he Will," pp. 164, 165.]

[Footnote 8: Froude, "Hist. of England," pp. 73, 74.]

Nations, like persons, have an _Individuality_. They present certain
characteristic marks which constitute their proper identity, and
separate them from the surrounding nations of the earth; such, for
example, as complexion, physiognomy, language, pursuits, customs,
institutions, sentiments, ideas. The individuality of a nation is
determined mainly from _without_, and not, like human individuality,
from within. The laws of a man's personal character have their home in
the soul; and the peculiarities and habits, and that conduct of life,
which constitute his responsible character are, in a great degree, the
consequence of his own free choice. But dwelling, as he does, in
society, where he is continually influenced by the example and opinions
of his neighbors; subject, as he is, to the ceaseless influence of
climate, scenery, and other terrestrial conditions, the characteristics
which result from these relations, and which are common to all who dwell
in the same regions, and under the same institutions, constitute a
national individuality. Individual character is _variable_ under the
same general conditions, national character is _uniform_, because it
results from causes which operate alike upon all individuals.

Now, that man's complexion, his pursuits, his habits, his ideas are
greatly modified by his geographical surroundings, is the most obvious
of truths. No one doubts that the complexion of man is greatly affected
by climatic conditions. The appearance, habits, pursuits of the man who
lives within the tropics must, necessarily, differ from those of the man
who dwells within the temperate zone. No one expects that the dweller on
the mountain will have the same characteristics as the man who resides
on the plains; or that he whose home is in the interior of a continent
will have the same habits as the man whose home is on the islands of the
sea. The denizen of the primeval forest will most naturally become a
huntsman. The dweller on the extended plain, or fertile mountain slope,
will lead a pastoral, or an agricultural life. Those who live on the
margin of great rivers, or the borders of the sea, will "do business on
the great waters." Commerce and navigation will be their chief pursuits.
The people whose home is on the margin of the lake, or bay, or inland
sea, or the thickly studded archipelago, are mostly fishermen. And then
it is a