1.Substance.= 3.Existence.2.Form.
That is to say:The Relative(The Domain of Cognizable Being) is first made known to us through thedifferentiationanddiscriminationof the two FactorsSomethingandNothingwhich lieundifferentiatedandindistinguishableinThe Absolute(The Primitive Ground of Being).The Relativethen subdivides into 1.Substance(Reality),and, 2.Form(Limitation), which reunite to constitute that actualized Being which we denominateExistence. Or, tabulated, thus:
THE ABSOLUTE (The Primitive Ground of Being)CONTAINS UNDIFFERENTIATED AND INDISTINGUISHABLE THE TWO FACTORSSOMETHING andNOTHING WHICH CONSTITUTE THE FIRST TERMSAND DISCRIMINATIONS OFTHE RELATIVE (The Domain Of Cognizable Being);WHICH ITSELF DIVIDES INTOSUBSTANCE (Reality) andFORM (Limitation),THE PRIME CONSTITUENTS OF EXISTENCE.
To comprehend the vast importance of these discriminations, it is necessary to understand that precisely those Principles of Distribution which are applicable to the Universe at large are found to be applicable to every minor sphere or domain of the Universe; in the same manner as the same Geometrical Laws which prevail in the largest circle prevail equally in the smallest. It is the prevalence ofIdentical Principlesindiverse sphereswhich is the source of that Universal Analogy throughoutallspheres that lies at the basis ofUniversology, and gives the possibility of such a Science. The nature of this Analogy, as well as the value of the discriminations themselves, will be more clearly seen by glancing at corresponding discriminations in other spheres.
In the Constitution of the External World,Somethingis represented, as we have seen, by the solid and tangible substance which we callMatter, andNothingby the Expanse of Space.
In the Science of Acoustics,Sound, the purePhonos, is theSomething, theReality, as it is denominated by Kant, thePositiveFactor of Speech.Silenceis the relativeNothing, the Negation, so called by Kant, theNegativeFactor of Speech. The Silences, or Intervals of Rest which intervene between Sounds (and also between Syllables, Words, Sentences, and still larger divisions of Speech), are only so many successive reappearances of thisnegativeelement. Silence, the Nothing of Sound, is, in fact, in the most radical aspect of the subject, one entire half or hemisphere or equal Factor of the whole of Speech or Music. Josiah Warren, the author of a work entitled 'Music as an Exact Science,' is the only writer I have noticed who has had the discriminationdistinctivelyto recognize Silence as one of the Elements of the Musical Structure.
Impliedlyit is, however, always so recognized. The Silences intervening between tonestunewise, or in respect to altitude, are, in Musical Nomenclature, denominatedIntervals.TimewiseSilences, or those which intervene between Tones rhythmically considered, are calledRests. The Intervals of Silence between Syllables and Words, in Oral Speech, are represented in the printed book by what the Printer callsSpaces, which areblankornegativeTypes interposed between the positive Types expressive of Sounds. This termSpaceorSpacescarries us to the analogous Total Space or Blank Space and intervening reaches of Space between the Planets, Orbs or Material Worlds, the former the correspondingNothingof the total Material Universe of which these worlds are theSomething; as exhibited in the demonstrations ofUniversology.
In the Domain of Optics, covering the Phenomena of Light, Shade and Color,Lightis thePositiveFactor orSomething, andDarknesstheNegativeFactor orNothing.Lightis, therefore, the analogue ofSound, andDarknessthe analogue ofSilence. That is to say, each of these two, Silence and Darkness, denote the absence, the lack, the want or the negation of the opposite andPositiveElement or Factor.
So in Thermotics, the Science ofHeat,Heatitself is thePositismusorSomethingof the Domain; andColdtheNegatismusor CorrelativeNothing.Heatis, consequently, the analogue ofSoundandLight; whileColdis the analogue ofSilenceandDarkness.
In respect to the Domain of Mind,Positive Mental Experience(Feelings, Thoughts, and Volitions, including self-consciousness) are thePositiveFactor, theSomethingof Mentality.Inexperience, the lack of mental exercitation, henceIgnorance, is theNegativeFactor, orNothing. The Correspondential Relationship or Analogy existing between this Domain of the Universe and others already mentioned is testified to in a remarkable manner by our use of Language. We denominate the want of FeelingColdorFrigidity—in respect to the Mind or the individual character. The absence of Thought and Knowledge, or, in other words, Intellectual Barrenness, is calledDarknessorObscurityof the Mind. While the lack of Will or Purpose in the Mind is said to be the absence ofTensionorStrain(the great Musical term); and the Stillness or quiet hence resulting may be appropriately designated as theSilenceof the Mind; Musical Silences being, as pointed out above, technically termed Rests.
With this superficial exhibition of the most radical aspect of theEcho of IdeaorRepetition of Typewhich subsists between all the departments of the Universe, I pass to the more specific consideration of this Analogy as concerning the Domain of Thought and the Domain of Language.
Setting aside from our present considerationSilence, theNegativefactor orNegatismusof Language, and fixing our attention uponSound, the Positive factor orPositismusof Language, we discover it to be composed of two constituents,VowelsandConsonants.
TheVowelis theSubstance, the Reality of Language, and theConsonantis theForm, the Limitation.
ByVowelsound is meant the free or unobstructed, and as such unlimited flow of the vocalized or sounding breath. Vowels are defined in the simplest way as those sounds which are uttered with the month open; asa(ah) in Father,oin roll, etc.
Consonants are, on the contrary, those sounds which are produced by the crack of commencing or by obstructing, breaking, or cutting off the sounding breath, by completely or partially closing the organs of speech; as, for instance, by closing the lips, as when we pronouncepie,by,my, etc.; or by pressing the point of the tongue against the gums and teeth, as when we say tie, die, etc.; or by lifting the body of the tongue against the hard palate or roof of the mouth, as when we give thekor hardgsound, as in rack, rag, or in any other similar way.
Consonants are, therefore, the breaks orlimitationsupon the otherwise unbroken and continuous vocality, voice, or vocalized breath. In other words, as already said,Vowel-Sound is the ElementalSubstance, andConsonant-Sound the ElementalFormof Language, or Speech. (By Vowels and Consonants are here meant, the Reader should closely observe, Vowel-Soundsand Consonant-Sounds, as produced by theOrgansofSpeech, and as they address themselves to theEar, distinguished and wholly apart from thelettersor combinations of letters by which they are diversely represented to theEyein different languages.)
By a valid but somewhat remote analogy, theVowel-Sounds of Language may be regarded collectively as theFlesh, and theConsonant-Sounds as theBoneorSkeletonof the Lingual Structure. Flesh is anAnalogueor Correspondential Equivalent of Substance. Bone or Skeleton, which givesoutlineorshapeto the otherwise soft, collapsing, and lumpy flesh-mass of the Human or Animal Body, is anAnalogueof Correspondential Equivalent of Limitation or Form; as the framework of a house is the shaping or form-givingfactor or agent of the entire structure.
Vowel-Sounds are soft, fluent, changeful, and evanescent. One passes easily into another by slight deviations of pronunciation, resulting from trivial differences in National and Individual condition and culture; like the Flesh of the animal, which readily decays from the Bony Skeleton, while the last remains preserved for ages as a fossil. The Vowel-Sounds so readily lose their identity, that they are of slight importance to the Etymologist or Comparative Philologist, who is, in fact, dealing in thePaleontologyof Language.
TheConsonantsare, on the contrary, theFossilsof Speech; bony and permanent representatives of Framework, ofLimitation, of Form. Consonant-Sounds are also sometimes denominatedArticulations. This word meansjoiningsorjointings. It is from the Latinarticulus, aJoint, and is instinctually applied to the Consonant-Sounds in accordance with their analogy with theSkeletonof the Human or Animal System.
By an easy and habitual slide in the meaning of Words, a term likeJointis sometimes used to denote thebreakoropeningbetween parts, and sometimes to denote one of the parts intervening between such breaks; as when we speak of ajointof meat, meaning thereby what a Botanist would signify by the termInternode, the stretch or reach or shaft of bone extending from one joint (break) to another, with the meat attached to it.
Consonants have, in like manner, a double aspect as Articulations orJoints. In a rigorous and abstract sense, the Consonant has no sound of its own. It is simply a break or interruption of Sound. Etymologically, it is from the Latincon,WITH, andsonans,SOUNDING; as if it were a mere accessory to a (vowel) Sound; the Vowels being, in that sense, the only sounds. In this sense, the Consonants are analogous with the mere cracks or openingjoints, which intervene between the bones of the Skeleton. In other words, they are no sounds, but mere nothings; the analogy, in that case, ofAbstractLimitation.
Practically, on the contrary, the Consonant takes to itself such a portion of the vocalized or sounding breath which it serves primarily to limit, that it becomes not merely a sound ranking with the Vowel; but the more prominent and abiding sound of the two. It is in this latter sense, that it is the Analogue of the Bone.
In Phonography, as in Hebrew and some other Languages, the letters representing the Consonant-Sounds only are written or printed; the Vowel-Sounds being either represented by mere points added to the Consonant characters, or left wholly unrepresented, to be supplied by the intelligence of the Reader. The written words so constructed, represent the real words with about the degree of accuracy with which a skeleton represents the living man; so that the meaning can be readily gathered by the practised reader, by the aid of the context. In Phonography, the Consonant-Sounds, which are simple straight or curved lines, are joined together at their ends, forming an outline shape, somewhat like a single script (written) letter of our ordinary writing. These outline words are then instinctually and technically calledSkeleton-words, from the natural perception of a genuine Scientific Analogy.
Consonants constitute, then, what may be denominated theLimitismus(Limiting Domain) of Language. The Limit is primarily represented by the Line (a line, any line); then by the Line embodying Substance asseam,ridge,bar,beam,shaft,or bone; and, finally, by a System of Lines, Shafts or Bones which may then be jointed or limited in turn among themselves, forming a concatenation of Lines, Bars or Shafts, the framework of a machineor house or other edifice, or the ideal columnar and orbital structure of the Universe itself. All these conceptions or creations belong to the practical Limitismus, the Form Aspect or Framework of Being in Universals and in Particulars in every Sphere and Department of the Universe.
TheLimitismusof Being so defined then stands over against or contrasted with theSubstancismus(Substance-Domain) of Being which embraces the Substances, Materials or Stuffs of creation of whatsoever name that infill the interstices of the Framework or are laid upon it, and constitute the richness and fulness and plumpness of the Structure, as the Flesh does of the Body.
The wholeness orIntegralityof the structure then consists of the composity of these Two (Limitismus and Substancismus), as the wholeness of the Body consists of the Flesh and the Bone. The Consonants being the Limitismus, and the Vowels the Substancismus of Language; the Two united and coordinated comprise the Trinismal Integrality or Integralismus of Speech.
The Vowels denote, then,Reality, as distinguished fromLimitation, or, what is nearly the same thing,Substance, as distinguished fromForm.
There are in allSeven(7); or if we include one somewhat more obscure than the rest, a kind of semi-tone, there areEight(8) full-toned, perfectly distinct and primary Vowel-Sounds, which constitute the Fundamental Vowel Scale of the Universal Alphabet. Their number and nature is governed by the Mechanical Law of their organic production in the mouth. And the number can only be increased by interposing minor shades of sound, as we produce minor shades of color by blending the Seven (7) Prismatic Colors. The new Sound will then belong, in predominance and as a mere variety, to one of these Seven (7) Primary Sounds.
These Seven (7) Sounds constitute the Leading Vowel-System of all Languages; with certain irregularities of omission in the Vowel-System of some Languages.
By the addition of Five (5) equally leadingDiphthongs(or Double Vowels) the number of leading Vowel representations is carried up to Twelve (12) or Thirteen (13)—which may then be regarded as the Completed Fundamental Vowel Scale of the Universal Lingual Alphabet.
There are, in like manner, Seven (7)—or Eight (8)—Leading Realities of the Universe,and of every Minor Sphere or Domain of Being in the Universe,which correspond with, echo or repeat, and are therefore the Scientific Analogues of, these Seven (7) Leading Vowel-Sounds, as they occur among the Elements of Speech.
In representing the Vowel-Sounds, it is better, for numerous reasons, to use the letters with their generalEuropeanValues, than it is to conform to their altered or corruptedEnglishValues. For instance, the VowelI(i) is pronounced in nearly every language of Europe, and in all those languages which the Missionaries have reduced to writing, as we pronounceeoree, or asiin machine, or pique;E(e) is pronounced as we enunciateain paper; andAis reserved for the full Italian sound ofa(ah), as in father;Uis pronounced likeoo, as in German, Spanish, Italian and many other languages.
The Seven (7) Vowels in question are then as follows:
These sounds are produced in the middle, at the back, and at the front of the mouth respectively. These localities, and something of the nature of the sounds themselves, asslenderorfull, will be plainly illustrated by the annexed figure:
The following description of the organic formation or production of these sounds now becomes important.
The Vowel-SoundI(ee) is the most slender and condensed of the Vowel-Scale. It is produced at the middle or central part of the mouth, by forcing a slight, closely-squeezed current of Sounding Breath, through a small, smooth channel or opening made by forminga gutter or scoop of the flattened point of the tongue; while, at the same time, the tongue is applied at the edges to the teeth and gums. This sound has, therefore, an actualformresembling that of a thread or line; or still better, like that of a wire drawn through one of the iron openings by means of which wire is manufactured. It resembles also a slight, smooth, roundish stream of fluid escaping through a tube or trough.
This sound has relation, therefore, in the first place, toCentralityorCentre; and then toLength(or Line), which is the First Dimension of Extension. TheI-sound continued or prolonged gives the idea of Length. But broken into Least Units of the same quality of Sound, we have individualized Vowel-Sounds of this quality, each one of which is a newCentre; like the successivePointsof which aLineis composed.
An individual sound,I, has relation, therefore, toCentreand toPointgenerally. As such it stands representatively for theSoulorIdentityorCentral Individuality of Being—for that which gives to anything its distinctive character, as existing in thePointor theUnit, or theAtom, or in any Individual Object or Thing from the Atom up to a World and to the Universe as a whole.Identityis, perhaps, the best single term furnished by our Language to signify this basic idea.Individualityapproximates the meaning. It is thepivotalnotion of Being itself, and has relation, therefore, to Ontology, the Science of Abstract Being.EssenceandEssential Beingare terms which may also be used in defining it. The Reader should understand, however, that with reference to this Sound, as to those to be hereafter considered, there is no term or terms in any Language which will indicate their meaningexactly. The analysis of Ideas upon whichUniversologyis based is more fundamental than any which has preceded it. Its Primary Conceptions are, therefore, broader and more inclusive than any former ones which existing terms are employed to denote. In explaining the meaning of these First Elements of Sound, then, as related to the First Elements of Thought, all that is now attempted is to convey as clear a notion of this meaning as is possible with our present terminology, without any expectation that theprecisemeaning intended will be at once or entirely apprehended.
The soundE(ain mate) is likewise a slender, abstract-like, middle-mouth sound; but differs fromIin the fact that it is produced byflatteningthe opening for the Sounding Breath instead of retaining it in a roundish position. The angles of the mouth are drawn asunder, as if pointing outward to the sides of the head, and the sound is, as it were,elongated in the crosswise direction, as if a stick or a quill were held in the teeth, the extremities extending outward to the sides. A line, in this direction, is the measurer ofBreadth, which is the Second Dimension of Extension, crossing the Length-line represented byIat right angles.Side-wise-nessis synonymous withRelation, as one of the Sub-divisions of Reality, or, in other words, of the Realities of Being.Re-lationis, etymologically, from the Latinre,BACKorREFLECTED, andlatus,SIDE; that which mutually and reciprocally re-sides theCentre, or furnishes it with sides orwings. The Vowel-SoundE(a, in mate) is, therefore, the Analogue or Corresponding Representative or Equivalent in the Domain of Sound of thatFundamental Conceptionwhich, in respect to Thought, is denominatedRelation, in respect to PositionCollateralityorSideness, and in respect to DimensionBreadthorWidth.
The SoundA(ain father) is made farther back in the mouth, with the mouth stretched quite open, and is the richest and most harmonious of the Vowel Sounds—the Queen of the Vowels. It is the Italian A, the sound most allied with Music and Euphony, and yet a sound which is greatly lacking in the English Language.
The English Reader must guard himself from confounding the Vowel-Sound of which we are here speaking, with the ConsonantR, the alphabetical name of which is by a lax habit of pronunciation made to be nearly identical with this Vowel-Sound; while for this beautiful and brilliant and leading Vowel in the Alphabet of Nature we have no distinct letter in English, and reckon it merely as one of the values or powers of the Letter A, to which we ordinarily give the value ofE(ain mate,aiin pain).
This VowelA(ah,ain father) is made with the mouth so open that the form of its production suggests the insertion of a stick or other elongated object in a perpendicular direction to retain the jaws in their position; a practice said sometimes to be resorted to by the Italian Music Teacher, in order to correct the bad habit of talking through the teeth, common among his English pupils.
This height and depth involved in the Sound of the VowelA(ah) relates it toThickness, the Third Dimension of Extension; as the SoundIis related toLength, the First of these Dimensions, and the SoundEtoBreadth, the Second of them.
Thicknessis again related torichnessandsweetness, tofulnessandfatness, as of the good condition of an Animal in flesh, or of rich and productive soils. And these ideas are again related towealthor torichesgenerally; and, hence, again toSubstance. The objects of wealth are calledgoods, and a wealthy man is said to be a 'man of substance.'A(ah) is the representative or pivotal Vowel; that one which embodies most completely theVowel Idea. Its inherent meaning is especially, therefore, that ofSubstanceorReality, which, is, in a more general way, as we have seen, the meaning of all the Vowels. The most real, tangible, sensible substance from an ordinary point of view being. Matter, this Vowel-Sound allies itself also withMatterorMaterialityas contrasted withSpiritualSubstance.
There is, it must now be observed, a flattened variety ofA(ah), which will here be represented by the same letter italicized, thus,A,a, which is the so-called flat sound ofA(ah) as when heard prolonged in mare, pear, etc., or when stopped, in man, mat, etc. This sound is intermediate in position betweenEandA(ah). That is to say, it is produced farther back in the mouth and with the mouth somewhat more open than when we sayE, and not so far back as when we sayA(ah); and with the mouth less open. As contrasted with theA(ah), it is a thin, flat, and slightly unsatisfactory and disagreeable sound, analogically related to the natural semitonefaof the Diatonic Scale of Musical Tones. This Sound signifies accordingly,Thinness,Attenuated Matter, the Ghost or Spirit of Nature, related to Odic Force, Magnetisms, Electricity, etc.; still not, however, Spirit in the sense of Mind, or in the Religio-Spiritual sense of the word. This is the exceptional or bastard Vowel-Sound which has but an imperfect or half claim to be inserted in the Leading Vowel Scale. When inserted, its natural position is between the E and theA(ah), although for certain reasons it sometimes changes positionwith theA(ah), following instead of preceding it.
The next two Vowel-Sounds,o(awinawful), andu(uin curd), are somewhat like thea(ain mare), exceptional or bastard Sounds. They are unheard in many Languages, and unrecognized as distinct sounds in many Languages where they are, in fact, heard. Very few Languages have distinct Letter-Signs for them. In using the Roman Alphabet, I am compelled to adopt a contrivance to represent them; which is, as in the case of thea, to print them in italic types, for which, when the remainder of the word is in italic, small capitals are substituted, thus:Oful (awful);Urgent; or, in case the whole word is intended to be italicized, for the sake of emphasis,Oful,Urgent. In script or handwriting, the italic Letter is marked by underscoring a single line, and the small capital by underscoring two lines.
O(aw) is the fullest of the Vowel-Sounds. It is made with the mouth still farther open than when we sayA(ah), and somewhat farther back; or, rather, with the cavity enlarged in all directions, and especially deepened. The mouth is stretched in all ways to its utmost capacity, giving a hollow, vacant effect to the voice, instead of the rich, mellow and substantial sound of theA(ah). The Sound so produced is, nevertheless, on the one hand, a broader quality of theA(ah), and there is a strong tendency on the part of theA(ah) to degenerate into it, as when the uneducated German, saysYawforJa(yah). On the other hand, this sound has something of the quality ofO. It is, therefore, intermediate in quality betweenA(ah) andO. In respect to meaning, it is the Type, Analogue, Equivalent, or Representative of Volume orSpace, whether filled or unfilled by Substance. That is to say, it is the Analogue of Space, not in the sense in which we formerly regarded Space as thenegationof Matter; but in the sense ofInfinite Dimensionality, or of Dimensionality in all directions, as a vague generalization from the three special dimensionsLength,Breadth, andThickness. It is, therefore, round or ball-like, and huge, and, in respect to the nature of the tone, vague and vacant.
Spaceas mere nothinghas no Letter-Sign in the Alphabet; but is represented by the blank types or spaces used by the printer to separate his syllables and words, as shown heretofore. Spaceas a Department of Reality, as one of theRealitiesof the Universe, a bastard or semi-Reality it is true, but nevertheless, belonging to that Domain, is denoted by the Vowel-Soundo(aw).
The Soundu(uh,uin curd), the fifth of the Scale, is called among Phoneticians, theNaturalVowel. It is the simple, unmodulated or unformed vocal breath permitted to flow forth from the throat or larynx with no effort to produce any specific sound. It is the mere grunt, a little prolonged; the unwrought material out of which the other and more perfect Vowel Sounds are made by modulation, or, in other words, by the shapings and strains put upon the machinery of utterance. The Hebrewscheva, the Frencheu, andemute, are varieties of this easily-flowing, unmodulated, unstable, unsatisfactory sound. Like theo(aw), this soundu(uh) has a vacant, unfinished, and inorganic character as a sound, while yet, from its great fluency, its frequent occurrence tends, more than that of any other sound, to give to Language that conversational fluency, rapidity and ease which are especially characteristic of the French Tongue. From this same easy laxity of its nature all the other Vowel Sounds tend, in English particularly, when they are not accented, to fall back into this Natural Vowel; as in the following instances: Roman, broken, mirth, martyr, Boston, curd, etc.; words which we pronounce nearly Romun, brokun, murth, martur, Bostun, curd, etc.
This Sound, as to inherent meaning, is, by its alliance with the idea of flux, flow and continuity, the Type, Analogue, Equivalent or Representative in the Domain of Oral Sound of thatFundamental Conceptionwhich, in respect to Idea, we denominateTime; and of Stream-like orCurrentalBeing of all kinds.
Space, denoted byo(aw), has relation to the Air as an atmosphere, and to the Ocean of Ether in filling the Great Spheral Dome of Empyrean or Firmament. The Vowel-Soundu(uh) has a similar relation to Fluidity or Liquidity, and, hence, to Water as a typical fluid, to the Ocean Flux or Tide, to the Flowing Stream, etc. This Time-like idea is uni-dimensional or elongate in ageneralorfluctuatingsense; notspecificallylikeI. It is in view of this characteristic, that it is broadly and primarily contrasted with the Spacic significance ofo(aw), which is omnidimensional.
The two remaining Vowel-Sounds, theOandU(oo), repeat theo(aw) andu(uh), in a sense, but in a new and more refined stage or degree of development. The soundOis made at the front mouth—the locality the most openly in sight of any at which Sound is produced—by rounding the lips into an irregularly-circular, face-like, or disk-like presentation. TheOSound so produced denotes Presence, as of an object by virtue of its reflection of Light; and, hence,Light,Clearness,Purity,Reflection.
TheU(ooin fool) is an obscured or impure pronunciation of theO. The lips are protruded as if to sayO; but not being sufficiently so for the production of the pure Sound, the Sound actually given is mixed, or made turbid or thick. TheU-Sound denotes accordinglyRetiracy,Obscurity,Shade,Turbidity,Mixedness, orImpurity, as of Colors in a dim light, or as of Materials in a slime or plasma, etc.
Metaphysically,OdenotesPure Theory, theAbstract; andU(oo) signifies theActualorPractical, the Tempic, the Concrete (the Temporal or Profane), which is always mixed with contingency.
Other Vowel-Sounds, shades more or less distinct of some one of these Leading Sounds, are interspersed by nature between thesediatonicSounds, like the half tones and quarter tones in Music. Two of these Frencheuande muetmodifications ofu(uh) have been mentioned.Euis modulated at the lips, ande muetat the middle mouth, but both have the general character ofu(uh). The French U is a modification of theU(oo), of the Scale just given, but made finer, and approximatingI(ee). The Italian O is a modification ofo(aw). These four are the Leading Semi-tone Sounds; which along withacarry the Scale from Seven (7) diatonic up to twelve (12) chromatic. As they will be passed over for the present with this mere mention, the points of the Scale at which they intervene will not be now considered.
Discarding these minor shades of Sounds, the Leading Scale of Vowel-Sounds is augmented from Seven (7) or Eight (8) to Twelve (12) or Thirteen (13), by the addition of the following five (5) Diphthongs or Double Vowels. In respect to thequalityof Sound, they are pronounced just as the Vowels of which they are composed would be if separated and succeeding each other. To make the Diphthonglong, the two Sounds are kept quite distinct. To make itshort, they are closely blended; as,AU(ah-oo), long;A[)U](ahoo), short. With no diacretical mark they are pronouncedad libidum, or neither very long nor short.
The following are the five (5) Diphthongs which complete the Vowel Scale:
TheIUis composed of the first VowelI(ee) and the lastU(oo). TheI-sound, so placed before another Vowel-Sound, tends readily to be converted into or more properly to prefix to itself the weak Consonant-Sound represented inEnglish by Y (in German and Italian by J); thusYIUforIU. The whole of the three Sounds so involved (a real Triphthong) are represented by the English U long—which is never asimpleVowel-Sound—as inunion, pronouncedyioonyun.
This DiphthongIU(or yiu) denotesConjunction,Conjuncture,Event(the two ends meeting); and alsoCouplingorUnition; a central point between extremes.
The next and the most important of the Diphthongs (exceptAU) isAI, compounded of the third (A) and the first (I) of the simple Vowel-Sounds. It is pronounced very nearly like the English longI, as in pine, fine, etc., which is not asimpleVowel; but is compounded of the two simple Vowels above mentioned (AandI, ahee) in a very close union with each other; or, as it were, squeezed into each other. The Tikiwa (Tee-kee-wah) combination (this is the name of the Scientific Universal Language),AI, is not ordinarily quite so close, and when pronouncedlong, is quite open, so that each Vowel is distinctly heard (ah-ee).
This DiphthongAImay be regarded as embracing and epitomizing the lower or ground wing or half of the Simple Vowel-Scale (IEaA); its meaning is, therefore, that ofBasicorSubstantial Reality: theGroundof Existence.
Contrasted with this is the next Diphthong,OI(aw-ee), compounded of the fifth (o) and the first (I) Vowel-Sounds. It is the Sound ofoyin boy. TheIcontained in this Diphthong may be regarded as standing in the place ofUat the other extremity of the Scale. This last Sound has a tendency to return intoIthrough the French slenderU, illustrating the Principle of the Contact of Extremes. The DiphthongOImay, therefore, be viewed as embracing and epitomizing the upper or ethereal wing or half of the Simple Vowel Scale (ouOU); its meaning is, therefore, that ofAerialorAscending Reality;LoftinessorLoft.
Next there occurs a DiphthongOI, pronounced as the same letters in the English word going, which has a half claim to be ranked with the Leading Diphthongs. It is sometimes reckoned into, and sometimes out of, the Scale—likeaamong the Simple Vowels. Its meaning is that ofFrontness,Prospect.
Finally, the great Focal Diphthong, that which includes and epitomizes the whole Vowel Scale, isAU(ah-oo), compounded of the third Vowel-Sound (A) and the Seventh (or Eighth)U. It is the sound heard inour, or in the Spanish causa. The meaning of this Supreme Diphthong and general Vowel Representative isUniversal Reality. It stands practically in the place of all the Vowels, in the Composition of Words of an inclusive meaning. That is to say, it integrates in its signification, all that is inherently signified by all the other Vowels.
While, however,AUis practically and usually the Representative, Analogue or Equivalent, in the Domain of Language, of Universal Reality among the Elements of Being, this is soonly in practice.Theoretically, the Diphthong best adapted to represent this Idea isAO; theAand theObeing, in a supreme sense, the two most prominent or leading Vowels. But it is a little difficult to retain the Organs of Utterance in the position which they must assume in order to pronounce these two Vowel-Sounds in conjunction. The organs readily and naturally slide into the easier position in which they utterAU. This is correspondential with the difficulty always experienced in adhering toPure Theory(O); and the natural tendency to glide from it, as ground too high for permanent occupation, into the more accommodating Domain of thePractical(U).
The Full Scale of Vowel Sounds coupled with the Full Scale of the (Indeterminate) Realities of Universal Being is, therefore, as follows:
1. Sounds.2. Realities of Being.1.I, i (ee as in feel).EntityorIdentity(Centre, Least Element, Essential Being, Individuality).2.E, e (a as in mate).Relation(Sideness, Collaterality, Adjectivity).3.A,a(a as in mare).Unsubstantiality(Thinness, Ghost, Apparition).4.A, a (a as in fa-ther).Substance(Thickness, Materiality, Richness, Goodness).5.O,o(aw as in awful).Space(Volume, Expansion).6.U,u(u as in curd).Time(Flux, Flow).7.O, o (o as in noble).Light(Reflection, Parity, Clearness, Theory).8.U, u (oo as in fool).Shade(Retiracy, Turbidity, Mixture, Practice).9.IU, iu (YIU), (u in union, use).Conjunction(Event, Joining).10.AI, ai (ah-ee, i in fine).Basic Reality(Ground of Existence).11.Oi, oi (aw-ee, oy in boy).Aerial or Ascending Reality(Loft, Loftiness).12.OI,oi (o-ee, oi in going).Frontness,Prospect.13.AU, au (ou in our).Universal Reality.
The Vowels and Diphthongs of this Basic Scale may be Long or Short, without any change of quality. This difference is indicated by diacritical marks, which it is not now necessary to exhibit.
In addition to these merelyquantitativedifferences in the Vowel-Sounds, there is a corresponding difference ofQuality, which produces a Counter-Scale of Vowel-Sounds; an echo or repetition of the Basic Scale throughout its entire length. This new Scale is a Series of Sounds predominantlyshortin quantity. They are called by Mr. Pitman theStoppedVowels. (In German they are denominated theSharpVowels.) These Sounds are nearly always followed by a Consonant-Sound in the same syllable, by which they arestoppedorbroken abruptly off, and the purity of their quality as Vowels affected or disturbed.
It is not essential for our present purpose to give a detailed list of these Vowels; more especially as every Reader will readily recall them; asI, in pIn;E, in pEt;Ain pAt;o, in not;u, in but;O, in stOne, cOAt;U, in fUll.
In respect to the Vowel Diphthongs, theStoppedSounds are not materially different from theshortquantities of the corresponding Full ones; and no effort need be made to distinguish the two former varieties of Sound. The same is true of the Short and Stopped Sounds ofA(ah). But the difference is very marked in the remaining Seven (7) Simple Vowels; the Stopped Sounds of which are given above. For the ordinary purposes of Language it is not necessary to distinguish these Stopped Sounds by any diacritical mark. But in the short Root-Words, where a difference of meaning depends upon the difference between thefullandstoppedVowel, the so-calledgraveaccent is employed to denote thestoppedquality, as pique, pick, for example, written thus: pik, pik.
The meaning of the Stopped Vowel-Sounds is merely the broken orfractionizedaspect of the same ideas which are symbolized by the correspondingFullVowel-Sounds.
The nature and meaning of the Vowels being thus explained with sufficient amplitude for the uses now in view, we are prepared to advance, in a subsequent paper, to the consideration of the individual Consonant-Sounds, their character and inherent signification.
It was the opprobrium of the Republican party in the Presidential campaign of 1860, that the Southern States were not, in any but a limited degree, represented in its ranks; and so it was called a sectional party. The Presidential campaign of 1864 is not less remarkable, on the other hand, because the party which now appropriates the honored name of Democratic seems to ignore the crime of rebellion on the part of those Southern States, and thus invites an even more obnoxious appellation. History will record with amazement, as among the strange phenomena of a war the most wicked of all the wicked wars with which ambition has desolated the earth (phenomena that will perplex men and women of loyal instincts and righteous common sense to the latest day), the resolutions of the Chicago Convention of 1864.
It is the purpose of this article to consider as dispassionately as may be, those Chicago resolutions, as well as the ones previously adopted at Baltimore; desiring to look at them both from the standpoint of a patriotism which loves the whole country as one indivisible nation—the gift of God, to be cherished as we cherish our homes and our altars.
A convention called of all those, without respect to former political affinities, who believed in an uncompromising prosecution of the war for the Union till the armed rebellion against its authority should be subdued and brought to terms, met at Baltimore on the 7th of June last, and nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, for reëlection as President, and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, for election as Vice-President. The convention, with exceeding good sense, and obedient to the just and patriotic impulses of the people, disregarded all party names of the past, and called itself simply a National Union Convention. Two months later, and on the 29th of August last, obedient to the call of Democratic committees, a convention met at Chicago, composed of men whose voices were for peace, and nominated for President General George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, and for Vice-President George H. Pendleton, of Ohio. This convention took the name of Democratic, indicating thereby not the idea of the equal rule of all the people, as the name imports, but the traditions and policies of those degenerate days before the war, when Democracy had strangely come to mean the rule of a few ambitious men. In other words, it ignored the crime of those men (who have sacrificed their country to their ambition), and assumed that the country could also overlook the crime. It supposed the people ready to strike hands with rebellion and elevate the authors of rebellion to power again.
Perhaps the difference between the two conventions may be concisely stated thus: The Chicago Convention was for peace first, and Union afterward; the Baltimore Convention for Union first, then peace. Let us see.
We suppose that no one will think us wanting in fairness when we characterize the Chicago Platform as one of peace.[4]If there is any reproach in the term, it surely is not the fault of those who take men to mean what they say.
Indeed, it is simply the truth to declare that the general impression on the first publication of it confirmed the view we have taken, and that even among the supporters of the convention there were many who proclaimed their confident expectation that General McClellan, if he should accept the nomination, would disregard the platform, and stake his chances on his own more warlike record. We will not stop to consider in this place whether that expectation has been fulfilled. It suffices for our present purpose to remind our readers that the great doctrine of the Democratic party of former days was expressed in the motto, 'Principles, not men;' and that the rigid discipline of the party has always required the nominee to be the mere representative of the platform—its other self, so to speak: as witness the case of Buchanan, who declared himself, following the approved formulas of his party, no longer James Buchanan, but the Cincinnati Platform. It ought also to be borne in mind, that General McClellan's letter of acceptance does not, in terms, repudiate the platform, and is not necessarily inconsistent with it.
The first one of the six resolutions that constitute the Chicago Platform, has the sound of true doctrine. 'Unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution,' is the duty of every citizen, and has always been the proud war-cry of every party; and they who swerve from it are subject not simply to our individual censure, but to the sanction of our supreme law. The just complaint against this platform is, that, while thus proclaiming good doctrine, it overlooks the departure therefrom of a large portion of the people, misled by wicked men. When we look at the other resolutions, the first one seems all 'sound and fury, signifying nothing.'
Nor will we withhold what of approval may possibly be due, in strict justice, to the sixth and last resolution; although the approval can only be a limited one. No one can overlook the entire lack in that resolution of cordial sympathy with the sacred cause of nationality, to which the brave heroes of the war have given their lives and fortunes. It restricts itself to a simple recognition of the 'soldiery of our army,' as entitled to 'sympathy,' with a promise of 'protection' to them, 'in the event of our attaining power.' It ignores the navy, and passes by the gallant heroes who on sea and river have upheld the flag of our country with a lustre that pales not before the names of Paul Jones, and Perry, and Decatur. Moreover, the sympathy 'extended to the soldiery' is the sympathy not of the American people, but of 'the Democratic party.' Surely, this phrase was ill conceived. It has a touch of partisan exclusiveness that is sadly out of place. But the resolution is unpartisan and patriotic in another respect that deserves notice. It extends the 'sympathy of the Democratic party to the soldiery of our army,' without making any discrimination to the prejudice of the negro soldiers; and thus commits the 'Democratic party,' with honorable impartiality, to the 'care and protection' ofall'the brave soldiers of the Republic.'
With these criticisms upon the first and sixth resolutions, we proceed to record our total disapprobation of the remaining four. In all candor, we contend that those four resolutions are a surrender of the national honor, and a violation of the national faith. They are unworthy the old glory of the Democratic party. For what is the purport of them? Is it condemnation of a rebellion that has 'rent the land with civil feud, and drenched it in fraternal blood'? Is it to stimulate the heroism of those whose breasts are bared to the bullets of traitors in Virginia and Georgia, and who have 'borne aloft the flag and kept step to the music of the Union' these three years and a half in unwearied defence of the nation? Ah, no; they declarethe war a 'failure'! The second resolution is the keynote of the platform, reciting 'that after four years (three years and a half) offailureto restore the Union by theexperiment of war,... justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand thatimmediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities.' Upon this resolution there can be no better comment than the remembrance of Donelson and Pea Ridge, Pittsburg Landing and Vicksburg, Murfreesboro' and Chattanooga, Antictam and Gettysburg; not to speak of that splendid series of battles from the Wilderness to Petersburg, which at last has brought the rebel general to bay; nor of the glorious victories, since the Chicago Convention, at Mobile and Atlanta, and in the Shenandoah Valley. It can never be forgotten that on the fourth of July, 1863, Governor Seymour, in a public discourse at the Academy of Music, in New York, drew a deplorable picture of the straits to which the nation was at last reduced, with the enemy marching defiantly across the fertile fields of Pennsylvania, and men's hearts failing them for fear of danger, not alone to the political capital, Washington, but also to the financial capital, New York; and that, even while the words fell from the speaker's lips, that defiant enemy, already beaten, was rapidly retreating before the magnificent old Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg: while victorious Grant had already broken the left of the rebel line, and was celebrating the nation's anniversary in the triumph of Vicksburg. Even so, let it never be forgotten that the delegates who adopted this second resolution, so burdened with despair, had scarcely reached their homes, ere the stronghold of the Southern Confederacy, which, ever since the war was begun, has been boastfully proclaimed the key of its military lines, and as impregnable as Gibraltar, fell before the unconquerable progress of the armies of the West, under General Sherman; and thus the rebel centre, as well as left, had been broken, and only the rebel right, at Richmond, yet remains to the Southern army.
In further answer to the discouraging language of this resolution, let us offset the following terse and comprehensive statement of what has been accomplished in the course of the nation's 'experiment of war.' It is copied fromThe Evening Postof a recent date, and the writer supposes the soldiers to speak thus: