Page:The National Idea in Italian Literature.djvu/39

 of this greater unity, merely leaving place for the free development of nationality within it; Mazzini held that the unity of civilisation could only be attained by first solving the question of nationalities: "Without the recognition of nationalities, freely and spontaneously constituted, we shall never have the United States of Europe," On the map of Europe, "you can see the design of God clearly marked by the courses of the great rivers, the curves of the great mountains, and other geographical conditions." These natural national boundaries have been violated by treaties inaugurated by conquest, by artificial politics, by the will of dynasties. In the name of nationality, these violations must be ended, "in accordance with the tendencies and the vocations of the peoples, and with their free consent." The instinct of nationality thus satisfied, he looked forward to a universal federation of unified and republican nations, "uno spirito d'affratellamento e di pacifica emulazione sulle vie del progresso." And from Rome alone can come la parola della unità moderna. The destinies of Italy are those of the world. The Italian people will be the Messiah people to initiate this new epoch of the human race. Rome is called upon to spread for a third time among the nations a gospel of civilisation, a gospel of moral unity: "From the Rome of the People will issue the unity of civilisation, accepted by the free consent of the nations, for Humanity" (4).

We find some of Mazzini's noblest passages on the national idea of Italy and her international mission, infused with that political mysticism 27