hardson say, John? read him out." John
reads--

LOVE, _v. s._ To prefer, to desire, as an
-LESS. object of possession or enjoyment
-LY, _ad. av._ to delight in, to be
-LILY. pleased or gratified with, to
-LINESS. take pleasure or gratification
-ER. in, delight in.
-ING. _Love_, the _s_ is app. emph. to
-INGLY. the passion between the sexes.
-INGNESS. _Lover_ is, by old writers, app. as
-ABLE.[A] _friend_--by male to male.
-SOME.[B] _Love_ is much used--pref.
ERED.[C] [A] _Wiclif._ [B] _Chaucer._ [C] _Shak._

_Love-locks_,--locks (of hair) to set off the beauty; the
loveliness.

A. S. _Luf-ian_; D. _Lie-ven_; Ger. _-ben_, amare, diligere.
Wach. derives from _lieb_, bonum, because every one desires that
which is good: _lieb_, it is more probable, is from _lieb-en_,
grateful, and therefore _good_. It may at least admit a
conjecture that A. S. _Lufian_, to _love_, has a reason for its
application similar to that of L. _Di-ligere_ (_legere_, to
gather), to take up or out (of a number), to choose, sc. one in
preference to another, to prefer; and that it is formed upon A.
S. _Hlif-ian_, to lift or take up, to pick up, to select, to
prefer, Be- Over- Un-

_Uncle impatiently._--"Stuff; 'grateful!' 'pick up! stuff! These
word-mongers know nothing about it. Live, love; that is it, the perfect
of live."[34]

[34] They are strange beings, these lexicographers. Richardson,
for instance, under the word SNAIL, gives this
quotation from Beaumont and Fletcher's _Wit at Several
Weapons_,--

"Oh, Master Pompey! how is 't, man?

_Clown_--SNAILS, I'm almost starved with love
and cold, and one thing or other."

Any one else knows of course that it is "'s nails"--the
contraction of the old oath or interjection--_God's nails_.

After this, Uncle sent the cousins to their beds.

Mary's mother was in hers, never to rise from it again. She was a widow,
and Mary was her husband's niece. The house quiet, Uncle sat down in his
chair, put his feet on the fender, and watched the dying fire; it had a
rich central glow, but no flame, and no smok