study at present concerns only the different ways in which a thought may be expressed, but the different view-points and purposes which may determine one's discourse will be considered at another time. An Event narrated in Different Language. — In the following, two persons tell of the same event. The facts are few and simple, are indeed little more than that Robert Fulton, in 1807, completed and launched his first steamboat, which, contrary to the general expectation, proved a success, moving in the water against wind and current, a thing supposed to be impossible. Since the purpose in both cases must have been to relate this fact with clearness and truth, the difference in its presentation is not one of purpose; and we thus see that even with the same facts and the same purpose, two persons may relate an incident differently. "FULTON'S FOLLY" In the summer of 1807, Robert Fulton launched his newly invented steamboat on the Hudson. He gave notice that he should start from New York City for Albany. Up to that date all the trade and travel on the river had been either by sailing vessels or rowboats. Men called the steamboat "Fulton's Folly." Thousands gathered at the wharf (August 11, 1807), to laugh and jeer at the expected failure of the invention. The steamboat, the Clermont, was a rude affair, with uncovered paddle wheels and clumsy machinery. Men said that she was as helpless as a log. Presently the paddle began to revolve. Then the "log" Then the "log" was no longer helpless. "She moves!" "She moves!" shouted the astonished crowd. Sure enough she did move; and she kept on moving against wind and current, going steadily upstream, until, in thirty-two hours, she reached Albany. Sailors on the Hudson, seeing this puffing monster coming up the river after dark, sending out a shower of sparks from her smoke pipe, were frightened almost out of their senses. Many who had never prayed before ran below, and begged, on their knees, to be saved from the Evil One. From "American History."- MONTGOMERY. THE LAUNCHING OF THE "CLERMONT " The other event of 1807 was the completion of Fulton's steamboat. The United States was growing so fast that a quicker and easier way of traveling had become necessary. Fulton and others had already been working at this invention more than twenty years. In spite of many failures, they kept on, until Fulton finally built the Clermont. It was advertised to sail up the Hudson River, and, as it was a great curiosity, a big crowd gathered to see it start. Nearly all the spectators made fun of it, declaring it would never go, and when it did set out they wonderingly cried: 'She moves!" "She moves!" Not only did the boat move, but it went up to Albany in thirty-two hours a rate of speed which seemed so great then that people could hardly believe it possible or safe. Still, before long, Fulton's boat made regular trips up and down the stream. For a short time it was the only successful steamboat in our country, but two years later others were plying along the Delaware and Raritan rivers and on Lake Champlain. From "The Story of the Great Republic.” GUERBER. The two following selections present descriptions of a part of the Alhambra, the ruins of the famous palace of the Moorish kings in Grenada, Spain. Note any differences in the way in which these writers speak of the same thing, as, for example, the fish-pool, or the alabaster fountain in the center of the Court of Lions. If there is anything in the two accounts which suggests that these two men received the same impressions from what they saw, or were similarly affected by the sight of any of the marvels and beauties of this splendid old ruin, point it out and compare the language used by them in speaking of things that thus affect them. THE ALHAMBRA Passing by it [the ruined palace of Charles V], we entered a simple unostentatious portal opening into the interior of the Moorish palace. The transition was almost magical; it seemed as if we were at once transported into other times and another realm, and were treading the scenes of Arabian story. We found ourselves in a great court, paved with white marble and decorated at each end with light Moorish peristyles. It is called the court of the Alberca. In the center was an immense basin or fish-pool, a hundred and thirty feet in length by thirty in breadth, stocked with goldfish and bordered by hedges of roses. At the upper end of this court rose the great tower of Camares. From the lower end we passed through a Moorish archway into the renowned Court of Lions. There is no part of the edifice that gives us a more complete idea of its original beauty and magnificence than this; for none has suffered so little from the ravages of time. In the center stands the fountain famous in song and story. The alabaster basins still shed their diamond drops, and the twelve lions which support them still cast forth their crystal streams as in the days of Boabdil. The court is laid out in flower-beds, and surrounded by light Arabian arcades of open filigree work, supported by slender pillars of white marble. The architecture, like that of all the other parts of the palace, is characterized by elegance rather than grandeur, bespeaking a delicate and graceful taste and a disposition to indolent enjoyment. When we look upon the fairy tracery of the peristyles and the apparently fragile fretwork of the walls, it is difficult to believe that so much has survived the wear and tear of centuries, the shocks of earthquakes, the violence of war, and the quiet though no less baneful pilferings of the tasteful traveler. It is almost enough to excuse the popular tradition that the whole is protected by a magic charm. From "The Alhambra," - IRVING. THE ALHAMBRA Leaving this useless ruin [the palace of Charles V], we eagerly passed through a modest doorway and stood in the Alhambra itself. At once, as though by a magician's spell, we seemed to have passed from Europe into Asia. We were in the Court of Myrtles. The blue dome of the sky was above us, and beneath were marble slabs, whose spotless whiteness was once surpassed by the snowy feet of the fair sultanas who lightly trod them, for this was the bathing place of the wives of the Caliphs. In the center is still a marble basin of water one hundred and thirty feet in length, now tenanted by goldfish and surrounded by hedges of myrtle and orange trees, bright with their glistening leaves and golden fruit. At each end of this inclosure we saw a row of slender marble columns, supporting walls that looked like chiseled ivory. Above us was a characteristic Alhambra roof, composed of countless bits of cedar wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and looking like the cells of a honeycomb or a grotto of stalactites. The whole place seemed so delicate and dainty that I at first had scruples about walking openly upon its marble pavement. The masterpiece of the Alhambra is the "Court of the Lions." It occupies the center of the palace, and is, surrounded by a spacious courtyard once paved with blocks of snow-white marble, fragments of which remain. Around it on each side are galleries and pavilions, which in their elegance and lightness are the despair of architects, and the admiration of the world. They are supported by no less than one hundred and twenty-four marble columns, apparently too slender and delicate to bear even the fairy-like arches which rest upon them. . . . In the center of the court stands its crowning beauty, like a precious stone mounted in a most brilliant setting. It is an alabaster fountain, the spray from which once fell almost within the galleries themselves. The basin of this fountain is one solid piece of alabaster, ten and a half feet thick, and rests upon twelve strangely sculptured lions which give to the court its name. From "Lecture on Spain." - STODDARD. P Exercises 1. Bring to class paragraphs of prose and stanzas of poetry in which the same incident is narrated, the same object or -person is described, or the same thought is expressed. 2. Some laborers excavating for a cellar find a small iron box which, upon being opened, is found to contain a miscellaneous collection of the gold coins of various nations of two hundred and fifty years ago. Write an account of the incident as told, (1) by the workman who first saw the box, (2) by the owner of the land who happened to be standing near. 3. Two students, one a young woman, the other a young man, are on board a steamer sailing for Europe to continue their studies. Write the letters which they might have written to friends at home regarding their sensations as they sailed out of New York Harbor. SECTION XXX Choice in Language From the reading of the selections in the preceding section, you have seen that the same fact may be stated in different language, and that something may be described or an incident may be told differently. You have probably noticed, also, when comparing two presentations of the same thing that one pleases or satisfies you more than the other. The one may present the subject being treated or the event being narrated more clearly or more forcibly than the other, and thus you grasp the thought or see the picture more readily in the one case than in the other; or the language used in one case may be smoother and |