246 INFLUENCE OP WORDS AND NAMES. 



language is ever enlarging its vocabulary without com- 

 ing nearer to what is an intelligible reality. 



The same thing happens even in physical science, 

 the domains of which, though rapidly spreading, are 

 yet on every side circumscribed by lines which mark 

 the limits of human thought. It is in approaching 

 these confines that we are most beset by the entangle- 

 ments of language. The words ' substance,' ' elements,* 

 * atoms,' c force,' ' momentum,' ' inertia,' ' affinity,' ' cor- 

 relation,' 'potential or latent energy,' &c. all express 

 great natural facts, yet all are open more or less to 

 doubtful use and misconception. Despite this exactness, 

 indeed, the physical sciences often halt upon particular 

 phrases, which seem to record final truths, but which 

 further research compels us to discard. 



It is curious to note the effect on the mind of words 

 and phrases coming to us in another language, the 

 translation of those familiar to us in our own. This I 

 have often felt in passing from our version of the New 

 Testament to the Greek text, the antique English of 

 the translation often superadding a certain meaning of 

 its own. Or, to take slighter instances : who can read 

 the titles of Shakespeare's comedies in their German 

 translation without a whimsical feeling of novelty, or 

 acquiesce at once in the name of Schwazerd for the 

 pious and gentle Melanchthon ; or in that of Arouet for 

 the witty and profligate Voltaire ? The wonted names 

 are deeply rooted in the mind, and it is difficult or 

 even harassing to dislodge them thence. 



The influence of words deriving charm and weight 

 from their mere antiquity, the ' verba a vetustate repe- 



