Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-09-23
essex County 5lsrald.
ISLAND POND. SEPTEMBER %.
10 civilization does not occupy the
places Il has established somebody
else will.


One of the most if not the
most striking feature in history
is the fact that the conditions
of every people arecreated, mod
flied and destroyed more by the
incursions of other people and
their own expulsion or extcrmi-
nation than by any other cause.
No people have ever established
themselves and remained intact
or carried out the original pur-
poses of their national organiza-
ton in respect to its perpetuity.
As soon as a people are estab-
lished they begin to lose their
national characteristics. Tribes
from the north have always
passed down through Europe
expelling and wiping out ma
tional characteristics, institu-
tions and customs and substitu-
ting Others. For a long time
Norman and Saxon clements
struggled to subdue or extermi-
nate each other, and at last fur
nished almost the only instance
of coalescence; and nothing but
the sturdy and almost everlast-
ing attributes of the Saxons
saved them from determination
when the naughty Normans i'm
posed their laws, language and
customs upon them.
The first impulse of men in the
establishment of a nationality is
directed to the construction of
the nation in accordance with
the plans and purposes of its de-
signers. They look for time
only to its strength, durability,
harmony, development and pro-
ductiveness. If prosperous and
familiar with foreigners they pre-
sent fascinating allurements to
outsiders to come in and share
their prosperity. Prosperity is
very attractive to the indolent if
it can be shared without effort.
and none more intrusively and
impudently invite themselves to
share it than the shiftless. When
the national structure is COM
pleted its designers naturally turn
to other plans and before they
are aware Of it it is filled with
noisy, irresponsible men whose
impulses are entirely foreign to
the original design. The nation
that "sat On her seven hills and
from her throne of beauty ruled
the world" thought herself I'M
mortal and so she seemed to be
for six hundred years and until
her centrifugal forces became
stronger than her centripetal.
While she developed Roman
characteristics, Roman institu-
tions and Romans she was Sc
cure. And had she remained
thus employed there is no reason
to suppose that she would not
today have been invincible
against the world. But when
Rome was builded her people
left Rome to take care of herself
and went off to conquer the
world, and while thus employed
Huns, Vandals and other bar
barians swarmed down from
the north and destroyed and de-
youred the fruits of her original
genius and industry. Englandis
the only government that has
been situated so that she has
been able to send a portion of
her people out for conquest and
at the same time attend to keep
ing her household in order and
secure.
AS surely as air rushes into a
vacuum so certainly do men rush
into prosperous conditions and
places made vacant by Others.
Every brave, enterprising soldier
that goes out of the country for
conquest Or to extend or main
tain foreign dominion creates a
vacancy to be filled by some one
coming in, and the best Ameri-
can blood thus flows out and
the most communicating Euro
pean blood flows in to replace it.
Which will tend more to benefit
mankind, and which is the
broader humanity, to take the
representatives of the highest