were by turns conquerors and conquered, are amongst us, many of them free and independent, still worshipping the heavenly bodies and the spirits of their ancestors as did their forefathers thousands of years ago.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ARYAN OR INDO-EUROPEAN NATIONS.

THOUSANDS of years ago there dwelt probably in Central Asia, scattered over the wide plains which spread east of the Caspian sea and north-west of Hindustan, a number of tribes united together by the same manners and customs, and speaking somewhat different dialects of a common tongue, in short, the offspring of one mother-nation.

These tribes consisted of two great branches, from one of which have come the races that have peopled nearly the whole of Europe; that is to say, the Celts (whom Julius Cæsar found in Britain when he invaded it); the Germans and Slavonians; the Greeks and Romans; while from the other branch the Medes, Persians and Hindus, with some lesser peoples in Asia, have sprung.

A learned German has called this the discovery of a new world.' And it is certainly a great revelation to us that the Hindu and the Icelander;

the Russian and the Italian; the Englishman and the Frenchman; are children whose forefathers lived in one home. A knowledge of this fact must aid the growth of kindlier feeling between man and man, and lessen the unreasoning dislike which we are apt to nurture against foreigners.

So true is it that ‘God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.'

Arya is a Sanskrit word, meaning noble, of a good family. It is believed to have come from the root ar, to plough, which is found in era, the Greek word for earth; earth meaning that which is eared or ploughed. We find the word so used in Tusser, an early English poet, who says, 'Such land as ye break up for barley to sow,

Two earths at the least, ere ye sow it, bestow.'

That is, plough it twice.

And in Isaiah xxx. 24,

we read of the oxen and the young asses that

ear the ground.' Aryan was the name given to the tillers of the soil and to householders, and the title by which the once famous Medes and Persians were proud to call themselves. We find King Darius styling himself an Arya of the Aryans. It became a general name for the race who obtained possession of the land, and survives in Iran, the modern native name of Persia and in other names of places; even, as some think, in Ireland, which is called Erin by the natives. The name Indo-European is sometimes used instead of Aryan, and it is a better name because it conveys a clearer idea of the races included therein.

We will now enquire more fully into the old life of this interesting people, first treating of them in their common home, which will cause something more to be said about legends of the past; then of their arts and customs; the source from whence comes our knowledge of them; their religion; their myths, from which, as already hinted in the opening pages of this book, most of the myths and legends and even some beliefs of

the chief nations of Europe, have come; and lastly, of the breaking-up of the tribes, when the children went forth, heaven-guided, to plant the seed from which grew empires that have been the wonders of the world. Such survey will bring us near the time when some great religions had their rise, and of these an account will fitly follow.

(a) THE ARYANS IN THEIR UNDIVIDED STATE.

In the Zend-Avesta, or sacred book of the old Persian religion, only fragments of which have been preserved, there are some statements about the country peopled by the Aryans which seem to hold a little truth.

Sixteen countries are spoken of as having been given by Ormuzd for the Aryans to dwell in, each of which became tainted with evil. The first was named Airyanem-Vaêgô and it was created a land of delight, but, to quote the ancient legend 'the evil being Ahriman, full of death, made a mighty serpent and winter, the work of the Devas (or bad spirits).

The land thus vaguely spoken of is believed to