240 THEORT of the 



thoughts are themfelves co-exiftent, and moft intimately com- 

 bined. To this great property of thought, which has never 

 yet been confidered with that attention which it deferves, in- 

 flections of words, and efpecially the moods of verbs, do fome 

 kind of juftice ; while circumlocution of every fort, even though 

 it exprefs all the different thoughts, does manifeft violence. 



To explain this fully, would require a much longer and 

 more elaborate difquifition concerning the nature of human 

 thought than would be proper here. It may, however, be, in 

 fome meafure, underftood, by obferving, that grammatical 

 language, though the nobleft of all human inventions, or, as 

 fome conceive, an art beyond the reach of our unaffifted fa- 

 culties, and imparted to us by a kind of immediate infpiration 

 froin Heaven, is, by no means, abfolutely perfeft, nor even 

 capable of ever becoming fo. It anfwers admirably well for 

 denoting many of our thoughts, either fingly, or in various 

 relations, particularly in fucceflion, and is even fubfervient to 

 the precifion and fleadinefs of thought, by the fubdivifion or 

 decompofition of the mafs of thought which it requires, and 

 obliges us to make, not merely for the inventing, but for the 

 learning, and the occafional ufing, of language. It is indeed 

 in many ways the chief inflrument in the improvement of hu- 

 man reafon. But in one very important refpecft, it is almoft in- 

 congruous with the nature of that thought which it is employ- 

 ed to reprefent. 



The artificial figns, whether audible or vifible, that we ufe 

 in grammatical language to denote our thoughts, are necefl'arily 

 arranged, either in the order of time, or in that of place ; and 

 when we, fee the vifible figns arranged in the order of place, 

 (as in reading) we attend to them, and occafionally give them 

 audible utterance in the order of time. 



But our thoughts themfelves are not arranged in either of 

 jhofe ways. It is felf-evident, that thoughts cannot be arranged 

 in the order of place ; at leaft this will be felf-evident to every 



perfon 



