XL] THE RACES OF THE DANUBE. 219 



doubtful, however, whether the striking contrast 

 really exists to supply a fit subject for moralising. 

 It is far more probable that the name Slav is con- 

 nected with slovo, "a word," and means the "dis- 

 tinctly-speaking people " as contrasted with the 

 Njemetck, or " talkers of gibberish," by which polite 

 epithet the Slavic races have always distinguished 

 the Germans. This naive assumption, that it is our- 

 selves alone who talk intelligibly, while foreigners 

 babble a meaningless jargon, has been a very com- 

 mon one with uninstructed people, and " Njemetch " 

 is not the only national appellative that bears witness 

 to its prevalence. The epithet " Welsh," which the 

 Germans apply to the Italians, the Dutch to the 

 Belgians, and the English to the Kymry of Western 

 Britain, has precisely the same meaning ; and so had 

 the word " barbarian," by which the ancient inhabitant 

 of Hellas described indiscriminately all people who 

 did not speak Greek. 1 



It was about the middle of the fifth century that 

 the Slavonic race began to play a part in European, 

 history. Advancing from what is now Southern 

 Russia, in the rear of the Tataric hordes of Attila, 

 various Slavic tribes overran the provinces of Mcesia, 



1 The name "Wallach," by which the Germans designate the in- 

 habitants of Rumania, is the same word as " Welsh." 



