Notæ igitur Rerum, quæ absque ope aut medio Verborum res significant, duplicis generis sunt; quarum prius genus ex Congruo, alterum ad Placitum significat. Prioris generis sunt Hieroglyphica, et Gestus; posterioris vero ii, quos diximus, Characteres Reales. Hieroglyphicorum usus vetustus admodum et in vene ratione quadam habitus, præcipue apud Ægyptios, gentem valde antiquam; adeo ut videantur Hieroglyphica fuisse Scriptio quædam ante-nata et senior ipsis Elementis Literarum, nisi forte apud Hebræos, Gestus autem tanquam Hieroglyphica transitoria sunt. Quemadmodum enim verba prolata volant, scripta manent ; ita et Hieroglyphica gestibus expressa transeunt, depicta durant. Cum enim Periander, consultus de con

to the meaning. Thus the character for a particular kind of tree will contain, besides the phonetic element, the character for tree or wood in general; so too will very frequently that for a thing made of wood. These elements have been termed Phoneticæ and Classificæ. But most of the latter admit of being used in different combinations as Phonetica. They correspond precisely with the kind of hieroglyphics which Bunsen calls determinants, and are for the most part the same as the radicals (as they are called) used in arranging words in the Chinese dictionaries. The class of characters of which I have been speaking, is the fourth of the six classes into which Chinese characters are commonly divided. They are called Hiai-Ching, id est joined to sound, or Hing-Ching, id est representing the sound; and it is said that out of twenty-four thousand characters it was found that twenty-two thousand are of this kind. See Callery, Systema phoneticum Scripturæ Sinicæ, i. 9. He refers for his authority to a Chinese encyclopædia.

The view taken of the nature of these characters in Marshman's Clavis Sinica, is, as Remusat has pointed out, wholly wrong. It is much to be wished that a person sufficiently acquainted with the subject would investigate the analogy which exists between the Chinese and Egyptian modes of writing; not, of course, with any notion of establishing a historical connexion (as was once attempted) between the two nations. It is exceedingly remarkable, that as early as the fourth dynasty the Egyptians seem to have had a complete and even copious system of purely alphabetic characters, though, as Lepsius has shown, the majority of their alphabetic characters are of later date. I must apologise for the length of this note on a subject not very closely connected with the text.

servanda tyrannide, legatum astare juberet; atque ipse in horto deambulans summitates florum eminentiorum carperet, ad cædem1 procerum innuens; 2 non minus usus est Hieroglyphico, quam si id in charta depinxisset. Illud interim patet, Hieroglyphica et Gestus semper cum re significata aliquid similitudinis habere, et emblemata quædam esse; unde eas notas rerum ex congruo nominavimus. At Characteres Reales nihil habent ex emblemate, sed plane surdi sunt; non minus quam ipsa elementa literarum ; et ad placitum tantum efficti, consuetudine autem tanquam pacto tacito recepti. Illud interim liquet, vasta ipsorum multitudine ad scribendum opus esse; tot enim esse debent, quot sunt vocabula radicalia. Hæc igitur portio Doctrinæ de Organo Sermonis quæ est de Notis Rerum, nobis ponitur pro Desiderato. Etsi autem tenuis possit videri esse ejus usus, cum verba et scriptio per literas sint organa Traditivæ longe commodissima; visum est tamen nobis, veluti rei non ignobilis, aliquam hoc loco mentionem ejus facere. Tractamus enim hic veluti numismata rerum intellectualium; nec abs re fuerit nosse, quod sicut nummi possint confici ex alia materia præter aurum et argentum, ita et Notæ Rerum aliæ possint cudi, præter Verba et Literas.

Pergamus igitur ad Grammaticam. Ea vero veluti viatoris locum erga cæteras scientias obtinet; non nobilem illum quidem, sed inprimis tamen necessarium ; præsertim cum scientiæ nostris sæculis ex linguis eru1 Sedem in the original. — J. S.

2 Compare this with Solyman's lesson to his vizir on the art of sieges. "Come close to me," said the Sultan, "but on your head be it if you tread on the carpet on which I sit." The vizir reflected for a while, then gradually rolling up the carpet, advanced close to his instructor. "All is said," resumed Solyman; "you know now how strong places are to be taken." The lesson was given, it is said, in relation to the siege of Rhodes in 1521.

ditis, non vernaculis, potissimum hauriantur. Neque tamen dignitas ejus parva censenda est; quandoquidem antidoti cujusdam vicibus fungatur contra maledictionem illam confusionis linguarum. Sane hoc agit industria humana, ut se restituat et redintegret in benedictionibus illis quibus culpa sua excidit. Atque contra maledictionem primam generalem de sterilitate terræ et comedendo panem suum in sudore vultus sui, reliquis artibus omnibus se munit et instruit. At contra secundam illam de confusione linguarum, advocat in auxilium Grammaticam. Ejus in linguis quibusque vernaculis exiguus certe usus est; in externis perdiscendis latior; amplissimus vero in illis linguis quæ vulgares esse desierunt, et in libris tantum perpetuantur.

Grammaticam etiam bipartitam ponemus; ut alia sit Literaria, alia Philosophica. Altera adhibetur simpliciter ad linguas, nempe ut eas quis aut celerius perdiscat, aut emendatius et purius loquatur. Altera vero aliquatenus Philosophiæ ministrat. Qua in parte occurrit nobis Cæsarem libros De Analogia conscripsisse ; atque dubitatio subiit utrum illi hanc, quam dicimus, Grammaticam Philosophicam tractarint. Suspicamur tamen nil admodum in illis fuisse subtilius aut sublimius; sed tantum præceptiones tradidisse de oratione casta et integra, neque a consuetudine loquendi prava neque ab affectatione aliquorum vitiata et polluta; in quo genere ipse excelluit.1 Veruntamen hac ipsa

1 Aulus Gellius quotes from the Analogia of Cæsar, a precept to avoid an unusual word "veluti scopulum," Noctes Att. 1 10. Bacon refers to the Analogia in several other places. Vide suprà, p. [161. Observe that he there speaks of it as a grammatical philosophy in which Cæsar was endeavouring to bring words, which are the images of things, into congruity with the things themselves. Whence it would seem that he had changed his opinion as to the character of the book; for this would be the very ana. logia inter verba et res from which here he distinguishes it.]

re moniti, cogitatione complexi sumus Grammaticam quandam quæ non analogiam verborum ad invicem, sed analogiam inter verba et res, sive rationem, sedulo inquirat; citra tamen eam, quæ Logicæ subservit, hermeniam. Vestigia certe rationis verba sunt; itaque vestigia etiam aliquid de corpore indicant. Hujus igitur rei adumbrationem quandam tenuem dabimus. Primo autem minime probamus curiosam illam inquisitionem, quam tamen Plato vir eximius non contempsit;1 nimirum de impositione et originali etymologia nominum; supponendo ac si illa jam a principio ad placitum indita minime fuissent, sed ratione quadam et significanter derivata et deducta; materiam certe elegantem, et quasi ceream, quæ apte fingi et flecti possit; quoniam vero antiquitatum penetralia perscrutari videtur, etiam quodammodo venerabilem; sed nihilominus parce veram, et fructu cassam. Illa demum, ut arbitramur, foret nobilissima Grammaticæ species, si quis in linguis plurimis tam eruditis quam vulgaribus eximie doctus, de variis linguarum proprietatibus tractaret; in quibus quæque excellat, in quibus deficiat, ostendens. Ita enim et linguæ mutuo commercio locupletari possint, et fiet ex iis quæ in singulis linguis pulchra sunt (tanquam Venus Apellis 2) orationis ipsius quædam formosissima imago et exemplar quoddam insigne, ad sensus animi rite exprimendos. Atque una etiam hoc pacto capientur signa haud levia, sed observatu digna (quod fortasse quispiam non putaret) de ingeniis et moribus populorum et nationum, ex linguis ipsorum. Equidem libenter audio Ciceronem notantem, quod apud Græcos desit verbum, quod Latinum illud inep

1 See particularly the Cratylus.

2 Not the Venus of Apelles, but the Helen of Zeuxis.

tum reddat; Propterea, inquit, quod Græcis hoc vitium tam familiare fuit, ut illud in se ne agnoscerent quidem : digna certe gravitate Romana censura.1 Quid illud quod Græci in compositionibus verborum tanta licentia usi sunt, Romani contra magnam in hac re severitatem adhibuerunt? Plane colligat quis Græcos fuisse artibus, Romanos rebus gerendis, magis idoneos. Artium enim distinctiones verborum compositionem fere exigunt; at res et negotia simpliciora verba postulant. Quin Hebræi tantum compositiones illas refugiunt, ut malint metaphora abuti quam compositionem introducere. Quinetiam verbis tam paucis et minime commixtis utuntur, ut plane ex lingua ipsa quis perspiciat gentem fuisse illam Nazaræam, et a reliquis gentibus separatam. Annon et illud observatione dignum (licet nobis modernis spiritus nonnihil retundat) antiquas linguas plenas declinationum, casuum, conjugationum, temporum, et similium fuisse; modernas, his fere destitutas, plurima per præpositiones et verba auxiliaria segniter expedire ? Sane facile quis conjiciat, utcunque nobis ipsi placemus, ingenia priorum sæculorum nostris fuisse multo acutiora et subtiliora.2 Innumera sunt ejus

1 "Nam qui aut tempus quid postulet non videt, aut plura loquitur, aut se ostentat, aut eorum quibuscum est vel dignitatis vel commodi rationem non habet, aut denique in aliquo genere aut inconcinnus aut multus est, is ineptus dicitur. Hoc vitio cumulata est eruditissima illa Græcorum natio; itaque quod vim hujus mali Græci non vident, ne nomen quidem ei vitio imposuerunt, ut enim quæras omnia quomodo Græci ineptum appellent non reperies.". Cic. De Orat. ii. 4.

2 On this very interesting question, which Bacon was probably the first to propose, Grimm has some good remarks in his essay on the origin of language, in the Berlin Transactions for 1852. He shows that of the two classes of languages here contrasted each has its own merits, observing that mere fulness of grammatical forms is not to be recognised as necessarily an advantage; else we should be obliged to rate Finnish, in which the noun has thirteen cases, above Sanscrit, in which it has eight, and Greek, in which it has only five. It may be remarked in illustration of this, that although