Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-12-06
ADVICE To AUrHoRs.

Rarely does one win q success with either
ever the volume entire jssti6es its appearance
in type. Much Is void Of deep and perm Anent
significance, touches nothing in ones eSpe-
subjects of grsvest quality, unless trested sug-
gestiyely, find no place in permanent litera-
tnre. Ii Is not enough that the thing is literally
nsnned stated Logically II needs q DC compile e.
t. the story to the end. Style carries weight
of,entimes when seemingly light itself. Move
me ut Is necessary, while the logic Is unsppa.
appeals TO and speaks from the deeper instincts,
and so makes claims upon the readers mind.
That is good which stands strong in its own
strength. detached from local relations. So q
book OF thoughts suggests thought, edides, in
spires. Whatever interests at successive read
legs has life in IL, and deserves tyre and paper.
My code Of composition stands thus, and this
is nay advice TO whom it may concern: Barn
every scrap that stands not the test of all moods
Of criticism. Such lack longevity. What is
LETT gains Immensely. Snch IL the law. Very
little OF what - thought admirable a the writ
Ing holds good over night. Sleep on your writ
ing; take walk over it, scrGtinize ii OF a
morning; REVIEW IL OF an afternoon; digest IL
after meal; let il sleep in your drawer a
twelvemonth; never venture a whisper about IL
10 Your friend, II he be an author especially.
Nou may read selections TO sensible women.-if
young the better; and II il stand these trials,
You may offer il to a publisher, and think your
self fortunate If he refuse to print il. Then you
may be sure You have written book worthy of
type, and wait with assurance for a publisher
and reader thirty years hence that is, when
Won are engaged in authorship that needs
neither type nor publisher.
Learning" says Fuller s'hath gained most
ly those books by which the printers have lost"
IL must be an enlightened public that asks for
works the most enlightened publishers decline
printing. A magazine were ruined already il
" reflected its fears Only. Yet one cannot ex-
rect the trade &c venture reputation or money
IN spreading unpopular views.
Time is the best critic, and the better for his
intolerance OF any inteTiority. And fortuna
tor literature that he is thus choice and exact
ing. Books, like character. are works of time,
and must run the gauntlet OF criticism to gain
enduring celebrity The best books may some
times wait for their half century, or longer, for
appreciative readers-create their readers; the
lew ready 10 appreciate these at their issue be-
ing the most enlightened of their time, and they
dIfuse the light TO their circle of readers. The
torch of truth thus transmitted sheds Its light
over hemispheres,- the globe at last.
HALL native language, that with sinews weak
And mad st Imperfect words with childish trips
Driving duh silence from the portal door
Where he hal nuteiy .at two ears before
Here salute thee, and thy pardon ask
That now use thee in my latter task
Now haste thee strai,h to do me once pleasure
Not these new tangled toys and trimming slight.
Which W takes our la'e faptastics with delight,
Which deepest spirits and choicest wits ADMIRE
Thus wrote Milton at the age of 10, and made
his coilege Industrious and the language after
Nafu. Yet tile pureSt English Is not ALWAYS
spoken or written by graduates of universities
Speech is the fruit OF breeding and OF character,
and one shall find sometimes in remote rural
districts the language spoken in ITS simplicity
and purity, especially by sprightly bows and
girls who have not been veSed with their gram
mars and school tasks Ours is one of the richest
OF the spoken tongues; it may not be the simp
lest IN structure and ease of attainment; yet
this last may be facilitated by simple and nat
ural methods of studying it, Taught bv mas
tiers like Ascham or Milton, students might ac-
quire the art of speaking and of writing the
language in Its purity and elegance, as did these
great masters in their day. Ascham laws down
this sensible rule: He that will write well in
any tongue, must follow this advice of A risto-
tie: 10 spedk the common people do, 10 think as
rise DO, and so should every man under
stand him, and the judgment of wise men about
him.
Camden said. that though our tongue may
not be as sacred as the Hebrew, nor as learned
as the Greek, yet il is as fluent as the Latin. as
courteous as the Spanish, as court like as the
French, and as amorous as the Italian; 20 that,
being beautiful and enriched out of these
tongues, partly by enfranchising and endemic
ing foreign words, partly by implanting new
ones with artful composition, our tongue is as
copious, pithy, and sienifcatve as any in
Europe" II one would learn its riches at
sight, let him glance along the pages of Rich
ardson'S Dictionary; and AT the same time
vey its history from Cover AMI Chaucer down
to our time.
Ifthere be, what believe there is" says
Dr. johnson, I'm every nation, style which
never becomes obsolete, a certain mode OF
Ihraseology 80 component and congenial TO the
analogy, and principles of its respective Ian
guage as to remain settled and unaltered; this
style is probably to be sought in the common in
tercourse OF life, among those who speak only
10 be understood without ambition of elOquence.
= he polite are always catching modish express
SONS, and the learned depart from established
iOims of speech, in hope of finding or making it
letter; those who wish for distinction forsake
the vulgar when the vulgar is right; but there
is conversation above grossness and below re-
hnt me mt. where proprietv resides. and where
Shakespeare seems to have gathered his comic
dialogues. He is therefore more agreeable to the
ears of the present age than any other author
remote, and among his other excellences de-
serves TO he studied as one of the original mas
tcrs of the language."-AIcotfs - Concord
DdyS."