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Page 14
Scribendi recte, sapere est & principium & fons.
Rem tibi Socratic� poterunt ostendere chart�:
Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
Thus translated by my Lord _Roscommon,
Sound Judgment is the ground of writing well:
And when Philosophy directs your Choice
To proper Subjects rightly understood,
Words from your Pen will naturally flow.
_Horace_'s _Sapere_, and my Lord _Roscommon_'s _Proper Subjects
rightly understood_, I take to be the same as _Propriety of Thought_,
and the _non invita sequentur, naturally flowing_, I take to import
the Fitness and Propriety of Expression. I also gather from hence,
that there is a very easy and natural Connexion between these two, and
these same Antiquaries of OURS, must be either very dull and stupid
Animals, or a strange kind of cross-gran'd and perverse Fellows, to be
always putting a Force upon Nature, and running out of a plain Road.
He must either insinuate that they are indeed such, or that _Horace_'s
Observation is not just, or that for the Word _invita_ we ought to
have a better reading, for which he will be forced to consult the
_Antiquaries_. I know not how some of the great Orators, he has
mention'd, will relish his Compliments upon the Score of Eloquence,
when he has said such hard things against Antiquaries; many of them,
and those of chief Note, were his Censure just and universal, must
of necessity be involv'd in it. For example, the late _Bishop_ of
_Rochester_, of whom, he says, "He was the correctest Writer of the
Age, and comes nearest the great Originals of _Greece_ and _Rome_, by
a studious Imitation of the Ancients." So that, as I take it, he was
an Antiquary: If he excludes _English Antiquities_, I desire him to
remember the present _Bishop_ of _Rochester_, of whom he has given
this true Character, "Dr. _Atterbury_ writeth with the fewest Faults,
and greatest Excellencies of any who have studied to mix Art and
Nature in their Compositions, _&c_." He hath however thought fit to
adorn the Subject of Antiquities with the Beauties of his Stile,
without any Force upon Nature, or the being obliged to forsake her
easy and unconstrain'd Method of applying proper Expressions to proper
Thoughts. The _Bishop_ of St. _Asaph_ hath shewn his Skill in
Antiquities, by more Instances than one; yet do I not find, that even
in the Opinion of this Gentleman, it hath spoil'd his Stile. I shall
add to these the late and present _Bishops_ of _Worcester_, the
former, Dr. _Stillingfleet_, is allow'd by all to have been one of
the most learned Men and greatest Antiquaries of his Age; and for the
present Bishop, who is also a learned Antiquary, take the Character
which is given of his Skill and Exactness in the _English_ Tongue from
[F]_Bishop Wilkins_;
I must acknowledge my self obliged, saith he, to the continual
Assistance I have had from my most learned and worthy Friend, Dr.
_William Lloyd_, than whom (so far as I am able to judge) this
Nation could not have afforded a fitter Person, either for that
great Industry, or accurate Judgment, both in _Philological_, and
_Philosophical_ Matters, required to such a Work. And particularly,
I must wholly ascribe to him that tedious and difficult Task, of
suiting the Tables to the _Dictionary_, and the drawing up of the
_Dictionary_ itself, which, upon trial, I doubt not, will be found
to be the most perfect, that was ever yet made for the _English
Tongue_.
I will only farther beg leave to mention, the _Bishop_ of_ Carlisle_,
_Your Self_, and Dr. _Gibson_, who for good Spirit, masterly Judgment,
and all the Ornaments of Stile, in the several ways of Writing, may be
equalled with the best and most polite. To conclude, if this Preface
is writ in a Stile, that may be thought somewhat rough and too severe,
it is not out of any natural Inclination to take up a Quarrel, but
to do some Justice to the Study of Antiquities, and even of our own
Language itself, against the severe Censurers of both; whose Behaviour
in this Controversy has been such, as cou'd not have the Treatment it
deserved in a more modest or civil manner. If I am mistaken herein, I
beg Pardon: I might alledge that which perhaps might be admitted for
an Excuse, but that I will not involve the whole Sex, by pleading
Woman's Frailty. I confess I thought it would be to little purpose
to write an _English Saxon Grammar_, if there was nothing of Worth
in that Language to invite any one to the study of it; so that I
have only been upon the Defensive. If any think fit to take up Arms
against me, I have great Confidence in the Protection of the Learned,
the Candid, and the Noble; amongst which, from as many as bear the
Ensigns of St. _George_, I cannot doubt of that help, that true
Chevalrie can afford, to any Damsel in Distress, by cutting off the
Heads of all those Dragons, that dare but to open their Mouths, or
begin to hiss against her. But, Sir, before I conclude, I must do
you the Justice to insert an extract of two Letters from the Right
Honourable _D. P._ to the Reverend Dr. _R. Taylor_, relating to your
_Thesaurus. Lingg. Vett. Septentrion._ which indeed might more
properly have been placed in the eighth Page of this Preface, had
it come sooner to my Hands. It is as follows,
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