The Coming Empire; Or, Two Thousand Miles in Texas on Horseback (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 Excerpt: ...as he has little taste in that direction, and is prepared to pull up stakes and depart any time, if things do not go to suit. When the German stops, he is fully determined to make things suit him, and immediately goes to work to that end and accomplishes it. I notice that all the Germans here appear to speak English, and to prefer it to their own tongue. I remarked to the gentleman with whom I stopped, that I was surprised to see this in so isolated a German community. "It is true," said he, "we art isolated, but we cannot tell how soon we may be inundated by Americans; and we want to be prepared for the flood when it comes. Besides, we ofteu have Americans with us, and we should feel very awkward if we could not speak to them in their language. This is our home now, and we do not feel that we could be as good citizens as we want to be, unless we spoke our home language." I asked if the Germans learned English mostly by contact with Americans, or from books. "By practicing it," said he, "among themselves, getting their start mostly from books." The more I see of the Germans, the more I think of them. They almost invariably have nice and happy homes, and always have something good to eat and driuk. I am unable to say whether this latter is a cause or result of their high civilization; but this is certain: a people who do not eat and drink well, are never of a high civilization; and this will be noticed as much among private families as among peoples and races. Poor, miserable, or coarse eating seems to dwarf the intellect and suppress every noble aspiration of the heart. Thus, the Mexicans appear to live mainly upon onions and red pepper, and behold what a folk they are The Esquimaux lives mostly'on oil and tallow, an...