DARLING, GRACE, an heroic girl, daughter of the keeper of the North Sunderla ad lighthouse, on the coast of England. A steam-vessel having been wrecked in 1838 on the rocks known as the Great Harkars, Grace, who was then twenty-two years old, persuaded her father to go with her to the rescue of the crew in an open boat. There was a raging sea; but they went, and saved nine persons, who otherwise would have perished. Grace died a few years after this event. See Wordsworth's poem on her, p. 201. DAUPHIN; formerly the title of the eldest son of the King of France. The editions of the classics which were made for the use of the dauphin are entitled in usum delphini.

DAVY, SIR HUMPHREY, an eminent chemist, b. in England 1778, d. 1829. He was an agreeable writer and poet. 317. DEATH, Thoughts on, 309, 318. DECEMBER, the twelfth month of our year, from the Latin decem, ten, because in the Roman year it constituted the tenth month, the year beginning with March. DEFLECT, to turn aside, deviate. DEGERANDO, a French writer, author of an excellent work on self-education. He died in 1842. He was a distinguished member of the French Institute.

The Mind its own Educator, 322. DEIST, one who believes in the existence of God, but not in revealed religion. DEMOSTHENES, Character of, 243.

Democracy of Athens, 266. DEMURE (from the French des mœurs, of good manners), sober, downcast. DE QUINCEY, THOMAS, a powerful but eccentric writer, born in England about 1790. The account of Joan of Arc (p. 259) is chiefly taken from his masterly review of Michelet's (Meesh-la's) narra tive in his History of France. DERIVATIVE (from the Lat. de, from, and rivus, a small stream), flowing or proceeding from. A derivative word is one which takes its origin in another word. DER'VIS, a Persian word, meaning poor; in Mahom'etan countries, a religious person leading an austere life. DERZHA'VIN, GABRIEL, a Russian poet and statesman, born 1743, died 1819. Ode to the Deity (see p. 153), as we learn from the translator, Dr. Bowring, has been translated into Japanese, by order of the emperor, and is hung up, embroidered with gold, in the Temple of Jeddo. It has also been translated into the Chinese and Tartar languages, written on a piece of rich silk, and suspended in the imperial palace at Pekin'.

His

DE'UM, the accusative case of the Latin word

Drus, God. "Te Deum" are the first words of a celebrate 1 Latin hymn, begin

ning "Te Deum laudamus," We praise thee, O God.

DEWEY, REV. ORVILLE. on Death, 3.18. DIALOGUE (from the Gr. dia, and legein, to discourse together), a conversation be tween two or more persons. The follow ing are dialogues :

Adam and Orlando, 319.

A Sister Pleads for a Brother, 520.
Gil Blas and the Archbishop, 340.
The Trade of War, 343.

Brutus and Cassius, 350.
Franklin and the Gout, 355.
From Hamlet, 371.

Wolsey and Cromwell, 421

DIAM'ETER, from the Gr. dia, through, and metros, measure; a straight line passing through the centre of a circle, and divid ing it into two equal parts. DIAMOND, the most valuable of gems. The word is pronounced either in three syllables (di'-a-mond) or in two (di'mond). DIAPA'SON (Gr. dia, through, and pason, all), in music, the octave or interval which includes all the tones. By a bold meta phor, Dryden has beautifully availed himself of this expression in his Ode, p 416. DICKENS,

CHARLES, a popular English author, born in Portsmouth, 1812. The World of Waters, 206.

The Wind and Rain, 208. Alfred the Great, 244. DILEMMA (Gr.), a puzzling situation, where each alternative is bad. DIOGENES (Di-Ŏj'e-nës), surnamed the Cynic, was a philosopher of ancient Greece; born 414 B. C. He is said to have had an interview with Alexander the Great at Corinth, at which, on the king's asking him if he could oblige him in any way, the Cynic replied, "Yes, you can stand out of the sunshine." "The Cynics were so called from the Greek word kunikos, dog-like, because of their morose, snarling mode of speech.

DIPLOMA (from the Gr. diplos, I fold up), a document, signed and sealed, conferring some privilege, right or honor. Thus a letter or writing of an university, conferring a degree, is called a diploma. DIPH'THONGS. See p. 16. DISC, or DISK (from the Gr. diskos, a round plate, a quoit; diskos being derived from dikein, to throw, whence its application to the form of the thing thrown. The word dish has a similar derivation). Disk, in astronomy, means the face of the sun and moon, as they appear to observers on the earth.

DISCHARGE. A debtor is said to have his

discharge when he has a release or ac. quittance in full from his debt. DISCIPLE (from the Lat. disco, I learn), a learner; a follower.

DISCOVER, literally, to uncover. Mark the distinction between us word and to invent. We discover what already existed; we invent when we make something to be which hitherto was not. Harvey "dis

covered" the circulation of the blood; but Watt "invented" the steam-engine. Dock, the place where a criminal stands in court; also, & ship-builder's yard. A dry dock has flood-gates to admit the tide, or prevent its influx, as occasion may require.

DOGMA, an opinion; that which seems true to one (from the Gr. dokein, to seem). Dogmatism, positive assertion, without proof.

DOUBLOON, a Spanish coin of the value of two pistoles.

DRAGOON', to force to submit.

DRAMA (drā'ma, or drăm-a). This word is from the Gr. drao, I act or do; and means a composition in which the action or narrative is not related, but represented. Adj., dra-măt'ic. See extracts, p.

383; also Dialogues. DRAWING-ROOM, a room to which the company withdraw from the dining-room. DRYDEN, JOHN, a celebrated English poet. Born 1631; died 1700. Futurity, by, 113.

Ode on Cecilia's Day, 416. DUMAS, ALEXANDER, a French miscellaneous writer, very voluminous.

Inconvenient Ignorance, 181. Fall of a Mountain, &c., 106. Imprisonment of Bonnivard, 142. DUMPS, a gloomy, depressed state of mind. It is not an elegant word. DYMOND, JONATHAN, on Duelling, 330.

EAGLE. The figure of an eagle was the standard of the Romans; and has been adopted as the emblem of the United States.

EARLY RISING, Thoughts on, 225.

ECHO (Gr.), the return or reverberation of a sound. Plural, echoes.

ECLAT (èk-kla', the a as in father), a bursting forth; hence, applause, pomp, show. ECLIPSE (Gr. ekleipo, I cease, faint away, or disappear), the obscuration of the light of a heavenly body, 174. · ECLIPTIC, the sun's path in the heavens. It has been called the ecliptic because eclipses only happen when the moon is on the same plane, or very near it.

ECONOMY (Gr. oikos, a house, and nomos, a law), originally, the thrifty management of a family; hence applied to individual and public concerns. EDUCATION. This important word is traced to the Latin e, from, and duco, I lead. Thus education must educe; and that (says Trench) is to draw out, and not to put in. To draw out what is in the child, the immortal spirit which is there, this is the end of education; and so much the word declares.

Thoughts on, 184, 322. EDWARD, the Prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince, son of Edward III. of England, was born in 1330, died 1376. While in France, in 1356, he won the great battle of Poictiers (pronounced in French Pwa-te-a', the first a as in water). E'ER (an), a contraction for ever.

Do not

455

confound this contraction with Ere, which

see.

ELECTRICITY (Gr. elektron, amber), the substance in which the property of at traction after friction was first noticed.

Electric Telegraph, The, 378. EL'EGY, commonly a plaintive poem, as ia implied by the Greek name, which signi fies to cry alas! alas! (E! E! legein)

Elegy in a Country Church-yard, 272. ELEMENTARY SOUNDS, Table of, 17. ELEUSINIAN, from Eleusis, an ancient city of Attica, north-west of Athens, and famous for the celebration of certain heathen religious rites, the chief design of which is said to have been to inculcate a belief in the immortality of the soul, and in the unity of the Deity.

ELIZABETH, Queen of England, was the daughter of Henry VIII. by his queen Anne Boleyn. She was born 1533, died 1602. See pp. 145, 247.

ELLIOTT, EBENEZER, Sometimes called the "Corn-law rhymer" and "the poet of the poor," was born in England in 1781, died 1849.

Woman's Mission, by, 359. ELLIPSE, an oval figure; the curve in which the planets perform their revolu tions about the sun. It presents to the eye, at once, variety and regularity, and is, therefore, preferred by painters to the circle for the outline of their pictures. For the grammatical use of the word, see p. 54.

ELLIPTICAL, having the form of an ellipse. ELOQUENCE, the art of clothing thoughts in the most suitable expressions, in order to produce conviction or persuasion.

Eloquence of Statesmen, 266.

Moral and Religious Eloquence, 313.
Eloquence of Science, 404.

EMERALD, a mineral of a beautiful green color, obtained in greatest perfection from Peru. In value it is rated next to the ruby.

EMERSON, R. W., The Snow-storm, 433. EMPHASIS, see pp. 39, 40. EMPORIUM, a Greek word, meaning a trad ing-place. It is now adopted into Eng lish, and signifies a city or place where great commercial transactions are made. EMPYREUMA, a Greek word, meaning the offensive smell produced by fire applied to organic matters, chiefly vegetable, in close vessels. Empyreumatic oil is ob tained from various substances in this way.

ENCYCLOPEDIA (from the Gr. en, in, kyclos, a circle, and paideia, instruction), a circle of instruction; a dictionary of science, the arts, &c. ENDICOTT, JOHN, governor of the colony of Massachusetts, 1644.

ENGHIEN, Duc d' (Duke D'ang-ghe-ang; the first a as in father), son of the Duke of Bourbon, was born in France in 1772. Being accused of conspiracies against Bonaparte as First Consul, although nothing was proved against him, he underwent sentence of death, 1804.

ENTREPOT (ang-tre-po', the & as in father, the e as in her), a warehouse for the deposit of goods.

EPHEMERAL (e-fem'eral). This is from the Gr. ephi, for, and eměra, a day; perishing with the day; short-lived.

EPIC (Gr. epos, a word), a poem of the narrative kind, describing generally the exploits of heroes.

EPICURE, one given to luxury; so called from Epicu'rus, a Greek philosopher, whose doctrines did not, however, authorize the sensual construction which was wrested from them.

EPITOME (e-pit'-o-më), an abridgment, an abbreviation, or compendious abstract. EPOCH (ép-ok or e-pok). This is from the Gr. epecho, I stop, and means a certain fixed point of time, made famous by some remarkable event, from whence ensuing years are numbered.

ERA differs from epoch in this

era is a point of time fixed by some nation or denomination of men; epoch is a point fixed by historians and chronologists. ERE (ar), before; sooner than; supposed to be from the Saxon ær, signifying the morning. Being pronounced like E'er, this word is sometimes mistaken for it. ES'SAY, in literature, a short treatise, or tract. Lord Bacon first used it in this sense.

EUREKA (eu-re'-ka) a Greek word, meaning, I have found. See p. 275. EURIPIDES (U-rip'i-dēs), a Grecian tragic poet, b. 480 B. C. He was torn in pieces by the dogs of King Archela'us, whose guest he was. Soph'ocles, who survived him, publicly mourned his loss. EVAN'DER is said to have built on the Tiber, at the foot of the Palatine Hill, a town which was incorporated with Rome. He taught the arts of peace.

EVANGEL (from two Gr. words, meaning to tell well, to announce good tidings), the Gospel; the history of Christ's life and resurrection.

EVERETT, EDWARD, b. in Massachusetts, 1794. Quoted pp. 185, 187, 249. EXAMINE; said to be from the Latin, examen, the tongue or beam of a balance. EXCEL'SIOR, the comparative degree of the Latin adjective, excelsus, high; so that it means higher. 285. EXCOMMUNICATE, to expel from the communion of the church. EXILE, THE POOR, 82.

EXIT, the third person of the Latin verb exen, I go out; literally, he or it goes out; hence the departure of a player from the stage; a way of departure, passage out of a place.

Ex'ODUS, a way, or passage out; ēgress, departure; the title of the second book of Moses, which describes the journey from Egypt.

EX'PLETIVE, a word not necessary to the sense; one used to fill a space. EXTEMPORE (ex-tem'-po-rë), on the spur of the moment, at the time; from the Lat. words ex, from, and tempore the time.

Avoid the blunder of pronouncing this word (extempore) in three syllables. EXTRAORDINARY (eks-tror'-de-na-ry). EXTRIN'SIC, external, outward.

FABLE (Lat. fari, to speak). In English it is applied to any feigned thing; gene rally a story inculcating a moral precept. See pp. 67, 71, 72, 92, 130, 286, 412. FALL OF A MOUNTAIN, 105. FAME. The root of this word meaning simply to speak or talk (good or ill), fame may be either favorable or the contrary. We often find that both praise and de traction are much exaggerated in men's mouths; hence the proverb, "common fame is a common liar," 64, 309. FAUST. The au pronounced like ow in how. FEBRUARY is from the Lat. februo, I cleanse; because on the fifteenth of this month the great feast of purification, called februa, was held among the Romans. FENELON, Archbishop of Cambray, in France, a great writer, and most amiable man, was b. 1651, d. 1715.

Fidelity in Little Things, 85.

Cicero and Demosthenes, 243. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, 281. FERRA'RA, an ancient and famous city of Italy; once the capital of a sovereign duchy. FEUDALISM.

The feudal system was that form of government anciently subsisting in Europe, under which a victorious leader allotted considerable portions of land, called fiefs, or feuds, to his principal offi cers, who, in their turn, divided their possessions among their inferiors; the condition being that the latter should render military service both at home and abroad.

FIELD. This word (says Trench) properly means a clearing where the trees have been felled, or cut down, as in all our early English writers it is spelled without the i, "feld," and not "field." FIJI (fe-jee), one of the S. Pacific islands. FIRE-WATER, the appropriate name given by the Indians to intoxicating liquors. FLEECY TROOPS. By a figure known as periphrasis (circumlocution), the poet thus designates sheep, 136.

FLINT, TIMOTHY, an American writer, and a missionary to the Mississippi valley. He died in 1839. See pp. 299, 302. FLORENCE, capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and one of the finest cities in the world. The present population is 106,899.

FLUKES, the broad triangular plates at the extremity of the arms of an anchor. The fins of a whale, from their resemblance, are sometimes thus called. FLYING FISH, THE 217.

FOLIO (Lat. folium, a leaf), a book of the largest size, formed by once doubling a sheet of paper.

FOOLSCAP, a kind of paper, usually about seventeen inches by fourteen. The derivation of the word is uncertain

FO'RAY, a sudden or irregular incursion in

a border war.

FORD, JOHN, an English dramatic writer, b. 1586, d. 1670. See p. 295. FORECASTLE (fore-kas-sl), that part of the upper deck of a ship forward of the foremast; also, in merchant vessels, the forward part, under the deck, where the sailors live.

FOREST, from the root of the Lat. word foras, meaning out of doors.

FORM'ULA, a prescribed form or order; a model.

FO'RUM, a Latin word, meaning literally, what is out of doors, an outside space or place; in Rome a public place where causes were tried, and orations made. FOSTER, JOHN, a much-esteemed English writer, b. 1770, d. 1843. See pp. 104, 331. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, distinguished as an! essayist, a philosopher, and a statesman, was born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 17th, 1706, and died in Philadelphia, the city of his adoption, April 17th, 1790. He discovered the identity of lightning with electricity, and obtained a lasting scientific reputation thereby.

Remarks on his Character, 331. Turning the Grindstone, by, 103. Dialogue with the Gout, 355. FRATZEL, The Silent Teacher, by, 286. FREDERICK, generally called the Great, King of Prussia, was born in 1712, and died 1786; a strict military disciplinarian, and friendly to literature.

FRIAR, from the French frère, a brother; in a restricted sense, a monk who is not a priest.

FRIDAY, the sixth day of the week.

The

name is derived from Freya, a Saxon goddess.

FROWARD (fro-waru, peevish, perverse; its radical meaning being, turned or looking from.

FULTON, ROBERT, an American engineer and projector, born in Pennsylvania, in 1767, died 1815. His first steamboat was Put upon the Hudson (as described by Judge Story, p. 324) in 1807. . The merit of a prior invention was claimed by Jonn Fitch, also an American.

GALAXY (Gr. galak'tos, of milk), the Milky Way; the long, white, luminous track visible across the heavens at night, from horizon to horizon. It consists entirely of stars, scattered by millions, like glittering dust, on the black ground of the general heavens.

GA'LEN, one of the greatest physicians o ancient times, b. in Asia, 256.

GASTRIC JUICE, the peculiar fluid secreted by the stomach, and essential to digestion.

GE NEVA, the most populous and industrious town of Switzerland, on the Rhone. GENIUS. The Latin root of this word means to produce, to bring forth, 147, 214. GEN'OA (Jen'oa), a famous seaport city of northern Italy, on the Mediterranean.

457

GENTILE (Lat. gens, a nation). The Jews designated all not professing their religion as "the nations;" hence the word Gen tile came to mean any person not a Jew or a Christian, a heathen. GIBBON, EDWARD, the celebrated English historian, was b. 1737, d. 1794. In his great work, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," he does not always do justice to his Christian characters. The same energy and virtue which, appearing in a heathen or a Mahometan, fills his heart with fervor, and his lofty periods with a swelling grandeur, leaves him cold and impassible, or cavilling and contempt uous, when it is exhibited in the cause of Christianity. 144. GIBRALTAR, a strongly fortified seaport town and colony, belonging to G. Britain, near the southern extremity of Spain, where it occupies a mountainous promontory. The Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco, is about fifty miles long, and from nineteen to twenty-three broad.

GIL BLAS (Zhil Blas). It is difficult to ex press in English the exact pronunciation of the French g. The nearest approach to it is zh, the z being sounded as in azure. The a of Blas has the first elementary sound (see p. 17), and the s is sounded. See Le Sage, Santillanë, Sig

nor.

GIRONDE (Zhe-rond'. See above). In French history, the Gironde were, dur ing the revolution, a celebrated political party, termed Girondins, from La Gironde (the department in which Bordeaux is situated), which sent to the legislative assembly of 1791 three of the chief leaders of the party, 291. GITTERN. See Arion.

GLADIATOR (Lat. gladius, a sword), a sword-player, a prize-fighter, 94. GLASS. "Looks in a glass," &c., p. 321. The allusion here is to the imposition practised by fortune-tellers, who pretended to see future events in a beryl, or crystal glass.

GLOAMING, the twilight; probably the word is a corruption of glooming. GNOMON (no-mon), a Greek word, meaning one who knows; in a dial, the pin which by its shadow tells the hour. GOLDAU (Gol-do'), a village of Switzerland, which was overwhelmed by the fall of part of the mountain of Rossberg, Sept. 3d. 1806. The account (p. 106) is substantially true.

GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, a celebrated poet, his torian, and essayist, was born in Ireland in 1731; died 1774. He was one of the most genial and elegant writers of his day; but, notwithstanding his great reputation, activity, and success, his life was embittered by perpetual debts and diff) culties.

The Village Preacher, 218.

The Discontented Miller, 222
Retirement, 250.

GOOSE QUILL. The proverb, p 84, Indicates

the superiority of mental force over phys| 10al; that "the pen is mightier than the sword."

GORGON, a fabled monster, the sight of which turned the beholder to stone. GOSPEL (Baxon, godspell; god, good, and spell, history), the Christian revelation. GRATTAN, HENRY, one of the most eloquent of Ireland's orators, b. 1746, d. 1820.

On Lord Chatham. 246. GRAHAME, JAMES, a Scottish poet, b. 1765, d. 1811. Winter Sabbath, by, 433. GRAVITATION (from the Lat. gravis, heavy) is a force which binds the universe together. It causes the falling of heavy bodies to the earth's surface, and, by a wonderful balancing of the same force, the heavenly bodies are kept within their proper paths. See Newton.

GRAY, THOMAS, an English poet, b. 1716, d. 1771. His Elegy (p. 272) is the most celebrated of his poems. It is related by Lord Mahon, that the evening before the capture of Quebec (1759) Gen. Wolfe, while on the St. Lawrence in a boat with some of his officers, repeated this elegy, then new, aloud, and said, "Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec." See Curfew. GREECE. The effects of Grecian art, literature, and philosophy, upon the world, promise to be as enduring as its civilization. They can hardly be estimated. GREGA'RIOUS (Lat. grex, a herd), going in flocks or herds; not liking to live alone. GRIFFIN, GERALD, an Irish poet and miscel laneous writer, who died young, about the year 1840.

Love due to the Creator, 179. GUATEMALA, pronounced Gwa-te-mala; the a in the first and third syllables like that in father.

GUILLOTINE (gil-lo-tên'), a machine for be heading in France, named from its inventor, Dr. Guillotin.

GUINEA, a piece of money, so called because it was originally coined of gold brought from the coast of Guinea.

GUTTIEREZ, pronounced Goot-ti-a'reth. GYGES (jy'jes), according to Plato, was a shepherd of Lydia, who had a ring, with which, by turning a stone in it, he could become ir.visible.

GYMNASTIC, pertaining to athletic exercises. The Greek root gymnos means naked, the ancients being naked in their exercises.

HABITATION. The root of this word is the Latin habeo, I have.

HALFPENNY, pronounced haf-penny (the a as in father), or hà'pên-ne. HALL, JAMES, Prairies, The, 203. HALL, ROBERT, an eloquent Baptist preacher and theological writer, b. in England 1764, d. 1831. His sermon on Modern Infidelity established his fame. See p. 815. HALLECK, FITZ-GREENE, an American poet, born 1795.

On a Friend's Death, 858

HAMLET (believed to be from the same Saxon root as home, anciently written hame), a small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.

HAMPDEN, JOHN, one of England's best patriots, was born in London in 1594. He strenuously resisted the impositione of the royal government. Being mortally wounded in the civil war against the king, he died, after six days of great suf fering, in 1643. He was a devout Chris tian; and his last words were, "O, Lord, save my country. O, Lord, be merciful " and here his speech

to

failed him, and he fell back and expired. HARVEY, WM., a celebrated physician, b. in England 1578, d. 1658. He discovered the circulation of the blood, of which he published an account in 1628.

HASTINGS, WARREN, born in England in 1733, d. 1818. He was appointed by the East India Company governor of their possessions: but, being accused of having governed tyrannically, and extorted large sums of money, he was impeached by the British House of Commons, but finally acquitted, 268.

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL, an American author, born about 1809; in 1853 appointed consul to Liverpool by President Pierce.

A Rill from the Town Pump, 231. HAZLITT, WM., an English critic and essay ist, who died in 1830. He was a vigorous writer, but apt to be borne away by violent prejudices.

HEBREWS, Literature of the, 389. HECTOR, the chief hero of the Trojans in their war with the Greeks. He was slai by Achilles.

HEMANS, FELICIA DOROTHEA, the most popu lar poetess of England, was born at Liverpool in 1795, died 1835. She married young, but her marriage was infelicitous She wrote much for the magazines of the day; and many of her lyrics are of a high order of merit.

The Graves of a Household, 105. Hymn of the Mountaineers, 239. The Captive's Dreams, 310. HENDERSON, JOHN, Account of, 167. HENRY, PATRICK, an American orator and statesman, born in Virginia 1736, died 1799. His early opportunities of education were very limited, but he rose above all impediments into great distinction as one of the most eloquent men of any age. He was a strenuous advocate for American independence. Extract from, 271. HERSCHEL, SIR JOHN, born in England 1790, a son of the celebrated astronomer, Wm. Herschel, and eminent for his mathemati cal and literary attainments.

On a Taste for Reading, 399. Wonders of the Universe, 406. HES'PERUS, a name given to the planet Venus when she follows the sun or ap pears in the evening; when she appears in the morning before sunrise, the same planet is called Lucifer

FLET-E RO GE'NEOUS (Gr. eteros, other, and