THE PROJECTOR. N° 73.

"Words are like leaves, and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found."

POPE.

August 1807.

THE celebrated Mr. Locke, in his chapter on the signification of words, has laid down a position which few will be inclined to dispute, namely, that words are often used without signification. But it may not be unnecessary to add the reason he assigns for this singular practice: Though the proper and immediate signification of words," says that great Philosopher,

are ideas in the mind of the speaker, yet because, by familiar use from our cradles, we come to learn certain articulate sounds very perfectly, and have them readily on our tongues, and always at hand in our memories, but yet are not always careful to examine, or settle their significations perfectly; it often happens that men, even when they would apply themselves to an attentive consideration, do set their thoughts more on words than

things. Nay, because words are many of them learned before the ideas are known for which they stand; therefore some, not only children, but men, speak several words no otherwise than parrots do, only because they have learned them, and have been accustomed to those sounds."

Whether owing to these causes, or more probably to others which have occurred since the days of Mr. Locke, it is certain that a great many words are used in our language without signification, and that considerable pains appear to have been taken to render words, which, according to our Dictionaries, have some meaning when taken separately, quite insignificant when combined together. That this is not done without pains and trouble my readers will readily believe, when they consider that the effect cannot be produced unless by persons who have a great command of words, or a great stock ready at hand, which they can discharge upon the hearer. Hence a long speech has generally been found to contain less meaning than a short sentence; and so wary is the world become on this subject, that men who wish to have any matter clearly explained are always in dread of a multitude of words, and conceive that the eagerness of a

speaker to deceive them is in exact proportion to the length of his harangue.

Hence, perhaps, we may divide all the words of our language into two classes, the one, and the smaller, consisting of those which have a meaning, and the other, and by far the largest, consisting of that vast combination which we call WORDS OF COURSE. As the first of these classes requires very little elucidation, I shall pass on to a few remarks on the second, or WORDS OF COURSE, the use of which appears to me to be growing every day more general, and therefore one would be inclined to suppose more necessary in social intercourse.

It might be a curious speculation to trace words of COURSE to their origin, and endeavour to discover whether they are of pure English growth, or imported from any other nation. It is, I think, allowed that very few of the productions for which our country is at present famous are of our own growth, and that we have only had the merit of importing and bringing them to a higher state of perfection than they could have attained under less skilful management in their native soil. Perhaps WORDS OF COURSE may be one of those articles which, after a series of years, we have thought proper to naturalize, and admit to all

the privileges of indigenous productions. On this conjecture, for I throw it out merely as a conjecture, it is not improbable that WORDS OF COURSE were originally imported by some persons of high rank, and the use of them at first confined to crowned heads, or representatives of crowned heads, commonly called ambassadors. It is certain that in our negotiations for at least a century past we find a very copious display of WORDS OF COURSE, and even at the present day we find letters between the personages alluded to, besprinkled with expressions of "high consideration," and "most perfect consideration, submission, attachment, &c." which are avowedly WORDS of course.

Along with this mode of importation, we may also conjecture that persons of fashion travelling on the Continent for pleasure, or what is commonly called improvement, would not neglect to lay in a stock of the newest WORDS OF COURSE, because such words are to them of much more importance than to other classes of men. It is a point confessed, that the greater part of their social intercourse is carried on by means of words "which," says Mr. Locke, "they speak no otherwise than parrots do, only because they have learned

them, and have been accustomed to those sounds."

Now if this account of the introduction amongst us of WORDS OF COURSE be allowed to be historically just, we cannot find it very difficult to explain the descent of these words from the upper to the lower classes of society. In what way other nations are to trace the rise and progress of their WORDS OF COURSE may be left to their antiquaries, who will be either anxious to claim the honour, or to avoid the shame of introducing them, according to the value they are pleased to put upon them. I may, however, remark, as a matter somewhat surprizing, that the use of WORDS of course, which are certainly to be found in all modern languages, should not long ere now have facilitated the acquisition of such languages by young learners. It has generally been thought that the main impediment in the learner's way, is the want of a memory capable of retaining the meaning of the words of any language which he may wish to acquire. But surely, at first sight, it appears that such a difficulty must be speedily removed by the use of WORDS OF COURSE: for what can be more easy than to learn a language the words of which have no meaning, and are to be repeated "no other