444 
RURAL HOURS. 
It is true that this good and hearty word of olden days has . 
been partially abused in later times, as men have discovered 
“ How mirth may into folly glide, 
And foUy into sin.” 
But if we were to reject everything good and desirable in itself 
because it has been abused bj^ mankind, we should soon discover 
that we had deprived ourselves of every blessing, not only tem- 
poral, but spiritual also. If we were to give up all terms that 
have been perverted from their true and natm-al meaning, we 
should soon condemn ourselves to a silence more absolute than 
that of the followers of Latrappe : only too many of the best 
Avords in every language hav'e suffered giievously from bad usage. 
There is an old adjective of the same date as that under discus- 
sion, Avhich comes, perhaps, nearer than any other to giving a 
true idea of merry in the sense we understand it, and that is blithe ; 
and having been less tarnished by common uses, it still bears a 
charming meaning. But few among us, Avhen looking at this sub- 
ject, Avill b“ disposed to dispute the authority of our own trans- 
lation of the Holy Bible, which is generally admitted to be a 
model of good, sound English ; now the words merry and mirth 
occur quite frequently in the pages of the sacred book, and the 
following are some instances of the application they have re- 
ceived. Merry is applied to feasting in Genesis, Avhen relating 
the joyful meeting between Joseph and his brethren in Egypt ; 
mirth is applied to laughter in the book of Proverbs ; it is oppos- 
ed to mourning in Ecclesiastes, and it is connected Avith laughter 
and pleasure in the same book ; in Isaiah it is connected with 
thanksgiving, withyoy, with music ; the sigh of the merry -hearted 
