ent capacities, that they shall acquire the same degree of reputation. Then begins the reign of subtile and strained conceits, of affected antitheses, of specious paradoxes, of frivolous and far-fetched expressions, of new-fangled words, and in short of the jargon of persons, whose understandings have been debauched by bad metaphysicks. The publick applauds; foolish and ridiculous writings, the beings of a day, are surprisingly multiplied; a vicious taste infects the arts and sciences, which is followed by a visible decrease of men of abilities."

CHAPTER TWELFTH.

CHARACTERISTICKS OF LANGUAGES.

§. 137. General remarks on peculiarities of style.

The style of a writer is his choice of words and manner of arranging them. Every writer of genius employs a style in some degree peculiar to himself. The nature of language leads us to expect this. Language is the expression of thought, and all writers of real worth think and feel in some degree for themselves; their style, therefore, which embodies and sets forth their mental states to others, will have a form and impress of its own. The languages of nations also have a style or peculiarity of manner,―certain prevailing characteristicks, which readily distinguish them from those of other nations.

The style of individual writers, the characteristicks in the style of Savages in their brief records and speeches, and those also of the languages of civilized and literary communities are all subjects of philosophical inquiry, and never can be fully understood and explained without referring to some principles of the human mind.

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§. 138. Characteristicks of style in uncivilized nations.

As uncivilized tribes are ignorant of alphabetical language, they are unable to furnish us with many specimens of mental effort ;-rarely any thing more than some brief historical sketches, war songs, and speeches. The words, which such tribes employ, are generally few in number, compared with the vocabulary of civilized nations; and of this number only a small proportion are the signs of abstract ideas. Having but few abstract ideas, and, consequently, but few names for them, they are under a necessity of resorting constantly to figurative illustrations; so that their language seems to partake of the materiality of the external objects, with which they are chiefly conversant. But aided, as they are, by metaphorical expressions, their stock of words still remains small; and the sentences, which they utter, must, therefore, of necessity be short. These short and figurative sentences are inspirited with all the untamed passions of a savage mind.

"The bones of our countrymen (say the Chiefs) lie uncovered; their bloody bed has not been washed clean; their spirits cry against us; they must be appeased; sit no longer inactive upon your mats; lift the hatchets; con-sole the spirits of the dead.”

§. 139. Origin of apologues and of the parabolick style.

Nations, while in an uncivilized state, or when at best they are only in their progress towards intellectual refinement, do not often attempt abstract reasonings or abstract speculations of any kind ;-and this is one marked characteristick of the style of such periods. The causes are chiefly two.

One of which is, that they have a small number of general terms; and it could not be expected to be otherwise. It appeared at §. 121, that we are capable of carrying on trains of reasoning to some little extent without the aid of general terms or those words, which stand for abstract ideas; but it was no less evident, that they are of great.

use, and that without them all processes of reasoning must be very much circumscribed.

This circumstance also deserves consideration, as accounting in some measure for the absence of abstract speculations and reasonings from the mental efforts of nations in the early periods of their history, viz. They do not possess, to that number desirable, those parts of speech, such as conjunctions and relative pronouns, which are used to connect sentences and clauses of sentences, and to show their distinction from each other, or opposition. It appeared at §. 123, that these classes of words, which are evidently very important in long and connected trains of thought, and also adverbs and prepositions, are subsequent in their origin to nouns and verbs; in other words, that, in the formation of a language, these are the parts, which are -completed last.

Under these circumstances, their reasonings, as might be expected, are applied to the minds of people by a variety of obvious and familiar illustrations,-by means of apologues and parables.

When Menennius Agrippa (year 260 of the Roman republick) wishes to convince the people of the necessity of subordination to the regularly constituted government, he lays down no abstract proposition and enters into no argument. The historian informs us, that he merely related, in an antiquated and uncouth way, the story of a rebellion on the part of the other members of the body, the hands, the mouth, and the teeth, against the stomach, and leaves them to make an application of it. The people under

stood what he meant.

Not to say any thing of the apologues and parables, attributed to Æsop and others, the Bible itself, written for the most part at a very early period, helps to illustrate these remarks. Who does not recollect the apologue of the trees by Jotham in the book of Judges, that of the two men in one city by Nathan, and a multitude of others ;— in particular, the interesting parables of the Saviour?

$. 140. Of the style of civilized and scientifick nations,

As a nation advances in knowledge, its language becomes more strictly conventional, losing by degrees that, metaphorical aspect, which it presented in its earlier periods. A variety of new words are introduced, which previously had no existence, because the things, for which they stand, were not then known. New arts have their technical names and epithets, and new sciences furnish us with their novel nomenclatures.

The distiller speaks of the cohobation of liquors; the worker in mines of collieries; the chymist of sulphates and muriates; the botanist and mineralogist employ a variety of terms, peculiar to their respective departments. An increased refinement and abstraction discovers itself in terms, appropriated to moral, political, and literary subjects; and the language in all respects is more removed from the senses, and becomes more intellectual. while it is more exact and scientifick, it is less fervent and poetical; a Savage, if he had the most refined language of Europe at his command, would be at a loss to express in it the fiery emotions of his bosom; he would choose the dialect of his tribe.

But

§. 141. Characteristicks of languages depend much on the habits, &c. of the people.

Individual writers, as already observed, have a style that is, characteristicks of expression, of their own; for every one has a tendency to connect together thoughts or words, which are the signs of thoughts, agreeably to his peculiar passions, and intellectual habits. But languages also, considered in their whole extent, have a style; because the nations, the whole mass of people, that make use of those languages, have their characteristicks, as well as individuals. It follows, then, from this, that languages assume their general character or style, in a good measure, from that of the people; and this is what we are willing to maintain. It will be found, that the language

of every people has words, combinations of words, peculiarities of grammatical construction, &c. springing entirely out of the national habits and the exigencies of their peculiar circumstances. Thus,--we have the word, CORBAN, in Hebrew, ANGGAROS in Persian, OSTRAKISMOS in Greek, PROSCRIPTIO and VIRTUS in Latin; words, which are either wholly peculiar to their respective languages, or employed with some peculiarity of meaning, not elsewhere acknowledged. We find combinations of words and peculiarities of grammatical construction in the Hebrew and its cognate dialects, which we do not find in the languages of modern Europe; and this will be more or less the case in whatever other languages or classes of languages we may compare together.

The single fact, without going into particulars, that no person can become fully acquainted with the true import and spirit of a language, without an acquaintance with the geography of their country and its natural scenery, without a knowledge of the dress, buildings, arts, religion, customs, and history of the people, seems enough in support of the remark, that languages take their character from the circumstances of those, who speak them. If the fact, on which the conclusion is founded, be doubted, then we ask, why instructers consider it so essential, that their pupils should have a knowledge of the antiquities of the Romans, of the antiquities of the Greeks, of the antiquities of the Hebrews ?-and why this course is pursued, or is acknowledged to be requisite, in respect to every other dead language?

§. 142. Languages help us in forming a correct idea of the national character.

If the statements in the preceding section be true, it follows, that a knowledge of languages very much helps us in acquiring a knowledge of the character of the people, who speak them. The study of every language is the examination of a new chapter in the history and operations of the mind; that is, of the mind, as it is modified by pe