ll!3 



tened by the arts of peace. , They, then became objects^ 

 of contempt and aggression, to a more fierce and northerly 

 race of barbarians. The Danes prevailed for a season, and 

 three sovereigns of that nation quietly possessed the En- 

 glish-throne: this yet further destroyed the nationality of 

 the people. After this, the Norman invaders, having pos- 

 sessed themselves of the country, endeavoured, as much 

 as possible, to complete the subjection of the inhabitants. 

 They changed the tenure by which lands were held; they 

 introduced their own laws and language; and proscribed, 

 with studious and unrelenting severity, the manners and 

 customs of the Saxons. The Normans themselves had not 

 been an aboriginal race; they were the descendants of 

 northern adventurers, who had established themselves in 

 France, in the same manner that the Saxons had settled 

 in England, Thus -we see, what a fluctuation of inhabi- 

 tants, what a pei;petuai change of masters, took place in 

 England. This will explain the cause of the fact I have 

 stated; that the present inhabitants of England retain no 

 national melody, and fewer national customs and tradi- 

 tions, than, perhaps, any other nation in Europe. 



Another remarkable fact occurs in the history of poetry. 

 It is observed by Algarotti, that Moliere (and we might 

 say the same of some of our English comic writers) is as 

 superior to Aristophanes, Terence and Plautus, as all mo- 

 <lern tragic writers, Shakespeare excepted, are inferior to 

 Sophocles and Euripides, The fact is undeniable, and the 

 reason is, tliat the ancients were not provided with schools 



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