378 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



to be vigorous in body, and strong, though perhaps uncultivated, 

 in intellect. 



We associate physical indolence with great fertility of soil, 

 and positive inability to labor with uninterrupted salubrity of 

 climate. Switzerland is a small country ; but her movintains 

 are indicative of the greatness of her people, who, for ten cen- 

 turies, by their comparative social purity and political freedom, 

 have attracted the attention of the world far more than the 

 populous states and principalities of Germany. Germany has, to 

 be sure, a high rank for learning, but it is associated with a slug- 

 gish civilization, which might, under adverse circumstances, be 

 easily exchanged for an elFeminate barbarism. And the mil- 

 lions of the great Russian plains, if unsupported by mental or 

 physical force from without, will too readily accept the conquer- 

 or's yoke, while the Swiss on the one hand and the Caucasian 

 races on the other, would resist to the last extremity. A race 

 of mountaineers may remain isolated for centuries without loss 

 of spirit or character, though the graces of {^ivilization might be 

 totally effaced. But this cannot with truth be said of the in- 

 habitants of flat countries. And we may, perchance, get a 

 glimpse of the philosophy of this fact. Mountains are not 

 usually fertile, while the great plains of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, are for the most part productive with a small expen- 

 diture of labor. Now, if you separate one of these prairies, 

 steppes, or plains from the rest of the world, what inducement 

 to activity beyond the preservation of animal life remains ? In 

 mountainous and comparatively sterile regions, so great are the 

 necessities of the inhabitants, that activity and labor are the 

 common lot. The necessity for labor is the mother of what we 

 call enterprise. 



Where the necessity for labor does not exist and press as a 

 general rule upon all, enterprise is unknown, or else is trans- 

 planted from other less favored regions. How often is it that 

 the children of the rich are lacking in energy and enterprise, 

 while these qualities are quite universal among the properly 

 educated children of less favored classes ? Men will not usu- 

 ally labor when the customary round of wants is supplied ; and 

 this round is more likely to diminish than to increase, when all 

 external stimulus is withdrawn. Now, while mountains are 

 favorable to animal life, they are not usually productive in the 



