The definition, though scientifically inexact, will serve us here, as it is the one which has been accepted in the writings which we have to criticise.[1]
(1) Latin Sources.—First, we have the observations made by Roman writers from without, the observations of exceedingly keen observers, accustomed to mingle with other races, and habituated to recording their impressions of them; but still, in the case of Gaul and Britain, the observations of a conquering race slowly but surely subduing the tribes whose manners and beliefs they record, a race with fixed preconceived ideas and a well-developed system of mythology and religious ceremonies, whose advanced civilisation, now bordering on decay, was brought into rude contact with young races hardly yet emerging from the condition of things which we, perhaps ignorantly and presumptuously, call barbarism. More important still is it to recall the Roman attitude of mind towards the peculiarities of belief and doctrine among the peoples whom they came to conquer. It was part of the Roman system of colonisation to treat with a kindly or cynical tenderness the local cults of the conquered races, and to receive with wide-embracing arms the native deities into a common Pantheon. The cult of the common people was probably different from that of the Druids, and Rome did not quarrel with cults though it suppressed
- ↑ M. Salomon Reinach, in speaking of the remains of Gaulish art, says truly: "We must be cautious in applying the notion of race to the remains of ancient art. Anthropology knows no Celtic race, it distinguishes several Gallic types and knows that none of them are pure. As to common descent, it can never be more than an hypothesis, for it escapes the control of history as it escapes that of natural science. The attributes that we generally place to the account of race are in fact chiefly those of circumstance."—Antiquités Nationales.
The remark applies equally to literary memorials as to those of sculpture and metal-work, yet there is, as Mr. Nutt reminds me, such a thing as "historic nationality"; i.e. a type developed by race and circumstance combined.
