Then, speculating on the dissensions prevailing between the Colonies and the mother country, he announces separation, but without advantage to the European rivals of England:--
“Break the knot which binds the ancient Britain to the new; soon the Northern Colonies will have more strength alone than they possessed in their union with the mother country. That great continent, set free from all compact with Europe, will be unhampered in all its movements.… The colonies of our absolute monarchies, … following the example of the English colonies, will break the chain which binds them shamefully to Europe.”[412]
The New World opens before the prophet:--
“So everything conspires to the great dismemberment, of which it is not given to foresee the moment. Everything tends to that,--both the progress of good in the new hemisphere, and the progress of evil in the old.
“Alas! the sudden and rapid decline of our morals and our strength, the crimes of kings and the woes of peoples, will render even universal that fatal catastrophe which is to detach one world from the other. The mine is prepared beneath the foundations of our rocking empires.… In proportion as our peoples are growing weak and all succumbing one to another, population and agriculture are increasing in America. The arts transported by our care will quickly spring up there. That country, risen from nothing, burns to figure in its turn upon the face of the globe and in the history of the world. O posterity! thou wilt be more happy, perhaps, than thy sad and contemptible ancestors!”[413]
The edition of 1780 exhibits his sympathies with the Colonies. In considering the policy of the House of Bourbon, he recognizes the grasp of the pending revolution. “The United States,” he says, “have shown openly the project of drawing to their confederation _all North America_”; and he mentions especially _the invitation to the people of Canada_. While questioning the conduct of France and Spain, he adds:--
“_The new hemisphere is to detach itself some day from the old._ This great disruption is prepared in Europe by the fermentation and the clashing of our opinions,--by the overthrow of our rights, which made our courage,--by the luxury of the court and the misery of the country,--by the everlasting hate between the effeminate men, who possess all, and the strong, even virtuous men, who have nothing to lose but life. It is prepared in America by the growth of population, of agriculture, of industry, and of enlightenment. _Everything tends to this scission._”[414]