The explorer is the precursor of the colonist; and the
colonist is the human instrument by which the great work must be
constructed - that greatest and most difficult of all undertakings - the
civilization of the world.
The progress of civilization depends upon geographical position. The
surface of the earth presents certain facilities and obstacles to
general access; those points that are easily attainable must always
enjoy a superior civilization to those that are remote from association
with the world.
We may thus assume that the advance of civilization is dependent upon
facility of transport. Countries naturally excluded from communication
may, through the ingenuity of man, be rendered accessible; the natural
productions of those lands may be transported to the seacoast in
exchange for foreign commodities; and commerce, thus instituted, becomes
the pioneer of civilization.
England, the great chief of the commercial world, possesses a power that
enforces a grave responsibility. She has the force to civilize. She is
the natural colonizer of the world. In the short space of three
centuries, America, sprung from her loins, has become a giant offspring,
a new era in the history of the human race, a new birth whose future
must be overwhelming.
