~ 
can prefent an idea to us, and not to know 
the fituation of a town, is, for the prefent 
purpofe, not to know the import of the 
word, 
We are now arrived at that part, fec- 
tion the fifth, wherein examples are pro- 
duced that words may affect without rai- 
fing images £* Since I wrote thefe papers,” 
fays Mr. Burke, ‘* I have found two very 
ftriking inftances of the poffibility there 
is, that a man may hear words without 
having any idea of the things which they 
reprefent, and yet afterwards be capable of 
returning them to others, in a new way, 
with great propriety, energy and infirnc- 
tion. The firft is that of Mr. Blacklock, 
a poet blind from his birth, Few men 
bleffed with the moft perfect fight can de- 
{cribe vifual obje&ts with more fpirit and 
jaftnefs than this blind man ; which can- 
not poffibly be atttributed to his having 
a clearer conception of the things he de- 
fcribes than is common to other perfons. 
Here is a poet doubtlefs as much. affected 
by his own defcriptions as any that reads 
them can be; and yet he is affected with 
this ftrong enthufiaim by things of which 
he neither has, nor pofidly can have, any 
idea, further than that of a bare found’— 
This faé&t may feem at firft view to bea 
ftrong fupport to Mr. Burke’s opinion ; 
‘but upon the moft minute invefligation 
I am capable of giving it, fo far from af- 
fording any affiftance, that it feems rather 
to ffand in oppolition. 
If Mr. Blacklock is confidered as not 
capable of receiving any idea, further than 
that ofa bare found; we muk immediately 
firike at the root of all defcription, and 
deny to words, the power of railing any 
ideas of things we have not ‘een. To this 
length Mr. Burge himfelf would hardly 
go; he fays, ‘‘ If werds have all their 
poffible extent of power, the fecond effect 
in the mind of the hearer is the piéfure 
or reprefentation of the ibing figuified by 
the found, but that in ordinary converia- 
tion thefe ideas are not prefented.”’— 
‘Surely a blind man would have the great- 
ef poffible curicfity to have a conception 
of thofe vifual objeéts, concerning which 
he muf continually hear others dilcourte ; 
and would fpare no trouble, no exertion 
of intellect, to acquire that concep ion— 
Now, if I can comprehend the appearance 
of the pyramids of Egypt, which I have 
never feen, by the affifance of words 
alone, which appears to me axiomatical, 
I fee no reafon to fuppofe that Mr. Black- 
lock could not have objeéts, by the fame 
means, prefented to his imagination. What 
puts this matter beyond all difpute is, 
2 ! 
216 Obfervations upon the Effects of Words upon the Mind, [O& 5 
tes 
that he could never have returned thefe 
objets to others, combined in a mea 
way, with great propriety, energy, and 
inftruétion, unlefs his mind was occupied 
by a pretty accurate reprefentation ; he 
might have given the founds back as he 
received them, but he could not alter his 
defeription from that of others, if he had 
no further idea of them than that of a 
bare found ; nor could his defcriptions be 
more impreflive, unlefs the images were, 
forcibly preiented to his imagination— 
The fecond inftance is that of Mr. Seun- 
derfon, profeffor of mathematics at the 
univerfity of Cambridge: his knowledge 
upon light and colours is te be accounted 
for in the fame way—upon him therefore 
I fhail make no additional remarks. 
Longinus, who is himfelf the great 
fublime he draws, has a feétion which 
fufficiently fhews to us whether he confi- 
dered words incapable of » prefenting 
images of things which we have never 
feen: 
“Orav ye pny To Gagehrvbora Tog yeavore 
eicayns “ws yivomeve nar Gagovle, # Sinynos ere 
Toy Aoyov, GAA Evayavoy Geayun Woncers. 
6° Tlewranwe SE Tic, Puc 6 Levopwv, vero tw 
Kugz imme, wat wmelepevos, Maise Tn prayorer 
eis tnv Sarrege roy immmov 6 de epadalay ano- 
CeET aL Toy Kuzov, 6 de @inlss.”” 
When you introduce things paft as aétu- 
ally prefent, and in the moment of action, 
you no longer relate but difplay the very 
action to yourhearers. * A foldier, (fays 
Zenophon,) having fallen down under 
Cyrus’s horfe, and being trampled under 
foot, wounds him in the belly with his 
fword—the horfe, made furious by the 
wound, throws off Cyrus—he fails to the 
ground.” 
This is an image which Longinus never 
faw, and yet he has the reprefentation of 
it prefented to his imagination, or he 
would not have quoted the fentence to 
have exemplified {uch an effeét-—His next 
quotation, if poffible, is conveyed in terms 
ftill more clear and unequivocal upon this . 
oint— ; 
¥ Q8e we ner 6 Heedores, ** ano de “EAedarlivns 
GOMEWS AV Wrtvceat, vet EwETA aren EC 
arediov reoy'——dieLehwy de Tete To Hwetov, 
aug €1s ETegsv Groovy euleg mAeuceat dy? 
Hpregec, Uak EGFEITA HEELS EG GOAL pLEyAAHY, 9 
oyoren Mepou' Ogac, w ETatge, ws wagadaGay ox 
cuy Lux da Tey Toqrov ays, THv axon obi. 
Oy” ae 
And in this paffage of Herodotus ** You 
fall fail upwards from the city of Ele- 
phautinay and at length you will arrive 
upon a level wafte. 
velled over this tra& of-Jandy you fhall go 
on board another fhip, and fail two days, ~~ 
and 
After you have tra-- 
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