JEREMY TAYLOR
9. EVELYN'S DIARY
10. JOHN BUNYAN
11. DR. JOHNSON
12. EDMUND BURKE
13. GIBBON
14. HENRY GRATTAN AND MACAULAY
15. LORD ERSKINE
16. ROBERT HALL
17. LORD PLUNKET
18. ROBERT SOUTHEY
19. WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
20. LORD BROUGHAM
21. SIR WILLIAM NAPIER
22. RICHARD SHEIL
23. THOMAS CARLYLE
24. HENRY NELSON COLERIDGE
25. CARDINAL NEWMAN
26. LORD MACAULAY AGAIN
27. PRESIDENT LINCOLN
28. JOHN RUSKIN
29. JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE
30. MATTHEW ARNOLD
31. SIR WILLIAM BUTLER
32. LORD MORLEY
33. HILAIRE BELLOC
34. KING GEORGE THE FIFTH
35. CONCLUSION

LETTERS TO MY GRANDSON

1

MY DEAR ANTONY,

The letters which I wrote "On the world about you" having shown you
that throughout all the universe, from the blazing orbs in infinite space
to the tiny muscles of an insect's wing, perfect design is everywhere
manifest, I hope and trust that you will never believe that so
magnificent a process and order can be without a Mind of which it is the
visible expression.

The chief object of those letters was to endorse your natural feeling of
reverence for the Great First Cause of all things, with the
testimony of your reason; and to save you from ever allowing
knowledge of how the sap rises in its stalk to lessen your wonder at
and admiration of the loveliness of a flower.

I am now going to write to you about the literature of England and
show you, if I can, the immense gulf that divides distinguished writing
and speech from vulgar writing and speech.

There is nothing so vulgar as an ignorant use of your own language.
Every Englishman should show that he respects and honours the
glorious language of his country, and will not willingly degrade it with
his own pen or tongue.

"We have long preserved our constitution," said Dr. Johnson; "let us
make some struggles for our language."

There is no need to be priggish or fantastic in our choice of words or
phrases.

Simple old words are just as good as any that can be selected, if you
use them in their proper sense and place.

By reading good prose constantly your ear will come to know the
harmony of language, and you will find that your taste will unerringly
tell you what is good and what is bad in style, without your being able
to explain even to yourself the precise quality that distinguishes the
good from the bad.

Any Englishman with a love of his country and a reverence for its
language can say things in a few words that will find their way st