A History of English Language

A history of the english language 260
work discussed the absolute necessity for such study “in order to refine, ascertain, and fix
the English language.” He held “that the study of eloquence was the necessary cause of
the improvement, and establishment of the Roman language: and the same cause would
infallibly produce the same effect with us. Were the study of oratory once made a
necessary branch of education, all our youth of parts, and genius, would of course be
employed in considering the value of words both as to sound and sense.” His interest in
language thus grew out of his interest in elocution, but his opinions throw an interesting
light on the eighteenth-century attitude toward language. More influential was George
Campbell, a learned Scottish divine, whose Philosophy of Rhetoric appeared in two
volumes in 1776. Campbell professed greater respect for the evidence of usage and is
responsible for the definition of “good use” that is still accepted today. His book is the
ancestor of numerous later works, such as those of Blair (1783) and Whateley (1828) and
a succession of nineteenth-century treatises.
Questions of grammar and usage had become a matter of popular interest. In 1770 one
Robert Baker published Reflections on the English Language, “in the Manner of those of
Vaugelas on the French; being a detection of many improper expressions used in
conversation, and of many others to be found in authors.” As qualifications for his task he
mentions the fact that he knows no Greek and very little Latin, and he adds, “It will
undoubtedly be thought strange, when I declare that I have never yet seen the folio
edition of Mr. Johnson’s dictionary: but, knowing nobody that has it, I have never been
able to borrow it; and I have myself no books; at least, not many more than what a
church-going old woman may be supposed to have of devotional ones upon her
mantlepiece: for, having always had a narrow income, it has not been in my power to
make a collection without straightening myself. Nor did I ever see even the Abridgment
of this Dictionary till a few days ago, when, observing it inserted in the catalogue of a
Circulating Library, where I subscribe, I sent for it.” Nevertheless Baker’s book went
through two editions. By men such as these was the English language “ascertained.”
199. The Aims of the Grammarians.
Just as the goals of linguistic scholarship vary from author to author in the present
century, so one must recognize a variety of concerns in the eighteenth century. In a
comprehensive and balanced history of linguistic thought, it would be necessary to
consider the full range of writings, from the most specific rules of the handbooks to the
speculations of the universal grammars. 32 For a history of the English lan-
32
See, for example, Hans Aarsleff, “The Eighteenth Century, Including Leibniz,” in Current
Trends in Linguistics, 13, Historiography of Linguistics, ed. Thomas A.Sebeok et al. (The Hague,
1975), pp. 383−479, and James Knowlson, Universal Language Schemes in England and France,
1600–1800 (Toronto, 1975).