New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-03


,na . he n. ALWAYS told thai the most narVeious
phepomena took place Yesterday, bnt tney re,u9ou
sho,v themselves today Thus it is almost hopaesS
task 10 subject them TO any rigorous in'e''s'"'
Lord Amberley seDsibly remarks 10 cOno'"son' o,oo
Wrong Az the spirituast may Pc ne ye, nstIgaie
ching Witch science may take hold OF and nvesuEe'
And putting professional meaiums nmains much
pwh,eh IL de.erying OF such investigation Mesmsrlsm
and ts attendant phsnSmSnS automatic muscular move
ments the writing OF words or phrases
,S VI nav ny he expeced TO repay careful study
NotSi5e can be more uBphilosophca than the on,hsna
reesoh OF AZ tSey do not fall Within limits OF our
every day experience. We nave hot Yet M ses
corner ~ the universe, do know what surprises
NAV stili be in store There is line between pne
contrary to our experience ana lys sey to
discover For instance, when we are iou os -
ipacoocilabie with weknown law aud the proba
bilties are pnne In favor OF mendacity or deson On
the part OF the reator But when we hear Of one person
being able without word gesture, TO control the 40
tons OF another, this alleged fact though IL may ITO
beyond personal experience Is not III direct cohtra
dicton 10 H. Again, though most people when Writing
consciously direct their pens there Is no posve maj
direction. Whethef they be true not-a question
which will leave sub (Hdeethe evidences Of unsus
such occurrences may 1alrly cause
suspend our Judgment He who should decline 70
do SO might with equal proprety dsDelieve s0nnamou
Ism because he has never himself seen somhsnpuhs''
The regret which he expresses that all such Things
are mixed up with the spirtualsuc creed VIII DC re-
garded by many we'll founded Before any valuable
results can be obtained from experiences IN TINS hu
the alleged facts must be scrutinzed with entire free
dom from the influence OF theory.
THB LOST pEAuTIBs OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. BY
CHARIEs MAcKAI, LII. d. limo. pp. 2ss J. W. Bouon.
In this volume, the author presents vOcabu-
larry OF words which current In good English
usage but have now become obsolete with the excep
ton OF few that been preserved In speaking and
writing this country and have since been revived TO
certain extent the popular of the mother tongue
IN England. He somewhat vehemently protests against
the which the language has suffered, especially
that the preterites and past participates OF ancient
verbs which are still in use, and Of many good English
verbs in all their lenses which have been abandonedo
the people of the north of England and Scotland, and
have not been admitted the honors OF modern tera
ture except in the poems OF Robert Burns. and the
novels Walter Scott and John Gait These words
he nsss formed the bone and pith OF the language OF
ancestors and make the beauty ana strength OF te
Bible in many OF its nObest passages. The language
that was good enough for Shakespeare and his coem
poares ought he good enough for the greatest writers
Of our day. Many OF the examples adduced by Dr.
Maekay have great weight aud show the damage that
has accrued to the language by too great fasdousnes
in the acceptance OF words. His note on the verb
"wilt' ia good doing Justice to word winch
though rejected by purists expresses shade
of meaning which is conveyed by no other
term. "wilt, to wther and shriyel up. This word.
in Lincolnshire and in Kent, has been carried
by English emigrans 10 the United States where II has
taken root and ourisbed such extent almost 10
have superseded synOnyme wlther Neither Johnson
nor Richardson admits the honOrs OF the language,
but Webster who denies that II is synonymous with
wither declares it TO be legitimate word for which
there substitute in the language and defines il to
mean TO begin to wther to lose freshness and become
faecid as a plant when exposed great heat In dry
day. red plant he says often revives and be-
comes fresh; not wihered plant. He quotes az an
instance of its USE from Dwighs Theology
Desp0ts have Wited the human race into soth and
imb eilty In Bartlett's Dictionary OF Americanisms,
IL Is SAID that to nM dorm, 10 look sheepsh'
and the author quotes RObbs squatter Life:
Some cotton fellow bid sixty dollars for the
slave; and she ciltsd right down. In stern
berg's Northamptoushire Glossary, rW or ritter,
is defined meaning 10 wirher or dry up The
corrupt OF the preterite used in the county,
is heilkt" The attempt 10 tnd precedent for the in
tensely vulgar Americansm "siss" applied 10
young girl deserves be unsuccessful. "Sss-Sisse,
term OF endearment; applied to a female child in
America: the first syllable OF sister This word
il supposed by to be purely American and 10 be
derived from sss and asiss sgniying e IN several In
dian dialects Mr.. Hallwe, partially Of the En-
glish and unaware OF the American OF tho word,
appcarO lean 10 the opinion that is abbreYie'
ton OF Cicely "a common name for girl He quotes
The that in times past was cOnented TO russell
must nowadays have his doubet OF the fashion, with
wide cuts his garters OF fine silk OF Granada 10 meet his
siss SundayLOdge's Wits NJ serie 1897" In several
other Instances the author puts too hne point on his
etymologies but his book is generally Instructive aud
often amusing and will not fail 70 be read with interest
ifnot with assent, by all genuine wOri-fanciers.