The sun., 1898-03-12
nnhr rs eoop ENeLIsHs
The Question ns Discussed by Controversial
COrrespondcnt.

correspondence
To THE EDITOR OF THE suN-Sir: Your edi-
| torial notes on English good reading. They
arc not only interesting in the information thoy
| contain, but they arc also very entertaining by
| their display OF tho skill and certainty with
which you nro able to justify your choice and
arrangement OF words whenever questioned.
Nevertheless. apropos of your editorial. " In
| Our Midst" of yesterday morning beg leave to
| question tho correctness OF your point OF view
without necessarily champonng tho cause OF
| the particular phrase and its kindred therein
| discussed. In effect, you say that English is
mado by the best authors who write 1t, ana
| that a question OF English is decided by tho
| usage" of English writer's of the first rank"
Against these two propositions ofrnr the fol-
lowing: English is made by all the people who
speak it, and question of English is to be de-
tcrminot by reference to its organic laws.
As to the first proposition: There was English
before there was writing, and writing had been
usod long timo before it had any effect on
English. 1t is only since the development OF
printing has brought books within the reach OF
tho masses, that writing has had any considera-
bic part in the making of English. The prnci-
pal benefit it has conferred upon the languaReis
uniformity, but it has also served to retard
its progress by stereotyping its forms. In
the days of few books. spelling kept pace with
pronunciation. and the natural tendency OF the
language to throw Off infiexions was unchecked.
The great increase in the use Of books conse-
auent on the development of printing was sud-
den, and having caught the then phase OF the
language has done much to prevent departure
thercfrom. Compare the great change In the
200 years between Chaucer and Shakespeare to
the slight change in the 800 years between
Shakespeare and our own day.
Were 1t not for the general use Of books we
NtNttf
the slightest sense of vandalism. and 'you was"
would probably bc MS good English as you
were" But though writing retards. it cannot
prevent the growth of the language, which is
the evidence of it's life, without which 1t would be
dead. English is still being made, but 1t is made
in the speech of the people and not In the writing
oven OF writer's of the first rank. although
In thoir speech writers Of the first rank
play their proper part in the making. Tho
writing of n given period does not make the
progress of its language, but simply records 1t;
and book is dead thing, so the living.
langnHgss, has passed beyond 1t, however O., i'm
Therefore, Shakespeare may be appealed to
at most only to decide what was. good English
to Justify "sone few" and other words and
phrases you have discussed has been. very
effective. but you would not acquiesce in the use
of moe" because it appears in Shakespeare;
yet il he is authority for the one. he is authority
and writer OF the living English OF the present,
are are the authority m you depend on, and You W would
any form or arrangement of words which your
very trustworthy feeling for language tells you
does not have present sanction.
We cannot elevate any given number or rank
some and casting aside others. without our
You say at makes vast difference whether
Mr.. Thackeray or Mr.. Hall Caine is authority
the power which diff rentiates between Thack.
cray and Hall Caine greater authority than
If no hc he csns Of
like you, recognize the good English of Thack.
cray not because ,il T,hisckeray wrote it. but be-
There is. therefore. something higher than the
usage of writers of lhe first rank and this
tion that "a question of English is to be deter.
mined by reference to its organic laws"
growth and does not proceed by hnphazard any
more than, anything else in nature, presume.
hals Wi not pe SnSe the 6egihhmnE
does not follow that they may not be recognized
described and classifcd-in word. reduced to
These laws do not change and are ever active.
An appeal to them is an appeal to a living
with SprachsefnhL YET when his dictum is ques.
finally justified. The best writer's" are "au.
thority" only so far as they can conform to
for them that the best writers are able to main.
tain their title as such.
A word or phrase in the mouths Of the people
is not to be condemned simply because 1t does
not appear in the works of the hest writer's 1t
must be judged by the organic law. Before
ever it is received as literature 1t may be said
to be good English If it conforms to that law;
and il it be good English by that law 1t will live
and become established in speech, and sooner
or later will infallibly appear in the work of the
best writers.
To ridicule n word or phrase simply because
1t is not yet accepted by the best writer's is
neither reasonable nor safe 1t is better
to judge language its merits by the
laws of its own life. than by the voice Of any
number OF judges whom we ourselves interpose
between the language and its laws
the authority of the best writer's in language
is the authority of the virtuous man in morals,
that of example. But language. like morals,
depends upon deeper and wider principles than
the ha bit OF an individual. Why stop short at
an ephcmeral Judgment by example when we
may reach by principle judgment for all time
NEW YORK. March 8. T.. p. ALLEN.