erhaps, it may not be for the advantage of any nation to have the arts imported from their
neighbours in too great perfection. This extinguishes emulation, and sinks the ardour of the
generous youth. So many models of ITALIAN painting brought into ENGLAND, instead of
exciting our artists, is the cause of their small progress in that noble art. The same, perhaps, was
the case of ROME, when it received the arts from GREECE. That multitude of polite
productions in the FRENCH language, dispersed all over GERMANY and the NORTH, hinder
these nations from cultivating their own language, and keep them still dependent on their
neighbours for those elegant entertainments.
I.
XIV.48