M. Bory de St. Vincent has so happily illustrated this division of the Caucasian
race, that I shall chiefly avail myself of his observations in respect to it. He
separates the Germanic family into two divisions, the Teutonic and Sclavonic.
1. “ The Teutonic variety is traced to the Hyrcinian forests, the Tyrolese
Alps, and the sources of the Sale. Following the Danube, which rises in their
country, they advanced eastwardly only into Austria, nor passed the southern
Alps; hut they spread towards the north, disdaining the rest of the Caucasian
race, and reached the sea coast, at first between the Elbe and the Rhine. These
were the people who, under the name of Cimbri, occupied the peninsula of Jutland
and the neighbouring islands; passing thence into Scandinavia, they became
the Sunones, who have since been called Goths.* Coasting the Baltic to the
estuary of the Niemen, they were the primitive stock of the Borussi, the ancestors
of those Prussians who are now, as it were, lost in the midst of the Sclavonic
tribes. Under the names of Saxons, Danes and Normans, they ravaged the Celtic
coasts, established themselves at the mouth of the Seine, and passing into the
British islands, drove the primitive Celts into the western parts of the country.
At a still later period the Teutonic tribes, under the name of Norwegians, peopled
the remote island of Iceland.”
The Teutonic language, adds this author, has become the root of the English,
Dutch, Danish and Swedish tongues.
To the preceding statement it may merely be added, that the Goths having
issued from Scandinavia in vast numbers, passed to the south, and harassed the
Roman provinces. In the second century they settled on the shores of the Palus
Maeotis, and thence possessed themselves of Dacia. They were called Ostrogoths
and Visigoths, the Eastern and Western Goths. Their subsequent military enterprises,
and especially the conquest and sack of Rome in the fifth century, are
familiar to all readers of history. The Vandals were also from the Gothic hive;
they emigrated with King Edric, settled for a time on the borders of the Rhine,
* The late Mr. Pinkerton has written an elaborate work to prove that the Scythians, Get* and
Goths were one people, who originated in Persia, and entered Europe by a northwestern route ; and
that the German nations, and even the Pelasgi of Greece, were all lineal descendants of this Asiatic
family. I leave these mooted points to the learned in national genealogy, and content myself with
the more reasonable exposition of the ingenious French writer, which, in the main, coincides with the
researches of Dr. Prichard. The latter author has established the fact that the Get® of the ancients
were not Goths,but Thracians; and that the domestic history of the Goths themselves establishes
their northern origin and German descent. See Pkichard, II, p. 162.—Pinkerton, Diss. on the
Goths, p. 14, 31, &c.
and subsequently ravaged a great part of Europe, and established a monarchy in
Spain. They crossed also into Africa, and took and occupied several of the
Roman provinces on that continent.
Austria and Hungary, (the ancient Pannonia,) and the adjoining states, are
at this time peopled by the lineal descendants of the Goths, whose harsh features
contrast strongly with those of the more polished nations of southern Europe.
2. The Sclavonic Variety. “ This second Germanic variety is composed of
men issuing probably from Mount Krapack, whence, turning to the south they
peopled Hungary, crossed the Danube, and pressed their migrations to the Adriatic
sea. In the north they followed the marshy track of the Vistula and Niemen.
Descending the Dneister towards the Black sea, they mingled with bands of
Tartars from the Scythian provinces, until becoming identified with them, a
mixed race was formed; the latter, assuming the name of Scythians, are celebrated
in history for their incursions on Persia on the one hand, and on the Roman
empire on the other.”*
Under this denomination are also embraced the Russians, Poles, Lithuanians
and part of the Bohemians and Hungarians. They are for the most part characterised
by darker hair and complexion than the Teutonic tribes. The Tartars
who conquered Russia in the twelfth century under the renowned Zenghis Khan,
retained their dominion for more than two hundred years, and have left evident
traces of their sojourn both in the physical character and social institutions of the
Russians.f The people of this division of the Germanic family are brave and
enterprising, but generally rude and uncultivated; and the Russians, perhaps the
most polished branch, emerged from the deepest barbarism so lately as the reign
of Peter the Great.
3. THE CELTIC FAMILY.
This branch of the great Caucasian race, occupied at one period nearly all
western Europe. They extended from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, and from the
base of the Alps to the western islands of Britain. They bore the general name
of Celtic, and their continental territory was the “ Gallia Celtica ” of the Romans.
The long continued intercourse of these people with other and dissimilar
nations, has tended to obliterate their primitive characteristics, excepting in
certain parts of the extreme west of Europe. Thus they are yet numerous in
* L ’Homme, I, p. 132-136. t Klaproth, Trav. in Caucasus, p. 90.