362 THE PULSE OF ASIA
almost impossible to assign limits to the influence of physical environment upon character.
The philosophical historian recognizes more or less completely that history is the record of human character as expressed in action. A migration is not a mere unrelated event: it is the expression of a spirit of discontent, or of a desire for something unattainable under existing conditions. Probably no leader, however gifted, has ever persuaded a thoroughly contented people to abandon all that they love and migrate to the unknown. The wars of Rome, her wide conquests, and her laws loom large in history; but after all, they are outward signs. Rome was invincible and her leaders were great in war and peace because her people, her average men, were strong in body, resourceful, brave, temperate. When they became cowardly and self-indulgent, Rome fell. The people of the United States do not speak English to-day solely because England lies on the European border of the Atlantic Ocean. Spain, Portugal, and France also lie in highly favorable positions. At first they dominated America; but there was something in English character, a tenacity of purpose and a degree of energy, which outstripped all rivals. In these and countless other cases history is fundamentally the expression of human character. In these instances, as in Central Asia, the development of character has probably been deeply influenced by geographic environment. Therefore geography must be reckoned with in attempting to understand not only the outward details of history, but the great events which express the character of races.
It may be said that if character is so profoundly influenced
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