The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-05-03
A MODERN PRECISIAN.
AN AUTHOR WHOSE DELIGHT rs TO
FIND DEFECTS IN NOVELS.

FIND DEFECTS IN NOVELS.
A Cold Hooded Critic OF Language Who
RuthIessly Destroys Poetic Expression
Whenever He Discovers a Sentence Inn
properly Constructed.
A chiel of the grammarian order has been
taking notes Of our blunders In the use Of
our native speech, and he has given us the
result in little volume. There Is an air
Of anc unity about the whole perform
ance which BELTS thu nature Of the task.
The author Is known but as "Anglophil,"
q name for which 1t will be in vain to
search in the directory. He publishes at
the Literary Revision and Translation Of
fec in the Strand. 1t Is measure of pre-
caution. Mankind naturally pursues la.
bors Of this kind with an amount Of execra-
tion which is proportional to their benefit.
To learn on irresistible evidence that we
scarcely ever open our mouths without ut
tering aly absurdity of construction Is to be
made wise and wretched at the same time.
Reform seems hopeless, the wretchedness
abides, and we look around for victim,
unconscious that perhaps Anglophil is the
very person we invite to aid us in our
search.
Such kill joys of social converse may be
admired, but they can never be loved, and
our benefactor Is to be excused for every
device by which he seeks to escape the obi
UNI attaching to his office. His terrible
mission il to read all the literature Of the
day not for its beauties, but for its faults.
The periodical press is not his happiest
hunting ground. He bags most game in
the 3-yolume novel. Meetings and part
ings, the glory of sunrise in padding
the tender condolences of affection, the
tragic tumult of the courses of true love,
are, as such, nothing to him. He runs
! through the descriptions Of them with the
fierce haste Of an ogre looking for some
thing to devour, and as soon as he finds a
verb out of agreement with its nominative
case he makes meal. Dread yet salutary
dutyI It makes men and women afraid to
read a novel and still more afraid to write
! one, yet It should leave us with enough
charity to pity the fellow creature on whom
it has been laid.
"Womanly sympathy and advice isnever
wanted" It is q soothing reflection, and
who cares to be interrupted in the enjoy
ment of 1t by the remark that the 'ts''
: should be "aref" We are not sure that
modern grammarians would agree with the
Il
of the singular with nouns of kindred sig
MITIGATION. But let that pass. Then again,
'Her gayety, her good humor, was [were]
so infectious" leaves us in no mood to quar-
rel-we are too sad. The clammy touch OF
criticism has marred the beauty Of an en-
tire character. Similarly, zone gives up
all for woman's sake and then they tor
: ment ones life out" [she torrents, etc. ].
I seems to rob the sacrifice of all its imagi'
, native charm. HE saw 1t still-the bend
+ of her neck, the stoop Of her shoulders, the
fash of her eyes" The saw them still, etc. ]
4 Alas and alasl for a man who, in such 0
I. picture, can see but a pronoun in the wrong
number.
\, Let us hurry through the other examples
+ we have no heart for comment. "Nevel
s were the weaker sex held in greater honor
o [was]. Mary had never before seen any
e one SO handsome, well bred and wei
. made as her new friend. She resented tn,
latter perfection" [lastl Heroes are turnet
. to dust and ashes in the same remorseles
= way. His eyes are blue, his nose aquiline'
4 what can be the matter with THAR Sim
o! ply that plural eyes and a singular nos
must not take the same verb. Put ''is'
after the central feature, and we may ono
v more yield to the charm of the description
q if we can. "Of the two lovers, James tool
e the highest place" The "highern-any
thing for peace.
j You will feel pleasantly when she is il
her coffin" tpleasantl, but the effect o
\ tragic irony has gone all to nothing Will
q we have been getting the sentence right
i The same thing may be said of an equal
J, fine effect of scorn: "How haughtily b
Id complained Of the wine being corked" [tha
ha tra11 MIA NGa,.
was occupied with her work, and the paint
er and his model with each other' [were er
crossed with each other]. And Just as tn
n author seemed settling down to business
e we do not like Anglophil: "The policeman
h is great friends with the cook" 1.-THE police
h man and the cook are great friends]. Ag
q fares no better at his hands than youth
nj II refuse even to allow his visits to til
q house, much less give him my daughter
G [much morel.
n This spirit of destructive criticism ir
!. vades every part of life 1t is not enoHg
n to forbid us to read; we must not speak
I, At every turn we are tripped up in the sim
r, plest colloquialisms that have becom
d household words. Let no man hencefortl
!. say sit don't signify" and think there
2 an end of the matter. 1t does signify yer
! much, II you use the verb in the plural
st does not signify" is the absolutely col
rect, mealy mouthed form. Who wcul,
l. not echo the complaint given in one of tn
examples, Looking into things don't hel
:. me-" 1t is a cry of despair, yet the autho
q can not let it pass. docs not help mel
III the right way.
II Under treatment of this sort Of cours
Q every phase becomes a stumbling block
o We are at a Sancho's feast of speech, and a
> each tempting morsel of use and won
. comes before the hungry talker the ply
l.. stefan waves it away with his wand
Q Would any one in their senses have S
d actedf"-stop. would any one in hiss
a with one or two exceptions"-stop agar
: with one exception, or with two" t'.el
= a ceptions" understood or expressed If 20
v wish to make the phrase little more a,
i. curately uncouth). Put some more coal
n on the fire." At this point the angr
d householder will probably put the boo
/. there as well. But let him be calm an
o listen to reason.-London News