OUR ARYAN FOREFATHERS 



and inquire what we mean by saying that these 

 three peoples are in great part Keltic, we shall 

 find that a similar qualification is needed. Ob- 

 viously, we mean that they are Keltic in so far 

 as they are descended from people who formerly 

 spoke Keltic languages. Our knowledge of the 

 prehistoric career of the Kelts is too small to 

 admit of our meaning more than this. In just 

 the same way, when we say that Spaniards and 

 Englishmen and Russians are akin to each other 

 as being Aryans, we can only mean that they 

 are in great part descended from people who 

 spoke Aryan languages. 



There can be little doubt, however, that all 

 races which have long wandered and fought have 

 become composite to a degree past deciphering. 

 And, however mixed may have been the blood 

 of the Aryan-speaking invaders of Europe, it 

 remains undeniable that the possession of a com- 

 mon language by such great multitudes of peo- 

 ple implies a very long period of time, during 

 which their careers must have been moulded by 

 circumstances in common. It implies common 

 habits of thought and a common civilization, 

 such as it was. And this inference is fully con- 

 firmed by a comparative study of the myths and 

 superstitions, as well as of the primitive legal 

 ideas and social customs of the various parts of 

 the Indo-European world. For this reason I 

 think we are justified in speaking of the Aryan 



