W WORDS are the elementary and conftituent parts of every language, made use of by every nation on the face of the globe, both barbarous and polite, to exprefs their various ideas to each other, and give names and appellations to the different objects around them. Nay, even in the Vegetable race, tho' not indued with the powers of utterance and articulation, yet even in them are to be found the wonderful powers of communicating their different affections and influences to each other; for we often find in plants and flowers a fympathy and antipathy, working by internal influence; as may be observed in that most amazing plant called the Senfitive, to whatever cause it may be owing; which has been placed as it were by Providence in a middle scale of existence, between plants and animals; fuperior indeed to the former, but inferior to the latter: fome Trees and Shrubs likewife feem to declare a mutual love and affection for each other; elfe, why does the vine fo cordially embrace her elm; and why do the ivy and the eglantine fo eagerly enclafp their oak? others again, express a horror and deteftation in their growth, when planted in the neighbourhood of obnoxious fociety; elfe, why does the olive-tree deteft the yew; and why the pear, the pine?-is it not because the former enjoy the kind and friendly fupport, while the latter avoid and fhun the baleful influence? If now these reciprocal fenfations are communicated and imparted by the vegetable race, and trees of ftatelier growth, to each other; how much more visibly are they perceived in the actions and paffions of Infects, and Animals; from the provident ant, up to the half-reafoning elephant? who have not only the powers of fenfation imparted to them in an eminent degree by their beneficent Creator, but the powers of reafon likewife, in a limited degree; elfe, why do we fee the ant fo bufily employed; or why do we find the bee fo wifely induftrious in her hive?—are these no marks of reafon ?-yes, and they are great ones too; they a fhew fhew that GOD, who at first displayed his goodness in the creation, did not con fine the operations of reason, and the powers of communicating it, to any one particular tribe of creatures; but has given them all a variety of utterance, and expreffion, according to their various exigences;-to all, except the numerous Inhabitants of the great Deep:and yet, even there, no doubt, they have some method of communicating their ideas to each other, fufficient to fupply their own wants; to propagate their own fpecies; and to provide for their own safety and defence: for we cannot but fuppofe, that even the mute inhabitant in his shell, tho' having neither eyes to fee, nor ears to hear, nor tongue to give him utterance; is nevertheless indued with powerful operations to communicate his wants, his fears, his apprehenfions, and his joys, to others of his own formation:-so wonderful are the ways of Providence, ruling in those dark and gloomy manfions of filence and obfcurity ! From these dumb and deaf creatures, to whom Non datur ac veras audire, et reddere voces, let us turn our thoughts to the Feathered tribe; among whom we shall find a most exquifite and amazing modulation of voice, which certainly by far exceeds all inftrumental found; and by far furpaffes all human harmony! and yet, even here we find no articulation of fpeech; for amidst all this variety of found, there is a fameness of expreffion, given to every individual of the fame fpecies. But to Man is given, not only a variety of expreffion, but likewise a vast variety of thought: how wonderful is that variety! no two authors whatever, tho' writing on the fame fubject, and in the fame language, can poffibly make use of the fame identical manner of expreffion, throughout a whole work; there may be indeed a fimilarity of thought in fome few inftances, but there will scarce be a fimilarity of expreffion even in thofe few; no, there will be a variety in that fameness; (if it does not found too much like contradiction to fay fo) according. as those different authors are poffeffed of a greater copioufnefs of words, and a greater variety of phrafes: this variety will be ftill farther increased, if we only fuppofe our two authors writing on the fame fubject in different languages; then indeed the variety is truly amazing! The different tongues and languages that are spoken in different parts of the habitable globe, and likewise the mutual connexion we find between the antient and modern, between the living and dead languages, are subjects that will always deferve the admiration and attention of a contemplative mind. Who fhall be able to account for the origin of language; or who fhall fay which was the original of all? fuch an attempt would be a task too difficult for mortal man to accomplish, and far beyond the abilities of any human creature to perform as well might he pretend to write a hiftory of his own origin, and attempt to give an account of thofe ideas and fenfations he felt operating in his own mind, during his state of infancy, and before he was able to utter a word in his own mother tongue-who then shall be hardy enough to affirm, that any language, now at prefent made use of in any nation, is the very fame, unaltered, and unvaried language, that has been spoken on that very fpot, ever fince the creation?—who fhall be vain enough to fay, that his language has continued pure and uncorrupt, unmixt, and uncontaminated, from the earliest ages down to the prefent? On On the contrary, who will not be candid enough to acknowledge, that his native tongue has undergone a number of changes; and has proceeded daily in improvement, till it has arrived at its prefent degree of perfection ?—at least, this must be acknowledged with regard to all modern European languages, and particularly our own. Let any one but read the hiftory of our own nation, written only a century or two past, and he will presently be ftruck with the uncouth appearance, both in ftile and orthography, made use of by his good old ancestors. Mankind, as they have advanced in the knowledge of things, and as they have made a greater progrefs in the arts and fciences, have been obliged to invent, or to adopt, new names, and give new terms to new ideas; and thus in time have acquired new knowledge, and a new language. This gradual advancement in fcience, and this acquired improvement in language, has in a great measure arisen from that mutual connexion and communication, which commerce has introduced into the world, by opening new channels of knowledge to mankind; and thus, by importing and adopting the improved accomplishments of other nations, they have enlarged their own former ftock; and have increased in knowledge, as they have increased in trade. * By travelling into foreign parts, and there obferving the customs, manners, and learning of other nations, they have been able to bring away a certain portion of their wisdom, as well as a certain portion of the produce of their climate whereas, had they never travelled, nor removed from their native habitations, both they, and we ourselves, might have continued as ignorant, and as barbarous, as the first inhabitants of our island, or of any other place, muft naturally be fuppofed to have been; or at least, if either they, or we, had arrived at any degree of knowledge, or made any tolerable improvements in the arts and sciences, without travel, it must have been, like that of the inhabitants of Otaheite, by the mere dint of application, thro' neceffity, and the acquired experience of unnumbered ages. Such muft naturally be the ftate of every nation and language that pretends to originality it must be confeffed indeed that original languages, or those which are properly fo called, feem to have one advantage over their defcendents, or derivatives; viz. that they can fay, they are the fource from whence the moderns have fprung: but this is only a small and trivial advantage, to what a modern language, and the English in particular, is endowed with; notwithstanding both that, and all other modern languages, labour under many inconveniences, which the originals were intirely free from; I mean the fuperabundant ufe of particles, and the almoft total want of declenfions in their nouns, and of conjugations in their verbs: thefe, and fome others, are the inconveniences and difadvantages which all modern languages labour under, and in which the originals have so just a title to clame the fuperiority; but then, these ought not to be magnified too high, nor modern languages, our own efpecially, be decried too * Ex mercatura etiam non levis fæpe linguarum mutatio oritur: mercatores fiquidem non minus verba, et loquendi modos, quam alias merces ab una regione in aliam exportare et importare folent : Shering. Pref. Let me only obferve, that notwithstanding the fimilarity of thought in both paffages, this Preface was written, long before I was favoured with all the authorities, which will hereafter be quoted from this author. fhew that GOD, who at first displayed his goodness in the creation, did not con fine the operations of reafon, and the powers of communicating it, to any one particular tribe of creatures; but has given them all a variety of utterance, and expreffion, according to their various exigences;-to all, except the numerous Inhabitants of the great Deep:-and yet, even there, no doubt, they have fome method of communicating their ideas to each other, fufficient to fupply their own wants; to propagate their own species; and to provide for their own safety and defence: for we cannot but fuppofe, that even the mute inhabitant in his hell, tho' having neither eyes to fee, nor ears to hear, nor tongue to give him utterance; is nevertheless indued with powerful operations to communicate his wants, his fears, his apprehenfions, and his joys, to others of his own formation :-fo wonderful are the ways of Providence, ruling in those dark and gloomy manfions of filence and obfcurity!"; From these dumb and deaf creatures, to whom Non datur ac veras audire, et reddere voces, let us turn our thoughts to the Feathered tribe; among whom we shall find a most exquifite and amazing modulation of voice, which certainly by far exceeds all inftrumental found; and by far furpaffes all human harmony! and yet, even here we find no articulation of speech; for amidst all this variety of found, there is a fameness of expreffion, given to every individual of the fame fpecies. But to Man is given, not only a variety of expreffion, but likewise a vast variety of thought: how wonderful is that variety! no two authors whatever, tho' writing on the fame fubject, and in the fame language, can poffibly make use of the fame identical manner of expreffion, throughout a whole work; there may be indeed a similarity of thought in fome few inftances, but there will scarce be a fimilarity of expreffion even in thofe few; no, there will be a variety in that fameness; (if it does not found too much like contradiction to fay fo) according as those different authors are poffeffed of a greater copioufnels of words, and a greater variety of phrafes: this variety will be ftill farther increased, if we only fuppofe our two authors writing on the fame fubject in different languages; then indeed the variety is truly amazing! The different tongues and languages that are spoken in different parts of the habitable globe, and likewife the mutual connexion we find between the antient and modern, between the living and dead languages, are fubjects that will always deferve the admiration and attention of a contemplative mind. Who fhall be able to account for the origin of language; or who fhall fay which was the original of all? fuch an attempt would be a task too difficult for mortal man to accomplish, and far beyond the abilities of any human creature to perform as well might he pretend to write a hiftory of his own origin, and attempt to give an account of thofe ideas and fenfations he felt operating in his own mind, during his state of infancy, and before he was able to utter a word in his own mother tongue ;-who then shall be hardy enough to affirm, that any language, now at prefent made use of in any nation, is the very fame, unaltered, and unvaried language, that has been fpoken on that very fpot, ever fince the creation ?—who fhall be vain enough to say, that his language has continued pure and uncorrupt, unmixt, and uncontaminated, from the earliest ages down to the prefent? On On the contrary, who will not be candid enough to acknowledge, that his native tongue has undergone a number of changes; and has proceeded daily in improvement, till it has arrived at its prefent degree of perfection ?—at least, this must be acknowledged with regard to all modern European languages, and particularly our own. Let any one but read the hiftory of our own nation, written only a century or two past, and he will presently be ftruck with the uncouth appearance, both in ftile and orthography, made use of by his good old ancestors." Mankind, as they have advanced in the knowledge of things, and as they have made a greater progrefs in the arts and fciences, have been obliged to invent, or to adopt, new names, and give new terms to new ideas; and thus in time have acquired new knowledge, and a new language. This gradual advancement in fcience, and this acquired improvement in language, has in a great measure arifen from that mutual connexion and communication, which commerce has introduced into the world, by opening new channels of knowledge to mankind; and thus, by importing and adopting the improved accomplishments of other nations, they have enlarged their own former ftock; and have increased in knowledge, as they have increased in trade. By travelling into foreign parts, and there obferving the customs, manners, and learning of other nations, they have been able to bring away a certain portion of their wisdom, as well as a certain portion of the produce of their climate*: whereas, had they never travelled, nor removed from their native habitations, both they, and we ourselves, might have continued as ignorant, and as barbarous, as the first inhabitants of our ifland, or of any other place, must naturally be fuppofed to have been; or at least, if either they, or we, had arrived at any degree of knowledge, or made any tolerable improvements in the arts and fciences, without travel, it must have been, like that of the inhabitants of Otaheite, by the mere dint of application, thro' neceffity, and the acquired experience of unnumbered ages. Such muft naturally be the ftate of every nation and language that pretends to originality: it must be confeffed indeed that original languages, or those which are properly fo called, feem to have one advantage over their defcendents, or derivatives; viz. that they can fay, they are the fource from whence the moderns have fprung: but this is only a small and trivial advantage, to what a modern language, and the English in particular, is endowed with; notwithstanding both that, and all other modern languages, labour under many inconveniences, which the originals were intirely free from; I mean the fuperabundant ufe of particles, and the almoft total want of declenfions in their nouns, and of conjugations in their verbs: thefe, and fome others, are the inconveniences and difadvantages which all modern languages labour under, and in which the originals have so just a title to clame the fuperiority; but then, thefe ought not to be magnified too high, nor modern languages, our own efpecially, be decried too * Ex mercatura etiam non levis fæpe linguarum mutatio oritur: mercatores fiquidem non minus verba, et loquendi modos, quam alias nierces ab una regione in aliam exportare et importare folent : Shering. Pref. Let me only obferve, that notwithstanding the fimilarity of thought in both paffages, this Preface was written, long before I was favoured with all the authorities, which will hereafter be quoted from this author. |