Are You Seeking God or Gold?

Roger Babson, an American historian, was visiting the president of Argentina about one hundred years ago when the president said to him: “You are a student of history, Will you please tell me why it is that South America, with her unlimited resources, and having been settled earlier than North America, has nevertheless made much slower progress in civilization and material prosperity?”

Mr. Babson threw the question back upon the president by saying, “Mr. President, you evidently have studied this question yourself, and I would be interested to know your answer to it.

The President replied that he thought the explanation lay in the fact that South America was settled by Spaniards who came seeking gold while North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers who came seeking God.