In order to prove this, it will be necessary to shew, that the difference between these two kinds of language is not more in form, than in substance; in the means of their communication, than in their end: that they widely differ from each other, in the nature, degree, and extent of their power; that they have each their several offices and limits belonging to them, which they ought never to exceed; and that, where one encroaches on the province of the other, it can never equally well discharge its office.
All these points will be made sufficiently clear, only by examining the nature and constitution, of these two kinds of language.
First, as to that which is spoken. Speech is the universal gift of God to all mankind. But as in his wise dispensations, in order to excite industry, and make reward the attendant on service, in the most excellent things of this life, he has only furnished the materials, and left it to man to find out, and make a right use of them; so has he laid down this just law, in regard to the great article of speech; which in all nations must prove either barbarous, discordant, and defective; or polished, harmonious, and copious, according to the culture or neglect of it. As the chief delight and improvement of a social, rational being, must arise from a communication of sentiments and affections, and all that passes in the mind of man; the powers of opening such a communication are furnished in a suitable degree, and with a liberal hand. In proportion to their acquisition of ideas, men will find no want of articulate sounds to be their symbols. In proportion to their progress in knowlege, they will find adequate powers in the organs of speech, to communicate that knowlege. In proportion to the exertion of the powers of the intellect, or the imagination, the various emotions of the mind, the different degrees of sensibility, and all the feelings of the heart; they will find, upon searching for them, that in the human frame there are tones, looks, and gestures of such efficacy, as not only to make all these obvious, but to transfuse all those operations, energies, and emotions into others: without which, indeed, the mere communication of ideas would be attended with but little delight.
A wise nation will therefore, above all things, apply themselves to advance the powers of elocution, to as high a degree as possible; and they will find their labours well rewarded, not only by opening a source of one of the highest delights, which the nature of man is capable of feeling in this life, but also by the extraordinary benefits and advantages thence resulting to society, which cannot possibly be procured in any other way. "It has pleased the All-wise Creator to annex to elocution, when in its perfect state, powers almost miraculous! and an energy nearly divine! He has given to it tones to charm the ear, and penetrate the heart: he has joined to it actions, and looks, to move the inmost soul. By that, attention is kept up without pain, and conviction carried to the mind with delight. Persuasion is ever its attendant, and the passions own it for a master. Great as is the force of its powers, so unbounded is their extent. All mankind are capable of its impressions, the ignorant as well as the wise, the illiterate as well as the learned."
Such is the nature, such the constitution, such the effects, of cultivated speech. Let us now examine the properties of written language. "That is wholly the invention of man, a mere work of art, and therefore can contain no natural power. Its use is to give stability to sound, and permanence to thought; to preserve words that otherwise might perish as they are spoke, and to arrest ideas that might vanish as they rise in the mind; to assist the memory in treasuring these up, and to convey knowlege at distance through the eye, where it could find no entrance by the ear. In short, it may be considered as a grand repository of the wisdom of ages, from which the greatest plenty of materials may be furnished, for the use of speech, and the best supplies given to the powers of elocution."
Here we may see, that these two kinds of language essentially differ from each other in their nature and use: and, from this view, we may plainly perceive the vast superiority which the former must have over the latter, in the main end aimed at by both, that of communicating all that passes in the mind of man; inasmuch as the former works by the whole force of natural, as well as artificial means; the latter, by artificial means only. In the one case, many hundreds may be made partakers at one and the same time, of instruction and delight; in the other, knowlege must be parceled out only to individuals. In the one, not only the sense of hearing may receive the highest gratification, from sounds the most pleasing, and congenial to the organs of man; but the sight also may be delighted with viewing the noblest work of the Great Mechanist put in motion, to answer the noblest ends: and, whilst the charmed ear easily admits the words of truth, the faithful eye, even of the illiterate, can read their credentials, in the legible hand of Nature, visibly characterized in the countenance and gesture of the speaker. In the other, none of the senses are in the least gratified. The eye can have no pleasure in viewing a succession of crooked characters, however accurately formed; and the ear cannot be much concerned in silent reading.
If any doubt remains about pre-eminence with regard to these two, the dispute may, at once, be settled in the same way that Cicero determined the controversy between oratory and philosophy; "Sin quærimus quid unum excellat ex omnibus, docto oratori palma danda est: quem si patiuntur eundem esse philosophum, sublata controversia est. Sin eos disjungent, hoc erunt inferiores, quod in oratore perfecto, inest omnis illorum scientia, in philosophorum autem cognitione, non continuo est eloquentia." In like manner it may be said, in this case, that he who is master of speaking cannot, on that account, be retarded, though he may be much advanced thereby in knowlege of written language; whereas he who is master of the written language only, is by no means advanced thereby in the art of speaking. Indeed, the one should be considered only as an handmaid to the other, and employed chiefly in such offices as she cannot do in her own person.
But should any nation be so unfortunately circumstanced, as from habit, or institution, to bestow all their labour and pains upon cultivating the artificial language, the invention of man, to the utter neglect of that which is natural, and the gift of God, it must be allowed, that they are in a wrong course; and that they must necessarily lose some of the greatest blessings that can be enjoyed by rational, social beings, and which can flow from no other source but that of cultivated speech. Whether this be not our case, is well worth considering; and the point may be settled by the establishment of a few facts. In order to this, let us take a view of the perfections, and imperfections, of each kind of language; see in which of them we take most pains to attain the one, and avoid the other; and, in consequence of such pains, which of them is at this day in the best state amongst us.
The chief object of both, is the communication of ideas and emotions from mind to mind, but they use different mediums for this purpose. Speech makes use of sound, and reaches the mind through the ear: writing makes use of characters, and conveys knowlege through the eye. The ideas that rise in the mind of the speaker, together with the operations, affections, and energies, of the mind itself, are manifested and communicated in speech, by articulate sounds, combined, or separated in various proportions; by rests of the voice in certain places; by accents, emphases, and tones. The same is attempted in writing, by different combinations of letters, according to stated rules, and by certain points, stops, and lines. But that it cannot be done with equal success in the latter case, is clear from this, that sound contains in itself a natural power over the human frame, in rousing the faculties of man, and exciting the affections, as is clearly proved by the force of music.
But written characters have, in themselves, no sort of virtue, nor the least influence on the mind of man: and the utmost extent of their artificial power can reach no farther, than that of exciting ideas of sounds, which belong to spoken words, for which those combinations of letters stand, and consequently cannot produce equal effects with the sounds themselves.