ingly limited; and in others they appear to have been entirely lost, after being once introduced.

37. The confederated republics of Greece, rising in their own energies, with a language intrinsically excellent, compounded of its own elements, unimitative, unborrowed, rose to a pitch of excellence, in works of genius and taste, which modern nations are contented to imitate, and would hardly dare attempt to surpass.

The unrivalled excellence of the Grecian language and literature, sustained the mental dominion of these people, long after their civil power had failed; and the hardy Roman warriors, who had subjected the country to their arms, became enamored pupils of the foes they had conquered. The history of the world affords many analogous instances of the triumph of intellect over physical force. A conspicuous example of this is the conquest of China by the Tartars, the. effect of which was simply to conform the victors to the customs of those whom they had nominally subjugated. The conquest of Greece tended greatly to improve the literary taste of Rome, while the wealth and luxury introduced, at the same period, from the east, was undermining its political power. The hordes that soon poured in, from the north, on this devoted land, exercised their ferocity alike on the monuments of virtue and the productions of genius; and the consequent intellectual degradation is hardly more evident, from historical facts, than from the declining style of the writers who record them.

38. The models of excellence which escaped the general devastation, at the downfall of the Roman empire, were collected for a time in Constantinople.

This city in its turn was doomed to yield to the dominion of barbarian foes, and a series of revolutions followed, in disastrous succession. The

history of this period is a history of violence and crime; but even these bloody revolutions, so frequent and desolating, assume a melancholy interest, as connected with the scanty remains of learning in the world.

In the seventh century, an extraordinary individual, founding a religious system, on the love of show, and the sensual appetites of men, had given an impulse which was overspreading the fairest portion of the earth. His Arabian followers invaded the fertile plains of the Nile. After an obstinate siege of fourteen months, Alexandria, then one of the most splendid cities in the world, was taken by Omrou, general under the Caliph Omar. The Mahometan banners were every where displayed on the ancient walls of Egypt; and the Saracens, like the locusts of a former age, overspread the land. This monarchy had become, for the second time, the general center of science, and for centuries, the royal library of Alexandria had been the pride of successive kings. Every exertion of learning and power had been employed to enrich this great storehouse of intellectual wealth; which now exceeded half a million volumes; the choicest remains of preceding times. The barbarian general knew not how to dispose of this stupendous pile, and sent to his more barbarian sovereign for orders. The answer was, "If these books of the infidels contain only what is conformable to the Koran, they are useless; if contrary to it, they are mischievous and should be destroyed." The work of ruin was begun. It was a ferocious warfare on all the emellishments of human life. For weeks these

volumes served as fuel for the Alexandrian baths. They were carried out in huge piles, and burned in bonfires, the scene of savage sport. Hopeless Egypt saw the flames of her conquerors, gleaming far distant, through the darkness of her midnight, brightening her temples, pyramids, and towers, with a splendor more solemn than the deep contrasting shade. In the terrific brilliancy, so soon to pass away, the accumulated wisdom of ages, the pride of human genius, the glory of nations, the reward of heroes, were sinking for ever, in oblivious night.

39. These violent commotions among the nations of the earth, though shocking to the moral sensibilities of our nature, are deeply instructive in the knowledge of our fellow-beings. The astonishing contrasts presented, in various instances, impress the mind most strongly with the force of education and early habit, in forming the charac ters of men. The civilian, the linguist, the philosopher may gain important instruction from this contact of nations, the most opposite in customs and degrees of improvement. The savage conquerors of Italy erected their huts, in sight of Roman palaces unoccupied. The costliest utensils of luxurious refinement they regarded as the playthings of children; and preferred the wooden spoons of their native forests to the table furniture of the Cesars.

But amidst all the revolutions of human affairs, there have been a chosen few, in every age of the world, favored by genius, who have delighted in cultivating the better qualities of our nature, and have cast their intellectual light on the circle around them. Religion, however obscured and perverted, in particular instances, has in its general

course, been the great preserver and promoter of letters among mankind. The volumes deemed sacred have been spared, in the most shocking. changes. Copies of these were multiplied; their original forms preserved; and amid all the mutations of worldly fashion, held more sacred for their antiquity. Of this kind were the Zendavesta of the Persians, the Jewish Scriptures and Talmud, the sacred Edda of Scandinavia, and the Gospel of the Messiah to the Christian world. It is particularly in the history and comparison of languages, that the original copies and various translations of these writings are invaluable to mankind.

40. A train of centuries succeeded, called the dark ages, when general ignorance prevailed, and all regard for liberal improvement seemed nearly lost. In this period of bigotry, under all the evils of the prevailing gloom, the monasteries were, in one respect, of vast importance to the cause of learning. They were sanctuaries from the violence of the times, and the fragments which remained from the general commotion were here preserved.

41. Many interesting facts might be adduced from this portion of mental history. A single instance must suffice for the present occasion.

About the year three hundred and seventy-six, christianity was introduced among the Visi-Goths, on the borders of the Euxine Sea. The scriptures were, not long after, translated into their language, by Ulphilas their bishop, a man of uncommon learning and virtue, for the age in which he lived. Nearly a thousand years after, a portion of this work, containing the four Evangelists, was found in the convent of Werden, in Germany It is a most valuable relic of the Teutonic lan

guage, considered the best of ancient tongues, in their pure barbarian form, and the basis of most of the northern tongues of Europe. This work obtained the name of the silver book, from the color of its letters, written on pages of deep black. Copious specimens of this work, as quoted by different European philologists, appear to exhibit uncommon excellence in the structure of the lan

guage. We find in these Teutonic terms the radicals of many Saxon words, which are important roots of our modern English derivations.

42. After many convulsions, learning took another direction, and received a new impulse from a quarter least expected. The Saracens, by their conquests in Egypt, Asia, and the empire of the Greeks, became possessed of the most valuable writings which remained, and, under Mostanser, founder of the college of Al Madrasa, Haroun Al Raschid, and a succession of distinguished Caliphs, of the race of Abbas, Bagdad became the great center whence the glimmerings of intellectual light were diffused over a benighted world. Coarse paper made of cotton was in use; and for pens, the calamus reed was employed, as it still is in Syria, Egypt, and the Barbary States.

43. It is a high credit to the sovereigns and savans of Arabia, that in this age of prevailing ignorance and error, great pains was taken to cultivate their language in its purity, and particularly, that their alphabet exhibits better knowledge of the science of elementary sounds, than any other ever formed. The trifling remains of learning in Europe had fled with the monks to the cloisters, its only safe asylum, in the general superstition. Some degree of re-action now took