114 SHEMITIC CIVILIZATION. 



sion : such is the programme of our course. 

 It is, so to speak, the laboratory of philo- 

 logical scieuce thrown open to the public, 

 that it may call into being special voca- 

 tions, and that the world may form an idea 

 of the means employed to arrive at Truth. 



To-day, gentlemen, I should depart from 

 what is customary, and disappoint your ex- 

 pectations, were I to inaugurate this course 

 by mere technical developments. I would 

 fain recall to you the memory of that eminent 

 scholar whom I have the honour to succeed 

 — M. Stephen Quatremere. But this duty 

 having been already fulfilled in a manner 

 which does not allow me to repeat it, I 

 shall dedicate this first lecture to conversing 

 with you on the general character of the 

 nations whose language and literature we 

 shall study together ; on the part they have 

 filled in history ; and on the portion which 

 they have contributed to the common work 

 of civilization. 



The most important results to which his- 

 torical and philological science has arrived 



