brother of the king of Portugal's towards foreigners--the execution
ambassador to death for murder, of the brother of the Portuguese
was (11 _a_) _carrying_ justice ambassador for murder--Cromwell
very far; (43) since, though in carried justice very far. For,
the strictness of the law of though in strictness the law of
nations, it is only the nations exempts from foreign
ambassador's own person that is jurisdiction the ambassador alone,
exempted from (4) _any authority_ yet in practice the exemption has
(47 _a_) _but his master's that extended to the whole of the
sends him_, yet the practice has ambassador's suite.
gone in favour of _all that the
ambassador owned_ (47 _a_) _to Successful abroad, Cromwell was no
belong to him_. (41) (44) Cromwell less successful at home in
showed his good (11) selecting able and worthy men for
_understanding_ in nothing more public duties, especially for the
than in seeking[32] out capable courts of law. In nothing did he
and worthy men for all employments, show more clearly his great
but most particularly for the natural insight, and nothing
courts of law, (43) (30 _a_) contributed more to his popularity.
(10 _a_) which gave a general
satisfaction.
FOOTNOTES:
[28] The meaning is "_his_, and therefore _the nation's_, ministers."
There is a kind of antithesis between "the nation" and "the nation's
ministers."
[29] No instance has yet been mentioned.
[30] The thought that is implied, and should be expressed, by the
words, is this: "Cromwell's favourite ally was a free country."
[31] The remarks about Christina are a digression, and Burnet is now
returning to the respect in which Cromwell was held by foreign
nations.
[32] He not only sought, but sought successfully. That "find" is not
necessarily implied by "seek out" seems proved by the use of the word
in the Authorized Version, 2 Tim. ii. 17: "He _sought_ me _out_ very
diligently, and _found_ me."
BISHOP BUTLER.
The principal faults in this style are (_a_) a vague use of pronouns
(5), and sometimes (_b_) the use of a phrase, where a word would be
enough (47 _a_).
ORIGINAL VERSION. PARALLEL VERSION.
Some persons, (15) _upon Some persons avowedly reject all
pretence[33] of the sufficiency of revelation as[34]essentially
the light of Nature_, avowedly incredible and necessarily
reject all revelation as, _in its_ fictitious, on the ground that the
(47 _a_) _very notion_, light of Nature is in itself
incredible, _and what_ (47 _a_) sufficient. And assuredly, had the
_must be fictitious_. And indeed light of Nature been sufficient in
(32) it is certain that no such a sense as to render
revelation would have been given, revelation needless or useless, no
(32) had the light of Nature been revelation would ever have been
sufficient in such a sense as to given. But let any man consider
render (5) _one_ not[35] wanting, the spiritual darkness that once
or useless. But no (15 _b_) man in (41) prevailed in the heathen
seriousness and simplicity can world before revelation, and that
possibly think _it_ (5) _so_, who (41) still prevails in those
considers the state of religion in regions that have not yet received
the heathen world before the light of revealed truth; above
revelation, and _its_ (5) present all, let him mark not merely the
state in those (11) _places_ (8) natural inattention and ignorance
_which_ have borrowed no light of the masses, but also the
from (5) it; particularly (19) the doubtful language held even by a
doubtfulness of some of the (12) Socrates on even so vital a
greatest men concerning _things of subject as[36] the immortality of
the utmost_ (11) _importance_, as the soul; and then can he in
well as the (15 _a_) _natural seriousness and sincerity maintain
inattention and ignorance of that the light of Nature is
mankind in general_. It is (34) sufficient?
impossible to say (12) who would
have been able to have reasoned It is of course impossible to deny
out that whole system which we that some second[36] Aristotle
call natural religion, (30) in its might have reasoned out, in its
genuine simplicity, clear of genuine simplicity and without
superstition; but there is a touch of superstition, the
certainly no ground to affirm whole of that system which we
that the generality could. call natural religion. But there
(44) If they could, there is is certainly no ground for
no sort of probability that affirming that this complicated
they would. (44) Admitting there process would have been possible
were, they would highly want a for ordinary men. Even if they had
standing admonition to remind them had the power, there is no
of (5) _it_, and inculcate it upon probability that they would have
them. And further still, were (5) had the inclination; and, even if
_they_ as much _disposed_ (47 _a_) we admit the probable inclination,
_to attend to_ religion as the they would still need some
better sort of men (15 _a_) _are_; standing admonition, whereby
yet, even upon this supposition, natural religion might be
there would be various occasions suggested and inculcated. Still
for supernatural instruction and further, even if we suppose these
assistance, _and the greatest ordinary men to be as attentive to
advantages_ (50) _might be religion as men of a better sort,
afforded_ (15 _a_) _by_ (5) yet even then there would be
_them_. So that, to say revelation various occasions when
is a thing superfluous, _what supernatural instruction and
there_ (47 _a_) _was no need of_, assistance might be most
and _what can be of_ (47 _a_) _no beneficially bestowed.
service_, is, I think, to talk
wildly and at random. Nor would it Therefore, to call revelation
be more extravagant to affirm that superfluous, needless, and
(40 _a_) _mankind_ is so entirely useless, is, in my opinion, to
(40 _a_) _at ease_ in the present talk wildly and at random. A man
state, and (40 _a_) _life so_ might as reasonably assert that we
completely (40 _a_) _happy_, that are so entirely at ease and so
(5) _it_ is a contradiction to completely happy in this present
suppose (40 _a_) our condition life that our condition cannot
capable of _being in any respect_ without contradiction be supposed
(47 _a_) _better_.--(_Analogy of capable of being in any way
Religion_, part ii. chap. 1.) improved.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] "To pretend" once meant "to put forward," "maintain."
[34] It has been suggested, however, that by "in its very notion
incredible," is meant "inconceivable."
[35] "Wanting" is used for modern "wanted."
[36] This use of the particular for the general would be out of place
in Butler's style, but it adds clearness.
BREVITY.
SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON.
The following extract exhibits examples of tautology and lengthiness.
The "implied statement" (50) can often be used as a remedy, but, more
often, the best remedy is omission.
ORIGINAL VERSION. PARALLEL VERSION.
The Russian empire is (50) _a Russia, with her vast strength and
state of_ (54) _such_ vast boundless resources, is obviously
strength and boundless destined to exercise on the course
resources, _that_ it is of history a great and lasting
obviously destined to make a influence. The slowness of her
great and lasting impression on progress only renders her
human affairs. Its (50) progress durability more probable. The
has been slow, but (5) _it_[37] is Russian Empire has not, like the
only on that account the more empires of Alexander the Great and
likely to be durable. (5) _It_ has Napoleon, been raised to sudden
not suddenly risen to greatness, greatness by the genius of
like the empire of Alexander in individuals or the accidents of
ancient (19) (31), or that of fortune, but has been slowly
Napoleon in modern, times, from enlarged and firmly consolidated
the force of individual genius, or by well-guided ambition and
the accidents of (54) casual persevering energy,[38] during a
fortune, but has slowly advanced, long succession of ages.
and (40 _a_) been firmly
consolidated (15) _during a
succession of ages_, from the
combined influence of ambition
skilfully directed and energy (15
_a_) _perseveringly applied_.
* * * * * * * * * *
The extent and fertility of the The extent and fertility of her
Russian territory are _such_ (54) territory furnish unparalleled
_as to_ furnish facilities of facilities for the increase of her
increase and elements of strength population and power. European
_which no nation_ (47 _a_) _in the Russia, that is, Russia to the
world enjoys_. European west of the Ural Mountains,
Russia--that is, Russia to the contains one million two hundred
westward of the Ural thousand square geographical
Mountains--contains a hundred and miles, or ten times the surface of
fifty thousand four hundred square Great Britain and Ireland.
marine leagues, or about one
million two hundred thousand
square geographical miles, being
ten times the surface of the
British Islands, which contain,
including Ireland, one hundred and
twenty-two thousand. Great part, This vast territory is intersected
no doubt, of this _immense_ (54, by no mountain ranges, no arid
see below) _territory is covered_ deserts; and though much of it is
with forests, or (40 _a_) _lies_ rendered almost unproductive of
so far to the north as to be food either by the denseness of
almost unproductive of food; but forests, or by the severity of the
no ranges of mountains or arid northern winter, yet almost all,
deserts intersect the _vast_ (54, except that part which touches
see above) _extent_, and almost the Arctic snows, is capable of
the whole, excepting that which yielding something for the use
touches the Arctic snows, is of man.
capable of yielding something for
the use of man. The (3) (54) The steppes of the south present
_boundless_ steppes of the south an inexhaustible pasturage to
present (54) _inexhaustible_ those nomad tribes whose numerous
fields of pasturage, and give and incomparable horsemen form the
birth to those nomad tribes, in chief defence of the empire.
whose numerous and incomparable
horsemen the chief defence of the
empire,[39] as of all Oriental
states, (15 _a_) _is to be found_.
The rich arable lands in the heart The rich arable lands in the
_of the_ (54) _empire_ produce an interior produce grain enough to
(2) _incalculable_ quantity of support four times the present
grain, capable not only of population of the empire, and yet
maintaining four times (5) _its_ leave a vast surplus to be
present inhabitants, but affording transported by the Dnieper, the
a vast surplus for exportation by Volga, and their tributaries, into
the Dnieper, the Volga, and their the Euxine or other seas.
tributary streams, (30) which
_form so many_ (54) _natural
outlets_ into the Euxine or other
seas; (44) while the cold and Lastly, the cold bleak plains
shivering plains which stretch stretching towards Archangel and
towards Archangel and the shores towards the shores of the White
of the White Sea are (48) covered Sea, and covered with immense
with immense forests of fir and forests of oak and fir, furnish
oak, furnishing at once (54)[40] materials for shipbuilding and
_inexhaustible_ materials for supplies of fuel that will for
shipbuilding and supplies of fuel. many generations supersede the
(54) _These ample stores_ for many necessity of searching for coal.
generations will supersede the
necessity of searching in the (14
_a_) _bowels_ of the earth for
_the purposes of_ (54) _warmth or
manufacture_.
Formidable as the power of Russia Much as we may dread Russia for
is from the vast extent of its the vastness of her territory and
territory, and the great and of her rapidly increasing numbers,
rapidly increasing number _of there is greater cause for fear
its_ (54) _subjects_, (5) _it_ is in the military spirit and the
still more (5) _so_ from the docility of her people.
military spirit and docile
disposition _by which they are_
(54)[41] _distinguished_. The
prevailing (54) _passion_ of the A burning thirst for conquest is
nation is the (54) _love of as prevalent a passion in Russia
conquest_, and this (54) _ardent_ as democratic ambition in the free
(54) _desire_, which (54) _burns states of Western Europe. This
as_ (54) _fiercely_ in them as passion is the unseen spring[2]
democratic ambition does in the which, while it retains the
free states of Western Europe, is Russians in the strictest
the unseen spring[42] which both discipline, unceasingly impels
retains them _submissive_ (54) their united forces against all
_under the standard of their adjoining states.
chief_ and impels their
accumulated forces in ceaseless The national energy, which is as
violence over all the adjoining great as the national territory,
states. The energies of the rarely wastes itself in disputes
people, great as[43] the territory about domestic grievances. For all
they inhabit, are rarely wasted in internal evils, how great soever,
internal disputes. Domestic the Russians hope to find a
grievances, how great soever, are compensation, and more than a
(54) overlooked in the thirst for compensation, in the conquest of
foreign aggrandizement. (15) In the world.
the conquest of the world the
people hope to find a
compensation, and more than a
compensation, (15 _a_) _for all
the evils of their interior
administration_.
FOOTNOTES:
[37] Apparently "it" means, not "progress," but the "Russian empire."
[38] Not "energy," but "a long succession of ages," needs to be
emphasized.
[39] There is nothing in the context that requires the words, "as of
all Oriental states."
[40] If they were really "inexhaustible," the "necessity of searching
in the bowels of the earth" would be "superseded," not for "many," but
for all generations.
[41] The words can be implied, and besides they are expressed in the
following sentence.
[42] The metaphor is questionable; for a "spring," _qua_ "spring,"
does not retain at all; and besides, "a passion" ought not to "burn"
in one line, and be a "spring" in the next.
[43] The meaning appears _not_ to be, "great as" (is), _i.e._ "though
the territory is great."
THE END.
* * * * *
ENGLISH LESSONS
FOR
ENGLISH PEOPLE.
BY
THE REV. EDWIN A. ABBOTT, M.A.,
HEAD MASTER OF THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL;
AND
J. R. SEELEY, M.A.,
PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
"It is not so much a merit to know English as it is a shame not to
know it; and I look upon this knowledge as essential for an
Englishman, and not merely for a fine speaker."--ADAPTED FROM CICERO.
BOSTON:
ROBERTS BROTHERS.
1883.
[Illustration: QUI LEGIT REGIT]
UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON & SON,
CAMBRIDGE.
TO THE
REV. G. F. W. MORTIMER, D.D.,
_Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, late Head Master of the City of
London School_.
DEAR DOCTOR MORTIMER,
We have other motives, beside the respect and gratitude which must be
felt for you by all those of your old pupils who are capable of
appreciating the work you did at the City of London School, for asking
you to let us dedicate to you a little book which we have entitled
"English Lessons for English People."
Looking back upon our school life, we both feel that among the many
educational advantages which we enjoyed under your care, there was
none more important than the study of the works of Shakspeare, to
which we and our school-fellows were stimulated by the special prizes
of the Beaufoy Endowment.
We owe you a debt of gratitude not always owed by pupils to their
teachers. Many who have passed into a life of engrossing activity
without having been taught at school to use rightly, or to appreciate
the right use of, their native tongue, feeling themselves foreigners
amid the language of their country, may turn with some point against
their teachers the reproach of banished Bolingbroke:--
My tongue's use is to me no more
Than an unstringed viol or a harp,
Or like a cunning instrument cased up,
Or, being open, put into his hands
That knows no touch to tune the harmony;
Within my mouth you have engaoled my tongue,
Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips,
And dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance
Is made my gaoler to attend on me.
I am too old to fawn upon a nurse,
Too far in years to be a pupil now.
It is our pleasant duty, on the contrary, to thank you for encouraging
us to study the "cunning instrument" of our native tongue.
Our sense of the benefits which we derived from this study, and our
recollection that the study was at that time optional, and did not
affect more than a small number of the pupils, lead us to anticipate
that when once the English language and literature become recognized,
not as an optional but as a regular part of our educational course,
the advantages will be so great as to constitute nothing short of a
national benefit.
The present seems to be a critical moment for English instruction. The
subject has excited much attention of late years; many schools have
already taken it up; others are on the point of doing so; it forms an
important part of most Government and other examinations. But there is
a complaint from many teachers that they cannot teach English for want
of text-books and manuals; and, as the study of English becomes year
by year more general, this complaint makes itself more and more
distinctly heard. To meet this want we have written the following
pages. If we had had more time, we might perhaps have been tempted to
aim at producing a more learned and exhaustive book on the subject;
but, setting aside want of leisure, we feel that a practical
text-book, and not a learned or exhaustive treatise, is what is wanted
at the present crisis.
We feel sure that you will give a kindly welcome to our little book,
as an attempt, however imperfect, to hand on the torch which you have
handed to us; we beg you also to accept it as a token of our sincere
gratitude for more than ordinary kindnesses, and to believe us
Your affectionate pupils,
J. R. SEELEY.
EDWIN A. ABBOTT.
* * * * *
_Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications._
ENGLISH LESSONS FOR ENGLISH PEOPLE. By Rev. E. A. ABBOTT, M.A., and
Prof. J. R. SEELEY, M.A. Part I.--Vocabulary. Part II--Diction. Part
III.--Metre. Part IV.--Hints on Selection and Arrangement. Appendix.
16mo. Price $1.50.
_From the London Athenaeum._
The object of this book is evidently a practical one. It is
intended for ordinary use by a large circle of readers; and
though designed principally for boys, may be read with advantage
by many of more advanced years. One of the lessons which it
professes to teach, "to use the right word in the right place,"
is one which no one should despise. The accomplishment is a rare
one, and many of the hints here given are truly admirable.
_From the Southern Review._
The study of Language can never be exhausted. Every time it is
looked at by a man of real ability and culture, some new phase
starts into view. The origin of Language; its relations to the
mind; its history; its laws; its development; its struggles; its
triumphs; its devices; its puzzles; its ethics,--every thing
about it is full of interest.
Here is a delightful book, by two men of recognized
authority,--the head Master of London School, and the Professor
of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, the notable
author of "Ecce Homo." The book is so comprehensive in its scope
that it seems almost miscellaneous. It treats of the vocabulary
of the English Language; Diction as appropriate to this or that
sort of composition; selection and arguments of topics; Metre,
and an Appendix on Logic. All this in less than three hundred
pages. Within this space so many subjects cannot be treated
exhaustively; and no one is, unless we may except Metre, to which
about eighty pages are devoted, and about which all seems to be
said that is worth saying,--possibly more. But on each topic some
of the best things are said in a very stimulating way. The
student will desire to study more thoroughly the subject into
which such pleasant openings are here given; and the best
prepared teacher will be thankful for the number of striking
illustrations gathered up to his hand.
The abundance and freshness of the quotations makes the volume
very attractive reading, without reference to its didactic value.
_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, postpaid, by the Publishers_,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.
PREFACE.
This book is not intended to supply the place of an English Grammar.
It presupposes a knowledge of Grammar and of English idiom in its
readers, and does not address itself to foreigners, but to those who,
having already a familiar knowledge of English, need help to write it
with taste and exactness. Some degree of knowledge is presumed in the
reader; nevertheless we do not presume that he possesses so much as to
render him incapable of profiting from _lessons_. Our object is, if
possible, not merely to interest, but to _teach_; to write lessons,
not essays,--lessons that may perhaps prove interesting to some who
have passed beyond the routine of school life, but still lessons, in
the strictest sense, adapted for school classes.
Aiming at practical utility, the book deals only with those
difficulties which, in the course of teaching, we have found to be
most common and most serious. For there are many difficulties, even
when grammatical accuracy has been attained, in the way of English
persons attempting to write and speak correctly. First, there is the
cramping restriction of an insufficient vocabulary; not merely a loose
and inexact apprehension of many words that are commonly used, and a
consequent difficulty in using them accurately, but also a total
ignorance of many other words, and an inability to use them at all;
and these last are, as a rule, the very words which are absolutely
necessary for the comprehension and expression of any thought that
deals with something more than the most ordinary concrete notions.
There is also a very common inability to appreciate the differences
between words that are at all similar. Lastly, where the pupil has
studied Latin, and trusts too much for his knowledge of English words
to his knowledge of their Latin roots, there is the possibility of
misderiving and misunderstanding a word, owing to ignorance of the
changes of letters introduced in the process of derivation; and, on
the other hand, there is the danger of misunderstanding and
pedantically misusing words correctly derived, from an ignorance of
the changes of meaning which a word almost always experiences in
passing from one language to another. The result of all this
non-understanding or slovenly half-understanding of words is a habit
of slovenly reading and slovenly writing, which when once acquired is
very hard to shake off.
Then, following on the difficulties attending the use of words, there
are others attending the choice and arrangement of words. There is the
danger of falling into "poetic prose," of thinking it necessary to
write "steed" or "charger" instead of "horse," "ire" instead of
"anger," and the like; and every teacher, who has had much experience
in looking over examination papers, will admit that this is a danger
to which beginners are very liable. Again, there is the temptation to
shrink with a senseless fear from using a plain word twice in the same
page, and often from using a plain word at all. This unmanly dread of
simplicity, and of what is called "tautology," gives rise to a
patchwork made up of scraps of poetic quotations, unmeaning
periphrases, and would-be humorous circumlocutions,--a style of all
styles perhaps the most objectionable and offensive, which may be
known and avoided by the name of _Fine Writing_. Lastly, there is the
danger of _obscurity_, a fault which cannot be avoided without extreme
care, owing to the uninflected nature of our language.
All these difficulties and dangers are quite as real, and require as
much attention, and are fit subjects for practical teaching in our
schools, quite as much as many points which, at present, receive
perhaps an excessive attention in some of our text-books. To use the
right word in the right place is an accomplishment not less valuable
than the knowledge of the truth (carefully recorded in most English
Grammars, and often inflicted as a task upon younger pupils) that the
plural of _cherub_ is _cherubim_, and the feminine of _bull_ is _cow_.