1. Words are the creation of mind. As the true philosopher looks
with humble adoration, from the variety and perfection of God's risible
creation to the power and goodness of the Creator, so the philosophic
etymologist is constantly led, from the various forms and applications of
words, to contemplate the intellectual powers in which man most resembles
his Creator. The true and judicious etymologist is anxious to obtain the
right meaning and application of words, and thus a good etymologist is
most likely to become the best metaphysician. He is not satisfied with
the common and external signification of words received from popular use,
but he examines their structure, their radical, that is, their real and
internal meaning, and thus endeavours to discover the reason of the
application of the term. When the understanding is thus called into
exercise in the formation of words, precision is not only given to ex*
pression, but the higher faculty of reason lends its powerful aid to the
memory, and greatly facilitates the acquisition of a language. The ety-
mology of a word being understood, and thus the sanction of reason
obtained, neither that word nor any of its family can scarcely ever escape
from the memory. The use of etymology will, however, be best proved by
a few plain examples, showing the real meaning of some common words.
