Arizona republican., 1916-05-21

Tn Which spelling and grammer and the dictionary, and study of the best examples in English are the essentials is the most necessary of all. For, no matter how proficient one may be in other branches of learning, he is at a had disadvantage if he be deficient in Knowledge of his own language. | Knowledge of language-to know the | meaning of words and to know how | to arrange them so as to express readily with clearness and accuracy the fact or idea which you wish to ] convey-is possibly the most useful of all accomplishments, since success in any endeavor is so largely dependent upon your ability to express your | meaning. Possibly the thought never occurred to you that the gift which chiefly distinguishes us from the other ami mals of creation is the gift of speech or course your teachers have told you that the human race at a dim age in the past-millions of years ago-was on pretty much the same level as the other animals. Somebody has said that man began his evolution and de- parture from the level of the brutes wher lie developed brain; but rath- CT it should have beer said that the real evolution began when man de- veloped his gift of language-for mark you, thought is developed by language, , spoken and written, and the brain and the mind are developed by , thought. To be sure, the brutes- . some of them at least-haVe language which serves to make known their emotions to others of the same species. But who knows what brain dog might develop, if he could only , talk,
 would not have you infer that I the chattering. talkative person is f necessarily g. thinker. But certainly I orderly thought is promoted and cul- tivated by a knowledge of words, for We have to think in ,terms of words This fact was brought home to me e once by a remark of an educated Mexican who was giving me some . lessons in Spanish You will not find yourself speaking fluently in : Spanish' he said, until you force yourself to think in that language"
 And it doubtless never occurred to you that a vast proportion of the troubles and vexations which arise \ between people come from misunder- standings of what has been said or written. How many of your own petty quarrels have brought out the statements "1 didn't say that" "You did! You said so and sol" Well. any, how that is not what I meant" Many lawsuits grow out of different opin- ions as to the meaning of contracts instruments drawn by careful law yers. But with all their care. these instruments did not set forth beyond dispute the intentions Of the contract ing parties. Indeed. lack of facility in writing clear English is weakness of many good lawyers and not few judges. The opinions rendered by courts are often open to more than one construction as to their meaning, because the judges who write these opinions do not express themselves with clearness and precision The same fault is found in many text books. For instance, I had occasion not long ago to help my little boy With some examples in arithmetic and l was surprised to find that some of the problems were stated in language so obscure that it was not easy to make sure of the meaning of the author until after a second or third reading It is unfortunate in tact, that many of the books used in 70 "~hocls as '1eV ae ta~t hool<s in
 - '~0' ~@'c"~ nN ~-i'0ner arn tNe
 o' '"'"~'c '"' a' ie o~-n of .ho ''"~" ~oe~r-e --',-- r,-. o..-,,-,a.h.a. rn @ etca6uv with s~rool ch'l lron
 -7o- who fr't7 'n''r tc--t boo. $ new how to write them in clear an6 'tfr"ctivn Erclish and wo.id sc rite them, you would find much more pleasure in study, and you would learn faster. This is so because the most commonplace fact can be stated In fascinating way, if we only know the way
 There died in France last year 2 very old man named Fabre He wa. a peasant and until within a few years of his death was poor and un known. But he had diligently studied the language of his country ant learned how to write it in a simpl style which was positively captivat ing. And after he had reached an az, It which most men deem themselves useless. he began to write books. H. wrote books about such familiar in sects as the bee, the ant, the spider
 he wasp, and the fly. of which h. had made an intimate study. Tn things he knew about these insects le told in such a charming way tha he rapidly became famous in al countries. His books were translate into many languages, and to hi 'mazement he found himself. a eighty. one of the notable and hon pred men of the earth. American. Englishmen and Frenchmen journeye
 his village to honor him in hi humble cottage and to thank him fc the pleasure he had given them. Tn government of France although en
 !rossed with the war, conferred upo ilim it's high honor. This was nc because he had revealed so much ths was new about insects, but becaus
 he had stated facts about insects language which charmed and arreste
 the attention of the world
 By study of our language, an earning how to use it, and by learn
 ng to think, and by close observatio