plicity of words, but wanting in that noble simplicity which might have been the result of a different course of political events.
But let us not be among the croakers. Bad as the case is, it is not entirely hopeless. There are in various quarters symptoms of a growing partiality for words of native stock. Besides this, the very evil complained of is not without compensating advantages. One advantage of this facility with which we borrow foreign words, is that we have thereby become, beyond all nations, rich in synonyms. For the same idea, in almost numberless instances, we have two, and sometimes even three terms, exactly equivalent and equally legitimate. This is a decided advantage, saving oftentimes tiresome and inelegant repetitions. The writer who has tired his readers with the term "native language," may take refuge, as in this chapter I have had frequent occasion to do, in the "mother tongue." The idea is kept up, but the tautology is spared. Moreover, it frequently happens in these cases, that of two words of different origin, used to express the same general idea, the one has acquired by usage a slight shade of meaning different from the other, so delicate and evanescent as scarcely to be defined, and yet perceptible to a cultivated taste, and beautiful in proportion to its delicacy. How logically the same, for instance, and yet how different to the loving heart, are the words "maternal" and "motherly." It was his skill in availing himself of this peculiarity of the language, that among other things enabled our own Washington Irving to express with such marvellous exactness the endlessly varying shades of human thought and feeling—that enabled him to pass from the grave to the gay, from the didactic to the playful, from the humorous to the sublime, with an ease that seems only equalled by the movements of the mind itself.
Far be it from me then to join the ranks of those who would dismiss with a rude rebuff these Latin-English intruders. They are now here. They form a large and valuable element of our language. They are a part of our national wealth, and they should be cherished and protected accordingly. All I would ask, is to protest against the unnecessary introduction of more, and to insist upon making the native element of the language a subject of more distinct attention than it has hitherto received in our schemes of education.
Abbreviations, when requiring periods, | Akenside's Pleasures of the Imagina
Absolute case, requiring comma, 30.
Abstract subjects for compositions,
302.
Accents, in punctuation, 57; accents at
convenient intervals promote the har-
mony of the sentence, 136; needed
near the close of a sentence, 138; in-
terval between accents, 211; accent
not arbitrary, 212; a paramount law
in all speech, 212; names of the accen-
tual divisions, 212; place of the accent
important in giving ease and pleasure
to pronunciation, 212; rhythm de-
pendent upon the proper adjustment
of the accents, 213; accentual verse
characteristic of modern poetry, 235,
Acts, in dramatic poetry, 255.
Addison, example of misplaced adverb,
99; misplaced pronoun, 107; inappro-
priate simile, 154; mixed metaphor,
158; purity of his English, 361.
Aldus Manutius, inventor of the art
of punctuation, 18.
Alford, example of misplaced adverb,
99, 100; adverbial clause misplaced,
102; squinting construction, 104; mis-
placement of pronouns, 107; The
Queen's English, 338.
Allegory, 159–161; difference between
allegory and metaphor, 159; points in
common in metaphor and allegory,
159, 160; allegory, parable, and fable,
points in common, 160; rule for alle-
gory, 161; scientific allegory by Prof.
Forbes, 161.
Alliteration of the Saxon verse, 222.
Alone, how differing from only, 80.
Alternatives, used incorrectly, 78.
Amatory odes, 257.
Ambiguity, sentences made ambiguous
by faulty arrangement, 99-105; by
misplacement of pronouns, 107-109.
Anacreon, his odes, 257.
Addresses, 288; college addresses, 289. Anapæst, 216; anapæstic verse, 216–218;
Admire, meaning changed, 75.
Adroitness, 70.
Adverbial clauses, position of, 101.
Adverbs, position in the sentence im-
portant to clearness, 99; position of
only, wholly, at least, etc., 100.
Eschylus, 255.
Esop's Fables, 160.
Etna, Sir Richard Blackmore's descrip-
tion of it, belittling, 194.
Affectation in using foreign words, 68.
Aggravates, used incorrectly, 77.
anapæstic metres for hymns, how
designated, 238.
And, management of, 128.
Anglo-Saxon, language, 343; conquest
of Britain, 350; linguistic results, 351,
Annals, 284.
Antithesis, 161-163; effect of it, 161;
rule in regard to it, 162; examples,
162; caution in regard to the use of
antithesis, 162; relation to epigram,
163; example of antithesis, 182.
Apostrophe, 57; a figure of speech, 167;
akin to exclamation, 167; examples,
167.
Apposition, nouns in, require comma,
29; reflex apposition requiring dash,
47.
Apt, used incorrectly, 78.
Arabians, sometimes supposed to be the
inventors of rhyme, 220; rhyme ex-
tending to more than three syllables,
222.
Arabic figures, when requiring pe-
riods, 41.
Architecture, compared to rhetoric, 187.
Aristophanes, of Alexandria, an in-
ventor of points, 18; the dramatist,
Arts, Fine, poetry one of them, 251.
Aryan, language, 343.
As and like, confounded, 76.
Asiatic Society, the originator of San-
scrit studies, 339, 340.
Aside, set aside, used incorrectly, 79.
Assassinate, how differing from kill
and murder, 80.
Attitude, of devotion, how different
from posture of devotion, 79.
Authority, what constitutes authority
for a word, 71, 72.
Autobiography, 285.
Avocation, distinguished from vocation,
76.
Avow, acknowledge, confess, how differ-
ing, 80.
Awfulness, an element of the sublime,
190; objects which inspire awe, 190;
night awful, 190.
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colors, 196; color in the natural world
an evidence of God's goodness, 197;
figure an element of beauty, 197;
regularity pleasing, 197; variety pleas-
ing, 197; curved lines beautiful, 198;
motion a source of beauty, 198; com-
plex beauty, 198; beauty of counte-
tenance, 199; moral beauty, 199; the
beautiful in writing, 200; beauty of
subject, 200; difference between the
beautiful and the scientific, 200;
beauty of expression, 200; concise-
ness not necessary to beauty, 201.
Beecher, Henry Ward, specimen of wit,
Belittling comparisons, 154; details,
193.
Besides and except confounded, 76.
Bible, and other words intended to desig-
nate it, require a capital, 62; exam-
ple of metaphor, 171, 172, 176, 177; per-
sonification, 172, 179; climax, 174;
interrogation, 175; simile, 177; Eng-
lish Bible, the best specimen of pure
English, 360.
Biography, 285.
Blackmore, Sir Richard, description
Blair, remarks on synonyms, 80; on
position of adverbs, 100; on supple-
mentary clauses, 122; on omission
of connectives, 128; on letter-writing,
262; on historical composition, 281.
Blank verse, 225, 226; not always iam-
bic or pentameter, 227.
Boker, instance of euphony, 135; sound
adapted to sense, 138, 139; example of
alliteration, 222; Song of the Earth,
specimen of blank verse not iambic
or pentameter. 226: specimen of mixed
verse in Ivory-Carver, 228; specimens
of versification, 242, 243.
Bonar, a hymn writer, 257.
Brace, in punctuation, 57.
Brackets, 52, 53; different from paren-
thesis, 52; relations of brackets, pa-
rentheses, dashes, and commas, 52;
use in dictionaries, 53; use in critical
editions, 53; in plays, 53.
Bridge of Sighs, versification of 219.
Britain, Great, its settlement and an-
guage, 348, 349.
Browning, examples of ambiguity, 106;
metaphor, 178, 182.
Bryant, personification, 173; versifica-
tion, 245; Thanatopsis, 260.
229; high character of his verse, 236.
Chester, origin of the word, 349.
Classic verse, different from English,
226, 227.
Bugle Song, Tennyson, an instance | Chaucer, inventor of the rhythm-royal,
of sound adapted to sense, 139.
Bulwer, example of antithesis and sim-
ile, 163; metaphor, 180.
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the best
allegory in all literature, 160; purity
of his English, 361.
Burlesque, similes intended for, 151,153.
Burns, examples of sectional rhymes,
225; specimens of versification, 243;
as a writer of songs, 257.
Burton, Tom Flynn's bewilderment at
the misuse of he and his, 107.
By, distinguished from with, 81.
Byron, example of apostrophe, 167;
metaphor, 181; description of thun-
der-storm, 193; a passage from Byron
turned into prose, 208; example of
triple rhymes, 21, 222; sectional
rhymes, 225; wrote chiefly in the
Spenserian stanza, 229; example, 241;
anapæstic verse, 243.
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Claudian, sublime passage spoiled by
belittling details, 194.
Clauses, intermediate, 22; dependent,
23; relative, 24; co-ordinate, 26;
inverted, 30; having a common de-
pendence, 33; clause additional, 35;
adverbial position of, 101; qualifying
clauses, how to be disposed of, 114;
relative clauses, 121; parenthetical,
121; supplementary, 122.
Clearness, of sentences, rule on the sub-
ject, 99; order of words important, 99;
clearness hindered by wrong position
of adverbs, 99; Blair's remark, 100.
Clergymen, etiquette in addressing
them, 269.
Clerk, meaning changed, 75.
Climax, adds to the strength of a sen-
tence, 131; climax of sentences, 132;
poor climaxes, 132.
Close of a sentence, rules for its manage-
ment, 137, 138.
Cobbett, misuse of it, 107.
Coining new words, 69, 70.
Coleridge, example of sectional rhyme,
Collins, Odes, 257.
Colon, pp. 36-38.
Color, a source of beauty, 196; how far
influenced by association, 196.
Columbus, composition on him by a boy
of nine, 310.
Comedy, 255; comic songs, 258.
Comma, pp. 19-32; origin of the word,
19; meant at first a portion of a sen-
tence, 19; rules for its use, 20-32;
double commas, 58.
Commenced, used incorrectly, 78.
Common metre, formula given, 231.
Cat and Rabbit, described, as an exer- Complete, how differing from whole,
cise in composition, 323.
Catch, used incorrectly, 78.
Cedilla, 57.
Celtic, peoples and languages, 342; Celtic
migrations, 348; conflict of Celts and
Saxons, 351, 352.
Censure, meaning changed, 75.
Change of subject impairs the unity
of a sentence, 119.
Channing, examples of periodic sen-
ence, 89.
Complex beauty, 198; the most com-
plete example in a landscape, 199.
Complex sentences, when requiring a
colon, 36
Composing, (as a printer's term,) 59
Compositions on Objects, 295-298;
on Transactions, 299-301; on Abstract
Subjects. 302-304; on Imaginary Sub-
jects, 305-312; Personal Narratives,
313-321; Descriptions, 322-327; Mis-
cellaneous, 328-333.
Concede, capability, criminality, conti-
nental,70; cable-gram, cable-graph,70.
Conception, vivid, necessary to sublim-
ity in writing. 192.
Conciseness, necessary to the sublime,
194; not necessary to beauty, 201.
Conclusion, bringing a sentence to, 129.
Confess, how differing from avow and
Confidence, used incorrectly, 78.
Connectives, effect of their omission,
128.
Consider, used incorrectly, 78.
Construe and construct confounded, 76.
Contagion, how differing from infec-
tion, 80.
Contempt, an ingredient in humor, 207.
Contemptible, for contemptuous, 76.
Contractions, in addressing letters, 264,
270.
Contrasts, faulty, 130; contrasted
changes give strength, 131.
Cookery, its terms nearly all French,
362.
Cornish, race and language, 342.
Correspond, used incorrectly, 78.
Correspondence, (see Letter-writing,)
Countenance, the beauty of, 197; what
constitutes beauty of countenance,
197.
County, when to be given in heading, or
in superscription of a letter, 264, 270. |
Couple, used for two, 78.
Couplet, defined, 215.
Cowley, far-fetched simile, 152.
Couper, example of metaphor, 180;
Task, 260.
Crabbe's Dictionary of Synonyms, 80.
Crowding together things unconnected,
impairs the unity of a sentence, 119.
Crusoe, Robinson, his adventures inca-
pable of forming an epic, 253.
Curran, sample of pun, 204.
Curves, an element of beauty, 198.
Cyclops and Vulcan, 189.
Cymric, languages and peoples, 342.
Dactyl, 216; dactylic verse, 216-219;
dactylic metres for hymns, how de-
signated, 233, 234.
of the dash, 46; marks change of con-
struction, or of sentiment, 46; em-
phatic generalization, 46; elocution-
ary pause, 47; rhetorical repetition,47;
parenthetical,48; titles run in,49; omis-
sions, question and answer, etc., 49.
Date, in letter-writing, 264; in diary, 271.
Decimated, used incorectly, 78.
Demean, used incorrectly, 77.
Dependent clauses, explained, 23;
require commas, 23.
Descriptions, as an exercise in compo-
sition, 322-327; taking notes import-
ant, 322; rules to be observed, 323;
examples, 323-327.
Diaries, 271; essential character, 271;
style, 271; dates, important, 271;
blank days, 271.
Dickens, a humorist, 208; specimen of
verse, 248.
Diction, 67–86; command of words im-
portant, 67; how obtained, 67; en-
larged by extemporaneous transla-
tion, 67; by the habit of referring to
the dictionary, 68; diction, when
pure, 68; standard of purity, 68; pu-
rity affected by foreign words, 68; by
obsolete words, 69; by new words, 70;
propriety of diction, 74; means of at-
taining it, 75; violations of propriety,
75, 76; precision, 79; how attained,
79, 80.
Dictionary, habit of consulting it re-
commended, 68.
Didactic poetry, 259.
Difficulty, how differing from obstacle,
Directly, used incorrectly, 77.
Discourse, defined, 13.
Discourses, 288; orations, 288; ad-
dresses, 288; sermons, 289; lectures,
289; speeches, 289; unity of a dis-
course, 290; adaptation to the au-
dience, 290; symmetry, 290; parts of
a discourse, 291; introduction, 291;
statement, 291; conclusion or pero-
ration, 291.
Discover, different from invent, 80.
D'Israeli, adverbial clause misplaced,
102.
Danish, invasion, its effect on the lan- Doane, Bishop, abounds in short sen-
guage, 353.
Darkness, sublime when inspiring awe, Doddridge, a hymn writer, 257
Dash, 46-49; origin and how used, 46;
mistake of careless writers in the use
Dramatic poetry, abounds in excla
mations, 166; general description, 254-
256. (See Poetry.)
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