, 1875-12-04

Improvement In TIM art of speaking and writing
onr mother-tongro correctly. 1IIeb ttn War
took up tho 1nasket; The "motiona" OF the
MAMMAL and "ovouttona Of tho comnany vcro
much moro readily learned than tho declousions
aud coujugas!ons Of EugNsh arsmmAy.
.ot1,.. A1os Il hsd 1d,tnn1 s,1pl1ted H. my term Of
reaoe, began TO think about getting an
nducation | got sono books. and attended a
FREQ niRht-sehoof ono wlnsor; hut EuSlish grsn-
mar was not ono Of tho stn1ies, About tha
time came serots, In tho otEice In which was
employed. little book which hhs done moro
towards giving mo chrrect know1e1ge OF tho
htrnctnro Of onr language than all tho other
books ever atn]ed. It was entitled " Live
mud Learn or. Five uundtcd {oox uuo Thon-
saud) atHtakss Corrected" :" and Hhould be IN tho
hkndA Of every onn who t1estIen IN bo 4 uaBter Of
good English. No matter hDw many so-cafled
grAnnars ho may have studied, or tic number
Of diplomas that may aiorn tia wallis. be can
notewortEiness conalsts mors in pointing on. the
errors OF speech and cotnpualtlon thau in lar.
ing down rules to 10 followed. As many may
have observed, q rniatako viii he long remcm-
bered. WhIle ruo to DO n thing in a certain
way - soon forgotten +; inst AZ tho danger-nignaf
ssen bY tho cugl1ces makeH dctpor IMPRESSION
on bis mind than the wavo Of tho comrnnn flag
that tho way il olaar. 30 this book teaches by
observing ttle mistakes first. and giving Tho cor
roctions afterwards.
Imads q close asndy Of this little work. In con-
hection with Wcbater'h Unabridged dictionary !;
and all know Of grammar, as y L. caic'l.
tip those rorks. / could not comprehend the
trsnait,ve and intrauativa yorbs, tho
most dIfieaIt Of Which, arc those OF
distlnctiou G Which tho susl'or s' of "ii,e '' and
Losrn ctoarly brings out is this: Tho time OF
Intention Hhonld pracetlo that Of performance,
~, :" inseuded 10 have Rone last night; :" which
should read, II intonded 10 80 last night This
!s common error among good gfsmmarisns. It
ia not oniy Illogical, but unnatural. The intent
10 conceived before tho act is performed. Per"
hRpH moro mistakes occur ~ the nso Of thn Iitllo
word "lay than any In the fist OF vcrtB. 1t
has both transitivo and inttanHltlvo forms, but
il uaod in different moods and lenses, A.. H.
"ldy tho book down:" Il. t. "Ae lay down."
From Tho foregoing account, you will
obsorvo TINT J. did not asudy tIo gram
mar Of cur languago at all in making
bnt rather it, form aud structure. My coutho
OF sc1f-instruction was HoInoa bat like tho OBJ
iect-method. In tho correction of every MIS-
take, a practical application WAS made, and by it
an illustration presented which taaac an impros-
sion not soon IL DO forgotten.
The difficulty in the Textbook method IL this |:
In the first paco IN accordance with the views
OF flch ard '4rsnt Whsts, she English Language
without q torminologJ can have the semblauca
only OF grammatical structure; fur grammar,
aa | understand it, has grown out Of ths term
inology Of the Crock AMI Latin. Their stsllc-
ture is based upon systomat1c arrangement
Of terminal words and fokters. And, when
wo learn the deccnHioua and cuujunctions Of
these languages, ne find tho rules OF govern
mcnL and nErcemont which constitute tho very
esseuco OF their grammar. We find that " Tho
verb agrces with it's nominatlvo in pcrsoa and
number aud that "I'repos,tiona govern the
objective caao." In tho EngiIah. these rulos
cnpnot bo applied with any sllow Of truth Or
roaBon. Mr.. White makos this perfectly Gear in
lila "Woso. mud Tneir Cses."' se:ona1y. tlta
authors Of Engsh grammar. either fur tue aako
Of no.oristy. Or tho purpose Of pecuuiary rs.
worl, have adap:ol tho grammar Of tho doa
Crack and Latin 10 our living and growing lao-
guaso, whcn they iotN, or Bho'i1d hase known,
that Tho latter Ia language OF logical and
oommon-sonse arrangement, while tho former
wero constructed nccordlnK TO = certain system
OF terminolugY perfected lonK befu.e the En-.
glish WIZ other epokon or written.
Ia addition to tho authors named by you AZ
vE,tors II good English. would eusses. fov
whose worth cannot 10 read aud studied without
great benefit. Fhst, 'hornneh pe1t,bai oi
Dlair's Rhetoric, also WlatelsB; then tho writ
inas OF Macaulay, Addison, aud Goldsmith and
I might add. Prescott aud ]. r. Hoadlcy OF THIS
county. 6Qu1z.