"
("American Cyclopaedia," art. Ethnology.)
By the study of comparative philology, or the seeking out of the words
common to the various branches of the Aryan race before they separated,
we are able to reconstruct an outline of the civilization of that
ancient people. Max Mueller has given this subject great study, and
availing ourselves of his researches we can determine the following
facts as to the progenitors of the Aryan stock: They were a civilized
race; they possessed the institution of marriage; they recognized the
relationship of father, mother, son, daughter, grandson, brother,
sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law,
brother-in-law, and sister-in-law, and had separate words for each of
these relationships, which we are only able to express by adding the
words "in-law." They recognized also the condition of widows, or "the
husbandless." They lived in an organized society, governed by a king.
They possessed houses with doors and solid walls. They had wagons and
carriages. They possessed family names. They dwelt in towns and cities,
on highways. They were not hunters or nomads. They were a peaceful
people; the warlike words in the different Aryan languages cannot be
traced back to this original race.
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