272 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL 



nefe : And, I am fure, that their notes do not rife lb high as a fifth ; 

 fo that the intervals of fo many different tones, by which they dif- 

 tinguifh the fignification of their monofyllables, muft be very fmall, 

 and make a mufic of Httle variety, and which cannot be performed, 

 except by a very good voice, nor apprehended, except by a very 

 nice ear. It appears, therefore, to be a language neither fo pleafant, 

 as the Greek, nor fo fit for common ufe. And, Iqftly, the mufic of 

 the Chinefe language does not appear to be governed by any rules ; 

 whereas the melody of the Greek language is, as well as every thing 

 elfe in that language, governed by rules, which are explained at 

 great length by fome Greek grammarians, particularly by Theodorus 

 Gaza in his grammar. 



Thus, I think, I have fhown, that a language of art, fuch as the 

 Greek, is not only a moft ufeful, but a moft beautiful art, and of 

 the greatell extent and variety ; comprehending all nature and art, 

 and the immaterial as well as the material world, as far as the ufe of 

 fpeech goes ; and all digefted in the greateft order, and with as 

 much regularity as variety. And not only is a language of art the 

 foundation of all other arts, and of all fciences, but it is intimately 

 connedled with another art, of the greateft importance in human 

 life, being that, by which only a free government can be carried 

 on : I mean the rhetorical art, of which the chief part is aEiion*^ — 

 the firfi:, the fecond, and the third quality of an orator, according to 

 the judgement of Demofthenes. Now, in adion, the chief thing is the 

 management of the voice in pronunciation, which muft depend, firft, 

 upon a proper compofition in fentences and periods, and then upon 

 the pronunciation of thefe periods : — So that it is language which 

 muft give to oratory its greateft force and influence* 



CHAP. 



* See what I have iaid of Aftion, and or the fevcral things comprehended under that 

 word, in Origin of Language, vol. VI. p. 205. and following. 



