Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/158

 130 its subject matter—the customs, beliefs, and traditions of the people. The question is: Does an examination of the subject matter of folklore reveal racial distinctions; and, if so, to what races can these distinctions be referred? If no other science, save that of folklore, had discovered racial distinctions in the people of Britain, it would behove ethnologists to examine the subject. Such is the position I would claim for folklore in opposition to the dependent position advocated by the President in his address.

Now the element of folklore used by the President for his purpose is that of "traditional literature." I do not agree that the traditional literature element of folklore is the best element upon which to found the principles of investigation into ethnological data. All that can be done by taking into consideration the traditional literature of the historical races is to show that these literatures are too much alike, being all products of one language—that of the Aryan-speaking people—for there to be any prospect of discovering race-distinctions. I agree that this is so. But the reason is an obvious one, and Mr. Nutt himself tells us this reason. It is because of the "artistry" (to use a very happy word of Mr. Nutt's own creation, I think) of this traditional literature. We know it because of its artistry. It has spread because of its artistry. It appeals to all races alike because of its artistry. It is adopted by all races alike, and therefore ceases to be of racial significance. I agree with all this, but I cannot conclude therefrom that therefore folklore contains no race-elements that can be discriminated, and I altogether demur to the proposition that folk-literature is the best element of folklore whereby to test the evidence of race.

I am not concerned in this paper with matters of detail, but I must draw attention to one statement of Mr. Nutt's which seems to me little short of amazing. "Man," he says, "in the folklore stage philosophises with a view to action; it is in the last degree essential that this philosophy