History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised EditionDraper, John William
History
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised Edition
Draper, John William
Europe -- Civilization
But it should not be overlooked that such interesting deductions founded
on language, its vocabularies and grammar, must not be pressed too
closely. The state of civilization of the Indo-Germanic column, as thus
ascertained, must needs have been inferior to that of the centre from
which it issued forth. Such we observe to be the case in all migratory
movements. It is not the more intellectual or civilized portions of a
community which voluntarily participate therein, but those in whom the
physical and animal character predominates. There may be a very rough
offshoot from a very polished stock. Of course, the movement we are here
considering must have taken place at a period chronologically remote,
yet not so remote as might seem to be indicated by the state of
civilization of the invaders, used as an indication of the state of
civilization of the country from which they had come. In Asia, social
advancement, as far back as we can discover, has ever been very slow;
but, at the first moment that we encounter the Hindu race historically
or philologically, it is dealing with philosophical and theological
questions of the highest order, and settling, to its own satisfaction,
problems requiring a cultivated intellect even so much as to propose.
All this implies that in its social advancement there must have already
been consumed a very long period of time.
[Sidenote: Commingling of blood and of ideas.]
But what chiefly interests us is the relation which must have been
necessarily maintained between the intrusive people and those whom they
thus displaced, the commingling of the ideas of the one with those of
the other, arising from their commingling of blood. It is because of
this that we find coexisting in the pre-Hellenic times the sorcery of
the Celt and the polytheism of the Hindu. There can be no doubt that
many of the philosophical lineaments displayed by the early European
mythology are not due to indigenous thought, but were derived from an
Asiatic source.
[Sidenote: Climate-modification of Asiatic intruders.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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