That they were the subjects of a
Providence, and that, in God's great plan of human history, they had an
important part to fulfill, we must believe. That God "determined the
time of each nation's existence, and fixed the geographical bounds of
its habitation," is affirmed by Paul. And that the _specific_ end for
which the nation had its existence was fulfilled, we have the fullest
confidence. _So far, therefore, as we can trace the relation that
subsists between the geographical position and surroundings of that
nation, and its national characteristics and actual history, so far are
we able to solve the problem of its destiny; and by so much do we
enlarge our comprehension of the plan of God in the history of our
race_.

The geographical position of Greece was favorable to the freest
commercial and maritime intercourse with the great historic
nations--those nations most advanced in science, literature, and art.
Bounded on the west by the Adriatic and Ionian seas, by the
Mediterranean on the south, and on the east by the AEgean Sea, her
populations enjoyed a free intercommunication with the Egyptians,
Hebrews, Persians, Phoenicians, Romans, and Carthaginians. This
peculiarity in the geographical position of the Grecian peninsula could
not fail to awaken in its people a taste for navigation, and lead them
to active commercial intercourse with foreign nations.[15] The boundless
oceans on the south and east, the almost impassable mountains on the
west and north of Asia, presented insurmountable obstacles to commercial
intercourse. But the extended border-lands and narrow inland seas of
Southern Europe allured man, in presence of their opposite shores, to
the perpetual exchange of his productions. An arm of the sea is not a
barrier, but rather a tie between the nations. Appearing to separate, it
in reality draws them together without confounding them.[16] On such a
theatre we may expect that commerce will be developed on an extensive
scale.[17] And, along with commerce, there will be increased activity in
all departments of productive industry, and an enlarged diffusion of
knowledge. "Commerce," says Ritter, "is the great mover and combiner of
the world's activities." And it also furnishes the channels through
which flow the world's ideas. Commerce, both in a material and moral
point of view, is the life of nations. Along with the ivory and ebony,
the fabrics and purple dyes, the wines and spices of the Syrian
merchant, th