, 1875-01-14
"ThE ORIGIN oE LANGUAGE"

CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE tA5T EVENING.
!Mr u. u, Mills delivered one nf his pleasant coivtr-
fatonn lectures last aYenlnR, at tho residence Of Mr..
Webster, No. 47a wrs Washington etroe. In spite Of
the Intense cold, which might easily Lave CONCEALED
boh onxht and expression, tho largo drawing
Of Mr.. Webttcrsheuae we'll hltel With teprcssuta-
tive members Of tho intellectual society OF Chicago.
ater voting to what lecture 3Ir Mills shol de-
liver that uppn "TI'c Origin Of Language" nally
decided upon AID Ernyr 10 be fraught with Interest
to all present, The sclools that havs adopted
different theories were dsG,,sscl. Tho Iow-wow or
Initiative theory; tho poll loh or inorjccnua1 the
ory and lnstl, that Of Max Muller, who, repudlaslng
both Of the others, adapta that which suruscs Inn
guago TO have arisen from ringing III Tho Gran or
aort Of mcntsl gong, aud thence called tho ding
Dow-wow theory. tha. which arises from
an et.leavor to initiate thoaaht ar.t by rIgns and
y u T, Of Inc ~ o t
few roots aud these were ~ naiy cascs identical III
dtkcrrut Languages 1Ie brought many intrrsting
elichcd In reply were hoh amusing n,s,l suggestive
unc gentleman tI,h,ssed Upon fourth theory Htaering
saey seF f" tAf Ii. s Of 30 essn wa
rrsnn Is haso faenity Ut originating, a
language of their osu. arguing therefore TINT lam
9uAEe waA ID certain extcnt, accidental, aud not
fsraale to certafn defined roofs but that the roots
were ,nato By tic child. In reply it WIS advanced
the ages" anil in that Light must hare nhsritca al
tue previous culture Of ih ancestors l1is mental
fIEtes were therefore lifted to furnish terms wlltcA
might Ia s,nboliAl to hn, sl Niio apparently diff
ferliIg from Usual initiative Sounds might ia that
still le merely initiative
Prof. Mills argument. however, was. that language
of ycry bluw growth. aud bad originated III tho
simplest sounds. iiot fur removed from that language
Of animals, whrh they certainly possess 10 Buch
cBres that they comprehend each other. Ito itsaueet
the gucE guck OF Some Huh American trlbra which,
scarcely removed frun, h2riyarl dialect, Sill lad
dlslin:t meaning to them Iii fact, lie aeeaa TO have
arrived ut the conclusion that this flow growth OF
lauE,lage starting from elementary Initiative
sounds not inicn moro del!nable Ia meaning
originally than the song OF the l,rl or
the elneal Of tho pig, arKues strongly IN
favor ot the DArWluan theory Of evolution. lie
spGLe Of tbs manner In which lahguayo Lad been dc
re;oped, Al,! tho indefinite changes from a original
wearing caused by tlialerticl regeneration and pho
neo decay. To these two calscs he attributed nearly
ell the c:auge aud modification VI jatlgunge. lIe etid-
cd by tus hypothesis that thought and language arc
co-c1stcut, xrgug that M thought can be decisive
and defnttu without sonle expression, either by siga
Words ami that wor1s necessary to
inake It vau,blo and available. Other thought
Expressed Iy signs must necessarily bn variable nnt!
inilchnitr US well oyanesccnt. Once expressed In
words, II acquires force Which ia still further deter
1nfued ny EynbolcA writing, that being the natural
outyrowtl II language. Altogether this lecture was
very entertaining, not only from the views advanced
by Mr. Mills. but also frum tho thnugat and express
soa Ii occssioned III others His lecture oil Frtday
evening will bv given 1t the Hae place, aud the sub
tect will la "Or1eutal Thought, ,-lutnu and persisn y
II will undoubtedly prove Interesting supplement-
10 that Of last evening.