LANCASHIRE

LANCASHIRE, a great commercial and manufacturing county in the north-west of England. Lancashire. Situation. This district, which is situated between 53^{\circ} 23' and 54^{\circ} 24' north lat. and between 2^{\circ} 18' and 3^{\circ} 7' west long. has Cumberland and Westmoreland on the north-east and north, Yorkshire on the east, Cheshire on the south, and the Irish Sea on the west. Its extreme length is about 74 miles, and its greatest breadth 44\frac{1}{2}, but the boundaries being very irregular, its outline is about 342 miles, which comprises an area of 1765 square miles, or 1,129,600 acres. but towards their base, and in the valleys which they form, it is for the most part of the nature of holme. Loam and clay of various degrees of consistence prevail on the flat grounds, with portions of sand, gravel, and moss; and on the banks of the rivers, and at their estuaries, there are large tracts of an alluvial description. The under stratum of the heathy grounds is sandstone or freestone of different colours; a blue rock, popularly called whinstone, is more common in the Fell tracts of Furness. Limestone prevails on the north-west, and towards the eastern boundaries. This and the freestone rock occasionally come in contact with one another in a very remarkable manner, a striking instance of which occurs near the town of Chipping, at the termination of the high ridge of Longridge Fell. In some places towards the eastern border, coal approaches so near the surface, as to constitute the substratum of the soil, and may be seen cropping out at Townley Park, and on the rising grounds on both sides. Marl is frequently found below the soil in the low grounds, and also under the mosses. Much of the vale land consists of rich pastures and meadows; what part of it is under tillage is very productive, and in many instances of a quality to yield turnips and other green crops, as well as grain. A strong clayey loam, however, appears to be the predominant soil throughout the low grounds on the south and west, which, with the wetness of the climate, renders cultivation more difficult and hazardous, than in many other districts. Extent. The greater part of this county, from Rossall Point, on the north, to the Mersey, on the south, except where it is indented by the estuary of the Ribble on the west, lies tolerably compact in the form of an irregular square. To the north of Rossall Point, till it meets the county of Westmoreland, it is very narrow, with a sinuous boundary on all sides; and to the north-east there is a considerable tract called Furness, separated from the rest by extensive sands, where the river Ken, from Westmoreland, discharges itself into the Bay of Morecombe. Opposite the south point of Furness is the island Walney, and other seven, of which the largest is Old Barrow. On the north-east and north much of the surface is occupied with hills and moors, particularly in Furness, where the highest grounds have the name of Fells; and also on the east, where it is bounded by Yorkshire; but the south and west quarters spread out for the most part into low and fertile tracts, though not without being interrupted by pretty large fields of moss. Chat-moss, near Worsley, and Pilling-moss, farther to the north, are the most extensive, but many other though smaller tracts occur in various parts. Along the coast there is also a considerable extent of sandy marsh-land, particularly towards the north, near Lancaster and Warton, at the estuaries of the Leven and Duddon, in the north-east or Furness district, and about the banks of the island of Walney. Divisions. The other divisions are hundreds, of which there are six, namely, Lonsdale on the north, Amounderness, Blackburn, and Leyland in the middle, and Salford and West Derby on the south. Most of these are again popularly subdivided, according to their relative situation, or the names of their towns. Form and Surface. Climate. The climate of Lancashire is chiefly distinguished for its humidity. According to a register kept at Liverpool from 1784 to 1792, the least quantity of rain yearly was 24\frac{1}{2} inches in 1788, and the greatest 54\frac{1}{2} in 1792. At Lancaster, in the latter year, the quantity of rain was nearly 66 inches. Four inches have been known to fall in the course of a night. The mean heat at Lancaster, from 1784 to 1790, was 51^{\circ} 8'. The prevailing winds are from the south, south-west, and north-east. As fogs are not frequent, nor the stagnant waters of any considerable extent, the climate is not insalubrious. Minerals. Soils. The soils of this extensive district are necessarily various. The higher grounds, covered with heath and broken with rocks, have a sterile moorish soil; The principal mineral substances are coal, copper, lead, and iron. The first, and in a manufacturing district by far the most important of these, is in great abundance in several parts of the county. The great coal tract commences below Prescot on the south, and, crossing the county in a north-east direction, passes into Yorkshire; but coal abounds farther to the south-east, near Manchester, and also to the north above Lancaster. Its quality, as well as the thickness of the beds, and the depth at which it is wrought, has considerable diversity; but it is chiefly of a bituminous description. Cannel coal is found near Wigan, and at other places, and sometimes in contact with the black coal, or a little mixed with it, as at the pits near Layton-hall. Copper is met with in the rough barren mountains, towards the northern extremity of the high Furness, or Fell district, particularly at Coniston, Muckle Gill, and Hartriggs; but has not been found to the south of Lancaster Sands in such quantities as to be wrought with advantage. Lead occurs towards the north and north-east parts of the county, but in no great quantity. Iron is wrought to the north of Lancaster Sands, in the liberty of Furness. Though found in other quarters, it is not in much abundance, so as to make the working of it profitable. In the northern part of the high Furness tract quarries of blue slate have been opened. Sandstone is wrought in most parts of the county south of the Sands, and limestone, though it is found also in the Furness district, is most abundant on the Lancaster side. The main tracts of this rock are in the northern divisions above Lancaster, and near Chipping and Clitheroe, towards the borders of Yorkshire. More to the Lancashire. south, that is, throughout the larger and more valuable portion of the county, it occurs but seldom, and not to a great extent. Waters. Lancashire is naturally well supplied with waters, of which its inhabitants have industriously availed themselves in their manufacturing establishments, and in facilitating the transport of their products of all kinds. The principal rivers are the Mersey, the Irwell, the Ribble, and the Loyne or Lune. The Mersey, after receiving the Etherow and the Goyt from Cheshire, and the Tame from Yorkshire, becomes a large river at the town of Stockport, and after a winding course between this county and Cheshire, enters the Irish Sea a little below the town of Liverpool. By means of an artificial cut, it has been made navigable for vessels of 60 or 70 tons from Liverpool to the mouth of the Irwell, up which river the navigation is continued to Manchester. Irwell. The Irwell, which has its source among the hilly ranges to the south of Haslingden, also receives several streams, and flowing through a part of Manchester, where it is advantageously employed by the different manufactories, especially those of spinning, dyeing, and calico-printing, falls into the Mersey a little below Flixton. The Ribble is a large river which intersects the county from east to west. It enters Lancashire from Yorkshire, above the town of Clitheroe, and flowing through the beautiful vale of Ribblesdale, joins the Irish Sea a little below the town of Preston, to which it is navigable for small vessels. The Loyne or Lune, also a large river, has its source in the fells of Westmoreland, and comes into Lancashire a little below Kirkby Lonsdale, and passing by the town of Lancaster, afterwards expands into a broad estuary, and empties itself into the Irish Sea. The Alt, the Douglas, the Wyer, the Winster, the Leven, the Crake, and the Dudden, are also considerable streams; and many others, though in a general description not worthy of notice for their size, afford the most important facilities to the manufactories established on their courses. There are several pieces of water in the county, known by the name of lakes, waters, meres, and tarns. Of these the most considerable is Coniston lake, or Thurston water, and Esthwaite water, both in Furness. With these may be mentioned the lake of Windermere, which, though not properly belonging to Lancashire, enters it by its southern point, and forms its boundary for eight or ten miles. Mineral springs have been found at Cartmel, Flukeborough, Wigan, Latham-house, near Ormskirk, and other places. Canals. Of the canals by which a great part of this county is traversed in almost every direction, it would be difficult to give an intelligible description without references to a map, and the limits of this article admit only of noticing them very generally. The great importance of an interior communication by water had been recognized in this quarter a considerable time before any attempt was made to form one entirely artificial. The first object was to render some of the rivers navigable, as in the instance of the Mersey and Irwell, already mentioned, to effect which acts of Parliament were obtained in 1719 and 1720. But the droughts and tides which affect the navigation of these and other rivers, have been found to occasion so much inconvenience, that more recently a preference has been given to channels of communication formed wholly by human labour. The first work of this description in Lancashire, and probably in England, was the Sankey canal, from the Mersey to near St Helen's, which, including its branches, extends nearly twelve miles. It was finished about sixty years ago. Besides this canal, the county is intersected by nine others, four of which communicate with the populous town of Manchester. Of these we can only notice the more considerable. The Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, in so far as it belongs to Lancashire, commences in the suburbs of Manchester, and terminates at Pennington, near the town of Leigh. Under the town of Manchester a portion of it passes into arched tunnels, from one of which coals are hoisted up out of the barges below, through a shaft, and delivered into a large coal-yard in the main street. Before it reaches the coal-works at Worsley, it is carried under ground for three quarters of a mile. The Lancaster canal commences at Kirkby Kendal in Westmoreland, and terminates at West Houghton, to the eastward of Wigan, after a course of 75½ miles. The principal object in executing this great work was to open a ready communication between the coal and limestone districts, and between the port of Lancaster and the populous towns on the north and south. It is on an average seven feet deep, and is navigable by boats of 60 tons burden. The Leeds and Liverpool canal is of still greater length. It extends between the towns of Liverpool and Leeds, along a line of 107½ miles, and communicating at the latter place with the Aire, which is navigable to the German Ocean, and at the former with the Mersey, which falls into the Irish Sea; the navigation is thus completed between the eastern and western seas. On this canal flats of 42 tons are employed in the coal trade between Leeds and Wigan, and passage-boats are in constant use between these towns. The other canals, though works of great importance when each is considered separately by itself, are much inferior to those we have mentioned. A considerable portion of the territory of this Landed Pro-county belongs in property to his Majesty, as Duke perty. of Lancaster. The greater part of this consists of what is called forest lands, all of which are situated in the most northern parts. It is held in general on leases for thirty years, and yields but an inconsiderable revenue. A few other estates are also of a considerable extent, but, generally speaking, landed property is much subdivided, and hence Lancashire has a greater number of land-owners than any other county in England, Middlesex excepted; many of the estates not affording a rental of £200 a year, and not a few being below £50. Lancashire does not excel in its agriculture. Agriculture. Only about a fourth of its surface is computed to be under corn and other tillage crops, the other three-fourths, subject to a deduction for wastes, roads, &c. being chiefly occupied in grazing and for the purposes of the dairy; and it has been estimated that it does not raise corn sufficient for the support of its population for more than three months in the year. Lancashire. All the different sorts of corn, however, are cultivated, and where the soil is naturally fertile the crops are often abundant; but turnips and other ameliorating crops are not in general use, nor always, where grown to some extent, properly attended to. Potatoes, however, are cultivated not only upon a large scale but with great care and success; this root, with oatmeal, forming the principal food of the working classes. They were introduced into this county from Ireland, and are said to have been cultivated here long before they had found their way into most other parts of England. Lancashire was long noted for its breed of horned cattle, but a variety of other breeds have been introduced, particularly the Holderness, or short-horned, which are preferred to the Lancashire in the milk dairies near the town, and sometimes also in those at some distance, where the principal object is butter. The native breed is the kind more commonly kept for the cheese dairies, farther into the interior. A cow yields, upon an average throughout the year, from eight to twelve quarts of milk daily, or from four to six pounds of butter in the week, or from three to four hundred weight of cheese in the year. A considerable number of good horses are bred and reared, but its sheep stocks are inconsiderable, and seldom of a valuable description. Farms are in general small, and held either on short leases or without any lease at all, so that a tenant has no encouragement to invest capital in the improvement of the soil. This district, however, is greatly distinguished by its manufactures and commerce, which afford employment to three-fourths of its crowded population. Of the former, that of cotton, which is here conducted in all its branches on the most extensive scale, has long been the most considerable. The town of Manchester, where it seems to have had its origin in England, is still its principal seat, though several of the other towns, such as Preston, Garstang, Blackburn, Clitheroe, Middleton, Burnley, Wigan, Bury, Bolton, and Ashton, have a considerable share of it, and, indeed, it is more or less spread over the greater part of the county. (See the articles COTTON MANUFACTURE and ENGLAND in this Supplement.) At Ravenhead, near Prescot, plate-glass and mirrors are made to a considerable extent; brass, pewter, and copper works, are carried on at Wigan and at St Helen's; Warrington has manufactures of sail-cloth, linens, and checks, with the making of pins and glass, and iron-foundries; and Rochdale and Ashton furnish a variety of the coarser articles of woolen. From the great extent and variety of its manufactures, it is natural to infer that its commerce must be upon a scale proportionally extensive, and it is so. Liverpool, as a commercial town, is now perhaps second only to London; and to this rank it has attained from a very low beginning little more than a century ago. In prosperous times, the enterprise of its merchants exchanges the products of British capital and industry with those of almost every climate; and, at all times, it carries on an extensive commerce with America and the West Indies, and with Ireland; to which has been recently added a large share of the East India trade. The ports of Preston, Poulton, Warrington, Ulverston, and Lancaster, the county town, are chiefly employed in the coasting trade. As a considerable portion of the people of Lancashire are employed in working up goods for a foreign market, the condition of the labouring classes, in particular, is much affected by the changes which occur from time to time in that market, and which it is not always possible to anticipate. They are sometimes in the receipt of wages more than sufficient for their comfortable subsistence, and at other times many are thrown out of employment altogether, and the rest retained at wages confessedly inadequate to their support. This is true in an especial manner of its great staple, the cotton manufacture. From this cause, and perhaps also owing to the inconsiderate habits and want of foresight, which such fluctuations are apt to engender, the poor-rates of this county amounted, in 1815, to about £400,000, whereas, 40 years before, they were little more than £50,000. According to the census of 1811, the population of Lancashire was 828,309, which, taking its area as before stated at 1765 square miles, gives for every square mile nearly 470 inhabitants. The number of males was 394,104; of females, 434,205. There were 23,305 families, chiefly employed in agriculture; 114,522 chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, and handicraft; and the families not comprised in these two classes were 24,072. The returns for Manchester, in 1811, exhibit a population of 98,573; for Liverpool 94,376; and Wigan, Warrington, Oldham, Blackburn, Bolton, Rochdale, Preston, and Lancaster, contained each 10,000 inhabitants and upwards. This county sends 14 members to Parliament; two for the shire, and two for each of the towns of Liverpool, Newton, Wigan, Preston, Clitheroe, and Lancaster. See Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. IX.; Dickson's General View of the Agriculture of Lancashire, 1815; and the article LANCASHIRE in the Encyclopædia. (A.) Language. IN the articles LANGUAGE and PHILOLOGY, of the Encyclopædia, a philosophical and critical account of the origin and structure of the most remarkable languages has been given at length, and in detail. The subject will at present be resumed in a point of view more strictly historical, and a classification somewhat more extensive of all the known languages of the ancient world will be attempted; some of the materials being almost necessarily derived from the Mithridates of Adelung and Vater, and the publications of Jamieson and of Townsend, together with the criticisms on those works inserted in the Quarterly Review. The study of the affinities of various languages is so far one of the most important of all branches of human knowledge, as it affords, when properly applied, an unerring test of the truth or falsehood of historical evidence, without which it would sometimes be impossible to unravel the mysteries of contradictory testimonies, respecting the relations of the different races of mankind. We have, for example, no traditional evidence in support of any connexion between the ancient Egyptians and the Indians, while, on the other hand, a number of persons, who came with the English army from the East Indies into Egypt, were so strongly impressed with the resemblance of the Egyptian and Indian temples, which appeared even to excite the religious feelings of many of the natives who were among the troops employed, that a very general inclination has arisen from these circumstances, to consider the Egyptian mythology as merely a branch of the Indian. But if the Egyptian people had really been of Indian origin; that is, if the Egyptians and Indians had really been one people, at any later period than that, at which the whole of the Indian and European races were separated from their common stock, the languages of India and of Egypt could not but have exhibited some features of resemblance, which would have preserved the traces of the connexion; while, in fact, there is much less similarity between the Egyptian and the Indian, than between the Indian and the Greek, or the English and the Persian; so that etymology may here be adduced as confirming the evidence, or as justifying the silence, of history; and the resemblance of the mythological representations must be considered as in great measure accidental. It is, however, only with regard to the languages of the ancient world that we can feel much interest in such an investigation. The American dialects might afford equally extensive subjects of speculation in a metaphysical and critical point of view; but the concerns of barbarians, unconnected and remote from all contact with literature or civilization, and destitute of all historical records, will scarcely be thought to require any great portion of attention from a philosophical inquirer; and there is ample scope for the employment of all our faculties in the Language-analysis and comparison of the various languages of Europe, Asia, and Africa. If, indeed, an extraordinary exertion of enterprise and industry, which can be expected from a few distinguished individuals only in the course of as many centuries, should make known relations, such as Alexander von Humboldt has appeared to discover, between the American and Asiatic nations, a new field would be opened for the gratification of our curiosity; but it can scarcely be expected that these points of resemblance can be sufficiently numerous, to afford any thing like demonstrative evidence, until the whole subject has been much more deeply and repeatedly discussed. In the mean time, a very brief enumeration of the names of the American languages is all that can be required, on an occasion like the present; except the insulated though interesting remark, that the countries separated by Behring's Straits exhibit, as might indeed be expected, strong resemblances, in some of their languages. Of language in general this essay is not intended to treat, but merely of languages as they are distinct from each other. It is not, however, very easy to say what the definition ought to be that should constitute a separate language; but it seems most natural to call those languages distinct, of which the one cannot be understood by common persons in the habit of speaking the other, so that an interpreter would be required for communication between persons of the respective nations. Still, however, it may remain doubtful whether the Danes and the Swedes could not, in general, understand each other tolerably well, and whether the Scottish Highlanders and the Irish would be able to drink their whisky together without an interpreter; nor is it possible to say, if the twenty ways of pronouncing the sounds, belonging to the Chinese characters, ought or ought not to be considered as so many languages or dialects, though they would render all oral intercourse between the persons so speaking the language actually impracticable. But, whether we call such variations different languages, or different dialects, or merely different pronunciations of the same dialect, it is obvious that they ought all to be noticed in a complete history of languages; and, at the same time, that the languages so nearly allied must stand next to each other in a systematical order; the perfection of which would be, to place the nearest together those languages, in which the number of coincidences in the signification of words, throughout the language, are the most numerous. It has sometimes been imagined, that all languages in existence present something like a trace of having been deduced from a common origin; and it would be difficult to confute this opinion by very positive evidence, unless every separate language had been very completely analysed and examined by a person Languages. well acquainted with a variety of other languages, with which it might be compared. But, without such an examination, the opinion must remain conjectural only, and no more admissible as demonstrated, than the opinion of some empirics, that there is only one disease, and that the only remedy for it is brandy. In an essay on probabilities, lately published in the Philosophical Transactions, Dr Young has remarked, that "nothing whatever could be inferred, with respect to the relation of two languages, from the coincidence of the sense of any single word in both of them;" that is, supposing the same simple and limited combinations of sounds to occur in both, but to be applied accidentally to the same number of objects, without any common links of connexion; "and that the odds would only be three to one against the agreement of two words; but if three words appeared to be identical, it would be more than ten to one that they must be derived, in both cases, from some parent language, or introduced in some other manner," from a common source; "six words would give near 1700 chances to one, and eight near 100,000; so that, in these last cases, the evidence would be little short of absolute certainty." The author of the Review of Mithridates observes, that, setting out from the establishment of a certain number of separate languages as species, "we may proceed to comprehend, in the description of one family, such as have more coincidences with each other than diversities, and to refer to the same class such families as exhibit any coincidences at all that are not fortuitous, imitative," that is, from onomatopoeia, "or adoptive. In order, however, to avoid too great a number of classes, which would arise from an inadequate comparison of languages imperfectly known, it may be proper, in some cases, to adopt a geographical distinction, as sufficient to define the limits of a class, or to assist in its subdivision into orders. We are thus obliged to employ an arrangement of a mixed nature;" and, in fact, the tests of affinity here proposed depend so much on the progress of our knowledge, in the study of each language, that the results must unavoidably be liable to great uncertainty and fluctuation; so that we can reasonably expect nothing more than an approximation to an arrangement completely methodical. "If," continues the Reviewer, "the resemblance or identity of a single word, in two languages, supposed to be exempt from the effects of all later intercourse, were to be esteemed a sufficient proof of their having been derived from a common stock, it would follow, that more than half the languages of the universe would exhibit traces of such a connexion, in whatever order we might pursue the comparison. Thus we find in a very great number, and perhaps in a majority of known languages, that the sound of the vowel a, with a labial consonant, is employed for the name of Father; and if this be supposed to be something like an onomatopoeia, or an application of the first sounds which an infant naturally utters, the same reason cannot possibly be assigned for the still more general occurrence of the combination nm in the term Name, which is by no means likely to have originated from any natural association of this kind. But neither these points of resemblance, nor any other that can be assigned, are absolutely universal; for besides the numberless varieties referable more or less immediately to Abba, Father, we have at least twenty different and independent terms for the same relation in the old world: Tia, Issa, Plar, Hair, Rama, Diam, Bina, Kettem, Assainalogi, Medua, Theres, Sunk, Iot, Anathien, Messe, Indaa, Nu, Nam, Monung, Dengabey, Ray, Tikkob, and Oa; and about as many for Name, besides those languages, in which the version of an abstract term of this kind is less likely to have been ascertained; Ming, Tren, Diant, Sheu, Hessara, Shem, Tsarship, Ad, Nipta, Lüm, Sacheli, Assia, Wasta, Ngala, Taira, Sünna, Ran, Hhili, Ding, Dbai, and Anghara. "At the same time, therefore, that we venerate the traces of our common descent from a single pair, wherever they are still perceptible, we must not expect to find them in all existing languages without exception; and an Etymologicon Universale, considered as intended to establish such a perfect community of derivation, can only be regarded as a visionary undertaking. Nor must we neglect to unite, in some common arrangement of classification, those languages which have the words here specified, or any other radical words, in common, as incomparably more related to each other than the Chinese to the Cantabrian, or the Irish to the Hottentot. "The gradations, by which a language is likely to vary in a given time, seem to be in some measure dependent on the degree of cultivation of the language, and of the civilization of the people employing it. From Homer to the Byzantine historians, the Greek language remained essentially the same for 2000 years; the German has varied but little in 1500; and even the English, notwithstanding its mixture with French and Latin, has altered but three radical words, out of the fifty four which constitute the Lord's Prayer, in the same period. On the other hand, a few barbarians in the neighbourhood of Mount Caucasus and of the Caspian Sea, of modern origin, and ignorant of the art of writing, are divided into more nations speaking peculiar languages, radically different from each other, than the whole of civilized Europe. In such cases, little light can be thrown upon history by etymological researches, while, with regard to more cultivated nations, we obtain, from the examination of their languages, historical evidence of such a nature, as it is scarcely possible for either accident or design to have falsified." According to the supposition of Professor Adelung, it seems not improbable that Tibet, on the east of Cashmir, may "have been the habitation of Adam immediately after his fall, and the country occupied by the descendants of Cain. In Tibet, and in the countries immediately beyond it, the languages of at least 150 millions of people are still principally MONOSYLLABIC, and from this peculiarity, as well as from the singular simplicity of their structure, they are supposed to constitute the most ancient class of existing languages, though it must be confessed that much of Adelung's reasoning on this subject is extremely inconclusive." Mr Townsend remarks very judiciously, that one of the canons of Rudbeck is by no means admissible. "He states, Language. that a language, which has numerous monosyllabic expressions, is a parent language. The English has more than 3700 monosyllabic expressions, and the Chinese has none but such; yet neither of them is, for that reason, to be considered as a parent language. Certain it is, that all languages, by abbreviations, have a tendency to become monosyllabic, and therefore a language, which abounds in monosyllables, is ancient, and these commonly are the most antiquated parts of every language. New compounds are incessantly created. These are abbreviated, and in process of time become monosyllabic. In deriving, therefore, a word in one language, from its correspondent expression in some other language, we must ever bear in mind, that, unless in the formation of new compounds, the least abbreviated is commonly the parent, and the most abbreviated its offspring. Would it be possible for any one to persuade us that Colaphus was derived from Cuff; or Blasphe from Blame? "A similar instance," says the Reviewer, "might be found in Trachelos and Hals of the Greeks and Germans; for certainly Hals is more like Trachelos than like Collum." The Chinese, however, which is the principal, and probably the most ancient of the monosyllabic languages, is distinguished from almost all others by a more marked peculiarity, which is, that its written characters, instead of depicting sounds, are the immediate symbols of the objects or ideas, and are even imperfectly represented by the sounds, whatever difference of accent or tone may be exhibited by the most refined speaker; as indeed it may happen accidentally in our own language, that we may be at a loss to explain, without circumlocution, whether we mean to say Son or Sun; Beer or Bier; Bear or Bare; You, Ewe, Yew, or U; but in the Chinese the real cause of this essential characteristic appears to be, that the symbol was in fact originally intended as a hieroglyphic or picture of the object, though the resemblance, coarse as it probably was at first, has been generally altogether lost by the modifications which the character has conventionally undergone. And in this point of view the Chinese would require to be classed with the old Egyptian only, since we know of no other language which was habitually expressed in hieroglyphics and their immediate derivatives. It is not at all uncommon for the same sound in Coptic, as in Chinese, to have four or five senses all essentially different; as may easily be observed in turning over a dictionary; HOOU, for instance, means Bad, and Them, and a Shower, in two verses of St Matthew, v. 45, 46, and perhaps several other things. Another ancient and extensive class of languages, united by a greater number of resemblances than can well be altogether accidental, may be denominated the INDOEUROPEAN, comprehending the Indian, the West Asiatic, and almost all the European languages. If we chose to assign a geographical situation to the common parent of this class, we should place it to the south and west of the supposed origin of the human race; leaving the north for our third class, which we can only define as including all the Asiatic and European languages not belonging to the two former; which may be called Language. Atactic, or, perhaps, without much impropriety, TATARIC; and which may be subdivided into five orders, Sporadic, Caucasian, Tartarian, Siberian, and Insular. The AFRICAN and AMERICAN languages will constitute a fourth and a fifth class, sufficiently distinct from all the rest, but not intended to be considered as any otherwise united among themselves, than by their geographical situation. There is indeed little doubt, that some of the languages here called Tataric are essentially allied to others, which are referred to the Indoeuropean class; but they have been too little investigated, to allow us to make the selection that would be required for completing the classification. The following tables are copied, with some considerable additions, from the Quarterly Review, where they stand as extracted, in great measure, from Adelung's Mithridates. The words Heaven and Earth are chosen as specimens, because they seem to be known in a greater number of languages than any others, except the name of Father, which is supposed to exhibit, in some cases, a fallacious similarity. The German orthography has been principally employed, except in such languages as are usually written in the Roman characters, the pronunciation of the consonants being more uniform than in English, and that of the vowels differing little from the Italian.