310 ^ Rei\ A, U Orsexj [Feb. 1, 



granted, that men coming into residence were fully masters of the 

 English language ; that they required no course of study in so ele- 

 mentary a matter as the art of reading, writing, and speaking their 

 native tongue ; and that they must just do as others had done before 

 them in preparation for the prayer-desk and pulpit, — trust to the " light 

 of nature" in writing and delivering sermons; or, if hard pressed, 

 they might compile, " adapt," borrow, beg, or hire! Consequently 

 little or no encouragement was given to any proposals to supply these 

 defects. Several Professors of Divinity had tried, but in vain, to get 

 their men to do what was done in all the Scottish Universities, — write 

 and deliver trial sermons. An eminent elocutionist, Mr. Plumptre 

 (a member of the English bar), had just commenced work at Oxford ; 

 and an English Lectureship had been founded at Cambridge ; but 

 both were of origin too recent to be at present taken into account. 

 Certain it was, that, while those in influential positions spoke of elocu- 

 tion as mere " spouting," while undergraduates had every inducement 

 to devote themselves exclusively to classics and mathematics, and while 

 the most accomplished English scholar found himself no better off in 

 examinations than the man who sent up his papers full of errors in 

 grammar, spelling, and punctuation, there was but little hope of any 

 extensive measure of improvement in our University system. 



The speaker then rapidly sketched the results of this imperfect 

 teaching, as shown in the stagnant condition of the great mass of our 

 population, urging that the cases often quoted of great intelligence 

 were quite exceptional. Millions of our countrymen never opened a 

 book. Of the thirty millions in these islands, fourteen millions never 

 entered a place of worship. Many causes might operate, but he 

 believed a great one was the want of language ; the utter inability to 

 understand what was read or spoken. And how should it be otherwise 

 with peasants whose stock of words was limited to 350, and whose 

 clergymen were incapable of preaching a sermon in good plain Saxon- 

 English ? In the middle and upper classes, too, the knowledge of English 

 was very deficient. De Quincey had said, most truly, " It makes us 

 blush to add that even grammar is so little of a perfect attainment 

 amongst us, that, with two or three exceptions, we have never seen the 

 writer who has not sometimes violated the accidence or the syntax 

 of English grammar." And he adds that faults in composition " may 

 be detected in every page of almost every book that is published." 

 How few could write a really good letter ! How many of our writers 

 seemed to know nothing of punctuation ! How many youths of good 

 families, educated at our public schools, have been rejected at our 

 civil service examinations from sheer ignorance of spelling ! What 

 errors in the choice of words, " lay " for " lie," " expect " for " sup- 

 pose " — what harping upon pet words — what blunders in syntax — what 

 efforts to write " fine English " — what adoption of slang and foreign 

 terms ! And what was to be said of our speech-makers ? Professional 

 orators set aside, what lamentable exhibitions were made on our plat- 

 forms and hustings, at our public dinners and our wedding breakfasts ! 



