Page:An Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe.djvu/80

 hold its ground there, for near 600 years. The reason, perhaps, may be, that philosophical opinions, tho' in themselves transient, acquire stability in proportion, as they are connected with religion, and philosophy and religion have no where been so closely united as here.

has of late made some attempts in polite learning, in its own language. Count Tessin's instructions to the prince his pupil, are no bad beginning. If the muses can fix their residence so far northward, perhaps, no country bids so fair for their reception. They have, I am told, a language rude, but energetic; if so, it will bear a polish; they have also a jealous sense of liberty, and that strength of thinking, peculiar to northern climates, without its attendant ferocity. They will certainly in time,