THE ax(;lo-saxon and the world's futlthe. 221 



morce of the world's future. We have seen, in a pre- 

 ceding chapter, that, altliougli England is by far the 

 richest nation of Europe, we have already outstripped 

 her in the race after wealth, and we have only begun 

 the development of our vast resources. 



Again, another marked characteristic of the Anglo- 

 Saxon is what may be called an instinct or genius for 

 colonizing. His unequaled energy, his indomitable per- 

 severance, and his personal independence, made him a 

 pioneer. He excels all others in pushing his way into 

 new countries. It was those in whom this tendency 

 was strongest that came to America, and this inherited 

 tendency has been further developed by the westward 

 sweep of successive generations across the continent. 

 So noticeable has this characteristic become that 

 English visitors remark it. Charles Dickens once said 

 that the typical American would hesitate to enter heaven 

 unless assured that he could go farther west. 



Again, nothing more manifestly distinguishes the An- 

 glo-Saxon than his intense and persistent energy, and he 

 is developing in the United States an energy which, in 

 eager activity and effectiveness, is peculiarly American. 



This is due partly to the fact that Americans are much 

 better fed than Europeans, and partly to the undevel- 

 oped resources of a new country, but more largely to 

 our climate, which acts as a constant stimulus. Ten 

 years after the landing of the Pilgrims, the Rev. Francis 

 Higginson, a good observer, wrote: "A sup of New 

 England air is better than a whole flagon of English ale." 

 Thus earlj^ had the stimulating effect of our climate 

 been noted. Moreover, our social institutions are stimu- 

 lating. In Europe the various ranks of society are, like 

 the strata of the earth, fixed and fossilized. There can 

 be no great change without a terrible upheaval, a social 

 earthquake. Here societj^ is like the waters of the sea, 

 mobile ; as General Garfield said, and so signally illus- 

 trated in his own experience, that which is at the bot- 

 tom to-day may one day flash on the crest of the highest 

 wave. Every one is free to become whatever he can 



