Exercise.

Who knows not the languor that attends every

pleasure?

indulgence in

"One of the first objects of wish to every one is to maintain a proper place and rank in society: this, among the vain and ambitious, is always the favourite aim. With them it arises to expectations founded on their supposed talents and imagined merits."

"A man must be

-ly stupid as well as uncharitable, who believes

there is no virtue but on his own side."

"One means very effectual for the preservation of health is a quiet and cheerful mind, not afflicted by passions, or distracted with

cares."

"If panicum be laid below and about the bottom of a root, it will cause the root to grow to an ―― bigness."

eating takes away sound sleep;

gestive functions.

eating disorders the di

"Moderation is a virtue of no small importance to those who find

in every thing to be an evil.”

"It is wisely ordered in our present state that joy and fear, hope and grief, should act alternately as checks and balances upon each other, in order to prevent an in any of them.”

"His death was caused by an

use of opiates."

SECTION V.

MISCELLANEOUS SYNONYMES.

THERE are many cases in which it is extremely difficult to discover any principle by which the differences of words can be accounted for. Though, as we have already shewn, it is very possible to form, to a certain extent, a classification of differences, by referring them, in different cases, to a distinct principle; there are many pairs of words whose difference does not appear to depend on any uniformly directing principle, but seems the result of a mere caprice of language. These cases baffle all attempts at classifying, and we must, therefore, be content to consider them under the head of "Miscellaneous." Here it will be found that a different cause operates in each single pair, so that we shall here learn nothing more than the explanation of the difference in each individual case, and this explanation will suggest no certain rule

in other cases of difficulty. But when we consider the subtile nature of the human mind, and the almost infinite variety of shades and forms which language assumes, we shall not be surprised at this difficulty. Some tinge of colouring, some almost imperceptible shade, will be found to exist in one, which does not belong to the other, and this so capricious, and so infinitely various, that it is impossible to classify such words, or collect those among them in which any one principle is found to act uniformly. The following synonymes are of this nature, for the study of which the learner is referred to the explanations under each pair.

Accent-Emphasis.

An accent is a stress or leaning of the voice on certain syllables in every word, by which those syllables are more vigorously pronounced than others. An emphasis is a stress of the voice on certain words, by which those words are prominently distinguished in a sentence. Accent respects the pronunciation of a word; emphasis respects the meaning of the sentence. To pronounce the word náture with the strain on the second syllable (thus, natúre) would be a fault of acTo give the same force to every word in a sentence, is to read without emphasis.

cent.

of many words in the

English language was unfixed. In the "Paradise Lost" of Milton, several

words are found with an

now pronounced.

different from that with which they are

In every sentence, there are certain words which require a greater stress of the voice in reading than others. This stress is called in grammar He who reads without

reads monotonously.

Foreigners are very liable to make faults of

language.

in pronouncing our

Laying a strong on these last words, and giving me another inquiring look of significance, the stranger quitted the room, leaving me in a state of confusion and conjecture, which may be more easily imagined than described.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to pronounce a dissyllable without placing a stronger on one than on the other of the two syllables. "Those English syllables which I call long ones receive a peculiar stress of voice from their acute or circumflex as in quickly, dôwry.”

not so much regards the tune, as a certain grandeur, whereby some word or sentence is rendered more remarkable than the rest by a more vigorous pronunciation, and a longer stay upon it.”

An address-A direction.

The difference between an address and a direction is, that an address comprises the name of the person directed to, as well as the place at which he or she resides. A direction signifies no more than the specification of a certain place. The form of an address might be, Mr. John Smith, 19, George-street, Cornwall-square. If I am told to address a letter to the above Mr. Smith, I write down this form; but if some one ask me Mr. Smith's direction, I answer by specifying the place in which he lives, viz. 19, George-street, Cornwall-square. An address comprises a name and direction; a direction excludes the name. We do not address places, though we direct to both places and persons.

I have only to put the

you.

Exercise.

to this letter, and I will then accompany

I should have written to you before, but I had mislaid your

did not find it till this morning.

Can you give me Mr. Robinson's

•?

and

The name was written on the outer cover of the parcel, but it had no

This trunk being properly whom it is intended.

it cannot fail to reach the person for

Those who travel with much luggage should take the greatest care that all their packages are correctly and legibly

According to this are arms; whilst

In strict propriety of language, arms are instruments of offence, and weapons instruments of defence. distinction, swords, spears, cross-bows, &c., helmets, cuirasses, and shields are weapons. This distinction, however, does not always hold good, for the expression “murderous weapons," as well as "coat of arms," is common in modern phraseology. These are in direct opposition to the above explanation. The best distinction, then, to be made between these words is, that arms are instruments made expressly for fighting; and weapons are instruments casually used for fighting. According to this distinction, pokers, staves, or knives, will be equally weapons, but not equally arms with swords, pistols, and guns. The word weapons is used in the singular; arms, never, in this sense.

[Glo. Weapons! arms! What's the matter here?

That every Man in arms should wish to be.

WORDSWORTH. 'Character of the Happy Warrior?

While we go forth, a self-devoted crowd,

With weapons grasped in fearless hands, to assert

Our virtue, and to vindicate mankind.

Exercise.

The bayonet is a formidable

first made at Bayonne.

'Sonnets to Liberty."]

; it was so called from having been

The garrison, after sustaining a ten months' siege, in which they endured all the horrors of disease and famine, capitulated on condition of being allowed to march out with their and go wherever they pleased.

The

with which the deed was perpetrated was found, after a long search, in a field at some distance from the house.

The

used by the savages of the Pacific are chiefly stakes burnt at

one end, and sharpened with fish-bones.

He defended himself against the fury of the populace with whatever chance threw in his way.

"Here the pavement is upturned-here the torch is planted—here the is prepared; everywhere you may see the women mingling with the men, now sharing their labours, now binding up their wounds." "The native Greeks had that mark of a civilized people, that they never bore during the time of peace, unless the wearer chanced to be numbered among those whose military profession and employment required them to be always in

Beast-Brute.

Ac

A wild animal is a brute; a tamed animal is a beast. cording to this distinction, lions, tigers, leopards, &c., are brutes; whilst horses, oxen, sheep, &c., are beasts. The prominent idea in the word brute is the presence of ferocity and unrestrained passion; the leading idea in the word beast is absence of reason. Taylor remarks: "We say beasts of burden; never brutes of burden." A tamed brute becomes a beast. The brutes of the forest; the beasts of the field. Applied as terms of reproach, a man is called a brute when he abuses his strength; he is called a beast when he abuses his reason by sensual indulgence.

[Ant. O judgment thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason.