214 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



the cry that alone appeals to their affections, is " Viva 

 losfueros /" 



A people amongst whom each individual can take 

 part at any moment in the minutest details of the 

 internal administration of the country, possesses true 

 liberty and a true political existence. However 

 great may be such a citizen's activity, he will always 

 find full scope for its development, and he will exer- 

 cise it wisely. The people will occupy themselves 

 with their own affairs, and consequently they will 

 think but little of those of their neighbours. Ready 

 to resist every external aggression, they will be but 

 ill disposed to become aggressors themselves. If, 

 moreover, the constitution and customs consecrate 

 amongst the members of this community a real 

 equality resulting from a like condition of things, 

 there will result from it a nearly uniform develop- 

 ment. And such, in fact, is the picture presented 

 to us by the Euskarian race. This race has never 

 either been oppressed, nor has it oppressed others. 

 It has neither been conquered, nor has it made con- 

 quests over others. Nowhere amongst this people 

 do we meet with any painful contrast of extreme 

 misery and exaggerated riches; a general competency, 

 based upon the cultivation of the soil, seems at all 

 times to have prevailed in this country, which owes 

 its prosperity in part to maritime commerce. Ad- 

 mirably adapted for every profession which demands 

 courage, address, and agility, the Basques continued 

 for a long time to be esteemed among the best sailors 

 in the world, and they still maintain their ancient 

 reputation. In the middle ages, they alone knew how 



