The Art of Writing and Speaking the English Language

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

If there is a subject of really universal interest and utility,
it is the art of writing and speaking one's own language effectively.
It is the basis of culture, as we all know; but it is infinitely more
than that: it is the basis of business. No salesman can sell anything
unless he can explain the merits of his goods in _effective_ English
(among our people), or can write an advertisement equally effective,
or present his ideas, and the facts, in a letter. Indeed, the way
we talk, and write letters, largely determines our success in life.

Now it is well for us to face at once the counter-statement that the
most ignorant and uncultivated men often succeed best in business, and
that misspelled, ungrammatical advertisements have brought in millions
of dollars. It is an acknowledged fact that our business circulars
and letters are far inferior in correctness to those of Great Britain;
yet they are more effective in getting business. As far as spelling
is concerned, we know that some of the masters of literature have been
atrocious spellers and many suppose that when one can sin in such
company, sinning is, as we might say, a "beauty spot", a defect in
which we can even take pride.

Let us examine the facts in the case more closely. First of all,
language is no more than a medium; it is like air to the creatures of
the land or water to fishes. If it is perfectly clear and pure, we do
not notice it any more than we notice pure air when the sun is shining
in a clear sky, or the taste of pure cool water when we drink a glass
on a hot day. Unless the sun is shining, there is no brightness;
unless the water is cool, there is no refreshment. The source of all
our joy in the landscape, of the luxuriance of fertile nature,
is the sun and not the air. Nature would be more prodigal in Mexico than
in Greenland, even if the air in Mexico were as full of soot and smoke as
the air of Pittsburg{h}, or loaded with the acid from a chemical factory.
So it is with language. Language is merely a medium for thoughts,
emotions, the intelligence of a finely wrought brain, and a good
mind will make far more out of a bad medium than a poor mind will
make out of the best. A great violinist will draw such music from
the cheapest violin that the world is astonished. However is that any
reason why the great violinist should choose to play on a poor violin