The morning call., 1892-12-31
MEMORY'S TRICKS.
Speakers and Writers Sometimes Con-
frOnted With Difficulty.

BOSTON commonwealth
One of the Queernesses with which writers
have TO contend is an occasional puzzle
headedness over a perfectly weH-known
point of nrthography or grammar. A word
that one has probably spelled correctly all
ones life suddenly swerves over into the
doubtful photography column. Is 1t sin
gulf, 'engulf' or "engulph?" one queries.
with pen poised. Is it "appaH' OF "apall"
b Fantasy" or ''phantasy ?" and so on lndefi-
nitely. To be sure, there is the dictionary,
but who wants to learn bis A. B, C's over
again, or to look up tue spelling of every
day words? 1t is a curious fact that, left 10
themselves, the fingers will generally spell a.
word correctly. 1t is IN the hesitation that
certainty is lost There can be no doubt
that the fingers of awrlter acquire sort of
automatic education. Even when a doubt
as to the right spelling ola word has crossed
the mind the hand VIII usually bring the
letters into form il given lis course. Ii is as
IL IL con sciously reasoned, Il have ALWAYS
driven the pen so and SO. having begun So"
But once aampeTed by the spirit OF investi-
CATION, the irresOlute hand inclines toward
the unabridged.
The matter is worse where parts OF speech
entangle themselves. Rules and regulations
tlatten themselves out and only helpless
Numbering among pronounS, antecedents
and eorrelatives seem for the time possible.
In one of Wiikie Collins published letters
he writes For the last week, while l was
finishing The story. | gallOped along with
out feeling it, like the old post horses. Do
you remember how the fore leg of those post
horses quivered and how their heads
dropped when they came TO the journeys
end? That's he. my dear. that's me. Good
God! Is me grammar Ought it to be II?
My poor father paid $50 year for my edu-
cation, and give YOU my sacred word Of
honor | am not sure whether il is me- or
l." Probably Wikie Collins could have
made pretty straight guess on this point,
but these little alterations come upon us
sometimes when We should be slow to stake
anything upon our correctness, Though an
other person, blundeTiDg in the same way,
would be instantly arTaigned before the oar
Of our correct and scandaliZed judgment Just
as we serve merlted condemnation upon
fellow mOrtals who display the identical
faults of which we are ourselves guilty.
Nulubie speakers and voluinin writers
probably experience little of this trouble.
The spouting geyser of words never fails
them, and for this they ARE to be cOngratu-
lated; yet 1t is a consolation to those of less
OTatOTical ability 10 know that great writer's
and speakers learn to curb their flowing
speech rather than to give vent to il. Pro-
tessOr Shedd states that in the last half Of
Webster'S public life helearned TO reject the
vague words that come thick and threnging
when the mind is aroused. He grew more
select and precise, and presently, as one
said, every word weighed a pound" This
Styie OF speaking or writing cannot be
driven through with the velocity enjoyed
when one is more careless of results. The
word fifty chosen is the word 10 be striven
for. and, such is the perversity OF inanimste
things, IL Is precisely the word that some
times fails to come a. alt