2)6 remarks on grammar. Fih> il,- 



learner to obtain a knowledge of these nice fhades of 

 difFerence unlels they be accurately explained in a 

 dictionary ? But as no dictionary of the Englifh lan- 

 guage has yet been composed, in which even an at- 

 tempt has been made to do this, it cannot surely be too 

 soon begun. In consequence of a few popular wri- 

 tings on synonymesy in foreign languages, the atten- 

 tion of some men of letters has been turned towards 

 this subject in regard to Englilli, though these have 

 been confined only to particular difsertations. A 

 degree of accuracy, nearly equal to what is here 

 wanted, is also required for explaining a great pro- 

 portion of the other words in any language. Most 

 words have only one clear, precise, and direct mean- 

 ing, in which sense these words had been originally 

 employed ; but afterwards, when it hadbeen discover- 

 ed that other wocds were wanted to denote ideas cor- 

 responding with the original meaning, only in cer- 

 tain ciir umstances, these words have been forced to 

 bend a little, as it might be said, to the necefsity of 

 the times, and to be applied in this sense also. 

 Hence it is that we £nd so many words which have 

 a direct, as well as a collateral and figurative mean- 

 ing, and they come in some cases to be so generally 

 used, only in the figurative sense, as in some measure 

 to make us lose sight of their direct meaning. A 

 perfect dictionary, therefore, , ihould, in the first 

 place, define the word with the moft accurate preci- 

 sion, so as to {liow its meaning, distinct from that of 

 every other word, and then trace its gradual deflec- 

 tions into a figurative signification. Wit also, that 

 faatastic creature of an active mind, knows how to 



