England Was Nothing, Compared To Continental Nations

Many Are The Lives Of Men Unwritten, Which Have Nevertheless As Powerfully Influenced Civilization And Progress As The More Fortunate Great Whose Names Are Recorded In Biography. Even The Humblest Person, Who Sets Before His Fellows An Example Of Industry, Sobriety, And Upright Honesty Of Purpose In Life, Has A Present As Well As A Future Influence Upon The Well-being Of His Country; For His Life And Character Pass Unconsciously Into The Lives Of Others, And Propagate Good Example For All Time To Come.

The Principal Industrial Excellence Of The English People Lay In Their Capacity Of Present Exertion For A Distant Object.

Nothing Is More Common Than Energy In Money-making, Quite Independent Of Any Higher Object Than Its Accumulation. A Man Who Devotes Himself To This Pursuit, Body And Soul, Can Scarcely Fail To Become Rich. Very Little Brains Will Do; Spend Less Than You Earn; Add Guinea To Guinea; Scrape And Save; And The Pile Of Gold Will Gradually Rise.

Experience Serves To Prove That The Worth And Strength Of A State Depend Far Less Upon The Form Of Its Institutions Than Upon The Character Of Its Men; For The Nation Is Only The Aggregate Of Individual Conditions, And Civilization Itself Is But A Question Of Personal, Improvement.

Character Is Undergoing Constant Change, For Better Or For Worse--either Being Elevated On The One Hand, Or Degraded On The Other.