The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLII, no. 251 new series, May 1917) — John Shaqi
The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLII, no. 251 new series, May 1917)Various
History
The Cornhill Magazine (vol. XLII, no. 251 new series, May 1917)
Various
England -- Periodicals; English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
To make that fellowship apparent, at a glance, at least from certain
points of view, I have devised the appended diagram. There you see
represented, as it were, the streams of the history of our two nations
from their farthest origins down to our own times. Please note the scale
of centuries. See both streams rising about eight or six centuries
before Christ in the same mountain—if I may say so figuratively—in the
same mountain of the Celtic race. They spring, as you see, from the same
source, and, though geographically divided, their waters remain a long
time of the same colour—green in my draught.
[Illustration: SYMBOLIC DRAUGHT ILLUSTRATING THE HISTORY OF
FRANCO-BRITISH RELATIONS.]
We have, on that point of their origins, very interesting and very
numerous testimonies, chiefly in the contemporary Greek and Roman
writers. Very striking in particular was the fellowship of ancient
Britons and Gauls with regard to religion. If you open one—I may say
any one—of our French history text-books, you will see that it begins
exactly as one of yours, with the same story, and pictures, of Druids,
priests, teachers, and judges—some of them bards; the same story of the
solemn gathering of the mistletoe verdant in winter on the bare branches
of oaks, symbol of the cardinal creed of the race: the immortality of
the soul. Caesar, who had a Druid among his best friends, observes that
the young Gauls who wanted to go deeper into the study of their religion
generally used to go over to Britain in order to graduate, if I may say
so, in this mysterious and lofty science.[1] It appears, therefore,
that, though the Celts had passed originally from Gaul into Britain, yet
Britain had become and remained the sanctuary of their common religion.
Note that nothing of the sort was to be found elsewhere. Here we have
characteristics of ancient Britain and ancient Gaul and of them alone.
Now observe that though this Celtic colour is to be later on—in fact much
later—modified by waters from other sources, yet it will never completely
disappear. The Celtic element remains visible to our day in our two
nations: you have your green Celtic fringe in Cornwall, Wales, part of
Scotland, and the greater part of Ireland;—we have something of the kind
in Brittany.
III.
During the first century B.C. a very big event took place which was to
stamp the whole of our ulterior history on this side of the Channel with
its principal character: I am referring to the Romanisation of Gaul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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