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+Project Gutenberg's How to Speak and Write Correctly, by Joseph Devlin
+
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+Title: How to Speak and Write Correctly
+
+Author: Joseph Devlin
+
+Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6409]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on December 8, 2002]
+[Date last updated: September 8, 2006]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO SPEAK AND WRITE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO
+SPEAK AND WRITE
+CORRECTLY
+
+By
+JOSEPH DEVLIN, M.A.
+
+Edited by
+THEODORE WATERS
+
+
+
+
+THE CHRISTIAN HERALD
+BIBLE HOUSE
+NEW YORK
+
+Copyright, 1910, by
+THE CHRISTIAN HERALD
+NEW YORK
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH
+Vocabulary. Parts of speech. Requisites.
+
+CHAPTER II
+ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR
+Divisions of grammar. Definitions. Etymology.
+
+CHAPTER III
+THE SENTENCE
+Different kinds. Arrangement of words. Paragraph.
+
+CHAPTER IV
+FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
+Figures of speech. Definitions and examples. Use of figures.
+
+CHAPTER V
+PUNCTUATION
+Principal points. Illustrations. Capital letters.
+
+CHAPTER VI
+LETTER WRITING
+Principles of letter writing. Forms. Notes.
+
+CHAPTER VII
+ERRORS
+Mistakes. Slips of authors. Examples and corrections. Errors of redundancy.
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+PITFALLS TO AVOID
+Common stumbling blocks. Peculiar constructions. Misused forms.
+
+CHAPTER IX
+STYLE
+Diction. Purity. Propriety. Precision.
+
+CHAPTER X
+SUGGESTIONS
+How to write. What to write. Correct speaking and speakers.
+
+CHAPTER XI
+SLANG
+Origin. American slang. Foreign slang.
+
+CHAPTER XII
+WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS
+Qualification. Appropriate subjects. Directions.
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+CHOICE OF WORDS
+Small words. Their importance. The Anglo-Saxon element.
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+ENGLISH LANGUAGE
+Beginning. Different Sources. The present.
+
+CHAPTER XV
+MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE
+Great authors. Classification. The world's best books.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+In the preparation of this little work the writer has kept one end in
+view, viz.: To make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended,
+that is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the
+learning nor the inclination, to peruse elaborate and abstruse treatises
+on Rhetoric, Grammar, and Composition. To them such works are as gold
+enclosed in chests of steel and locked beyond power of opening. This book
+has no pretension about it whatever,--it is neither a Manual of Rhetoric,
+expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a Grammar full of arbitrary rules
+and exceptions. It is merely an effort to help ordinary, everyday people
+to express themselves in ordinary, everyday language, in a proper manner.
+Some broad rules are laid down, the observance of which will enable the
+reader to keep within the pale of propriety in oral and written language.
+Many idiomatic words and expressions, peculiar to the language, have been
+given, besides which a number of the common mistakes and pitfalls have
+been placed before the reader so that he may know and avoid them.
+
+The writer has to acknowledge his indebtedness to no one in _particular_,
+but to all in _general_ who have ever written on the subject.
+
+The little book goes forth--a finger-post on the road of language
+pointing in the right direction. It is hoped that they who go according
+to its index will arrive at the goal of correct speaking and writing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH
+
+Vocabulary--Parts of Speech--Requisites
+
+
+It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, as for all
+purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only about 2,000
+different words are required. The mastery of just twenty hundred words,
+the knowing where to place them, will make us not masters of the English
+language, but masters of correct speaking and writing. Small number, you
+will say, compared with what is in the dictionary! But nobody ever uses
+all the words in the dictionary or could use them did he live to be the
+age of Methuselah, and there is no necessity for using them.
+
+There are upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the large
+dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of this number will suffice for
+all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be content
+to call things by their common names; you may be ambitious to show
+superiority over others and display your learning or, rather, your
+pedantry and lack of learning. For instance, you may not want to call a
+spade a spade. You may prefer to call it a spatulous device for abrading
+the surface of the soil. Better, however, to stick to the old familiar,
+simple name that your grandfather called it. It has stood the test of
+time, and old friends are always good friends.
+
+To use a big word or a foreign word when a small one and a familiar one
+will answer the same purpose, is a sign of ignorance. Great scholars and
+writers and polite speakers use simple words.
+
+To go back to the number necessary for all purposes of conversation
+correspondence and writing, 2,000, we find that a great many people who
+pass in society as being polished, refined and educated use less, for
+they know less. The greatest scholar alive hasn't more than four thousand
+different words at his command, and he never has occasion to use half the
+number.
+
+In the works of Shakespeare, the most wonderful genius the world has ever
+known, there is the enormous number of 15,000 different words, but almost
+10,000 of them are obsolete or meaningless today.
+
+Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue
+correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little study
+to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great.
+
+Consider the contrast between the well-bred, polite man who knows how to
+choose and use his words correctly and the underbred, vulgar boor, whose
+language grates upon the ear and jars the sensitiveness of the finer
+feelings. The blunders of the latter, his infringement of all the canons
+of grammar, his absurdities and monstrosities of language, make his very
+presence a pain, and one is glad to escape from his company.
+
+The proper grammatical formation of the English language, so that one may
+acquit himself as a correct conversationalist in the best society or be
+able to write and express his thoughts and ideas upon paper in the right
+manner, may be acquired in a few lessons.
+
+It is the purpose of this book, as briefly and concisely as possible, to
+direct the reader along a straight course, pointing out the mistakes he
+must avoid and giving him such assistance as will enable him to reach the
+goal of a correct knowledge of the English language. It is not a Grammar
+in any sense, but a guide, a silent signal-post pointing the way in the
+right direction.
+
+
+THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A NUTSHELL
+
+All the words in the English language are divided into nine great
+classes. These classes are called the Parts of Speech. They are Article,
+Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and
+Interjection. Of these, the Noun is the most important, as all the others
+are more or less dependent upon it. A Noun signifies the name of any
+person, place or thing, in fact, anything of which we can have either
+thought or idea. There are two kinds of Nouns, Proper and Common. Common
+Nouns are names which belong in common to a race or class, as _man_,
+_city_. Proper Nouns distinguish individual members of a race or class as
+_John_, _Philadelphia_. In the former case _man_ is a name which belongs
+in common to the whole race of mankind, and _city_ is also a name which
+is common to all large centres of population, but _John_ signifies a
+particular individual of the race, while _Philadelphia_ denotes a
+particular one from among the cities of the world.
+
+Nouns are varied by Person, Number, Gender, and Case. Person is that
+relation existing between the speaker, those addressed and the subject
+under consideration, whether by discourse or correspondence. The Persons
+are _First_, _Second_ and _Third_ and they represent respectively the
+speaker, the person addressed and the person or thing mentioned or under
+consideration.
+
+_Number_ is the distinction of one from more than one. There are two
+numbers, singular and plural; the singular denotes one, the plural two or
+more. The plural is generally formed from the singular by the addition of
+_s_ or _es_.
+
+_Gender_ has the same relation to nouns that sex has to individuals, but
+while there are only two sexes, there are four genders, viz., masculine,
+feminine, neuter and common. The masculine gender denotes all those of
+the male kind, the feminine gender all those of the female kind, the
+neuter gender denotes inanimate things or whatever is without life, and
+common gender is applied to animate beings, the sex of which for the time
+being is indeterminable, such as fish, mouse, bird, etc. Sometimes things
+which are without life as we conceive it and which, properly speaking,
+belong to the neuter gender, are, by a figure of speech called
+Personification, changed into either the masculine or feminine gender,
+as, for instance, we say of the sun, _He_ is rising; of the moon, _She_
+is setting.
+
+_Case_ is the relation one noun bears to another or to a verb or to a
+preposition. There are three cases, the _Nominative_, the _Possessive_
+and the _Objective_. The nominative is the subject of which we are
+speaking or the agent which directs the action of the verb; the
+possessive case denotes possession, while the objective indicates the
+person or thing which is affected by the action of the verb.
+
+An _Article_ is a word placed before a noun to show whether the latter is
+used in a particular or general sense. There are but two articles, _a_ or
+_an_ and _the_.
+
+An _Adjective_ is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, which shows
+some distinguishing mark or characteristic belonging to the noun.
+
+
+DEFINITIONS
+
+A _Pronoun_ is a word used for or instead of a noun to keep us from
+repeating the same noun too often. Pronouns, like nouns, have case,
+number, gender and person. There are three kinds of pronouns, _personal_,
+_relative_ and _adjective_.
+
+A _verb_ is a word which signifies action or the doing of something. A
+verb is inflected by tense and mood and by number and person, though the
+latter two belong strictly to the subject of the verb.
+
+An _adverb_ is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective and sometimes
+another adverb.
+
+A _preposition_ serves to connect words and to show the relation between
+the objects which the words express.
+
+A _conjunction_ is a word which joins words, phrases, clauses and
+sentences together.
+
+An _interjection_ is a word which expresses surprise or some sudden
+emotion of the mind.
+
+
+THREE ESSENTIALS
+
+The three essentials of the English language are: _Purity_, _Perspicuity_
+and _Precision_.
+
+By _Purity_ is signified the use of good English. It precludes the use of
+all slang words, vulgar phrases, obsolete terms, foreign idioms, ambiguous
+expressions or any ungrammatical language whatsoever. Neither does it
+sanction the use of any newly coined word until such word is adopted by
+the best writers and speakers.
+
+_Perspicuity_ demands the clearest expression of thought conveyed in
+unequivocal language, so that there may be no misunderstanding whatever
+of the thought or idea the speaker or writer wishes to convey. All
+ambiguous words, words of double meaning and words that might possibly be
+construed in a sense different from that intended, are strictly
+forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style at once clear and comprehensive
+and entirely free from pomp and pedantry and affectation or any straining
+after effect.
+
+_Precision_ requires concise and exact expression, free from redundancy
+and tautology, a style terse and clear and simple enough to enable the
+hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of the speaker or
+writer. It forbids, on the one hand, all long and involved sentences,
+and, on the other, those that are too short and abrupt. Its object is to
+strike the golden mean in such a way as to rivet the attention of the
+hearer or reader on the words uttered or written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR
+
+Divisions of Grammar--Definitions--Etymology.
+
+
+In order to speak and write the English language correctly, it is
+imperative that the fundamental principles of the Grammar be mastered,
+for no matter how much we may read of the best authors, no matter how
+much we may associate with and imitate the best speakers, if we do not
+know the underlying principles of the correct formation of sentences and
+the relation of words to one another, we will be to a great extent like
+the parrot, that merely repeats what it hears without understanding the
+import of what is said. Of course the parrot, being a creature without
+reason, cannot comprehend; it can simply repeat what is said to it, and
+as it utters phrases and sentences of profanity with as much facility as
+those of virtue, so by like analogy, when we do not understand the
+grammar of the language, we may be making egregious blunders while
+thinking we are speaking with the utmost accuracy.
+
+
+DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR
+
+There are four great divisions of Grammar, viz.:
+
+_Orthography_, _Etymology_, _Syntax_, and _Prosody_.
+
+_Orthography_ treats of letters and the mode of combining them into words.
+
+_Etymology_ treats of the various classes of words and the changes they
+undergo.
+
+_Syntax_ treats of the connection and arrangement of words in sentences.
+
+_Prosody_ treats of the manner of speaking and reading and the different
+kinds of verse.
+
+The three first mentioned concern us most.
+
+
+LETTERS
+
+A _letter_ is a mark or character used to represent an articulate sound.
+Letters are divided into _vowels_ and _consonants_. A vowel is a letter
+which makes a distinct sound by itself. Consonants cannot be sounded
+without the aid of vowels. The vowels are _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, and
+sometimes _w_ and _y_ when they do not begin a word or syllable.
+
+
+SYLLABLES AND WORDS
+
+A syllable is a distinct sound produced by a single effort of
+[Transcriber's note: 1-2 words illegible] shall, pig, dog. In every
+syllable there must be at least one vowel.
+
+A word consists of one syllable or a combination of syllables.
+
+Many rules are given for the dividing of words into syllables, but the
+best is to follow as closely as possible the divisions made by the organs
+of speech in properly pronouncing them.
+
+
+THE PARTS OF SPEECH
+
+ARTICLE
+
+An _Article_ is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun is
+used in a particular or general sense.
+
+There are two articles, _a_ or _an_ and _the_. _A_ or _an_ is called the
+indefinite article because it does not point put any particular person or
+thing but indicates the noun in its widest sense; thus, _a_ man means any
+man whatsoever of the species or race.
+
+_The_ is called the definite article because it points out some particular
+person or thing; thus, _the_ man means some particular individual.
+
+
+NOUN
+
+A _noun_ is the name of any person, place or thing as _John_, _London_,
+_book_. Nouns are proper and common.
+
+_Proper_ nouns are names applied to _particular_ persons or places.
+
+_Common_ nouns are names applied to a whole kind or species.
+
+Nouns are inflected by _number_, _gender_ and _case_.
+
+_Number_ is that inflection of the noun by which we indicate whether it
+represents one or more than one.
+
+_Gender_ is that inflection by which we signify whether the noun is the
+name of a male, a female, of an inanimate object or something which has
+no distinction of sex.
+
+_Case_ is that inflection of the noun which denotes the state of the
+person, place or thing represented, as the subject of an affirmation or
+question, the owner or possessor of something mentioned, or the object of
+an action or of a relation.
+
+Thus in the example, "John tore the leaves of Sarah's book," the
+distinction between _book_ which represents only one object and _leaves_
+which represent two or more objects of the same kind is called _Number_;
+the distinction of sex between _John_, a male, and _Sarah_, a female, and
+_book_ and _leaves_, things which are inanimate and neither male nor
+female, is called _Gender_; and the distinction of state between _John_,
+the person who tore the book, and the subject of the affirmation, _Mary_,
+the owner of the book, _leaves_ the objects torn, and _book_ the object
+related to leaves, as the whole of which they were a part, is called
+_Case_.
+
+
+ADJECTIVE
+
+An _adjective_ is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, shows or
+points out some distinguishing mark or feature of the noun; as, A
+_black_ dog.
+
+Adjectives have three forms called degrees of comparison, the _positive_,
+the _comparative_ and the _superlative_.
+
+The _positive_ is the simple form of the adjective without expressing
+increase or diminution of the original quality: _nice_.
+
+The _comparative_ is that form of the adjective which expresses increase
+or diminution of the quality: _nicer_.
+
+The _superlative_ is that form which expresses the greatest increase or
+diminution of the quality: _nicest_.
+
+_or_
+
+An adjective is in the positive form when it does not express comparison;
+as, "A _rich_ man."
+
+An adjective is in the comparative form when it expresses comparison
+between two or between one and a number taken collectively, as, "John is
+_richer_ than James"; "he is _richer_ than all the men in Boston."
+
+An adjective is in the superlative form when it expresses a comparison
+between one and a number of individuals taken separately; as, "John is
+the _richest_ man in Boston."
+
+Adjectives expressive of properties or circumstances which cannot be
+increased have only the positive form; as, A _circular_ road; the _chief_
+end; an _extreme_ measure.
+
+Adjectives are compared in two ways, either by adding _er_ to the positive
+to form the comparative and _est_ to the positive to form the superlative,
+or by prefixing _more_ to the positive for the comparative and _most_ to
+the positive for the superlative; as, _handsome_, _handsomer_, _handsomest_
+or _handsome_, _more handsome_, _most handsome_.
+
+Adjectives of two or more syllables are generally compared by prefixing
+more and most.
+
+Many adjectives are irregular in comparison; as, Bad, worse, worst; Good,
+better, best.
+
+
+PRONOUN
+
+A _pronoun_ is a word used in place of a noun; as, "John gave his pen to
+James and _he_ lent it to Jane to write _her_ copy with _it_." Without
+the pronouns we would have to write this sentence,--"John gave John's pen
+to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the
+pen."
+
+There are three kinds of pronouns--Personal, Relative and Adjective
+Pronouns.
+
+_Personal_ Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the
+names of persons, places and things. The Personal Pronouns are _I_,
+_Thou_, _He_, _She_, and _It_, with their plurals, _We_, _Ye_ or _You_
+and _They_.
+
+_I_ is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person
+speaking.
+
+_Thou_ is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the
+person spoken to.
+
+_He_, _She_, _It_ are the pronouns of the third person because they
+represent the persons or things of whom we are speaking.
+
+Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The
+gender of the first and second person is obvious, as they represent the
+person or persons speaking and those who are addressed. The personal
+pronouns are thus declined:
+
+
+                             First Person.
+                               M. or F.
+
+                               Sing.       Plural.
+                      N.         I           We
+                      P.       Mine         Ours
+                      O.        Me           Us
+
+
+                             Second Person.
+                                M. or F.
+
+                               Sing.       Plural.
+                      N.       Thou          You
+                      P.       Thine        Yours
+                      O.       Thee          You
+
+
+                             Third Person.
+                                   M.
+
+                               Sing.       Plural.
+                      N.        He          They
+                      P.        His        Theirs
+                      O.        Him         Them
+
+
+                             Third Person.
+                                   F.
+
+                               Sing.       Plural.
+                      N.        She         They
+                      P.       Hers        Theirs
+                      O.        Her         Them
+
+
+                             Third Person.
+                                Neuter.
+
+                               Sing.       Plural.
+                      N.        It          They
+                      P.        Its        Theirs
+                      O.        It          Them
+
+
+N. B.--In colloquial language and ordinary writing Thou, Thine and Thee
+are seldom used, except by the Society of Friends. The Plural form You is
+used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person
+and Yours is generally used in the possessive in place of Thine.
+
+The _Relative_ Pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or
+phrase going before; as, "The boy _who_ told the truth;" "He has done
+well, _which_ gives me great pleasure."
+
+Here _who_ and _which_ are not only used in place of other words, but
+_who_ refers immediately to boy, and _which_ to the circumstance of his
+having done well.
+
+The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the
+_Antecedent_.
+
+The Relative Pronouns are _who_, _which_, _that_ and _what_.
+
+_Who_ is applied to persons only; as, "The man _who_ was here."
+
+_Which_ is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The
+horse _which_ I sold." "The hat _which_ I bought."
+
+_That_ is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend _that_
+helps." "The bird _that_ sings." "The knife _that_ cuts."
+
+_What_ is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the
+relative and is equivalent to _that which_; as, "I did what he desired,"
+i. e. "I did _that which_ he desired."
+
+Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.
+
+_Who_ is either masculine or feminine; _which_ and _that_ are masculine,
+feminine or neuter; _what_ as a relative pronoun is always neuter.
+
+_That_ and _what_ are not inflected.
+
+_Who_ and _which_ are thus declined:
+
+
+                  Sing. and Plural   Sing. and Plural
+
+                  N.      Who        N.     Which
+                  P.     Whose       P.     Whose
+                  O.      Whom       O.     Which
+
+
+_Who_, _which_ and _what_ when used to ask questions are called
+_Interrogative Pronouns_.
+
+_Adjective_ Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and
+are subdivided as follows:
+
+_Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns_ which directly point out the person or
+object. They are _this_, _that_ with their plurals _these_, _those_, and
+_yon_, _same_ and _selfsame_.
+
+_Distributive Adjective Pronouns_ used distributively. They are _each_,
+_every_, _either_, _neither_.
+
+_Indefinite Adjective Pronouns_ used more or less indefinitely. They are
+_any_, _all_, _few_, _some_, _several_, _one_, _other_, _another_, _none_.
+
+_Possessive Adjective Pronouns_ denoting possession. They are _my_, _thy_,
+_his_, _her_, _its_, _our_, _your_, _their_.
+
+N. B.--(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case
+of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand _alone_ while the
+former _cannot_. "Who owns that book?" "It is _mine_." You cannot say "it
+is _my_,"--the word book must be repeated.)
+
+
+THE VERB
+
+A _verb_ is a word which implies action or the doing of something, or it
+may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a question.
+
+Thus, the words _John the table_, contain no assertion, but when the word
+_strikes_ is introduced, something is affirmed, hence the word _strikes_
+is a verb and gives completeness and meaning to the group.
+
+The simple form of the verb without inflection is called the _root_ of
+the verb; _e. g. love_ is the root of the verb,--"To Love."
+
+Verbs are _regular_ or _irregular_, _transitive_ or _intransitive_.
+
+A verb is said to be _regular_ when it forms the past tense by adding
+_ed_ to the present or _d_ if the verb ends in _e_. When its past tense
+does not end in _ed_ it is said to be _irregular_.
+
+A _transitive_ verb is one the action of which passes over to or affects
+some object; as "I struck the table." Here the action of striking
+affected the object table, hence struck is a transitive verb.
+
+An _intransitive_ verb is one in which the action remains with the subject;
+as _"I walk,"_ _"I sit,"_ _"I run."_
+
+Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used transitively; thus, "I _walk_
+the horse;" _walk_ is here transitive.
+
+Verbs are inflected by _number_, _person_, _tense_ and _mood_.
+
+_Number_ and _person_ as applied to the verb really belong to the
+subject; they are used with the verb to denote whether the assertion is
+made regarding one or more than one and whether it is made in reference
+to the person speaking, the person spoken to or the person or thing
+spoken about.
+
+
+TENSE
+
+In their tenses verbs follow the divisions of time. They have _present
+tense_, _past tense_ and _future tense_ with their variations to express
+the exact time of action as to an event happening, having happened or yet
+to happen.
+
+
+MOOD
+
+There are four simple moods,--the _Infinitive_, the _Indicative_, the
+_Imperative_ and the _Subjunctive_.
+
+The Mood of a verb denotes the mode or manner in which it is used. Thus
+if it is used in its widest sense without reference to person or number,
+time or place, it is in the _Infinitive_ Mood; as "To run." Here we are
+not told who does the running, when it is done, where it is done or
+anything about it.
+
+When a verb is used to indicate or declare or ask a simple question or
+make any direct statement, it is in the _Indicative_ Mood. "The boy loves
+his book." Here a direct statement is made concerning the boy. "Have you
+a pin?" Here a simple question is asked which calls for an answer.
+
+When the verb is used to express a command or entreaty it is in the
+_Imperative_ Mood as, "Go away." "Give me a penny."
+
+When the verb is used to express doubt, supposition or uncertainty or
+when some future action depends upon a contingency, it is in the
+subjunctive mood; as, "If I come, he shall remain."
+
+Many grammarians include a fifth mood called the _potential_ to express
+_power_, _possibility_, _liberty_, _necessity_, _will_ or _duty_. It is
+formed by means of the auxiliaries _may_, _can_, _ought_ and _must_, but
+in all cases it can be resolved into the indicative or subjunctive. Thus,
+in "I may write if I choose," "may write" is by some classified as in the
+potential mood, but in reality the phrase _I may write_ is an indicative
+one while the second clause, _if I choose_, is the expression of a
+condition upon which, not my liberty to write, depends, but my actual
+writing.
+
+Verbs have two participles, the present or imperfect, sometimes called
+the _active_ ending in _ing_ and the past or perfect, often called the
+_passive_, ending in _ed_ or _d_.
+
+The _infinitive_ expresses the sense of the verb in a substantive form,
+the participles in an adjective form; as "To rise early is healthful."
+"An early rising man." "The newly risen sun."
+
+The participle in _ing_ is frequently used as a substantive and
+consequently is equivalent to an infinitive; thus, "To rise early is
+healthful" and "Rising early is healthful" are the same.
+
+The principal parts of a verb are the Present Indicative, Past Indicative
+and Past Participle; as:
+
+                         Love   Loved   Loved
+
+Sometimes one or more of these parts are wanting, and then the verb is
+said to be defective.
+
+
+                Present       Past     Passive Participle
+
+                  Can        Could         (Wanting)
+                  May        Might             "
+                 Shall       Should            "
+                 Will        Would             "
+                 Ought       Ought             "
+
+
+Verbs may also be divided into _principal_ and _auxiliary_. A _principal_
+verb is that without which a sentence or clause can contain no assertion
+or affirmation. An _auxiliary_ is a verb joined to the root or participles
+of a principal verb to express time and manner with greater precision
+than can be done by the tenses and moods in their simple form. Thus, the
+sentence, "I am writing an exercise; when I shall have finished it I
+shall read it to the class." has no meaning without the principal verbs
+_writing_, _finished read_; but the meaning is rendered more definite,
+especially with regard to time, by the auxiliary verbs _am_, _have_,
+_shall_.
+
+There are nine auxiliary or helping verbs, viz., _Be_, _have_, _do_,
+_shall_, _will_, _may_, _can_, _ought_, and _must_. They are called
+helping verbs, because it is by their aid the compound tenses are formed.
+
+
+TO BE
+
+The verb _To Be_ is the most important of the auxiliary verbs. It has
+eleven parts, viz., _am, art, is, are, was, wast, were, wert; be, being_
+and _been_.
+
+
+VOICE
+
+The _active voice_ is that form of the verb which shows the Subject not
+being acted upon but acting; as, "The cat _catches_ mice." "Charity
+_covers_ a multitude of sins."
+
+The _passive voice_: When the action signified by a transitive verb is
+thrown back upon the agent, that is to say, when the subject of the verb
+denotes the recipient of the action, the verb is said to be in the
+passive voice. "John was loved by his neighbors." Here John the subject
+is also the object affected by the loving, the action of the verb is
+thrown back on him, hence the compound verb _was loved_ is said to be in
+the _passive voice_. The passive voice is formed by putting the perfect
+participle of any _transitive_ verb with any of the eleven parts of the
+verb _To Be_.
+
+
+CONJUGATION
+
+The _conjugation_ of a verb is its orderly arrangement in voices, moods,
+tenses, persons and numbers.
+
+Here is the complete conjugation of the verb "Love"--_Active Voice_.
+
+
+                            PRINCIPAL PARTS
+
+               Present       Past        Past Participle
+                Love         Loved            Loved
+
+
+                            Infinitive Mood
+
+                                To Love
+
+
+                            Indicative Mood
+                             PRESENT TENSE
+
+                                 Sing.      Plural
+                   1st person    I love     We love
+                   2nd person   You love   You love
+                   3rd person   He loves   They love
+
+
+                               PAST TENSE
+
+                                 Sing.       Plural
+                  1st person    I loved     We loved
+                  2nd person   You loved   You loved
+                  3rd person   He loved    They loved
+
+
+                              FUTURE TENSE
+
+                               Sing.           Plural
+              1st person   I shall love    They will love
+              2nd person   You will love   You will love
+              3rd person   He will love    We shall love
+
+[Transcriber's note: 1st person plural and 3rd person plural reversed
+in original]
+
+
+                         PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
+
+                              Sing.            Plural
+             1st person    I have loved     We have loved
+             2nd person   You have loved   You have loved
+             3rd person    He has loved    They have loved
+
+
+                           PAST PERFECT TENSE
+
+                               Sing.           Plural
+              1st person    I had loved     We had loved
+              2nd person   You had loved   You had loved
+              3rd person   He had loved    They had loved
+
+
+                          FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
+
+                            Sing.                 Plural
+        1st person   I shall have loved    We shall have loved
+        2nd person   You will have loved   You will have loved
+        3rd person   He will have loved    They will have loved
+
+
+                            Imperative Mood
+                          (PRESENT TENSE ONLY)
+
+                                 Sing.        Plural
+                  2nd person   Love (you)   Love (you)
+
+
+                            Subjunctive Mood
+                             PRESENT TENSE
+
+                                Sing.         Plural
+                1st person    If I love     If we love
+                2nd person   If you love   If you love
+                3rd person   If he love    If they love
+
+
+                               PAST TENSE
+
+                               Sing.          Plural
+               1st person    If I loved     If we loved
+               2nd person   If you loved   If you loved
+               3rd person   If he loved    If they loved
+
+
+                         PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
+
+                             Sing.               Plural
+          1st person    If I have loved     If we have loved
+          2nd person   If you have loved   If you have loved
+          3rd person    If he has loved    If they have loved
+
+
+                           PAST PERFECT TENSE
+
+                             Sing.              Plural
+           1st person    If I had loved     If we had loved
+           2nd person   If you had loved   If you had loved
+           3rd person   If he had loved    If they had loved
+
+
+                              INFINITIVES
+
+                         Present     Perfect
+                         To love  To have loved
+
+
+                              PARTICIPLES
+
+                     Present   Past      Perfect
+                     Loving    Loved   Having loved
+
+
+                        CONJUGATION OF "To Love"
+                             Passive Voice
+                            Indicative Mood
+
+                             PRESENT TENSE
+
+                               Sing.           Plural
+              1st person    I am loved      We are loved
+              2nd person   You are loved   You are loved
+              3rd person    He is loved    They are loved
+
+
+                               PAST TENSE
+
+                              Sing.            Plural
+             1st person    I was loved      We were loved
+             2nd person   You were loved   You were loved
+             3rd person    He was loved    They were loved
+
+
+                              FUTURE TENSE
+
+                             Sing.               Plural
+          1st person   I shall be loved    We shall be loved
+          2nd person   You will be loved   You will be loved
+          3rd person   He will be loved    They will be loved
+
+
+                         PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
+
+                            Sing.                 Plural
+        1st person    I have been loved     We have been loved
+        2nd person   You have been loved   You have been loved
+        3rd person    He has been loved    They have been loved
+
+
+                           PAST PERFECT TENSE
+
+                            Sing.                Plural
+         1st person    I had been loved     We had been loved
+         2nd person   You had been loved   You had been loved
+         3rd person   He had been loved    They had been loved
+
+
+                          FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
+
+                         Sing.                      Plural
+   1st person   I shall have been loved    We shall have been loved
+   2nd person   You will have been loved   You will have been loved
+   3rd person   He will have been loved    They will have been loved
+
+
+                            Imperative Mood
+                          (PRESENT TENSE ONLY)
+
+                               Sing.            Plural
+              2nd person   Be (you) loved   Be (you) loved
+
+
+                            Subjunctive Mood
+                             PRESENT TENSE
+
+                              Sing.             Plural
+            1st person    If I be loved     If we be loved
+            2nd person   If you be loved   If you be loved
+            3rd person   If he be loved    If they be loved
+
+
+                               PAST TENSE
+
+                             Sing.               Plural
+          1st person    If I were loved    If they were loved
+          2nd person   If you were loved   If you were loved
+          3rd person   If he were loved     If we were loved
+
+
+                         PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
+
+                          Sing.                    Plural
+     1st person    If I have been loved     If we have been loved
+     2nd person   If you have been loved   If you have been loved
+     3rd person    If he has been loved    If they have been loved
+
+
+                           PAST PERFECT TENSE
+
+                           Sing.                   Plural
+      1st person    If I had been loved     If we had been loved
+      2nd person   If you had been loved   If you had been loved
+      3rd person   If he had been loved    If they had been loved
+
+
+                              INFINITIVES
+
+                Present                     Perfect
+              To be loved              To have been loved
+
+
+                              PARTICIPLES
+
+            Present            Past               Perfect
+          Being loved       Been loved       Having been loved
+
+
+(N. B.--Note that the plural form of the personal pronoun, _you_, is used
+in the second person singular throughout. The old form _thou_, except in
+the conjugation of the verb "To Be," may be said to be obsolete. In the
+third person singular he is representative of the three personal pronouns
+of the third person, _He_, _She_ and _It_.)
+
+
+ADVERB
+
+An _adverb_ is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective or another
+adverb. Thus, in the example--"He writes _well_," the adverb shows the
+manner in which the writing is performed; in the examples--"He is
+remarkably diligent" and "He works very faithfully," the adverbs modify
+the adjective _diligent_ and the other adverb _faithfully_ by expressing
+the degree of diligence and faithfulness.
+
+Adverbs are chiefly used to express in one word what would otherwise
+require two or more words; thus, _There_ signifies in that place;
+_whence_, from what place; _usefully_, in a useful manner.
+
+Adverbs, like adjectives, are sometimes varied in their terminations to
+express comparison and different degrees of quality.
+
+Some adverbs form the comparative and superlative by adding _er_ and
+_est_; as, _soon_, _sooner_, _soonest_.
+
+Adverbs which end in _ly_ are compared by prefixing _more_ and _most_;
+as, _nobly_, _more nobly_, _most nobly_.
+
+A few adverbs are irregular in the formation of the comparative and
+superlative; as, _well_, _better_, _best_.
+
+
+PREPOSITION
+
+A _preposition_ connects words, clauses, and sentences together and shows
+the relation between them. "My hand is on the table" shows relation
+between hand and table.
+
+Prepositions are so called because they are generally placed _before_ the
+words whose connection or relation with other words they point out.
+
+
+CONJUNCTION
+
+A _conjunction_ joins words, clauses and sentences; as "John _and_
+James." "My father and mother have come, _but_ I have not seen them."
+
+The conjunctions in most general use are _and, also; either, or; neither,
+nor; though, yet; but, however; for, that; because, since; therefore,
+wherefore, then; if, unless, lest_.
+
+
+INTERJECTION
+
+An _interjection_ is a word used to express some sudden emotion of the
+mind. Thus in the examples,--"Ah! there he comes; alas! what shall I do?"
+_ah_, expresses surprise, and _alas_, distress.
+
+Nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs become interjections when they are
+uttered as exclamations, as, _nonsense! strange! hail! away!_ etc.
+
+We have now enumerated the parts of speech and as briefly as possible
+stated the functions of each. As they all belong to the same family they
+are related to one another but some are in closer affinity than others.
+To point out the exact relationship and the dependency of one word on
+another is called _parsing_ and in order that every etymological
+connection may be distinctly understood a brief resume of the foregoing
+essentials is here given:
+
+The signification of the noun is _limited_ to _one_, but to any _one_ of
+the kind, by the _indefinite_ article, and to some _particular_ one, or
+some particular _number_, by the _definite_ article.
+
+_Nouns_, in one form, represent _one_ of a kind, and in another, _any
+number_ more than one; they are the _names of males_, or _females_, or of
+objects which are neither male nor female; and they represent the
+_subject_ of an affirmation, a command or a question,--the _owner_ or
+_possessor_ of a thing,--or the _object_ of an action, or of a relation
+expressed by a preposition.
+
+_Adjectives_ express the _qualities_ which distinguish one person or
+thing from another; in one form they express quality _without
+comparison_; in another, they express comparison _between two_, or
+between _one_ and a number taken collectively,--and in a third they
+express comparison between _one_ and a _number_ of others taken
+separately.
+
+_Pronouns_ are used in place of nouns; one class of them is used merely
+as the _substitutes_ of _names_; the pronouns of another class have a
+peculiar _reference_ to some _preceding words_ in the _sentence_, of
+which they are the substitutes,--and those of a third class refer
+adjectively to the persons or things they represent. Some pronouns are
+used for both the _name_ and the _substitute_; and several are frequently
+employed in _asking questions_.
+
+_Affirmations_ and _commands_ are expressed by the verb; and different
+inflections of the verb express _number_, _person_, _time_ and _manner_.
+With regard to _time_, an affirmation may be _present_ or _past_ or
+_future_; with regard to manner, an affirmation may be _positive_ or
+_conditional_, it being doubtful whether the condition is fulfilled or
+not, or it being implied that it is not fulfilled;--the verb may express
+_command_ or _entreaty_; or the sense of the verb may be expressed
+_without affirming_ or _commanding_. The verb also expresses that an
+action or state _is_ or _was_ going on, by a form which is also used
+sometimes as a noun, and sometimes to qualify nouns.
+
+_Affirmations_ are _modified_ by _adverbs_, some of which can be
+inflected to express different degrees of modification.
+
+Words are joined together by _conjunctions_; and the various _relations_
+which one thing bears to another are expressed by _'prepositions. Sudden
+emotions_ of the mind, and _exclamations_ are expressed by _interjections_.
+
+Some words according to meaning belong sometimes to one part of speech,
+sometimes to another. Thus, in "After a storm comes a _calm_," _calm_ is
+a noun; in "It is a _calm_ evening," _calm_ is an adjective; and in
+"_Calm_ your fears," _calm_ is a verb.
+
+The following sentence containing all the parts of speech is parsed
+etymologically:
+
+_"I now see the old man coming, but, alas, he has walked with much
+difficulty."_
+
+_I_, a personal pronoun, first person singular, masculine or feminine
+gender, nominative case, subject of the verb _see_.
+
+_now_, an adverb of time modifying the verb _see_.
+
+_see_, an irregular, transitive verb, indicative mood, present tense,
+first person singular to agree with its nominative or subject I.
+
+_the_, the definite article particularizing the noun man.
+
+_old_, an adjective, positive degree, qualifying the noun man.
+
+_man_, a common noun, 3rd person singular, masculine gender, objective
+case governed by the transitive verb _see_.
+
+_coming_, the present or imperfect participle of the verb "to come"
+referring to the noun man.
+
+_but_, a conjunction.
+
+_alas_, an interjection, expressing pity or sorrow.
+
+_he_, a personal pronoun, 3rd person singular, masculine gender,
+nominative case, subject of verb has walked.
+
+_has walked_, a regular, intransitive verb, indicative mood, perfect tense,
+3rd person singular to agree with its nominative or subject _he_.
+
+_with_, a preposition, governing the noun difficulty.
+
+_much_, an adjective, positive degree, qualifying the noun difficulty.
+
+_difficulty_, a common noun, 3rd person singular, neuter gender,
+objective case governed by the preposition _with_.
+
+N.B.--_Much_ is generally an adverb. As an adjective it is thus compared:
+
+              Positive       Comparative       Superlative
+                much            more              most
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE SENTENCE
+
+Different Kinds--Arrangement of Words--Paragraph
+
+
+A sentence is an assemblage of words so arranged as to convey a determinate
+sense or meaning, in other words, to express a complete thought or idea.
+No matter how short, it must contain one finite verb and a subject or agent
+to direct the action of the verb.
+
+"Birds fly;" "Fish swim;" "Men walk;"--are sentences.
+
+A sentence always contains two parts, something spoken about and something
+said about it. The word or words indicating what is spoken about form what
+is called the _subject_ and the word or words indicating what is said about
+it form what is called the _predicate_.
+
+In the sentences given, _birds_, _fish_ and _men_ are the subjects, while
+_fly_, _swim_ and _walk_ are the predicates.
+
+There are three kinds of sentences, _simple_, _compound_ and _complex_.
+
+The _simple sentence_ expresses a single thought and consists of one
+subject and one predicate, as, "Man is mortal."
+
+A _compound sentence_ consists of two or more simple sentences of equal
+importance the parts of which are either expressed or understood, as,
+"The men work in the fields and the women work in the household," or "The
+men work in the fields and the women in the household" or "The men and
+women work in the fields and in the household."
+
+A _complex sentence_ consists of two or more simple sentences so combined
+that one depends on the other to complete its meaning; as; "When he
+returns, I shall go on my vacation." Here the words, "when he returns"
+are dependent on the rest of the sentence for their meaning.
+
+A _clause_ is a separate part of a complex sentence, as "when he returns"
+in the last example.
+
+A _phrase_ consists of two or more words without a finite verb.
+
+Without a finite verb we cannot affirm anything or convey an idea,
+therefore we can have no sentence.
+
+Infinitives and participles which are the infinite parts of the verb
+cannot be predicates. "I looking up the street" is not a sentence, for it
+is not a complete action expressed. When we hear such an expression as "A
+dog running along the street," we wait for something more to be added,
+something more affirmed about the dog, whether he bit or barked or fell
+dead or was run over.
+
+Thus in every sentence there must be a finite verb to limit the subject.
+
+When the verb is transitive, that is, when the action cannot happen
+without affecting something, the thing affected is called the _object_.
+
+Thus in "Cain killed Abel" the action of the killing affected Abel. In
+"The cat has caught a mouse," mouse is the object of the catching.
+
+
+ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE
+
+Of course in simple sentences the natural order of arrangement is
+subject--verb--object. In many cases no other form is possible. Thus in
+the sentence "The cat has caught a mouse," we cannot reverse it and say
+"The mouse has caught a cat" without destroying the meaning, and in any
+other form of arrangement, such as "A mouse, the cat has caught," we feel
+that while it is intelligible, it is a poor way of expressing the fact
+and one which jars upon us more or less.
+
+In longer sentences, however, when there are more words than what are
+barely necessary for subject, verb and object, we have greater freedom of
+arrangement and can so place the words as to give the best effect. The
+proper placing of words depends upon perspicuity and precision. These two
+combined give _style_ to the structure.
+
+Most people are familiar with Gray's line in the immortal _Elegy_--"The
+ploughman homeward plods his weary way." This line can be paraphrased to
+read 18 different ways. Here are a few variations:
+
+  Homeward the ploughman plods his weary way.
+  The ploughman plods his weary way homeward.
+  Plods homeward the ploughman his weary way.
+  His weary way the ploughman homeward plods.
+  Homeward his weary way plods the ploughman.
+  Plods the ploughman his weary way homeward.
+  His weary way the ploughman plods homeward.
+  His weary way homeward the ploughman plods.
+  The ploughman plods homeward his weary way.
+  The ploughman his weary way plods homeward.
+
+and so on. It is doubtful if any of the other forms are superior to the
+one used by the poet. Of course his arrangement was made to comply with
+the rhythm and rhyme of the verse. Most of the variations depend upon the
+emphasis we wish to place upon the different words.
+
+In arranging the words in an ordinary sentence we should not lose sight
+of the fact that the beginning and end are the important places for
+catching the attention of the reader. Words in these places have greater
+emphasis than elsewhere.
+
+In Gray's line the general meaning conveyed is that a weary ploughman is
+plodding his way homeward, but according to the arrangement a very slight
+difference is effected in the idea. Some of the variations make us think
+more of the ploughman, others more of the plodding, and still others more
+of the weariness.
+
+As the beginning and end of a sentence are the most important places, it
+naturally follows that small or insignificant words should be kept from
+these positions. Of the two places the end one is the more important,
+therefore, it really calls for the most important word in the sentence.
+Never commence a sentence with _And_, _But_, _Since_, _Because_, and
+other similar weak words and never end it with prepositions, small, weak
+adverbs or pronouns.
+
+The parts of a sentence which are most closely connected with one another
+in meaning should be closely connected in order also. By ignoring this
+principle many sentences are made, if not nonsensical, really ridiculous
+and ludicrous. For instance: "Ten dollars reward is offered for
+information of any person injuring this property by order of the owner."
+"This monument was erected to the memory of John Jones, who was shot by
+his affectionate brother."
+
+In the construction of all sentences the grammatical rules must be
+inviolably observed. The laws of concord, that is, the agreement of
+certain words, must be obeyed.
+
+(1) The verb agrees with its subject in person and number. "I have,"
+"Thou hast," (the pronoun _thou_ is here used to illustrate the verb
+form, though it is almost obsolete), "He has," show the variation of the
+verb to agree with the subject. A singular subject calls for a singular
+verb, a plural subject demands a verb in the plural; as, "The boy
+writes," "The boys write."
+
+The agreement of a verb and its subject is often destroyed by confusing
+(1) collective and common nouns; (2) foreign and English nouns; (3)
+compound and simple subjects; (4) real and apparent subjects.
+
+  (1) A collective noun is a number of individuals or things
+  regarded as a whole; as, _class regiment_. When the individuals
+  or things are prominently brought forward, use a plural verb;
+  as The class _were_ distinguished for ability. When the idea of
+  the whole as a unit is under consideration employ a singular
+  verb; as The regiment _was_ in camp. (2) It is sometimes hard
+  for the ordinary individual to distinguish the plural from the
+  singular in foreign nouns, therefore, he should be careful in
+  the selection of the verb. He should look up the word and be
+  guided accordingly. "He was an _alumnus_ of Harvard." "They
+  were _alumni_ of Harvard." (3) When a sentence with one verb
+  has two or more subjects denoting different things, connected
+  by _and_, the verb should be plural; as, "Snow and rain _are_
+  disagreeable." When the subjects denote the same thing and are
+  connected by _or_ the verb should be singular; as, "The man or
+  the woman is to blame." (4) When the same verb has more than
+  one subject of different persons or numbers, it agrees with the
+  most prominent in thought; as, "He, and not you, _is_ wrong."
+  "Whether he or I _am_ to be blamed."
+
+(2) Never use the past participle for the past tense nor _vice versa_.
+This mistake is a very common one. At every turn we hear "He done it" for
+"He did it." "The jar was broke" instead of broken. "He would have went"
+for "He would have gone," etc.
+
+(3) The use of the verbs _shall_ and _will_ is a rock upon which even
+the best speakers come to wreck. They are interchanged recklessly.
+Their significance changes according as they are used with the first,
+second or third person. With the first person _shall_ is used in direct
+statement to express a simple future action; as, "I shall go to the
+city to-morrow." With the second and third persons _shall_ is used to
+express a determination; as, "You _shall_ go to the city to-morrow,"
+"He _shall_ go to the city to-morrow."
+
+With the first person _will_ is used in direct statement to express
+determination, as, "I will go to the city to-morrow." With the second and
+third persons _will_ is used to express simple future action; as, "You
+_will_ go to the city to-morrow," "He _will_ go to the city to-morrow."
+
+A very old rule regarding the uses of _shall_ and _will_ is thus
+expressed in rhyme:
+
+  In the first person simply _shall_ foretells,
+  In _will_ a threat or else a promise dwells.
+  _Shall_ in the second and third does threat,
+  _Will_ simply then foretells the future feat.
+
+(4) Take special care to distinguish between the nominative and objective
+case. The pronouns are the only words which retain the ancient distinctive
+case ending for the objective. Remember that the objective case follows
+transitive verbs and prepositions. Don't say "The boy who I sent to see
+you," but "The boy whom I sent to see you." _Whom_ is here the object of
+the transitive verb sent. Don't say "She bowed to him and I" but "She
+bowed to him and me" since me is the objective case following the
+preposition _to_ understood. "Between you and I" is a very common
+expression. It should be "Between you and me" since _between_ is a
+preposition calling for the objective case.
+
+(5) Be careful in the use of the relative pronouns _who_, _which_ and
+_that_. Who refers only to persons; which only to things; as, "The boy
+who was drowned," "The umbrella which I lost." The relative _that_ may
+refer to both persons and things; as, "The man _that_ I saw." "The hat
+_that_ I bought."
+
+(6) Don't use the superlative degree of the adjective for the comparative;
+as "He is the richest of the two" for "He is the richer of the two."
+Other mistakes often made in this connection are (1) Using the double
+comparative and superlative; as, "These apples are much _more_ preferable."
+"The most universal motive to business is gain." (2) Comparing objects
+which belong to dissimilar classes; as "There is no nicer _life_ than a
+_teacher_." (3) Including objects in class to which they do not belong;
+as, "The fairest of her daughters, Eve." (4) Excluding an object from a
+class to which it does belong; as, "Caesar was braver than any ancient
+warrior."
+
+(7) Don't use an adjective for an adverb or an adverb for an adjective.
+Don't say, "He acted nice towards me" but "He acted nicely toward me,"
+and instead of saying "She looked _beautifully_" say "She looked
+_beautiful_."
+
+(8) Place the adverb as near as possible to the word it modifies. Instead
+of saying, "He walked to the door quickly," say "He walked quickly to the
+door."
+
+(9) Not alone be careful to distinguish between the nominative and
+objective cases of the pronouns, but try to avoid ambiguity in their use.
+
+The amusing effect of disregarding the reference of pronouns is well
+illustrated by Burton in the following story of Billy Williams, a comic
+actor who thus narrates his experience in riding a horse owned by
+Hamblin, the manager:
+
+
+"So down I goes to the stable with Tom Flynn, and told the man to put
+the saddle on him."
+
+"On Tom Flynn?"
+
+"No, on the horse. So after talking with Tom Flynn awhile I mounted
+him."
+
+"What! mounted Tom Flynn?"
+
+"No, the horse; and then I shook hands with him and rode off."
+
+"Shook hands with the horse, Billy?"
+
+"No, with Tom Flynn; and then I rode off up the Bowery, and who should
+I meet but Tom Hamblin; so I got off and told the boy to hold him by
+the head."
+
+"What! hold Hamblin by the head?"
+
+"No, the horse; and then we went and had a drink together."
+
+"What! you and the horse?"
+
+"No, _me_ and Hamblin; and after that I mounted him again and went out
+of town."
+
+"What! mounted Hamblin again?"
+
+"No, the horse; and when I got to Burnham, who should be there but Tom
+Flynn,--he'd taken another horse and rode out ahead of me; so I told
+the hostler to tie him up."
+
+"Tie Tom Flynn up?"
+
+"No, the horse; and we had a drink there."
+
+"What! you and the horse?"
+
+"No, me and Tom Flynn."
+
+Finding his auditors by this time in a _horse_ laugh, Billy wound up
+with: "Now, look here,--every time I say horse, you say Hamblin, and
+every time I say Hamblin you say horse: I'll be hanged if I tell you
+any more about it."
+
+
+
+
+SENTENCE CLASSIFICATION
+
+There are two great classes of sentences according to the general
+principles upon which they are founded. These are termed the _loose_ and
+the _periodic_.
+
+In the _loose_ sentence the main idea is put first, and then follow
+several facts in connection with it. Defoe is an author particularly
+noted for this kind of sentence. He starts out with a leading declaration
+to which he adds several attendant connections. For instance in the
+opening of the story of _Robinson Crusoe_ we read: "I was born in the
+year 1632 in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that
+country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at
+Hull; he got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade
+lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose
+relations were named Robinson, a very good family in the country and from
+I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual corruption of words in
+England, we are now called, nay, we call ourselves, and write our name
+Crusoe, and so my companions always called me."
+
+In the periodic sentence the main idea comes last and is preceded by a
+series of relative introductions. This kind of sentence is often
+introduced by such words as _that_, _if_, _since_, _because_. The
+following is an example:
+
+"That through his own folly and lack of circumspection he should have
+been reduced to such circumstances as to be forced to become a beggar on
+the streets, soliciting alms from those who had formerly been the
+recipients of his bounty, was a sore humiliation."
+
+On account of its name many are liable to think the _loose_ sentence an
+undesirable form in good composition, but this should not be taken for
+granted. In many cases it is preferable to the periodic form.
+
+As a general rule in speaking, as opposed to writing, the _loose_ form is
+to be preferred, inasmuch as when the periodic is employed in discourse
+the listeners are apt to forget the introductory clauses before the final
+issue is reached.
+
+Both kinds are freely used in composition, but in speaking, the _loose_,
+which makes the direct statement at the beginning, should predominate.
+
+As to the length of sentences much depends on the nature of the
+composition.
+
+However the general rule may be laid down that short sentences are
+preferable to long ones. The tendency of the best writers of the present
+day is towards short, snappy, pithy sentences which rivet the attention of
+the reader. They adopt as their motto _multum in parvo_ (much in little)
+and endeavor to pack a great deal in small space. Of course the extreme of
+brevity is to be avoided. Sentences can be too short, too jerky, too
+brittle to withstand the test of criticism. The long sentence has its place
+and a very important one. It is indispensable in argument and often is very
+necessary to description and also in introducing general principles which
+require elaboration. In employing the long sentence the inexperienced
+writer should not strain after the heavy, ponderous type. Johnson and
+Carlyle used such a type, but remember, an ordinary mortal cannot wield the
+sledge hammer of a giant. Johnson and Carlyle were intellectual giants and
+few can hope to stand on the same literary pedestal. The tyro in
+composition should never seek after the heavy style. The best of all
+authors in the English language for style is Addison. Macaulay says: "If
+you wish a style learned, but not pedantic, elegant but not ostentatious,
+simple yet refined, you must give your days and nights to the volumes of
+Joseph Addison." The simplicity, apart from the beauty of Addison's
+writings causes us to reiterate the literary command--"Never use a big word
+when a little one will convey the same or a similar meaning."
+
+Macaulay himself is an elegant stylist to imitate. He is like a clear
+brook kissed by the noon-day sun in the shining bed of which you can see
+and count the beautiful white pebbles. Goldsmith is another writer whose
+simplicity of style charms.
+
+The beginner should study these writers, make their works his _vade mecum_,
+they have stood the test of time and there has been no improvement upon
+them yet, nor is there likely to be, for their writing is as perfect as
+it is possible to be in the English language.
+
+Apart from their grammatical construction there can be no fixed rules for
+the formation of sentences. The best plan is to follow the best authors
+and these masters of language will guide you safely along the way.
+
+
+THE PARAGRAPH
+
+The paragraph may be defined as a group of sentences that are closely
+related in thought and which serve one common purpose. Not only do they
+preserve the sequence of the different parts into which a composition is
+divided, but they give a certain spice to the matter like raisins in a
+plum pudding. A solid page of printed matter is distasteful to the reader;
+it taxes the eye and tends towards the weariness of monotony, but when it
+is broken up into sections it loses much of its heaviness and the
+consequent lightness gives it charm, as it were, to capture the reader.
+
+Paragraphs are like stepping-stones on the bed of a shallow river, which
+enable the foot passenger to skip with ease from one to the other until
+he gets across; but if the stones are placed too far apart in attempting
+to span the distance one is liable to miss the mark and fall in the water
+and flounder about until he is again able to get a foothold. 'Tis the
+same with written language, the reader by means of paragraphs can easily
+pass from one portion of connected thought to another and keep up his
+interest in the subject until he gets to the end.
+
+Throughout the paragraph there must be some connection in regard to the
+matter under consideration,--a sentence dependency. For instance, in the
+same paragraph we must not speak of a house on fire and a runaway horse
+unless there is some connection between the two. We must not write
+consecutively:
+
+"The fire raged with fierce intensity, consuming the greater part of the
+large building in a short time." "The horse took fright and wildly dashed
+down the street scattering pedestrians in all directions." These two
+sentences have no connection and therefore should occupy separate and
+distinct places. But when we say--"The fire raged with fierce intensity
+consuming the greater part of the large building in a short time and the
+horse taking fright at the flames dashed wildly down the street scattering
+pedestrians in all directions,"--there is a natural sequence, viz., the
+horse taking fright as a consequence of the flames and hence the two
+expressions are combined in one paragraph.
+
+As in the case of words in sentences, the most important places in a
+paragraph are the beginning and the end. Accordingly the first sentence
+and the last should by virtue of their structure and nervous force,
+compel the reader's attention. It is usually advisable to make the first
+sentence short; the last sentence may be long or short, but in either
+case should be forcible. The object of the first sentence is to state a
+point _clearly_; the last sentence should _enforce_ it.
+
+It is a custom of good writers to make the conclusion of the paragraph a
+restatement or counterpart or application of the opening.
+
+In most cases a paragraph may be regarded as the elaboration of the
+principal sentence. The leading thought or idea can be taken as a nucleus
+and around it constructed the different parts of the paragraph. Anyone
+can make a context for every simple sentence by asking himself questions
+in reference to the sentence. Thus--"The foreman gave the order"--
+suggests at once several questions; "What was the order?" "to whom did he
+give it?" "why did he give it?" "what was the result?" etc. These
+questions when answered will depend upon the leading one and be an
+elaboration of it into a complete paragraph.
+
+If we examine any good paragraph we shall find it made up of a number of
+items, each of which helps to illustrate, confirm or enforce the general
+thought or purpose of the paragraph. Also the transition from each item
+to the next is easy, natural and obvious; the items seem to come of
+themselves. If, on the other hand, we detect in a paragraph one or more
+items which have no direct bearing, or if we are unable to proceed
+readily from item to item, especially if we are obliged to rearrange the
+items before we can perceive their full significance, then we are
+justified in pronouncing the paragraph construction faulty.
+
+No specific rules can be given as to the construction of paragraphs. The
+best advice is,--Study closely the paragraph structure of the best
+writers, for it is only through imitation, conscious or unconscious of
+the best models, that one can master the art.
+
+The best paragraphist in the English language for the essay is Macaulay,
+the best model to follow for the oratorical style is Edmund Burke and for
+description and narration probably the greatest master of paragraph is
+the American Goldsmith, Washington Irving.
+
+A paragraph is indicated in print by what is known as the indentation of
+the line, that is, by commencing it a space from the left margin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
+
+Figures of Speech--Definitions and Examples--Use of Figures
+
+
+In _Figurative Language_ we employ words in such a way that they differ
+somewhat from their ordinary signification in commonplace speech and
+convey our meaning in a more vivid and impressive manner than when we use
+them in their every-day sense. Figures make speech more effective, they
+beautify and emphasize it and give to it a relish and piquancy as salt
+does to food; besides they add energy and force to expression so that it
+irresistibly compels attention and interest. There are four kinds of
+figures, viz.: (1) Figures of Orthography which change the spelling of a
+word; (2) Figures of Etymology which change the form of words; (3) Figures
+of Syntax which change the construction of sentences; (4) Figures of
+Rhetoric or the art of speaking and writing effectively which change the
+mode of thought.
+
+We shall only consider the last mentioned here as they are the most
+important, really giving to language the construction and style which
+make it a fitting medium for the intercommunication of ideas.
+
+Figures of Rhetoric have been variously classified, some authorities
+extending the list to a useless length. The fact is that any form of
+expression which conveys thought may be classified as a Figure.
+
+The principal figures as well as the most important and those oftenest
+used are, _Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Allegory, Synechdoche,
+Metonymy, Exclamation, Hyperbole, Apostrophe, Vision, Antithesis, Climax,
+Epigram, Interrogation_ and _Irony_.
+
+The first four are founded on _resemblance_, the second six on _contiguity_
+and the third five, on _contrast_.
+
+A _Simile_ (from the Latin _similis_, like), is the likening of one thing
+to another, a statement of the resemblance of objects, acts, or relations;
+as "In his awful anger he was _like_ the storm-driven waves dashing
+against the rock." A simile makes the principal object plainer and
+impresses it more forcibly on the mind. "His memory is like wax to
+receive impressions and like marble to retain them." This brings out the
+leading idea as to the man's memory in a very forceful manner. Contrast
+it with the simple statement--"His memory is good." Sometimes _Simile_ is
+prostituted to a low and degrading use; as "His face was like a danger
+signal in a fog storm." "Her hair was like a furze-bush in bloom." "He
+was to his lady love as a poodle to its mistress." Such burlesque is
+never permissible. Mere _likeness_, it should be remembered, does not
+constitute a simile. For instance there is no simile when one city is
+compared to another. In order that there may be a rhetorical simile, the
+objects compared must be of different classes. Avoid the old _trite_
+similes such as comparing a hero to a lion. Such were played out long
+ago. And don't hunt for farfetched similes. Don't say--"Her head was
+glowing as the glorious god of day when he sets in a flambeau of splendor
+behind the purple-tinted hills of the West." It is much better to do
+without such a simile and simply say--"She had fiery red hair."
+
+A _Metaphor_ (from the Greek _metapherein_, to carry over or transfer),
+is a word used to _imply_ a resemblance but instead of likening one
+object to another as in the _simile_ we directly substitute the action or
+operation of one for another. If, of a religious man we say,--"He is as a
+great pillar upholding the church," the expression is a _simile_, but if
+we say--"He is a great pillar upholding the church" it is a metaphor. The
+metaphor is a bolder and more lively figure than the simile. It is more
+like a picture and hence, the graphic use of metaphor is called
+"word-painting." It enables us to give to the most abstract ideas form,
+color and life. Our language is full of metaphors, and we very often use
+them quite unconsciously. For instance, when we speak of the _bed_ of a
+river, the _shoulder_ of a hill, the _foot_ of a mountain, the _hands_ of
+a clock, the _key_ of a situation, we are using metaphors.
+
+Don't use mixed metaphors, that is, different metaphors in relation to the
+same subject: "Since it was launched our project has met with much
+opposition, but while its flight has not reached the heights ambitioned, we
+are yet sanguine we shall drive it to success." Here our project begins as
+a _ship_, then becomes a _bird_ and finally winds up as a _horse_.
+
+_Personification_ (from the Latin _persona_, person, and _facere_, to make)
+is the treating of an inanimate object as if it were animate and is
+probably the most beautiful and effective of all the figures.
+
+"The mountains _sing_ together, the hills _rejoice_ and _clap_ their
+hands."
+
+  "Earth _felt_ the wound; and Nature from her seat,
+  _Sighing_, through all her works, gave signs of woe."
+
+Personification depends much on a vivid imagination and is adapted
+especially to poetical composition. It has two distinguishable forms:
+(1) when personality is ascribed to the inanimate as in the foregoing
+examples, and (2) when some quality of life is attributed to the
+inanimate; as, a _raging_ storm; an _angry_ sea; a _whistling_ wind, etc.
+
+An _Allegory_ (from the Greek _allos_, other, and _agoreuein_, to speak),
+is a form of expression in which the words are symbolical of something.
+It is very closely allied to the metaphor, in fact is a continued metaphor.
+
+_Allegory_, _metaphor_ and _simile_ have three points in common,--they
+are all founded on resemblance. "Ireland is like a thorn in the side of
+England;" this is simile. "Ireland _is_ a thorn in the side of England;"
+this is metaphor. "Once a great giant sprang up out of the sea and lived
+on an island all by himself. On looking around he discovered a little
+girl on another small island near by. He thought the little girl could be
+useful to him in many ways so he determined to make her subservient to
+his will. He commanded her, but she refused to obey, then he resorted to
+very harsh measures with the little girl, but she still remained obstinate
+and obdurate. He continued to oppress her until finally she rebelled and
+became as a thorn in his side to prick him for his evil attitude towards
+her;" this is an allegory in which the giant plainly represents England
+and the little girl, Ireland; the implication is manifest though no
+mention is made of either country. Strange to say the most perfect allegory
+in the English language was written by an almost illiterate and ignorant
+man, and written too, in a dungeon cell. In the "Pilgrim's Progress,"
+Bunyan, the itinerant tinker, has given us by far the best allegory ever
+penned. Another good one is "The Faerie Queen" by Edmund Spenser.
+
+_Synecdoche_ (from the Greek, _sun_ with, and _ekdexesthai_, to receive),
+is a figure of speech which expresses either more or less than it literally
+denotes. By it we give to an object a name which literally expresses
+something more or something less than we intend. Thus: we speak of the
+world when we mean only a very limited number of the people who compose
+the world: as, "The world treated him badly." Here we use the whole for a
+part. But the most common form of this figure is that in which a part is
+used for the whole; as, "I have twenty head of cattle," "One of his _hands_
+was assassinated," meaning one of his men. "Twenty _sail_ came into the
+harbor," meaning twenty ships. "This is a fine marble," meaning a marble
+statue.
+
+_Metonymy_ (from the Greek _meta_, change, and _onyma_, a name) is the
+designation of an object by one of its accompaniments, in other words, it
+is a figure by which the name of one object is put for another when the
+two are so related that the mention of one readily suggests the other.
+Thus when we say of a drunkard--"He loves the bottle" we do not mean that
+he loves the glass receptacle, but the liquor that it is supposed to
+contain. Metonymy, generally speaking, has, three subdivisions: (1) when
+an effect is put for cause or _vice versa_: as "_Gray hairs_ should be
+respected," meaning old age. "He writes a fine hand," that is, handwriting.
+(2) when the _sign_ is put for the _thing signified_; as, "The pen is
+mightier than the sword," meaning literary power is superior to military
+force. (3) When the _container_ is put for the thing contained; as "The
+_House_ was called to order," meaning the members in the House.
+
+_Exclamation_ (from the Latin _ex_, out, and _clamare_, to cry), is a
+figure by which the speaker instead of stating a fact, simply utters an
+expression of surprise or emotion. For instance when he hears some
+harrowing tale of woe or misfortune instead of saying,--"It is a sad
+story" he exclaims "What a sad story!"
+
+Exclamation may be defined as the vocal expression of feeling, though it
+is also applied to written forms which are intended to express emotion.
+Thus in describing a towering mountain we can write "Heavens, what a
+piece of Nature's handiwork! how majestic! how sublime! how awe-inspiring
+in its colossal impressiveness!" This figure rather belongs to poetry and
+animated oratory than to the cold prose of every-day conversation and
+writing.
+
+_Hyperbole_ (from the Greek _hyper_, beyond, and _ballein_, to throw), is
+an exaggerated form of statement and simply consists in representing
+things to be either greater or less, better or worse than they really
+are. Its object is to make the thought more effective by overstating it.
+Here are some examples:--"He was so tall his head touched the clouds."
+"He was as thin as a poker." "He was so light that a breath might have
+blown him away." Most people are liable to overwork this figure. We are
+all more or less given to exaggeration and some of us do not stop there,
+but proceed onward to falsehood and downright lying. There should be a
+limit to hyperbole, and in ordinary speech and writing it should be well
+qualified and kept within reasonable bounds.
+
+An _Apostrophe_ (from the Greek _apo_, from, and _strephein_, to turn),
+is a direct address to the absent as present, to the inanimate as living,
+or to the abstract as personal. Thus: "O, illustrious Washington! Father
+of our Country! Could you visit us now!"
+
+  "My Country tis of thee--
+   Sweet land of liberty,
+   Of thee I sing."
+
+"O! Grave, where is thy Victory, O! Death where is thy sting!" This
+figure is very closely allied to Personification.
+
+_Vision_ (from the Latin _videre_, to see) consists in treating the past,
+the future, or the remote as if present in time or place. It is appropriate
+to animated description, as it produces the effect of an ideal presence.
+"The old warrior looks down from the canvas and tells us to be men worthy
+of our sires."
+
+This figure is much exemplified in the Bible. The book of Revelation is a
+vision of the future. The author who uses the figure most is Carlyle.
+
+An _Antithesis_ (from the Greek _anti_, against, and _tithenai_, to set)
+is founded on contrast; it consists in putting two unlike things in such
+a position that each will appear more striking by the contrast.
+
+  "Ring out the old, ring in the new,
+   Ring out the false, ring in the true."
+
+"Let us be _friends_ in peace, but _enemies_ in war."
+
+Here is a fine antithesis in the description of a steam engine--"It can
+engrave a seal and crush masses of obdurate metal before it; draw out,
+without breaking, a thread as fine as a gossamer; and lift up a ship of
+war like a bauble in the air; it can embroider muslin and forge anchors;
+cut steel into ribands, and impel loaded vessels against the fury of
+winds and waves."
+
+_Climax_ (from the Greek, _klimax_, a ladder), is an arrangement of
+thoughts and ideas in a series, each part of which gets stronger and more
+impressive until the last one, which emphasizes the force of all the
+preceding ones. "He risked truth, he risked honor, he risked fame, he
+risked all that men hold dear,--yea, he risked life itself, and for
+what?--for a creature who was not worthy to tie his shoe-latchets when he
+was his better self."
+
+_Epigram_ (from the Greek _epi_, upon, and _graphein_, to write),
+originally meant an inscription on a monument, hence it came to signify
+any pointed expression. It now means a statement or any brief saying in
+prose or poetry in which there is an apparent contradiction; as,
+"Conspicuous for his absence." "Beauty when unadorned is most adorned."
+"He was too foolish to commit folly." "He was so wealthy that he could
+not spare the money."
+
+_Interrogation_ (from the Latin _interrogatio_, a question), is a figure
+of speech in which an assertion is made by asking a question; as, "Does
+God not show justice to all?" "Is he not doing right in his course?"
+"What can a man do under the circumstances?"
+
+_Irony_ (from the Greek _eironcia_, dissimulation) is a form of expression
+in which the opposite is substituted for what is intended, with the end in
+view, that the falsity or absurdity may be apparent; as, "Benedict Arnold
+was an _honorable_ man." "A Judas Iscariot never _betrays_ a friend." "You
+can always _depend_ upon the word of a liar."
+
+Irony is cousin germain to _ridicule_, _derision_, _mockery_, _satire_
+and _sarcasm_. _Ridicule_ implies laughter mingled with contempt;
+_derision_ is ridicule from a personal feeling of hostility; _mockery_ is
+insulting derision; _satire_ is witty mockery; _sarcasm_ is bitter satire
+and _irony_ is disguised satire.
+
+There are many other figures of speech which give piquancy to language
+and play upon words in such a way as to convey a meaning different from
+their ordinary signification in common every-day speech and writing. The
+golden rule for all is to _keep them in harmony with the character and
+purpose of speech and composition_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+PUNCTUATION
+
+Principal Points--Illustrations--Capital Letters.
+
+
+Lindley Murray and Goold Brown laid down cast-iron rules for punctuation,
+but most of them have been broken long since and thrown into the junk-heap
+of disuse. They were too rigid, too strict, went so much into _minutiae_,
+that they were more or less impractical to apply to ordinary composition.
+The manner of language, of style and of expression has considerably
+changed since then, the old abstruse complex sentence with its hidden
+meanings has been relegated to the shade, there is little of prolixity or
+long-drawn-out phrases, ambiguity of expression is avoided and the aim is
+toward terseness, brevity and clearness. Therefore, punctuation has been
+greatly simplified, to such an extent indeed, that it is now as much a
+matter of good taste and judgment as adherence to any fixed set of rules.
+Nevertheless there are laws governing it which cannot be abrogated, their
+principles must be rigidly and inviolably observed.
+
+The chief end of punctuation is to mark the grammatical connection and
+the dependence of the parts of a composition, but not the actual pauses
+made in speaking. Very often the points used to denote the delivery of a
+passage differ from those used when the passage is written. Nevertheless,
+several of the punctuation marks serve to bring out the rhetorical force
+of expression.
+
+The principal marks of punctuation are:
+
+1. The Comma [,]
+
+2. The Semicolon [;]
+
+3. The Colon [:]
+
+4. The Period [.]
+
+5. The Interrogation [?]
+
+6. The Exclamation [!]
+
+7. The Dash [--]
+
+8. The Parenthesis [()]
+
+9. The Quotation [" "]
+
+There are several other points or marks to indicate various relations,
+but properly speaking such come under the heading of Printer's Marks,
+some of which are treated elsewhere.
+
+Of the above, the first four may be styled the grammatical points, and
+the remaining five, the rhetorical points.
+
+
+The _Comma_: The office of the Comma is to show the slightest separation
+which calls for punctuation at all. It should be omitted whenever
+possible. It is used to mark the least divisions of a sentence.
+
+(1) A series of words or phrases has its parts separated by commas:--
+"Lying, trickery, chicanery, perjury, were natural to him." "The brave,
+daring, faithful soldier died facing the foe." If the series is in pairs,
+commas separate the pairs: "Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, black
+and white, Christian and Jew, Mohammedan and Buddhist must pass through
+the same gate."
+
+(2) A comma is used before a short quotation: "It was Patrick Henry who
+said, 'Give me liberty or give me death.'"
+
+(3) When the subject of the sentence is a clause or a long phrase, a comma
+is used after such subject: "That he has no reverence for the God I
+love, proves his insincerity." "Simulated piety, with a black coat and a
+sanctimonious look, does not proclaim a Christian."
+
+(4) An expression used parenthetically should be inclosed by commas: "The
+old man, as a general rule, takes a morning walk."
+
+(5) Words in apposition are set off by commas: "McKinley, the President,
+was assassinated."
+
+(6) Relative clauses, if not restrictive, require commas: "The book,
+which is the simplest, is often the most profound."
+
+(7) In continued sentences each should be followed by a comma:
+"Electricity lights our dwellings and streets, pulls cars, trains, drives
+the engines of our mills and factories."
+
+(8) When a verb is omitted a comma takes its place: "Lincoln was a great
+statesman; Grant, a great soldier."
+
+(9) The subject of address is followed by a comma: "John, you are a good
+man."
+
+(10) In numeration, commas are used to express periods of three figures:
+"Mountains 25,000 feet high; 1,000,000 dollars."
+
+
+The _Semicolon_ marks a slighter connection than the comma. It is
+generally confined to separating the parts of compound sentences. It is
+much used in contrasts:
+
+(1) "Gladstone was great as a statesman; he was sublime as a man."
+
+(2) The Semicolon is used between the parts of all compound sentences in
+which the grammatical subject of the second part is different from that
+of the first: "The power of England relies upon the wisdom of her
+statesmen; the power of America upon the strength of her army and navy."
+
+(4) The Semicolon is used before words and abbreviations which introduce
+particulars or specifications following after, such as, _namely, as,
+e.g., vid., i.e., etc._: "He had three defects; namely, carelessness,
+lack of concentration and obstinacy in his ideas." "An island is a
+portion of land entirely surrounded by water; as Cuba." "The names of
+cities should always commence with a capital letter; _e.g._, New York,
+Paris." "The boy was proficient in one branch; viz., Mathematics."
+"No man is perfect; i.e., free from all blemish."
+
+
+The _Colon_ except in conventional uses is practically obsolete.
+
+(1) It is generally put at the end of a sentence introducing a long
+quotation: "The cheers having subsided, Mr. Bryan spoke as follows:"
+
+(2) It is placed before an explanation or illustration of the subject
+under consideration: "This is the meaning of the term:"
+
+(3) A direct quotation formally introduced is generally preceded by a
+colon: "The great orator made this funny remark:"
+
+(4) The colon is often used in the title of books when the secondary or
+subtitle is in apposition to the leading one and when the conjunction
+_or_ is omitted: "Acoustics: the Science of Sound."
+
+(5) It is used after the salutation in the beginning of letters: "Sir: My
+dear Sir: Gentlemen: Dear Mr. Jones:" etc. In this connection a dash very
+often follows the colon.
+
+(6) It is sometimes used to introduce details of a group of things
+already referred to in the mass: "The boy's excuses for being late were:
+firstly, he did not know the time, secondly, he was sent on an errand,
+thirdly, he tripped on a rock and fell by the wayside."
+
+
+The _Period_ is the simplest punctuation mark. It is simply used to mark
+the end of a complete sentence that is neither interrogative nor
+exclamatory.
+
+(1) After every sentence conveying a complete meaning: "Birds fly."
+"Plants grow." "Man is mortal."
+
+(2) In abbreviations: after every abbreviated word: Rt. Rev. T. C.
+Alexander, D.D., L.L.D.
+
+(3) A period is used on the title pages of books after the name of the
+book, after the author's name, after the publisher's imprint: _American
+Trails_. By Theodore Roosevelt. New York. Scribner Company.
+
+
+The _Mark of Interrogation_ is used to ask or suggest a question.
+
+(1) Every question admitting of an answer, even when it is not expected,
+should be followed by the mark of interrogation: "Who has not heard of
+Napoleon?"
+
+(2) When several questions have a common dependence they should be
+followed by one mark of interrogation at the end of the series: "Where
+now are the playthings and friends of my boyhood; the laughing boys; the
+winsome girls; the fond neighbors whom I loved?"
+
+(3) The mark is often used parenthetically to suggest doubt: "In 1893 (?)
+Gladstone became converted to Home Rule for Ireland."
+
+
+The _Exclamation_ point should be sparingly used, particularly in prose.
+Its chief use is to denote emotion of some kind.
+
+(1) It is generally employed with interjections or clauses used as
+interjections: "Alas! I am forsaken." "What a lovely landscape!"
+
+(2) Expressions of strong emotion call for the exclamation: "Charge,
+Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!"
+
+(3) When the emotion is very strong double exclamation points may be
+used: "Assist him!! I would rather assist Satan!!"
+
+
+The _Dash_ is generally confined to cases where there is a sudden break
+from the general run of the passage. Of all the punctuation marks it is
+the most misused.
+
+(1) It is employed to denote sudden change in the construction or
+sentiment: "The Heroes of the Civil War,--how we cherish them." "He was a
+fine fellow--in his own opinion."
+
+(2) When a word or expression is repeated for oratorical effect, a dash
+is used to introduce the repetition: "Shakespeare was the greatest of all
+poets--Shakespeare, the intellectual ocean whose waves washed the
+continents of all thought."
+
+(3) The Dash is used to indicate a conclusion without expressing it: "He
+is an excellent man but--"
+
+(4) It is used to indicate what is not expected or what is not the
+natural outcome of what has gone before: "He delved deep into the bowels
+of the earth and found instead of the hidden treasure--a button."
+
+(5) It is used to denote the omission of letters or figures: "J--n J--s"
+for John Jones; 1908-9 for 1908 and 1909; Matthew VII:5-8 for Matthew
+VII:5, 6, 7, and 8.
+
+(6) When an ellipsis of the words, _namely, that is, to wit_, etc., takes
+place, the dash is used to supply them: "He excelled in three branches--
+arithmetic, algebra, and geometry."
+
+(7) A dash is used to denote the omission of part of a word when it is
+undesirable to write the full word: He is somewhat of a r----l (rascal).
+This is especially the case in profane words.
+
+(8) Between a citation and the authority for it there is generally a dash:
+"All the world's a stage."--_Shakespeare_.
+
+(9) When questions and answers are put in the same paragraph they should
+be separated by dashes: "Are you a good boy? Yes, Sir.--Do you love study?
+I do."
+
+
+_Marks of Parenthesis_ are used to separate expressions inserted in the
+body of a sentence, which are illustrative of the meaning, but have no
+essential connection with the sentence, and could be done without. They
+should be used as little as possible for they show that something is
+being brought into a sentence that does not belong to it.
+
+(1) When the unity of a sentence is broken the words causing the break
+should be enclosed in parenthesis: "We cannot believe a liar (and Jones
+is one), even when he speaks the truth."
+
+(2) In reports of speeches marks of parenthesis are used to denote
+interpolations of approval or disapproval by the audience: "The masses
+must not submit to the tyranny of the classes (hear, hear), we must show
+the trust magnates (groans), that they cannot ride rough-shod over our
+dearest rights (cheers);" "If the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), will
+not be our spokesman, we must select another. (A voice,--Get Robinson)."
+
+When a parenthesis is inserted in the sentence where no comma is
+required, no point should be used before either parenthesis. When
+inserted at a place requiring a comma, if the parenthetical matter
+relates to the whole sentence, a comma should be used before each
+parenthesis; if it relates to a single word, or short clause, no stop
+should come before it, but a comma should be put after the closing
+parenthesis.
+
+
+The _Quotation marks_ are used to show that the words enclosed by them
+are borrowed.
+
+(1) A direct quotation should be enclosed within the quotation marks:
+Abraham Lincoln said,--"I shall make this land too hot for the feet of
+slaves."
+
+(2) When a quotation is embraced within another, the contained quotation
+has only single marks: Franklin said, "Most men come to believe 'honesty
+is the best policy.'"
+
+(3) When a quotation consists of several paragraphs the quotation marks
+should precede each paragraph.
+
+(4) Titles of books, pictures and newspapers when formally given are
+quoted.
+
+(5) Often the names of ships are quoted though there is no occasion for it.
+
+
+The _Apostrophe_ should come under the comma rather than under the
+quotation marks or double comma. The word is Greek and signifies a turning
+away from. The letter elided or turned away is generally an _e_. In poetry
+and familiar dialogue the apostrophe marks the elision of a syllable, as
+"I've for I have"; "Thou'rt for thou art"; "you'll for you will," etc.
+Sometimes it is necessary to abbreviate a word by leaving out several
+letters. In such case the apostrophe takes the place of the omitted letters
+as "cont'd for continued." The apostrophe is used to denote the elision of
+the century in dates, where the century is understood or to save the
+repetition of a series of figures, as "The Spirit of '76"; "I served in the
+army during the years 1895, '96, '97, '98 and '99." The principal use of
+the apostrophe is to denote the possessive case. All nouns in the singular
+number whether proper names or not, and all nouns in the plural ending with
+any other letter than _s_, form the possessive by the addition of the
+apostrophe and the letter _s_. The only exceptions to this rule are, that,
+by poetical license the additional _s_ may be elided in poetry for sake of
+the metre, and in the scriptural phrases "For goodness' sake." "For
+conscience' sake," "For Jesus' sake," etc. Custom has done away with the
+_s_ and these phrases are now idioms of the language. All plural nouns
+ending in _s_ form the possessive by the addition of the apostrophe only as
+boys', horses'. The possessive case of the personal pronouns never take the
+apostrophe, as ours, yours, hers, theirs.
+
+
+CAPITAL LETTERS
+
+_Capital letters_ are used to give emphasis to or call attention to
+certain words to distinguish them from the context. In manuscripts they
+may be written small or large and are indicated by lines drawn
+underneath, two lines for SMALL CAPITALS and three lines for CAPITALS.
+
+Some authors, notably Carlyle, make such use of Capitals that it
+degenerates into an abuse. They should only be used in their proper
+places as given in the table below.
+
+(1) The first word of every sentence, in fact the first word in writing
+of any kind should begin with a capital; as, "Time flies." "My dear
+friend."
+
+(2) Every direct quotation should begin with a capital; "Dewey said,--
+'Fire, when you're ready, Gridley!'"
+
+(3) Every direct question commences with a capital; "Let me ask you;
+'How old are you?'"
+
+(4) Every line of poetry begins with a capital; "Breathes there a man
+with soul so dead?"
+
+(5) Every numbered clause calls for a capital: "The witness asserts: (1)
+That he saw the man attacked; (2) That he saw him fall; (3) That he
+saw his assailant flee."
+
+(6) The headings of essays and chapters should be wholly in capitals; as,
+CHAPTER VIII--RULES FOR USE OF CAPITALS.
+
+(7) In the titles of books, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs
+should begin with a capital; as, "Johnson's Lives of the Poets."
+
+(8) In the Roman notation numbers are denoted by capitals; as, I II III V
+X L C D M--1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000.
+
+(9) Proper names begin with a capital; as, "Jones, Johnson, Caesar, Mark
+Antony, England, Pacific, Christmas."
+
+Such words as river, sea, mountain, etc., when used generally are common,
+not proper nouns, and require no capital. But when such are used with an
+adjective or adjunct to specify a particular object they become proper
+names, and therefore require a capital; as, "Mississippi River, North
+Sea, Alleghany Mountains," etc. In like manner the cardinal points north,
+south, east and west, when they are used to distinguish regions of a
+country are capitals; as, "The North fought against the South."
+
+When a proper name is compounded with another word, the part which is not
+a proper name begins with a capital if it precedes, but with a small
+letter if it follows, the hyphen; as "Post-homeric," "Sunday-school."
+
+(10) Words derived from proper names require a Capital; as, "American,
+Irish, Christian, Americanize, Christianize."
+
+In this connection the names of political parties, religious sects and
+schools of thought begin with capitals; as, "Republican, Democrat, Whig,
+Catholic, Presbyterian, Rationalists, Free Thinkers."
+
+(11) The titles of honorable, state and political offices begin with a
+capital; as, "President, Chairman, Governor, Alderman."
+
+(12) The abbreviations of learned titles and college degrees call for
+capitals; as, "LL.D., M.A., B.S.," etc. Also the seats of learning
+conferring such degrees as, "Harvard University, Manhattan College," etc.
+
+(13) When such relative words as father, mother, brother, sister, uncle,
+aunt, etc., precede a proper name, they are written and printed with
+capitals; as, Father Abraham, Mother Eddy, Brother John, Sister Jane,
+Uncle Jacob, Aunt Eliza. Father, when used to denote the early Christian
+writer, is begun with a capital; "Augustine was one of the learned
+Fathers of the Church."
+
+(14) The names applied to the Supreme Being begin with capitals: "God,
+Lord, Creator, Providence, Almighty, The Deity, Heavenly Father, Holy
+One." In this respect the names applied to the Saviour also require
+capitals: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Man of Galilee, The Crucified, The
+Anointed One." Also the designations of Biblical characters as "Lily of
+Israel, Rose of Sharon, Comfortress of the Afflicted, Help of Christians,
+Prince of the Apostles, Star of the Sea," etc. Pronouns referring to God
+and Christ take capitals; as, "His work, The work of Him, etc."
+
+(15) Expressions used to designate the Bible or any particular division
+of it begin with a capital; as, "Holy Writ, The Sacred Book, Holy Book,
+God's Word, Old Testament, New Testament, Gospel of St. Matthew, Seven
+Penitential Psalms."
+
+(16) Expressions based upon the Bible or in reference to Biblical
+characters begin with a capital: "Water of Life, Hope of Men, Help of
+Christians, Scourge of Nations."
+
+(17) The names applied to the Evil One require capitals: "Beelzebub,
+Prince of Darkness, Satan, King of Hell, Devil, Incarnate Fiend, Tempter
+of Men, Father of Lies, Hater of Good."
+
+(18) Words of very special importance, especially those which stand out
+as the names of leading events in history, have capitals; as, "The
+Revolution, The Civil War, The Middle Ages, The Age of Iron," etc.
+
+(19) Terms which refer to great events in the history of the race require
+capitals; "The Flood, Magna Charta, Declaration of Independence."
+
+(20) The names of the days of the week and the months of the year and the
+seasons are commenced with capitals: "Monday, March, Autumn."
+
+(21) The Pronoun _I_ and the interjection _O_ always require the use of
+capitals. In fact all the interjections when uttered as exclamations
+commence with capitals: "Alas! he is gone." "Ah! I pitied him."
+
+(22) All _noms-de-guerre_, assumed names, as well as names given for
+distinction, call for capitals, as, "The Wizard of the North," "Paul
+Pry," "The Northern Gael," "Sandy Sanderson," "Poor Robin," etc.
+
+(23) In personification, that is, when inanimate things are represented
+as endowed with life and action, the noun or object personified begins
+with a capital; as, "The starry Night shook the dews from her wings."
+"Mild-eyed Day appeared," "The Oak said to the Beech--'I am stronger
+than you.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+LETTER WRITING
+
+Principles of Letter-Writing--Forms--Notes
+
+
+Many people seem to regard letter-writing as a very simple and easily
+acquired branch, but on the contrary it is one of the most difficult
+forms of composition and requires much patience and labor to master its
+details. In fact there are very few perfect letter-writers in the
+language. It constitutes the direct form of speech and may be called
+conversation at a distance. Its forms are so varied by every conceivable
+topic written at all times by all kinds of persons in all kinds of moods
+and tempers and addressed to all kinds of persons of varying degrees in
+society and of different pursuits in life, that no fixed rules can be
+laid down to regulate its length, style or subject matter. Only general
+suggestions can be made in regard to scope and purpose, and the forms of
+indicting set forth which custom and precedent have sanctioned.
+
+The principles of letter-writing should be understood by everybody who
+has any knowledge of written language, for almost everybody at some time
+or other has necessity to address some friend or acquaintance at a
+distance, whereas comparatively few are called upon to direct their
+efforts towards any other kind of composition.
+
+Formerly the illiterate countryman, when he had occasion to communicate
+with friends or relations, called in the peripatetic schoolmaster as his
+amanuensis, but this had one draw-back,--secrets had to be poured into an
+ear other than that for which they were intended, and often the
+confidence was betrayed.
+
+Now, that education is abroad in the land, there is seldom any occasion
+for any person to call upon the service of another to compose and write a
+personal letter. Very few now-a-days are so grossly illiterate as not to
+be able to read and write. No matter how crude his effort may be it is
+better for any one to write his own letters than trust to another. Even
+if he should commence,--"deer fren, i lift up my pen to let ye no that i
+hove been sik for the past 3 weeks, hopping this will findye the same,"
+his spelling and construction can be excused in view of the fact that his
+intention is good, and that he is doing his best to serve his own turn
+without depending upon others.
+
+The nature, substance and tone of any letter depend upon the occasion
+that calls it forth, upon the person writing it and upon the person for
+whom it is intended. Whether it should be easy or formal in style, plain
+or ornate, light or serious, gay or grave, sentimental or matter-of-fact
+depend upon these three circumstances.
+
+In letter writing the first and most important requisites are to be
+natural and simple; there should be no straining after effect, but simply
+a spontaneous out-pouring of thoughts and ideas as they naturally occur
+to the writer. We are repelled by a person who is stiff and labored in
+his conversation and in the same way the stiff and labored letter bores
+the reader. Whereas if it is light and in a conversational vein it
+immediately engages his attention.
+
+The letter which is written with the greatest facility is the best kind
+of letter because it naturally expresses what is in the writer, he has
+not to search for his words, they flow in a perfect unison with the ideas
+he desires to communicate. When you write to your friend John Browne to
+tell him how you spent Sunday you have not to look around for the words,
+or study set phrases with a view to please or impress Browne, you just
+tell him the same as if he were present before you, how you spent the
+day, where you were, with whom you associated and the chief incidents
+that occurred during the time. Thus, you write natural and it is such
+writing that is adapted to epistolary correspondence.
+
+There are different kinds of letters, each calling for a different style
+of address and composition, nevertheless the natural key should be
+maintained in all, that is to say, the writer should never attempt to
+convey an impression that he is other than what he is. It would be silly
+as well as vain for the common street laborer of a limited education to
+try to put on literary airs and emulate a college professor; he may have
+as good a brain, but it is not as well developed by education, and he
+lacks the polish which society confers. When writing a letter the street
+laborer should bear in mind that only the letter of a street-laborer is
+expected from him, no matter to whom his communication may be addressed
+and that neither the grammar nor the diction of a Chesterfield or
+Gladstone is looked for in his language. Still the writer should keep in
+mind the person to whom he is writing. If it is to an Archbishop or some
+other great dignitary of Church or state it certainly should be couched
+in terms different from those he uses to John Browne, his intimate
+friend. Just as he cannot say "Dear John" to an Archbishop, no more can
+he address him in the familiar words he uses to his friend of everyday
+acquaintance and companionship. Yet there is no great learning required
+to write to an Archbishop, no more than to an ordinary individual. All
+the laborer needs to know is the form of address and how to properly
+utilize his limited vocabulary to the best advantage. Here is the form
+for such a letter:
+
+                                 17 Second Avenue,
+                                      New York City.
+                                        January 1st, 1910.
+
+               Most Rev. P. A. Jordan,
+                   Archbishop of New York.
+
+               Most Rev. and dear Sir:--
+                  While sweeping the crossing at Fifth
+               Avenue and 50th street on last Wednesday
+               morning, I found the enclosed Fifty Dollar
+               Bill, which I am sending to you in the hope
+               that it may be restored to the rightful
+               owner.
+                  I beg you will acknowledge receipt and
+               should the owner be found I trust you will
+               notify me, so that I may claim some reward
+               for my honesty.
+                  I am, Most Rev. and dear Sir,
+
+                          Very respectfully yours,
+                                          Thomas Jones.
+
+
+Observe the brevity of the letter. Jones makes no suggestions to the
+Archbishop how to find the owner, for he knows the course the Archbishop
+will adopt, of having the finding of the bill announced from the Church
+pulpits. Could Jones himself find the owner there would be no occasion to
+apply to the Archbishop.
+
+This letter, it is true, is different from that which he would send to
+Browne. Nevertheless it is simple without being familiar, is just a plain
+statement, and is as much to the point for its purpose as if it were
+garnished with rhetoric and "words of learned length and thundering
+sound."
+
+Letters may be divided into those of friendship, acquaintanceship, those
+of business relations, those written in an official capacity by public
+servants, those designed to teach, and those which give accounts of the
+daily happenings on the stage of life, in other words, news letters.
+
+_Letters of friendship_ are the most common and their style and form
+depend upon the degree of relationship and intimacy existing between the
+writers and those addressed. Between relatives and intimate friends the
+beginning and end may be in the most familiar form of conversation,
+either affectionate or playful. They should, however, never overstep the
+boundaries of decency and propriety, for it is well to remember that,
+unlike conversation, which only is heard by the ears for which it is
+intended, written words may come under eyes other than those for whom
+they were designed. Therefore, it is well never to write anything which
+the world may not read without detriment to your character or your
+instincts. You can be joyful, playful, jocose, give vent to your feelings,
+but never stoop to low language and, above all, to language savoring in
+the slightest degree of moral impropriety.
+
+_Business letters_ are of the utmost importance on account of the
+interests involved. The business character of a man or of a firm is often
+judged by the correspondence. On many occasions letters instead of
+developing trade and business interests and gaining clientele, predispose
+people unfavorably towards those whom they are designed to benefit.
+Ambiguous, slip-shod language is a detriment to success. Business letters
+should be clear, concise, to the point and, above all, honest, giving no
+wrong impressions or holding out any inducements that cannot be fulfilled.
+In business letters, just as in business conduct, honesty is always the
+best policy.
+
+_Official letters_ are mostly always formal. They should possess clearness,
+brevity and dignity of tone to impress the receivers with the proper
+respect for the national laws and institutions.
+
+Letters designed to teach or _didactic letters_ are in a class all by
+themselves. They are simply literature in the form of letters and are
+employed by some of the best writers to give their thoughts and ideas a
+greater emphasis. The most conspicuous example of this kind of composition
+is the book on Etiquette by Lord Chesterfield, which took the form of a
+series of letters to his son.
+
+_News letters_ are accounts of world happenings and descriptions of
+ceremonies and events sent into the newspapers. Some of the best authors
+of our time are newspaper men who write in an easy flowing style which is
+most readable, full of humor and fancy and which carries one along with
+breathless interest from beginning to end.
+
+The principal parts of a letter are (1) the _heading_ or introduction;
+(2) the _body_ or substance of the letter; (3) the _subscription_ or
+closing expression and signature; (4) the _address_ or direction on the
+envelope. For the _body_ of a letter no forms or rules can be laid down
+as it altogether depends on the nature of the letter and the relationship
+between the writer and the person addressed.
+
+There are certain rules which govern the other three features and which
+custom has sanctioned. Every one should be acquainted with these rules.
+
+
+THE HEADING
+
+The _Heading_ has three parts, viz., the name of the place, the date of
+writing and the designation of the person or persons addressed; thus:
+
+                                   73 New Street,
+                                       Newark, N. J.,
+                                      February 1st, 1910.
+          Messr. Ginn and Co.,
+              New York
+          Gentlemen:
+
+The name of the place should never be omitted; in cities, street and
+number should always be given, and except when the city is large and very
+conspicuous, so that there can be no question as to its identity with
+another of the same or similar name, the abbreviation of the State should
+be appended, as in the above, Newark, N. J. There is another Newark in
+the State of Ohio. Owing to failure to comply with this rule many letters
+go astray. The _date_ should be on every letter, especially business
+letters. The date should never be put at the bottom in a business letter,
+but in friendly letters this may be done. The _designation_ of the
+person or persons addressed differs according to the relations of the
+correspondents. Letters of friendship may begin in many ways according to
+the degrees of friendship or intimacy. Thus:
+
+  My dear Wife:
+  My dear Husband:
+  My dear Friend:
+  My darling Mother:
+  My dearest Love:
+  Dear Aunt:
+  Dear Uncle:
+  Dear George: etc.
+
+To mark a lesser degree of intimacy such formal designations as the
+following may be employed:
+
+  Dear Sir:
+  My dear Sir:
+  Dear Mr. Smith:
+  Dear Madam: etc.
+
+For clergymen who have the degree of Doctor of Divinity, the designation
+is as follows:
+
+  Rev. Alban Johnson, D. D.
+  My dear Sir: or Rev. and dear Sir: or more familiarly
+  Dear Dr. Johnson:
+
+Bishops of the Roman and Anglican Communions are addressed as
+_Right Reverend_.
+
+  The Rt. Rev., the Bishop of Long Island. or
+  The Rt. Rev. Frederick Burgess, Bishop of Long Island.
+  Rt. Rev. and dear Sir:
+
+Archbishops of the Roman Church are addressed as _Most Reverend_ and
+Cardinals as _Eminence_. Thus:
+
+          The Most Rev. Archbishop Katzer.
+            Most Rev. and dear Sir:
+
+          His Eminence, James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore.
+            May it please your Eminence:
+
+The title of the Governor of a State or territory and of the President of
+the United States is _Excellency_. However, _Honorable_ is more commonly
+applied to Governors:--
+
+          His Excellency, William Howard Taft,
+            President of the United States.
+
+          Sir:--
+
+          His Excellency, Charles Evans Hughes,
+            Governor of the State of New York.
+
+          Sir:--
+
+          Honorable Franklin Fort,
+            Governor of New Jersey.
+
+          Sir:--
+
+The general salutation for Officers of the Army and Navy is _Sir_. The
+rank and station should be indicated in full at the head of the letter,
+thus:
+
+          General Joseph Thompson,
+            Commanding the Seventh Infantry.
+
+          Sir:
+
+          Rear Admiral Robert Atkinson,
+            Commanding the Atlantic Squadron.
+
+          Sir:
+
+The title of officers of the Civil Government is Honorable and they are
+addressed as _Sir_.
+
+            Hon. Nelson Duncan,
+              Senator from Ohio.
+
+            Sir:
+
+            Hon. Norman Wingfield,
+              Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+            Sir:
+
+            Hon. Rupert Gresham,
+              Mayor of New York.
+
+            Sir:
+
+Presidents and Professors of Colleges and Universities are generally
+addressed as _Sir_ or _Dear Sir_.
+
+      Professor Ferguson Jenks,
+        President of .......... University.
+
+      Sir: or Dear Sir:
+
+Presidents of Societies and Associations are treated as business men and
+addressed as _Sir_ or _Dear Sir_.
+
+            Mr. Joseph Banks,
+              President of the Night Owls.
+
+            Dear Sir: or Sir:
+
+Doctors of Medicine are addressed as _Sir: My dear Sir: Dear Sir:_
+and more familiarly My dear Dr: or Dear Dr: as
+
+            Ryerson Pitkin, M. D.
+            Sir:
+            Dear Sir:
+            My dear Dr:
+
+Ordinary people with no degrees or titles are addressed as Mr. and Mrs.
+and are designed Dear Sir: Dear Madam: and an unmarried woman of any age
+is addressed on the envelope as Miss So-and-so, but always designed in
+the letter as
+
+            Dear Madam:
+
+The plural of Mr. as in addressing a firm is _Messrs_, and the
+corresponding salutation is _Dear Sirs: or Gentlemen:_
+
+In England _Esq._ is used for _Mr._ as a mark of slight superiority and
+in this country it is sometimes used, but it is practically obsolete.
+Custom is against it and American sentiment as well. If it is used it
+should be only applied to lawyers and justices of the peace.
+
+
+SUBSCRIPTION
+
+The _Subscription_ or ending of a letter consists of the term of respect
+or affection and the signature. The term depends upon the relation of the
+person addressed. Letters of friendship can close with such expressions
+as:
+
+          Yours lovingly,
+          Yours affectionately,
+          Devotedly yours,
+          Ever yours, etc.
+
+as between husbands and wives or between lovers. Such gushing
+terminations as Your Own Darling, Your own Dovey and other pet and silly
+endings should be avoided, as they denote shallowness. Love can be
+strongly expressed without dipping into the nonsensical and the farcical.
+
+Formal expressions of Subscription are:
+
+          Yours Sincerely,
+          Yours truly,
+          Respectfully yours,
+
+and the like, and these may be varied to denote the exact bearing or
+attitude the writer wishes to assume to the person addressed: as,
+
+          Very sincerely yours,
+          Very respectfully yours,
+          With deep respect yours,
+          Yours very truly, etc.
+
+Such elaborate endings as
+
+    "In the meantime with the highest respect, I am yours to command,"
+    "I have the honor to be, Sir, Your humble Servant,"
+    "With great expression of esteem, I am Sincerely yours,"
+    "Believe me, my dear Sir, Ever faithfully yours,"
+
+are condemned as savoring too much of affectation.
+
+It is better to finish formal letters without any such qualifying
+remarks. If you are writing to Mr. Ryan to tell him that you have a house
+for sale, after describing the house and stating the terms simply sign
+yourself
+
+            Your obedient Servant
+            Yours very truly,
+            Yours with respect,
+              James Wilson.
+
+Don't say you have the honor to be anything or ask him to believe
+anything, all you want to tell him is that you have a house for sale and
+that you are sincere, or hold him in respect as a prospective customer.
+
+Don't abbreviate the signature as: _Y'rs Resp'fly_ and always make
+your sex obvious. Write plainly
+
+  Yours truly,
+  _John Field_
+
+and not _J. Field_, so that the person to whom you send it may not take
+you for _Jane Field_.
+
+It is always best to write the first name in full. Married women should
+prefix _Mrs._ to their names, as
+
+  Very sincerely yours,
+  _Mrs._ Theodore Watson.
+
+If you are sending a letter acknowledging a compliment or some kindness
+done you may say, _Yours gratefully,_ or _Yours very gratefully,_ in
+proportion to the act of kindness received.
+
+It is not customary to sign letters of degrees or titles after your name,
+except you are a lord, earl or duke and only known by the title, but as
+we have no such titles in America it is unnecessary to bring this matter
+into consideration. Don't sign yourself,
+
+           Sincerely yours,
+             Obadiah Jackson, M.A. or L.L. D.
+
+If you're an M. A. or an L.L. D. people generally know it without your
+sounding your own trumpet. Many people, and especially clergymen, are
+fond of flaunting after their names degrees they have received _honoris
+causa_, that is, degrees as a mark of honor, without examination. Such
+degrees should be kept in the background. Many a deadhead has these
+degrees which he could never have earned by brain work.
+
+Married women whose husbands are alive may sign the husband's name with
+the prefix _Mrs:_ thus,
+
+  Yours sincerely,
+  _Mrs._ William Southey.
+
+but when the husband is dead the signature should be--
+
+    Yours sincerely,
+    _Mrs._ Sarah Southey.
+
+So when we receive a letter from a woman we are enabled to tell whether
+she has a husband living or is a widow. A woman separated from her
+husband but not a _divorcee_ should _not_ sign his name.
+
+
+ADDRESS
+
+The _address_ of a letter consists of the name, the title and the
+residence.
+
+          Mr. Hugh Black,
+            112 Southgate Street,
+              Altoona,
+                      Pa.
+
+Intimate friends have often familiar names for each other, such as pet
+names, nicknames, etc., which they use in the freedom of conversation,
+but such names should never, under any circumstances, appear on the
+envelope. The subscription on the envelope should be always written with
+propriety and correctness and as if penned by an entire stranger. The
+only difficulty in the envelope inscription is the title. Every man is
+entitled to _Mr._ and every lady to _Mrs._ and every unmarried lady to
+_Miss_. Even a boy is entitled to _Master_. When more than one is addressed
+the title is _Messrs._ _Mesdames_ is sometimes written of women. If the
+person addressed has a title it is courteous to use it, but titles never
+must be duplicated. Thus, we can write
+
+  Robert Stitt, M. D., but never
+  Dr. Robert Stitt, M. D, or
+  Mr. Robert Stitt, M. D.
+
+In writing to a medical doctor it is well to indicate his profession by
+the letters M. D. so as to differentiate him from a D. D. It is better to
+write Robert Stitt, M. D., than Dr. Robert Stitt.
+
+In the case of clergymen the prefix Rev. is retained even when they have
+other titles; as
+
+  Rev. Tracy Tooke, LL. D.
+
+When a person has more titles than one it is customary to only give him
+the leading one. Thus instead of writing Rev. Samuel MacComb, B. A.,
+M. A., B. Sc., Ph. D., LL. D., D. D. the form employed is Rev. Samuel
+MacComb, LL. D. LL. D. is appended in preference to D. D. because in most
+cases the "Rev." implies a "D. D." while comparatively few with the prefix
+"Rev." are entitled to "LL. D."
+
+In the case of _Honorables_ such as Governors, Judges, Members of Congress,
+and others of the Civil Government the prefix "Hon." does away with _Mr._
+and _Esq._ Thus we write Hon. Josiah Snifkins, not Hon. Mr. Josiah Snifkins
+or Hon. Josiah Snifkins, Esq. Though this prefix _Hon._ is also often
+applied to Governors they should be addressed as Excellency. For instance:
+
+          His Excellency,
+            Charles E. Hughes,
+                          Albany,
+                               N. Y.
+
+In writing to the President the superscription on the envelope should be
+
+          To the President,
+            Executive Mansion,
+               Washington, D. C.
+
+Professional men such as doctors and lawyers as well as those having
+legitimately earned College Degrees may be addressed on the envelopes by
+their titles, as
+
+  Jonathan Janeway, M. D.
+  Hubert Houston, B. L.
+  Matthew Marks, M. A., etc.
+
+The residence of the person addressed should be plainly written out in
+full. The street and numbers should be given and the city or town written
+very legibly. If the abbreviation of the State is liable to be confounded
+or confused with that of another then the full name of the State should
+be written. In writing the residence on the envelope, instead of putting
+it all in one line as is done at the head of a letter, each item of the
+residence forms a separate line. Thus,
+
+          Liberty,
+            Sullivan County,
+                          New York.
+
+          215 Minna St.,
+            San Francisco,
+                          California.
+
+There should be left a space for the postage stamp in the upper right
+hand corner. The name and title should occupy a line that is about
+central between the top of the envelope and the bottom. The name should
+neither be too much to right or left but located in the centre, the
+beginning and end at equal distances from either end.
+
+In writing to large business concerns which are well known or to public
+or city officials it is sometimes customary to leave out number and street.
+Thus,
+
+          Messrs. Seigel, Cooper Co.,
+                        New York City,
+
+          Hon. William J. Gaynor,
+                           New York City.
+
+
+NOTES
+
+_Notes_ may be regarded as letters in miniature confined chiefly to
+invitations, acceptances, regrets and introductions, and modern etiquette
+tends towards informality in their composition. Card etiquette, in fact,
+has taken the place of ceremonious correspondence and informal notes are
+now the rule. Invitations to dinner and receptions are now mostly written
+on cards. "Regrets" are sent back on visiting cards with just the one
+word _"Regrets"_ plainly written thereon. Often on cards and notes of
+invitation we find the letters R. S. V. P. at the bottom. These letters
+stand for the French _repondez s'il vous plait_, which means "Reply, if
+you please," but there is no necessity to put this on an invitation card
+as every well-bred person knows that a reply is expected. In writing
+notes to young ladies of the same family it should be noted that the
+eldest daughter of the house is entitled to the designation _Miss_ without
+any Christian name, only the surname appended. Thus if there are three
+daughters in the Thompson family Martha, the eldest, Susan and Jemina,
+Martha is addressed as _Miss_ Thompson and the other two as _Miss_ Susan
+Thompson and _Miss_ Jemina Thompson respectively.
+
+Don't write the word _addressed_ on the envelope of a note.
+
+Don't _seal_ a note delivered by a friend.
+
+Don't write a note on a postal card.
+
+Here are a few common forms:--
+
+
+FORMAL INVITATIONS
+
+            Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wagstaff request the
+          honor of Mr. McAdoo's presence on Friday
+          evening, June 15th, at 8 o'clock to meet the
+          Governor of the Fort.
+               19 Woodbine Terrace
+                         June 8th, 1910.
+
+This is an invitation to a formal reception calling for evening dress.
+Here is Mr. McAdoo's reply in the third person:--
+
+            Mr. McAdoo presents his compliments to
+          Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wagstaff and accepts with
+          great pleasure their invitation to meet the
+          Governor of the Fort on the evening of June
+          fifteenth.
+            215 Beacon Street,
+                       June 10th, 1910.
+
+Here is how Mr. McAdoo might decline the invitation:--
+
+            Mr. McAdoo regrets that owing to a prior
+          engagement he must forego the honor of paying
+          his respects to Mr. and Mrs. Wagstaff and the
+          Governor of the Fort on the evening of June
+          fifteenth.
+            215 Beacon St.,
+                June 10th, 1910.
+
+Here is a note addressed, say to Mr. Jeremiah Reynolds.
+
+            Mr. and Mrs. Oldham at home on Wednesday
+          evening October ninth from seven to eleven.
+            21 Ashland Avenue,
+                      October 5th.
+
+Mr. Reynolds makes reply:--
+
+            Mr. Reynolds accepts with high appreciation
+          the honor of Mr. and Mrs. Oldham's invitation
+          for Wednesday evening October ninth.
+            Windsor Hotel
+                October 7th
+
+or
+
+            Mr. Reynolds regrets that his duties render
+          it impossible for him to accept Mr. and Mrs.
+          Oldham's kind invitation for the evening of
+          October ninth.
+            Windsor Hotel,
+                  October 7th,
+
+Sometimes less informal invitations are sent on small specially designed
+note paper in which the first person takes the place of the third. Thus
+
+                                       360 Pine St.,
+                                       Dec. 11th, 1910.
+          Dear Mr. Saintsbury:
+            Mr. Johnson and I should be much pleased to
+          have you dine with us and a few friends next
+          Thursday, the fifteenth, at half past seven.
+                               Yours sincerely,
+                                    Emma Burnside.
+
+Mr. Saintsbury's reply:
+
+                                       57 Carlyle Strand
+                                       Dec. 13th, 1910.
+          Dear Mrs. Burnside:
+            Let me accept very appreciatively your
+          invitation to dine with Mr. Burnside and you
+          on next Thursday, the fifteenth, at half past
+          seven.
+                                  Yours sincerely,
+                                     Henry Saintsbury.
+          Mrs. Alexander Burnside.
+
+
+NOTES OF INTRODUCTION
+
+Notes of introduction should be very circumspect as the writers are in
+reality vouching for those whom they introduce. Here is a specimen of
+such a note.
+
+                             603 Lexington Ave.,
+                                     New York City,
+                                      June 15th, 1910.
+
+          Rev. Cyrus C. Wiley, D. D.,
+                          Newark, N. J.
+          My dear Dr. Wiley:
+                             I take the liberty of
+          presenting to you my friend, Stacy Redfern,
+          M. D., a young practitioner, who is anxious
+          to locate in Newark. I have known him many
+          years and can vouch for his integrity and
+          professional standing. Any courtesy and
+          kindness which you may show him will be very
+          much appreciated by me.
+                              Very sincerely yours,
+                                       Franklin Jewett.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ERRORS
+
+Mistakes--Slips of Authors--Examples and Corrections--Errors of Redundancy.
+
+
+In the following examples the word or words in parentheses are uncalled
+for and should be omitted:
+
+1. Fill the glass (full).
+
+2. They appeared to be talking (together) on private affairs.
+
+3. I saw the boy and his sister (both) in the garden.
+
+4. He went into the country last week and returned (back) yesterday.
+
+5. The subject (matter) of his discourse was excellent.
+
+6. You need not wonder that the (subject) matter of his discourse was
+excellent; it was taken from the Bible.
+
+7. They followed (after) him, but could not overtake him.
+
+8. The same sentiments may be found throughout (the whole of) the book.
+
+9. I was very ill every day (of my life) last week.
+
+10. That was the (sum and) substance of his discourse.
+
+11. He took wine and water and mixed them (both) together.
+
+12. He descended (down) the steps to the cellar.
+
+13. He fell (down) from the top of the house.
+
+14. I hope you will return (again) soon.
+
+15. The things he took away he restored (again).
+
+16. The thief who stole my watch was compelled to restore it (back again).
+
+17. It is equally (the same) to me whether I have it today or tomorrow.
+
+18. She said, (says she) the report is false; and he replied, (says he)
+if it be not correct I have been misinformed.
+
+19. I took my place in the cars (for) to go to New York.
+
+20. They need not (to) call upon him.
+
+21. Nothing (else) but that would satisfy him.
+
+22. Whenever I ride in the cars I (always) find it prejudicial to my
+health.
+
+23. He was the first (of all) at the meeting.
+
+24. He was the tallest of (all) the brothers.
+
+25. You are the tallest of (all) your family.
+
+26. Whenever I pass the house he is (always) at the door.
+
+27. The rain has penetrated (through) the roof.
+
+28. Besides my uncle and aunt there was (also) my grandfather at the
+church.
+
+29. It should (ever) be your constant endeavor to please your family.
+
+30. If it is true as you have heard (then) his situation is indeed pitiful.
+
+31. Either this (here) man or that (there) woman has (got) it.
+
+32. Where is the fire (at)?
+
+33. Did you sleep in church? Not that I know (of).
+
+34. I never before (in my life) met (with) such a stupid man.
+
+35. (For) why did he postpone it?
+
+36. Because (why) he could not attend.
+
+37. What age is he? (Why) I don't know.
+
+38. He called on me (for) to ask my opinion.
+
+39. I don't know where I am (at).
+
+40. I looked in (at) the window.
+
+41. I passed (by) the house.
+
+42. He (always) came every Sunday.
+
+43. Moreover, (also) we wish to say he was in error.
+
+44. It is not long (ago) since he was here.
+
+45. Two men went into the wood (in order) to cut (down) trees.
+
+Further examples of redundancy might be multiplied. It is very common in
+newspaper writing where not alone single words but entire phrases are
+sometimes brought in, which are unnecessary to the sense or explanation
+of what is written.
+
+
+GRAMMATICAL ERRORS OF STANDARD AUTHORS
+
+Even the best speakers and writers are sometimes caught napping. Many of
+our standard authors to whom we have been accustomed to look up as
+infallible have sinned more or less against the fundamental principles of
+grammar by breaking the rules regarding one or more of the nine parts of
+speech. In fact some of them have recklessly trespassed against all nine,
+and still they sit on their pedestals of fame for the admiration of the
+crowd. Macaulay mistreated the article. He wrote,--"That _a_ historian
+should not record trifles is perfectly true." He should have used _an_.
+
+Dickens also used the article incorrectly. He refers to "Robinson Crusoe"
+as "_an_ universally popular book," instead of _a_ universally popular
+book.
+
+The relation between nouns and pronouns has always been a stumbling block
+to speakers and writers. Hallam in his _Literature of Europe_ writes,
+"No one as yet had exhibited the structure of the human kidneys, Vesalius
+having only examined them in dogs." This means that Vesalius examined
+human kidneys in dogs. The sentence should have been, "No one had as yet
+exhibited the kidneys in human beings, Vesalius having examined such
+organs in dogs only."
+
+Sir Arthur Helps in writing of Dickens, states--"I knew a brother author
+of his who received such criticisms from him (Dickens) very lately and
+profited by _it_." Instead of _it_ the word should be _them_ to agree
+with criticisms.
+
+Here are a few other pronominal errors from leading authors:
+
+"Sir Thomas Moore in general so writes it, although not many others so
+late as _him_." Should be _he_.--Trench's _English Past and Present_.
+
+"What should we gain by it but that we should speedily become as poor as
+_them_." Should be _they_.--Alison's _Essay on Macaulay_.
+
+"If the king gives us leave you or I may as lawfully preach, as
+_them_ that do." Should be _they_ or _those_, the latter
+having persons understood.--Hobbes's _History of Civil Wars_.
+
+"The drift of all his sermons was, to prepare the Jews for the reception
+of a prophet, mightier than _him_, and whose shoes he was not worthy
+to bear." Should be than _he_.--Atterbury's _Sermons_.
+
+"Phalaris, who was so much older than _her_." Should be _she_.--Bentley's
+_Dissertation on Phalaris_.
+
+"King Charles, and more than _him_, the duke and the Popish faction were
+at liberty to form new schemes." Should be than _he_.--Bolingbroke's
+_Dissertations on Parties_.
+
+"We contributed a third more than the Dutch, who were obliged to the same
+proportion more than _us_." Should be than _we_.--Swift's _Conduct of the
+Allies_.
+
+In all the above examples the objective cases of the pronouns have been
+used while the construction calls for nominative cases.
+
+"Let _thou_ and _I_ the battle try"--_Anon_.
+
+Here _let_ is the governing verb and requires an objective case after it;
+therefore instead of _thou_ and _I_, the words should be _you_ (_sing_.)
+and _me_.
+
+"Forever in this humble cell, Let thee and I, my fair one, dwell"
+--_Prior_.
+
+Here _thee_ and _I_ should be the objectives _you_ and _me_.
+
+The use of the relative pronoun trips the greatest number of authors.
+
+Even in the Bible we find the relative wrongly translated:
+
+Whom do men say that I am?--_St. Matthew_.
+
+Whom think ye that I am?--_Acts of the Apostles_.
+
+_Who_ should be written in both cases because the word is not in the
+objective governed by say or think, but in the nominative dependent on
+the verb _am_.
+
+"_Who_ should I meet at the coffee house t'other night, but my old
+friend?"--_Steele_.
+
+"It is another pattern of this answerer's fair dealing, to give us hints
+that the author is dead, and yet lay the suspicion upon somebody, I know
+not _who_, in the country."--Swift's _Tale of a Tub_.
+
+"My son is going to be married to I don't know _who_."--Goldsmith's
+_Good-natured Man_.
+
+The nominative _who_ in the above examples should be the objective
+_whom_.
+
+The plural nominative _ye_ of the pronoun _thou_ is very often
+used for the objective _you_, as in the following:
+
+"His wrath which will one day destroy _ye both_."--_Milton_.
+
+"The more shame for _ye_; holy men I thought _ye_."--_Shakespeare_.
+
+"I feel the gales that from _ye_ blow."--_Gray_.
+
+"Tyrants dread _ye_, lest your just decree Transfer the power and
+set the people free."--_Prior_.
+
+Many of the great writers have played havoc with the adjective in the
+indiscriminate use of the degrees of comparison.
+
+"Of two forms of the same word, use the fittest."--_Morell_.
+
+The author here in _trying_ to give good advice sets a bad example.
+He should have used the comparative degree, "Fitter."
+
+Adjectives which have a comparative or superlative signification do not
+admit the addition of the words _more_, _most_, or the terminations,
+_er_, _est_, hence the following examples break this rule:
+
+"Money is the _most universal_ incitement of human misery."--Gibbon's
+_Decline and Fall_.
+
+"The _chiefest_ of which was known by the name of Archon among the
+Grecians."--Dryden's _Life of Plutarch_.
+
+"The _chiefest_ and largest are removed to certain magazines they call
+libraries."--Swift's _Battle of the Books_.
+
+The two _chiefest_ properties of air, its gravity and elastic force,
+have been discovered by mechanical experiments.--_Arbuthno_.
+
+"From these various causes, which in greater or _lesser_ degree,
+affected every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people
+became general."--Robertson's _History of America_.
+
+"The _extremest_ parts of the earth were meditating a submission."
+--Atterbury's _Sermons_.
+
+"The last are indeed _more preferable_ because they are founded on some new
+knowledge or improvement in the mind of man."--Addison, _Spectator_.
+
+"This was in reality the _easiest_ manner of the two."--Shaftesbury's
+_Advice to an Author_.
+
+"In every well formed mind this second desire seems to be the _strongest_
+of the two."--Smith's _Theory of Moral Sentiments_.
+
+In these examples the superlative is wrongly used for the comparative.
+When only two objects are compared the comparative form must be used.
+
+Of impossibility there are no degrees of comparison, yet we find the
+following:
+
+"As it was impossible they should know the words, thoughts and secret
+actions of all men, so it was _more impossible_ they should pass judgment
+on them according to these things."--Whitby's _Necessity of the Christian
+Religion_.
+
+A great number of authors employ adjectives for adverbs. Thus we find:
+
+"I shall endeavor to live hereafter _suitable_ to a man in my station."
+--_Addison_.
+
+"I can never think so very _mean_ of him."--Bentley's _Dissertation on
+Phalaris_.
+
+"His expectations run high and the fund to supply them is _extreme_
+scanty."--_Lancaster's Essay on Delicacy_.
+
+The commonest error in the use of the verb is the disregard of the
+concord between the verb and its subject. This occurs most frequently
+when the subject and the verb are widely separated, especially if some
+other noun of a different number immediately precedes the verb. False
+concords occur very often after _either_, _or_, _neither_, _nor_, and
+_much_, _more_, _many_, _everyone_, _each_.
+
+Here are a few authors' slips:--
+
+"The terms in which the sale of a patent _were_ communicated to the
+public."--Junius's _Letters_.
+
+"The richness of her arms and apparel _were_ conspicuous."--Gibbon's
+_Decline and Fall_.
+
+"Everyone of this grotesque family _were_ the creatures of national
+genius."--D'Israeli.
+
+"He knows not what spleen, languor or listlessness _are_."--Blair's
+_Sermons_.
+
+"Each of these words _imply_, some pursuit or object relinquished."
+--_Ibid_.
+
+"Magnus, with four thousand of his supposed accomplices _were_ put
+to death."--_Gibbon_.
+
+"No nation gives greater encouragements to learning than we do; yet at
+the same time _none are_ so injudicious in the application."
+--_Goldsmith_.
+
+"_There's two_ or _three_ of us have seen strange sights."--_Shakespeare_.
+
+The past participle should not be used for the past tense, yet the
+learned Byron overlooked this fact. He thus writes in the _Lament of
+Tasso_:--
+
+"And with my years my soul _begun to pant_ With feelings of strange
+tumult and soft pain."
+
+Here is another example from Savage's _Wanderer_ in which there is
+double sinning:
+
+"From liberty each nobler science _sprung_, A Bacon brighten'd and a
+Spenser _sung_."
+
+Other breaches in regard to the participles occur in the following:--
+
+"Every book ought to be read with the same spirit and in the same manner
+as it is _writ_"--Fielding's _Tom Jones_.
+
+"The Court of Augustus had not _wore_ off the manners of the republic"
+--Hume's _Essays_.
+
+"Moses tells us that the fountains of the earth were _broke_ open or
+clove asunder."--Burnet.
+
+"A free constitution when it has been _shook_ by the iniquity of
+former administrations."--_Bolingbroke_.
+
+"In this respect the seeds of future divisions were _sowed_ abundantly."
+--_Ibid_.
+
+In the following example the present participle is used for the infinitive
+mood:
+
+"It is easy _distinguishing_ the rude fragment of a rock from the splinter
+of a statue."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_.
+
+_Distinguishing_ here should be replaced by _to distinguish_.
+
+The rules regarding _shall_ and _will_ are violated in the following:
+
+"If we look within the rough and awkward outside, we _will_ be
+richly rewarded by its perusal."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_.
+
+"If I _should_ declare them and speak of them, they should be more
+than I am able to express."--_Prayer Book Revision of Psalms XI_.
+
+"If I _would_ declare them and speak of them, they are more than can
+be numbered."--_Ibid_.
+
+"Without having attended to this, we _will_ be at a loss, in understanding
+several passages in the classics."--Blair's _Lectures_.
+
+"We know to what cause our past reverses have been owing and _we_
+will have ourselves to blame, if they are again incurred."--Alison's
+_History of Europe_.
+
+Adverbial mistakes often occur in the best writers. The adverb _rather_ is
+a word very frequently misplaced. Archbishop Trench in his "English Past
+and Present" writes, "It _rather_ modified the structure of our sentences
+than the elements of our vocabulary." This should have been written,--"It
+modified the structure of our sentences _rather than_ the elements of our
+vocabulary."
+
+"So far as his mode of teaching goes he is _rather_ a disciple of
+Socrates than of St. Paul or Wesley." Thus writes Leslie Stephens of Dr.
+Johnson. He should have written,--" So far as his mode of teaching goes
+he is a disciple of Socrates _rather_ than of St. Paul or Wesley."
+
+The preposition is a part of speech which is often wrongly used by some
+of the best writers. Certain nouns, adjectives and verbs require
+particular prepositions after them, for instance, the word _different_
+always takes the preposition _from_ after it; _prevail_ takes _upon_;
+_averse_ takes _to_; _accord_ takes _with_, and so on.
+
+In the following examples the prepositions in parentheses are the ones
+that should have been used:
+
+"He found the greatest difficulty _of_ (in) writing."--Hume's
+_History of England_.
+
+"If policy can prevail _upon_ (over) force."--_Addison_.
+
+"He made the discovery and communicated _to_ (with) his friends."
+--Swift's _Tale of a Tub_.
+
+"Every office of command should be intrusted to persons _on_ (in)
+whom the parliament shall confide."--_Macaulay_.
+
+Several of the most celebrated writers infringe the canons of style by
+placing prepositions at the end of sentences. For instance Carlyle, in
+referring to the Study of Burns, writes:--"Our own contributions to it,
+we are aware, can be but scanty and feeble; but we offer them with good
+will, and trust they may meet with acceptance from those they are
+intended _for_."
+
+--"for whom they are intended," he should have written.
+
+"Most writers have some one vein which they peculiarly and obviously
+excel _in_."--_William Minto_.
+
+This sentence should read,--Most writers have some one vein in which they
+peculiarly and obviously excel.
+
+Many authors use redundant words which repeat the same thought and idea.
+This is called tautology.
+
+"Notwithstanding which (however) poor Polly embraced them all around."
+--_Dickens_.
+
+"I judged that they would (mutually) find each other."--_Crockett_.
+
+"....as having created a (joint) partnership between the two Powers in
+the Morocco question."--_The Times_.
+
+"The only sensible position (there seems to be) is to frankly acknowledge
+our ignorance of what lies beyond."--_Daily Telegraph_.
+
+"Lord Rosebery has not budged from his position--splendid, no doubt,--of
+(lonely) isolation."--_The Times_.
+
+"Miss Fox was (often) in the habit of assuring Mrs. Chick."--_Dickens_.
+
+"The deck (it) was their field of fame."--_Campbell_.
+
+"He had come up one morning, as was now (frequently) his wont,"
+--_Trollope_.
+
+The counsellors of the Sultan (continue to) remain sceptical
+--_The Times_.
+
+Seriously, (and apart from jesting), this is no light matter.--_Bagehot_.
+
+To go back to your own country with (the consciousness that you go back
+with) the sense of duty well done.--_Lord Halsbury_.
+
+The _Peresviet_ lost both her fighting-tops and (in appearance)
+looked the most damaged of all the ships--_The Times_.
+
+Counsel admitted that, that was a fair suggestion to make, but he
+submitted that it was borne out by the (surrounding) circumstances.
+--_Ibid_.
+
+Another unnecessary use of words and phrases is that which is termed
+circumlocution, a going around the bush when there is no occasion for
+it,--save to fill space.
+
+It may be likened to a person walking the distance of two sides of a
+triangle to reach the objective point. For instance in the quotation:
+"Pope professed to have learned his poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an
+opportunity was presented, he praised through the whole period of his
+existence with unvaried liberality; and perhaps his character may receive
+some illustration, of a comparison he instituted between him and the man
+whose pupil he was" much of the verbiage may be eliminated and the
+sentence thus condensed:
+
+"Pope professed himself the pupil of Dryden, whom he lost no opportunity
+of praising; and his character may be illustrated by a comparison with
+his master."
+
+"His life was brought to a close in 1910 at an age not far from the one
+fixed by the sacred writer as the term of human existence."
+
+This in brevity can be put, "His life was brought to a close at the age
+of seventy;" or, better yet, "He died at the age of seventy."
+
+"The day was intensely cold, so cold in fact that the thermometer crept
+down to the zero mark," can be expressed: "The day was so cold the
+thermometer registered zero."
+
+Many authors resort to circumlocution for the purpose of "padding," that
+is, filling space, or when they strike a snag in writing upon subjects of
+which they know little or nothing. The young writer should steer clear of
+it and learn to express his thoughts and ideas as briefly as possible
+commensurate with lucidity of expression.
+
+Volumes of errors in fact, in grammar, diction and general style, could
+be selected from the works of the great writers, a fact which eloquently
+testifies that no one is infallible and that the very best is liable to
+err at times. However, most of the erring in the case of these writers
+arises from carelessness or hurry, not from a lack of knowledge.
+
+As a general rule it is in writing that the scholar is liable to slip; in
+oral speech he seldom makes a blunder. In fact, there are many people who
+are perfect masters of speech,--who never make a blunder in conversation,
+yet who are ignorant of the very principles of grammar and would not know
+how to write a sentence correctly on paper. Such persons have been
+accustomed from infancy to hear the language spoken correctly and so the
+use of the proper words and forms becomes a second nature to them. A
+child can learn what is right as easy as what is wrong and whatever
+impressions are made on the mind when it is plastic will remain there.
+Even a parrot can be taught the proper use of language. Repeat to a
+parrot.--"Two and two _make_ four" and it never will say "two and two
+_makes_ four."
+
+In writing, however, it is different. Without a knowledge of the
+fundamentals of grammar we may be able to speak correctly from
+association with good speakers, but without such a knowledge we cannot
+hope to write the language correctly. To write even a common letter we
+must know the principles of construction, the relationship of one word to
+another. Therefore, it is necessary for everybody to understand at least
+the essentials of the grammar of his own language.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+PITFALLS TO AVOID
+
+Common Stumbling Blocks--Peculiar Constructions--Misused Forms.
+
+
+ATTRACTION
+
+Very often the verb is separated from its real nominative or subject by
+several intervening words and in such cases one is liable to make the
+verb agree with the subject nearest to it. Here are a few examples
+showing that the leading writers now and then take a tumble into this
+pitfall:
+
+(1) "The partition which the two ministers made of the powers of
+government _were_ singularly happy."--_Macaulay_.
+
+(Should be _was_ to agree with its subject, _partition_.)
+
+(2) "One at least of the qualities which fit it for training ordinary men
+_unfit_ it for _training_ an extraordinary man."--_Bagehot_.
+
+(Should be _unfits_ to agree with subject _one_.)
+
+(3) "The Tibetans have engaged to exclude from their country those
+dangerous influences whose appearance _were_ the chief cause of our
+action."--_The Times_.
+
+(Should be _was_ to agree with _appearance_.)
+
+(4) "An immense amount of confusion and indifference _prevail_ in these
+days."--_Telegraph_.
+
+(Should be _prevails_ to agree with amount.)
+
+
+ELLIPSIS
+
+Errors in ellipsis occur chiefly with prepositions.
+
+His objection and condoning of the boy's course, seemed to say the least,
+paradoxical.
+
+(The preposition _to_ should come after objection.)
+
+Many men of brilliant parts are crushed by force of circumstances and
+their genius forever lost to the world.
+
+(Some maintain that the missing verb after genius is _are_, but such
+is ungrammatical. In such cases the right verb should be always
+expressed: as--their genius _is_ forever lost to the world.)
+
+
+THE SPLIT INFINITIVE
+
+Even the best speakers and writers are in the habit of placing a
+modifying word or words between the _to_ and the remaining part of the
+infinitive. It is possible that such will come to be looked upon in time
+as the proper form but at present the splitting of the infinitive is
+decidedly wrong. "He was scarcely able _to_ even _talk_" "She commenced
+_to_ rapidly _walk_ around the room." "_To have_ really _loved_ is better
+than not _to have_ at all _loved_." In these constructions it is much
+better not to split the infinitive. In every-day speech the best speakers
+sin against this observance.
+
+In New York City there is a certain magistrate, a member of "the 400,"
+who prides himself on his diction in language. He tells this story: A
+prisoner, a faded, battered specimen of mankind, on whose haggard face,
+deeply lined with the marks of dissipation, there still lingered faint
+reminders of better days long past, stood dejected before the judge.
+"Where are you from?" asked the magistrate. "From Boston," answered the
+accused. "Indeed," said the judge, "indeed, yours is a sad case, and yet
+you don't seem _to_ thoroughly _realise_ how low you have sunk." The man
+stared as if struck. "Your honor does me an injustice," he said bitterly.
+"The disgrace of arrest for drunkenness, the mortification of being
+thrust into a noisome dungeon, the publicity and humiliation of trial in
+a crowded and dingy courtroom I can bear, but to be sentenced by a Police
+Magistrate who _splits his infinitives_--that is indeed the last blow."
+
+
+ONE
+
+The indefinite adjective pronoun _one_ when put in place of a personal
+substantive is liable to raise confusion. When a sentence or expression
+is begun with the impersonal _one_ the word must be used throughout in
+all references to the subject. Thus, "One must mind one's own business if
+one wishes to succeed" may seem prolix and awkward, nevertheless it is
+the proper form. You must not say--"One must mind his business if he
+wishes to succeed," for the subject is impersonal and therefore cannot
+exclusively take the masculine pronoun. With _any one_ it is different.
+You may say--"If any one sins he should acknowledge it; let him not try
+to hide it by another sin."
+
+
+ONLY
+
+This is a word that is a pitfall to the most of us whether learned or
+unlearned. Probably it is the most indiscriminately used word in the
+language. From the different positions it is made to occupy in a sentence
+it can relatively change the meaning. For instance in the sentence--"I
+_only_ struck him that time," the meaning to be inferred is, that the
+only thing I did to him was to _strike_ him, not kick or otherwise abuse
+him. But if the _only_ is shifted, so as to make the sentence read-"I
+struck him _only_ that time" the meaning conveyed is, that only on that
+occasion and at no other time did I strike him. If another shift is made
+to-"I struck _only_ him that time," the meaning is again altered so that
+it signifies he was the only person I struck.
+
+In speaking we can by emphasis impress our meaning on our hearers, but in
+writing we have nothing to depend upon but the position of the word in
+the sentence. The best rule in regard to _only_ is to place it
+_immediately before_ the word or phrase it modifies or limits.
+
+
+ALONE
+
+is another word which creates ambiguity and alters meaning. If we
+substitute it for only in the preceding example the meaning of the
+sentence will depend upon the arrangement. Thus "I _alone_ struck him at
+that time" signifies that I and no other struck him. When the sentence
+reads "I struck him _alone_ at that time" it must be interpreted that he
+was the only person that received a blow. Again if it is made to read "I
+struck him at that time _alone_" the sense conveyed is that that was the
+only occasion on which I struck him. The rule which governs the correct
+use of _only_ is also applicable to _alone_.
+
+
+OTHER AND ANOTHER
+
+These are words which often give to expressions a meaning far from that
+intended. Thus, "I have _nothing_ to do with that _other_ rascal across
+the street," certainly means that I am a rascal myself. "I sent the
+despatch to my friend, but another villain intercepted it," clearly
+signifies that my friend is a villain.
+
+A good plan is to omit these words when they can be readily done without,
+as in the above examples, but when it is necessary to use them make your
+meaning clear. You can do this by making each sentence or phrase in which
+they occur independent of contextual aid.
+
+
+AND WITH THE RELATIVE
+
+Never use _and_ with the _relative_ in this manner: "That is the dog I
+meant _and which_ I know is of pure breed." This is an error quite
+common. The use of _and_ is permissible when there is a parallel relative
+in the preceding sentence or clause. Thus: "There is the dog which I
+meant and which I know is of pure breed" is quite correct.
+
+
+LOOSE PARTICIPLES
+
+A participle or participial phrase is naturally referred to the nearest
+nominative. If only one nominative is expressed it claims all the
+participles that are not by the construction of the sentence otherwise
+fixed. "John, working in the field all day and getting thirsty, drank
+from the running stream." Here the participles _working_ and _getting_
+clearly refer to John. But in the sentence,--"Swept along by the mob I
+could not save him," the participle as it were is lying around loose and
+may be taken to refer to either the person speaking or to the person
+spoken about. It may mean that I was swept along by the mob or the
+individual whom I tried to save was swept along.
+
+"Going into the store the roof fell" can be taken that it was the roof
+which was going into the store when it fell. Of course the meaning
+intended is that some person or persons were going into the store just as
+the roof fell.
+
+In all sentence construction with participles there should be such
+clearness as to preclude all possibility of ambiguity. The participle
+should be so placed that there can be no doubt as to the noun to which it
+refers. Often it is advisable to supply such words as will make the
+meaning obvious.
+
+
+BROKEN CONSTRUCTION
+
+Sometimes the beginning of a sentence presents quite a different
+grammatical construction from its end. This arises from the fact
+probably, that the beginning is lost sight of before the end is reached.
+This occurs frequently in long sentences. Thus: "Honesty, integrity and
+square-dealing will bring anybody much better through life than the
+absence of either." Here the construction is broken at _than_. The use of
+_either_, only used in referring to one of two, shows that the fact is
+forgotten that three qualities and not two are under consideration. Any
+one of the three meanings might be intended in the sentence, viz.,
+absence of any one quality, absence of any two of the qualities or
+absence of the whole three qualities. Either denotes one or the other of
+two and should never be applied to any one of more than two. When we fall
+into the error of constructing such sentences as above, we should take
+them apart and reconstruct them in a different grammatical form.
+Thus,--"Honesty, integrity and square-dealing will bring a man much
+better through life than a lack of these qualities which are almost
+essential to success."
+
+
+DOUBLE NEGATIVE
+
+It must be remembered that two negatives in the English language destroy
+each other and are equivalent to an affirmative. Thus "I _don't_ know
+_nothing_ about it" is intended to convey, that I am ignorant of the
+matter under consideration, but it defeats its own purpose, inasmuch as
+the use of nothing implies that I know something about it. The sentence
+should read--"I don't know anything about it."
+
+Often we hear such expressions as "He was _not_ asked to give _no_
+opinion," expressing the very opposite of what is intended. This sentence
+implies that he was asked to give his opinion. The double negative,
+therefore, should be carefully avoided, for it is insidious and is liable
+to slip in and the writer remain unconscious of its presence until the
+eye of the critic detects it.
+
+
+FIRST PERSONAL PRONOUN
+
+The use of the first personal pronoun should be avoided as much as
+possible in composition. Don't introduce it by way of apology and never
+use such expressions as "In my opinion," "As far as I can see," "It
+appears to me," "I believe," etc. In what you write, the whole
+composition is expressive of your views, since you are the author,
+therefore, there is no necessity for you to accentuate or emphasize
+yourself at certain portions of it.
+
+Moreover, the big _I's_ savor of egotism! Steer clear of them as far as
+you can. The only place where the first person is permissible is in
+passages where you are stating a view that is not generally held and
+which is likely to meet with opposition.
+
+
+SEQUENCE OF TENSES
+
+When two verbs depend on each other their tenses must have a definite
+relation to each other. "I shall have much pleasure in accepting your
+kind invitation" is wrong, unless you really mean that just now you
+decline though by-and-by you intend to accept; or unless you mean that
+you do accept now, though you have no pleasure in doing so, but look
+forward to be more pleased by-and-by. In fact the sequence of the
+compound tenses puzzle experienced writers. The best plan is to go back
+in thought to the time in question and use the tense you would _then_
+naturally use. Now in the sentence "I should have liked to have gone to
+see the circus" the way to find out the proper sequence is to ask
+yourself the question--what is it I "should have liked" to do? and the
+plain answer is "to go to see the circus." I cannot answer--"To have gone
+to see the circus" for that would imply that at a certain moment I would
+have liked to be in the position of having gone to the circus. But I do
+not mean this; I mean that at the moment at which I am speaking I wish I
+had gone to see the circus. The verbal phrase _I should have liked_
+carries me back to the time when there was a chance of seeing the circus
+and once back at the time, the going to the circus is a thing of the
+present. This whole explanation resolves itself into the simple
+question,--what should I have liked _at that time_, and the answer is "to
+go to see the circus," therefore this is the proper sequence, and the
+expression should be "I should have liked to go to see the circus."
+
+If we wish to speak of something relating to a time _prior_ to that
+indicated in the past tense we must use the perfect tense of the
+infinitive; as, "He appeared to have seen better days." We should say "I
+expected to _meet him_," not "I expected _to have met him_." "We intended
+_to visit you_," not "_to have visited_ you." "I hoped they _would_
+arrive," not "I hoped they _would have_ arrived." "I thought I should
+_catch_ the bird," not "I thought I should _have caught_ the bird." "I
+had intended _to go_ to the meeting," not "I had intended to _have gone_
+to the meeting."
+
+
+BETWEEN--AMONG
+
+These prepositions are often carelessly interchanged. _Between_ has
+reference to two objects only, _among_ to more than two. "The money was
+equally divided between them" is right when there are only two, but if
+there are more than two it should be "the money was equally divided among
+them."
+
+
+LESS--FEWER
+
+_Less_ refers is quantity, _fewer_ to number. "No man has _less_ virtues"
+should be "No man has _fewer_ virtues." "The farmer had some oats and a
+_fewer_ quantity of wheat" should be "the farmer had some oats and a
+_less_ quantity of wheat."
+
+
+FURTHER--FARTHER
+
+_Further_ is commonly used to denote quantity, _farther_ to denote
+distance. "I have walked _farther_ than you," "I need no _further_
+supply" are correct.
+
+
+EACH OTHER--ONE ANOTHER
+
+_Each other_ refers to two, _one another_ to more than two. "Jones and
+Smith quarreled; they struck each other" is correct. "Jones, Smith and
+Brown quarreled; they struck one another" is also correct. Don't say,
+"The two boys teach one another" nor "The three girls love each other."
+
+
+EACH, EVERY, EITHER, NEITHER
+
+These words are continually misapplied. _Each_ can be applied to two
+or any higher number of objects to signify _every one_ of the number
+_independently_. Every requires _more than two_ to be spoken of and
+denotes all the _persons_ or _things_ taken _separately_. _Either_
+denotes _one or the other of two_, and should not be used to include
+both. _Neither_ is the negative of either, denoting not the other,
+and not the one, and relating to _two persons_ or _things_ considered
+separately.
+
+The following examples illustrate the correct usage of these words:
+
+_Each_ man of the crew received a reward.
+
+_Every_ man in the regiment displayed bravery.
+
+We can walk on _either_ side of the street.
+
+_Neither_ of the two is to blame.
+
+
+NEITHER-NOR
+
+When two singular subjects are connected by _neither_, _nor_ use a
+singular verb; as, "_Neither_ John _nor_ James _was there_," not _were_
+there.
+
+
+NONE
+
+Custom Has sanctioned the use of this word both with a singular and
+plural; as--"None _is_ so blind as he who will not see" and "None _are_
+so blind as they who will not see." However, as it is a contraction of
+_no one_ it is better to use the singular verb.
+
+
+RISE-RAISE
+
+These verbs are very often confounded. _Rise_ is to move or pass upward
+in any manner; as to "rise from bed;" to increase in value, to improve in
+position or rank, as "stocks rise;" "politicians rise;" "they have risen
+to honor."
+
+_Raise_ is to lift up, to exalt, to enhance, as "I raise the table;"
+"He raised his servant;" "The baker raised the price of _bread_."
+
+
+LAY-LIE
+
+The transitive verb _lay_, and _lay_, the past tense of the neuter verb
+_lie_, are often confounded, though quite different in meaning. The
+neuter verb _to lie_, meaning to lie down or rest, cannot take the
+objective after it except with a preposition. We can say "He _lies_ on
+the ground," but we cannot say "He _lies_ the ground," since the verb is
+neuter and intransitive and, as such, cannot have a direct object. With
+_lay_ it is different. _Lay_ is a transitive verb, therefore it takes a
+direct object after it; as "I _lay_ a wager," "I _laid_ the carpet," etc.
+
+Of a carpet or any inanimate subject we should say, "It lies on the
+floor," "A knife _lies_ on the table," not _lays_. But of a person we
+say--"He _lays_ the knife on the table," not "He _lies_----." _Lay_ being
+the past tense of the neuter to lie (down) we should say, "He _lay_ on
+the bed," and _lain_ being its past participle we must also say "He has
+_lain_ on the bed."
+
+We can say "I lay myself down." "He laid himself down" and such
+expressions.
+
+It is imperative to remember in using these verbs that to _lay_ means _to
+do_ something, and to lie means _to be in a state of rest_.
+
+
+SAYS I--I SAID
+
+_"Says I"_ is a vulgarism; don't use it. "I said" is correct form.
+
+
+IN--INTO
+
+Be careful to distinguish the meaning of these two little prepositions
+and don't interchange them. Don't say "He went _in_ the room" nor "My
+brother is _into_ the navy." _In_ denotes the place where a person or
+thing, whether at rest or in motion, is present; and _into_ denotes
+_entrance_. "He went _into_ the room;" "My brother is _in_ the navy" are
+correct.
+
+
+EAT--ATE
+
+Don't confound the two. _Eat_ is present, _ate_ is past. "I _eat_ the
+bread" means that I am continuing the eating; "I _ate_ the bread" means
+that the act of eating is past. _Eaten_ is the perfect participle, but
+often _eat_ is used instead, and as it has the same pronunciation (et) of
+_ate_, care should be taken to distinguish the past tense, I _ate_ from
+the perfect _I have eaten_ (_eat_).
+
+
+SEQUENCE OF PERSON
+
+Remember that the _first_ person takes precedence of the _second_ and the
+_second_ takes precedence of the _third_. When Cardinal Wolsey said _Ego
+et Rex_ (I and the King), he showed he was a good grammarian, but a bad
+courtier.
+
+
+AM COME--HAVE COME
+
+"_I am come_" points to my being here, while "I have come" intimates that
+I have just arrived. When the subject is not a person, the verb _to be_
+should be used in preference to the verb _to have_; as, "The box is come"
+instead of "The box has come."
+
+
+PAST TENSE--PAST PARTICIPLE
+
+The interchange of these two parts of the irregular or so-called _strong_
+verbs is, perhaps, the breach oftenest committed by careless speakers and
+writers. To avoid mistakes it is requisite to know the principal parts of
+these verbs, and this knowledge is very easy of acquirement, as there are
+not more than a couple of hundred of such verbs, and of this number but a
+small part is in daily use. Here are some of the most common blunders: "I
+seen" for "I saw;" "I done it" for "I did it;" "I drunk" for "I drank;"
+"I begun" for "I began;" "I rung" for "I rang;" "I run" for "I ran;" "I
+sung" for "I sang;" "I have chose" for "I have chosen;" "I have drove"
+for "I have driven;" "I have wore" for "I have worn;" "I have trod" for
+"I have trodden;" "I have shook" for "I have shaken;" "I have fell" for
+"I have fallen;" "I have drank" for "I have drunk;" "I have began" for "I
+have begun;" "I have rang" for "I have rung;" "I have rose" for "I have
+risen;" "I have spoke" for "I have spoken;" "I have broke" for "I have
+broken." "It has froze" for "It has frozen." "It has blowed" for "It has
+blown." "It has flowed" (of a bird) for "It has flown."
+
+N. B.--The past tense and past participle of _To Hang_ is _hanged_ or
+_hung_. When you are talking about a man meeting death on the gallows,
+say "He was hanged"; when you are talking about the carcass of an animal
+say, "It was hung," as "The beef was hung dry." Also say your coat "_was_
+hung on a hook."
+
+
+PREPOSITIONS AND THE OBJECTIVE CASE
+
+Don't forget that prepositions always take the objective case. Don't say
+"Between you and _I_"; say "Between you and _me_"
+
+_Two_ prepositions should not govern _one objective_ unless there is an
+immediate connection between them. "He was refused admission to and
+forcibly ejected from the school" should be "He was refused admission to
+the school and forcibly ejected from it."
+
+
+SUMMON--SUMMONS
+
+Don't say "I shall summons him," but "I shall summon him." _Summon_ is a
+verb, _summons_, a noun.
+
+It is correct to say "I shall get a _summons_ for him," not a _summon_.
+
+
+UNDENIABLE--UNEXCEPTIONABLE
+
+"My brother has an undeniable character" is wrong if I wish to convey the
+idea that he has a good character. The expression should be in that case
+"My brother has an unexceptionable character." An _undeniable_ character
+is a character that cannot be denied, whether bad or good. An
+unexceptionable character is one to which no one can take exception.
+
+
+THE PRONOUNS
+
+Very many mistakes occur in the use of the pronouns. "Let you and I go"
+should be "Let you and _me_ go." "Let them and we go" should be "Let them
+and us go." The verb let is transitive and therefore takes the objective
+case.
+
+"Give me _them_ flowers" should be "Give me _those_ flowers"; "I mean
+_them_ three" should be "I mean those three." Them is the objective case
+of the personal pronoun and cannot be used adjectively like the
+demonstrative adjective pronoun. "I am as strong as _him_" should be "I
+am as strong as _he_"; "I am younger than _her_" should be "I am younger
+than _she_;" "He can write better than _me_" should be "He can write
+better than I," for in these examples the objective cases _him_, _her_
+and _me_ are used wrongfully for the nominatives. After each of the
+misapplied pronouns a verb is understood of which each pronoun is the
+subject. Thus, "I am as strong as he (is)." "I am younger than she (is)."
+"He can write better than I (can)."
+
+Don't say "_It is me_;" say "_It is I_" The verb _To Be_ of which is is a
+part takes the same case after it that it has before it. This holds good
+in all situations as well as with pronouns.
+
+The verb _To Be_ also requires the pronouns joined to it to be in the
+same case as a pronoun asking a question; The nominative _I_ requires the
+nominative _who_ and the objectives _me_, _him_, _her_, _its_, _you_,
+_them_, require the objective _whom_.
+
+"_Whom_ do you think I am?" should be "_Who_ do you think I am?" and
+"_Who_ do they suppose me to be?" should be "_Whom_ do they suppose me to
+be?" The objective form of the Relative should be always used, in
+connection with a preposition. "Who do you take me for?" should be
+"_Whom_ do, etc." "Who did you give the apple to?" should be "Whom did
+you give the apple to," but as pointed out elsewhere the preposition
+should never end a sentence, therefore, it is better to say, "To whom did
+you give the apple?"
+
+After transitive verbs always use the objective cases of the pronouns.
+For "_He_ and _they_ we have seen," say "_Him_ and _them_ we have seen."
+
+
+THAT FOR SO
+
+"The hurt it was that painful it made him cry," say "so painful."
+
+
+THESE--THOSE
+
+Don't say, _These kind; those sort_. _Kind_ and _sort_ are each singular
+and require the singular pronouns _this_ and _that_. In connection with
+these demonstrative adjective pronouns remember that _this_ and _these_
+refer to what is near at hand, _that_ and _those_ to what is more
+distant; as, _this book_ (near me), _that book_ (over there), _these_
+boys (near), _those_ boys (at a distance).
+
+
+THIS MUCH--THUS MUCH
+
+"_This_ much is certain" should be "_Thus_ much or _so_ much is certain."
+
+
+FLEE--FLY
+
+These are two separate verbs and must not be interchanged. The principal
+parts of _flee_ are _flee_, _fled_, _fled_; those of _fly_ are _fly_,
+_flew_, _flown_. _To flee_ is generally used in the meaning of getting
+out of danger. _To fly_ means to soar as a bird. To say of a man "He _has
+flown_ from the place" is wrong; it should be "He _has fled_ from the
+place." We can say with propriety that "A bird has _flown_ from the
+place."
+
+
+THROUGH--THROUGHOUT
+
+Don't say "He is well known through the land," but "He is well known
+throughout the land."
+
+
+VOCATION AND AVOCATION
+
+Don't mistake these two words so nearly alike. Vocation is the employment,
+business or profession one follows for a living; avocation is some
+pursuit or occupation which diverts the person from such employment,
+business or profession. Thus
+
+"His vocation was the law, his avocation, farming."
+
+
+WAS--WERE
+
+In the subjunctive mood the plural form _were_ should be used with a
+singular subject; as, "If I _were_," not _was_. Remember the plural form
+of the personal pronoun _you_ always takes _were_, though it may denote
+but one. Thus, "_You were_," never "_you was_." "_If I was him_" is a
+very common expression. Note the two mistakes in it,--that of the verb
+implying a condition, and that of the objective case of the pronoun. It
+should read _If I were he_. This is another illustration of the rule
+regarding the verb _To Be_, taking the same case after it as before it;
+_were_ is part of the verb _To Be_, therefore as the nominative (I) goes
+before it, the nominative (he) should come after it.
+
+
+A OR AN
+
+_A_ becomes an before a vowel or before _h_ mute for the sake of euphony
+or agreeable sound to the ear. _An apple_, _an orange_, _an heir_, _an
+honor_, etc.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+STYLE
+
+Diction--Purity--Propriety--Precision.
+
+
+It is the object of every writer to put his thoughts into as effective
+form as possible so as to make a good impression on the reader. A person
+may have noble thoughts and ideas but be unable to express them in such a
+way as to appeal to others, consequently he cannot exert the full force
+of his intellectuality nor leave the imprint of his character upon his
+time, whereas many a man but indifferently gifted may wield such a facile
+pen as to attract attention and win for himself an envious place among
+his contemporaries.
+
+In everyday life one sees illustrations of men of excellent mentality
+being cast aside and ones of mediocre or in some cases, little, if any,
+ability chosen to fill important places. The former are unable to impress
+their personality; they have great thoughts, great ideas, but these
+thoughts and ideas are locked up in their brains and are like prisoners
+behind the bars struggling to get free. The key of language which would
+open the door is wanting, hence they have to remain locked up.
+
+Many a man has to pass through the world unheard of and of little benefit
+to it or himself, simply because he cannot bring out what is in him and
+make it subservient to his will. It is the duty of every one to develop his
+best, not only for the benefit of himself but for the good of his fellow
+men. It is not at all necessary to have great learning or acquirements, the
+laborer is as useful in his own place as the philosopher in his; nor is it
+necessary to have many talents. One talent rightly used is much better than
+ten wrongly used. Often a man can do more with one than his contemporary
+can do with ten, often a man can make one dollar go farther than twenty in
+the hands of his neighbor, often the poor man lives more comfortably than
+the millionaire. All depends upon the individual himself. If he make right
+use of what the Creator has given him and live according to the laws of God
+and nature he is fulfilling his allotted place in the universal scheme of
+creation, in other words, when he does his best, he is living up to the
+standard of a useful manhood.
+
+Now in order to do his best a man of ordinary intelligence and education
+should be able to express himself correctly both in speaking and writing,
+that is, he should be able to convey his thoughts in an intelligent
+manner which the simplest can understand. The manner in which a speaker
+or writer conveys his thoughts is known as his Style. In other words
+_Style_ may be defined as the peculiar manner in which a man expresses
+his conceptions through the medium of language. It depends upon the
+choice of words and their arrangement to convey a meaning. Scarcely any
+two writers have exactly the same style, that is to say, express their
+ideas after the same peculiar form, just as no two mortals are fashioned
+by nature in the same mould, so that one is an exact counterpart of the
+other.
+
+Just as men differ in the accent and tones of their voices, so do they
+differ in the construction of their language.
+
+Two reporters sent out on the same mission, say to report a fire, will
+verbally differ in their accounts though materially both descriptions
+will be the same as far as the leading facts are concerned. One will
+express himself in a style _different_ from the other.
+
+If you are asked to describe the dancing of a red-haired lady at the last
+charity ball you can either say--"The ruby Circe, with the Titian locks
+glowing like the oriflamme which surrounds the golden god of day as he
+sinks to rest amid the crimson glory of the burnished West, gave a divine
+exhibition of the Terpsichorean art which thrilled the souls of the
+multitude" or, you can simply say--"The red-haired lady danced very well
+and pleased the audience."
+
+The former is a specimen of the ultra florid or bombastic style which may
+be said to depend upon the pomposity of verbosity for its effect, the
+latter is a specimen of simple _natural_ Style. Needless to say it is to
+be preferred. The other should be avoided. It stamps the writer as a
+person of shallowness, ignorance and inexperience. It has been eliminated
+from the newspapers. Even the most flatulent of yellow sheets no longer
+tolerate it in their columns. Affectation and pedantry in style are now
+universally condemned.
+
+It is the duty of every speaker and writer to labor after a pleasing
+style. It gains him an entrance where he would otherwise be debarred.
+Often the interest of a subject depends as much on the way it is
+presented as on the subject itself. One writer will make it attractive,
+another repulsive. For instance take a passage in history. Treated by one
+historian it is like a desiccated mummy, dry, dull, disgusting, while
+under the spell of another it is, as it were, galvanized into a virile
+living thing which not only pleases but captivates the reader.
+
+
+DICTION
+
+The first requisite of style is _choice_ of _words_, and this comes under
+the head of _Diction_, the property of style which has reference to the
+words and phrases used in speaking and writing. The secret of literary
+skill from any standpoint consists in putting the right word in the right
+place. In order to do this it is imperative to know the meaning of the
+words we use, their exact literal meaning. Many synonymous words are
+seemingly interchangeable and appear as if the same meaning were applicable
+to three or four of them at the same time, but when all such words are
+reduced to a final analysis it is clearly seen that there is a marked
+difference in their meaning. For instance _grief_ and _sorrow_ seem to be
+identical, but they are not. _Grief_ is active, _sorrow_ is more or less
+passive; _grief_ is caused by troubles and misfortunes which come to us
+from the outside, while _sorrow_ is often the consequence of our own
+acts. _Grief_ is frequently loud and violent, _sorrow_ is always quiet
+and retiring. _Grief_ shouts, _Sorrow_ remains calm.
+
+If you are not sure of the exact meaning of a word look it up immediately
+in the dictionary. Sometimes some of our great scholars are puzzled over
+simple words in regard to meaning, spelling or pronunciation. Whenever
+you meet a strange word note it down until you discover its meaning and
+use. Read the best books you can get, books written by men and women who
+are acknowledged masters of language, and study how they use their words,
+where they place them in the sentences, and the meanings they convey to
+the readers.
+
+Mix in good society. Listen attentively to good talkers and try to
+imitate their manner of expression. If a word is used you do not
+understand, don't be ashamed to ask its meaning.
+
+True, a small vocabulary will carry you through, but it is an advantage
+to have a large one. When you live alone a little pot serves just as well
+as a large one to cook your victuals and it is handy and convenient, but
+when your friends or neighbors come to dine with you, you will need a
+much larger pot and it is better to have it in store, so that you will
+not be put to shame for your scantiness of furnishings.
+
+Get as many words as you possibly can--if you don't need them now, pack
+them away in the garrets of your brain so that you can call upon them if
+you require them.
+
+Keep a note book, jot down the words you don't understand or clearly
+understand and consult the dictionary when you get time.
+
+
+PURITY
+
+_Purity_ of style consists in using words which are reputable, national
+and present, which means that the words are in current use by the best
+authorities, that they are used throughout the nation and not confined to
+one particular part, and that they are words in constant use at the
+present time.
+
+There are two guiding principles in the choice of words,--_good use_
+and _good taste_. _Good use_ tells us whether a word is right or wrong;
+_good taste_, whether it is adapted to our purpose or not.
+
+A word that is obsolete or too new to have gained a place in the
+language, or that is a provincialism, should not be used.
+
+Here are the Ten Commandments of English style:
+
+(1) Do not use foreign words.
+
+(2) Do not use a long word when a short one will serve your purpose.
+_Fire_ is much better than _conflagration_.
+
+(3) Do not use technical words, or those understood only by specialists
+in their respective lines, except when you are writing especially for
+such people.
+
+(4) Do not use slang.
+
+(5) Do not use provincialisms, as "I guess" for "I think"; "I reckon" for
+"I know," etc.
+
+(6) Do not in writing prose, use poetical or antiquated words: as "lore,
+e'er, morn, yea, nay, verily, peradventure."
+
+(7) Do not use trite and hackneyed words and expressions; as, "on the
+job," "up and in"; "down and out."
+
+(8) Do not use newspaper words which have not established a place in the
+language as "to bugle"; "to suicide," etc.
+
+(9) Do not use ungrammatical words and forms; as, "I ain't;" "he don't."
+
+(10) Do not use ambiguous words or phrases; as--"He showed me all about
+the house."
+
+Trite words, similes and metaphors which have become hackneyed and worn
+out should be allowed to rest in the oblivion of past usage. Such
+expressions and phrases as "Sweet sixteen" "the Almighty dollar," "Uncle
+Sam," "On the fence," "The Glorious Fourth," "Young America," "The lords
+of creation," "The rising generation," "The weaker sex," "The weaker
+vessel," "Sweetness long drawn out" and "chief cook and bottle washer,"
+should be put on the shelf as they are utterly worn out from too much
+usage.
+
+Some of the old similes which have outlived their usefulness and should
+be pensioned off, are "Sweet as sugar," "Bold as a lion," "Strong as an
+ox," "Quick as a flash," "Cold as ice," "Stiff as a poker," "White as
+snow," "Busy as a bee," "Pale as a ghost," "Rich as Croesus," "Cross as a
+bear" and a great many more far too numerous to mention.
+
+Be as original as possible in the use of expression. Don't follow in the
+old rut but try and strike out for yourself. This does not mean that you
+should try to set the style, or do anything outlandish or out of the way,
+or be an innovator on the prevailing custom. In order to be original
+there is no necessity for you to introduce something novel or establish a
+precedent. The probability is you are not fit to do either, by education
+or talent. While following the style of those who are acknowledged
+leaders you can be original in your language. Try and clothe an idea
+different from what it has been clothed and better. If you are speaking
+or writing of dancing don't talk or write about "tripping the light
+fantastic toe." It is over two hundred years since Milton expressed it
+that way in "_L'Allegro_." You're not a Milton and besides over a million
+have stolen it from Milton until it is now no longer worth stealing.
+
+Don't resurrect obsolete words such as _whilom_, _yclept_, _wis_, etc.,
+and be careful in regard to obsolescent words, that is, words that are at
+the present time gradually passing from use such as _quoth, trow,
+betwixt, amongst, froward_, etc.
+
+And beware of new words. Be original in the construction and arrangement
+of your language, but don't try to originate words. Leave that to the
+Masters of language, and don't be the first to try such words, wait until
+the chemists of speech have tested them and passed upon their merits.
+
+Quintilian said--"Prefer the oldest of the new and the newest of the
+old." Pope put this in rhyme and it still holds good:
+
+In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, Alike fantastic, if too
+new or old: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last
+to lay the old aside.
+
+
+PROPRIETY
+
+_Propriety_ of style consists in using words in their proper sense and as
+in the case of purity, good usage is the principal test. Many words have
+acquired in actual use a meaning very different from what they once
+possessed. "Prevent" formerly meant to go before, and that meaning is
+implied in its Latin derivation. Now it means to put a stop to, to
+hinder. To attain propriety of style it is necessary to avoid confounding
+words derived from the same root; as _respectfully_ and _respectively_;
+it is necessary to use words in their accepted sense or the sense which
+everyday use sanctions.
+
+
+SIMPLICITY
+
+_Simplicity_ of style has reference to the choice of simple words and
+their unaffected presentation. Simple words should always be used in
+preference to compound, and complicated ones when they express the same
+or almost the same meaning. The Anglo-Saxon element in our language
+comprises the simple words which express the relations of everyday life,
+strong, terse, vigorous, the language of the fireside, street, market and
+farm. It is this style which characterizes the Bible and many of the
+great English classics such as the "Pilgrim's Progress," "Robinson
+Crusoe," and "Gulliver's Travels."
+
+
+CLEARNESS
+
+_Clearness_ of style should be one of the leading considerations with the
+beginner in composition. He must avoid all obscurity and ambiguous
+phrases. If he write a sentence or phrase and see that a meaning might be
+inferred from it otherwise than intended, he should re-write it in such a
+way that there can be no possible doubt. Words, phrases or clauses that
+are closely related should be placed as near to each other as possible
+that their mutual relation may clearly appear, and no word should be
+omitted that is necessary to the complete expression of thought.
+
+
+UNITY
+
+_Unity_ is that property of style which keeps all parts of a sentence in
+connection with the principal thought and logically subordinate to it. A
+sentence may be constructed as to suggest the idea of oneness to the
+mind, or it may be so loosely put together as to produce a confused and
+indefinite impression. Ideas that have but little connection should be
+expressed in separate sentences, and not crowded into one.
+
+Keep long parentheses out of the middle of your sentences and when you
+have apparently brought your sentences to a close don't try to continue
+the thought or idea by adding supplementary clauses.
+
+
+STRENGTH
+
+_Strength_ is that property of style which gives animation, energy and
+vivacity to language and sustains the interest of the reader. It is as
+necessary to language as good food is to the body. Without it the words
+are weak and feeble and create little or no impression on the mind. In
+order to have strength the language must be concise, that is, much
+expressed in little compass, you must hit the nail fairly on the head and
+drive it in straight. Go critically over what you write and strike out
+every word, phrase and clause the omission of which impairs neither the
+clearness nor force of the sentence and so avoid redundancy, tautology
+and circumlocution. Give the most important words the most prominent
+places, which, as has been pointed out elsewhere, are the beginning and
+end of the sentence.
+
+
+HARMONY
+
+_Harmony_ is that property of style which gives a smoothness to the
+sentence, so that when the words are sounded their connection becomes
+pleasing to the ear. It adapts sound to sense. Most people construct
+their sentences without giving thought to the way they will sound and as
+a consequence we have many jarring and discordant combinations such as
+"Thou strengthenedst thy position and actedst arbitrarily and
+derogatorily to my interests."
+
+Harsh, disagreeable verbs are liable to occur with the Quaker form _Thou_
+of the personal pronoun. This form is now nearly obsolete, the plural
+_you_ being almost universally used. To obtain harmony in the sentence
+long words that are hard to pronounce and combinations of letters of one
+kind should be avoided.
+
+
+EXPRESSIVE OF WRITER
+
+Style is expressive of the writer, as to who he is and what he is. As a
+matter of structure in composition it is the indication of what a man can
+do; as a matter of quality it is an indication of what he is.
+
+
+KINDS OF STYLE
+
+Style has been classified in different ways, but it admits of so many
+designations that it is very hard to enumerate a table. In fact there are
+as many styles as there are writers, for no two authors write _exactly_
+after the same form. However, we may classify the styles of the various
+authors in broad divisions as (1) dry, (2) plain, (3) neat, (4) elegant,
+(5) florid, (6) bombastic.
+
+The _dry_ style excludes all ornament and makes no effort to appeal to
+any sense of beauty. Its object is simply to express the thoughts in a
+correct manner. This style is exemplified by Berkeley.
+
+The _plain_ style does not seek ornamentation either, but aims to make
+clear and concise statements without any elaboration or embellishment.
+Locke and Whately illustrate the plain style.
+
+The _neat_ style only aspires after ornament sparingly. Its object is to
+have correct figures, pure diction and clear and harmonious sentences.
+Goldsmith and Gray are the acknowledged leaders in this kind of style.
+
+The _elegant_ style uses every ornament that can beautify and avoids
+every excess which would degrade. Macaulay and Addison have been
+enthroned as the kings of this style. To them all writers bend the knee
+in homage.
+
+The _florid_ style goes to excess in superfluous and superficial
+ornamentation and strains after a highly colored imagery. The poems of
+Ossian typify this style.
+
+The _bombastic_ is characterized by such an excess of words, figures and
+ornaments as to be ridiculous and disgusting. It is like a circus clown
+dressed up in gold tinsel Dickens gives a fine example of it in Sergeant
+Buzfuz' speech in the "Pickwick Papers." Among other varieties of style
+may be mentioned the colloquial, the laconic, the concise, the diffuse,
+the abrupt the flowing, the quaint, the epigrammatic, the flowery, the
+feeble, the nervous, the vehement, and the affected. The manner of these
+is sufficiently indicated by the adjective used to describe them.
+
+In fact style is as various as character and expresses the individuality
+of the writer, or in other words, as the French writer Buffon very aptly
+remarks, "the style is the man himself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SUGGESTIONS
+
+How to Write--What to Write--Correct Speaking and Speakers
+
+
+Rules of grammar and rhetoric are good in their own place; their laws
+must be observed in order to express thoughts and ideas in the right way
+so that they shall convey a determinate sense and meaning in a pleasing
+and acceptable manner. Hard and fast rules, however, can never make a
+writer or author. That is the business of old Mother Nature and nothing
+can take her place. If nature has not endowed a man with faculties to put
+his ideas into proper composition he cannot do so. He may have no ideas
+worthy the recording. If a person has not a thought to express, it cannot
+be expressed. Something cannot be manufactured out of nothing. The author
+must have thoughts and ideas before he can express them on paper. These
+come to him by nature and environment and are developed and strengthened
+by study. There is an old Latin quotation in regard to the poet which
+says "Poeta nascitur non fit" the translation of which is--the poet is
+born, not made. To a great degree the same applies to the author. Some
+men are great scholars as far as book learning is concerned, yet they
+cannot express themselves in passable composition. Their knowledge is
+like gold locked up in a chest where it is of no value to themselves or
+the rest of the world.
+
+The best way to learn to write is to sit down and write, just as the best
+way how to learn to ride a bicycle is to mount the wheel and pedal away.
+Write first about common things, subjects that are familiar to you. Try
+for instance an essay on a cat. Say something original about her. Don't
+say "she is very playful when young but becomes grave as she grows old."
+That has been said more than fifty thousand times before. Tell what you
+have seen the family cat doing, how she caught a mouse in the garret and
+what she did after catching it. Familiar themes are always the best for
+the beginner. Don't attempt to describe a scene in Australia if you have
+never been there and know nothing of the country. Never hunt for
+subjects, there are thousands around you. Describe what you saw yesterday--
+a fire, a runaway horse, a dog-fight on the street and be original in
+your description. Imitate the best writers in their _style_, but not in
+their exact words. Get out of the beaten path, make a pathway of your
+own.
+
+Know what you write about, write about what you know; this is a golden
+rule to which you must adhere. To know you must study. The world is an
+open book in which all who run may read. Nature is one great volume the
+pages of which are open to the peasant as well as to the peer. Study
+Nature's moods and tenses, for they are vastly more important than those
+of the grammar. Book learning is most desirable, but, after all, it is
+only theory and not practice. The grandest allegory in the English, in
+fact, in any language, was written by an ignorant, so-called ignorant,
+tinker named John Bunyan. Shakespeare was not a scholar in the sense we
+regard the term to-day, yet no man ever lived or probably ever will live
+that equalled or will equal him in the expression of thought. He simply
+read the book of nature and interpreted it from the standpoint of his own
+magnificent genius.
+
+Don't imagine that a college education is necessary to success as a
+writer. Far from it. Some of our college men are dead-heads, drones,
+parasites on the body social, not alone useless to the world but to
+themselves. A person may be so ornamental that he is valueless from any
+other standpoint. As a general rule ornamental things serve but little
+purpose. A man may know so much of everything that he knows little of
+anything. This may sound paradoxical, but, nevertheless, experience
+proves its truth.
+
+If you are poor that is not a detriment but an advantage. Poverty is an
+incentive to endeavor, not a drawback. Better to be born with a good,
+working brain in your head than with a gold spoon in your mouth. If the
+world had been depending on the so-called pets of fortune it would have
+deteriorated long ago.
+
+From the pits of poverty, from the arenas of suffering, from the hovels
+of neglect, from the backwood cabins of obscurity, from the lanes and
+by-ways of oppression, from the dingy garrets and basements of unending
+toil and drudgery have come men and women who have made history, made the
+world brighter, better, higher, holier for their existence in it, made of
+it a place good to live in and worthy to die in,--men and women who have
+hallowed it by their footsteps and sanctified it with their presence and
+in many cases consecrated it with their blood. Poverty is a blessing, not
+an evil, a benison from the Father's hand if accepted in the right spirit.
+Instead of retarding, it has elevated literature in all ages. Homer was a
+blind beggarman singing his snatches of song for the dole of charity;
+grand old Socrates, oracle of wisdom, many a day went without his dinner
+because he had not the wherewithal to get it, while teaching the youth of
+Athens. The divine Dante was nothing better than a beggar, houseless,
+homeless, friendless, wandering through Italy while he composed his
+immortal cantos. Milton, who in his blindness "looked where angels fear
+to tread," was steeped in poverty while writing his sublime conception,
+"Paradise Lost." Shakespeare was glad to hold and water the horses of
+patrons outside the White Horse Theatre for a few pennies in order to buy
+bread. Burns burst forth in never-dying song while guiding the ploughshare.
+Poor Heinrich Heine, neglected and in poverty, from his "mattress grave"
+of suffering in Paris added literary laurels to the wreath of his German
+Fatherland. In America Elihu Burritt, while attending the anvil, made
+himself a master of a score of languages and became the literary lion of
+his age and country.
+
+In other fields of endeavor poverty has been the spur to action. Napoleon
+was born in obscurity, the son of a hand-to-mouth scrivener in the backward
+island of Corsica. Abraham Lincoln, the boast and pride of America, the
+man who made this land too hot for the feet of slaves, came from a log
+cabin in the Ohio backwoods. So did James A. Garfield. Ulysses Grant came
+from a tanyard to become the world's greatest general. Thomas A. Edison
+commenced as a newsboy on a railway train.
+
+The examples of these men are incentives to action. Poverty thrust them
+forward instead of keeping them back. Therefore, if you are poor make
+your circumstances a means to an end. Have ambition, keep a goal in sight
+and bend every energy to reach that goal. A story is told of Thomas
+Carlyle the day he attained the highest honor the literary world could
+confer upon him when he was elected Lord Rector of Edinburgh University.
+After his installation speech, in going through the halls, he met a
+student seemingly deep in study. In his own peculiar, abrupt, crusty way
+the Sage of Chelsea interrogated the young man: "For what profession are
+you studying?" "I don't know," returned the youth. "You don't know,"
+thundered Carlyle, "young man, you are a fool." Then he went on to
+qualify his vehement remark, "My boy when I was your age, I was stooped
+in grinding, gripping poverty in the little village of Ecclefechan, in
+the wilds of [Transcriber's note: Part of word illegible]-frieshire,
+where in all the place only the minister and myself could read the Bible,
+yet poor and obscure as I was, in my mind's eye I saw a chair awaiting
+for me in the Temple of Fame and day and night and night and day I
+studied until I sat in that chair to-day as Lord Rector of Edinburgh
+University."
+
+Another Scotchman, Robert Buchanan, the famous novelist, set out for
+London from Glasgow with but half-a-crown in his pocket. "Here goes,"
+said he, "for a grave in Westminster Abbey." He was not much of a
+scholar, but his ambition carried him on and he became one of the great
+literary lions of the world's metropolis.
+
+Henry M. Stanley was a poorhouse waif whose real name was John Rowlands.
+He was brought up in a Welsh workhouse, but he had ambition, so he rose
+to be a great explorer, a great writer, became a member of Parliament and
+was knighted by the British Sovereign.
+
+Have ambition to succeed and you will succeed. Cut the word "failure" out
+of your lexicon. Don't acknowledge it. Remember
+
+  "In life's earnest battle they only prevail
+   Who daily march onward and never say fail."
+
+Let every obstacle you encounter be but a stepping stone in the path of
+onward progress to the goal of success.
+
+If untoward circumstances surround you, resolve to overcome them. Bunyan
+wrote the "Pilgrim's Progress" in Bedford jail on scraps of wrapping
+paper while he was half starved on a diet of bread and water. That
+unfortunate American genius, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote "The Raven," the most
+wonderful conception as well as the most highly artistic poem in all
+English literature, in a little cottage in the Fordham section of New
+York while he was in the direst straits of want. Throughout all his short
+and wonderfully brilliant career, poor Poe never had a dollar he could
+call his own. Such, however, was both his fault and his misfortune and he
+is a bad exemplar.
+
+Don't think that the knowledge of a library of books is essential to
+success as a writer. Often a multiplicity of books is confusing. Master a
+few good books and master them well and you will have all that is
+necessary. A great authority has said: "Beware of the man of one book,"
+which means that a man of one book is a master of the craft. It is
+claimed that a thorough knowledge of the Bible alone will make any person
+a master of literature. Certain it is that the Bible and Shakespeare
+constitute an epitome of the essentials of knowledge. Shakespeare
+gathered the fruitage of all who went before him, he has sown the seeds
+for all who shall ever come after him. He was the great intellectual
+ocean whose waves touch the continents of all thought.
+
+Books are cheap now-a-days, the greatest works, thanks to the printing
+press, are within the reach of all, and the more you read, the better,
+provided they are worth reading. Sometimes a man takes poison into his
+system unconscious of the fact that it is poison, as in the case of
+certain foods, and it is very hard to throw off its effects. Therefore,
+be careful in your choice of reading matter. If you cannot afford a full
+library, and as has been said, such is not necessary, select a few of the
+great works of the master minds, assimilate and digest them, so that they
+will be of advantage to your literary system. Elsewhere in this volume is
+given a list of some of the world's masterpieces from which you can make
+a selection.
+
+Your brain is a storehouse, don't put useless furniture into it to crowd
+it to the exclusion of what is useful. Lay up only the valuable and
+serviceable kind which you can call into requisition at any moment.
+
+As it is necessary to study the best authors in order to be a writer, so
+it is necessary to study the best speakers in order to talk with
+correctness and in good style. To talk rightly you must imitate the
+masters of oral speech. Listen to the best conversationalists and how
+they express themselves. Go to hear the leading lectures, speeches and
+sermons. No need to imitate the gestures of elocution, it is nature, not
+art, that makes the elocutionist and the orator. It is not _how_ a
+speaker expresses himself but the language which he uses and the manner
+of its use which should interest you. Have you heard the present day
+masters of speech? There have been past time masters but their tongues
+are stilled in the dust of the grave, and you can only read their
+eloquence now. You can, however, listen to the charm of the living. To
+many of us voices still speak from the grave, voices to which we have
+listened when fired with the divine essence of speech. Perhaps you have
+hung with rapture on the words of Beecher and Talmage. Both thrilled the
+souls of men and won countless thousands over to a living gospel. Both
+were masters of words, they scattered the flowers of rhetoric on the
+shrine of eloquence and hurled veritable bouquets at their audiences
+which were eagerly seized by the latter and treasured in the storehouse
+of memory. Both were scholars and philosophers, yet they were far surpassed
+by Spurgeon, a plain man of the people with little or no claim to
+education in the modern sense of the word. Spurgeon by his speech
+attracted thousands to his Tabernacle. The Protestant and Catholic, Turk,
+Jew and Mohammedan rushed to hear him and listened, entranced, to his
+language. Such another was Dwight L. Moody, the greatest Evangelist the
+world has ever known. Moody was not a man of learning; he commenced life
+as a shoe salesman in Chicago, yet no man ever lived who drew such
+audiences and so fascinated them with the spell of his speech. "Oh, that
+was personal magnetism," you will say, but it was nothing of the kind. It
+was the burning words that fell from the lips of these men, and the way,
+the manner, the force with which they used those words that counted and
+attracted the crowds to listen unto them. Personal magnetism or personal
+appearance entered not as factors into their success. Indeed as far as
+physique were concerned, some of them were handicapped. Spurgeon was a
+short, podgy, fat little man, Moody was like a country farmer, Talmage in
+his big cloak was one of the most slovenly of men and only Beecher was
+passable in the way of refinement and gentlemanly bearing. Physical
+appearance, as so many think, is not the sesame to the interest of an
+audience. Daniel O'Connell, the Irish tribune, was a homely, ugly,
+awkward, ungainly man, yet his words attracted millions to his side and
+gained for him the hostile ear of the British Parliament, he was a master
+of verbiage and knew just what to say to captivate his audiences.
+
+It is words and their placing that count on almost all occasions. No
+matter how refined in other respects the person may be, if he use words
+wrongly and express himself in language not in accordance with a proper
+construction, he will repel you, whereas the man who places his words
+correctly and employs language in harmony with the laws of good speech,
+let him be ever so humble, will attract and have an influence over you.
+
+The good speaker, the correct speaker, is always able to command
+attention and doors are thrown open to him which remain closed to others
+not equipped with a like facility of expression. The man who can talk
+well and to the point need never fear to go idle. He is required in
+nearly every walk of life and field of human endeavor, the world wants
+him at every turn. Employers are constantly on the lookout for good
+talkers, those who are able to attract the public and convince others by
+the force of their language. A man may be able, educated, refined, of
+unblemished character, nevertheless if he lack the power to express
+himself, put forth his views in good and appropriate speech he has to
+take a back seat, while some one with much less ability gets the
+opportunity to come to the front because he can clothe his ideas in ready
+words and talk effectively.
+
+You may again say that nature, not art, makes a man a fluent speaker; to
+a great degree this is true, but it is _art_ that makes him a _correct_
+speaker, and correctness leads to fluency. It is possible for everyone to
+become a correct speaker if he will but persevere and take a little pains
+and care.
+
+At the risk of repetition good advice may be here emphasized: Listen to
+the best speakers and note carefully the words which impress you most.
+Keep a notebook and jot down words, phrases, sentences that are in any
+way striking or out of the ordinary run. If you do not understand the
+exact meaning of a word you have heard, look it up in the dictionary.
+There are many words, called synonyms, which have almost a like
+signification, nevertheless, when examined they express different shades
+of meaning and in some cases, instead of being close related, are widely
+divergent. Beware of such words, find their exact meaning and learn to
+use them in their right places.
+
+Be open to criticism, don't resent it but rather invite it and look upon
+those as friends who point out your defects in order that you may remedy
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SLANG
+
+Origin--American Slang--Foreign Slang
+
+
+Slang is more or less common in nearly all ranks of society and in every
+walk of life at the present day. Slang words and expressions have crept
+into our everyday language, and so insiduously, that they have not been
+detected by the great majority of speakers, and so have become part and
+parcel of their vocabulary on an equal footing with the legitimate words
+of speech. They are called upon to do similar service as the ordinary
+words used in everyday conversation--to express thoughts and desires and
+convey meaning from one to another. In fact, in some cases, slang has
+become so useful that it has far outstripped classic speech and made for
+itself such a position in the vernacular that it would be very hard in
+some cases to get along without it. Slang words have usurped the place of
+regular words of language in very many instances and reign supreme in
+their own strength and influence.
+
+Cant and slang are often confused in the popular mind, yet they are not
+synonymous, though very closely allied, and proceeding from a common
+Gypsy origin. Cant is the language of a certain class--the peculiar
+phraseology or dialect of a certain craft, trade or profession, and is
+not readily understood save by the initiated of such craft, trade or
+profession. It may be correct, according to the rules of grammar, but it
+is not universal; it is confined to certain parts and localities and is
+only intelligible to those for whom it is intended. In short, it is an
+esoteric language which only the initiated can understand. The jargon, or
+patter, of thieves is cant and it is only understood by thieves who have
+been let into its significance; the initiated language of professional
+gamblers is cant, and is only intelligible to gamblers.
+
+On the other hand, slang, as it is nowadays, belongs to no particular class
+but is scattered all over and gets _entre_ into every kind of society and
+is understood by all where it passes current in everyday expression. Of
+course, the nature of the slang, to a great extent, depends upon the
+locality, as it chiefly is concerned with colloquialisms or words and
+phrases common to a particular section. For instance, the slang of London
+is slightly different from that of New York, and some words in the one city
+may be unintelligible in the other, though well understood in that in which
+they are current. Nevertheless, slang may be said to be universally
+understood. "To kick the bucket," "to cross the Jordan," "to hop the twig"
+are just as expressive of the departing from life in the backwoods of
+America or the wilds of Australia as they are in London or Dublin.
+
+Slang simply consists of words and phrases which pass current but are not
+refined, nor elegant enough, to be admitted into polite speech or
+literature whenever they are recognized as such. But, as has been said, a
+great many use slang without their knowing it as slang and incorporate it
+into their everyday speech and conversation.
+
+Some authors purposely use slang to give emphasis and spice in familiar and
+humorous writing, but they should not be imitated by the tyro. A master,
+such as Dickens, is forgivable, but in the novice it is unpardonable.
+
+There are several kinds of slang attached to different professions and
+classes of society. For instance, there is college slang, political
+slang, sporting slang, etc. It is the nature of slang to circulate freely
+among all classes, yet there are several kinds of this current form of
+language corresponding to the several classes of society. The two great
+divisions of slang are the vulgar of the uneducated and coarse-minded,
+and the high-toned slang of the so-called upper classes--the educated and
+the wealthy. The hoyden of the gutter does not use the same slang as my
+lady in her boudoir, but both use it, and so expressive is it that the
+one might readily understand the other if brought in contact. Therefore,
+there are what may be styled an ignorant slang and an educated slang--the
+one common to the purlieus and the alleys, the other to the parlor and
+the drawing-room.
+
+In all cases the object of slang is to express an idea in a more vigorous,
+piquant and terse manner than standard usage ordinarily admits. A school
+girl, when she wants to praise a baby, exclaims: "Oh, isn't he awfully
+cute!" To say that he is very nice would be too weak a way to express her
+admiration. When a handsome girl appears on the street an enthusiastic
+masculine admirer, to express his appreciation of her beauty, tells you:
+"She is a peach, a bird, a cuckoo," any of which accentuates his
+estimation of the young lady and is much more emphatic than saying: "She
+is a beautiful girl," "a handsome maiden," or "lovely young woman."
+
+When a politician defeats his rival he will tell you "it was a cinch," he
+had a "walk-over," to impress you how easy it was to gain the victory.
+
+Some slang expressions are of the nature of metaphors and are highly
+figurative. Such are "to pass in your checks," "to hold up," "to pull the
+wool over your eyes," "to talk through your hat," "to fire out," "to go
+back on," "to make yourself solid with," "to have a jag on," "to be
+loaded," "to freeze on to," "to bark up the wrong tree," "don't monkey
+with the buzz-saw," and "in the soup." Most slang had a bad origin. The
+greater part originated in the cant of thieves' Latin, but it broke away
+from this cant of malefactors in time and gradually evolved itself from
+its unsavory past until it developed into a current form of expressive
+speech. Some slang, however, can trace its origin back to very
+respectable sources.
+
+"Stolen fruits are sweet" may be traced to the Bible in sentiment.
+Proverbs, ix:17 has it: "Stolen waters are sweet." "What are you giving
+me," supposed to be a thorough Americanism, is based upon Genesis,
+xxxviii:16. The common slang, "a bad man," in referring to Western
+desperadoes, in almost the identical sense now used, is found in
+Spenser's _Faerie Queen_, Massinger's play _"A New Way to Pay Old
+Debts,_" and in Shakespeare's _"King Henry VIII_." The expression "to
+blow on," meaning to inform, is in Shakespeare's _"As You Like it_."
+"It's all Greek to me" is traceable to the play of _"Julius Caesar_."
+"All cry and no wool" is in Butler's _"Hudibras_." "Pious frauds,"
+meaning hypocrites, is from the same source. "Too thin," referring to an
+excuse, is from Smollett's "_Peregrine Pickle_." Shakespeare also used
+it.
+
+America has had a large share in contributing to modern slang. "The
+heathen Chinee," and "Ways that are dark, and tricks that are vain," are
+from Bret Harte's _Truthful James_. "Not for Joe," arose during the Civil
+War when one soldier refused to give a drink to another. "Not if I know
+myself" had its origin in Chicago. "What's the matter with----? He's all
+right," had its beginning in Chicago also and first was "What's the
+matter with Hannah." referring to a lazy domestic servant. "There's
+millions in it," and "By a large majority" come from Mark Twain's _Gilded
+Age_. "Pull down your vest," "jim-jams," "got 'em bad," "that's what's
+the matter," "go hire a hall," "take in your sign," "dry up," "hump
+yourself," "it's the man around the corner," "putting up a job," "put a
+head on him," "no back talk," "bottom dollar," "went off on his ear,"
+"chalk it down," "staving him off," "making it warm," "dropping him
+gently," "dead gone," "busted," "counter jumper," "put up or shut up,"
+"bang up," "smart Aleck," "too much jaw," "chin-music," "top heavy,"
+"barefooted on the top of the head," "a little too fresh," "champion
+liar," "chief cook and bottle washer," "bag and baggage," "as fine as
+silk," "name your poison," "died with his boots on," "old hoss," "hunkey
+dorey," "hold your horses," "galoot" and many others in use at present
+are all Americanisms in slang.
+
+California especially has been most fecund in this class of figurative
+language. To this State we owe "go off and die," "don't you forget it,"
+"rough deal," "square deal," "flush times," "pool your issues," "go bury
+yourself," "go drown yourself," "give your tongue a vacation," "a bad
+egg," "go climb a tree," "plug hats," "Dolly Vardens," "well fixed,"
+"down to bed rock," "hard pan," "pay dirt," "petered out," "it won't
+wash," "slug of whiskey," "it pans out well," and "I should smile."
+"Small potatoes, and few in the hill," "soft snap," "all fired," "gol
+durn it," "an up-hill job," "slick," "short cut," "guess not," "correct
+thing" are Bostonisms. The terms "innocent," "acknowledge the corn,"
+"bark up the wrong tree," "great snakes," "I reckon," "playing 'possum,"
+"dead shot," had their origin in the Southern States. "Doggone it," "that
+beats the Dutch," "you bet," "you bet your boots," sprang from New York.
+"Step down and out" originated in the Beecher trial, just as
+"brain-storm" originated in the Thaw trial.
+
+Among the slang phrases that have come directly to us from England may be
+mentioned "throw up the sponge," "draw it mild," "give us a rest," "dead
+beat," "on the shelf," "up the spout," "stunning," "gift of the gab,"
+etc.
+
+The newspapers are responsible for a large part of the slang. Reporters,
+staff writers, and even editors, put words and phrases into the mouths of
+individuals which they never utter. New York is supposed to be the
+headquarters of slang, particularly that portion of it known as the
+Bowery. All transgressions and corruptions of language are supposed to
+originate in that unclassic section, while the truth is that the laws of
+polite English are as much violated on Fifth Avenue. Of course, the
+foreign element mincing their "pidgin" English have given the Bowery an
+unenviable reputation, but there are just as good speakers of the
+vernacular on the Bowery as elsewhere in the greater city. Yet every
+inexperienced newspaper reporter thinks that it is incumbent on him to
+hold the Bowery up to ridicule and laughter, so he sits down, and out of
+his circumscribed brain, mutilates the English tongue (he can rarely coin
+a word), and blames the mutilation on the Bowery.
+
+'Tis the same with newspapers and authors, too, detracting the Irish
+race. Men and women who have never seen the green hills of Ireland, paint
+Irish characters as boors and blunderers and make them say ludicrous
+things and use such language as is never heard within the four walls of
+Ireland. 'Tis very well known that Ireland is the most learned country on
+the face of the earth--is, and has been. The schoolmaster has been abroad
+there for hundreds, almost thousands, of years, and nowhere else in the
+world to-day is the king's English spoken so purely as in the cities and
+towns of the little Western Isle.
+
+Current events, happenings of everyday life, often give rise to slang
+words, and these, after a time, come into such general use that they take
+their places in everyday speech like ordinary words and, as has been
+said, their users forget that they once were slang. For instance, the
+days of the Land League in Ireland originated the word _boycott_, which
+was the name of a very unpopular landlord, Captain Boycott. The people
+refused to work for him, and his crops rotted on the ground. From this
+time any one who came into disfavor and whom his neighbors refused to
+assist in any way was said to be boycotted. Therefore to boycott means to
+punish by abandoning or depriving a person of the assistance of others.
+At first it was a notoriously slang word, but now it is standard in the
+English dictionaries.
+
+Politics add to our slang words and phrases. From this source we get
+"dark horse," "the gray mare is the better horse," "barrel of money,"
+"buncombe," "gerrymander," "scalawag," "henchman," "logrolling," "pulling
+the wires," "taking the stump," "machine," "slate," etc.
+
+The money market furnishes us with "corner," "bull," "bear," "lamb,"
+"slump," and several others.
+
+The custom of the times and the requirements of current expression require
+the best of us to use slang words and phrases on occasions. Often we do
+not know they are slang, just as a child often uses profane words without
+consciousness of their being so. We should avoid the use of slang as much
+as possible, even when it serves to convey our ideas in a forceful
+manner. And when it has not gained a firm foothold in current speech it
+should be used not at all. Remember that most all slang is of vulgar
+origin and bears upon its face the bend sinister of vulgarity. Of the
+slang that is of good birth, pass it by if you can, for it is like a
+broken-down gentleman, of little good to any one. Imitate the great
+masters as much as you will in classical literature, but when it comes to
+their slang, draw the line. Dean Swift, the great Irish satirist, coined
+the word "phiz" for face. Don't imitate him. If you are speaking or
+writing of the beauty of a lady's face don't call it her "phiz." The
+Dean, as an intellectual giant, had a license to do so--you haven't.
+Shakespeare used the word "flush" to indicate plenty of money. Well, just
+remember there was only one Shakespeare, and he was the only one that had
+a right to use that word in that sense. You'll never be a Shakespeare,
+there will never be such another--Nature exhausted herself in producing
+him. Bulwer used the word "stretch" for hang, as to stretch his neck.
+Don't follow his example in such use of the word. Above all, avoid the
+low, coarse, vulgar slang, which is made to pass for wit among the
+riff-raff of the street. If you are speaking or writing of a person
+having died last night don't say or write: "He hopped the twig," or "he
+kicked the bucket." If you are compelled to listen to a person discoursing
+on a subject of which he knows little or nothing, don't say "He is
+talking through his hat." If you are telling of having shaken hands with
+Mr. Roosevelt don't say "He tipped me his flipper." If you are speaking
+of a wealthy man don't say "He has plenty of spondulix," or "the long
+green." All such slang is low, coarse and vulgar and is to be frowned
+upon on any and every occasion.
+
+If you use slang use the refined kind and use it like a gentleman, that
+it will not hurt or give offense to any one. Cardinal Newman defined a
+gentleman as he who never inflicts pain. Be a gentleman in your slang--
+never inflict pain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS
+
+Qualification--Appropriate Subjects--Directions
+
+
+The newspaper nowadays goes into every home in the land; what was
+formerly regarded as a luxury is now looked upon as a necessity. No
+matter how poor the individual, he is not too poor to afford a penny to
+learn, not alone what is taking place around him in his own immediate
+vicinity, but also what is happening in every quarter of the globe. The
+laborer on the street can be as well posted on the news of the day as the
+banker in his office. Through the newspaper he can feel the pulse of the
+country and find whether its vitality is increasing or diminishing; he
+can read the signs of the times and scan the political horizon for what
+concerns his own interests. The doings of foreign countries are spread
+before him and he can see at a glance the occurrences in the remotest
+corners of earth. If a fire occurred in London last night he can read
+about it at his breakfast table in New York this morning, and probably
+get a better account than the Londoners themselves. If a duel takes place
+in Paris he can read all about it even before the contestants have left
+the field.
+
+There are upwards of 3,000 daily newspapers in the United States, more
+than 2,000 of which are published in towns containing less than 100,000
+inhabitants. In fact, many places of less than 10,000 population can
+boast the publishing of a daily newspaper. There are more than 15,000
+weeklies published. Some of the so-called country papers wield quite an
+influence in their localities, and even outside, and are money-making
+agencies for their owners and those connected with them, both by way of
+circulation and advertisements.
+
+It is surprising the number of people in this country who make a living
+in the newspaper field. Apart from the regular toilers there are thousands
+of men and women who make newspaper work a side issue, who add tidy sums
+of "pin money" to their incomes by occasional contributions to the daily,
+weekly and monthly press. Most of these people are only persons of
+ordinary, everyday ability, having just enough education to express
+themselves intelligently in writing.
+
+It is a mistake to imagine, as so many do, that an extended education is
+necessary for newspaper work. Not at all! On the contrary, in some cases,
+a high-class education is a hindrance, not a help in this direction. The
+general newspaper does not want learned disquisitions nor philosophical
+theses; as its name implies, it wants news, current news, interesting
+news, something to appeal to its readers, to arouse them and rivet their
+attention. In this respect very often a boy can write a better article
+than a college professor. The professor would be apt to use words beyond
+the capacity of most of the readers, while the boy, not knowing such
+words, would probably simply tell what he saw, how great the damage was,
+who were killed or injured, etc., and use language which all would
+understand.
+
+Of course, there are some brilliant scholars, deeply-read men and women
+in the newspaper realm, but, on the whole, those who have made the
+greatest names commenced ignorant enough and most of them graduated by
+way of the country paper. Some of the leading writers of England and
+America at the present time started their literary careers by contributing
+to the rural press. They perfected and polished themselves as they went
+along until they were able to make names for themselves in universal
+literature.
+
+If you want to contribute to newspapers or enter the newspaper field as a
+means of livelihood, don't let lack of a college or university education
+stand in your way. As has been said elsewhere in this book, some of the
+greatest masters of English literature were men who had but little
+advantage in the way of book learning. Shakespeare, Bunyan, Burns, and
+scores of others, who have left their names indelibly inscribed on the
+tablets of fame, had little to boast of in the way of book education, but
+they had what is popularly known as "horse" sense and a good working
+knowledge of the world; in other words, they understood human nature, and
+were natural themselves. Shakespeare understood mankind because he was
+himself a man; hence he has portrayed the feelings, the emotions, the
+passions with a master's touch, delineating the king in his palace as true
+to nature as he has done the peasant in his hut. The monitor within his own
+breast gave him warning as to what was right and what was wrong, just as
+the daemon ever by the side of old Socrates whispered in his ear the course
+to pursue under any and all circumstances. Burns guiding the plough
+conceived thoughts and clothed them in a language which has never, nor
+probably never will be, surpassed by all the learning which art can confer.
+These men were natural, and it was the perfection of this naturality that
+wreathed their brows with the never-fading laurels of undying fame.
+
+If you would essay to write for the newspaper you must be natural and
+express yourself in your accustomed way without putting on airs or
+frills; you must not ape ornaments and indulge in bombast or rhodomontade
+which stamp a writer as not only superficial but silly. There is no room
+for such in the everyday newspaper. It wants facts stated in plain,
+unvarnished, unadorned language. True, you should read the best authors
+and, as far as possible, imitate their style, but don't try to literally
+copy them. Be yourself on every occasion--no one else.
+
+  Not like Homer would I write,
+  Not like Dante if I might,
+  Not like Shakespeare at his best,
+  Not like Goethe or the rest,
+  Like myself, however small,
+  Like myself, or not at all.
+
+Put yourself in place of the reader and write what will interest yourself
+and in such a way that your language will appeal to your own ideas of the
+fitness of things. You belong to the _great_ commonplace majority,
+therefore don't forget that in writing for the newspapers you are writing
+for that majority and not for the learned and aesthetic minority.
+
+Remember you are writing for the man on the street and in the street car,
+you want to interest him, to compel him to read what you have to say. He
+does not want a display of learning; he wants news about something which
+concerns himself, and you must tell it to him in a plain, simple manner
+just as you would do if you were face to face with him.
+
+What can you write about? Why about anything that will constitute current
+news, some leading event of the day, anything that will appeal to the
+readers of the paper to which you wish to submit it. No matter in what
+locality you may live, however backward it may be, you can always find
+something of genuine human interest to others. If there is no news
+happening, write of something that appeals to yourself. We are all
+constituted alike, and the chances are that what will interest you will
+interest others. Descriptions of adventure are generally acceptable. Tell
+of a fox hunt, or a badger hunt, or a bear chase.
+
+If there is any important manufacturing plant in your neighborhood
+describe it and, if possible, get photographs, for photography plays a
+very important part in the news items of to-day. If a "great" man lives
+near you, one whose name is on the tip of every tongue, go and get an
+interview with him, obtain his views on the public questions of the day,
+describe his home life and his surroundings and how he spends his time.
+
+Try and strike something germane to the moment, something that stands out
+prominently in the limelight of the passing show. If a noted personage,
+some famous man or woman, is visiting the country, it is a good time to
+write up the place from which he or she comes and the record he or she has
+made there. For instance, it was opportune to write of Sulu and the little
+Pacific archipelago during the Sultan's trip through the country. If an
+attempt is made to blow up an American battleship, say, in the harbor of
+Appia, in Samoa, it affords a chance to write about Samoa and Robert Louis
+Stephenson. When Manuel was hurled from the throne of Portugal it was a
+ripe time to write of Portugal and Portuguese affairs. If any great
+occurrence is taking place in a foreign country such as the crowning of a
+king or the dethronement of a monarch, it is a good time to write up the
+history of the country and describe the events leading up to the main
+issue. When a particularly savage outbreak occurs amongst wild tribes in
+the dependencies, such as a rising of the Manobos in the Philippines, it is
+opportune to write of such tribes and their surroundings, and the causes
+leading up to the revolt.
+
+Be constantly on the lookout for something that will suit the passing
+hour, read the daily papers and probably in some obscure corner you may
+find something that will serve you as a foundation for a good article--
+something, at least, that will give you a clue.
+
+Be circumspect in your selection of a paper to which to submit your copy.
+Know the tone and general import of the paper, its social leanings and
+political affiliations, also its religious sentiments, and, in fact, all
+the particulars you can regarding it. It would be injudicious for you to
+send an article on a prize fight to a religious paper or, _vice versa_,
+an account of a church meeting to the editor of a sporting sheet.
+
+If you get your copy back don't be disappointed nor yet disheartened.
+Perseverance counts more in the newspaper field than anywhere else, and
+only perseverance wins in the long run. You must become resilient; if you
+are pressed down, spring up again. No matter how many rebuffs you may
+receive, be not discouraged but call fresh energy to your assistance and
+make another stand. If the right stuff is in you it is sure to be
+discovered; your light will not remain long hidden under a bushel in the
+newspaper domain. If you can deliver the goods editors will soon be
+begging you instead of your begging them. Those men are constantly on the
+lookout for persons who can make good.
+
+Once you get into print the battle is won, for it will be an incentive to
+you to persevere and improve yourself at every turn. Go over everything
+you write, cut and slash and prune until you get it into as perfect form
+as possible. Eliminate every superfluous word and be careful to strike
+out all ambiguous expressions and references.
+
+If you are writing for a weekly paper remember it differs from a daily
+one. Weeklies want what will not alone interest the man on the street,
+but the woman at the fireside; they want out-of-the-way facts, curious
+scraps of lore, personal notes of famous or eccentric people, reminiscences
+of exciting experiences, interesting gleanings in life's numberless
+by-ways, in short, anything that will entertain, amuse, instruct the home
+circle. There is always something occurring in your immediate surroundings,
+some curious event or thrilling episode that will furnish you with data
+for an article. You must know the nature of the weekly to which you
+submit your copy the same as you must know the daily. For instance, the
+_Christian Herald_, while avowedly a religious weekly, treats such secular
+matter as makes the paper appeal to all. On its religious side it is
+_non-sectarian_, covering the broad field of Christianity throughout the
+world; on its secular side it deals with human events in such an impartial
+way that every one, no matter to what class they may belong or to what
+creed they may subscribe, can take a living, personal interest.
+
+The monthlies offer another attractive field for the literary aspirant.
+Here, again, don't think you must be an university professor to write for a
+monthly magazine. Many, indeed most, of the foremost magazine contributors
+are men and women who have never passed through a college except by going
+in at the front door and emerging from the back one. However, for the most
+part, they are individuals of wide experience who know the practical side
+of life as distinguished from the theoretical.
+
+The ordinary monthly magazine treats of the leading questions and issues
+which are engaging the attention of the world for the moment, great
+inventions, great discoveries, whatever is engrossing the popular mind
+for the time being, such as flying machines, battleships, sky-scrapers,
+the opening of mines, the development of new lands, the political issues,
+views of party leaders, character sketches of distinguished personages,
+etc. However, before trying your skill for a monthly magazine it would be
+well for you to have a good apprenticeship in writing for the daily
+press.
+
+Above all things, remember that perseverance is the key that opens the
+door of success. Persevere! If you are turned down don't get
+disheartened; on the contrary, let the rebuff act as a stimulant to
+further effort. Many of the most successful writers of our time have been
+turned down again and again. For days and months, and even years, some of
+them have hawked their wares from one literary door to another until they
+found a purchaser. You may be a great writer in embryo, but you will
+never develop into a fetus, not to speak of full maturity, unless you
+bring out what is in you. Give yourself a chance to grow and seize upon
+everything that will enlarge the scope of your horizon. Keep your eyes
+wide open and there is not a moment of the day in which you will not see
+something to interest you and in which you may be able to interest
+others. Learn, too, how to read Nature's book. There's a lesson in
+everything--in the stones, the grass, the trees, the babbling brooks and
+the singing birds. Interpret the lesson for yourself, then teach it to
+others. Always be in earnest in your writing; go about it in a determined
+kind of way, don't be faint-hearted or backward, be brave, be brave, and
+evermore be brave.
+
+  On the wide, tented field in the battle of life,
+    With an army of millions before you;
+  Like a hero of old gird your soul for the strife
+    And let not the foeman tramp o'er you;
+  Act, act like a soldier and proudly rush on
+    The most valiant in Bravery's van,
+  With keen, flashing sword cut your way to the front
+    And show to the world you're a _Man_.
+
+If you are of the masculine gender be a man in all things in the highest
+and best acceptation of the word. That is the noblest title you can
+boast, higher far than that of earl or duke, emperor or king. In the same
+way womanhood is the grandest crown the feminine head can wear. When the
+world frowns on you and everything seems to go wrong, possess your soul
+in patience and hope for the dawn of a brighter day. It will come. The
+sun is always shining behind the darkest clouds. When you get your
+manuscripts back again and again, don't despair, nor think the editor
+cruel and unkind. He, too, has troubles of his own. Keep up your spirits
+until you have made the final test and put your talents to a last analysis,
+then if you find you cannot get into print be sure that newspaper writing
+or literary work is not your _forte_, and turn to something else. If
+nothing better presents itself, try shoemaking or digging ditches.
+Remember honest labor, no matter how humble, is ever dignified. If you
+are a woman throw aside the pen, sit down and darn your brother's, your
+father's, or your husband's socks, or put on a calico apron, take soap
+and water and scrub the floor. No matter who you are do something useful.
+That old sophistry about the world owing you a living has been exploded
+long ago. The world does not owe you a living, but you owe it servitude,
+and if you do not pay the debt you are not serving the purpose of an
+all-wise Providence and filling the place for which you were created. It
+is for you to serve the world, to make it better, brighter, higher, holier,
+grander, nobler, richer, for your having lived in it. This you can do in
+no matter what position fortune has cast you, whether it be that of
+street laborer or president. Fight the good fight and gain the victory.
+
+  "Above all, to thine own self be true,
+   And 'twill follow as the night the
+   day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+CHOICE OF WORDS
+
+Small Words--Their Importance--The Anglo-Saxon Element
+
+
+In another place in this book advice has been given to never use a long
+word when a short one will serve the same purpose. This advice is to be
+emphasized. Words of "learned length and thundering sound" should be
+avoided on all possible occasions. They proclaim shallowness of intellect
+and vanity of mind. The great purists, the masters of diction, the
+exemplars of style, used short, simple words that all could understand;
+words about which there could be no ambiguity as to meaning. It must be
+remembered that by our words we teach others; therefore, a very great
+responsibility rests upon us in regard to the use of a right language. We
+must take care that we think and speak in a way so clear that there may
+be no misapprehension or danger of conveying wrong impressions by vague
+and misty ideas enunciated in terms which are liable to be misunderstood
+by those whom we address. Words give a body or form to our ideas, without
+which they are apt to be so foggy that we do not see where they are weak
+or false. We must make the endeavor to employ such words as will put the
+idea we have in our own mind into the mind of another. This is the
+greatest art in the world--to clothe our ideas in words clear and
+comprehensive to the intelligence of others. It is the art which the
+teacher, the minister, the lawyer, the orator, the business man, must
+master if they would command success in their various fields of endeavor.
+It is very hard to convey an idea to, and impress it on, another when he
+has but a faint conception of the language in which the idea is expressed;
+but it is impossible to convey it at all when the words in which it is
+clothed are unintelligible to the listener.
+
+If we address an audience of ordinary men and women in the English
+language, but use such words as they cannot comprehend, we might as well
+speak to them in Coptic or Chinese, for they will derive no benefit from
+our address, inasmuch as the ideas we wish to convey are expressed in
+words which communicate no intelligent meaning to their minds.
+
+Long words, learned words, words directly derived from other languages
+are only understood by those who have had the advantages of an extended
+education. All have not had such advantages. The great majority in this
+grand and glorious country of ours have to hustle for a living from an
+early age. Though education is free, and compulsory also, very many never
+get further than the "Three R's." These are the men with whom we have to
+deal most in the arena of life, the men with the horny palms and the iron
+muscles, the men who build our houses, construct our railroads, drive our
+street cars and trains, till our fields, harvest our crops--in a word,
+the men who form the foundation of all society, the men on whom the world
+depends to make its wheels go round. The language of the colleges and
+universities is not for them and they can get along very well without it;
+they have no need for it at all in their respective callings. The plain,
+simple words of everyday life, to which the common people have been used
+around their own firesides from childhood, are the words we must use in
+our dealings with them.
+
+Such words are understood by them and understood by the learned as well;
+why then not use them universally and all the time? Why make a one-sided
+affair of language by using words which only one class of the people, the
+so-called learned class, can understand? Would it not be better to use,
+on all occasions, language which the both classes can understand? If we
+take the trouble to investigate we shall find that the men who exerted
+the greatest sway over the masses and the multitude as orators, lawyers,
+preachers and in other public capacities, were men who used very simple
+language. Daniel Webster was among the greatest orators this country has
+produced. He touched the hearts of senates and assemblages, of men and
+women with the burning eloquence of his words. He never used a long word
+when he could convey the same, or nearly the same, meaning with a short
+one. When he made a speech he always told those who put it in form for
+the press to strike out every long word. Study his speeches, go over all
+he ever said or wrote, and you will find that his language was always
+made up of short, clear, strong terms, although at times, for the sake of
+sound and oratorical effect, he was compelled to use a rather long word,
+but it was always against his inclination to do so, and where was the man
+who could paint, with words, as Webster painted! He could picture things
+in a way so clear that those who heard him felt that they had seen that
+of which he spoke.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was another who stirred the souls of men, yet he was not
+an orator, not a scholar; he did not write M.A. or Ph.D. after his name,
+or any other college degree, for he had none. He graduated from the
+University of Hard Knocks, and he never forgot this severe _Alma Mater_
+when he became President of the United States. He was just as plain, I
+just as humble, as in the days when he split rails or plied a boat on the
+Sangamon. He did not use big words, but he used the words of the people,
+and in such a way as to make them beautiful. His Gettysburg address is an
+English classic, one of the great masterpieces of the language.
+
+From the mere fact that a word is short it does not follow that it is
+always clear, but it is true that nearly all clear words are short, and
+that most of the long words, especially those which we get from other
+languages, are misunderstood to a great extent by the ordinary rank and
+file of the people. Indeed, it is to be doubted if some of the "scholars"
+using them, fully understand their import on occasions. A great many such
+words admit of several interpretations. A word has to be in use a great
+deal before people get thoroughly familiar with its meaning. Long words,
+not alone obscure thought and make the ideas hazy, but at times they tend
+to mix up things in such a way that positively harmful results follow
+from their use.
+
+For instance, crime can be so covered with the folds of long words as to
+give it a different appearance. Even the hideousness of sin can be cloaked
+with such words until its outlines look like a thing of beauty. When a bank
+cashier makes off with a hundred thousand dollars we politely term his
+crime _defalcation_ instead of plain _theft_, and instead of calling
+himself a _thief_ we grandiosely allude to him as a _defaulter_. When we
+see a wealthy man staggering along a fashionable thoroughfare under the
+influence of alcohol, waving his arms in the air and shouting boisterously,
+we smile and say, poor gentleman, he is somewhat _exhilarated_; or at worst
+we say, he is slightly _inebriated_; but when we see a poor man who has
+fallen from grace by putting an "enemy into his mouth to steal away his
+brain" we express our indignation in the simple language of the words:
+"Look at the wretch; he is dead drunk."
+
+When we find a person in downright lying we cover the falsehood with the
+finely-spun cloak of the word _prevarication_. Shakespeare says, "a rose
+by any other name would smell as sweet," and by a similar sequence, a
+lie, no matter by what name you may call it, is always a lie and should
+be condemned; then why not simply call it a lie? Mean what you say and
+say what you mean; call a spade a spade, it is the best term you can
+apply to the implement.
+
+When you try to use short words and shun long ones in a little while you
+will find that you can do so with ease. A farmer was showing a horse to a
+city-bred gentleman. The animal was led into a paddock in which an old
+sow-pig was rooting. "What a fine quadruped!" exclaimed the city man.
+
+"Which of the two do you mean, the pig or the horse?" queried the farmer,
+"for, in my opinion, both of them are fine quadrupeds."
+
+Of course the visitor meant the horse, so it would have been much better
+had he called the animal by its simple; ordinary name--, there would have
+been no room for ambiguity in his remark. He profited, however, by the
+incident, and never called a horse a quadruped again.
+
+Most of the small words, the simple words, the beautiful words which
+express so much within small bounds belong to the pure Anglo-Saxon element
+of our language. This element has given names to the heavenly bodies, the
+sun, moon and stars; to three out of the four elements, earth, fire and
+water; three out of the four seasons, spring, summer and winter. Its simple
+words are applied to all the natural divisions of time, except one, as day,
+night, morning, evening, twilight, noon, mid-day, midnight, sunrise and
+sunset. The names of light, heat, cold, frost, rain, snow, hail, sleet,
+thunder, lightning, as well as almost all those objects which form the
+component parts of the beautiful, as expressed in external scenery, such as
+sea and land, hill and dale, wood and stream, etc., are Anglo-Saxon. To
+this same language we are indebted for those words which express the
+earliest and dearest connections, and the strongest and most powerful
+feelings of Nature, and which, as a consequence, are interwoven with the
+fondest and most hallowed associations. Of such words are father, mother,
+husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, child, home, kindred,
+friend, hearth, roof and fireside.
+
+The chief emotions of which we are susceptible are expressed in the same
+language--love, hope, fear, sorrow, shame, and also the outward signs by
+which these emotions are indicated, as tear, smile, laugh, blush, weep,
+sigh, groan. Nearly all our national proverbs are Anglo-Saxon. Almost all
+the terms and phrases by which we most energetically express anger,
+contempt and indignation are of the same origin.
+
+What are known as the Smart Set and so-called polite society, are
+relegating a great many of our old Anglo-Saxon words into the shade,
+faithful friends who served their ancestors well. These self-appointed
+arbiters of diction regard some of the Anglo-Saxon words as too coarse, too
+plebeian for their aesthetic tastes and refined ears, so they are
+eliminating them from their vocabulary and replacing them with mongrels of
+foreign birth and hybrids of unknown origin. For the ordinary people,
+however, the man in the street or in the field, the woman in the kitchen or
+in the factory, they are still tried and true and, like old friends, should
+be cherished and preferred to all strangers, no matter from what source the
+latter may spring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ENGLISH LANGUAGE
+
+Beginning--Different Sources--The Present
+
+
+The English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies
+throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the United
+States of America. It sprang from the German tongue spoken by the Teutons,
+who came over to Britain after the conquest of that country by the Romans.
+These Teutons comprised Angles, Saxons, Jutes and several other tribes
+from the northern part of Germany. They spoke different dialects, but
+these became blended in the new country, and the composite tongue came to
+be known as the Anglo-Saxon which has been the main basis for the language
+as at present constituted and is still the prevailing element. Therefore
+those who are trying to do away with some of the purely Anglo-Saxon
+words, on the ground that they are not refined enough to express their
+aesthetic ideas, are undermining main props which are necessary for the
+support of some important parts in the edifice of the language.
+
+The Anglo-Saxon element supplies the essential parts of speech, the
+article, pronoun of all kinds, the preposition, the auxiliary verbs, the
+conjunctions, and the little particles which bind words into sentences and
+form the joints, sinews and ligaments of the language. It furnishes the
+most indispensable words of the vocabulary. (See Chap. XIII.) Nowhere is
+the beauty of Anglo-Saxon better illustrated than in the Lord's Prayer.
+Fifty-four words are pure Saxon and the remaining ones could easily be
+replaced by Saxon words. The gospel of St. John is another illustration of
+the almost exclusive use of Anglo-Saxon words. Shakespeare, at his best, is
+Anglo-Saxon. Here is a quotation from the _Merchant of Venice_, and of the
+fifty-five words fifty-two are Anglo-Saxon, the remaining three French:
+
+  All that glitters is not gold--
+  Often have you heard that told;
+    Many a man his life hath sold,
+    But my outside to behold.
+  Guilded _tombs_ do worms infold.
+    Had you been as wise as bold,
+    Young in limbs, in _judgment_ old,
+    Your answer had not been inscrolled--
+  Fare you well, your _suit_ is cold.
+
+The lines put into the mouth of Hamlet's father in fierce intenseness,
+second only to Dante's inscription on the gate of hell, have one hundred
+and eight Anglo-Saxon and but fifteen Latin words.
+
+The second constituent element of present English is Latin which comprises
+those words derived directly from the old Roman and those which came
+indirectly through the French. The former were introduced by the Roman
+Christians, who came to England at the close of the sixth century under
+Augustine, and relate chiefly to ecclesiastical affairs, such as saint from
+_sanctus_, religion from _religio_, chalice from _calix_, mass from
+_missa_, etc. Some of them had origin in Greek, as priest from _presbyter_,
+which in turn was a direct derivative from the Greek _presbuteros_, also
+deacon from the Greek _diakonos_.
+
+The largest class of Latin words are those which came through the
+Norman-French, or Romance. The Normans had adopted, with the Christian
+religion, the language, laws and arts of the Romanized Gauls and Romanized
+Franks, and after a residence of more than a century in France they
+successfully invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror and a new
+era began. The French Latinisms can be distinguished by the spelling. Thus
+Saviour comes from the Latin _Salvator_ through the French _Sauveur_;
+judgment from the Latin _judiclum_ through the French _jugement_; people,
+from the Latin _populus_, through the French _peuple_, etc.
+
+For a long time the Saxon and Norman tongues refused to coalesce and were
+like two distinct currents flowing in different directions. Norman was
+spoken by the lords and barons in their feudal castles, in parliament and
+in the courts of justice. Saxon by the people in their rural homes, fields
+and workshops. For more than three hundred years the streams flowed apart,
+but finally they blended, taking in the Celtic and Danish elements, and as
+a result came the present English language with its simple system of
+grammatical inflection and its rich vocabulary.
+
+The father of English prose is generally regarded as Wycliffe, who
+translated the Bible in 1380, while the paternal laurels in the secular
+poetical field are twined around the brows of Chaucer.
+
+Besides the Germanic and Romanic, which constitute the greater part of
+the English language, many other tongues have furnished their quota. Of
+these the Celtic is perhaps the oldest. The Britons at Caesar's invasion,
+were a part of the Celtic family. The Celtic idiom is still spoken in two
+dialects, the Welsh in Wales, and the Gaelic in Ireland and the Highlands
+of Scotland. The Celtic words in English, are comparatively few; cart,
+dock, wire, rail, rug, cradle, babe, grown, griddle, lad, lass, are some
+in most common use.
+
+The Danish element dates from the piratical invasions of the ninth and
+tenth centuries. It includes anger, awe, baffle, bang, bark, bawl,
+blunder, boulder, box, club, crash, dairy, dazzle, fellow, gable, gain,
+ill, jam, kidnap, kill, kidney, kneel, limber, litter, log, lull, lump,
+mast, mistake, nag, nasty, niggard, horse, plough, rug, rump, sale,
+scald, shriek, skin, skull, sledge, sleigh, tackle, tangle, tipple,
+trust, viking, window, wing, etc.
+
+From the Hebrew we have a large number of proper names from Adam and Eve
+down to John and Mary and such words as Messiah, rabbi, hallelujah,
+cherub, seraph, hosanna, manna, satan, Sabbath, etc.
+
+Many technical terms and names of branches of learning come from the Greek.
+In fact, nearly all the terms of learning and art, from the alphabet to the
+highest peaks of metaphysics and theology, come directly from the Greek--
+philosophy, logic, anthropology, psychology, aesthetics, grammar,
+rhetoric, history, philology, mathematics, arithmetic, astronomy, anatomy,
+geography, stenography, physiology, architecture, and hundreds more in
+similar domains; the subdivisions and ramifications of theology as
+exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics, polemics, dogmatics, ethics,
+homiletics, etc., are all Greek.
+
+The Dutch have given us some modern sea terms, as sloop, schooner, yacht
+and also a number of others as boom, bush, boor, brandy, duck, reef,
+skate, wagon. The Dutch of Manhattan island gave us boss, the name for
+employer or overseer, also cold slaa (cut cabbage and vinegar), and a
+number of geographical terms.
+
+Many of our most pleasing euphonic words, especially in the realm of
+music, have been given to us directly from the Italian. Of these are
+piano, violin, orchestra, canto, allegro, piazza, gazette, umbrella,
+gondola, bandit, etc.
+
+Spanish has furnished us with alligator, alpaca, bigot, cannibal, cargo,
+filibuster, freebooter, guano, hurricane, mosquito, negro, stampede,
+potato, tobacco, tomato, tariff, etc.
+
+From Arabic we have several mathematical, astronomical, medical and
+chemical terms as alcohol, alcove, alembic, algebra, alkali, almanac,
+assassin, azure, cipher, elixir, harem, hegira, sofa, talisman, zenith
+and zero.
+
+Bazaar, dervish, lilac, pagoda, caravan, scarlet, shawl, tartar, tiara
+and peach have come to us from the Persian.
+
+Turban, tulip, divan and firman are Turkish.
+
+Drosky, knout, rouble, steppe, ukase are Russian.
+
+The Indians have helped us considerably and the words they have given us
+are extremely euphonic as exemplified in the names of many of our rivers
+and States, as Mississippi, Missouri, Minnehaha, Susquehanna, Monongahela,
+Niagara, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, etc. In
+addition to these proper names we have from the Indians wigwam, squaw,
+hammock, tomahawk, canoe, mocassin, hominy, etc.
+
+There are many hybrid words in English, that is, words, springing from two
+or more different languages. In fact, English has drawn from all sources,
+and it is daily adding to its already large family, and not alone is it
+adding to itself, but it is spreading all over the world and promises to
+take in the entire human family beneath its folds ere long. It is the
+opinion of many that English, in a short time, will become the universal
+language. It is now being taught as a branch of the higher education in the
+best colleges and universities of Europe and in all commercial cities in
+every land throughout the world. In Asia it follows the British sway and
+the highways of commerce through the vast empire of East India with its two
+hundred and fifty millions of heathen and Mohammedan inhabitants. It is
+largely used in the seaports of Japan and China, and the number of natives
+of these countries who are learning it is increasing every day. It is
+firmly established in South Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and in many of
+the islands of the Indian and South Seas. It is the language of Australia,
+New Zealand, Tasmania, and Christian missionaries are introducing it into
+all the islands of Polynesia. It may be said to be the living commercial
+language of the North American continent, from Baffin's Bay to the Gulf of
+Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and it is spoken largely in
+many of the republics of South America. It is not limited by parallels of
+latitude, or meridians of longitude. The two great English-speaking
+countries, England and the United States, are disseminating it north,
+south, east and west over the entire world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE
+
+Great Authors--Classification--The World's Best Books.
+
+
+The Bible is the world's greatest book. Apart from its character as a work
+of divine revelation, it is the most perfect literature extant.
+
+Leaving out the Bible the three greatest works are those of Homer, Dante
+and Shakespeare. These are closely followed by the works of Virgil and
+Milton.
+
+
+INDISPENSABLE BOOKS
+
+Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Goethe.
+
+(The best translation of _Homer_ for the ordinary reader is by Chapman.
+Norton's translation of _Dante_ and Taylor's translation of Goethe's
+_Faust_ are recommended.)
+
+
+A GOOD LIBRARY
+
+Besides the works mentioned everyone should endeavor to have the following:
+
+_Plutarch's Lives_, _Meditations of Marcus Aurelius_, _Chaucer_, _Imitation
+of Christ_ (Thomas a Kempis), _Holy Living and Holy Dying_ (Jeremy Taylor),
+_Pilgrim's Progress, Macaulay's Essays, Bacon's Essays, Addison's Essays,
+Essays of Elia_ (Charles Lamb), _Les Miserables_ (Hugo), _Heroes and Hero
+Worship_ (Carlyle), _Palgrave's Golden Treasury_, _Wordsworth_, _Vicar of
+Wakefield_, _Adam Bede_ (George Eliot), _Vanity Fair_ (Thackeray),
+_Ivanhoe_ (Scott), _On the Heights_ (Auerbach), _Eugenie Grandet_ (Balzac),
+_Scarlet Letter_ (Hawthorne), _Emerson's Essays_, _Boswell's Life of
+Johnson_, _History of the English People_ (Green), _Outlines of Universal
+History, Origin of Species, Montaigne's Essays, Longfellow, Tennyson,
+Browning, Whittier, Ruskin, Herbert Spencer_.
+
+A good encyclopoedia is very desirable and a reliable dictionary
+indispensable.
+
+
+MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
+
+_Scarlet Letter, Parkman's Histories, Motley's Dutch Republic, Grant's
+Memoirs, Franklin's Autobiography, Webster's Speeches, Lowell's Bigelow
+Papers_, also his _Critical Essays_, _Thoreau's Walden_, _Leaves of Grass_
+(Whitman), _Leather-stocking Tales_ (Cooper), _Autocrat of the Breakfast
+Table_, _Ben Hur_ and _Uncle Tom's Cabin_.
+
+
+TEN GREATEST AMERICAN POETS
+
+Bryant, Poe, Whittier, Longfellow, Lowell, Emerson, Whitman, Lanier,
+Aldrich and Stoddard.
+
+
+TEN GREATEST ENGLISH POETS
+
+Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley,
+Tennyson, Browning.
+
+
+TEN GREATEST ENGLISH ESSAYISTS
+
+Bacon, Addison, Steele, Macaulay, Lamb, Jeffrey, De Quincey, Carlyle,
+Thackeray and Matthew Arnold.
+
+
+BEST PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE
+
+In order of merit are: _Hamlet_, _King Lear_, _Othello_, _Antony and
+Cleopatra_, _Macbeth_, _Merchant of Venice_, _Henry IV_, _As You Like It_,
+_Winter's Tale_, _Romeo and Juliet_, _Midsummer Night's Dream_, _Twelfth
+Night_, _Tempest_.
+
+
+ONLY THE GOOD
+
+If you are not able to procure a library of the great masterpieces, get
+at least a few. Read them carefully, intelligently and with a view to
+enlarging your own literary horizon. Remember a good book cannot be read
+too often, one of a deteriorating influence should not be read at all.
+In literature, as in all things else, the good alone should prevail.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's How to Speak and Write Correctly, by Joseph Devlin
+
+Poster's Note: the words "encyclopoedia", "insiduously", and "Synechdoche"
+are thus in the original printing, aa are the spaces between "B. A." &c.
+"Insiduously" and "Synechdoche" are valid variant spellings.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO SPEAK AND WRITE ***
+
+This file should be named 6409.txt or 6409.zip
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