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which communicate with the Black Sca. On the borders of thefe rivulets are the tents of the Noguais, as well as the feds meant to give fhelter, during winter, to the numerous flocks and herds of thefe pastoral people.

Each proprietor has his own mark, which is burnt into the thighs of horfes, oxen, and dromedaries, and painted with colours on the wool of theep. The latter are kept near the owner's habitation, but the other fpecies, united in herds, are, towards the fpring, driven to the plains, where they are left at large till the winter. At the approach of this feafon, they feek and drive them to their eds, and this fearch was the bufinefs of the Noguais we had met.

What is most fingular, in this fearch, is, that the Tartar employ ed in it has always an extent of plain, which, from one valley to another, is ten or twelve leagues wide, and more than thirty long, yet does not know which way to direct his fearch, nor troubles himself about it. He puts up in a little bag, fix pounds of the flour of roatted millet, which is futhcient to laft him thirty days. This proviñon made, he mounts his horfe, ftops not till the fun goes down, then clogs the animal, leaves him to graze, fups on his tiour, goes to fleep, awakes, and continues his

route.

He neglects not, however, to obfèrve, as he rides, the mark of the herds he happens to fee. Thefe difcoveries he communicates to the different Noguais he meets, who have the fame purfuits, and, in his turn, receives fuch indications, as help to put an end to his journey. It is certainly to be feared that a people fo patient, may, one day, furnith formidable armies.

The end of our first day's jour

ney was fixed for the nearest valley, at ten leagues diftance. It was now near fun-fet, and I faw nothing be fore me but a vaft melancholy plain, when I fuddenly felt my carriage defcend, and beheld a file of olas, or tents, to the right and left, extending farther than I could fee. We croffed the rivulet over a bad bridge, near which I found three of thefe obas out of the line, and one of them intended for my ufc. The carriages were placed behind, and the detachment took up quarters jutt by me.

its

"My first care was to examine the whole of a picture, of which my party formed a feparate group. I particularly remarked the folitude in which we were left, and was the more attonithed at it, because I fuppofed myfelf an object that in fuch a place might well have excited cu riofity. The mirza had left me, on our arrival, to go and demand provifions; while 1, in the mean time, examined the conftruction of my Tartarian houfe. It was a large kind of hen-coop, the paling of which was in a circular form, and over this was a dome open at the top. A felt of camel-hair envel loped the whole, and a piece of this fame felt was thrown over the hole in the centre, which ferved to give vent to the fmoke. I obferved alfo, that the obas, inhabited by the Tar tars, and in which there was a fire kindled, had each of them this fame piece of felt, fastened in form of a banner, directed towards the wind, and futained by a long pole, which projected out of the oba. This fame pole alfo ferved to lower the felt, and fhut the vent-hole, when the fire, being extinguished, rea dered its remaining open ufelefs or incommodious.

"I particularly admired the fo lidity and delicas of the paling

"VIII. Poffibly prepofitions were, at firft, fhort interjectional words, fuch as our carters and fhepherds make use of to their cattle, to denote the relations of place. Or perhaps a more skilful linguift and antiquary may be able to trace them from other words, as the conjunctions have been traced by the learned author above mentioned.

"Many prepofitions are evident ly formed by compofition, as, between; befides, that is, being or exifting at the fide or near.

IX. The definitive article, in all the languages with which I have any acquaintance, is formed from the demonftrative pronoun this, hic, or ille. The Greek article ¿,, To, may appear to be derived immediately from the relative os; but I think both are very evidently no other than the demonftrative los, reduced by a kind of contraction very common in words much in ufe.

"The Spanish article il, la, and lo, and the Italian, il, la, are evidently the Latin, ille. The French le, is apparently derived from either the Spanish or Italian.

"Our the is an eafy corruption from this. Perhaps in common fpeech the might be left out before confonants, and the pronounced short, which would reduce it almoft immediately to our definite article. The Lowland Scots, who continue to speak a dialect of the old English, make ufe of a fimilar ellipfis, commonly ufing the for the plural thefe.

"The most probable etymology of our indefinite article a is, that it is a contraction of any, as feems to be implied by the form which it affumes before a vowel, an.

"Such appears to have been the origin of the feveral species of words

which have been diftinctly marked by grammarians. Thofe variations in termination, which were adopted in order to denote the ftates and relations of certain parts of fpeech, conftitute the next object which prefents itself for investigation.

"The plural of nouns is frequently marked by rude nations by a repetition of the fingular. I have feen a letter from an African chief to his correfpondent in England, during the late war. The man had learned to fpeak and even to write a little English; but, probably following the idiom of his own language, he complains of the merchants, that they had lately fent no hip hip, at which he wonders very much, for that they had plenty of Лave flave very cheap, &c. I am not able to account for the formation of the plural upon any other principle than that, on which I account for the formation of the other states or cafes.

The terminations, which ferve to mark the cafes of nouns in the ancient languages, I have no doubt were originally petty words, equivalent to our prepofitions, only placed after, inftead of before, the noun; and which in converfation, and before the language became ftationary in writing, being conftantly added to nouns to denote their states and relations, became, after the invention of writing, part of the noun.

"The diftinguishing of the genders by the termination is a refinement much farther removed from common practice: indeed, many languages have never arrived at it; nor is it quite impoffible that it may have been accidental. This idiom, as I may call it, has its inconveniences. It has led to ftrange mifapplications of gender in the Latin; and we find that the French

lan

language has entirely loft the ufe of the neuter, probably from this circumstance.

"The inflexions of verbs originated from the practice of com pounding the radical word with particles and auxiliaries: the perions were probably distinguifhed by the addition of a pronoun; and I think this might be demonftrated by a nice examination into the etymology of the pronouns, and due confideration in what manner they might be corrupted, when compounded with verbs.

"The personal inflexions might be difpenfed with (as in fome barbarous languages) provided the nominative cafe always ftood immedi ately before the verb; but as this was found to be frequently inconfiftent with convenience, as well as with elegance, the inflexion of the verb became neceffary, to avoid ambiguity, The Greek and Latin languages poffefs greater accuracy in this refpect than any I know, which enabled their authors to ufe greater liberty of tranfpofition, and even on fome occafions wholly to omit the perfonal pronouns.

"The perfonal inflexions ferve to mark distinctly the agent: but there is a more material circumstance to be defined by the inflexion of the verb, and that is, time; as a thing may exift at one moment in a ftate different from that which it will exist in the next. But fince it would be neither neceflary nor convenient always to fpecify the direct point of time, a few general divifions took place, and thefe are more or lefs in number, in proportion as the language was more or lefs formed when it became ftationary in writing.

"The general divifions of time, that we know to be capable of being distinctly marked by inflexions

of the verb, are, 1. The prefent, I am reading. 2. The perfect past, I have read, or have done reading. 3. The future, I am about to read. 4. The aorist (or indefinite) of the prefent, of ufe in general affertions, as, I read frequently. 5. The aorift of the pait, I read, or did read. 6. The aorift of the future, I shall read. 7. The imperfect, I was reading. 8. The plufquam-perfect (or the more than perfectly past) i. e. was pat at a definite point of time, as, I had read Homer, before I faw Mr. Pope's tranflation. The future-perfect (or the afterfuture) which is to the future what the plufquam-perfect is to the past, as, I shall have read the book, before

you

swill want it.

9.

"I know no language that diftinguishes all thefe divifions of time by the inflexions of the verb. The Greek approaches nearest to perfection in this point; but it has no prefent aorift, and is very incorrect in the ufe of the fecond aorist and fecond future, which, notwithstanding the apologies of fome ingenious writers, I am ftill inclined to think redundant: moft probably they may be the antiquated tenfes. The Latin wants an aorift of the prefent, a definite future, and a paulo-poft-futurum, or future-perfect. The reader will fee by the above statement of the tenfes, that we have only two inflexions to denote the times, viz. thofe of the present and the paft; the rest is performed by auxiliaries; and after all, it is with difficulty that we avoid confounding the prefent with the aorift of the prefent; e. g. A merry heart maketh a chearful counte nance.

"To trace the formation of the Greek tenfes would be very difficult: the Latin is a lefs complex language, and in it we can trace

them

mity prefents. Conftantly augmenting, without turning any part of their flore into circulation, avarice feizes and englurs thefe treafures, while the plains in which they are buried affords not the leat indication or guide to future re fearch. The numerous Noguais who have died, without telling their fecret, have already occationed the lofs of valt fums: hence it may be prefumed thefe people are perfuaded, that, were they forced to abandon their country, they might leave their money without lofing their property. In fact, it

Soon

would be the fame to them at five
hundred leagues distance, fince they
only poflefs it in idea; but this
idea is fo powerful among them,
and fo delightful, that a Tartar is
frequently known to feize the ob-
ject he covets for the fole pleasure
of enjoying it a moment.
obliged to rellore it, he is likewife
obliged to pay a confiderable fine;
but he has had his wish, and is fa-
tisfied. The avarice of a Tartar
never flays to calculate eventual
lofs, but enjoys the momentary
gain."

IF

The PRESENT STATE of EGY P t. [From the fame Work, ]

F we confider it in relation to what conftitutes the real power of a state, the politician will, perhaps, look with a kind of contempt on this great metropolis of the world, this nurfe of every fcience and every art, now become a province of the feebleft of all empires. But the political philofopher will confider it in a light more worthy of his attention, fhould he difcover, in the climate, production, and population of Egypt, the means by which it has been rendered fo celebrated. These advantages, which ages cannot deftroy, and which have refifted the greateft revolutions, will appear to him preferable to fuch as, like chemical compofitions, are to be decompofed by the contrary process to that by which they were produced.

"Such have been, no doubt, thofe kingdoms, the memory of which has been preferved by hiftory, though geography can now fcarcely point out the fituation of

their capitals. We fhall perceive, that in Egypt, the greatest kings endeavoured to acquire fame, by labours ufeful for the cultivation of the country with thefe they appeafed that thirst for glory which, among other monarchs, was perpetually productive of violence and rapine.

"If fo prodigious a lake as that of Moris, may be fuppofed to be formed by the hands of men, the utility of this immenfe refervoir would be the greatest monument of the beneficence of the Pharahs: but if the extent and depth of this lake leave fome doubt as to its origin, none can be entertained with regard to that of the canals of Jofeph, or Trajan, that of Alexandria, or thofe of Delta: they are visibly the work of human industry.

"The facility with which the country is watered, leaves no part of it uncultivated; and the richnefs of the foil, by multiplying the harveft, maintains and animates the population. There is no country

to

the verb to their regimen. Thus the verb in the infinitive fometimes represents a nominative cafe, as, Seire tuum nihil eft, &c. When the verb food in the place of the object, they frequently conformed it to the rule of the accufative, as, Eo amatum. Amandi correfponds to the genitive cafe of the noun, amando to the ablative.

"The participles are adjectives formed from the verb, and are probably a late invention. It is unne

ceffary to enlarge on them in this place; fince I am not writing a grammar, but a sketch of the hiftory of language.

"The pallive voice is evidently a late invention, and the middle voice a refinement till farther removed from common practice, almoft peculiar indeed to the Greeks. The paffive in Greek is plainly formed by the addition of είμε to the participle."

68

W

OF HOMER, AND HIS

WORK S.

[From the Obferver. ]

HEN the human genius was more matured and better qualified by judgment and experience, and the thoughts, inftead of being hurried along by the furious impulfe of a heated fancy, began to take into fober contemplation the worldly actions of men, and the revolutions and changes of human events, operating upon fociety, the poet began to prepare himself by forethought and arrangement of ideas for the future purposes of compofition. It became his first bufinefs to contrive a plan and groundwork for the structure of his poem: he faw that it must have uniformity, fimplicity, and order, a beginning, a middle, and an end; that the main object must be interefting and important, that the incidents and acceflary parts must hinge upon that object, and not wander from the central idea, on which the whole ought to reft; that a fubject correfponding thereto, when elevated by language, fuperior to the phrafe and dialogue of the vulgar, would conftitute a work more orderly and better conftructed, than what arofe

from the fudden and abrupt effufions of unpremeditated verse.

"In this manner Homer, the great poet of antiquity, and the father and founder, as I muft think, of epic poetry, revolving in his capacious mind the magnificent events of the Grecian affociation for the deftruction of Troy, then fresh in the tradition, if not in the memories, of his contemporaries, planned the great defign of his immortal Iliad. With this plan arranged and fettled in his thoughts beforehand, he began to give a loose to the force and powers of his imagination in ftrains and rhapfodies, which by frequent recitation fixed upon his memory, and, as he warmed with the advancing compofition, he fallied forth in fearch of hearers, chaunting his verfes in the affemblies and cities that received him; his fancy working out those wonderful examples of the fublime, as he took his folitary migrations from place to place. When he made his paffages by fea, and committed him. felf to the terrors of the ocean, the grandeft fcenes in nature came un

der

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