448 



ON THE LANGUAGE 



sometimes be, upon the common doctrine of chances and the very nature of 

 thing's ; right they may soaietimes be, from the common physiognomy of the 

 face ; right they may still more frequently be, from the artful and sweeping 

 amplitude of the reply which may be made to cover a variety of tempers or 

 propensities at the same time ; and necessarily and infallibly right they do 

 not profess to be. 



The whole, in truth, is founded on hypothesis : here it begins, and here it 

 ends ; hypothesis, too, unsettled and disputed, in many of its points, among 

 themselves. And yet, planting their feet upon this tottering and unsteady 

 ground, they are perpetually uttering the proud and lofty words, science, proof , 

 and demonstration ; than which a more palpable or grosser abuse of terms 

 can never be employed or conceived. 



In few words, how grossly imperfect must be the range and condition of 

 that science, which, upon their own showing, is capable of deciphering to us, 

 that this man is a good musician ; that, a good painter ; a third, a good linguist ; 

 a fourth, a good dramatist ; a fifth, a good theologian ; a sixth, a good mur- 

 derer; and a seventh, a good thief ; and that any or all these may at the same 

 time be ambitious, or courageous, or conceited, or cunning : while, if you ask 

 them whether they are good liars, good backbiters, or good swearers ; whether 

 they are inclined to gluttony or sensuality, to wisdom or folly, to sympathy 

 or hypocrisy, to timidity or confidence, to mirth or to melancholy ; characters 

 the one or the other of which apply to every one you meet with, whether 

 abroad or at home, they are compelled to acknowledge that their physiognomy 

 or craniognomy does not extend to any one of these qualities, and that nature 

 has either forgotten to put them into the catalogue with which the head is 

 covered, or has marked them so bunglingly and obscurely, that they cannot 

 read the writing. 



LECTURE XIV. 



ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE PASSIONS. 



In an early lecture in the present series I observed that the passions, when 

 called forth and operating, discover themselves by a double influence upon 

 the organs of the body, the expression of the features, and the character of 

 THE language. The first we have already noticed ; let the second serve as a 

 subject for the lecture before us. 



That the presence and operation Of the passions give a peculiar style and 

 animation to the language must have been observed by every one who has 

 paid the slightest attention either to his own feelings, or to those of the world 

 around him. The man who is in a state of calm and tranquillity will always 

 have his ideas flow in a calm and tranquil current, and express them in an 

 easy and uniform tenor. But let him be roused by some sudden and violent 

 insult, or by some unexpected stroke of overwhelming joy or sorrow, and the 

 tempest of his soul will give a corresponding tempest to his utterance. His 

 speech, instead of being mild and uniform, will be vehement, energetic, ex- 

 clamatory, and abrupt; his judgment will be borne down, his imagination 

 ascendant ; the face of nature will, in consequence, assume a new aspect, 

 presenting a distorted, an unduly bright, or an unduly saddened picture, 

 according to the nature of the predominant emotion ; and the phraseology 

 will partake of the colouring, and become proportionably figurative and 

 fanciful. 



This is not a sketch of any particular age or country, but of all ages and 

 all countries ; it is a sketch of mankind at large ; and we draw from it these 

 two conclusions : first, that the natural language of the passions is strong, 

 ardent, and abrupt ; or broken into short sentences or versicles ; full of figure 



