OF LANGUAGE, OR A POPULAR VIEW OF NATURAL LANGUAGE, IN ALL ITS VARIED DIS- AND AS CORRESPONDING WITH Instinct, Intelligence and Reason, BY BENJ. F. TAYLOR, A. M. PRINCIPAL OF THE NORWICH ACADEMY. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ASAHEL C. KENDRICK, A. M. PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE HAMILTON SECOND EDITIO N HAMILTON, N. Y.: J. & D. ATWOOD, AND S. C. GRIGGS. 1.84 3. HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY THE BEQUEST OF 1918 ENTERED according to Act of Congress. in the year 1842, by J. & D. Arwood, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Northern District of the State of New York. PREFACE. To manifest indifference, where we apprehend censure-to ask for sympathy, where we cannot hope for praise-to pronounce the sentence mene tekel," upon every similar effort to perpetrate the most daring deeds of literary piracy, and then, pirate-like, attempt to scuttle the good ship that we have rifled, are too much "tricks of the trade," either to obtain credence or disarm criticism. The old Sculptor, who placed the Parian statue in the forum, that every passer-by might mark thereon, what seemed faulty to him, met a fate, which has many parallels in this "age of print." A Grecian disfigured the nose because it was Roman, and a Roman battered the lip because it was Grecian. A crippled soldier deprived it of an arm, a gladiator demolished an eye, and a boor mutilated the bust; and when the artist went forth to profit by the comments of his teachers, he saw the beautiful creation that had heaved, as with life, beneath his chisel, and become human-intellectual-noble, beneath the tracings of his graver, dashed from its pedestal, a heap of misshapen fragments. As he sadly gathered them up, he learned that while demolition is the pastime of the many, the design and the execution are the unremunerated labors of the few. I do not claim a martyr's niche, as some do, for I wrote all for lovethe love of the subject; and if my reader feels half the pleasure in the perusal, that I experienced in the production of it, he will have as little claim to such a distinction as I have. Indeed, so deeply am I interested in the subject, that I contemplate its continuation in a subsequent volume, if this please you, well; and if not, you will be prepared for such a calamity; as being forewarned, you are also forearmed. The critic who is so Quixotic as to imagine that this book is "worthy of his steel," might have gained an enviable reputation at the battle of the Windmills, but he can gain no laurels here. Capture a multitude of errors, he may; detect a host of blemishes, he doubtless will; but still, killed, wounded and prisoners all told, survivors enough will remain, to attest the frailty of the mortal who penned them. But let him point out the excellencies and discover the beauties, and if he succeed in this, my word for it, he will evince a clear discernment, and what is more, an acute penetration for which the world will not be slow to do him honor. It is almost unnecessary to say, that I have availed myself of books in the composition of this work; that many of the facts contained in these pages may be found interspersed throughout the voluminous writings of Drs. GOOD, GRISCOM, DUNGLISON, RUSH and BELL; and if the discerning reader discover anything here, of which he can trace no ancient and hon orable lineage, why—I suppose he must call it mine. Especially would I acknowledge my indebtedness to PROFESSOR KENDRICK, for the kind words of counsel and encouragement which he has often spoken: for the countenance which he has given to my little labors, and to which some of these pages bear ample testimony. In this connection, I may be allowed to mention the name of RUFUS TIFFANY, of Michigan; the grateful recollection of whose faithful friendship and efficient aid in the gloomy hour of illness and disappointment, no distance can absolve, no time obliterate, till Memory's tablets shall be broken, and Gratitude's fountain dried up. Somebody has said, that a preface is to the reader, what the desert was to the Israelites. I cannot help thinking how unhappy the pilgrim's lot, when, after a dreary sojourn in the prefatory wilderness, no promised land appears to bless his eyes, and while I think, I lay down my pen andstop: HAMILTON, June 8, 1842. B. F. T. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THIS little volume is again sent forth to the world with all its errors on its head. I do not ask for it a place of honor in the drawing-room or the parlor, but let it find its way to some humble home, and open there, in the heart of some humble inmate, a new fountain of pure pleasure-couching his mental eye, quickening his mental ear, and endowing all nature with the "GIFT OF TONGUES," and shall I not be well repaid? Labor may have hardened his hand, exposure may have blackened his brow. "Stooping and staffed," he may go forth to his daily toil, but he is not as other men; the breeze that only cools another's brow, becomes articulate to him. The dew.distilling stars send, on each wave of light, glad words from home; streams whisper as they flow, and leaves speak out aloud. How can he be alone! Penury may have placed her pinching fingers on him—he may never be a freeholder till, lying down at last, the turf blooms sweetly o'er him, but he still is rich; for all the world, "beyond the proud possessors' narrow claim, his tuneful breast enjoys." The investigations of Nature leave no stain, but her student, like the Indian diver, comes up from the crystal depths, perhaps, pearl-laden; surely, purified. The following pages are dimmed and imperfect transcripts. Turn then to the glorious originals, and though the Author may never follow his little book to your hearth and your home, yet allow him to say, in the language of the Ettrick Shepherd "Good night, an' joy be wi' you a', We'll maybe meet again the morn!" NORWICH ACADEMY, April 5, 1843, B. F. T. TABLE OF CONTENTS. What the Critic says to the Author; his early difficulties; his opinion of English Grammar; his" position defined ;" remarkable coincidence in Talk with the reader; what language is; Conversation between a moth- er and her son; what the ivy told Charles; language of the violet the lily; the camomile; the flax; the willow; the snow-drop; the A little floral dictionary; language of the nettle; the bramble; the olive; the poppy; what grief will do; the amaranth, the mistletoe; what the author ventured to do for the sake of the dialogue; why the flow- ers never told the reader a thought; a piece of advice which he will |