Page:Speeches and addresses by the late Thomas E Ellis M P.pdf/97

 The author of this estimate makes sad havoc of cherished religious, political, and national convictions of mine, and in common with the majority of his readers, I often rebel against his estimates and conclusions. But there is a marvellous penetration and sureness in them, and I cannot but think that his estimate of the genius of these three races is near, very near the mark. How each hits off the genius of the different races, and how truly Britain in the wholeness of its character and history comprehends all. We know the German nature, its flat commonness, its infinite capacity for platitude, its phlegmatic dulness, its earthiness. Germans like Goethe and Heine have pointed this out with effect. But still, what an immensity it has done for the world! This plodding doggedness underlies the achievements of Germany, and the commerce and order of Britain. History attests the truth of his estimate of the Normans, their splendid capacity for government, their magnificent daring, and the rapid mastery of men and things which for a time laid Europe from Ireland to the Ural mountains largely