204
DANTE.
which discusses the language used in Eden, from which the reader will perceive what tender glimpses of the man Dante, and of his sorrows and affections, may be seen through the meshes of the argument even in a work so special and devoted to an individual purpose as this:—
"Since there are some so dishonest in reason as to believe their own country the most delicious which is to be found under the sun, to these persons also it appears lawful to prefer their own vulgar language, that is, their mother tongue, to all others, and consequently they believe that to have been the language of Adam. But we, who have the world for our country as fishes have the sea, although we drank the waters of Arno before we had teeth, and have so much loved Florence that for love of her we suffer unjust exile—we nevertheless lean the shoulders of our judgment rather upon reason than upon sense; and although, for our pleasure, or that which secures us most tranquillity of enjoyment, there is in the earth no place more sweet than Florence, yet, turning to the books of poets and other writers, in which the world is described both universally and particularly, and discussing among ourselves the various situations and places in the world and their customs, between the two poles and the circle of the equator, we clearly understand and believe that there are many regions and many cities more noble and delightful than Tuscany and Florence, where we were born and of which we are citizens; and that many nations and people use a more pleasant and more useful language than the Italians. Returning, then, to the question, I say that a certain form of speech was created by God, together with the first soul, . . . and according to this form spoke Adam, and all his descendants, until the building of the Tower of Babel, which is interpreted the tower of confusion; this form of speech has been inherited by the sons of Eber, who were from him called Hebrews, to whom alone it remained after the confusion of tongues, so that our Redeemer, who was destined to be born of them, might use, according to
