vagum, the capricious command of princes or ministers. I follow the LAW of God (which is laid down by him for the rule of my conduct) when I follow the LAWS of human nature; which, without any human testimony, we know must proceed from God; and upon these are founded the RIGHTS of man, or what is ordered for man. I revere the constitution and constitutional LAWS of England; because they are in conformity with the LAWS of God and nature; and upon these are founded the rational RIGHTS of Englishmen."

Chap. ii, iii, iv, and v, are dedicated to the consideration of "abstraction;" which we are told, should rather be termed subaudition. It is here stated, "that the ridicule which Dr. Coneyers Middleton has justly bestowed upon the papists for their absurd coinage of saints, is equally applicable to ourselves and to all other metaphysicians, whose moral duties, moral causes, and moral qualities, are not less ridiculously coined and imposed upon their followers. Fate, destiny, luck, lot, chance, &c., as well as JUST, RIGHT, and WRONG, are all merely participles poetically embodied and substantiated by those who use them. So CHURCH, for instance, (dominicum, aliquid) is an adjective, and formerly a most wicked one, whose misinterpreta

tion caused more slaughter and pillage of mankind than all the other cheats together."

The author now continues his etymological career, and tells his readers, that ANGEL, SAINT, SPIRIT, are the past participles of ayyenne, sanciri, spirate; that the Italian cucolo, a cuckow, give us the verb to cucol, which is properly pronounced without the D by the common people; that an EPISTLE, an APOSTLE, and a PORE, come from επιστέλλω, αποστέλλω, and πείρω. ODD is the participle owed, ow'd; this relates to pairing, and means without a fellow, unmatched, one owed to make up a couple. HEAD is heaved, heav'd, the past participle of the verb to heave-meaning that part which is heav'd, raised, or lifted up above the rest. WILD, willed, will'd, (or self-willed,) is in opposition to those who are taxed or subdued. LOUD is the past participle of the verb TO LOW, and was formerly and more properly written LOW'D. FIELD, formerly written feld, is the past participle of the verb TO FELL. FIELD-land is opposed to wood-land, and means land where the trees have been felled. Coward is the past participle of the verb to cower:

"Cow'RING and quaking at a conqu'ror's sword."

Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel.

66

The clear understanding of words used in discourse, is next insisted upon; for without this, we 'gabble like things most brutish." "But the importance rises higher," we are told, "when we reflect upon the application of words to metaphysics; and when I say metaphysics," adds he, "you will be pleased to remember, that all general reasoning, all politics, law, morality, and divinity, are merely metaphysics."

DOTARD is supposed to be DODER'd (i. e. befooled.) DOTEREL is its diminutive.

"Doterel catching (except treacherously shedding the blood of his most virtuous subjects) was the favourite diversion of Charles the Second." WICKED, we are told, is WITCHED, (CK for CH,) and the word witch, is as applicable to men as women. Guilt is guiled or beguiled.

Chaps. vi, vii, and viii, treat of adjectives and participles. "An adjective is defined to be the name of a thing, which is directed to be joined to some other name of a thing." It is asserted, on the authority of Jonathan Edwards, D. D. pastor of the church, in Newhaven, North America, that, the MUHHEKANEEW Indians, "have no adjectives in all their language."

So great is the convenience and importance of that useful abbreviation, the participle,

that, in addition to the two in our own language, our writers have borrowed from other languages, and incorporated them with our own, four more participles of equal value. Our author wishes it to be called a verb adjective; and he adds, that the moods and tenses themselves are merely abbreviations. In respect to abbreviations adopted from other languages, the potential passive adjective is that which our ancient writers first adopted. The words admissible, affable, ineffable, inaccessible, &c. &c. could not be translated into English, by our early authors, but by a periphrasis; they therefore took the words themselves as they found them, and their frequent repetition has at length naturalized them among us.

The words shapeable, sizeable, companionable, personable,changeable,accustomable,merciable, behoveable, which disgrace the writings of some of our best authors, are termed monsters in our language.

The words LEGEND, REVEREND, DIVIDEND, PREBEND, MEMORANDUM, are all adopted from the Latin. "The first of these, LEGEND, which means, -that which ought to be read is, from the early misapplication of the term by importers, now used by us, as if it meant that which ought to be laughed at." "How soon REVEREND -i. e. which ought to be revered - will be in

the same condition, though now with great propriety applied to our judges and our clergy, I pretend not to determine. It will depend upon themselves. But if ever a time shall arrive, when, through abject servility and greediness, they become distinguished as the principal instruments of pillage and oppression; it is not the mitre and the coif, nor the cant of either of them, that will prevent REVEREND from becoming, like LEGEND, a term of the utmost reproach and contempt."

Recurring once more to abbreviations, we are told that a short, close, and compact method of speech, answers the purpose of a map upon a reduced scale: it assists greatly the comprehension of our understanding; and, in general reasoning, frequently enables us, at one glance, to take in very numerous and important relations and conclusions, which would otherwise totally escape us.

The author concludes thus: "We will leave off here for the present. It is true, that my evening is now come, and the night fast approaching; yet if we shall have a tolerably lengthened twilight, we may still perhaps find time enough for a further conversation on this subject and finally, (if the times will bear it,) to apply this system of language to all the different systems of metaphysical (i. e. verbal) imposture!"