1. A CAUSEWAY.

A causeway is a way raised above the natural level of the ground by stones, timber, or earth, serving as a dry passage over wet or marshy ground.

2. THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.

The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is on the margin of a dissected lava plateau, whose cliffs descend boldly to the sea. The name is given because the lava beds are cracked or "jointed" so that their surface imitates an artificial pavement or "causeway." -Davis: Physical Geography.

Class discussion.

1. In what way do the selections numbered 2, differ from or resemble those numbered 1? 2. Which is the more interesting and why? 3. Note that in the selections numbered 2 the words are few but they present the idea strongly. Find illustrations.

Subjects for written compositions.

Choose one of the following subjects or a subject suggested by them. Write first a brief definition of the thing in general, and second, a brief description or explanation of the specific thing you have in mind. 1. A delta; The Mississippi Delta. 2. A jetty; The Jetties at Oak Bluffs. 3. A harbor; Boston Harbor. 4. Give a general definition of one of the following and a brief explanation of a particular one in the place where you live,—(1) A turnpike, (2) a portage path, (3) a suspension bridge, (4) a natural bridge, (5) a precipice, (6) a glen, (7) a filtering-gallery, (8) a stand-pipe, (9) a canal, (10) a dune, (11) a cove (12) a cape, (13) a prairie, (14) a moor, (15) a plain,

Subjects for oral composition.

1. Read the poem aloud. 2. What vision did the song of the thrush present to the eyes of "poor Susan". 3. Describe Susan as she is at the time of the vision and as she was when the vision was reality. 4. Recall some scene of your own childhood and present a word picture of it.

THE REVERIE OF POOR SUSAN.

At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears,
Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:
Poor Susan has pass'd by the spot, and has heard

In the silence of morning the song of the bird.

'Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees
A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;
Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,
And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside.

Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale
Down which she so often has tripp'd with her pail;
And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's,
The one only dwelling on earth that she loves.

She looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade,
The mist and the river, the hill and the shade;
The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise,
And the colours have all pass'd away from her eyes!
-W. Wordsworth.

LESSON X

I. Choice of Words in the Expression of Ideas.

Synonyms.

1. Often in using words the question is not so much, "What word will be correct to use in this place?" as, "What word is best to use in this place, either to make the idea perfectly clear to the reader or to give further explanation of the idea?" That is to say, we should not use words carelessly, but should exercise the greatest precision and judgment in their choice. For example, we may have before us the following list of words: inquisitive, inquiring, meddlesome, peeping, prying, curious. These words at first glance seem to name the same characteristic, but careful examination will show that there is a shade of difference in their meaning. We might need to use several of the words to make our idea clear.

2. The words given in the list above may be called synonyms. Synonyms are names which may be substituted for the same thing. Sometimes, however, a synonym may be used incorrectly; as for example, we may say a notorious thief and a celebrated author, when it might be wrong to say a celebrated thief and a notorious author. We say loosely, "The battle of Lexington" when it was hardly more than a fight. These examples serve to show us that in using a synonym, we should not think of the synonym only, but of the idea which the synonym is to set forth.

3. The dictionary will give us lists of synonyms; sometimes, sentences to illustrate their use; and always, their meaning. We shall have to exercise our own judgment in our choice of a word.

Exercise 1. In the following extracts find synonyms:

Addison sat for Malmsbury in the House of Commons which was elected in 1708. But the House of Commons was not the field for him. The bashfulness of his nature made his wit and eloquence useless in debate. He once rose, but could not overcome his diffidence, and ever after remained silent.

To the excessive modesty of Addison's nature, we must ascribe another fault which generally arises from a very different cause. He became a little too fond of seeing himself surrounded by a small circle of admirers, to whom he was as a King, or rather as a God.

He was undoubtedly one of the most popular men of his time; and much of his popularity he owed, we believe, to that very timidity which his friends lamented. That timidity often prevented him from exhibiting his talents to the best advantage.-Macaulay: Life and Writings of Addison.

Exercise 2. Find words, in the following extracts, which show Macaulay's evident care to choose the right word:

Poetry produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern produces an illusion on the eye of the body. And, as the magic lantern acts best in a dark room, poetry effects its purpose most completely in a dark age. As the light of knowledge breaks in upon its exhibitions, as the outlines of certainty become more and more definite, and the shades of probability more and more distinct, the hues and lineaments of the phantoms which the poet calls up grow fainter and fainter. We cannot unite the incompatible advantages of reality and deception, the clear discernment of truth and the exquisite enjoyment of fiction.-Macaulay: Milton.

There would seem, at first sight, to be no more in his words than in other words. But they are words of enchantment. No sooner are they pronounced, than the past is present and the distant near. New forms of beauty start at once into existence, and all the burialplaces of the memory give up their dead. Change the structure of the sentence, substitute one synonym for another, and the whole effect is destroyed. The spell loses its power; and he who should then hope to conjure with it would find himself as much mistaken as Cassim in the Arabian tale, when he stood crying, "Open Wheat", "Open Barley", to the door which obeyed no sound but "Open Sesame".-Ibid.

Exercise 3.

Write sentences in which you make choice of synonyms from the following lists:

1. Idleness, laziness, indolence, inactivity; or, idle,

lazy, indolent, inactive.

2. Fluctuate, hesitate, oscillate, vacillate, waver.

3. Faint, faint-hearted, irresolute, languid, listless.

4. Excuse, pretense, pretext, subterfuge.

5. Ignorant, illiterate, uninformed, uninstructed, unlettered, untaught.

6. Requite, retaliate, repay, satisfy.

7. Disown, disclaim, disavow, renounce, repudiate, retract.

8. Compassion, forbearance, sympathy, lenience, mercy, justice.

9. Cause, consideration, design, ground, motive, object, reason, purpose.

10. Delight, ecstasy, gladness, gratification, happiness, cheer, jollity, satisfaction.

II. Expression of Ideas in Composition.

Read the following composition aloud: