esents an almost subtropical appearance; the air is
mild and the whole region pleasant and fruitful. But with this
exception Brittany is a country of bleak shores and grey seas, barren
moorland and dreary horizons, such a land as legend loves, such a
region, cut off and isolated from the highways of humanity, as the
discarded genii of ancient faiths might seek as a last stronghold.

Regarding the origin of the race which peoples this secluded
peninsula there are no wide differences of opinion. If we take the
word 'Celt' as describing any branch of the many divergent races which
came under the influence of one particular type of culture, the true
originators of which were absorbed among the folk they governed and
instructed before the historic era, then the Bretons are 'Celts'
indeed, speaking the tongue known as 'Celtic' for want of a more
specific name, exhibiting marked signs of the possession of 'Celtic'
customs, and having those racial characteristics which the science of
anthropology until recently laid down as certain indications of
'Celtic' relationship--the short, round skull, swarthy complexion, and
blue or grey eyes.

It is to be borne in mind, however, that the title 'Celtic' is shared
by the Bretons with the fair or rufous Highlander of Scotland, the
dark Welshman, and the long-headed Irishman. But the Bretons exhibit
such special characteristics as would warrant the new anthropology in
labelling them the descendants of that 'Alpine' race which existed in
Central Europe in Neolithic times, and which, perhaps, possessed
distant Mongoloid affinities. This people spread into nearly all parts
of Europe, and later in some regions acquired Celtic speech and custom
from a Celtic aristocracy.

It is remarkable how completely this Celtic leaven--the true history
of which is lost in the depths of prehistoric darkness--succeeded in
impressing not only its language but its culture and spirit upon the
various peoples with whom it came into contact. To impose a special
type of civilization upon another race must always prove a task of
almost superhuman proportions. To compel the use of an alien tongue by
a conquered folk necessitates racial tact as well as strength of
purpose. But to secure the adoption of the racial _spirit_ by the
conquered, and adherence to it for centuries, so that men of widely
divergent origins shall all have the same point of view, the same mode
of thought, manner of address, aye, even the same