt myself worthy of
this glory.
"After this summary simplification, it would have been possible to
indulge the chimera of the _beau ideal_ of civilization. In this state
of things there would have been some chance of establishing in every
country a unity of codes, of principles, of opinions, of sentiments,
views and interests. Then perhaps, by the help of the universal
diffusion of knowledge, one might have thought of attempting in the
great human family the application of the American Congress, or the
Amphictyons of Greece.
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