CHAPTER IV. 343 language, as unpleasant, imprudent, immortal, irregular, ignorant, infinite, endless, lifeless, deathless, nonsense, abyss, anonymous, where the prepositions, un, im, in, non, a, an, and the termination less, signify a negation, either in Eng- lish, Latin, or Greek. Positive terms are those which have no such negative appen- dices belonging to them, as life, death, end, sense, mortal. But so unhappily are our words and ideas linked together, that we can never know which are positive ideas, and which are negative, by the word that is used to express them, and that for these reasons: - 1st, There are some positive terms which are made to sig- nify a negative idea; as dead is properly a thing that is deprived of life ; blind implies a negation or privation of sight ; deaf a want of hearing ; dumb a denial of speech. 2dly, There are also some negative terms which imply posi- tive ideas, such as, immortal and deathless, which signify ever- living, or a continuance in life ; insolent signifies rude and haughty ; indemnify to keep safe ; and infinite perhaps has a positive idea too, for it is an idea ever growing ; and when it is applied to God, it signifies his complete perfection. idly, There are both positive and negative terms, invented to signify the same, instead of contrary ideas ; as unhappy, and miserable, sinless and holy, pure and undefiled, impure and filthy, unkind and cruel, irreligious and profane, unforgiving and re- vengeful, ilc. and there is a great deal of beauty and convenience derived to any language from this variety of expression ; though sometimes it a little confounds our conceptions of being and not being, our positive and negative ideas. 4thly, I may add also that there are some words which are negative in their original language but seem positive to an Eng- lishman, because the negation is unknown ; an abyss, a place without a bottom; anodyne, an easing medicine; amnesty, an unremembrance, or general pardon ; anarchy, a state without government ; anonymous, that is, nameless ; inept, that is, not fit ; iniquity, that is, unrighteousness; infant, one that cannot speak, namely, a child; injurious, not doing justice or right. The way therefore to know whether any idea be negative or not, is to consider whether it primarily imply the absence of any positive being, or mode of being; if it doll', then it is a nega- tion or negative idea; otherwise it is a positive one, whether the word that expresses it be positive or negative. Yet after all, in many cases, this is very hard to determine, as in amnesty, infinite, abyss, which are originally relative terms, but they sig- nify pardon, &c. which seem to be positive. So darkness, mad- ness, clown, are positive terms, bit they imply the want of light, the want of reason; and the want of manners ; and perhaps these may be ranked among the negative ideas.
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