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none can defend it. not, a supporter.

Truth needs not, falsehood deserves And, indeed, the matter of this work is too high for a subject's-the workmanship thereof too low for a prince's-patronage.

And now I will turn my pen into prayer,-that God would be pleased to discloud these gloomy days with the beams of his mercy: which if I may be so happy as to see, it will then encourage me to count it freedom to serve two apprenticeships, (God spinning out the thick thread of my life so long,) in writing the Ecclesiastical History from Christ's time to our days, if I shall from remoter parts be so planted, as to enjoy the benefit of walking and standing libraries; without which advantages the best vigilancy doth but vainly dream to undertake such a task.

Meantime I will stop the leakage of my soul; and what heretofore hath run out in writing shall hereafter, God willing, be improved in constant preaching, in what place soever God's providence and friends' good-will shall fix

Thine in all Christian offices,

THOMAS FULLER.

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.

THIS curious collection of essays and characters is the production of a man possessed of no ordinary grasp of mind, who lived in times of uncommon interest and excitement, and who wrote with the obvious intention to personate "a wise and witty moderator," between the two great parties in the State that were then openly at issue. While he evinces a decided and commendable bias towards the episcopal church and the monarchy, the interests of which were then in jeopardy; he shows himself to have been not insensible of some existing blemishes and defects, for the remedy of which he gives modest intimations, rather than formal advice. The work was put to press at the close of 1640, but not published till 1642. In the interim, as our author declares in the preceding preface, "the wisdom of the king and state had thought fitting to alter many things;" and his request was in consequence a very proper one,-"I expect the discretion of the reader should make his alterations accordingly. And I conjure thee, by all Christian ingenuity, that, if lighting here on some passages rather harshsounding than ill-intended, to construe the same by the general drift and main scope which is aimed at.” The various classes of readers, however, put their own construction on those passages which seemed to accord with their own notions, and those of their party; and the book became greatly in request, and was read with the utmost avidity. Perhaps no literary works, in that age of great readers and clever writers, obtained such an extensive circulation as did his "Holy War" and "Holy State;" which, being usually sold together, bound up in one folio volume, made a strong impression on the public mind, and for some years exercised an influence that might be distinctly traced in many affairs connected both with the Council and the Field; as the reader will perceive in my copious preface to FULLER'S "History of the Holy War." In one of the introductory chapters to his "Appeal of Injured Innocence," *

See his "History of the University of Cambridge," &c. p. 203. 1840.

8vo Edition,

published in 1659, he incidentally communicates some curious information on this subject :-"Here let me humbly tender to the reader's consideration, that my Holy War, though (for some design of the stationer) sticking still, in the title-page, at the third edition, as some unmarried maids will never be more than eighteen yet hath it oftener passed the press,—as hath my Holy State, Meditations, &c.;* and yet never did I alter line or word in any new impression. I speak not this by way of attribution to myself, as if my books came forth at first with more perfection than other men's; but with insinuation to the reader, that it is but equal that I may now have the benefit thereof allowed me, especially in a subject of such length, latitude, difficulty, variety, and multiplicity of matter," as his "Church History."

Here, then, is a large folio book, which, according to the several announcements in its title-page, passed through three editions in the course of ten years; but which is supposed to have run through five bonâ-fide impressions during the interregnum, each of them consisting of a large number of copies. The (nominally) fourth edition was published in 1663, soon after the decease of the author. In the preceding paragraph he alludes to "some design in his stationer," in suffering this work "still to stick, in the title-page, at the third edition." That publisher (John Williams) was generally reputed to be a man of probity; and there can be little doubt, that his real motive in avoiding the generally flattering and profitable flourish of successive editions, was a desire to lull suspicion, and not to invite prohibition from the ruling powers. This will be rendered yet more apparent to the reader, after he has perused the relation which I have given in the introduction to "Andronicus, or the unfortunate Politician," in this volume, p. 400; and in the notes, pp. 329-332; which shall be my apology for abridging this preface.

I again announce, that I have not altered the construction of a single sentence, or part of a sentence, in my author; and, in conformity with my practice in FULLER'S "Church History,"

"

• Fuller bestows the appellation of "Meditations on his "Good Thoughts in bad Times," and "Good Thoughts in worse Times; " to which, at the eve of the Restoration, he added, "Mixed Contemplations in better Times." These three pieces, written at considerable intervals, in the same strain of "half in earnest, half in jest," as his "Holy State," but with more pointed glances at passing occurrences, have often been published together in one volume, and are esteemed among the best of our author's numerous writings.

and in all those volumes of his Works of which I have been the printer, I here subjoin a list of such words as are slightly changed for others, their most immediate cognates in meaning and derivation :

Africk, Africa; ayre, air; alwayes, always; allay, alloy; a clock, o'clock; antiques, antics; angrieth, angereth; auncestors, ancestors; ambergreece, ambergris; acception, acceptation.

Black-moore, blackamoor; banes, bans; band, bond; begrutch, begrudge; blew, blue; battle, battel (to fatten); becomed, become; bell-weather, bellwether; bone-fires, bonfires; basevioll, bass-viol; broches, broaches; bestown, bestowed; bleeded, bled.

Conne, con; chappell, chapel; chast, chaste; corps, corpse (generally as a noun plural); carre, car; cadencies, cadences; clark, clerk; chirurgeon, surgeon; clue (of thread), clew; correspondency, correspondence; catched, caught; crownet, coronet; course, coarse; couzinage, cozenage.

Dow, dough; dogge, dog; Duresme, Durham; dazelled, dazzled; divolved, devolved; daulphin, dauphin; dreined, drained.

Epicone, epicene; estridge, ostrich; endammage, endamage; enhanse, enhance; embarque, embark; enstalling, installing.

Fewell, fuel; frigots, frigates; fraught, freight; ferrier, farrier. Gally-pots, gallipots; geers, gears; gate, gait; glysters, clysters; gauled, galled; gentile, genteel, gentle; gole, goal.

Huswifry, housewifery; herricano, hurricane; hoysed up, hoisted up; hungerly, hungrily.

Ile, I will; interre, inter; ilands, islands; interessed, interested.
Jarre, jar; jaundies, jaundice; justicer, justiciary; jailour, jailer.
Knockt, knocked.

Loth, loath; lopt, lopped; limming, limning; leavie, levy; leven, leaven.
Mistris, mistress; marish, marsh; marescol, marshal.

Nagges, nags.

Orenge, orange.

Proxie, proxy; phancy-full, fanciful; pievish, peevish; puntillos, punctilios; pultis, poultice; proprietie, property.

Quære, query; queint, quaint.

Reade, read; rhythms, rhymes; roomthy, roomy; russling, rustling; rere, rear.

Signes, signs; scru'd, screwed; surfet, surfeit; sallats, salads; slandred, slandered; standers, standards; strook, struck; slovenness, slovenliness; steddy, steady; swound, swoon; schrick, shreeke, shriek; sterved, starved; sutes, suits; swel'd, swelled.

Tos-pot, toss-pot; thorow, through; trust, trussed; tramountain, tra

montane.

Vent, vend.

Wandring, wandering; wholsome, wholesome; whipt, whipped; wrang, rang; winse, wince; wardroper, wardrober; woe, woo.

Yong, young; yeomantry, yeomanry.

I also subjoin a collection of the principal words, which, for various reasons, I have retained, though they are rarely used by modern writers :

Accompany with. Breck. Chesils, coplofts, cordiloquy, chymic, (chemist,) cockering, (indulgent,) customer.* Departed with, (parted with,) disable, (unable,) deads (deadens). Eldern. Feodaries. Gingling, granadoes. Handsel, habited, (habitual,) hollow (halloo). Inheretrix, ingravidate. Lash out, (break out,) loaden. Opinioned, (opinionated,) outed, otherwhiles. Petty-larceners, probablest, portage (carriage). Rebated, resty, re-estated. Stuffy, (fat,) scotch. Unsurcharges, unimporting, unpartial. Ventriloquy. Wholler (more entire). Young-old.

It will be perceived, that the first of these lists contains fewer words than those which were enumerated in preceding volumes. The reason of this may be seen by every one who will examine the great difference in orthography between the third edition and the fourth. All the early editions of "the Holy State" were printed at Cambridge, by that famous University-printer, Roger Daniel; but the fourth edition, in London, by John Redmayne, who improved the orthography so much as to bring it into stricter accordance with the existing standard of our language. Thus, instead of stayes, farre, sunne, warre, badnesse, carier, &c. in the former editions, he presents us with "stays, far, sun, war, badness, carcer," &c. I have followed the text of the third edition, that being the last which was printed during the author's life, though, as be has already informed us, he had no personal concern in "altering line or word in any new impression" after the first; to which, as well as to the fourth, I have had recourse whenever any variations arose between the different editions.

To many of the obsolete English words which I have retained in the text, I have added short explanatory notes. For this purpose I have frequently quoted the definitions and descriptions contained in "the New World of Words," originally compiled by EDWARD PHILLIPS, one of the nephews of Milton; and, in the sixth edition, (1706,) greatly improved by that indefatigable and accomplished scholar, JOHN KERSEY, whose copious folio treatise on "Algebra" is known to every mathematician as one of the most able introductions to that subject which had then been published. Our language was at that time in a marked course of transition, gradually passing from a state of much roughness and barbarism into one of incipient order, euphony, and refinement. The extreme usefulness, therefore, of a good glossography, compiled at such an impor

This word, though often conveying the signification of "a collector of taxes," seems to have been occasionally employed by our old writers in the sense of "a ranger," "a steward," and sometimes even that of "a comptroller."

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