was ever undertaken by any single man: but he complains in his preface, that his patrimony was exhausted by the great expense of employing and supporting a number of writers and printers, and of raising a new press for the Oriental characters. M. d'Herbelot, indeed, received the most splendid reward of his industry: he was invited to Italy by Ferdinand II. Duke of Tuscany, who entertained him with that striking munificence which always distinguished the race of the Medici: after the death of Ferdinand, the illustrious Colbert recalled him to Paris, where he enjoyed the fruits of his labour, and spent the remainder of his days in an honourable and easy retirement. But this is a rare example: the other princes of Europe have not imitated the Duke of Tuscany; and Christian VII. was reserved to be the protector of the Eastern Muses in the present age.
Since the literature of Asia was so much neglected, and the causes of that neglect were so various, we could not have expected that any slight power would rouse the nations of Europe from their inattention to it: and they would, perhaps, have persisted in despising it, if they had not been animated by the most powerful incentive that can influence the mind of man: interest was the magic wand which brought them all within one circle: interest was the charm which gave the languages of the East a real and solid importance. By one of those revolutions, which no human prudence could have foreseen, the Persian language found its way into India; that rich and celebrated empire, which, by the flourishing state of our commerce, has been the source of incredible wealth to the merchants of Europe. A variety of causes, which need not be mentioned here, gave the English nation a most extensive power in that kingdom: our India Company began to take under their protection the princes of
