han their knees, an immense cyclone, mystic and humaniis arian, the looking for a second redemption of mankindmore it Wilsonism. Towards all these phenomena our arbrationalism has its own point of view; it is an organic hes; trinciple promoting the greatest reforms and transformaanons in society. Without doubt such series of events grey fixed laws, difficult to investigate, but certain. If our al tlf-consequence would admit it, the human story, under I, is aspect, is a section of natural history. And thus Italian not rationalism comes forward as a scientific doctrine which aay be applied all round. Hitherto, in the political order, nae have heard much of a theory recent as yesterday (old sds the world in its essence, but new in the latest form it has eiken): I mean Socialism. Now, though only yet in its feginnings and having in front of it an incomparably more fficult task, Italian Nationalism is the second new phenothenon born in our day, emerging from the deepest laws of lational life and meaning to face and conquer Socialism. the rule of the "middle class" in Europe, political and ther, is a thing of the past. In the past are its ideas, ntiments, ideologies and public habits rooted. We Latins old that it was the French Revolution which gave birth it the modern idea, but it also carried within it the "advent If the proletariat." This novel force, though in its primitive hape narrow, aggressive, dictatorial, confronts the middle lasses of Europe, calling itself Progress. Beside it the rinciples and institutions of the old Liberalism appear อ Aristophanes!) to be Reaction. Now, our Nationalism a revision of Socialism, as the latter was a revision of he old Liberalism. But, likewise, it offers a double aspect: is Italian and it is universal. Let us consider it first in is intimate connection with modern Italian life.

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Italy, as students are well aware, has passed, in her ong history, through the most varied experiences. Call to ind the Roman Empire. To-day the British Empire is comparably more vast, but the Roman stood alone, and eside the British other Great Powers exist. Rome had onquered the whole civilized world and its barbarian inges. This fact is unique in history. Again, Italy had xperience of a spiritual empire-the Papacy. She developed, gain, a multitude of city states or communes, with an xpansive energetic spirit, leaders in commerce. Then taly passed through the chapter of monarchies and prinipalities, and afterwards fell into servitude. Finally, not

many decades have elapsed since Italia Una became National State. Now, when we consider all these fact Italian history, with its record of dismemberment an serfdom, possesses a tragic pathos; but, on the other handb although Imperial Rome and the Papacy may have taugh Italians a sense of nobility and greatness, none of the vicissitudes were a good preparation for the strong Nation State. None could impart to Italians the political educatio it demanded for its management.

There is a facile disposition to suppose that the fellow countrymen of Machiavelli must needs be born politicians astute as any to be found. They are paying for havin produced a genius who wrote a great historic book, a chapte of that cruel "natural history," as we have called it, whic was in vogue at that time--I mean The Prince. Th author under no circumstances proved a great or formidab politician; yet, from that day till this, Italians have no escaped the charge of being subtle statesmen, a terror everybody. On the other hand, there was a King who wrot a reply to our Machiavelli. He, indeed, was a consumma politician, with a large dash of the brigand in him Frederick the Great of Prussia. But Machiavelli himse unlike Frederick, had no such gifts.

Well, the National State, the Kingdom of Italy (if leave Piedmont aside), came as by a sudden stroke; an the effects are still felt. Thanks to these conditions unde which the State was founded, the governing classes are still as we might expect, only in the way of formation, both regards vigour and political wisdom. Which things bein so, we can easily comprehend the birth of a Nationalism Italy. It cannot fail to be a doctrine of advance, a scho in which to learn the functions of the State and the scien of government; so much, indeed, that the clearest thinker in the movement have always refused to look upon it a a party"; they desired that it should remain an ciation," thereby indicating its higher and more reconcilin

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To continue, for a moment, our review of the condition under which modern Italy arose: on recovering her freedo she neither was, nor could at once become, a region of gre industrial expansion. The age of the Italian maritim Republics, with their conquests and their commerce, ha long passed away; and there was not an Italian nation when the modern industrial period began. Italy had playe a leading part in the mercantile activities of the Midd Ages, but modern industry had grown to its magnificen

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mensions elsewhere before the "Third Italy" had seen e light. The discovery of America, the gift of an Italian membe Europe, was fatal to Italy. It brought us not an enOn the rgement, but a retrenchment of the world, and it hastened may decline of Venice. Colonial trans-oceanic empires rose

d fell; they grew ever stronger, till they became the estincipal agents in that immense modern exploitation of the olitial and all beneath it, traversing the wide marine spaces, hose terrors had been subdued.

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that And Italy, which had no political existence, maintained bomarself economically as a little agricultural farm, certain ying its districts remaining even at this day primitive and backward. Moreover, the Italian thinker of ten or twenty called ago had to face a very serious question. He found at his country was subject to an enormous emigration ; tand that, even among cultivated minds, there were not a w to whom this grievous necessity appeared as if a token if higher civilization and a boon conceded by Providence. King these men extolled the "Italian Colonies" of South america, to which Italian labour had given prosperityandrazil and the Argentine, where our emigrants had been ailing for the wages of a proletariat. Such were the onditions, such the mentality of a class not yet become conscious and evolved." This word " proletariat" cast ray of light which guided the first pioneers of Nationalism the real state of Italy, its poverty and want of raw aterials, its undeveloped industry, which year after year trove thousands across the wide waters and scattered them hver every continent. It Italy was a "proletariat nation."

And suddenly it dawned on the Nationalists that, as the asses of society were, such were the nations. They saw the world divided into proletariat nations, nations in process enrichment, bourgeois nations, wealthy nations. They rew a parallel between the class struggle and the interational struggle. They saw that there existed among ratations a "class struggle " more subtle, continuous and asistent than war itself. They affirmed the existence of an nternational society, but in a sense far deeper than has itherto been realized; and they denied the possibility of Perpetual peace. Well understood-and Englishmen are better qualified than any others to grasp its truth-European istory has been nothing but one gigantic "class struggle." talians perceive clearly that their own history in the Middle Ages was an unceasing class war among their ity states. But that is not all. The present and future history of Europe is revealing itself already as a tremendous

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"class war"; and whoever could see life as Shakespear saw it, in its profound reality, with its tragic and ep meaning, would discern the "class struggle" of the futur dawning over the nations, which the last war has mor Th divided-issuing with volcanic thunders from beneath th ground in Central Europe; flung out upon us from that East. England has had experience of such revolution among the peoples, such dénouements of intestine "clas struggles" in immense hurricanes of militarism and im perialism. There was one that went on for nearly a quarter of a century before it was put down. But we had bette stay within our actual horizon.

The Nationalists, then, became aware that Italy was proletariat" among its neighbours and had not arrive at the fighting stage, but was uninformed and prostrate Hereupon followed a vision of a twofold policy colonis expansion and industrial development, by way of checkin emigration with its consequence, wage-labour on a foreig soil. This the Association began at once to translate into propaganda and political action, doing all in its power to achieve some immediate result, such as the conquest o Tripoli; but, above all, it was bent on persuading the Italian people to seize its opportunities to work with historic events and to aim higher. Hence, again, the central programme Fixed, I keep always in view our own Nationalism, which is not a creation ex nihilo, but offers a direction and am ideal to the national life. We desire to form a Stateself-conscious and strong; to organize Italian unity from within, and to guide our Italy, as well armed as possible into the competition of Europe and the world. Thus the antithesis with Socialism is set, the "revision" is imposed Let us now proceed from that side of Italian Nationalism which is more strictly Italian to the more general and universal aspect whereby it is completed.

When the general public in Italy, wearied of strikes in the public services and of the campaign of hatred waged against the things they held most sacred, rose up in indignation and riots broke out against the Socialists, a last July in Rome, popular opinion ascribed their origin to the Nationalists. Whether popular opinion was right o wrong as to the particular fact matters nothing; it seized instinctively on this great truth: Nationalists are the sworn enemies of Socialism. And here precisely it is that it reveals its universal characteristics. Wherever Socialism

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lifees and energizes, there arises a nationalism, like the its lian; and it becomes at once plain that this Nationalism atains the higher law, the specific and historically necessary ast, by which Socialism is judged and condemned. In fbstance, Nationalism is the law regulating those great Dial realities which Socialism endeavours to overthrow d to suppress, but which cannot be overthrown or interppressed it is the law of the nations. This law lays are the weakness of Socialism when it leaps from the lass" to the "international"; for at this very juncture her organisms intervene, living a life of their own, with nctions special to them, as necessary for the maintenance d the propagation of the species: these are the nations. us there comes forth a superb new science, to which all ial, political and economic sciences-nay, Socialism itself and universal history, may contribute materials, while emselves forming parts of it. This, which I term the ology of Nations, is, in fact, Nationalism. As a science, oreover, it has practical application, in Nationalist political tion; just as Marxism has in the politics of the Socialist arty. In practice the Nationalist knows that he never ll be able to annihilate Socialism: that he wields only e of the forces which move against it and hinder its premacy. He knows, above all, that in face of the rty of class and the international he ought to strengthen e National State. This judgment which he makes of his versary is of the highest importance. To realize that cialism is almost as old as the world, and that it will last most as long, is to fear it the less. For then we recognize. genuine nature. What is Socialism? What is Socialism? It is the eternal sire and the eternal hope of the many to escape from verty; the eternal desire and the eternal hope of all to rive at equality, to obtain comfort and happiness, such they believe is possessed by the few. Thus the root Socialism is laid open; it is seen that, underneath the organized" class and international, there exists the indidual, enclosed within the narrowest limits of his being. That is "" class for this individual? A means in the gion of material facts. What is the "international"? to attain Utopia. And what is the very negation the nation? The scheme which is in part Utopian ad in part material. And here we detect the blunder of ocialism. Let us call it by this name, for Socialism is naware of it. Instead of directing humanity to one goal, it believes, it is itself carried, by the nature of things,

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