EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST 



and supplant one another. There is nothing 

 that is mysterious or metaphysical in the process ; 

 it is purely a matter of practical convenience. 

 In the long run the actions of man are deter- 

 mined by what we may call the " law of least 

 effort : " the easiest way of doing things is the 

 one which, sooner or later, is sure to be adopted ; 

 and to this general law the myriad little actions 

 involved in speech form no exception. 



Carrying back to ancient times the lessons we 

 have learned from the career of Latin, we find 

 that the facts, so far as known, sustain our con- 

 clusion. Among the Semitic peoples there was 

 undoubtedly a time when all were of one blood 

 and one speech. No one doubts that Arabs, 

 Jews, and Syrians are as closely related by de- 

 scent as Germans, Swedes, and Englishmen. 

 The social condition of these Semitic races, 

 shortly before the historic period, is best repre- 

 sented by the wandering Arabs of the present 

 day. In this patriarchal stage of society there is 

 no such close political cohesion as there is among 

 nations of modern type, but there is frequent 

 intercourse for business purposes, and even 

 sometimes for purely literary objects, as in the 

 old competitions of bards at Mecca before the 

 time of Mohammed ; and this intercourse has 

 sufficed to preserve the main features of the lan- 

 guage. In early times there was sufficient com- 

 munication between the patriarchal tribes of 

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