112 Modern Languages. 



poems of Haller; the Idylls, and Death of Abel \ 

 of Gessner ; the fables and moral writings of Gel- 

 lert; the numerous and diversified productions of 

 Wieland; and the various works of Lessing, Her- 

 der, Goethe, Schiller, Voss, and many others, 

 have all contributed a share, to render a language 

 once but little esteemed in Europe, one of the most 

 copious, energetic, and rich of modern tongues. 



But among late German writers no individual is 

 entitled to more honourable mention than J. C. 

 Adelung, a celebrated philologist of that country. 

 His labours in studying and improving his native 

 language have been extensive, persevering, and 

 successful to a degree almost without precedent. 

 He has produced works, in this department of li- 

 terature, with which the productions of learned 

 academies, and royal societies, can scarcely be 

 brought into competition. His Grammar of the 

 German Language 1 is an elaborate and systematic 

 work, unquestionably superior to all preceding 

 works of a similar kind, and has contributed much 

 towards forming and regulating the language of 

 which it treats. But his greatest work is a Com- 

 plete Dictionary of the High German Language* 

 In the composition of this extraordinary work he 

 spent the greatest part of thirty years, and it is 

 pronounced, by good judges, to come nearer to 

 the idea of a perfect dictionary than any other ef- 

 fort of human diligence hitherto published. It 

 contains a larger number of words than any other 

 extant ; the definitions are singularly lucid and satis- 

 factory ; every word is scientifically arranged, with 

 respect to its literal and metaphorical signification; 

 the etymologies of words are pursued with an acute- 

 ness and a skill which render them highly instruc- 



q In two volumes large octavo. 



r It consists of five volumes large quarto. 



