tained  in  our  dictionaries,  gives  by  no  means  a  correct  idea  of  the  number  of
such  words  which  we  actually  make  use  of.  The  greater  part  of  our  house-
hold, colloquial,  and  poetical  expressions  are  Saxon,  and  so  are  all  those  im-
portant words  called  particles,  on  which  the  whole  structure  of  speech  hinges  ;
whereas  an  immense  number  of  the  words  derived  from  other  sources  belong
exclusively  to  the  language  of  books,  and  many  even  to  particular  sciences.
There  is  another  fact  to  be  observed,  which  is,  that  these  different  classes
of  words  are  not  used  in  the  same  proportion  by  all  members  of  society.
Persons  without  education,  and  who  are  consequently  not  familiar  with  the
language  of  literature,  employ  almost  exclusively  in  their  conversation  the
simple  and  expressive  Saxon  terms ;  while  persons  belonging  to  the  more
favored  classes  of  society,  supply  the  place  of  many  of  these  terms  by
others  derived  from  the  language  of  books.  The  old  words  thus  discarded,
which  are  often  far  more  expressive  and  more  consonant  to  the  genius  of
the  language  than  the  apparently  more  elegant  novelties  by  which  they  are
supplanted,  are  from  that  time  considered  as  the  exclusive  property  of  the
common  people,  and  receive  the  name  oi provincial,  colloquial,  or  vulgar.
