what way they regulated the voice. Every language, and almost every provincial dialect, is distinguished by peculiarities of tone; and nothing is more difficult than to acquire those tones of language that one has not learned in early life: so that the native country, and even the native province, of a stranger, may be known by his accent; which in both public and private life is frequently an advantage.

45. We learn to speak when our organs are most flexible, and our powers of imitation most active; that is, when we are infants: and, even then, this is no easy acquisition; being the effect of constant practice continued every day, for some years, from morning to night. Were we never to attempt speech till grown up, there is reason to think, that we should never learn to speak at all. And therefore, if there ever was a time when all mankind were dumb, mutum et turpe pecus, as Epicurus taught, all mankind must, in the ordinary course of things, have continued dumb to this day. For speech could not be necessary to animals who were supposed to have existed for ages without it and among such animals the invention of unnecessary and difficult arts, whereof they saw no example in the world around them, was not to be expected. And speech, if invented at all by them, must have been invented either by dumb infants who were incapable of invention, or by dumb men who were incapable of speech. Mankind, there

fore, must have spoken in all ages; the young constantly learning to speak by imitating those who were older. And if so, our first parents must have received this art, as well as some others, by inspiration.

46. Moses informs us, that the first language continued to be spoken by all mankind till the building of Babel, that is, for about two thousand years. But, on that occasion, a miraculous confusion of languages took place; which must have immediately divided the human race into tribes or nations, as they only would choose to keep together who understood one another; and which accounts for the great variety of primitive tongues now in the world. By primitive tongues I mean those, which, having no resemblance to any other tongue in the sound of their words, are not supposed to be derived from any other. Greek and Latin resemble one another not a little; whence it is pro bable, that both were derived from some primitive tongue more ancient than either. The modern languages of France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, resemble one another very much; and we know they are in a great measure derived from the ancient Latin.

47. But there is no reason to think, that at Babel any other material alteration was introduced into human nature. And as men ever since have had the same faculties, and been placed in the same or similar circumstances, it may be presumed, that

the modes of human thought must have been much the same from that time forward; and, consequently, as speech arises from thought, that all languages must have some resemblance, in structure at least, if not in sound. Those particulars in which all languages resemble one another, must be essential to language. The Essentials of Language I shall proceed to consider, when I have made a remark or two on speech made visible by writing.

48. A word is an audible and articulate sign of thought: a letter is a visible sign of an articulate sound. Every man can speak who hears, and men have spoken in all ages; but in many nations the art of writing is still unknown. For before men can invent writing, they must divide their speech into words, and subdivide their words into simple elementary sounds, assigning to each sound a particular visible symbol: which, though easy to us, because we know the art, is never thought of by savages, and has been overlooked, or not sufficiently attended to, by some nations of very long standing. By means of writing, human thoughts may be made more durable than any other work of man; may be circulated in all nations; and may be so corrected, compared, and compounded, as to exhibit within a moderate compass the accumulated wisdom of many ages. It is therefore needless to enlarge upon the usefulness of this art,

as the means of ascertaining, methodising, preserving, and extending human knowledge.

49. There is reason to think, that this art must have been in the world from very early times, and that the use of an alphabet was known before the hieroglyphics of Egypt were invented. These last were probably contrived for the purpose of expressing mysteries of religion and government in a way not intelligible to the vulgar. For a hieroglyphic is a sort of riddle addressed to the eye; as if the figure of a circle were carved on a pillar, in order to represent eternity; a lamp, to denote life; an eye on the top of a sceptre, to signify a sovereign. Such conceits imply refinement rather than simplicity, and the disguise rather than the exhibition of thought; and therefore seem to have been the contrivance of men, who were in quest not of a necessary, but of a mysterious art; who had leisure to be witty and allegorical; who could express their thoughts plainly, but did not choose to do it.

50. In China they understand writing and printing too, and have done so, we are told, for many ages: but to this day they have not invented an alphabet, at least their men of learning use none. They are said to have a distinct character for each of their words, about fourscore thousand in all; which makes it impossible for a foreigner, and extremely difficult to a native, to understand.

their written language. In very early times, men wrote, by engraving on stone; afterwards, by tracing out figures with a coloured liquid upon wood, the bark of trees, the Egyptian papyrus manufactured into a sort of paper, the skins of goats, sheep, and calves, made into parchment: in a word, different contrivances have been adopted in different ages, and by different nations. Pens, ink, and paper, as we use them, are said to have been introduced into these parts of the world about six hundred years ago.

51. The first printing known in Europe was, like that of the Chinese (from whom, however, our printers did not borrow it), by blocks of wood, whereon were engraved all the characters of every page. This art is supposed to have been invented in Germany, or in Flanders, about the year 1420. Printing with moveable types was found out about thirty years later, and is a very great improvement apon the former method. By means of this wonderful art, books are multiplied to such a degree, that every family (I had almost said every person) may now have a Bible; which, when manuscripts only were in use, every parish could hardly afford to have; as the expence of writing out so great a book would be at least equal to that of building an ordinary country church. This one example may suggest a hint for estimating the importance of the art of printing.

52. Within less than a century after it was in