224 Notes on the Evidence bearing
they appear to have had a purer, deeper feeling for the nature
around them, more communion with it, more sympathy with
it, alike in its softer and in its sterner aspects, than their
successors had, or than for long appeared in Saxon or Eng-
lish literature." He adds that this feeling for nature "was
shared in, if not by the Saxon, at least by the romantic and
impassioned Scandinavian."
This examination of the Evidence bearing upon British
Ethnology has made it evident that neither stature nor com-
plexion in themselves tell us whether a man is probably either
pre-Celtic, Celtic, or Teutonic; also that the Scandinavian
and the Anglo-Saxon branches of tho Teutonic family have
by no means contributed similar qualities to the making of
England.32 The relative proportions of the Celtic and Teu-
tonic elements cannot, of course, be ascertained with any
approximation to accuracy. Dr. Beddoe speaks of Mr. Grant
Allen's excellent little book on Anglo-Saxon Britain as giving
the fairest account that he has seen ; and Mr. Grant Allen
thinks it highly probable that not half the population of the
British Isles is really of Teutonic descent. Mr. Grant Allen,
however, appears to have written before the publication of
Mr. Seebohm's book, and consequently does not recognise so
much continuity between Roman and Saxon Britain as he
otherwise would probably have done. And this, of course,
implies that his estimate of the pre-Celtic and Celtic elements
is lower than it would otherwise have been. On the whole,
if we estimate the pre-Celtic, Celtic, and Scandinavian
elements combined as amounting to two-thirds, and the
united Angle, Saxon, and Jute element as one-third, the in-
fluence of the latter is more likely to have been over-estimated
than the reverse.
But this address is growing unduly long. I will therefore
only add, in conclusion, that if to Celtic or Celtiberian sources
we owe much of the beauty of our literature, and to Celt and
Scandinavian much of our energy, and of the fiery valour o
32 For a comparison of the literature of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandi-
navian see Mr. Metcalfe's book 'The Englishman and the Scandinavian,
London, 1880.