We trust we shall not give offence to such of our readers as wear the
Celtic appearance, if we assume, as undisputed, the general superiority
of the Teutonic to the Celtic or Slavonic races in mental acquirements.
We believe that the German race are pre-eminent for their sense of order,
of law, and of social institutions; and whether they derive these
advantages from the east, whence their origin has now been satisfactorily
traced, or however they have attained them, we have only to reflect on
the civilization introduced by the Saxons into England--on the actual
state of the ancient Britons at present inhabiting Wales and the
Highlands--and on the terrible disorder and barbarism that reigns in
Ireland--to be thankful that the pure Celtic blood has not been allowed
to remain unmixed in these islands.
What, then, it will be asked, is the result of these speculations? Are we
to conclude that the races of men are essentially different, or that the
variations are attributable to the various degrees of moral cultivation
that each nation has received? And our answer is, that we are inclined to
believe the capacities for improvement of races, as of individuals, to
have been differently bestowed by nature; but that none are actually
incapable of culture. There is no land, however sterile, that the art of
man may not make to produce fruit; but the difficulty and expense of
tillage must be in proportion to the intrinsic richness or poverty of the
soil.
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