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I 



6 0g£Jl}). 



Br Richard A. Peoctoe. 

 t glad to see our valued correspondent "Hall- 

 yards " (with whom however I do not always find myself 

 iu agreement — bat what does that matter?) raising 

 questions in regard to methods of speaking which are or 

 seem to be iacorrect. Although I find grammarians 

 nearly always among the very worst writers of English, 

 and regard the rules of grammar as derived from the 

 study of good writing rather than as having authority ia 

 themselves, there can bo no doubt that correctness in 

 writing and speaking is a most imp irtant matter. In- 

 correct ways of speaking are apt to obtain currency, if 

 not early shown to be incorrect. On the other hand, 

 however, it should be regarded as a sound rule that 

 where a mode of speaking, though not strictly speaking 

 correct, supplies the only way of expressing some par- 

 ticular meaning, it should be admitted on that account 

 alone. Xo language is absolutely perfect. For a lan- 

 guage is the result of a process akin to the development 

 we find ia the vegetable and animal world, and as no 

 variety or species of animal or vegetable Hfe is perfect, 

 so also no language can have in perfection all good 

 qualities, 



I FEAR the expression rejected by " Hallyards " as 

 "odious nonsense," must be regarded as a case in point. 

 I do not like the expression "I should have liked to 

 have ; " but it expresses a certain meaning which I think 

 cannot be precisely conveyed in any other form of words. 

 In reply to "Sir, Mr. C. called," one may answer, "I 

 wish I had been at home, that I might have seen him," 

 but this expresses rather more than the answer "I 

 should have liked to have seen him," — as this answer 

 would always be understood. Neither " I should like to 

 have seen him " nor " I should have liked to see him " 

 is quite right. The former really means " I should like 

 now to have seen him then ; " the latter really means " I 

 should have liked— at some past time not indicated— to 

 see him." " I should have betn glad had I seen him " 

 implies a more general gladness as the result of seeino- 

 the visitor than the form " Hallyards " objects to. 



" Than 



whom," as "Hallyards" points out. may be 

 correct, but "than who" is never written. Here we 

 have an example of an incorrect expression which has 

 established itself, even as " it is me " had nearly done. 

 Prior has "than her " and "than me " inexcusably, and 

 the other writers named by " Hallyards" have offended in 

 the same way. Yet "thtn him," "than her," "than me," 

 inay be qiiite correct. Thus, " I trusted you more than 

 him " is right, if it means "I trusted you more than I 

 trusted him '' ; but if the meaning to te conveyed is, " I 

 trusted you more than he trusted you," then of course we 

 should sny "I trusted you more than he." In like 



manner, if some one has said, " he trusted me more than 

 John," meaning "he trusted me more than he did John," 

 and any one doubted who had been named, he would ask 

 "Than whom," but if the statement had been "he 

 trusted me more than John (did) " the corresponding 

 query ought to be " than who ?" 



I CASSOT say I find bad grammar in putting a pronoun 

 before its noun. The practice interrupts the reader's 

 thoughts ; because either he has to wait till he timls out 

 what or whom tlir pr-r i^i rnyV '-_- ■ . -, ]ie 



starts with tin i-1. i i ' •' n^^s 



to some otlirr i-im tl ■ .' ■ • ■ uud 



to be referred 1". '}']•■■ •; -iWi-. 



But every one who li, ,^ , , ■ v,,itr luurh knows 



that it is often very c- • ■ . • ,,.( -n-Jth a pronotm 



in cases where the II' 01 • i more than twice, 



or where oth.-r nrui.)- i::tr. i:: -.1 which might be 



mist;,k. 11 !' r ■ :,' . 1, V . ,, t.i fmd a pronoun for. For 

 inst:i>, -^ V ,' I to saj- that "though Henry 



had t .. ., . ~; ;:, I; rkrt's play, he (Henry) some- 



what iiiLuii»i.--tintl\ ," lict. — then, whatever the preceding 

 sentence may have been, or however it may at first 

 suggest that the pronoun refers to Becket, it is con- 

 venient and proper to write, " Though he had taken no 

 interest in Becket 's play, Henry somewhat inconsistently," 

 itc. ; for if the pronoun comes last there is nothing to 

 show whether it belongs to Henry or to Becket. 



GREAT-CIRCLE SAILING. 



[A great circle on a sphere is one whose plane passes 

 through the sphere's centre. A rhumh course between 

 two ports or points is one in which the bearing is the 

 same throughout. It is obtained on a Mercator's chart 

 (invented for the purpose) by drawing a straight line 

 from port to port, or from point to point.] 



When the late Commander Maury in his " Sailing 

 Directions," and in the celebrated chapter on "Sea- 

 Routes," pointed out the advantage of studying the pre- 

 vailing winds, in deciding on the course to be followed 

 on a long journey, great-circle sailing had not come into 

 vogue, — though in long jotirneys the rhumb course had 

 necessarily been abandoned as unsuitable. It was known 

 to seamen that the great-circle course is the shortest 

 di.stance between any two points on the earth's surface, 

 and in many cases a rough attempt was made to follow 

 this course. The endeavour to find the north-west 

 passage was to some degree a case in point ; for on the 

 journey from ports in western Etirope to China the 

 shortest (or great-circle) course would carry the voyager 

 into the Arctic regions, — and if the Arctic seas could 

 only be traversed, a course from British ports almost 

 past the pole itself through Behring's Straits to the 

 Chinese Seas would be much shorter than the almost 

 due westerly course which ColumLus hoped to traverse. 

 [Note too that the north-east passage, actually achieved 

 by Nordenskjold is theoretically as good a solution of 

 the problem as a north-west passage wotild have been : 

 and practically too, for both are practically valueless.] 



But it was not until the introduction of steam as a 

 motive power that great-circle sailing came much into 

 use. Merrifeild remarks in his recently published treatise 

 on " Navigation," that "as their method of projulsion 

 renders steam-ves.sels in a great measure indeptndint of 

 winds and currents, their masters can choose their own 

 routes ; and as the shortest possible (all other things 

 being [supposed] equal) is the one to be desired, great- 

 circle sailing is coming into greater use than heretofore. 



