Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 357 



without which there can be no fpeech. Men in the natural flate 

 without the ufe of fpeech, or having ever heard it pronounced, are 

 precifely in the cafe of dumb men. Now, can we conceive, that 

 fuch men, though they have the organs of fpeech as perfe(£l as other 

 men, and accordingly may be taught to ufe them, but \\'ith much 

 labour and difficulty, fliould be able to teach themfelves. The rea- 

 der, therefore, will not be furprifed, that all along, in the courfe of 

 this work, I have fuppofed that language could not be invented 

 without fupernatural affiftance; and, accordingly, I have maintained, 

 that it was the invention of the Daemon Kings of Egypt, who, be- 

 ing more than men, tirft taugni themfelves to articulate, and then 

 taught others. But, even among them, I am perfuaded, there was 

 a progrefs in the art, and that inch a language as the Shanfcrit was 

 not at once invented. They, therefore, began with articulating on- 

 ly monofyllables ; and when the language was in that rude ftate, it 

 was conveyed through the channel of India to China. But when a 

 language of art was formed in Egypt, and words of many fyllables 

 were invented, a proper ufe w is made of thofe monofyllables; for 

 they were made the roots of the language, irom which, by deriva- 

 tion, compolition, and fleftion, fo wonderful a work of art, as the 

 Shanfcrit, was formed. But the Chmefe, wanting thofe Daemons of 

 Egypt to teach them, and being deficient alfo in genius and natural 

 parts, have kept the language in the fame infantine ftate they got it 

 from I'gypt; which is fo imperfed., thai, as I have obferved*, they 

 ufe it in no matter of fcience, not even in law and the adminiftra- 

 tion of juftice: And even in private converfation, about the ordinary 

 affairs of life, they often cannot m:4:e themfelves underftood with- 

 out figns and geftures ; and fometnnes they are obliged to have re- 

 courfe to their written language. 



M. Gebelin having eftahlifhed, as I think he has done, that there 

 muft be fome primitive language from which all the other languages 



in 

 * Page 107. 



