NOTES ON ENGLISH COMPOSITION.

How the writing of English can best be acquired is a question not easily answered. Text-books and intelligent training will do something ; but practice and the study of good models will, admittedly, do more. The first step is to train the pupil to think. If at first, which is likely to be the case, the pupil cannot use his reflective powers so as to provide himself with material for a theme in Composition, he may with advantage be referred to some pregnant passage occurring in the works of a good writer. He should be asked to gather the substance of the writer's argument in the passage, and to translate it into his own words. The paraphrase he may then commit to paper. Varied practice of this sort, with the corrections and counsel of a good teacher, will do more to impart facility in writing than any number of rules, or a lengthy course of grammatical exposition, however good. In English Composition, as in other branches of education, much more may be attained by oral than by text-book teaching. There are a few hints, however, that may be useful to the pupil, which we here venture to set forth, with the remark that, in this as in other studies, little can be done without the pupil's exercise of his own mental powers, or without taste in the selection and assiduity, as we have said, in the reading of good literary models.

Before beginning a practical course of English Composition, the teacher will do well to impress upon the pupil's mind the following requisites to success in the writing of English, mastery of which, in his exercises and practice, the learner should endeavour to gain : (1) Familiarity with the subject to be written about; (2) Some notion of method in the arrangement of topics, and natural sequence of ideas in treating of them; (3) A fair English vocabulary (the simpler the better); (4) An accurate knowledge of the meanings of words and phrases; (5) Some degree of taste and sense of propriety in the language used; (6) Such an acquaintance with the rules of grammar as will keep one from violating syntax; and (7) “A ready perception of the beauties of language and of those things that tend to make it most effective for its purpose."

With these general ideas impressed upon the mind of the pupil, and with preliminary practice in sentence-building, including exercises in variations of its structure, phraseology, and sequence, he may go on to

the composition of the paragraph, and to the analysis of its propertiesunity, consecutiveness, and variety. From these he may proceed to exercises on theme writing, and to lessons on the qualities of style, particularly in its essentials of perspicuity and strength. In the exercises on the analysis of style the utmost care should be taken to make criticism on the mere mechanism of the language subordinate to the allimportant consideration of the thought and aim of the writer, which form the essence of every literary work. While a student of literature, it should not be forgotten that the pupil is also a student of the world; that he is being prepared to enter upon a life of thought and action for himself; and that the pedantry which makes so much of school work in the grammatical construction of the language is a poor substitute, as a means of training, for those impressive lessons, both of principle and sentiment, which happily abound in English literature, and are its most distinguished characteristics. Nor should it be forgotten that over-attention to the minutiæ of criticism prevents the pupil from fcrming just or adequate conceptions of an author's work, and, in the case of a masterpiece of literature, limits his vision of its large and general aspects.

In proceeding to theme-writing, the teacher's care, after he has seen to the grammatical purity of the pupil's compositions, should be chiefly directed to the supervision of their rhetorical qualities. A heavy hand will here be needed, as the tendency of imaginative youth is to run riot among the flowers of the language. The first requisites he should exact are Simplicity and Clearness; after that may come Strength. Perhaps no better rules can be given, as directions to the pupil in attaining these requisites, than the old and simple ones of Lindley Murray, which we fear are, in these modern days, not so familiar as they ought to be, and hence may here be quoted :

1. "Avoid," says Lindley Murray, "all such words and phrases as are not adapted to the ideas you mean to communicate, or which are less significant than others, of those ideas."

2. During the course of the sentence the scene should be changed as little as possible, i.e. [do not let the mind be hurried by sudden transitions from person to person, or from subject to subject.]

3. Never crowd into one sentence things which have so little connection that they could bear to be divided into two or three sentences; and keep clear of all unnecessary parentheses.

4. For promoting the strength of a sentence, prune it of all redundant words and members; much force is added to a sentence by brevity.

5. Attend, particularly to the use of copulatives, relatives, and all the particles employed for transition and connection.

6. Dispose of the capital word, or words, so that they may make the greatest impression; and, when the subject admits of it, attend to the climax of a sentence. 7. A weaker assertion or proposition should never come after a stronger; when a sentence consists of two members, the longer should generally be the concluding one. 8. Avoid concluding a sentence with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word; and be careful not to misplace an adverb.

[There is no word in the English language, says a modern authority in grammar, which is so frequently misplaced as only. Hence, it is important to lay down the rule with regard to it: "Only" limits the word or words immediately following it: Alone, limits the word or words immediately preceding it.]

9. In the members of a sentence, where two things are compared or contrasted with one another, whether either a resemblance or an opposition is intended to be expressed, some resemblance in the language and construction should be preserved. When the things themselves correspond to each other, we naturally expect to find a similar correspondence in the words.

10. Attend to the harmony and easy flow of the words and members.

11. The same word should not be repeated too often in the same sentence or paragraph, though the sense should not be sacrificed to avoid repetition.

12. Long and short sentences should be agreeably interspersed in a paragraph: the ear tires of a number of sentences of similar construction following each other with monotonous regularity.

In setting themes for composition the teacher will do well at first to avoid subjects that make unusual demands upon the pupil's powers of reflection, unless they are familiar to him. Narrative composition, on some incident or story; on some familiar object or feature of local interest; or on some character in, or event of, history; will be found much more suitable. At first a skeleton, or scheme of arrangement in the topics, should be supplied, such as the following:

In Biography: 1, Place and circumstances of birth; 2, Youth and education; 3, Occupation of life, and circumstances determining that occupation; 4. Progress in life-work; 5, Death and attendant circumstances; and 6, Reflections on the character, and lessons drawn from the life, passed under review.

In History: 1, The event itself; 2, Cause or occasion of it; 3, The time and place; 4, The manner of its happening and attendant circumstances; and 5, The result: what it produced or effected.

In the essay on Warren Hastings, in the following pages, abundant material will be found for composition themes, in both historical and biographical narration. The more prominent of these themes will be found in the headings of the chapters. As an exercise to the pupil, and that it may tend to familiarise him with the work he may be called upon to do, in writing compositions on the essay, the following model of a paragraph, enlarged from an outline of the life of Lord Clive, is herewith added. The model is taken from Dalgleish's “English Composition" (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd), a work that may be commended to the teacher. The space taken up with the example is more

readily given, as the incidents of the sketch will be of interest to the student who proceeds to the study of the essay on Warren Hastings.

1.-Description: The founder of the British Empire in India.

2.-Narrative: Born at Styche (Shropshire), 1725-idle and mischievous at schoolgoes to Madras-clerk in the E. I. Company-disgusted with the monotony of office life-welcomes the call to military service-English influence in India very low-great success of Clive's exploits -Arcot,1751-Plassey, 1757-great reputationreturns to England, 1760-made an Irish peer-affairs go wrong in his absence--sent out to put them right, 1764-restores perfect order in eighteen monthsreturns to England, 1767 —his conduct and administration assailed, 1773 acquitted--commits suicide, 1774.

3.-Character: Great warrior and able statesman-resolute and uncompromising-often unscrupulous-always successful. The effects of his labours.

2. Paragraph.

"Robert, Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey, the founder of the British Empire in India, was born at Styche, in Shropshire, in 1725. At school, he showed greater aptitude for mischief and acts of recklessness than for learning; and it was a relief to his parents to get him safely shipped off to India in 1744. He entered the civil service of the Com. pany at Madras, at a time when its prosperity had sunk to a very low ebb; and the monotony of his sedentary life so depressed him, that he oftener than once attempted to commit suicide. When French encroachment and intrigue rendered it necessary to take measures to save English influence from total extinction, Clive gladly welcomed the call to active service. His change of profession marks an epoch in the history of India. From the day when he assumed the sword, English interests began sensibly to revive. His first great exploit was the capture and defence of Arcot, with only 500 men, 300 of whom were natives. His crowning triumph was the victory of Plassey, which laid Bengal at the feet of the English. His own reputation was now firmly established, and his name became everywhere a tower of strength. On his return to England in 1760, he received the thanks of the Company, and an Irish peerage from Government. But affairs went wrong in his absence, and in 1764, the Company sent him out again to set them right. This, by his vigorous measures, he very soon suc. ceeded in doing. In the course of eighteen months, perfect order was restored; and on his final return to England, in 1767, he was received with the distinction which his great services deserved. But his reforms had given offence to many of those who had profited by the former laxity of affairs; and it is to be regretted that not a few of his acts were of so questionable a character as to give his enemies a handle against him. In 1773, his administration was made the subject of a Parliamentary inquiry. The decision was in his favour; but he was dissatisfied with the terms of the acquittal; and the mere fact of his having been put upon his trial affected him so deeply, that he sought relief in suicide, November 22nd, 1774. Clive was one of the greatest warriorstatesmen of whom England can boast. Bold, resolute, and rapid as a soldier, he was equally calm, judicious, and comprehensive as an administrator. It cannot be denied that he was often unscrupulous in opposing cunning with cunning; but he was not cruel; he was not selfish; and his faults have been condoned by the success of his career, and by the splendid services he rendered to his country."

The "Art of Authorship," and the methods of professional work among literary men, have lately been the theme of a compilation by a young journalist, from whose volume the editors extract the following useful hints :

"The main thing in writing," says Professor Blackie, "is to have distinct and clear and well-marshalled ideas, and then to express them simply and without affectation. This forms what we may call the bones of a good style. Then you must study to give colour by apt images and warmth by natural passion and earnestness. The music of words and the cadence of sentences is a matter which depends on the ear. Above all things monotony in the form of the sentences is to be shunned d; variety means wealth and always pleases. Condensation also ought to be particularly studied, and a loose, rambling, ill-compacted form of sentence ought to be avoided."

"To try to be striking new, fine, is all faulty," says D. C. Murray, the novelist. "Try to see clearly, to speak justly, and you are on the road to a style. Idiom is the cream of language.' Use common forms for thoughts that have often been expressed. Avoid foreign phrases and scraps of the dead languages. There is nothing which can be said at all which cannot be said in English. Be simple and unpretentious. If you get all your goods into the shop window, you have a poor establishment. Say the thing you see as you see it, and bend the whole power of your mind upon it until you see it well. Avoid newspaper English like a pest. Study the Bible, Bunyan, Defoe, and mark their simplicity, their straightforwardness, their accuracy in the choice of words. Few things are so wonderful as language; few things better

worth study."

"For precepts of style," says Goldwin Smith, "you must go to the masters of style, and for lessons in the art of Composition you must go to artists. My only rule is to know what I mean to say, to say it, and have done with it. Clearness and conciseness are within the reach of all of us, though grandeur, beauty, and piquancy are not."

Westland Marston, the dramatist, says, "As to composition, the chief rules I have laid down for myself are to avoid superfluous expressions, to choose epithets carefully and use them sparingly, and to frame sentences neither so long as to be cumbruous, nor so short as to destroy continuity.”

J. H. Shorthouse, the author of "John Inglesant," remarks that "in the way of general advice, I can only suggest the taking of infinite pains, and the avoiding, like the plague, any attempts at affectation, or