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BARONESS STAEL ON ANCIENT AND MODERN LITERATURE. 
lescence there, to which Madame Stael, 
with patriotic and praise-worthy hope, 
looks forward. 
On the prevailing faults of French li- 
terature, we find the following remarks: 
€ Since the revolution, the French have 
launched into a fault that is particularly de- 
structive to the beauties of style ; they wish- 
ed, by employing new verbs, to abridge all 
their phrases, and render all their expressions 
abstruse; but nothing can be more contrary 
to the talent of a great writer. Concision 
‘does not consist in the art of diminishing the 
number of words, and it consists much _ less 
in the privation of images ; what we should 
be ambitious of attaining, is a concision like 
that of Tacitus, which is at once both elo- 
guent.and energetic: energy so far from being 
prejudicial to that brevity of style weso justly 
admire, that figurative expressions are those 
by which the greater number of ideas are re- 
traced in the smallest compass ; neither can 
the invention of new words contribute to- 
wards perfection of style. Masters of the 
art may secure the reception of a few, when 
they are involuntarily created by a sadden im- 
pulse of thought; but, in general, the inven- 
tion of words is a sure symptom of a sterility 
ofideas. When an author permits himself 
to make use of a new word, the reader, who 
is not accustomed to it, stops to judge it, and 
thus breaking in upon the attention, hurts 
the general and continued effect of the style. 
«¢ All that has been said of bad taste, ma 
be applied tothe faults of the language ad 
has- Bie employed by many writers, for these 
ten years past. Nevertheless, there are some 
of those faulis which more particularly belong 
to the influence of political events, which I 
propose to discuss in speaking of eloquence. 
« When philosophy makes a new progress, 
style must necessarily proceed on to perfec- 
tion ; the literary principles that may be ap- 
plied to the art of writing have been almost 
all developed, but the knowledge and study 
- of the human heart, ought each day to add to 
‘the sure and rapid means which have effect 
upon the mind. Every time that an impar- 
tial public are not moved and persuaded by a 
_ discourse, or a work, the fault must lie in the 
author; but it is almost always to what is 
ofleficient as a moralist, that his fault, as a 
writer, must be attributed.” 
This last sentence, though in the main 
true, is contradicted by one of the best 
observations which occur in these vo- 
« Among the Greeks,” says the 
“tween rival candidates for fame ; but in 
these days it has passed from them to the 
“spectators, and by one of the mest unac- 
countable caprices that ever affected the 
mind of man; they are jealous of the ef- 
‘to their pleasures, and to secur¢ their ap- 
forts made with an intention of adding 
619 
probation.” For this jealousy, Madame 
Stael has elsewhere assigned a reason 
true, but not exclusively true. When 
a nation is daily acquiring new lights, it 
looks with fondness on great men, as its 
precursors in the career which it has to 
run; but when a nation is conscious that 
it retrogrades; the small number of su. 
perior minds:that escape from the gene- - 
ral degeneracy, appear, as it were, en- 
riched with its spoils. It no longer takes 
a common interest in their successes, and 
the only emotions it feels are those that 
are prompted by envy.” It cannot be 
said, that either England or France are 
conscious that they are going back in 
knowledge and power; yet that this envy 
of talents exists in France, Madame Stael 
has herself informed us, and we have no 
hesitation in believing her, knowing it to 
be true in England. The causes are 
many and various; that craving after 
distinction.is one which, as it leads to 
vice, is always accompanied with envy. 
Another cause is, that literature is be- 
come fashionable. Literature in fashion, 
is like flowers that pine at a parlour win- 
dow; that knowledge which is only ac- 
quired as an accomplishment, is little 
better than ignorance; emulation has 
been the motive, and envy will be the 
result, if indeed there be a metaphysician 
subtle enough to say where we shall place 
the hairs-breadth line of demarcationbe- 
tween the two. Whether or no mén 
have dwindled, it is certain that books 
have, they have shrunk from folios to. 
duodecimos, and it would be easy to 
prove, that as they have dwindled they 
have degenerated, and that their effect 
has lessened,with their value. ‘There are 
more authors in England now than there 
were in the days of Elizabeth, and more 
readers ; but, excepting in experimental 
science, there is certainly less knowledge. 
This subject, were we to investigate it, 
would lead us too far astray: suffice it 
to observe, that novels, metaphysics, pe- 
riodical criticism, and conversational cri- 
ticism, which is its legitimate ape, have 
all contributed to the degeneracy. Ab- 
stracts of knowledge are sought, as tra- 
vellers buy portable soup, and the one is 
as poor nourishment for the mind as the 
other for the body.. Opinions upon all 
literary subjects are bought ready made, 
or pass from one to another,as Goldsmith 
tells us the koumiss is transmitted from 
chief to slave at a Tartar feast. 
Such works as this before us have their: 
share in the evil, they are like those un- 
