the peculiar Words of every Profeffion; that the Terms of War and Navigation fhould be inferted, fo far as they can be required by Readers of Travels, and of Hiftory; and thofe of Law, Merchandife, and mechanical Trades, fo far as they can be fup,pofed useful in the Occurrences of common Life.

But there ought, however, to be fome Diftinction made between the different Claffes of Words; and therefore it will be proper to print thofe which are incorporated into the Language in the ufual Character, and thofe which are ftill to be confidered as foreign, in the Italick Letter.

Another Queftion may arife with regard to Appellatives, or the Names of Species. It feems of no great Ufe to fet down the Words Horfe, Dog, Cat, Willow, Alder, Dafy, Rofe, and a thoufand others, of which it will be hard to give an Explanation, not more obfcure than the Word itself. Yet it is to be confidered, that, if the Names of Animals be inferted, we must admit thofe which are more known, as well a thofe with which we are, by Accident, lefs acquainted; and if they are all rejected, how will the Reader be relieved from Difficulties produced by Allufions to the Crocodile, the Camæleon, the Ichneumon, and the Hyæna? If no Plants are to be mentioned, the moft pleafing Part of Nature will be excluded, and many beautiful Epithets be unexplained. If only thofe which are lefs known are to be mentioned, who fhall fix the limits of the Reader's Learning? The Importance, of fuch Explications appears from the Miftakes which the Want of them has occafioned. Had Shakespeare had a Dictionary of this Kind, he had not made the' Woodbine entwine the Honeyfuckle; nor would Milton, with fuch Affiftance, have difpofed fo improperly of his Ellops and his Scorpion.

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Befides, as fuch Words, like others, require that their Accents fhould be fettled, their Sounds afcer

tained, and their Etymologies deduced, they cannot be properly omitted in the Dictionary. And though the Explanations of fome may be cenfured as trivial because they are almoft univerfally understood, and thofe of others as unneceffary, because they will feldom occur, yet it feems not proper to omit them, fince it is rather to be wifhed that many Readers fhould find more than they expect, than that one fhould miss what he might hope to find.

When all the Words are felected and arranged, the firft Part of the Work to be confidered is the Orthography, which was long vague and uncertain; which at laft, when its Fluctuation ceased, was in many Cafes fettled but by Accident; and in which according to your Lordfhip's Obfervation, there is fill great Uncertainty among the best Critics: Nor is it easy to state a Rule by which we may decide between Custom and Reafon, or between the equiponderant Authorities of Writers alike eminent for Judgment and Accuracy.

The great orthographical Conteft has long fubfifted between Etymology and Pronunciation. It has been demanded, on one Hand, that Men fhould write as they speak; but, as it has been fhewn that this Conformity never was attained in any Language, and that it is not more eafy to perfuade Men to agree exactly in fpeaking than in writing, it may be afked with equal Propriety, why Men do not rather speak as they write. In France, where this Controverfy was at its greateft Height, neither Party, however ardent, durft adhere fteadily to their own Rule; the Etymologift was often forced to fpell with the People; and the Advocate for the Authority of Pronun-ciation found it. fometimes deviating fo capriciously. from the received Ufe of Writing, that he was conftrained to comply with the Rule of his Adverfaries, left he should lose the End by the Means, and be left alone by following the Crowd.

When

When a Question of Orthography is dubious, that Practice has, in my Opinion, a Claim to Preference which preferves the greatest Number of radical Letters, or feems moft to comply with the general Cuftom of our Language. But the chief Rule which I propofe to follow is, to make no Innovation, without a Reason fufficient to balance the Inconvenience of Change; and fuch Reasons I do not expect often to find. All Change is of itself an Evil, which ought not be hazarded but for evident Advantage; and as Inconftancy is in every Cafe a Mark of Weaknefs, it will add nothing to the Reputation of our Tongue. There are, indeed, fome who defpife the Inconveniences of Confufion, who feem to take Pleasure in departing from Cuffom, and to think Alteration defirable for its own Sake, and the Reformation of our Orthography, which thefe Writers have attempted, fhould not pafs without its due Honours, but that I fuppofe they hold a Singularity its own Reward, or may dread the Fascination of lavish Praise.

The prefent Ufage of Spelling, where the prefent Ufage can be diftinguished, will therefore, in this Work, be generally followed; yet there will be often Occafion to obferve, that it is in itfelf inaccurate, and tolerated rather than chofen; particularly when, by a Change of one Letter, or more, the Meaning of a Word is obfcured; as in Farrier, or Ferrier, as it was formerly written, from Ferrum, or Fer; in Gibberish, for Gebrifh, the Jargon of Geber, and his chymical Followers, underftood by none but their own Tribe. It will be likewife fometimes proper to trace back the Orthography of different Ages, and Thew by what Gradations.the Word departed from its Original.

Clofely connected with Orthography is Pronun ciation, the Stability of which is of great Importance to the Duration of a Language, because the first Change will naturally begin by Corruptions in

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the living Speech. The Want of certain Rules for the Pronunciation of former Ages, has made us wholly ignorant of the metrical Art of our ancient Poets; and fince thofe who ftudy their Sentiments regret the Lofs of their Numbers, it is furely Time to provide that the Harmony of the Moderns may more permanent.

be

A new Pronunciation will make almost La new Speech; and therefore, fince one great End of this Undertaking is to fix the English Language, Care will be taken to determine the Accentuation of all Polyfyllables by proper Authorities, as it is one of thofe capricious Phænomena which cannot be eafily reduced to Rules. Thus there is no antecedent Reafon for Difference of Accent in the Words dolorous and Sonorous; yet of the one Milton gives the Sound in this Line:

He pafs'd o'er many a Region dolorous, and that of the other in this,

Sonorous Metal blowing martial Sounds.

It may likewife be proper to remark metrical Licenfes, fuch as Contractions, generous, gen'rous; reverend, rev'rend; and Coalitions, as Region, Quef

tion.

But it is ftill more neceffary to fix the Pronunciation of Monofyllables, by placing with them Words of correfpondent Sound, that one may guard the other against the Danger of that Variation, which, to fome of the most common, has already happened; fo that the Words Wound and Wind, as they are now frequently pronounced, will not rhyme to Sound and Mind. It is to be remarked, that many Words written alike are differently pronounced, as Flow, and Brow; which may be thus registered, Flow, Woe, Brow, now; or of which the Exemplification may be generally given by a Diftich: Thus the Words

tear,

tear, or lacerate, and Tear, the Water of the Eye, have the fame Letters, but may be diftinguished, thus, tear, dare; Tear, Peer.

Some Words have two Sounds, which may be equally admitted, as being equally defenfible by Authority. Thus great is differently used.

For Swift and him defpis'd the Farce of State, The fober Follies of the Wife and Great. POPE. As if Misfortune made the Throne her Seat,

And none could be unhappy but the Great. RowE. The Care of fuch minute Particulars may be cenfured as trifling; but these Particulars have not been thought unworthy of Attention in more polished Languages.

The Accuracy of the French, in ftating the Sounds of their Letters, is well known; and, among the Italians, Crefcembeni has not thought it unneceffary to inform his Countrymen of the Words which, in Compliance with different Rhymes, are allowed to be differently spelt, and of which the Number is now fo fixed, that no modern Poet is fuffered to encrease it.

When the Orthography and Pronunciation are adjusted, the Etymology or Derivation is next to be confidered, and the Words are to be diftinguished according to their different Claffes, whether fimple, as Day, Light, or compound, as Day-light; whether primitive, as, to act, or derivative, as Action, actionable, active, Activity. This will much facilitate the Attainment of our Language, which now stands in our Dictionaries a confufed Heap of Words without Dependence, and without Relation.

When this Part of the Work is performed, it will be neceffary to enquire how our Primitives are to be deduced from foreign Languages, which may be often very fuccefsfully performed by the Affiftance of our own Etymologifts. This Search will give Oc

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