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in the eightieth Psalm, the Jews are represented under the symbol of a vine:

"Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they that pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it."

An allegory is sometimes so extended that it makes a volume; as in the case of Swift's Tale of a Tub, Arbuthnot's John Bull, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, etc. Fables and parables are short allegories.

Allow. This word is frequently misused in the West and South, where it is made to do service for think; to be of opinion; to admit. Thus :

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'He allows [thinks] that he has the finest horse in the country."

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When the editor saw it he allowed [admitted] that it wasn't so very much of an error after all."

“Arthur soon allowed [admitted] to Tom that he was a thorough little gentleman, and would get over his shyness all in good time."

"I allow [admit] you've provocation for it."

All the same. This locution, used in the sense of nevertheless, is said to be a Scotticism. It has in the inelegant French locution tout de même an exact counterpart.

Allude. The treatment this word has received is to be specially regretted, as its misuse has wellnigh robbed it of its true meaning, which is, to intimate delicately, to refer

to without mentioning directly. Allude is now very rarely used in any other sense than that of to speak of, to mention, to name, which is a long way from being its legitimate signification. This degradation is doubtless a direct outcome of untutored desire to be fine.

Allude is less direct than refer, and more direct than hint or suggest. One alludes to an event by introducing something allied to it; one refers to an event by introdncing it directly into one's discourse.

Almost-Nearly. These two adverbs should not be used indiscriminately. The idea contained in almost is nearness to completion; the idea contained in nearly is nearness to supervention. Almost regards the ending of an act; nearly, to the beginning. A man that receives an injury so severe that he comes off with barely his life is almost killed; a man that escapes what would have killed him is nearly killed. Examples:

"I am almost dead with fatigue."

"The night was very dark, and I had nearly driven over him before I saw him."

"I have almost finished writing my letters."

"The two rivals nearly met each other; for the one had only just left me when the other arrived."

Alone. This word is often improperly used for only. That is alone that is unaccompanied; that is only of which there is no other. "Virtue alone makes us happy," means that virtue unaided suffices to make us happy; "Virtue only makes us happy," means that nothing else can do it-that that, and that only (not alone), can do it. "This means of communication is employed by man alone." Dr. Quackenbos should have written, "By man only."

Alone is always an adjective, and not, like only, some

2

times an adverb.

solitary.

It means, apart from others; single;

"S. was editor of a periodical which [that] she intended should have contributions from her own sex alone" [only from her own sex].

"Such characters exist even in this plain tale, and it is these alone [only], and our kindly readers, we take leave of with regret."-Charles Reade.

"They know that every hope of national temperance reform rests upon the success of the party which has alone shown itself possessed of any concern for moral and social progress.”—N. Y. Tribune. Should be “The only party that has shown," etc. See also ONLY.

Alternative. Often misused for course. An alternative is a choice between two courses, thus: "This hard alternative, or to renounce thy reason, or to believe."

"We were left the choice of three alternatives' [courses].

"We can not believe that these are the only alternatives" [courses].

"The only possible alternative" [course].

"The discovery left the court no alternative [course] but to pronounce judgment against them."

See EITHER ALTERNATIVE.

Always. Often used redundantly. thus,

I go to town I always visit my aunt."

"Whenever

Ameliorate. "The health of the Empress of Germany

is greatly ameliorated." Why not say improved?

Among.

Sometimes misused thus: "He was there

among the rest"; properly, with the rest.

Among one another. "They exchanged confidences among one another"; properly, with one another, or among themselves.

Amount of Perfection. The observant reader of periodical literature often notes forms of expression that are perhaps best characterized by the word bizarre. Of these queer locutions, amount of perfection is a very good example. Mr. G. F. Watts, in the Nineteenth Century, says, "An amount of perfection has been reached which I was by no means prepared for." What Mr. Watts meant to say was, doubtless, that a degree of excellence had been reached. There are not a few that, in their prepossession for everything transatlantic, seem to be of opinion that the English language is commonly better written in England than it is in America. Those that think so are counseled o examine the diction of some of the most noted English critics and essayists, beginning, if they will, with Matthew Arnold.

An. This form of the indefinite article should not be used before any aspirated h. We say, properly, a heroic, a harangue, a historical, a habitual, and not an 'eroic, an 'arangue, an 'istorical, an 'abitual. We should leave this practice to those Americans that, after the fashion of the English, pronounce year, yer, here, hyer, and been, bene, though there is no authority for saying anything but yere and here, and little authority for saying anything but bin. As the American has no difficulty in aspirating his h's, there is no excuse for his dropping the initial h in polysyllabic words, though the h does not stand under the accent. truth is, however, that most Americans that use an before these h's are not aware that, when they do so, the h should be dropped in the utterance, which to that extent is to Cockneyize the language.

The

And. Few vulgarisms are more common than the use of and for to. Examples: “Come and see me before you go"; "Try and do what you can for him"; "Go and see

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your brother, if you can.' In such sentences as these the proper particle to use is clearly to, and not and.

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And is sometimes improperly used instead of or; thus, "It is obvious that a language like the Greek and Latin (language ?), etc., should be, " a language like the Greek or the Latin" (language), etc. There is no such thing as a

Greek and Latin language.

And sometimes very improperly introduces a relative clause, no relative having occurred before, thus: "I have a book, printed at Antwerp, and which was once Adam Smith's." If the proper relative, that, had been used, it is probable that the writer would not have blundered.

And which, or and that. We frequently see the relative pronoun repeated to the great detriment of the sentence, thus: "Mr. Reno owns a mule which [that] is now forty-five years old, and which has not worn a collar for twenty-two years." The second relative only encumbers the sentence.

"The second assertion imputes the evil to a cause in itself inevitable, and which has only incidentally and partially operated to produce it." Read, "a cause that in itself is," and omit which.

Here is a sentence from the pen of the most extraordinary "whicher " I have ever met with :

"The American Consul for Syria came down here to make further inquiries into an incident which occurred a year ago at Acre, and to which I alluded in a letter at the time, and which gave rise to one of those interminable questions which occur so constantly between the Porte and foreign governments, and which invariably end in smoke." -Corr. N. Y. Sun.

Only two of these five whiches are necessary, and it would be better to change them to thats.

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