Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet.Today telephone, television, and the Internet are the chartered agents of intelligence, not to mention agents and drivers of the commerce whose arm has borne away the gates of the strong city. Fortifying perimeters works even less these days, for nations or for companies. Cooperation is essential for survival, not to mention risk management.What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass, Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, Rochester Hall, Rochester, N.Y., 4 July 1852.
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