CONTEMPLATION OF 4 THE UNIVERSE, 107 



basin of the Mediterranean, the navigation of Cokeus of Samos 

 beyond the Pillars of Hercules ; the expedition of Alexan- 

 der to Western India ; the empire of the world obtained by 

 the Romans; the spread of Arabian cultivation; and the 

 discovery of the new Continent. I propose not so much to 

 dwell on the narration of occurrences, as to indicate the 

 influence which events, such as voyages of discovery, the 

 predominance and extension of a highly polished language 

 possessing a rich literature, or the suddenly acquired 

 knowledge of the Indo-African monsoons, have exerted in 

 developing the idea of the Cosmos. 



Having among these heterogeneous examples alluded thus 

 early to the influence of languages, I would here call atten- 

 tion generally to their immeasurable importance in two 

 very different ways. Single languages widely extended 

 operate as means of communication between distant na- 

 tions ; a plurality of languages, by their intercompari- 

 son, and by the insight obtained into their internal or- 

 ganisation and their degrees of relationship, operate on 

 the deeper study of the history of the human race. The 

 Greek language, and the national life of the Greeks so inti- 

 mately connected with their language, have exercised a power- 

 ful influence on all the nations with whom they have been 

 brought in contact. ( 142 ) The Greek tongue appears in the 

 interior of Asia, through the influence of the Bactrian em- 

 pire, as the conveyer of knowledge which more than a 

 thousand years afterwards the Arabs brought back to the 

 extreme west of Europe, mingled with additions from Indian 

 sources. The ancient Indian and Malayan languages pro- 

 moted trade and national intercourse in the south-eastern 

 Asiatic islands 3 and in Madagascar; and it is even probable 



VOT . JT. 



