Prolegomena.

As for the whole work itself, it has been gathered together original: "sheav'd up" from a few gleanings in some of our English fields. Although I have put in the effort original: "bestow-ed my Industry" to pick up here and there what I could find in my path, I believe there are many other pieces of this nature in private hands. If anyone is pleased to share these with me (out of the same high-minded original: "Ingenious" motive for which I have published these), I shall value their generosity as it deserves and let the world know of its obligation to them as well.

The style and language of these works may, I confess, seem tedious and strange original: "Irksome and Uncouth" to some, and it is indeed so to those who are strangers to it; however, it is also very meaningful. Old words have great power original: "strong Emphasis". Others may look upon them as garbage or trivialities, but they are completely mistaken; for what some shallow minds original: "light Braines" may regard as silly trifles original: "Foolish Toys", deeper judgments can and will value as sound and serious matter.

We English have often changed our fashions (such is the fickleness of our tastes), and therefore if you encounter spellings different from those currently in use, or strange words as oddly ridiculous as a Manche A large, hanging sleeve fashionable in the Middle Ages, a Hood, a Codpiece, or Trunk-hose Short, puffy breeches worn in the 16th century, know that just as those were the fashionable clothes, these were the usual dialects of those times. Posterity will pay us back in our own coin if we should mock the behavior and dress of our ancestors. For we must consider that languages used in daily conversation are in constant change original: "Mutation". Whatever custom brings into fashion is liked best for the present—whether it is to revive what was lost, introduce something new, or patch up the present with the retained shreds of what came before. But literary languages original: "learned Tongues" preserved in books enjoy a more unchanging fate because they are not subject to being washed away by the daily tide and flow of time. They are like the fashion and clothing carved on marble statues, which must always be kept without alteration.

And therefore, so that the truth and worth of their works would not be diminished by my transcription, I purposely kept the old words and their way of spelling just as I found them in the originals (excepting only some obvious mistakes and flaws of previous transcribers, which I took it upon myself to correct as little more than clerical errors). Yet, so as not to leave the reader unsatisfied, I have added a concise table original: "Compendious Table" for the interpretation of old, unusual, and obsolete words. By this, I have smoothed (I believe) the path for those who have not previously been familiar with these ancient, unrefined original: "Rough-hew'd" expressions.