and not to the former, the principle must apply. Job, for instance, was comparatively perfect, perfect in the main, perfect, perhaps, in the majority of moral exercises, at the time he was called so. Paul spake of his being pure of the blood of all men, in the sense understood in Ezekiel 33: 8, 9, and in the sense in which it may be applied to every faithful watchman, who gives faithful warning to the sinner. He spake of his being unconscious of sin, as a general truth, in the sense spoken of in 1 John 3: 9, understood, as the church has always understood it, in the sense of not living in what has always been called known sin and neglect of duty. This principle, then, is the high, impregnable fortress, in which the church is safe. On this she stands, and scatters her foes.

8. The doctrine is taught in a book expressly written in order to teach it-the book of Job. It was the subject of that divine poem, the great plot of the drama. The poem was constructed to present an occurrence worthy of divine interposition, viz. to show the fact, that the most perfect and upright man then on the earth, was not wholly free from sin.*

9. Finally, the doctrine is confirmed by facts established in the philosophy of mind. Mr. Dugald Stewart argues, that in the case of a performance on a musical instrument, every motion of every finger is preceded by an act of the will. And this remark he extends so as to include all our habitual actions. He remarks also that the equilibrist, who balances himself on a wire, and in this position holds a rod on the end of his finger, together with two or three others on different parts of his body, must watch every inclination of the rods from their proper position, and counteract this inclination by a contrary movement. His eye glances from one to the other with inconceivable rapidity. And as all these motions are such as he cannot calculate on beforehand, every movement of the body must be preceded by an act of the will. The general truth is then deduced by Mr. S., that the mind, though it may be more or less conscious at the time of its perceptions and thoughts and volitions, yet thinks and wills so rapidly as not to be able afterwards to recollect them.

Now to apply this to the question of perfection, may it not be asked, with all just inquiry, of one who claims to be sinless

* "Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus

Inciderit."-Hor. Ars. Poetica.

1

here on earth,-What! can you recollect all the acts of your will during the last twelve hours? Since no man is free from temptation, can you affirm that you have not sinned in the eye of God, when it immediately escaped your consciousness, and now evades, like a thousand other things, the powers of your recollection? And as "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," may you not be deceived in your estimate even of that part of the day, over which your recollection extends; if you think that no sin of ignorance has been committed with the means of present knowledge within your reach; that every affection bas to the utmost extent of your capacity of emotion, covered the great precept of love to God and man? It is difficult to conceive how a Christian can stand up with confident affirmations to such questions as these.

A few practical remarks will close this Article. If the true Christian should ever in this life reach so near perfection as to be guilty of but a single sin of omission during the day, and that sin a failure in strong emotion of gratitude to God for the least of his mercies, he would abhor that one sin, and look anew for forgiveness to redeeming blood. O, how much more has he to mourn over than this one sin!

He will have the standard of perfect holiness before his mind. The perfect law of God is written for him not on mere paper or parchment, but agreeably to the promise in the new covenant, on his heart. Not more certainly does the magnetized needle turn to the polar star, than are the aspirations of the new man, whom the love of Christ has drawn into the pursuits of holiness, directed to perfect conformity to the law of God. His mind is held to the contemplation, and his feet directed into the way, of truth, by "a love of divine things for the beauty and sweetness of their moral excellency." Like David Brainerd he will exclaim: "O that my soul were holy as he is holy! O that it were pure, even as Christ is pure; and perfect even as my Father in heaven is perfect! These, I feel, are the sweetest commands in God's book, comprising all others. O my soul, woe is me that I am a sinner, because I grieve and offend this blessed God, who is infinite in goodness and grace! What shall I do to glorify this best of beings? O that I could give up myself to him, so as never more to attempt to be my own, or to have any will or affections that are not perfectly conformed to him." And in the yet more ardent language of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, he will say: "As the hart panteth

after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God."

There is one permanent and visible state which the Christian must reach. It is that where his life will be in general accordance with the requirements of God's word. He must be able to say with Paul, I know nothing by myself. He must live free from open, known sin, free from transgression in secret. His growth must be permanently upward into the stature of a perfect man in Christ. To this state he will be raised not by dwelling on any abstract notion of the actual attainment of perfect holiness in this life. Neither true philosophy, nor the impulses of the new man, will lead him to this. But by beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, he will be thus changed into the same image from glory to glory. By doing the will of God, he shall know more and more of the length, and breadth, and height, and depth, of redeeming love. And the truth shall make him free, increase his power, elevate his joy. Let the Church turn its eyes to those great objects which are adapted to excite holy affections, let the ambassadors of the kingdom of God hold up "Christ crucified," and the gospel shall be armed with the power manifested in the primitive age, in the holiness of believers and the conversion of the world.

ARTICLE VIII.

ON THE NATURAL SIGNIFICANCY OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.

By Josiah W. Gibbs, Prof. Sac. Lit. Yale College, New Haven.

A New Dictionary of the English Language; by Charles Richardson. Part XXX. Lond. 1838. pp. 72. quarto.

THIS number of Richardson's English Dictionary consists of a preliminary essay, preface, and table of terminations. Our concern in this short notice, is solely with the preliminary essay; the principles of which, we are told by the author, are exoteric to English lexicography. The general subject of the essay is indeed very important, but we are not aware that Mr.

Richardson's doctrine, whether right or wrong, has seriously affected his great work.

It is the idea of our author, which he endeavors to support from Aristotle, that every vowel or consonant sound has a distinct significancy which is still perceptible, when such sounds are combined together to form words. Although there is much that is unsatisfactory and highly fanciful in his development of this principle, yet we cannot withhold our grateful acknowledgment to him for bringing it before the public, inasmuch as the truth at which he aims is important in itself, and has been greatly neglected. We shall then, without any further reference to Mr. Richardson, endeavor to support the position, that language is not entirely arbitrary or conventional, but on the contrary articulate sounds have a natural adaptedness to express specific ideas.

This natural significance of sounds, although it has hitherto been exhibited imperfectly, and only in distant surmises, is now beginning to be regarded as one of the deepest and most important doctrines in philology. It is considered as an established fact, that any articulate sound has in itself a specific import. For in order to the existence of language, it is not enough that man has the organs of speech, that he has sensations and ideas, and that he has a desire to communicate them to others; but it is also necessary that sounds should have a natural adaptedness to express the particular sensations and ideas.

Although existing languages exhibit, as it were, only partial fragments and mutilated ruins of the ancient tongues once spoken on our earth; yet the principle for which we contend is still sufficiently evident in them, more especially in the popular dialects, and in the terms employed for describing sensible objects, operations, and relations. In innumerable cases, where the relation is the same, the same sound has been chosen, to speak algebraically, as the exponent of that relation.

It must, however, be remarked that the natural significancy of sounds is for the most part a matter of feeling, and cannot be exhibited in nice logical distinctions. Instruction on this subject can only furnish hints, which may awaken attention to the life and energy which pervades language, and give a general idea of the import of sounds.

Some of our best poets have been highly commended for adapting the sound to the sense. Surely this would not be

possible, unless there were some correlation between sound and sense.

The vowel constitutes the life and soul of a word, the consonant its body or form. The vowel is more fleeting and changeable, yet not entirely arbitrary.

In examining the import of the different vowel and consonant sounds, we shall endeavor to follow the order of their developHence we begin with the vowels.

ment.

I. The mean vowel a.

The sound of a in father is to be regarded as the leading vowel-sound in the Indo-European languages; (1) Because it is the simplest and most easily enounced. (2) Because it is first enounced by children. (3) Because it is the most common vowel-sound. (4) Because it is a part of most roots, and (5) Because it stands at the head of most alphabets.

Among the uses of this vowel are the following:

1. As the enunciation of this vowel requires nothing but the ordinary position of the organs of speech with a simple opening of the mouth and breathing, it is the natural expression of passion, pain or grief; as Sansc. ha, Pers. ah, Heb. ahh, Arab. ah, Gr. a, Lat. ah, Germ. ach, ah, Eng. ah, Welsh a, Írish a. 2. It enters into some verbs signifying to breathe; as, Gr. aw, Lat. halo, halare.

3. As the first and leading vowel, it is used where no reason exists for any special vowel. Hence it is found, as stated above, in a large proportion of Indo-European roots; in the technical names of the letters in Sanscrit, etc.

II. The extreme vowels u, and i.

U, the lowest sound in the scale of vowels, is produced deep in the breast. Hence

1. It expresses low and obscure sounds; as, Gr. μoquúow, Lat. murmuro, Russ. murtshu, Germ. murren, Eng. murmur; Gr. uuto, Lat. mutio, musso, Eng. mutter; Dutch grommelen, Eng. grumble; Dan. grum, Eng. grum, Welsh grum; Gr. rouso, Old Lat. grundio, Germ. grunzen, Eng. grunt.

2. It expresses the red in color, (for what reason does not appear;) as Gr. ¿ovoρós, пvgóós, noдquдa; Lat. ruber, rufus, purpura; Germ. roth, Anglo-Sax. rude, Eng. ruddy, Welsh rhuz, Arm. ruz, Lat. russus, rutilus, Fr. roux.