Modern Languages . 117 



and some of the first class in the English, French, 

 and German languages, became naturalized in her 

 empire." Those who have any acquaintance with 

 philology will readily perceive, that the attempt to 

 transfer the contents of these rich, refined, and 

 regular languages into one less cultivated, must 

 always issue in communicating more or less of the 

 excellences possessed by the former to the latter. 



Besides the numerous and important improve- 

 ments in the more cultivated languages, for which 

 the eighteenth century is distinguished, we may 

 also mention, as a peculiarity of the age, equally 

 worthy of remark, the extensive knowledge which 

 has been acquired, by learned philologists, within 

 a few years past, of many other living languages, 

 even some of the most barbarous and unpolished. 

 The amount of information communicated by 

 modern voyagers and travellers on subjects of this 

 nature, is great and valuable. Among these 

 Strahlenberg, Sonnerat, Marsden, Thun- 

 berg, Forster, and many others, are entitled to 

 honourable distinction. 



The idea of tracing the origin and history of na- 

 tions through the medium of inquiries into their 

 respective languages, if not first conceived, was cer- 

 tainly first reduced to practice, to any considerable 

 extent, in the century under review. It is believed 

 that the first considerable specimen of an inquiry 

 of this nature was given by Air. Jacob Bryant, 

 of Great-Britain, a gentleman whose profound 

 erudition, critical sagacity, and unwearied labour, 

 are anions the signal honours of the a«e. w Neariv 



u Coxe's Travels into Russia. 



iv It is impossible for any friend te virtue and sound learning to pro- 

 nounce the name of this veteran in literature without veneration. In hi* 

 Observations and Inquiries relating to -various farts of Ancient History , and ir. 



