The Art of Writing English

less a fault to teach the subject as if writing were never anything more than a means of reporting sales or securing larger orders for goods. It seems to them that a proper balance in the character of the student's work in an elementary course can be maintained best only when the two kinds of writing, — that which is an artistic end in itself, and that which serves the purposes of everyday life, are considered side by side. Throughout the book, therefore, they have observed the division of all writing into æsthetic and instrumental, and have sought to show the student how the two very different purposes implied in these terms make necessary two standards of effectiveness. The second opinion is concerning argumentation. They have thought it absolutely essential to treat this subject as if it were in truth mainly a form of composition, and not oral debate. There seems to be little more reason for attempting, in a book on writing, to restrict the whole field of argument to its one most rigid and all in all least usable form, than for dealing with exposition as if it were used solely as a means of making exegetical sermons. They have endeavored, too, to give informal argument at least a part of the consideration it deserves.

Any intention of trying to write either a series of pleasant essays for vacation reading or a body of condensed directions for ready reference is hereby disclaimed. The authors are glad to admit that they have tried to make the treatment of their subject fresh and simple enough to enable the layman to read the book with a degree of ease and with profit. They have, however, written primarily for the classroom; and they have assumed that the teacher would in many instances desire to illustrate and amplify according to the needs of individual students. Although the text may possibly have some value as it stands alone, the authors wish to insist that its real significance becomes evident only when it accompanies regular practice in composition and in criticism. They are firm believers in Carlyle's "Properly thou hast no other knowledge but what thou hast got by working." The following chapters aim only to give fundamental suggestions about "working"; their function is not to serve as a system of arbitrary guideposts, but rather as a vantage point from which

the student can choose his own way intelligently. It scarcely need be said that the book presupposes the very necessary drill in elementary details.

Thanks are gratefully extended to Professor J. S. Kenyon, of Butler College; Professor C. W. Park, of the University of Cincinnati; Professor Roderick Scott, of Earlham College; Professor P. D. Sherman, of Oberlin College; and Mr. Meredith Nicholson, for reading parts of the manuscript; to Mr. H. W. O'Connor, Mrs. Mabel Bonnell Barnes, and Mr. D. L. Clark, for valuable suggestions and substantial assistance of many kinds; to several of the authors' students for illustrative matter, especially to Mr. Phil Clugston for the brief and the parts of the completed argument used in Chapter VIII; and to a half hundred professional writers for the information they cheerfully contributed about their methods of work. All other conscious obligations are acknowledged in the text or the footnotes.

The selections from T. B. Aldrich, Arlo Bates, John Burroughs, S. M. Crothers, R. W. Emerson, B. Harte, G. L. Kittredge, J. R. Lowell, B. Matthews, G. H. Palmer, Bliss Perry, E. A. Ross, and H. B. Stowe are used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company. Grateful acknowledgment is made to The Century Company; Doubleday, Page, and Company; Harper and Brothers; Henry Holt and Company; John Lane Company; J. B. Lippincott Company; Longmans, Green, and Company; Macmillan Company; and Charles Scribner's Sons for permission to use copyrighted material; and to the publishers of The Nation and The Outlook for the use of extracts.

R. W. B.

N. W. B.