Samuel Johnsons Dictionary

Samuel Johnson, the leading English writer of the second half of the 18th century,
was born in Lichfield in 1709, the son of a bookseller !e attended the local
school, but his real education was informal, conducted "rimarily among his
father#s books as he read and studied the classics, which influenced his style
greatly $hough constitutionally robust, he suffered throughout life from a host
of bodily afflictions %n his later years he had trouble with his eyes and his lungs&
insomnia and asthma& suffered from gout and rheumatoid arthritis& e'"erienced
dro"sy, em"hysema and at least one fainting fit& and in his 70(s he had a tumor
in his left testicle )or these *arious ailments he took o"ium, oil of terebinth,
*alerian, i"ecacuanha, dried orange "eel in hot red "ort, salts of hartshorn, musk,
dried s+uills, and S"anish fly !e was fre+uently bled $o these ailments were
added "o*erty ,which com"elled him to lea*e -'ford in 17.9 after a single year,
at the age of .0, without a degree/ 0et his most enduring malady was mental 1 a
"rofound melancholy *erging on madness 2t .1 he suffered the first of two
mental breakdowns, which left him with a lifelong dread of insanity, death, and
religious damnation 2ll his life he dreaded going insane
!e tried teaching school but hated it, was attracted to law but lacked the
necessary di"loma, and settled for writing because it was what he could do !is
first book was a translation ,1734/ of A Voyage to Abyssinia by a 5ortuguese Jesuit&
it was ty"ical of the literary hackwork Johnson "roduced to su""ort himself for
.0 years %n 1738 he 6oined the staff of The Gentleman's Magazine, for which he
wrote "oetry7 7both in Latin and English77and essays 2s occasion re+uired, he
also "roduced "refaces, re*iews, encyclo"edia articles, and biogra"hies& one of
the latter, his life of the notorious minor "oet 8ichard Sa*age ,1799/, achie*ed
considerable "o"ularity
Early in 179:, fi*e or : mos after his 3:th birthday, with the "ossibility of
entering the legal "rofession "ermanently closed to him, Johnson "ushed aside
hesitations and started work on his Dictionary of the English Language 77 so
monumental and im"ortant a "ro6ect, that the OED, begun a century later, would
initially be called the New English Dictionary, after the first English ;ictionary 77
that is, after Johnson(s
England(s lack of a suitable dictionary had long been an embarrassment to
English letters $he standard had been set by the %talian dictionary ,: *ols, 1:1./,
which had taken the 2ccademia della <rusca .0 years to "re"are =ith this
standard in mind, the )rench 2cademy assembled 90 members who took 44
years to finish their dictionary in 1:99 77 only to re*ise it between 1700718
;es"ite 5o"e(s and 2ddison(s call for a similar dictionary, and des"ite >athan
?ailey(s im"ressi*e :0,000 word attem"t at a dictionary in 173: 77 a dictionary so
casual that @horseA was defined as @a beast well knownA and @dog,A as @a
+uadru"ed well knownA 77 it was not until 1794 that se*eral London "rinters got
together to "ersuade Johnson, who had been making a re"utation for himself on
Brub Street in London, to write the dictionary %f he was condemned to hack
work, writes his most recent and best biogra"her, = Jackson ?ate, he might as
well face u" to the su"reme 6ob of hack work >ot that he underestimated the
difficulties 90 years later his biogra"her James ?oswell suggested that he @did
not know what Che wasD undertakingA Johnson 6ustly answered, @% knew *ery
well what % was undertaking, and *ery well how to do it, and ha*e done it *ery
wellA
2fter reaching a tentati*e agreement with 8obert ;odsley early in 179:, he
"re"ared @2 Short Scheme for com"iling a new ;ictionary of the English
Language,A which ;odsley submitted to a grou" of "rinters -n June 18, 179:,
the contract was signed at a breakfast held at the Bolden 2nchor Johnson was
to be "aid 1,474 "ounds in installments for the dictionary, which he "romised to
com"lete in 3 years 2sked by a ;r 2dams how he could think to com"lete a
;ictionary in 3 years, that had taken 90 members of the )rench 2cademy 90
years to com"lete, Johnson re"lied @ Let me see, forty times forty is 1:00 2s 3 is
to 1:00, so is the "ro"ortion of an Englishman to a )renchmanA
>ote on EoneyF G1,474 H roughly G140,000 ,or about I300,000/ today, or
I100,000 a year 1 a handsome wage for a hack writerJ )or the record, in
Johnson(s day, G400 a year would make you wealthy, G300 would
maintain a gentleman, and e*en G40 a year was enough to kee" a family of
9 6ust this side of "enury 2t the time silk stockings cost G1 and a suit of
clothes cost G10
=ith some of the money he rented a house at 17 Bough S+uare ,see !itchings for
"ic " :1/ that still stands in London ,2long with bronKe cat !odge, for whom
he lo*ed to buy oysters/ $he u"stairs garret was the dictionary work sho",
where there were small tables and chairs for the si' or so amanuenses 77 the
co"yists 77 fi*e Scots and an Englishman 77 co"ying out +uotations from books
that he had marked ?ooks were strewn all o*er the floor, and the "lace looked
like a small, crowded counting house
$he following year, in early 2ugust of 1797, Johnson finally got around to
"ublishing the lan of a Dictionary of the English Language, with its well7known
dedication to the Earl of <hesterfield, who was a 497year7old statesman 77
member of the !ouse of Lords, 2mbassador to $he !ague, and most recently
Lord Lieutenant of %reland 77 and a widely res"ected arbiter of taste in England
%n e'change Johnson recei*ed 10 "ounds from the good Lord
Eore hereL !ow did 5lan "romise to @fi'A the languageL
-*er the ensuing years, with no real library at hand , Johnson wrote in the u""er
room in Bough S+uare the definitions of o*er 90,000 words, illustrating the
di*erse senses in which these words could be used by including about 119,000
+uotations drawn from the @authoritiesA of England(s golden age of literature %n
essence, then, he thought of le'icogra"hy as a de"artment of literatureJ !e drew
from English writing in e*ery field of learning during the two centuries from the
middle of the EliKabethan "eriod down to his ownF chiefly, Sidney, S"enser,
Shakes"eare, Eilton, ?urton, !ooker, ?acon, ?oyle, ;ryden ,2ctually, he may
ha*e gathered o*er twice this number of +uotations, but was forced to dro" o*er
half of them lest @the bulk of my *olumes would fright away the studentA/
$he "ro6ect began during its first se*eral years with a *ast "rogram of reading in
English "oetry, drama, "rose essays, history, biogra"hy, science and arts !e
began with his own collection of books, whose "ages he marked, underlining the
key word in the sentence whose meaning he wished to illuminate ,=ith a black
lead "encil he underlined the key word, marked beginning and end of the
"assage with *ertical strokes, and wrote the initial letter of the chosen word in
the margin/ $hese books he then ga*e to his clerks so that they might co"y the
sentences on to sli"s of "a"er, which were then inserted into the "ages of some
80 notebooks -nce he ran out of his books, he borrowed books from his friends
and associates, assuring his com"anions that e*en though he used a black lead
"encil to mark "assages, bread crumbs would easily erase the markings $he
books often came back to their owners @so defaced,A writes his biogra"her
?oswell, @as to be scarce worth owning, and yet some of his friends were glad to
recei*e and entertain them as curiositiesA
!e had two criteria for selecting +uotationsF first, of course, to illustrate the
meaning ,or meanings/ of the word ?ut where*er "ossible he also ho"ed to gi*e
+uotations of moral *alue To teach, for e'am"le, was illustrated with a ?ible
*erseF @$he lord will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his "athsA ,%saiah/
Similarly the first 7 illustrations of instruct all come from the ?ible =hich is why
!obbes is ne*er cited in the ;ictionaryF !obbes % @scorned, sir, to +uote at all,A
he told $homas $yers, @because % did not like his "rinci"lesA !ere the reader
will find @from the historians remarkable facts,A Johnson wrote in his reface,
@from di*ines striking e'hortations, and from "oets beautiful descri"tionA
?efore "asting the sli"s into the notebooks, Johnson rearranged the sli"s into
chronological order, wrote out the etymologies Since he was a writer of Latin
*erse, knew )rench, and had learned -ld English 77 Sa'on, as he called it 77 many
of the etymologies are +uite goodF la!y comes from hlaf!ige in the Sa'on& Lor!
from hlafor!& light from leoht, luci! from the Latin luci!ere <ertainly they are a
considerable im"ro*ement on >oah =ebster(s attem"ts to deri*e English from
out of !ebrew, the mother tongue ?ut for the most "art, coming as they did
before the de*elo"ment of historical linguistics in the 19th century, the
etymologies are the least *aluable "art of the dictionary
-n the other hand, the definitions are su"erb, unmatched in clarity and
"recision %t is through these definitions and the +uotations cited from the
@authoritiesA that the dictionary achie*ed its goalF to "ro*ide a standard for
correctness and "ro"riety
-n Johnson(s su"erb definitionsF entry for to "ut runs 3 "ages& to ta#e takes
u" 4 "ages with 139 senses of the *erb <ontrast to earlier definitions in
John Mersey(s Dictionary Anglo$%ritannicumF mucus H snot or sni*el& coffin
H case for a dead body& "enis H a man(s yard& eye H the wonderful
instrument of sight& man H creature endued with reason& and heart H @a
most noble "art of the bodyA <ontrast to Johnson(s heartF @$he muscle
which by its contraction and dilation "ro"els the blood through the course
of circulation, and is therefore considered as the source of *ital motion %t
is su""osed in "o"ular language to be the seat sometimes of courage,
sometimes of affectionA
%t is "o"ular legend that Johnson(s Dictionary abounds with +uaint definitions
)re+uently cited e'am"les, included in the >orton 2nthology, for e'am"le, areF
oats 77 a grain, which in England is generally gi*en to horses, but in
Scotland su""orts the "eo"le
"ension 77 an allowance made to anyone without an e+ui*alent %n
England it is generally understood to mean "ay gi*en to a state hireling
for treason to his country
"atron 77 one who countenances, su""orts, or "rotects <ommonly a
wretch who su""orts with insolence, and is "aid with flattery
le&icogra"her 77 a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge
networ# 77 anything reticulated or decussated at e+ual distances with
interstices between the intersections
"astern 77 the @kneeA of a horse rather than the "art of the foot between the
fetlock and the hoof 77 a famous sli" because of his answer to a lady at
5lymouth who asked him, e'"ecting a learned re"ly, why he so defined it,
to which he re"lied, @%gnorance, Eadam, "ure ignoranceA ,See also
sonata H @a tuneA/
tory 77 a cant term, deri*ed, % su""ose, from an %rish word signifying a
sa*age -ne who adheres to the ancient constitution of the state and the
a"ostolic hierarchy of the <hurch of England& o""osed to a whig
whig 77 the name of a faction
?ut such well7known, "uckish definitions do not amount to more than 14 out of
the 90,000
?y 1740 the first 1.0 sheets 77 the first 3 letters of the al"habet 77 were "rinted 77
not much to show for fi*e years of labor 77 but the authorities were all collected
and all that remained were the rest of the definitions $he first *ol was
com"leted in 1743, and within another 19 mos he finished the second *olume in
July of 1749, a little more than 8 years after the contract had been signed =hen
the last sheet was rushed to 2ndrew Eillar, who had been coordinating "rinting
among a half7doKen booksellers, Johnson was curious to know what he had said
Sir, answered the messenger, he said, thank Bod % ha*e done with him % am
glad, re"lied Johnson with a smile, that he thanks Bod for anything
>ow Johnson returned to -'ford, where he had studied .4 years earlier, in order
to research the history of English and the grammar 1 the .
nd
and 3
rd
"arts of the
reface to his dictionary 77 that were e'"ected to accom"any any such dictionaryF
neither one, it is clear, would be a labor of either lo*e or "articular distinction
Johnson(s re"utation had "receded him, howe*er %n )ebruary 1744, -'ford
conferred an honorary E2 degree u"on Johnson, in honor of which he would be
called ;r Johnson for the remainder of his life
%n the autumn, after an absence of 7 years, Lord <hesterfield returned to the
scene, e'"ecting that since the lan for the Dictionary had been dedicated to him,
that the Dictionary itself would be dedicated to him as well $he "rinter ;odsley
ha""ily carried to Johnson Lord <hesterfield(s endorsement of the ;ictionary,
but Johnson was out of "atience $he result was Johnson(s memorable re"ly to
his erstwhile "atronF
Se*en years, my Lord, ha*e now "ast since % waited in your outward
rooms, or was re"ulsed from your door& during which time % ha*e been
"ushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to
com"lain, and ha*e brought it, at last, to the *erge of "ublication, without
one act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of fa*our
Such treatment % did not e'"ect, for % ne*er had a 5atron before
%s not a 5atron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man
struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground,
encumbers him with hel"L $he notice which you ha*e been "leased to
take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind& but it has been
delayed till % am indifferent, and cannot en6oy it& till % am solitary, and
cannot im"art it& till % am known, and do not want it % ho"e it is no *ery
cynical as"erity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been
recei*ed, or to be unwilling that the 5ublick should consider me as owing
that to a 5atron, which 5ro*idence has enabled me to do for myself
.000 co"ies of the ;ictionary were "ublished in a two7*olume folio edition on
2"ril 14, 1744, in the middle of his 9:th year %t weighs .0 "ounds and cost
G910s $he amanuenses were gone, and in the near7em"ty garret in Bough
S+uare Johnson wrote the final "iece of his "ro6ect, the first "art of the reface to
the Dictionary 2s the earlier lan for the Dictionary made clear, it had been
Johnson(s "ur"ose to @fi'A the English language, to set a standard of taste for its
culti*ation 8ailing against language that he described as licentious and
inconstant, he was a moral "oliceman in a linguist(s clothing, attem"ting to erect
a barricade against what he would call, again and again in his Dictionary, @cant,A
@barbarism,A and @im"ro"rietyA ,Doo!le is @a cant wordA $he 4th sense of ma#e,
as in @to make away with,A is @im"ro"erA to "on!er on is @im"ro"erA&
ambassa!ress is @ludicrousA& o'erwhelmingly is @inelegantA& bamboozle is a cant
word not used in gra*e writing& to cabbage Cto steal in cutting clothesD is a cant
word among tailors& ner'ous is medical cant& stout is a cant term for strong beer/
!ow many words are in S Johnson(s DictionaryL
=ithout such a Dictionary, the language was bound to degenerate, he wrote in
his reface 9 years laterF
% ha*e attem"ted a dictionary of the English language, which, while it
was em"loyed in the culti*ation of e*ery s"ecies of literature, has itself
been hitherto neglected, suffered to s"read, under the direction of chance,
into wild e'uberance, resigned to the tyranny of time and fashion, and
e'"osed to the corru"tions of ignorance and ca"rices of innocation
=hen % took the first sur*ey of my undertaking, % found our s"eech
co"ious without order, and energetic without rulesF where*er % turned
my *iew, there was "er"le'ity to be disentangled and confusion to be
regulated
=orse than that, he added, not only careless s"eech had been corru"ting our
language, but a craKe for )rench e'"ressions as wellF
-ur language, for almost a century, has, by the concurrence of many
causes, been gradually de"arting from its original $eutonic character, and
de*iating towards a Ballic structure and "hraseology, from which it ought
to be our endea*our to recall it, by making our ancient *olumes the
groundwork of style, admitting among the additions of later times only
such as may su""ly real deficiencies, such as are readily ado"ted by the
genius of our tongue, and incor"orate easily with our nati*e idioms
$his attem"t to @fi'A the language, to sto" the tide, e'"lains the conflict running
throughout the Dictionary between definitions that rely on etymology and those
that rely on usage %ne*itably, Johnson fa*ored the former, the definitions that
sought out the @originalA meaning of the word, as o""osed to those in common
"arlance $hus righteous comes from @rihtwise,A Sa'on, @rightwiseA in old
authors, and @rightwiselyA in bisho" )isher 77 so much ,writes Johnson/ are
words corru"ted by "ronunciation an!er is deri*ed from 5andarus, the "im"
in the story of Troilus an! (risey!e& it was therefore originally written "an!ar, till
its etymology was forgotten 2nd because "re)u!ice as @mischief, hurt, or in6uryA
is not deri*ed from the original etymology of the word, @it were therefore better
to use it lessA
$he "roblem with words, according to Johnson, is that words are the signs of
ideas 77 not the ideas, not the things, themsel*es $hey are no more than names
im"osed by man, not by Bod, and hence arbitrary and go*erned by custom 2s
a result language became, in Johnson(s mind, a kind of battleground between
reason and the natural instability of man, who was not only the creator or
language but its corru"tor as well Linguistic change, which is often
@corru"tion,A will go on, but the good le'icogra"her will do his stoic best to
direct it and to root out the less firmly "lanted @im"ro"rieties and absurdities,A
as Johnson "ut it, for the ideal language should be stable, regular, and slow to
change
>ine years, howe*er, had tem"ered Johnson(s idealism with a measure of
common sense Language ine*itably changes, Johnson conceded in his reface&
all he could ho"e to do was stem the tide Language changes for a *ariety of
reasons, he wroteF because of commerce, which @de"ra*es mannersA and thus
@corru"ts the language,A as a result of contact with strangers and their foreign
tongues Language changes because with ci*iliKation comes the leisure to think
new thoughts and the resulting need for new words in which to couch those
thoughts $hird, "oets and others are constantly con6uring u" meta"hors and
analogies which gradually enter common usage )ourth, translators threaten to
introduce more foreign words into the English tongueF we need @to sto" the
liscence of translators,A Johnson added& @if it be suffered to "roceed, CtheyD will
reduce us to babble a dialect of )ranceA 2nd then there is ine*itably, always,
human nature, sin, de"ra*ity $he real enemy is s"eech, for it is in s"eech that
corru"tion begins @$ongues, like go*ernments,A writes Johnson, @ha*e a
natural tendency to degenerationA NN %n its earliest stages language was not
written at all, but @merely oral,A a wild and barbarous 6argon of words
"ronounced so carelessly and heard so im"erfectly that dialects arose Since
early s"elling was *ery unsettled, it was a long time before writing could e'ert its
bene*olent regulariKing influence $o Johnson, then, li*ing s"eech 77 usage 77
was "ainfully irregular, and from his "ers"ecti*e English a""eared to ha*e
"assed its "rime and was gradually subsiding into a Ballic babble
>e*ertheless, Johnson was the first to acknowledge that any attem"t to @fi'A
language was a losing battle 8egardless of how much one might wish to stem
the tide, Johnson readily understood that such an effort would be a +ui'otic
attem"t doomed to failureF
=hen we see men grow old and idle at a certain time one after another,
from century to century, we laugh at the eli'ir that "romises to "rolong
life to a thousand years& and with e+ual 6ustice may the le'icogra"her be
derided, who being able to "roduce no e'am"le of a nation that has
"reser*ed their words and "hrases from mutability, shall imagine that his
dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corru"tion and
decay, that it is in his "ower to change sublunary nature, and clear the
world at once from folly, *anity, and affection
Johnson clearly regrets the im"ossibility of fi'ing the language, sim"ly another
e'am"le of the distance between ho"e and reality $his elegiac theme for the
"assing and decay of the language, from the days of the @wells of English
undefiled,A recurs throughout the reface Johnson suggests that a standard
dictionary could slow the decay, but he is uncon*inced and uncon*incing !e
acknowledges that a le'icogra"her is one @who does not form, but registers the
language& who does not teach men how they should think, but relates how they
ha*e hitherto e'"ressed their thoughtsA ;es"ite his sadness and regret o*er the
decay of language and the le'icogra"her(s inability to arrest it, Johnson acce"ts
the more modest role of describing the language in which he stands, knowing all
the time that he was standing, not on bedrock, but in a ri*er bed, the English
language flowing "ast his feet @$o enchain syllables, and to lash the wind,A as
he "uts it, "ara"hrasing Ju*enal(s satire on Oer'es, @are e+ually the undertakings
of "ride, unwilling to measure its desires by its strengthA
)or its elo+uence and wisdom, for its mature balancing of idealism and realism,
for its humility and self7effacement 77 @e*ery other author may as"ire to "raise,A
Johnson begins& @the le'icogra"her can only ho"e to esca"e re"roachA 77
Johnson(s reface to the Dictionary is one of the monuments of the English
language Eore than this, it is a monument to the ability of a fierce, e*en
*oracious intelligence and a dee", abiding faith in Bod to hold at bay madness,
"o*erty, obscurity, and des"air E*en the most en*ious of his attackers, !orne
$ooke, confessed that the conclusion of the reface to the Dictionary brought tears
to his eyesF
%n this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be
forgotten that much likewise is "erformed, and though no book was e*er
s"ared out of tenderness to the author, and the world is little solicitous to
know whence "roceeded the faults of that which it condemns& yet it may
gratify curiosity to inform it, that the English ;ictionary was written with
little assistance of the learned, and without any "atronage of the great& not
in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic
bowers, but amidst incon*enience and distraction, in sickness and in
sorrow
%f the entire )rench 2cademy, after 40 years of combined labor, were obliged to
s"end another 18 years re*ising their dictionary, how could he ho"e to esca"e
censure for the inade+uacies of his ownL
% may surely be contented without the "raise of "erfection, which, if %
could obtain, in this gloom of solitude, what would it a*ail meL % ha*e
"rotracted my work till most of those, whom % wished to "lease, ha*e
sunk into the gra*e, and success and miscarriage are em"ty soundsF %,
therefore, dismiss it with frigid tran+uility, ha*ing little to fear or ho"e
from censure or from "raise
=hile working on this mammoth "ro6ect, he also wrote his chief "oem, The
Vanity of *uman +ishes ,1799/, a satire in imitation of the 8oman "oet Ju*enal&
saw his tragedy ,rene "roduced ,1799/& and com"osed a "owerful series of
"eriodical essays, The -ambler ,174074./, on which his re"utation as a "robing
anatomist of human nature is largely based
%n 174:, Johnson turned to editing Shakes"eare ?y the time The lays of +illiam
.ha#es"eare a""eared ,17:4/, he had also "roduced a second series of essays, The
,!ler ,17487:0/, and a comic romance, -asselas ,1749/, his finest satire on the
human "ro"ensity to ho"eful self7delusion !e had also e'"erienced a second
breakdown ,17::/, and he made a friend who would become his "rinci"al
biogra"herF James ?oswell
;ictionary Johnson ,as he was now called/ was now a celebrity %n June of 17:.,
he was "aid a "ension of G300 a year by the .97year7old Ming Beorge %%% %n 17:9
he and the eminent English "ortraitist Sir Joshua 8eynolds founded the Literary
<lub& its membershi" included such luminaries as Barrick, the statesman
Edmund ?urke, the "laywrights -li*er Boldsmith and 8ichard ?rinsley
Sheridan 77 and an obscure young lawyer from out of -'ford named =illiam
Jones, who would read a "a"er on the relationshi" between Sanskrit and Latin
and Breek to the 2siatic Society in ?engal in the year 178: Joining the Literary
<lub as well was a young Scottish lawyer, James ?oswell )rom their first
meeting in 17:3 Johnson and ?oswell were drawn to each other& for the ne't .1
years ?oswell minutely obser*ed and recorded the con*ersation and acti*ities of
his hero ?oswell#s monumental Life of .amuel /ohnson, one of the greatest
biogra"hies e*er written, was "ublished in 1791 =ith ?oswell he made a tour
,1773/ of the !ebrides that "roduced a tra*el book, A /ourney to the +estern
,slan!s of .cotlan! ,1774/
Johnson#s last and greatest work was again the result of a "ublisher#s
commission 5aid to su""ly "refaces to an edition of 4. English "oets from
2braham <owley to $homas Bray, he wrote a massi*e set of biogra"hies and
criticisms, The Li'es of the oets ,1779781/ $he 107*olume work sums u"
Johnson#s two main interests as a writerF humanity and literature !is
biogra"hies treat the "oets as tragicomic re"resentati*es of human as"iration
and its ultimate defeat !is criticism of their works is an e'traordinarily honest,
and sometimes withering, estimate of their *alue& its im"act on readers is
indicated by the fact that for two centuries Johnson#s 6udgments ha*e "ro*oked
contro*ersy
Johnson died three years later on ;ecember 13, 1789
On Samuel Johnsons Dictionary
Se*en years, my Lord, ha*e now "ast since % waited in your outward
rooms, or was re"ulsed from your door& during which time % ha*e been
"ushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to
com"lain, and ha*e brought it, at last, to the *erge of "ublication, without
one act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of fa*or
Such treatment % did not e'"ect, for % ne*er had a 5atron before
%s not a 5atron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man
struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground,
encumbers him with hel"L $he notice which you ha*e been "leased to
take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind& but it has been
delayed till % am indifferent, and cannot en6oy it& till % am solitary, and
cannot im"art it& till % am known, and do not want it % ho"e it is no *ery
cynical as"erity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been
recei*ed, or to be unwilling that the 5ublic should consider me as owing
that to a 5atron, which 5ro*idence has enabled me to do for myself
% ha*e attem"ted a dictionary of the English language, which, while it
was em"loyed in the culti*ation of e*ery s"ecies of literature, has itself
been hitherto neglected, suffered to s"read, under the direction of chance,
into wild e'uberance, resigned to the tyranny of time and fashion, and
e'"osed to the corru"tions of ignorance and ca"rices of inno*ation
=hen % took the first sur*ey of my undertaking, % found our s"eech
co"ious without order, and energetic without rulesF where*er % turned
my *iew, there was "er"le'ity to be disentangled and confusion to be
regulated
-ur language, for almost a century, has, by the concurrence of many
causes, been gradually de"arting from its original $eutonic character, and
de*iating towards a Ballic structure and "hraseology, from which it ought
to be our endea*or to recall it, by making our ancient *olumes the
groundwork of style, admitting among the additions of later times only
such as may su""ly real deficiencies, such as are readily ado"ted by the
genius of our tongue, and incor"orate easily with our nati*e idioms
=hen we see men grow old and idle at a certain time one after another,
from century to century, we laugh at the eli'ir that "romises to "rolong
life to a thousand years& and with e+ual 6ustice may the le'icogra"her be
derided, who being able to "roduce no e'am"le of a nation that has
"reser*ed their words and "hrases from mutability, shall imagine that his
dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corru"tion and
decay, that it is in his "ower to change sublunary nature, and clear the
world at once from folly, *anity, and affection
%n this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be
forgotten that much likewise is "erformed, and though no book was e*er
s"ared out of tenderness to the author, and the world is little solicitous to
know whence "roceeded the faults of that which it condemns& yet it may
gratify curiosity to inform it, that the English ;ictionary was written with
little assistance of the learned, and without any "atronage of the great& not
in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academic
bowers, but amidst incon*enience and distraction, in sickness and in
sorrow
% may surely be contented without the "raise of "erfection, which, if %
could obtain, in this gloom of solitude, what would it a*ail meL % ha*e
"rotracted my work till most of those, whom % wished to "lease, ha*e
sunk into the gra*e, and success and miscarriage are em"ty soundsF %,
therefore, dismiss it with frigid tran+uillity, ha*ing little to fear or ho"e
from censure or from "raise