How to Make an Index. Wheatley Henry Benjamin

very probable that Harley was at the expense of reprinting the book, as it is reported that every one who came to his house was asked if he had seen Mr. Bromley's Travels; and when the answer was in the negative, Harley at once fetched a copy, which he presented to his visitor. There is no doubt, however, that the index was drawn up by Dr. King.

      The index is neither particularly amusing nor clever, but it is very ill-natured. Dr. Parr infers that the book is not misrepresented, but there can be little doubt that the index is in most instances very unfair. Thus the first entry in the table is:

      "Chatham, where and how situated, viz. on the other side of Rochester bridge, though commonly reported to be on this side, p. 1."

      The passage indexed is quite clear, and contains the natural statement of a fact.

      "Lodged at Rochester, an episcopal seat in the same county [Kent]. The cathedral church is plain and decent, and the city appears well peopled. When I left it and passed the Bridge I was at Chatham, the famous Dock, where so many of our great ships are built."

      The following are some further entries from the index:

      "Dover and Calais neither of them places of Strength tho' frontier towns, p. 2."

      "Boulogne the first city on the French shore, lies on the coast, p. 2." [These are the same words as in the book.]

      "Crosses and Crucifixes on the Roads in France prove it not England, p. 3."

      The passage here indexed is as follows:

      "Crosses and Crucifixes are so plentiful every where on this road, that from them alone an Englishman will be satisfied he is out of his own country; besides the Roads are much better than ours."

      "Eight pictures take up less room than sixteen of the same size, p. 14."

      This is founded on the following:

      "They contain the Histories of the Old and New Testaments, and are placed in two rows one above the other; those that represent the Old Testament are in the uppermost reaching round the room and are sixteen. Those of the new are under them, but being only eight reach not so far as the former, and where no pictures are be the doors to the presses where the sacred vestments are kept."

      "Travelling by night not proper to take a view of the adjacent countries, p. 223."

      This is a version of the following:

      "The heat of the weather made travelling in the night most desirable and we chose it between Sienna and Florence.... By this means I could see little of the country."

      "The Duchess dowager of Savoy who was grandmother to the present Duke was mother to his father, p. 243."

      This is a perversion of the following perfectly natural observation:

      "This was designed by the Dutchess Christina grandmother of this Duke in the minority of her son (his father) in 1660."

      The entry, "Jews at Legorn not obliged to wear red hats, p. 223," contains nothing absurd, but rather is an interesting piece of information, because the Jews were obliged to wear these hats in other parts of Italy, and it was the knowledge of this fact that induced Macklin to wear a red hat when acting Shylock, a personation which induced an admirer to exclaim:

      "This is the Jew

      That Shakespeare drew."

      Such perversions as these could have done Bromley, one would think, little harm; but the real harm done consisted in bringing to light and insisting upon the author's political attitude when he referred to King William and Queen Mary as "the Prince and Princess of Orange." The passage is as follows:

      "A gallery, where among the pictures of Christian Princes are those of King Charles the Second and his Queen, King James the Second and his Queen and the Prince and Princess of Orange."

      It would indeed seem strange that one who had thus referred to his King and Queen should occupy so important a public office as Speaker of the House of Commons. Another ground of offence was that when in Rome he kissed the Pope's slipper.

      Although Bromley was disappointed in 1705, his time came; and after the Tory reaction consequent on the trial of Sacheverell he was in 1710 chosen Speaker without opposition. There is a portrait of Bromley in the University Picture Gallery in the Bodleian at Oxford.

      CHAPTER III.

      The Bad Indexer

      "At the laundress's at the Hole in the Wall in Cursitor's Alley up three pair of stairs, the author of my Church history—you may also speak to the gentleman who lies by him in the flock bed, my index maker."—Swift's Account of the Condition of Edmund Curll (Instructions to a porter how to find Mr. Curll's authors).

      BAD indexers are everywhere, and what is most singular is that each one makes the same sort of blunders—blunders which it would seem impossible that any one could make, until we find these same blunders over and over again in black and white. One of the commonest is to place the references under unimportant words, for which no one would think of looking, such as A and The. The worst indexes of this class are often added to journals and newspapers. A good instance of confusion will be found in the index to a volume of The Freemason which is before me; but this is by no means singular, and certainly not the worst of its class. Under A we find the following entries:

      "Afternoon Outing of the Skelmersdale Lodge."

      "An Oration delivered," etc.

      "Annual Outing of the Queen Victoria Lodge."

      "Another Masonic MS."

      Under B:

      "Bro. Bain's Masonic Library."

      Under F:

      "First Ball of the Fellowship Lodge.

      "First Ladies' Night."

      Under I:

      "Interesting Extract from an 'Old Masonian's' Letter."

      Under L:

      "Ladies' Banquet."

      "Ladies' Night."

      "Ladies' Summer Outing."

      "Late Bro. Sir B. W. Richardson."

      Under N:

      "New Grand Officers."

      "New Home for Keighley Freemasons."

      "New Masonic Hall."

      Under O:

      "Our Portrait Gallery."

      Under R:

      "Recent Festival."

      Under S:

      "Send-off dinner."

      "Summer Festival."

      "Summer Outing."

      Under T:

      "Third Ladies' Night."

      Under Y:

      "Ye olde Masonians."

      There are many other absurd headings, but these are the worst instances. They show the confusion of not only placing references where they would never be looked for, but of giving similar entries all over the index under whatever heading came first to the mind of the indexer. For instance, there is one Afternoon Outing, one Annual Outing, one Ladies' Outing, one Summer Outing, and three other Outings under O. None of these have any references the one from the other.

      There are a large number of indexes in which not only the best heading is not chosen, but the very worst is. Thus, choosing at random, we find such an order as the following in an old volume of the Canadian Journal: