A FACTOR IN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION 423 



of religious manhood. In the province of New Nether- 

 land the Huguenot iuflueuce was felt in lending a greater 

 spirituality to the solid worthfuluess of the Dutch, and 

 in Pennsylvania the result was the same. While the 

 fervour of the Southerner, outside of its climatic causes, 

 is directly traceable to the intermingling of the Huguenot 

 and Cavalier. 



The facility and adaptability which characterized the Amcricaniza- 

 Huguenot emigrants was a factor of great streugth in giv- 

 ing the new race its peculiar ability to work out the 

 whole scheme of American government. The basis and 

 body of the colonial life was predominantly English — a 

 life of remarkable vigour, strength and genius. But the 

 Englishman after several years on American soil was no 

 longer an Englishman, but an Englishman Americanized. 

 He had been changed into a radically different and su- 

 perior man. In producing this change climate and en- 

 vironment had their effects ; the colonial life wrought 

 out its disciplinary and modifying results. But the 

 change in character, efficiency, genius and power were 

 too deep and radical to be explained in this way. It can 

 be understood only by remembering that a continuous 

 stream of French life was poured into the larger Euglish 

 current, sweetening and purifying its waters and making 

 them more healthy and life-giving. This commingling 

 of two powerful nations produced a race of men that 

 neither France nor England could possibly have pro- 

 duced had either been the sole possessor of American 

 soil. It needed both Huguenot and Englishman to a strong 

 make the American. This new race, the offspring of two 

 great nations, faced tremendous responsibilities and as- 

 sumed a herculean task. It undertook to transmute into 

 practical and enduring shape the dream of statesmen of 

 all ages. It undertook to build a nation unlike any na- 

 tion of the past in all its deeper features ; to erect a 

 structure that should not only endure but become stronger 

 with the passing of the years. Civil and religious liberty 



Blend 



