“He who calls departed ages again into being,” says Niebuhr, “enjoys a bliss like that of creating.” The study of words does this; it recalls the past with all its associations, so that for a time it becomes a part of the present. It cannot be otherwise, for every word rests upon some _fact_; so that when we attempt to account for the meaning of a word, we only go back to the fact upon which it rests. There is one class of words which is very suggestive—we mean those _names_ which have been attached for ages to places familiar to us from the days of our childhood, from our pleasure excursions, or from our course of reading. The thoughtful mind cannot remain long contented with names that convey no meaning with them; there is always the desire to retain them in the memory by some principle of association, and this leads to an inquiry concerning their origin and history, or when and why they were imposed. The study of place-names is one, then, of great interest to the historian and to the teacher. The signification of a single name throws much light upon the history of nations and their migrations. In point of fact, there is often more dependence to be placed upon words than upon history; for, says Halberstma, it pleases not the muse of history to speak but late, and then in a very confused manner: yet she often deceives; and before she comes to maturity she seldom distinctly tells us the truth. Language never deceives, but speaks more distinctly, though removed to a higher antiquity.