of a
butcher. In this way a Jew old-clothes man, holding his hand on his
breast with the utmost earnestness, while in the other he offers a coin
for a pair of slippers, two pairs of boots, three hats, and a large
bundle of clothes, to an old woman, who, evidently astonished all over,
exclaims, 'A shilling!' is an illustration of _conscientiousness_. A
dialogue of two fishwomen at Billingsgate illustrates _language_, and a
riot at Donnybrook Fair explains the phrenological doctrine of
_combativeness_.'

But peace to the 'bumps,' and pass we on. Could anything be more
completely metaphorical than such expressions as 'egregious' and
'fanatic?' 'Egregious' is chosen, _e-grex_--_out of the flock_, i. e.,
the best sheep, etc., selected from the rest, and set aside for sacred
purposes; hence, _distingue_. This word, though occupying at present
comparatively neutral ground, seems fast merging toward its worst
application. Can it be that an 'egregious' _rogue_ is an article of so
much more frequent occurrence than an 'egregiously' _honest_ man, that
incongruity seems to subsist between the latter? 'Fanatic,' again, is
just the Roman '_fanaticus_,' one addicted to the _fana_,[7] the temples
in which the 'fanatici' or fanatics were wont to spend an extraordinary
portion of their time. But besides this, their religious fervor used to
impel them to many extravagances, such as cutting themselves with
knives, etc., and hence an 'ultraist' (one who goes _beyond_ (ultra) the
notions of other people) in any sense. Whereupon it might be remarked
that though

'Coelum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt,'

may, in certain applications, be true, it is surely not so in the case
of a good many words. Thus this very instance, 'fanatic,' which, among
the Romans, implied one who had an _extra share of devotion_, is, among
us--the better informed on this head--by a very curious and very
unfathomable figure (disfigure?) of speech or logic, applied to one who
has a peculiar _penchant_ for human liberty!

'In the most high and _palmy_ state of Rome,
A little ere the mighty Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.'

We do not quote this for the sake of the making-the-hair-to-stand-on-end
tendencies of the last two lines, but through the voluptuous quiescence
of the first,

'In the most high and palmy state of Rome,'

to introduce the beautifully metaphorical