Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 27 



and adopted the laws, religion, and governmental 

 system of the few, although keeping certain of their 

 own customs and habits of thought. Though the 

 ordinary Spaniard of to-day speaks a Romance 

 dialect, he is mainly of Celto-Iberian blood; and 

 though most Mexicans and Peruvians speak Span- 

 ish, yet the great majority of them trace their de- 

 scent back to the subjects of Montezuma and the 

 Incas. Moreover, exactly as in Europe little ethnic 

 islands of Breton and Basque stock have remained 

 unaffected by the Romance flood, so in America 

 there are large communities where the inhabitants 

 keep unchanged the speech and the customs of their 

 Indian forefathers. 



The English-speaking peoples now hold more and 

 better land than any other American nationality or 

 set of nationalities. They have in their veins less 

 aboriginal American blood than any of their neigh- 

 bors. Yet it is noteworthy that the latter have 

 tacitly allowed them to arrogate to themselves the 

 title of "Americans," whereby to designate their 

 distinctive and individual nationality. 



So much for the difference between the way in 

 which the English and the way in which other 

 European nations have conquered and colonized. 

 But there have been likewise very great differences 

 in the methods and courses of the English-speaking 

 peoples themselves, at different times and in dif- 

 ferent places. 



The settlement of the United States and Canada, 

 throughout most of their extent, bears much re- 



