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adopted, and has fince, no doubt from the fuppofed infallibility of the Ancients, been boldly repeated; altho' the Fins of Fish in water, are fo far from being likely to ftrike the attention of a Savage, that they are fcarce visible, or their movements discoverable, on close inspection. The Tail was likewise fo far from having any connection with the origin of the Rudder, that the Balzas or primitive Rafts were managed, instead of a Helm, by boards placed vertically at the head as well as the ftern, and pushed deeper or shallower, as circumftances required, like the Paddles ufed, fubfequently, by the Pilots at the extremities of a Canoe.

genuity, that his Pole, or another like it, might supply the place of his Body, and a Branch fixed across it that of his Arms, whilt a larger Skin would collect more Air than his Mantle, and Thongs would do for Ropes and Bindings. Hence by degrees would the most common occurrences lead to the Sail, the Yard, and the Maft. When the wind oppofed him he would have recourse to his Pole; and when favourable, would indulge himfelf with the luxury of reit, by hoifting his Sail, on his Maft and Yard, always kept erected and ready to receive it. The primary Rafts on the River Guiaquil, in Peru, fuppofed by the ingenious author of the Sketches of the Hillory of Man, to be the first inhabited part of America, were managed by a Sail.

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The refemblance between the Guiaquil, and the Nile on the Old Continent, in feveral particulars, is curious and remarkable. The poor, untaught, fcarcely human, natives of Terra del Fuego, carry in their Canoes large Seal-Skins"" occafionally to be used for Sails." And even the Veffels of New Zealand in 1770 could " only fail before the wind." It is not, however, by any means clear that "Sails were at last added," agreeable to the theory in the Sketches; fince in the natural progrefs of fuch events as have been pictured, and were likely to give it birth, it may have been discovered prior to the Oar and the Helm, and only pofterior to the Raft and the Pole.

Excluding the shorter procefs of direct Imitatior; the gradual difcovery of the Sail, without any great effort of genius, worthy, either of an EOLUS or a DEDALUS, or of a search into another Element for the dorfal Fin of a Fish, as Mr le Prefident de Goguet fuppofes requifite, may apparently be traced with equal congruity. A man would hardly have begun to push along his new acquifition of the Raft over a Pool beyond his own depth, when, in the courfe of ftanding up to look about him, or whilft paufing for reft, he must have noticed, that the wind, acting upon his body, made the Float glide forward in its own direction. On this being obferved, if the wind blew favourably, his love of eafe would foon fhow him that he might fave himself the trouble of ufing his Pole; and that the more he increased his bulk, the more wind he óppofed, and the fafter the Raft moved. The means and material being at hand, the readieft way of increafing his fize was by fpreading out his Skin Mantle, fo far as to form a kind of Yard of his Arms. This producing the defired effect, he would naturally endeavour to continue it without the neceffity the various Paths that have been of doing duty himself, and it would followed, to endeavour to point out at once strike him, without much in- fome others leading towards the

Thefe Inquiries have imperceptibly extended themfelves to a much greater length than was expected. They do not pretend to the difcovery of the Origin of Navigation, but only by afcertaining the First Appearances of the Art, and delineating

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Fountain Head, attended with fewer obftacles and difficulties than any of the preceding ones. Like thote in to the place of Homer's birth, fuch Investigations unquestionably derive much of their confequence from the importance of the fubject with which they are connected. In making them, however, a perfon becomes interested in the authenticated histories of his own fpecies in the earliest fages of Society, and is unavoidably ftruck with the uniformity of the Contrivances of Mankind in a ftate of Nature, over the whole Earth; however distant either in time, or place, the different Hordes, Tribes, or Nations, may be from each other. The Log, the Raft, the Tree Boat, and Bark Sail;-the clay, bark, and wicker Hut, thatched with Bark, Leaves, or Straw ;-the Bark, or Skin-covering, for a part, or all of the Body;-the Club; the Spear fharpened at the extremity, and hardened by fire, or pointed with bone; -the Bow, and Arrows headed with Flints--the Stone-Axe;-the Fish. ing Hook of Shell;-where Trees are fewer and the Climate colder; the Skin Hut Boat, Sail, and Cloathing; and, in every fituation where Wood or Flint is to be had, the production of Fire by friction or collifionare all fo invariably adopted; that one is almoft inclined to think, men, in a rude ftate, are led to thefe by Instincts, fimilar to thofe of the inferior Animals. Rafts fprang up

equally on the Nile and the Guiaquil. Wherever trees are to be met with, even Bows and Arrows TroughBoats, and Fires produced by friction, though not the most apt inven. tions to occur to an uncultivated mind, are to be feen likewife; and the Human Race feem to be inftigated to refort to them by a natural Impulfe, fomewhat refembling that which directs the wonderful operations of the Squirrel, the Bee, or the Beaver.

But, whether Accident ;-Invention, the offspring of Neceffity ;--Inftinct;-or the imitation of Inftin&t; has given rise to them: Such were the Rudiments, the fmall beginnings, of Navigation! an Art which has given a New character to the Modern World, by which it has rifen to an infinitely higher degree of civilization, ingenuity, and happinefs; and which has fhielded the independence, and produced the fupereminent wealth and glory of Great Britain in particular!" C'est à l'invention de cet art," fays M. le Prefident de Goguet, que le commerce doit fes plus grands progrès. "De tous ceux que l'efprit humain "a enfantès, il n'y en a point dent "il doive à plus jufte titre fe glori "her. On pourroit dire meme de "la Navigation, qu'elle paroît en

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quelque forte furpaffer les bornes "de notre intelligence, et les re“fources de notre fagacité." (L. 4. c. I.}

ON A CRITERION OF PERFECTION IN WRITING.

From Aikin's Letters from a Father to his Son. You muft frequently, I doubt not, have felt equal furprise and difguft at the dogmatifm with which the most oppofite opinions relative to the comparative merit of authors are laid down in writing and converfation; and you must have wifhed for fome pofitive criterion to apply

to thefe opinions, in order to afcer tain their folidity, at least to your own fatisfaction, if not to the conviction of the difputants themselves, Attempts have been often made, in the walks both of literature and the fine arts, to establish such a criterion, and to reduce to precife rules the de

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terminations of what is called tafte; but the wide differences ftill fubfift ing among thofe who lay claim to this quality, fufficiently prove the ill fuccels of thele efforts. Senfible as I am, that diversities either in origi nal conformation, or in early affociations, muft ever prevent mankind from feeling exactly alike with refpect to the objects prefented to them, I have no fanguine expectations of a near approach to uniformity in their judgments; yet I conceive it poffible that a train of thought may be fug. geted by which a tolerably unprejudiced mind may make fome progrefs towards the attainment of rational principles in matters hitherto left to the decifion of vague fentiment. I do not fee why it should be Lefs practicable to ftate the grounds of our preference of one work of genius to another, than of one moral action to another; and I conceive the fame general method may be applied in both cafes; namely, to confider what was the end in view, and how far the means employed have accomplished their purpofe. All the works of human art may be examind upon this principle; but I fhall at prefent confine myfelf to the nobleft of all, that of writing, or literary compofition.

The first and most obvious purpose of writing is to communicate with all poffible force and precifion the ideas of the writer to the mind of the reader. This effect is abfolutely indif. penfable; and therefore every failure arifing from the feeble, the inadequate, the embarraffed, the ill-arranged expreffion of thoughts, is abfolutely contrary to the perfection of a writing. I will not top to particularize inftances of this defect; yet I cannot forbear obferving that many works which bear a high character, if judged of by the difficulty found in developing their meaning, the ambiguities and perplexities remaining after every effort of learn

ing and fagacity to elucidate them. and the feeblenefs with which they at laft ftrike the mind of the reader, must be very short of that perfection which prejudiced admirers attribute to them. Great allowances, doubtlefs, ought to be made in favour of works compofed in a language long extinct, and referring to modes of thinking or living long obliterated. Yet fome of the works to which I allude are known to have prefented thefe difficulties from the time of their firft appearance; and a comparifon with others of the fame period will show that the faults belonged.to the individual, not to the age.

What has been faid above refers to ftyle in its moft confined fense, or the manner in which a writer gives enunciation to his ideas; and the point of perfection thus far is that the language fhould be an exact tranfcript of the thought. This alone includes many of the first qualities of writing. It fuppofes in the writer a perfect knowledge of the value and import of all the words he ufes, as well fingly as in combination; a knowledge which forms no mean part of philofophy, and cannot be attained without much reflection and research. It fuppofes him mafter of the art of combining claufes and fentences fo as to exhibit in the clearest manner the dependence of ideas one upon another, and the train or fucceffion in which the procefs of argumentation confifls. It requires him to have at hand a fufficient store of expreffions, and yet to be poffeffed of judgment enough not to run into prolixity; to know how long he may dwell upon an idea with advantage, and when its further repetition would be wearifome tautology. may likewise be extended to include that fenfe of propriety and decorum, that air of good company, which prevents an author from fhocking his reader by vulgarifms, or difgufting him by fingularities. By thefe, which

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I think are intelligible and pofitive requifites, a criterion may be eftablified of writing, as far as it is the drefs or image of thought.

But the merit of the thoughts themfelves cannot be feparated from our notion of good writing; and many of its qualities must have a reference to the powers of conception in the mind whence the ideas proceed. Here, it must be confeffed, our criterion becomes more vague; and we are in danger of being thrown into all the fluctuation of opinion attendant apon fubjects of mere taste. Our only refource in this cafe is a comparifon between the effects apparent ly intended to be produced by the writer, and thofe really produced; -in other words, what he has attempted, and what he has done.

The attempt in fome cafes is fo fimple that it is not difficult to pronounce concerning its fuccefs. The enunciation of a truth, and the statement of a plain argument, as in fci entific topics, are complete with refpect both to conception and expreffion, when all that is wanted, and no more, is communicated to the reader in its most precife and intelligible form. Clear notions, in fubjects of this kind, almoft neceffarily clothe themfelves in proper language; and no one, while receiving the whole inftruction he feeks for, feels a want of any thing more perfect. Mathematical demonftrations, and didactic leffons of art (or fcience, are of this kind. In thefe, if the writer is methodical, clear, and concife, he has done his part.

The narration of a matter of fact perhaps comes next in point of fim plicity; but here, diverfity of conception has a much wider fcope. Circumstances ftrike different perfons fo differently, that two are rarely found to agree in their account of the fame tranfaction, if in any degree complicated. Independently of the propensity to alter and exaggerate,

the felection of incidents varies much in different relators. Some dwell minutely upon what to others would appear frivolous and uninterefting Some dramatife a ftory by affigning to each actor his own peculiar language; others relate the whole in their own words. In general, he is the most perfect narrator, who puts his reader most completely in the ftate of a fpectator; who tranfports him to the very fpot, marks out to him all the perfonages by their characteristic features, and fills the scene with manners and action. For fuccefs in fuch an attempt, nothing is fo neceffary as an imagination capable of receiving and retaining ftrong impreffions. Where this exifts, and the fubject of defcription is an interefling one, no great artifice of language is requifite for producing a complete effect: and frequently, the most perfect fimplicity, and the abfence of all defign, prove moft fuccefsful. The ftory of Jofeph in the Old Testament is manifeftly written without the leaft art or effort, yet a more affecting one is perhaps no where to be met with. Many other narrations in the Jewish fcriptures are equally unpretending and equally excellent; and it is a remarkable circumftance, that the oriental ftyle, so strained and figurative in lyrical, prophetic, and even didactic compofitions, fhould be fo fimple in the defcription of facts. But this kind of negative merit is almost all that is wanted in the fpecies of writing in queftion: and if the relator has tafte enough to abstain from affected phrafeology, unfeasonable digreffions, and impertinent remarks, he can fcarcely fail, with a felection of ftriking incidents, to produce the defired effe&t.

The next in order of fimplicity feems to be, an attempt to convince by a procefs of argumentation addreffed to the reafon. When a perfon is mafter of his fubject, and has it laid up in his mind in its proper

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ordonnance of gradation, proceeding from the fimpleft propofitions to the more complex, and establishing a regular feries of deduction till he arrives at the intended conclufion, it may be thought that his power of communicating to others the notions he himself entertains, will follow almolt of courfe. Yet, I believe, experience has hewn that men of undoubted intellectual fagacity have not always been happy in attempts of this kind; and on reflection it will be feen that literary talents, if not of the highest class, yet rare and refpectable, are required for attaining the first rank as a logical or argumentative writer. Great precifion in the ufe of words, clear arrangement of all the members of a sentence, clofenefs of method. strength and concifenefs of expreffion without harfhnefs or obfcurity, are effential to perfection in this department of writing; and if fomewhat of the grace and amenity of language be added, which is not incompatible with the other requifites, the effect of conviction may be promoted, by leading on the reader pleasantly through a topic perhaps naturally dry and unalluring. I conceive Cicero and Hume to be examples of this union of every ufeful and agreeable quality in difcuffions purely philofophical.

If the manner of the former of thefe writers in his ftricter philofophical works be compared with that in his popular ethical pieces, and his orations, a juft idea may be formed of the progrefs from an addrefs to the reafon alone, to an attempt to perfuade by addreffing the affections likewife. This combination is oratory or eloquence; and there are few occafions of importance in human life in which the poffeffion of this quality, either in fpeech or writing, is not felt as a high degree of fuperiority.. Its field, too, is fo large, that its point of abfolute perfection is fcarcely af. fignable; and genius, that celestial

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faculty, to the powers of which no limits can be affigned, finds in it fufficient play for all its energies. Rhetoric has long ago been defined "the art of perfuafion ;" its end, therefore, is fufficiently obvious; and it may be faid, in a general way, to be perfect when it attains that end. But there will commonly be room to afk, Would not fomething more excellent have anfwered it better? might not a more kilful orator gain over conviction to the oppofite fide of the queftion? Reafon, by itself, is a principle of tolerably equal operation in minds properly disposed to receive it; but where the paffions are of the party, no one can be fure of the event.. Taste also affumes great fway where appeals are made to the imagination or to the finer feelings; and admiration may contribute to bias the decifions of the judgment. The perfection of oratory, then, will be feen to be a very complicated confideration, referring not only to the fubject treated of, but to the perfons to whom it is addreffed. Let us, however, limit the cafe to an addrefs to perfons prepared by a certain degree of refinement in manners, and of acquaintance with the beauties of literature; to persons, also of sense and knowledge of the world, and under no immediate impreffion of enthufiafm. In thefe circumftances, I conceive that argument fhould be the staple, the main body, of the difcourfe; and that the appearance of a declamatory effufion of common-place rhetoric fhould by all means be avoided. But argument may be greatly affifted by the variety of lights in which it is placed-by strong defcriptions, pathetic or humorous, refulting from real or hypothetical.confequences of the matter in debateby drawing to a luminous point or focus all the inferences and deductions flowing from the train of reafoning-and by a ftyle of language animated with energetic expreffions

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