330 Nations lately become Literary. 



prize of her booksellers, and the growth of taste 

 among her literati, deserve much praise, it may be 

 questioned whether the friend of sound and useful 

 learning can contemplate her literary aspect w T ith 

 unmingled pleasure. Is it not to be feared that 

 the business of book-making is carried in that 

 country to excess? Is it useful to fill a country 

 with a countless number of hastily composed, 

 and of course superficial books, on the most com- 

 mon subjects; thus perplexing and overwhelm- 

 ing the student, and imposing an unnecessary 

 tax on the friends to literature? Above all, are not 

 the moral and theological principles contained in 

 too many of these works, and the practical ten- 

 dency of a still larger number, such as must £11 

 the virtuous mind with apprehension? There is 

 such a thing as an injurious multiplication of books, 

 even when they are all individually harmless; but 

 where a considerable portion of them bear a cor- 

 rupt character, every increase of their number will 

 give the friend of human happiness a mixture of 

 pain. There is no country now on earth (unless, 

 perhaps, we must except France) in which lite- 

 rary enterprize is made the medium for convey- 

 ing so much moral and theological poison as in 

 Germany. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The annals of American literature are short and 

 simple. The history of poverty is usually neither 

 very various, nor very interesting. Those who arc 

 accustomed to contemplate only the ancient and 

 extensive literary establishments of Europe, and 

 who measure every object by European standards, 

 must look upon all that the Western hemisphere 

 has hitherto presented, especially until within a 

 few years past, as trivial and unworthy of regard. 



