writers in the first division rank, it is true, far below their predecessors of the Augustan school: but who will compare Calphurnius and Nemesianus with Lucan and Statius? Tacitus must not be degraded by a comparison with any historian of the latter interval; and Suetonius himself rises far above the level of Spartianus, Capitolinus, and Lampridius."

"St. Ambrose, St. Augustin, and Pope Leo the First, were undoubtedly men of powerful minds and extensive learning; but they exhibit strong proofs of the corruption of language. Nor can a more favourable judgment be passed upon the more lineally descended classics, the partizans of Homeric deities and pagan mythology. Servius was nothing more than a painstaking grammarian; Macrobius, a professed scholar and critic, was unable to use his own language, or exemplify his own rules; and Symmachus, a courtier, and a man of distinguished abilities, has not the least claim to elegance of diction, or profundity of thought. Claudian himself, a foreigner, seems born to rescue the age from general contempt, and in spirit and harmony ranks high among the Roman poets. As to Ausonius, Sidonius, Apollinaris, and the galaxy of transalpine scholars, which sheds a faint gleam on the last stage of Roman literature, they obtain by their number a distinction they could not claim by their merits." Introduction to the Literary History, &c. p. 20.

The great cause of the corruption of the Latin language, which gradually took place after the reign of Augustus, proceeded from the number of strangers, Goths, Alans, Huns, and Gauls, who resorted to Rome from the provinces of Italy, and other parts of the empire, and intermixed foreign words, and new combinations of speech, with the original Latin. It is pro

bable indeed, that as the classical language of Rome flourished for so short a period, it had never taken deep root in the provinces of Italy, where the inhabitants of Apulia, Tuscany, Umbria, Magna Græcia, Lombardy, and Liguria, were all distinguished by their peculiar dialects. The prevalence of Greek likewise had no inconsiderable influence in shortening the continuance of pure Latin, as the former had long been fashionable among the polished Romans; and when the seat of empire was removed, it entirely superseded the use of the latter in the court of Constantinople.

The accurate observer of the Latin tongue may trace its progress through the successive stages of infancy, childhood, manhood, and old age. The infancy marks the time when Saturn and Janus reigned over the most ancient inhabitants of Italy, and the Salii pronounced in honour of the gods their wild and unpolished verses. The childhood refers to the reign of the kings, and the establishment of the laws of the twelve tables. Its manhood denotes the decline of the republic, and the rise of the empire, when poetry was cultivated by Terence, Lucretius, Virgil, and Horace; eloquence by Hortensius and Cicero; and history by Cornelius Nepos and Livy. Its old age characterises the reigns of the latter emperors, when false refinement banished the taste of the Augustan age, and the language became debased and corrupted.

III. STATE OF THE LANGUAGE IN MODERN TIMES.

The extensive conquests of the Romans, their constant intercourse with other nations, and powerful influence over them, promoted the wide diffusion of their language. The general establishment of their

laws, and the custom of pleading in the courts of justice in no other language, laid the natives of many countries under the necessity of making its study a part of their education. After the fall of the empire, the Germans, as soon as they directed their attention to literature, revived it by the study of the imperial law. Nor did the authority of the Papal See contribute less to preserve and disseminate it; for it was the refined policy of the Conclave to oppose the learning of Rome as a barrier against the encroachments of the Greek church; so that the popularity of the Latin tongue bore no inconsiderable proportion to the extent of the pontifical power. To these causes may be attributed the prevalence of Latin, as a living language, upon the continent of Europe. It is at present spoken with fluency not only in France and Italy, by those who have received a liberal education, but even by the peasants in many parts of Germany, Hungary, and Poland.

Whilst the Romans were masters of the ancient world, and ever since the revival of learning, no language has had better pretensions to the title of an universal language than the Latin. So great has been its prevalence, that it has been cultivated by every enlightened nation; and there is no branch of learning, discovery of art, or system of science, and indeed scarcely any topic of liberal discussion or inquiry, which has not been indebted to it for expression, ornament, and illustration. This has always been the vehicle of communication between men of letters, and has enabled them to carry on a correspondence with each other from the most distant places. Many celebrated authors have considered their native tongues, as either unpolished in their phraseology, or confined in their circulation; and therefore have had recourse to

the language of ancient Rome. The rays of science and learning, that beam from many valuable productions, have been transmitted to the world through this clear and beautiful medium. This is the language in which were composed the invaluable productions of Erasmus, Grotius, Puffendorff, Newton, Boerhaave, Bacon, and Gravina.

Even in the present age, every writer who wishes his works to descend to remote posterity, must not venture to erect the monuments of his fame with the perishable materials which modern languages supply, highly refined and firmly established as they may ap pear. They are in a state of constant fluctuation, and are subject to the caprices of fashion and novelty: but the Latin is fixed and permanent. The phraseology of Chaucer and Hollinshed, of Malherbe and Rabelais, has long been obsolete, and in a state of old age; whilst that of Horace and Cicero, tried by the test of centuries, and consecrated by the respect of mankind, flourishes in perpetual youth. The language once spoken by the conquerors of the world, is still used to express the dictates of gratitude, honour, and veneration. It is inscribed upon the public edifices; it distinguishes the monuments and the medals of every country in Europe; and transmits the remembrance of scholars, philosophers, patriots, and heroes, through the succeeding generations of mankind, in terms, which, with respect both to dignity and precision, no modern tongue can equal.

At the revival of learning the opinion of scholars was by no means uniform, as to the proper standard of Latin composition. Longolius, Bembo, Paulus Manutius, and other writers of considerable note, were advocates for the exclusive imitation of Cicero, and endea

voured to gain the classic palm, by presenting in their works a servile copy of his style. The impropriety of this predilection was fully proved, and the right of the other classics to a due share of attention was ably maintained by Henry Stephens, Politian, and Erasmus. This controversy, carried on with so much warmth and ingenuity on both sides, has long ceased: the great Roman Orator has been allowed to give the law of elegant writing to succeeding times; and this prerogative is founded upon the admirable perspicuity, copiousness, and richness of his diction. Virgil reigns with unrivalled sway in the province of poetry, and his works have fixed the standard of Latin versification. Modern writers have risen to fame in exact proportion as they have employed their diligence and taste, in the imitation of these great masters; but subject, however, to that defect, which necessarily attends the study of a foreign language, the expressions generally take a tincture from their native tongue; and in the Roman disguise may frequently be discovered the features of the French, the German, and the English. Justice however restrains us from applying this observation with equal force to the Italians, as the derivation of their language, and their descent from a Roman origin, enable them to tread more exactly in the steps of their illustrious ancestors.

To acquire such classical knowledge as to be able to write Latin with ease and elegance, can only be the work of him, who is equally a sound scholar and a man of taste. He must be sensible that a good style. does not consist in a close and servile imitation of any author in particular; but that it depends upon an intimate acquaintance with the purest writers, particularly those of the Augustan age. He must examine the