in general, something belonging to France; thus we say, the French language, French custom, politeness, &c.

The French language, as it now stands, is no original or mother language, but a medley of several. Those that prevail most, and which are, as it were, the basis thereof are, 1. The Celtic; whether that were a particular language itself, or whether it were only a dialect of the Gothic, as spoke in the west and north. 2. The Latin, which the Romans carried with them into Gaul, when they made the conquest thereof. And, 3. The Teutonic, or that dialect of the Teutonic spoke by the Franks, when they gafted the Rhine, and established themselves in Gaul. Of these three languages, in the space of about thirteen hundred years, was the present French formed, such as it is now found. Its progress was very slow; and both the Italian and Spanish were regular languages long before the French.

Pafquier observes, it was under Philip de Valois that the French tongue first began to be polished; and that, in the register of the chamber of accounts of that time, there is a purity seen almost equal to that of the present age. However, the French was still a very imperfect language till the reign of Francis I.: the custom of speaking Latin at the bar, and of writing the public acts and instruments of the courts of justice in that language, had made them overlook the French, their own language. Add that the preceding ages had been remarkable for their ignorance, which was owing, in a good measure, to the long and calamitous wars which France had been engaged in; whence the French nobility deemed it a kind of merit not to know anything; and the generals regarded little whether or not they wrote and talked politely, provided they could but fight well.

But Francis I., who was the restorer of learning, and the father of the learned, changed the face of things; and after his time, Henry Stevens printed his book, De la Précédece du Langage François. The change had become very conspicuous at the end of the 16th century; and under Henry IV., Amyot, Coëfetateau, and Malherbe, contributed towards bringing it to its perfection; which the Cardinal de Richelieu completed, by the establishment of the French academy; an assembly, wherein the most distinguished persons of the church, the sword, and the gown, have been members. Nor did the long reign of Louis XIV. contribute a little to the improvement of the language; the personal qualities of that prince, and his taste for the fine arts, and that of the princes of the blood, rendered his court the politest in Europe. Wit and magnificence seemed to vie; and his generals might have disputed with the Greeks, Romans, &c. the glory of writing well, if they could not that of fighting. From court, the elegance and purity of the language soon spread itself into the provinces; and now there is scarce anybody there who does not write and speak good French.

One of the characters of the French language is, to be natural and easy. The words are ranged in it much in the same order as the ideas in our minds; in which it differs exceedingly from the Greek and Latin, where the inversion of the natural order of words is reputed a beauty. Indeed the Hebrew surpasses even the French in this point; but then it comes short of it in copiousness and variety.

It must be added, however, that as to the analogy of grammar, and the simplicity wherewith the moods of verbs are formed, the English has the advantage not only over the French, but over all the known languages. Fresecati in the world; but then the turns, the expressions, and the idioms of the English, are sometimes so quaint and extraordinary, that it loses a good deal of the advantage which its grammatical simplicity gives it over the rest.

The French has but few compound words; wherein it differs widely from the Greek, High Dutch, and English. This the French authors own a great disadvantage in their language; the Greek and Dutch deriving a great part of their force and energy from the composition of words, and frequently expressing that in one sounding word, which the French cannot express but by a periphrasis. The diminutives in the French are as few as the compounds; the greatest part of those remaining in use having lost their diminutive signification; but what distinguishes the French most, are its justness, purity, accuracy, and flexibility.

French is the most universal and extensive language in Europe. The policy of states and courts has rendered it necessary for the ministers of princes, and their officers, &c. and the taste of arts and sciences has had the same effect with regard to the learned. In Germany, and elsewhere, the princesses and persons of distinction value themselves on understanding French; and in several courts of Europe, French is almost as much known as the language of the country.