308 



ON LEGIBLE LAN(>UAGE, 



a rude drawing of it ; and thus make one sense answer the purpose of 

 another. This is not mere fancy but manifest and experimental fact ; it 

 is the plan actually pursued in most institutions for instructing the deafly- 

 dumb, and the elementary system by which they acquire knowledge. In 

 such establishments, however, it is the elementary system alone ; for the 

 use of letters significative of words or sounds is, in every respect, so far 

 superior to that .of pictures significative of things, that the latter is uni- 

 formly dropped as soon as ever it has answered its purpose and served as 

 a key to the former. 



But we are at present adverting to a state of things in which letters are 

 supposed not to exist ; and the only established mode of communicating 

 between man and man is that of vocal language. Under such circum- 

 stances, the most natural method of conveying ideas to a person unac- 

 quainted with our tongue must be, as I have already observed, to point at 

 the things to which they relate if at hand, as all savage nations are well 

 known to do : and if not at hand, to trace out a rude sketch of them on 

 the sand, the bark of a plant, or some other substance. In this manner 

 the idea of a horse, a house, a dog, or a tree, may, as single objects, be as 

 distinctly communicated as by alphabetic characters ; while two or more 

 houses may be made significative of a town, and two or more trees of a 

 wood ; and, by thus continuing to copy in successive series such things or 

 objects of common notoriety as the train of our ideas might call for, a 

 kmd of connected narrative of passing events might be drawn up, which, 

 though not calculated for minute accuracy, might be generally understood 

 and interpreted. 



This kind of language would be fairly entitled to the appellation of 

 picture-writing ; it would give the images of things instead of the symbols 

 of sounds or words. In its scope, however, it must be extremely limited, 

 for though conveniently adapted to express embodied forms, it must com- 

 pletely fail in delineating pure mental conceptions, abstract ideas, and 

 such properties of body as are not submitted to the eye ; as wisdom, 

 power, benevolence, genius, length, breadth, hardness, softness, sound, 

 taste, and smell. 



Our next attempt, therefore, would be to remedy this deficiency : and 

 the common consent of mankind in ascribing pecuHar internal qualities 

 and virtues to peculiar external forms, would enable us to lay hold of such 

 forms to express the qualities and virtues themselves. Thus the figure of 

 a circle might be made to signify a year ; that of a hatchet, separation or 

 division ; that of an eye, watchfulness or providential care, if open ; anji 

 sleep or forgetfulness, if closed ; the figure of a harrow might represent 

 a ploughed-field ; and of a flag, a fortress ; a rose-bud, odour ; and a bale 

 of goods, commerce. / 



Upon the same principle compound ideas might be expressed by a com- 

 bination of characters ; the character expressive of a man in the midst 

 of that expressive of an enclosure, as a square, for example, might denote 

 a prisoner ; and an union of those significative of mouth and gold might 

 import eloquence. And we hence advance to another kind of imitative 

 characters, those of a mixt kind, and which are called allegorical, or 



EMBLEMATIC WRITING. 



It is obvious that legible language must be very considerably improved 

 by such an accession of power ; that it must become both more manage- 

 able and more comprehensive. It is obvious, also, that in a variety of ab" 



etract eubjects, as those of philosophy or religion, the allesforical charactprr 



