, 1870-04-10
TIE FOREFATHERS OF THE ENG.
LlSH PEOPLE

Professor HUXLEY delivered recently N Lon
don RI interesting lecture on "The Fore
fathers Of the EnSlinh People On the Mainland
Of Europe and ASH, the substance OF which
we copy from London paper:
The Engliah people Of tho prcsent day pro-
sent two types OF Physical structure, which Are
extremely different in their most marked
FORMS @ thoqsh !. TIC, Pass Into one .nother by
ta1l, fsir-complcdoncd, yellow or rcd-haised,
and blue.eyed tho other, abort, darkroom.
ple1ioned, black haired and black-eved. The
two types and their intermediate gratlaiions
arc at present to be found side by side in noet
parts Of the British Islands but there Is
marked predonnidence Of the fair typo In the
eastern half Of Britain. The languages spoken
BY the English people havo Ut the present time
no rel&tion to these two physical tyncs, Eng
Gsh speakers and Celtic speakers belonging no
less to the one type th4n to the other. Nor
are the two Celtic dialects, Cymric and Gaelic,
physical type, Is both tho types described are
exhibited in their extreme forms among Welsh
men, High1andcts, and Eishmen.
The earliest historical records. furnished By
CHhsr, strabo, md Tadtue of the nature Of
the population Of Britain, take us hack nine
time, the physical characters OF the populseion
might be described In the same 1anEuage ~ at
present. Tho people Of southeastern England
md Of Caledonia were certainly tall, fair, and
blne-eycd, With hair varying from yellow to red
in nh hne "a a"hile, j. South Wales they had dark
iarde Of that day. But there vas / wonderful
difference II Language, inasmuch As all these
people Of Britain, 30 far IS we know, spoke
The C.rnric dialect Of the Celtic tongue;
while it ID probable, though we have no
neso}ats a. 4sa,.nd dntG"wedge t" or tlis point. th.t
the time Of the Roman invasion, the outward
physical characters Of the population Of these
islands were much what they arc now, though
the language spoken was altogether Celtic,
And there was no parity between the distribu-
ton Of the Cymrie and Gaelic dialecta Of the
Celtic and that Of the Two physical types, any
more than there is now between English aud
Celtic and the fair and dark etocks. II VIC
corfne our attention to the British Islands,
therefore, We hxve absolutely no means Of as
crihing any. special physical characters to the
ceit night BE- Ra so ark fi or i.1 1' roana s1
headed or lonH-hesdcd; and the remark OF
Professor Max Muller that It Is as rational to
sFeak Of dolichoeephalic language as Of \
Celtic ekul! is, for the Celts Of Britain, per-
fecty justified,
Whence vas this cltic,spcaking people, with
which inhabited britain ninctcen hundred years
nEo, derived: The position Of tho British
1slands is sufficient 70 suggest the e1trrme
probability that it migrated from Europe, tue
eastern and southern faces OF these Islands
being within r,y essy reach Of tse shore; Of those
France. And lilo probability suggested by
tho facts OF geography becomes converted into
certainty ly those Of cthnology and history.
In the d1ss place, it we turn 10 the existing
population Of the continents OF Europe and
A.sa, we shall st once recognize our tvo phys
irAl tyrea-the fair and the dark. From Nor
way to Northeastern France tho predominant
constituents Of tho nyerain population Of the
North Sea and Of the British Ch1nnel arc tall,
France tho proportion q short and dark
people increases, until, in Southern and South
western France, they arc the chief constituents
Of the population. 4 traveller who
should sst out from tho Orkney 1alaads
~a., snd ss san ~ y .he eteE , ? .rs r9int in ths
journey from the mouth OF the Elbe to that Of
the Don, would find the people with whom he
met to be geucrally, and in many regions e1-
eluave1y, Of the fair type. On the other hand.
i he set out from Galway and Gnised along
The western coasts Of these Islands, and ol
France and Of Spain and tho north shore Of
We Mediterranean, he would fud as marked 1
predotninanee Of the dark type. In fact, the
population Of the southern and western parts
Of France, Of Spain. Of the Lgurian shore,
and Of western and Southern Italy, is As gem
orally dark III that Of North Germany ia ia;r.
There is no rcason to euppoee that cli1pAtal
conditions haYe anything whAtcvcr to do With
this singular distribution. Of the fair and dark
| types. Not only do tho dark Ilighlanders lie
| five or ei1 degrees farther north than
the taiz BLACK Forcstczs Of Germany
hut, to the north of all the fair inhxbitants Of
Europe, in LarlAnd, there lives \ race Of pco-
| rlc, very different in their Characters from the
dark stock Of Britain, but still having blacl
hair, black eyes, and ewarthy yellowiah com
| rle1ions. Thus, having regard only to phys
ical characters, he population Of Europe fall.
into three broad bands, which run IN a 1ougl
way from vest to east. In the north is ths
zone Of the black-hai1ed, blacL-cyed Mongo
loil Lappe. In the south ia the zono OF th
people who resemble the dark typo Of tn
l:ritish 1elands. and who have heeu callet
.Nrldnochroi; between them lies the broad bel
Of fair people, who have been termed Iafho
earci II tlIa wcrc u mcre natural histor
question, the facts have mentioned woulA Il
low us to draw but one conclusion ~ to th
origin OF the population Of these Islands
namely, that tho dark typo has been fu5nishc
by immigrants from the Continental MelaM<
Continental .Ianliodlrot Dat history an
philo1ogv h1vo every right to be heard in sue
. matter as this. and must now try as We
as can tfor it is not my n7s.ier) to put oc1oi
you what they hhse to Say.
NQAk UABkulE tC4S uS3 81 *A3 - - So|%s
quite in accordance with the suggestions I
, biology. 1t is certain that, from the fifth ce
tury to tho tenth, vast number OF poop
from Scandinavia md North Germany poust
) into the British Islands on al aiucs, but,
| might BE- expected, most pcrslstcntly and 4
/ | rerpufly into the eastern mo!ety oil lrltal
: Tley brought with them Languages Which n
: properly and conveniently be termed dialee
+ ct Teutonic, IN cont1adishnction to the ind
:. enous dialects Of Celtic. Out Of naese diAlee
tho language known ss Anglo Saxon was
. veloped, and frptn II, By subsequent noiiac
tim and ABSORPTION for the most part Of Cel
y and French elements, hAs grown Engli.
y The invasion which thus changed the lArgua
IT Of Britain introduced 10 new element iuto
J. physical conformation Of the people, 50 TAT
r stature and complexion arn concerned, thou
10 it may hA@c done 20 in the matter OF cran
10 conformation, It is unquesioned that Nor
,e neu, Danes, and Sa1ons wero alike tall. IA
ID Haired people, and their immigration sszeng
Ia encd the XansAochroic elenens Of cur popu
- den, but added nothing new, unless it we're
er longer form Of head Thus, to nut The mat
1t in smother way, tall statuse, fair hair, =
10 line eyes, in : native OF britain, arc no G
ad dcnce Of his descent rather from tho prin
n Celtic-FreAking. than from the immiSr'
of se i. ~ s, {, 9 to p1a e
asa "Icuton," "Teuton" asA " Ce1t"
ny But history teaches II more .hsn this III
,c, il thc clesrcst evidence that the G2ulh-
It's celhc-sTeaGng people, Who burnt Rome ne
IN II four centuries be1ore our etA-belonged
,g- their compleTions, tho color of their elos
:. their hatr, were disting guikhAble from such I
tonicspcsksng people II tho 1oths, who 81
ed Home four centuries After il; and that,
these eight centuries At any rate, :Sotthx
Ii. esn, ce1H.a, Eastern Europe, and TIE wss,
nd names Of Cats, Bslgn, Gefm,ni, Veaoai
- Mends, and Alani, 1ecorting to the dikt1
10 10 which they occupied and The languages II
@ soe they spoke.
1an Those who have ans doubts upon this
AVG jecs hsd better cGnsu1t the great work Of
.,, par Zenss, s'Dis Deutschen und die Steh
iuh' ntumme," published thirty years ago; Of
in, excellent discussion mainly based upon 7e
ent. in rric1Ard or 10 The tnA1actige works
tre Thus, when history nrzt mikes known
rp'- Celtic language TO NJ, 1t is in the mouths
nar aae people physically identical with the GEN
m, ind the S1A1oni1ua; md when tho ettpitii
io1s tho Celtic, tho !entoaic, nd he Sa,omc
{ 70 are II fourd to belong so the same great S
= Of Of Aryan langu.ses- The argument 7
'esp. drawn f1om the physical affinity Of the G.
n% spcakios with the Teutonic-speaking r
is therefore supported and INTENSIFIED 4 ;s p! ?!
han Trptopic tongues and ph1ology coucurs
NJ. history in testifsing 70 Che ethnie unity @
cso- Cc!tic-hTe1x1nG people W os y. o.e -, :.
,elt- Ilh1ne, with Inc 4eNtu0t~sqf ,l;F +
The eastward. In their clothing, il thest
,en- IN their houses, IN tfe11 etnpio9 tnenA - =
rday aud wheeled caz17ASes4 no a1nel NY: eace
!stc- nent obtain between TIC CelnS@
who Teutonic-spcakinG people OF OLD LnsoFe
y-dn- in their faAhion Of Gofafnment, theN ~ ~
con- E1nK2tion, thcN fnofaNtE, OF tAeU htct
take | DO there seem to bo any SIeateF 0ae1
end than arc readily accounted tos oy tho tAc
the Teutnnie Hpcakiug nations wars mo
COM woto from Tho eorruptins induenesa OF =
ering and civilization. Tho Tonga t1iaDde
Juion Mariners dtno offered tho 3Ame contta
d the the Tahitians that tho Germans Of Tseit
,sk ot 70 tho Gxals bot no oas wo01d dfes