22.]
Here let me observe, by way of parenthesis, that when patriotism tries
to urge its claims in the domain of knowledge, it commits an offence
which should not be tolerated. For in those purely human questions
which interest all men alike, where truth, insight, beauty, should be
of sole account, what can be more impertinent than to let preference
for the nation to which a man's precious self happens to belong,
affect the balance of judgment, and thus supply a reason for doing
violence to truth and being unjust to the great minds of a foreign
country in order to make much of the smaller minds of one's own!
Still, there are writers in every nation in Europe, who afford
examples of this vulgar feeling. It is this which led Yriarte to
caricature them in the thirty-third of his charming _Literary
Fables_.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Translator's Note._--Tomas de Yriarte (1750-91), a
Spanish poet, and keeper of archives in the War Office at Madrid. His
two best known works are a didactic poem, entitled _La Musica_, and
the _Fables_ here quoted, which satirize the peculiar foibles of
literary men. They have been translated into many languages; into
English by Rockliffe (3rd edition, 1866). The fable in question
describes how, at a picnic of the animals, a discussion arose as to
which of them carried off the palm for superiority of talent.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63