LITERATURE, ANCIENT AND MODERN, WITH SPECIMENS. BY THE AUTHOR OF Emisch, Sumal gaisu it PETER PARLEY'S TALES. BOSTON: BRADBURY, SODEN & CO. MDCCCXLV. Lit 338.45 29.154 1869. Jan. 6. Sam. A Green Entered according to Act of Congress, By S. G. GOODRICH, In the Clerk's Office of the District ✡ools. STEREOTYPED BY GEORGE A. CURTIS; NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE Foundry, PRINTED BY WM. A. HALL & CO. PREFACE. LITERATURE consists of the Written Thoughts of Man, and national literature is the Reflection of the National Mind. In its collective meaning, literature embraces the accumulated knowledge of the world all we know of the past, all that can give interpretation of the present, or shed light upon the future. It is the great fountain of instruction; the wide ocean of human experience; made up, drop by drop, of the knowledge and the ignorance- the hopes and fears-the pleasures and sufferings the triumphs and defeats of by-gone generations. In the compass of these few and humble pages, it would be idle to attempt to do more than to present the general characteristics of the literature of the most intellectual nations of ancient and modern times; and even this might, perhaps, seem a task beyond the scope of the present volume. It is believed, however, that the work may be useful as a guide to youthful readers, in forming an estimate of the literary productions of different nations and ages, and that it may also serve to refresh the recollection, and methodize the views, of those who have before gone over the same topics, as found scattered in various publications. |