Misplaced Words. "Of all the faults to be found in writing," says Cobbett, "this is one of the most common, and perhaps it leads to the greatest number of misconceptions. All the words may be the proper words to be used upon the occasion, and yet, by a misplacing of a part of them, the meaning may be wholly destroyed, and even made to be the contrary of what it ought to be."

"I asked the question with no other intention than to set the gentleman free from the necessity of silence, and to give him an opportunity of mingling [to mingle] on equal terms with a polite assembly from which, however uneasy, he could not then escape, by a kind introduction of the only subject on which I believed him to be able to speak with propriety."-Dr. Johnson.

"This," says Cobbett, "is a very bad sentence altogether. 'However uneasy' applies to assembly and not to gentleman. Only observe how easily this might have been avoided. From which he, however uneasy, could not then escape.' After this we have, he could not then escape, by a kind introduction.' We know what is meant; but the doctor, with all his commas, leaves the sentence confused. Let us see whether we can not make it clear: 'I asked the question with no other intention than, by a kind introduction of the only subject on which I believed him to be able to speak with propriety, to set the gentleman free from the necessity of silence, and to give him an opportunity of mingling on equal terms with a polite assembly from which he, however uneasy, could not then escape."

"Reason is the glory of human nature, and one of the chief eminences whereby we are raised above our fellowcreatures, the brutes, in this lower world."-Doctor Watts' Logic.

"I have before showed an error," Cobbett remarks, "in

the first sentence of Doctor Watts' work. This is the second sentence. The words in this lower world are not words misplaced only; they are wholly unnecessary, and they do great harm, for they do these two things: first, they imply that there are brutes in the higher world; and, second, they excite a doubt whether we are raised above those brutes.

“I might greatly extend the number of my extracts from these authors; but here, I trust, are enough. I had noted down about two hundred errors in Dr. Johnson's Lives of the Poets; but, afterward perceiving that he had revised and corrected The Rambler with extraordinary care, I chose to make my extracts from that work rather than from the Lives of the Poets."

The position of the adverb should be as near as possible to the word it qualifies. Sometimes we place it before the auxiliary and sometimes after it, according to the thought we wish to express. The difference between "The fish should properly be broiled" and "The fish should be properly broiled" is apparent at a glance.

"The colon may be properly used in the following cases," should be, “may properly be used."

This mode of expression rather suits a familiar than a grave style," should be, suits a familiar rather than a grave style."

"It is a frequent error in the writings even of some good authors," should be, "in the writings of even some good authors."

"Both the circumstances of contingency and futurity are necessary," should be, "The circumstances of contingency and futurity are both necessary."

"He has made charges . . . which he has failed utterly to sustain."-New York Tribune. Here it is uncertain, at first sight, which verb the adverb is intended to qualify;

but the nature of the case makes it probable that the writer meant "has utterly failed to sustain."

"Under twenty years of Republican rule and policy our commerce has been left to British bottoms, and almost has the American flag been swept off the high seas."Evening Telegram. Should be, "and the American flag has been swept almost off the high seas."

Mistaken. "If I am not mistaken, you are in the wrong," say, "If I mistake not." "I tell you, you are mistaken." Here mistaken means, "You are wrong; you do not understand."

The locution, "You are mistaken," has been frequently attacked. My learned friend, Prof. James Wood Davidson, comes to its defense thus: "You are mistaken' is a euphemism for 'You are wrong'; it has less offensiveness. 'You are wrong' is a direct and censorious expression; but 'You are mistaken' says 'You have been led away from the facts by specious circumstances or things, and thus have failed to get at the truth'-a softened and civil criticism. Mistaken to take amiss, or into error; and to be mistaken is to be taken or led into error. 'You are mistaken'='You have been led into error.

You are, or he is-as the case may be-in error, is the phrase preferred by many speakers.

The locution, "You are mistaken," is found in Shakespeare.

Modest. This word is sometimes, more especially in conversation, employed when bashful or diffident would convey the thought intended. Modest and retiring are opposed to forward, self-sufficient, and conceited. Persons that are only modest are never lacking in confidence and self-possession, while the bashful and diffident are always lacking in both.

Modiste. It is a hazardous thing to use words we do not know the meaning of, as we see by the following sentence: "It is not more than ten years since the Viscountess de Noue shocked the good ladies of St. Louis by appearing at one of the fashionable balls there in a dress made for her by a Parisian modiste that had been much admired in that city."

According to this, the viscountess had her gowns made by a milliner. The French for dressmaker is couturière en robes.

Monopoly. "The frequent and glaring misuse of this term is of no little importance, as it leads to confusion of thought and sometimes to very ill-advised political action. A monopoly is an industry that is protected from competition by legal enactment. Certain demagogues are doing their best to lead the unthinking multitude to apply the term to industries which are perfectly open to competition, but in which, for one reason or another, nobody cares to compete-a very widely different thing. The owner of a patent has a monopoly ; but the notion that railroading, banking, or gasmaking can be a monopoly, as long as all the world is at liberty to engage therein if it pleases, is at once grotesque and dangerous."-Our Common Speech, by Gilbert M. Tucker.

More perfect. Such expressions as, "the more perfect of the two," the most perfect thing of the kind I have ever seen," "the most complete cooking-stove ever invented," and the like, can not be defended logically, as nothing can be more perfect than perfection, or more complete than completeness. Still such phrases are, and probably will continue to be, used by good writers.

Most. "Everybody abuses this word," says Mr. Gould in his Good English; and then, in another paragraph, he

adds: "If a man would cross out most wherever he can find it in any book in the English language, he would in almost every instance improve the style of the book." That this statement may appear within bounds, he gives many examples from good authors, some of which are the following: "A most profound silence"; "a most [very] just idea"; a most [very] complete orator"; "this was most [very] extraordinary"; "an object of most perfect esteem"; a most [very] extensive erudition"; "he gave it most liberally away"; "it is, most assuredly, not because I value his services least"; "would most [very] seriously affect us"; "that such a system must most [very] widely and most [very] powerfully," etc.; "it is most [very] effectually nailed to the counter”; “it is most [quite] undeniable that," etc.

In nearly all these examples, if an intensive is desired, very would be the proper word to use.

This word is much, and very erroneously, used for almost. "He comes here most every day." The user of such a sentence as this means to say that he comes nearly every day, but he really says, if he says anything, that he comes more every day than he does every night. In such sentences almost, and not most, is the word to use.

Mutual. This word is much misused in the phrase our mutual friend." Macaulay says: "Mutual friend is a low vulgarism for common friend." Mutual properly relates to two persons, and implies reciprocity of sentiment— sentiment, be it what it may, received and returned. Thus we say properly, "John and James have a mutual affection," or "a mutual aversion"-i. e., they like or dislike each other; or, "John and James are mutually dependent "i. e., they are dependent on each other. In using the word mutual, care should be taken not to add the words for each