WE

(Continued from P. 41.)

E proceed to accompany Mr. Tooke in his inveftigation of the ci-devant prepofitions and adverbs of our language, for particles of fuch denomination have been the common fink and repofitory of all heterogeneous unknown. corruptions. This author, in his letter to Mr. Dunning, publifhed in 1778, afferted that there is not, nor is it poffible there fhould be, a word in any language, which has not a complete meaning and fignification, even when taken by itself. Adjectives, prepofitions, adverbs, &c. have all complete, feparate meanings, not difficult to be difcovered." In our previous examination we have exhibited Mr. Tooke's illuftration of the prepofitive and connective conjunctions, as falfely difcriminated by the elegant Harris, according to the fyftem delivered down to him by grammarians and philofophers on Greek and Latin principles. The particular proofs, deduced by the author of Έπεα Πτερόεντα, to exemplify the meaning of prepofitions and adverbs, are equally convincing to us, in general, as thofe exhibited in favour of his etymology and conjunctions.

We admire and applaud the perfpicacious penetration and laborious investigation of Mr Tooke, and are fully convinced that his philological ftudies will greatly contribute to the found learning of his countrymen. But we like not the fcorner buoyed up by his own felf-confequence, fitting in the hyper-critical chair, boafting of his knowledge of all languages, and oftentatiously displaying his knowledge by quotations and derivations from the Old English, Latin, Greek, Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, French, Norman French, Italian, Spanish, Teutonic, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Ruffian, Gothic, Mafo-Gothic, Hebrew, Perfian, and Chaldean languages, and exulting by comparison of his own fuperiority over the great lexicographer of this country, who, he affirms, was "conyerfant with no languages but English, Latin, and Greek." (P. 302.) Surely the memory of this "coryphæus of literature and democracy" must have failed him, for we are conyinced that Dr. Johnfon could ably tranflate from the French and Italian, and he certainly knew the Saxon characters fufficiently to confult a Lexicon, which is all the knowledge Mr. Tooke poffeffes of fome languages, whence he deduces his derivations. The "high-blown pride" and vanity of this writer,

writer, however, will not be fatisfied with having his own merit acknowledged, but an elevated pillar must be erected to his fame, from the demolifhed tablets and monuments of Spenfer, Warton, Tyrrwhitt, Harris, Lowth, and "Johnson, the worst paffible authority," (p. 567,) on all etymological fubjects. Of this, however, we are affured, that if fuch men as Wilkins, Ben Jonfon, Skinner, and Lye, had not prepared and cleared the way for this pretended autodidantinov, Parfon Horne, he might have laboured not only 30, but 60 years, before he could have edited such a work as the first part of the Diverfions of Purley.

We fhall now proceed, according to the arrangement adopted by us in reviewing the conjunctions, to exhibit Mr. Tooke's derivations of the prepofitions and adverbs, though we believe that philofophical grammarians will not be justified in diflinguishing them by fuch appellations for the future. THOROUGH is proved on the authority of the Anglo-Saxon,

Gothic, Dutch, German, Teutonic, and Greek, to have the fame import as door, anciently spelt and pronounced as floor.

FROM is beginning, origin, fource, fountain, author, from frum, Anglo-Saxon and Gothic, of fuch fignification. OF is the fame as confequence, offspring, fucceffor, follower, from of, a fragment of afara, or aforo, of fuch meaning; this is illustrated by the Ruffian peterhof, which modern affectation has charged into petrovitz.

FOR, to which Dr. Johnfon afcribes forty-fix different fignifications, and Greenwood eighteen, Mr. Tooke derives from fairina, caufe, Gothic, and certainly if caufe is fubftituted in the place of for, it precifely conveys

the idea.

The prepofitions if, unless, but, without, fince, have been already explained when we confidered the conjunctions. To is act, effect, refult, confummation, from the Gothic taui, derived from tho, to act; do, the auxiliary verb, is derived from the fame root, and has the fame meaning as ad in the Latin, which Mr. T. derives from agere, agitum, pronounced agdum, abbreviated ad, or actum at, for every reader knows how frequently the Latin poets dropped the final um.

TILL is the while, fynonymous with the time, contracted till. SANS is a French prepofition, implying abfence, from the old Italian funza.

WITH has been explained amongst the conjunctions, fignifying, in one fenfe, to join; and we ftill retain with, withe, withers, and wither-band; in another, derived from the Saxon wurthen, it is of the fame import with be, or by, and

By is the imperative byth, derived from beon, to be; for be and by was written indifferently by our ancestors, "As Damville beright ought to have the leading of the army, but, bycaufe thei be cofen Germans to the Admirall, thei be miftrusted" (1568 Lodge's Illuft.)

BE is generally ufed with a word understood as inftrument, caufe, agent, &c. whence the omitted word has often. been improperly attributed to by.

BETWEEN is the Saxon imperative, be and twegen, or twain, betwixt two.

BETWIXT is be and twos, Gothic two, Saxon betwoyx, of like import.

BEFORE, BEHIND, BELOW, BESIDE, BESIDES, are be, fore part, hind part, á low place, the fide.

BENEATH means the fame as below, be-neath; neath, an obfolete word, but to be traced in nether, nethermoft, neothe, Anglo-Saxon; from whence the geographical nadir; and hence the whole ferpentine clafs was denominated nadr in the Gothic, and nedre in the Anglo-Saxon; the Englifh adder pronounced anather in the North-west counties. UNDER is on neder.

BEYOND is begeond, Anglo-Saxon; begoned, i. e. be passed. WARD is Anglo-Saxon weard, to look at; so garder means to protect, to keep, to watch, to ward, or guard; fo in Englifh the fame agent is very properly called a looker, a warden, a warder, an overfeer, a keeper, a guard, or a guardian. Accordingly ward may be joined to the name of any perfon, or place, or thing, to or from which our view or fight may be directed, as Romeward, homeward, Godward.

ATHWART, from thweort, Anglo-Saxon, wrefted, twisted; and English, thwart, fwerve, veer; the Gothic is tuzwergan, whence we prefume may be deduced to-fwagger. AMONG, EMONGE, AMONGE, AMONGES, AMONGEST, AMONGST, from the Anglo-Saxon, gemang, gemeneged; English, mingled, i. e. mixed.

YMELL Mr. Tooke fays is y-medled, i. e. mixed, mingled, hence our common medley.

FOR

12

ORIGINAL CRITICISM.

FOR AGAINST, (in the Anglo-Saxon, according to Mr. T. ongegen,) the more generally written ongen, as fo fpelt three times in Matt. x. verfe 35, we fhall give in the words of the author, for we do not approve of his etymology of it.

"I can only fay that I believe it to be a paft participle, derived from the fame verb (whatever it be, for I know it not,) from which comes the collateral Dutch verb Jegener, to meet, rencontrer, to oppofe, &c. And I am the more confirmed in this conjecture, becaufe, in the room of this prepofition, the Dutch employ jegens from jegenen: and the Danes Mod and Imod, from their verb Mäder, of the fame, meaning: and the Swedes Emst from their verb Mota, of the fame meaning. The Danish and Swedith verbs from the Gothic MOTGAN; whence alfo our verb, to meet, and the Dutch Moeten, Gemoeten." P. 423.

AMID, OF AMIDST, fpeak for themselves. They are nearly the Anglo-Saxon on-middes, in the midft, as middle is mid dael, mid-deal, or mid-part.

ALONG is on-long, or on-length, in one fenfe; but along, as
along of you, is from lengian, Anglo-Saxon, to long, to
lengthen, to make long, to fretch out, to produce, and has
the fame fenfe as produced, according to Mr. Tooke.
This laft etymology appears forced.

ROUND, AROUND, ASIDE, ABOARD, ACROSS, ASTRIDE,
require no explanation.

DURING is from the French, durant; PENDING, from pen-
dant; OPPOSITE, from oppofitus, Latin; MOIENING,
from moyennant; SAVE, from the verb, to fave; OUT-
CEPT, from out and capere; OUT-TAKE, and OUT-
TAKEN, fpeak for themfelves.

NIGH, NEAR, NEXT, from Anglo-Saxon nih, neahg, super-
lative nchft.

INSTEAD is the Saxon on-fede, in-ftede, i. e. in place, or
Gothic, fads, hence we have, "go in their ftead,"
homeftead, bedfead, roadftead, girdleftead, (Rom. of the
Role) noonfted, steadfast, steady; and from this root there
has probably been a corruption that has much puzzled
our etymologifts. In the Danish collateral language
there is fedfader, ftedmoder, ftedbroder, ftedsöster, stedbarn,
ftedfon, feddotter, our stepfather, ftepmother, ftepbrother,
tepfifter, ftepbarn, (Yorkshire) ftepfon, stepdaughter,
which originally was ftedfather, &c.

AFTER, Gothic, aftaro, Anglo-Saxon, efter, comparative of aft; and HIND, AFT (the language of our failors) and

BACK,

BACK, were indifferentlyufed by our forefathers as fynonymous, behindan, becftan, and onbac.

On the words DOWN, ADOWN, we will exhibit Mr. Tooke's comment at length, a fair fpecimen of his boldness in conjecture, of the temper with which he treats preceding lexicographers, and the dogmatifm of his critiques.

"Down, ADOWN.

"In the Anglo-Saxon Dun, ADUN. Minthew and Junius derive it from Aww, fubeo.

"Skinner fays' Speciofe alludit Gr. Avvw.'

"Lye fays-- Non male referes ad Arm. Doun profundus.'

"S. Johnfon, in point of etymology and the meaning of words, is always himfelf.

"ADOWN, the adverb, he fays, is from A, and Down; and means-On the ground.'

"ADOWN, the prepofition, means-Towards the ground.'

"But though A DOWN comes from A, and Down-DOWN, the prepofition, he fays, comes from ADUNA, Saxon: and means; 1ft. Along a defcent; and, zdly. Towards the mouth of a river.

"Down, the adverb, he fays, means- -On the ground.' But DOWN, the fubftantive, he fays, is from Dun, Saxon, a Hill; but is ufed now as if derived from the adverb: for it means, ft. A large open plain or valley.

And as an inftance of its meaning a valley, he immediately prefents us with Salisbury Plain.

On the Downs as we fee, near Wilton the fair,

A haft'ned hare from greedy greyhound go.'

"He then gives four inftances more to fhew that it means a valley ;* in every one of which it means hills or rifing grounds. To complete

* Now mark the infolence of Mr. Tooke. He here fees an abfurdity where none exifts, for wherever there is a Hill, there must neceffarily be a Valley, and vice versâ. But we can give an inftance where this fubftantive does not fignify a Hill, but a Valley indifputably." (Saxon Gospels, Luke, chap. iii. 5.) ALC DENU

BYTH GEFYLLED, AND ÆLC MUNT AND BEORH BYTH GENYTHERUD, AND THWURU BEOTH ON GERIHTE & UNGERYDU ON SMETHE

WEGAS. In obfolete English, each Down (or Den, or Dean, for their origin is the fame) begth filled, and each mount and barrow beeth neathered and thwarted‡ beeth aright (or on right,) and rugged on fmooth ways. In our tranflation. "Every valley fhall be filled, and every mountain and hill fhall be made low; and the crooked fhall be made ftraight, and the rough ways fhall be made fmooth." Surely this is not a fpecimen that Dr. Johnson's "book is a difgrace to the country."

* Or brow. See preceding explanation of beneath.

See alfo athwart.

the