Lexiconsassigntoeachwordadefinitemeaningormeanings。Theybothtendtoobscurethefactthatthesentenceprecedesthewordandthatalllanguageisrelative。（1）Itisrelativetoitsowncontext。Itsmeaningismodifiedbywhathasbeensaidbeforeandafterinthesameorinsomeotherpassage：withoutcomparingthecontextwearenotsurewhetheritisusedinthesamesenseevenintwosuccessivesentences。（2）Itisrelativetofacts，totime，place，andoccasion：whentheyarealreadyknowntothehearerorreader，theymaybepresupposed；thereisnoneedtoalludetothemfurther。（3）Itisrelativetotheknowledgeofthewriterandreaderorofthespeakerandhearer。Exceptforthesakeoforderandconsecutivenessnothingoughttobeexpressedwhichisalreadycommonlyoruniversallyknown。Awordortwomaybesufficienttogiveanintimationtoafriend；alongorelaboratespeechorcompositionisrequiredtoexplainsomenewideatoapopularaudienceortotheordinaryreaderortoayoungpupil。Grammarsanddictionariesarenottobedespised；forinteachingweneedclearnessratherthansubtlety。Butwemustnotthereforeforgetthatthereisalsoahigheridealoflanguageinwhichallisrelative——soundstosounds，wordstowords，thepartstothewhole——inwhichbesidesthelessercontextofthebookorspeech，thereisalsothelargercontextofhistoryandcircumstances。
ThestudyofComparativePhilologyhasintroducedintotheworldanewsciencewhichmorethananyotherbindsupmanwithnature，anddistantagesandcountrieswithoneanother。Itmaybesaidtohavethrownalightuponallothersciencesanduponthenatureofthehumanminditself。Thetrueconceptionofitdispelsmanyerrors，notonlyofmetaphysicsandtheology，butalsoofnaturalknowledge。Yetitisfarfromcertainthatthisnewly-foundsciencewillcontinuetoprogressinthesamesurprisingmannerasheretofore；orthatevenifourmaterialsarelargelyincreased，weshallarriveatmuchmoredefiniteconclusionsthanatpresent。Likesomeotherbranchesofknowledge，itmaybeapproachingapointatwhichitcannolongerbeprofitablystudied。Butatanyrateithasbroughtbackthephilosophyoflanguagefromtheorytofact；ithaspassedoutoftheregionofguessesandhypotheses，andhasattainedthedignityofanInductiveScience。Anditisnotwithoutpracticalandpoliticalimportance。Itgivesanewinteresttodistantandsubjectcountries；itbringsbackthedawninglightfromoneendoftheearthtotheother。
Nations，likeindividuals，arebetterunderstoodbyuswhenweknowsomethingoftheirearlylife；andwhentheyarebetterunderstoodbyus，wefeelmorekindlytowardsthem。Lastly，wemayrememberthatallknowledgeisvaluableforitsownsake；andwemayalsohopethatadeeperinsightintothenatureofhumanspeechwillgiveusagreatercommandofitandenableustomakeanobleruseofit。（CompareagainW。Humboldt，’UeberdieVerschiedenheitdesmenschlichenSprachbaues；’M。Muller，’LecturesontheScienceofLanguage；’Steinthal，’EinleitungindiePsychologieundSprachwissenschaft：’andforthelatterpartoftheEssay，Delbruck，’StudyofLanguage；’Paul’s’PrinciplesoftheHistoryofLanguage：’tothelatterworktheauthorofthisEssayislargelyindebted。）
CRATYLUS
byPlatoTranslatedbyBenjaminJowettPERSONSOFTHEDIALOGUE：Socrates，Hermogenes，Cratylus。