So  far  as  he  knows,  George  Gary  Eggleston  has
never  "  sinned  against  the  English  language  "  by
adding  words  of  his  own  to  it.  He  has  always
found  its  vocabulary  adequate  to  the  expression
of  every  thought  that  his  mind  has  been  able  to
conceive.  He  has  used  dialect  forms,  of  course,
in  writing  dialect  stories.  Inasmuch  as  we  have
in  English  a  vocabulary  three  or  four  times  as
great  as  that  of  any  other  language,  Eggleston
has  never  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  add  any-
thing to  the  list  of  words  permitted  in  order
to  write  English.  If,  in  any  moment  of  inadvert-
ence, he  has  used  in  his  writings  a  word  not
found  in  the  dictionaries,  or  if  he  has  used  a  word


NEOLOGISMS  BY  LIVING  AMERICAN  AUTHORS.    159

iu  a  sense  not  recognized  by  the  dictionaries
of  the  English  language,  he  has  only  to  beg
the  pardon  of  the  English  language,  which  is  the
one  thing  he  has  studied  most  diligently  and
which  he  respects  most  of  all  things  in  the
world.
Other  letters  of  the  same  or  of  similar  import
might  be  mentioned,  but  enough  is  as  good  as
a  feast.  We  have  here  many  a  hint  of  author-
doxy,  if  the  levity  may  be  permitted,  and  some
good  words  are  cached  in  this  volume  for  those
who  wish  to  use  them.  There  are  others  which
would  need  an  apology,  were  they  not  worthless
on  their  face.
