LANG 
our language -may be inferior to the Greek, the Latin, 
Italian, and Spaniffi; yet in point of manly dignity, grace¬ 
ful variety, intuitive diftinCtnefs, nervous energy of ex- 
preffion, uncon (trained freedom and harmony of poetic 
numbers, it will yield the palm to none. Our immortal 
Milton, flowly riling in graceful majelty, Hands up as 
equal, if not fuperior, in thefe refpeCts, to any poet, in 
any other language, that ever yet exilied; while Thomfon, 
with more humble aim, in melody more fmooth and flow¬ 
ing, foftens the foul to harmony and peace: the plaintive 
moan of Hammond calls forth the tender tear and fyrnpa¬ 
thetic figh; while Gray’s more foothipg melancholy fixes 
the fober mind to filent contemplation. More tender ftill 
than thefe, the amiable Shenftone comes ; and from his 
Doric reed, ftill free from courtly affeCtation, flows a drain 
fo pure, fo Ample, and of fuch tender harmony, as even 
Arcadian fhepherds would be proud to own. But far be¬ 
fore the reft, the daring Shakefpeare fteps forth confpicu- 
ou 3 , clothed in native dignity ; and, prefling forward w ith 
unremitting ardour, boldly lays claim to both dramatic 
crowns held out to him by Thalia and Melpomene : his 
rivals, far behind, look up, and envy him for thefe un¬ 
fading glories ; and the aftoniflied nations round, with 
diftant awe, behold and tremble at his daring flight. 
Thus the language, equally obedient to all, bends with 
cafe under their hands, whatever form they would have it 
a flume; and, like the yielding wax, readily receives, and 
faithfully tranfmits to pofterity, thofe impreflions which 
they have (tamped upon it. 
Such are the principal outlines of the language of Great 
Britain ; fuch are its beauties, and fuch its merit capital de¬ 
feats; a language more peculiarly circumftanced than any 
that has ever yet appeared. It is the language of a great 
and powerful nation, whole fleets furround the globe, and 
whole merchants are in every port; a people admired or 
revered by all the world : and yet it is lefs known in every 
foreign country than many of the other languages in Eu¬ 
rope. In it are written more perfect treatifes on every 
art and fcience than are to be found in any other language; 
yet it is lefs fought after or e(teemed by the literati in any 
part of the globe than almoft any of thefe. Its fuperior 
powers for every purpofe of language are fufliciently ob¬ 
vious from the models of perfection in almoft every par¬ 
ticular which can be produced in it: yet it is negleCted, 
defpifed, and vilified, by the people who ufe it; and many 
of thofe authors who owe almoft the whole of their fame 
to the excellence of the language in which they wrote, 
look upon that very language with the higheft contempt. 
NegleCted and defpifed, it has been trodden under foot as 
a thing altogether unworthy of cultivation or attention. 
•Yet, in fpite of all thefe inconveniences, in fpite of the 
many wounds it has thus received, it ftill holds up its head, 
and preferves evident marks of that cornelinefs and vigour 
which are its charaCteriftical diltinCtion. Like a healthy 
oak planted in a rich and fertile (oil, it has fprung up 
with vigour : and although negleCted, and fullered to be 
overrun with weeds; although expofed to every blaft, 
and unprotected from every violence; it ftill bears up un¬ 
der all thefe inconveniences, and Ihoots up with a robuft 
healthinefs and wild luxuriance of growth. Should this 
plant, fo found and vigorous, be now cleared from thofe 
weeds with which it has been fo much encumbered; fhould 
thefe obftacles which now bury it under thick (hades, and 
hide it from the view of every paffenger, be cleared away ; 
fhould the foil be cultivated with care, and a Itrong fence 
be placed around it, to prevent the idle or the wicked 
from breaking or diftorting its branches ; who can tell 
with what additional vigour it would flourifli, or what 
amazing magnitude or perfection it might at laft attain ! 
How would the aftoniflied world behold with reverential 
awe, the majeftic gracefulnefs of that noble language which 
they fo lately defpifed ! 
Of an UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 
The idea of forming and eftablifhing an univerfal lan¬ 
guage, or fuch an one as from, the fame character would 
UAGE. 205 
be underftood by all nations upon earth, is deemed by 
many extremely fanciful and abfurd, while the practica¬ 
bility of it is as ftrenuoufly contended for by others. 
Hints refpeding fuch a fyltem of writing as might be un¬ 
derftood by all mankind, ai‘e to be met with in the writ¬ 
ings of many eminent philofophers; but, if fuch an attempt 
failed in the hands of a Leibnitz, a Kircher, a Becher, a 
Wilkins, and fome others, it is at lea ft to be prefumed, 
that the execution of pafigraphy, or univerfal language, 
will always be found to bear a ftriking analogy to the chi¬ 
merical fentiments which were formerly entertained re¬ 
fpeding the dodrines of the quadrature of the circle, the 
multiplication of the cube, the philofopher’s (tone, or the- 
perpetual motion, all of which have been finely ridiculed 
by Dean Swift in his idea of circular (hot. Kant is dearly 
of opinion, however, that fuch a pafigraphy falls within the 
limits of poflibility; nay, he even afferts, that it will ac¬ 
tually be eftablifhed at fome future period. Yet, while 
fcarcely any of its admirers venture to affirm that it will* 
ever be univerfally fpoken or underftood, they confidently 
think, that, by means of it, the valuable labours of eru¬ 
dition and human genius will be effectually prevented 
from falling into oblivion. 
The diverfity of characters ufed by the feveral nations 
to exp refs the fame idea, is the chief obftacle to the ad¬ 
vancement of learning; to remove this, feveral authors 
have taken occafion to propofe plans of characters that 
fhould be univerfal, and which each people fhould read in 
their own language. The character here is to be real, not 
nominal: to exprefs things and notions, not, as the com¬ 
mon ones, letters or founds : yet to be mute, like letters,, 
and arbitrary; not emblematical, like hieroglyphics. 
Thus, every nation fhould retain its own language, yet 
every one underftand that of each other, without learning 
it; only by feeing a real univerfal character, which fhould 
fignify the fame things to all people, by what founds fo- 
ever each exprefs it in their particular idiom. For in* 
ftance, by feeing the character deftined to fignify to drink,. 
an Englifhman lhould read to drink ; a Frenchman, boire j 
a Latin, bibere ; a Greek, 7 nvenr ; a Jew, ropi a German, 
trincken ; and fo of the reft ; in the fame manner as feeing 
a horfe, each people exprefl'es it after their own manner j, 
but all mean the fame animal. 
This real character is no chimera; the Chinefe and Ja- 
ponefe have already fomething like it: they have a com¬ 
mon character, which each of thefe nations underftand 
alike in their feveral languages ; though they pronounce' 
them with fuch different founds, that they do not under¬ 
ftand one another in fpeaking. And we have among our- 
felves many characters which form part of an univerfal 
language throughout all Europe and America:, we mean 
the Roman and Arabic figures, the other mathematical 
marks, and the mufical and medical characters, with thofe 
of aftronomy and heraldry. Thefe might furely be fuffi- 
ciently numerous to form an alphabet, or fet of real cha¬ 
racters, for any purpofe. The latter fcience, I believe, 
has never been thought of as applicable to an univerfal 
language; a hint therefore is merely thrown out, uporr- 
which others may improve : for the vaft number of com¬ 
binations to be formed by the divifions of a fhieid, fee the 
article Heraldry, vol. ix. p. 441. 
The firlt and moft confiderable attempts for a real cha¬ 
racter, or philofophical language, in Europe, are thofe of. 
bifhop Wilkins, and Dalgarme ; but thefe, with how much* 
art foever they were contrived, have yet proved ineffec¬ 
tual. M. Leibnitz had fome thoughts the fame way; he 
thinks thole great men did not hit the right method. 
It was probable, indeed, that by their means, people, who* 
do not underftand one another, might eafily have a com¬ 
merce together; but they have not hit on true real cha¬ 
racters. According to him, the characters fhould re tena¬ 
ble thofe ufed in algebra; which in effeCt, are very Am¬ 
ple, yet very expreffive ; without any thing fuperfluous 
or equivocal, and contain all the varieties required. Tlnr 
real character of bifhop Wilkins has its juft applaufe. Dr. 
Hook recommends it, on his own knowledge and experi- 
ence^.. 
