of
Latin, Greek, German, Celtic, Slavonic, and Sanskrit from the
primitive idiom of the ancestors of the Aryan race. The evidence of
language would by itself be quite sufficient to establish the fact
that the Semitic nations descended from common ancestors, and
constitute what, in the science of language, may be called a distinct
race. But M. Renan was not satisfied with this single criterion of the
relationship of the Semitic tribes, and he has endeavoured to draw,
partly from his own observations, partly from the suggestions of other
scholars, such as Ewald and Lassen, a more complete portrait of the
Semitic man. This was no easy task. It was like drawing the portrait
of a whole family, omitting all that is peculiar to each individual
member, and yet preserving the features which, constitute the general
family likeness. The result has been what might be expected. Critics
most familiar with one or the other branch of the Semitic family have
each and all protested that they can see no likeness in the portrait.
It seems to some to contain features which it ought not to contain,
whereas others miss the very expression which appears to them most
striking.

The following is a short abstract of what M. Renan considers the
salient points in the Semitic character:

'Their character,' he says, 'is religious rather than political, and
the mainspring of their religion is the conception of the unity of
God. Their religious phraseology is simple, and free from mythological
elements. Their religious feelings are strong, exclusive, intolerant,
and sustained by a fervour which finds its peculiar expression in
prophetic visions. Compared to the Aryan nations, they are found
deficient in scientific and philosophical originality. Their poetry is
chiefly subjective or lyrical, and we look in vain among their poets
for excellence in epic and dramatic compositions. Painting and the
plastic arts have never arrived at a higher than the decorative stage.
Their political life has remained patriarchal and despotic, and their
inability to organise on a large scale has deprived them of the means
of military success. Perhaps the most general feature of their
character is a negative one,--their inability to perceive the general
and the abstract, whether in thought, language, religion, poetry, or
politics; and, on the other hand, a strong attraction towards the
individual and personal, which makes them monotheistic in religion,
lyrical in poetry,