terms, foreign words, should be noticed. The derivations of words should be made known when they impart shades of meaning which would otherwise escape observation. An important distinction in words, from the writer's point of view, is that between specific and general terms: both are necessary in every form of composition, but while the former produce a more vivid effect, and are found most frequently in descriptive and narrative essays, the latter are expressive of abstract ideas, and are especially useful in the treatment of expository and reflective themes. After the detailed reading of the essay, if it be held desirable, written exercises of a revisional and summary nature may be set. One exercise might deal with the sentences of the essay, the pupils being asked to write down (perhaps in tabular form) the particular features that had been remarked; or, in the case of the older pupils, a more general statement might be required. For example: "MY FIRST PLAY" (From "The Essays of Elia"). Notes on the Sentences. The length of the sentences in this essay is effectively varied: there is a mixture of long and short sentences of average length. The short sentences in the following passage express well the sudden arrest of Elia's young consciousness when the bell rings and the curtain rises: "The orchestra lights at length arose, those 'fair Auroras!' Once the bell sounded. It was to ring out once again—and, incapable of the anticipation, I reposed my shut eyes in a sort of resignation upon the maternal lap. It rang the second time. The curtain drew up-I was not past six years old -and the play was 'Artaxerxes'!" A similar effect is produced in these sentences, descriptive of Elia's feelings after the curtain has risen: "All feeling was absorbed in vision. Gorgeous vests, gardens, palaces, princesses, passed before me. I knew not players...." The following is an instance of a long sentence: "He is dead-and thus much I thought due to his memory, both for my first orders (little wondrous talismans slight keys, and insignificant to outward sight, but opening to me more than Arabian paradises!) and moreover, that by his testamentary beneficence I came into possession of the only landed property which I could ever call my own— situate near the roadway village of pleasant Puckeridge, in Hertfordshire." The above quotation illustrates another feature of many of the sentences: their lack of strict unity; and connected with this is the use of parentheses and exclamations, which occur frequently throughout the essay. Here is a characteristic sentence: "The boxes at that time, full of well-dressed women of quality, projected over the pit; and the pilasters reaching down were adorned with a glistering substance (I know not what) under glass (as it seemed), resembling—a homely fancy—but I judged it to be sugar-candy-yet, to my raised imagination, divested of its homelier qualities, it appeared a glorified candy!" Antithesis and balance and epigram are occasionally found, but they are not prominent features: the following passage may be cited: "I expected the same feelings to come again with the same occasion. But we differ from ourselves less at sixty and sixteen, than the latter does from six. In that interval what had I not lost! At the first period I knew nothing, understood nothing, discriminated nothing. I felt all, loved all, wondered all Was nourished, I could not tell how I had left the temple a devotee, and was returned a rationalist. The same things were there materially; but the emblem, the reference, was gone!" Exercises may also be set on the allusions, quotations, and words contained in the essay. For example: Par. 4. "The paro chial honours of St Andrew's." Arabian "Wondrous talismans !-slight keys, but Par. 5. "The plate prefixed to Troilus and Cressida, Par. 6. Darius. Persepolis. Harlequin's Invasion. The legend of St Denis. Par. 9. Church of the Templars. Rich. The old Round "Was nourished, I could not tell how" (probably an echo from Walton's Complete Angler). Mrs Siddons. An explanatory note may be added after each allusion or quotation. "MY FIRST PLAY." Notes on the Words. 1. Unfamiliar Words'.-prognosticate, grandiloquent, betwixt (archaic), pilasters, beshrew (archaic), nonpareils, inhibited, beldams, pantaloonery. 2. Words used in an unusual connexion1."He arrived with his harmonious charge"; "these distorted syllables"; "nothing but an agrarian can restore it"; "monosyllabically elaborated"; "by his testamentary beneficence"; "beshrew the uncomfortable manager"; "to my raised imagination"; "upon a new stock"; "I was returned a rationalist"; "the primeval Motley"; "like some solemn tragic passion." 66 = 3. Grammatical Peculiarities.-"that by his testamentary beneficence" &c. ("that" because). "situate" (= situated). an indispensable playhouse accompaniment in those days" (playhouse, noun used as adjective). "fruiteresses" (uncommon feminine form). 4. Specific and general terms.-The last sentences illustrate the use of general terms: e.g. 1 Derivations may be appended in some cases. "Comparison and retrospection soon yielded to the present attraction of the scene; and the theatre became to me, upon a new stock, the most delightful of recreations." Finally, an exercise may be required which shall deal more generally with the essential spirit and style of the essay. This is a difficult exercise, and may be set only in the highest classes; but in every case the teacher himself should have previously studied the essay from the point of view here indicated: he will thereby gain valuable direction for his teaching. In the case of Lamb's essay on "My First Play," the exercise might take some such form as the following: "MY FIRST PLAY." Spirit and Style. The essay is suffused throughout by an intimately personal spirit; it reveals to us the author both in his inner and his outer life: in his thoughts, fancies, and sentiments, and in his outward circumstances and social relationships. We have a glimpse of him first as a child, on a rainy afternoon in London, looking through the window at the rain splashing in the street. We see him then in the theatre, awaiting, with "breathless anticipations" and "raised imagination," the forthcoming spectacle, or rapt in the contemplation of the scenes and characters of the play. We are introduced by the way to his parents, as they sit at cards-"over a quadrille table"; and to them-post-haste from elopement— young Brinsley Sheridan enters with his bride. We smile at the oddities of the godfather, and of Elia |