s not
equally obscure. We have it, on his own authority, that he has made a
discovery of unparalleled merit and magnitude, as simple as it is
surprising, and calculated, in an equal degree, to benefit mankind,
and immortalize its author. He has discovered the science of
languages--a science in which the wisest hitherto have been
smatterers, but in which the most shallow may henceforward be
profound. In the prophetic spirit of conscious genius, Horace, Ovid,
and other great men, have boasted of the perpetuity of fame achieved
by their efforts; and Kavanagh, apparently under a similar
inspiration, indulges the pleasing anticipation, that he has completed
a monument more lasting than brass--of which material, it may be
observed, he does not appear to have a deficient supply. He confesses,
that on so trite a subject, the presumption is against him of so great
an achievement; but he sticks to his point, and is sure that he has
attained an undying name by his inestimable disclosures:--

"A discovery equalling in magnitude the one to which I lay claim,
must appear to all, before examining its accompanying proofs,
just about as probable as the discovery, in the neighbourhood of
the British Channel, of some rich and extensive island that had
escaped till now the mariner's notice. Then am I either
egregiously in error, or, through my humble means, one of the
greatest and most important discoveries on record has been made."

The alternative here allowed us is irresistible--_either_ our author
is egregiously in error, _or_ he has made a great discovery. Who can
doubt it? We feel at once driven to the wall by the horns of so
dexterous a dilemma; and unable as we are, in the kindness of our
hearts, to adopt the more uncivil supposition, we succumb, without a
struggle, to the only choice left us, and concede to such a disputant
all that he can demand.

Mr Kavanagh is determined that the importance of his discovery shall
lose nothing from his reluctance to put it in the strongest light:--

"If, from having taken a view of the human mind different from
any other hitherto taken, and from having founded a rational
principle, in conformity with this view, I can offer such a
definition of words as may bear the strictest investigation, and
which all may understand; and if a child, by adhering to this
principle, may be able to account for words with all their
changes a