How to Speak and Write Correctly

HARMONY

_Harmony_ is that property of  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

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

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 s as there are writers, for no two authors write _exactly_
after the same form. However, we may classify the s of the various
authors in broad divisions as (1) dry, (2) plain, (3) neat, (4) elegant,
(5) florid, (6) bombastic.

The _dry_  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  is exemplified by Berkeley.

The _plain_  does not seek ornamentation either, but aims to make
clear and concise statements without any elaboration or embellishment.
Locke and Whately illustrate the plain .

The _neat_  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 .

The _elegant_  uses every ornament that can beautify and avoids
every excess which would degrade. Macaulay and Addison have been
enthroned as the kings of this . To them all writers bend the knee
in homage.

The _florid_  goes to excess in superfluous and superficial
ornamentation and strains after a highly colored imagery. The poems of
Ossian typify this .

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 "ickwick Papers." Among other varieties of
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  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  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 "oeta 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 __, 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,
"aradise 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 "ilgrim'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 . 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 d 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_." "ious 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_. "ull 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 , but don't try to literally
copy them. Be yourself on every occasion--no one else.

[INDENT]  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.[/INDENT]

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.

[INDENT]  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_.[/INDENT]

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 , 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:

[INDENT]  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.[/INDENT]

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.

It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, as for all
purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only about [B][COLOR="Red"]2,000[/COLOR][/B]
different words are required.

[COLOR="Yellow"]2000[/COLOR], that's not too many. the next step for me is I have to learn how to place them. so, my dear moderator, please corret mine whenever I make a mistake, thanks a lot!