Court methinks at this Time ſeems to have given into a Taſte quite oppoſite to that of polite Literature, but perhaps the Mode of Thinking may be reviv'd in a little Time. The French are of ſo flexible a Diſpoſition, may be moulded into ſuch a Variety of Shapes, that the Monarch needs but command and he is immediately obey'd. The Engliſh generally think, and Learning is had in greater Honour among them than in our Country; an Advantage that reſults naturally from the Form of their Government. There are about eight hundred Perſons in England who have a Right to ſpeak in publick, and to ſupport the Intereſt of the Kingdom; and near five or ſix Thouſand may in their Turns, aſpire to the ſame Honour. The whole Nation ſet themſelves up as Judges over theſe, and every Man has the Liberty of publiſhing his Thoughts with regard to publick Affairs; which ſhews, that all the People in general are indiſpenſably oblig'd to cultivate their Understandings. In England the Governments of Greece
