410 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



stamping predetermined characteristics upon his mentality, and 

 coloring- for all subsequent time his moral nature. The leading 

 facts in the civil, political and religious histories of the United 

 States are but reproductions on a larger scale of what has trans- 

 pired on the continent of Europe. The trial by jury was known 

 in the old German forests in the time of Julius Csesar. In their 

 political conceptions, the Teutonic nations of Europe have always 

 been inclined to the representative system of government, and the 

 Puritan, who was driven out from England, as soon as he had his 

 feet safely planted on the shore of Massachusetts bay, himself 

 persecuted and expelled the first man of his number who insisted 

 on the right of i^rivate judgment. 



In northern lands men have always found themselves face to 

 face with forces of nature they could not control. "With them the 

 year is divided into a short and uncertain summer and a long and 

 rigorous winter. The limited season for out-door labor imposed 

 upon them distinct and definite duties. The work of to-day could 

 not be deferred till to-morrow. A harvest in autumn could only 

 follow days of industrious activity in the spring. Under this 

 imperious law of the climate they become industrious, and acquire 

 habits of exact and methodical labor. Disappointed in many 

 expectations by the fickle and changing seasons, they become 

 prudent and cautious, looking well to the end, even from the 

 beginning, hence slow and considerate. Taking the ready sug- 

 gestion from falling water, they put it to turning a wheel, and 

 this is the foundation of that mechanical and inventive genius 

 which has always characterized northern nations. The cold of 

 winter which drives the northern man from field labor, brings with 

 it abundant opportunity for reflection and forethought. The 

 cheerless and desolate aspect of nature teach him the value of his 

 home and his fiimily, and herein is laid the foundation of his love 

 for fixed institutions, established laws, and orderly society. Com- 

 pelled to make all his labor result in practical advantage, the 

 northern man of all ages has been noted for his perseverance. 

 Slow to act, deliberate in purpose, an enterprise once undertaken, 

 he holds to it with an inexorable tenacity. And so it comes to 

 pass that for his habits of industry, his foresightedness, his inven- 

 tive genius, his cool, calculating method of reasoning, his match- 

 less power of continuous mental application, his love of home, 

 his regard for law and fixed institutions — for all these qualities the 

 dwellers in northern countries are indebted to climate influence. 



