Scotland/Scots > Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

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WESTERN ISLANDS, &c.
his eloquence behind him, the new gene¬
rations have all to learn. There may
poffibly be books without a poliflied lan¬
guage, but there can be no polifhed lan¬
guage without books.
That the Bards could not read more than
the reft of their countrymen, it is reafon-
ableto ftippofe ; becaufe, if they had read,
they could probably have written ; and
how high their compofitions may reafon-
ably be rated, an inquirer may beft judge
by confidering what ftores of imagery,
what principles of ratiocination,what com-
prehenfion of knowledge, and what delica¬
cy of elocution he has known any man at¬
tain who cannot read. The ftate of the
Bards was yet more hopelefs. He that
cannot read may now converfe with thofe
that can ; but the Bard was a barbarian
among barbarians, who, knowing nothing
himfelf, lived with others that knew no
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more.
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