Can signifies ability; as, I can write.

The Rival Lambs: A Tale of Wall Street.

The Friendly Bear; or, A Day's Work.

Close punctuation, characterized especially by the use of many commas, was common in English in the eighteenth century, and is the rule in present French usage; but open punctuation, characterized by the avoidance of all pointing not clearly required by the construction, now prevails in the best English usage. In some cases, as in certain legal papers, title-pages, etc., punctuation is wholly omitted.Century Dictionary.

The principles of punctuation are subtle, and an exact logical training is requisite for the just application of them.-Marsh.

"He who is his own lawyer, is said to have a fool for a client."

Seneca says, "There is a settled friendship between God and good men."-Welsh.

"To the wise and good, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment."

"He who teaches, often learns himself."

I take eh! oh! as much exercise-eh-as I can, Madam Gout.-Franklin.

Know, then, this truth (enough for men to know):
Virtue alone is happiness below.-Pope.

"I devoted a third part of my wealth (four cents) to this cause."

The President rose and said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, etc.

Learning is acquaintance with what others have felt, thought, and done; knowledge is the result of what we ourselves have felt, thought, and done.—Spalding.

They who walk unmoved beneath the starlit heavens, or by the ever-moving ocean, or amid the silent mountains; who do not find, like Wordsworth, that the meanest flower that blows gives thoughts which often lie too deep for tears, will not derive great help from the world of books. -Spalding.

The popular breath, even when winnowed by the winds of centuries, is hardly pure.—Spalding.

Quarry the granite rock with razors, or moor the vessel with a thread of silk; then may you hope with such keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human reason to contend against those giants, the passion and the pride of man.-Newman.

"There you go again!" exclaimed Griggs.

"Of course," answered Katharine. "But I want to hear Mr. Griggs-"

66

'Griggs on Struggles'-it sounds like the title of a law book," observed Crowdie.

"The sight of you, my dear fellow, writhing under Miss Lauderdale's questions."

"The question of success?"

"Yes-and difficulties-and all that."

"Delightfully vague-‘all that'! I can.

"Such is fame!" exclaimed Crowdie. "But then, literery men never seem to have heard of each other."

"No," answered Griggs. "By the bye, Crowdie, have you heard anything of Chang-Li-Ho lately?"

“Chang-Li-Ho? Who on earth is he? A Chinese laundry man?"

"No," replied Griggs, unmoved. "He's the greatest painter in the Chinese Empire. But then, you painters never seem to have heard of one another."

"Oh, we never quarrel," answered Crowdie. -Marion Crawford, in "Katharine Lauderdale."

NOTE. The best usage now omits quotation marks where the name of the author is given. Some writers put the name in italics, others, in ordinary type.

Dots are now preferred to stars in indicating an omission in the text. Small figures placed just above the word, take the place of the reference marks formerly used.

(13-CORR. ENG.)

CHAPTER XIII.

DICTION. THE SENTENCE.

DICTION.

The

Diction is that part of Rhetoric which treats of the selection and the right use of words. most important qualities of good diction are Purity, Propriety, and Precision.

PURITY.

Purity consists in using only such words as are "pure English."

A writer violates purity of diction when he uses foreign words not "naturalized," so to speak; obsolete words; new words, not sanctioned by good usage; words incorrectly formed; local or provincial words, peculiar to a place or a part of the country; low, colloquial, or vulgar words.

All slang terms are opposed to purity of diction.

A barbarism is a violation of purity. Examples. Ycleped, for called. Charmant,

for charming.

Talkist, for talker.

Dude.

truck, for vegetables.

Garden

Use is the law of language, hence a word which was not correct fifty or a hundred years

ago, may be perfectly correct now.

Campbell's law for the use of a word is: "The word must be reputable, one used by educated people; it must be national, not local or technical; it must be present, as opposed to what is obsolete."

To determine the purity of a word one must observe whether it is used by the best writers, and study its origin and meaning in the Dictionary. The Dictionary is not always a safe guide as to the use of a word, for it aims to give all the meanings which have ever been attached to a word. As a rule, however, the standard dictionaries can be followed.

PROPRIETY.

Propriety of diction consists in choosing such words as properly express the intended meaning. Purity deals with the correctness of the word; propriety, with the correct use of the word.

Words which formerly had one meaning, now have quite a different signification. Clerk was originally a clergyman. Miser, was a miserable person.

Prevent, which means etymologically, to go before, was formerly used in this sense:

“I prevented the dawning of the morning." -Psalms.

The choice of words determines the propriety of a sentence.

It is a characteristic of half-educated persons to use words in the wrong place; or to give them

a wrong meaning. They will speak of three alternatives; of aggravating a person; of the balance of a season; of writing a verbal message; of a mutual friend; of a storm that was calculated to do some damage.

To acquire propriety of diction one must study the best authors; consult the Dictionary when in doubt as to the meaning of a word; study etymology and the use of words; observe the changes in the meaning of words.

PRECISION.

Precision comes from the Latin, præcidere, to cut off. Precision requires a writer or speaker to use words which express just what he means, and no more; to cut off all ideas, except the one he means to express.

Synonyms are the greatest obstacles to precision for the careless student; the greatest help for the capable one.

There is no language so rich as the English in synonyms; this is on account of its composite character. For the same idea we have, in many instances, one word from the Saxon, another from the Latin, and, perhaps, a third from the Greek.

Usage has, in some cases, given different meanings to words which etymologically mean the same thing. Every student should possess a good work on synonyms.