esforthesewerenotwritteninthatGreekorLatinwhichtheyknew,butintheselectlanguageofliterature.TheyhadnotlearnedthenoblerdialectsofGreeceandRome,buttheverymaterialsonwhichtheywerewrittenwerewastepapertothem,andtheyprizedinsteadacheapcontemporaryliterature.ButwhentheseveralnationsofEuropehadacquireddistinctthoughrudewrittenlanguagesoftheirown,sufficientforthepurposesoftheirrisingliteratures,thenfirstlearningrevived,andscholarswereenabledtodiscernfromthatremotenessthetreasuresofantiquity.WhattheRomanandGrecianmultitudecouldnothear,afterthelapseofagesafewscholarsread,andafewscholarsonlyarestillreadingit.
Howevermuchwemayadmiretheorator’soccasionalburstsofeloquence,thenoblestwrittenwordsarecommonlyasfarbehindorabovethefleetingspokenlanguageasthefirmamentwithitsstarsisbehindtheclouds.Therearethestars,andtheywhocanmayreadthem.Theastronomersforevercommentonandobservethem.Theyarenotexhalationslikeourdailycolloquiesandvaporousbreath.Whatiscalledeloquenceintheforumiscommonlyfoundtoberhetoricinthestudy.Theoratoryieldstotheinspirationofatransientoccasion,andspeakstothemobbeforehim,tothosewhocanhearhimbutthewriter,whosemoreequablelifeishisoccasion,andwhowouldbedistractedbytheeventandthecrowdwhichinspiretheorator,speakstotheintellectandhealthofmankind,toallinanyagewhocanunderstandhim.
NowonderthatAlexandercarriedtheIliadwithhimonhisexpeditionsinapreciouscasket.Awrittenwordisthechoicestofrelics.Itissomethingatoncemoreintimatewithusandmoreuniversalthananyotherworkofart.Itistheworkofartnearesttolifeitself.Itmaybetranslatedintoeverylanguage,andnotonlybereadbutactuallybreathedfromallhumanlips—notberepresentedoncanvasorinmarbleonly,butbecarvedoutofthebreathoflifeitself.Thesymbolofanancientman’sthoughtbecomesamodernman’sspeech.TwothousandsummershaveimpartedtothemonumentsofGrecianliterature,astohermarbles,onlyamaturergoldenandautumnaltint,fortheyhavecarriedtheirownsereneandcel