Litchfield enquirer., 1863-08-27

sA sss
 Eaglish t is n intnasitire or nsutsr verb, aud means to bs snssoasd: thst is to say, anything built of' stone and falling to decay, is Idihpidated. Anything built of other n,ateri- als nay be deatroyed or injured, but it cannot, properly speaking. be diispidatsd. Yet we constantly hear and read not only of e diIapi- dased wooden fence or house, but also of ii. hpidassd book, ones dilapidatsd AsalA, etc.
 P~epAsnsaIia has nearly, if not entirely, Iloas its original meaning, and has, through mis ass. become the equivalent of appsndages. or nemssss. tsappinss; h short, . miscellaneous adssmhlags or collection of 0agtaiag. Some time ago, remohstxuce against public pro. csssioa on sunday was puhlishsd in the ns~spapsva and sisasd V | lafgs number of Ecitissns. including many elergymen and other educated men; and that remonatMnee con tained she word paraphssualia no less than three times, all in the same sense aa this i, ssThe employment 0f Sunday fos public pc gsAats, with bands of music and the parapAer- tnosia and noisy accompaniments of great procession" etc. But what t aparspherna- iarf lis . Greek wJrd adopted into our language with no other change thap change of termination, and it's meaning, both in Greek and English. is simply and concisely "bsyond despsrp that is, over and above dover; inde- pendent of dover. Our photographers seve- rally define it, Goods in the wifs's disposal, ? .what wife brings to her husband above her portion" sarticlss whicha wife brings with her Eat her marriage beyond her dover or jointure.s 2 And alafs GEi. Now these "articlesn may happen to consist of ornaments and appendae gss in the way of fepale 6nery, but how ab- suld l. t to apply the word to the appendages of public procession ei men carrying bal , nsrs, decorations and armsl Especially when one sonsidsrs that the word, whether in Greek pt Enelish, refsrs exclusively to the tennre et the property, and not akall to its natars. The ''articles" are parephernalia not because they ars ornaments or appeudages lf they are so) but because they are . wifss property apart from her dover. Whst men of education were ankiag ef when they wrote or signed sueh aremonstrsnce, Te do not stop to in- quire; but they may console themselves with the reflection that many other men -do like wiss." This word. Ike predicate, is in every body's mouth and although it has not yet gained the sanction of the dictionaries, it soou will do %.
 Aksrsativs means choice--ons choice between two things yst popular use has so corrupted the word as to apply i.to the things themselves and not to the choice between them: as thus, .you may take eitbsr alterna- tive" II was forced to choose between too d. ternatives," etc. Nevertheless, in any case there can be but one alternative "t,co alterna- tiyes" is contradiction in terms. Y
 Tho phrsse tour mutaal friend" is, 50 to speak, one Of the approved vulgarisms of the day. Aassssl means rsesproesk Even Web ster. whcse istituae of vocabulary and defpi- sion extends to Ae remotest nebulm of possi- |bls slphshstioal eomhlassioss, hazards nothing bsyopd srssiprosas ;ntsrsAaagsd" in defining msssak Yst evssybody says and writes and prints, aouy mutual friend" Ons might just as veil say:
 Our mutual butcher. s.s' Our mutual grocer, ss4 Our mutual paEnbrokss.
 md 70 on.
 No well sducassd man conld haze originated sach . prsposssrous eoncsit q the phrase lover his own signature" yet many yell educated men allow themselves to give the concsit the sanction q their praeties, and if susags'' coda sanetion srror, this phrase. sidiculous as t is, will soon como to be good English. The words ssdsr and avr have various msaninel besidas ths deaisnation of mers healiN The tsrms .usdsr oath," .nnder sealaH aupder arms," l" under eompulsion." .undsr the sane. tion sf.r .uadsr hip own hand" sinnder hil osa signature" and 70 on. ays mere tosmal; tisso expFssuion, and have nothing to do with ths rsIatiss psstti0n of the psFsons and things indicted. Yet one or mofs Of those aspi- nnts 1er novslsy who scoms to town every day9r will every dly. for all time so come, maks ths grsat literasy discovery That where = maakind hays khhssto inaoosptly used the |phnass Hunder his own signature" " ip innocent sneonsciousness that the signature is itself at the bottom of the instraaent signed they will take note for the future that nothing can hp sader that which is itself under everything; ; aad that ths expression shonld he Aeper his Esienaturs,s z 1orlhs plain reason that the con |ssnts of ths instrument prscsde and staud above the naa,e II the hottim. That is con eIssiyss hecsuss thspe is aa avg9ipg against facts. But the enanciator of thst principle 1houn folloH it to ia pppsea4snces, He ahonn sEthsr inlo5n1 tls world thst 'Endsr noa1ss sa ennnllv m arm heranxe thas eeal is