Jtygf.*^ remarks on grammar. I'jf 



distort words so, as by a delicate allusion to circum-^ 

 stances, uaperceived bj the more phlegmatic portion 

 ■.of mankind, to suggest ideas infinitely ludicrous and 

 .pleasing. A dictionary which could denote even but a 

 •small dafli of these delicate meanings of words, would 

 be a treasure in any language. 



But how, it may be alked, can all this be done ? 

 The question is natural and pertinent. In cases of 

 this sort, it is often easier to say what cannot be done 

 than what can. On this principle we can easily say, 

 these d<;licate meanings of woi;ds, cannot be exhibi- 

 ted by means of quotations only, produced as authori- 

 ties for the use of the word. It may appear perhaps 

 a little paradoxical, though npt lefs true, to afsert,. 

 that mere quotations, produced as authorities in a 

 dictionary, will prove more frequently a source of 

 error than of real information. The best composer 

 that ever was will sometimes write incorrectly ; and 

 if every thing that he has said is to be considered as 

 sterling authority, wherever such faults occur, these 

 faults, by this mode, would be difseminated, and error 

 propagated in'stead of truth. Poets, in particular, 

 may be considered as the greatest corrupters of all 

 languages. They often overstretch the meaning of 

 a word to serve a particular purpose ; the harmony 

 of sounds, frequently induces them to make the sense 

 become subordinate ; so that the lexicographer, who 

 fhould rest satisfied with giving the meaning of every 

 word, as it has been used, even by poets who are 

 deemed clafsical, would make a hodge podge of « . 

 language that could never be good for any thing. 



