50 The Toils of a Modern Pk-ilolagistf. 



The Teutonic, or Gothic, or Scythian ; 

 The Slavonic, or Sarmathian. 



The CelUb are the oldest known inhabitants of Europe. They came 

 originally from Asia, and settled principally between the Rhine and the 

 Pyrenees; but at what precise period our historical records have not named. 

 They called themselves Gail, or Gael, which the Romans converted into 

 into Galli^ and the Greeks into Kelte. The Cymri^ a German race, drove 

 the Celta, subsequently, out of the north of France, and they fled to Eng- 

 land, where they were again dispossessed, at a later period, by the Cymri, 

 when these had in their turn been expelledfrom Gaul. The Cymri were 

 the nation chiefly in possession of the south parts of Britain, when Julius 

 C&sar invaded this island, and whose ultimate settlement, when the Teu- 

 tonic tribes obtained the predominance, was chiefly in Wales, the inha- 

 bitants of which country still continue to call themselves Cymri. The 

 Irish and Scotch are the descendants of the Celtae who first inhabited the 

 southern parts of this island, and are in fact the most ancient Britons, con- 

 ceding the title of ancient Britons to the Welch. 



The Gaelic, the Erse, and Welch, being the principal languages of the 

 Celtic-Cimbric, I felt no inclination to cultivate an acquaintance with that 

 branch of the family of European languages ; and the Russian, Polish, 

 &c., being equally unattractive, I was not disposed to transfer my phi- 

 lological affections on the Slavonic tribe, which was the last race that 

 established settlements in Europe. 



I, therefore, had the choice left of the two other branches, the one 

 descending from the Latin, and the other from the Teutonic ; and of these 

 it was natural that I should adopt the first, for which my previous studies 

 had prepared me. 



Of this branch, the French was the language to which my attention 

 was first directed ; and, on consulting the native writers, I congratulated 

 myself on the choice that I had made, as they all agreed in a universal 

 concord of praise, not only of the beauties of the language itself, but of 

 the eminence of the French writers, as having, in every branch of litera- 

 ture, excelled those of other countries. Experience convinced me, how- 

 ever, that their statements were dictated by national vanity and ignorance, 

 and I believe that the following summary will be found extracted from 

 truth. 



The French language is of very ignoble birth. Its chief progenitor was 

 that branch of the Latin, called the Romana rustica. This, subsequently, 

 became incorporated with the Celtic and Cimbric, and from this union 

 was formed the Romance language, which took its rise with the Trouba- 

 dours, about the eleventh century. The present French language rose by 

 slow degrees, and the national writers ascribe its perfection to the si&cle de 

 Louis XIF., which period they also distinguish as the most celebrated for 

 the literary productions of their country. What the language is wanting 

 in antiquity, is not compensated by richness. Having the defect of a nasal 

 intonation, and being monotonous for want of accent and quantity, and 

 moreover, abounding in mute syllables, it can never be harmonious ; and, 

 having, in a word, no prosody, and being incapable of transposition, it can 

 never be the true language of poetry, though many fine verses have been 

 produced by Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, &c. Perhaps the only French 

 writer who is really deserving of the title of poet is La Fontaine, who is 

 a writer perfectly per se, admitting jno competitor in fable amongst modern 



