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power of musical sound. Hence the delight of poetical numbers; and even of the more concealed and looser measures of prose. Wit, Humour, and Ridicule likewise open a variety of Pleasures to Taste, quite distinct from any that we have yet considered.

At present it is not necessary to pursue any farther the subject of the Pleasures of Taste. I have opened some of the general principles; it is time now to make the application to our chief subject. If the question be put, To what class of those Pleasures of Taste which I have enumerated, that Pleasure is to be referred, which we receive from poetry, eloquence, or fine writing? My answer is, Not to any one, but to them all. This singular advantage, writing and discourse possess, that they encompass so large and rich a field on all sides, and have power to exhibit, in great perfection, not a single set of objects only, but almost the whole of those which give Pleasure to Taste and Imagination; whether that Pleasure arise from Sublimity, from Beauty in its different forms, from Design, and Art, from Moral Sentiment, from Novelty, from Harmony, from Wit, Humour, and Ridicule. To whichsoever of these the peculiar bent of a person's Taste lies, from some writer or other, he has it always in his power to receive the gratification of it.

Now this high power which eloquence and poetry possess, of supplying Taste and Imaginatian with such a wide circle of Pleasures, they derive altogether from their having a greater capacity of Imitation and Description than is possessed by any other art. Of all the means which human ingenuity has contrived for recalling the images of real objects, and awakening, by representation, similar emotions to those which are raised by the original, none is so full and extensive as that which is executed by words and writing. Through the assistance of this happy invention, there is nothing, either in the natural or moral world, but what can be represented and set before the mind, in colours very strong and lively. Hence it is asual among critical writers, to speak of discourse as the chief of all the imitative or mimetic arts; they compare it with painting and with sculpture, and in many respects prefer it justly before them.

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This style was first introduced by Aristotle in his Poetics; and since his time, has acquired a general currency among modern authors. But as it is of consequence to introduce as much precision as possible into critical language, I must observe, that this manner of speaking is not accurate, Neither discourse in general, nor poetry in particular, can be called together imitative arts, We must distinguish betwixt Imitation and Description, which are ideas that should not be confounded. Imitation is performed by means of somewhat that has a natural likeness and resemblance to the thing imitat ed, and of consequence is understood by all: such are statues and pictures. Description, again, is the raising in the mind. the conception of an object by means of some arbitrary or instituted symbols, understood only by those who agree in the institution of them; such are words and writing. Words have no natural resemblance to the ideas or objects which they are employed to signify; but a statue or a picture has a natural likeness to the original. And therefore Imitation and Description differ considerably in their nature from each

other.

As far, indeed, as a poet or a historian introduces into his work persons actually speaking; and by the words which he puts into their mouths, represents the discourse which they might be supposed to hold; so far his art may more accurate-ly be called Imitative: and this is the case in all dramatic composition. But in Narrative or Descriptive works, it can with no propriety be called so. Who, for instance, would call Virgil's Description of a tempest, in the first Æneid, an Imitation of a storm? If we heard of the Imitation of a battle, we might naturally think of some mock fight, or representation of a battle on the stage, but would never apprehend, that it meant one of Homer's Descriptions in the Iliad. I admit, at the same time, that Imitation and Description agree in their principal effect, of recalling by external signs the ideas of things which we do not see. But though in this they coincide, yet it should not be forgotten, that the terms themselves are not synonimous; that they import different means of effecting

the same end; and of course make different impressions on the mind.*

Whether we consider Poetry in particular, and Discourse in general, as Imitative or Descriptive; it is evident, that their whole power, in recalling the impressions of real objects is derived from the significancy of words. As their excellency flows altogether from this source, we must, in order to make way for further inquiries, begin at this fountain head. I shall, therefore, in the next Lecture, enter upon the consideration of Language of the origin, the progress, and construction of which I purpose to treat at some length.

Though in the execution of particular parts, Poetry is certainly Descriptive rather than Imitative, yet there is a qualified sense in which Poetry, in the general, may be termed an Imitative art. The subject of the poet (as Dr. Gerard has shewn in the Appendix to his Essay on Taste) is intended to be an Imitation, net of things really existing, but of the course of nature; that is, a feigned representation of such events, or such scenes, as though they never had a being, yet might have existed; and which therefore, by their probability, bear a resemblance to nature. It was probably, in this sense, that Aristotle termed Poetry a mimetic art. How far either the Imitation or the description which Poetry employs, is superior to the imitative powers of Painting and Music, is well shewn by Mr. Harris, in his Treatise on Music, Painting and Poetry. The chief advantage which Poetry, or Discourse in general, enjoys, is, that whereas, by the nature of his art, the painter is confined to the representation of a single moment, writing and discourse can trace a transaction through its whole progress. That moment, indeed, which the painter pitches upon for the subject of his picture he may be said to exhibit with more advantage than the poet or the orator; inasmuch as he sets before us, in one view, all the minute concurrent circumstances of the event which happen in one individual point of time, as they appear in nature : while Discourse is obliged to exhibit them in succession, and by means of a detail which is in danger of becoming tedious, in order to be clear; or if not tedious, is in danger of being obscure. But to that point of time which he has chosen, the painter being entirely confined, he cannot exhibit various stages of the same action or event; and he'is subject to this farther defect, that he can only exhibit objects as they appear to the eye, and can very imperfectly delineate characters and sentiments, which are the noblest subjects of Imitation or Description. The power of representing these with full advantage, gives a high superiority to Discourse and Writing above all other imitative parts.

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LECTURE VI.

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RISE AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE.

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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, or 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

* See Dr. Adam Smith's Dissertation on the Formation of Languages.-Trea-
tise on 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 Connoissances Humaines, par l'Abbé Condillac-Principes
de Grammaire, par Marsais-Grammaire Generale & Raisonnée.-Traité de la
Formation Mechanique des Langues, par le President de Brosses.-Discours sur
l'Inegalité parmi les Hommes, par Rousseau.-Grammaire Generale, par
Beauzce. Principes de la Traduction, par Batteux.-Warburton's Divine Le-
gation of Moses, vol. iii.-Sanctil Minerva, cum notis Perizonii.-Les Vrais
principes de la Langue Francoise, par l'Abbe Girard.

* Lau

а

EN

Pacich of the animals, cre foren of language, but not speech.

man uses both,

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 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 invisi ble 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 further 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. The 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.

But carry your thoughts back to the first dawn of Language among men. 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 inyentions 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,

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