348 CANADIAN ENGLISH. 



this continent, it is often applied in its first signification, thus : — 

 " the territory of Wisconsin," and indicates then, either all the lands 

 of a state or nation, or certain distant or outlying possessions. 

 Region and district again indicate a portion only of a kingdom, 

 province, or territory. But a district may indicate a very minute 

 portion of a state, counby, or even of a city ; whereas a region 

 describes so wide an extent of country, as almost to be synony- 

 mous with that word. Beginning, then, with the latter, we say 

 district means the smallest measure, territory a large measure, and 

 region the largest of all. But in the States and Canada, the three 

 words are often confounded ; territory is put for region, and region 

 for district, until neither word has any exact or specific mean- 

 ing left. It is inevitable, indeed, in a new country, settled 

 under peculiar circumstances, so different from those of the 

 mother country, that new terms should be devised. Hence our 

 GroreSj Townships, Concessions, broken -fronts, water-lots, &e. But 

 all of these are definite, universally understood with the same 

 significance, and so contribute to the precision of language, instead 

 of detracting from it, and as such, some of them at least, will be 

 permanently incorporated into the English language. 



People who speak English, say of a jury when it returns to court, 

 and expresses its judgment, that " it renders its verdict," and this act is 

 called " the rendering of a verdict," or technically " its finding." 

 All this appears intelligible, and we are slow to imagine anything 

 plainer. But people who, whatever their shortcomings, try to speak 

 the language of Swift and Addison, are little aware of the progress 

 of the age. With many among us, juries never render verdicts, but 

 make rendition of them ; and such, in lieu of speaking of a finding or 

 rendering, refer to what they style a rendition, a mode of expression 

 which, whatever it may be, is not English in such a connection. There 

 is such a word as rendition, .but it means surrender ox yielding possession. 

 it is a diplomatic, or law term, more than anything else. Let us apply 

 the true meaning of the word to the action of a jury. Thus : — " the 

 jury returned to court in the course of half-an-hour, and surrendered 

 or yielded possession of their verdict." I submit that such bodies 

 of men give, or express, but do not surrender opinions. Indeed, one 

 would like to know how any man could surrender an opinion ? A. man 

 maymake rendition of his property, bnt he only expresses his sentiments. 

 As the men of Derry said, so say I, " no surrender." But the most 

 absurd use of this abused word may be illustrated by its mode of intro- 

 duction in a newspaper notice of a concert recently given in Toronto. 



