Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-11-06

lower temperature of each particular year. also, BY
critically dissecng compound and Heterogeneous
tongue we enabled to discover the layers Of Celtic
Latin Saxon Danish Norman and then again Latin and
Greek and French words with sghter intrusions from
other sources any one with skill anayze the lam
guage might for himself the history of the peo
pie speaking that language might appreciate the
divers elements out of which that people composed
in what proportions these mingled and in what
cession they followed one upon the other"
We have said that single words do frequently embody
and embam poetic thoughts moral truths and historical
facts. For abundant examples of the two former we
must refer readers TO the rich of metaphoea
expressions contained in everyday Speech and all Of
which, with greater or less signifcancy paint image
derived from Nature, point moral derived from expe
rence As specimen of the history in single Words
we quote the following from the instructive pages of
author:
There is little word not in uncommon use among
u.s. inquiry into the pedigree of which will lay open to
an important page in the intellectual history of the
world We may all know what Ounce is, but we may
be well acquainted with the quarter whence the
word has been derived Certain theologansin the middle
ages termed schoomen; being called because
they formed in the closter and cathedral schools
which Charemagne had foundedmen not to be lightly
spoken of they often by those who read
line of their works, and have not 1.-THE of their wit
moreover, most iamlllar
words which they employ misemploy, have descended
to them from these Real virtual, entity non
entity equivocation'-al these with many more un
known to classical Latin but which have become al
most necessities first coined by the schoomen and
passing from them int the language of those
less interested in their peculatons have gradually filtered
through the successive strata of society till they
have reached of Them to quite the lowest At the
revival Of learning however their works fell out OF favor
they written in classical Latin the form in
which their speculatons thrown not attractive
mainly in their authority that the Romsh Church
found support for many of its peried dogmas; on all
which accounts it considered mark of intellectual
progress have broken with the and altogether thrown
off their yoke Some however, still chung to these school
men, and to one in particular Dans Scetus the great
teacher of the Franciscan orer and many times an adj
herent the old learning would seek to strengthen his
position by appeal to its great DOCTOR Familiarity called
Duns; while the others would contemptuousy rejoin,
Oh you are Dunsmdn,' or, more briefly, You are
Duns, This is piece of Dunsery and, inasmuch as
the learning snstng more and more OF the
genius and scholarship of the age its side the title be-
came and more term of scorn. Remember ye |
not says Tynda how within this thirty years, and far
less the old barking curs Ounces Disciples and like draft
called Scotsts the children of darkness ragged in every
pulpit against Greek and Latin and Hebrew And thus
from that long extinct conflict between the old and the
learning that strife between the medieval and the mo-
dem theology inherit the words Ounce and Ounce
ry Let pause here moment to confess that the lot
of poor Dnns certainly hard one, who whatever
may have been his merits teacher of Christian truth
certainly the keenest and most subtewitted of
men, He the subtle DOCTOR by preeminence, for SO
his admirers called him, could hardly have anticipated
and little any deserved that his name should be
turned into byword expressive of stupidity and obst
dullness This however is only example of the
curious fortune Of words" x 4
'.Other singular examples have of the way in which
the record of old errors themselves exploded long ago.
yet survive in language-the words that grew into
when those errors found credit maintaining still their
currency among u.s. The mythology for example, which
ancestors brought with them from Germany is as
much extinct for as the Lares Larvae and
Of heather Rome yet the deposite 1t has permanently
left in the language is not inconsiderable, Lubber
dwarf oaf, droll' hag .nightmare suggest them
selves at belonging the old Teutonic demonoo
Thus too no now believes in astroogy that the
planet under which man may happen to be born will
affect his temperament will make him for life of dispo-
sition grave gay, lively or severe Yet we seem to
affirm as much in language, for we speak OF person as
jovial, saturnne or mercuriap-'jovial, as being
born under the planet Jupiter Jove; 'saturnine,
der Saturn &C. The faith in the influence of the
stars survives far words %, in disaster disas
trous, sill-sarred, ascendent,' ascendency, and in
deed in the word influence ITSELF.
This last extract cannot fail remind the poetic
of striking passage which occurs in the 'Wallensten
of the German poet Schiller, which has been elegantly
rendered into English Colerdge, and would deserve to
be quoted in conclusion for its beauty if it
not german to subject:
sob, never rudely will blame his faith
In the might of stars and angels It's not merely
With life and mystical prcdominance:
Since likewise for the stricken heart Of Love
This visible nature and this common world
Is all too yea, deeper import
Turks in the legend told my infant years
Than lies upon the truth we live to learn.
For Fable is Loves world, his home, his birth place:
Delightfully."- dwels he 'mong fays, and talsmans,
And spirits and delghtedly believes
Diynities, being himself divine.
The Ineligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humantes of old religion,
The power, the beauty, and the majesty
That had their haunts in dale and piny mountain,
Or forest, by slow stream, pebbly spring,
Or chasms and wat'ry depths all these have yanishd.
They live no longer in the faith Of reason!
But still the heart doth need language still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names,
And to yon starry worlds they now are gone,
Spirits or gods, that used TO share this earth
With with their friend and to the lover
Yonder they move, from yonder visible sky
Shoot influence down and at this day
It's Jupiter who brings whate'er Is great
And Venus every thing that's fair
POINTED SEnsoSs-Many years ago there graduated
at Harvard University by the name Of Rawson, |
who settled in the ministry at Yarmouth, on Cape Cod