ious effort, just
as a child brought up among refined people generally has good manners
without knowing it. Good reading is indispensable to good speaking or
writing. Without this, rules and dictionaries are of no avail. In reading
the biographies of eminent writers, it is interesting to note how many of
them were great readers when they were young; and teachers can testify
that the best writers among their pupils are those who have read good
literature or who have been accustomed to hear good English at home. The
student of expression should begin at once to make the acquaintance of
good literature.

THE USE OF DICTIONARIES.--To become acquainted with good literature,
however, takes a long time; and to decide, by direct reference to the
usage of the best writers, every question that arises in composition, is
not possible for beginners. In certain cases beginners must go to
dictionaries to learn what good use approves. Dictionaries do not make
good use, but by recording the facts learned by professional investigators
they answer many questions regarding it. To one who wishes to speak and
write well a good dictionary is indispensable.

"THE FOUNDATIONS OF RHETORIC."--Dictionaries, however, are not always
a sufficient guide; for, being records, they aim to give _all_ the senses
in which a word is used, and do not always tell which sense is approved by
the best usage. Large dictionaries contain many words which have gone out
of good use and other words which have not yet come into good use.
Moreover, they treat of words only, not of constructions and long
expressions. Additional help in determining good use is required by
beginners, and this help is to be found in such books as Professor A.S.
Hill's "Foundations of Rhetoric." The investigations of a specialist are
there recorded in a convenient form, with particular reference to the
needs of beginners and of those who have been under the influence of bad
models. Common errors are explained and corrected, and the fundamental
merits of good expression are set forth and illustrated.

PURPOSE OF THESE EXERCISES.--In the following exercises, which are
intended for drill on some of these elements of good expression, care has
been taken to put the questions into the forms in which they arise in
actual composition. The notes which precede the exercises are only hints;
for full discussions of the principles involved the student must consult
larger works.

SOME CONVENIENT NAMES