Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-17
ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH.
Its vigor and Beauty and the Cause of Its
Great Originality.

It's Nigor and Beauty and the Cause of Its
Great Originality.
At the meeting Of the Anthropological Soci-
ETY. at the Cosmos Club last evening DIR. Robert
Fletcher read an interesting paper on ''The
1igor and Expressiveness Of the Older Eng
lish He began by stating that it was in the
nature OF new departure to introduce at this
meeting Of the society nearest to the holiday
season paper on a subject apart from anthro-
pology and more nearly akin to the arts and
letters For the time being. he said. the In
dian. his history and customs would be given a
rest, and 1t was to be hoped at the present time
that the Indian himself might remain at peace.
MODERN ENGLISH LESS VIGOROUS THAN OLDER.
why is it," asked Dr. Fletcher, "that mod
ern good English is less terse and vigorous and
more diffuse than older English? In this do
not refer to the old or early English of the
Chaucerian period, but to the English of the
time of Elizabeth. Not that archaic English is
less vigorous. but comparison between that
and the modern would be more difficult and
less satisfactory. We are wont to refer to the
glories of the EliZabethan age and we can but
wonder at the marvellous change that took
place in the literature and more especially in
the drama of that age. The harsh and grabbed
lines of the miracle and morality plays had
given way to the grace and beauty Of Marlowe
romantic school, Shakespeare, Beaumont and
Fletcher. Haywood and a host of others. The
reformation and the renaissance were con-
temporaneous causes. one starting in Germany
and the other having its birthplace and strong
hold in Italy.
THE sPRINGTTME OF LITERATURE.
''That was the springtime Of literature when
it blossomed forth in all its wealth and glory.
Then men wrote and spoke as they never did
before ana have not since. and the spacious
times OF Elizabeth vary with an eloquencc the
echoes of which remain with us still. Then
there was no censor of the press to restrain the
strength ard freedom Of diction and to repress
the wordy attacks that were made on people in
power and high estate"
Vt this point and throughout his paper DR..
Fletcher introduced "a number OF quotations in
rhyme and blank verse from the writer's of
that period to illustrate the points he made
and for the sake of drawing comparisons. more
than favorable a rule. with the works of the
literary men of later times. He read a magni-
tcent quotation from Mariowe's DIR. Faus-
tus, descriptive of hell. which lie character
lied as grander than any thing OF the sort to be
found i'll the writings of either Dante or Mil
ton.
BEAUTY AND GRACE OF WORDS.
''But apart from the boldness and strength
of this period" continued DR.. Fletcher, .how
can We explain the beauty and grace Of the
words? 1t is trite saying. I know, that the
strength of the English language is derived from
the Anglo-SaxoE. The strength-yes: but not
Its ease and beauty. That came from the
Latin and through the introduction of Latin
words into our vocabulary. Remember. though
that do no. compare the Elizabethan period
To- the present for the sake of dis3araging the
latter. for We owe too great a debt of gratitude
to the writer of our own and the closely pre-
ceding period for that to be a proper course.
Yet there is i'll the older English cpigram-
matte terseness and daring use of metaphor
that later made way for Il tanner and more
diffuse style"
Among the causes TO which he ascribed much
of the power and charm of the earlier style
were the bold Use of new compounds of the
parts OF speech. lmbrand. untell dlsleaved and
the like: epithets of odd form. as THE tubbed
cynic Diogenes; the introduction of unusual
infections and bold antitheses. Sometimes
the end was attained by daring Use of the
impossible. while ALTERATION also lent its art
full aid, though quaintness was more apt to be
the result of this last than any marked power
and vigOr.
CAUSES OF ORIGINALITY.
''These are but few" said DIR. Fletcher. in
conclusion, .'of the causes of originality and
merit in that earlier literature. have brought
out from the vast mine only few of the mug
gets for your consideration, which are as
nothing compared to the great wealth neces-
sarily left untouched. Yet with it all it would
be beyond the power of the critic to explain
genius and to account for all the powers Of the
poet"
The reading Of the paper was followed by an
interesting discussion of the subject, in which
Prof. Otis t. Mason, DIR. ]. NJ. Gregory and Gen.
Brown took part. The latter left the matter of
the beauties of the older English in the hands
of the other members of the society and de-
voted his attention almost entirely to the fail
ings and shortcomings of the American news
paper. which he dubbed the chief agent in the
destruction of the English language in its
purity. In his opinion what fills a column of
the daily press could usually be condensed into
ten or twelve lines and then be more effective
and more descriptive. In the multiplicity Of
words both the writer and the reader get hope
lessly lost. and the world ways nowadays
one might as well give up all hope Of having
any more pure English undefiled He thought
that the pathological branch of the Anthropo-
logical Society could not do nobler work than
to devote its efforts to the improy ement of the
English language ''as she is wrote i'll the mod
ern daily newspaper.