In the beginning G.o.d _created_ the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without _form_, and _void_; and darkness was upon the _face_ of the deep: and the _Spirit_ of G.o.d _moved_ upon the _face_ of the waters. And G.o.d said, Let there be light; and there was light. And G.o.d saw the light, that it was good; and G.o.d _divided_ the light from the darkness. And G.o.d called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.--_Genesis_ i. 1-6.
And it came to _pa.s.s_, that when _Isaac_ was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called _Esau_, his eldest son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I _pray_ thee, thy weapons, thy _quiver_ and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some _venison_; and make me _savoury_ meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And _Rebekah_ heard when _Isaac_ spake to _Esau_ his son. And _Esau_ went to the field to hunt for _venison_, and to bring it. And _Rebekah_ spake unto _Jacob_ her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto _Esau_ thy brother, saying, Bring me _venison_, and make me _savoury_ meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.--_Genesis_ xxvii. 1-7.
THOMSON.
These as they _change_, Almighty Father! these Are but the _varied_ G.o.d. The _rolling_ year Is full of thee. Forth in the _pleasing_ spring Thy _beauty_ walks, thy _tenderness_ and love.
Wide flush the fields; the softening _air_ is _balm_; _Echo_ the _mountains round_; the _forest_ smiles; And every _sense_ and every heart is _joy_.
Then comes thy _glory_ in the summer months, With light and heat _refulgent_. Then thy sun Shoots full _perfection_ through the swelling year.
ADDISON.
I was yesterday, about sunset, walking in the open fields, till the night _insensibly_ fell upon me. I at first _amused_ myself with all the richness and _variety_ of _colours_ which _appeared_ in the western _parts_ of heaven. In _proportion_ as they _faded_ away and went out, _several_ stars and _planets appeared_, one after another, till the whole _firmament_ was in a glow. The blueness of the _ether_ was _exceedingly_ heightened and enlivened by the _season_ of the year.
YOUNG.
Let _Indians_, and the _gay_, like _Indians_, fond Of feathered _fopperies_, the sun _adore_: Darkness has more _divinity_ for me; It strikes thought inward; it drives back the soul To settle on herself, our _point supreme_.
There lies our _theater_: there sits our _judge_.
Darkness the _curtain_ drops o"er life"s dull _scene_: "T is the kind hand of _Providence_ stretched out "Twixt man and _vanity_; "t is _reason"s reign_, And _virtue"s_ too; these _tutelary_ shades Are man"s _asylum_ from the _tainted_ throng.
Night is the good man"s friend, and guardian too.
It no less _rescues virtue_, than _inspires_.
SWIFT.
Wisdom is a fox, who, after long hunting, will at last _cost_ you the _pains_ to dig out. "T is a cheese, which by how much the richer has the thicker, homelier, and the _coa.r.s.er coat_; and whereof, to a _judicious palate_, the _maggots_ are the best. "Tis a _sack posset_, wherein the deeper you go on you will find it sweeter. But then, lastly, "tis a nut, which, unless you choose with _judgment_, may _cost_ you a tooth, and _pay_ you with nothing but a worm.
HUME.
The _beauties_ of her _person_ and _graces_ of her _air combined_ to make her the most _amiable_ of women; and the _charms_ of her _address_ and _conversation aided_ the _impression_ which her lovely _figure_ made on the heart of all beholders. _Ambitious_ and _active_ in her _temper_, yet _inclined_ to _cheerfulness_ and _society_; of a lofty _spirit_, _constant_ and even _vehement_ in her _purpose_, yet _politic, gentle_, and _affable_, in her _demeanor_, she _seemed_ to _par_take only so much of the _male virtues_ as to _render_ her _estimable_, without _relinquishing_ those soft _graces_ which _compose_ the _proper ornament_ of her _s.e.x_.
GIBBON.
In the _second century_ of the _Christian era_, the _empire_ of _Rome comprehended_ the fairest _part_ of the earth, and the most _civilized portion_ of mankind. The _frontiers_ of that _extensive monarchy_ were guarded by _ancient renown_, and _disciplined valour_. The _gentle_ but _powerful influence_ of laws and _manners_ had _gradually cemented_ the _union_ of the _provinces_. Their _peaceful inhabitants enjoyed_ and _abused_ the _advantages_ of wealth and _luxury_. The _image_ of a free _const.i.tution_ was _preserved_ with _decent reverence_.
JOHNSON.
Of _genius_, that _power_ which _const.i.tutes_ a _poet_; that _quality_ without which _judgment_ is cold, and knowledge is _inert_; that _energy_ which _collects_, _combines_, _amplifies_, and _animates_; the _superiority_ must, with some _hesitation_, be _allowed_ to Dryden. It is not to be _inferred_ that of this _poetical vigor Pope_ had only a little, _because_ Dryden had more; for every other writer since Milton must give _place_ to _Pope_; and even of Dryden it must be said, that if he has brighter _paragraphs_, he has not better _poems_.
BYRON.
_Ancient_ of days! _august Athena!_ where, Where are thy men of might--thy _grand_ in soul?
Gone--glimmering through the dream of things that were.
First in the race that led to _Glory"s goal_, They won, and _pa.s.sed_ away. Is this the whole?
A _school_-boy"s tale--the wonder of an _hour_!
The warrior"s-weapon and the _sophist"s stole_ Are sought in _vain_, and o"er each _mouldering_ tower, Dim with the mist of years, gray flits the shade of _power_.
SIR WALTER SCOTT.
The way was long, the wind was cold, The _Minstrel_ was _infirm_ and old; His withered cheek and _tresses_ gray _Seemed_ to have known a better day; The harp, his _sole remaining joy_, Was carried by an _orphan_ boy.
The last of all the bards was he Who sung of border _chivalry_; For, well-a-day! their _dale_ was fled; His _tune_ful brethren all were dead; And he, _neglected_ and _oppressed_, Wished to be with them and at rest.
WORDSWORTH.
Ah! little doth the young one dream, When full of play and childish cares, What _power_ is in his wildest scream, Heard by his mother unawares!
He knows it not, he cannot guess; Years to a mother bring _distress_; But do not make her love the less.
My son, if thou be _humbled_, _poor_, Hopeless of _honor_ and of _gain_, Oh! do not dread thy mother"s door; Think not of me with _grief_ and _pain_.
I now can see with better eyes; And worldly _grandeur_ I _despise_, And _Fortune_ with her gifts and lies.
TENNYSON.
Not wholly in the busy world, nor _quite_ Beyond it, blooms the garden that I love.
News from the humming _city_ comes to it In _sound_ of _funeral_ or of _marriage_ bells; And sitting m.u.f.fled in dark leaves you hear The windy clanging of the winter clock; Although between it and the garden lies A _league_ of gra.s.s, washed by a slow broad stream, That, stirred with _languid pulses_ of the oar, Waves all its lazy _lilies_, and creeps on, Barge laden, to three _arches_ of a bridge, _Crowned_ with the _minster-towers_.
PART V.--MISCELLANEOUS DERIVATIVES.
I.--WORDS DERIVED FROM THE NAMES OF PERSONS.
1.--NOUNS.
AT"LAS, _a collection of maps bound together_: "Atlas," a fabled giant who, according to the Greek notion bore the earth upon his shoulders.
ACAD"EMY, _a superior grade school, a society of learned men_: "Academus,"
a Greek in whose garden near Athens Plato taught.
AMMO"NIA, _the pungent matter of smelling salts_: "Jupiter Ammon," near whose temple in Libya it was originally obtained.
BAC"CHa.n.a.l, _one who indulges in drunken revels_: "Bacchus," the G.o.d of wine.
BOW"IE KNIFE, _an American weapon_: Colonel "Bowie," the inventor.
BRAGGADO"CIO, _a vain boaster_: "Braggadochio," a boastful character in Spenser"s Faery Queen.
BUD"DHISM, _a wide-spread Asiatic religion_: "Buddha," a Hindoo sage who lived about 1000 B.C.
CAL"VINISM, _the doctrines of Calvin_: "Calvin," a Swiss theologian of the 16th century.
CAMEL"LIA, _a genus of evergreen shrubs_: "Camelli," a Spaniard who brought them from Asia.
CICERO"NE (sis e-ro"ne or chi che-ro"-ne), _a guide_: "Cicero," the Roman orator.
CINCHO"NA, _Peruvian bark_: Countess "Cinchona," wife of a Spanish governor of Peru (17th century). By means of this medicine she was cured of an intermittent fever, and after her return to Spain she aided in the diffusion of the remedy.
DAGUERRE"OTYPE, _a picture produced on a metal plate_: "Daguerre," the inventor (1789-1851).
DAHL"IA, _a garden plant_: "Dahl," a Swedish botanist.