Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-08-26

or both :" I am lambasted for my
"absurd notion am referred 10 the
dictionaries and encyclopedias. and
at length am called upon to give the
doctor "credit for originality at least"
in evolving out of his erudite inner
consciousness (and with evident
travail) the word "Eonia" or ..Eoni-
an" s'Please do not misrepresent
me" he exclaims in way that would
wiring tears from cabbage and with
the tone of one whose perfect mastery
OF languages dead, living and uncon-
scious 'twere worse than folly to deny.
What heart could resist such an APP
peal, What consc :ence could with
stand it, Not mine, l trow Hence
these lines; may they be not too late
to repair the mischief
l clasp unto my bosom the advice
contained in these words, If you
have no knowledge OF the Greek do
not pretend to criticise some one who
has, but stick to the English"
shall, doctor. l Shall. l Shall stick to
the English from this time on closer
than did the Continental army at
Cowpens. But you wrong me in a
way. | did not pretend to criticise
anyone who had any knowledge of
Greek. Such thought never entered
my mind. | merely suggested that
your name was inappropriate and that
you evidently did not clearly under
stand its meaning yourself. l shud-
der to think what | have done; but
pardon! Fool that | was l went to
human sources of information. | do
not originate all my knowledge |
get some of it ready-made Alas l
erred; but few of Us are perfect
had the Encyclopaedia and Century
dictionaries at hand and in an evil
hour | turned their lying leaves In
the Encyclopaedia found the word
spelled oeoniaR and thus defined:
Lat. aeon; Greek. aion. OF all but
eternal duration " With this Illus
trative quotation:
The sound of streams that swift or slow
Draw down Aeonian Mills and SOW
The dust OF continents to be.
-Tennyson: In Memoriam *.
In fba Cnntt,rr I fnp,1 h,
rived from con or oeon and to mean
lasting for an age. perpetual ETC.,
with this illustration:
some sweet morning yet in Gods
Dim aeonian periods.
joyful shall wake to see
Those love wholrestsn Thee
Whittier: Andrew Rykman Prayer.
1 will take oath. doctor, that when
sought out that word | was as in
nocent as newborn babe Of the
knowledge that YOU were the inventor
and sole patentee. How could know
that Tennyson stole it from you and
the dictionary from Tennvson? adj
nit that | should have gone to YOU
and drunk deep from the fount instead
OF quafliing from the brackish pool.
Had known that Lord Tennyson and
those naughty dictionary people were
guilty of purloining the product of
your originality without giving
',credt" where it belonged | should
never, never. never have committed
this grieyous sin. Let my youth and
Ignorance plead for me.
| also wish to beg pardon for an
other, an ignoramus whom | had al
ways esteemed scholarly man. He
told me that you were evidently lit
tie mixed; that ..Eonian or .Eonian"
could come only from con which
means an entirely different thing from
eos; that "Eonian" did not refer to
strata, nor quality nor anything but
length Of duration; that the diction-
aries were right but that your process
of taking one word and giving it the
VI duOlHGi anu liiClutllldllN
of a half dozen was indeed unique and
wonderful. though liable to cause
premature badness. | withhold the
charlatan's name He has suffered
enough already. Never again will he
pit his thirty or forty years acquaint-
ance with the Greek language against
your aeonian attainments.
| also crave absolution for calling
the spring mineral spring
know now that l was wrong and agree
with you that lit is not mineral
spring at ALL There is not single
chunk Of lead. copper or zine in it.
and though | have looked into it often
| have never seen any pig-iron bubble
to the surface. Neither does it issue
from an old shaft. ! was clearly off