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THE ROBERT E. COWAN COLLECTION 
 
 PRESKNTED TO THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIH 
 
 C. P. HUNTINGTON 
 
 • cJUNE, 18Q7, 
 
 Hccession No. 7^^^^ ^ Class No.i^. 5^ 
 
 r 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/englishlanguagesOOsaulrich 
 
f ■ \ ^ 
 
 i TUB ENGLISH LANGUAGE: j 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FORI ITS 
 
 CORRECT AND FLUENT USE 
 
 AYITHOUT TECHNICAL GKAMMAK, 
 
 BY 
 
 S. S. SA.XTI.. 
 
 Truth lies on the summit of a beautiful uiountain ; 
 
 not " at the bottom of a deep tvell.'* t 
 
 'Definitions, they say at Colleg-e, 
 Are the Keys to Knowledge 
 
 •8AN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA 
 
 (b\ FEINTED FOR THE ALTHOU BY B. F. STERETT. 
 
 ^ 1877. 
 
 PRICE FIFTY CENTS. 
 
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS 
 
 CORRECT AND FLUENT USE 
 
 WITHOUT TECHNICAL GEAMMAR, 
 
 BY 
 
 \ 
 
 S. S. SA.TJ3L. 
 
 Truth lies on the summit of a beautiful m,ountain; 
 not " at the bottom of a deep well.** 
 
 "Definitions, they say at Collegre, 
 Are the Keys to Knowledge.' 
 
 SAN LEANDRO; 
 
 PBINTED FOR THE AUTHOB BY B. F. STKBETT. 
 
 1877. 
 PRICE FIFTY CENTS. 
 
^i'llo Z 
 
f£l(n.S3Y.ie7ZP^y ^^^^ 
 
 DEDICATION. f^NP^siTY 
 
 This work is respectfully dedicated to those who 
 studied grammar without benefit, those who have for- 
 gotten all they ever did study, and those who never 
 studied it at all. 
 
 The author's vocations in life — teacher, clerk, editor, 
 and newspaper and magazine contributor — have given 
 him excellent opportunities for understanding the wants 
 of those to whom it is dedicated. 
 
 The following extract and letter show his early bent 
 for matters of education, to which he is now giving his 
 riper years : 
 
 Mr. S. S. Saul has been appointed Principal of the *• first male" 
 school of Huntingdon, vice Albert Owen, appointed County 
 Superintendent. — Pennsylvania School Journal, Aiiyust 1855. 
 
 Huntingdon, July 29, 1856. 
 S. S. Saul, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir : The undersigned. Board of Trustees of Huntingdon, 
 have received your note resigning your situation as Principal of 
 the First Male school of our district. Its tone is peremptory, or we . 
 should hope that your purpose might be changed, and the school 
 continued under your care. Permit us, however, to express our 
 regret that you have been compelled — urged by your better judg- 
 ment, from some good cause — to leave us. Your zeal, your efficiency 
 and success prove your earnest devotion to the well-being of the 
 school ; to the intellectual progress and moral culture of the 
 scholars and make your withdrawal from the school a public loss, 
 and one not readily supplied. We should not be true to the inter- 
 ests of the cause of education did we not wish you God-speed, and 
 commend you to the kind consideration of all engaged in a cause 
 so vital to our race and nation. 
 
 Iea E. Wallace, A. W. Benedict, 
 M. F.Campbell, Wm. Kothbock, 
 Wm. Glasg w. 
 San Leandro, Cal., January 1, 1877. 
 
[ 4 ] 
 
 TO CRITICS. 
 
 Ciiticisers of this book will please to bear constantly 
 in mind that the author aims to be of use to those who 
 have received no benefit from the methods now in use 
 for accomplishing what his little work modestly proposes 
 to accomplifcjh. AH who have given the matter attention 
 know that ^ very large percentage, much more than a 
 moiety of those who begin ine study of grammar, after 
 a '* sorry tug'' at it give it up in despair and disgust. 
 These, at least, will receive it thankfully, not one of 
 whom will, it is with great confidence presumed, lay it 
 aside without a thorough study of it. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When the forces of Nature have been fully conquered 
 to man's use — when labor has been economized to the 
 highest degree — when education has been so systematized 
 that a preparation for the more essential activities may 
 be made with comparative rapidity — and when, conse- 
 quently, there is a great increase of spaie time, then 
 will the poetry of both Art and Nature rightly fill a lai'ge 
 space in the minds of all. So says an eminent and wise 
 writer. 
 
 Long continued belief in any doctrine or philosophy* 
 is not proof of its truth, nor is the long practice of a 
 habit proof of its correctness. In the light, if I may say 
 so, of our superior wisdom, we lay aside the philosophies 
 and practices of other times, and substitute for them 
 new philosophies and new jjractices. Change with us 
 
 * Philosophy, literally, the love of wisdom. But in modern acceptation, 
 philosophy is a general term denoting an explanation of the reason of things ; 
 or an investigation of the causes of ail phenomena, both of mind and matter. 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 is happily called progress. In our onward and upward 
 march we change our ways of living, our dress — (Mr. 
 Longfellow, in a lecture on Change, contrasting the 
 exquisite ladies' hats of to-day with the long ''coal 
 scuttle" bonnet prevalent in his youth, said he had to go 
 down a lane to kiss his sweetheart ;) — change our treat- 
 ment of one another, our manner of avenging wrongs and 
 disciplining wTong-doers ; our modes of manufacture ; 
 our ways of transit ; our manner of medical treatment ; 
 our ways of teaching and imparting knowledge ; cease 
 to believe the world flat w^hen we find it round, and so 
 on. And all this we style progress. We truthfully 
 claim that we, in our day, have better and less tedious 
 ways of doing things than our ancestors had ; in other 
 w^ords, that we have a higher civilization. 
 
 In an able article in a leading magazine, it is said. 
 The chief aim of philosophers of all ages has been to 
 explain the character of the laws of the human mind, 
 and of late years we have learned that the}^ w^asted most 
 of their time and labor because they did not know that 
 Psycology* is a branch of Physiology, f and that they 
 could not make any safe progress without recognizing 
 the brain as the material organ of thought and sensation. 
 The philosophy of the present, he says, is a repudiation 
 of most of that of the past. The American Cyclopaedia 
 says. Sir W. Hamilton's system revolutionizes the wJiole 
 system of logic as commenced by Aristotle and elaborated 
 by his followers, down to Hamilton's time. 
 
 Grammar is defined the science of language, and 
 
 * Paycology— A discourse or treatise on the human soul, or the doctrine of 
 man's spiritual nature 
 
 t Physiology— According to the Greek, this word signifies a treatise or dis- 
 course of Nature: but the modems use the word in a more limited sense, for 
 the scieuce of the formations of all the parts or organs of animals and plants, 
 or, in other words, the oflaces which they perform in the economy of the 
 indii^idual. 
 
r 6 ] 
 
 English Grammar, the art of speaking and wiiting the 
 English language with propriety. To teach this art a 
 process is in use, the basis of which is classification,* 
 the main feature of the classification being the divLsion 
 of the words of the language into '' parts of speech," 
 producing an infinity of explanations, ** rules" and 
 '* notes," enunciatingf the '* principles" of the process, 
 and the ''government" resulting from these ''prin- 
 ciples.-" Many persons, some of fine intellect and great 
 learning, and others with much philological J lore, and 
 still others with exceedingly fine talents for the discovery 
 of the principles upon which the language is founded 
 and the laws which govern its use, have almost unquali- 
 fiedly condemned this process. A process so condemned 
 must be very faulty, if not completely bad. 
 
 At a State Teachers' Institute, held in san Erancisco, 
 (where teach e is are paid the highest wages paid in the 
 United States), some years ago, the gentleman then at 
 the head of the Normal School of that State, said that 
 at a meeting of grammar masters of San Francisco, 
 which was held to discuss the claims and merits of dif- 
 ferent grammars, the teachers were all united in one 
 opinion, and that was that they had been unsuccessful 
 in teaching grammar. This gentleman went on to say 
 further that while there were no parents present to listen, 
 these grammar masters spoke their minds freely, and 
 agreed that a great deal of time is spent in teaching 
 children in grammar what they forget as soon as they 
 get out of school, and the result sought is not attained. 
 He deprecated the present s^^stem of grammar, and 
 favored freedom from arbitrary rules ; and when asked 
 for a practical method for carrying out his views, he 
 
 * Classification— Distribution into sets, sorts, or ranks. 
 
 t Enunciating — Declaring ; pronouncing. 
 
 t Philological—Pertaining to the study and knowledge of language. 
 
[71 
 
 answered that if he could give that he would be entitle'd 
 to as tall a monument as could be erected. Another 
 prominent educationist said, on the same occasion, that 
 he thought grammar should not be taught as a science, 
 nor from a text book ; and another offered a resolution 
 that the time spent in the ordinary modes of teachiag 
 grammar is nearly all lost. After a very strong expres- 
 sion of the Institute, favoring these ideas, a gentleman, 
 who Avas afterwards elected State Superintendant of 
 Schools, said the ideas were not new ; that the same 
 ideas had been expounded many years ago in institu- 
 tions both in France and Geimany ; and he gave it as 
 his opinion that children only begin to learn how to use 
 language after they have forgotten all about grammar. 
 The Superintendent of Schools of Oakland City, a highly 
 educated gentleman, said, at an educational meeting 
 held in that city, that a child, after learning all about 
 the parts of speech and the rules of grammar, would sit 
 down and write miserable English. Another prominent 
 educator in California spoke of Goold BrowVs Gram- 
 mar :.s failing altogether to make grammarians. An 
 able waiter in one of the periodicals of the day, says : 
 ** There is something radically wrong in our method of 
 teaching grammar." Goold Brown himself, in his gram- 
 mar of grammars, says, that after exhausting gram- 
 matical lore he can find no scientific principles in 
 grammar. Antedating these more than three hundred 
 years is a protest against classification by Lord Bacon. 
 In his Advancement of Learning he says: ''Another 
 error is the over early and peremptory reduction of all 
 knowledge into arts and methods." You will notice 
 that no particular text-book is sought to be condemned 
 more than another, but the system upon which they are 
 all built. Brown's book is spoken of by the criticisers, 
 not because they consider it an inferior work, but because 
 
18] 
 
 they condemn the system in view of one of its best 
 exponents. 
 
 The learned editor of the American Journal of Edu- 
 cation, in his introduction to his work, " Exercises on 
 words" says, *' Our existing modes of education, as re- 
 gards our language, are so exceedingly lirtiited and im- 
 perfect, that, in the course of nearly forty years experi- 
 ence in public and private instruction, in the department 
 of rhetoric, the author of the present work has found 
 few individuals, either among practical teachers, or the 
 graduates of our colleges, whose language would bear 
 the test, when tried by the standard of mere grammatical 
 or orthographical accuracy. The exercises, (says he 
 further), suggested in this manual, to the student of 
 rhetoric, may seem sometimes of too elementary a 
 character to be practically useful. But it is these rudi- 
 mental forms of culture and discipline that our established 
 forms of education are most deficient in, and practice in 
 these is what is most needed in the process of training 
 for correct habit." A highly gifted young lady author, 
 and a teacher in California, in a charming essay read at 
 a State Teacher's Institute, said: '' I hope a witch may 
 come some time riding on her broom-stick, and sweep 
 the scientic and obstruse grammar of to-day through the 
 open door of the High School; while at the same time 
 some beneficent spirit will drop down upon us a reason- 
 able grammar.'' 
 
 It is very clear that some readily understood method 
 of acquiring the ability to use the mother tongue cor- 
 rectly, to supplant the present obstruse, hard to under- 
 stand method, is eagerly sought by many, and will be 
 hailed as a great boon when presented. 
 
 In the material world he who shortens ever so little 
 the labor of producing, is hailed as a benefactor and 
 rewarded with wealth and honor. Should this, or any 
 
I 9 ] 
 
 other effort result in removing even a tithe of the diffi- 
 culties now encountered in attaining to the use of the 
 vernacular,* the benefit conferred by it could not be 
 measured by a less standard than that erected for great 
 inventors. Classification causes the trouble. Its found- 
 ation being arbitrary, as the most learned admit, its 
 *' principles, rules, notes and explanations," and all its 
 formula are unphilosopical and sapless, and, therefore, 
 to use the words of the distinguished educationist already 
 quoted, the time spent in conning them over is almost 
 entirely lost. 
 
 The following extract from a grammar in extensive 
 use in Pennsylvania and some other States, shows the 
 trouble of classifying even the very first, and as is sup- 
 posed, the very simplest ''part of speech,^' made by 
 this classification: 
 
 *' Noun, derived from the Latin word nomen, signifies 
 name. The name of any thing that exists; whether 
 animate or inanimate, or which we can see, hear, feel, 
 taste, smell, or think of, is a noun. Animal, bird, 
 creature, paper, pen, apple, field, house, modesty, vii^tue, 
 danger, are all nouns. In order that you may easily dis- 
 tinguish this part of speech from others, I will give you 
 a sign, which will be useful to 3^ou when you cannot tell 
 it by the sense. Any word that will make sense with the 
 before it, is a noun. Try the following words by this 
 sign, and see if they are nouns: tree, mountain, soul, 
 mind, conscience, understanding. The tree, the moun- 
 tain, the soul, and so on. You perceive, that they will 
 make sense with the prefixed; therefore you know they 
 are nouns. There are, however, exceptions io this rule, 
 for some nouns will not make sense with the prefixed. 
 These you will be able to distinguish, if you exercise 
 
 * Vernacular— Native ; belonging to tlie country of one's birth. English is 
 our vernacular language. 
 
[ 10 ] 
 
 your mind, by their making sense of themselves; as, good- 
 ness, sobriety, liope^ immortality. 
 
 Nouns are used to denote the nonentity or absence of 
 a thing, as well as its reality; as, nothing, naught, vacancy, 
 non- existence , inv isibility . 
 
 Nouns are sometimes used as verbs, and verbs, as 
 nouns,* according to their manner and meaning ; and 
 nouns are sometimes used as adjectives, and adjectives, 
 as nouns." 
 
 But after all the great multitude of *' principles, rules, 
 notes, explanations, and exceptions," etc., have been 
 exh lusted, there are some expressions which are strictly 
 grammatical, that cannot be disposed of '* parsed '^ even 
 by the grammar makers themselves. These '' out-laws" 
 are called anomalies. The following are some of them 
 as given by works on grammar: 
 
 *' The wall is three feet high." " His son is eight 
 years old." "- My knife is worth a shilling.'' '* She is 
 worth him and all his connexions." He has been there 
 three times.'' *' The hat cost ten dollars." '' The load 
 weighs a tun." *' The spar measures ninety feet." 
 
 At school Home Tooke was asked why he put a cer- 
 tain word in some case or mood, and answered, *' I 
 don't know," for which he was instantly flogged. 
 Another boy was then asked who repeated the grammar 
 rule and secured Tooke's place in the class. At this 
 Tooke cried. His master asked him why he cried, and 
 he replied, *' I knew the rule as well as he did but you 
 did not ask for the rule but for the reason. You asked 
 why it is so, and that I do not know now. His teacher 
 gave him a Virgil in memory of the injustice done him, 
 of which Yirgil Tooke was very proud in after life. 
 Here is the key note to what we want: a system founded 
 in reason. A something by which we can tell the why. 
 When you give exact utterance to your thoughts the 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 utmost that grammar, rhetoric and elocution can do ia 
 achieved, and we may add that language is correctly 
 and perfectly used when it gives perfect expression to 
 thought and emotion . This is the only true grammatical 
 test, and it is the only one that can be recognised in 
 any rational method for teaching composition, or the 
 correct use of language. If we say one and one are 
 two, or twice one are two, can we give any reason for 
 the truth we state ? The fact is there is no reason to be 
 given. It is a simple unexplainable truth, to which an 
 answer like that of Tooke's must be given if a reason is 
 asked. So when we write *' John " we simply mean that 
 an individual is referred to and represented by the word, 
 and when we attempt, through the aid of an arbitrary 
 system to give explanations for the existence and use of 
 the word we only mystify, and make the use of language 
 hard to learn. The definition of '* adverb" given by 
 the grammarians is a word added to a word . Wherein 
 lies the science or philosophy in this ? In composition 
 each word is an added word after the first one, that is if 
 we allow at all the expression a word added to a word. 
 "Webster in his Dictionary says: *'This part of speech 
 might be more significantly named a modifier as it is 
 used to modify. The term adverb denoting position 
 merely is often improper." Take an example from the 
 title page of the well known work on parliamentary law, 
 ** Jefferson's Manual.'^ It illustrates the absurdity of 
 the *' possessive case" completely. Neither of the words 
 imply possession at all, and when" a teacher instructs a 
 pupil to say that Jefferson is in the possessive case 
 because it implies possession, he tells a falsehood J ef- 
 ferson's is used to tell who wrote the book and not to tell 
 who owns or possesses the book. The expressions, 
 John's boots and Jefferson^s Manual, are in no way 
 alike. In the first example the *' possessive '^ word tells 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 that John owns the boots. In the second, it is used to 
 tell that Jefferson is the author of the work, and not in 
 any way to intimate that he owns the book. The ab- 
 surdity is apparent — the same form of word, that is the 
 ** possessive " form, is used to denote a maker, and an 
 owner. How much better it would be to have a care as 
 to what meaning words are intended to convey and say, 
 *' The Jefferson Manual," and then tell the learner what 
 would be strictly true, that Jefferson is used to tell who 
 is the author of the book. Classification in most of the 
 other arts and sciences is not so objectionable because 
 the things classed must remain in their respective class- 
 es. In Anatomy, the portion of the human frame from 
 the wrist to the ends of the fingers, cannot be called a 
 hand at one time and at another a foot, and at another 
 an elbow, and so on. Let us examine one or two more 
 examples of classification. ''To'' is called a preposition, 
 and the reason given for so calling it, is, that it is placed 
 before the word which it governs. But so is every word 
 in composition placed before another word except the 
 last, and even that is placed before a mark called a 
 period.* Taking advantage of this classification some 
 grammar writers puzzled to know what to do with ** a" 
 in such expressions, as he went a-fishing, have called 
 **a" a preposition, and done like Tooke's class-mate 
 quoted the rule, '' a preposition is a word placed before 
 a word,'' etc. 
 
 The following extract from Professor Fowle's Teacher's 
 Institutes, published in 1866, contains an account of an 
 amusingly clear-headed class, but a badly puzzled teach- 
 er. All about this part of speech, (prepositions), which 
 contains but few words, and these the smallest ones in 
 the classification: 
 
 ** But the most popular grammars used in the TJnited 
 States abound in difficulties, and, by perplexing the 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 I 13 ] X ^aIITor!^ 
 
 teachers and disgusting the pupils, they fail to aid either 
 in the great work of using their mother tongue with 
 facility and effect. Something is fundamentally wrong. 
 All teachers and all pupils feel this, and yet no reform 
 that has been proposed reaches the diiOficulty, or, in any 
 considerable degree, obviates it. 
 
 ** The first school that I undertook to teach was to be 
 conducted on the monitorial plan, and the monitors, as 
 usual, formed the highest class, and were under my 
 special instruction, The first time that I endeavored to 
 give them a lesson in English grammar, I found that 
 they all applied to the dictionary to ascertain what part 
 of speech a word belonged to. As the same word, in 
 different circumstances, might belong to different classes 
 of words, and the pupils seemed never to have exercised 
 their ingenuity in attempting to class words by the use 
 that was made of them in the sentence, I directed all 
 dictionaries to be banished, and the definitions of the 
 various parts of speech to be thoroughly learned before 
 the next lesson. When the time arrived, I selected a 
 sentence from the reading book, and I shall never forget 
 it. It was, " David smote Goliah ." '' Well," said I to 
 the first pupil, '* what part of speech is David? '-^ *' A 
 noun, sir." *' What is a noun?" *' A substantive or 
 noun is the name of anything that exists, or of which we 
 have any notion." ** Is David, in this sentence, the 
 name of any thing that exists?" ** No, sir; David died 
 long ago.'' '' Is it the name of any thing of which you 
 have any notion?" '* Yes, sir; I have some notion of 
 him as a very small man, and a king.^' As the object 
 was only to ascertain the part of speech, I asked the 
 next pupil what part of speech smote was. (Smote, the 
 reader must understand, is by the classification, in every 
 case, a verb.) ''A preposition, sir," ** A preposition!" 
 said I, with astonishment, ** pray what is a preposition ?" 
 
f 14 ] 
 
 *' Prepositions serve to connect words with one another 
 and to show the relation between them/' '' Very well/' 
 said I, with all the importance of a teacher who felt it 
 his duty to expose the ignorance of his pupil, " what 
 words does smote connect ? " *' David and Goliah, sir, 
 for there is nothiDg else to connect them." ** Yes," 
 said I, somewhat flurried, " but what relation does it 
 show between them ? " ** Not a very friendly one, I 
 should think, sir," said the pupil. I was struck with 
 the truth of the answers, and had the honesty to say, 
 ** You are right, miss, or the definition in your book is 
 wrong." 
 
 " I " is called a pronoun, because as we are told it 
 stands for a noun. It is certainly used correctly very 
 often where it does not stand for a noun, or any other 
 word,^ and able writers have classed it as a noun. 
 ** The " is classed as an article, but Mr. Webster says, 
 ** Article being an improper term for the true significa^ 
 tion I make use of definitive." In the matter of tenses, 
 some make two, and some make twenty-two, and of 
 moods some make many, others make none. So I might 
 go on and show that classification makes a confusion 
 that completely confounds the learner, and which 
 makes us exclaim with the learned Goold Brown, 
 *' There is no science in Grammar." Said Aristotle, 
 *' To discover method is all one with teaching an art." 
 Many persons who, to speak technically, know nothing 
 about grammar — not having studied it at all — having 
 happily avoided that drudgery, speak and write correctly. 
 To reveal the method of these people would be to teach 
 a most beneficent art. Mr. Webster in his large Dic- 
 tionary, says that the language of Franklin and Wash- 
 ington was their hereditary mother tongue, and that 
 they, unsophisticated by modern grammar, pi esented as 
 pure models of genuine English as Addison or Swift ; 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 and Fowle, in his excellent work to which I have before 
 alluded, says that Addison, Swift, Steele, Pope, John- 
 son, Home, Tooke, and Junius, were educuted in a 
 period when no moods and only two tenses were allowed 
 in English grammar, and adds with much force that the 
 English lan.i;'uage did not suffer in the hands of these 
 writers. A lady teacher, who stands at the head of her 
 profession, in answer to a letter asking her views upon 
 the present system of grammar, says, '' The fact is, I 
 hate the science of grammar as it is arranged in books. 
 My own standard is common sense. If I have anything 
 to say, I manage to put it in the simplest shape; know- 
 ing that simplicity is always strength; and as this is my 
 practice, I try to teach it to my pupils.'* And the highly 
 gifted lady, of whom I have already spoken as author 
 and teacher, and who has written two or three delight* 
 ful and saleable books, in answer to a letter to her, says 
 that in writing she pa^^s no attention whatever to any 
 rules of grammar. It may be said that those who have 
 studied grammar use the science or art of grammar un- 
 conciously or imperceptibly, but I beg leave to here say 
 again, that it is a well established fact, that persons 
 who never studied grammar a day in their lives, will 
 write as correctly as many who studied it long and 
 tediously, and detect a wrong construction, or a wrong 
 arrangement of words, 'just as readily, if not more 
 readily. (The author has in mind a president of one oi the 
 State Universities, who habitually made numerous gram- 
 matical errors even in his official papers .) Then can the 
 ability to use the mother tongue correctly be acquired 
 by a less tedious and uncertain way than the one now in 
 common use ? This is a weighty question, but the 
 author is clear, very clear, in his belief that an affirm- 
 ative answer can be given to it. A following of the 
 process used by those who use no grammar rules will 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 solve the problem. Their process is nothing more or 
 less than attention to the sense and sound of the words 
 used. This seem« an exceedingly simple solution, but 
 all solutions are simple when once understood. The 
 great problem, what keeps the ponderous revolving 
 spheres of the universe in place, was not solved by a 
 lengthy abstruse scientific process, but by an observation 
 on the very simple operation of an apple falling from a 
 tree to the ground. See the extensive and very benefi- 
 cial practice of *' Water Cure," result from a peasant in 
 stinctively putting his sprained wrist under a pump 
 stream for relief. The only tests used by those who 
 discard grammar rules, undoubtedly are: do the words 
 used make sense, and do they sound well. The philoso- 
 phy of this method rests on the following premises: 
 First, that every word is the representative of a mental 
 process. Aristotle says, words are the images of cogit- 
 ations. Bacon in his advancement of Learning says, 
 ** The nn-ind must have a conception of what it is seek- 
 ing, or it would not know it when it found it.'' Second, 
 every word has an inherent meaning and power. Locke 
 in his wonderful Essay on the Human Understanding, 
 says: '* Names made at pleasure neither alter the nature 
 of things nor make us understand them, only as they 
 are the signs of and stand for determined ideas." 
 Third, that every word in composition is directly con- 
 nected with some other word in the sentence in which it 
 stands, and indirectly or remotely with every other 
 word in the composition in which it is found. These 
 principles are discoverable in words themselves, and 
 their formation or combination into sentences, para- 
 graphs, chapters, and so on. 
 
 To concisely illustrate, take the following example: 
 '' The boy, in his early years, won esteem and favor 
 by his truthfulness. In his after years truthfulness 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 gained him the confidence of his fellow-men, and put 
 him in high and responsible positions, and made him a 
 wealthy man.'' 
 
 The unsophisticated writer would indite this plain, 
 substantial and correctly written sentence without in 
 the least considering any science or art, and would tell 
 you that he used the word truthfulness the first time to 
 say that the boy told the truth on all occasions ; and the 
 second time, to say that the man not only spoke the 
 truth at all times, but was also candid, fair, honest, and 
 honorable in all his dealings. 
 
 Here is an example, taken from a popular grammar 
 of the day: 
 
 Two horses 1 
 
 Two large horses >- ran. 
 
 Two large black horses ) 
 
 This is disposed of (parsed) as follows: 
 
 *' In the first sentence what word describes horses?'^ 
 ''Two." "In what respect does it describe them?" 
 *' As to number ; it tells how many horses ran." * ' What 
 then is it called ?" '* An adjective." ** Why?" *' Be- 
 cause it describes a noun ." Could anything more com- 
 pletely confuse a. child grappling with the meaning of 
 words, their uses and their effect upon one another? 
 
 Let those who hesitate as to the correctness of their 
 language be assured that when they have spelled cor- 
 rectly and expressed their thoughts clearly, all the 
 grammar rules in the world will not enable them to do 
 more. The learned and great Daniel Webster himself 
 laid it down as a rule that whatever makes sense is 
 grammar. 
 
 Especial attention and study must be given to this 
 introduction, as the principles and ideas contained in it 
 have been kept constantly in view and closely adhered 
 
[ 18 ] 
 
 to in the body of the work. Abstruseness* has been 
 carefully avoided, and plainness of dictionf maintained 
 throughout the book. 
 
 THOUGHTS. 
 
 Thoughts are intellectual operations of the mind. They 
 are incited by sight, smell, tasting, feeling, and by 
 other thoughts. The printer being asked what he 
 printed, said he printed thoughts. When asked. How 
 can you print thoughts, which are invisible, intangible 
 things, his answer was, *' that thoughts live and work 
 and walk in things that make tracks, and with pieces of 
 metal called types he could measure the track of any 
 thought that ever made its burning foot marks along the 
 pathway of ages. Thus, thought, when measured by 
 types and touched by printers' ink, assumes form and 
 takes on body, and is clothed in garments of beauty, 
 that make it a living, working, intellectual moral and 
 political force in the wide worJd. Thought first works 
 through the machinery of the human body, and reveals 
 itself in the flushed face, the tender glance, the musical 
 voice, the graceful movement, or the gentle pressure of 
 the hand. It next works through the machinery of the 
 printing press, and by it is stamped with immortality, 
 and in all the newspapers is scattered abroad as the 
 leaves of the Tree of Life for the healing of the na- 
 tions." The most prolific producers of thoughts, how- 
 ever, are thoughts themselves. The clown's auswer was 
 as vvise as witty, when he scratched his head and said, 
 in reply to a question as to what he thought about some 
 matter, ** Well, let me think what I do think." 
 
 * Abstruseness— Obscurity of meaning ; the state or quality of b6ing dlflBcult 
 to be understood. 
 
 t Diction— Expression of ideas by words, style ; manner of expression. 
 
[19 ] 
 
 LANGUAGE. 
 
 Language is the hand-maideD of thought and emotion, 
 and embodies them in sounds and signs, and gives them 
 audible and visible form. Language, after intellect, is 
 man's crowning endowment. It is the instrument of all 
 his intellectual pleasures. 
 
 There is a definition with a much wider extent than 
 the special one given above, for the purpose of this 
 w^ork. Webster gives this more extensive definition in 
 the following words: **Any manner of expressing 
 thoughts. Thus we speak of the language of the eyes, 
 a language very expressive and intelligible." 
 
 It is not the' intention to make inquiry as to the origin 
 of language, or what it is, further than the definitions 
 already given. Lxnguages change, so to speak, are 
 vested with mortality —they live and die. What is 
 proper at one period may be improper at another. 
 Neither is there any intention of inquiring as to whether 
 it is proper to say *'skei*' or sky, cow or **keow." 
 I shall take the language, orthography, ortheopy and 
 everything else, just as we find it in the standard dic- 
 tionaries and current usage, and inquire solely as to the 
 best method of learning to grammaticize it, that is, to 
 use it correctly. Profane history traces the origin of 
 language to Asia. The Sacred Book tells us God used 
 the first spoken words. They must have had more than 
 a hard practical vocabulary, sufficient only for the nam- 
 ing of animals, in the Garden of Eden, else how could 
 Adam have whispered to Eve the sweet little nothings 
 necessary to woo and win her? (but Adam had no rivals). 
 An able and very pleasant writer of the day sa^'s: 
 Whether articulate language is the gift of God or the 
 invention of man is one of the profound problems which 
 at once challenge the thought and mock the skill of the 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 greatest and wisest minds. After investigating all its 
 elements, and as patiently and thoroughly as we can, we 
 are as much divided in opinion respecting it as we were 
 before. 
 
 WORDS. 
 
 Words are the component parts of language ; sounds, 
 and their representatives, letters and figures,* being 
 used to form words. Spoken words are conventionalf 
 utterances of the voice ; written words are formed by 
 letters and figures, representing the sounds used in 
 spoken words. There is but one way to learn words, as 
 far as spelling goes, and to come to know their powers 
 and uses, and that is, as you learn to know the names 
 and faces of your friends and acquaintances, by hearing 
 their names pronounced often and seeing their faces 
 frequently ; and by constantly mingling with them, 
 becoming familiar with their natures and qualities. 
 These preparatory practices, these rambles in the out- 
 skirts of the literary conservatory are exceedingly pleas- 
 ant and exhilirating. Pofessor Russell, in his excellent 
 treatise on words, says, " No exercise can be suggested 
 on which the young mind seizes with such avidity as 
 that of tracing the meaning of words." 
 
 Spelling is word building. We spell by sound and by 
 sight. We should be j)repared to spell well in both 
 ways, but many persons spell well in the one way and 
 poorly in the other. Bad articulation, and consequent 
 mutilation of words is the great cause of so much bad 
 spelling, and the reason why it is generally so hard to 
 
 f* The term figures includes all marks and signs used in conveying thoughts 
 and emotions, except the letters of the alphabet.] 
 
 t Arisiug out of custom or t acit agreement ; as, a conventional use of 
 language. 
 
[ 21 j 
 
 learn to spell corre<3tly and easily. The plodder in 
 orthography and the bad speller pay no attention to 
 to syllabication,* and then complain bitterly of the 
 ''outrageous way of spelling words/' and clamor for 
 *' phonetics"§ and the like. Close attention to syllabica- 
 tion will make the largest word as easy to letter as the 
 shortest, because when the long word is divided into 
 syllables it becomes just like a succession of words of 
 one syllable. Look well to your ortlioepy\ and you will 
 find orthography easy. This is the only suggestion 
 that will be given here as to learning to spell ; and it is 
 desired to give the suggestion the form of a mandate. 
 It is not the intention, however, to urge a distressing, 
 exhaustive drill on spelling. After you have given it a 
 rational share of attention, be not cast down or timid 
 about putting pen to paper because you may here and 
 there misspell a word. Even Sir Walter Scott, the great 
 author, misspelled such common words as balance, 
 society and present, writing them in his minute book, 
 when secretary of a literary society, where they stand 
 to-day — bal/ance, scociety, preasent. 
 
 Words are the tools of the four great builders and 
 sustainers of our social and political fabric — the pulpit, 
 the forum, the press, the rostrum. Let me exhort you 
 to read newspapers, and first of all your local paper, and 
 to go to preaching, and to listen to orations whenever 
 opportunity offers, and so greatly profit in acquiring the 
 use of words. 
 
 * Syllabication— The act of foiming Byllables ; the act or method of dividing 
 words into syllables. 
 
 § Phonetics— The doctrine or science of sounds, especially those of the 
 human voice. 
 
 t Orthoepy— The art of uttering words with propriety ; a correct pronun- 
 ciation of words. 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 COMPOSITION. 
 
 A composition is any finished piece of writing or oral 
 delivery, the word finished being used in the sense of 
 ended. The work of composition comprises the forma- 
 tion of words, signs* and characters! into groups called 
 sentences, paragraphs, chapters, sections, books. 
 
 To the work of composition the writer or speaker 
 must bring a good stock of thoughts, a good stock of 
 words, and a clear understanding of the subject, whether 
 the production is to be a plain letter, a sermon, a book, 
 an oration, or a scientific treatise. The first step in com- 
 position is the construction of a sentence. This small- 
 est integral I pai t of a composition is a word or group of 
 words, after which, in writing, is placed a period, and 
 in speaking or reading a long pause (called a full pause) 
 is made by the speaker or reader. The punctuation 
 marks, the period being the most ancient and important 
 one, were not invented or adopted for the purpose of 
 adding to the sense or meaning of composition, but for 
 the purpose of making rests for the mind of the reader 
 or listener, at which to gather and store away the mean- 
 ing of the manuscript he is reading, or of the speaker 
 or reader to whom he is listening. There s^iould, there- 
 fore, be a clearly denned conception, thought or idea 
 between all punctuation marks. That is the words 
 between the marks ought to give the mind of the reader 
 or listener a distinct something to store away and reflect 
 upon. But where are the guides to the formation of 
 these sentences, paragraphs, etc. ? They will be found 
 in the suggestions already made in this book. But a 
 
 * Signs — ^Visible maris or representatives. 
 
 fCharacters— Marks or figures made on paper or other material used to con- 
 tain writing. 
 
 t Integral —Whole; entire; making part of a whole; necessary to make a 
 whole. 
 
I 23 ] 
 
 word or two more before proceeding to illustrate the 
 application of these suggestions or principles. A popu- 
 lar grammarian, in his work, under the head of compo- 
 sition, says: ** It may be laid down as a maxim of 
 eternal truth that good sense is the foundation of all 
 good writing. He who understands a subject well will 
 scarcely write ill upon it." Professor Quackenbos, in 
 his grammar, says, ' ' As to the general arrangement of 
 words and clauses, what is the best guide ? Answer — 
 the ear.'' And in a workeotitled the ** Arts of Writing, 
 Reading and Speaking," published in London and repub- 
 lished in this country, and for which a very large sale 
 is claimed by the publisher, it is said : *' When I was 
 entering, as you are now, upon the study of my profes-^ 
 sion, conscious of the necessity for acquiring the art of 
 speaking, I sought anxiously in the libraries for a 
 teacher. I found many books professing to elucidate 
 the mysteries of oratory, and each contained some hints 
 that were useful, and much that was useless. But none 
 supplied the information I most wanted. After iconder- 
 ing over the pages of my many masters I did not feel 
 myself better qualified to stand up and make a speech ;• 
 on the contrary, I was perplexed by the multitude of 
 counsellors, and the variety and often the contradictions 
 of their advice, and I felt that if it be necessary that I 
 should keep before me one-twentieth part of the pro- 
 pounded notes, I should have no time to think what to 
 say. I turned the key of my door and attempted to get 
 these rules into practice, where failure would not be 
 ruin, and I found that neither language, nor voice, nor 
 gesture, as prescribedr in the books, was natural and 
 easy, but pedantic, stiff and ungainly. After patient 
 trial I thr3w away the books, and sought to acquire the 
 art of speaking by a different process — by writing, to 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 teach facility and correctness of language, and by read- 
 ing aloud, to teach the art of expressing thoughts." 
 ^ A definiton to the word !' composition" is given aa 
 follows: **In literature, the act of inventing or com- 
 bining ideas, clothing them with words, arranging them 
 in order, and, in general, committing them to paper, or 
 otherwise writing them. Hence, a written or printed 
 work ; a writing, pamphlet or book." The essence of 
 this definition is, that comj)osing is clothing ideas with 
 words, and arranging them in order. IncorjDorating 
 this into our definition, given in the first paragraph, 
 under this topic, we will proceed to illustrate the prac- 
 tical use of the principles laid down in the preceding 
 • pages. In doing so j^ou must first consider the meaning 
 (definition) of the word under consideration, and why it 
 is used, that is, tell the mental process it represents ; 
 next, with what word or words it is connected, and its 
 effect on the word or words with which it is connected, 
 where it modifies it or them, and whether such use and 
 connection is common among good speakers and writers. 
 This compact and plain formula can be kept in the 
 mind with as little effort as the letters of the alphabet, 
 and the figures of the multiplication table, and any com- 
 position constructed in accordance with it, will, as the 
 writer may be assured, be grammatical. However, even 
 this formula, short and convenient as it is, will seldom 
 be required. The sense and the sound will take you 
 along nearly all the time without the bother of referring 
 to formulas or *' rules." For a beginning take the 
 following plain sentence, John struck James. Applying 
 the formula, w^e would say: John is the name of a 
 person, and is used to speak of the person whose name 
 it is, and it is connected with the word struck. Struck 
 is the name of an action, and is used to tell what was 
 done, and it is connected with the words John and 
 
I 25 ] 
 
 James. James is the name of a person, and the word is 
 used to tell who was struck. 
 
 Now let us amplify this sentence somewhat, and then 
 dispose of 'the additional words: John Mason struck 
 James Jones on the arm with a large stick, and bruised 
 it severely. In this sentence '' John '^ is used to tell 
 which Mason is meant, and the two words, John and 
 Mason, taken together, are used to tell who did the 
 striking. ** James" now performs the same office that 
 * ' John '' does, and the two words James and Jones are 
 used to speak of the person struck. ' 'On" is used to give 
 notice that the surface of the arm is more particularly 
 concerned with the stroke, and it is connected with the 
 words struck and arm. ** The" cannot be defined ex- 
 cept by circumlocution. Like by, with et al, it has no 
 synonym. The mental process it represents is not very 
 clearly perceived; but the inherent meaning and power 
 of words is such that we are compelled to use it in this 
 and like expressions. It is true that we might say, John 
 struck James on arm, and we would be understood, and 
 a young child, or a foreigner just learning to speak the 
 language would very probably so phrase it. But it 
 does not sound well, it violates euphony, and so we are 
 compelled to use the little word ** the." It will not do 
 to say, as some do, that such words have no meaning. 
 To use words without meaning would be gibberish. It 
 will scarcely do to call such words connecting links, for 
 they no more perform that service for the other words 
 than the other words perform that service for them. 
 The literary chain cannot be made with either left out. 
 **The" is here used to direct attention to what re- 
 ceived the blow; and it is connected with arm. Arm is 
 the name of a limb of the body, and is used to tell par- 
 ticularly where the blow fell, and it is connected with 
 struck. The remarks on **on" are applicable to **with." 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 Its office here is to direct the mind of the reader, or his 
 listener, to the striker, and connect him and the stick 
 in his mind as they were connected in reality, and also 
 in the mind of the writer or speaker. The fact is, that 
 Mason used a stick to inflict a blow on the arm of Jones. 
 Mason, stick, arm, Jones, and struck, are all very closely 
 associated in the reciter's mind, and the word ** with '^ 
 announces this association — this mental process. In- 
 deed, the word mingles itself with nearly all of the 
 words in the sentence, and is indispensable to their 
 clear understandiog. *' A '' is the first letter of the 
 alphabet. It is here used as a word, and in this and 
 like cases it is used more for the sake of euphony than 
 for anything else. The sense would I e just as clear 
 without ''a" as with it, but the language would not 
 sound well at all. The meaning, if we care to pay at- 
 tention to it, is one. ** Large '' is a word used in speak- 
 ing of size. Its meaning here is quite indefinite. But 
 not so indefinite is ** big " in the humorous expression, 
 ** As big as a piece of chalk." ** Large " is here used 
 to describe stick, and it is intended to convey the in- 
 formation by its use that the stick was of a size sufficient 
 to do a great injury. This word is connected onlywith 
 stick. The word ** stick'' like the words air, fire, 
 water, smoke, etc., every body uses constantly, and 
 every body knows its meaning. Few, however, can 
 give the definition to any of these common words oif 
 hand. The word here would no doubt mean a piece of 
 wood of considerable length and not much breadth or 
 thickness, such as the person spoken of could wield 
 with facility. It is used to tell what the bruise was 
 made with. It is connected with *'John Mason" and 
 '* with." The sentence might have ended here, but the 
 narrator, or composer, wished to state another circum- 
 stance of the affair, and the simplest way to do this in 
 
I 27 ] 
 
 the same sentence was to use the word " and," which is 
 equivalent to. I add further, the office of this word is 
 to announce the coming of another thought closely con- 
 nected with the one immediately preceding, or some 
 further information or explanation of the striking and 
 bruising. A period might have been placed after the 
 word stick, and another sentence have been formed to 
 make the statement about the bruise, thus: the blow in- 
 flicted a severe bruise. But the use of ''and" made 
 the shortest way, and the statement being clearly un- 
 derstood, it was the best way. The use of the fewest 
 words possible, if you make your thoughts clear in 
 them, is the best in every case. *' Bruised" is used to 
 tell what kind of a hurt the arm received, namely, a 
 contusion, that the flesh was crushed and injured but 
 not cut or broken. The thought which the word bruised 
 represents is clearly connected by the mind with the 
 arm, and that only, and the word is connected with " it," 
 which stands for the word arm . ' ' It " belongs to a set of 
 words which perform the office of synonyms* and prevent 
 disagreeable repetitions of the words, phrases, etc. they 
 represent. The following is a list of these words : 1, 
 thou, he, she, it, we, ye, you, they, my, mine, me, our, 
 ours, us, thy, thine, thee, your, yours, his, him, their, 
 theirs, them, her, hers, its, itself, yourself, myself, our- 
 selves, thyself, ourselves, thyself, yourselves, himself, 
 themselves, herself, each, every, either, this, that, some, 
 other, these, those, one, any, all, such, both, same, 
 another, none, who, which, whoever, whosoever, which- 
 ever, whichsovever, whatever, whatsoever, whose, whom, 
 whosoever, whomsoever, what. Some words not in- 
 cluded in this list may become at times synonyms. 
 
 * Synonym — A. word having the same signification as another word is a 
 synonym ; and when a word stands for a part of a sentence or a uttobas of sen- 
 tences it is a synonym. 
 
 / OF THK \ 
 
 rCTNIVERSITY) 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 Having used the original word or words, the proper 
 synonym can be substituted in other parts of the com- 
 j)Osition. "Severely'' is used to tell the degree or 
 extent of the wound. By the use of this word we 
 convey the information that it was a bad, painful 
 hurt of the kind. With a little thought it will be 
 apparent to beginners that this sentence might be 
 very much amplified. In fact, that it might be elabo- 
 rated into quite a long article. To these beginners it is 
 suggested that the persons spoken of might be described 
 in a great many particulars. When and where the affair 
 took place and the cause of it might be given with 
 exactness ; a lengthy description of the stick might be 
 given, which would include its length, thickness, 
 w^eight, shape, kind of wood, etc.; so the wound might 
 be exactly described ; its location on the arm, its extent, 
 color, etc. To exhaust a subject, that is, to say all that 
 can be said about it, is the very best exercise for begin- 
 ners. And it must not be imagined that a plain, easily 
 understood subject is a trivial one. Like Milo, begin 
 by shouldering the calf, shoulder him as he grows, and 
 so learn to shoulder the weighty ox. The following is 
 given as a sample, in the way of elaboration, ibr begin- 
 ners : I took a stroll this morning before breakfast with 
 my cousin along the brook for the purpose of conning 
 over yesterday's lesson in botany, many parts of which 
 we had found very difficult when studying it the evening 
 before. We stopped at a rustic seat by the ford. So 
 might we go on adding word by word, phrase by phrase, 
 until a story or a book resulted, as the far-stretching 
 railroad is built, tie by tie, and rail by rail, with here and 
 there a side-track and station, and occasionally a pic- 
 turesque bridge, and a wondrous tunnel delved through 
 the towering mountain, with, at intervals, where fertile, 
 productive valleys are tapped, branches running far to 
 
[ 29 1 
 
 the side to bring rich freight to the main line. In com- 
 position, these departures from the main thread of the 
 subject are called episodes, and furnish the opportunity 
 of most delightfully enriching narrative and descriptive 
 composition ; in fact all sorts of composition except the 
 strictly didactic. Many authors now attempt to teach 
 the art of composition with the aid of diagrams. These 
 labyrinths are more bewildering than the maze of 
 rules, notes, exceptions, explanations, etc., which fill tha 
 parts of their books not occupied by the diagrams. 
 
 The only reasonable diagram would be a succession 
 of short and long horizontal marks or dashes, repre-- 
 senting short and long words. For this is the whole of 
 composition — a succession of words differing in lengthy 
 that is if the composition is of any considerable length 
 itself. Caesar's famous laconism* : '* I came, I saw, 
 I conquered," contained only one long word. And the 
 still more laconic editorial of a country editor, whose 
 paper demised, contained not even one long word. The 
 sum total of his valedictory in his last paper was '^ IVe 
 quit." The great merit of the composition, and the merit 
 lay in its depth of humor, caused it to be copied by the 
 press far and wide. And each word in composition per- 
 forms its part, which cannot be dispensed with, in con- 
 veying the thoughts of the writer or speaker. There is, 
 no central word in each sentence in regard to- 
 sense or meaning, around which the others are 
 built and which, like the keystone of an arch 
 holds them in place, and without which the 
 structure could not be maint lined. There is, however,, 
 one word in every composition that has this importance,, 
 and that is the word denoting the subject, the main 
 thought — the theme word — and this is placed at the 
 
 ♦Laconism— A brief sententious phrase or expression. 
 
[ 30 1 
 
 head of the composition, and every word must have 
 reference to it, either directly or remotely. 
 
 After the theme word there is no jvord to which this 
 importance attaches, either with reference to a sentence 
 or to any part of the whole of the composition if it con- 
 sists of more than one sentence. The theme word is 
 generally placed at the top of the composition, and is 
 then called the " head."' Sometimes it is placed at the 
 beginning of the first line, and is then called a " side 
 head.'' For example, in the *' anomalous '" sentence, 
 " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,'' ** that " is 
 absolutely indispensable, and yet it is classed by the 
 grammarians as a very insignificant word. The sentence 
 is a group of little words, but no one of them can be 
 left out without spoiling the sense of the expression. 
 Coming back to practice upon examples, take the follow- 
 ing: Example 2 : *' A drunken man came staggering into 
 the room. He would have fallen full length upon the 
 floor had he not been caught by a person who was 
 sitting near. The inebriated man recognized the favor, 
 and with genuine politeness, made awkward, however, by 
 his maudlin condition, expressed thanks for it." The 
 words of this sentence are all easily disposed of under 
 the formula and directions already given, without 
 farther instructions here except the words ^' would have 
 fallen" and '^had not been caught." ** Would" 
 we say, following the dictionary, is used to enable us to 
 make a conditional declaration, l3ut there is clearly an 
 element of willingness inherent in the word, and this 
 element is nearly always, if not always, discoverable in 
 the word. The man, in this case, was made willing to 
 fall by his stupor, and it is this idea '* would" is 
 selected to express. *' Have " is used to assist in 
 making the declaration. The idea of to take or posess 
 is a^^parent in " have.*' The meaning was that the man 
 
t' 31 ] 
 
 was willing to take or have a fall. ** Fallen ** is used, 
 and not fell, because correct authority has ordained that 
 fallen must he used whenever have is used. **Had"is 
 also used to make a conditional declaration. It is con- 
 nected with *' been/' The imperative authority named 
 above compels us to use *' been '' whenever we use has, 
 have or had. '* Caught" is used to tell what act was 
 performed by the j)erson. **Not''is classed by the 
 grammarian as a negative adverb. In cases like this it 
 is far from having a negative effect. On the contrary, it 
 makes the declaration a decidedly affirmative one. The 
 sense is that the man was caught, and this the little 
 word **not" makes the words affirm. 
 
 Example 3. — *' She is worth him and all of his con- 
 nections.'' This is one of the most refractory of the 
 outlaws quoted in the introduction. For '' she '^ see 
 example 1. ** Is ' is used to speak of the person (lady) 
 as existing. We say I am, you are, he, she or it is, etc., 
 the words am, are, and is, being used to state that the 
 persons or things with which the words are connected 
 exist or be. For instance: ''The town is six miles 
 beyond." Here the word *'is" is used to make the 
 declaration that what we call a town stands six miles 
 away. Again : " The boy is dead." It would be a 
 wrong use of words to say '' the boy exists dead.''' 
 *' Is," therefore, in such cases cannot mean existence. 
 It would be literally correct to say '* the boy is no 
 more." The statement would then be that the boy had 
 ceased to exist, and the word exists could be put in the 
 sentence instead of ''is." It will comply with our for- 
 mula to say that be, being, been, am, et al, are used in 
 making declarations in regard to existence or being. 
 For instance, we might say, "the town being six miles 
 distant, I told the man so," which phraseology would 
 leave " is " out. " Is," then, in the present example is 
 
[ 32 ] 
 
 used to make the declaration that the young lady exists. 
 *' Worth " is used to speak of the value or estimation in 
 which the young lady is held, and it is connected with 
 ** she." For '* him '' see example 1. The word here 
 must stand for some one mentioned before, in the com- 
 position of which this sentence formed a part. '' All '* 
 is used to speak of number and means everyone. It is 
 connected with connections. For '' his '' see example 
 1. It is used to tell what connections are meant, 
 namely: the connections of **him.'' '* Connections'' 
 means here relations, and in this case would include 
 those by marriage as well as by blood. 
 Example 4. — 
 
 "They of whom I sprang, 
 And I. had there our birthplace, 
 
 Where the last 
 Partition wall of our city first is reached. 
 By him that runs her annual game." 
 
 This example is from Dante's Vision. The words, are 
 indeed well chosen by the author. Elegance and fit- 
 ness dwells in every syllable. The most of them are 
 easily disposed of. *'They" is used to speak of the 
 writer's ancestors, *'of"is used in the sense of from, 
 ** whom " is used for the same purpose that ** they " is, 
 **I" is used to enable the writer to refer to himself. 
 ''Sprang" is used in the sense of came; the writer 
 means to say they of whom I derive my lineage. ' * And " 
 is used to continue the sentence, the same is add 
 further. *' I '-^ is used again for the reason given above. 
 **Had" is used to make a positive declaration 
 ** There " refers to place. ** Our " is used to speak of 
 both the writer and his ancestors. '' Birth-place " is a 
 compound word, and it is used to tell that he, Dante, 
 ane his ancestors were born in the locality designated 
 by *' there " and '* where." *' Where " refers to place. 
 
f 33 1 
 
 For ** the " see example 1. ** Last" is used to tell at 
 which wall the locality was. ''Partition^' tells what kind 
 of a wall it was. *' Wall '^ is the name of a well-known 
 structure, and it is used to assist in designating the 
 locality. '' Of " is here used in the sense of belonging 
 to. '* Our " is here used to tell what city is meant, that 
 is the city in which he, Dante, had his home. '* First '' 
 is used to fix exactly the part of the wall at which the 
 birth-place was. For *^is'' see example 3 ; it is con- 
 nected with wall. " Reached " is used in the sense of 
 arrived at, and is connected with wall. The sense of 
 ' * by " is obscure. It is, however, used in the sense of 
 being, thus : ** Where he is first at the wall who runs, 
 etc.'' '* Him" is used to speak of the runner, and so 
 is *' that." '' Runs " is used in the sense of participa- 
 tion, and it refers to all who took part in the racing, 
 which was a part of the annual amusements of the city. 
 '* Her " is used to speak of the city. " Annual '' is used 
 to tell what game. The word '' game " is used to speak 
 of the race, that being included in the annual games. 
 For the sake of brevity, the connections of the words in 
 this example, anci much minutia that might have been 
 given, have been omitted. These can readily be supplied 
 by the learner if he or she wishes to be at that pains." 
 
 Example 5. — ''I tell thee what, corporal, I could 
 tear her." This sentence is from Dean Swift's "■ Life of 
 Tristram Shandy." *'What" is equivalent to ''tear 
 her." "Could" is used to tell the disposition of the 
 speaker. He means to say, I have the will to ''tear 
 her." The other words can be readily disposed of by 
 the learner. 
 
 Example 6. — "1 am going to walk." "Going" is 
 here used to express an intention. For "to" the 
 learner is respectfully referred to an unabridged dic- 
 tionary. " Walk" is used to name the act the speaker 
 
I 34 ] 
 
 intends to perform. The literal meaning of the expres- 
 sion is to do a walk. That is, that the speaker intends 
 to do the act of walking. 
 
 Example 7. — '' A few changes will be maJe.^' This 
 example is given to show the power of " a..'^ Remove 
 it from the sentence and note the altered meaning. 
 
 Example 8. — '' At all." These words are used to give 
 force to the expression. We say, '' none at all," not- 
 withstanding none means not any. Webster classes 
 such words as intensives, and gives the following ex- 
 ample : *'The tree fell, nest, eagles and all." For a 
 sort of double intensive we say : '' I'm not going at all, 
 at all.'' *' LoDg ago " means an unlimited past period, 
 but we say '*long, long ago" to intensify the expression. 
 The great benefit derived from thoroughly understand- 
 ing the meaning and force of the words used is shown 
 by the words in the following sentences, to which atten- 
 tion is directed by putting them in italics : ''He was 
 here after you this morning." ** He was here this 
 morning after you." In this example, ''after" may 
 mean that the one person was in search of the other ; 
 or the word may mean that he arrived at a later period 
 than the other. " The duck swam over the water." 
 *' The bird flew over the water." The difference in the 
 meaning of " over" in these two sentences is very great. 
 In the one, the locality pointed out by it is in the water, 
 and in the other, high above the water. Again : " He 
 staid over night." " He laid one board over another.'-' 
 Note the totally different meaning of the very same 
 words in the following sentences, effected by the slight- 
 est possible alteration in the arrangement : "I have an 
 apple." "Have I an apple?" In the following sen- 
 tences " how" stands in the same position in each, but 
 its meaning varies very perceptibly. " How many men 
 were there ? " " How often did you go ? " *' How old 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 are you?" "How is your brother ? *' '* How are the 
 mighty fallen ? " We say Idaho Territory, and we say 
 the United States is a vast territory. We say the sur- 
 veyor went to the field, and we say the hired man went 
 to the field, attaching a very different meaning to the 
 word field in the different sentences. To dispose of, 
 *' parse," the same words with different meanings in the 
 same, or nearly the same way tends to make the pupil's 
 recitations valueless. 
 
 In concluding this article on composition it would be 
 an easy matter to insert various examples and then say 
 there, do it like that. But the learner would exclaim 
 at once *' I can't. Tell me how." Ah ! There's the rub. 
 Such skill must come to you as skill comes to the ap- 
 prentice boy, learning to use his ax, saw, chisel and 
 plane ; as it comes to the architect, who by practice at 
 first on sheds, barns, cottages, etc., putting them to- 
 gether piece by piece, board by board, in the beginning 
 awkwardly and tediously, finally acquires the skill to 
 plan and construct the magnificent capitol and palace. 
 The ability, the ''nack" to compose must come from 
 PRACTICE. Said Dickens : " Never to put my hand 
 to anything to which I could not throw my whole self, 
 and never to effect depreciation of my work, whatever 
 it was, I find now to have been my golden rules." Be 
 assiduous . Be constant in your application, but never 
 let your practice become drudgery. Let it always be 
 a pleasant occupation. Throw books, paper and all 
 aside whenever your practice becomes irksome. Better 
 be without knowledge than to wear out your life in 
 getting it. Why freight the ship with rich wares to 
 founder in the first sea she is destined to encourter. 
 The physical ability to use a little knowledge well is 
 much more precious than little physical ability to use a 
 great deal of knowledge. 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 It is a common habit for letter-writersS, authors, 
 orators and savans to worr}^ their brains to exhaustion, 
 and often to even badlj misuse the capUiary coating to 
 the crowning-piece of man's mechanism in their efforts 
 to find a word to suit them. The fiist thing to do in 
 such cases is to avoid worrying, and the next is to take 
 the word that first occurs to you, and go to your dic- 
 tionary and hunt synonyms. If the synonym remedy 
 fails, then, still without worrying, change the phrase- 
 olog-y of the portion of your composition in which the 
 trouble occurs, and sometimes it may be well to even 
 modify the ideas sought to be expressed. 
 
 PUNCTUATION. 
 
 Punctuation directs the placing of prescribed marks or 
 dots in different parts of manuscript. The places for 
 these marks and dots are indicated by pauses and modu- 
 lations of the voice in reading and speaking. These 
 marks and dots, modulations and pauses, assist the 
 reader or listener to comprehend the meaning of the 
 writer or speaker. They are in fact a part of the com- 
 position, and the same guides. Sense and sound must 
 be followed in using them. 
 
 In ancient times there were no marks used. *' There • 
 be,'' says the father of logic, *' two sorts of styles. The 
 one is continued, or to be comprehended at once; the 
 other divided, or distinguished by periods. The first 
 sort was in use with ancient writers; but is now out of 
 date. An example of this style is in the history of 
 Herodotus; wherein there is no period till the end of 
 the whole history." 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 The following are called punctuation marks; the 
 other marks are characters used in writing, having no 
 general term to designate them: comma, semicolon; 
 colon: period. Note of interogation or question pz_ark? 
 mark of exclamation! dash — 
 
 Other charactei's used in writing: Parenthesis (), 
 brackets [ J, apostrophe ', quotation marks '* ", hyphen -, 
 section §, paragraph ^, brace .-^ — ., star *, caret ^ , in- 
 dex or hand S^T, diaeresis •• , acute accent^, the grave 
 accent/, the long sound"", the short sound ^ , dagger f , 
 double J, parallel || ; also small letters and figures re- 
 ferring to marginal notes and explanations. 
 
 In manuscript, for the printer, a score, or horizontal 
 line placed under a word, denotes that the word is to be 
 put in italic letters. Two scores means that the word 
 is to be in small capitals, and three, that it is to be in 
 capitals. 
 
 No exact time can be given for the length of the pause 
 to be made at each of the punctuation marks. However, 
 generally the semicolon requires double the* pause 
 made at a comma, a colon double that made at a semi- 
 colon, and a period double that made at a colon. The 
 pause to be made at the question mark, exclamation 
 point, and dash must be determined entirely by the 
 judgment of the reader or speaker. The question mark 
 requiring some time, three times the length of pause 
 that it does at others; and so of the exclamation and 
 dash. But the difficulty is to decide where to make a 
 mark and which one to make. The fulness and clear- 
 ness with which an idea or thought has been expressed 
 must determine this question. There are only two 
 kinds of sentences, short and long. The short being 
 always much more easily written and much better un- 
 derstood and liked by the reader, or listener. The 
 
[ 38 1 
 
 following extract is from the work on the Art of "Writing, 
 etc., already mentioned: 
 
 School-books and other treatises on elocution, ^ive 
 yon explicit directions for the measurement of these 
 various signals, telling you that you should count one 
 for a comma, two for a semicolon, and so forth. Such 
 rules are worthless; they fail utterly in practice. 
 
 This very pleasantly written and excellent article on 
 this subject is from a literary joarnal of the day. 
 
 The best general rule for punctuation is this : Bead 
 your article or letter aloud, making your inflections con- 
 form as accurately as possible to the sense you wish to 
 convey; and wherever you make a pause mark a corres- 
 ponding one in the manuscript. Do not mark one 
 where you do not make one in reading. Nearly all 
 manuscript^ and a good deal of printed matter, is punc- 
 tuated too much. If you can use periods and commas 
 correctly — which easy as it seems, is rarely done — you 
 will get along very well with any simple composition. 
 Semicolons and dashes belong rather to the elegancies 
 of punctuation. Three-fourths of all the semicolons 
 that ought to be used are required before clauses begin- 
 ning with **for" or *' but,'' assigning a reason for, or 
 noting an exception to the statement that immediately 
 precedes. 
 
 Dashes, which many writers scatter about in such 
 reckless j)rofusion should be used very sparingly. They 
 generally denote that the sense which is interrupted by 
 some necessary intervening explanation is resumed 
 farther along. When several enumerated particulars, 
 taken together, are in apposition with a single word or 
 clause that precedes or follows, they should be sejoarated 
 from it with a dash. These two cases cover almost 
 entirely the proper use of that punctuation mark with 
 whose wholesale abuse manuscripts are so generally 
 
[ 39 ] 
 
 disfigured. When you are in doubt as to the necessity 
 of a point, by all mekns omit it. Other things being 
 equal, that is best English which requires least punc- 
 tuation. 
 
 Many curious anecdotes of punctuation, or the want 
 of it, are current among printers and proof readers. An 
 old compositor tells this one : ' * We remember a 
 number of years ago, when we were at work in a book 
 office near Boston, the copy was received for a scientific 
 work. The copy was manuscript, with every capital 
 letter in its proper place, every word distinct, and punc- 
 tuated. It was plain as reprint, and called by com- 
 positors the best manuscript copy they had seen. This 
 copy was given out to the compositors, a few pages at a 
 time, who set it up and punctuated it as they had been 
 in the habit of doing, each as he thought the sense re- 
 quired. The proof reader read the proofs, marked a 
 few changes in the punctuation, as he did in most of the 
 proofs, and the matter was corrected. — Another proof 
 was taken and when thirty or forty pages were ready 
 they were sent to the author for his inspection. In a 
 few days the proofs came back with the punctuation 
 marked freely. It was corrected, of course; and the 
 compositors then got orders to follow copy in punctu- 
 ation. They did so, and another lot was forwarded to 
 the author, punctuated exactly according to the copy. 
 In due time these proofs came back, and with the punc- 
 tuation marked worse than before, if that were possible. 
 This irritated the proof reader somewhat, and he sent 
 the scientific author a not very polite note, saying: * If 
 I can't punctuate this work to suit you, and you can't 
 punctuate it to suit yourself, what are you going to do ?' 
 In reply, the author said he wasn't aware he had been 
 eorrectiug the office punctuation, but if the proof reader 
 would see to the punctuation he would be much obliged, 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 as it was someiliing he knew nothing about. After that 
 there was no more trouble about punctuation on that 
 work." 
 
 The memoirs of " Lord Timothy Dexter " were printed 
 with all the punctuation marks that should have been 
 used throughout the book presented in a lump on the 
 last page, the reader being told to sprinkle them to suit 
 himself. 
 
 As has already been said, these marks and pauses are 
 for the benefit of the reader or listener, and there- 
 fore, each one used should mark off something for the 
 listener or reader to direct his or her attention to 
 particularly, and the more matter there is for thought 
 between your last mark and the place you are about to make 
 one, (he greater the pause should the mark indicate which 
 you are about to make. Locke's Essay on the Human 
 Understanding, and the essays of Thomas Carlyle, 
 besides furnishing the very best matter for reading and 
 study, are most excellent models for punctuation and 
 style also. 
 
 CAPITAL LETTERS. 
 
 Authors differ but little in their rules for the use of 
 capital letters. The same directions substantially in 
 regard to them being given in all text books. Begin with 
 a capital letter as follows: The first word of every book, 
 chapter, letter, note, or any other piece of writing; the 
 first word of every sentence. Names of persons, places, 
 ships, etc.; as, George Washington, General Grant, 
 Judge Story, Sir Walter Scott, America. The Ohio. 
 Sheldon & Co., Broadway, New York. The first word 
 in every line of poetry. The appellations of the Deity; 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 as. God, Most High, the Ahnighty, the Supreme Being, 
 etc. Words derived from the names of countries and 
 towns: as, German, Koman, English, Spanish, Philadel- 
 phia, etc. The seasons of the year. Spring, etc. Every 
 important word in the title of a book. 
 
 I, when it is used to sj)eak of a person, must always 
 be a capital letter; so must O, when it is used to repre- 
 sent an exclamation. 
 
 When a quotation would make sense standing alone, 
 the first word may begin with a ca^iital. 
 
 A word to which it is desired to draw particular atten- 
 tion, may begin with a capital. 
 
 VOCABULARY. 
 
 ** They have been at a feast of words and stolen only the scraps." 
 
 Shakespear, 
 
 The cause of embarrassment in expressing thought is 
 generally the stinted supply of words at command of 
 the speaker or writer, and the remedy is obviously an 
 extended vocabulary, a greater stock of words. The 
 only way to get a stock of words is to study words. 
 There is no good reason why farmers, mechanics, and all 
 whose occupations involve manual labor, and their 
 families, should not use as good and elegant language, 
 in every day life, and use it as fluently too, as lawyers, 
 doctors, and all professional people, and their families. 
 Words are almosc as free as air and water, and they can 
 be learned without a master. You need no instructor 
 except a dictionary. Make y out self the owner of an 
 *' unabridged " if you possibly can. If this is not within 
 your reach, then get the next largest. Your funds will 
 
I 42 ] 
 
 purchase. A member of the Pennsylvania Legislature 
 once said in that body , that a person could obtain an 
 education from an unabridged dictionary. This was 
 perhaps saying a little too much. It is true, all the 
 words of the language are in it, but they are not arrang- 
 ed with reference to subjects. A friend of a very 
 eloquent clergyman said to him after the delivery of one 
 of his very best discourses: *' That was a good sermon, 
 indeed, but I have a book with every word of it in," and 
 the next day presented him with a very finely bound 
 copy of an unabridged dictionary. The next most 
 valuable aid is a comprehensive encyclopaedia. Some 
 of the. word books now in print will also be found 
 very serviceable. It is not at all intended to advise the 
 cultivation and practice of euphocism,* that is a high- 
 flown, ''highfalutin'' style of talking and writing. Any- 
 thing like that must be most carefully avo'ded. Plain ex- 
 act lanj^uage is the most beautiful clothing for our 
 thoughts. The most simple is the most charming attire 
 for the person . It is not coarse or inelegant in its texture, 
 or in its fashion, but charms by its richness and style. 
 There is in it an entire absence of anything that dazzles 
 or amazes, or makes the least approach to gaudiness. 
 So should the drapery of our thoughts be. Grave 
 eloquence, pedantry, high-sounding, and far-fetched 
 words, makes a guady distasteful hard to understand 
 style. But above all things, avoid an incongruous ab- 
 surd wrong use of words. The author knew a young 
 lady, an applicant for a school-teacher's certificate, who 
 when being examined by the board of education, gave 
 as a definition for the word chimerical, f '* A word. used 
 in chemistry'-': 
 
 * EnphoniBm — An affection of excessive elegance and refinement of language; 
 high-flown diction. 
 t Merely imaginary, fanciful, fantastic. 
 
[ 43 ] 
 
 The following story illustrative of this kind of error, 
 is told of the famous Congressman, Thomas Corwin. 
 He was on his way home from the capital, by stage. 
 At one of the *' taverns'' the landlord was very anxious 
 that the celebrated Congressman should have a high 
 ox^inion of his *' smartness." At table, assuming, as he 
 suj)posed a very learned air, he asked Mi*. Corwin if he 
 would have the condiments,* meaning sugar/and cream 
 in his coffee. Mr. C. replied, '' Thank you, I will have 
 pepper and salt, but no mustard." 
 
 The following is an amusing instance of this kind of 
 blunder committed by a native Punjaub school teacher. 
 *'Hon. Sir, I am most anxious to hear that you are 
 sick, I pray God to get you soon at R. in a state of 
 triumph. The climate of R. is ^rood and proves un- 
 healthy. No Deputy Commissioner ever complains for 
 want of climate. If you also come here, I think it will 
 also agree with your state. An information expectant, 
 or reversionary respecting your recovery state is ex- 
 pected, and I shall be thankful to you.'' 
 
 The author once had the pleasure of listening to a 
 sermon preached before the Prince of Wales and a 
 number of the English nobility. It was an eloquent 
 and finished literary production, and withal a fervid pious 
 exhortation. Dignified, yet without a single stilted J 
 feature about it. The ideas were exalted, the language 
 grand, and at times sublime as befitted the speaker's 
 great theme. It was rich for the very reason that it was 
 plain and easily understood. Indeed, there is no more 
 excellent example of fitness in the choice of words than 
 the Bible itselt. One has beautifully said of it: 
 
 If we need higher illustration, not only of the power 
 of natural objects to adorn language and gratify taste, 
 
 * CofldimeDt— Seasoning ; sauce, that "which Is used to give relish to meats. 
 % Stilted, UDreasonably elevated. 
 
■ [ U ] 
 
 but proof that here we find the highest conceivable 
 beauty, we appeal at once to the Bible. Those most 
 opposed to its teachings have acknowledged the beauty 
 of its language, and this is due, mainly, to the exquisite 
 use of natural objects for illustrations. It does, indeed, 
 draw from every field. But when emotional nature was 
 appealed to, the reference was at once to natural objects, 
 and, throughout all its books, the stars, the flowers, the 
 gems, are prominent as illustrations of the beauties of 
 religion and the glories of the church. 
 
 *' The wilderness and the solitai-y places shall be glad 
 for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom like 
 the rose.'' 
 
 *' The mountains and the hills shall break forth 
 before you in song, and all the trees of the fields shall 
 clap their hands. Instead of the thorns shall come up 
 the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the 
 myrtle tree,'* 
 
 The power and beauty of the same objects appear in 
 the Saviour's teachings. The fir and the olive, the 
 sparrow and the lily of the field, give peculiar force and 
 beauty to the great truths they were used to illustrate. 
 
 The Bible throughout is remarkable in this respect. 
 It is a collection of books written by authors far removed 
 from each other in time, and place, and mental culture, 
 but the whole nature is exalted as a revelation of God. 
 Its beauty and sublimity are appealed to to arouse the 
 emotions, to reach the moral and religious nature. This 
 element of unity runs through all the books where re- 
 ference to nature can be made. 
 
 One of the adaptations of the Bible to the nature of 
 man is found in the sublime and perfect representation 
 of the natural world, by which Nature is ever made to 
 proclaim the character and perfections of God. No 
 language can be written that so perfectly sets forth the 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 grand and terrible in nature and its forces a=? we hear 
 God answers Job out of the whirlwind. No higher ap- 
 preciation of the beautiful, and of God as the author of 
 beauty, was ever expressed than when^our Saviour said 
 of the lilies of the field: ** I say unto you, that even 
 Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of 
 these; and then adds: '' If God so clothed the grass of 
 the field '' — ascribing the elements of beauty in every 
 leaf and opening bud to God's skill and power. 
 
 There are nearly one hundred thousand words in the 
 English language. Professor Muller says, '* eloquent 
 speakers use about ten thousand; Milton uses eight 
 thousand; about five thousand are used in the Old Tes- 
 tament; and well educated persons use from three to 
 four thousand." By well educated persons is meant 
 graduates of colleges. No estimate is given of the 
 number used by uneducated people, but the average, if 
 it could be got at, would be found very low, too low 
 altogether. There should be in general use among us in 
 what are called the common walks of life, about three 
 thousand words. They should, and could be plain sub- 
 stantial words, yet expressive of an elevated, refined 
 and pleasant range of thought. And for this the whistle 
 and song of the plowman and mechanic would be all 
 the merrier as they plied t leir respective avocations, 
 and their lives be purer and better; and so of their wives 
 and children; and the acquisition of this vocabulary could 
 be made one of the very pleasantest pastimes. The study 
 of mathematics, even beyond the possible requirements 
 of the pupil in after life, has always been urged on the 
 ground that the study disciplines and invigorates the 
 mind. The author has not the least intention to depre- 
 ciate the noble science of mathematics. The memory of 
 his keen relish for algebra is still fresh in his mind. 
 But the mental drill of tracing and defining words if 
 
[ 46 ] 
 
 pursued to tlie same extent is at least its equal, and it 
 not only makes the mind vigorous and active, and ready 
 to perceive and analyze, but there is a zest about it that 
 makes cheerful both sou and body. And then the 
 knowledge acquired by the study of words comes into 
 use perpetually, while mathematical knowledge is only 
 of special use, and indeed, many individuals seldom, use 
 even the simplest branch of the science. But more: 
 They who possess the ability to use words fluently, carry 
 with them constantly a talisman— a charm which is a 
 sure pass — to the good graces of all with whom they 
 converse. The accomplishments of music, dancing, etc., 
 excellent in themselves, are of small value beside good 
 conversational ability. 
 
 Let slang find no abiding place in your vocabulary. 
 A droll word comes in very pleasantly occasionally, in 
 conversation and in writing, and especially in social 
 letters, but the frequent use of slang raises up a terrible 
 stumbling block in the way of bringing the proper word 
 to the tongue at times, and in places that slang will not 
 do, and drolleries themselves should be used very spar- 
 ingly to be relished. Carelessness amounting to sloven- 
 ess in the use of language is a great fault, but a little 
 indifference to stiff preciseness is not to be censured, in 
 fact it may add a zest to your conversation or writing. 
 
 You will find urgent injunctions on all sides to be 
 original. But it is a great help to a talker, or writer, to 
 be familiar with what others have written, and to be 
 able to quote their language readily. Originality in 
 thought and language are invaluable traits in a writer 
 or speaker. It is these that elevate ^ their possessor 
 above the average, and distinguishes him. Cultivate 
 originality by all means. Depend upon yourself for the 
 clothing of your thoughts, and with the thoughts of 
 others for working material; think for yourself. The 
 
f 47 1 
 
 clergyman of whom the following anecdote is told, wag 
 perhaps a little too self-dependent. Having through 
 absent mindedness arrived one Sunday morning at 
 church without his prepared sermon, and there being no 
 time to send for it, he said to his congregation by way 
 of apology, that he would have to depend upon the 
 Lord for what he might say this morning, but that in 
 the evening he would come better prepared. 
 
 Enlarge your vocabulary and the expansion of your in- 
 telligence will be a most charming surprise to yourself. 
 Words are embodied thoughts, and each newly learned 
 word, not only increases your knowledge by as much as 
 the, to you, new thought it embodies, but begets other 
 thoughts, and these others, and so on without limit. 
 Don't be afraid of ^-dictionary words"; or of *' big 
 words. '' Let the addition to your stock be good com- 
 prehensive words, hig with meaning, and select them 
 without reference to their length. If this little book 
 does nothing more than persuade each into whose hu,nds 
 it falls to enlarge his or her vocabulary, it will be worth 
 to him or her a hundred fold its price. 
 
 The few following suggestions for letter writing might 
 have been placed under the head of composition, but 
 this part of the book has been selected in preference. 
 Business letters should be as short as possible, and the 
 words should mean exactly what you wish to say. 
 Social letters and all other than business letters can 
 run on in a free and easy conversational manner, much 
 in the way you would talk to the person were the per- 
 son present; taking however, a little more care as lo 
 grammar than is common in conversation. The thoughts 
 can be jotted down just as they occur, with but little at- 
 tention to their arrangement with regard to topics. If 
 cognate* thoughts do not OQcjf^^n the same part of the 
 
 * Cognate— Related in origin; proceedin'^from the same stock. 
 
I 48 ] 
 
 letter, jot them down when they do occur, introducing 
 the subsequent thoughts with some such phrase as, I 
 should have said before, or it just occurs to me now, or 
 I should have said above. In letter writing as, in fact, 
 in all other composition, your style* tvill be your own. 
 You may correct a halt or an awkwardness in your gait, 
 and improve it by observing, and as far as possible imi- 
 tating the easy and graceful walk of another. So you 
 may improve your style in writing, by studying the 
 writings of some standard author whose style you ad- 
 mire; but, in the end your style will be unavoidably 
 peculiarly your own. 
 
 The following list of latin phrases in common use will 
 be found convenient for reference: 
 
 Ab ini^tiOj'l from the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 An^nus mirayUis, a year of 
 wonders. 
 
 Ab o^vo, from the egg; i. e. 
 from the birth or origin. 
 
 Ad captan^ dum, for the pur- 
 pose of taking, i.e. pleas- 
 ing. 
 
 Ad infinitum, to an un- 
 limited extent. 
 
 Ad libitum, at pleasure. 
 
 Ad vaWrem, according to 
 value. 
 
 AVma ma' i^fcfy%gentle mother 
 
 A^mor pa^trice, love of 
 country. 
 
 Absents re^o, the accused 
 person being absent. 
 
 A fortioWi, with stronger 
 reason. 
 
 A j9rio Vi,beforehand; from 
 previous knowledge . 
 
 A posterio'ri, afterwards; 
 from trial. 
 
 Argmnen^tum ad hom^inem, 
 an argnment particularly 
 applicable to the person 
 to whom it is offered. 
 
 Aii^di aVferam pfar^tenijhesiv 
 the other side; i. e. hear 
 both sides. 
 
 B(/na fi'de, in good faith. 
 
 * Sty]e— Manrer of writing -wUl^ regard to language, or the choice and ar- 
 rangement of words. 
 tTiB here sounded like sh. 
 
[ 49 ] 
 
 Cui^ bo'no ? for what good? 
 
 i. e. of what advantage ? 
 
 or, of advantage to 
 
 whom ? 
 
 Cam muVtis a'liis, with 
 
 • many others. 
 Cum jmvile/gio, with pri- 
 vilege. 
 Cacoe'thes scriben'di, a ridi- 
 culous fondness for wri- 
 ting. 
 Ca'put mor'tUitm, the life- 
 less head. 
 Coet'eris par'ibus, the other 
 
 things being the same. 
 Com'pos men' lis, of sound 
 
 mind. 
 Con'tra ho'nos mo'res, con- 
 trary to good manners. 
 Co'pia verbr/rum, abund- 
 ance of words. 
 Defac'to, in fact. 
 Dajii're^ by right. 
 De gas'tibus non disputan'- 
 dam, about matters of 
 taste it is idle to dispute. 
 De'i gra'tia, by the grace 
 
 of God. 
 De nc/vo, anew. 
 De/o volen'te, God willing. 
 De'sunt ca^r era, the rest are 
 wanting. 
 
 * Pronounced fcy» 
 
 Dram'aiis perhv'iice, the 
 characters represented in 
 a play. 
 DuraiVte placiUo, during 
 
 pleasure. 
 Ec'ce ho' mo, behold the 
 man! See M. T. John xix. 
 
 5. 
 Ex nn'imo, from the mind ; 
 
 i. e. siiDcerely. 
 Ex calhe'dra.hovn the chair 
 
 of authority. 
 Ex conces'sis, from points 
 
 conceded. 
 Ex'eunt om'ne,^, they all 
 
 go out or off. 
 Ex offi'cio, by virtue of the 
 
 office. 
 Ex par'te, on one side only. 
 Ex pod foe' to, (bad Latin), 
 
 after the deed . 
 Fac sim'ile, an exact copy. 
 Ge'nius lo'ci, the gCDius of 
 
 the place. 
 Id ge'nus om'ne, all that 
 
 class or sort. 
 In for'ma jmu'peris, as a 
 
 pauper. 
 In lim'ine, on the thresh* 
 
 old; at the outset. 
 Ino'iio, at ease. 
 fn pro'pria per'sond^ in his 
 own person. 
 
[ 50 J 
 
 In sfa^tu quo, in the state in 
 which it was. 
 
 In ferro^rem, as a warning. 
 
 fn to' to, entirely. 
 
 In transitu, on the wa}' or 
 passage. 
 
 Ip'se dix'il, literally , he him- 
 self said so; mere asser- 
 tion. 
 
 Ip'so facHo, by the fact 
 itself. 
 
 Jufr^e divi'no, by a divine 
 right. 
 
 JaWe hwma'no, by human 
 law. 
 
 Jus gen^tiwm, the law of 
 nations. 
 
 Lap'sns Un^guod, a slip of 
 the tongue. 
 
 Lex talio^nis, the law of re- 
 taliation . 
 
 LicenHia va^um, poetic 
 license. 
 
 Lo'cnm te'nens, literally^ 
 holding the place ; a 
 substitute. 
 
 Lu/sus natiiWce, a sport or 
 freak of nature. 
 
 Mag'na char^ta, (karta), the 
 great charter. 
 
 Ma'lam in se, an evil in 
 itself. 
 
 Memen'to mo^ri^ remember 
 that thou must die. 
 
 Me'urn et tu'iun, mine and 
 
 thine. 
 Mir ah' He dic'ta, strange to 
 
 tell. 
 31/ das operan'di, the man- 
 ner of operating. 
 MuVtam in par'vo, a great 
 
 deal in a saiall space. 
 Ne plas uVira, the greatest 
 
 extent a'tainable; lUei^al- 
 
 ly, nothing beyond. 
 Ne quid ni'inis, not too 
 
 much of one thing. 
 No'lens vo'lenSj willing or 
 
 not. 
 No'li me tan'gere^ do not 
 
 touch me. 
 Non com'pos men'tis, not in 
 
 right mind. 
 Noji est inventus ^ it is not 
 
 found. 
 Ostium cam dignita'te, ease 
 
 with dignity. 
 Par nob' He fra'tram, a 
 
 noble pair of brothers. 
 Pa'ri pas'sa, with equal 
 
 pace. 
 Par'ticeps crim'inis, a par- 
 taker of the crime. 
 Per se, by itself. 
 Pos'se coinita'lus, (bad Lat- 
 
 (in, the civil force. 
 Prisma fa'cie, at first view. 
 Pri^nium mob'ile, the first 
 
[ 51 I 
 
 Pro a''ris et f(/cis, for our 
 altars and homes. 
 
 Pro h/no pub'lico, for the 
 public goorl. 
 
 Pro el co)i, for and against. 
 
 Pro/br'??ia, for form's sake. 
 
 Pro ra'ta, in proportion. 
 
 Pro tem'pore^ {abbreviated^ 
 pro tern.) for the time. 
 
 (JuLan^tam suf^Junt, as much 
 as is sufficient. 
 
 Quid pro qtLO/dn equivalent. 
 
 (Jao'ad hoCf with respect to 
 this. 
 
 Quo an'imo, with what tem- 
 per or intention. 
 
 Pes pub^lica, the common 
 weal. 
 
 Rex et regi'na, the king 
 and queen. 
 
 SVne di'e, without fixing 
 the day. 
 
 Si^ne qua non, (lUeraily, 
 without which it cannot 
 be done), an indispens- 
 able condition. 
 
 Sab pce^na, under fear of 
 penalty. 
 
 Su^i gen^erlSy (literally, of 
 its own kind), unique. 
 
 Sam' mum ho'mun.ihe chief 
 
 good. • 
 Sa'um GuVque, (ky'quy), to 
 
 every one his due. 
 Tern' pus fa' git, time flies. 
 2 o' lien qao'ties*^ as often as. 
 IVto cce'lo, by the breadth 
 
 of the sky. 
 TrI'ajanc'ta in un'o, three 
 
 joined in one. 
 U'na vo'ce, with one voice. 
 U'tile cam dal'ci, the use- 
 ful with the agreeable. 
 Ut sa'pra, as above. 
 Ut infra, as below. 
 Va'de me'cam, (literally, 
 
 come wiih me), a guide- 
 book. 
 Ve'ni, vi'di, vi'ci, I came, 
 
 saw, conquered. 
 Ver'bmn sapien'ti, a word 
 
 is enough to the wise 
 Vi'ce ver'sa, the order being- 
 
 reversed. 
 Vi el ar'mis, with force and 
 
 arms. 
 Vi'va vo'ce, with the living 
 
 voice. 
 Vox, elprete/rea ni'hil, voice 
 
 and nothin^f else. 
 
 The author of this book will take pleasure in corres- 
 ponding with any of his patrons who have special im- 
 pediments to acquiring the correct use of words, that 
 
 *Iu tlicsj words I is sounded like sh. 
 
I 52 ] 
 
 the book does not seem to reach, with a view of re- 
 moving huch fmpediments. Often where special hin- 
 drances exist, the slightest hint or suggestion clears 
 away the difficulty and make subsequent progress easy.