ORDS are the elementary and conftituent parts of every language, made

W ufe of by every nation on the face of the globe, both barbarous and

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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 obferved 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 fcale 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 paflions 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 thefe no marks of reafon ?-yes, and they are great ones too; they

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fhew

fhew that GOD, who at firft difplayed his goodnefs 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 Inbabitants 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 fafety 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 thefe 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 exquisite 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 likewife a vaft 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 fcarce be a fimilarity of expreffion even in thofe few; no, there will be a variety in that famenefs; (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 increafed, 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 fpoken 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 deserve 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 talk 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 ufe 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 shall be vain enough to fay, that his language has continued pure and uncorrupt, unmixt, and uncontaminated, from the earlieft ages down to the préfent?

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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 feiences, 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 meafure 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 stock; 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 wifdom, 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, 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 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 must naturally be the state 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, vor derivatives; viz. that they can fay, they are the fource from whence the modern's havė sprung: but this is only a small and trivial advantage, to what á 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 almost total want of declenfions in their nouns, and of conjugations in their verbs: thofe, 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: mercatones, 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.mp low,

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low, and held in that mighty contempt which fome foreigners, nay, which even 'fome among ourselves, have fhewn for it.

The English language! fay fome foreigners (as remarkable for their vivacity, as their impertinence; and who are more fit to lead the way in the mode of a ruffle, or trip of a minuet, than to reafon on the strength, the genius, and the compofition of the English language; which, fay they) is only a botch-potch, compofed of all others *.

These are nothing more than the trifling and infignificant objections of pertnefs and vanity, and ought to be paffed over with that fcorn and contempt they fo juftly deferve: others however muft not be intirely paffed over in filence, fince they are not the falfe opinions of foreigners, but the prejudices of even some of our own countrymen, and have stood against our language ever fince the time of good old Verftegan, who wrote about two centuries ago, i. e. early in the reign of James I.; and being an author of fome credit in antiquity and etymology, I shall defire leave to quote his own words, in his Seauventh Chapter of the ancient English Tovng; (which he would have to be purely Saxon) where he says, p. 204, "Since the tyme of Chaucer, more Latin and French hath bin mingled with our toung, then left out of it; but of late wee haue falne to fuch borowing of woordes from Latin, French, and other toungs, that it had bin beyond all stay and limit; which albeit fome of vs do lyke wel, and think our toung thereby much bettred, yet do ftrangers therefore carry the farre leffe opinion thereof; fome faying, that it is of itself no language at all, but the fcum (→it may now furely with greater propriety be called the cream-) of many languages others, that it is moft barren; and that wee are dayly faine to borrow woords for it, as though it yet lacked making, out of other languages to patche it vp withal; and that yf wee were put to repay our borrowed fpeeche back again to the languages that may lay claime vnto it, wee fhould be left litle Better than dumb, or scarfly able to speak any thing that should be fencible." So much then for the objections of foreigners; let us now hear his own: "For myne own parte, (quoth he) I hold them deceaued that think our speech bettered by the aboundance of our dayly borrowed woords; for they beeing of an other nature, and not originally belonging to our language, do not; neither can they, in our toung beare their natural and true derguations: and therefore as wel may we fetch woords fro the Ethiopians, or Eaft or West Indians, and thrust them into our language, and baptize them all by the name of English, as those which we dayly take from the Latin, or other languages thereon depending: and heer-hence it cometh, as

Claudius Duretus tantam lingue Anglicane vilitatem ineffe contendit, ut ab omnibus aliis gentibus contemni, fpernique foleat; (fays Sheringham in his Preface) fcripfit ille librum lingua Gallica, cui titulum fecit, Trejor de l'hiftoire des langues de cet univers; quo in linguam noftram acerbè et contumeliosè invehitur: "Cette LANGUE ANGLOISE, inquit, eft fi peu eftimee des eftrangers, qui vont en Angleterre, qu'il y en a peu qui veulent fe fener de l'apprendre, et de la parler, fi fe ne font les ferviteurs, ou fatteurs pour l'ufage des chofes utiles et neceffaires a la vie lefquelles dependent du menu peuple, qui ne fait parler autre Langue:"Nobis difficile non eft paria convicia, pariaque mendacia in alias gentes excogitare :-the handfome and polite compliment, paid likewife to our nation by Janus Cæcilius Frey, medicus Parifienfis, (as mentioned by the fame author, p. 16) ought not to be forgotten; Nulli funt in Anglia Jupi ett men ipfi maximè lupinis funt moribus.

+ Unà cum Grammatica difceptationem quoque emittere ftatui de antiquitate, progreffu, et præstantiâ lingua Anglicana, (fays Sheringham, in his Preface) ut eorum convicia diluam, qui nobis linguam noftram improperant, eamque linguarum omnium fpumam vocant, quia ex aliis linguis decerpta quædam yocabula nobis in ufu funt; et quia lingua noftra multùm ab antiquâ dialecto deflexerit.

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by often experience it is found, that fome Englishmen difcourfing together, others beeing prefent, and of our own nation, and that naturally Speak the English toung, are not able to understand what the others fay, notwithstanding they call it English that they speak."

He then proceeds to give two examples of the fantasticalness of writing and fpeaking in technical terms, or terms of affected quaintness and innovation; but as the fame abfurdity has been more elegantly expofed by Addison, I fhall decline transcribing them; and only obferve, that notwithstanding this good old Anglo-Saxon has thus nobly ftood up in defence of what he judged to be his mother tongue, (the Saxon) yet all those words in the foregoing quotation, which have been here purposely printed in Italics, are neither English, nor Saxon, but undoubtedly derived from the Greek.

It would therefore almost make one fmile, to hear him abuse the English language, for having lent him words to abuse it with; and which are now become fo numerous, and confequently fo powerful, that it is not the writing of a Verstegan will ever perfuade the present race of Englishmen to revert back again to the antient Anglo-Saxon tongue, any more than an antient Anglo-Saxon lady could prevail on any of her modern English fair country-women at this day to adopt the manner of her garb; or, if any one, merely thro' frolic, fhould be hardy enough to attempt it, I believe the would not venture in that habit to walk openly in our public streets: fuch a dress might perhaps be admitted at a masquerade.

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Our language therefore, even in the time of Verftegan, and undoubtedly long before him, had affuredly been bettered by the aboundance of our dayly borrowed woordes, and had received great ftrength and vigor from fuch firm ingraftings, as they may be called, of Greek and Latin, into the main stock, and strong branches of our antient Celt-English tongue: whenever, therefore, we may in future hear any one complain of the weakness and poverty of the English language, it may Well raife a fcruple, whether that complaint ought not rather to be attributed to a deficiency in the complainant, than to any deficiency in the language itfelf*.

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The English language, in the hands of good authors, like keeneft weapons in the hands of skilful artifts, is much more powerful than what those complainants are aware of; witness the immortal writings of our best authors:-your best authors; which are they?-we have many noble and fublime writers; in whofe works, altho' there may be fome little imperfections, and inaccuracies of expreffion, yet certainly there are no defects of fuch mighty prevalence, as either to depreciate those writings in point of ftile, whatever there may be in point of thought; or give fuch doughty pedants any just occafion to calumniate our

own tongue.

It is true indeed the English language is not an original one;but what then an original language ought not furely to be admired, merely on account of its originality; for the firft inventors of names, and letters, muft unavoidably

* Quòd autem femiliterati quidam nobis ab aliis linguis defumpta vocabula, variafque lingue noftræ mutationes exprobrent, fuam infcitiam produnt; poffumufque nos viciffim aliarum gentium fermones pari ratione Hybridas, Proteofque vocare; cùm vix ulla fit totius Europæ lingua infignis, quæ non magis quàm noftra cum aliis linguis permixta, et non æque etiam mutata fit: Shering. Pref.