the Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, and Italian literatures? The French fell into a mistake of this kind, and they have suffered for it. Proud of the honour, and sensible of the political advantage of having their own language generally understood, they were not sufficiently alive to the new resources they might have derived from the study of foreign languages.[1] Their literature, therefore, wants that copiousness and variety which is characteristic of the English and German. Now they see their error, and, instead of confining themselves to their own stores, and copying and re-copying their own models, they have begun to look abroad and study the masterpieces of other nations. German literature is a remarkable instance of the success with which industry and genius may nationalize foreign materials. It has arisen, almost within the memory of persons now living, on the basis of the astonishing erudition collected by the German writers from every living and dead language worth laying under contribution.
Had our ancestors acted as the committee of pub-
- ↑ It has been justly observed, that for the French to pride themselves upon all foreign nations studying their language, while they study the language of no foreign nation, is like a blind man boasting that every body can see him, while he can see nobody.
