r that he had real grit? What is the literal
meaning of _grit_? What does it mean as Crockett uses it here? Is it
proper to use the word as Crockett uses it?

Probably it is not worth while to push this critical study any farther.
It will be seen by this time that Crockett wrote as he talked, and
accordingly, his story lacks the polish and literary beauties that men
trained to write could have given it.

_The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_

(Volume IX, page 32)

Words are interesting things, and people who have never tried the
experiment will be surprised to learn how much pleasure there is to be
found in the use of the dictionary. We consult the dictionary only when
we wish to know the meaning of a word, or its pronunciation, but there
are numberless other facts in the volume that are more interesting, if
not more valuable, than the definitions and marks of pronunciation. In
the history and derivation of words may be found many interesting and
surprising facts which, if they are known, give increased force and
meaning to the words.

There is a great difference among writers in the kinds of words they
use. Some naturally use simple words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while others
use longer and more sonorous words which come from the Latin and the
Greek. It is interesting to take paragraphs from different writers, say,
for instance, from Hawthorne, Lamb, Longfellow, Tennyson, Macaulay and
Irving, make a list of the leading words in the paragraphs, and then
look up their derivations and see how many Anglo-Saxon, how many Latin
and how many Greek words are found in each paragraph.

It will be seen that it is a characteristic of Macaulay to use numerous
many-syllabled words, most of which come directly from the Latin. His
essay on the _Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ shows this trait.

Probably that furnishes as good an illustration as anything in the books
of the kind of literature from which studies in words may best be made.
Taking two paragraphs at random, let us look them over and see what
interesting facts may be gleaned from the dictionary concerning the
words we find:

"The Opposition was loud and vehement against him. But the Opposition,
though formidable from the wealth and influence of some of its members,
and from the admirable talents and eloquence of others, was outnumbered
in Parliament, and odious throughout the country. Nor, as far as we can
judge, was the Opposition generally desirous to engage in so