r A* 



1827.] [ 49 



THE TOILS OP A MODERN PHILOLOGIST. 



My father had determined that I should be a very eminent classical 

 scholar. His veneration of the classics partook almost of adoration. The 

 Grecian language, of course, occupied the highest station in his mind; yet 

 the Latin, though he was forced to acknowledge that it owed its roots to 

 the Pelasgic, and had become mixed with other dialects, was always con- 

 sidered by him of primary importance, and he used to say, that no one 

 ignorant of that language could pretend that he had received the educa- 

 tion of a gentleman, and, a fortiori, could never claim the title of learned, 

 however great his attainments might be in other languages, or in the 

 sciences. Almost every literary fault and offence against good taste, he 

 ascribed to the neglect of that language, regretting that the days of the 

 Aschams, the Lilys, &c., had passed away. 



. With these precepts constantly repeated, and my father's example always 

 before me, it might appear extraordinary that I did not attain the highest 

 eminence in the classics, were it not a fact too notorious to require illustra- 

 tion, that the human mind seldom proceeds in the course indicated by the 

 wisdom and experience of others. 



When parental control, and academical tutors, no longer directed my 

 pursuits, and I felt myself independent of all but my own inclinations, 

 I began to compare my own acquirements with those of other men, and 

 felt, or fancied 1 felt, the ground for distinction amongst the ancients 

 already occupied. I, therefore, determined to abandon the often contested 

 fields *of Greece and Rome, and to direct my steps into other regions. 

 I wished not for 



" The languor of inglorious days j" 



nor had I any disinclination from the species of pursuit which I had fol- 

 lowed ; but I felt a desire to abandon only the old high road of learning, 

 to search my way, amongst roses or thorns, in flowery paths or briery 

 hedges, to the same temple of fame. 



Inspired with all the ardour of a scholar for a new literary pursuit, 

 f determined to trace the origin and peculiarities of the modern languages 

 of Europe, and to select that language for peculiar study which should 

 be found most entitled to pre-eminence. 



In this new course, instead of being overburdened by the help of 

 others, I felt so much difficulty in proceeding at first, that my ardour was 

 greatly repressed, and I almost might have merited Tacitus's observation, 

 of being acribus initiis, incurioso fine, it not having occurred to me to 

 consider beforehand the difference between a distant prospect and ,the 

 actual entrance into a large city : " Remotely we see nothing but spires 

 of temples, and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splen- 

 dour, grandeur, and magnificence ; but, when we have passed the gates, 

 we find it perplexed with narrow passages, disgraced with despicable cot- 

 tages, embarrassed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke." 



I was much surprised to learn that the languages of Europe are upwards 

 of thirty in number. They appear to have been divided by the most 

 eminent philologists, into four principal families : 



The Celtic, or Celtic-Cimbric ; 

 The Latin, or Greco- Latin ; 



M.M. New Series.VoL. IV. No. 19. H 



