ams were often frozen over, so that men and teams could walk
over them. He believed no such thing--it was a "christian lie." This
idea was confirmed on the first trial of the chemists, which failed of
success. But when, on the second attempt, they succeeded, he was all in
raptures. A new field was open before him. New ideas were produced in
his mind. New qualities were learned; and he could now form some idea of
the _ice_ bergs of the north; of _frozen_ regions, which he had never
seen; of _icy_ hearts, and storms of _frozen_ rain.

We often hear it said, such a man is very _stoical_; another is an
_epicurean_; and another is a _bacchanal_, or _bacchanalian_. But what
idea should we form of such persons, if we had never read of the Stoics
and their philosophy; of Epicurus and his notions of happiness and
duty; or of Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry, whose annual feasts,
or Dionysia, were celebrated with the most extravagant licentiousness
thro out Greece and Rome, till put down by the Senate of the latter.

You can not fail to see the importance of the knowledge on which we here
insist. The meaning you attach to words is exceedingly diverse; and
hence you are not always able to think alike, or understand each other,
nor derive the same sentiment from the same language. The contradictory
opinions which exist in the world may be accounted for, in a great
measure, in this way. Our knowledge of many things of which we speak, is
limited, either from lack of means, or disposition to employ them.
People always differ and contend most about things of which they know
the least. Did we all attach the same meaning to the same words, our
opinions would all be the same, as true as the forty-fifth problem of
Euclid. How important, then, that children should always be taught the
same meaning of words, and learn to use them correctly. Etymology,
viewed in this light, is a most important branch of science.

Whenever a word is sufficiently understood, no adjective should be
connected with it. There is a ridiculous practice among many people, of
appending to every noun one or more adjectives, which have no other
effect than to expose their own folly. Some writers are so in the habit
of annexing adjectives to all nouns, that they dare not use one without.
You will not unfrequently see adjectives different in form, added to a
noun of very similar meaning; as, sad melancholy, an ominous sign, this
mundane earth, pensive thoughts.

Whe