truly amazing. Even so recently as in the March number of the Fortnightly Review, Prof. Ward, of Cambridge, closed a long Brutum fulmen by declaring that "However great Mr. Spencer's personal merits may be, his philosophy, I sincerely believe, deserves the worst that has ever been said of it." Truly, "it is a mad world, my masters"; and Mr. Spencer has had painful experience of the profound depth of his own philosophical doctrines. Mr. Spencer's admirers are not always free from blame, and occasionally make statements which are inaccurate and misleading. There are writers who, like M. Gustave Le Bon, declare quite ex cathedra that Mr. Spencer's teaching is admirable so far as it goes, but that it requires at certain points to be supplemented by profounder views which have escaped the English philosopher. But whenever M. Le Bon condescends to pass from generals to particulars in support of his allegations, we find that "the profounder views" have all been fully elucidated by Spencer, and even clinched according to his custom by striking analogies. There are others who, like Prof. W. H. Hudson, would have us believe that Spencer's writings are "couched in a singularly condensed and unattractive style." But surely such individuals have paid little attention to authors and the styles appropriate to different kinds of subjectmatter. From historians who mostly treat of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of men, we expect the free gait of a Macaulay or a Froude, and from prophets who generally pass large judgments on the universe without being at the trouble of trying to ascertain what it consists of, we look for the tingling rhetoric of a Ruskin or a Carlyle. And Spencer has always been careful to vary and adjust his style according to circumstances, using clear measured sentences when engaged in exposition, becoming at times placidly severe when dealing with critics, playfully ironical when handling palpable absurdities, and rising to grave and sober eloquence when face to face with the mystery which lies at the heart of things. There are passages in his writing as stately as anything in Milton's prose, while there are occasional little side-thrusts which pierce as deeply as any of Voltaire's winged arrows. The infinite eternal energy which underlies all phenomena, the awful periodicity of the universe, and The moving row Of magic shadow shapes that come and go, are never far from his thoughts, and prompt him at times to utter words which are not far removed from the emotional language of the poet. His lighter side is equally effective. Nothing could be neater than the passage where, after contrasting the conduct of rude tribes with that of Europeans during the greater part of the Christian era, noting in the one case the peaceful daily life and the resulting virtues, and in the other the political burglaries to acquire territory, and the long list of individual and national sins, he exclaims, "What a pity these heathens cannot be induced to send missionaries among the Christians!" If Spencer's profound views fly over the heads of most people, it is not for lack of style in presenting them, but simply because the road to the popular mind is so obstructed that bolts of close reasoning cannot be driven into it no matter how deftly the bolts are moulded. And yet Spencer has triumphed, and triumphed unmistakably. When he finished his task, four years ago, he expressed surprise at his audacity in having undertaken it, and still greater surprise at having completed it. He might fittingly have added his surprise at the deep mark his teaching has made. For, notwithstanding misrepresentation, ridicule, and abuse, and in spite of the hostility shown to him in our halls of learning and strongholds of tradition, his dominant note has caught on and leavened the thought of our time. It is true he is a philosopher, and the world is apt to dismiss philosophers and philosophies after the manner of Byron's lines: When Bishop Berkeley said there was no matter But Spencer cannot be dismissed in that summary manner, for he is not a philosopher after the manner of a Hegel, a mere resuscitated schoolman, spinning meaningless jargon and empty verbal symbols; and still less is he a philosopher after the fashion of a John Stuart Mill, an analyser of old theories and conceptions and a master of logical acuteness, but without any fresh gospel for humanity. Logical acuteness and power of subtle analysis Spencer possesses in a pre-eminent degree; but he has something more valuable-a distinctive message, and a distinctive message founded on the bed-rock of science. He has enriched us with a flood of new ideas, for he has given us the philosophic formula of evolution, and from that allembracing base he has worked out the evolution of the solar system, of the totality of life upon the earth's surface, of conscious intelligence and the products of conscious intelligence. He has placed philosophy on a new foundation, and, relying solely on the materials furnished by science, he has raised a vast superstructure which covers the entire field of knowable phenomena, and includes what men are all interested in, the great questions of conduct, society, and religion. The old fanciful metaphysics are steadily disappearing in spite of the efforts bestowed upon their renovation, and the new Spencerian philosophy is steadily rising, for it has a message to mankind about the practical affairs of life and action. The extravagancies of the old metaphysics have had their day, and the philosophy of the imagination is being steadily supplanted by the philosophy of science, because the new philosophy is enriched with notes which must make it more and more acceptable to humanity. And the author of this new philosophy, this fresh message to mankind, which is destined to supplant the barren negations of a bygone age and the absurdities of the schoolmen and their descendants, has done his work well, and has played a great part. He has proved himself a daring explorer and skilful pathfinder and a profound interpreter of that complex phenomenon called civilisation. He has laboured to reconcile conflicting schools and creeds, to eliminate what is mere dross and meaningless words, and put men in possession of what is true and eternal. His gospel is essentially one of construction, of healing and of reconciliation. And the very criticism he has been subjected to is conclusive proof of how powerfully he has stirred the hearts of men. In Memoriam R. A. M. S. You are not here, and yet it is the spring- Unconscious as a happy child at play, Of all forgotten splendours you were free, Yours was the golden touch, O loved and lost, ROSAMUND MARRIOTT WATSON. character or reputation. trustworthy. An Index Expurgatorius of IN a very interesting article on "English, Good and Bad," in last week's Literature, Mr. James R. Thursfield referred to a list of words and phrases which William Cullen Bryant forbade his contributors to use, when he was editing the New York Evening Post. The list is quoted by Mr. Fraser Rae in his book, Columbia and Canada, with no comment save a mention of Bryant's zeal for purity of speech. As it seems probable that many readers of the ACADEMY may like to have such a list by them, it is given below almost in full-a few needless Americanisms being omitted. WORDS PROHIBITED BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. FOR pantaloons. persons. partly. last two. part. before. advance or growth. nearness. prefixed to good, large. house. attack. obtained. ... Call attention Commence. Conclusion capturing. remainder. dinner or supper. defeat. direct attention. coffin. for asserted. begin. close, end. procession. two. ten years. to expose. fire. approve. autumn. flood. is graduated. scarcely. begin. a debt. burial. question or subject. extract or paragraph. Issue Item Jeopardise Jubilant rejoicing. Juvenile boy. Although this list is interesting and helpful, it may be compared to a bag filled with bones of contentionand these fairly rattle. Take Bryant's first objection: "Above" is not to be used in the sense of "more than." That is to say, we may not write: "There are above a hundred misprints in this edition." Well, we should prefer "more than" a hundred here, but we dare not insist in face of the Bible sentence: "He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." Swift, in Gulliver's Travels, has "I heard a knocking for above an hour," and there are many other sanctions. For "over" in the sense of "more than" there can be no justification. objection to "afterwards" for "afterward" seems fantastic. Aggregate is certainly often used when "total," "entire," or "whole" would be more correct. "Aggregate" pre-supposes that the elements forming a whole are separately visible, or are being contemplated. Hence, we think, one would say "the aggregate shipments of tea," but not the "aggregate export of tea." "Artiste." Vile word, say the purists. other vile words have something to say for themselves. It is said that you may not write: as if "artiste," "official," "scientist," and "lengthy" were vulgar synonyms for "artist," officer," " "man of science," and " long." They are not; and it is the fact that many words which appear to be corruptions of other words are really rude but healthy offshoots, doing special duty. It is idle to contend that "artist" ought to be used in all cases where "artiste" is heard. "Artist" is one of the least precise words in the language, yet with all its breadth it can rarely be trusted to indicate the commonest types of artist-persons who are proficient in a small minor art, as distinct from one of the fine arts. A balletdancer, a hair-dresser, or a cook, is called an artiste because in such cases it has been found that "artist" requires a context or a qualification. In short, "artiste " is a useful, if ugly, variation of "artist," and it was improvised to do the work which "artist" failed to do. Coin a better word if you will, but meanwhile "artiste " has a right to exist. Similarly "official" is not usually used for "officer," as Bryant's injunction implies. There is a difference. An "officer" of the P. & O. Steamship Company is a captain or mate, in uniform; an "official" of the P. & O. Steamship Company is a man from the office, in a tall hat. No doubt journalists write of "officials where they might write "authorities "; but there is a general and frequent need to distinguish between the "officer" with his badges and known duties and the "official" with his more disguised and indefinite power. 66 Scientist" may be a horrid word, but the circumlocution 66 a man of science" becomes too cumbrous in a scientific age. If people need a word, and their language has it not, they will make one in a hurry. They will adapt a cognate word according to some simple analogy or fancied law, and there is your word not born, but manufactured. Can you complain that it exists, or expect it to be beautiful? "Lengthy" has been a good deal reviled, and its invention has been charged to Americans. As a matter of fact it is found in Gower. The justification of "lengthy" is that it relieves "long" of certain duties. So many things are long that, in the myriad action and interaction of daily speech, it was found convenient to describe some things as "lengthy." And so we say a "long pole" and a "lengthy argument." You may certainly speak of a long argument; but, if so, do you not imply in a subtle way that the argument, though long, began and ended on one occasion and without interruption; whereas "lengthy suggests tedium, intermittence. Surely "lengthy annotations" is usually more exact than "long annotations." A "lengthy dispute" conveys more than a "long dispute "-you see that the quarrel rose and sank and wandered until everyone was sick of it. It becomes clear that many words rejected of the purists are really rough-hewn corner stones, filling crevices in the language. One of Mr. Bryant's most doubtful prohibitions is that of "in our midst." Yet Mr. Thursfield is particularly glad to see this expression banned. Bryant gives no equivalent for "in our midst," and Mr. Thursfield excuses him by saying: "I suppose he thought that anyone with the slightest sense of grammar would see that a collective possessive pronoun cannot in such a collocation be substituted for a discretive genitive case." This sonorously begs the question. Surely there is room for argument. If we may not say "in our midst," meaning "in the midst of us," it must be wrong to say: "in our absence" for "in the absence of us," 66 sing your praises" for "sing the praises of you," Mr. Thursfield thinks that "in the midst " is always used in the Bible with the genitive case, never with the possessive. Perhaps. But Milton wrote in Samson Agonistes: And in my midst of sorrow and heart-grief On the whole, there seems to be no sound objection to "in our midst." "Average" is no doubt abused, but we should defend it in the expression "the average man." It may be used for "ordinary" in many ways which we cannot stop to define. Enough to quote Browning's "Bishop Blougram's Apology": We mortals cross the ocean of this world The best's not big, the worst yields elbow-room. What is the objection to "collided"? "Aspirant," commence," ," "balance" (for a remainder not expressed in figures), and "claim" (for "assert") are all very properly condemned. "Couple" is too freely used, and "decease" as a verb is abominable. But" endorse" for " approve has something to say for itself. You approve a course of action not yet carried out; you endorse an action already completed. In this sense endorse is a good word; nothing could be more significant. But when a speaker rises and says: "I endorse all that Mr. So-and-So says," he justly falls under Bryant's wrath. "Freshet" for "flood" is a leader-writer's word-a piece of professionalism. "Hardly" and "scarcely" should be discriminatively separated in one's mind. "Leniency" is not required, "lenity" being identical in meaning and nearer to the root. "Partially is often used when "partly" would be better; and yet there is a distinction which often justifies the selection of "partially." "Partly" suggests that the part indicated is known and measured by the writer; "partially" suggests only a general incompleteness. "Record " for "character" or "reputation" is not pleasant. It is "Retire" as an active verb (he was retired on a pension) is not unpardonable in connexions where it is almost a technical term. "Rôle" was adopted because it was needed; and métier was brought in to reinforce it. our own fault that these words are rife. "Transpire" has never been defended; and "vicinity" seems to us to be the least useful word in the language. "Would seem" is a curious phrase. It is milder than "it seems"; but instead of "it would seem" write, if possible, "it almost seems. "Try an experiment" is nonsense. "Subsequently" is original sin. Correspondence. The Missing Word. For SIR,-May I give Mr. Logan my reasons for preferring Englander to Briton as the generic title of a subject of the Empire? In the first place, it makes no vain attempt to be inclusive. The compliment which the word " "Briton pays to Scotland and Wales is an insult to Ireland greater than any seeming slight given by "Englander." Again, "Briton" has a territorial and racial significance; Englander was coined with no such connotation. the phrase "Little Englander" means one who would circumscribe the Empire, not one who would exclude Wales, Scotland, or even Ireland. Being a new word, its general adoption could be prefaced by the statement that it refers only to the centre of unity of the Empire. Having no racial significance it is better suited than Briton as a title of our Dutch and Indian fellow subjects. A great advantage would follow its use in that the term Briton or Englishman would be free from all ambiguity and would be confined to a native of that particular province. I am, &c., F. G. COLE. The Etymology of Beagle, &c. : The Effects of Gutturalization. SIR, The etymology of "beagle," the name of the small hunting dog, has baffled all our leading lexicographers-Murray (1888), Whitney (1889), WebsterMahn (ed. 1890), Skeat (ed. 1898), who respectively label the word "derivation obscure," 66 'origin unknown," perhaps of Celtic origin" (absurd), "of unknown origin"; yet it seems to be capable of a very simple explanation. A free exercise of the element of comparison upon which Brachet was so fond of laying stress leads one inevitably to the conclusion that "beagle" is nothing more than a gutturalized form of "beadle." It may be laid down as a phonetic law that the dental explosives (voiced d, voiceless t) when immediately followed by the dental liquid are liable to conversion into the corresponding gutturals (g, k). Thus, if "beadle" be uttered very quickly the hearer will find it impossible to distinguish the sound from that of "beagle"; while the lower classes frequently call a fiddle a figgle"; beetles, "beekles "; a whitlow, "feckle," &c. a "wicklow"; fettle, Bearing this law in mind, we are now able to explain such surnames as Pegler and Biggle or Bickle or Bickell (where not representing Bighill), which are merely gutturalized forms of the original names Pedler and Biddle (Beadle) respectively; and also to state why, from a mistaken notion that the pronunciation was at fault, the brook Arkle Beck in Yorkshire has been turned into Artle Beck in Lancashire. A clear testimony to the real existence of gutturalization is found in Joyce's Irish Local Names Explained (p. 4). He says that d is often changed to g, as in Drumgonnelly in Louth, which should have been Anglicised Drumdonnelly; compare also the use of k for t in the Doric dialect of Greek. We first hear of the beagle in the fifteenth century. It seems plain, then, that the rough peasant youth of that period began to sportively apply to the hunting dog the name of the individual by whom they were frequently hunted-viz., the beadle, whose functions corresponded to those of the modern constable or detective; "beadle" in their coarse pronunciation becoming "beagle," which crept into the literary language as a separate word, to the confusion of etymologists for centuries afterwards. It is something more than a mere coincidence that "beadle" and "beagle" (fig. sense) stand in our dictionaries with practically the same significations. We are now able to give the origin of another etymological puzzle: "beak," the slang word for a magistrate. Formerly, like "beadle," it meant a constable, an officer of justice. It is merely a shortening of "beagle," as "tec" is a slang abbreviation of "detective "; and, touching upon still another etymological uncertainty, it is not too much to claim that after all the Anglo-Saxon verb bedian (or, perhaps, biddan), "to beg," "to pray," is, under concession of French influence (O. Fr. begard), the ultimate source of "beg."-—I am, &c., April 21, 1900. George Wishart. HY. HARRISON. the miraculous precocity of Wishart: for Knox was eight or nine years old when Wishart, his Greek tutor, was born. This, at least, is the view of Mr. Hume Brown, and Laing was of the same opinion. That Knox, "strangely, took to the law" is, perhaps, not so strange, most notaries being clerics at that date, as I understand.-I am, &c., A. LANG. 1, Marloes-road, W.: April 21, 1900. A very charmingly produced little book on a branch of horticulture which has its devotees in a noisy world. The chapter on "The Carnation in Town Gardens" will be useful to London amateurs. (Newnes.) In addition to the foregoing, we have received: POETRY, CRITICISM, AND BELLES LETTRES. Whitelaw (Robert), The Sixth Æneid of Vergil, Translated...(Over, Rugby) Macdonell (Arthur A.), Short Histories of the Literatures of the World: Sanskrit Literature. Ives (George), Eros' Throne .(Heinemann) (/0 ...(Sonnenschein) 26 Innes (A. D.), The World's Epoch-Makers: Cranmer and the English Reformation (T. & T. Clark) 30 Robinson (Chas. N.), With Roberts to the Transvaal. Part II ...(Newnes) 1/0 Allen (G. W.), The Mission of Evil: A Problem Reconsidered (Skeffington) 2/6 Massé (H. J. L. J.), Cathedral Series: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury (Bell) 1/8 Macnamara (Nottidge C.), Origin and Character of the British People (Smith, Elder) Bowles (Thomas Gibson), The Declaration of Paris of 1856. (Sampson Low) Balmforth (Ramsden), Some Social and Political Pioneers of the Nineteenth Century .......(Sonnenschein) 2/6 TRAVEL AND TOPOGRAPHY. Boddy (Alex. A.), From the Egyptian Ramleh: Sketches of Delta Life and MISCELLANEOUS. Birch (W. de Gray), Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum. Vol. VI. The Annual of the British School at Athens. No. V. Harrison (Eveleen), Home Nursing Allchin (W. H.), A Manual of Medicine. Vol. I............ NEW EDITIONS. (The Trustees) (Macmillan) net 7/6 (Grant Richards) 3/8 ..(Bell) net 3/6 (Heinemann) 7/6 Newspaper Co.) Third edition. (Macmillan) (Macmillan) .(Macmillan) net 7/6 The Twelve Most Popular Characters in Dickens. Our Weekly Prize Competition. RESULT OF NO. 31 (NEW SERIES). In this competition for a list of the twelve most popular characters in Dickens, we stated that in judging we should resort to the plébiscite method, selecting for the prize the list which corresponded in the greatest number of items with the general sense. The list submitted by Mr. John P. Rapsey, 10, Glaskin Road, Hackney, contained eleven out of the twelve characters chosen by the popular vote. Mr. Rapsey's list is as follows: Other replies received from: A. H., London; T. A., London; A. W., London; A. E., London; L. L., Ramsgate; M. and A. A., Southport; H. S., Weston-super-Mare; J. T., Epsom; M. D., Beckenham; R. O. B., London; C., London; E. S. B, Cardiff; D. F. H., London; S. B.. Great Malvern; M. P., Wallingford; H. R., London; A. P., Wolverhampton; W. T. W., London ; J. M. S. Y., Manchester; C. A., Glasgow; J. B. N., York; F. M., Sheffield; M. B., Liverpool; J. S., London; G. S, Eastbourne; G. E. B,, Ascot; M. E. R, Tenby; R. C. W., Cheshire; M. A. C., Cambridge; E. W. B, Torrington; M. P. H., Hanwell; H. N. D, London; H. T. H., Newbury; C. A. E., Malvern; M. A., Eastbourne; C., Dorking; P. B, Bournemouth; J. D. W, London; A. E. B., Brighton; R. W., Sutton; M. F. L., Stafford; J. F. F., Didcot; A. N. R., London; J. H. S., Manchester; J. G., Doncaster ; C. C., Edinburgh; E. G. B., Liverpool; M. M. C, Greasboro'; E. H. H., London; M. E T., London; C. M., Ballater; C. R., Ballater; C. B., Clifton; H. G. H., Ruswarp; R. L., Glasgow; M. M, Edinburgh; S. D. A, Bideford; M. R., Falkirk; A. E. G., London; F. W., Oxford; C. F., Hastings; E. L., Burton-on-Trent. Competition No. 32 (New Series). ALTHOUGH Cowper's History of John Gilpin " is artistically complete, it is still a tale unfinished. Gilpin, pursued by "six gentlemen upon the road," wins the race to town and arrives safely home. But what of Mrs. Gilpin and the children? They are still at the Bell Inn at Edmonton. How did they return? And what passed when the Gilpin family, reunited round their own table in Cheapside, reviewed the adventures of the day? We offer a priz of One Guinea for the best attempt to supply this information in four or five stanzas which might properly precede the last (existing) stanza of the ballad. Cowper's four final verses run: Stop thief! stop thief! -a highwayman! And all and each that pass'd that way Did join in the pursuit. And now the turnpike gates again Flew open in short space; That Gilpin rode a race. And so he did, and won it too, For he got first to town; [Here insert the new stanzas.] Now let us sing, long live the King, And Gilpin, long live he; And, when he next doth ride abroad, May I be there to see! RULES. Answers, addressed "Literary Competition, THE ACADEMY, 43, Chancery-lane, W.C.," must reach us not later than the first post of Tuesday, May 1. Each answer must be accompanied by the coupon to be found in the first column of p. 376, or it cannot enter into competition. Competitors sending more than one attempt at solution must accompany each attempt with a separate coupon; otherwise the first only will be considered. We wish to impress on competitors that the task of examining replies is much facilitated when one side only of the paper is written upon. It is also important that names and addresses should always be given. We cannot consider anonymous answers. |