CONTENTS OF THE FIFTH VOLUME. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. ...THE plan of an English dictionary Preface to the English dictionary Advertisement to the fourth edition of the English dictionary Preface to the octavo edition of the English dictionary.... Observations on the tragedy of Macbeth ..... Proposals for printing the works of Shakespeare ... 55 95 103 155 180 190 General observations on the plays of Shakespeare Account of the Harleian library .... Essay on the importance of small tracts Preface to the catalogue of the Harleian library, vol. iii, Controversy between Crousaz and Warburton Preliminary discourse to the London Chronicle . 206 ...... 210 Introduction to the World Displayed Preface to the Preceptor, containing a general plan of education........ 231 Letter to the Rev. Mr. Douglas, occasioned by his vindication of Milton, &c. By William Lauder, A. M...... Testimonies concerning Mr. Lauder...... Account of an attempt to ascertain the longitude .... Considerations on the plans offered for the construction of Blackfriars Some thoughts on agriculture, both ancient and modern; with an account of the honour due to an English farmer ... Further thoughts on agriculture Considerations on the corn laws A complete vindication of the licensers of the stage from the malicious and ..... 271 303 310 315 329 ..... Preface to the Gentleman's Magazine, 1738 An appeal to the publick. From the Gentleman's Magazine, March, 1739 348 Letter on fire-works 352 Proposals for printing, by subscription, Essays in Verse and Prose, by Anna A project for the employment of authors.... Preface to the Literary Magazine, 1756.... A dissertation upon the Greek comedy, translated from Brumoy Preface to Payne's New Tables of Interest.. Thoughts on the coronation of his majesty king George the third Preface to the Artists' Catalogue for 1762 OPINIONS ON QUESTIONS OF LAw.............. PAGE 345 THE PLAN OF AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PHILIP DORMER, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD, One of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. MY LORD, WHEN first I undertook to write an English Dictionary, I had no expectation of any higher patronage than that of the proprietors of the copy, nor prospect of any other advantage than the price of my labour. I knew that the work in which I engaged is generally considered as drudgery for the blind, as the proper toil of artless industry; a task that requires neither the light of learning, nor the activity of genius, but may be successfully performed without any higher quality than that of bearing burdens with dull patience, and beating the track of the alphabet with sluggish resolution. Whether this opinion, so long transmitted, and so widely propagated, had its beginning from truth and nature, or from accident and prejudice; whether it be decreed by the authority of reason or the tyranny of ignorance, that, of all the candidates for literary praise, the unhappy lexicographer holds the lowest place, neither vanity nor interest incited me to inquire. It appeared that the province allotted me was, of all the regions of learning, generally confessed to be the least delightful, that it was believed. to produce neither fruits nor flowers; and that, after a B VOL. V. long and laborious cultivation, not even the barren laurel a had been found upon it. Yet on this province, my Lord, I entered, with the pleasing hope, that, as it was low, it likewise would be safe. I was drawn forward with the prospect of employment, which, though not splendid, would be useful; and which, though it could not make my life envied, would keep it innocent; which would awaken no passion, engage me in no contention, nor throw in my way any temptation to disturb the quiet of others by censure, or my own by flattery. I had read, indeed, of times, in which princes and statesmen thought it part of their honour to promote the improvement of their native tongues; and in which dictionaries were written under the protection of greatness. To the patrons of such undertakings I willingly paid the homage of believing that they, who were thus solicitous for the perpetuity of their language, had reason to expect that their actions would be celebrated by posterity, and that the eloquence which they promoted would be employed in their praise. But I considered such acts of beneficence as prodigies, recorded rather to raise wonder than expectation; and, content with the terms that I had stipulated, had not suffered my imagination to flatter me with any other encouragement, when I found that my design had been thought by your Lordship of importance sufficient to attract your favour. How far this unexpected distinction can be rated among the happy incidents of life, I am not yet able to determine. Its first effect has been to make me anxious, lest it should fix the attention of the publick too much upon me; and, as ? it once happened to an epick poet of France, by raising the reputation of the attempt, obstruct the reception of the work. I imagine what the world will expect from a scheme, prosecuted under your Lordship's influence; and I know that expectation, when her wings are once ex a Lord Orrery, in a letter to Dr. Birch, mentions this as one of the very few inaccuracies in this admirable address, the laurel not being barren in any sense, but bearing fruits and flowers. Boswell's Life, vol. i. p. 160. EDIT. 1804. |