324 Nations lately become Literary. 



and versification of German poetry. So' that the 

 period of their association may be considered as 

 forming a grand epocha in the history of this de- 

 partment of German literature. 



Besides the poets already mentioned, a number 

 of others have been long celebrated throughout 

 Europe. Among these are Gesner and Wifland, 

 distinguished in epic poetry; Kastner, Uz, and 

 Dcjsch, in didactic poetry; Kleist, Voss, and 

 Goethe, in descriptive poetry; Schlegel, Herder, 

 AYeisse, and Ramler, in lyric; and Canitz and 

 Stolberg, in satirical poetry: Gesner and Voss, in 

 pastoral; and Lichtwehr, Lessing, and others, in 

 fable. Nor have the dramatic poets of Germany, in 

 the last age, been inferior in genius and taste to 

 those of any other country. Cruger, Schrceder, 

 Iffland, Grossman, Lessing, Engel, Goethe, 

 and Kotzebue, in comedy; and Weisse, Lessing, 

 Leisewitz,Klopstock,Schiller, Goethe, Babo, 

 and others, in tragedy, are well known to have 

 raised the German drama to a very high degree 

 of reputation, if not for moral purity, at least for 

 spirit, force, and natural delineation of characters. 

 Germany has also abounded, within the last 

 twenty years, beyond any country on earth, in 

 miscellaneous publications on philology, criticism, 

 education, and every branch of polite literature. It 

 ought, further, to be mentioned, to the honour of 

 Germany, that although classic literature has much 

 declined in that country, especially since the prac- 

 tice of delivering lectures in Latin, and speaking 

 that language, in many of her seminaries of learn- 

 ing, has been discontinued ; yet this kind of 

 knowledge has declined, probably, less in Ger- 

 many than in any other part of the literary world ; 

 and the literati of that empire may be considered 

 as, on the whole, the best classic scholars that 

 now adorn the republic of letters. The names of 



