BRITISH FERTILITY. 195 



road to empire. The full-blooded ness, the large feet 

 and hands, the prominent canine teeth, the stomachic 

 and muscular robustness, the health of the women, 

 the savage jealousy of personal rights, the swarms 

 upon swarms of children and young people, the de- 

 light in the open air and in athletic sports, the love 

 of danger and adventure, a certain morning freshness 

 and youthfulness in their look, as if their food and 

 sleep nourished them well, together with a certain 

 animality and stupidity, all indicate a people who 

 have not yet slackened speed or taken in sail. Neither 

 the land nor the race shows any exhaustion. In both 

 there is yet the freshness and fruitfulness of a new 

 country. You would think the people had just come 

 into possession of a virgin soil. There is a pioneer 

 hardiness and fertility about them. Families increase 

 as in our early frontier settlements. Let me quote a 

 paragraph from Taine's " Notes " : 



" An Englishman nearly always has many chil- 

 dren, the rich as well as the poor. The Queen 

 has nine, and sets the example. Let us run over the 



families we are acquainted with : Lord has six 



children ; the Marquis of , twelve ; Sir N , 



nine ; Mr. S , a judge, twenty - four, of whom 



twenty-two are living; several clergymen, five, six, 

 and up to ten and twelve." 



Thus is the census kept up and increased. The 

 land, the towns and cities, are like hives in swarming 

 time ; a fertile queen indeed, and plenty of brood 

 comb ! Were it not for the wildernesses of America, 



