spondence with one of his chief officers, Bourlamaque, with whom he was on terms of intimacy. These autograph letters are now preserved in a private collection. I have examined them, and obtained copies of the whole. They form an interesting complement to the official correspondence of the writer, and throw the most curious side-lights on the persons and events of the time.

Besides manuscripts, the printed matter in the form of books, pamphlets, contemporary newspapers, and other publications relating to the American part of the Seven Years' War, is varied and abundant; and I believe I may safely say that nothing in it of much consequence has escaped me. The liberality of some of the older States of the Union, especially New York and Pennsylvania, in printing the voluminous records of their colonial history, has saved me a deal of tedious labor.

The whole of this published and unpublished mass of evidence has been read and collated with extreme care, and more than common pains have been taken to secure accuracy of statement. The study of books and papers, however, could not alone answer the purpose. The plan of the work was formed in early youth; and though various causes have long delayed its execution, it has always been kept in view. Meanwhile, I have visited and examined every spot where events of any importance in connection with the contest took place, and I have observed with attention such scenes and persons as might help to illustrate those I meant to describe. In short, the subject has been studied as much from life and in the open air as at the library table.

7. Keep a Literary Diary for one week. Put down in it a. Your reading and what you thought about it.

b. Your lectures and what you thought about them.

c. Any topics (suggested by reading, conversation, or observation) that would work up well into compositions, long or short, in verse or in prose.

d. Anything else that is to the point.

8. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books. — Answers should be clear and precise. At the end of each answer there should be a list of the books consulted. For the form of references, see § 318.

1. "Bobs." His career and titles.

2. What was the Ku-Klux-Klan?

3. What are the real names of Molière, Voltaire, and Anatole France?

4. How many dreadnaughts were in the navies of the world in 1912? How many in 1915?

5. What events occurred in the War of the Nations on May 1 and May 7, 1915?

6. Who was the "Old Man Eloquent"? What important offices did his father and his son hold?

7. What astronomical societies are there in the world?

8. How many bales of cotton were produced in the United States in 1839? In 1860?

9. What is the Lincoln Highway? Where may four magazine articles on it be found?

10. Give the career of the present Governor of Illinois.

11. Give a brief account of the siege of Mafeking. What is "mafficking"?

12. Give the career of Clyde Fitch. Name six plays by him. 13. Mention ten colleges in Ohio.

14. "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." Who wrote this? Give the dates of his birth and death, and the names and dates of all his works.

15. What was Dr. Samuel Johnson's opinion of America?

16. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Where does this occur? Give the name of the author. What is his relation to the author of Lucille?

17. Mention five war plays of 1915.

18. Who was Rob Roy? Where may the best accounts of his adventures be found?

19. The career of the present Emperor of Japan.

20. What are the real names of Mmes. Sembrich, Calvé, and Gadski?

21. Name fifteen decisive battles of the world before 1816. 22. Where was Achilles vulnerable, and why? What killed him?

23. Mention an authoritative biography of Lamb, Carlyle, Lowell, and Hawthorne.

24. Who is the present Secretary of War? Give his career, his party, his salary, and his state.

25. The farthest north reached by Nansen, Duke D'Abruzzi, Baldwin, Kane, and Peary (on his next to the last trip).

26. The difference between a Saga and an Edda. Name two of each, and their best translations.

27. Give the date of publication, period, scene, and prominent historical character of Romola? Who was the author? Name five other books by the same writer.

28. What was the Hejira, and what is its use in reckoning time?

29. What is a Passion Play, and why is it so called? Where is the most famous one given, and how often?

PART II

KINDS OF COMPOSITION

12. Introduction. A classification of all prose composition into four forms - Exposition, Argument, Description, and Narrative is of course a rough division, as would be a classification of gardens or anything else. Yet it seems necessary, for each form has its separate technique, which the beginner must learn. For any one who sits down to write almost certainly has as his main purpose the wish to explain, argue, describe, or narrate. Suppose, for example, that he is trying to write something about baseball. He may wish merely to explain the game, in which case he must not argue, describe, or narrate, except incidentally. He may wish to argue that the rules of baseball should be changed in certain respects, in which case he must stick to that single aim. Or he may desire to depict the appearance of a baseball field on a certain afternoon in May, and if so he has still another definite problem, quite different from the task of explanation or argument. Or, finally, his purpose may be to tell how his school team won the game in the final inning. In this last case everything else must be subordinate to narrative.

Such a division of composition should not diminish for any one the enjoyment of books in which all these kinds

of composition are skillfully mingled. Nor need it lead a beginner to assume that he cannot himself attempt a composition in which, for example, the purpose is explanatory and the form narrative.

So we shall examine successively Exposition (including Criticism and Biography), Argument, Description, and Narrative.