The English race. CHAPTER I. BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS. MEN of pure English blood belong to the Low German group of the Teutonic branch of the Aryan family of nations. Few or none of us, however, are of pure descent, and some of the best qualities of modern Englishmen are due to the mixture of the English blood with that of other races. The mixed English race of to-day is also descended from the primitive inhabitants of these islands, from the Celts or ancient Britons, from the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, from the Northmen or Danes, from the Normans, and from French and Flemish settlers, who have at one time or another settled in these islands. The Aryan Except the primitive inhabitants, all these races are members of one family, the Aryan, which is thought by some to have dwelt originally in Central Asia, by others along the shores family. of the Baltic Sea. To it belong the Hindoos, now with us subjects of the Queen, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, besides most of the nations of modern Europe. Early migrations of the Aryans. The first Aryans who are known to have settled in Europe were the Celts, the Greeks, and the Italians, who, driving out before them or conquering the primitive inhabitants, exactly as the English have done in modern times in America and Australia, made homes for themselves in Greece, Italy, Gaul, Spain, and the British Isles. After them came the Teutons. One branch of these, the Germans, occupied the plain of Central Europe, the greater part of which is still known by their name; another, the Goths, settled for the most part along the Danube; and a third, the Scandinavians, occupied Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The last branch, of any size, to appear in Europe were the Slavs, whom we find living in Russia and Poland, and in many of the lands by the Danube, where they took the place of the Goths. Primitive inhabitants of Europe. Meanwhile the former inhabitants of Europe, who were not Aryans but Turanians, had either been absorbed in the ranks of their Aryan conquerors, or been forced to take refuge in out-of-the-way places where the Aryans did not care to follow them; and a few of their descendants, whom we can recognize by their language, may be found there at the present day, such as the Basques of the Pyrenees, and the Lapps and Finns of the north of Europe. At a much later time, two more Turanian races came from Asia and settled in Europe, Later Turadriving out or conquering the Aryan inhabitants. nian settlers. These are the Hungarians, who call themselves Magyars, and the Ottoman Turks, who still hold Constantinople; but this happened in comparatively modern times. Later migrations of the Aryans. At the beginning of the Christian era, the Aryans were in possession of almost the whole of Europe, but even at the present day their migrations have not ceased; for since the discovery of America and Australia thousands of Aryans-English, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, and French-have left Europe and settled in those countries. Aryans, also, have dispossessed Negroes, Arabs, and Chinese in various parts of Africa and Asia; indeed, not a year passes without the Aryan race making itself master of some district hitherto held by one of the other races of mankind. Early Aryan civilization. These migrations took hundreds of years-it is impossible to say how long-but the Aryans of Southern Europe had become settled and civilized, while those of the north were savage and barbarous. Thus the Greeks and Romans were cultivated and learned nations, and had produced some of the master-pieces of literature and art, while the Britons and Germans were little better than savages. Pytheas' The first civilized man who is recorded to have visited our islands was Pytheas, who in the fourth century before Christ was sent by the merchants of the Greek colony of Marseilles to try and open up a trade with the people of the north. He sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar to Britain, and after visiting Kent, he again set sail to the east and made his way to the mouth voyage. of the Vistula. Thence he returned to Jutland, and after coasting along the shores of Norway as far as the Arctic circle, returned to Britain. He then sailed to Gaul, and returned to Marseilles by land. The result of his discoveries was the opening up of trade between Marseilles and Britain. Cæsar's invasions. After a time Marseilles fell into the hands of the Romans, who, after defeating the Carthaginians, made themselves masters of the whole coast of the Mediterranean. Their general, Julius Cæsar, after conquering the Gauls, determined to explore the island of Britain, which he knew to be inhabited by a kindred race, from whom the Gauls of the continent had received assistance in the struggle with the Roman armies. With this view he made two expeditions in the years 55 and 54 B.C., but finding that the warlike inhabitants made a vigorous resistance, he made no serious attempt to conquer the island, and contented himself with making a treaty with the inhabitants, of whom he gives us a valuable account. Physical geography of Britain. A glance at the map shows that Britain is divided by nature into two well-marked portions. The north and west are rugged and mountainous; the south and east undulating and fertile. Again, in consequence of the position of the hills, most of the rain falls in the north and west; the south and east are comparatively dry. In the north and west the rivers are for the most part short and rapid; in the south and east they are long, deep, and navigable. The result is that the east and south are districts which are fertile and easily cultivated, while those in the north and west are, for the most part, best suited for pasturage or mining. It is only within the last hundred and fifty years, since coal has been used instead of wood for the purpose of smelting iron and also for driving machinery, that the coal and iron of the north and west has been turned to much account, so that during by far the greater part of our history the south and east have been rich, the north and west poor. Influence of the These circumstances have had the greatest effect upon our history. The strongest race has always kept the fertile lands, while the weaker races have had to be content with the physical geo- mountainous districts and poorer soils. The south, island on the too, could most easily trade with Europe, and that increased the civilization of its inhabitants. Nowadays graphy of the history. |