racter of the soldier and the statesman; that Germanicus, for instance, among the ancients, gains more of our admiration for having polished and improved his mind by the study of Grecian letters; or, to come to our own times and country, that the distinguished diplomatists who fill the highest offices in the state, though learning confers no additional claim to the gratitude of the nation, deserve increased respect for their attainments as scholars.

As none will contend, that the classics should be taught as a necessary branch in military schools, or in those principally intended for the training of youth for the mechanical or practical arts, so none will deny, that the study of them essentially belongs to that higher education, which proposes for its object the culture of the intellectual man. If the study of languages is of moment, the Greek and Latin have the first right to attention, because they are the more ancient, and therefore the more nearly original, because they have exercised an influence over all polished dialects of later nations, and because they are in themselves more perfect. To this we add, that they are dead languages, beyond the reach of change; the seal has been set upon them; their principles of construction and the force of their words are unalterably fixed; and, therefore, they best serve to illustrate the abstract principles of grammar.

What better inheritance can our country receive from the ancient republics than the writings, which contain the thoughts and sentiments of their finest minds? We say again, those writings deserve especially to be studied. by us; because their tendency is favorable to free institutions. The Athenians, though they sometimes flattered kings, never eulogised the regal form of government. They cherished the love of freedom to the last, and their regrets at its loss are almost as instructive as their pride in its possession. Nor should we forget, to what class of society the Grecian writers belonged. They were men, who, having enriched their minds by travel and intercourse with the learned of other countries, returned, like Plato, to ripen their powers and their knowledge by reflection.

Moreover, the ancients prized personal independence and freedom of public debate. Every thing of general interest was regularly communicated in the market places; and the comic theatre was the tribunal before which, as in

modern newspapers, the characters of public men were scrutinized with unrestrained boldness. In their works of an elevated tone, in the orations of Demosthenes, for instance, the doctrine of liberty is taught on the principles which make it of universal value, and is supported, not merely because it makes a nation more prosperous, but because it is essential to the moral dignity and intellectual freedom of individuals, and equally essential to the honor of the state. We can but desire, that such views should be encouraged by all possible means; we need not fear, though the study of Homer should teach other lessons than those of passive obedience; we should find pleasure in being instructed by the rules of ancient liberty,' how a people may provide for its prosperity and glory.

We may add, that ancient literature has become the common property of mankind. Some foreign assistance is needed in the great concern of national education. But if we make use of none but English books, or if we do not go beyond the literature of living nations, there is danger of being affected with some foreign taint; of supporting our intellectual existence by aliment not perfectly suited to our condition. The study of the classics deserves, therefore, to be encouraged as a means of preserving national literary independence.

The

A much stronger argument lies in the probable influence which they would exert on national character. Greeks preferred beauty to utility, glory to prosperity. Vast sums, employed for works of art, formed a large, and as it seemed to them, a necessary part of the annual expenditure of their states. If the tendency of our age were to ruinous extravagance, in all matters connected with public property, if one state were contending with another in the architectural perfection of its edifices, if the first settlers of the fertile banks of our western rivers had thought of nothing but cultivating the elegant arts, if the same spirit, which raised St. Peter's, or the York cathedral, were at work among our countrymen to the injury of good thrift, and in contempt of rational calculation, it would be the duty of every patriotic citizen to repress even the sublimity of enthusiasm, and to counteract the immoderate love of display, by sober and practical views of utility. But we are in no danger of being carried too far by our zeal for objects not directly necessary to our

welfare. Our fathers have given us excellent political and civil institutions, established on a solid foundation; commerce has enriched our cities; internal navigation is promoted by the grandest efforts of public and private enterprise; the springs of the Mississippi have already been turned into the Hudson; and the chain of the Alleghanies is to offer, it would seem, but a temporary barrier to the union of the Ohio and the Potomac. We have done, or are doing every thing to further objects of public and private advantage. It becomes, therefore, the duty of the patriotic statesman to provide for the other sources of national glory and happiness, to cherish a disinterested passion for the elegant and ornamental arts, till our country shall surpass every other, not only in the value of its political privileges, and the prosperity of its citizens, but also in the perfection of its monuments. At this epoch, therefore, while the nation is so rapidly forming its character, and while it is still possible to introduce new elements, the study of classic letters deserves to be encouraged, because it tends to awaken and cherish a love for the arts, by which society is adorned and refined.

THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES.

THE study of languages is usually and properly the first step in a liberal and enlarged system of education. The youthful mind is peculiarly fitted for the acquirement and retention of words; but not sufficiently expanded and vigorous to comprehend the nature, principles, and objects of positive science. Memory is the first faculty that unfolds itself, and perhaps the most susceptible of improvement. Languages, therefore, as a branch of elementary knowledge, should be early attended to. They are emphatically the key to science, and the spring of life cannot be more judiciously or advantageously employed than in acquiring them. A knowledge of what are termed the dead, and some of the living languages, I conceive to be absolutely indispensable to the character of a fine scholar, and an able and distinguished civilian and statesman; and it is exceedingly to be regretted that these, especially the learned languages, are so much neglected in our country.

This has arisen from a mistaken idea, that their attainment takes up too much time, and that the period usually devoted to their acquisition, might be better employed in acquiring more solid and useful information. No error can be more glaring than this; every day's experience demonstrates its fallacy.

The acquirement of the dead languages will be found to be attended with great and permanent advantages; among which, it will be sufficient barely to mention its tendency to improve the principal faculties of the mind, and to beget a purity and refinement of taste, that no other kind of learning can bestow. The memory, for example, must be invigorated by the habitual exercise it undergoes, in the acquisition and retention of strange words and foreign expressions; the judgment is improved, from the necessity the learner is under of selecting, out of many, the most suitable word to express the idea of the original -for the original gives the idea only; the imagination is chastened and improved by the exquisite imagery, and the rich, chaste, and beautiful coloring the ancient authors display; and the taste is improved by the fine models of purity and beauty, and the refined and delicate touches of nature, every where diffused over the pages of the Greek and Roman classics. The most eminent and distinguished men in oratory, poetry, history, law, &c. have been well versed in those languages, and have had their minds early imbued with a love of these chaste and polished models of antiquity. Be, therefore, solicitous to master them; regard not the difficulties that may arise, at first, to impede your progress; they will soon, by a little perseverance and application, be surmounted, and when you have reached that point of familiarity with them, which will enable you to relish their beauties, and feel and enjoy their excellencies, they will become a source of high and exquisite gratification that will never forsake you, even amidst the activity and realities of life. In acquiring those languages, it will be necessary to observe the peculiarities of style, the fine thoughts, and daring felicities of expression, which distinguish the authors you are reading, and to endeavor, frequently to commit to memory, the finest and most beautiful passages, that are to be found in the poets of Greece and Rome. This will strengthen the memory, improve the taste, and furnish you with happy.

illustrations, and apt and appropriate allusions. It will be proper, too, to keep up this practice while reading modern poetry; you will find, as many of the most distinguished modern orators have found, that it is of much greater advantage than you may now be disposed to believe. Of the copiousness, harmony, grace, and beauty of the Greek and Latin languages, it is unneccssary to say any thing. Those who study them, with that care and attention which they deserve, will soon be enabled to judge for themselves, and, of consequence, capable of relishing their various excellencies, without the aid of criticism. But of all the languages, ancient or modern, I conceive the Greek to be the most admirable. A knowledge of that language was deemed by the Latins to be an indispensable branch of study, and should be so considered by the present and every future age. It is the foundation of most other languages, and is so blended with the sciences, as almost to form their keystone and groundwork.

While I recommend such a proficiency in those languages as I have mentioned, I do not wish to be understood as conceiving it either important or essential, that you should be profoundly and critically versed in their different idioms and various metres, and be able to write them with fluency. That degree of skill may be left to professors, who make teaching the occupation of life. It is enough that you can read them with such ease, as to be capable of feeling and relishing the numerous and exquisite beauties in which the classical writers abound. To this point your efforts must be directed, and if you have even an ordinary tact for the attainment of language, you will be able to reach it without any very appalling difficulty; and when you have reached it, the acquirement of the modern languages will be a source rather of pleasure than of pain.

We must observe, however, in concluding this article, that what we have said about the study of languages, is to be applied only to those whose profession, or calling, or station in life may render this study either necessary or at least useful.