158 THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 



circumstances of his outward relations." If any weight is to be attach- 

 ed to the opinions of the learned on this subject, we refer to the most 

 distinguished comparative philologists of this century, who agree in this 

 view of the subject : Frederick Schlegel, Klaproth, Baron W. von Hum- 

 boldt, Wiseman, Grimm, Bopp, and others. 



Thus far then we have shown, that there are groups of languages 

 resembling each other so much, that they can with propriety be called 

 families, such as the Indo-European or Japhetic, the Semitic, and Amer- 

 ican. 2d, We have shown, that these families, so far as their connexion 

 with each other has been traced, indicate a common origin. 3d, The 

 deficiency in the proof, if it be inadequate from the want of suiiicient 

 investigation, is made up by the argument from the natural history of 

 man, which indicates one original pair and therefore one language. 

 4th, The separation was by a violent cause. 5th, Languages are not 

 gradually developed in the progress of time, but are often the most per- 

 fect in the earlier stages. 6th, To this may be added, the striking sim- 

 ilarity in the alphabets of languages, so far as they exist and have been 

 made known to us. 



To these arguments derived from history, let us adduce the testimo- 

 ny of the inspired volume. We are informed that Adam was made per- 

 fect, a rational and intelligent creature. He must have been endowed 

 with the power of communicating his ideas, or his rationality would 

 have been of little value. We iind, in fact, that he was endowed not 

 only with the faculty of speech, but with speech itself, and that he was 

 speedily required to exercise it. God spake with him. He was requir- 

 ed to give names to the various animals that were brought to him. Lang- 

 uage then, and the faculty of speech, we may safely infer, were the im- 

 mediate gift of God, belonging essentially to the nature of man, as much 

 as any of the senses, or the reasoning faculty. 



What this one language was, which was originally with Adam, and 

 was transmitted through Noah and his sons to the post-diluvians, we 

 have no means of determining. This much, however, appears certain, 

 that it was not the Hebrew. For the sacred writer informs us, that the 

 whole earth was of one language, and one speech. This language must 

 have been the most ancient. By reason of the impious attem])t of the 

 people to raise a tower as high as heaven, God confounded their lang- 

 uage, so that they could not understand each otlier. In consequence of 

 which, they were dispersed from thence over the face of the whole earth. 

 If the confusion of languages originated the difterences which appear in 

 them, then these several languages are all of equal antiquity. Of these 

 the Hebrew, as a distinct language, was not one, for the Hebrew nation 



