152 REMARKS ON FOUR EXTRACTS 
source the Romans derived their arts and insti- 
tutions, it was through their medium that the 
arts and pursuits of civilized life were conveyed 
to these western countries of Europe. Soon 
after they had acquired a native consistency ~ 
among themselves, they imparted them, in the 
course of their conquests, to the half barbarous 
tribes of Gaul, Britain, and, subsequently Ger- 
many, as their own productions; and their para- 
mount influence is felt to this day, and will ever 
be prevalent, in the materials and structure of 
our languages, in our modes of thinking, in 
the elements of the sciences, in our works of 
art and taste, and in our arts of life. And of 
the circumstances and events of the times, pre- 
viously to the auspicious change, very little is 
known, and scarcely a wreck is left behind. 
It is much more probable, when all the cir- 
cumstances are considered, that the Gauls and 
Druids used, in some cases, the Greek charac- 
ters in writing their own language, than that, in 
their position, they should have acquired the 
knowledge of a language so copious and difficult 
as the Greek. 
Barbarians always borrow their alphabetical 
characters from others. There is a great de- 
