loquacious. An eloquent man is one who speaks out of the fulness of his mind; a loquacious man is one who speaks out of the emptiness of his mind. We often mistake loquacity for eloquence, forgetting that just as it is easier to pour water from a bottle half empty than from one quite full, so it is very easy to talk garrulously and thoughtlessly, while a mind replete with knowledge is frequently hindered by its very fulness from finding suitable words in which to express itself.

3. Another requisite to good Composition is that the subject upon which one has to write should be carefully arranged before the actual work of composition begins. A mistake made by many writers is the belief that it is simply necessary to take up a pen and to begin to write something or other, and that then without fail thoughts will start up from some hidden corner of the mind which will enable them to fill as much space upon their paper as is required. Men of this kind estimate the value of their writings by the quantity, not by the quality, and think that a newspaper article, for example, is perfectly satisfactory if it fill a certain number of columns, or that a letter is to be called good because it is crowded closely upon the four pages of a sheet of note-paper. In simple matters, such as letter writing, the proper order of the subject will readily suggest itself to a person of ordinary thought in narrative composition the natural arrangement is obviously that according to the order of time but in more difficult subjects it is necessary to decide upon the general scheme and arrangement of the composition before the task is actually begun.

Thus, for example, if it were required to write an essay upon the subject of Adversity, one's thoughts in regard to it might group themselves in different ways; but the writing should not be commenced until some one arrangement has been decided upon in preference to any other. A simple plan such as the following might be adopted, in which everything written is placed in subordinate connexion with three leading thoughts: first, Adversity is really a blessing to men ;-then, although we all very readily acknowledge this in theory, we are sceptical about it practically; for when adversity comes upon us we are apt to regard it as a curse instead of a blessing. What is the reason of this? Lastly, we may illustrate by historical references what has been said on the subject.

It is, however, important that, in order to fulfil its purpose, the arrangement of a subject in composition should not be obtruded too much upon the reader. It - accomplishes its end most perfectly when the writer carefully attends to it, but as carefully keeps it out of sight. The function of a studied arrangement in composition is very similar to that of the bones in the body of an animal, which keep the whole together, and support and strengthen it, and can be found by examination, but yet are hidden from the view. So by arrangement a composition is adjusted and compacted; and in good writings, although it may not appear upon the surface, yet it may be detected by analysis, and the skeleton which the writer has skilfully covered may be laid bare, just as by dissection the bones of the body are brought to view. Generally there is prefixed to books a skeleton showing nothing

but the arrangement which the writer has followed, and this skeleton we call an index. It is a valuable exercise to take some piece of compact composition from a standard author, and, after careful study, to analyze it logically, in order to discover the skeleton arrangement which the writer has adopted. If one of the Essays of Lord Bacon be treated in this way, it will be found to be not a mere collection, in a compact form, of disconnected thoughts on a given subject, but a composition carefully arranged according to a definite plan, and of which a perfect logical analysis or index may be made.

4. Lastly, it is necessary to spend a great deal of labour in examining and correcting one's own early attempts at composition. The importance of this can scarcely be exaggerated. Little inaccuracies and inelegancies which were overlooked during the first writing become evident when the composition is read through afterwards; and many improvements may be made, especially in the choice and arrangement of words, by the writer becoming his own critic. All the great and enduring works of literature are those upon which much labour has been spent in correcting and polishing. The Greek and Latin authors whose works have come down to us as perfect models of composition were accustomed to spend years in correcting and finishing. Isocrates spent ten years over one oration. Virgil laboured at the 'Eneid' for eleven years, and even then regarded it as imperfect. When Pascal was engaged on his famous Letters he wrote and rewrote several of them seven or eight successive times, and even spent twenty days on the composition of one

of them. Among our own countrymen, Pope, Addison, Goldsmith, Hume, and many others, are known to have laboured incessantly in correcting their own writings. Some of Dr. Johnson's best compositions are said to have been written off without any correction whatever; but all of these treat of subjects upon which he had thought and conversed familiarly for years, until they were clearly and definitely arranged in his mind, and had thus been really corrected long before they were committed to paper. Skill in composition is a habit which can be acquired only by dint of great labour.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE USE OF WORDS, WITH REGARD TO— 1. COPIOUSNESS. 2. ACCURACY.

WORDS are the materials which a writer or speaker uses in order to express his thoughts; and they are as necessary to him for his purpose as the stones and bricks and timber to a builder for the construction of houses.

We may perhaps better illustrate their use by comparing them to a merchant's capital, by means of which he is enabled to carry on his transactions with others. The success of a merchant depends mainly upon the amount of capital which he has at command, and upon the judicious use which he makes of it; so also the success of a writer or speaker will depend in no small degree upon the number of words which he has at command in the storehouse of his memory, and then upon the judicious use which he makes of them. There are thus with regard to words two essentials to good Composition which we shall denote by the terms COPIOUSNESS and ACCURACY. By Copiousness we denote the possession of a sufficiently large stock of words always ready for use; by Accuracy that careful discrimination which enables one to recognize the exact meaning of every word used, and therefore to select from the stock of