The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-11-09
Good Principles in Style.

Anyone who has read Herbert Spencer's classic
essay on The Philosophy of STYLE" will be in.
terested in the random remarks on the same sub
jeet in his final volume Facts and Comments
Il will be remembered that in that early essa,
Mr.. Spencer asserts that the reader has lin.
tied amount OF attention so whatever is piver
| to the style diminishes that available for the
subject matter. 1t follows that the writer must
| strive for condensation and simplicity that he
must generally prefer the Anglo-Saxon TO the
Latinized word; that he must avoid 1nannerism,
and fine writing
In his latest book Mr., Spencer saws that the
essay was misnamed. He himself called il
Force of Expression" The title was changed
by the publisher OF the general subject OF
style he disavows any knowledge But to illus.
trate the usefulness of his standards of force
ne applies them to passages from several masters
OF English with suggestive results For in
stance, he finds this sentence in Matthew Arnold's
Essays in Criticism:
There can be no more useful help for discov-
ering what poetry belongs to the class of the
truly excellent and can therefore do us the most
good than to have always in ones mind lines
ana expressions OF the great masters and to
apply them as tombstone to other poetry"
Mr.. Spencer notes first that the phrase use
ful help contains peonasm; for if something
helps, 1t must be useful. ITO the class of the
truly excellent he regards as prolix Whatever
belongs to the class of the truly excellent is truly
excellent TO other poetry" he considers super
tiuous. AS condensed by Mr.. Spencer the SEN
tence reads:
There is no better help for discovering what
poetry is truly excellent and can therefore do
us most good than lines and expressions of the
great masters, kept always in mind and applied
as touchstones."
The revised sentence is plainly better than the
original 1t is shorter and simpler, and there
fore not wearying But while Mr. Spencer
shows the good Of his principles he makes the
discouragng statement that he himself has bene-
fitted little from them, When he came recently
to revise his First Principles" he was struck by
the number Of Latin derivatives it contained.
Many were due to the nature Of the subject but
for many others Anglo Saxon words would have
done we'll. Furthermore, the work impressed
him verbose In the revision he cut out fifty
pages-one-tenth of the whole-by suppressing
superfuous words, phrases, sentences and para
graphs So, in spite of his belief in condensa-
ton and in simplicity, he had been prolix and af-
fected For the good that / would do not
says the author of the epistle to the Romans
but the evil which ! would not that ! do"
Mr.. Spencer concludes that style comes near
being the himself and that it can be little
modified by rules In this he hardly lays adequate
emphasis on the value OF correct principles as
basis for revision work--and it is here their
chief use lies, first draft, If hastily written.
is almost always verbose and involved But the
author who goes over his work with the idea
of condensng and simplifying can shape his
product to his principles. Stevenson, a most
painstaking reyiser used to say he could make an
Had Of daily paper by botting Surely the
principles of The Philosophy of Style" were
not held in vain If they resulted in saving the
reader Of First Principles fifty pages.--Kansas
City Star.