Text 6:
Thomas Sprat's (1635 - 1713) The History of the Royal Society, (1667)
Thus they have directed, judg'd, conjectur'd upon, and
improved Experiments. But laftly, in thefe, and all other
Bufinefles, that have come under their Care; there is one thing
more, about which the Society has been moft folicitous; and
that is, the Manner of their Difcourfe; which, unleſs they had
been very watchful to keep in due Temper, the whole Sſpirit
and vigour of their Deſign, had been ſoon eaten out, by the
Luxury and Redundance of Speech. The ill Effects of this
Superfluity of Talking, have already overwhelm'd moft other
Arts and Profeſſions, inſomuch, that when I conſider the means
of happy living, and the Cauſes of their corruption, I can hardly
forbear recanting what I ſaid before; and concluding, that
Eloquence ought to be baniſh'd out of all civil Societies, as a
thing fatal to Peace and good Manners.
To this Opinion I ſhould wholly incline, if I did not find, that it is
a Weapon, Which may be as eaſily procur'd by bad Men, as
good;and that, if theſe ſhould only caſt it away, and thoſe retain
it; the naked Innocence of Virtue would be, upon all Occasions,
expos'd to the armed Malice of the Wicked. This is the chief
Reaſon, that would now keep up the Ornaments of Speaking in
any Requeſt, fince they are ſo much degenerated from their
original Uſefulneſs. They were at first no doubt,- an admirable
Inſtrument in the Hands of wife Men; when they were only
employ'd to deſcribe Goodness, Honefty, Obedience, in larger,
fairer, and more moving Images; to reprefent Truth, clotah'd
with Bodies; and to bring Knowledge baqk again to our very
Senſes, from whence it was at firſt deriv'd to our
Underſtandings. But now they are generally chang'd to worſe
Uſes; they make the Fancy disguſt. the beſt Things, if they
come found and unadorn'd; they are in open Defiance againft
Reaſon; profeſſing not to hold much Correſpondence with that;
but with its Slaves, the Paſſions; they give the Mind a Motion
too changeable and bewitching, to conſiſt with right Practice.
Who can behold, without Indignation, how many Miſts and
Uncertainties, theſe ſpecious Tropes and Figures have brought
on our Knowledge? How many Rewards, which are due to more
profitable and difficult Arts, have been ſtill ſnatch'd away by the
eaſie Vanity of fine Speaking! For now I am warm'd with this
juſt Anger, I cannot withold my ſelf, from betraying the
ſhallowneſs of all theſe ſeeming Myſteries; upon which, we
Writers, and Speakers, look ſo big! And in few Words, I dare
ſay, that of all the Studies of Men, nothing may be ſooner
obtain'd, than this vicious Abundance of Phrafe,this Trick of
Metaphors, this Volubility of Tongue, which makes ſo great a
Noiſe in the World. But I ſpend Words in Vain; for the Evil is
now ſo inveterate, that it is hard to know whom to blame, or
where to begin to reform. We all value one another ſo much,
upon this beautiful Deceit; and labour ſo long after it, in the
Years of our Education; that we cannot but ever after think
kinder of it, than it deſerves. And indeed, in moſt other Parts of
Learning, I look on it to be a Thing almoft utterly deſperate in
its Cure; and I think it may be plac'd amongſt thoſe general
Miſthiefs; ſuch as the Diſſention of Chriſtian Princes, the Want of
Practice in Religion, and the like; which have been ſo long
ſpoken againſt, that Men are become inſenſible about them,
every one ſhifting off the Fault from himſelf to others; and ſo
they are only made bare Common Places of Complaint. It will
ſuffice my prefent Purpoſe, to point out, what has been done by
the Royal Society, towards the correcting of its Exceſſes in
natural Philoſaphy; to which it is, of all others, a moſt profeſt
Enemy.
They have therefore been more rigorous in putting in Execution
the only Remedy, that can be found for this Extravagance; and
that has been a conſtant Reſolution, to reject all the
Amplifications, Digreſſions, and Swellings of Style; to return
buck to the primitive Purity and Shortneſs, when Men deliver'd
ſo many Things, almoſt in an equal Number of Words. They
have exacted from all their Members, a cloſe, naked, natural
way of Speaking; poſitive Expreſſions, clear Senſes; a native
Eafſineſs, bringing all Things as near the mathematical Plainneſs
as they can; and preferring the Language of Artizans,
Countrymen, and Merchant, before that of Wits,or Scholars.
Summary of the text commented in class 7/4/09:
At the beginning of the 17th century we can see how two groups will be divided because of their use of English:
On one side, we have got the Enthusiasts who prefer to use rhetoric and metaphors due to their influence in fields like religion or occult science. By contrast to this group, we have got the Royal Society* which claimed a simplification of the English language in order to facilitate the communication and understanding between speakers.
T. Sprat defended the objective of the Royal society remembering that even though the ornamentation of language was considered positive in the old times (especially used by writers and other wise men), in the 17th century this ornamentation was used in excess causing misunderstanding between speakers. Only by the simplification of English to the level of a country person, speakers will be able to communicate without uncertainty.
*A History of the English Language page 253-255.
Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
Barry Pennock Speck
© Carolina Cody Aldaz
cacodyal@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press