New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-27
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL.
DEAD. OR "DECEAsEDD 2
PROFESSOR r. W. RAYMOND on SOME NIcETIEs
IN ENGLISH.
To lhe HdiIor OF rrahnnn

20 nc bohfoT OF The Tribune.
Sir: have to thank you for tho full publication
the 9Th inst OF my long letter concerning funeral
Addresses In general and particularly the address OF
DR. Hal at tho funeral OF Mr. Beecher; and l pro
sumo That the degree Of perfection in which II appears
is duo not only to excellent proofreadnR but also 20
skiHui editorial preparation OF tho manuscript cor
Iectng oversghts and errors IN style. II get the
credit Of tho net result, IL ungracous for 10
complain OF small details. But the truth IS that in
the very act Of courtesy you have hit tender
SPOT ana pain must have It's single oucry before II
g'vos way 10 simple gratitude Nevertheless, as
sure you that the private tvfnge alone would not
cure public utterance II my complaint Is Just, l
mink It worthy 10 be the text for a little sermon on
prevalent fashionable vco OF Journalistic" English.
Hero is the text In ono place have beer made to
speak OF the career OF he dead man: In another
place, OF eulogiEIng the dead man. / recognize the
phrase hero substituted for my as dctatd by
modern ahectatiou OF Saxon simplicity, which threat.
ems IN my Judgment. b corrupt our literature This
particular expression of IL (one Of Tho worst BY the
wayl has taken possession Of tho newspapers already
and begins TO appear IN books. That It should DO ex
posed and II possible, destroyed, as general nuI.
sance, Is think, matter not unworthy tbs attention
Of that most influential creator and AreItcr OF sty,e
great newspaper
The preference Of direct and homely hnr,o.eaxon
terms TO direct or indirect Lainisms H. a osnoral
principle, and with due qualifications a good thing
Hut to use the wrong AnS!o.Saxon word q 10 shusn
tho principle. Now tho word jcad' means ufo,cs,
Snu maj only A dead man Is corpse. All German
h'uucnts VIII appreciate this "Tho dead- IN Ger.
man. may come out OF ther graves; they may rldo
iast IN spectral midnight madness but tho decca-ci
or Inc departed are "versiOrben" or bIngoscbtsIep
NOT todt'' The verb corresponding TO todtD means
not TO die, but 10 XIII; and since tho body oply car
DC Killed the body only can be dead (Another Ger.
u~" Uorni, Shg'' blessed commonly used as We
use late,' deserves passing notice.
VIII not inaict upon you discuss ION q, rho,o-,c,,
details The history OF tho word "ds,d.s and -; ,ho
DISAPPEARANCE and temperance OF its Gothic roo,
honsh interesting, IS not necessary horn TO provo thai
mo usage assert Is the trno Inherited ono aud g
ou'ueo IN rason. The loss OF Anglo Saxon syno
"'HS mas modified II to slight extent only mp,rt
Rom poetic lcensoJ Blessed arr pc tcsd- :. ,
cas-" example But those exceptions do not brcak
tho oTce OF The rulo. The prevailing usc literal or
hSnrMNe, In TO best English literature carrtos The
eI'heht OF HteloSsncss, Antithciic to NE or a.
webster says, TO animal or vegetable existence
Tonnyson's
Home they brought her warrior, dcadp
expresses with exquisite cryrnc>s the thorrb, ,b,, In
the place OF living hero fc!css body wa, returned
Tho resurrection OF the d"aI7 IS the resurrection q,
the body. No talks about the immor atty 81 tho
dead To confound tho dead with the deceased or
departed Is TO blunt the delicate distinctions Of
ianguagc' and rcdncc It TO vulgar vazuonoss And
Let me fvr you, out OF largo collection tlrre or
four samples ~ tho length b. which MS mistaken
hc multiplied Indefinitely: for scarcely day passes
Without profu"inr parallels. viii adj that the
loL'NiuE "rr c0lLHd from American Journals u uc
first rank, Tic Tribune among them. lint there ls
n9i on" In which the expression Is tsbogcl and pos.
deliberately preferred -
After Gogcrai Gr.ot's death, correspondent Of
mi nL,rL ,iS"ns 3lonr, M0'rrg,r 1sccrd-d TIC
hal - painfully climbed
Tor ne refined and correct styIo printed fuiiraep
.,,r'T % r ola Mr; Garfield with tho unc Md6er
3 % me editorial page OF Tho Ecw.Yoris -
N grsSciHl 'rhni' OF friendship and critical praise
siTcAr"h 10 statement that A'acr.can rrslinnts In
Gc-many dsrhe certain Por'oi would never anreo,
IAN lIpS!t and his dead WIFE,
think tics, Instance, logic, Ally belong IN ~. s,,,
Shtc-ory - ne celebrated ut!crancc OF god Old Or
I,aST' ot Hartford ?, tho hm"rnl OF pIr,hiogc,
yo,trTlhy. my friends. tbs, I t1rdicd this corpse
man man by , S@Ss v. he Sa only :aG this dead
10 return 70 my text dd not writ, about tho
ssT rS % th h,rr ae"1 man. don't believe oro
u TcIr oorrcct nut the heather know kr,,r- nan r.
use a. And tho Chruan al ,ativcs bc.,cs h.,rc
" Il nyt ~ Of death to de uiat tho dcnar,eI r,n
HrOokivn, May q. 1880 '''''"
TN" point Professor Raymond makes Is nm IN.
tctcstng one. and be certainly offers some cyrr,.
pies OF an improper use OF ndIectives II ig doubt
iul however. whether the substitution OF de
ceased for " dead In tho three sentences
quoted would be an improvement. Tho defect I'm
the first and third, nt least is that the adjective
Is used nj oil. 1t does not apply 70 the even, d..
scribcd. but 10 wholly different and subssoncn,
one The distinction drawn by Prof ,ssor Rny.
mond between dead and doccracdr seems 20
he nrscly theological one, not horne ont In ordi.
nary English usage. Many other EXAMPLES h..
sides Blessed nrc the dead, who die in the Lord
can he found to disprovc the theory that tho
dead applies only TO drcaying corpsrs Ed
SOMETHING on A GRAND SCALE WANTED.
To ths razor Of RE Tribnrs.
Sir: In cOmmhn with thousands Of Other citizens Z
am much Tralnof 10 learn that marble arch com.