itain, and took side excursions into Italy, the most
notable of which was the invasion of Rome {282} 390 B.C. Wherever the
Nordic people have gone, they have brought vigor of life and achieved
much after they had acquired the tools of civilization. If they were
pirates of property, they also were appropriators of the civilization
of other nations, into which they projected the vigor of their own life.

_Importance of Teutonic Influence_.--Various estimates have been made
as to the actual influence of the Teutonic races in shaping the
civilization of western Europe. Mr. Guizot insists that this influence
is entirely overestimated, and also, to a certain extent,
misrepresented: that much has been done in their name which does not
rightfully belong to them. He freely admits that the idea of law came
from the Romans, morality from the Christian church, and the principle
of liberty from the Germans. Yet he fails to emphasize the result of
the union of liberty with the law, with morality, and with the church.
It is just this leaven of liberty introduced into the various elements
of civilization that gave it a new life and brought about progress, the
primary element of civilization.

France, in the early period of European history, had an immense
prestige in the advancement of civilization. There was a large
population in a compact territory, with a closely organized government,
both civil and ecclesiastical, and a large use of the Roman products of
language, government, law, and other institutions. Consequently,
France took the lead in progress, and Mr. Guizot is quite right in
assuming that every element of progress passed through France to give
it form, before it became recognized. Yet, in the later development of
political liberty, law, and education, the Teutonic element becomes
more prominent, until it would seem that the native and acquired
qualities of the Teutonic life have the stronger representation in
modern civilization. In stating this, due acknowledgment must be made
to the Roman influence through law and government. But the spirit of
progress is Teutonic, although the form, in many instances, may be
Roman. It must be observed, too, that the foundation of local
government in Germany, England, and the United States was of Teutonic
{283} origin; that the road from imperialism to democracy is lined with
Teutonic institutions and lighted with Teutonic liberty, and that the
whole system of individual righ