their stock of knowledge, and give a finish to their charms, the place of which no fashion can supply. It is only by reading works of taste and merit that a lady can learn to think right and talk well. She in general has more leisure hours to devote to literature than young gentlemen, and would improve quite as fast as they, if she would set about it. It is of the utmost importance for those just forming and developing a character to understand the duties of life-those that regard one's self, and those required by the community. It is true that life is short and science long, but this should be used not to discourage the young, but as an inducement to industry and perseverance.

The young should learn what is meant by literature, and then look at its value, and consider the means of its acquisition, its fields, its importance, and the best course to pursue to acquire a sufficiency of it to refine and elevate the mind, to prepare us to sustain a fair character for intelligence, and to give each one currency as a well educated man in the society of this and other countries. This is the great object of these pages.

Literature, in an extensive sense-such as should engage the attention of those who intend to make themselves acquainted with the great duties of life-contains the records of all ages and countries; the thoughts of men in all their struggles for knowledge, and in all their inspirations; every thing that the human mind has contemplated and brought forth in a manner not offensive to taste or decency. It is this literature that' should be studied and made familiar to us all, in a greater or less degree. The advantages of having this treasure to put our hands in, and to take from it at will, is incalculable; for, without letters, man was but a sa

vage: he knew nothing of the past, except by memory and tradition; the first was deceptive, and the second vague and unsatisfactory. Without letters, knowledge of a moral or an intellectual kind could not have increased to any considerable extent; for however mature the thoughts of one great mind might have been, he had no means of transmitting his wisdom to posterity in any permanent form. He could only give his knowledge in keeping to the feeble and ordinary minds around him, and instead of increasing the great mass he might have accumulated, it was generally lost or frittered away after a short period.

Letters were invented when man was passing from a savage to a barbarous state, on his way to refinement. The influence of the invention of letters was soon seen in the character and conduct of those who were fortunate enough to possess them.

Those accustomed to darkness see much by a little light; and, therefore, it is unsafe to form an estimate of the knowledge which nations possessed in ancient times, by examining, at the present day, the amount of literature they had acquired. The lettered men of the early ages appear to us as glow-worms in the pathway, whose fires were pale and ineffectual ;—but then the eyes of man were open to discover every thing around him, and he saw things without any occasional confusion from too much light from any particular quarter, as is often the case in our times.

By the influence of letters, man was soon brought from a barbarous state, to one of comparative civilization. Society, by the means of letters, assumed a more elevated character than it had borne before. By letters, the poet perpetuated the deeds of the warrior;

and by them, statesmen recorded their laws, and the sages their maxims of wisdom.

The sentiments of one age being preserved for another by letters, each additional store enhanced the value of the former collection; for the errors of the earlier ages were corrected by the criticisms of the following; but their blessings did not become so generally diffused as they have been since the invention of printing which happened in a comparatively late age of the world.

It has been the object of some reasoners to decry letters, as giving an effeminacy to a people, particularly polite literature; but this reasoning is as amusing as that of the Roman knights at the supper of Lucullus, who, when revelling on a hundred dishes at the table · of that luxurious epicure, discussed the flavor and nutritiousness of the primitive food of man, such as acorns, figs, roots, and berries, and decided that man in a state of nature was most happy.

Without stepping out of our way to describe the effect of letters upon past ages, or turning to the pages of those works which it could be proved had humanized the world, we can say, in general, that letters have been the most useful, the most glorious, and the most permanent monument of national greatness, to be found in the history of man.

They have been the most useful;-for letters have assisted in advancing and in preserving the arts and sciences, as well as themselves, and in elevating the character of man.

They have been the most glorious and permanent ;for while the great things of art have crumbled to dust, and ten thousand demi-gods have perished from off the earth, the letters of an early age have been pre

served; and whatever names are now to be found among the mighty and the wise of early time, come down to us embalmed in the literature of the age in which they lived, or in which their deeds were recorded. All the little princes and potentates of the Trojan and Grecian armies would have been no more known, if they had not been preserved in the Iliad, than the ancestors of Red Jacket, or those of Tecumseh. There were deeds of the aborigines of this country that had more of daring and prowess in them than can be found in the sack of Troy. Letters live longer than temples or monumental arches. The prayer of Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, is still preserved in all its piety and sweetness, but the house of the Lord is demolished, and the angels who guarded it have ascended to their celestial abodes.

It is wiser, in the first place, to examine the history of our native language, and to ascertain, as far as is practicable, the treasures of knowledge we have in it; they are abundant and of great value. These treasures are ours by birthright; they were won by mental toil from age to age; preserved and improved by deep thinkers and patient reasoners, who were proud of their nation, and who scorned to have their tongues tied, even by their conquerors. Taste, philosophy, divinity, politics, and eloquence ask for nothing more than can be found in the English language. Should not the writers in English be our constant study?

Our language is indeed a modern one compared with some other living languages. Notwithstanding its copiousness, it is still a growing and improving language, and is yet susceptible of new beauties; but we deprecate a rage for changing that which is already so

'admirable. Let us not be in haste to make it more copious. The English language has a singular origin, and one that shows more decidedly what the spirit of a people can effect silently and quietly, by the force of intellectual power, than that of any event in history.

The Saxon language was in general use in the Island of Great Britain in 1066, when the conquest of William of Normandy was effected. It was a copious and well constructed language, and had much more philosophy in it than that brought from Normandy; but the conqueror insisting on his right to change the language, as well as the laws of the people, had all his records and laws put into Norman French. The Saxon legends were now turned into Norman rhyme, and within a century after the conquest, a new language, made from the Saxon and Norman, had grown up to no inconsiderable character, which took the name of the English language. The Saxons had more invention and more sound philosophy than the Normans, and their mind was seen in this new and wonderful work most distinctly. Layman wrote some where between the years 1135 and 1180. His works show more than any other of his age, how far the new language had advanced towards its present excellence. In the course of the time from 1200 to 1300, the process of improvement was going on rapidly. There is extant `a dialogue, written between this period, after Layman's time, between an owl and a nightingale, disputing for 'superiority. This, much more decidedly than the works of Layman, shows the great change which had taken place in the growth of our language.

In 1300, or thereabouts, Robert de Brunne wrote a history of England in metre. He composed tales in