THE ART OF BREAKING ENGLISH. 13 
Here we find, too, the satisfied, the condescending adoption of the 
alien vocable. We feel the generous glow of reflecting that, after all, 
it does us no lasting harm and makes the foreigner feel good, poor 
devil. See how we enjoy his efforts to acquire the only real speech, 
our own; he’s only a poor barbarian, but so droll. 
Katharine. Je me’n fais la répétition de tous les mots que vous m’avez 
appris dés a présent. 
Alice. Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense. 
K. Excusez moy, Alice; escoutez: de hand, de fingres, de nails, de arma, 
de bilbow. 
A. De elbow, madame. 
K. OSeigneur Dieu! je m’en oublie; de elbow. Comment appelez vous 
le col? 
De nick, madame. 
De nick. Et le menton? 
De chin. 
De sin. Le col, de nick; le menton, de sin. 
Ouy. Sauf vostre honneur, en vérité vous prononcez les mots aussi 
droict que mis natifs d’Angleterre. 
Sy 
And Shakespeare’s audience rocked with glee. 
Far from the wild life of the Pacific as these illustrations are, they 
yet exhibit two very active principles in the formation of the Beach- 
la-mar; we shall find them running all through the vocabulary of 
the jargon. 
I have already commented upon the fact that the white man, who 
is without particular intention or principle of philology dominating 
the production of the mongrel speech for hisown greater convenience, 
is a man of little or no education. The categories of grammar are far 
above his experience; the few rules and the many exceptions which 
form the science of our speech have never been feruled into his 
intelligence—perhaps it was in avoidance of them that he ran away 
off to sea and became a part of a life of dingy adventure. Nothing 
could shock him in the using of a noun for a verb, or of a pronoun for 
an adverb, or of a stout expletive for the better establishing of the 
force of his remarks. With his own kind he does that sort of thing 
at all times; he could have no greater consideration for the savage, 
who by no chance could detect asolecism. If he betrays no respect 
for the parts of his speech, still less could he be expected to maintain 
the integrity of the forms of inflection and conjugation. 
In this latter item it were grossly unfair to stamp the ignorant 
sailor as in a class apart, a depth of ignorance found only in blue 
water and not known on soundings. It so happens that I am ina 
position where my assistance is sought by many who have doubts on 
grammatical questions which they would like to have resolved. I 
shudder at the intimate knowledge which unconsciously is revealed 
to me of the number of persons who believe ‘‘between you and I” 
