resulted that nations have been jealous of each other and have
combated each other. They have been doing this since history began,
and are doing it as much as ever now.

In fact, mankind have been in existence for so many centuries,
and their physical, moral, mental, and spiritual characteristics
were so evidently implanted in them by the Almighty, that it seems
difficult to see how any one, except the Almighty himself, can
change these characteristics and their resulting conduct. It is
a common saying that a man cannot lift himself over the fence by
his boot straps, though he can jump over the fence, if it is not
too high. This saying recognizes the fact that "a material system
can do no work on itself"; but needs external aid. When a man pulls
upward on his boot straps, the upward force that he exerts is exactly
balanced by the downward reaction exerted by his boot straps; but
when he jumps, the downward thrust of his legs causes an equal
reaction of the earth, which exerts a direct force upward upon
the man; and it is this external force that moves him over the
fence. It is this external force, the reaction of the earth or
air or water, which moves every animal that walks, or bird that
flies, or fish that swims. It is the will of the Almighty, acting
through the various stimuli of nature, that causes the desire to
walk, and all the emotions and actions of men. If He shall cause
any new force to act on men, their line of conduct will surely
change. But if He does not--how can it change, or be changed; how
can the human race turn about, by means of its own power only, and
move in a direction the reverse from that in which it has been
moving throughout all the centuries of the past?

These considerations seem to indicate that nations, regarded in