Endymion was glad to meet Baron Sergius one day when he dined with
Prince Florestan. There were several distinguished foreigners among the
guests, who had just arrived. They talked much, and with much emphasis.
One of them, the Marquis of Vallombrosa, expatiated on the Latin
race, their great qualities, their vivacity, invention, vividness of
perception, chivalrous valour, and sympathy with tradition. The northern
races detested them, and the height of statesmanship was to combine the
Latin races into an organised and active alliance against the barbarism
which menaced them. There had been for a short time a vacant place next
to Endymion, when Baron Sergius, according to his quiet manner, stole
into the room and slipped into the unoccupied seat. “It is some time
since we met,” he said, “but I have heard of you. You are now a public
man, and not a public character. That is a not unsatisfactory position.”
The prince listened apparently with much interest to the Marquis of
Vallombrosa, occasionally asked him a question, and promoted discussion
without himself giving any opinion. Baron Sergius never spoke except
to Endymion, and then chiefly social inquiries about Lord and Lady
Roehampton, their good friends the Neuchatels, and frequently about
Mr. Sidney Wilton, whom, it appeared, he had known years ago, and
intimately. After dinner the guests, on the return to the saloon, ranged
themselves in a circle, but not too formally, and the prince moving
round addressed each of them in turn. When this royal ceremony was
concluded, the prince motioned to the Marquis of Vallombrosa to
accompany him, and then they repaired to an adjacent salon, the door of
which was open, but where they could converse without observation. The
Duke of St. Angelo amused the remaining guests with all the resources of
a man practised in making people feel at their ease, and in this he was
soon greatly assisted by Mr. Waldershare, who was unable to dine with
the prince to-day, but who seemed to take much interest in this arrival
of the representatives of the Latin race.
Baron Sergius and Endymion were sitting together rather apart from the
rest. The baron said, “You have heard to-day a great deal about the
Latin race, their wondrous qualities, their peculiar destiny, their
possible danger. It is a new idea, or rather a new phrase, that I
observe is now getting into the political world, and is probably
destined to produce consequences. No man will treat with indifference
the principle of race. It is the key of history, and why history is
often so confused is that it has been written by men who were ignorant
of this principle and all the knowledge it involves. As one who may
become a statesman and assist in governing mankind, it is necessary that
you should not be insensible to it; whether you encounter its influence
in communities or in individuals, its qualities must ever be taken into
account. But there is no subject which more requires discriminating
knowledge, or where your illustrating principle, if you are not deeply
founded, may not chance to turn out a will-o’-the-wisp. Now this great
question of the Latin race, by which M. de Vallombrosa may succeed in
disturbing the world--it might be well to inquire where the Latin race
is to be found. In the North of Italy, peopled by Germans and named
after Germans, or in the South of Italy, swarming with the descendants
of Normans and Arabs? Shall we find the Latin race in Spain, stocked by
Goths, and Moors, and Jews? Or in France, where there is a great Celtic
nation, occasionally mingled with Franks? Now I do not want to go into
the origin of man and nations--I am essentially practical, and only
endeavour to comprehend that with which I have personally to deal, and
that is sufficiently difficult. In Europe I find three great races with
distinct qualities--the Teutons, the Sclaves, and the Celts; and their
conduct will be influenced by those distinctive qualities. There is
another great race which influences the world, the Semites. Certainly,
when I was at the Congress of Vienna, I did not believe that the Arabs
were more likely to become a conquering race again than the Tartars, and
yet it is a question at this moment whether Mehemet Ali, at their
head, may not found a new empire in the Mediterranean. The Semites are
unquestionably a great race, for among the few things in this world
which appear to be certain, nothing is more sure than that they invented
our alphabet. But the Semites now exercise a vast influence over affairs
by their smallest though most peculiar family, the Jews. There is no
race gifted with so much tenacity, and such skill in organisation.
These qualities have given them an unprecedented hold over property
and illimitable credit. As you advance in life, and get experience
in affairs, the Jews will cross you everywhere. They have long been
stealing into our secret diplomacy, which they have almost appropriated;
in another quarter of a century they will claim their share of open
government. Well, these are races; men and bodies of men influenced in
their conduct by their particular organisation, and which must enter
into all the calculations of a statesman. But what do they mean by the
Latin race? Language and religion do not make a race--there is only one
thing which makes a race, and that is blood.”
“But the prince,” said Endymion inquiringly; “he seemed much interested
in what M. de Vallombrosa was saying; I should like to know what his
opinions are about the Latin race.”
“The prince rarely gives an opinion,” said the baron. “Indeed, as you
well know, he rarely speaks; he thinks and he acts.”
“But if he acts on wrong information,” continued Endymion, “there will
probably be only one consequence.”
“The prince is very wise,” said the baron; “and, trust me, knows as
much about mankind, and the varieties of mankind, as any one. He may not
believe in the Latin race, but he may choose to use those who do believe
in it. The weakness of the prince, if he have one, is not want of
knowledge, or want of judgment, but an over-confidence in his star,
which sometimes seduces him into enterprises which he himself feels at
the time are not perfectly sound.”