Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael

14
Roman, the Frank, the Hun, and the Visigoth, be
mingled with that of the Celt in France, it is not
in larger proportion than that in which foreign
blood exists in Saxon England. And taking
the two races in Great Britain with their cognate
races on the continent of Europe, I do not see
any well-founded call upon the Celt to admit
the superiority of the Saxon. I would as soon
claim kindred with the genius of France as
with that of Holland. I would as soon claim
kindred with the intellect of France as with
that of Germany. I would as soon be the
countryman of Calvin as of Luther. I would
as soon claim kindred with a Pascal or a Mas-
sillon as with a Strauss or a Hegel. Celtic
France has done as much for literature and
science as Teutonic Austria. I would as soon
say brother to the ardent Celt of France as to
the cooler and less impulsive Teuton of Saxony
or Prussia. I would as soon claim kindred with
the brilliancy of the Irishman as with the solid
weight of a Dutchman or a German. And why
do we say this ? Is it for the purpose of meet-
ing the Anglo-Saxon with counter claims on the
part of the Celt similar to his ow^n ? Far from
it, but in order to show the fallacy and ab-
surdity of the whole doctrine of race in the ex-
treme to which it has been pushed, and to aid