----the very rats
Instinctively had _quit_ it."--_Tempest_, i. 2.

"I shall _leave_ my house for a month before next Autumn; but I shall not
be obliged to _quit_ it until after Christmas."

340. _Mute_ and _dumb_. A _dumb_ man has not the power to speak; a _mute_
man either does not choose, or is not allowed to speak. It is, therefore,
more proper to say of a person who can neither hear nor speak, that he is
"deaf and _dumb_," than that he is a "deaf _mute_."

341. _Strong_ and _robust_. These words are frequently misused: a _strong_
man is able to bear a heavy burden, but not necessarily for a long time; a
_robust_ man bears _continual_ fatigue with ease; a _strong_ man may be
active and nimble; while an excess of muscular development, together with
a clumsiness of action, exclude these qualities from the _robust_ man:--

"_Strong_ as a tower in hope, I cry Amen!"

SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._ i. 3.

"For one who, though of drooping mien, had yet
From nature's kindliness received a frame
_Robust_ as ever rural labor bred."

WORDSWORTH, _Excursion_, VI.

342. "Isaac Newton _invented_ the law of gravitation:" say, _discovered_.
"Galileo _discovered_ the telescope:" say, _invented_.

343. To _hear_ and to _listen_ have each distinct degrees of meaning. To
_hear_ implies no effort or particular attention. To _listen_ implies some
eagerness to hear. An old proverb says, "They that _listen_ seldom _hear_
any good of themselves."

344. _Ought_ and _should_ both express obligation, but the latter is not
so binding as the former. "Children _ought to_ love their parents, and
_should_ be neat in their appearance."

345. _Alone_ and _only_ are often misapplied. "He _only_ could do it,"
means that no other but himself could do it; "he _alone_ could do it,"
should mean that he, without the assistance of others, could do it.

346. "Please the pigs."--(_Old Proverb._) This is a corruption from
"Please the _pyx_." The _pyx_ is the receptacle which contains the
consecrated wafer on Romish altars; and the exclamation is equal to
"Please God." This corruption is as curious a one as that of "tawdry" from
"'t Audrey," or "at St. Audrey's Fair," famous for the sale of
frippery--showy, cheap, and worthless.

347. "The _partridge_ is a delightful bird:" do not say _patridge_. Also,
do not say _pasley_ for _parsley_.

348. "After this, let him hide his _