Page:Ralcy H. Bell - The Mystery of Words (1924).pdf/152

 The purpose of Part is to regard words, things of daily use, in their simpler aspects. Some of the deeper questions must be touched. Delicate nuances, subtleties of meaning, can not be ignored; and ethical questions must arise. But on the whole, unclouded meanings, unified by liberal consent and best usage, will be sought to the end that good form may be conserved, and that the tendency toward looseness of expression and demoralization of language may be opposed by persons inclined to be careful and considerate of their speech.

It may be well to think of words, for the moment, as the immaterial shadows of things physical, the echoes of things spiritual. As shadows and echoes, they are associated with the images that people the conscious world. Also they are more than shadows and echoes, for in a sense, as residents of the mental world, they are both angels of light and demons of darkness, having power to bless or curse. They may hold our souls in thrall or make us free through the liberation of our