and to me, to do so. Let these words be
clearly explained, and there will be no difficulty in using them
correctly.

=May=, past tense _might_. This verb expresses _power_, _strength_, or
_ability_ to perform an action. It is a mistake that it means permission
or liberty only. It implies more than that, the delegation of a power to
perform the contemplated action. Suppose the scholar should faint, would
the teacher say to him you _may_ go into the open air? He has no
_power_, _might_, or _strength_, communicated by such liberty, and must
receive the _might_ or strength of others to carry him out. But to the
scholar in health he says you _may_ go out, thereby giving to him a
power and liberty sufficient to perform the action. This is done on the
same principle that one man gives another a "_power_ of attorney" to
transact his business; and that _power_ constitutes his _liberty_ of
action.

=Must= signifies to be _confined_, _limited_, _bound_, or _restrained_.
I _must_, or am bound, to obey; certain obligations require me to obey.
The adjective of this word is in common use. The air in the cask is
_musty_. It has long been _bound_ or _confined_ there, and prevented
from partaking of the purifying qualities of the atmosphere, and hence
has become _musty_.

=Can.= This word is found as a principal verb and as a noun in our
language, especially in the Scotch dialect. "I _ken_ nae where he'd
gone." Beyond the _ken_ of mortals. Far from all human _ken_. It
signifies to _know_, to perceive, to understand. I knew not where he had
gone. Beyond the knowledge of mortals. Far from all human reach. To
_con_ or _cun_ is a different spelling of the same word. _Cunning_ is
that quick _perception_ of things, which enables a person to use his
knowledge adroitly. The child _can_ read; _knows_ how to read. It _can_
walk. Here it seems to imply _power_; but power, in this case, as in
most others, is gained only by knowledge, for =knowledge is power=.
Many children have strength sufficient to walk, long before they do. The
reason why they _can not_ walk, is, they do not _know how_; they have
not learned to balance themselves in an erect position, so as to move
forward without falling.

A vast proportion of human ability is derived from knowledge. There is
not a being in creation so entirely incapable of self-support, as the
new-born infant; and yet, by the help of knowledge, he becomes the lord
of this lower world. Bonaparte was once as