Chap. XIII.] Classic Literalurc. 223 



be little known at the present day, and of conse- 

 quence to be^ in a great measure, lost to the 

 world. 



It has been asserted, by the ablest pliilologists, 

 that the knowledge of tlie Greek and Roman 

 writers has a very important influence in pro- 

 moting literary taste. Those writers display ex- 

 cellencies with respect to the structure and polish 

 of language which, it seems to he generally agreed, 

 are unrivalled in the annals of composition. To 

 study these excellencies has a natural tendency to 

 render the mind familiar with the philosophy of 

 grammar, and to inspire it with a taste for the rc- 

 tinements of eloquence. It has a tendency to form 

 in the student a capacity to discern, and a solici- 

 tude to attain, the purity, the precision, ami the 

 graces, of speech. Perhaps it may be (juestioned 

 whether a man can possibly understand any one 

 modern language, in its various inflections, beau- 

 ties, and shades of meaning, without having some 

 acquaintance with those ancient tongues. Certain 

 it is, that almost the whole of that invaluable mass 

 of instruction on this subject, to be derived from 

 etymological inquiries, depends on such an ac- 

 quaintance, and must be commensurate with its 

 extent. Hence it is supposed, by some of the 

 most judicious literary historians, that the liigh 

 estimation set on classical literature, and the enthu- 

 siastic attention paid to it, until within a few years 

 past, may be considered among the principal 

 causes of that rapid improvement in several Eu- 

 ropean languages, which distinguishes the seven- 

 teenth and eighteenth centuries. By diligently 

 studying the ancient models of composition, anrl 



