remains unarmed in combat with that mighty nature that subjugates him; he yields in the struggle, and, vanquished, bears soon upon his figure the ineffaceable mark of bondage. Thus, perhaps, might one, I do not say explain, but conceive, the incontestable influence of each continent, and each region of the earth, on the physical forms, the character and the temperament of the man who dwells in it, and the degeneracy of his type in proportion as he is removed from the place of his origin, and the focus of his religious traditions. Renouncing moral liberty, which exists only in goodness, man gives to nature power over himself, submits o it, and thus are traced and distinguished, a race of Eastern Asia, an African race, an Australian race, a Polynesian race, an American race. We must confess, however, it is not granted to follow out, either in nature or in history, the steps of this transformation; a transformation that could only have taken place, at the time when the human race in their infancy had still the flexible and plastic nature of the child; and we must repeat, the origin of the human races is a fact beyond our observation and anterior to all history, an 1, like all other origins, is screened by an impenetrable veil.

Since man is made to acquire the full possession and mastery of his facult.es by toil, and by the exercise of all his energies, no climate could so well minister to his progress in this work as the climate of the temperate continents. It is easy to understand this.

An excessive heat enfeebles man; it invites to repose and inaction. In the tropical regions the power of life

in nature is carried to its highest degree; thus with the tropical man, the life of the body overmasters that of the soul; the physical instincts of our nature, those of the higher faculties; passion, sentiment, imagination, predominate over intellect and reason; the passive faculties over the active faculties. A nature too rich, too prodigal of her gifts, does not compel man to snatch from her his daily bread by his daily toil. A regular climate, the absence of a dormant season, render forethought of little use to him. Nothing invites him to that struggle of intelligence against nature, which raises the forces of man to so high a pitch, but which would seem here to be hopeless. Thus he never dreams of resisting this all-powerful physical nature; he is conquered by her; he submits to the yoke, and becomes again the animal man, in proportion as he abandons himself to these influences, forgetful of his high moral destination.

In the temperate climates all is activity, movement. The alternations of heat and cold, the changes of the seasons, a fresher and more bracing air, incite man to a constant struggle, to forethought, to the vigorous employment of all his faculties. A more economical nature yields nothing, except to the sweat of his brow; every gift on her part is a recompense for effort on his. Less mighty, less gigantesque, even while challenging man to the conflict, she leaves him the hope of victory ; and if she does not show herself prodigal, she grants to his active and intelligent labor more than his necessities require; she allows him ease and leisure, which give him scope to cultivate all the lofty faculties

of his higher nature. Here, physical nature is not a tyiant, but a useful helper; the active faculties, the understanding and the reason, rule over the instincts and the passive faculties; the soul over the body; man over

nature.

In the frozen regions man also contends with nature, but with a niggardly and severe nature; it is a desperate struggle, a struggle for life and death. With difficulty, by force of toil, he succeeds in providing a miserable support, which saves him from dying of hunger and hardship during the tedious winters of that climate. No higher culture is possible under such unfavorable conditions.

The man of the tropical regions is the son of a wealthy house. In the midst of the surrounding abundance, labor too often seems to him useless; to abandon himself to his inclinations is a more easy and agreeable pastime. A slave of his passions, an unfaithful servant, he leaves his faculties, the talent God has endowed him with, uncultivated and unused. The work of improvement with him is a failure.

The man of the polar regions is the beggar, overwhelmed with suffering, who, too happy if he but gain his daily bread, has no leisure to think of anything more exalted.

The man of the temperate regions, finally, is the man born in ease, in the golden mean, the most favored of all conditions. Invited to labor by everything around aim, he soon finds, in the exercise of all his faculties, at once progress and well-being.

Thus, if the tropical continents have the wealth of

nature, the temperate continents are the most perfectly organized for the development of man. They are opposed to each other, as the body and the soul, as the inferior races and the superior races, as savage man and civilized man, as nature and history. This contrast, so marked, cannot remain an open one; it must be resolved. The history of the development of human societies will give us the solution, or at least will permit to obtain a glimpse of the truth. =

LECTURE XI

The continents of the North considered as the theatre of history— Asia-Europe; contrast of the North and South; its influence in history; conflict of the barbarous nations of the North with the civilized nations of the South-Contrast of the East and West Eastern Asia a continent by itself and complete; its nature; the Mongolian race belongs peculiarly to it; character of its civilization

·Superiority of the Hindoo civilization; reason why these nations have remained stationary — Western Asia and Europe; the country of the truly historical races — Western Asia; physical description ; its historical character; Europe—the best organized for the development of man and of societies; America-future to which it is destined by its physical nature.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : —

The result of the comparison we have made between the northern continents and the southern continents, in their most general characteristics, has convinced us, if I do not deceive myself, that what distinguishes the former is, not the wealth of nature and the abundance of physical life, but the aptitude which their structure, their situation, and their climate, give them, to minister to the development of man, and to become thus the seat of a life much superior to that of nature. The three continents of the North, with their more perfect races, their civilized people, have appeared as the historical continents, which form a marked contrast to those of the South, with their inferior races and their savage tribes.