atives of that race in Europe. Their position
in the extreme west, even in the Highlands of Scotland and in Ireland,
shows this. As to the Iberians, the name itself is rather vague as that
of a people or a race; but as far as we know anything of the race which
Mr. Van Laun seems to have in view, _they_ were found in the west of
Europe by the invading Celts. The Basques are regarded by philologists
and ethnologists as the modern representatives of the "Iberians," if
that name must be used--at any rate of the prehistoric inhabitants of
Western Europe. Of this Mr. Van Laun himself seems to have an inkling,
for he says "they were possibly themselves an indigenous European race
driven back upon the Celts by the invading tribes which so persistently
trod upon their heels." He finds a confirmation of this supposition in
a curious etymological coincidence. In the Basque tongue _atzean_
signifies "behind," and _atzea_ "a foreigner." He accounts for this by
supposing that the Iberian, pushed hard by the invaders, made common
cause with the Celt, and that therefore the ever-encroaching Goth and
Frank were "the people behind him." But if his "Iberians" were an
indigenous European race, how could they be "driven back" upon the
Celts unless the latter had gone through and through them, and so
actually got before them, leaving the indigenous people between
them--the Celts--and the succeeding Indo-European invaders? The fact is
that Mr. Van Laun has begun so very far back that he is in deep water,
rather out of his depth--out of any one's depth indeed. For as to the
Basques, they are still an ethnological and philological puzzle. The
balance of probabilities, however, seems to be in favor of their being
the, or an, indigenous European race, not connected with the Aryan or
Indo-European races, against whom they, a small remnant, have managed
to hold their own, and preserve their individuality in language, law,
and customs for more than two thousand years. The first element, the
ground, so to speak, of the French nation, is, however, doubtless
Celtic; and as to how much of an intermingling there may have been
between them and the "Iberians," or the indigenous race represented by
the Basques, we do not know. Judging by the very remarkable
individuality of that strange people, their boldness, and their
disposition to keep themselves to themselves, the probabilities of any
very great intermingling between them and their conquerors are very
s