32 TRINIDAD. 



nomadic and plundering habits of their Scythian ancestors : the 

 Kabyles of Algeria are true to their forefathers, the ancient 

 Numidce, and Abd-el-Kader has acted, for several years, in the 

 province of Oran, the part that Jugurtha played in the time of 

 the Romans. The natives of Spain, who battled to the last 

 against the Romans and Moors, for the preservation of their in- 

 dependence, have, in our days, fought with the same indomitable 

 courage and perseverance, and with better success, against the 

 great conqueror, the MAN OF DESTINY, of modern times. The 

 Juria Fmncese involuntarily brings to the mind the impetus primus 

 of the ancient Gauls ; the Northmen are still the hardy sailors and 

 adventurous traders of the world ; and the migratory propensity 

 of the ISLANDERS and Germans may, to a certain degree, ex- 

 plain the restless incursions of the Barbarians into the south of 

 Europe. The meek and timid Hindoo has always been addicted 

 to agriculture, and the wild son of Africa to nomadic life and 

 predatory warfare. 



The influences of social and civil policy are too evident to 

 require elucidation, though they may be said to have their 

 foundation in climate, peculiarities of race, and religious insti- 

 tutions. Who, by drawing a parallel between the United States 

 of North America and the numerous republics formed out of 

 the dismemberment of the extensive Spanish colonies in North 

 and South America, is not struck with the quiet self-government 

 of the former, and their consequent prosperity, as contrasted with 

 the periodical commotions of Mexico, New Grenada, Venezuela, 

 Peru, &c., all fomented by some ambitious or disappointed leader 

 and their consequent state of depression ? This striking con- 

 trast has been attributed to the difference of lineage or descent, 

 and the Anglo-Saxon family has been proclaimed as the sole race 

 to which self-government is adapted, in the New as well as in the 

 Old World. And, truly, it cannot be denied that the many 

 attempts made by the other races to import the system of self- 

 government have issued, more or less, in abortive, if not actually 

 calamitous results. But it does not seem to have been suggested 

 that the people of Mexico, Guatimala, Peru, &c., are an inter- 

 mixture of Indians and Spaniards ; that those of New Grenada 

 and Venezuela, are an amalgamation of elements still more hete- 

 rogeneous, viz., of Spaniards, Indians, and Africans the former 

 forming the minority. The only republic of South America, where 

 the Spanish or the European element predominates, is Chili ; and 

 Chili is, and has been for years past, quiet and prosperous the 

 above facts showing but too plainly the great influence of races. 

 The observer may find some differential characteristics in the civil 

 strifes of New Grenada and Venezuela, where the African ele- 

 ment is in large proportion, as compared with Mexico and Peru, 

 where the Indian under- current prevails. 



