"Misfortune is never desirable, but it generally brings benefit to the one who meets with it.'

(d) In paraphrasing we must confine ourselves to the exact ideas of the text. If we make use of new facts or ideas, it partakes then of the nature of exposition or explanation.

EXAMPLE 1:

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How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
Makes ill deeds done."

Explanation." King John here tries to throw the blame of Arthur's murder on to Hubert. He suggests that Hubert was by nature too wicked to be near him, too suggestive of murder, and too ready to follow out his evil designs."

This is not paraphrase but explanation, and would be quite acceptable where explanation is asked for and not paraphrase.

Young students sometimes use the text as the basis of a brief sermon or discourse by enlarging on the words and ideas of the text, thus:

"If we wish to avoid wrong-doing, we must not go

where evil is. Many a prisoner has confessed that he was led into a career of crime by associating with wicked companions, and frequenting sinful places. If we keep as far as possible from evil, we shall not be tempted to commit it."

What is required is a brief paraphrase, as :

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Opportunities of wrong-doing are a fruitful cause of crime."

EXAMPLE 2:

"All that glitters is not gold." "Gold is of a yellow glossy colour. It is very valuable, and in consequence men cover cheap substances with a thin layer of gold and people are thus deceived as to the value of the articles.'

The above is explanation. In paraphrase we express the thought in preference to the language, thus :—

"Things are not always as good as they appear to be." (e) Often selections are set from the old writers which are badly punctuated. In such cases the sense of the passages and not the punctuation should determine which clauses inay be grouped together.

EXAMPLE 1:

"It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come."-JULIUS CESAR.

The correct punctuation should be a comma after "fear" and not a semi-colon, hence the three lines should be paraphrased together. If a semi-colon is placed after "fear," the principal and subordinate sentences will be separated.

"Above all things, order and distribution, and singling out of parts, is the gift of dispatch; so as the distribution be not too subtle."

'Method and arrangement are helps to business if they are not made too much of, so as to become hindrances.”

N.B.—The semi-colon after "dispatch" should be a

comma.

CHAPTER VIII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Notes for Students.-There is but one way of making acquaintance with the correct and graceful forms of language-the study of them in the works of the great writers. The mere learning of rules will be of little avail. No book-study of the principles of architecture would enable us to form for ourselves a true idea of the grandeur of St. Paul's Cathedral; neither will the study of theories of composition enable us to appreciate the merits and requirements of a finished composition. Contact with the masterpieces in which these theories are realised is the only way of learning to realise them for ourselves. If we will not read we shall never write.

Method of Reading and Practice.-There is reading and reading. We may pass over the ideas which succeed one another in the classical works we take up without any attention to the order in which the ideas are expressed, or to the devices of language by which force and beauty are added to them. If we read in this way, we shall never understand the means by which the clearness, grace, and power of a perfect composition are secured.

In reading the works of the masters of style—or the portions of those works which enter into the school course the young student should, first of all, assure himself that he understands the exact value of each word used, and so has a correct idea of the author's meaning. Then he should examine carefully the sentences which seem to him to possess special beauty or power, and find out for himself how these effects are produced, observe the choice and arrangement of words,

the logical, as distinguished from the grammatical, structure of the sentences, and figures of speech, employed, the formation of paragraphs, the order in which the various ideas are introduced so as ultimately to secure most effectually the writer's purpose. These points might be noted, as the student reads, either in a separate book or on the margin of the page. Practice of this kind will soon make him familiar with the means and methods of successful composition. But it is not enough to know the principles of good composition; we must further acquire the power of applying those principles ourselves. There is only one means to this end-constant and careful exercise. We must endeavour to imitate the perfections which we observe in the compositions of the best writers. When we make this attempt, we shall conceive a higher idea of their merits. When the student sets himself to compose a Latin hexameter describing the roaring of the storm, he begins to see new perfections in Virgil's lines on the same theme.

A good way to carry out the practice here recommended would be to select some passages from a classical writer in which a familiar scene is described, or an anecdote told, or an event of history narrated, or some remarkable character sketched. Read over the passage once or twice, so as to get a good idea of its general import. Then close the book, and set to work to embody in your own words the ideas given you. When you have finished, compare your work with the model you have selected, note where you have fallen short of the ideal, and then have the patience to rewrite your composition, improving it at the points where you have found it defective. In a little time, you will acquire a facility for planning a composition independently, and the sense of what is correct in words and effective in the structure and arrangement of sentences will grow on you.

If, later, you are required to use your powers in an examination room, you will be able to choose from the subjects offered you that with which you are best able

to deal; you will be able to sketch the plan of your composition without hurry or confusion, and to work it out in graceful and effective detail.

Hints to Teachers. In training pupils to write, begin with the method suggested at the close of the preceding section. Read for them, once or twice, an anecdote, a description of scenery, or a sketch of a man's appearance or character, or other simple extract complete in itself, which you have selected from an approved author. Make sure that they thoroughly understand what you have read. Call their attention to the more important features of the composition you are setting before them, the order in which the objects are introduced into the description, the order in which the events of the narrative follow one another, the main lines in the picture of the outer man, or of the mental character, as traced. When this has been done, let them strive as best they can to express, after the manner of the original, the ideas given them. Compare their work when it is finished with the model set before them, point out their defects, read again for them the original extract-they will now appreciate it better. When they have thus realised their shortcomings, let them re-write the exercise. The second attempt will usually show a great improvement on the first. Improvements thus secured indicate

genuine progress.

Choice of Subjects.-When selecting extracts as models for students' exercises, do not choose subjects with which they are wholly unfamiliar. To exercise them in describing unfamiliar objects is to accustom them to use words to which they attach no meaning. Do not ask them to describe things which they have never seen, or characters of which they have no experience, or incidents wholly unlike those which they have met with in life. Require them to portray clearly and gracefully what they have seen and know, not to create mere figments of imagination. The inside of the class-room, the scene visible from the college or school window, the lane, road, or street through which they have passed on their way to college or school, the