Le Louisianais. [volume] (Convent, La.) 1865-1883, 1868-08-08
a Criticism en- Critics.

Many are the notifications to which our1
amor pair'n sui jHc!s MS when pnrnfing chose
assumptions of Northern superiority, which
Journalists and their Snn,hc,n coad.
jn'ors, are meyer t'rcI sf p~tssca'i,sg to- rs
and none less arc The ,cnh,aAons "" SELLER,
Ia yield The conies, when we read The puerile
Of some Of our Rnnk reviewers. Re-.
.po'ters. and Correspondents. The .'cacoeIles
sctibenIi' is truly overwhelming. "Srrihimns
inAoc,i doc,iqne'; and the creates, curiosity
is, that some Of onr''public Instructors who
seem TO comprehend their nnfilnrss for the
position into which they have. some way or
Other, ,hrnst themselves, justify TIER inccm-
potency Ivy periodical invec;ives again, the
folly Of adheIing 10 grammar rules, forms Of
constructions, or, figures of rhetoric! These.
say they. are hn, irammels to the frcc cxcr-
else Of a vigorous pen which, TO be useful.
must s'udiorsIy avoid the fntms and style Of
"schnolmrn', aud suffer no restraint. save ,la,
# 'rommon senSe". Aud tins. they "pnhli>l,
right or wrong, shaving their conlemp, for
The Ggntes If speech current in the schools,
Ivy a liberal use of figures peculiar to hem.
selves, and described by a Qnain, writer as -
Specimens rare upon the whole
Figures of speech called rig,naroIe,"
The latest attempt at this 'irom,n6n sense"
writing. is a bod effort, which we fluid in one
Of onr city contemporaries, TO Give a ethical
'rrpnrl' at a school examination 's,cross the
Lake. The common sense" If Ina, rcpor, is
so Gerry common, that we navel how the con
dnc'ors Of the cs,nb' -hmpnt can rcconcil.
'oriety achieved ty the employmcn, Of subj
bad English.
Mavlar, the blame is no, wholly theirs.
Who reports for orr city co,emporary %rp>ilin.
lover the Lake.? At all events, since there
were several 'repn't>', each one ,,an>rculing
lis predecessor il "common sense, Il decent
regard for pnb.ic opinion ouci, 70 demonstrate
to the "Bro'her>'. after the pub icafion Of the
first one. The necessity Of having the vehicle
of their fame, cloll,eL in respectable 'Anslo.
Sa.o,''.
We care not how mrch or how li,tla The
fame Of the e>'ab'i, hmen, to which we ailndc.
may be spread: hnt we are selections (inr we
too are ''pnbIic insirnrtor>') that our Snrlh-
ern people should lave their Inflammation ron
veyed to ll,em in language Of Which a scholar
may not be ashamed; and sijIl more soIiri'on>
thar our revilers shall not have furnished 10
their hands, and from a literary Institution.
he proofs that we are the semi-harbarons
people they describe rs 10 hr. OF Southern
ta'cn, there is no lack, lie, prctruAers and
impo-tors wherever they come ftom, am!
whether they undertake to m,nipnlate poll les
or lite atnre, stand aside If they do no, let
them be fgowned Town Southern honor mus,
be maintained, r"at calum.
], may be alleged tina, the mono'ony Of re-
coriing school examinations, in which the
snhjec'-,na,ter is constantly mere or less r.
pea,cd. is somewha, unfnvorahle ~ rhetorical
ing reproduction of what ,ranSrircs, is indeed
we'll calculated to tax the rerortorial pen.
BIT that is an additional reason Why men who
are not fitted, by study and acquired know
ledge, for The province Of scribe, should be.
take themselves 10 other dnlies.
But whatever excuse may be offered on The
score Of the disadvantages 10 which we have
referred, none can he accepted fnr the inner.
Thence Of undertaking to instruct a reading
public in dnhions sentences and absolutely had
grammar; for i, is MS true now as when DR..
Johnson affirmed it that, che who without
forming his style hy the study Of the best
models. hastens 10 obiruie his compositions on
the public, may be certain, that, whatever hope
ear with barbafisms, and contribute, wherever
his work may be received, 10 the deprivation
Of taste and the corruption of language.
For onr part, as long as the "reports'' were
confined TO the ron,ine Of the examination,
we held our peace and patience admirably, in
view Of the eXlenna'ing circumstances and
we take some credit for the Observation-Disclosures
We employed to exercise the ghost of Lindley
Murray ever rising up before onr frieh,ed
vision /! When, however, we came TO the ac.
scene-'lhe deha'e"-anh fnnuL it destitute
rot only Of ''modniated perinds', bnt also #
correct diction, we Involuntary exclaimcd:-
''L-t those teach Others. who, themselves, evcel,
And censure freely, who have written WE'LL
Now. if we make ia running criticism Of
the criticism on 'i,e debaie', our readers will
perceive that we do no, censure without cause.
"The exercises Of today, or rather Of ,onioht
consisted in a literary entertainment &c" We
find this in the reporters inrap,ive, and
deem ourselves greatly edited by The conve-
nient use of rather as an alternative or a
choice. when one is not quite certain whether
The proper time 10 pose a scene, is day or
night!
'The principal item was a debate on the
suhjsct, '.Whe,her has England or France
done more for civilizaiion'.' More what We
>honlh think sthc ,leba,e' might be made very
brief by the answer-as lncid, at least. as the
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