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Show R R have not always c)tecut_cd my own fi:}}er_ne,_ or fatisfied my own expectations of diligence and attention it may exhibit, is yet capable of many improvements: the orthography whic I recommend is ftill controvertible, the etymology which I adopt is uncertain, and perhaps frequently er th o W% lap W 'The work, whatever proof roneou th e'xplflr{atloqs ar fomenme too muc contracted, and fometimes too much diffufed, th figni icati n ar dift ngui he rathe wit fubt lt tha fkill an th atten io i haraf ed with unneceffar R minutenefs ht Wb:; iy b The examples are too often injudicioufly truncated, and perhaps fometimes, I hope very rarely, allege in a miftaken fenfe; for in making this collection I trufted more to' memory, than, in a ftate of difquiet an g lhy embarrafiment, memory can contain, and purpofed to fupply at the review what was left incomplete in the firft tranfcription Many terms a propriated to particular occupations, though neceffary and fignificant, are undoubtedl ; omitte s ; and of the words moft ftudioufly confidered and exemplified, many fenfes have efcaped ob b " Uflflam fervation Yet thefe failures, however frequent, ma admit extenuation and apology To hav attempte g muc is alway thepfh,g belo fior i Whe myfel his own aim is incident to every one whofe fancy is active, and whofe views are comprehenfive any man fatiSfied with himfelf becanfe he has done much, but becaufe he can conceive little firft T engaged in this work, I refolved to leave neither words nor things unexamined, and pleafe with a profpet of the hours which I fhould revel away in feafts of literature, the obfcur i It hitiy i laudable eve whe th enterpriz is abov th ftrengt that undertake it: To ref receffes of northern learning which I fhould enter and ranfack, the treafures with which I expecte gvery fearch into thofe neglected mines to reward my labour, and the triumph with which I thould dif play my acquifitions to mankind. When I had thus enquired into the original of words, I refolvad t thow likewife my attention to things; te pierce deep into every {cience, to enquire the nature of ever fubftance of which I inferted the name, to limit every idea by a definition firictly logical, and exhibit ever produ&ion of art or nature in an accurate defcription, that my book might be in place of all other ditionaries whether appellative or technical. But thefe were the dreams of a poet doomed at laft to wake a lexicographer. I foon found that it is too late to lock for inftruments, when the work calls for execution and that whatever abilities I had brought to my tafk, with thofe I muft finally perform it. To deliberat whenever I doubted, to enquire whenever I was ignorant, would have protraéted the undertaking withou end, and, perhaps, without much improvement forI did not find by my firft experiments,. that what hores yund, i .m ;the f :Ei d;&; Dook referre and that thu when they ha ne v ¢ fiom I then contralted my defign, determining to confide in meelf, and no-longer to {olicit auxiliaries, whic produced more incumbrance than. afliftance : by this I obtained at leaft one adwvantage, that I {et limits t had not of my own was eafily to be obtained : I faw that one enquiry only gave occafion to another,.tha ?oraffid; }nateil Defpondency has never fo far prevaiIed as to deprefs. me to: negligence ;. fome faults will at laft appea The nice and fubtle ramifications o to be the effeéts of anxious diligence and perfevering ativity my work, which would in time e ended, though not completed. ® f to book, that to fearch was not always to find, and to find was not always to be informed which fun th chaf t Arcadia o inhabitant firf th lik was perfeétion purfu t L reached the hill where he feemed to reft, was ftill beheld at the {fame diftance from them meaning were not eafily avoided by2 mind intent upen accuracy, and convinced of the neceflity of dif entangling combinations, and feparating fimilitudes appear ufelefs and idle, will be found rea Many of the diftin€tions which to common reader and importan by men verfed in the {chool philofophy, withou which no diGionary can ever be accurately compiled, or fkilfully examined ff]cnjl J ar the tha allie nearl { e are. fame th no thou whic are ther e howe ".Some fenf Mo#t me -often confounded thin cannot {peak with exaétnefs and con b t no i tain unce thi : icati figni eithe t pu erent indif b migh fequently fome example dmputed to mme, who do not form 7511"{ t;ljfi, indiftinétly,.and therefor but regifter the language ; wh do not teach men how they fhoul %think, but relate'how they have hitherto exprefied their thoughts "The imperfectfenfe of fome examples I lamented, but could not renredy, and hope they will be com fhini fom ef exact with rve pref an iety prop withe felec e paffa erab innu b penfate m wifd o re treaf wit reple fom an tio gin .im .o with fpark 5, ‘f Thie orthography and ! etymology, thoug of care, but becauf wan fo e er im no ar t rfe imp ule. fo lat to com informatio o recolleGtio an fuccefsful b are will not alway i a ' |