third, a singular jumble of natural history, | infer from his account of Praxiteles, who mythology, and biography. Among the is called "a famous Statuary in Italy; "choice" words is found "bubulcitate," said to be the inventor of Looking-glasses, with the meaning, "to cry like a cow-boy." which he first made of Silver"! The word "actress " is defined, since this book was published before the practice of women appearing on the stage sprang up, as a "woman-doer." In the third part it is stated of a little beast called the "ignarus," whatever that may be, that "in the night it singeth six kinds of notes one after another; as la-sol-fa-mi-re-ut." "The Barble," Henry Cockeram assures us, "is a fish that will not meddle with the baite untill with her taile shee have unhooked it from the hooke." Nevertheless, the all-important diction. ary of this period is not Cocker's, but Nathan Bailey's, whose first edition was published in 1721, and whose book lives in some of the innumerable later editions in many English households to-day, and is consulted, not only with amusement, but often also with profit. Of the twentysix lines on the title-page we quote only the first, because in that the distinctive feature of the book is indicated. It runs: "An Universal Etymological English Dictionary." It was Bailey who first said that it was no true part of a dictionarymaker's work to pick and choose his words. The word "universal" is his way of saying that he had tried to include all the words of his mother tongue. The performance fell short, but there the idea is, clearly defined and of the highest importance. The success of the work, generally though not always a reliable gauge of value, was rapid and immense. A second edition appeared in 1726; the twen In thus hurriedly sketching the progress of the dictionary idea we must pass by such books as Blount's "Glosso-graphia," Edward Phillips's (nephew of John Milton) "New World of Words," giving, however, a sentence or two to the interesting passage of arms between these two gentlemen, probably the first, but most certainly not the last, lexicographical controversy. Blount accused Phillips of stealing from his book, and also of blundering grossly, and in "A World of Errors discovered in the New World of Words" thus com-tieth in 1764. The English public appre ments: ciated this advance on all previous efforts to supply a long-felt want. Bigamy, the marriage of two wives at the same time, which, according to common law, It was a folio interleaved copy of Bai. hinders a man from taking holy orders" Here ley that formed the backbone of Johnson's our author speaks some truth at a peradven- great work, but over thirty years interture; for he that marries two wives at the same vened. During this time a surprising time commits felony, and the punishment of addition was made to the long list of Enfelony is death, which (suppose it be by hang-glish lexicographers. One of the greatest ing) may very well hinder him from taking names on the roll of the eighteenth cenholy orders. I find he does not understand tury is John Wesley's; and it may still be the word. An indication of how imperfectly men in the seventeenth century apprehended the real function of a dictionary is found in Blount's charge against Phillips, that he is given to the "needless explication of many trivial words." news to many who are familiar with his ever memorable achievements in other fields to learn that he also made a journey along the thorny path of dictionary-making. His book was published anonymously in 1753, under the somewhat ambitious title, "The Complete English But a larger conception was in the Dictionary, explaining most of the Hard process of formation. After the death of Words which are found in the best EnEdward Cocker, who is still kept in re-glish Writers. By a Lover of Good Enmembrance by the oft-used phrase, "ac-glish and Common Sense. N.B. cording to Cocker," there was published in 1704 his "English Dictionary," with a title twenty-four lines long. The work was adorned with a portrait of the celebrated arithmetician and the following lines: Cocker, who in fair writing did excell, - The Author assures you, he thinks this is the "A Into anything approaching an adequate | at its full value; but it is also adapted for sketch of the labors of Johnson and his the use and intended for every person, successors it is impossible to enter here. young and old, who can read English inThe tragic story of the seven years' toil telligently, and who cares enough about culminating in an immortal work has been the words read to desire to know their often told. The two great folio volumes life-history and their varied meanings. that appeared in 1755 have these great The new dictionary will enable the proadvantages over all their predecessors; verbial schoolboy to know even more of they formed the first standard dictionary, his mother tongue than Macaulay did, all that had appeared before them being and no other work in existence will help mere vocabularies in comparison. They him to do it so perfectly. contain the first examples of quotations from standard authors to illustrate the meaning of words. They are a wonderful improvement upon all their forerunners in the art of definition. Specimens that illustrate slight weaknesses are apt to lead to undervaluing of this part of Johnson's labors. It is true that he defines network as "anything reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections," and excise as "a hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid." Yet for one instance of this class scores of admirable definitions can be found, which have materially eased the toil of his successors. Since Johnson's day dictionaries have poured forth from the press in a steady stream. They have been given to us in all sizes, arranged on many widely differ ing plans. They range from works like Lemon's "Derivative Dictionary," in which this surprising statement occurs, "The expressions, hot-cockles, scratchcradle, link-boy, boggle-boe, haut-goût, bon-môt, kickshaws, and others, can only be explained by their etymology, every one of which is Greek," up to Walker, Todd, Webster, Ogilvie, and Richardson. And yet it may be reasonably doubted whether there has been very much real progress. Many errors and slips have been corrected, but the English language is still without a dictionary at all equal to its needs. The best justification of this statement will be a sketch of the origin of the "New English Dictionary," and an examination of the first part now, happily, within the reach of every Englishman with a spare half-sovereign in his pocket. No one who looks at all carefully through this specimen will deny that it is a great work, the like of which has never before issued from the English press. The first temptation will be to think that it is for the scholar, for the big libraries, and for the wealthy. It is much more than this. A scholar, and that a very advanced one, can alone appreciate the book | The growth of the undertaking has been slow, but this has been an advantage rather than a drawback. The plan had by 1879 assumed very different proportions compared with what it was in 1858. The now famous papers of Archbishop (then Dean) Trench, "On some Deficiencies in our English Dictionaries," were read before the Philological Society in 1857. The ideal sketched therein has been kept steadily in view, in some respects improved upon, and at length, as far as words beginning in ANT, realized. Dean Trench contended that it was no part of a dictionary-maker's business to pick and choose words, or in any way to constitute himself the arbiter of a word's fate. He might not like either the look or the sound of "medioxumous or "ludibundness," but if they had established their claim to life by being used in any writer of English, he had no right to shut them out. To quote a most pertinent passage: that is his business; he may think of this The lexicographer is making an inventory; article which he inserts in his catalogue that it had better be consigned to the lumber-room with all speed, or of the other, that it only met its deserts when it was so consigned long ago; but his task is to make his inventory complete. Where he counts words to be needless, affected, pedantic, ill put together, contrary to the genius of the language, there is no objection real service in this way; but let their claim to to his saying so; on the contrary, he may do our book-language be the humblest, and he is bound to record them, to throw wide with an impartial hospitality his doors to them, as to all other. A dictionary is a historical monument, the history of a nation contemplated from one point of view, and the wrong ways into which a language has wandered, or attempted to wander, may be nearly as instructive as the right ones in which it has travelled; from its failures as its successes, from its follies as inuch may be learned, or nearly as much, as from its wisdom. In lively and effective style the dean pointed out how general was the custom of leaving out obsolete words, the very words most needing explanation; how families of words were rudely separated | the change of editorship was over two awkward, for instance, being deprived tons in weight. The storage and examiof the company of its kindred, awk, awkly, and awkness; how very incompletely the life of words was noted economize, according to Todd, being "of very recent usage,' ," while it is found in Milton's "The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates"! how even the few dictionaries that do give illustrative quotations, give them unhistorically and with such lack of exact reference that life is not long enough to attempt to verify them; how, that when quotations are given, those which are most valuable, viz., the ones referring to the first use, etymology, or special meanings of words, are, for the most part, conspicuous by their absence; and he conIcludes the whole matter thus: The story in Herodotus is probably familiar to us all of the course which the Persians followed, when they proposed to make entire clearance of the inhabitants of some conquered island, to bring them all within their grasp. An entire army would join hand in hand till it covered the breadth of the island, and would then in this fashion pass over it from end to end, rendering it impossible that so much as one of those whom they desired to seize should escape. This drawing as with a sweep-net over the whole surface of English literature is that which we would fain see, being sure that it is only by such combined action, by such joining of hand in hand on the part of as many as are willing to take their share in this toil, that we can hope the innumerable words which have escaped us hitherto will ever be brought within our net, that an English dictionary will prove that all-embracing avaypov which, indeed, it should be. No papers read before the Philological Society have ever led to such surprising results as those which followed hard upon the dean's. The sweep-net has, indeed, been drawn over English literature. The story of how from an attempt to supply the deficiencies of existing dictionaries the society determined to produce a new one has been often told, and need not be repeated here. We are now to deal with the first product of the labor. From first to last in the twenty-six years which have passed since the scheme took definite shape upwards of thirteen hundred workers have contributed their toil, reading and extracting illustrative quotations from more than five thousand writers of all periods. When Dr. Murray accepted the respon sible post of editor, upwards of two mil lions of these quotations were in Mr. Furnivall's hands. The material that journeyed to Mill Hill in consequence of nation of all this resulted, in the first place, in convincing Dr. Murray that much more reading and extracting of quotations was needful. He issued his appeal, and ere long there was added to his store another million and a half of slips, each containing the word whose use is illustrated and the exact reference to the authors using it. The preliminary examination also convinced Dr. Murray that the dictionary was too large a guest for his home, and so a specially designed building was erected, and now stands in Dr. Murray's garden. Thither many curious and many admiring visitors have already wended their way, and have invariably found the presiding authority both willing and quick to give such insight into the inner working of the great plan as a visitor is competent to receive. Around the walls of the Scriptorium, as Dr. Murray calls it, are ranged his three and a half millions of written slips in alphabetical order - any particular one that may be needed obtainable in an instant; also a large and varied collection of early dictionaries and books of reference; and the inner space is portioned out for the desks of the editor and his assistants. It is not only a unique building, but one of the most interesting that a student of English literature can visit. Its fame has spread far and wide; and an American professor told one of his students, on the point of visiting England, that after he had seen Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, the next thing to do in England was to go to Mill Hill and see the building where the big dictionary was being made. But it is high time that we began to scan more closely the printed pages of Part I. The volume is a noble specimen of printing. The page is as large as Littré's French Dictionary, but the arrangement is vastly superior. Everything that the printer's art can do to help the eye is done. It is a goodly volume to look upon. The scope and plan of the book are best indicated by a quotation from the preface: The aim of this Dictionary is to furnish an adequate account of the meaning, origin, and history of English words now in general use, or known to have been in use at any time durIt endeavors (1) to show, with regard to each individual ing the last seven hundred years. word, when, how, in what shape and with what signification, it became English; what development of form and meaning it has since received; which of its uses have, in the course Why fix 1150 as the limit? some reader may ask. Dr. Murray replies : — another. of time, become obsolete, and which still sur- | centuries. II. To give up absolutely. vive; what new uses have since arisen, by what III. To let loose. IV. To banish, the processes, and when; (2) to illustrate these last two being obsolete. The meanings facts by a series of quotations ranging from the under II. fall into seven subdivisions: I. first known occurrence of the word to the To give up to the control or discretion of latest, or down to the present day, the word being thus made to exhibit its own history and Four quotations, from Chaucer meaning; and (3) to treat the etymology of in 1386 to Macaulay in 1849, illustrate this each word on the basis of historical fact, and meaning. 2. To sacrifice, surrender, an in accordance with the methods and results of obsolete meaning. Four quotations rang. modern philological science. ing from 1450-1718. 3. To give oneself up. Five illustrations, extending from Howard's "Eutropius,' 1564, to Justin McCarthy's" History of our own Times," This date has been adopted as the only 1879. 4. Like 3, without reflexive pronatural halting-place, short of going back to noun and passive, obsolete. Four examthe beginning, so as to include the entire Old ples, 1393 to 1483. 5. A technical meanEnglish or Anglo-Saxon" vocabulary. ing, to relinquish to underwriters all claim For not only was the stream of English litera- to property insured. Three illustrations ture then reduced to the tiniest thread (the from writers on insurance. 6. To let go, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle being for nearly a century its sole representative), but the vast magive up, renounce. Six quotations from jority of the ancient words that were destined Gower, 1393, to Sir J. Lubbock, 1879. 7. not to live into modern English, comprising To forsake, leave, or desert. Six quotathe entire scientific, philosophical, and poetical tions are given, and as this is now the vocabulary of Old English, had already disap- commonest meaning of the word, and a peared, and the old inflexional and grammati- good illustration of the method of the cal system had been levelled to one so essen-dictionary, we will dwell for a moment tially modern as to require no special treatment upon them. We reproduce them as they in the Dictionary. Hence we exclude all words that had become obsolete by 1150. But to words actually included, this date has no application; their history is exhibited from their first appearance, however early. 66 stand. The first is CAXTON, "Eneydos." These extracts indicate, first, that the dictionary is not only a lexicon of modern English, but that it is far in advance of any existing work in the light it throws upon early and middle English; and secondly, that its supreme excellence consists in the thoroughgoing historical method followed in showing the forms a word has assumed in the course of its life, the successive meanings it has gathered or lost, and in illustrating the whole This group of quotations is a gauge of by a carefully selected series of representa- the enormous advance made by this work tive quotations, exhibiting the word as upon every former dictionary. Take up used by writers of English. Johnson, Richardson, or Webster. In Take one of the earliest and best illus- many cases these writers give no illustra trative examples we can desire the word tive quotations, and when they do refer to abandon. We learn that the word was English writers, no exact references acintroduced into English about the begin- company the extracts. Webster gives, for ning of the thirteenth century as an ad- example, four definitions of the word verb, being an adoption of the old French | abandon, and under the one correspondphrase, à bandon, from à, at, to, and ban-ing to that with which we are now dealing don, ban, proscription, etc.; meaning (1) under control, and (2) at one's will, unrestrictedly; a quotation for this sense is given dated 1423, and the word then be. came obsolete. About this time the word began to come into use as a verb. Four main meanings are given: I. To subjugate absolutely, an obsolete signification, but one which held its ground nearly two quotes, "Hope was overthrown, and yet could not be abandoned." -I. Taylor. Supposing the reader wished to examine I. Taylor's context, and had his book in hand, how much time would be consumed in finding the reference? Now turn to the references quoted above. They are all so given that with the book in hand you can turn to the place quoted in a moment. Then consider their range. | word. Dr. Murray's note tells us that They sweep from 1490 to 1879, showing originally the word was an adoption of the that the word's life has extended over old French ele which came from the Latin nearly four centuries. They embrace ala (a wing), contracted from axilla. It great English classics like Caxton, Mil- was re-fashioned in French after the Latin, ton, and De Foe; they include little-known as nelle, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth writers, like Allen; they are not ashamed centuries was often written aisle, in imito turn to a book of anecdotes or the tation of the Latin ascella, the common pages of a popular living novelist. Out term for the wing of a building, for the of the many slips at his disposal Dr. Mur- Latin axilla. In fifteenth-century Enray has chosen these to show us the living glish the word was confused with ile, yle word and its use in the writings of authors (island) — perhaps with the idea of a deas far asunder as Caxton and DeFoe, tached or distinct portion of a church Milton and Miss Braddon. and re-fashioned with this about 1700 as isle; recently modified after the French aile to aisle. The Latin ala, besides being confounded in medieval use with aula, was confused with Old French alce, French allée, English alley, which led to a mixture of the senses of aisle and alley. In this respect the dictionary is unique, and the shortest way in many cases to verify the quotations of previous lexicographers will be to turn to the same word in Dr. Murray's work. For instance, under another meaning of abandon, Webster quotes, "Being all this time abandoned from bed." your - Shakespeare. Now how many hours would it take a man fairly read in Shakespeare to find and verify that quotation? But turn to the "New English Dictionary," and you read, 1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., Ind. ii. 112." With a Globe edition at hand the quota tion is verified at once. Webster illus trates abandon by three quotations; the new dictionary by fifty. Another feature of great importance is the effort made to get the definitions arranged in their true logical order. Dr. Murray has not been content merely to give all the definitions of a word, but has used his wealth of historical material to arrange the successive meanings in their true order of development. This has hardly been attempted in previous works, and where attempted has been rewarded with only indifferent success. The dictionary also stands head and shoulders above its elder brethren in the wealth of sound etymological knowledge which it displays. This is a field in which error is easy, and it is hard oftentimes to keep to the straight path of prosaic fact and avoid wandering into the enticing byways that diverge in all directions. Here, again, the wealth of historical information gathered together has been of the greatest value, and under Dr. Murray's skilful manipulation has yielded much new and most interesting information. The meanings are " 1. A wing or lateral division of a church; the part on either side of the nave." Twenty-six quotations (1370 to 1878) illustrate this definition. Passing through the sense, "a transept," it came to signify (1) "any division of a church," and then (2), by confusion with alley, "a passage in a church between the rows of pews or seats." Among the five quotations given for this sense we find Bailey, in his dictionary (1731-1742), gives: "Isles, Certain straight passages between pews within a church." Johnson (1755): "Aisle [thus written by Addison, but perhaps improperly, since it seems deducible only from either aile, a wing, or allée, a path, and is therefore to be written aile], The walks in a church or wings of a quire." Among the words well worth consulting for the light thrown on their origin, history, and meaning, we may refer to agnail, altar, agnostic, alcohol, Anglo-Saxon, aft, agitator. A glance may be given at the last two on the list. We are told with regard to aft that, as usual with nautical terms, the early his. tory is lost, but that it comes (by comparison with baft) from the Old English aeftan, meaning "from behind," from afta, "behind;" and that this was formerly a superlative form of af, "off, away," with primitive superlative suffix ta: cf. Greek Üжα-тоС прш-тог. The early meaning, "beThe dictionary abounds in articles hind, in the rear," has been obsolete for which bear out this statement. Take, for ages. Of the nautical meanings we have: instance, the word aisle. The history is "I. In or near the hinder part of the ship. intricate, and it is complicated by the fact 2. Towards the stern. 3. Fore and aft, that our modern meaning of it is due en- from stem to stern," illustrated by eleven tirely to a confusion of aisle in the eigh. quotations, including such names as Rateenth century with an entirely distinct | leigh, Anson, Landor, and Marryat. |