THE REGULATION STYLE. 131 



Nine hundred pages of such close quarto letterpress 

 are nearly equal to nine ordinary octavo volumes ; and 

 when it is remembered what myriads of facts these con- 

 tributions contain, many of them only ascertainable by 

 consulting a variety of conflicting authorities, the reader 

 will have some conception of the varied knowledge and 

 diligent research of which these pages are the durable 

 record. But seldom have the results of research been 

 brought out in a style so agreeable. Before Mr Wilson's 

 time it had been usual to reduce encyclopaedia articles to 

 a certain respectable uniformity of style, and, like the 

 mixed multitude of steeds and donkeys in an old-fashioned 

 diligence, the contributors were not only expected to pull 

 together, but were required to maintain the self-same 

 pace. Mr Wilson asserted his individuality. Although 

 writing for a dictionary, he was not haunted by the fear 

 of prigs and pedants, but allowed his bright and genial 

 nature to come freely forth, and in the pleasure with 

 which his articles were read, he found the justification 

 of so wise a frankness. The severely scientific might be 

 jealous of so much poetry, and more jealous still of so 

 much plain English ; but he knew what he was doing, 



