there is an
objective case, _himself_, supplied. "Let these papers _lay_,"
should be, "Let these papers _lie_." "The ship _lays_ at
anchor," should be, "The ship _lies_ at anchor." "The ship
_laid_ at anchor," should be, "The ship _lay_ at anchor." "They
have _laid_ in wait for you," should be, "They have _lain_ in
wait for you." "This trunk is _laying_ in our way," should be,
"This trunk is _lying_ in our way." Errors connected with the
use of these verbs are more common, probably, than any others
in our language, being detected in the conversation and
writings of many of the best educated people. Attention to the
above rules, and a few trial sentences in the different moods,
tenses, numbers and persons, ought to make the selection of the
proper word so simple, that persons should seldom make mistakes.

=Learn.= _Learning_ is done by the scholar or student, and
_teaching_ by the instructor. "She will _learn_ me how to
play," should be, "She will _teach_ me how to play," etc.

=Leasing=--leez'ing, not l[=e]s'ing. An obsolete word meaning
falsehood; lying. "Thou shalt destroy them that speak
leasing."--_Bible._

=Leg.= Of late years there has become quite popular a prudish
notion that it is indelicate to say _leg_ when one of the limbs
that supports the human body is meant, _limb_ being preferred
instead. _Leg_ is certainly a less euphonious word than _limb_,
and if the latter had the same signification attached to it,
there would be no objection to its employment; but _limb_ means
_arm_ just as much as it does _leg_. There is nothing immodest in
the sound or meaning of the word _leg_; if there were, it would
be well to speak of the _limb_ of a table, a _limb_ of mutton, or
a three _limbed_ stool; and the mention of such words as _legacy_
or _legate_ should cause the blush to rise to our cheeks. The
very use of the word _limb_ indicates what is passing in the mind
of the speaker--a thought of _leg_, an indelicate meaning
attached to it, and a fear to speak the word. The mind of the
listener is affected similarly and the result is that a
conversation intended to be perfectly pure, has a slight stain
left upon it. If we could pass through life without ever finding
it nece