Evening star., 1925-07-08

Very few there are but have an ac-
quaintance who is always ready and
willing to correct one openly on ques
tions of grammar This kind soul
probably imagines he is doing one a
service. Well. maybe he is.
But certainly there are kinder and
more gentlemanly ways of correcting
others, especially after we have reach
ed the period beyond school, than by
openly insulting them to their face. :
Marcus Aurelius, in his "Medita-
tions," shows us a better way, a
method taught him by Alexander the
grammarian. In telling of the good
traits he learned from various persons
| in his youth, the ancient Roman en-
| peror says:
From Alexander the grammarian
! to refrain from fault-finding, and no.
in a reproachful way to chide those
who utter any barbarous or solecistic
or strange-sounding expression, but
! deXterously to introduce the very ex.
preston which ought to have beer
used, and in the way of answer or Civ
ing confirmation, or joining in an in
| quiry about the thing itself not about
| the word. or by some other fit sug
gestions."
This, of course, has been the method
! of all decent men, whether they lived
in the early days of the Christian re
| ligion, or at the time of Benjamin
Franklin, or today.
Franklin gave strikingly similar ad
vice in his autobiography, he having
been a wise man who realized that tc
| hurt the feelings of those with whom
one talks is to do them no good anC
| to make an enemy for oneself
| The point is that by openly calling
some ones attention to an errer the
one chided feels slapped in the face
as, indeed he is, figuratively speaking
BY quietly introducing the proper
word on the other hand, the one
in error not only will be corrected, but
Will rather relish 1t, and will admire
you. not only for your knowledge, but
! for your decenCy.
- ~
] have gone thus in detail over this
matter to illustrate something thai
has always appealed to me in reading
| the ancient authors. and that Is this
Men of old were such men as we are
and most OF their words are as appli
| cable today as when written, if once
we can forget the immense stretch oi
time that lies between us, and gel
over the feeling that they are difficult
| to understand.
In the case given above. it is seer
|
| is sometimes called a wise guy" q
veritable blood brother to our owr
| Ben Franklin, and also to us
| That is the point!
| The II books of his "Meditations'
| hold a great deal for all of us who are
| receptive, who have our mental radio
receiving sets tuned in properly. Here
| is a radio worth while, indeed!
| AS marvellous as our wireless of TO
| day is, with its broadcasting stations
| 1t is surpassed MANIFOLD, 1t seem.
| to me, by the old, old radio of the
| mind of man. which can receive i'm
pulses not only over thousands o.
miles, but also over thousands o.
| years,
Any one, by picking up the "Medita
| tions,' can tune in with Marcus Azure
| lius. Is that not a marvel beyond
any? There. thousands of years ago
| was man, an emperor, who tried hi,
| best to be a decent fellow. ACCORDING
! to his light
| Today, in 1925, we sit in America
and are able to follow the man of ole
by means of his thoughts, as he jotteC
| down his inmost meditations 1t is 9
solemn, an inspiring thing, this abil
ity OF ours to commune with the mer
| or old by means of books
Books are so common that we sci
| dom really realize just what they are
But books are holy things, that is WHY