CHAPTER I.
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
What we have just said with regard to the civilization and power of the white race applies with most force to the peoples who form the European branch.
Proceeding upon considerations grounded chiefly upon language, we distinguish among the peoples forming the European branch, three great families: the Teutonic, Latin and Slavonic, to which must be added a smaller family, the Greek.
Although great differences exist between the languages spoken by the peoples composing these four families, these languages are all in some manner connected with Sanskrit, that is the language used in the ancient sacred books of the Hindus. The analogy of European languages with Sanskrit, added to the antiquity evidenced by the historical records of many Asiatic nations, and notably of the Hindus, brings us to the admission that Europeans first came from Asia.
Teutonic Family.
The people comprised in the Teutonic family are those who possess in the highest degree the attributes of the white race. Their complexion, which is clearer than that of any other people, does not appear susceptible of becoming brown, even after a long residence in warm climates. Their eyes are generally blue, their hair is blond; they are of a good height and possess well proportioned limbs.
From the very earliest times recorded in history, these people have occupied Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany and a portion of France. They have also developed themselves in the British Isles, in Italy, Spain, and the north of Africa: but in these last named countries they have eventually become mixed with people belonging to other families. What is more, these same people form at the present day the most important part of the white population of America and Oceanica, and have reduced into subjection a large portion of Southern Asia.
We shall divide the Teutonic family into three leading groups: the Scandinavians, Germans, and English.
Scandinavians.—The Scandinavians have preserved almost unaltered the typical characteristics of the Teutonic family. Their intelligence is far advanced, and instruction has been spread among them to such an extent, that they have given a strong impulse to scientific progress. The ancient poems of the Scandinavians, which go back as far as the eighth century, are celebrated in the history of European literature.
The Scandinavians comprise three very distinct populations: the Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes. To this group must be added the small population of Iceland, since the language spoken by them is most similar of all to the ancient Scandinavian.
The Feroë Isles are also inhabited by Scandinavians, and many Swedes are also met with on the coasts of Finland. But in other countries, to which in former times the Scandinavians extended their conquests, they have, in general, mingled with the peoples they subjected.
The Icelanders are of middle height and only of moderate physical power. They are honest, faithful, and hospitable, and extremely fond of their native country. Their productions are small in extent, as they understand little more than the manufacture of coarse stuff and the preparation of leather.
We give here some types of these people.
Fig. 3 is a wake of the peasants.
The Norwegians are robust, active, of great endurance, simple, hospitable, and benevolent.
In Norway few differences are found in the manners and customs of the different classes of society. Customs here are truly democratic, the peasant plays the chief part in the affairs of the country. The popular diet dictates its will to the government.
M. de Saint Blaise in his work, Voyage dans les Etats Scandinaves, describes the Norwegian as a rough and moody but reliable character. One thing which struck him was the absence of sociability between the two sexes. They marry usually before attaining twenty-five years of age, when the woman devotes herself entirely to her husband and household affairs.
When the two sexes meet at meals, they separate immediately the repast is at an end. The result of this is a too familiar manner, an absence of constraint among the men, and a neglect in the dress of the women which contrasts strongly with their natural grace.
In figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, we give types of the inhabitants of Norway.
The Danes (the old Jutes or Goths) are a people proud of their race, and full of valour and stubbornness. The men are tall and strong; the women slender and active. Their hair is blond, their eyes are blue, and their complexion ruddy. The children are fresh and rosy, the old men lithesome and erect in their walk. Their voices are good and vigorous, they speak in an energetic manner. We encounter in Denmark a strange mixture of democratic and feudal customs: perpetual entails are contrasted with laws whose object is equality. The working classes have an ardent desire to possess land in their own right.
There are in Denmark three classes of peasantry: those who possess both house and garden, those who possess merely a house, and those who only rent apartments. The first of these furnish their board with rich plate and utensils; their wives and children go to work in the fields decorated with rings and bracelets.
The people therefore enjoy a considerable amount of comfort. Add to this a general degree of instruction, which extends even to the peasant’s cottage, and which embraces notions of agriculture, geography, history and arithmetic. The civilization of Denmark is, therefore, very considerable, and certainly greater than that of France, England, Spain, and Italy.
Drunkenness is rarely met with in Denmark, and marriage is considered sacred.
The marriages of the Fionian peasants last seven days. They dance and make merry three days before and three days after that on which the marriage takes place. The ceremony is performed amid a flourish of trumpets. The bridegroom is elegantly dressed, the bride still more so; she wears, moreover, a kind of diadem in which flowers are seen mingling with gold.
Germans.—When wandering as nomadic tribes in the woods, that is, at the time of the Roman Empire, the ancient inhabitants of Germany much resembled their neighbours, the Gauls. They were men of large stature and vigorous frame, with white skins. Their hair, however, was usually red, while among the Gauls the ruling colour was blond. Their head was large, with a broad forehead and blue eyes. But the modern descendants of the old inhabitants of Germany have undergone many modifications, which would render it difficult at the present day, to find, in the greater portion of that country, general characteristics based upon the structure of the head, and the colour of the eyes or hair.
The modern inhabitants of Germany, the Germans, occupy a very large portion of Germany proper and of Eastern Prussia, as well as a broad band of country to the right of the Rhine. They are found also in different parts of Hungary, Poland, Russia, and North America. The Germans of the East and South having mixed much with the peoples of Southern Europe, do not represent exclusively the Teutonic type; some of them are met with who have brown hair and black eyes.
We give in the accompanying illustrations (figs. 9 to 14) some types and costumes of the inhabitants of Germany proper (Baden, Würtemberg, Suabia and Bavaria). The national costumes of Alsace are also shown.
We shall borrow from a work, published in 1860 under the title “Les Races Humaines et leur Part dans la Civilisation,” by Dr. Clavel, an interesting description of the customs of modern Germany:—
“Impinging, at its south-western frontier, upon the Latin world, at its south-eastern frontier, upon the Slavonian world, and at its northern frontier, upon Scandinavia, Germany,” says Dr. Clavel, “does not admit of any very distinct definition. Throughout the whole periphery of this country there exists no identity either of customs, language, or religion. Its provinces on the frontiers of Denmark are half Scandinavian; those bordering on Russia or Turkey are half Slavonic; those which are neighbours of Italy or France are half Latin: the provinces which together represent the frontiers of Germany, form a zone more mixed and various than is possessed by the frontiers of any other nationality.
“It is only toward the centre of the country that we find in all its purity the blond Germanic type, the feudal organization and the numerous principalities which are its consequences. It is here that we find the conditions of climate which appear to produce this race with blue eyes, red and white complexion, tall figures, and full, powerful frames.
“Whilst the Latin, glorying in the light of heaven, enlarges his windows, builds open terraces, and clears his forests that he may plant vineyards in their stead; the German loves above all things shade and mystic retreats. He hides his house in the midst of trees, limits his windows in size, and lines his streets with leafy elms; he reveres, nay, almost worships his old oak trees, endows them with soul and language, and makes of them the abode of a Divinity.
“In order thoroughly to enter into the German genius, we must wander among the paths of their old forests, observe and analyze carefully the effects of light and shade, springing up in ubiquitous confusion, intersecting confined and narrow perspectives, lending isolated objects a brightness vividly contrasting with the neighbouring obscurity, changing even the appearance of the face in their alternations, and forming dark backgrounds, illuminated by prismatic tints and glowing sunbeams. Pausing beneath the venerable trees, we must listen to sounds, re-echoed a thousand times, then dying away among the thickets, to give place to the rustling of aspen leaves, to the sighing of the firs, or to the harmonious murmurs of rivulets which force their way amid the flags and water-lilies. We must inhale the air scented with the pungent odour of fallen leaves, or the exhilarating scent of the wild cherry blossom. It is only then that we come to appreciate the love of nature and the druidical tone which pervade German literature; we understand Goethe’s passion for natural history; the poem of Faust becomes full of meaning; a feeling of melancholy creeps over the mind and leads us to the contemplation of things that are soft, sad, mysterious, fantastic, irregular, and original.
“Being brought thus in contact with nature, the German is natural and primitive; he sympathizes with the world’s infancy. He easily goes back to the past and the consideration of olden times; but it is not in him to anticipate the future, and he regards progress with distaste. If he advances towards equality and unity, it is the ideal of the Latins which impels him. There is in him a resistance which forms part of his patient and cold nature. His movements are sluggish. His language is hardly formed. His literature, overflowing with imagination, is wanting in elegance and purity, it is not ripe enough for prose and unfit to form a book.
“The plastic arts of Germany also possess the simplicity and variety which are produced by imagination; but they are wanting in proportion, in purity of style and elegance; they are capable of arranging neither lines nor colours; their productions often verge on the grotesque, or are marked by heaviness or pedantry, and they clearly are not the work of children of the sun.
“The Germans possess an ear which appreciates sound in a wonderful manner, and reduces with ease to melody the fleeting impressions of the Soul.
“. . . . He who possesses a strong and enduring constitution brings to his means of action energy of will. His projects are neither frivolously conceived, nor abandoned without good reason, and they are often followed out in spite of a thousand obstacles. This patient and continuous activity on the part of the Germans enables them to succeed in all forms of industry, in spite of their subdivision and other hindrances resulting from their political constitution.
“When men are laborious, patient, and frugal, we may expect to see family life become strongly organized, and exercise a decisive influence upon national customs.
“Love, whose duty it is to bring together the sexes into a united existence, is in Germany, neither very positive, nor very romantic; it is dreamy in its character. It seeks its object in youth and speedily finds it; faithfulness is then observed until the time for marriage arrives.
“Early engagements being admitted by custom, betrothed couples are seen together, arm in arm, among the crowd at public or private festivals, or in lonely woods, or in twilight seclusion. Pleasure and pain they share with one another, happy in the conviction that their hearts beat in unison, and in the repetition, over and over again, of tender assurances. The calmness of their temperament and the certainty of belonging to one another some day, diminish the danger of these long interviews. The young man respects the girl who is to bear his name and rule his home with her virtuous example; she, on her part, shrinks from a seduction which would dishonour her and compromise her future life.
“Such customs cannot but meet with approbation. They assure the future of a woman, and save her from coquetry. They form a man for the performance of his duties as head of a family, make him thoughtful for the future, save him from licentiousness, which wears out the heart as well as the constitution, and lastly, render his love permanent by reducing it to habit.
“When the wedding-day, looked forward to for so many years, arrives, the characters of man and woman have taken their respective stamp. The young people know each other; they have no ground for suspecting deceit, for the singleness of their heart admits of only one affection.
“Everything here contributes to heighten the dignity of woman. From her girlhood, and during the years in which her beauty is blossoming, she feels herself an object of devotion—she is mistress. Whatever she grants, however slight the favour may be, acquires a high value. The offering sanctified by her kiss is far more costly than gold; the riband she has worn becomes equal to a decoration.”
This picture of German customs has special reference to the inhabitants of Central Germany, the Austrians.
It is in the central portion of Germany that we meet with this patient activity, and the gentle manners described by Dr. Clavel. But these qualities are far from being the attributes of the inhabitants of the North and West. The Germans of the North and West appeared in their true character during the war of 1870, when a series of deplorable fatalities and mournful inconsistencies had delivered up unhappy France to the mercy of the invader. We then learnt how to appreciate this reputation for good-nature, simplicity, and gentleness, which was commonly attached to the inhabitants of the Ultra-Rhenic countries. The good-nature developed itself into an undisguised ferocity, the simplicity into dark duplicity, and the gentleness into haughty and brutal violence. The hated and jealous fury of the Prussians, who rushed upon France with the avowed intention of reducing her to impotence, and erasing her, if possible, from the rôle of nations; their cold-blooded cruelties and shameless rapine, are so impressed upon the minds of all Frenchmen, that we need not recall them. Prussian barbarity attained the level of that practised by the Vandals in the second century.
Our scholars have found some difficulty in explaining the anomaly which existed between the ferocious conduct of the German armies, and the very opposite reputation enjoyed by our neighbours beyond the Rhine. Accustomed to regard the Germans as peaceful and gentle, sentimental and dreamy, we, in France, were painfully surprised to find facts contrast so cruelly with an opinion so generally entertained. An ethnological work, published in 1871 by M. de Quatrefages in the “Revue des Deux Mondes,”[4] has afforded a scientific explanation of this anomaly.
[4] Issue of Feb. 15th.
M. de Quatrefages has shown, by considerations at once linguistic, geological, ethnological, and historical, that the Prussians, properly so called, that is, the inhabitants of Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, and Silesia, have but little in common with the German race—that they are not, in fact, Germans, but result from a mixture of Slavonians and Finns with the primitive inhabitants of those countries. The Finns overran, at a very early period, Pomerania and Eastern-Prussia; later on, the Slavonians conquered the same territory, as well as Brandenburg and Silesia. Certain Germanic tribes—to which add the results of a French immigration into Prussia, which took place under Louis XIV., after the revocation of the edict of Nantes—must be joined to the stock of Slavonians and Finns, in order to make up the Prussian race as it at present exists. The northern Slavonians possessed a well-known coarseness of manner, and were of large stature and powerful constitution. The Finns, or primitive inhabitants of the shores of the Baltic, were characterized by cunning and violence, united to an extraordinary tenacity. The modern Prussians revive all these ancestral defects.
M. Godron, a naturalist of Nancy, who has very successfully studied the German race, says, “The Prussians are neither Germans nor Slavonians: they are Prussians!” This fact is now clearly shown by the investigations of M. de Quatrefages. From an ethnological point of view, the Prussians are very different from the German populations, who are now subjected to the rule of the Emperor William under the pretext of German unity.
Two different written languages exist among the German people; that of the Netherlands and German.
The Netherland language has given birth to three dialects—Dutch, Flemish, and Frieslandic.
The Dutch, in the seventeenth century, were the greatest maritime commercial people in the world, and founded at that period a certain number of colonies.
The Dutchman is by nature reserved and silent. Simplicity is the marked feature of his character. He possesses patriotic feeling in a high degree, and is capable of enthusiasm and devotion in the defence of his strange and curious territory, preserved from the sea by dykes and formidable constructions, and irrigated by innumerable canals, which form the ordinary means of communication, and which link together the seas and the rivers, as well as the towns.
English.—The English may be considered as resulting from a mixture of the Saxons and Angles with the people who inhabited the British Isles before the Saxon invasion.
Whence came and who were the Angles and Saxons?
According to Tacitus, the Angles were a small nation inhabiting the regions next the ocean. The Saxons, according to Ptolemy, dwelt between the mouths of the Elbe and Schleswig. About the fifth century after Christ, the Angles and Saxons invaded the British Isles, and mingled with the inhabitants, who then comprised Celts, Latins, and Arameans. During the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, fresh invasions of Great Britain, by the Normans and Danes, added to this blood, already so mixed, another foreign infusion.
From this medley of different peoples has sprung the English nation, in whom are found at the same time, the patient and persevering character, the serious disposition, and the love of family life, introduced by the Saxons, and which is the peculiarity of the German nature, combined with the lightness and impressionability of the Celt.
The physical type which is the result of this mixture, that is, the English type, corresponds with the combination of races we have specified. The head is in shape long and high, and is in this respect to be distinguished from the square heads of the Germans, particularly those of Suabia and Thuringia. The English generally possess a clear and transparent skin, chestnut hair, tall and slender figures, a stiff gait, and a cold physiognomy. Their women do not offer the noble appearance and luxurious figure of the Greek and Roman women; but their skins surpass in transparency and brilliancy those of the female inhabitants of all other European countries.
We borrow a few pages from the work of Dr. Clavel upon “Les Races Humaines et leur Part dans la Civilisation,” in order to convey an exact knowledge of the nature and customs of our neighbours across the Channel:—
“When he examines,” says Dr. Clavel, “the geographical position of England, a land possessing a humid rather than a cold climate, the observer pictures to himself beforehand that he is about to meet a people of imperious appetite, of a vigorous circulation, of a powerfully organized locomotive system, and a sanguineo-lymphatic temperament. The power of the digestive functions shows that the nervous system is unable to obtain dominion, and that there is a lack of sensibility: the frequent fogs, which destroy the perfumes of the earth, the stormy winds of the ocean, and the absence of wine, announce a poverty of sentiment and inspiration, and of the arts founded upon them.
“The level plains, which are as a rule met with in England, are not favourable to the development of the lower extremities, and it is a fact that the power of the English lies, not so much in the legs, as in the arms, shoulders, and loins. The fist is an Englishman’s natural weapon, either for attack or defence; his popular form of duel is boxing, while the foot plays an important part in the form of duel which, in France, bears the characteristic name of Savate.
“This power in the upper regions of the body gives to an Englishman a peculiar appearance. In view of his brawny shoulders, his thick and muscular neck, and broad chest, we rightly divine the ready workman, the daring seaman, the indefatigable mechanic, the soldier who is ready to die at his post but who bears up with difficulty against forced marches and hunger. His blond or reddish hair, his white skin and grey eyes, bespeak the mists of his country; the barely marked nape of his neck, and the oval form of his cranium, indicate that Finn blood flows in his veins; his maxillary power, and the size of his teeth, evidence a preference for an animal diet. He has the high forehead of the thinker, but not the long eyes of the artist.
“The insular position of England, its excellent situation upon the Atlantic, its numerous and magnificent seaport towns, its watercourses and the facilities for conducting its internal navigation, all suggest a large maritime commerce and the habits which accompany it. But neither the soil, the climate, nor the geographical position, can account for the aptitudes imported by different races.
“The Englishman is two-fold—Celt and German—and it is only a superficial examination which can confound them.
“The Celt, whom in the absence of precise notions of an earlier population we have come to consider as indigenous, resembles the Neo-Latin races, and, above all, the French. He rarely exists collectively, except in Ireland, and some mountainous districts of Wales and Scotland. His cranium and features indicate artistic aptitudes. He prefers Christianity in the Anglican Catholic form. Like the old Gauls, he delights in wine, laughter, gaming, dancing, conversation, raillery, and fighting. He is spirited and fond of joking, frank and hospitable; but his versatility renders him incapable of steadily pursuing an enterprise to the end, of careful reflection, or of thought for the future. Through his powerlessness to combine his powers and act collectively, he has become a prey to enemies, who were superior to him neither in number, courage, nor even in intelligence. Old and joyous England and Ireland became subject to the Dane, the Saxon, and the Norman: they lost their proverbial gaiety, their bards, their democratic tendency, and their civilization.
“The physical and moral differences between the modern conquerors of England were but slight. They all came from the coasts of the Baltic Sea, and all possessed the elementary characteristics of the German and Scandinavian, and the aptitudes which they inherited from the old Sea Kings. They had, moreover, strength, which bade them regard conquest as a right, and take what they desired; pride, which bade them hold up their head even against the storm; individual initiative, which demanded, above all things, personal liberty; a tenacity, that nothing discouraged; an intelligence, capable of every subtlety; a general sensuality, which converted the bodily necessities into a means of enjoyment; a lack of sentiment, which pre-supposed a want of aptitude for art; and, lastly, a temperament which was calm and robust under all circumstances.
“This type, which is still found among all branches of society, not excepting the aristocracy, has been modified by its combination with the Celtic element, but it still remains predominant. The Saxon, as a rule, absorbs or destroys the other races; we may say, he drinks in their vitality, but is unable to assimilate himself to their temperament.
“We must, therefore, expect to find the customs of England proper, more Scandinavian than Celtic. The pleasures of olden time have fallen off; the merry gossips of those days find no place but in literature; raillery, when it comes from Saxon lips, is armed with sharp teeth, and tears away the morsel it attacks.
“When intelligence is averted from the ideal, and constantly directed towards the positive matters of life, it acquires the habit of considering in all things the question of profit and loss; it becomes averse to waste, which destroys property unprofitably, and loves order, without which, material prosperity is impossible; it guides the organic forces to productive industry, agriculture, and commerce, where they are fostered and matured; and last of all, to speculation, which anticipates the greater part of the fruits of commerce, agriculture, and manufacture. The Saxon finds everywhere the means of speculating, aided in his manœuvres by the intricacy of his commercial laws. As a consequence of his phlegmatic temperament, he gives way neither to the snares of enthusiasm, nor to the deceptions of discouragement. He reasons aright, both for the present and the future. In dealing craftily with his antagonist, he is well able to guard himself against the weaknesses of feeling. His face rarely betrays his convictions, and his features are devoid of the mobility which would prove disadvantageous.
“Thus it is that the Englishman joins subtlety to will; hence his practical power. Being strong and able, he acquires a confidence in himself which easily degenerates into pride, and saves him from smallness of character. He is neither obsequious, nor prone to flattery; he casts on one side the refinements of politeness, which he regards as humiliating in one who employs them; he keeps his word, and considers that he would be dishonoured in breaking it; but he makes the best of all his advantages. For him, life is a struggle for triumph, without regard for those who are unable to contend, and who succumb in the attempt. He asks no pity, and gives but little; he cannot be called cruel, for cruelty is a form of weakness; but he does not hesitate to oppress an enemy, when to do so would be productive of material advantage. In attaching to an Englishman the characteristic of individual initiative, which is met with among all the branches of the Germanic tree, we rightly expect to find him fond of liberty, without which his powers would have no vent.
“But this liberty would soon lead him to destruction, did he not join to it the spirit of propriety, and temper it with the love of order, which he acquires in his industrial and commercial pursuits.
“. . . . His arts are wanting neither in talent, observation, delicacy, nor humour; they represent men and things with the most scrupulous accuracy; but they lack feeling, warmth, and ideality; they know not how to bring the passions into play, and are unable to soar above the descriptive. His stage is a failure, as is his music, both in themselves pure creations of feeling; and his architecture is governed by the nature of materials, and the application of his buildings to the needs of life. This rage for practical convenience, which makes the London houses so unsightly, has also been instrumental in simplifying his language to amphibology, and curtailing the accent to such an extent as to create discord. When harmony in the means of expressing thought is wanting, the art of talking well is no longer exercised in conversation, but becomes concentrated in discourse. There is scarcely an intermediate between the latter form of speech, and incorrect conversation among individuals. The result of this is, that the Englishman, on almost every occasion, expresses himself in speeches, which are listened to and commented upon with an imperturbable patience, but which have the grave fault of imparting to social relations a tone of pedantry and stiffness. As soon as that exists, there is no longer any room for fun and humour. Following out the spirit of formality, many things become no longer permissible, or cannot be dealt with except by reference to strict rules. Propriety, therefore, includes, over and above pure politeness, a number of conventionalities which in themselves constitute nothing less than a social tyranny. An act, which, everywhere else, would be regarded as perfectly natural, easily becomes food for scandal; and in society, by far the greater number of those one meets abstain from action, speech, or gesticulation. An icy reserve is the tone generally assumed.
“In such society as this, indiscretion and flippancy are almost out of the question. But, although the English scorn a lie, they cannot speak the whole truth: they find it necessary to reserve a portion, and frequently the most important part. The result is a peculiar form of hypocrisy which bears the name of cant, and which is really the bane of English society. Owing to this, social life is enclosed in a circle of intolerance which imparts to it a painful uniformity. Each person is obliged to do as every one else, to such an extent, that in the land of liberty, the spirit is oppressed and dejected to a degree suggestive of suicide. Hence it is that so many English, in order to escape spleen, are forced to leave their country.
“The Englishwoman is tall, fair, and strongly built. Her skin is of dazzling freshness; her features are small and elegantly formed; the oval of her face is marked, but it is somewhat heavy toward the lower portion; her hair is fine, silky, and charming; and her long and graceful neck imparts to the movements of her head a character of grace and pride.
“So far, all about her is essentially feminine; but upon analyzing her bust and limbs, we find that the large bones, peculiar to her race, interfere with the delicacy of her form, enlarge her extremities, and lessen the elegance of her postures and the harmony of her movements.
“Woman moves about two centres, which are the head and the heart. The latter deals with bodily grace, roundness and delicacy of form, inspiration in feeling, devotion in love, sympathy, a manifold and undefinable seductiveness, a sort of divine radiance, which is grace, tenderness, and all that is charming. The former supplies intelligence, spirit, animation, and consistency of action.
“If all we see in an Italian or Spanish woman tells of the supremacy of heart, which Lord Byron loved so much, all in the Englishwoman reveals mental superiority. Her physical and mental powers are well balanced.
“There are few mental occupations in which a daughter of Great Britain cannot engage. She acquires knowledge with facility; she writes with elegance, and would be capable at a stretch of improvising a speech; she is witty and even brilliant; capable of dealing with abstract sciences; she can contend with the other sex in sagacity and depth; yet her conversation does not captivate. She lacks a thousand feminine instincts, and this lack is revealed in her toilette, the posture she assumes, and in her actions and movements. She rarely possesses musical taste. Her language and song do not captivate the ear; her appreciation of colour, form, and perfume, are at fault. She loves what is striking, and instead of attaining harmony, revels in discord.
“No aristocracy, can, with reference to ability, be compared with that of England. Having ensured the influence of wealth by seizing the land, and substituting in its possession the son for the father, by virtue of the right of primogeniture, it has given the legislative power to the proprietors of the soil, through the medium of a House of Peers, whose prerogatives and domains pass to the eldest son, and of a House of Commons, the right to elect whose members is centred chiefly in the tenants of large proprietors. Where the nobility enjoy such privileges, royalty necessarily assumes a dependent position, and becomes merely an instrument. Positions of influence in the administration, the army, the magistracy, and the church, fall of right to families of distinction, who dispose of all the strength of the country, and apply it for the benefit of their own caste. Taxation is organized in such a manner as to weigh chiefly upon the lower classes, while the produce falls to the advantage of the privileged class as emoluments.
“. . . Before the British aristocracy could attain the importance it now possesses, many conquests were necessary, to which the substance of Spain, Portugal, Holland, and of a hundred and thirty millions of Indians, has fallen a prey. The attainment of this object, has, moreover, forced fifteen millions of English people to exist upon a daily stipend, when there is any stipend at all; and, to aid it, the cannon has opened the frontiers of China to the opium trade, and to the products of manufactures which must either sell or succumb. The only material compensation for all these evils, is, that immense power is given to wealth. The cultivation of luxury, in every form, has increased tenfold the number of objects to be provided. The houses are crowded with a number of articles of furniture, the use of which is a science in itself; the tables are loaded with an infinite variety of dishes, fruits, plate, and glass; stuffs of a thousand different shades are offered to the caprice of fashion, to be used either in adorning the person, or in the decoration of apartments; but for all that, the house is neither more beautiful nor more wholesome as an abode, the table is not more hospitable or more joyous, nor is the dress more elegant or warm; comfort stifles what is merely beautiful, which wealthy men always associate with a large outlay.
“Among the English aristocracy we must expect, neither the exquisite elegance of the Latin aristocracy, nor the appreciation of art, which, in Italy, and even in France, gives birth to so many marvels.
“Wealth has been able to accumulate in the galleries of private persons, pictures and statues, the work of other nations, but has been quite unable to raise up a school of architecture, of painting, or of sculpture; or even to assign a single division to music. Workers and statesmen abound in England; but the condition of artists is bad in the extreme. A great poet emerges from the ranks of the nobility, and employs his talent in scourging the aristocracy, and laying bare the customs of his country. Eminent writers assign a philosophic value to the romance of gentle blood, and paint in the blackest colours the mercantile and feudal genius.
“The men of iron, who have transformed England into a sort of freehold, seem to think themselves altogether different from the rest of humanity; they pass through the midst of other populations without being influenced by the contact, or modifying the etiquette which rules their excesses at table and in drinking, and which governs field sports and courtship. A word or gesture is sufficient to mark its author as of low breeding, and to jar upon the nerves of the nobility, which are susceptible of still greater irritation, when writers of ability venture to speak of lords as of simple mortals; but this scandal has been obviated in the fashionable novel, in which, amid a halo of ennui, aristocratic decorum shines forth.
“All this is productive of a meditated coldness and repulsive pride, which renders expansion and joviality impossible. Moral oppression and ennui permeate their whole life, and in the end render existence insupportable. These rich and powerful men become the victims of spleen.
“Those who find no relief in political struggles, seek in foreign countries change and diversion; the more robust share their time between the table, their horses, and their dogs; they drink to a frightful extent; they unearth the fox, and follow him on horseback, clearing every object although at the risk of their neck, or else they travel a hundred leagues to see a thorough-bred horse run, and to risk upon him what would make the fortune of ten plebeians.
“Such a life as this can be led only in the country. It must therefore be noticed that the English nobility pass nine months out of the year at their country seats, in the exercise of the gorgeous hospitality which is met with in all large oligarchies, and cultivating there the comforts of ease to a degree bordering on fanaticism.
“Beneath the shade of feudality, exists a class of farmers, manufacturers, merchants, capitalists, and speculators, which consoles itself for the humiliations it experiences by those which, in its turn, it imposes on the lower classes. This middle class, oppressed by that above, and menaced by that below it, presents a singular mixture of timidity and resolution. Its existence, ever precarious, makes it easily susceptible of alarm, ready to yield to the terms of the powerful, or to assume any character. Its enthusiasm and admiration are inexhaustible, when it foresees, in the conduct of its superiors, some gain to itself; but the resistance it offers is most powerfully adroit when public affairs tend to do it harm. Danger hardly ever takes it by surprise, as its signs are seen from afar and anticipated.
“One would almost expect to find Israelitish traits of character in people who make the Bible their book of books; who, while undergoing extortion, still retain the feeling of dignity, who are passionately fond of money and whatever conduces to its possession; who risk that they may gain, and compensate one chance of loss by three chances of profit; who respect the letter of the law more than its intention, and who employ commercial uprightness as a clever means of making a fortune.
“In the middle class, the British aristocracy finds a means of keeping under the proletarian class, true representatives of the old Celts. These unfortunate men are reproached, with drunkenness, to which they fly as a means of forgetting their misfortunes; with brutality, which exhibits itself in blows, injuries, prize fights, and cock-fighting; with coarse sensuality, which feeds upon meat and beer; with selfishness, which extends even to the glasses of drinkers; and lastly, with stronger criminal desires than are met with among other civilized nations.
“But in spite of these vices, the sad fruit of misery, wretchedness, and ignorance, they possess substantial virtues. The English workman has in his heart an innate feeling of generosity. He is gentle to the weak, and rude to the strong. Goodness charms him, and whatever is generous is sure to meet with his support. Although blinded by self-interest to the point of being altogether without a notion of justice, he can hardly be accused of avarice, since he gives cheerfully. His friendship is firm, although by no means demonstrative; he keeps his word, and despises an untruth. Reverses redouble instead of causing him to abate his efforts; he never despairs of what he undertakes, since he is ready to sacrifice all for success, even his life. He has none of the sordid vanities which stain the intermediate classes. For his country, which is to him less a mother than a step-mother, he entertains an inexhaustible affection. To her he devotes his whole existence; he is rewarded by his own admiration of her, and deludes himself so far as to call her ‘Jolly Old England.’”
Transplanted into the New World, the Englishman has already assumed a type varying somewhat from that we have described—the Yankees, as the Indians call them, that is to say, the silent men (Ya-no-ki), have lost in North America the general character and physiognomy which they possessed in the mother-country. A new type, moral and physical, approaching more to that of the Southern Red Indians, has been formed among the inhabitants of North America, which type is exaggerated towards the West, where men are rougher and coarser than in the North.
Latin Family.
The Latin family originated in Italy, whence it extended its conquests over a large portion of Europe, Asia, and Africa, thus forming the Roman empire. At the present time the Latin languages are spoken only in certain portions of this vast empire, namely, in Italy, Spain, France, and some other countries in the south-east of Europe.
The people who belong to the Latin family are, in general, of a middle stature, with black hair and eyes, and a complexion susceptible of turning brown under the sun’s action; but they present many variations. They speak numerous dialects, which frequently become confounded one with another.
Among the people who form the Latin family are separately classed: the French, the Spaniards, the Italians, and the Moldo-Walachians.
French.—The Franks proceeded from the mixture of the Gauls with the ancient inhabitants of the land, that is, the people who in olden times were indifferently called Aquitanians or Iberians, and of whom a few are still to be found in the Basque inhabitants of the lower regions of the Pyrenees, recognized at once by their language, which is that of the old Iberians.
But who were these Gauls, who, by combination with the national blood of the Iberians, formed the Franks?
The Gauls were a branch of the Celts (or Gaels), an ancient race of men, who coming from Asia, at an early period overran and occupied a portion of Western Europe, more particularly that portion which now forms Belgium, France as far as the Garonne, and a part of Switzerland. Later on, the Celts or Gaels extended their conquests as far even as the British Isles. It was in the twelfth or tenth century before Christ that they invaded Gaul, and subdued the indigenous Iberian population.
Of their Asiatic origin the Celts preserved no more than a few dogmas of Eastern worship, the organization of a priestly sect, and a language, which, through its close connection with the sacred language of the Indian Brahmins, reveals the kinship which united these people with those of Asia.
The Celts were a nomadic people, and lived essentially by hunting and pasturage. The men were very tall: their height being, it has been asserted, from six to seven feet. Many tribes dyed their skin with a colour extracted from the leaf of the woad. Others tattooed themselves. Many adorned their arms or breasts with heavy chains of gold, or clothed themselves in tissues of bright colours, analogous to the Scotch tartan. Later on they gave themselves up to greater luxury. Above their tunic they wore the saya, a short cloak, striped with purple bands and embroidered with gold or silver. Among the poorer classes this saya was replaced by the skin of some animal, or by a cloak of coarse and dark-coloured wool. Others wore the simar, which is analogous to the modern blouse or the caraco of the Normandy peasants. The second article of dress worn by the Gaelic men, was a tight and narrow form of trouser, the braya. The women wore an ample puckered tunic with an apron. Some restricted their dress to a leathern bag.
Their weapons consisted of stone knives, axes furnished with sharp flint or shell points, clubs, and spears hardened in the fire. Celtic stone hatchets are common in the West of France.
The Celts were warlike and bold. They marched against the enemy to the sound of the karnux, a sort of trumpet, the top of which represented a wild beast crowned with flowers. As soon as the signal was given, the front rank threw itself stark naked and impetuously into the struggle.
Leading a wandering form of life, the Celts constructed no fixed habitations. They moved from one pasturage to another in covered waggons, erecting simple cabins, which they abandoned after a few days. They sometimes took shelter in caves, sleeping upon a little straw, or the skins of animals spread upon the earth. More frequently, however, they ate and slept under the open sky. Fond of tales and recitations, they appear to have been inquisitive and garrulous. Their habits were peaceful.
A branch of the Celtic family, the Cymris, who, like their predecessors, originally came from Asia, overran the fertile plains which extend from the moorlands at Bordeaux to the mouth of the Rhine, their course being arrested toward the west only by the ocean, toward the east by the Vosges, and toward the south-east by the mountains of Auvergne and the last ridges of the Pyrenees and the Cevennes. The Cymris, or Belgians, brought with them the simplicity of the north, and having built towns, called upon the Gaels to join them.
These two groups, distinct in themselves although of the same race, lived apart in some countries, while in others they held supremacy. The Irish and the Highlanders of Scotland were Gaels. The Gaelic element also predominated in Eastern France. The inhabitants of Wales, Belgium, and Brittany belonged to the Cymrian branch; but the Romans confounded these two races under the general name of Britons in Great Britain, and Gauls in Gaul.
We will briefly review the physical types, manners, and customs of the Gauls.
At the time when Julius Cæsar invaded and conquered the Gauls, they were distinguished as the northern, north-eastern, western, and southern Gauls. The first were remarkable for the abundance and length of their hair; hence their name of long-haired Gauls. Those of the south and south-east were known as the braya-wearing Gauls.
The Gauls used artificial means of giving to their hair a bright red colour. Some allowed it to fall around their shoulders; others tied it in a tuft above the head. Some wore only thick mustachios, others retained the whole beard.
When arming for battle, the Gauls donned the saya. They used arrows, slings, one-edged swords in iron or copper, and a sort of halberd, which inflicted terrible wounds. A metal casque, ornamented with the horns of the elk, buffalo, or stag, covered the head of the common soldier, that of the rich warrior being adorned with flowing plumes, while figures of birds or wild beasts were wrought upon the crest. The buckler was covered with hideous figures. Beneath a breast-plate of wrought-iron the warrior wore a coat of mail, the produce of Gallic industry. He further adorned himself with necklaces; and the scarves of the chiefs glittered with gold, silver, or coral. The standard consisted of a wild boar, formed of metal or bronze, and fixed at the end of a staff.
The Gauls dwelt in spacious circular habitations, built of rough stones, cemented together with clay, or composed of stakes and hurdles, filled up with earth within and without. The roof, which was ample and solid, was composed of strong planks cut into the form of tiles, and of stubble or chopped straw kneaded with clay.
The wealthy Gaul, besides his town residence, possessed a country house. His wooden tables were very low, and in them excavations were made which answered the purpose of plates and dishes. The guests sat upon trusses of hay or straw, upon hassocks formed of rushes, or forms with wooden backs. They slept in a kind of press, formed of planks, similar to those which are met with in some cottages of Brittany and Savoy. They had earthen vessels, of delicate grey or black pottery, more or less ornamented, and brazen vases. They used horns as drinking-vessels.
The Gauls ate little bread, but a great deal of roast or boiled meat. As a rule, they tore with the teeth pieces which they held in their hands. The poor drank beer, or other less costly beverages; the rich, aromatic wines.
The beauty of the Gallic women was proverbial. The elegance of their figure, the purity of their features, and the whiteness of their skins, were universally admired. To captivate these fierce men they made abundant use of coquetry. In order to heighten the freshness of their complexions, they bathed themselves with the foam of beer, or chalk dissolved in vinegar. They dyed their eyebrows with soot, or a liquid extracted from a fish called orphi. Their cheeks they coloured with vermilion, and dressed their hair with lime in order to make it blond, and covering it with network, let it fall behind, or else turned it up crestwise. They wore as many as four tunics, one above the other, veiled their head with part of their cloak, and wore a mitre or Phrygian head-dress.
Any ordinary person who died was interred in a manner suitable to their sex and condition, with arrow-heads, hatchets, flint knives, necklaces, rings, bracelets, articles of pottery, &c. The grave was marked by an unhewn stone, which was surrounded with herbs, moss, or flowers. These tombstones were raised up in the plains, by the way-side, and amid the deep shade of the forests. They were guarded by a statue of Tentates, one of whose cheeks was painted white, the other black.
When a chief died, his body was burnt. In order to do this, the body was placed upon a pile of resinous wood, with his weapons of war and of the chase, his charger and dogs, and sometimes even, his slaves. While the flames devoured the body, the bystanders uttered loud cries, and the warriors clashed their shields. The half-calcined bones were enclosed in an urn of coarse earth, rudely ornamented with a few engravings or figures in bas relief. This urn was then deposited beneath a tumulus covered with turf. In southern Gaul it was placed beneath a funeral column.
In order to render complete the idea which we should wish to convey of the outward appearance of the Gauls, we must say a few words about the Druids.
The Druids were the priests of the Gauls, a clergy powerful by reason of their political duties and judicial functions. The Druids led a solitary life in the depth of oak forests and in secluded caves. They wore a distinctive dress, their robes reaching down to the ground. During religious ceremonies they covered their shoulders with a species of white surplice, and upon their pontifical dress was displayed a crescent which had reference to the last phase of the moon. Their feet were furnished with pentagonal wooden sandals; they allowed their hair to grow long, and shaved off their beards. In their hand they carried a sort of white wand, and suspended from their neck an amulet of oval shape set in gold.
We said the Franks proceeded from the mixture of the Gauls with the Iberian natives of the country, joined later on to the Romans, the Greeks, and more recently still to the Alanians, the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Suevians. Having spoken of the Gauls, we shall now proceed to describe the Franks.
The Frank was tall in height, with a very white skin, blue sparkling eyes, and a powerful voice. His face was shaven, save upon the upper lip, which earned a heavy mustachio. His hair, of a beautiful blond colour, was cut behind, and long in front. His dress was so short as not to cover his knees, and fitted tightly, showing plainly the form of the body. He wore a shoulder-belt, ornamented with nails, and plates of silver or inlaid metal. From his girdle hung an iron knife, an axe with short handle and heavy keen iron head (battle-axe), a very sharp ponderous sword, and a pike of medium length, the stout point of which was armed with several barbs or sharp teeth, turned back as in a fish-hook. Before going to battle, the Frank dyed his hair red. The hair itself was frequently held together by a golden net, or a copper circlet; at other times he dressed himself with the spoils of wild beasts.