The Grenada gazette., 1888-01-07
RACE AND LANGUAGE.
why the Distinctions Of the Former Mus
be Older Than Those Of the Latter.

why tho Distinctions Of the Former Must
be Older Than Those Of the Latter.
On the monuments Of Egypt more
than four thousand years ago, the
Libyans are represented with the same
fair European complexion as that Of
the modern Kabyles. and the painted
tomb of Rekh-ma-ra, Thahan Prince
who lived in the sixteenth century be-
fore our era, portrays the black-skinned
negro. the olive-colorcd Syrian. and
the red-skinned Egyptian with all the
physical peculiarities that distinguish
their descendants to-day. The Egypt
ian language has ceased to be spoken
even in its latest Coptic form, but the
wooden figure Of the "Sheikh-el-beled"
in the Bulaq Museum. carved six thou
sand years ago. reproduces the features
of many fellah in the modern villages
of the Nile. Within the limits Of his
tory racial characteristics have UNDER
gone no change.
l see, therefore, no escape from
the conclusions that the chief distinc.
tions Of race were established long be-
fore man acquired language. II the
statement made by Nj. dc Mortillet is
true, language is thus characteristic
of community, and not of an individ-
ual. The neglect of this fact has intro
duced untold mischief not only in phi
logy. but into ethnology rs we'll Race
and language have been confused to-
gether, and the fact that 4 man speaks
u particular language has too often
been assumed, in spite of daily expe.
rienee, to prove that he belongs to
particular race. When scholars had
discovered that the Sanskrit of India
had belonged to the same linguistic
family as the European languages,
they jumped to the conclusion that the
dark-skinned Hindu and the light
haired Scandinavian must belong to
one and the same race. Time after
time l have taken up books which
sought to determine the racial at1ini-
ties of savage or barbarous tribes by
means of their language alone. Lam
guage and race, in short. have been
used as synonymous terms.
The fallacy is still so common, still
so frequently peeps out where we
should least expect it, that think it is
hardly superhuous, even now, to draw
attention to it. And yet we have only
to look around us to see how contrary
it is to all the facts of experience. We
Englishmen arc bound together by q
common language, but the historian
and the craniologist will alike tell us
that the blood that runs in our veins is
derived from very various ancestry
kelt and Teuton, Scandinavian and
Roman, have struggled together for
the mastery in our island since it frs.
came within the horizon of history.
and in the remoter days Of which his
tory and tradition are silent arch@o-
logy assures us that there were yet |
other races who fought and mingled
together. The Jews have wandered |
through the world, adopting the Ian
guages of the people among whom
have settled, and in Pennsylvania they
even look upon an old form Of Spanish
as their sacred tongue, The Cornish
man now speaks English; is he on that
account less of Il Kelt than the Welsh.
man or the Rretonp
Language. however. is not wholly |
without value to the ethnologist.
Though common language is not a
test of race. it is a est of social con-
tact. And social contact may, mean
indeed, very generally does mean-a
certain amount of intermarriage as
well.-Prot. Sage, in Nature.