Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-11-20
WRITING GOOD ENGLISH.
A Branch Not Thoroughly Taught
i'm the schools.

in the schools.
From the New York Times.l
If we were to assert that not one col.
lege student in four could write half a
dozen pages of his own composition in
such manner that any we'll known
printing establishment would be willing
to publish them without alteration, it
would doubtless seem to many persons
like very strange statement. We do
not make this assertion. Perhaps it
would not be true. But it it were made
by any one else we should by no means
feel sure enough Of its incorrectness to
contradict it. 1t is certain that very
large part of our educated youth of both
sexes are unable to put their thoughts on
paper without numerous inaccuracies.
Perhaps the most frequent errors OF
educated people in writing are those
connected with punctuation. That many
mistakes Of this kind are made is not at
all wonderful There is good deal of
difference of opinion as to what consti-
tutes correctness in this respect But
the circumstance that it is not always
easy to determine what point should be
used in a particular place is no reason
Tor writing as if punctuation had never
been invented. Ii a man is in doubt
whether to wear light cpat or heavy
one on September day, it does not nee
essarily follow that he should 90 in
his shirt-sleeves. The diversity of theo.
res in regard to punctuation does not
render, for instance, a letter on several
independent subjects without a single
full stop, except the one at the end, cred
table either to the education of the in
dividual who writes it, or to the institu-
ton at which he or she has been taught.
Another class of errors which must be
mentioned is that OF mistakes in gram
mar. These, it is true, are much less
frequent among young people of educa
ton than deficiencies in respect to pane
tuation. Yet there are thousands of such
persons, who would be highly indignant
at the charge of writing ungrammatical
English, to whom gentle hint that, for
instance, the objective case OF the pro-
noun who always ends with an m,
or a little instruction in regard to the
proper use of the auxiiaries shall and
will" might be OF material service.
If the more advanced students in
some of our colleges or female semina-
ries we're each to be requii ed to write,
without assistance, letter or a compo-
sition of any kind, and if then what had
been written should be printed without
alteration and distributed among the
parents and friends of the authors, 1t
would constitute species of examina-
ton of which, we venture to say. few in
stitutions would be proud. We by no
means recommend such q test. On the
contrary, we should denounce an at
tempt of the kind as utterly heartless
and cruel. No instructor could for a
moment be justified in thus exposing to
ridicule his students. But il would be,
in some respects, an excellent criterion
if professors and teachers in our higher
educational institutions, on peruslng the
compositions submitted to their lnspec'
ton, we're to ask themselves how these
productions would look in print. And
here we would make a suggestion which
may be valuable TO some OF our college
students who are indulEing hopes OF ais
tinguishing themselves in literature. 1t
is often the case that if these young men
we're to submit their experiments In wri-
ting to the examination OF some good
compositor in printing office, he would
be able to give them valuable instruc'
tions which their professor Of English
literature would not, and perhaps could
not, impart. At all events, if instruction
Of this kind is furnished by the profess
ors in our colleges, many ofthe students
appear to profit remarkably little by 1t.