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Show 1 I~ ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CAN!fO I'l:f.. VI. " WuEN strong desires or soft sensations move The astonish'd Intellect to ~rage ·or Jove; Associate tribes of fibrous ·motions rise, Flush the red -cheek, or light the laughing eyes. Whence ever-active Imitation ·finds The ideal trains, that pass in 'kindred minds; Her mimic arts associate thoughts excite And the first LANGUAGE ·enters at the sight. 340 And the .first Language, .L .342. There are two ways 'by wl1ich we become acquainted with the .passions of others: first, by having ob- served the effects of them, a-s of fear or anger, on our m~n bodies, we know at sight when others are under the influence of these affect ions. So children long 'before they can speak, or understand the language of their parents, may be frightened by an angry countenance, or soothed by smiles and blandishments. Secondly, when we put ourselves into the attitude that any pas- sion naturally occasions, we soon in some degree acquire that passion; hence when those that scold indulge themselves in lou.d oaths and violent actions of t11e arms, they increase their anger by the moue of expressing themselves; and, on the contrary, the counterfeited ·smile of pleasure in disagreeable company soon bt:ings along with it a portion of the reality, as is well il.lustrated by Mr. Burke. (Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful.) These are natural .fligns hy which we understand each other, and on this slender basis is built all human language. For without ~orne natural signs no artificial ones could have been. invented or understood, as is very ingeniously observed by Dr, Reid. (Inquiry into the Human Mind.) I CANTO III. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. " Thus jealous qu~ils or village-cocks inspect Each other's n~cks with stitfen'd plumes erect; Smit with the wordless eloquence, they know The rival passion of the threatening foe. So when the famish'd wolves at midnight bowl, Fell serpents hiss, or fierce hyenas growl; Indignant Lions rear their bristling mail, 113 And lash their sides with undulating tail. 350 Or when the Savage-Man with clenched .fist Parades, the scowling champion of the list; With brandish'd arms, and eyes t~at roll to know Where first to fix the meditated blow; Association's mystic power combines Internal passions with external signs .. ''From th,ese dumb gestures first the exchange began Of viewless thought in bird, and beast, and man; And still the stage by mimic art displays Historic pantomime in modern days;. 360 Q |