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W-m^m
LANGUAGE AND CONQUEST:
RETROSPECT AND A FORECAST,
JOHN READE.
FROM THE
TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA.
VOLUME I.. SECTION II., 1883.
MONTREAL;
DAWSON BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
«
1883.
/
/
L^m2^i^j'
Section II., 1882.
[ 17 ]
Trans. Roy. See. Canada.
Lanyuagv and Conquest. — A Rdrosj^icct and a Furccust.
By John Rkade.
(RofKl May 27, 1882.)
[Abstract.]
M,
Real, permanent conquest is something more than that of mere physical force ; and,
though it may be initiated by rhe rough methods of war, is confirmed and perpetuated by
moral agencies. It is a conquest of mind by mind, a conquest in which the victor is a
teacher and the vanf|uished a learner. It is, in fact, a conquest of civilization. * Among the
evidences of this kind of conquest, by which a peojile's ideas of politics, of ethics and of
religion are gradually bixt surely changed, that of language holds a prominent place. For
its language is the expression of a nation's mind and character, and comprises its spiritual
and intellectual history.
As articulate speech, whether an inborn gift or develoi>ed as the need for it arose in
the course of ages, is that faculty whi
re ]ihysi<|ue we would hesitate in pronouncing a det : m. It is by this criterion
we know that the Bas(iue, th ^ Finn or the Magyar, however closely he may resemble his
n.eighbor, in Spain. Livonia or Hungary, is nevertheless of a totally different stock.
* " It is intellect affor all tl-.iit coiniiicrs, not ttio strontith of a man's arm." — Thooiloro Parkor, quoted in
AVinchull's I'rtiuUimiks, ijp. 157, 158.
Sec. II., 1882. 3
18
lOlIN JtKADK ON liANdUAflK AND ('ON(iUKST.
I
Canon Fiiriar nays that, so small has boon iho importance of tho AUophylian races, as
contrilmtors to tho snm of huniim prod Aryans lived
among those who spoke thorn. It may be that tho shock and attrition of rival tongues
have so transformed them that tho ancestors of those who speak them to-day would no
longer recognize thomplieated grammar."
* I am not unaware that tliero is a school of pliiloloj;ist.s who maintain tliat in prcliistorii; times lansuacc*,
instead of lioin^ fewer, were, nuiro. nunieroiis, tlian at [irowMt. Tlie trailitienal notion of one original liuniansix^ueli
lias been ahno.st nnivensally j,'ivon up Iiy men of science. I'aley, in the preface to liis " Ilcsiod," ijuis MhWh tlio
view of (^irly multiplied lan}.'iia<.'e8; "If one lancunjie had lieeii :_'iven to man at first, wti cannot ex|ilain tlio
phenomenon of frreat families of !anj,'na;;es possessin;.' liardly any (if any ) common eleniiints. But we can easily
explain this by sujiposinLr tlieni to liave lie Ml separate and wliolly indep(^iident creations of the lin.miistii;
genius or faculty of man, conse(pient on a distant and linal dis|Kwsion of tlie first families." liiil even tliis view
would not render lio|ieless tlio .searcli after some essential homl of imion between an Aryan or Semitic toii;j;iie and
some unit or chister of tlie so-called .Mlophylian langnajies wliich in limes far remote had strayettcr .specimen of the highest flights of Chinese
inspiration than that beautiful poem, Tennyson's " Dream of Fair Women." Can it bo said
that such a language, whose productions are models for tho literary classes of half the
world, a language which for over two millenniums has been the mother speech of states-
men, poets, orators, inventors, warriors, merchants, manufa.'turers, and whose fame though it
may not have reached as far west as the " Isles of the Gentiles," is a household word to
.'■)00,Onn,000 of men, can have had an insignificant share in the enlightenment of tho world ?
To tL se who spoke it, oven, we owe some of our most important inventions, arts and in-
dustries, some of tliem tho very mainspring of modern progress. Explorers have been
busy during the last .>entury among the ruins of Babylon, of the Nile lands, of Asia Minor,
of Greece, of Italy, of the vanished races of our own continent. If China, too, were only
known by its remains, archa!ologists would, probably, be equally interested in it. But,
having survived every empire of both hemispheres, it lacks the charm we attach to what is
dead. " He whowould realize by analogy," says that wonderful genius of strange experiences,
W . G. Palgrave, " what Egypt was in her earlier bettor days, before Hyksos or Persian,
Greek or lloman, Arab or Turk, had dwarfed her down to their own lesjor stature, let him
visit Canton.* * * There he may study the results of a government based on reverence, on
guarded rar.k, on respected age ; of a priesthood kept within its proper limits of ceremonial
observance and rational rites, * * * of administrative wisdom wisely limiting itself to the
good order, suiTiciency and happiness of man's actual life.* * * Doubtless, there is much
that China might advantageously learn from Europe ; but Europe, too, unquiet, disintegrat-
ing Europe, might, with, at least equal advantage, take more than one lesson from Cathay."
Whatever may be said to the contrary, moreover, the power of China is by no moans on the
wane, and there-conquest of Kuldja, the annexation of the Panthays, the awe with which
the soverei-nis of Pekin are regarded even in Nepaul, show that neither is the past forgot-
/
20
.lOIIX IlKADK ON r.ANfiUAfJK AND C()N(iUKST.
f.'ii nor (uv its friwlilioiis niifiMt. Now tliat the ajjo ol" railway consi ruction has boi-uii in
a rcirion where labour is so chciii), ere lony- the millions ol Chinn may h' at the gates of
Europeas they 'nave already roar he.l the (iolden (!ale of America, ami, when (hey be-in to
swarm in force, who shall keep them back ^ lnder new .onditions tlm story of Attila may
be rep,.,itedan(l. for -iood or ill, I'hirope and Asia as well as Asia and America, may bo brought
into indnstrial rivalry. lii^lbre such an inroad the tents of Shem and .Taphet'h's eidarovd
bordcrH could m.t long hold out. And that this (.tfusion from ovcr-erowdcd China must
eventually take phie.' is as certain as that a vessel filled beyond its capacity must over-
How. In what way th(! event will modify the races and th(! civilization of the future it is
not easy to say. but if we rei,'ard it as even remotely possible, it surely ought to induce the
scholars and suran/simd statesmen of the Aryan West to study, more than they have hitherto
done, the history, the languao-e andthe capabilities of that vast host of humanity of whoso
destined invasion the i)ioneers are already at our doors.
In considering the concjuests of Ih." other Allophylian tongues of Asia, we have to
deal with triumphs based on forcible intrusion rather than on moral sway. Some cf them
have, however, been no strangers to a literary culture of a comparatively high rank. But,
except in rar.' instanws of self-abnegation, where scholars, "with nothing to tempt them
but the love of truth, hav.' turned aside from the Hesperian Ciardens of Aryan Philology
into the apparently barren iields of Allophylian research," as yet little has been done
towards the formation of a just estimate of their importance. When Dr. Leyden, assisted
by William Erskin.-, translated from the .Taghatai Turki the " Memoirs of Mohammed
Baber," Lord .Tellrey wrote that the strongest impre.s.sion which th(^ [)erusal of the work
left on the mind, besides that of th.- boundles.sness of authentic history, was that of the
uselessness of all history that did not relate to our own fraternity of nations. That opinion
still largely prevails. It has required all the learning, eloquence and enthusiasm of Max
Miiller, and now and then a little pardonable exaggeration, to persuade his adoptive
compatriots that the treasures of even San.scrit literature are really worth examination.
The languages of Coroa. .Tai)aii. * Burmah and Siam, are cognate to the Chinese, though
dilfering from it in important respects. The Bali, a sacred dialect, is interesting from Tts
alhnities to Sanscrit, as well as Chinese. The Prakrit of the .Tninas aiul the^.Tavanese
Kawi are also sacred daughters of the Sanscrit. A strugiile for t he mastery is now going on
among the lauiiuages of the two great Indian peninsulas. Some have already retired
baflled from the unequal contest, while others are und(M-going metamorphosis from their
conta.t with European tongues, f The researches of Von Hammer, l':uropieus. Vambery,
and other writers, have shown that the Turanian or Altayan group is not luiworthy of
careful and respectful .study. The language of the Osmanli Tiu'ks is described as soft,
harmonious and llexible, and its rules of grammar are simple and rational. It is, indeed,
* Tho litoratiire. of .lapaii is copi.ms, .U^aliiin witli history, piM.try.iliiiiiia. tlH'dldtry.otliics.soiimce.iirl, iiiiliislry
nnil otiiiiiotte. Klnimnitc, iiiu'iitarics Imve liccu roinposcd l)y tln^ iiicii (irioltor.s .,ii the iiiest iiiipnrtiiiit clasHics,
and treatises ,m frnumnar and pldloloL'y are niiiiiernii.-i. Tlio ('hr:m,i,llininim, a. iiiently niafiaziiuMuililislifd at
Yolccihaiiia. "Inr .lai>ai) and tlie liir Ka.st ", is edited witli nnicli alillity and snppllesKntrli.sli readers willi valnahle
infdrinatinn as U> Uh: lilo, htcratnre and t-'ciieml iinvrcss cftlio Enijiire. Tlie a'.'cnt in Canada is tli(^ Kcv. \V. II.
AVithrdW, ]).])., Tcmmtn.
t Accnrdin.L' t.ia recent lu^nsns. lli(^ fullnwinjr lan<_'iia'.'i's are sp.,l: snporiov li> tlios,- who use il. lMiiiii(t ami Hunyariiui
hiivo coiisidcrabl" litoratmoH, and aro w.'ll adaplod Tor poetry. The ItaMqnc, vhich. not
merely in Kurope, but in the entire ensf,.rn li.'iuiNph.Te, i^ a speech apart from all around
it, has a i)eeuliar inlereHt lor us IVom its alhuilies witii some of the native ton-jups of this
.ontinont. Of tho8«>, Mr. Stronpr, in hin "North .\ni.-rieans „f Antiquity," says that tho
number is estimated at thirteen hundred, and Mr. Hubert Humroft, in his " Native liaees
ol the racific States," has ehissilied six luuidred distinon sets down one-third of the Maya tongu.' as pure (Ireek ! That which is now
kuovvn as the Ilihua, and is in use among the Indians of Peru, is important on account of
the civilization of which it was once the medium, as is also, for a like reason, the Nahua
or Aztec. Of three important iwrthorn languages, Canadian clergynu'u have recently
p\iblished original dictionaries or revised editions of old ones. The.se are the Otchipwe
(or Qjibway) Dictionary (with grammar) of 15ishop Baraga, published in an improved form
by Father Lacombe, the Dictionary (with grammar) of the Cn>e language, by the same
authors, ami the Abl)e Cuoq's "J.exique de la langU(> in>qu()i.se." The value rf these
works to tho philologist, and to those engaged in mission work on Canadian territc.y, can
hardly be ovev-estimated. Professor Campbell, of Montreal, has prepared a comparative
vocabulary of American Indian and East-Asian tongues and dialects, which is printed as
an appendix to his interesting l.>(lure on the •' Aborigine's of Canada." Dr. G. M. Daw.son's
vocabulary of the Ilaida Indians of the Prince Charlotte Islands is another valuable contri-
bution to our store of knowledge. He suggests that the syllable // or hi, prefixed to many
words, probably in most cases represents the article. It occurs to me that it might also
indicate some kinship with the languages of Mexico, of which this literal combiuation is a
marked f.>ature. A tradition has long prevailed (see Bartlett's " Personal Narrative, etc.",
Vol. II., J). 283,) that the Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans migrated from the north to the
valley of Mexico, and made three princii)al halts on their way thither. On this point, Mr.
liartlett says that " no analogy has as yet b(!(>n traced between the language of the old
Mexicans and any tribe at the north in the district from which they are supposed to have
come; nor, in any of the relics, or ornaments or works of art, do we observe a resemblance
between them." Now, as will be seen by Dr. G. M. Dawson's ..count of the Kaida
Indians, and by the accompanying illustrations, they surpass all the other northern tribes
in "construction, carving and other forms of handiwork," and he entertains a hope that
they may be enlisted in other and more prolitable forms of industry. If, then, the
feature of their language just mentioned can 1)e proved to indicate a relationship with
that of the Aztecs, theiv would .ertainly l)o some; ground for the belief that they are a
fragment of the original northern stock from which, according to so many writers, the
conquering Mexicans were deriA^ed.
Were any of the American languages adapted to the needs of a higher civilization, or,
had not the Spaniards in the loth and lOth centuries interrupted the spontaneous advance
of the aboriginal empires in the paths of progress, might they, unaided, have reached a
22
.'OII\ RKADi; o.V LAN'(iirAi>ri.lri,n,ljK,w(M'li,m l>n,,r!
T()-c|liy ««■ livf; (n.lii,,ITo« \V.MllV,llls(.
This Hlii.l,, viisl Hull.l i> 1,11' ILMipilliliro,
When' nil ilml niuvfs iihimI s,. liid frmn \mv.
Thillicr all Icml, n,s ij wi'h, hnmkf, niul .stivniiis
l''lii\\ li, lliosi.a, IhcifuiiivcrNal pjal.
What lias Imtm Ik iio iiii,r(i; wlml is toilay
Ti^-iiinrvow « ill Ik. mm: Tin. -raven aio fiill
ir great continent.
The Semitic Family.
About 2000 B.C., the first conquest of which monumental hii-tory informs us, was made
by a Semitic over a Turanian tongue. The Accadians. who inhabited tho valley of tho
Euphrates, had made considerable progress in <-ivili/ation, had a literature of their own,
and compiiscd adroit workers in various arts and industries. To them (as already hinted)
we arc, in all likelihood, indebted, indirectly, for our alphabet. But, having imparted
valuable knowledge to their Semite eoiujuerors, the Accadians adopted the language of the
latter and became i)ractically a Semitic p;'ople. It is a curious evidence of the vitality of
language, and of the strong but often unseen links which unite "all nations that on earth
do dwell," and the i)ast with the present, that a word which is familiar to every Christian
child, a word which, in its Hellenistic form and moaning, may have been hallowed bv our
Saviour's us(>, a word which ^lohammcd said he was taught to rt'peat by the Angel ( Jabriel,
a word which, through successive ag.-s, has been associated with all that is holiest, most
hopeful, most consoling, {)y .T(>ws, by Christians, and by Mohammedans, tho word "Amen,"
was, in its original form, (>mployed millenniums ago by those ancient Acoadian scribes, the
recovery of whosi' compositions was one of th(> proudest rewards of modern exploration.
Of the literature whicji sprang from the united intellectual resources of tho two distinct
races thus ])rouglit into contact, the late Creorge Smith, of the British Museum, and his
fellow- workers and successors in Babylonian research, have deciphered some of the most
important remains. Among them are a hymn to Samas (Sh(>mesh, or tho Sun), and the
Chaldean account of the D^'luge, included among what are called " the Izdhubar Legends."
The Babylonians and Assyrians have a peculiar interest for Christendom from their connec-
tion with the history of the Israelites and Jews in the Old Testament ; and tho Ser^Uic
group of races to which thoy belong, is too well known to need any particular description.
With those races the languiiges of the group do not clearly correspond, some of tho peoples
using Semitic tongues being assigned by some philologists to uou-Semitic races. Ou that
/ /
JOHN HEAJJl': ON LAN(irA(il<] AND CONQUEST.
point, liowcvci', if would tiiko mo, <-oo loii^' ngtli. SnlRcn it to
say thai (if we cx't'pt llio I'lidMiician an'l I'luiir in tlio days of Tyrian and Cartlian'iniau
coloniziniv enterprise, the Aral)ic. duriui^' the domination of the Caliphs, and the Hebrew, in
the wake of the Jew isli wanderiniis) the Somitie hinguagos liave l)ecn seldom found far
away from the limits of their aneient cradle-land. Yet of no H'roup of toni^'ues have the
conquests been more splendid or more enduring, if we have regard to the infhien<'e of their
literatures on the nations of the world. As an Aryan was destined to bo the religious teacher
of countless myriads of tlie races of iartlier Asia, so from the tents of 8hem was to spread
the light that wa,s to liahien the gentiles of the west. Palestine is the Holy Land to the
proud civilizations that arose on tiie ruins of ]{ome, Rome itself put u Jewish fisherman
in the high place of its haughty Ctesars. Ht>l)rew, which (Jreek and lioman scholars did
not think worth the troulth' of learning, became the Holy Tongue, a "sacred and origiiud
lami'uaue." occupying a serene heiglif l)y itself, apart from any vulgar speech (though (Ireek,
too, was allowed to sliare in its sanctiiication), and endowed with graces and privileu'es of
which no other lanuuaii'c could boast. Though the Jews are strangers in all lands, and their
oii.y lionie is aniong strangers, tlu'ir sacred books are the most valued literature, the most
prized heritage of Christendom, X(ir does their infhuMice end there. The Old Testament
was the foster-mother of Mohammedanism as well. To the followers of the Trophot, as to
us, Abraham is the father of the faithful ; and there is not a community of either creed
from Yokohama to San Francisco, or from Siberia to tlie Cape of <,rood Hope, whose belief
and worship, and even wliose common thouuhis and speech do not bear some impress of
Judaism. The Hebrew language has not penetrated and interfused other languages, like
the Latin and Greek, but much of the peculiar plu'useolouy which was familiar to Moses,
to David, to Isaiah ami lo Paul may l)e heard to-day in every domestic gathering, in almost
every thoroughiiU(! in the civilized world. Every re('urring Seventh Day recalls th(! law
of IMoses and on the most momentous occasions in our lives: at the font, at the marriage
altar, at th(> death-l)ed. at the gi.'.ve-side, we hear words of comfort, of warning, of sympa-
thy which were common lo the Jewish ])eople when as yet the ulory had not departed
from Israel. What conquest could l)e mor.' marked, more permanent than that? And yet
that is not all f Did not Jewi.^h modes of thought modify those of Phoenicia, of Eii'ypt, of
G-reeee, of Persia, of Rome, — beiiiii'. p.'rhaps. modified themselves in turn ! Vor the com-
munication of nation with ni'tion was undoul)U'dly less exceptional in ancient tinu's tlian
it was once the fashion to b.'lieve. Josephus says that the A/'rca. Clirrsonesiis oi India
was the destination of Solomon's fleet and. whether or no, ii is reasonable to believe that
the Jews, espe/ially after th' exile, were no strangers to the life and movement of the
civilized world from the Indus to liie i'illais of Hercules.
That th(* PhoMiicians. near neighbors to the Jews, and speaking almost the same
tongue, made important contributions to civilization, it is m^edless to say ; but, like those
who si'ive their own l)lood to inviu'orate others, their labours and victories only went to
build up the un'ater power of Kunie. The mistress ol ihe world never forgave her rival,
thouu'h site relented so far as to build a second Carthagt' ; but Greece never ceased to
remember the " letters Cadmus iiave " Dr. Arnold has emphasizi'd the providential close
of the triple conllict. Still, even if we uive our sympathies to the victor wiu) was to hand
down the gains of his triunipli loourselve,-. wee aiiiiiil but rci; ret that those who conferred on
Europe the glorious Ijoou of letters should have left so few Irace^i of the language to which
A TJKTiJOSPHCT AND A FOKIX-'AST.
23
tlio (li.scovcry or wise iiditplalioii wiis first iii)])li('«l. Br. Davis, in his lutorostinn' work on
" Carthas'n and its Jii'iuains," o'ivcs an eni^'ravinn' of a Tunic insrriplion round at I'ula, in
Sardinia, the lettors of whiih ri'soniblti those of tin^ Ik'bn'W ali)habi't, and iho words ot
"which (as inlci'pi'cti'tcd) arc also Hebrew, 'i'hc first part uf the. Cm-pus Inscrijitlonum
Scmiliniriim of the Frencli Acadeniie des Inscrii)1ions, tluit wlii<'li relates to rhumician and
I'unic inscriptions, has recently l)c(ni ]>ul)lislied. [t contains lifty I'luenician inscriptions,
of which forty were dis<'overed in ('\'prus. Some of them are l)ilingual — (Ireck and
rhd'uician — and the resomblainx! of the latter to I[el)ro\v is closo throughout, nudiing it
certain that, whatever Wiis their race, the Tluenicians were Semites and almost Israelites
in language. * If we include in the estimate the career of both motherland and colonies,
tho sway of the I'hd'nicians endured for at least lilteeii hundred years. They are . specially
interesting to lis a^ to them, of all the nations of anticpiity, the world was most iiulebtod
Ibr what it knew of that other world that lay i).'yond the Pillars of Hercules. Whether
they over touched these shores is d<)ul)lful, though M. Paul (rall'arel has collected no
slender evidence in favour of mat hypothesis. That they had dealings with the tribes on
the (rold Coast, would appear from the statement of Herodotus (Herod IV'., 196.)
"Whatever side W(^ take in the controvei'sy as to the clnssilication of Wv^ ancient
Egyptian language,t there is no branch of study more interestinu' or variously fruitful than
that whicli ('(nicerns the early dwellers on the banks of tho Nile. In any estimate of tho
causes wliicb contributed to human proii'ress. they must have a leading plac(\ Whether,
as some argue, to them ])i'l()ngs primarily the ci'cdit for tlie moral and intelle<'tual
coii(|U(^sts of th(» Israelites, we cannot \'ei!ture to allirm. but they undoubtedly had )io
small share in the training of the (J-reeks for the part they were to play, in turn, as teachers
of mankind. How far their language, as an instrument for the commirnication of thought,
contril)utcd to that result, cannot l)e stated with coniideuoe ; but in that respect they were
*Tlu( I'imic scene, in tlie I'lrnnlni of I'lunturi ( .Vet. V., Si'. I) Ims never lieon satisfaetcirily deeipUereil biU thero
is no iloiilit of the Idnslii]) of tlie liuiL'nntre witli Ilelirow.
t Some jihilolou'ist.s lonU n|ion lll(^ aneient Kiryptiaii a.s i-epi-esentiiitr a .stiiL'e of transition fi-oni Turanian to
Scniitie. 51. Alfreil Manry eonsiders it allie.l to tlio Merlmr wliose domain once, extended even to the Canary
Isle.s. At tlie same time lie, linds in it. as in all t!ie lan!;iia;.ies of the Kastern side of .\friea, traces of Semitic
inlliienee. (fitiliiiiiioim Knn.'i nj'tli, l-Mrlh. \>p. ."iii, 'u.] ('liam|iollioii-Fi>;eae says that the aneieiit lyiiyptian, resem-
bled in .stature, |ihysio«.'niimy and hair the best constituted nations of Kuroiie and Western Asia, onl ditl'ering
from tlieni in complexion, which was tanned by the climated In this view lie. is snpporteil liy his illustrious
brother. (/■,';/;//(/. .liici. /(//., p. I'T. ) "'anon li.iw liiismi ex press, 's t he follow iii'j: opinion as to the. Iv.'yiitian laii'_'uai;o:
" Allhonirh in Konie res[)eets it pl'i'seiits reseiiiblaiici-s to the class of toil:_'ues Unown as SiMiiilie, yet, in its main
characteristics, it stamU separate and apart, beiii;_' simpler and ruder than any known form of Semite siK^ech, and
having anali vies wliich eoiine.ct it on the one hand with Chineso and on the other with the clialects of Central
Africa." (Tin (Iri'/m i;/' A'k/io/i.'!, r,;rl I!., chap. :!.) I>r. ]!irch writiw as to tlie wliiMice and bow of Nilotic settle-
ment : ''Tbe. race c'f men by whom the, N'alley of the .Nile was tenantid was considered in their leu'ends to havo
been created by the iiods out of clay ; a Icu'eiid iloscly resenibliu'.t th(^ Mosaic account of the creation of man.
Modern researches have. liowcAcr. not as yet linally determined if idvanciu',' from Western Asia Ihey entered tho
alluvial land brinuinj.' with them an already develoinKl civilization ; or if ascimilini; from lOthioiiia they followed
th(^ course of the river to its mouth ; or if they wcri^ aborii.'ines, the date of whose aplK'aranci^ is b(\yiind the kuow-
ledsxe of man and the scan of science. On the earliest luoiuimi'iils they appear as a red or dusky race, with features
ncilhef entirely CaiU'asian nor N'i^rritie, more re.semblint; at th.e earliest ni-'o the iMiropean, at the middle. [KM'iod of
the ICmpire the Niu'ritic races or the oll'spriliK ot'a mixed population, and at the most llourishin;,' piii'iod of their
I'lmpire. the sallow lint iiiid reliiied ty|ie of the Semitic families of mankind." {Ij/iijil, in llie series of '' .\ncii'nt
History from the Jlonumeiits. "j
See. 11., 18SL'. 4.
r
26
JOJIN REA!)!'] ON LANGUAGE AND CONQUEST.
far l<>ss liappil)' ondowcd than Iho GviM'ks. To attonipt niiy snn'oy of the fharactor and
work of Esxyptiaii civilization would rcfinirc a paptT (rather a li})riiry, indeed) to itst'll".
Ainoni>' the moral eonqncsts of the Semitic lanuuaii'es, mention lias already been made
of Arabic. In thi.s (\a.se, as in that of Hebrew, those who were brought beneath its .sway
were, in the main, aileeted by the eniorcement of new ideas, not by the adoption of a new
laniruit!i-e. There were exception.s, indeed, as wilh the Tnrks, North Ai'riciins and others,
who made the lani^i'uage, as well as the laith, of the victor.s their own. l)Ut in few, if any,
eases did the new langnage eiilirely, as in the eon(|uests of Jtome, di.splaee the old.
Generally ci.nlented with stagnancy, the Arabs have proved that, when some grand
common impulse urges them to unwonted action, they can display an energy which
(Uirri(>s all before it. In the spread of their civilization, the sword went first, nrthles.sly
hewing a way for the enthusiasts, ;ind. when ihere was no mor(> to subdue, the pen
followed on a mission at once soothing and elevating. Duliois IJeymond thus describes
the course of Arab civilization in the diiy of its greatest energy : " "While beneath the sign of
the cross the night of barbarism had settled down on the western world, in the Eiist, under
the green standard of the I'rophet, an original form of civilization had been developed,
which not only preserved what had been won by the classical peoples in nialhematies,
astronomy and medicine, but even itself made no mean acquisitions in those sciences."
The stages through which they passed in attaining that result were remarkable. First,
they appear as rude warriors, ignorant and despising learning, only full of a faniitic and
sanguinary zeal. Not till the close of the tth century, did the leaders begin to show some
regard for culture. Then the Ommiades and Abbassides gathered to their courts the most
distinguished scholars of their time, and, uuth'r the glorious sceptre llaroun al Rasehid,
the contemporary of Charlemagne, literary merit, u'ct with an encouragement worthy of
the most fruitful day.s of ancient Greece. At that time, in both eiist and west, there
•seemed to be a sure promi.se of the revival of all that was best in thcohneitrning. and of a
new life for physical .science. The Arabs excelled in poetry and in ])rose that is akin to
it — tales marked by gorgeousness of imagination, und narrated with rare dramatic skill.
They also cultivated history Avith success and, indeed, as Sismondi says, had a passion for
every species of composition (exceiit epic poetry, comedy and traii'cdy) and such a desire to
leave no subject untouaiiish language, and a few words added to the vocabularies
of the other western nations, wilh the names of sonu' iImm-s. hills and towns in thellievian
peninsula, ihi-re is nothing left to remind the studeni of the great iniluence ome exerted
A EETROSPECT AND A 1'0111-;CAST.
27
in Europn by this ooiiquoring- rnoo. In Asia and Africa, on the other hand, though,
intellectually, the resultK of the Arab eonquest have b(>eii poor compared with what
innate capn.'ity and diligent cultivation have aided it to produce in Europe, its influences
have l)een real and lasting. *
TiiK AnvAN Lanouages.
The original home of the Aryans is supposed to have been somewhere near the sources
of the Oxus and .Taxartes. Of those who in far-oil" times parted from the parent stock,
some moved south-westward ; others, south-eastward. Of the latter, a portion proceeded
onward until they reached the I'unjab, from which they spread themselves, chielly as
Brahmas and liajputs, over India. The remainder of the eastward-moving band tuined
back westward, and became the ancestors of the Iranians and Persians. Of the early
Punjiilj settlements, the great literary memorial is the liig-Veda, the age of which is
unknown. It has been ascertained, however, that the A'edie religion had its followers
before the rise of Ikxddhism in the Gth century, B.C. In the early hymns the Aryans are
on the north-west frontier, jiast starting on their long journey (see "The Indian Empire,"
by Dr. AY. W. Hunter), but before Megasthenos visited the country at the end of the 4th
century, B.C., they had spread to the verge of the Crangetic Delta. The value to European
students of Sanskrit literatures has been fully set forth in Prof. Max Midler's recently
published and most interesting work ; " India : AVhat can it teach us ? " Some idea of the
wealth which its literature enshrines may be gathered from the following extract from
Mr. Edwin Arnold's, introduction to his translation into English verse of " A Book from the
Iliad of India : '' " There exist two colossal, two unparallelled epic poems in the sacred
language of India, which were not known to Europe even by name till Sir "William Jones
announced their existence ; and which, since his time, have been made public by frag-
ments, mere specimens, bearing to those vast treasures of Sanskrit literature such small
proportion as cabinet samples of ore have to the riches of a mine. Y those most remark-
able poems contain all the history of ancient India so far as it can be recovered, together
with such inexhausti])le details of its political, social and religious life, that the antique
Hindoo world stands epitomized in them. The Old Testament is not more interwoven
with the Jewish race, nor the Koran with the records and destinies of Islam, than are
these two Sanskrit poems with that unchanging and teeming population which Her
Majesty Queen Victoria rules as Empress of Hiiulostan. The stories, songs, l)allads,
histories and genealogies, the mrrsery tales and religious discourses, the art, the learning,
the creeds, the philosoi)hy, the moralities, the modes of thcaglit, the very phrases, sayings,
turns of expression and daily ideas of the Hindoo people are taken from those poems. * *
The value ascribed in Hindostan to those two little known epics has transcended all
literary st.".ndards established in the AVest." The truly historical character of the Veda is
proved by I'rof Max AliiUer through the identilication of the rivers mentioned in it (such
as the Kubha with the O-reel- Cophen, the modern Ca])ul). The religicm of the Indo-
Aryans was. according to Prut. Monier AVillianrs, a "creed based in a vague belief iu the
sovereignty of unseen natural forces," and lh(> aim of IJuddha in his mission Avas, he
believes, " to remove every merely sacerdotal doctrine from the national religion, to cut
away every useless excrescence, and to sweep away every corrupting incrustation."
As to the literature and religion of the Iranie or Persian branch of the Eastern Aryans,
i
/
28
JOIIX IJKADK OX LAXdUAGl': AND COX(iUEST.
I miist bo vory bviof. Zoroaster's iiamo, says Doan Stanloy, has always boon l)omid up
with tilt" b('i>iuiiini^s ol' sacred philosophy. I'rof. Moiiior "Williams nscribos to his sysiom
"a hiii'h spiritual charactt-r." It is, he says, "a simple relleitiou ol' the uatural workings,
couuter-workiiiL!' and iuti'r-workings of th(^ humnu miiul, in it'5 earuost strivings after
truth, in its imager gropings after more iight, in its strange hallucinations, ehildish
vagaries, foolish conceits and unaccountable inconsistencies." Of the Zendavesta, and the
religion which it represents, we are not, the same writer rightly urges, to measure its
importance by the small number of persons whose bible and creed they arc, but by their
connection with the history of those who were the lirst among the Aryans to achieve
empire, w^ho inherit (>d the glory of th(^ Assyrians and llabylonians, and "were for a time
the most conspicuous and remiirlcnble peo)il(\ on the surface of the ir mind on that of the combined Semite and western
Aryan world mny, rather, indt>ed, take precedence for the importiince of its issues to the
iniluence on those around it of any ot u ^- community of which we have any record. Apart
from its plac(^ in the history of religion and ])hilosophy, Persian has had a long and
honourable literary career.
When from the Asiatii^ we turn to the ]']uropean Aryans, we iind ourselves on more
familiar L;inund. I need not linger on the story of Greece and liome. The history of the
former, though so changeful, has bei^n, in a sense, continuous from its heroic age to the
present. In the long line of Greek speech and literature there hns been no break from
Homer to George rhran'^ia, * or even, as Canon Farrar .says, to Tricoupi. ''In no other
lanainage," continues the same writer, " which the world has ev"r licard ^vould it be
possible to find the woi'ks of writers separated from each other by such enormous epochs,
and yet equally intelligible to any one who has been traiuiHl in the classical ibrm of the
langviage." Greek poets and historians and pliilosophcrs still help to make scholars and
thinkers. Their productions have not only contributed to our greatest intellectual
successes, but are a living acting force in the work of modern civilization. Even what we
owe to Hebrew Greek aided us to win and make our own. and those benefits which Arab
culture conferred on mediicvnl Europe, tlie Arabs themselves had, in a great measure,
learned from the Greeks. It is in the treasures of the Greek language thnt we look for an
ac<(uuit of those " iuotiiutions and conceptions wliich lie at llie base of modern civilization,
and at the same time it contains the record and pi'cscnls the spectacle of precisely those
virtues in \vhich modern civilization is most delicicnt." (Farrar's " f rreek Syntax.") Nor
can Latin justly be called a dead langunge. Is not Komo, its central home, still the star
to which millicns of ("lirislcnddui limk for guidance, and, when that guidance comes,
vested in full autliority, is not the Latin language, the tongue of Cicero, of Tacitus, of
Jerome, of Auu'usi ine, t he medium of the direction or i^omniand ? Is it not still the language
of prayer and solemn rite to massijs of people of every clime '. Is it not also the common
* Willi liiiii ami l.aiiircus Cliali'mniidylas (ii'ianl .lelni Viiss clusi'S Ills list (irHir. (ircc^l; llislciriaiis of kimwii
ago. They lintli ui(.|e aCtcr tlin taUiiij.' nf Coin-liiMtliKiiild liy tlio Tiirk.s in 14.j3. ((ior. .loan. N'osnii Di Hist.
GriTi-h, 1. ii, c ii|>, .".II.)
A RETROSPECT AND A FORECAST.
29
tongue of the scholars of all lands ? Arc not tho choicest authors of Rome still read in
schools and colleges ? Is not our law in the main, and are not most of our legal terms,
Iloman or of Roman origin ? Are not most of our theological terms Latin, biit slightly
altered ? Can we easily converse on any si^bject for half an hour without the aid of words
whose primitives were used by Horace and CUcoro ? Are Ave not thus reminded everyday
of our lives that Rome, the conqueror, has survived in spirit and that we are still subject
to her inllueiicc? And the French, the Italians, tlu; Spanish, the Portuguese, the Rouma-
nians, do they not all speak languages which are simply modifications of Latin? "Would it
be so far wrong if we were to include the great literatures of those Neo-Latin nations
among Rome's proudest conquests, a conquest compared with which those of mere ambi-
tion are ephemeral and poor ? Arid when we recall how lionrau civilization, acting-
through those who received its immediate impress, was transmitted from race to race,
imp(;rceptibly subduing even its own fierce foes and conquerors, and fitting them for their
work in the new conditions that should arise, we see that in the development of com-
munities there is always the needed conservation of force, though its forms and methods
may change. * The shart? of Neo-Latin Christendom in the work of European civilization
has been no inconsiderable proportion. If we accept its languages and literatures as a sort
of autobiography, written without self-i^onsciousness, and recording from century to
century its thoughts and feelings and aims and characteristics, how full of suggestiveness
and meaning they become I If it were possible to come upon such a record, as an archteo-
logical " find ", revealing the existence and work of a long vanished race, what would be
thought of it ? Or even any national division of it? Or the works of anyone great
writer ? Or a single masterpiece ? "What questions woiild arise as to the life lived by
those who spoke such a speech, and used it to such purpose ? And yet to form a correct
judgment there would be mor(> needed than even the whole body of Neo-Latin literature.
To judge it fiiirly, that which preccdod it and that which accoinpiinied, acted on and was
acted on by it, would have to bi' taken into account. And the same is true of Teutonic
literature, including all its branches. There is no language, no literature, which stands
alone, and this fact is becoming more and more true as means of inter-communication
multiply and the intin'course of nations with each other increases. The movements of an
obscure horde, the llight of an enthusiast from his persecutors, were to change the face of
three continents and to bring about the Renaissance.
In what way Neo-Latin civilization affected that of the Teutons, and vice-versa, we are
constantly discovering. But how each < amc to be exactly and entirely what it is would
take long to tell. Tliey are both great facts, however, and among the proudest triumphs
* " li'wn li moil sons," so.y.s Littri', " do plus intorcssant ot do plus I'nu'tuoux epic ilo Cduiparor lo moyoii Ago
nvoc I'antiiiuitr, dont il iV'UW pour la languo, pour los institutions, pour los Boiontv.s, pour loa lottro.'i, pour los artH.
Sonl(*im-nt il faut 90 fairo uuo idt'o oxa('t(yuo d(( rantitiuito, par uno reli-
gion comninno dont lo cliot' uniipio. sicgoait i1 Homo, par dos institutions conimunos ilont la fcodalito otait la base,
ropn'scntaiont un corixs pilitiipio i|ui avait iilus do puissanoo ot plus f it, may be a near one.
Conclusion,
To snm up, what do w^e gather from our siirvey of the earth's languages is to the
contributions of the dilferent races to human progress ? AVe find that of th(> large hetero-
geneous group to which has been given th(^ name of Allophylian, only the Chinese and
tho.se akin to it have made any ajipreciablo contribution to civilization. Judged by the
numbi?r.s of those who us(^ it and its kindred dialects, the conquest of the Chinese tongue
is far in excess of that of the Soniitic and Aryan languages, taken together. Judged by its
literary outcome, and the inlluen ;e which it has exercised on mankind, its place among the
agents of human progress is an honourable one. But, when we look for the force which
has penetrated and translbrmed tlie millions of China and the surrounding nations, it is to
an Aryan, one of that Indo-]']uropean stock to which we pride ourselves on belonging, that
we iind them indebted, ij: Still there must have ixen some previous fitness in the soil or
the seed of truth, which Buddlrism in its purity certainly contains, would not have taken
root, and broua-ht forth such abundant fruit. Even before its introduction, the Chinese
had a native civilization, comi)arable, at least, with thai of ancient I'jgypt or Babylonia,
and, as has already been sliown. there is reason to believe that some of its benefits may, at
a remote period, have been imparted to the nations of the west. Its adaptability to Chinese
needs has been proved by its permanence, " Had the (^hinese," * * says Dr, Earrar,
never existed, "the life of man would have been the life of the savage, withoiit govern-
ment, without inventions, without literature, without art, absorbed in procuring the
means to satisfy his daily wants."
On the interesting question whether the native American civilization would have
gone on fructil'ying and sin-cadinii', until this continent had l)een placed on a par in intel-
lectual and moral ad\'ancement, sci(mc(\ literature, art, commerce and industry, with some
of the nations of Europe, it is useless to dwell. But we cannot help thinking with regiet
* " 111 tlio fu.sion of tlio two i'a<'o-s," says Mr. Morloy, '• * •■" '■ tlic ;.:ift of fiouiii.s \va.s flio coiiti-Miutioii of tli((
Celt." Aixain lui say.s: "Tlio pure Gaul— now ropresontcil liy tin Irish and Scotch Colts— was, at his licst, an
arti) was the. saii»'. artisi nature." (.1 l-'lrnt St,lcl( iij I'JujU.^h
LiliniUip', lip. S-'.),)
t Ivan Tour.L'Uonoir, whose death adds another to the many losses that lite:ature, science and art have recently .
RlL^tained.
+ Of course, if the elliirt in which some persons have oi!>ra'_'ed to trace lUiddha to a Scythian orif;in proV(Ml
(successful, we should have to modify our racial diiitriliution of credit for wlialover hooiiE that fifoat proachor of
morality conforrod on mankind. (Soo Tkr Iiuli'in hJiajiirr, of Iluntor, chap. V'll.)
HPHIP
A riKTROSI'ECT AND A FORE(.'AST.
31
that, at least, much more might havi; bocu made of it, if the (liKcovercvs and tho.se who
Huecoodt'd them laid l)0(>n adnated by more humane and rational aims.
Of the conqtxests of the Semitic languages, Christendom and the domain of the Prophet
are the standing testimonies. If we add the lYom i^oO to 3S0 millions who profess Chris-
tianity to the 17") millions who obey th^ di('tat(,'s of the Koran, it must be acknowledged
that the vSemites have done their share in making the world what it is. A people's
langUiig'O contains the essence of its character and experience, and as the iSible is th(!
highest product of Hebrew thought and speech, and the Koran of the language and ideas
of the Arabs, these religions conquests may, in a certain sense, l)e set down as concjuests
of language. Duliois Iveyuiond also credits the Semites with the creation of modern
science: "The fearful earnestness of a religion which claimed for itself all knowledge
* * * imparted to humanity, in the lapse of centuries, that character of so))riety and
of profundity which certainly lit ted them Ix'tter for patient r"search than did the light-
hearted joy of life favored by the heathen religions.''
"We come lastly to ask what is the total of Aryan contribution to civilization and all
that it implies. It cannot be denied that the three great religions of "West Asia and
Euroi)e were the gift of the Semites. Tnit the question naturally occurs wdiether the Jews,
in thi> days of the Persian exile, may not have learned from Zoroastrian teachers some of
the great truths which they were (h'stined to impart to mankind. If Judaism be indebted
to the Zendavesta, then to the Aryans will belong the tilory of beinn' tlie sjnritual teachers
of almost the whole human rat'e. This is a jiroblem. however, which is not yet solved and
on which it would be vain to linu'er. "Without robbing the Semites of any of the honour
which has long beeji ascribed to them, the Aryans have had a share in the work of civiliza-
lion which need fear no comparison with that of all the rest of mankind, hi the East
Sakyamuni, " of Idameh'ss life,'' the " linished model of all the virtues," who holds a place in
the lalendar of the Roman Catholic Church as St. Josaphat, has been the spiritual teacher
of niort' thiin a third of the human race. Even if we leave his work oxit of the list of
Aryan conquests, there is still enough left to establish the claim of the Aryans to the first
rank among the benefactors of mankind. Th*; career of Greece alone may be set (religion
apart) against all the achievements of the Si'mitic or " Allophylian" races. TheuKome, in
turn, laid the solid foundations of that modern civilization in which Teutons and Celts and
Neo-Latins were to be fellow-workers, and in which the Slavonii' nations have begun to
have a part. All that Europe and America are to-day, and whatever of progress has been
madein Asiii, Africa, Au.stralia and Oceauica during the last three centuries maj' be included
in the Aryan conquest.
It remains to inquire very In'iefly into the share which each of the European groups of
tongues has had in the work of civilization. To pronounce on the relative importance of
the great liti'ratiu'es of Europe would not bi' an easy task. Each of them has characteristic
merits, to which the value of the language as an instrument of thought contributes ; each
of them has its grandeur, it.s_ peculiar charms, whii'h only those, perhaps, "to the manner
born " can thoroughly appreciate. To every one who is normally constituted his own
language and its literature must be supremely dear. Hut that fact ought not to jirevent us
from weighing carefully and deciding honestly as to the special claims of which jxistice
demands the acknowledgment.*
* rorliaiis, no niord telling in.stancu cuu'd bu iiddiiccd ul' thu dillbronco that lies botwoon comiiK'st m tbc vulgar
32
JOHN UKADK oN LAN(iUAGH ANI> ('ON(iUK,ST.
Thfiv is one point, howovcr, ^vhi.■h may !..• .•xi.niiiir.l vvitliont .-vcn the Iniiptution (o
iiivi.lious pivlriviuv. 1 nu'ini li foun,l a still larjier jon'ontage of Te.utonic words in a number f th,., best Kn-lish writers. Th.-, proportion ran-ed fr.im seventy t,. ninety-six i«r ...mt. The best plan to
arrive at lertainty wouM be to count tho w.jrds in Skeat's "Distribution of wonts" in tho Kngh.sh language,
aci'ijrding to their source.^, which is in the Appciuti.x to his " Etymological Dictionary."
i^^mmfum
A RETHOSPKCT AND A FORECAST.
33
of pcopl.", and (hut its iis.', in daily spreading' in all quarters of tho globo. "I hold," says
rroUvssor Max Miillcr, "that lun^^Ul■iv is ni.'ant to h.- an inslnini.-nt of 42, aiul linally English, by
1,837,286,153. This forocaat is said to be based on the populations and known rate of increase
of tliose who speak tho languages specified. Tho very nature of things would, of course,
make my claim to accuracy on such a point out of the cjuestion, but tlu! reckoning may l)o
ac<'epted as indicating, with sonu! approach to probai>ilily, (he position of tlie languages
mentioned in the race for supreumcy at the close of a couple of centuries. * Wliattsa-rmay
happen in the old world, on this continent English and Spanish are ■>,.= ly destined to be
the ruling tongues. In the East they have also a foothold, with, in sv^uie pla.vs, Fren.'h,
Dutch and I'ortuguesi^ for rivals. But (heie the opportunities of English for as^^erting
predomhiance exceed those of the- other languages of Eu'-ope as much as they do in North
America. It has all Australia, it is thi; langui'go of tho Hawaiian kingdom, it has been
adopted by mr.ny educat.'d Hindoos for literary purpo.ses, and is every day extending its
conquests throuuh liindostan, not to speak of its advance in China, Japan, and many other
countries in tho eastern hemispliere. That French will be.onie more and more the ling-m
fmnva of continental Europe and the hither East may bo taken for granted, as there is no
rival likely to displact! it; and that it will retain its inlluence in North America tho
experience of the past gives a fair guarant(>e. Gei'mau and the ot her Teutonic tongues will
)<,ot surrender their heritage in Central and North-Western Europe, but there are no signs
at present of any great extension al)road. The destiny of the Slavonic grortp is an interest-
ing problem, but it is hardly lik.dy to do more than hold its own in the competition with
liuropeau civilization, (hough great literary triumphs may yet await it. That it may
become the rival oi English in Asia is possible, but not probable.
* A ioriu'nst wliicli ^ivcw to M'cstorn Europe and this rontinont (tho present '.omes of tho languages to which
It relates) a population of over two liillions and a linlf suggests serious iiuestions lor th(( economist, as well as tho
I>hilologist.
See. II., 1882. 5.
I