e--when, in fact, the road itself is the object of their journey,
they indulge in a thousand windings without advancing a step. The
Italians, it is true, fear new thoughts; but that is an effect of
indolence, and not of literary baseness. In their character, their
gaiety, and their imagination, there is much originality; and
nevertheless, as they take no pains to reflect, their general ideas do
not soar above mediocrity; their eloquence even, so animated when they
speak, has no character when they write; one would say that labour of
any kind freezes their faculties; it may also be added, that the nations
of the South are fettered by prose, and that poetry alone can express
their real sentiments. It is not thus in French literature," said
Corinne, addressing herself to the Count d'Erfeuil--"your prose writers
are often more eloquent, and even more poetic, than your poets."--"It is
true," answered the Count, "your assertion can be verified by truly
classical authorities:--Bossuet, La Bruyere, Montesquieu, and Buffon,
cannot be excelled; more particularly the first two, who are of the age
of Louis the Fourteenth, in whose praise too much cannot be said, for
they are perfect models for imitation. They are models that foreigners
ought to be as eager to imitate as the French themselves."--"I can
hardly think it desirable," answered Corinne, "for the whole world
entirely to lose their national colouring, as well as all originality of
sentiment and genius; and I am bold enough to tell you Count, that even
in your country, this literary orthodoxy, if I may so express myself,
which is opposed to every innovation, will in time render your
literature extremely barren. Genius is essentially creative; it bears
the character of the individual that possesses it. Nature, who has not
formed two leaves alike, has infused a still greater variety into the
human soul; imitation is therefore a species of death, since it robs
each one of his natural existence."

"You would not wish, fair stranger," replied the Count, "that we should
admit Teutonic barbarism amongst us--that we should copy Young's Night
Thoughts, and the _Concetti_ of the Italians and Spaniards. What would
become of the taste and elegance of our French style after such a
mixture?" Prince Castel-Forte, who had not yet spoken, said--"It seems
to me that we all stand in need of each other: the literature of every
country discovers to him who is acquainted with it a new sphere of
i