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27 evinces a mind more than commonly fitted for philological pursuits.

Some sentences of a paper, referring to the present date, may be considered as worthy of insertion, with a view to illustrate his facility in applying the general principles of language, as well as his capacity for comprehending them.

One evening in November, 1800, as the family were sitting at their usual employments, Thomas amused himself by looking over a French Dictionary, and endeavouring to find out words, to be fitted into something as much like sense, as might be practicable for so inexperienced a workman. At this time he knew little of French; from the Latin conjugations however and declensions, he understood the use of a French grammar lying by his side. With this help therefore, he attempted to put the nouns and verbs, as he found them, into the case, number, person, and tense, according to his apprehension most consonant with what he designed to express. He had never