Latin; thus entire is chofen rather than intire, becaufe it paffed to us not from the Latin integer, but from

the French entier.

Of many words it is difficult to fay whether they were immediately received from the Latin or the French, fince at the time when we had dominions in France, we had Latin fervice in our churches. It is, however, my opinion, that the French generally fupplied us; for we have few Latin words, among the terms of domeftick ufe, which are not French; but many French, which are very remote from Latin.

Even in words of which the derivation is apparent, I have been often obliged to facrifice uniformity to cuftom; thus I write, in compliance with a numberlefs majority, convey and inveigh, deceit and receipt, fancy and phantom; fometimes the derivative varies from the primitive, as explain and explanation, repeat, and repetition.

Some combinations of letters having the fame power, are used indifferently without any difcoverable reafon of choice, as in choak, choke; foop, fope; fewel, fuel, and many others; which I have fometimes inferted twice, that those who fearch for them under either form, may not fearch in vain.

In examining the orthography of any doubtful word, the mode of fpelling by which it is inferted in the feries of the dictionary, is to be confidered as that to which I give, perhaps not often rafhly, the preference. I have left, in the examples, to every author his own practice unmolefted, that the reader may balance fuffrages, and judge between us: but this question is not always to be determined by reputed or by real learning; fome men, intent upon greater

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greater things, have thought little on founds and derivations; fome, knowing in the ancient tongues, have neglected those in which our words are commonly to be fought. Thus Hammond writes fecibleness for feafibleness, because I suppose he imagined it derived immediately from the Latin; and fome words, fuch as dependant, dependent; dependance, dependence, vary their final fyllable, as one or other language is prefent to the writer.

In this part of the work, where caprice has long wantoned without control, and vanity fought praise by petty reformation, I have endeavoured to proceed with a fcholar's reverence for antiquity, and a grammarian's regard to the genius of our tongue. I have attempted few alterations, and among those few, perhaps the greater part is from the modern to the ancient practice; and I hope I may be allowed to recommend to thofe, whofe thoughts have been perhaps employed too anxiously on verbal fingularities, not to disturb, upon narrow views, or for minute propriety, the orthography of their fathers, It has been afferted, that for the law to be known, iş of more importance than to be right. Change,' fays Hooker, is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.' There is in conftancy and stability a general and lafting advantage, which will always overbalance the flow improvements of gradual correction. Much lefs ought our written language to comply with the corruptions of oral utterance, or copy that which every variation of time or place makes different from itself, and imitate those changes, which will again be changed, while imitation is employed in obferving them,

This recommendation of steadiness and uniformity does not proceed from an opinion that particular combinations of letters have much influence on human happiness; or that truth may not be fuccessfully taught by modes of fpelling fanciful and erroneous: I am not yet fo loft in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the fons of heaven. Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the figns of ideas: I with, however, that the inftrument might be less apt to decay, and that figns might be permanent, like the things which they denote.

In fettling the orthography, I have not wholly neglected the pronunciation, which I have directed, by printing an accent upon the acute or elevated fyllable. It will fometimes be found that the accent is placed by the author quoted, on a different fyllable from that marked in the alphabetical feries; it is then to be understood, that custom has varied, or that the author has, in my opinion, pronounced wrong. Short directions are fometimes given where the found of letters is irregular; and if they are fometimes omitted, defect in fuch minute obfervations will be more eafily excufed, than fuperfluity.

In the investigation both of the orthography and fignification of words, their Etymology was neceffarily to be confidered, and they were therefore to be divided into primitives and derivatives. A primitive word, is that which can be traced no further to any English root; thus circumfpect, circumvent, circumftance, delude, concave, and complicate, though compounds in the Latin, are to us primitives. Derivatives,

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tives, are all thofe that can be referred to any word in English of greater fimplicity.

The derivatives I have referred to their primitives, with an accuracy fometimefs needlefs; for who does. not fee that remoteness comes from remote, lovely from love, concavity from concave, and demonftrative from demonftrate? But this grammatical exuberance the fcheme of my work did not allow me to reprefs. It is of great importance, in examining the general fabrick of a language, to trace one word from another, by noting the ufual modes of derivation and inflection; and uniformity must be preferved in fyftematical works; though fometimes at the expence of particular propriety.

Among other derivatives I have been careful to infert and elucidate the anomalous plurals of nouns and preterites of verbs, which in the Teutonick dialects are very frequent, and, though familiar to thofe who have always ufed them, interrupt and embarrass the learners of our language..:

The two languages from which our primatíves have been derived are the Roman and Teutonick: under the Roman I comprehend the French and provincial tongues; and under the Teutonick range the Saxon, German, and all their kindred dialects. Most of our polyfyllables are Roman, and our words of one fyllable are very often Teutonick.

In affigning the Roman original, it has perhaps fometimes happened that I have mentioned only the Latin, when the word was borrowed from the French'; and confidering myfelf as employed only in the illuftration of my own language, I have not been very careful to obferve whether the Latin word be pure

pure or barbarous, or the French elegant or obfolete.

For the Teutonick etymologies, I am commonly indebted to Junius and Skinner, the only names which I have forborne to quote when I copied their books; not that I might appropriate their labours or ufurp their honours, but that I might fpare a perpetual repetition by one general acknowledgment. Of these, whom I ought not to mention but with the reverence due to inftructors and benefactors, Junius appears to have excelled in extent of learning, and Skinner in rectitude of understanding. Junius was accurately skilled in all the northern languages, Skinner probably examined the ancient and remoter dialects only by occafional inspection into dictionaries; but the learning of fumins is often of no other ufe than to fhew him a track by which he may deviate from his purpose, to which Skinner always preffes forward by the fhorteft way. Skinner is often ignorant, but never ridiculous: Junius is always full of knowledge; but his variety diftracts his judgment, and his learning is very frequently difgraced by his abfurdities.

The votaries of the northern mufes will not perhaps eafily reftrain their indignation, when they find the name of Junius thus degraded by a difadvantageous comparison; but whatever reverence is due to his diligence, or his attainments, it can be no criminal degree of cenforiousness to charge that etymologift with want of judgment, who can feriously derive dream from drama, becaufè life is a drama and a drama is a dream; and who declares with a tone of defiance, that no man can fail to derive