Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/19

 vi The 9 R E V A E.

TO be a little more explicit---^/; are the next Matter of Knowledge ; I mean of Knowledge conHderd aS it now ftands, communicable, or capable of being tranlmitted from one to another We fhould have known ma- ny Things without Language ; but it would only have been fuch Things as we had Teen or perceived our felves The Observations of others could no way have been added to our own ; but every Individual muff have gone thro a Courle for himfelf, exclufiveof all Advantages to, or from Cotemporaries, Predecefibrs, orPoftenty,-- Tis evi- dent that, in this Cafe, nothing like an Art, or Same- could ever have arofe ; not even in the Mind of the moll fegacious Obferver : The little Syftem of Things which come immediate y in one Mans way, won d but have afforded a Mender Stock of Knowledge ; efpecially to a Being wnole Views were all to terminate m tomfelf. Add tint as the chief Occafions of his Obfervation would be ot the fame kind with thofe of other Animals ; tis probable his Knowledge would not have been very di.ferent whether we confider its Quantity or Quality. 'Tis confefs'd that all our Knowledge, in its Origin, is no other than Senfe -, whence it fhould follow that one Beino- has no natural Advantage over another in its Diipohtion for Knowledge, other than what it has in the fuperior Number, Extent, or Acutenefs of its Senfes.

'T IS in eft'eft to Language that we are chiefly indebted for what we call Science. By means hereof our Ideas and Notices' tho things in their own nature merely perfonal, and adapted only to private ufe ; are extended to others' to improve their ftock : and thus, by a kind of fecond Senfe, we get Perceptions of the Objefls that are perceived by all Mankind ; and are prefent, as it were by proxy, to things at all Diitances from us- We hear Sounds made a thoufand Years ago, and fee Things that pafs a thouland Miles off. If the Eairle really fees, the Raven fmells, and the Hare hears, further and better than Man ; their Senfe, at beft is" but narrow, in comparifon of ours, which is extended, by the Artifice of Language, over the whole Globe They fee with their own Eyes only ; we with thofe of the whole Species.— -In efteO, by Language we are upon much the fame footing, in refpeft of Knowledge, as if each individual had the natural Senfe of a thoufand • an Acceffion which alone mult have fet us far above any other Animals. But at the fame time, this very acceffion of a multitude of Ideas more than naturally belong'd to us, muft have been in great meafure ufelefs ; without certain other Faculties of ordering and arranging em ; of abftracting, or mak.ng_ one a Reprefentative of a Number ; of comparing 'em together, m order to learn their Relations ; and of compounding, combining 'em, &c. to make 'em a& jointly. The Effect hereof is what we call Dijcourfmg and Pbilofophmm : And hence arife Docfrines, Theories, &c.

EVERY Word is fuppofed to ftand for fome Part, or Point of Knowledge ; fuch as do not, have no bufinTs in the Language, and ought of Confequence to be thrown out of doors. It follows, that the Vo- cabulary of any Language, is reprefentative of the feveral Notices of the People among whom it obtains: I mean of the primary or abfolute Notices ; for by the Conftruflion ot thefe Words with one another, a new Set of fecundary or relative Notices are exprefs'd.--To enter better into this, it is to be obferv'd, that the feveral Obiefls of our Senfes, with that other Set of Things analogous hereto, the proper Objects ot the Imagination, are reprefented by fixed Names * ; denoting, fome of 'em, Individuals t ; others Kinds J, tiff. Now thefe which make the firft or fundamental Part ot a Language, tis obvious, are no other than a Re- prefentation' of the Works of Nature, as, they exift in a kind ot foil Life, or in a State of Independency one upon anorher But in regard we do not confider the Creation as thus quielcent, but obferve a great number of Mutations arife in the Things we are converfant among; we are hence put under a neceffity of framing another Set of Words, to exprefs thefe Variations, and the Aaions to which they are owing, with the feveral Circumftances and Modifications thereof ||. By this means, Nature is remov'd out of her dormant Conftitution, and fh wn in Aftion ; and thus may occafional Defcnptions be framed, accommodate to the prefent State of Things. .

HENCE arife two Kinds of Knowledge ; the one abjolute, including the Handing Phenomena: the other relative, or occafional, including what is done, or paffes, with regard to them. The former is in fome Senfe permanent ; the latter merely tranfient, or hiftorical. The firft is held forth, as already oblerved, in the Voca- bulary • the f-cond vague, and uncircumfcrib'd by any Bounds ; being what fills all the other Books extant. In effect, this laft, being in tome meafure cafual, may be faid to be infinite : for that every new Cafe, i. e. every new Application and Combination of the former, furnifhes a new Acceffion.

IN the wide Field of Knowledge, appear fome Parts which have been more. cultivated than the reft ; either on account of the Goodntfs of the Soil, and its eafy Tillage, or by reafon they have fallen under the Hands of induftrious and able Husbandmen. Thefe Spots, being regularly laid out and planted, and conveniently circumfcrib'd or fenced round, make what we call the Arts, and Sciences : And to thefe have the Labours, and Endeavours of the Men of Curiofity and Learning in all Ages, been chiefly confin'd. Their Bounds have been enlarg'd from time to time, and new Acquifuions made from the adjoining Watte ; but ftill the Space

The Operations of Planting, Tranfplanting, Replanting, Watering. « RHETORIC, ot the Means of Persuasion; as

Engrafting Inoculating, Primal, Pinching, Variegating, 6cc. Pre- Invention, Amplification, Topic, Place, Argument. Papons, Manners,

Tenting Difiafis, Blights, Gum, "sec. The Ufe and Ordering of a &c. Difpofition, Exordium, Narration, Confirmation, Peroration,

Hot-bell Gree'n-houfe, Seminary. Nurfery, Garden, Vineyard, Sec. Their 6cc. Elocution, Sublime, Style, Numbers, Sec. figures, as Excla-

Expofiire, Walls, Horizontal Shelter, Sec. V, alks, Grafs-Plot, Terrace, nation, Pleonafm, Eptphonema, Apojlropue, Profopopceia, Antithefis, Sec.

Quincunx, Parterre &c. Tropes, as Metaphor, Allegory, Synecdoche, Sarcafm, Hyperbole, Ca-


 * ^- ' tachrefis, Sec. A£tion, Gefiure, Monotonia, Sec. Compofitions, as

« MANAGE, including the Consideration of Horses; Oration, Declamation, Panegyric, Sec. Parable, EJfay, Dialogue, Htf-

their Age Colour, Teeth, Hoof, Star, Sec. Paces, as Amble, Gallop, tory, Sec. Sec. Airs, as Volt, Demivolt, Curvet, Capriole, Sec. Aid, Cor-

rettion, Hani, Bit, Sec. Saddle, Shoe, Bridle, Sec. Difeafes, as * 6 HERALDRY, or the ConEderation of Co a t s ; confift.

Halting, Farcy, Staggers, Scratches, relievos, 8cc. Operations, as ing of Pield, Charge, Figure, Sec. as Crofs, Chevron, Bend, Palo, Sec.

Rciuelting, Dotting, Gelding, &c Hawk, Hawking, Hood, Sec. with Abatement, Difference, Su mrler ;„g, & c. Compofed of Colour,

Reclaiming, Cafling, Sec. Pip, Filanders, Sec. Hound, Hunting, Metals, Points, Sec. Bore on Efcutcbeon, shield, Sec. Accompanied

Sec. Rut,' Stalking, Birdlime, Tramel-net, Bat-fowling, Sec with Supporters, Helmet, Crefl, Mantling, Moll; Sec. Device, Em-

Filh Fiflnng, Fifhery, Sec. Angling, Hook, Rod, Float, Sec. Bait, blem, Rebus, Enigma, Sec. And defcribed by Blaz.cn.

Fy, uxmg,. ^ POETRY, including the Confideration of Veise; its

44 GRAMMAR, or the Confideration of Language; as Meafure-. Feet, Quantity, Sec. as Hexameter, Alexandrine, Spondee,

Enelifh Latin Greek, Hebrew, French, Sec. Their Dialed, Idiom, Iambic. Sec. Rhyme, Stanza, Sec. Compositions, as Epigram, Ele-

Patavinity Sec. Matter thereof, Letter ; Vowel, Confonant, Diphthong, gy. Song, Madmal, Hymn, Ode, Pindaric, Sec. Eclogue, Satire,

Afpirate Character, Symbol, Hieroglyphic, Sec. Syllable, Particle, Sec. Georgie, Sec. Anagram, Acroflic, Burlefque, Macaronic, Leonine,

Word ■' Kinds hereof, Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Sec. Subftantive, Ad- Troubadour, Sec. Dramatic, as Tragedy. Comedy, Hilaro-tragedia,

ieclive', Sec. Their Conflrutfion, Concord, Regimen, Sec. In Cafe, No- Farce, Sec. Parts thereof, AS, Scene, Protafis, Epitafts, Cataflrophe,

minative Genitive, Sec. Gender, Mafctdine, Sec. Number, Perfon, Mood, Sec. Circumftances, Prologue, Epilogue, Soliloquy, Chorus, Sec. Laws,

Tenfe, Sec. Into 'sentence, Phrafe, Period, Sec. Diftinguiih'd by Point, Unity, Aclion, Sec. Epic, its Fable, Hero, Machines, Sec. CharaC'

Accent, Comma, S:c. Deliver'd by Pronunciation, Writing, Orthogra- ters, Manners, Sentiments, Sec. Perfonification, Proportion, Invocation,

gec, Epifode, Sec. Mad, Odyffee, Rhapfody, Sec.

Nouns. J Proper Names. $ Apptllativts. \\ Verbs, Participles, Adverbs, Sec.

Of