Excerpt from An Introduction to the Study of National Music: Comprising Researches Into Popular Songs, Traditions, and Customs The more a nation advances in civilization and self-esteem, the more will it appreciate the precept put forth by the ancient sages, Know thyself, and the more attentively will it investigate the views and tastes of other nations: since it is especially by observing others that we learn more thoroughly to understand ourselves. Uncivilized nations consider scarcely anything worthy of note except extraordinary events, which surprise by their novelty or by their immediate and startling effects. The historical records of such peoples generally consist of accounts of conquests and defeats in battle, and of occurrences which have produced sudden changes in their social life. The conviction that the gradual development of the mental and moral faculties of the people especially deserves consideration, because it affects most deeply the destiny and happiness of man, gains ground only after much experience, and with the increase of knowledge. The interest evinced, since the beginning of the present century, by several European nations in the popular songs, folk-lore, and other monuments of the mental condition of man in different parts of the world, is therefore a sign of progress not less delightful than the most important discoveries which have been made through the agency of practical science. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.