POLITICAL STATE

OF THE

BRITISH EMPIRE.

LEARNING; THE ARTS AND SCIENCES.

AMONG the inftitutions of civilized man, none are more deferving of confideration, than thofe which prevent the decay of knowledge by extending the sphere of human acquirements, and facilitating the disclosure, to future generations, of the learning poffeffed by the prefent. Great Britain, among her numerous claims to diftinguished rank, amid the nations of the world, cites none with more pride and confidence than those which are derived from the excellence of her writers in almost every department of literature, and her able proficients in every branch of the arts. The defire of literary excellence is not recent or tranfitory; in all ages, and with very few intervals, has learning been eagerly purfued. The univerfities of England are the most ancient in Europe, and almost every period of British history is adorned with the name of fome writer of sterling worth, and eminent celebrity; and although the English idiom is much changed, the ability of authors, even in the earlieft, times, is ftill confpicuous. "Numerous manufcripts exift," Mr. Pinkerton obferves," written in the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English language, and one of its moft claffic authors, is the great Alfred himself. It appears from many works, written long after the conqueft, that the French language, though colloquial among the great, fcarcely imparted any tinge to the national tongue. The conquefts of Edward III. in France, and other circumftances not proper to be here difcuffed, ef- · fected, in the fourteenth century, a change in vain attempted by the Norman conqueror. Chaucer, who wrote in that period, prefents almost the first rude dawn of what may be termed the VOL. III.

B

English

English language. In the fame century, that enterprising traveller, Sir John Mandeville, fupplies one of the first speci mens of English profe: as he was a man of fome science, for that time, has interfperfed feveral words of Latin origin, and his book was much adapted to public curiofity, he may with fome juftice be regarded in the new light of a father of the English language. Gower, the poet, rather preceded Chaucer; and ferves to evince, that Chaucer did not introduce any innovations, but, as may well be fuppofed, wrote in the language of his

time.

"In the fucceeding century, the fpeech had made fuch rapid advances, that even as early as the reign of Henry VI. we find it vary very little from that of Henry VII. There are papers preferved by Rymer and others, written in the reign of Henry VI. and compofed with a force and precision which may appear furprising. The works of Fortescue, in the following reign of Edward IV. are not only dictated by excellent fense; but, fêtting afide the orthography, might even be perufed by the common reader.

"In the reign of Elizabeth, a century after, the English language had acquired fuch copioufnefs, dignity, force, and melody, that, perhaps, in the eye of very diftant pofterity, moderns may be fuppofed never to have exceeded; what is gained in elegance, being generally loft in power. Sidney's Defence of Poefy, may be regarded as a-good fpecimen of English profe; not to mention Hooker's Ecclefiaftical Polity, and other large works of that period, which continued to be read and admired. The common translation of the Bible, is a noble fpecimen of the dignified profe of the following reign; beyond which it is unneceffary to conduct this sketch, as our libraries abound with the fucceeding publications."

"English literature," he proceeds, " is a vaft and inviting theme. Of the traditionary verfes of the Druids, no relic probably exifts; and the Roman conqueft does not appear to have inculcated etters with much diffufion, for while we have claffical writers of almost every other European kingdom fubdued by that great nation, of France, Spain, and even of Africa; no author of thofe periods claims a British origin. The country was feized by the Saxons, before British literature faintly dawned in Gildas, A. D. 560. Irish literature commences about the fame period, and continued for fome centuries, to fupply numerous writers in the Latin language, while England remained almost deftitute. But Bede, in the eighth century, redeemed this defect, in himself a host, and, like Chaucer, the wonder of his time. The Danish invafions were ruinous to literature, both in Great Britain and Ireland, and the great

Alfred

Alfred was obliged to exert his utmost endeavours, in order to reftore fome degree of learning, even among the clergy. That admirable prince did not afpire to Latin compofition, but tranflated fome works of merit and utility; as the hiftories of Orofius and Bede, into the Anglo-Saxon. Afferius is, perhaps, the only Latin writer, who can be named between the age of Bede and the year 1100, if we except a few lives of Saints: but the Saxon Chronicle is a noble and neglected monument of this interval, which being the only civil hiftory of England, for a fpace of four hundred years, ought to be carefully collated with all the manufcripts, and publifhed with all the fplcndour of typography. About the year 1100, English literature commences a firm and steady pace. A numerous train of hiftorians, poets, and other writers, fills the pages of Biography. In the fourteenth century, Roger Bacon afpires even to the praise of eminent genius. In the following century, the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster were deftructive of literature and the arts; nor will it be eafy to name an illustrious author of that period; but the introduction of printing, in the reign of Edward IV. forms a memorable epoch. The writers of the fixteenth, and following centuries, are numerous and well known.

"On a comparative view of European literature, it may be obferved, that the Italians, its firft reftorers, excel in poetry, hiftory, and other departments of the Belles Lettres; but about the year 1600, their tafte began to decline, and a mental effeminacy arofe, which is confpicuous in their fantaftic focieties and academies, and in the extravagant flatteries which every writer thought due in politenefs to another; the term illuftrious becoming as familiar as that of Signior and Madama, a waste of literary fame which rendered it of no value. The French even originally excelled in romance and light poetry, and that pleafing and minute fpecies of biography, called memoirs; they have produced few works of original genius, but yield to no nation in fcientific productions, and in literary difquifitions, written with good fenfe, precision, and accuracy. Spanish literature forms a vaft treafure, little known to other nations; and scarcely any department can be named, in which excellent writers do not appear. The native German, Danifh, and Swedish literature, is but of recent celebrity. To complete the fole intention of this parallel, the grand feature of English literature is original genius, tranfmitted even from Roger Bacon, to our Shakspeares, Miltons, Newtons, and Lockes; not to dwell here on claims more minute, but equally firm. In the fcientific departments, England muft yield to France, except in the various branches of mathematical knowledge, the inftitution of