put yourself upon analysing one of thefe words, and you must reduce it from one set of general words to another, and then into the fimple abftracts and aggregates, in a much longer feries than may be at first imagined, before any real idea emerges to light, before you come to discover any thing like the first principles of fuch compofitions; and when you have made fuch a discovery of the original ideas, the effect of the compofition is utterly loft. A train of thinking of this fort, is much too long to be purfued in the ordinary ways of converfation, nor is it at all neceffary that it fhould. Such words are in reality but mere founds; but they are founds which being used on particular occafions, wherein we receive fome good, or fuffer fome evil; or fee others affected with good or evil; or which we hear applied to other interefting things or events; and being applied in fuch a variety of cafes, that we know readily by habit to what things they belong, they produce in the mind, whenever they are afterwards mentioned, effects fimilar to thofe of their occafions. The founds being often used without reference to any particu lar occafion, and carrying ftill their firft impreffions, they at laft utterly lose their connexion with the particular occafions that gave rife to them; yet the found, without any annexed notion, continues to operate as before.

SECT.

SECT. III.

GENERAL WORDS BEFORE IDEAS.

- Mr. LOCKE has fomewhere obferved, with his ufual fagacity, that most general words, those belonging to virtue and vice, good and evil, especially, are taught before the particular modes of action to which they belong are prefented to the mind; and with them, the love of the one, and the abhorrence of the other; for the minds of children are fo ductile, that a nurfe, or any perfon about a child, by feeming pleafed or displeased with any thing, or even any word, may give the difpofition of the child a similar turn. When afterwards, the feveral occurrences in life come to be applied to these words, and that which is pleafant often appears under the name of evil; and what is difagreeable to nature is called good and virtuous; a ftrange confufion of ideas and affections arifes inthe minds of many; and an appearance of no fmall contradiction between their notions and their actions. There are many who love virtue and who detest vice, and this not from hypocrify or affectation, who notwithstanding very frequently act ill, and wickedly in particulars without the least remorfe; because these particular occafions never came into view, when the paffions on the fide of virtue were fo warmly affected by certain

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X

certain words heated originally by the breath of others; and for this reafon, it is hard to repeat certain fets of words, though owned by themselves unoperative, without being in fome degree affected, especially if a warm and affecting tone of voice accompanies them, as fuppofe,

Wife, valiant, generous, good, and great.

These words, by having no application, ought to be unoperative; but when words commonly facred to great occafions are used, we are affected by them even without the occafions. When words which have been generally fo applied are put together without any rational view, or in such a manner that they do not rightly agree with each other, the ftyle is called bombaft. And it requires in feveral cafes much good fenfe and experience to be guarded against the force of fuch language; for when propriety is neglected, a greater number of thefe affecting words may be taken into the fervice, and a greater variety may be indulged in combining them.

SECT. IV.

THE EFFECT OF WORDS.

IF words have all their poffible extent of three effects arife in the mind of the hearer.

power,

The

firft is, the found; the fecond, the picture, or reprefentation of the thing fignified by the found; the third is, the affection of the foul produced by one or by both of the foregoing. Compounded abftract words, of which we have been speaking, honour, justice, liberty, and the like) produce the firft and the laft of thefe effects, but not the fecond. Simple abftracts, are used to fignify fome one fimple idea without much adverting to others which may chance to attend it, as blue, green, hot, cold, and the like; these are capable of affecting all three of the purposes of words; as the aggregate words, man, castle, horse, &c. are in a yet higher degree. But I am of opinion, that the moft general effect even of these words, does not arise from their forming pictures of the feveral things they would reprefent in the imagination; because, on a very diligent examination of my own mind, and getting others to confider theirs, I do not find that once in twenty times any fuch picture is formed, and when it is, there is moft commonly a particular effort of the imagination for that pur pofe. But the aggregate words operate, as I faid of the compound-abftracts, not by prefenting any image to the mind, but by having from use the fame effect on being mentioned, that their original has when it is feen. Suppofe we were to read a "The river Danube rifes in

paffage to this effect:

a moist and mountainous foil in the heart of Ger

many, where winding to and fro, it waters feve ral principalities, until, turning into Auftria, and laving the walls of Vienna, it paffes into Hungary; there with a vaft flood, augmented by the Saave and the Drave, it quits Christendom, and rolling through the barbarous countries which border on Tartary, it enters by many mouths in the Black fea." In this defcription many things are mentioned, as mountains, rivers, cities, the fea, &c. But let any body examine himself, and see whether he has had impreffed on his imagination any pictures of a river, mountain, watery foil, Germany, &c. Indeed it is impoffible, in the rapidity and quick fucceffion of words in converfation, to have ideas both of the found of the word, and of the thing reprefented; befides, fome words, expreffing real effences, are fo mixed with others of a general and nominal import, that it is impracti cable to jump from fenfe to thought, from particulars to generals, from things to words, in fuch a manner as to answer the purposes of life; nor is it neceffary that we should.

SECT. V.

EXAMPLES THAT WORDS MAY AFFECT WITHOUT RAISING IMAGES.

I FIND it very hard to perfuade several that their paffions are affected by words from whence they