1272 Nations lately become Literary. [Ch. XXVI. 



joyed in many parts of Europe, it may expect 

 to produce poets, who shall vie with the most 

 celebrated of the old world.' 



But in no respect does the literary enterprise 

 of America appear more conspicuous than in the 

 rapid increase of the number and circulation of 

 Newspapers, within the last thirty years. The 

 ratio and amount of this increase were stated in 

 another place*. In this respect it goes beyond 

 every other nation. It were well if these vehicles 

 of information had improved as much in purity, 

 intelligence, and instructiveness, as in other re- 

 spects ; but the blindest partiality for American 

 literature must perceive and lament the sad re- 

 verse ! 



It may not be improper to attempt, in a. 

 few sentences, a comparative estimate of the ex- 

 tent to which different branches of knowledge 

 are cultivated in different parts of the United 

 States. 



That amount of knowledge which is usually ac- 

 quired at common schools, viz. reading, writing, 

 and arithmetic, is more generally diffued among 

 all classes of the people in New England, and par- 

 ticularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut, than 

 in any other portion of the country, and indeed 

 than in any other part of the globe. This may 

 \)Q ascribed to the superior excellence of their 

 school establishments; to the number, piety, and 

 diligence of the clergy ; to the regular organisa- 

 tion of their towns and parishes; to the honour- 

 able point of light in which the instructors of 



* See pages 91 and 92 of tlie present volume. 



