1705043099

1705043100 And such docility must be cultivated by everyone who would write well, such strenuous docility. Of course there must be energy in plenty; the imagination which I described in my third section, the passion for solid form as in my second, the disciplined and daring powers as in my first; but all these must be ready at a moment’s notice to move where the matter calls and to acknowledge that all their worth is to be drawn from it. Religion is only enlarged good sense, and the words of Jesus apply as well to the things of earth as of heaven. I do not know where we could find a more compendious statement of what is most important for one to learn who would cultivate himself in English than the simple saying in which Jesus announces the source of his power, “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Whoever can use such words will be a noble speaker indeed.

1705043101

1705043102 These, then, are the fundamental precepts which everyone must heed who would command our beautiful English language. There is, of course, a fifth. I hardly need to name it, for it always follows after, whatever others precede. It is that we should do the work, and not think about it; do it day by day and not grow weary in bad doing. Early and often we must be busy, and be satisfied to have a great deal of labor produce but a small result. I am told that early in life John Morley, wishing to engage in journalism, wrote an editorial and sent it to a paper every day for nearly a year before he succeeded in getting one accepted. We all know what a power he became in London journalism. I will not vouch for the truth of the story, but I am sure an ambitious author is wise who writes a weekly essay for his stove. Publication is of little consequence, so long as one is getting oneself hammered into shape.

1705043103

1705043104 But before I close this address, let me acknowledge that in it I have neglected a whole class of helpful influences, probably quite as important as any I have discussed. Purposely I have passed them by. Because I wished to show what we can do for ourselves, I have everywhere assumed that our cultivation in English is to be effected by naked volition and a kind of dead lift. These are mighty agencies, but seldom in this interlocked world do they work well alone. They are strongest when backed by social suggestion and unconscious custom. Ordinarily the good speaker is he who keeps good company, but increases the helpful influence of that company by constant watchfulness along the lines I have marked out. So supplemented, my teaching is true. By itself it is not true. It needs the supplementation of others. Let him who would speak or write well seek out good speakers and writers. Let him live in their society, —for the society of the greatest writers is open to the most secluded, —let him feel the ease of their excellence, the ingenuity, grace, and scope of their diction, and he will soon find in himself capacities whose development may be aided by the precepts I have given. Most of us catch better than we learn. We take up unconsciously from our surroundings what we cannot altogether create. All this should be remembered, and we should keep ourselves exposed to the wholesome words of our fellow-men. Yet our own exertions will not on that account be rendered less important. We may largely choose the influences to which we submit; we may exercise a selective attention among these influences; we may enjoy, oppose, modify, or diligently ingraft what is conveyed to us, —and for doing any one of these things rationally we must be guided by some clear aim. Such aims, altogether essential even if subsidiary, I have sought to supply; and I would reiterate that he who holds them fast may become superior to linguistic fortune and be the wise director of his sluggish and obstinate tongue. It is as certain as anything can be that faithful endeavor will bring expertness in the use of English. If we are watchful of our speech, making our words continually more minutely true, free, and resourceful; if we look upon our occasions of writing as opportunities for the deliberate work of unified construction;if in all our utterances we think of him who hears as well as of him who speaks; and above all, if we fix the attention of ourselves and our hearers on the matter we talk about and so let ourselves be supported by our subject, —we shall make a daily advance not only in English study, but in personal power, in general serviceableness, and in consequent delight.

1705043105

1705043106 Notes

1705043107

1705043108 philology, the scientific study of languages and their structure and mutual relation.

1705043109

1705043110 intricacies, complexities, involved problems; things difficult to understand.

1705043111

1705043112 these airy products, words and sentences.

1705043113

1705043114 myriad, innumerable; many.

1705043115

1705043116 cogent, convincing; forcible.

1705043117

1705043118 from the times of the Saxons to those of Tennyson and Kipling, from the 7th century to the present day.

1705043119

1705043120 fragmentarily, in fragments or parts.

1705043121

1705043122 exhilaration, gaiety; high spirits; enlivenment.

1705043123

1705043124 nutriment, refreshment; food.

1705043125

1705043126 veritable, actual; true; genuine.

1705043127

1705043128 whose intimacy, close contact or association with whom.

1705043129

1705043130 emboldens, encourages.

1705043131

1705043132 tedium, irksomeness; weariness.

1705043133

1705043134 vagrancy, state of being a wanderer.

1705043135

1705043136 human faculties, powers of sense or mind of human beings; their ability to act.

1705043137

1705043138 maimed, crippled; disabled.

1705043139

1705043140 Shakespeare, William （1564-1616）, English poet and dramatist.

1705043141

1705043142 “Time insults o’er dull and speechless tribes.” Shakespeare,“Sonnet,” CVII; line 12. In time, tribes that have not developed any literature will be wiped out.

1705043143

1705043144 innate, inborn.

1705043145

1705043146 calculable, dependable.

1705043147

1705043148 straight, persistent.

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