The couplet of Chrestien of Troyes about the Welsh:-
. . . Gallois sont tous, par nature,
Plus fous que betes en pasture -
is well known, and expresses the genuine verdict of the Latin mind on
the Celts. But the perceptive instinct of the Celt feels and
anticipates, though he has that in him which cuts him off from
command of the world of fact; he sees what is wanting to him well
enough; his mere eye is not less sharp, nay, it is sharper, than the
Latin's. He is a quick genius, checkmated for want of strenuousness
or else patience. The German has not the Latin's sharp precise
glance on the world of fact, and dexterous behaviour in it; he
fumbles with it much and long, but his honesty and patience give him
the rule of it in the long run,--a surer rule, some of us think, than
the Latin gets; still, his behaviour in it is not quick and
dexterous. The Englishman, in so far as he is German,--and he is
mainly German,--proceeds in the steady-going German fashion; if he
were all German he would proceed thus for ever without self-
consciousness or embarrassment; but, in so far as he is Celtic, he
has snatches of quick instinct which often make him feel he is
fumbling, show him visions of an easier, more dexterous behaviour,
disconcert him and fill him with misgiving.
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