SHEMITIC CIVILIZATION. 141 



the firm trammels of the Shen itic spirit. 

 This is so true that Jews and Mahometans 

 have nothing but aversion for this religion, 

 the sister of their own; but which, in the 

 hands of another race, has clothed itself with 

 exquisite poetry, the enchanting adornment 

 of romantic legends. Beings, gentle, sensi- 

 tive, and imaginative, such as the author of 

 The Imitation of Chris t, such as the mystics of 

 the middle ages, such as the saints in general, 

 have professed a religion proceeding in truth 

 from the Shemitic mind, but transformed in 

 all its parts, by the genius of modern na- 

 tions, especially by the Celtic and Germanic 

 races. That depth of sentiment, that tender 

 melancholy, found in the religion of a 

 Francis of Assisi, of a Era Angelico, were 

 every way opposed to Shemitic genius, 

 essentially hard and dry. 



As for the future, gentlemen, I foresee, 

 more and more, the triumph of Indo-Euro- 

 pean genius. From the sixteenth century, 

 one great fact, till then doubtful, continues 

 to manifest itself with striking energy ; it 



