1000000030

L A N

il lhe pOlVer of ours, Ihere behol'eJ lO

Ihree diAinél

words al leafl . HOII'ever, if .1I Ihis was done ;-Ihat

is, if Ihere \Vas a diflintl eonjugalion formed for ""cry

forty or 6rly n rbs;-if eaeh of Ihe lenf" was properl y

forrned, and

. 11

of Ihem dilferenl from evcry olher

c, nfe as wdl as every olher verb; and Ihefe all earried

chrough eaeh of Ihe dllfcrenl perfons, fo as

be all dif·

ferenl from one anólher ;-and if likewifc lhere was a

difl intl word co mark eaeh of Ihe fepar' le meanings whieh

Ihe fame lenfe eould be m. de lO afi'ume by means of lhe

emphafis ;-and if all lhis infi nile v. ,ielY of words eould

be formed in a diflintl manner, dilfcrenl from eaeh olher

and harmonious;-Ihis

Iangu.ge

would have powers

grealer Ihan any Ihal eould be formed by auxiliaries, if

jI were poffible for Ihe human powers

aequire [ueh a

degree of knowledge as lObe able lOemploy il wil h fa·

tilily. BU I how eould lhis be anained, finee upwards

of len lhou(and words would be neeefi'n y

form lhe

·..rialio;·s of any one verbo and a hund red limes Ihal

nUl)lber would

001

ineludelhe knowledge of lhe ve,bs alone

of fueh a Iangllage ' 1-Howmueh, lherefore, oughl we

admire lhe fi mple perfpieuilY of our language, whi. h

\Vhieh enablcs us, by lheproper appliealÍonof len or lwelve

(eemingly criBiog words, lhe meaning . nd ufe of whieh

can be attained ",ith lhe ulmon eafe,

expre(s all Ihal

eould be

exprefi'~d

by lhis unwieldy 'pparalus 1 Whal

can equal lhe fimplicil Yor Ihe power of lhe one melhod,

bUI Ihe \Vell known powers of lhe Iwenly·four leners,

che koowledge of whieh can be oblained wilh fo mueh

cafe-and Iheir power knows no limils 1-or whal can

eompmd lO Lbe faneied perfeélion of lhe olher, but

Ihe tran(erpl of it whieh the Chioefe feem lOhave formed

io cheir uninlelligible language 1

Having Lbus eonfidered preuy fully lhe advantages and

defetls of eaeh of lhefe IIVO melhods of varyiog verbs,

we cannot help leelint a feeret wifh arife in our mind, Ihat

Ihere had beeo a people fagaeious enough IÓ have uniled

the powm of Ihe onemelhod wilh lhofe of the olher;–

nor caD lI'e help being furprifed, that, amoog lhe ehan·

tes IIhieh look place iDIhe fevmlla nguages of Europe

afler Ihe downfall of IheRomanmonarehy, fome of Ihem

did nOI aeeidenlally Ilumble On Ihe melhod of doing it.–

From many

eoneurrin~

eireumnanees, it feems probable,

lhal lhe grealefl part, if

001

all Ihe GOlhie nalions Ihat

over.ran ltalyat Ihat.lime, had lheir verbs varied by Ihe

help of auxiliaries ; and many of Ihe modern European

languages whieh have fprung fromIhem, have fo far bor–

rowed from the Lalin, as to have fome of the lenfes of

their verbs infletled: yet the Englifh . Ione have iDany

inflanee eombined Ihe joinl powers of lhe lWO : whieh

eould ooly be done by forming inBcétioos for Ihedifferent

Itnfesin Ihe fame manner as Ihe Lalins, and at the fame

time reraioing Ihe origi nal melhod of varying Ihem by

auxiliari,,; by whieh means eilher Ihe one or Ihe omer

melhod eould have been employed as oeeafion required.

-We have luekily lWOlenfes formed in lhat way; tbe

VO L.

Il.

No. 63 .

L A N

Irl'n l

of lhe ,ndi.:ali'e, and Ihe

paji.

In alO1on all

ou r vcrbs Ihefe ca n he declioed eother IVilh or " ilh"ut

auxiliaries. T II\IS the p, efent, Wilhoul an auxiliary, is,

¡'~(.

wrilt,

jptoA;

\Vilh an allxiliary,

I d.

1uril' ,

1 do /,v" 1 do¡¡o(oA,

In Ihe fame manner, Ihe pa!!

lenfe, by inlleélion, is,

I /.vd,

1urol"

jp,h;

auxilialies, /

did /OV(,

Jirl

jp("~,

rlidwril(.

EI'ery

aUlhor, who knows any Ihing of lhe powcr of the Eoglilh

Janguage, knows lhe ufe whlCh may he made nf this di·

!lintl ion. Whal a pilY is il Ihal we fllould have flopt

fhon fo foon1 how bhnd was il in fo many olher nalÍoos

imirale Ihe defctl s, IVilhom mak:ng " pror" ufe of

lhal

beauliful l~nguage

whieh is nolV numbcrcd a0100g

Ihe dead 1

fter Ihe ve, bs, Ihe next mon eonr,Jerablc variarion

we find belween Ihe

Ano/,!:••,

and

IrRlifpojliv,

Idn–

guages, is in the nOllns; Ihe 1. 1ler var)'ing Ihe tlillerent

cafes

rhefe by

injldli,,, ;

hereas Ihe formcr cx prefs

all Ihe dilferent varialions of Ihem by lhe help of o–

¡her "'ords prefixed, called

pr(piftli,,,,.

NolV, if we

eonfider lhe advanlages or difadranlages

eilher of

thefe mClhods under lhe fame heads as IVe have done Ihe

verbs, IVe will fin d, Ihac.lVilh regard lO lhe nrfl pani·

eular,

viz.

variely of founds, almon Ihe fa Ole rcmarks may

be made as lIpo.n Ihe verbs ;-for if lVe compare any par–

ticular noun by i¡felf, lhe variely of fOllnd appms much

grealerbelwecnIhedilferenl eafes

inlheTranjpojlive,

Ihan

belween IheIrannalionof Ihefe iD Ibe

Ana/ogou/ language.

Thus,

lEX,

REGIS, REGI, REG Ef.f ,

6c.

aremore d-i·

ninél from one anolher in poinl of fou nd, Ihan lhe lranf–

lation of lhefe,

Ung, ol a ling, loa

Hng,

a xing,

&e.

But if we proeeed one nep fu rther, and eonfider Ihe va–

riely whieh is produeed in Ihe language

in gmera/,

the ooe or the olher of ¡hefe melhods, Ihe eafe is enlire–

Iy reoerfed. Foras it IVouldhave been impo/Jible ID form

dinintt variations, dilferent from one anolher, for eaeh

eafe ofevery ncun, Ihey have becn obliged to reduce all

their oouns inlo a few general e1afi'es, ealled

declenfronJ,

and enJowed all of ¡hofe ioduded under eaeh e1afs witlt

lhe fame terminalion in every eafe; IVhieh producesalike

fimilarity of found wilh IVhal we .Iready obferved was

oeeafioned lOIhe verbs from Ihe fame eaufe ; whereas in

lhe analogous languages, as there is no neeellity for any

eonflraint, Ihere is almon as gre31 a variel)' of foonds as

lhere are of nouns. T he Lalios have only nve differeot

declenfions, fo that all Ihe great number of words

Ihi.

general order mufl be redueed

Ihe vefy fmall rlimr,IY

of founds whieh thefe fnv c1afi'es admil of; and even Ihe

founds of Ihefe felV c1afi'es are not (o much diverfifi ed as

Ihey oughl lO have been, as many of Ihe differenl

cala

lhe differenl

dec/o!JiOlIl

have exa81y Ihe fame founds, as

we Ihall have oeeafion

rcmark more fully hereafler.–

We mighl here produce examples lO lhew Ihe great

ji–

lIIi/lfil)

of founds belween differenl ncuns in Ihe Lalin

language, and

V4rid}

in Ihe Englifh, in Ihe fame way

as we did of lhe verbs : bUl as cvery reader, in Ihe leal!

9 K

ae'luainted

• This alft"ionm, y perhaps appear lo mauy very mueh ey.aggtrared: hUI i( any fllould rhil1k fn, lI'e ol1ly heg rhe f.t –

VOllr Ihar he will fel himfelf ro ntark all lhe "arialiou of lenfes, lIlode, perfon, and 11111111>er, whid, all El1glifh lerb can

be made

.!fume, varying eaeh of Ihefe in every way rh' l il will adlllil, blllh as lo Ihe,li"ernIY

01'

<ypreilIOns, and lite

empha(¡~ ;

h. \Vill (oon be lonvinced lhal we hal'. here faid nOlhinll lItore Ihan enolllllr.