17.2. 2. The Difference between Nations in point of Courage.
We have already observed that great heat enervates the strength and courage of
men, and that in cold climates they have a certain vigour of body and
mind, which renders them patient and intrepid, and qualifies them for
arduous enterprises. This remark holds good, not only between different
nations, but even in the different parts of the same country. In the
north of China
[1]
people are more courageous than those in the south;
and those in the south of Korea
[2]
have less bravery than those in the
north.
We ought not, then, to be astonished that the effeminacy of the
people in hot climates has almost always rendered them slaves; and that
the bravery of those in cold climates has enabled them to maintain their
liberties. This is an effect which springs from a natural cause.
This has also been found true in America; the despotic empires of
Mexico and Peru were near the Line, and almost all the little free
nations were, and are still, near the Poles.
Footnotes
[1]
Father Du Halde, i, p. 112.
[2]
The Chinese books make mention of this. Ibid., iv, p. 448.
