The Minneapolis journal., 1903-10-16

We are filled with great ideas that swell
up and well up within us. Shall we waste
our time in studying spelling and gram
mar and punctuation? Oh, no. We are
more Interested in the great thoughts Of
a Milton or a Shakspere or a Darwin.
But let me tell you, my young friend,
that perfect poem of Milton's was writ
ten thru complete and perfect mastery
Of the thousand small details that go TO
make up the fundamentals of accurate,
forceful,- effective English. In childhood
we learn only a general mastery Of the
elements. When we get older we must
apply ourselves to learning the perfect
mastery of those same elements. That is
the way in which great authors have edit
Gated themselves. Maupassant studied
seven years with his uncle Flaubert
F'laubert was one Of those men who be-
lleved that there was but one word to
express one idea, and he would search
three weeks to find that one word. He
was not short-story writer himself, but
he was a master Of technical detail. For
seven years he trained Maupassant, who
is probably the finest story writer OF our
time. In all that period the pupil was
not allowed to publish a line. At the
end of it he wrote one story, which was
published In volume with six or seven
others, and that one story Immediately
made his reputation. From that time he
puO1AoiSu IWO FOlu1ll0S d year, ana all
that he did was good-at least creditable
to his artistic mastery. .
Franklin, Stevenson and the rest trained
themselves in much the same laborious
way.
Spelling Must Be Mastered.
I understand that not long ago tho
university passed a rule that every stu
dent must pass an examination in spell
Ing and elementary composition before he
could receive diploma Some of you
| thought that it was very hard that you
should come to college to be forced to
study so common thing as spelling.
Many a man and woman Of genius, YOU
| said, could not spell. A business man does
| not need to spell, for he has his stenoe-
! rapher. Besides, in a short time we ex-
pect the introduction Of phonetic spell
Ing. when no one will study spelling any
more. -+
If phonetic spelling were introduced, and
every one We're to spell as he pleased we
should find ourselves as they were in the
| time OF SHAKESPEARE when there was a Diff
| ferent way Of spelling a word for every
writer who wrote it. We have been try
ing to, get uniform standard, and the
irregularities l,, OF English spelling will grad
ually be done away with. The change Is
already taking place. But we shall all
have to study spelling just the same
The way to master spelling is to form
the habit Of observing words as you read,
! Master the few fundamental principles of
word formation, and form the habit of
applying them. That habit will go on
educating you to the end Of your life.
Form the habit of following the logical
relationships of words in a sentence and
that habit will by degrees make your
sentences grammatically accurate, even If
you do not know a single rule of gram
mar.
The modern definition Of grammar is
that it Is the science Of the relationship of
words in a sentence. Those relationships
In the. English tongue are mostly logical.
There are seven different logical relation
ships which a word may have in sem
tence. They are the parts of speech. You
cannot say that by is a proposition,
'tand" a conjunction, 'be'' verb; for any
Of those words may be almost any part
Of speech according as they are used in 8
sentence. The noun, alone, the simple
name Of an object or idea on which the
sentence structure is built, has meaning
apart from the other words in a sentence.
The Secret OF Grammar.
j Master those seven logical relationships,
and six or seven other things, and YOU
have mastered grammar. The habit OF
following the relationships will become q
little machine in your hands, a little
measuring stick, by which you can test
the accuracy of any sentence you write.
4 You remember what Franklin said in his
autobiography in regard to the way il
which he became a master Of style. He
found volume Of the Spectator, which
seemed to him written with the skill he
wished to have. So he made notes on 8
, passage, laid them aside, and when they
were cold rewrote the passage as well a.
he could himself. Then he compared hi.
version with the version of Addison, saw
/ his weaknesses, and corrected them. II
time he attained something of the skill
, of Addison. He had caught the knack O
i using words effectively-tha knack which
enabled him to translate Arabic and Hin,