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Ilhis. But in what concerns words themselves, their construction and application, authors of reputation are, by universal consent, in actual possession of that standard which is authority; as to this tribunal, to which all have access, when any doubt arises, the appeal is always made. (Cor. Art. 76.)

Corol. The source, therefore, of that preference which distinguishes good use from bad, in language, is a natural propensity of the human mind to believe, that those are the best judges of the proper signs of speech, and of their proper application, who understand best the things which they represent. (Art. 77. and Illus.)

80. AUTHORS of reputation have been chosen rather than good authors for two reasons:

First, because it is more strictly conformable to the truth of the case. Though esteem and merit usually go together, it is solely the public esteem, and not their intrinsic merit, which raises AUTHORS to this distinction, and stamps a value on their language.

Secondly, this character is more determinate than the other, and therefore more extensively intelligible. Between two or more authors, as to the preference in point of merit, different readers will differ exceedingly, who agree perfectly as to the respective places which they hold in the favour of the public. Persons may be found of a taste so particular, as to prefer Parnel to Milton, but none will dispute the superiority of the latter in point of fame.

Illus. By authors of reputation, we mean, not only in regard to knowledge, but as respects the talent of communicating that know!edge. There are writers who, as concerns the first, have been deservedly valued by the public, but who, on account of a supposed deficiency in respect of the second, are considered of no authority in language. We of course suppose that their writings are in the English tongue, in all the various kinds of composition, in prose and verse, serious and ludicrous, grave and familiar.

81. NATIONAL USE presents itself in a twofold view, as it stands opposed to provincial and to foreign. (Art. 85. and 38.)

Illus. Every province has its peculiarities of dialect, which af fect not merely the pronunciation and accent, but even the inflection and combination of words. It is thus that the idiom of one district, is distinguished, both from that of the nation, and from that of every other province. The narrowness of the circle to

which the currency of the words and phrases of such dialects is confined, sufficiently discriminates them from that which, commanding a circulation incomparably wider, is properly styled the language of the country.

Corol. Hence, we derive one reason, why the term use, on this subject, is commonly accompanied with the epithet general. (Art. 79.)

82. The ENGLISH LANGUAGE, properly so called, is found current, especially in the upper and middle ranks of life, over the whole British Empire.

Illus. Thus, though the people of one province ridicule the idiom of another province, they all vail to the English idiom, and scruple not to acknowledge its superiority over their own.

83. Of all the idioms subsisting among us, that to which we give the character of purity, is the most prevalent, though the language be not universally spoken or written with orthographical and grammat ical purity.

Corol. The faulty idioms do not jar more with true English than they do with one another, and their diversity, therefore, subjects them to the denomination of impure.

84. Professional dialects, or the cant which is sometimes observed to prevail among those of the same handicraft, or way of life, must be considered, with little variation, in the same light with provincial dialects. (Art. 81. Mus.)

Illus. The currency of the former cannot be so exactly circumscribed as that of the latter, whose distinction is purely local; but their use is not on that account either more extensive or more reputable. Thus advice, in the commercial idiom, means "information," or "intelligence ;"-nervous, in open defiance of analogy, denotes, in the medical sense, "having weak nerves ;"-and the word turtle, though pre-occupied time immemorial by a species of dove, is employed by sailors and gluttons, to signify a tortoise."

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85. NATIONAL USE, as opposed to foreign, is too evident to need illustration; for the introduction of extraneous words and idioms, from other languages and foreign nations, cannot be a smaller transgression against the established custom of the English tongue, than the introduction of words and idioms peculiar to

some counties or shires of England, or at least somewhere current within the British pale.

Obs. The only material difference between them is, that the one is more usually the error of the learned, the other of the unlearned. But if, in this view, the former is entitled to greater indulgence, from respect paid to learning; in another light, it is entitled to less, from its being more commonly the result of affectation.

Corol. Thus, two essential qualities of usage, in regard to language, have been settled, that it be both reputable and national.

86. PRESENT USE is that which falls within the knowledge or remembrance of men now living, and which, in fact, regulates our style. (Art. 76.)

Illus. 1. If present use is to be renounced for ancient, it will be necessary to determine at what precise period of antiquity, we are to obtain our rules of language. But one might be inclined to remove the standard to the distance of a century and a half, while another may, with as good reason, fix it three centuries backwards, and another six. Now as the language of any one of these periods, if judged by the use of any other, would, no doubt, be found entirely barbarous; either the present use must be the standard of the present language, or the language does not admit of any standard; but expérience proves, that critics have not the power of reviving at pleasure old fashioned terms, inflections, and combiLations, and of making such alterations on words, as will bring them nearer to what they suppose to be the etymon; and hence we infer, that there is no other dictator here but use. Nor will it ever be the arbitrary rules of any man, or body of men whatever, that will ascertain the language; yet words are by no means to be accounted the worse for being old, if they are not obsolete; neither is any word the better for being new. On the contrary, the sovereign dominion of custom over language, evinces, that some time is absolutely necessary to constitute that custom or use, on which the establishment of words depends. Yet it is certain, that when we are in search of precedents for any word or idiom, there are certain mounds, over which we cannot leap with safety. The authority of Hooker or of Raleigh, how great soever their fame be, will not now be admitted in support of a term or expression, not to be found in any good writer of a later date.

2. But the boundary must not be fixed at the same date in every species of composition. Poetry, which hath ever been allowed a wider range than prose, enjoys, in this respect, a singular indulgence, to compensate for the peculiar restraints which she is laid under by the measure. And this indulgence is fraught with a twofold advantage; convenience to the poet, and gratification to the reader. Diversity in the style relieves the ear, which hath little delight from sameness of metre. But still there are limits to this diversity. The authority of Milton and Waller remains unques

tioned; and our best poets of the present day rarely venture to introduce words or phrases, of which no example could be produced, since the times of Spencer or Shakspeare.

3. And even in prose, the bonds are not the same for every kind of composition. In matters of science, for example, the terms of which, from the nature of the subject, are not capable of such ac-. curacy as those which belong to ordinary compositions, and are within the reach of ordinary readers, there is no necessity of confining an author within a narrow circle. But in composing pieces which come under this last denomination, as history, romance, travels, moral essays, familiar epistles, and the like, it is safest for an author to consider those words and idioms as obsolete, which have been disused by all good writers, for a longer period than that to which the age of man extends.

Obs. 1. The expressions, recent use, and modern use, have been purposely avoided, because they seem opposed to what is ancient; and the word present has been chosen, because, in respect of place, it is opposed to absent, and in respect of time, to past, or future, which have now no existence. When, therefore, the phrase present use occurs in this volume, its proper contrary is-obsolete, not ancient.

2. Though we have acknowledged language to be a species of fashion or mode, as doubtless it is*; yet being much more permanent than those things to which the words fashionable and modish are applied, the former phrases are not meant to convey the ideas of novelty and levity, but recur to the standard already assigned, (Art. 77. Illus. and 80. Illus.); the writings of a plurality of celebrated authors. Thus have we established, as general principles, I. That use is the sole mistress of language.

II. That her essential attributes are reputable, national, and present.

III. That grammar and criticism are but her ministers; and though, like other ministers, they would sometime impose upon the people, the dictates of their own humour as the commands of their sovereign, they are not so often successful in such attempts, as to encourage a frequent repetition of them.

IV. That what has been said of the English, applies to every tongue whatever; it is founded in use or custom,

Whose arbitrary sway,

Words and the forms of language, must obeyt.

And, V. That it is not by ancient, but by present use, that the style of every language must be regulated.

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Quem penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi.

Hor. de Arte Poet,

CHAPTER III.

THE NATURE AND USE OF VERBAL CRITICISM, WITH ITS PRINCIPAL RULES OR CANONS, BY WHICH, IN ALL OUR DECISIONS, WE OUGHT TO BE DIRECTED. 87. ALL the various qualities of elocution, have their foundation in PURITY, and the great standard of purity is use. (Art. 76, 77. and 86.)

Obs. 1. The essential properties of use, as regarding language, have been considered and explained in the preceding chapter; and in this we purpose to establish certain canons or rules, whereby the student may be enabled to detect the fallacy of that fluent and specious, but artificial method, of verbal criticism, which passes current for a deliberate examination, into the principles on which the structure and genius of our language are built. (Illus. 1. Art. 86.)

2. Grammar and criticism, though in a different sphere, are of similar benefit to language, that a succinct, perspicuous, and faithful digest of the laws of the Empire is to society, in comparison of the labyrinths of statutes, reports, and opinions, which have emanated, through a long succession of ages from legislators, counsellors, and judges. (III. p. 47.)

3. The grammarian compiles the laws, which custom gives to language; the critic seasonably brings before the public tribunal the abuses of innovation. The one facilitates the study of our native tongue, advances general use into universal, and gives at least a greater stability, if not a permanency, to custom, the most mutable and capricious thing in nature; the other, stigmatizing every unlicenced term, and improper idiom, teaches us to suppress them, and to give greater precision, and consequently more perspicuity and beauty to our style. (Obs. 1. and 2. Art. 76.)

88. GOOD USE, which for brevity's sake, shall hereafter include reputable, national, and present use, is not always uniform in her decisions."

Illus. 1. Whenever a considerable number of authorities can be produced in support of two different, though resembling modes of expression, for the same thing, there is always a divided use, and he who conforms to either side, cannot be said to speak barbarously, or to oppose the usage of the language. (Art. 80. and Illus.)

89. This DIVIDEND USE hath place sometimes in single words, sometimes in constructions, and sometimes in arrangement. In all such cases, there is

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