People of wealth and rank never use ugly names for ugly things. Apoplexy is an affection of the head; paralysis is nervousness; gangrene is pain and inconvenience in the extremities. All that I heard from D——, who falls into this kind of subterfutive language, was that Miss —— was indisposed, and it was only after your letter that I got anything like the
518 | MEMOIR OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. |