262 ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGES. 
every step in science or learning must, in various 
degrees, be conducive to the pleasure and happi- 
ness of mankind. 
Ethnography and etymology may appear to 
some men unprofitable pursuits ; yet it cannot be 
denied that they have thrown an invaluable light 
on the history of man, and that it is only since 
this light has been applied, that historians have 
been enabled to plunge boldly and safely into the 
darkness of antiquity. ‘Thanks to it, we know 
whence we have sprung up; we know who are 
our fathers and brothers; we know the various 
degrees of kindred and relationship which exist 
between nations, and this knowledge must, in the 
end, tend to eradicate, or at least to soften, 
national antipathies and prejudices. 
There are two nations in western Europe 
between which a spirit of rivalry has long pre- 
vailed. Political causes, originally arising from 
the ambition or private quarrels of princes, have, 
no doubt, partly contributed to this reciprocal 
jealousy ; yet, would these unnatural feelings be 
so strong, if it were generally known that a close 
relationship exists between the two people? If 
England was invaded by the Danes and the Sax- 
