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Introductory Lectures, Delivered at Queen's College, London
Introductory Lectures Delivered at Queen's College London Author:Frederick Denison Maurice General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1849 Original Publisher: J.W. Parker Subjects: Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you ... more »buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: II. ON ENGLISH COMPOSITION. BY THE REV. CHARLES KINGSLEY, RECTOR OF EVERSLEY. AN Introductory Lecture on English Composition is, I think, as much needed as one on any other subject taught in this College. For in the first place, I am not sure whether we all mean the same thing when we speak of English Composition; and in the next place, I believe that pupils themselves are very often best able to tell their teachers what sort of instruction they require. I purpose, therefore, to-day, not only to explain freely my intentions with regard to this course of Lectures, but to ask you to explain freely your own wants. I must suppose, however, that the ladies who attend here wish to be taught how to write English better. Now the art of writing English is, I should say, the art of speaking English, and speech may be used for any one of three purposes: to conceal thought, as the French diplomatist defined its use: to conceal the want of thought, as themajority of popular writers and orators seem now- a-days to employ it: or again, to express thought, which would seem to have been the original destination of the gift of language. I am therefore, I suppose, in duty bound to take for granted that you come here to be taught to express your thoughts better. The whole matter then will very much depend on what thoughts you have to express. For the form of the symbol must depend on the form of the thing symbolized, as the medal does upon its die; and thus style and language are t...« less