3^^ 



not etijoy thq same advantages, was enabled, by any pos- 

 sibility, to acquire. )fmdl ,h(i : - 

 : Tliree things are indispensably necessary to the perfec- 

 tion of a ! language: l^j .That it should , be capable of ex- 

 pressing, -with energy and.prpcjsion, and, consequently, 

 without any ambiguity, all the various objects, which the 

 senses may present, the understanding define, the imagi- 

 nation depict, and the different shades and modifications 

 of the invisible passions and sentiments which actuate the 

 human breast. 



2^h' That melody should exist in, the .prolation of .its 

 sounds, and, under the direction of genius, in the structure 

 of its periods, their cadence, and versificatiop., .; 

 ,;:: 3%' That its constructipn should be so unfettered, that 

 ■its designation of relations shoul^ not require any particu- 

 lar fixed situation, but be capable,, without ambiguity, Q>f 

 all that variety of position, which nielo,dy, either in prose 

 or verse, may require. ,„,„ ^^, 



Having thus ascertained in what the perfection, of a lan- 

 guage consifets, and the probability . that it may justly be 

 ascribed to the primitive language; and Jbaving also indi- 

 cated the distinctive characters by which, if it still exists, 

 it may yet be recognized, I now proceed to examine, whe- 

 ther they apply to any, or to which, of the most ancient 

 languages now known to us,; being furnished with criteria, 

 by Avhich their respective pretensions may be decided. 



The principal languages, whose claims have liitherto beei> 

 severally insisted upon, are, the Hebrew, the Egyptian, 



■ the 



