WhentheGothicnationscameintoEurope，theyfounditlightedwiththesunandmoonofHebrewandofGreekgenius。Thetabletsoftheirbrain，longkeptinthedark，werefinelysensibletothedoubleglory。Totheimagesfromthistwinsource（ofChristianityandart），themindbecamefruitfulasbytheincubationoftheHolyGhost。TheEnglishmindfloweredineveryfaculty。Thecommon—sensewassurprisedandinspired。Fortwocenturies，Englandwasphilosophic，religious，poetic。Thementalfurnitureseemedoflargerscale；thememorycapaciouslikethestorehouseoftherains；
theardorandenduranceofstudy；theboldnessandfacilityoftheirmentalconstruction；theirfancy，andimagination，andeasyspanningofvastdistancesofthought；theenterpriseoraccostingofnewsubjects；and，generally，theeasyexertionofpower，astonish，likethelegendaryfeatsofGuyofWarwick。TheunionofSaxonprecisionandorientalsoaring，ofwhichShakspeareistheperfectexample，issharedinlessdegreebythewritersoftwocenturies。Ifindnotonlythegreatmastersoutofallrivalryandreach，butthewholewritingofthetimechargedwithamasculineforceandfreedom。
Thereisahygienicsimpleness，roughvigor，andclosenesstothematterinhand，eveninthesecondandthirdclassofwriters；
and，Ithink，inthecommonstyleofthepeople，asonefindsitinthecitationofwills，letters，andpublicdocuments，inproverbs，andformsofspeech。ThemoreheartyandsturdyexpressionmayindicatethatthesavagenessoftheNorsemanwasnotallgone。Theirdynamicbrainshurledofftheirwords，astherevolvingstonehurlsoffscrapsofgrit。Icouldcitefromtheseventeenthcenturysentencesandphrasesofedgenottobematchedinthenineteenth。
Theirpoetsbysimpleforceofmindequalizedthemselveswiththeaccumulatedscienceofours。ThecountrygentlemenhadapossetordrinktheycalledOctober；andthepoets，asifbythishint，knewhowtodistilthewholeseasonintotheirautumnalverses：and，asnature，topiquethemore，sometimesworksupdeformitiesintobeauty，insomerareAspasia，orCleopatra；and，astheGreekartwroughtmanyavaseorcolumn，inwhichtoolong，ortoolithe，ornodes，orpitsandflaws，aremadeabeautyof；sotheseweresoquickandvital，thattheycouldcharmandenrichbymeanandvulgarobjects。