INTRODUCTION.

Literary Composition is the art of putting our thoughts into correct and graceful language, so as to convey them to others clearly and pleasingly. Three conditions, it is evident, are here necessary :

1. We must have ideas to express.

2. We must express them by means of the correct words.

3. We must arrange our words, our sentences, and our paragraphs in the right order.

Without something to say, we cannot of course put it into words. If we use the wrong words we shall not succeed in making the reader understand what we mean. And if we are not careful in ordering our words, sentences, and paragraphs, we shall weary and puzzle our reader, and thus violate some of the chief requirements of a good composition, which should be concise, lucid and pleasant to read.

Where Ideas are to be Found.—It is not the business of a work on Composition to supply the student with thoughts. These he must derive, in the main, from:1. His other studies, such as history, literature, geography, etc.

2. His own observation of things.

3. His conversation with his fellow students and others.

4. His general reading outside college and school hours.

At the same time we shall see that a knowledge of the principles of good writing will prove helpful in suggesting ideas; and of course the power of an idea is greatly strengthened when it is clothed in proper language.

How far Composition can be Taught.-As to the other two conditions of which mention has been made, namely, the correct use of language and the accurate formation and arrangement of sentences and paragraphs-these can be taught, and it will be our object in the following pages to lay down the rules for their acquisition.

Let not the young student deceive himself with the notion that to write good English is an easy matter. It is no such thing. This illusion, which is a common one, is fostered by the reading of authors like Goldsmith or Scott, who write so naturally (as we say), that it seems indeed the result of nature, not of art. It is not so, however; for it is a mark of the results of the most perfect art to have an air of ease about them as if they had come without labour. On the other hand, it is not meant that we can all learn to write with the charm of Goldsmith by mastering a set of mechanical rules. This would be equally untrue. But a knowledge of the principles of Composition will teach every one-and it is a power by no means to be despised-to express in clear and correct language whatever he wishes to convey to others. We can neglect the cultivation of this power only at the risk of missing whatever influence, whether for our own advantage or for that of others, we might hope to exercise by what we write. The higher and the finer effects of style-the beautiful grace and delicacy of Lamb, the picturesque power of Macaulay, the eloquence of Burke-cannot be taught. These are the personal and incommunicable gifts of individuals. What we can all hope to attain by a knowledge of, and attention to, the rules of rhetoric is a command of clear, correct English and a power of interesting our readers in what we write.

Plan of this Book.-In the present little work there is a prefatory chapter of Definitions, with two subsections, the first devoted to the important question of Punctuation, and the second to Common Grammatical Errors. In reference to the second sub-section, it is to be noted that it does not aim at taking the place of the grammar lesson, or even at supplying the elements of

English grammar. It is inserted merely to warn the young student against certain errors which are frequently met with in the essays of beginners, and which mar the value of what is in other respects often a good Composition. The subjects of Paraphrasing, and Précis-writing, are fully dealt with in Chapters VII. and VIII.

We shall, then, treat in due order, Words, Sentences, Paragraphs, and the whole Composition: thus following the natural growth of an essay. The plan of the present work may be tabulated as follows:

1. Definitions.

2. Words.

3. The Sentence.

4. The Paragraph.

5. The Whole Composition.
6. Different Styles of Writing.
7. Paraphrasing.

8. Miscellaneous.

CHAPTER I.

DEFINITIONS.

A FEW of the leading terms with which we shall have to deal in the following pages may profitably be defined. The student may not grasp the full meaning of some of them till a later stage; but it seems best to make him familiar with them from the start. A fuller treatment of each point will be given later.

A Sentence may be defined as a group of words expressing a complete thought by means of a subject and a predicate, with their modifying words. "Man is mortal." "The wise man fears not death.' Selfpreservation is the first rule of every community.'

Unity of the Sentence.-The unity of the sentence is an important point. The sentence should make one distinct main statement about one object of thought, otherwise it will make a confused impression on the reader's mind.

The following is an example of a sentence faulty in this respect:

"Their march was through an uncultivated country, whose savage inhabitants fared hardly, having no other riches than a breed of lean sheep, whose flesh was rank and unsavoury, by reason of their continued feeding upon sea-fish.

In this clumsy and ill-constructed sentence, the reader is confused between the four different assertions, viz.: (1) The march (of the Greeks); (2) the hard fare of the inhabitants of the country through which they were marching; (3) the quality of their sheep; (4) the reason why the mutton was unsavoury. This is a type of sentence that is very common with young writers.