With all thy getting get Understanding. 47 



will known to them. No doubt it influenced the 

 character and extent of his vocabulary, by inducing 

 him to employ the simplest words at his command, 

 and a few with a great variety of application. 

 Especially the verb " to get," in his familiar writing, 

 displayed a versatility almost beyond belief. To save 

 the reader the trouble of guessing, some instances 

 may be mentioned in which this verb can be quite 

 legitimately employed. Thus we say, to get on or 

 off, in or out, up or down, to get on in life or up in 

 the world, to get a meal, to get to school, to get a 

 lesson, to get out a word, to get stuck, to get hold of 

 a stick, to get a whipping, to get an answer, to get 

 understanding or riches or into difficulties, to get 

 ill or well, hurt or upset, settled or unsettled, to 

 get insured, to get married, to get children, to get 

 old, to get home. In fact, there are but few circum- 

 stances of life in the description of which this verb 

 might not be naturally introduced, and perhaps but 

 few paragraphs of any English book which might not 

 easily be modified so as to embrace it. 



In his later life, as might be expected, Mr. Robert- 

 son gave up the nervous habit of using a wrong word 

 to supply the place of the right one that would not 

 readily slip over his tongue. He then resorted to 

 another device, which gives a curious quaintness to 

 his conversation, without in any degree interfering 

 with its intelligibility. He interposes, where it suits 

 him, certain stock words, which have no concern in 

 the sentence, but simply fill up a gap or apparently 

 act as a kind of roller over which the impeded word 

 may glide out. To give a single example, when 



