It is therefore highly probable that
the extinct craters now in existence in the Nubian
Desert were active at a period when they formed
volcanic islands in a sea--similar to Stromboli,
&c. &c.
This is the way to civilize a country: the engineer will alter
the hard conditions of nature, that have rendered man as barren
of good works as the sterile soil upon which he lives. Let man
have hope; improve the present, that his mind may look forward to
a future; give him a horse that will answer to the spur, if he is
to run in the race of life; give him a soil that will yield and
tempt him to industry; give him the means of communication with
his fellow-men, that he may see his own inferiority by
comparison; provide channels for the transport of his produce,
and for the receipt of foreign manufactures, that will engender
commerce: and then, when he has advanced so far in the scale of
humanity, you may endeavour to teach him the principles of
Christianity. Then, and not till then, can we hope for moral
progress. We must begin with the development of the physical
capabilities of a country before we can expect from its
inhabitants sufficient mental vigour to receive and understand
the truths of our religion.
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