The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-02-17

thousand. In Robinson's Lexicon of the Greek Testament, Professor Butler has ascenained by actual count that the num- Der of different words is five thousand five hundred But the principal object in the professors paper is to show a characteristic of Shakespearian language even more remarkable than its copious- ness. VIZ. its employment of words used osef and osIy oste. As he says: Style is modified by presence of these words a moment bright, then gone forever Greek critics were early sensitive to this subtle influence on style, and therefore cataiogued those words which produced 1t He finds the list of words used only once in Shakespeare surprisingly large: tor example, of those with initial A there are 36+, and with initial NJ. BIO. and as- suming similar proportion with regard to other letters. the Shakespearian words occurring only once cannot be fewer than 5000. From data collected from the Shakespearian Lexicon of Alexander Schmidt, work exhibiting extraordinary industry and patience, the number ap- pears greater than that stated Professor { Butler says:
 The number have eailed from I4, pages of Schmidt is 674 Al this rate. the total on the .loo psges of the entire lexicon would foot up 6.so4. It is im- i possible, then, that Shakespeare dis carded, after once trying them, more different words than fill the whole Eng iish Bible. The old grammarians said their term snptss was so named because It was very seldom employed, and there fore was almost always lying on its back. The supines of Shakespeare outnum- bered,the employees of most authors"
 Referring to the nature of the Shakes l pearian vocables II appears that the per centage of classical words among them Is large. but that the proportion of words now obsolete IS remarkably small. Among the words used once i'll the Bible. the classical factor is very large indeed. being o9 per cent, while in Shakespeare II IS about 6I. Of such words in the latter many of them are of rare beauty and power of expression. To quote again:
 ''They remind me of the exquisite crystal bowl from which 1 saw a Iewess and her bridegroom drink in Prague. and which was then dashed in pieces on the floor of the synagogue. or of the Chigi porcelain painted by Raphael. which, as soon as 1t had been once re- moved from the table, was thrown into the Tibel.''
 The lack of space forbids us to give the surprising list of once-used words given in this paper, but we must add one more extract:
 Nowhere perhaps will the sudden, of Shakspearian diction be more astonished than 10 observing how uncommon is the repetition of the commonest words. Who would anticipate that such vocabIes as the following would never do duty bu; once: Fuller. shoemaker. s,raggler. playing. crazy. sisterly. scholarly, pro toundiy, prodigiously. worthless, comeli- ness, restful, htful. forefoot, forecast, springhal,, rincing. flannel. frock. sprout. leech. salamander, Hail. flake. cater. cor pu!ent. beverage, navigation, salary. omen. obscurlty. cataract. cathedral, symbol. gospel, inwardness, Jesus, disciple. apos- tie. exhortation. homily, drge papist. in- stitution. fragile or such word clusters as definite, dehnitive, definitely or these 1 ilve sprouts from one root; 10 elf, eivish, elyish-marked, elf-lock. elf-skin.' Curiously enough the word disap- pointed is used only once. and in the beautiful lines,
 l Age cannot wither
 Nor custom stale his infinite variety"
 The last word anyone would select Is only once used in Shakspeare's plays. viz: "variety;' it may be found once more in the poem Venus and Adonis.
 t $ not claimed that this characteris- uc of Shakspearian language is the re- suit of deliberation in all cases tha, would be almost inconoeivable l: but there can be no doubt that the" iteration dam nable' which the poet denounced he stu- adiously avoided in his own writings. The whole matter is one that. however con- sidered, adds to the pcrplexing mystery af his genius. In language, as in ideas. he remains after the lapse of centuries unequalled and enigma,ical, and the works which he threw upon ''the cold in- different stream of time" as if reckless of their preservation. form an ever absorb ing theme for modern criticism. Fo. shedding some new light on an interest ing subject reflected from his own labor and that of others Prof. Butler is entitled to the thanks and appreciation of the stu dents of Shakespeare wherever they may ] be. The paper was read, we believe. be- fore the Academy of Art and Science of Wisconsin and is published in ,he trans actions of that body. ---=