the primitive manners of the human race, while as yet under the guidance of fimple nature, without any artificial restraint or control.

SILENCE naturally accompanies a tranquil ftate of mind: the agitations of paffion as naturally produce vociferation and utterance of found. If various paffions produce various modifications of vocal expreffion or found; and if particular modifications of found ferve to convey, from one mind to another, intelligence of particular pasfions; it may be concluded, that thofe modified founds are the primary language of nature, in the constitution of which no artificial means were used for marking expression with a determinate fignification.

THE VOWels A, E, I, O, U, pronounced in Scotland in the fame manner as they are in Italy, are all fignificant founds with the defcendants of the Caledonians. A is a found, uttered with loud vociferation, to caufe terror. E is an

excla

exclamation of joy; I, of diflike; 0, of admiration; and U, of fear; alfo of grief, modified by a graver tone of voice.

SUDDEN fenfations of heat, cold, and bodily pain, are expreffed by articulate founds, which, however, are not used in the language to denote heat, cold, or bodily pain. Sudden fenfation of heat is denoted by an articulate exclamation, Hoit; of cold, by Id; of bodily pain, by Oich. The fimple cries are generally,

if not always, followed by articulate founds; as, A, Ab; E, Ed; I, Ibh; O, Obh; U, Ubh. The letters bh found like v. All these founds, both simple and articulate, may be called interjections, being parts of fpeech which discover the mind to be feized with fome paffion. We doubt if any of the modern improved languages of Europe present fo great a variety of interjections, or founds which in utterance inftantaneoufly convey notice of a particular passion, bodily or mental feeling. Although the founds, fimple and arti-) culate,

F

culate, enumerated above, have not all been adopted or preferved as fignificant words, fome of them still remain as words or founds of marked fignification.

THE pronouns He and She are expreffed by the fimple founds, or vowels, E and I; and these ferve as regular marks of the masculine and feminine genders. A neuter gender being unknown, every object is in a manner perfonified in the application of these pronouns.

DISTINCTLY varied founds having been once employed by primitive Man to denote the genders of living objects, he naturally applies them to inanimate things. Language advances from sterility to copioufnefs by flow degrees. The invention of a word to denote a neuter gender, belongs to an improved understanding. It is probable that the T. of the Greeks was not coeval with their o and H, which, like the Galic E and I, were fimple founds used to

denote

denote the male and female of every fpecies.

RUDE Man is incapable of forming abstract ideas: his intellectual powers are extremely limited his reafoning faculty is applied to few objects: the rare impreffions made upon his mind are therefore ftrong: inanimate things pass unnoticed: objects of motion and life catch his attention. Difpofed to taciturnity, he seldom communicates his thoughts; but when his mind is agitated by matters of important concern, defirous to paint forcibly, he expreffes himself in bold and figurative language, accompanied with bodily figns and geftures: his manner and ftyle naturally, if not neceffarily, affume the tone of animation. He delights in imagery and perfonification. Hence it is, that the compofitions of rude and barbarous ages, tranfmitted to posterity, are univerfally found to approach to the style and numbers of poetry. The diftinc tion of two genders fufficiently fatisfies the mind.

of primeval Man: the invention of a third gender is reserved for that stage of fociety when the understanding is much exercifed, and the imagination and genius are not fuffered to wanton in extravagance, but are reduced within the limits of precision, correctnefs, method, and rule..

THE diftinction of male and female naturally claimed the earliest attention. The difference of sex was denoted by two fimple founds, which formed two diftinct words in primitive language

THE Vowel I, with an afpiration, fignifies, to eat. The aspiration being the termination of the found, it had in the mouths of many ac-. quired the guttural pronunciation Ich. Both I and Ich are in common ufe. From Ich came Iche, which fignifies compaffion; importing, that the most common relief from diftrefs flowed from provifion of food.