12 



have gone much farther on this point, descended to particulars, 

 and exposed the ignorance of these superficial pedants, for pedantry 

 is always superficial, but I wish to avoid what I condemn. Less I 

 could not have said to vindicate the memory of the benefactors of 

 our literature, and to expose the arts which discouraged the study 

 of our language. I shall, therefore, now drop this ungrateful part 

 of my subject, and proceed to that which may prove more beneficial 

 to the student. 



. Several individuals variously qualified as to talents and learning 

 have laboured with much credit to themselves and benefit to 

 our language in unfolding its analogies. They have endeavoured 

 to elucidate its construction, according to various grammatical 

 systems, to explain difficult passages in our old manuscripts by 

 means of Glossaries, and to define the meanings of words by Voca- 

 bularies and Dictionaries. Much has been done in these respects 

 by natives, and even by ingenious foreigners, to whose united la- 

 bours modern philologers are indebted for whatever knowledge of 

 the subject they possess. Much yet remains to be done with respect 

 to the elucidation of grammar by a proper analysis founded on the 

 genius and analogy of the language itself. A dictionary is yet 

 wanted: 1st, to fix a standard for orthography from proved princi- 

 ples of analogy, and to decide which of the various modes wherein 

 the same word is found in authors of former times should in 

 future be adopted. 2. To point out the pronunciation of words 

 according to the same principles, distinguishing provincial pecu- 

 liarities. 3. To shew the genders of nouns, their genitive case sin- 

 gular and nominative plural, as also tiie masculine and feminine 

 forms of adjectives with their declensions, conformably with a gram- 

 mar to be prefixed. 4. To mark the conjugation of verbs and the 

 case governed by each preposition. 5. To trace the etymologies of 

 the words, to collate them with their correlates in the other Celtic 



