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Works of Samuel Johnson
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Table of Contents
  • Audiet Pugnas vitio Parentum / Rara Juventus. Hor: Young men—the few who are left after the crimes of their fathers—will hear of battles. [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Bonae leges ex malis moribus proveniunt: Good laws spring from bad habits [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Malos tueri haud tutum: Save a thief from the gallows and he’ll cut your throat [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam Praemia si tollas?: For who embraces virtue herself, if you take away the reward? [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Adjecere bonae paulo plus artis Athenae: Kind Athens Added a Little More Skill [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Mea nec Falernae Temperant Vites, neque Formiani Pocula Colles: Neither Falernian vines nor Formian hills mellow my cups [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Scheme for the Classes of a Grammar School
  • Advertisement for the School at Edial
  • Observations on Common Sense
  • Preface to the 1738 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • Letter to the Gentleman's Magazine on Political Journalism
  • Appeal to the Publick
  • To the Reader. [Gentleman’s Magazine]
  • Considerations on the case of Dr T.—s Sermons abridg’d by Mr Cave
  • The Jests of Hierocles
  • Preface to the 1741 Volume of the Gentleman's Magazine
  • Review of An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Two First Volumes of Bibliotheca Harleiana
  • An Account of the Harleian Library
  • Notice in Volume Two of Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Harleian Miscellany with An Account of this Undertaking
  • Introduction to the Harleian Miscellany: An Essay on the Origin and Importance of Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces
  • Preface to the 1742 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • Dedication for Robert James's Medicinal Dictionary
  • Preface to the 1743 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • PROPOSALS For Printing every Fortnight, (Price Sixpence) THE PUBLISHER: CONTAINING MISCELLANIES In PROSE and VERSE. Collected by J. CROKATT, Bookseller.
  • Proposals for Printing Anchitell Grey's Debates
  • Some Remarks on the Progress of Learning Since the Reformation
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription Hugonis Grotii Adamus Exul
  • Postscript to Lauder’s Essay on Milton’s Use and Imitation of the Moderns
  • A Letter to the Reverend Mr. Douglas
  • Preface to The Preceptor
  • The signification of WORDS how varied
  • Letter Concerning the Benefit Performance of Comus for Milton's Granddaughter
  • Proposals for printing by subscription, Essays in Verse and Prose.
  • Notice of The life of Harriot Stuart
  • Dedication to The Female Quixote
  • Dedication to Memoirs of Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of Sully
  • Dedication to Philander
  • Dedication to The Greek Theatre of Father Brumoy
  • Dedication to Henrietta, 2nd Ed.
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription The Original Works of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox
  • Letter to the Daily Advertiser concerning James Crokatt
  • Preface to A General Index of the First Twenty Volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine
  • Preface to the 1753 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • An Account of an Attempt to Ascertain the Longitude by Sea, by an Exact Theory of the Variation of the Magnetical Needle
  • Dedication and Preface to An Introduction to the Game of Draughts (1756)
  • Dedication to An Introduction to Geometry (1767)
  • Preface to Richard Rolt, A New Dictionary of Trade and Commerce
  • Reflections on the Present State of Literature
  • TO THE PUBLIC
  • Review of John Armstrong, The History of the Island of Minorca (1756)
  • Review of Stephen White, Collateral Bee-Boxes (1756)
  • Review of Thomas Birch, The History of the Royal Society, vols. 1–2 (1756)
  • Review of Arthur Murphy, The Gray’s-Inn Journal, 2 vols. (1756)
  • Review of Joseph Warton, An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope (1756)
  • Review of James Hampton, The General History of Polybius (1756)
  • Review of Thomas Blackwell, Memoirs of the Court of Augustus (1753–56)
  • Review of Alexander Russell, The Natural History of Aleppo (1756)
  • Review of Four Letters from Newton to Bentley (1756)
  • Review of William Borlase, Observations on the Islands of Scilly (1756)
  • Review of Archibald Bower, Affidavit (1756); John Douglas, Six Letters and Review of Mr. Bower’s Answer (1757); and John Douglas, Bower and Tillemont Compared (1757)
  • Review of Francis Home, Experiments on Bleaching (1756)
  • Review of Stephen Hales, An Account of a Useful Discovery (1756)
  • Review of Charles Lucas, An Essay on Waters (1756)
  • Review of Robert Keith, A Large New Catalogue of the Bishops (1756)
  • Review of Patrick Browne, The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica (1756)
  • Review of Charles Parkin, An Impartial Account of the Invasion under William Duke of Normandy (1756)
  • Review of A Scheme for Preventing a Further Increase of the National Debt (1756)
  • Review of Conferences and Treaties (1756)
  • Review of Philosophical Transactions (1756)
  • Review of Richard Lovett, The Subtil Medium Prov’d (1756)
  • Review of Benjamin Hoadley and Benjamin Wilson, Observations on a Series of Electrical Experiments (1756)
  • Review of Johann Georg Keyssler, Travels (1756)
  • Review of Elizabeth Harrison, Miscellanies (1756)
  • Review of Jonas Hanway, A Journal of Eight Days Journey (1757)
  • Review of Jonas Hanway, A Journal of Eight Days Journey, Second Edition (1757)
  • Reply to a Letter from Jonas Hanway in the Gazetteer (1757)
  • Review of Samuel Bever, The Cadet (1756)
  • Review of the Test and Con-Test (1756)
  • Review of William Whitehead, Elegies (1757)
  • Review of A Letter to a Gentleman in the Country on the Death of Admiral Byng (1757)
  • Preliminary Discourse in the London Chronicle
  • Advertisement for Francis Barber in the Daily Advertiser
  • "Dedication to John Lindsay, Evangelical History of Our Lord Jesus Christ Harmonized
  • Introduction to the Universal Chronicle (1758)
  • Of the Duty of a Journalist (1758)
  • Advertisement Against Unauthorized Reprints of the Idler (1759)
  • Advertisement for the Public Ledger in the Universal Chronicle (1760)
  • To The Public in the Public Ledger (1760)
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number I [Public Ledger]
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number II [Public Ledger]
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number III [Public Ledger]
  • Preface to J. Elmer, Tables of Weights and Prices
  • From The Italian Library Containing an Account of the Lives and Works of the most valuable authors of Italy (1757)
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription, Le Poesie di Giuseppe Baretti (1758)
  • Dedication to A Dictionary of the English and Italian Languages (1760)
  • Preface to Easy Phraseology, for the Use of Young Ladies Who Intend to Learn the Colloquial Part of the Italian Language (1775)
  • Advertisement [For The World Displayed]
  • Introduction (1759) [From The World Displayed]
  • Advertisement for Pilgrim's Progress
  • Letter I. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter II. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter III. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter to the Society of Arts (26 February 1760)
  • Letter to the Society of Arts (8 December 1760)
  • Address of the Painter’s, Sculptors, &Architects to George III (1761)
  • Preface to A Catalogue of the Pictures, Sculptures, Models, Drawings, Prints, &c Exhibited by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain at the Great Room in Spring Gardens Charing Cross May the 17th Anno 1762 Being the Third year of their Exhibition (1762)
  • Review of William Tytler, Historical and Critical Enquiry into the Evidence Produced … Against Mary Queen of Scots
  • Contributions to John Kennedy, A Complete System of Astronomical Chronology, Unfolding the Scriptures
  • Proposals and Advertisement [for Anna Williams, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse] (1762)
  • Advertisement [for Anna Williams, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse] (1766)
  • Dedication to Jerusalem Delivered (1763)
  • Dedication to The Works of Metastasio (1767)
  • Dedication to Cyrus: A Tragedy (1768)
  • Review of Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller
  • Dedication for Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
  • 23 Sept. 1765 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 1–4 Oct. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 20 Nov. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 19 Dec. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 24 December 1765 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 3 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 8 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 14 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 23 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 23 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 13 March 1769 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 1 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 13 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 September 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 September 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 5 Sept. 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • Dedication for George Adams, A Treatise Describing and Explaining the Construction and Use of New Celestial and Terrestrial Globes
  • Dedication to John Gwynn, London and Westminster Improved
  • Preface to Alexander MacBean, A Dictionary of Ancient Geography
  • Meditation on a Pudding
  • Hereford Infirmary Appeal
  • Dedication for A General History of Music (1776)
  • From A General History of Music, Vol. II (1782)
  • Dedication to An Account of the Musical Performance . . . in Commemoration of Handel (1785)
  • Advertisement for the Spectator
  • Dedication to Zachary Pearce, A Commentary, with Notes, on the Four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles
  • Letter of 16 May 1777
  • The Petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common Council Assembled, Friday 6 June 1777
  • Letter to Lord Bathurst, the Lord Chancellor, 8 June 1777
  • Letter to William Murray, First Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, Wednesday, 11 June 1777
  • Petition of Mrs. Mary Dodd to the Queen
  • Dodd’s Letter to the King, Sunday, 22 June 1777
  • Petition of William Dodd to the King, Monday, 23 June 1777
  • Dodd’s Last Solemn Declaration, Wednesday, 25 June 1777
  • Johnson’s Observations on the Propriety of Pardoning William Dodd, Wednesday, 25 June 1777
  • Introduction and Conclusion to Occasional Papers (1777)
  • Proposal for Printing William Shaw, An Analysis of the Scotch Celtic Language
  • Dedication to Sir Joshua Reynolds, Seven Discourses
  • Preface to Thomas Maurice, Oedipus Tyrannus
  • The Case of Collier v. Flint
  • Translation of Sallust, De Bello Catilinario
  • General Rules of the Essex Head Club
  • On the Character and Duty of an Academick
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© 2023
Preface to The Preceptor
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By Johnson, Samuel

Samuel Johnson: Johnson on Demand

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PREFACE TO THE PRECEPTOR (1748)
[Editorial Introduction]
Robert Dodsley was one of the publishers instrumental in offering Johnson the contract to write A Dictionary of the English Language, which he signed on 15 April 1746. Another of Dodsley’s projects—one that he prosecuted independently—was The Preceptor, an educational work designed for a niche in between John Newbery’s more elementary Circle of the Sciences (1745–46) and the many more specialized and technical introductions to its subjects that were available at the time, many of them written in Latin.1 In addition to Johnson, Dodsley recruited several other authors to help with the work. Johnson’s contributions are the preface and the moral fable “The Vision of Theodore, the Hermit of Teneriffe.” Introducing the latter in Volume XVI of the Yale Edition, Gwin Kolb notes that “The Preceptor contains a Dedication, a Preface . . . and twelve parts, devoted, respectively, to Reading, Speaking, and Writing Letters; Arithmetic, Geometry, and Architecture; Geography and Astronomy; Chronology and History; Rhetoric and Poetry; Drawing; Logic; Natural History; Ethics, or Morality; Trade and Commerce; Laws and Government; and Human Life and Manners” (179). “Human Life and Manners” comprises Johnson’s fable and two others, one by Robert Lowth and one by Joseph Spence. Hazen reasonably suggested that Johnson may have had an editorial role in the project, but, as Fleeman says, “the evidence is tenuous” (Bibliography, I.152). Irma Z. Sherwood has made a good case, on internal evidence, for Johnson’s authorship of the introduction to section 12, which immediately precedes his “Hermit of Teneriffe.”2 It may be, however, that he merely edited or rewrote it, and we have consigned it to the planned volume Contributions to the Works of Others.
The preface, like Johnson’s Plan of a Dictionary (1747), roughly maps out the field of knowledge available to learners. It also extends his thinking about the secondary school curriculum begun in his “Schemes for the Classes of a Grammar School” (1735; see p. 18 above). Bishop Percy told Boswell that the preface was Johnson’s favorite of his own writings (Life, I.192, 537). The fact that Johnson revised the work for the second edition


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of The Preceptor (1754) provides some support for this declaration because Johnson seldom bothered to revise his occasional or indeed many of his other writings.
The Preceptor was published, according to the General Advertiser, on 7 April 1748; it is listed as the first item in “Books Published” in the Gentleman’s Magazine for April 1748 (XVIII.192). The second edition, with the preface revised by Johnson, was published in June 1754. Our text is taken from a copy of the first edition, but we have entered the revisions in the second edition that appear to be authorial.
Preface
The importance of education is a point so generally understood and confessed, that it would be of little use to attempt any new proof or illustration of its necessity and advantages.
At a time when so many schemes of education have been projected, so many proposals offered to the publick, so many schools opened for general knowledge, and so many lectures in particular sciences attended; at a time when mankind seems intent rather upon familiarising than enlarging the several arts; and every age, sex, and profession is invited to an acquaintance with those studies, which were formerly supposed accessible only to such as had devoted themselves to literary leisure, and dedicated their powers to philosophical enquiries; it seems rather requisite that an apology should be made, for any furthera attempt to smooth a path so frequently beaten, to recommend attainments so ardently pursued, and so officiously1 directed.
That this generalb,2 desire may not be frustrated, our schools seem yet to want some book, which may excite curiosity by its variety, encourage diligence by its facility, and reward application by its usefulness. In examining the treatises hitherto offered to the youth of this nation, there appeared none that did not fail in one or other of these essential qualities;


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none that were not either unpleasing, or abstruse, or crouded with learning very rarely applicable to the purposes of common life.3
Every man, who has been engaged in teaching, knows with how much difficulty youthful minds are confined to close application, and how readily they deviate to any thing, rather than attend to that which is imposed as a task.4 That this disposition, when it becomes inconsistent with the forms of education, is to be checked, will readily be granted; but since, though it may be in some degree obviated,5 it cannot wholly be suppressed, it is surely rational to turn it to advantage, by taking care that the mind shall never want objects on which its faculties may be usefully employed. It is not impossible, that this restless desire of novelty,6 which gives so much trouble to the teacher, may be often the struggle of the understanding starting from that, to which it is not by nature adapted, and travelling in search of something on which it may fix with greater satisfaction. For without supposing each man, particularly marked out by his genius for particular performances,7 it may be easily conceived, that when a numerous class of boys is confined indiscriminately to the same forms of composition, the repetition of the same words, or the explication of the same sentiments, the employment must, either by nature or accident,c be less suitable to some than others;d that


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the ideas to be contemplated, may be too difficult for the apprehension of one, and too obvious for that of another:e they may be such as some understandings cannot reach, though others look down upon them as below their regard. Every mind in its progress through the different stages of scholastic learning, must be often in one of these conditions,f must either flag with the labour, or grow wanton with the facility of the work assigned; and in either state it naturally turns aside from the track before it. Weariness looks out for relief, and leisure for employment, and surely it is rational to indulge the wanderings of both. For the faculties which are too lightly burthen’d with the business of the day, may with great propriety add to it some other enquiry; and he that finds himself over-wearied by a task, which perhaps, with all his efforts, he is not able to perform, is undoubtedly to be justified in addicting himself rather to easier studies, and endeavouring to quit that which is above his attainment, for that which nature has not made him incapable of pursuing with advantage.
That therefore this roving curiosity may not be unsatisfied, it seems necessary to scatter in its way such allurements as may withhold it from an useless and unbounded dissipation; such as may regulate it without violence, and direct it without restraint; such as may suit every inclination, and fit every capacity; may employ the stronger genius, by operations of reason, and engage the less active or forcible mind, by supplying it with easy knowledge, and obviating that despondence, which quickly prevails, when nothing appears but a succession of difficulties, and one labour only ceases that another may be imposed.
A book intended thus to correspond with all dispositions, and afford entertainment for minds of different powers, is necessarily to contain treatises on different subjects. As it is designed for schools, though for the higher classes, it is confined wholly to such parts of knowledge as young minds may


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comprehend; and as it is drawn up for readers yet unexperienced in life, and unable to distinguish the useful from the ostentatious or unnecessary parts of science,8 it is requisite that a very nice distinction should be made, that nothing unprofitable should be admitted for the sake of pleasure, nor any arts of attraction neglected, that might fix the attention upon more important studies.
These considerations produced the book which is here offered to the publick,g as better adapted to the great design of pleasing by instruction, than any which has hitherto been admitted into our seminaries9 of literature.1 There are not indeed wanting in the world compendiums of science, but many were written at a time when philosophy was imperfect, as that of G. Valla;2 many contain only naked schemes, or synoptical tables, as that of Stierius;3 and others are too large and voluminous, as that of Alstedius;4 and, what is not to be considered as the least objection, they are generally in a language, which, to boys, is more difficult than the subject; and it is too hard a task to be condemned to learn a newh science in an unknown tongue. As in life, so in study, it is dangerous to do more things than one at a time; and the mind is not to be harrassed with unnecessary obstructions, in a way, of which the natural and unavoidable asperity5 is such as too frequently produces despair.


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If the language however had been the only objection to any of the volumes already extant, the schools might have been supplied at a small expence by a translation; but none could be found that was not so defective, redundant, or erroneous, as to be of more danger than use. It was necessary then to examine, whether upon every single science there was not some treatise written for the use of scholars, which might be adapted to this design, so that a collection might be made from different authors, without the necessity of writing new systems. This search was not wholly without success; for two authors were found, whose performances might be admitted with little alteration.6 But so widely does this plan differ from all others, so much has the state of many kinds of learning been changed, or so unfortunately have they hitherto been cultivated, that none of the other subjects were explained in such a manner as was now required; and therefore neither care nor expence has been spared to obtain new lights, and procure to this book the merit of an original.7
With what judgment the design has been formed, and with what skill it has been executed, the learned world is now to determine. But before sentence shall pass, it is proper to explain more fully what has been intended, that censure may not be incurred by the omission of that which the original plan did not comprehend; to declare more particularly who


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they are to whose instruction these treatises pretend, that a charge of arrogance and presumption may be obviated; to lay down the reasons which directed the choice of the several subjects; and to explain more minutely the manner in which each particular part of these volumes is to be used.
The title has already declared, that these volumes are particularly intended for the use of schools, and therefore it has been the care of the authors to explain the several sciences, of which they have treated, in the most familiar manner; for the mind used only to common expressions, and inaccurate ideas, does not suddenly conform itself to scholastic modes of reasoning, or conceive the nice distinctions of a subtile philosophy, and may be properly initiated in speculative studies by an introduction like this, in which the grossness of vulgar conception is avoided, without the observation of metaphysical8 exactness. It is observed, that in the course of the natural world no change is instantaneous, but all its vicissitudes are gradual and slow; the motions of intellect proceed in the like imperceptible progression,i and proper degrees of transition from one study to another are therefore necessary; but let it not be chargedj upon the writers of this book, that they intended to exhibit more than the dawn of knowledge, or pretended to raise in the mind any nobler product than the blossoms of science, which more powerful institutions9 may ripen into fruit.
For this reason it must not be expected, that in the following pages should be found a complete circle of the sciences;1 or that any authors, now deservedly esteemed, should be rejected to make way for what is here offered. It was intended by the means of these precepts, not to deck the mind with


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ornaments, but to protect it from nakedness; not to enrich it with affluence, but to supply it with necessaries. The enquiry therefore was not whatk degrees of knowledge are desirable, but what are in most stations of lifel indispensably required; and the choice was determined not by the splendor of any part of literature, but by the extent of its use, and the inconvenience which its neglect was likely to produce.
I. The prevalence of this consideration appears in the first part, which is appropriated to the humble purposes of teaching to read, and speak, and write letters; an attempt of little magnificence, but in which no man needs to blush for having employed his time, if honour be estimated by use. For precepts of this kind, however neglected, extend their importance as far as men are found who communicate their thoughts one to another; they are equally useful to the highest and the lowest; they may often contribute to make ignorance less inelegant; and may it not be observed, that they are frequently wanted for the embellishment even of learning?
In order to shew the proper usem of this part, which consists of various exemplifications of such differences of stile as require correspondent diversities of pronunciation, it will be proper to inform the scholar, that there are in general three forms of stile, each of which demands itsn particular mode of elocution: the familiar, the solemn, and the pathetic.2 That in the familiar, he that reads is only to talk with a paper in his hand, and to indulge himself in all the lighter liberties of voice, as when he reads the common articles of a newspaper, or a cursory letter of intelligence3 or business. That


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the solemn stile, such as that of a serious narrative, exactso an uniform steddinessp of speech, equal, clear, and calm. That for the pathetic, such as an animated oration, it is necessary the voice be regulated by the sense, varying and rising with the passions. These rules, which are the most general, admit a great number of subordinate observations, which must be particularly adapted to every scholar; for it is observable, that though very few read well, yet every man errs in a different way. But let one remark never be omitted: inculcate strongly to every scholar the danger of copying the voice of another; an attempt, which though it has been often repeated, is always unsuccessful.
The importance of writing letters with propriety justly claims to be consider’d with care, since next to the power of pleasing with his presence, every man would wish to be able to give delight at a distance. Thisq great art should be diligently taught, the rather, becauser of those letters which are most useful, and by which the general business of life is transacted, there are no examples easily to be found.4 It seems the general fault of those who undertake this part of education, that they propose for the exercise of their scholars, occasions which rarely happen; such as congratulations and condolances, and neglect those without which life cannot proceed. It is possible to pass many years without the necessity of writing panegyrics or epithalamiums;5 but every man has frequent occasion to state a contract, or demand a debt, or make a narrative of some minute incidents of common life. On these subjects therefore young persons should be taught


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to think justly, and write clearly, neatly, and succinctly, lest they come from school into the world without any acquaintance with common affairs, and stand idle spectators of mankind, in expectation that some great event will give them an opportunity to exert their rhetoric.
II. The second place is assigned to geometry; on the usefulness of which it is unnecessary to expatiate6 in an age, when mathematical studies have so much engaged the attention of all classes of men. This treatise, is one of those which have been borrowed, being a translation from the work of Mr. Le Clerc;7 and is not intended as more than the first initiation. In delivering the fundamental principles of geometry, it is necessary to proceed by slow steps, that each proposition may be fully understood before another is attempted. For which purpose it is not sufficient, that when a question is asked in the words of the book, the scholar likewise can in the words of the book return the proper answer; for this may be only an act of memory, not of understanding; it is always proper to vary the words of the question, to place the proposition in different points of view, and to require of the learner an explanation in his own terms, informing him however when they are improper. By this method the scholar will become cautious and attentive, and the master will know with certainty the degree of his proficiency. Yet, though this rule is generally right, I cannot but recommend a precept of Pardie’s, that when the student cannot be made to comprehend some particular part, it should be, for that time, laid aside, till new light shall arise from subsequent observation.8
When this compendium is completely understood, the scholar may proceed to the perusal of Tacquet,9 afterwards


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of Euclid himself, and then of the modern improvers of geometry, such as Barrow, Keil ands Sir Isaac Newton.1
III. The necessity of some acquaintance with geography and astronomy will not be disputed. If the pupil is born to the ease of a large fortune, no part of learning is more necessary to him, than the knowledge of the situation of nations, on which their interests generally depend; if he is dedicated to any of the learned professions, it is scarcely possible that he will not be obliged to apply himself in some part of his life to these studies, as no other branch of literature can be fully comprehended without them; if he is designed for the arts of commerce, or agriculture, some general acquaintance with these sciences will be found extremely useful to him; in a word, no studies afford more extensive, more wonderful, or more pleasing scenes; and therefore there can be no ideas impressed upon the soul, which can more conduce to its future entertainment.
In the pursuit of these sciences it will be proper to proceed with the same gradation and caution as in geometry. And it is always of use to decorate the nakedness of science, by interspersing such observations and narratives, as may amuse the mind and excite curiosity.2 Thus, in explaining the state of the polar regions, it might be fit to read the narrative of the Englishmen that wintered in Greenland,3 which will make


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young minds sufficiently curious after the cause of such a length of night, and intenseness of cold; and many stratagems of the same kind might be practised to interest them in all parts of their studies, and call in their passions to animate their enquiries. When they have read this treatise, it will be proper to recommend to them Varenius’s geography, and Gregory’s astronomy.4
IV. The study of chronology and history seems to be one of the most natural delights of the human mind. It is not easy to live without enquiring by what means every thing was brought into the state in which we now behold it, or without finding in the mind some desire of being informed concerning the generations of mankind, that have been in possession of the world before us, whethert they were better or worse than ourselves; or what good or evil has been derived to us from their schemes, practices, and institutions. These are enquiries which history alone can satisfy; and history can only be made intelligible by some knowledge of chronology, the science by which events are ranged in their order, and the periods of computation are settled; and which therefore assist the memory by method, and enlighten the judgment, by shewing the dependence of one transaction on another. Accordingly it should be diligently inculcated to the scholar,5 that unless he fixes in his mind some idea of the time in which each man of eminence lived, and each action was performed, with some part of the contemporary history of the rest of the world, he will consume his life in useless reading, and darken his mind


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with a croud of unconnected events, his memory will be perplexed with distant transactions resembling one another, and his reflections be like a dream in a fever, busy and turbulent, but confused and indistinct.
The technical part of chronology, or the art of computing and adjusting time, as it is very difficult, so it is not of absolute necessity, but should however be taught, so far as it can be learned without the loss of those hours which are required for attainments of nearer concern. The student may join with this treatise Le Clerc’s Compendium of History,6 and afterwards may, for the historical part of chronology, procure Helvicus’s and Isaacson’s tables;7 and if he is desirous of attaining the technical part, may first peruse Holder’s Account of Time, Hearne’s Ductor Historicus, Strauchius, the first part of Petavius’s Rationarium Temporum; and at length Scaliger de Emendatione Temporum.8 And for instruction in the method of his historical studies, he may consult Hearne’s Ductor Historicus,


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Wheare’s lectures,9 Rawlinson’s Directions for the Study of History:1 and for ecclesiastical history, Cave and Dupin, Baronius and Fleury.u,2
V. Rhetoric and poetry supply life with its highest intellectual pleasures; and in the hands of virtue are of great use for the impression of just sentiments, and recommendation of illustrious examples.v In the practice of these great arts, so much more is the gift of nature than the effect of education, that nothing is attempted here but to teach the mind some general heads of observation, to which the beautiful passages of the best writers may commonly be reduced. In the use of this it is notw proper, that the teacher should confine himself to the examples before him, for by that method he will never enable his pupils to make just applicationx of the rules; but havingy


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inculcated the true meaning of each figure, he should require them to exemplify it by their own observations, pointing to them the poem, or, in longer works, the book or canto in which an example may be found, and leaving them to discover the particular passage by the light of the rules which they have lately learned.
For a farther progress in these studies they may consult Quintilian3 and Vossius’s rhetoric;4 the art of poetry will be best learned from Bossu and Bohours in French,5 together with Dryden’s essays and prefaces,6 the critical papers of Addison,7 Spence on Pope’s Odyssey,z,8 and Trapp’s Praelectiones Poeticae;9 but a more accurate and philosophical account is expected from a commentary upon Aristotle’s art of poetry, with which the literature of this nation will be in a short time augmented.1
VI.a With regard to the practice of drawing, it is not necessary to give any directions, the use of the treatise being only


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to teach the proper method of imitating the figures which are annex’d.b,2 It will be proper to incite the scholars to industry, by shewing in other books the use of the art, and informing them how much it assists the apprehension, and relieves the memory; and if they are oblig’dc sometimes to write descriptions of engines,3 utensils,4 or any complex pieces of workmanship, theyd will more fully apprehend the necessity of an expedient which so happily supplies the defects of language, and enables the eye to receive what cannot be conveyed to the mind any other way. When they have read this treatise, and practis’d upon these figures, their theory may be improved by the Jesuit’s Perspective,5 and their manual operations by other figures which may be easily procured.
VII. Logic, or the art of arranging and connecting ideas, of forming and examining arguments, is universally allow’d to be an attainment in the utmost degree worthy the ambition of that being, whose highest honour it is to be endued with reason; but it is doubted, whether that ambition has yet been gratified, and whether the powers of ratiocination have been much improved by any systems of art or methodical institutions. The logic which for so many ages kept possession of the schools,6 has at last been condemned as a meere art of wrangling, of very little use in the pursuit of truth; and later writers have contented themselves with giving an account of


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the operations of the mind, marking the various stages of her progress, and giving some general rules for the regulation of her conduct. The method of these writers is here followed; but without a servile adherence to any, and with endeavours to make improvements upon all. This work however laborious, has yet been fruitless, if there be truth in an observation very frequently made, that logicians out of the school do not reason better than men unassisted by those lights which their science is supposed to bestow. It is not to be doubted but that logicians may be sometimes overborn by their passions, or blinded by their prejudices; and that a man may reason ill, as he may act ill, not because he does not know what is right, but because he does not regard it; yet it is not more the fault of his art that it does not direct him when his attention is withdrawn from it, than it is the defect of his sight that he misses his way when he shuts his eyes. Against this cause of error there is no provision to be made, otherwise than by inculcating the value of truth, and the necessity of conquering the passions. But logic may likewise fail to produce its effects upon common occasions, for want of being frequently and familiarly applied, till its precepts may direct the mind imperceptibly as the fingers of a musician are regulated by his knowledge of the tune. This readiness of recollection is only to be procured by frequent impression; and therefore it will be proper when logic has been once learned, the teacher take frequent occasion, in the most easy and familiar conversation, to observe when its rules are preserved and when they are broken, and that afterwards he read no authors, without exacting of his pupil an account of every remarkable exemplification or breach of the laws of reasoning.
When this system has been digested, if it be thought necessary to proceed farther in the study of method, it will be proper to recommend Crousaz, Watts, Le Clerc, Wolfius, and Locke’s essay on human understanding;7 and if there be


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imagined any necessity of adding the peripatetic logic, which has been perhaps condemned without a candid trial, it will be convenient to proceed to Sanderson, Wallis, Crackanthorp and Aristotle.8
VIII. To excite a curiosity after the works of God, is the chief design of the small specimen of natural history inserted in this collection; which, however, may be sufficient to put the mind in motion, and in some measure to direct its steps; but its effects may easily be improved by a philosophic master, who will every day find a thousand opportunities of turning the attention of his scholars to the contemplation of the objects that surround them, of laying open the wonderful art with which every part of the universe is formed, and the providence which governs the vegetable and animal creation. He may lay before them the Religious Philosopher, Ray, Derham’s Physico-Theology, together with the Spectacle de la Nature; and in time recommend to their perusal, Rondoletius and Aldrovandus.9


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IX. But how much soever the reason may be strengthened by logic, or the conceptions of the mind enlarged by the study of nature, it is necessary the man be not suffered to dwell upon them so long as to neglect the study of himself, the knowledge of his own station in the ranks of being, and his various relations to the innumerable multitudes which surround him, and with which his Maker has ordained him to be united for the reception and communication of happiness. To consider these aright is of the greatest importance, since from these arise duties which he cannot neglect.fEthics or morality, therefore, is one of the studies which ought to begin with the first glimpse of reason, and only end with life itself. Other acquisitions are merely temporary benefits, except as they contribute to illustrate the knowledge, and confirm the practice of morality and piety, which extend their influence beyond the grave, and increase our happiness through endless duration.
This great science therefore must be inculcated with care and assiduity, such as its importance ought to incite in reasonable minds; and for the prosecution of this design, fit opportunities


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are always at hand. As the importance of logic is to be shown,g by detecting false arguments, the excellence of morality is to be displayed, by proving the deformity, the reproach, and the misery of all deviations from it. Yet it is to be remembered, that the laws of mere morality are of no coercive power; and however they may by conviction of their fitness please the reasoner in the shade, when the passions stagnate without impulse, and the appetites are secluded from their objects, they will be of little force against the ardour of desire, or the vehemence of rage, amidst the pleasures and tumults of the world. To counteract the power of temptations, hope must be excited by the prospect of rewards, and fear by the expectation of punishment; and virtue may owe her panegyrics to morality, but must derive her authority from religion.
When therefore the obligations of morality are taught, let the sanctions of Christianity never be forgotten; by which it will be shown,h that they give strength and lustre to each other, religion will appear to be the voice of reason, and morality the will of God. Under this article must be recommendedi Tully’s Offices, Grotius, Puffendorff, Cumberland’s Laws of Nature, and the excellent Mr. Addison’s Moral and Religious Essays.1
X. Thus far the work is composed for the use of scholars, merely as they are men. But it was thought necessary to introduce something that might be particularly adapted to thatj country for which it is designed; and therefore a discourse


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has been added upon trade and commerce, of which it becomes every man of this nation to understand at least the general principles, as it is impossible that any should be high or low enough, not to be in some degree affected by their declension or prosperity. It is therefore necessary that it should be universally known among us, what changes of property are advantageous, or when the ballance of trade is on our side; what are the products or manufactures of other countries; and how far one nation may in any species of traffickk obtain or preserve superiority over another. The theory of trade is yet but little understood, and therefore the practice is often without real advantage to the publick:l but it might be carried on with more general success, if its principles were better considered; and to excite that attention, is our chief design. To the perusal of this book may succeed that of Mun upon foreign trade, Sir Josiah Child, Locke upon coin, Davenant’s treatises, the British Merchant, Dictionaire de Commerce, and for an abstract or compendium Gee, and an improvementm that may hereafter be made upon this plan.2


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XI. The principles of laws and government, come next to be consider’d; by which men are taught to whom obedience is due, for what it is paid, and in what degree it may be justly required. This knowledge by peculiar necessity constitutes a part of the education of an Englishman, who professes to obey his prince according to the law, and who is himself a secondary legislator, as he gives his consent by his representative, to all the laws by which he is bound, and has a right to petition the great council of the nation, whenever he thinks they are deliberating upon an act detrimental to the interest of the community. This is therefore a subject to which the thoughts of a young man ought to be directed; and that he may obtain such knowledge as may qualify him to act and judge as one of a free people, let him be directed to add to this introduction, Fortescue’s Treatises,n,3 N. Bacon’s Historical Discourse on the Laws and Government of England,4 Temple’s Introduction,5 Locke on Government,6 Zouch’s Elementa Juris Civilis,o,7


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Plato Redivivus,8 Gurdon’s History of Parliaments,9 and Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity.1
XII. Having thus supply’d the young student with knowledge, it remains now, that he learns its application; and that thus qualified to act his part, he be at last taught to chuse it. For this purpose a section is added upon human life and manners;2 in which he is cautioned against the danger of indulging his passions,3 of vitiating his habits, and depraving his sentiments. He is instructed in these points by three fables, two of which werep of the highest authority, in the ancient pagan world.4 But at this he is not to rest, for if he expects to be wise and happy, he must diligently study the Scriptures of God.
Such is the book now proposed, as the first initiation into the knowledge of things, which has been thought by many to be too long delayed in the present forms of education. Whether the complaints be not often ill-grounded, may perhaps be disputed; but it is at least reasonable to believe, that greater proficiency might sometimes be made; that real knowledge might be more early communicated; and that children might be allowed, without injury to health, to spend many of those hours upon useful employments, which are generally lost in idleness and play; therefore the public will surely encourage an experiment, by which, if it fails, nobody is hurt, and if it succeeds,q all the future ages of the world


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may find advantage; which may eradicate or prevent vice, by turning to a better use those moments in which it is learned or indulged; and in some sense lengthen life by teaching posterity to enjoy those years which have hitherto been lost. The success, and even the trial of this experiment, will depend upon those to whom the care of our youth is committed; and a due sense of the importance of their trust, will easily prevail upon them to encourage a work which pursues the design of improving education. Ifr any part of the following performance shall upon trial be found capable of amendment, if any thing can be added or alter’d, so as to render the attainment of knowledge more easy; the editor will be extremely oblig’d to any gentleman, particularly those who are engag’d in the business of teaching, for such hints or observations as may tend towards the improvement of this book,s and will spare neither expence nor trouble in making the best use of their informations.


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Editorial Notes
1 Hazen identifies The Circle of the Sciences as Dodsley’s target competition (p. 171). Johnson mentions many more advanced books in his preface (see below).
2 “Johnson and The Preceptor: An Addition to the Johnson Canon,” Transactions of the Johnson Society of the Northwest, VII (1974), 1–18.
a farther 48
1 Officiously: “Kindly; with unasked kindness” (Dictionary, sense 2).
b national 48
2 In changing “national” to “general,” SJ may be indicating his sense of the meaning of the word national; see Dictionary, sense 1, and cf. “The Duty of an Academick,” p. 611, n. 1 below.
3 John Newbery’s Circle of the Sciences (see headnote above) must be in the “unpleasing” category. SJ mentions the “abstruse” and “crouded” works below.
4 Cf. SJ’s Life of Milton: “Every man, that has ever undertaken to instruct others, can tell what slow advances he has been able to make, and how much patience it requires to recall vagrant inattention, to stimulate sluggish indifference, and to rectify absurd misapprehension” (Yale, XXI.116–17).
5 Obviate: “To meet in the way; to prevent” (Dictionary).
6 Cf. Rambler 151, where the first stage of intellectual life is described as entertaining novelty with “vivacious and desultory curiosity” (Yale, V.39).
7 SJ generally deprecated the popular idea that individuals have a genius for one subject rather than another. See, e.g., his Life of Cowley: “The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction” (Yale, XXI.6).
c employment . . . accident, 54] employment, must either by nature or accident^ 48
d less . . . others 54] differently received by them 48
e apprehension . . . another 54] apprehension of some, and too obvious for that of others 48
f in . . . conditions 54] in some of these circumstances 48
8 Science: “Knowledge” (Dictionary, sense 1).
g public 54
9 Seminary: “A breeding place; place of education, from whence scholars are transplanted into life” (Dictionary, sense 5).
1 Literature: learning.
2 Giorgio Valla (1447–1500), De Physicis Quaestionibus (1530?), a small octavo beginner’s medical textbook with much quotation of Hippocrates.
3 Stierius (Johann Stier, 1599–1648), Praecepta Doctrinae Logicae, Ethicae, Physicae, Metaphysicae, Sphaericaeque, Brevis Tabellis Compacta: Una cum Quaestionibus Physicae Controversis (editio nova, 1647).
4 Encyclopaedia septem tomis distincta (1630) represents one culmination of the many encyclopedic works of Alstedius; for a complete bibliography, see Howard Hotson, Johann Heinrich Alsted, 1588–1638: Between Renaissance, Reformation, and Universal Reform (2000).
h a new] om. 48
5 Asperity: “harshness . . . difficulty” (OED, sense 5a).
6 Part II, “Geometry” (I.110–54), is a new translation (with reproductions of the figures) of Sébastien Le Clerc (1637–1714), Pratique géométrie (1669), frequently reprinted and translated. Part V, “On Rhetoric and Poetry” (I.321–64), as Dodsley notes (I.321n.), is a slightly altered version of the second part of Anthony Blackwall (1672–1730), Introduction to the Classics (1718; sixth edition, 1746), “designed for the use and instruction of younger scholars; and gentlemen, who have for some years neglected the advantages of their education.”
7 Part VII, “On Logic” (II.1–192), is the first issue of Elements of Logic by William Duncan (1717–60), which was separately published on 17 June 1748. Part IX, “On Ethics, or Morality” (II.241–379), is the first issue of Elements of Moral Philosophy by David Fordyce (1711–51), which was published separately in 1754 (Hazen, p. 173). SJ, Robert Lowth (1710–1787), and Joseph Spence (1699–1768) wrote the fables in Part XII, “On Human Life and Manners” (II.513–56). Part I, “On Reading, Speaking, and Writing Letters” (I.3–109), incorporates extensive quotation of famous writers. The authors of the other sections have not been identified. Hazen speculates that Dodsley may have written them himself (p. 173).
8 Metaphysical: “excessively subtle or abstract” (OED, sense 1a).
i the motions . . . progression 54] if the same progressive order obtains in the motions of intellect 48
j are . . . charged] be therefore necessary, let it not be charged 48
9 Institution: “Education” (Dictionary, sense 4).
1 “Circle of the sciences” alludes specifically to Newbery’s educational project (see p. 169, n. 1 above) as well as, more generally, to encyclopedic works, such as Ephraim Chambers’s Cyclopaedia (1728).
k was . . . what] cannot have been, what 48
l in . . . life] by many characters and employments 48
m to . . . use] to the application 48
n it 54
2 In his Life of Dryden, SJ says, “All polished languages have different styles; the concise, the diffuse, the lofty, and the humble” (Yale, XXI.446). In the same work, he praises Religio Laici, “in which the familiar is very properly diversified with the solemn, and the grave with the humourous” (Yale, XXI.469).
3 Intelligence: news.
o expects 48
p steadiness 54
q And this 48
r as 48
4 SJ rejects as inadequate to these purposes, most importantly, Samuel Richardson’s Letters Written to and for Particular Friends, on the Most Important Occasions (1741), as well as the earlier Secretary’s Guide . . . Containing Variety of Forms for inditing Letters upon Any Subject Whatsoever (1720).
5 Epithalamiums: celebrations of a marriage.
6 Expatiate: “To enlarge upon in language” (Dictionary, sense 2).
7 Sébastien Le Clerc, Pratique de la géométrie (1669); see above, p. 174, n. 6.
8 Ignace Gaston Pardies (1636–73), Elémens de géométrie (1671), trans. John Harris (9th ed., 1734), Short, but yet Plain Elements of Geometry. Shewing How by a Brief and Easie Method, most of what is necessary and Useful in Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, and other Excellent Geometricians, both Ancient and Modern, may be Understood. SJ cites Instruction II, sig. [A4r].
9 Andrea Tacquet (1612–60), Elementa Geometriae Planae et Solidae, quibus Accedunt Selecta ex Archimede Theoremata (1654; 1665; 1672; 1701). Tacquet abstracts Euclid for the use of students.
s and particularly 48
1 Isaac Barrow (1630–77) edited Euclid for students in Euclidis Elementorum Libri XV. breviter demonstrati (1655), but went on to studies of magnitudes, modes of motion, and curves in his thirteen Lectiones Geometricae (1670). To his edition of Euclid’s Elements (1715), John Keill (1671–1721) added The Elements of Plain and Spherical Trigonometry (trans., 2nd ed., 1728). Isaac Newton, along with Gottfried Leibniz, is credited with transcending geometry to create the branch of mathematics now called calculus. Newton used calculus to solve problems concerning the movement of the planets in Principia Mathematica (1687).
2 Cf. SJ’s intention in the preface to the Dictionary to “intersperse with verdure and flowers the dusty desarts of barren philology” (Yale, XVIII.94).
3 SJ may mean Edward Pellham’s Gods Power and Providence: Shewed, in the Miraculous Preservation and Deliverance of Eight Englishmen, Left by Mischance in Green-land Anno 1630, Nine Moneths and Twelve Dayes (1631), which appears in Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae, vol. IV (1744), 482. We owe this note to John Hemy, “‘All the future Ages of the World may find Advantage’: Samuel Johnson, Educational Value, and The Preceptor (1748),” MA thesis, Northumbria University (2014), pp. 25–26, n. 89.
4 Bernhard Varen (1622–50), Geographia Generalis, in qua Affectiones Generales Telluris Explicantur, including the earth’s motion, oceans, mountains, and atmosphere considered in general and abstract terms (1650). David Gregory (1625–1720), The Elements of Astronomy, Physical and Geometrical, to which is Annex’d Dr. Halley’s Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets, 2 vols. (1702; trans. 1725), explains the Newtonian universe without using higher mathematics.
t and whether 48
5 Scholar: student.
6 Jean Le Clerc (1657–1736), Compendium Historiae Universalis, ab Initio Mundi ad Tempora Caroli Magni (1698; trans., 1699), goes from Genesis to 800 CE in under two hundred pages.
7 Helvicus (Christoph Helwig, 1581–1617), The Historical and Chronological Theatre of Christopher Helvicus (1609; trans. and augmented, 1687), a folio in threes, arranged in vast tables running across facing pages (four per year), with much space for owners to add annotation. Its treatment of English history indicates a high-church, monarchist outlook. Henry Isaacson (1581–1654), Saturni Ephemerides; sive, Tabula Historico-Chronologica (1633), a large folio dedicated to Charles I, containing tables of all the bishops of England.
8 William Holder (1616–98), A Discourse concerning Time, “for the use of younger students” (1694). SJ quotes this work many times in Dictionary (see, e.g., chronology). Thomas Hearne (1678–1735), Ductor Historicus: or, A Short System of Universal History, and an Introduction to the Study of it, 2 vols. (1704; 3rd ed., 1714) divides history into fifteen epochs, the last of which begins with the Restoration of Charles II. SJ quotes Hearne’s edition of Robert of Gloucester’s Metrical Chronicle in his “History of the English Language” (Yale, XVIII.162–73). Gyles Strauchius (1632–82), Brevarium Chronologicum. Being a Treatise Describing the Terms and Most Celebrated Characters, Periods and Epochas Us’d in Chronology (1657; trans. Richard Sault, 1699). This work is also recommended by John Locke in his Thoughts concerning Education. Dionysius Petavius (1583–1652), author of Opus de Doctrina Temporum, 2 vols. folio (1627), a vast work on theories of time and chronology. His Rationarium Temporum (1633–34) is a summary. Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), to whom SJ compares himself derogatorily in his Latin poem Γνῶθι Σεαυτόν (Yale, VI.271). His immensely scholarly and difficult De Emendatione Temporum (1583) revolutionized chronology.
9 Degory Wheare (1573–1647), The Method and Order of Reading both Civil and Ecclesiastical Histories (1623; trans., Edward Bohun, 3rd ed., reissue, 1698).
1 Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755), trans., A New Method of Studying History: Recommending more easy and complete instructions . . . Originally written in French by M. Langlet du Fresnoy, . . . The whole made English, with variety of improvements and corrections . . . Also, a dissertation by Count Scipi Maffei, 2 vols. (1728).
u Baronius and Fleury] om. 48
2 William Cave (1637–1713), author of Primitive Christianity: or, The religion of the ancient Christians in the first ages of the Gospel, 2 vols. (1673), and several other books of church and apostolic history. Very late in life SJ was reading Cave’s Apostolici, or . . . Lives . . . of the Primitive Fathers (1677), perhaps in the later version, Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria (1741–45). See Yale, I.409–11 and nn. Louis Ellies Du Pin (1657–1719), A New History of Ecclesiastical Writers, 13 vols., trans., William Wotton (2nd ed., 1693). Cardinal Cesare Baronio (1538–1607) of Sora, Annales Ecclesiastici, 18 vols. (1601), vast, double-column folio volumes beginning with the birth of Christ and proceeding in strict chronological order for 1,600 years. Claude Fleury, Histoire Ecclesiastique, 20 vols. (1690–1719). An English translation—The Ecclesiastical History of M. L’Abbé Fleury, with the Chronology of M. Tillemont, by H. Herbert.—was begun by the publisher James Crokatt (2 vols., 1727–28) and completed by William Innys in five volumes in 1732. In a letter to Thomas Birch on 11 March 1748, Crokatt mentions this project as one that put him in debt (British Library, Add MS 4303, f. 201). See SJ’s letter to the Daily Advertiser concerning James Crokatt (p. 220 below). A vastly abbreviated translation, Discourses on Ecclesiastical History, appeared in 1721.
v sentiments, . . . examples] sentiments and illustrious examples 48
w by no means 48
x applications 48
y having once 48
3 Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria. SJ refers to Quintilian in his Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language (Yale, XVIII.43) and his “Grammar of the English Tongue” (Yale, XVIII.284).
4 Gerhard Johann Voss (1577–1649), Commentariorum Rhetoricorum Oratoriarum Institutionum Libri VI (1606). In 1782, SJ lent a copy of some work of Vossius to Queeney Thrale, who was then eighteen (Yale, I.351).
5 René Le Bossu (1631–80), Traité du poëme épique (1675; trans. 1695); Dominique Bouhours (1628–1702), La manière de bien penser dans les ouvrages d’esprit. Dialogues (1687), translated anonymously by “W. J.,” as Monsieur Bossu’s Treatise of the Epick Poem (1695), dedicated to the epic poet and physician Richard Blackmore.
6 See SJ’s Life of Dryden: “Dryden may be properly considered as the father of English criticism, as the writer who first taught us to determine upon principles the merit of composition” (Yale, XXI.436).
7 For SJ’s high opinion of Addison’s criticism in the Spectator “papers,” see his Life of Addison (Yale, XXII.673–78).
z Odyssy 48
8 Joseph Spence, An Essay on Pope’s Odyssey (1726).
9 Joseph Trapp, Praelectiones Poeticae, 3 vols. (1711–19); see SJ’s “Considerations on the Case of Dr. T—s Sermons” (p. 47 above).
1 As Hazen notes (p. 184), SJ mentions William Collins’s prospective edition of Aristotle’s Poetics in his Life of Collins (Yale, XXIII.1329 and n. 6); SJ may himself have brokered a deal for the edition in order to relieve Collins of debt, but Collins never did the work.
a VII. 48
b which are annex’d] om. 48
2 The figures for imitation—shapes, animals, humans, landscapes—were added in 1754 at the end of volume I.
c if . . . oblig’d] by obliging them 48
3 Engine: “Any mechanical complication, in which various movements and parts concur to one effect” (Dictionary, sense 1).
4 Utensil: “An instrument for any use, such as the vessels of the kitchen, or tools of a trade” (Dictionary).
d by which they 48
5 Jean Dubreuil (1602–70), The Practice of Perspective: or, an Easy Method of Representing Natural Objects according to the Rules of Art . . . Written in French by a Jesuit of Paris, trans. Ephraim Chambers (1726).
6 SJ means scholastic logic and its Aristotelian origins, sometimes called “term logic,” in which reasoning is conducted through propositions and syllogisms of various kinds.
e mere 54
7 Jean-Pierre Crousaz, Système de reflexions qui peuvent contribuer à la netteté et à l’étendue de nos connaissances, ou nouvel essai de Logique (1712); translated as A New Treatise of the Art of Thinking; or, a Compleat System of Reflections, concerning the Conduct and Improvement of the Mind. Illustrated with Variety of Characters and Examples drawn from the Ordinary Occurrences of Life, 2 vols. (1724). SJ translated Crousaz’s Commentaire sur la traduction en vers de M. Abbé du Resnel, de l’Essai de M. Pope, sur l’Homme (1738), see Yale, XVII. SJ recommended Isaac Watts, Logic (1725), to the Reverend Daniel Astle (Life, IV.311) and quoted it often in Dictionary. Like Crousaz, Watts employs Lockean epistemology and joins the teaching of logic with the teaching of ethics. Jean Le Clerc wrote Logica, sive ars rationandi (1694). Wolfius (Christian Wolff; 1679–1754), Philosophia Rationalis sive Logica, Methodo Scientifica Pertractata et ad Usum Scientiarum atque Vitae Aptata Praemittitur Discursus Praeliminaris de Philosophia in Genere (1728; editio altera, 1732), is aimed at students and more learned readers and discusses the basis of human knowledge in the three main areas of history, philosophy, and mathematics. John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690), contains a section on logic.
8 Robert Sanderson (1587–1663), Logicae Artis Compendium (1618; 3rd ed., 1631), or the more clearly pedagogical Fasciculus Praeceptorum Logicorum: In Gratiam Juventutis Academicae compositus & typis donatus (editio limatior, 1633). John Wallis (1616–1703), Institutio Logicae (1687). SJ used Wallis’s Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1653) heavily in his “Grammar of the English Tongue” (see Yale, XVIII.306–48 passim). Richard Crackanthorpe (1568–1624), Logica libri quinque (1622; 3rd ed., 1670); in his dedication to Richard Leveson, Crackanthorpe says he wrote the book for youths. Aristotle’s works on logic include On Interpretation, Prior and Posterior Analytics, Categories, Topics, and On Sophistical Refutations. There were many summaries available.
9 Bernard Nieuwentijdt or Nieuwentyt (1654–1718), The Religious Philosopher, or, the Right Use of Contemplating the Works of the Creator . . . Designed for the Conviction of Atheists and Infidels (1718; 3rd ed., “adorned with cuts,” 2 vols., 1724), translated from the Dutch original (1715) by J. Chamberlayne. In his dedication to the Earl of Macclesfield, Chamberlayne calls Nieuwentyt “the Dutch Ray or Derham.” John Ray (1627–1705), The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691), which SJ quotes frequently in Dictionary. William Derham (1657–1735), Physico-Theology, or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God from his Works of Creation (1716), also quoted frequently in Dictionary. Noel Antoine Pluche (1688–1761), Spectacle de la nature (1732), translated as Spectacle de la Nature: or Nature Displayed. Being Discourses on such Particulars of Natural History as were thought most proper to excite the curiosity, and form the minds of youth (2nd ed., 1733), dialogues for instruction. Rondoletius, a mistake for Rondeletius (Guillaume Rondelet; 1507–66), French naturalist. See, for example, Libri de Piscibus Marinis, in quibus verae Piscium effigies expressae sunt (1554). Aldrovandus (Ulisse Aldrovandi; 1522–1605), Italian physician and naturalist, published volume I of his Storia Naturale in 1599. The book ran eventually to thirteen large folios and includes comprehensive literary and heraldic references, as well as copious woodcuts.
f since . . . neglected] and a duty from which he cannot deviate without much danger 48
g shewn 54
h shewn 54
i must be recommended] one cannot sufficiently recommend 48
1 Tully (Marcus Tullius Cicero), De Officiis. Grotius (Huig Van Groot), De veritate religionis Christianae (1639), a work important to the formation of SJ’s religion (Johns. Misc., I.157–58). Samuel Pufendorf (1632–94), The Whole Duty of Man according to the Law of Nature (1673; trans. 1698). Richard Cumberland (1632–1718), A Brief Disquisition of the Law of Nature (1672; trans., 1701), a refutation of Hobbes. Joseph Addison, Maxims, Observations, and Reflections, Moral, Political, and Divine, 2 vols. (1719–20).
j to the advantage of that 48
k traffic 54
l public 54
m Improvements 48
2 Thomas Mun (1571–1641), Englands Treasure by Forraign Trade, or the Ballance of our Forraign Trade is the Rule of our Treasure (1664), posthumously published. Sir Josiah Child (1631–99), A New Discourse on Trade (1665), which discusses the balance of trade, the role of plantations, and interest rates. John Locke, Short Observations on a Printed Paper intituled For Encouraging the Coinage of Silver Money in England and Keeping it There (1695) and Further Considerations concerning Raising the Value of Money (1695). Charles Davenant (1656–1714) wrote several treatises upon economic subjects, including An Essay upon the Ways and Means of Supplying the War (1695), An Essay on the East India Trade (1697), An Essay upon the Probable Methods of Making the People Gainers in the Ballance of Trade (1699), and Essays upon the Ballance of Power; the Right of Making War and Peace, and Alliances; Universal Monarchy (1701). He argues for full employment of the poor, increase of population, and governmental restrictions on business for the benefit of the populace. He was followed by The British Merchant, or Commerce Preserved (1713), a periodical, edited by Charles King and collected (and organized) by him in three volumes (1721). Henry Martyn (1665–1721), Inspector General of the Imports and Exports, was the chief contributor, along with several merchants, including Joshua Gee (1667–1730). Jacques Savary des Brûlons (1657–1716), Dictionnaire universel de commerce, d’ histoire naturelle, d’arts et métiers (1723–30). Joshua Gee, The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered (1729; fifth ed., 1750), a protectionist treatise.
n the Lord Chancellor Fortescue’s Treatises 48
3 John Fortescue (1394?–1476?), The Difference between an Absolute and Limited Monarchy; as it more particularly regards the English Constitution, ed. Sir John Fortescue-Aland (1714). SJ quoted this work—a defense of republican government—in his “History of the English Language” (Yale, XVIII.207–10).
4 Nathaniel Bacon (1584–1654) is now believed to have been the editor of this work by John Selden, first called An Historical Discourse of the Uniformity of the Government of England, 2 vols. (1647–51), another defense of republican principles.
5 William Temple, “An Essay upon the Nature and Original of Government,” in Miscellanea (1680) and often reprinted in Temple’s Works, which SJ quotes often in Dictionary and on which he said he formed his style (Life, I.218).
6 Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1690), the most influential anti-monarchical treatises of the time; neither treatise is quoted in Dictionary.
o Zouch’s . . . Civilis] Harrington’s Oceana 48
7 Richard Zouch (1590–1661), Elementa Iurisprudentiae, Definitionibus, Regulus, et Sententiis Selectoribus Iuris Civilis Illustrata (1629), addressed to the young law students of Great Britain. In his revision, SJ inserted this work by a Laudian royalist in place of James Harrington (1611–77), Oceana (1656), the most famous Republican treatise of the seventeenth century.
8 Henry Neville (1620–94), Plato Redivivus; or a Dialogue concerning Government (1681), another Republican treatise.
9 Thornhagh Gurdon (1663–1733), The History of the High Court of Parliament, Its Antiquity, Preheminence and Authority, 2 vols. (1731). Like Fortescue and Bacon, Gurdon is concerned to show the continuity of English parliamentary government from Anglo-Saxon and even earlier times.
1 Richard Hooker (1554–1600), Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593–1662), frequently quoted in Dictionary.
2 Manners: “General way of life; morals; habits” (Dictionary).
3 Passion: “Violent commotion of the mind” (Dictionary, sense 2).
p are 48
4 For an account of these fables, see headnote, p. 169 above.
q succeeds^ 48
r With this view, if 48
s of this book] om. 54
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Document Details
Document TitlePreface to The Preceptor
AuthorJohnson, Samuel
Creation Date1748
Publ. DateN/A
Alt. TitleN/A
Contrib. AuthorN/A
ClassificationSubject: Education; Subject: Curriculum; Subject: Knowledge; Subject: System; Genre: Preface
PrinterN/A
PublisherRobert Dodsley
Publ. PlaceLondon
VolumeSamuel Johnson: Johnson on Demand
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