n-Mil—ess nUKBlK|HB—MMMMWiHWIHIiMwui HHflWm 8556 JHflta B MB hm awgas IBM? lUlMflfiln ' . '' ' KG BBBB1 ^8$ WU IMBHBRflHBt mm BflHffiBK 3£ r JWHHfll Hbbj bbbbj__ iwuhiflH Hn HH JHHl WBBL. H| EEKB SwjcK lfFIMHMfHJ MB hhhH HHH*iaH» . waM- Br MMNkM MBHMWBCBPtet ffiHHnH^^^^BH^BHBH^BjBjp' DM ^ '' Exhibited in a 6$ GfaUertiim xrfJlHmiks ;>\ ^r. LOlSTDOlsr, Xongmaii, Hees, Oime , Biowi & Green. 1829. tp \ t** ^K DEDICATION MRS. FRANCES SCHULTES. IF the dedication of a work be conside?xd as a tribute of respect due only to virtue and merit, I shall bejus- tified in addressing this to you, and thus giving my testimony to those excellencies which have hitherto adorned your character. Endowed with a compre- hensive and perspicacious mind, enabling you to dis- tinguish rectitude from error, you have fulfilled the relative duties of consort, parent, and friend, in a manner deserving of the warmest panegyric, whilst you have preserved your amiable disposition untinc- tured by those caprices which so often characterize a2 IV DEDICATION. and degrade the female sex. But above all, you have endeavoured to cultivate that wisdom which discovers the true lustre of intellect, by an exemplary piety, and a resignation to the divine will. The experience of many years has fully satisfied me, that the same un- erring principles will continue to govern your actions ; and I encourage the hope that they may be transmit- ted, by means ofyour instruction and example, to our only child, convinced as I am, that virtue is the best indication of mental excellence, and the surest founda- tion of happiness. ; INTRODUCTION THE faculty of expressing our sentiments in per- spicuous and elegant diction, is so pre-eminent an accomplishment, that every candidate for literary celebrity exerts his utmost endeavours to acquire it and although topics may be clearly illustrated, and the charms of eloquence displayed, in simple lan- guage without the aid of rhetorical ornaments, yet it must be admitted that well-chosen comparisons, similes, or descriptions, are highly conducive to the embellishment of expressions, and add grace and dignity to composition. If it were possible to establish a criterion in lite- rature whereby philological taste might be regu- lated, it would be easy to prescribe rules for de- ciding at once on literary merit, and awarding its just degree of praise : but whilst a diversity of opi- INTRODUCTION. nion continues to prevail amongst mankind, the renown of a writer must necessarily depend more upon fortuitous events and the ruling fashion of the age, than upon the brilliance of his wit, or the force of his genius, as the example of Milton and others may serve to prove. The truth of this remark is so universally acknowledged, that every aspirant for public approbation now endeavours to discover some new path which may lead him to distinction, and hopes, through the medium of novelty, originality, or eccentricity, to gain popular fame. Some authors seek reputation by adopting a conciseness of style; others court regard by an elaborate amplification of their topics ; and a few expect to attract notice by a partial revival of obsolete phraseology. Popula- rity, however, seems, conformably with the existing rules of philology, to be most deservedly due to him who, following the light of truth, is enabled to convey his ideas with clearness into the minds of others, and who can occasionally illustrate his pro- positions by apposite comparisons, formed by allu- sion to natural and familiar objects of the senses. With a view to assist a writer of this description, the present volume has been compiled. INTRODUCTION. Vll In the alphabetical arrangement of the passages, (which have been collected verbatim from the re- spective authors cited) are shown the coincidences of expression which various writers have uncon- sciously fallen into, or designedly adopted. The classification of the similes under their respective heads, has been regulated according to their sub- jects and form. Those of a simple form will be found first represented, and others more diffusely illustrated follow them in succession. And as it has been considered unnecessary to incumber any of the expressions with a long enumeration of all the authors who have used them, the names of two only are introduced, the first of which may ge- nerally be regarded as the elder authority. It has also been thought unnecessary (except in few in- stances, where the length of the quotation rendered it unavoidable) to distinguish the poetical from prosaic extracts, by any peculiar mark or distinct metrical collocation of the words in lines. In the compilation will be found many proverbial similes or axioms, and some idiomatical expressions of a quaint nature, which have been introduced solely for the purpose of showing the names of the authors who have sanctioned them ; but no similes Vlll INTRODUCTION. have been admitted that can create disgust, or of- fend delicacy. At the end of the alphabetical collection is an nexed a great variety of descriptive passages, which: it is presumed will, in conjunction with the antece- dent compilation, show that the talent displayed by our own writers in the art of imagery, or describing the operations and appearances of nature, has been by no means inferior to the skill of their continental cotemporaries, at any period of time since the re- vival of letters. Poetical composition without imagery attracts but little admiration, and although a pleasing descrip- tion of natural scenes may be easily composed, it oftentimes becomes extremely difficult to invent a simile in every respect adapted to illustrate and ag- grandize a subject. And perhaps nothing can be more mortifying to a writer, after he has published (as his own creation) that which he considers to be a happy comparison, to discover that the same in- cidents, expressed partially, or wholly in the same language, had been already given to the world by various predecessors. INTRODUCTION. IX It cannot be denied that the same train of ideas occurring to different writers, may superinduce the same forms of expression ; coincidences may there- fore take place accidentally, and an author may un- deservedly lie under the imputation of plagiarism. Where coincidences happen in the productions of two writers, the latter necessarily loses the merit of invention, and is considered as a mere imitator. Hence a test whereby an author may discover whether the offspring of his mind be a new cre- ation, or an adoption, is desirable. Some authors have affected to distinguish com- parisons, similes, and similitudes, from each other; and a translator of Moliere has made the following remark, "We studious folks like a comparison better " than a similitude." It is scarcely necessary to endeavour to establish a distinction where little or no difference can be perceived, or to show that the terms " likeness" and " resemblance" are not synonymous ; yet for the satisfaction of the reader the following passages have been selected as ex- amples of the form of expression which may have been considered as comprising a similitude. " As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that —— X INTRODUCTION. " pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." —Proverbs. " Far better is it to form affinity and strictest " friendship with a poor man of worth, than him " who joins iniquity with wealth." Euripides. " The likeness of those who take other patrons " besides God, is as the likeness of the spider, " which maketh herself a house, but the weakest of " all houses surely is the house of the spider. These " similitudes do we propose unto men, but none un- " derstand them except the wise." Koran. " Similitudes or likenesses are the images or pic- " tures of the things to which they are compared, " lively explaining one thing in a far different ob- " ject : e.g. As a vessel is known by the sound whe- " ther it be whole or broken, so are men proved " by their speech whether they be wise or foolish." — Wifs Commonwealth. To constitute a genuine simile it is requisite that the quality or attribute of a precedent subject, should be susceptible of comparison with the qua- lity or attribute of the subject which immediately : INTRODUCTION. XI follows it, according to the current idiom of speech, and agreeably to the rules of logic. Thus the ex- pression, "White as snow," has reference to a previous subject (raiment for instance); white or whiteness is the attribute, and the ellipsis in the sentence being supplied, the simile will run thus ;" " Raiment, white as the whiteness of snow or it may be thus rendered, " White as snow is white." Now it being admitted that the external appear- ance of snow represents the highest degree of whiteness which the mind can conceive, the com- parison of the highest degree of whiteness which raiment can exhibit, with the quality of snow, is philosophically just, and the aptness of every simile may by this mode of examination be readily ascer- tained. It will thus appear evident, that the terms qua- lity and subject, which have been used to express the constituents of a simile, not being sufficiently explanatory, have caused some to consider that a simile implied the illustration of a quality by the subject itself, instead of its quality ; not perceiving the absurdity of comparing spirit with matter, nor understanding that a just simile can only be formed — Xll INTRODUCTION. by a comparison of a certain quality proposed, with the attribute or quality of a subject or thing ex- pressed. Similes of the following description may some- " times be found : viz. Pure as sanctity," where the subject itself may be considered in an intellectual sense, so as to correspond with the antecedent qua- lity ; or a personification may be presumed, and the affinity ascertained by thus rendering the expres- sion, " It is pure as sanctity is pure ;" agreeably to the rule before prescribed for showing the analogy of the qualities compared.