University of Virginia Library

“Trench, like Whately, has the happy faculty of simplifying and making plain, things
in themselves complex and obscure. Here he weighs words, as it were, in a balance,
and give us their true philosophy.”

“He discourses in a truly learned and lively manner upon the original unity of language,
and the origin, derivation and history of words, with their morality and separate
spheres of meaning.”

“All thoughtful people, who wish to try to say what they think, and think what they
say, will derive much advantage from the study of this volume.”

“Here is a book that is worth its weight in gold to the man capable of appreciating
the value of the study of words.”

“This volume will be found exceedingly useful, not alone for what it teaches, but as
a stimulus to thought and study, and opening wide a suggestive field for pleasing and
beneficial investigation.”

“To those who have paid little attention to the philosophy of language, it will furnish
much novel and interesting information, and few are so well posted up in word-knowledge
as to read it without instruction.”

“The plan of the work is original, ingenious, and simple, and can not fail to interest
and profit all those who delight in the philosophy of words or the mechanism of
speech.”

“This is a noble tribute to the divine faculty of speech. Popularly written, for use
as lectures, exact in its learning, and poetic in its vision, it is a book at once for the
scholar and the general reader.”

“It is an admirable work, full of instruction in the matter of language, rich in suggestions
on every subject of thought and expression. It is just the thing to be put into
the hands of young people finishing their school education, and desirous of understanding
that mysterious gift of language which they have been learning to use.”

“It is written in a singularly clear, strong, Saxon style, showing the writer to be a
master in the use of the great instrument of human progress, of which he treats.”

“The biography of a single word furnishes as interesting a chapter as the history of
any ordinary hero you may select from Plutarch or Headley. Mr. Trench might very
well entitle his book, `The Curiosities of Etymology.' ”

“This little volume is full of valuable suggestions. The adept in verbal distinctions
will find in it no little amusement as well as instruction.”

“It is one of the most striking and original publications of the day, with nothing of
hardness, dullness, or dryness about it, but altogether fresh, lively, and entertaining.”

“The book is full of curious analysis and shrewd philosophical exposition.”

“The student, the literary man, those of every profession, who wish to cultivate a
pure style of composition or public speaking, will find great assistance in this volume.”

“The tracing of the origin and history of many of the words of our language is
most amusingly done, and will well repay a perusal.”

“In its construction, the author has mingled so much fine thought and lively writing
with his learning, that the book is anything but dull.”

“The use and abuse of words ought to be understood, and can be by a careful reading
of this work.”

“The volume is one of more than ordinary interest and value, and will afford both
entertainment and profit to scholars.”