"Our English Bible", it has been well said, "is a wonderful specimen of the strength and music of the English language.” Along with the Bible, Lincoln studied Æsop's Fables and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. We are told that he read and digested these books until they were his own. "Better books he could not have found in all the universities of Europe, and we begin to understand where he got his moral vision, his precision of English style, and his shrewd humor." These books are no less serviceable as models today than they were in Lincoln's time, and they will probably remain so for generations

to come.

Read aloud and study the following selections (the passages from the Old Testament are translated from Hebrew; observe how and is used in the first selection to connect sentences, a style not to be imitated); compare the thought in the first selection with that in the fourth:

1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. - THE BIBLE.

2. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,

And the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise

of silver,

And the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies:

And all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared

unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand;

And in her left hand riches and honour.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:

And happy is every one that retaineth her. - THE BIBLE. 3. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. - THE BIBLE.

4. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own.

Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite. - LINCOLN.

5. With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

LINCOLN.

CHAPTER V

THE DERIVATION OF WORDS

Whenever you doubt of the propriety or elegancy of any word, search the dictionary, or some good author, for it, or inquire of somebody who is master of that language; and in a little time propriety and elegancy of diction will become so habitual to you, that they will cost you no more trouble. —LORD CHESterfield.

Neither is a dictionary a bad book to read. - EMERSON.

378. Acquiring a vocabulary. An excellent way to acquire a vocabulary is to read good authors aloud (§ 361) and look up the new words in a dictionary. The dictionary should be large enough to contain etymologies. An unabridged dictionary will be found the most instructive and the most entertaining. For directions about using the dictionary, see Exercise XXXIX, § 584. For the development of English, see Chapter XII.

379. Literal and figurative meaning. In studying words in the dictionary, learn first their pronunciation, derivation, and original, literal meaning, since from this meaning arise their figurative meanings. For example, the word sharp is used literally in the expression sharp knife, and figuratively in sharp words; the word dry is used literally in dry wood and dry air, and figuratively in dry speech and dry wit.

380. Slang, etc. Do not use, ordinarily, in speaking or in writing, any of the meanings marked Archaic (old-fashioned'), Cant, Dialectal (Dial.), Local, Obsolete (Obs.), Provincial, Rare (R.), Slang, or Vulgar (Vulg.). Those marked Colloquial (Colloq.) are suitable for ordinary conversation, familiar letters,

and the like, but should not be used in formal writing. Slang is objectionable not only because it is in bad taste, but because it narrows the vocabulary. For example, to be up against it means to be in any kind of discomfort or trouble, from a mishap to a disaster; and when the boy who has grown up on such phrases is required, in school, in college, or in business, to translate them into language suited to the occasion, he finds himself more bewildered than if he were translating from a foreign tongue.

In choosing words we should heed the advice of Pope:
In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold;

Alike fantastic, if too new, or old:

Be not the first by whom the new are try'd,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

As a rule, an Anglo-Saxon word (§ 388) is preferable to a Romance word (§ 595), a familiar word to an unfamiliar word, a short word to a long word, a specific word to a general word, a single word to a phrase (see pet expressions, § 417), a usual meaning of a word to an unusual meaning.

381. Etymology. Many etymologies explain ancient customs and manners:

Anemone (§ 423), from Greek, means daughter of the wind. Arrive, from Latin, means come to the shore, showing that the word originated where traveling was done by water.

Bankrupt, from the Italian banca rotta, means bench-broken; it is said that at Florence, when a money changer became insolvent, his bench (or money table) was broken.

Bonfire, originally bonefire, a fire for burning bones, which were collected and saved for the annual summer burning.

Canary, a bird from the Canary Islands. But the name of the islands is Latin, and means Dog Islands, from the large dogs which the Romans found there.

Canopy, from the Greek word for mosquito, was originally an Egyptian bed or couch with gauze curtains to keep out mosquitoes.

Companion, from Latin, means bread-sharer, messmate. Cynosure (§ 423), from Greek (meaning dog's tail), is the Greek name of the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Bear), containing the North Star, to which ancient mariners and travelers turned their eyes; hence, a center of attraction: as, She was the cynosure of

all eyes.

Digit, from the Latin word for finger, so named because counting was done on the fingers. Decimal numeration (` numeration by tens'), common in all ages, is owing to our having ten fingers.

Doll, a pet form of Dorothy. Compare Hal for Harry.

Esteem, estimate, to set a value on, from the Latin word for copper or bronze, which was used as money.

Govern, from Greek, mcans steer a ship.

Library, from the Latin word for book (liber), which originally was the inner bark of a tree, used for writing material. The English word book is an old Teutonic word meaning writing tablet, and is perhaps connected with the name of the beech tree (boc), the suggestion being that the ancient Saxons and Germans used boards from this tree to write on. The word paper (Latin papyrus) is from the Greek name of a plant used by the Egyptians for making writing material. From another Greek name of the same plant (biblos) came the Greek word for book; from this we get the word Bible, which properly means, as it is often called, the Book, or the Book of Books.

Neighbor (near boor'), from Anglo-Saxon, means farmer who lives near.

Pecuniary is from the Latin word for cattle, sheep, and the like, which constituted the wealth of the early Romans.

Pedagogue, from Greek (meaning boy-leader), was originally the slave who led his master's boy to and from school and had general charge of him.

Persuade, from Latin, means sweeten through (compare suavity), and hence to make attractive.

Rival, from Latin, means of the same brook. Rivals contended for the water.

Salary, from Latin, means salt money, the money allowed Roman soldiers to buy salt.