170 



the Old World, and their old hut stationary popu- 

 lations. 



To some, this incessant extirpation of the weak, 

 and this incessant advancement of the strong, may- 

 seem a stem and harsh law of nature ; hut such are 

 the facts ; and, as has heen aptly observed, " it is a 

 false sentimentaUsm that cannot look facts in the 

 face — an unsound reverence that models Providence 

 after its own fashion." The whole history of the 

 Old World is but a record of decline and progress — 

 the extinction of the old and effete, and the advance- 

 ment of the young and vigorous. See the long pro- 

 cession — Chaldseans, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, 

 Pelasgians, Greeks, Eomans, Moors, Celts, Franks, 

 and Anglo-Saxons — the earlier ever passing out of 

 view, and the later ever appearing, but appearing only 

 to follow ! Such has it ever been : is there aught in 

 the present to invalidate the inference that such it 

 will ever continue to be ? To some, also, it may look 

 more like the dreams .of enthusiasm than the specula- 

 tions of sober science, to hint that the millions of 

 China, Japan, and Malay, with their old civilisations 

 and social systems, must melt away before the advance 

 of the white man ; but the men of Europe and of 

 North America have abeady planted their feet on 

 these shores, and partial amalgamation or extirpation 

 is only a question of time and of mental and material 



