Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-19
Effect of Sun and Storm on Human
Character.
ENERGY DUE TO OUR ENVIRONMENT
An English Compliment to Ameri-
can Weather and People.
INGENUITY AND RESOURCE

within the lifetime OF many people still liv-
ing. The winter Is now usually open along
the Atlantic coast until Christmas at least,
though in New England the storm win
dows" are generally put in by the end OF
November so as to be ready, for anything
OF an unusual nature on :he part OF 4 Pc
cuiiarly treachervss climate. tn Washing
ton bright spring-like wsathe. is quite
usual In December. In the northwestern
states. however. the cold is generally in
tense. the winds cut like knives and I'm
duluth, at the head o. Lake Superior
which boasts the honor OF being the coldest
city In the United States, the winter sea-
son Is no Joke. While IL seems certain
that. on the whole, the climate has become
less severe. II Is at the same time treach-
erous and swift in its changes 10 n degree
which We rarely know in England
Thers can be little doubt we suppose.
tEat America was always the theater of
sIea,er and more sudden climatic changes
IMAM Europe, especially our part of En-
rope. Russia and Hungary more closely
reproduce the physical and china n. condi-
lions or thu central parts OF the United
states, though the summer heat rarely at
tains the same extreme as in America
western Europe is so broken up by chan
ne!s, CULTS ard bays that the moderating
lnnuence OF the sea does no: permit The
sudden changes SO common in America
Fine Climate.
For a thoroughly healthy person tho
American climate, except In the gulf states.
mas many attractions. 1t is clear, dry,
with sharp, bracing crispncss in the air
at certain times of the year almost un-
known In England. France or Germany.
Where the sea air produces mild and so,ne-
what damp conditions. hut each kind of
climate has its own attrac tions: for whila
America can yield crispness aud gorgeous
sunsets. Europe gives that purple raze
winch lends poetry ami mystery to the as
nof1
beauty OF of health lies. ilov,.rr The ou.s
ton OF the influence of climate on char
acter.
That human character Is largely nolssa
py geographical conditions is SO manifest
as 10 Iced no proof The Greeks world nor
nave peen the Greeks mad they lived in the
center OF Russia In his famous speech
Per1cles connects the intellectual auaIities
of his countrymen with the most peJIuctd
air OF Attica; and IN the same way W.
can connect many of the characteristic
traits or our own countrymen with tn.
PhSsicdl conditions OF England. The most
obvious of these conditions is the perp.tuaI
Eearness or the to every island.r-a
TACT which has stamped our history with "A
character unique among modern nations.
we I'VE In the center OF the modern hign-
ways OF the nations and We have been
familiar with the for a thousand years.
therefore We could not choose but to be a
seafaring and colonizing people: the choice
was practically made for US. as II was made
Tor Greece and Carthage. But while this
fact has been widely recognized il has NOT
been seen with equal clearness how much
condi ions.
Great Storms.
There have been great and sudden storms
In English history, such as that noted by
Addison, or the great blizzard of January
49, 1881 which certainly caught us mapping:
but speaking generally. We have not in
these islands to contend with sudden and
unusual outbursts of natural force. We do
rot know whether n will be a victor "A hot
summer, but We do know that earthquakes
and cyclones will not wreck our cities; ana .
that armies of locusts will not eat up every
green thing. We feel. on the Side OF nature
certain security. certain assurance:
even our rough ocean, as Coleridge SAWS
speaks safety to his island child" Can Il
be doubted that this smooth uniformity of
climate has impaired to the men of Eng
land certain calm which is not In
the Inhabitants of treacherous elimes? The
melancholy of the Slav is traced to his deem
forests and boundless steppes: the quick
energy and the suspicious caution of the
southern Italian to his volcanic hills; and
the uniform course of nature in these is
lands has given to the Englishman his
calm. his patient energy, his sure COM
mand OF himself. Whether the race will
maintain this character under such differ
ent climatic conditions afforded by
Australia or Africa IL is too soon to say at
present. But that this character of calm
English people in their history a thousand
incidents proclaim.
Make Littl. Fuss.
We do not disturb ourselves or make
much fuss: and. in spite OF that spleen
which We were long ago discovered to pos
sess in an abnormal measure We are never
melancholy is the Slav. Our Puritanism
did not breed suicide of mutilation: the
worst 1t did was to give US gloomy Sun
Gay. We have cortrived to keep our balance
because for ages We have felt safe and as
sured in the arms of nature.
But there are ADVANTAGES too In the
more checkered course of the American
climate. 1t has killed of many weaklings
hut 1t has developed a resourceful char
acter. mind ready for sudden emergen-
c,es. Nature must have begun this edu-
eating influence Immediately the Pilgrims
landed on the bleak New England shore:
for they aSsuredly could not have survived
a. all unless they had been able to accom-
modate themselves to the caprices Of that
eNacting climate amusedly described by
Mark Twain Many Improvements in ways
OF living, in houses and in dress have been
Introduced into America as the result of
the educating influence of climate. The
mind has teen quickened. the character
made both more eager and more inventive
by the pressure of natural forces. On the
other hand. just as Englishmen are I'm dan
ger Of stohdity as the extreme OF their
calm confidence. so Americans are I'm dan
ger of violent nervous tension as the out
come of a climate full of surprises.
Politics and Weather.
The sudden political excitements Of Amer
lea, SO often inexpIicable on purely po-
litical lines. may perhaps be explained on
the hypothesis Of an organism subjected to
severe over-tension; and the sudden vio-
lence of American labor disputes like a
bolt from the blue may be due to the same
cause. Hamlet asked whether he was n
pipe to be played on; but to some extent
We are all pipes to be played by the
mysterious forces, both natural and spir-
ftual. which. unseen or only partly known
are all around US. The evolution OF races
for special functions in the world is at
least I'm part determined by the soil on
which a particular race grows; and by
soil We mean the general physical char
acterfstics Of the country in which the race
lives. Cur own race has in this island
home slowly drawn in from the soil ana
climate an Immense stock of vigorous en-
ergy. but energy dominated by calm direc-
tive force Rome had similar power. and
hence Rome and England have. in two dis
tinct orders of civilization, been able 10
spread. to organize and TO command
tlrOnghOlrf 81 Of hn xx-atAd