To what observation does this lead? we receive from poetry, eloquence, or How are these qualities divided; what fine writing, to be referred? What sinis the first, on what do they turn, and gular advantage do writing, and diswhat emotion do they excite? Of what course possess? From what do elovirtues is the other class? Of the sen- quence and poetry derive the high sation which these raise, what is ob- power of supplying the taste and the served? From what does a species of imagination with so wide a field of beauty, distinct from any which has pleasures; and what follows? From been mentioned, arise? In the examina- the assistance of this happy invention, tions of what, is the pleasure which we what advantages are derived, and receive wholly founded on this sense of hence how do critical writers usually beauty; and from what is it altogether speak of discourse? With what do different? How is this illustrated in the they compare it? Where, and by whom examination of a watch? Of what is was this style first introduced; and this sense of beauty, in fitness and de- what has it since acquired? In critical sign, the foundation? Of the ornaments language, what is of consequence of a building, what is observed; and and what follows? Between what how is this illustrated? In the exami-ideas must we distinguish? How is nation of any work, to what are we na-imitation performed? What is descripturally led? When does the work tion? From what does it appear that seem to have some beauty; and when imitation and description differ considoes it appear deformed? What obser- derably in their nature from each vation follows; and why is it made? other? How far may the poet's art be How is it fully illustrated in an epic called imitative, and in what composipoem, a history, an oration, or any tions is this the case? In what can it work of genius? What species of beau-not, with propriety, be so called; and ty remains to be noticed? From what how is this illustrated? In what is it does it appear that this term is used in admitted that imitation and descripa sense altogether loose and undeter-tion agree; yet what should not be mined? Of the word in this sense, what forgotten? From what is the power is observed? When does beauty of wri-of poetry and discourse evidently deting characterize a particular manner?rived? Upon what, in the next lecture, In this sense, what does it denote? shall we enter; and why? What writers of this class are mentioned; and what is said of them? Why has beauty been traced through a variety of forms? Objects deriving their power of giving pleasure to the imagi ANALYSIS. A. The nature of beauty. a. Mr. Hogarth's Analysis of E. Motion a source of beauty. nation, from other principles besides 1. Beauty. beauty and sublimity, what is the first that is mentioned; what is said of it; and hence what passion arises? Of objects and ideas that are familiar, and of those that are new and strange, what is observed; and hence what arises? Why is the emotion raised by novelty, though of a more lively and pungent nature, yet much shorter in its continuance, than that which is produced by beauty? What is another source of pleasure to taste; and to what does it give rise? From what does it appear that these form a very extensive class? Of the influence of melody and harmo-2. ny, as sources of pleasure to taste, what 3. Imitation. G. The beauty of the human coun tenance. H. Moral qualities. 1. The beauty of design. J. Beauty in writing. Novelty. is observed; and hence what follows? 4. Melody and harmony." To what class is the pleasure which A. Imitation and description. LECTURE VI. RISE AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. HAVING finished my observations on the pleasures of taste, which were meant to be introductory to the principal subject of these lectures, I now begin to treat of language; which is the foundation of the whole power of eloquence. This will lead to a considerable discussion; and there are few subjects belonging to polite literature, which more merit such a discussion. I shall first give a history of the rise and progress of language in several particulars, from its early to its more advanced periods; which shall be followed by a similar history of the rise and progress of writing. I shall next give some account of the construction of language, on the principles of universal grammar; and shall, lastly, apply these observations more particularly to the English tongue.* Language, in general, signifies the expression of our ideas by certain articulate sounds, which are used as the signs of those ideas. By articulate sounds, are meant those modulations of simple voice or of sound emitted from the thorax, which are formed by means of the mouth and its several organs, the teeth, the tongue, the lips, and the palate. How far there is any natural connexion between the ideas of the mind and the sounds emitted, will appear from what I am afterwards to offer. But as the natural connexion can, upon any system, affect only a small part of the fabric of language, the connexion between words and ideas may, in general, be considered as arbitrary and conventional, owing to the agreement of men among themselves; the clear proof of which is, that different nations have different languages, or a different set of articulate sounds, which they have chosen for communicating their ideas. This artificial method of communicating thought, we now behold carried to the highest perfection. Language is become a vehicle by which the most delicate and refined emotions of one mind can be transmitted, or, if we may so speak, transfused into another. Not See Dr. Adam Smith's Dissertation on the Formation of Languages:-Treatise of the Origin and Progress of Language, in 3 vols. :-Harris's Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Language and Universal Grammar :-Essai sur l'Origine des Connaissances Humaines, par l'Abbe Condillac :-Principes de Grammaire, par Marsais: -Grammaire Generale et Raisonnee:-Trait de la Formation Mechanique des Langues, par le President de Brosses:-Discours sur l'Inegalite parmi les Hommes, par Rousseau:-Grammaire Generale, par Beauzee :-Principes de la Traduction, par Batteux:-Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses, vol. iii. :-Sancti Minerva, cum notis Perizonii :-Les Vrais Principes de la Langue Francoise, par l'Abbe Girard. only are names given to all objects around us, by which means an easy and speedy intercourse is carried on for providing the necessaries of life, but all the relations and differences among these objects are minutely marked, the invisible sentiments of the mind are described, the most abstract notions and conceptions are rendered intelligible; and all the ideas which science can discover, or imagination create, are known by their proper names. Nay, language has been carried so far as to be made an instrument of the most refined luxury. Not resting in mere perspicuity, we require ornament also; not satisfied with having the conceptions of others made known to us, we make a farther demand, to have them so decked and adorned as to entertain our fancy; and this demand, it is found very possible to gratify. In this state, we now find language. In this state, it has been found among many nations for some thousand years. object is become familiar; and, like the expanse of the firmament, and other great objects, which we are accustomed to behold, we behold it without wonder. The But carry your thoughts back to the first dawn of language among men. Reflect Reflect upon the feeble beginnings from which it must have arisen, and upon the many and great obstacles which it must have encountered in its progress; and you will find reason for the highest astonishment, on viewing the height which it has now attained. We admire several of the inventions of art; we plume ourselves on some discoveries which have been made in latter ages, serving to advance knowledge, and to render life comfortable; we speak of them as the boast of human reason. But certainly no invention is entitled to any such degree of admiration as that of language; which too must have been the product of the first and rudest ages, if indeed it can be considered as a human invention at all. Think of the circumstances of mankind when languages began to be formed. They were a wandering scattered race; no society among them except families; and the family society, too, very imperfect, as their method of living by hunting or pasturage must have separated them frequently from one another. In this situation, when so much divided, and their intercourse so rare, how could any one set of sounds, or words, be generally agreed on as the signs of their ideas? Supposing that a few, whom chance or necessity threw together, agreed by some means upon certain signs, yet by what authority could these be propagated among other tribes or families, so as to spread and grow up into a language? One would think, that in order to any language fixing and extending itself, men must have been previously gathered together in considerable numbers; society must have been already far advanced; and yet, on the other hand, there seems to have been an absolute necessity for speech, previous to the formation of society. For by what bond could any multitude of men be kept together, or be made to join in the prosecution of any common interest, until once, by the intervention of speech, they could communicate their wants and intentions to one another? So that, either how society could form itself, previously to language, or how words could rise into a language, previously to society formed, seem to be points attended with equal difficulty. And when we consider farther, that curious analogy which prevails in the construction of almost all languages, and that deep and subtle logic on which they are founded, difficulties increase so much upon us, on all hands, that there seems to be no small reason for referring the first origin of all language to divine teaching or inspiration. But supposing language to have a divine original, we cannot, however, suppose, that a perfect system of it was all at once given to man. It is much more natural to think, that God taught our first parents only such language as suited their present occasions; leaving them, as he did in other things, to enlarge and improve it as their future necessities should require. Consequently, those first rudiments of speech must have been poor and narrow; and we are at full liberty to inquire in what manner and by what steps, language advanced to the state in which we now find it. The history which I am to give of this progress, will suggest several things, both curious in themselves, and useful in our future disquisitions. If we should suppose a period before any words were invented or known, it is clear, that men could have no other method of communicating to others what they felt, than by the cries of passion, accompanied with such motions and gestures as were farther expressive of passion. For these are the only signs which nature teaches all men, and which are understood by all. One who saw another going into some place where he himself had been frightened, or exposed to danger, and who sought to warn his neighbour of the danger, could contrive no other way of doing so than by uttering those cries, and making those gestures, which are the signs of fear: just as two men, at this day, would endeavour to make themselves be understood by each other, who should be thrown together on a desolate island, ignorant of each other's language. Those exclamations, therefore, which by grammarians are called interjections, uttered in a strong and passionate manner, were, beyond doubt, the first elements or beginnings of speech. When more enlarged communication became necessary, and names began to be assigned to objects, in what manner can we suppose men to have proceeded in this assignation of names, or invention of words? Undoubtedly, by imitating, as much as they could, the nature of the object which they named by the sound of the name which they gave to it. As a painter who would represent grass, must employ green colour; so in the beginnings of language, one giving a name to any thing harsh or boisterous, would of course employ a harsh or boisterous sound. He could not do otherwise, if he meant to excite in the hearer the idea of that thing which he sought to name. To suppose words invented, or names given to things, in a manner purely arbitrary, without any ground or reason, is to suppose an effect without a cause. There must have always been some motive which led to the assignation of one name rather than another; and we can conceive no motive which would more generally operate upon men in their first efforts towards language, than a desure to paint by speech, the objects which they named, in a manner more or less complete, according as the vocal organs had it in their power to affect this imitation. Wherever objects were to be named, in which sound, noise, or motion were concerned, the imitation by words was abundantly obvious. Nothing was more natural, than to imitate, by the sound of the voice, the quality of the sound or noise which any external object made; and to form its name accordingly. Thus, in all languages, we find a multitude of words that are evidently constructed upon this principle. A certain bird is termed the cuckoo, from the sound which it emits. When one sort of wind is said to whistle, and another to roar; when a serpent is said to hiss; a fly to buz, and falling timber to crash; when a stream is said to flow, and hail to rattle; the analogy between the word and the thing signified is plainly discernible. In the names of objects which address the sight only, where neither noise nor motion are concerned, and still more in the terms appropriated to moral ideas, this analogy appears to fail. Many learned men, however, have been of opinion, that though in such cases it becomes more obscure, yet it is not altogether lost; but that throughout the radical words of all languages, there may be traced some degree of correspondence with the object signified. With regard to moral and intellectual ideas, they remark, that in every language, the terms significant of them, are derived from the names of sensible objects to, which they are conceived to be analogous; and with regard to sensible objects pertaining merely to sight, they remark, that their most distinguishing qualities have certain radical sounds appropriated to the expression of them, in a great variety of languages. Stability, for instance, fluidity, hollowness, smoothness, gentleness, violence, &c. they imagine to be painted by the sound of certain letters or syllables, which have some relation to those different states of visible objects, on account of an obscure resemblance which the organs of speech are capable of assuming to such external qualities. By this natural mechanism, they imagine all languages to have been at first constructed, and the roots of their capital words formed.* The author who has carried his speculations on this subject the farthest, is the President Des Brosses, in his "Traite de la Formation Méchanique des Langues." Some of the radical letters or syllables which he supposes to carry this expressive power in most known languages are, St, to signify stability or rest; Fl, to denote fluency; Cl, a gentle descent; R, what relates to rapid motion; C, to cavity or hollowness, &c. A century before his time, Dr. Wallis, in his Grammar of the English Language, had taken notice of these significant roots, and represented it as a peculiar excellency of our tongue, that beyond all others, it expressed the nature of the objects which it named, by employing sounds sharper, softer, weaker, stronger, more obscure, or more stridulous, according as the idea which is to be suggested requires. He gives various examples. Thus, words, formed upon St, always denote firmness and strength, analogous to the Latin sto; as stand, stay staff, stop, stout, steady, stake, stamp, stallion, stately, &c. Words beginning with Str, intimate violent force and energy, analogous to the Greek orgavuus; as, strive, strength, strike, stripe, stress, struggle, stride, stretch, strip, &c. Thr, implies forcible motion: as throw, throb, thrust, through, threaten, thraldom Wr, obliquity or distortion; as, wry, wrest, wreath, wrestle, wring, wrong, wrangle, wrath, wrack, &c. Sw, silent agitation, or lateral motion; as, sway, swing, |