1000000030

L A N

8¡3

L A N

rcpared, by the p1lversof

inneoious artill,

comphin

of this eharJétcTllli.: ex,dleoee of OUrI.oguage as¿dLfrd.

But i( lVe tl uScujoy iu ao emioeOl degree the ad,,¿o–

ta ges amodiog ao

anal<gouI

language ; IVe likewife feel

more p:culiarly a,I.IFted (or the

gr~at

aou iotmfling

fceoes o( the

Dr./1113

thao aoy laogllJge that has yet ap'

pmed io the gloue.- Nor has aoy Nher oation

ev~r

aro

rived at that pcr(eélioo "hich the Eoghfh may Jullly

c1aim in that refpeél; (or howel'er (aulty our dramatic

compofitioos OIaybe io (omeof the critical oiceties whieh

relate to this art,-io oervousforce of diélioo, aod io the

Datural exprcflion of thoCe great emotioos whieh cooOi·

tute its Coul aod eocrgy, we c1. im, without diCpute, an

uorivallcd Cuperiotity.- Our language too, fromthe great

iotereourCe that we have had with alOloOall the natioos

of the globe by mcaosof our exteofi,eeommeree, and from

lhe eminent dcgm of perfeétioowhich we hal'e attained

all the am aod fcicoces, has aequired a eopioufoeC!

beyond what aoy other modern oatioo eao lay c1aim tO;

aod eveo the 0100 partial fal'ourers of the Greek laoguage

are forced tO aeknowledge, that io this refpeél it muO

give plaee to the Englifh . Nor is it le(s happy io that

faeility of eoonruélion whieh reoders it more peeuliarly

adapted to thegenius of afreepeople, thao any otherform

of laoguage.- Of ao

idiGIH

purely aoalogous, il has de–

viated lefs from'the geoiusof that

idiom,

and póffefft! more

of the charaéleriflie advaotage! attendiog it, thaoaoyother

hoguage that oow exifls: (or, while

o/hUJ,

perhap! by

their more iotimate eooneélioo with the Romans, have ad–

opted fomeof thei r Irao(pofitioos, aod c10ggedtheir lao–

~uage

with uooeeefi'ary fenm,

'Ulf

have preferved our–

fdves free from the eontagioo, aod Oill retai nthe primi–

tive fimplieity of our Ianguage. Our

vlrhJ

are all varied

by auxiliaries (exeept io theioflaoee we have already gi–

.eo, which is fo mueh io our favours); our

nounJ

remaio

fl.ee

fro'mthe

perpleAi~b

embamffmeot of

gwdm,

aod

our prooouns mark this diflioélioo where neeeffary with

lhe 010/1 perfeCt aeemaey; our

ar/icla

airo are o( eourfe

freed from this uooatural eocumbraoce, aod our

adjfC–

tiva

preferve their oatural freedom aod iodepeodeoee.

From thefe caufe!, our laoguage follow! aoorder o( coo·

flruélioo fooatural and ea(y, aod the rules of

finta.

are

fo f( w aod obvious, as to be withio the reaeh of the

mofl ordioary eapacity. So that (rom this, and thegreat

clearnefs and diflioéloefs of meaniog whieh this mode

of eooflruélioo oeeeffari ly is aeeompanied with, it is

mueh better adapted (or the familiar iotereourfe of

private foeiety, and liable to fewer error! io IIGog it,

thao aoy other laoguage yet koowo;

a~d

00 this ae–

couot we mal' boan, that io no nation of Europe do the

lower c1afs of poople fpeak their language with (o mueh

aecuraey, or have their miods fó mueh

enli~hteoed

knowledge, as thofe of great Britaio.-· -What then

[hall we fay of the difeeromeot of thofe grammariaos,

",ho are cvery day eehoing baek to ooe aoother

eO~ll

pl.ints of the po\'eny of our laogu' ge 00 aeeouot oí the

fe\\' and fiOlple rules whieh it rtquires io C)'otax? As

juOly

mi~ht

we cemplaio of ,n ioveOlioo in meehaoie!,

whil h, by meaos of one Or two fimple movemeots, ob–

vious to ao oIClinary eapaeit)', liltle liaqle to aeeidents,

aod eaCllyput io order by the rude/l h,od, fh ould poff,(s

the wholc pov ..ers of a eOOlplex

OI~ehioe,

whieh had re–

quired aninfioile

arp~ratus

of II'h(tls;Iodeontrarymol'e–

meots, the koowlulgL of ....hieh could onlybe

ae~uired .

the vari"us ae.:idlntS to whiehitwas cxpofed b)' ufiog it be

io a eoofiderable mCdCure the defeéls to \lIhieh it is expo–

fed; as Ihe oumber of Illooofyllablcs with whieh it al–

ways mull be embarraffed, ootwilhf1aodiog the great im.

provemeots ,,·hieh have beeo made io our I¿ogluge lioce

the !eI'iv,1of Ictters io Europe, prcl'eots in fome degree

that fwelliog fuloefs of

fo~od

which fa pOlVerfullyeou.

tributes to harmooious d'golty aod gr;aeeful eadeom

iD literary eompofitioos.-Aod as tIte genius of the

people of Sritaio h.! always beco more difpo(ed

the rougher art! of eommaod, thao the fofter iofinua.

tioos of perfuafion, no paios have been takeo tO comél

thefe natural defeéts of our language; but

the coo–

trary, by ao ioamotioo of whieh we h"'e hardly a pa–

ralleliothe hillory of aoy eivilized oation, we

Olee!

with

maoy ioflaoees, eveo withio this lan eeotury, of the har–

mooy of (ouou ueiog facrifiecd to that brevity fodefire–

able in eooverfatioo, as maoy elegaot words llaVe beco

curtailed, aod harmooious (yllables fupprefl'ed, to fubfli–

tute io their lIead others, Olorter iodeed, but more bar–

barous aod uneouth -Nay, (o little mentioo lave our

forefathm benowed upoo the harmooy of

fo~ods

io our

Iaoguage, that ooe would be tcmpted to think, 00 lookiog

baek to its primitive flate. that they had on fORle oeca–

fions fludioufly debafed it.-Our laoguage, at itl fidl

formatioo, feems 10 havc laboured uoder a capital defeél

io point of fouod , a! (uch 2 oumber of S'! eoter ioto the

[ormatioo of our words, aod Cueh a number of letter! and

eombioótions of other letters affume a fimilar found, as

to give a general hifs through thewholeteoor of our lao–

guage, whieh mufl be exeeedingly di(agrmble to every

uoprcjudieed ear. We would tberefore have oaturally

expeéled, that at the revival of letters, wheo our forefa–

ther! became aequaioled with the harmooiou! laoguagel

of Creeee aod Rome, they would have

ae~uired

a more

eorreél tafle, aod eodeavoured, if pofli ble, to have di–

mioifhed the prevalenee of this diCgufliog found. Hut

fo fa r have they beeo from thiokiog of this, that they.

have multiplied this letter exceedingly. The plurals 01

almofl all our oOuos were originally formed by addiog

the harmooious fyllable MIO the fingular, whieh has

giveo place 10 the letter

and ioflead of

hDII!m

or-

mer1y, we r,ow

fayhoufu.

In likc maooer, maoy

the

variations of our verbs were formed by the fyllable

,th,

whieh we have likewife ehaoged into the fame difagree–

able lener; fa that, innead of

lav,th, nlDVtlh, 'Ulril/lh,

,vall,th,

&e. we have changed them ioto the more 010-

difh form of

loun,

"'¡VU ,

'Ulri/(J, 'UlaIJJ,

&e.-Oor

very auxiliaryverbs have fulf. red the (ame chaoge; and

iofiead of

hath

and

do/h,

we 0011' make ufe of

hnl

2nd

dOt/.

From thefe caufes, ootwitltllaoding the great iOI–

provements whieh ha.e beeo maJe io Janguage, withio

tltefe few eenturies, in other reCpeéls; yet, \Vilh reganl

tothe pbr.ogoefs of fou od alooe, it was perltApl OIueh

more pe!

Ccél

io the day! ofCh,ueer thao at pre(ent: ano

althollgh eullom may have rcndered thef, fouods (o f.l–

miliar

Oll( eu, as oOt

, /lcél us OIud' ;

yC1

tl1

.10

uo–

pr~JuJieed perr~n,

ur..equlintcd lI'ith our

l.n~uaCI·,

11<

h,1C