OF LITERATURE. 



would understand by the name of literature ; 

 something higher must be understood, if its 

 peculiar aims and properties have already been 

 correctly developed. Poetry, not mere versifi- 

 cation ; history, not the bare record of facts ; 

 rhetoric, that charms even where it fails to 

 persuade ; philosophy, when clothed with grace 

 or energy of style ; these are the great branches 

 of genuine literature, and to these alone will 

 attention be invited as the proper topics of the 

 following dissertation. 



One part, however, of Schlegel's definition, 

 commands our unqualified assent. Intellect 

 embodied in written language is an essential 

 characteristic of literature. Literature, as the 

 very name denotes, is the creation of the alpha- 

 bet. By this it is not meant to be implied that 

 there was no fecundity of genius, and no pro- 

 gress in the art of composition, before the in- 

 vention of letters. Analogy and positive argu- 

 ment combine to prove the contrary. Thus, 

 amid the slight records of antediluvian society, 

 nothing occurs to evince the existence of a writ- 

 ten alphabet; yet, if we reason by analogy from 

 the state of other arts, it will appear that, at that 

 remote period, composition must have made some 

 steps in advance of its earliest simplicity : the 

 voice of poetry could not be mute where Jubal 

 smote the lyre, nor would even the precision of a 

 technical vocabulary be wanting where the arti- 

 ficers in brass and iron were taught by Tubal- 

 cain. Even in a far later day, some of the no- 

 blest productions of the human intellect were 

 demonstrably anterior to the current use of let- 

 ters ; and, at this hour, genius throws out fitful 

 flashes among uncultivated tribes, who have no 

 visible signs to perpetuate the glories of elo- 

 quence or song. But without the introduction 

 of such signs, it is obvious that the fruits of genius 

 can put on no stable form : their existence must 

 be precarious, their effects feeble and confined. 

 Without letters, no people has attained a high 

 degree of general politeness ; and the mind of 

 HOMER himself would have exerted no permanent 

 influence upon literature, had his strains never 

 assumed a more substantial shape than they bore 

 while entrusted solely to the memory of rhap- 

 sodists. 



The first rise of literature, even when thus 

 viewed in its legitimate connexion with the art 

 of writing, carries us back into the bosom of a 

 distant age. In some of its branches, the date 

 of the incipient efforts of genius is fairly ascer- 

 tained ; the real antiquity of other branches is 

 doubtful and obscure. But among the curious 

 and perplexing questions which the whole lati- 

 tude of the subject would open up, it is neces- 



sary to exercise a spirit of forbearance, and to 

 adhere pretty closely to a line of argument, of 

 which clearness and continuity must be the dis- 

 tinguishing features. It would be an intricate, 

 as well as a laborious task, to explore the faint 

 original appearances of literature in every 

 nation ; or, having everywhere discovered the 

 source, to pursue the current of those streams, 

 which, becoming isolated in their progress, have 

 constituted no parts of a general system. A 

 direct continuous course must be looked for, 

 if we would speculate with advantageous results 

 True it is that literature, like the empires of the 

 ancient world, has had its periods of rise and fall, 

 of prosperity and decay ; true is it, moreover, 

 that the places of literary, as of political ascen- 

 dency, have varied from time to time ; neverthe- 

 less, throughout the whole history of literature, 

 we can, by strict examination, discover a bond of 

 union, and a principle of regular transmission. 

 The illustrious heritage has passed into new 

 hands, without ultimately losing a particle of 

 splendour. Nations have soared or sunk upon 

 the scale of comparative refinement ; but never 

 has genius been beheld in a state of universal 

 abeyance. 



Yet, in another respect, hinted at above, the 

 analogy between literature and empire may be 

 pushed a little further. There are states and 

 kingdoms whose interests are so much centered 

 in themselves, so detached from foreign relations, 

 that their history seems to have no points in 

 contact with that of the rest of mankind. It forms 

 no links in the great chain of political events. 

 And there are bodies of literature similarly 

 circumstanced : replete, perhaps, with native 

 graces, and interesting in their local history, but 

 cut off from all connexion with the course of 

 general refinement, and bearing no relation to 

 the development of mental power in the most 

 civilized parts of the globe. It would be hard, 

 for instance, to show in what manner the litera- 

 ture of China has acted upon that of other 

 countries, or contributed to the general advance- 

 ment of taste or knowledge. Nay, the same 

 remark may be applied, in cases where its truth 

 is not at first sight so apparent. The literature 

 of India, ancient in its origin, affluent in its 

 stores, and probably destined, from the attention 

 newly excited in favour of every thing relating to 

 the vast regions, to which it belongs, to become 

 more intimately blended with the details of 

 European education, has hitherto been destitute 

 of real influence upon the progress of polite 

 learning. With a language, for which enthusi- 

 asts challenge the character of faultless excel- 

 lence, and which, in fulness of expression, 



