PART I. How to Write a Composition and Express Written Thought in a Correct and Elegant Manner. (continued 3)

Never allow yourself to be seduced from this course. You will hear of young men who have made fortunes in some wild speculations. Pity them; for they will almost certainly lose their easily won success. Do not be in a hurry for anything. Are you in love with some dear girl, whom you would make your wife? Give Angelina Matilda to understand that she must wait; and if Angelina Matilda is really the good girl you take her to be, she will be sensible enough to tell you to choose your time.

You cannot build well without first laying a good foundation; and for you to enter upon a business which you have not patiently and thoroughly learned, and to marry before you have won a character, or even the reasonable prospect of a competence, is ultimately to bring your house down about the ears of Angelina Matilda, and such pretty children as she may give you. If, at the age of thirty years, you find yourself established in a business which pays you with certainty a living income, you are to remember that God has blessed you beyond the majority of men.

DINAH THE METHODIST.

By George Eliot.

The works of Marian Evans Cross created unusual interest when first published in England. Her “Adam Bede,” “The Mill on the Floss” and “Silas Marner,” immediately placed her in the highest rank of the writers of fiction. For some time her identity was concealed, yet there were critics who suspected that “George Eliot” was the assumed name of a female author. Her writings are characterized by a keen insight into character, intellectual vigor and sympathy with the advanced thought of the day. She was born in 1819, and died in 1880. The selection from “Adam Bede,” here given, is an excellent specimen from one of her well-known works.

Several of the men followed Ben’s lead, and the traveler pushed his horse on to the Green, as Dinah walked rather quickly, and in advance of her companions, toward the cart under the maple tree. While she was near Seth’s tall figure she looked short, but when she had mounted the cart, and was away from all comparison, she seemed above the middle height of woman, though in reality she did not exceed it—an effect which was due to the slimness of her figure, and the simple line of her black stuff dress.

The stranger was struck with surprise as he saw her approach and mount the cart—surprise, not so much for the feminine delicacy of her appearance, as at the total absence of self-consciousness in her demeanor. He had made up his mind to see her advance with a measured step, and a demure solemnity of countenance; he had felt sure that her face would be mantled with a smile of conscious saintship, or else charged with denunciatory bitterness. He knew but two types of Methodist—the ecstatic and the bilious.

But Dinah walked as simply as if she were going to market, and seemed as unconscious of her outward appearance as a little boy; there was no blush, no tremulousness, which said, “I know you think me a pretty woman, too young to preach;” no casting up or down of the eyelids, no compression of the lips, no attitude of the arms, that said, “But you must think of me as a saint.”

She held no book in her ungloved hands, but let them hang down lightly crossed before her, as she stood and turned her grey eyes on the people. There was no keenness in her eyes; they seemed rather to be shedding love than making observations; they had the liquid look which tells that the mind is full of what it has to give out, rather than impressed by external objects.

The eyebrows, of the same color as the hair, were perfectly horizontal and firmly pencilled; the eyelashes, though no darker, were long and abundant; nothing was left blurred or unfinished.

It was one of those faces that make one think of white flowers with light touches of color on their pure petals. The eyes had no peculiar beauty, beyond that of expression; they looked so simple, so candid, so gravely loving, that no accusing scowl, no light sneer, could help melting away before their glance.

Joshua Rann gave a long cough, as if he were clearing his throat in order to come to a new understanding with himself; Chad Cranage lifted up his leather skull-cap and scratched his head; and Wiry Ben wondered how Seth had the pluck to think of courting her.

“A sweet woman,” the stranger said to himself, “but surely Nature never meant her for a preacher.”

GODFREY AND DUNSTAN.

By George Eliot.

An excellent example of dialogue in fiction.

Some one opened the door at the other end of the room, and Nancy felt that it was her husband. She turned from the window with gladness in her eyes, for the wife’s chief dread was stilled.

“Dear, I’m so thankful you’re come,” she said, going towards him. “I began to get”—

She paused abruptly, for Godfrey was laying down his hat with trembling hands, and turned towards her with a pale face and a strange, unanswering glance, as if he saw her indeed, but saw her as part of a scene invisible to herself. She laid her hand on his arm, not daring to speak again; but he left the touch unnoticed, and threw himself into his chair.

Jane was already at the door with the hissing urn. “Tell her to keep away, will you?” said Godfrey; and when the door was closed again he exerted himself to speak more distinctly.

“Sit down, Nancy—there,” he said, pointing to a chair opposite him. “I came back as soon as I could to hinder anybody’s telling you but me. I’ve had a great shock—but I care most about the shock it’ll be to you.”

“It isn’t father and Priscilla?” said Nancy, with quivering lips, clasping her hands together tightly on her lap.

“No, it’s nobody living,” said Godfrey, unequal to the considerate skill with which he would have wished to make his revelation. “It’s Dunstan—my brother Dunstan, that we lost sight of sixteen years ago. We’ve found him,—found his body—his skeleton.”

The deep dread Godfrey’s look had created in Nancy made her feel these words a relief. She sat in comparative calmness to hear what else he had to tell. He went on:

“The stone pit has gone dry suddenly,—from the draining, I suppose; and there he lies—has lain for sixteen years, wedged between two great stones. There’s his watch and seals, and there’s my gold-handled hunting whip, with my name on. He took it away, without my knowing, the day he went hunting on Wildfire, the last time he was seen.”

Godfrey paused! it was not so easy to say what came next. “Do you think he drowned himself?” said Nancy, almost wondering that her husband should be so deeply shaken by what had happened all those years ago to an unloved brother, of whom worse things had been augured.

“No, he fell in,” said Godfrey, in a low but distinct voice, as if he felt some deep meaning in the fact. Presently he added: “Dunstan was the man that robbed Silas Marner.”

The blood rushed to Nancy’s face and neck at this surprise and shame, for she had been bred up to regard even a distant kinship with crime as a dishonor.

“O Godfrey!” she said, with compassion in her tone, for she had immediately reflected that the dishonor must be felt more keenly by her husband.

“There was money in the pit,” he continued, “all the weaver’s money. Everything’s been gathered up, and they have taken the skeleton to the Rainbow. But I came back to tell you. There was no hindering it; you must know.”

He was silent, looking on the ground for two long minutes. Nancy would have said some words of comfort under this disgrace, but she refrained, from an instinctive sense that there was something behind,—that Godfrey had something else to tell her. Presently he lifted his eyes to her face, and kept them fixed on her, as he said:

“Everything comes to light, Nancy, sooner or later. When God Almighty wills it, our secrets are found out. I’ve lived with a secret on my mind, but I’ll keep it from you no longer. I wouldn’t have you know it by somebody else, and not by me—I wouldn’t have you find it out after I’m dead. I’ll tell you now. It’s been ‘I will’ and ‘I won’t’ with me all my life; I’ll make sure of myself now.”

Nancy’s utmost dread had returned. The eyes of the husband and wife met with an awe in them, as at a crisis which suspended affection.

“Nancy,” said Godfrey slowly, “when I married you, I hid something from you,—something I ought to have told you. That woman Marner found dead in the snow—Eppie’s mother—that wretched woman—was my wife; Eppie is my child.”

He paused, dreading the effects of his confession. But Nancy sat quite still, only that her eyes dropped and ceased to meet his. She was pale and quiet as a meditative statue, clasping her hands on her lap.

“You’ll never think the same of me again,” said Godfrey after a little while, with some tremor in his voice. She was silent.

“I oughtn’t to have left the child unowned; I oughtn’t to have kept it from you. But I couldn’t bear to give you up, Nancy. I was led away into marrying her; I suffered for it.”

Still Nancy was silent, looking down; and he almost expected that she would presently get up and say she would go to her father’s. How could she have any mercy for faults that seemed so black to her, with her simple, severe notions?

But at last she lifted up her eyes to his again and spoke. There was no indignation in her voice; only deep regret.

“Godfrey, if you had told me this six years ago, we could have done some of our duty by the child. Do you think I’d have refused to take her in, if I’d known she was yours?”

At that moment Godfrey felt all the bitterness of an error that was not simply futile, but had defeated its own end. He had not measured this wife with whom he had lived so long. But she spoke again, with more agitation.

“And—oh, Godfrey—if we’d had her from the first, if you’d taken to her as you ought, she’d have loved me for her mother—and you’d been happier with me; I could better have bore my little baby dying, and our life might have been more like what we used to think it ’ud be.”

The tears fell, and Nancy ceased to speak.

“But you wouldn’t have married me then, Nancy, if I’d told you,” said Godfrey, urged, in the bitterness of his self-reproach, to prove to himself that his conduct had not been utter folly. “You may think you would now, but you wouldn’t then. With your pride and your father’s, you’d have hated having anything to do with me after the talk there’d been.”

“I can’t say what I should have done about that, Godfrey. I should never have married anybody else. But I wasn’t worth doing wrong for; nothing is in this world. Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand; not even our marrying wasn’t, you see.” There was a faint, sad smile on Nancy’s face as she said the last words.

“I’m a worse man than you thought I was, Nancy,” said Godfrey rather tremulously. “Can you forgive me ever?”

“The wrong to me is but little, Godfrey. You’ve made it up to me; you’ve been good to me for fifteen years. It’s another you did the wrong to; and I doubt it can never be all made up for.”

“But we can take Eppie now,” said Godfrey. “I won’t mind the world knowing at last. I’ll be plain and open for the rest o’ my life.”

“It’ll be different coming to us, now she’s grown up,” said Nancy, shaking her head sadly. “But it’s your duty to acknowledge her and provide for her; and I’ll do my part by her, and pray to God Almighty to make her love me.”

“Then we’ll go together to Silas Marner’s this very night, as soon as everything’s quiet at the Stone Pits.”

RIP VAN WINKLE.

By Washington Irving.

This charming author, who is a master of pure style, beautiful sentiment and pleasing humor, has been called the father of American literature. If this be not strictly true, it is a matter of record that no American authors before his time achieved any remarkable success. Mr. Irving was born in 1783, and died in 1859. He was particularly happy in portraying the quaint character and customs of the old Dutch settlers in our country. He published a number of volumes, including “The Sketch Book,” “Tales of a Traveler,” “Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,” etc. One of Irving’s best known and most delightful short productions is “Rip Van Winkle,” from which the following extract is taken. The easy-going, inoffensive character of Rip is delightfully pictured.

The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor. It could not be from the want of assiduity or perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy as a Tartar’s lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble.

He would carry a fowling-piece on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through woods and swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking Indian corn, or building stone fences.

The women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them;—in a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.

In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country; everything about it went wrong, and would go wrong in spite of him. His fences were continually falling to pieces; his cow would either go astray, or get among the cabbages; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields than anywhere else; the rain always made a point of setting in just as he had some outdoor work to do; so that, though his patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn, and potatoes, yet it was the worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood.

His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to inherit the habits, with the old clothes, of his father. He was generally seen trooping like a colt at his mother’s heels, equipped in a pair of his father’s cast-off trousers, which he had much ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather.

Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family.

Morning, noon and night her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, and that by frequent use had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain to draw off his forces and take to the outside of the house—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.

Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair, and his only alternative to escape from the labor of the farm, and the clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. Here he would sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the contents of his wallet with his dog Wolf, with whom he sympathized as a fellow-sufferer in persecution.

“Poor Wolf,” he would say, “thy mistress leads thee a dog’s life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee.” Wolf would wag his tail, look wistfully in his master’s face, and if dogs can feel pity, I verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with all his heart.

THE PURITANS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

By Lord Macaulay.

Distinguished as a descriptive poet by his fine “Lays of Ancient Rome,” and yet more distinguished as a master of English prose by his “Essays” and his noble “History of England,” Thomas Babington Macaulay stands prominent as the most learned and eloquent of the essayists and critics of the nineteenth century. He was the son of Zachary Macaulay, known as the warm friend and co-laborer of Wilberforce and Clarkson, and was born at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, October 25, 1800, and died in 1859. In 1818 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1822. Here he gave proof of his great intellectual powers, obtaining a scholarship, and twice gaining the Chancellor’s medal for a poem called “Pompeii.” To crown his triumphs, he secured a “Craven Scholarship,”—the highest distinction in classics which the university confers.

Lord Macaulay’s glowing description of the Puritans has been pronounced the finest writing of its kind to be found in our language. It is the product of pre-eminent literary ability, and the highest genius.

We would first speak of the Puritans of the sixteenth century, the most remarkable body of men, perhaps, which the world has ever produced.

Those who roused the people to resistance—who directed their measures through a long series of eventful years—who formed, out of the most unpromising materials, the finest army that Europe had ever seen—who trampled down king, church, and aristocracy—who, in the short intervals of domestic sedition and rebellion, made the name of England terrible to every nation on the face of the earth—were no vulgar fanatics.

Most of their absurdities were mere external badges, like the signs of freemasonry or the dresses of friars. We regret that these badges were not more attractive; we regret that a body, to whose courage and talents mankind has owed inestimable obligations, had not the lofty elegance which distinguished some of the adherents of Charles I., or the easy good breeding for which the court of Charles II. was celebrated. But, if we must make our choice, we shall, like Bassanio in the play, turn from the specious caskets which contain only the Death’s head and the Fool’s head, and fix our choice on the plain leaden chest which conceals the treasure.

The Puritans were men whose minds had derived a peculiar character from the daily contemplation of superior beings and eternal interests. Not content with acknowledging, in general terms, an overruling Providence, they habitually ascribed every event to the will of the Great Being, for whose power nothing was too minute. To know him, to serve him, to enjoy him, was with them the great end of existence.

They rejected with contempt the ceremonious homage which other sects substituted for the pure worship of the soul. Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the Deity through an obscuring veil, they aspired to gaze full on the intolerable brightness, and to commune with him face to face. Hence originated their contempt for terrestrial distinctions.

The difference between the greatest and meanest of mankind seemed to vanish when compared with the boundless interval which separated the whole race from Him on whom their own eyes were constantly fixed.

They recognized no title to superiority but his favor; and, confident of that favor, they despised all the accomplishments and all the dignities of the world. If they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God; if their names were not found in the registers of heralds, they felt assured that they were recorded in the Book of Life; if their steps were not accompanied by a splendid train of menials, legions of ministering angels had charge over them. Their palaces were houses not made with hands; their diadems, crowns of glory which should never fade away.

On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, they looked down with contempt; for they esteemed themselves rich in a more precious treasure, and eloquent in a more sublime language—nobles by the right of an earlier creation, and priests by the imposition of a mightier hand. The very meanest of them was a being to whose fate a mysterious and terrible importance belonged—on whose slightest actions the spirits of light and darkness looked with anxious interest—who had been destined, before heaven and earth were created, to enjoy a felicity which should continue when heaven and earth should have passed away.

Events which short-sighted politicians ascribed to earthly causes had been ordained on his account. For his sake empires had risen and flourished and decayed; for his sake the Almighty had proclaimed his will by the pen of the evangelist and the harp of the prophet. He had been rescued by no common deliverer from the grasp of no common foe; he had been ransomed by the sweat of no vulgar agony, by the blood of no earthly sacrifice. It was for him that the sun had been darkened, that the rocks had been rent, that the dead had arisen, that all nature had shuddered at the sufferings of her expiring God!

ON BEING IN TIME.

By C. H. Spurgeon.

When we examine Mr. Spurgeon’s writings we are able to discover one great secret of his power. As no preacher of modern times was more successful, in like manner no other had such a vigorous command of plain English in the pulpit. The great majority of his words are short and simple, reminding one of the terse writings of the old Puritan authors. Mr. Spurgeon was born in 1834 and died in 1893. No other writer has published so many sermons and volumes of miscellaneous writings, and no other author of similar works has been so widely read. He was the marvel of his generation.

He who begins a little late in the morning will have to drive fast, will be constantly in a fever, and will scarcely overtake his business at night; whereas he who rises in proper time can enjoy the luxury of pursuing his calling with regularity, ending his work in fit season, and gaining a little portion of leisure.

Late in the morning may mean puffing and blowing all the day long, whereas an early hour will make the pace an easy one. This is worth a man’s considering. Much evil comes of hurry, and hurry is the child of unpunctuality.

We once knew a brother whom we named “the late Mr. S⸺,” because he never came in time. A certain tart gentleman, who had been irritated by this brother’s unpunctuality, said that the sooner that name was literally true the better for the temper of those who had to wait for him. Many a man would much rather be fined than be kept waiting. If a man must injure me, let him rather plunder me of my cash than of my time.

To keep a busy man waiting is an act of impudent robbery, and is also a constructive insult. It may not be so intended, but certainly if a man has proper respect for his friend, he will know the value of his time, and will not cause him to waste it. There is a cool contempt in unpunctuality, for it as good as says: “Let the fellow wait; who is he that I should keep my appointment with him?”

In this world, matters are so linked together that you cannot disarrange one without throwing others out of gear; if one business is put out of time, another is delayed by the same means. The other day we were traveling to the Riviera, and the train after leaving Paris was detained for an hour and a half. This was bad enough, but the result was worse, for when we reached Marseilles the connecting train had gone, and we were not only detained for a considerable time, but were forced to proceed by a slow train, and so reached our destination six hours later than we ought to have done. All the subsequent delay was caused through the first stoppage.

A merchant once said to us: “A. B. is a good fellow in many respects, but he is so frightfully slow that we cannot retain him in our office, because, as all the clerks work into each other’s hands, his delays are multiplied enormously, and cause intolerable inconvenience. He is a hindrance to the whole system, and he had better go where he can work alone.”

The worst of it is that we cannot send unpunctual people where they can work alone. To whom or whither should they go? We cannot rig out a hermitage for each one, or that would be a great deliverance. If they prepared their own dinners, it would not matter that they dropped in after every dish had become cold. If they preached sermons to themselves, and had no other audience, it would not signify that they began consistently seven minutes behind the published hour. If they were their own scholars, and taught themselves, it would be of no consequence if the pupil sat waiting for his teacher for twenty minutes.

As it is, we in this world cannot get away from the unpunctual, nor get them away from us, and therefore we are obliged to put up with them; but we should like them to know that they are a gross nuisance, and a frequent cause of sin, through irritating the tempers of those who cannot afford to squander time as they do.

If this should meet the eye of any gentleman who has almost forgotten the meaning of the word “punctuality,” we earnestly advise him to try and be henceforth five minutes too soon for every appointment, and then perhaps he will gradually subside into the little great virtue which we here recommend.

Could not some good genius get up a Punctuality Association, every member to wear a chronometer set to correct time, and to keep appointments by the minute-hand? Pledges should be issued, to be signed by all sluggish persons who can summon up sufficient resolution totally to abstain from being behind time in church or chapel, or on committee, or at dinner, or in coming home from the office in the evening. Ladies eligible as members upon signing a special pledge to keep nobody waiting while they run upstairs to pop on their bonnets. How much of sinful temper would be spared, and how much of time saved, we cannot venture to guess. Try it.

JOHN PLOUGHMAN’S TALK ON HOME.

By C. H. Spurgeon.

The famous London minister wrote a book entitled, “John Ploughman’s Talk.” His object was to express plain and homely truths in a quaint, humorous way, and thus gain the attention of common people whose reading is confined mostly to murder and divorce cases in newspapers. The enjoyment of the public in reading Mr. Spurgeon’s pithy sayings was evinced by the enormous sale of the book. The extract here given is a fair specimen of its unique style.

That word home always sounds like poetry to me. It rings like a peal of bells at a wedding, only more soft and sweet, and it chimes deeper into the ears of my heart. It does not matter whether it means thatched cottage or manor-house, home is home, be it ever so homely, and there’s no place on earth like it. Green grow the houseleek on the roof forever, and let the moss flourish on the thatch.

Sweetly the sparrows chirrup and the swallows twitter around the chosen spot which is my joy and my rest. Every bird loves its own nest; the owl thinks the old ruins the fairest spot under the moon, and the fox is of opinion that his hole in the hill is remarkably cozy. When my master’s nag knows that his head is towards home he wants no whip, but thinks it best to put on all steam; and I am always of the same mind, for the way home, to me, is the best bit of road in the country. I like to see the smoke out of my own chimney better than the fire on another man’s hearth; there’s something so beautiful in the way in which it curls up among the trees.

Cold potatoes on my own table taste better than roast meat at my neighbor’s, and the honeysuckle at my own door is the sweetest I ever smell. When you are out, friends do their best, but still it is not home. “Make yourself at home,” they say, because everybody knows that to feel at home is to feel at ease.

Why, at home you are at home, and what more do you want? Nobody grudges you, whatever your appetite may be; and you don’t get put into a damp bed. Safe in his own castle, like a king in his palace, a man feels himself somebody, and is not afraid of being thought proud for thinking so. Every cock may crow on his own dunghill; and a dog is a lion when he is at home. No need to guard every word because some enemy is on the watch, no keeping the heart under lock and key; but as soon as the door is shut it is liberty hall, and none to peep and pry.

It is a singular fact, and perhaps some of you will doubt it—but that is your unbelieving nature—our little ones are real beauties, always a pound or two plumper than others of their age; and yet it don’t tire you half so much to nurse them as it does other people’s babies. Why, bless you, my wife would be tired out in half the time, if her neighbor had asked her to see to a strange youngster, but her own children don’t seem to tire her at all. Now my belief is that it all comes of their having been born at home.

Just so it is with everything else: our lane is the most beautiful for twenty miles round, because our home is in it; and my garden is a perfect paradise, for no other particular reason than this very good one, that it belongs to the old house at home.

Husbands should try to make home happy and holy. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, a bad man who makes his home wretched. Our house ought to be a little church, with holiness to the Lord over the door; but it ought never to be a prison, where there is plenty of rule and order, but little love and no pleasure.

Married life is not all sugar, but grace in the heart will keep away most of the sours. Godliness and love can make a man, like a bird in a hedge, sing among thorns and briars, and set others a-singing too. It should be the husband’s pleasure to please his wife, and the wife’s care to care for her husband. He is kind to himself who is kind to his wife. I am afraid some men live by the rule of self, and when that is the case home happiness is a mere sham. When husbands and wives are well yoked, how light their load becomes!

It is not every couple that is a pair, and the more’s the pity. In a true home all the strife is which can do the most to make the family happy. A home should be a Bethel, not a Babel. The husband should be the house-band, binding all together like a corner-stone, but not crushing everything like a millstone.

Nothing is improved by anger, unless it be the arch of a cat’s back. A man with his back up is spoiling his figure. People look none the handsomer for being red in the face. It takes a great deal out of a man to get into a towering rage; it is almost as unhealthy as having a fit, and time has been when men have actually choked themselves with passion, and died on the spot. Whatever wrong I suffer, it cannot do me half so much hurt as being angry about it; for passion shortens life and poisons peace.

When once we give way to temper, temper will get right of way, and come in easier every time. He that will be in a pet for any little thing, will soon be out at elbows about nothing at all. A thunder-storm curdles the milk, and so does a passion sour the heart and spoil the character.

LITTLE PEARL AND HER MOTHER.

By Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hawthorne is justly regarded as one of the masters of English prose, although the shadowed side of his life predominated and often gave a somewhat gloomy tinge to his writings. Yet through the morbid drapery by which he surrounds himself the light of his superb genius shines brilliantly. His style is a model of clearness, choice words and elevated sentiment. The extract given below is from “The Scarlet Letter,” one of his best works of fiction, and, in fact, one of the best that enriches our American literature. He possessed great originality, a rare power of analyzing character, a delicate and exquisite humor and marvelous felicity in the use of language. Mr. Hawthorne was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804, and died in 1864.

So the mother and little Pearl were admitted into the hall of entrance. With many variations, suggested by the nature of his building-materials, diversity of climate, and a different mode of social life, Governor Bellingham had planned his new habitation after the residences of gentlemen of fair estate in his native land.

Here, then, was a wide and reasonably lofty hall, extending through the whole depth of the house, and forming a medium of general communication, more or less directly, with all the other apartments. At one extremity, this spacious room was lighted by the windows of the two towers, which formed a small recess on either side of the portal. At the other end, though partly muffled by a curtain, it was more powerfully illuminated by one of those embowed hall-windows which we read of in old books, and which was provided with a deep and cushioned seat.

Here, on the cushion, lay a folio tome, probably of the Chronicles of England, or other such substantial literature; even as, in our own days, we scatter gilded volumes on the centre-table, to be turned over by the casual guest. The furniture of the hall consisted of some ponderous chairs, the backs of which were elaborately carved with wreaths of oaken flowers; and likewise a table in the same taste; the whole being of Elizabethan age, or perhaps earlier, and heirlooms, transferred hither from the governor’s paternal home.

On the table—in token that the sentiment of old English hospitality had not been left behind—stood a large pewter tankard, at the bottom of which, had Hester or Pearl peeped into it, they might have seen the frothy remnant of a recent draught of ale.

On the wall hung a row of portraits, representing the forefathers of the Bellingham lineage, some with armor on their breasts, and others with stately ruffs and robes of peace. All were characterized by the sternness and severity which old portraits so invariably put on; as if they were the ghosts, rather than the pictures, of departed worthies, and were gazing with harsh and intolerant criticism at the pursuits and enjoyments of living men.

At about the center of the oaken panels that lined the hall was suspended a suit of mail, not, like the pictures, an ancestral relic, but of the most modern date; for it had been manufactured by a skillful armorer in London the same year in which Governor Bellingham came over to New England. There was a steel headpiece, a cuirass, a gorget and greaves, with a pair of gauntlets and a sword hanging beneath; all, and especially the helmet and breastplate, so highly burnished as to glow with white radiance and scatter an illumination everywhere about upon the floor.

This bright panoply was not meant for mere idle show, but had been worn by the governor on many a solemn muster and training field, and had glittered, moreover, at the head of a regiment in the Pequod war. For, though bred a lawyer, and accustomed to speak of Bacon, Coke, Noye and Finch as his professional associates, the exigencies of this new country had transformed Governor Bellingham into a soldier, as well as a statesman and ruler.

Little Pearl—who was as greatly pleased with the gleaming armor as she had been with the glittering frontispiece of the house—spent some time looking into the polished mirror of the breastplate.

“Mother,” cried she, “I see you here. Look! Look!”

Hester looked, by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it.

Pearl pointed upward, also, at a similar picture in the headpiece, smiling at her mother with the elfish intelligence that was so familiar an expression on her small physiognomy. That look of naughty merriment was likewise reflected in the mirror, with so much breadth and intensity of effect, that it made Hester Prynne feel as if it could not be the image of her own child, but of an imp who was seeking to mold itself into Pearl’s shape.

THE BABY IN THE BATH-TUB.

By Grace Greenwood.

The following selection is an excellent example of sprightly and vivacious writing, a kind of composition that is always entertaining to the reader. Under the assumed name of Grace Greenwood, Mrs. Sarah J. Lippincott was for many years a well-known and popular contributor to various periodicals. She also published several volumes, including works of fiction and stories of travel. She wrote poems that possessed much merit, thus exhibiting a wide range of talent. Her fine thoughts were expressed in a style of great ease, simplicity and beauty. Mrs. Lippincott was born in Onondaga County, New York, in 1825, and died in 1898.

“Annie! Sophie! come up quick, and see baby in her bath-tub!” cries a charming little maiden, running down the wide stairway of an old country house, and half-way up the long hall, all in a fluttering cloud of pink lawn, her soft dimpled cheeks tinged with the same lovely morning hue.

In an instant there is a stir and gush of light laughter in the drawing-room, and presently, with a movement a little more majestic and elder-sisterly, Annie and Sophie float noiselessly through the hall and up the soft-carpeted ascent, as though borne on their respective clouds of blue and white drapery, and take their way to the nursery, where a novel entertainment awaits them. It is the first morning of the eldest married sister’s first visit home, with her first baby; and the first baby, having slept late after its journey, is about to take its first bath in the old house.

“Well, I declare, if here isn’t mother, forgetting her dairy, and Cousin Nellie, too, who must have left poor Ned all to himself in the garden, lonely and disconsolate, and I am torn from my books, and Sophie from her flowers, and all for the sake of seeing a nine-months-old baby kicking about in a bath-tub! What simpletons we are!”

Thus Miss Annie, the proude ladye of the family; handsome, haughty, with perilous proclivities toward grand socialistic theories, transcendentalism, and general strong-mindedness; pledged by many a saucy vow to a life of single dignity and freedom, given to studies artistic, æsthetic, philosophic, and ethical; a student of Plato, an absorber of Emerson, an exalter of her sex, a contemner of its natural enemies.

“Simpletons, are we?” cries pretty Elinor Lee, aunt of the baby on the other side, and “Cousin Nellie” by love’s courtesy, now kneeling close by the bath-tub, and receiving on her sunny braids a liberal baptism from the pure, plashing hands of babyhood,—“simpletons, indeed! Did I not once see thee, O Pallas-Athene, standing rapt before a copy of the ‘Crouching Venus?’

“And this is a sight a thousand times more beautiful; for here we have color, action, life, and such grace as the divinest sculptors of Greece were never able to entrance in marble. Just look at these white, dimpled shoulders, every dimple holding a tiny, sparkling drop,—these rosy, plashing feet and hands,—this laughing, roguish face,—these eyes, bright and blue and deep as lakes of fairy land,—these ears, like dainty sea shells,—these locks of gold, dripping diamonds,—and tell me what cherub of Titian, what Cupid of Greuze, was ever half so lovely? I say, too, that Raphael himself would have jumped at the chance of painting Louise, as she sits there, towel in hand, in all the serene pride and chastened dignity of young maternity—of painting her as Madonna.”

CANDACE’S OPINIONS.

By Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Mrs. Stowe is particularly happy in portraying negro character. It requires for this a great appreciation of humor, and her writings abound in this, while her imagination and fine command of language make many of her writings brilliant and even poetical.

Mrs. Stowe is the most celebrated American authoress. Her “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” has been more widely read than any other work of fiction ever published. While in this work her conspicuous genius appears to fine advantage, she has nevertheless written other works, some of them describing New England life and character, which are masterpieces. She was born at Litchfield, Conn., on the 14th of June, 1812, and died at Hartford July 1st, 1896.

“I intend,” said Mr. Marvyn, “to make the same offer to your husband, when he returns from work to-night.”

“Laus, Mass’r—why, Cato, he’ll do jes’ as I do—dere a’n’t no kind o’ need o’ askin’ him. Course he will.”

A smile passed round the circle, because between Candace and her husband there existed one of those whimsical contrasts which one sometimes sees in married life. Cato was a small-built, thin, softly-spoken negro, addicted to a gentle chronic cough; and, though a faithful and skillful servant, seemed, in relation to his better half, much like a hill of potatoes under a spreading apple-tree. Candace held to him with a vehement and patronizing fondness, so devoid of conjugal reverence as to excite the comments of her friends.

“You must remember, Candace,” said a good deacon to her one day, when she was ordering him about at a catechizing, “you ought to give honor to your husband; the wife is the weaker vessel.”

“I de weaker vessel?” said Candace, looking down from the tower of her ample corpulence on the small, quiet man whom she had been fledging with the ample folds of a worsted comforter, out of which his little head and shining bead-eyes looked, much like a blackbird in a nest—“I de weaker vassel! Umph!”

A whole woman’s rights convention could not have expressed more in a day than was given in that single look and word. Candace considered a husband as a thing to be taken care of—a rather inconsequent and somewhat troublesome species of pet, to be humored, nursed, fed, clothed, and guided in the way that he was to go—an animal that was always losing off buttons, catching colds, wearing his best coat every day, and getting on his Sunday hat in a surreptitious manner for week-day occasions; but she often condescended to express it as her opinion that he was a blessing, and that she didn’t know what she’d do if it wasn’t for Cato.

She sometimes was heard expressing herself very energetically in disapprobation of the conduct of one of her sable friends, named Jinny Stiles, who, after being presented with her own freedom, worked several years to buy that of her husband, but became afterwards so disgusted with her acquisition, that she declared she would “neber buy anoder nigger.”

“Now, Jinny don’t know what she’s talkin’ about,” she would say. “S’pose he does cough and keep her awake nights, and take a little too much sometimes, a’n’t he better’n no husband at all? A body wouldn’t seem to hab nuffin to lib for, ef dey hadn’t an old man to look arter. Men is nate’lly foolish about some tings—but dey’s good deal better’n nuffin.”

And Candace, after this condescending remark, would lift with one hand a brass kettle in which poor Cato might have been drowned, and fly across the kitchen with it as if it were a feather.

MIDSUMMER IN THE VALLEY OF THE RHINE.

By George Meredith.

An example of beautiful description.

An oppressive slumber hung about the forest-branches. In the dells and on the heights was the same dead heat. Here where the brook tinkled it was no cool-lipped sound, but metallic, and without the spirit of water. Yonder in a space of moonlight on lush grass, the beams were as white fire to sight and feeling. No haze spread around. The valleys were clear, defined to the shadows of their verges; the distances sharply distinct, and with the colors of day but slightly softened.

Richard beheld a roe moving across a slope of sward far out of rifle-mark. The breathless silence was significant, yet the moon shone in a broad blue heaven. Tongue out of mouth trotted the little dog after him; couched panting when he stopped an instant; rose weariedly when he started afresh. Now and then a large white night-moth flitted through the dusk of the forest.

On a barren corner of the wooded highland looking inland stood gray topless ruins set in nettles and rank grass-blades. Richard mechanically sat down on the crumbling flints to rest, and listened to the panting of the dog. Sprinkled at his feet were emerald lights: hundreds of glow-worms studded the dark dry ground.

He sat and eyed them, thinking not at all. His energies were expended in action. He sat as a part of the ruins, and the moon turned his shadow westward from the south. Overhead, as she declined, long ripples of silver cloud were imperceptibly stealing toward her. They were the van of a tempest. He did not observe them, or the leaves beginning to chatter. When he again pursued his course with his face to the Rhine, a huge mountain appeared to rise sheer over him, and he had it in his mind to scale it. He got no nearer to the base of it for all his vigorous outstepping. The ground began to dip; he lost sight of the sky. Then heavy thunder-drops struck his cheek, the leaves were singing, the earth breathed, it was black before him and behind. All at once the thunder spoke. The mountain he had marked was bursting over him.

Up started the whole forest in violent fire. He saw the country at the foot of the hills to the bounding Rhine gleam, quiver, extinguished. Then there were pauses; and the lightning seemed as the eye of heaven, and the thunder as the tongue of heaven, each alternately addressing him; filling him with awful rapture.

THE POWER OF NATURAL BEAUTY.

By Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“The Sage of Concord,” as Mr. Emerson was called, expresses the estimate the American public placed upon his writings. His profound thought and originality are unquestioned. To these grand qualities he added a poetic imagination which diffused a fine glow over all his productions.

Mr. Emerson was born in Boston in 1803, graduated from Harvard College in 1821, and entered the ministry of the Unitarian Church, from which, however, he shortly resigned, and soon devoted himself to literary pursuits. His works have a high reputation among scholars and speculative thinkers. His style is singularly terse and at times almost abrupt, but his thoughts are masterly and striking. He died in 1882.

Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue. Every natural action is graceful. Every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine. We are taught by great actions that the universe is the property of every individual in it.

Every rational creature has all nature for his dowry and estate. It is his if he will. He may divest himself of it; he may creep into a corner, and abdicate his kingdom, as most men do; but he is entitled to the world by his constitution. In proportion to the energy of his thought and will, he takes up the world into himself. “All those things for which men plough, build, or sail, obey virtue;” said an ancient historian. “The winds and waves,” said Gibbon, “are always on the side of the ablest navigators.” So are the sun and moon and all the stars of heaven.

When a noble act is done—perchance in a scene of great natural beauty; when Leonides and his three hundred martyrs consume one day in dying, and the sun and moon come each and look at them once in the steep defile of Thermopylæ; when Arnold Winkelreid, in the high Alps, under the shadow of the avalanche, gathers in his side a sheaf of Austrian spears to break the line for his comrades; are not these heroes entitled to add the beauty of the scene to the beauty of the deed? When the bark of Columbus nears the shore of America;—before it the beach lined with savages, fleeing out of all their huts of cane; the sea behind; and the purple mountains of the Indian Archipelago around, can we separate the man from the living picture? Does not the New World clothe his form with her palm groves and savannahs as fit drapery?

Ever does natural beauty steal in like air, and envelop great actions. When Sir Harry Vane was dragged up the Tower-hill sitting on a sled, to suffer death, as the champion of the English laws, one of the multitude cried out to him, “You never sate on so glorious a seat.” Charles II., to intimidate the citizens of London, caused the patriot Lord Russel to be drawn in an open coach through the principal streets of the city, on his way to the scaffold. “But,” to use the simple narrative of his biographer, “the multitude imagined they saw liberty and virtue sitting by his side.”

In private places, among sordid objects, an act of truth or heroism seems at once to draw to itself the sky as its temple, the sun as its candle. Nature stretcheth out her arms to embrace man, only let his thoughts be of equal greatness. Willingly does she follow his steps with the rose and the violet, and bend her lines of grandeur and grace to the decoration of her darling child. Only let his thoughts be of equal scope, and the frame will suit the picture. A virtuous man is in unison with her works, and makes the central figure of the visible sphere.

The noonday darkness of the American forest, the deep, echoing, aboriginal woods, where the living columns of the oak and fir tower up from the ruins of the trees of the last millennium; where, from year to year, the eagle and the crow see no intruder; the pines, bearded with savage moss, yet touched with grace by the violets at their feet; the broad, cold lowland, which forms its coat of vapor with the stillness of subterranean crystallization; and where the traveler, amid the repulsive plants that are native in the swamp, thinks with pleasing terror of the distant town; this beauty—haggard and desert beauty, which the sun and the moon, the snow and the rain repaint and vary, has never been recorded by art, yet is not indifferent to any passenger.

All men are poets at heart. They serve nature for bread, but her loveliness overcomes them sometimes. What mean these journeys to Niagara; these pilgrims to the White Hills? Men believe in the adaptations of utility always. In the mountains they may believe in the adaptations of the eye.

Undoubtedly the changes of geology have a relation to the prosperous sprouting of the corn and peas in my kitchen garden; but not less is there a relation of beauty between my soul and the dim crags of Agiocochook up there in the clouds. Every man, when this is told, hearkens with joy, and yet his own conversation with nature is still unsung.

Subjects for Compositions.

To aid you in writing compositions a lengthy list of subjects is here furnished. These, you will see, are adapted to persons of various ages and capacities. Many of them are comparatively simple and require no profound thought, while others are deep enough to tax all your powers of reason.

Do not choose a subject that is too abstruse and difficult. Plain narration and description should go before profound argument. Yet do not be satisfied with a simple theme if you are capable of writing upon one that demands more study and thought. When you have chosen your subject, you should be guided by the practical hints and directions contained in the first pages of this volume, which you should faithfully study.

Many of the subjects here presented will require a good deal of reading and research before you can write upon them intelligently. This is true especially of the historical and biographical subjects. If you find history to be a fascinating study, as it is to most persons, you will become so filled and enamored with your theme, that you can write upon it easily.

Never consider it too much trouble to prepare yourself thoroughly to write your compositions. If you would have nuggets of gold you must dig for them. Success is worth all it costs, however much that may be. Remember Bulwer Lytton’s saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

HISTORICAL SUBJECTS.

The Landing of the Pilgrims.

Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.

The French and Indian War.

The Siege of Quebec.

King Philip’s War.

Washington at Valley Forge.

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.

The Discovery of the Mississippi River.

Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia.

The Pequod War.

Witchcraft at Salem, Massachusetts.

The Old Charter Oak at Hartford.

Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord.

The Famous Ride of Paul Revere.

The Siege of Boston.

The Battle of Long Island.

The Battle of the Brandywine.

The Murder of Miss McCrea.

The Battle of Monmouth.

The Surrender of Burgoyne’s Army.

The Siege of Savannah.

Washington Crossing the Delaware.

The Massacre of Wyoming.

The Treason of Benedict Arnold.

The Execution of Major André.

The Duel Between Hamilton and Burr.

The Battle of Monterey.

The Battle of Chapultepec.

The Siege of Vicksburg.

General Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Jackson’s Victories in Virginia.

The Death of “Stonewall Jackson.”

The Story of Cuban Insurrections.

The Great Naval Battle at Manila.

The Great Naval Battle at Santiago.

The Exploits of the “Rough Riders” at San Juan.

The Execution of John Brown.

The Massacre at Fort Dearborn.

The Discovery of Gold in California.

The Opening of the Pacific Railroad.

The Discovery of Gold in Alaska.

The Massacre of General Custer.

The Indian Wars in the Northwest.

The World’s Fair at Chicago.

The Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.

The Story of the Old Liberty Bell at Philadelphia.

The Great Flood at Johnstown, Pa.

The Destruction of the Battleship Maine.

The Invention of Printing.

Magna Charta, the Charter of Rights.

Constantinople Taken by the French.

The Moors Driven Out of Spain.

The Reformation in England.

The Invasion of Peru by Pizarro.

The Battle of Trafalgar.

The Spanish Armada.

The Battle of Balaklava.

The Gunpowder Plot (1605).

The Atrocities of the Paris Commune.

The Execution of Charles I.

The Bursting of the South Sea Bubble.

The Battle of Waterloo.

The Dismemberment of Poland.

The Great Mutiny in India.

The French Revolution.

The Martyrdom of Joan of Arc.

The Crusades.

The Siege of Troy.

The Great Plague in London.

The Battle of the Boyne.

The Imprisonment of James I. of Scotland.

The Story of Mary, Queen of Scots.

BIOGRAPHICAL SUBJECTS.

Miles Standish.

Cotton Mather.

Benjamin Franklin.

John Jay.

Samuel Adams.

Fisher Ames.

George Washington.

William Penn.

Marquis de Lafayette.

Count Pulaski.

General Israel Putnam.

General Anthony Wayne.

General Ethan Allen.

Thomas Jefferson.

Andrew Jackson.

Martha Washington.

Commodore Perry.

Commodore Decatur.

Daniel Webster.

Henry Clay.

Patrick Henry.

John Hancock.

General Winfield Scott.

Zachary Taylor.

The Indian Chief Tecumseh.

William Henry Harrison.

John C. Fremont.

Abraham Lincoln.

Robert E. Lee.

Ulysses S. Grant.

James A. Garfield.

General William T. Sherman.

Mary Lyon.

Frances E. Willard.

Susan B. Anthony.

Clara Barton.

Henry W. Longfellow.

William Cullen Bryant.

The Cary Sisters.

Washington Irving.

James Fenimore Cooper.

Francis Scott Key.

John Howard Payne.

Daniel Boone.

David Crockett.

General Sam Houston.

Lord Nelson.

The Duke of Wellington.

Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Duke of Marlborough.

Robert Bruce.

Robert Burns.

John Bright.

William E. Gladstone.

Alfred Tennyson.

Daniel O’Connell.

Robert Emmet.

Florence Nightingale.

John Knox.

Julius Cæsar.

Demosthenes.

Cicero.

Hannibal.

Alexander the Great.

Socrates.

Xantippe.

Queen Elizabeth.

Oliver Cromwell.

William Pitt.

Frederick the Great.

Captain Kidd.

Ferdinand de Soto.

Hernando Cortez.

Sir John Franklin.

Elisha Kent Kane.

Cyrus W. Field.

Professor Samuel B. F. Morse.

Alexander T. Stewart.

Peter Cooper.

John Jacob Astor.

William H. Vanderbilt.

SUBJECTS FOR NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION.

A New England Thanksgiving.

The Puritan Sabbath.

The Deserted Farm.

The Dangers of Frontier Life.

Natural Resources of the United States.

Social Customs of the Last Century.

A Spanish Bull Fight.

The Falls of Niagara.

The Hudson River.

Mount Washington.

A Western Prairie.

The Cotton Fields of the South.

The Orange Groves of Florida.

“The Father of Waters.”

The Rapid Growth of Western Cities.

A Ranch in the South-West.

The Cowboys of the Plains.

The Great Trees of California.

The Geysers of the Yellowstone Park.

The Instinct in Animals.

Some Recent Invention.

Some Public Institutions.

The Physical Characteristics of your State.

A Country Farm.

Your Home Enjoyments.

Fresh Air and its Uses.

Town and Country Schools.

Some Out Door School Games.

The Beauties of Summer.

The Remarkable Instinct of Birds.

An Arctic Expedition.

A Railway Station.

A Picture Gallery.

Electric Lights.

Winds and Clouds.

The Pastime of Fishing.

The Pastime of Skating.

Agricultural Implements.

Habits of Domestic Animals.

A Flower Garden.

Singing Birds.

Migration of Birds.

The American Eagle.

The Uses of Cats and Dogs.

The Game of Foot Ball.

The Game of Base Ball.

Your Favorite Book.

The County in which your School is Situated.

School Life: its Joys and Difficulties.

Castles in the Air.

The Pleasures of Christmas.

Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Vatican at Rome.

St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Capitol at Washington.

The White House at Washington.

The Suspension Bridge between New York and Brooklyn.

Bunker Hill Monument.

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

An Ocean Steamship.

An American Battleship.

Coal Mines of Pennsylvania.

A Seaside Watering Place.

A Country Picnic.

A Clam Bake by the Sea-shore.

A Sleigh Ride.

A Century Run on Bicycles.

Your Favorite Walk.

The Value of Sunshine.

A Thunder Storm.

A Summer Vacation.

POPULAR PROVERBS.

More Haste, Less Speed.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

What Can’t be Cured must be Endured.

Well Begun is Half Done.

All that Glitters is not Gold.

Evil Communications Corrupt Good Manners.

Honesty is the Best Policy.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

Prevention is Better than Cure.

A Rolling Stone Gathers no Moss.

Make Hay while the Sun Shines.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together.

Knowledge is Power.

Take Care of the Pennies and the Dollars will take Care of Themselves.

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush.

The Longest Way Around is the Shortest Way Home.

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating.

If you would Shoot High you must Aim High.

Marry in Haste and Repent at Leisure.

People who Live in Glass Houses should not Throw Stones.

Be Sure you are Right, then Go Ahead.

It is an Ill Wind that Blows Good to no One.

Every Crow Thinks her own Little Crows the Blackest.

You Cannot Make a Silk Purse out of a Sow’s Ear.

The Least Said, the Soonest Mended.

Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden.

Manners Make the Man.

SUBJECTS TO BE EXPOUNDED.

Benefits of Industry.

Evils of Idleness.

Summer Sports in the Country.

Winter Amusements in Cities.

Shop Windows at Christmas Time.

Habits of Economy.

Advantages of Travel.

Temptations of Riches.

Dangers of Trades Unions.

Benefits of Application.

Advantages of Muscular Exercise.

Physical and Moral Perils of Muscular Exercise.

Effects of Machinery upon Manual Labor.

Pleasures of Literature.

Sources of National Wealth.

Benefits of Self-Control.

Modern Methods of Benevolence.

Responsibilities of Scholars.

Causes of Commercial Decline.

Advantages of a National Bankrupt Law.

Peculiarities of the New England Poets.

The Character of Wilkins Micawber.

Claims of the Indians to Government Protection.

Evils of Immigration.

Characteristics of the English Novel.

Incentives to Literary Exertion.

Reforms Suggested in “Oliver Twist.”

American Tendencies to Extravagance.

Uses of Gold.

Uses of Public Libraries.

Infirmities of Genius.

Excellencies of the Puritan Character.

Miseries of Authorship.

Blessings of Liberty.

Pleasures in Contemplating Nature.

Dangers that Threaten our Republic.

Advantages of Method.

Distinctions in Society.

Rewards of Literary Labor.

Struggles for Civil Freedom.

Advantages of Competition.

Uses of Adversity.

Advantages of Self-Reliance.

Evils of Prejudice.

The Colonial Period of Our History.

Uses of Art.

Self-Made Men.

Dickens’ Caricatures of English Schools.

Irving’s Portraitures of the Dutch Settlers.

Injuries of Stimulants.

Evils of Centralization.

Advantages of Modern Inventions.

Uses of Coal.

Sources of Corruption in Civil Offices.

Elements of Success in Life.

Dangers of the French Republic.

Changes of Fashion.

Social Dangers from Anarchists.

Longfellow’s “Hiawatha.”

Longfellow’s “Evangeline.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes’s Humor.

Character of Eugene Field’s Poetry.

Characteristics of American Humor.

Hardships of the New England Settlers.

Persecution of the Jews.

Causes of Nihilism in Russia.

English Ideas of America.

Methods of Reform in the Civil Service.

Benefits of Mechanical Exhibitions.

Strikes and Arbitrations.

Time: its Use and Abuse.

Employers and Men: their Rights and Relations.

The Study of Modern Languages.

The Study of Ancient Languages.

Industry and Energy.

The Duty of Cleanliness.

Punctuality.

Courage.

Fortitude.

Cruelty to Animals.

The Law of Supply and Demand.

“Right before Might.”

The Telescope and Microscope.

Manhood Suffrage.

“The New Woman.”

Uses and Abuses of Money.

The Cultivation of Music.

Amusements for Young People.

The Great Discoverers of Queen Elizabeth’s Reign.

Pleasures of the Imagination.

Natural History as a Study.

Your Favorite Female Character.

The Cultivation of Memory.

Mental Discipline from the Study of Mathematics.

Knowledge the Best Kind of Wealth.

The Position and Prospects of the United States.

The Influence of Scenery on Character.

Sketch of the Plot of Any One of Shakespeare’s Plays.

How to Best Help the Poor.

Influence of Works of Fiction.

Description of Any One of Sir Walter Scott’s Poems and Novels.

Changes Caused by the Invention of the Typewriter.

The Saloon in Modern Politics.

The Evils of Great Trusts.

Utility of Shorthand.

Great Poets of England.

Dante’s Inferno.

The Alhambra.

The Catacombs of Rome.

The Style of John Bunyan.

The Consolations of Age.

The Dangers Arising from Great Trusts.

The Coast Guard Service.

The Wrongs of Ireland.

Plot of any one of Bret Harte’s Novels.

The Lives of the Poor in Large Cities.

On Making Music a Profession.

The Novel Entitled “Lorna Doone.”

The Duty of Cheerfulness.

Cervantes, the Soldier and the Writer.

Our American Humorists.

Martin Luther’s Moral Courage.

Truth the Standard of Excellence.

The Evils of Prejudice.

The Power of Ridicule.

The Power of Early Impressions.

The Exiles of Siberia.

Politics as a Profession.

SUBJECTS FOR ARGUMENT.

Should a Polygamist be Admitted to Congress?

Should Eight Hours Constitute a Day’s Labor?

Should Political Spoils Belong to the Victors?

Is a National Debt a Benefit?

Is Poverty an Incentive to Crime?

Should the United States Maintain a Large Standing Army?

Should Office Holders be Assessed for Party Expenses?

Is Drunkenness any Excuse for Murder?

Would Harmony in Human Beliefs be Desirable?

Should There be a Uniform Divorce Law in All Our States?

Can a Country be Free Without Free Trade?

Should Church Property be Exempt from Taxation?

Should Capital Punishment be Abolished?

Do Luxuries Become Necessities?

Should a Man Vote Who Cannot Read?

Was Thackeray a Cynic?

Should Public School Money be Given to Religious Sects?

Should Writers Adopt Phonetic Spelling?

Is a Man of Business Benefited by a Classical Education?

Is Literature Indicative of National Progress?

Is Electricity Destined to Become the Greatest Motive Power?

Should the Inventor Monopolize His Invention?

Should Cremation Supersede Burial?

Was the Execution of André Unjust?

Is Crime in Our Country on the Increase?

Does the Press in Our Country have too much Freedom?

SUBJECTS FOR COMPARISON.

Falsehood and Truth.

Practice and Habit.

Wit and Humor.

Extravagance and Thrift.

Confusion and Order.

The Democrats and Whigs.

Natural and Acquired Ability.

The Comparative Value of Iron and Gold.

Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

The Cavalier and the Puritan.

Waterloo and Sedan.

The Stage Coach and the Locomotive.

The Uses and Abuses of Fashion.

Capital and Labor.

Genius and Talent.

Romance and Reality.

“The Pen is Mightier than the Sword.”

Notoriety and Reputation.

Resolution and Action.

Working and Dreaming.

Leo X and Martin Luther.

The Statesmanship of Hamilton and Jefferson.

War and Arbitration.

Helen and Andromache.

“When the Law Ends, Tyranny Begins.”

“Deep Versed in Books, and Shallow in Himself.”

The Victories of Peace and of War.

Hypocrisy and Sincerity.

Solitude and Society.

Affection and Naturalness.

Brusque People and Fawning People.

MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITIONS.

Looking on the Bright Side.

The Character of Busybodies.

Benevolence and Greed.

Character of the Pilgrims.

Painting and Sculpture.

The Head and the Heart.

Party Spirit and Good Government.

The Responsibility of Our Country to Mankind.

The Obligation of Treaties.

Great Men the Glory of their Country.

Ancient and Modern Eloquence.

Conscience and the Will.

The Heroism of the Indian.

Religion and Pleasure.

Spiritual Freedom.

The Present Age.

The Humorousness of Love Matches.

The Influence of Woman.

The Mission of Reformers.

The True Aristocracy.

The Expansion of the Republic.

The Bible and the Iliad.

The Huguenots in Carolina.

Puritan Intolerance.

The Compensations of Calamity.

Stateliness and Courtesy.

Truth and Tenderness.

Loungers in Corner Groceries.

A Defense of Enthusiasm.

The Ancient Mound Builders.

The Power of Words.

The Advantages of Playing Golf.

College Athletics.

The Physique of Americans.

The Influence of Climate on Physical Characteristics.

“Home is Where the Heart is.”

Coral Treasures of the Sea.

Sublimity of the Ocean.

The Beauty of Sea Waves.

The Power of Maternal Love.

The Beauty of Heroic Deeds.

The Ravages of War.

Children and Flowers.

Earning Capital.

The Sacredness of Work.

“The Boy is the Father of the Man.”

The Last Hours of Socrates.

The Discoveries of Astronomy.

Luck and Labor.

The Achievements of Earnestness.

The Ideal Citizen.

Synonyms and Antonyms.

We use words to express ideas and thoughts. The best words are those which best express the thought or idea. All writers are frequently at a loss for the exact word or phrase that will express their meaning the most forcibly, and are compelled to ransack and search their vocabulary in order to get out of the difficulty.

The number of words used by the majority of persons is very small, and they are therefore in constant danger of the fault of repetition. We do not like to hear a speaker use the same word too frequently. To do so detracts seriously from the force and beauty of his address. While there are instances in which a repetition of a word is called for, and to make use of another would weaken the sentence and fail to fully give the meaning of the writer or speaker, it is nevertheless true that constant repetitions are not only a blemish, but a fault that should be corrected.

For the purpose of avoiding too much repetition in writing and speaking it is necessary to have a Dictionary of words of similar meaning. A Synonym is one of two or more words of similar significance which may often be used interchangeably. An Antonym is a word of opposite meaning. In the following list the Synonyms are first given; then follow, in parenthesis, the Antonyms, or words of opposite meaning.

All persons who would acquire an elegant style in literary composition, correspondence or ordinary conversation, will find this comprehensive Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms of great value. Jewels of thought should be set in appropriate language.

In this table the letter a means adjective; v means verb; n means noun or substantive.

ABANDON—forsake, desert, renounce, relinquish. (Keep, cherish.)

ABANDONED—deserted, forsaken, profligate, wicked, reprobate, dissolute, flagitious, corrupt, depraved, vicious. (Respected, esteemed, cherished, virtuous.)

ABASEMENT—degradation, fall, degeneracy, humiliation, abjectness, debasement, servility. (Elevation, promotion, honor.)

ABASH—disconcert, discompose, confound, confuse, shame, bewilder. (Embolden.)

ABBREVIATE—shorten, curtail, contract, abridge, condense, reduce, compress. (Lengthen, extend, enlarge, expand.)

ABDICATE—renounce, resign, relinquish. (Usurp.)

ABET—incite, stimulate, whet, encourage, back up, second, countenance, assist. (Dampen, discourage, dispirit, depress, repress, oppose.)

ABETTOR—instigator, prompter, assistant, coadjutor, accomplice, accessory, particeps criminis. (Extinguisher.)

ABHOR—loathe, abominate, (Love, admire.)

ABILITY—power, skill, gumption, efficiency, mastery, qualification, faculty, expertness. (Incompetence, inefficiency, inability.)

ABJECT—despised, despicable, vile, grovelling, mean, base, worthless, servile. (Supreme, august, commanding, noble.)

ABJURE—forswear, disclaim, unsay, recant, revoke, deny, disown. (Attest, affirm.)

ABLE—competent, qualified, skilled, efficient, capable, clever, adroit, adept, strong, telling, masterly. (Incompetent, weak, unskilful, unqualified.)

ABODE—dwelling, residence, domicile, home, quarters, habitation, lodging, settlement. (Transition, shifting, wandering, pilgrimage, peregrination.)

ABOLISH—efface, extinguish, annihilate, nullify, destroy, undo, quash, annul, cancel, abrogate, quench, suppress, vitiate, revoke. (Introduce, establish, enforce, restore.)

ABOMINABLE—detestable, hateful, odious, execrable. (Choice, excellent, attractive, select.)

ABORTIVE—ineffectual, futile, inoperative, defective, inadequate. (Efficient, productive, complete.)

ABOUT—around, near to, nearly, approximately, contiguous. (Remote from, distant.)

ABSCOND—take oneself off, “vamoose,” disappear, decamp, run away. (Thrust oneself into notice.)

ABSENT—not present, wanting, absentminded, abstracted, inattentive, listless, dreamy, visionary. (Present, collected, composed, vigilant, observant.)

ABSOLUTE—certain, unconditioned, unconditional, unlimited, unrestricted, transcendent, authoritative, paramount, imperative, arbitrary, despotic. (Conditional, limited, hampered, fettered.)

ABSORB—suck up, imbibe, engross, drain away, consume. (Reserve, save, spare, husband, economize, hoard up.)

ABSURD—unreasonable, nonsensical, foolish, vain, impracticable. (Reasonable, prudent, veracious.)

ABUSE, v.—pervert, deprave, traduce, debase, disparage, slander, calumniate, rail at, reproach, depreciate. (Improve, develop, cultivate, promote, bless, magnify, appreciate.)

ABUSE, n.—perversion, ill-usage, depravation, debasement, slander, reproach. (Cultivation, use, promotion, development, appreciation, praise.)

ACCEDE—join, assent, acquiesce in, comply, agree, concur, coincide, approve. (Dissent, object, decline, refuse.)

ACCELERATE—hasten, hurry, speed, expedite, quicken, precipitate, facilitate. (Retard, delay, procrastinate, arrest, stop, impede, suspend.)

ACCEPT—take, receive, assume, acknowledge, endorse. (Refuse, repudiate, protest, disown.)

ACCEPTABLE—pleasant, grateful, welcome. (Repugnant, displeasing.)

ACCIDENT—casualty, contingency, hap, mishap, chance, mischance, misadventure. (Law, order.)

ACCOMMODATE—adjust, adapt, fit, conform, reconcile, suit, oblige, furnish, convenience. (Cross, thwart, counteract, plot against, checkmate, defeat, inconvenience.)

ACCOMPLICE—confederate, ally, associate, accessory, particeps criminis. (Adversary, rival, spy, opponent, enemy.)

ACCOMPLISH—complete, perform, finish, fulfil, execute, perfect, consummate, achieve, effect, carry out. (Fail, miscarry, undo, wreck, frustrate.)

ACCOMPLISHMENT—success, fulfilment, completion, performance, execution, achievement, consummation, attainment. (Failure, miscarriage, wreck, ruin.)

ACCORD—harmonize, agree, allow, grant, concede. (Jar, clash with, deny, disallow.)

ACCOST—address, confront, speak to, greet, salute. (Evade, fight shy of.)

ACCOUNT, v.—compute, estimate, reckon up, take stock of. (Leave unexplained, unsolved.)

ACCOUNT, n.—reckoning, relation, charge, bill. (Riddle, mystery, puzzle, unknown quantity.)

ACCOUNTABLE—answerable, responsible, amenable. (Exempt, free, irresponsible.)

ACCUMULATE—heap up, save, collect. (Scatter, dissipate, diffuse, spend, squander.)

ACCUMULATION—heap, amount, glut. (Dissipation, dissemination, distribution, diminution.)

ACCURATE—definite, precise, correct, exact. (Inaccurate, wrong, erroneous, blundering, careless.)

ACHIEVE—complete, gain, win.

ACHIEVEMENT—feat, exploit, distinguished performance, acquirement. (Abortion, frustration, failure, shortcoming, defect.)

ACKNOWLEDGE—avow, confess, own, recognize, admit, grant, concede. (Repudiate, disclaim, disallow, disown, deny.)

ACQUAINT—make known, apprise, inform, communicate, intimate, notify. (Leave ignorant, keep secret, conceal.)

ACQUAINTANCE—knowledge, familiarity, fellowship, companionship. (Ignorance, stranger.)

ACQUIESCE—yield, concur, agree, assent. (Protest, object, dissent, secede, oppose.)

ACQUIT—set free, release, discharge, clear, absolve, exculpate, exonerate, liberate, deliver. (Accuse, impeach, charge, blame, convict.)

ACT, v.—do, perform, commit, operate, work, practice, behave, personate, play, enact. (Neglect, cease, desist, rest, wait, lie idle, refrain.)

ACTION—working, agency, operation, business, gesture, engagement, fight, deed, battle, feat. (Inaction, repose, rest, idleness, ease, indolence, inertia, passiveness, quiescence, dormancy.)

ACTIVE—energetic, busy, stirring, alive, brisk, operative, lively, agile, nimble, diligent, sprightly, alert, quick, supple, prompt, industrious. (Passive, inert, dead, extinct, dull, torpid, sluggish, indolent, lazy, dormant, quiescent, asleep.)

ACTUAL—real, positive, existing, certain. (False, imaginary, theoretical, illusive, fictitious.)

ACUTE—sharp, pointed, penetrating, piercing, keen, poignant, pungent, intense, violent, shrill, sensitive, sharp-witted, shrewd, discriminating, clever, cunning. (Obtuse, blunt, bluff, dull, flat, callous, stupid, apathetic.)

ADAPT—fit, suit, adjust, conform, regulate. (Misfit, discommode, dislocate.)

ADDICTED—committed to, devoted, prone, given up to, inclined, habituated. (Uncommitted, free, uncompromised, neutral.)

ADDITION—annexation, accession, supplement, adjunct, affix, appendage, accessory, increment, increase, complement, plus, more. (Subtraction, deduction, retrenchment, curtailment, deprivation, minus, less, loss, impoverishment.)

ADDRESS—speech, salutation, accost, appeal; also skill, dexterity, adroitness; also direction, name; also residence. (Response, answer, reply, rejoinder; also awkwardness, maladroitness, clumsiness, slovenliness.)

ADHESION—sticking, adherence, adoption, attachment, espousal. (Repulsion, revulsion, antipathy, aversion, hostility, incompatibility, dislike.)

ADJACENT—next, near, nigh, at hand, alongside, close by, adjoining, contiguous, bordering, neighboring, proximate. (Remote, foreign, distant, aloof, far, apart, asunder.)

ADJOURN—put off, postpone, defer, delay, keep in abeyance, prorogue, suspend, procrastinate, retard, waive, remand, reserve. (Conclude, clinch, accelerate, precipitate.)

ADJUNCT—appendage, affix, annex, annexation, appendix, adhesion, appurtenance. (Curtailment, retrenchment, lop, mutilation, reduction, clipping, docking, filching.)

ADJUST—make exact, set right, fit, adapt, dovetail, arrange, harmonize, settle, regulate. (Confound, confuse, muddle, disorder, perplex, embarrass, entangle, clash, jar, jumble, disarrange, unsettle.)

ADMIRABLE—wonderful, excellent, choice, noble, grand, estimable, lovely, ideal, surpassing, extraordinary, eminent. (Detestable, vile, mean, contemptible, despicable, worthless, wretched, villainous, pitiful.)

ADMIT—allow, permit, suffer, receive, usher, grant, acknowledge, confess, concede, accept. (Deny, refuse, shut out, forbid, disown, disclaim.)

ADVANTAGEOUS—profitable, serviceable, useful, beneficial, helpful, of value. (Disadvantageous, detrimental, prejudicial, injurious, hurtful, harmful, deleterious, obnoxious, pernicious.)

AFFECTION—bent, inclination, partiality, attraction, impulse, love, desire, passion, fascination; also suffering, disease, morbidness. (Repulsion, revulsion, antipathy, dislike, recoil, aversion, estrangement, indifference, coldness, alienation; also wholeness, soundness, healthiness.)

AFFECTIONATE—loving, kind, fond, doting, tender, amiable, cordial, hearty, good-hearted. (Cold, unloving, unkind, heartless, selfish, crabbed, sour, malign, malicious, malevolent, misanthropic, cynical, ill-natured, cruel, hating.)

AGREEABLE—pleasant, acceptable, grateful, refreshing, genial, pleasing, palatable, sweet, charming, delectable. (Disagreeable, displeasing, unpleasant, ungrateful, harsh, repellent, painful, noxious, plaguy, irritating, annoying, mortifying.)

ALTERNATING—reciprocal, correlative, interchangeable, by turns, vice versa. (Monotonous, unchanging, continual.)

AMBASSADOR—messenger, envoy, emissary, legate, nuncio, diplomatist, diplomate, representative, vicegerent, plenipotentiary, minister, agent. (Principal, government, sovereign, power.)

AMEND—improve, correct, better, meliorate, rectify, prune, repair, revise, remedy, reform. (Injure, impair, damage, harm, hurt, mar, mangle, blemish, deteriorate, ruin, spoil.)

ANGER—resentment, animosity, wrath, indignation, pique, umbrage, huff, displeasure, dungeon, irritation, irascibility, choler, ire, hate. (Kindness, benignity, bonhomie, good nature.)

APPROPRIATE—assimilate, assume, possess oneself of, take, grab, clutch, collar, snap up, capture, steal. (Relinquish, give up, surrender, yield, resign, forego, renounce, abandon, discard, dismiss.)

ARGUE—reason, discuss, debate, dispute, contend. (Obscure, darken, mystify, mislead, misrepresent, evade, sophisticate.)

ARISE—rise, ascend, mount, climb, soar, spring, emanate, proceed, issue. (Descend, fall, gravitate, drop, slide, settle, decline, sink, dismount, alight.)

ARTFUL—cunning, crafty, skilful, wily, designing, politic, astute, knowing, tricky. (Artless, naïve, natural, simple, plain, ingenuous, frank, sincere, open, candid, guileless, straightforward, direct.)

ARTIFICE—contrivance, stratagem, trick, design, plot, machination, chicanery, knavery, jugglery, guile, jobbery. (Artlessness, candor, openness, simplicity, innocence, ingenuousness.)

ASSOCIATION—partnership, fellowship, solidarity, league, alliance, combination, coalition, federation, junto, cabal. (Opposition, antagonism, conflict, counteraction, resistance, hinderance, counterplot, detachment, individualism.)

ATTACK—assault, charge, onset, onslaught, incursion, inroad, bombardment, cannonade. (Defence, protection, guard, ward, resistance, stand, repulse, rebuff, retreat.)

AUDACITY—boldness, defiance, prowess, intrepidity, mettle, game, pluck, fortitude, rashness, temerity, presumption, foolhardiness, courage, hardihood. (Cowardice, pusillanimity, timidity, meekness, poltroonery, fear, caution, calculation, discretion, prudence.)

AUSTERE—severe, harsh, rigid, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, inflexible, obdurate, exacting, straight-laced, unrelenting. (Lax, loose, slack, remiss, weak, pliant, lenient, mild, indulgent, easy-going, forbearing, forgiving.)

AVARICIOUS—tight-fisted, griping, churlish, parsimonious, stingy, penurious, miserly, niggardly, close, illiberal, ungenerous, covetous, greedy, rapacious. (Prodigal, thriftless, improvident, extravagant, lavish, dissipated, freehanded.)

AVERSION—antipathy, revulsion, repulsion, dislike, recoil, estrangement, alienation, repugnance, disgust, nausea. (Predilection, fancy, fascination, allurement, attraction, magnet.)

AWE—dread, fear, reverence, prostration, admiration, bewilderment. (Familiarity, indifference, heedlessness, unconcern, contempt, mockery.)

AXIOM—maxim, aphorism, apophthegm, adage, motto, dictum, theorem, truism, proverb, saw. (Absurdity, paradox.)

BABBLE—splash, gurgle, bubble, purl, ripple, prattle, clack, gabble, clash, jabber, twaddle, prate, chatter, blab. (Silence, hush.)

BAD—depraved, defiled, distorted, corrupt, evil, wicked, wrong, sinful, morbid, foul, peccant, noxious, pernicious, diseased, imperfect, tainted, touched. (Good, whole, sound, healthy, beneficial, salutary, prime, perfect, entire, untouched, unblemished, intact, choice, worthy.)

BAFFLE—thwart, checkmate, defeat, disconcert, confound, block, outwit, traverse, contravene, frustrate, balk, foil. (Aid, assist, succor, further, forward, expedite, sustain, second, reinforce.)

BASE—crude, undeveloped, low, villainous, mean, deteriorated, misbegotten, ill-contrived, ill-constituted. (Noble, exalted, lofty, sublime, excellent, elect, choice, aristocratic, exquisite, capital.)

BEAR—carry, hold, sustain, support, suffer, endure, beget, generate, produce, breed, hatch. (Lean, depend, hang, yield, sterile, unproductive.)

BEASTLY—bestial, animal, brutal, sensual, gross, carnal, lewd. (Human, humane, virtuous, moral, ethical, intellectual, thoughtful, spiritual.)

BEAT—strike, smite, thrash, thwack, thump, pummel, drub, leather, baste, belabor, birch, scourge, defeat, surpass, rout, overthrow. (Protect, defend, soothe.)

BEAUTIFUL—fair, complete, symmetrical, handsome. (Ugly, repulsive, foul.)

BECOMING—suiting, accordant, fit, seemly. (Discrepant, improper, in bad form.)

BEG—beseech, crave, entreat. (Offer, proffer.)

BEHAVIOR—carriage, deportment, conduct.

BENEFICENT—bountiful, generous, liberal. (Sordid, mercenary.)

BENEFIT—good, advantage, service. (Loss, detriment, injury.)

BENEVOLENCE—well-wishing, charity. (Malevolence, malice, hate.)

BLAME—censure, reproach. (Approve, honor.)

BLEMISH—flaw, stain, spot, imperfection, defect. (Ornament, decoration, embellishment, adornment, finery, gilding.)

BLIND—dimsighted, ignorant, uninformed. (Sharp-sighted, enlightened.)

BLOT—efface, cancel, expunge, erase. (Record.)

BOLD—brave, daring, fearless, intrepid, courageous. (Cowardly, timid, shy, chicken-hearted.)

BORDER—margin, boundary, frontier, confine, fringe, hem, selvedge, valance. (Inclosure, interior, inside.)

BOUND—circumscribe, limit, restrict, confine, enclose; also leap, jump, hop, spring, vault, skip. (Enlarge, clear, deliver; also plunge, dip, sink.)

BRAVE—dare, defy. (Cave in, show the white feather.)

BREAK—bruise, crush, pound, squeeze, crack, snap, splinter. (Bind, hold together, knit, rivet.)

BREEZE—blow, zephyr. (Stillness, hush, calm.)

BRIGHT—shining, lustrous, radiant. (Dull, dim.)

BRITTLE—frangible, fragile, frail. (Tough.)

BURIAL—interment, sepulture, obsequies. (Exhumation, disinterment.)

BUSINESS—occupation, employment, pursuit, vocation, calling, profession, craft, trade. (Leisure, vacation, play.)

BUSTLE—stir, fuss, ado, flurry. (Quiet, stillness.)

CALAMITY—misfortune, disaster, catastrophe. (Good luck, prosperity.)

CALM—still, motionless, placid, serene, composed. (Stormy, unsettled, restless, agitated, distracted.)

CAPABLE—competent, able, efficient. (Unqualified.)

CAPTIOUS—censorious, cantankerous. (Conciliatory, bland.)

CARE—solicitude, concern. (Negligence, carelessness, nonchalance.)

CARESS—fondle, love, pet. (Spurn, disdain.)

CARNAGE—butchery, gore, massacre, slaughter.

CAUSE—origin, source, ground, reason, motive.

CENSURE—reprehend, chide. (Approve.)

CERTAIN—sure, infallible. (Doubtful, dubious.)

CESSATION—discontinuance, stoppage, rest, halt. (Perseverance, persistence, continuance.)

CHANCE—accident, luck. (Intention, purpose.)

’CHANGE—exchange, bourse, mart, emporium.

CHANGEABLE—mutable, variable, fickle. (Steadfast, firm.)

CHARACTER—constitution, nature, disposition.

CHARM—fascination, enchantment, witchery, attraction. (Nuisance, mortification, bore, plague.)

CHASTITY—purity, virtue. (Concupiscence.)

CHEAP—inexpensive, worthless. (Dear, costly.)

CHEERFUL—blithe, lightsome, brisk, sprightly. (Melancholy, sombre, morose, gloomy, sad.)

CHIEF—sachem, head, ruler. (Vassal, henchman.)

CIRCUMSTANCE—situation, predicament.

CLASS—division, category, department, order, kind, sort, genus, species, variety.

CLEVER—adroit, dexterous, expert, deft, ready, smart. (Awkward, dull, shiftless, clumsy.)

CLOTHED—dressed, arrayed, apparelled. (Disrobed, stripped.)

COARSE—crude, unrefined. (Refined, cultivated.)

COAX—cajole, wheedle, fawn, lure, induce, entice. (Dissuade, indispose, warn, admonish.)

COLD—frigid, chill, inclement. (Hot, glowing.)

COLOR—hue, tint, tinge, tincture, dye, shade, stain. (Pallor, paleness, wanness, blankness, achromatism, discoloration.)

COMBINATION—coalescence, fusion, faction, coalition, league. (Dissolution, rupture, schism.)

COMMAND—empire, rule. (Anarchy, license.)

COMMODITY—goods, effects, merchandise, stock.

COMMON—general, ordinary, mean, base. (Rare, exceptional, unique.)

COMPASSION—pity, commiseration, sympathy. (Cruelty, severity.)

COMPEL—force, coerce, oblige, necessitate, make, constrain. (Let alone, tolerate.)

COMPENSATION—amends, atonement, requital. (Withholding.)

COMPENDIUM—abstract, epitome, digest. (Amplification, expansion.)

COMPLAIN—lament, murmur, regret, repine, deplore. (Rejoice, exult, boast, brag, chuckle.)

COMPLY—consent, yield, acquiesce. (Refuse, deny, decline.)

COMPOUND, a.—composite, complex, blended. (Simple, elementary.)

COMPREHEND—comprise, contain, embrace, include, enclose, grasp. (Exclude, reject, mistake, eliminate, loss.)

CONCEAL—hide, secrete, cover, screen, shroud, veil, disguise. (Publish, report, divulge.)

CONCEIVE—grasp, apprehend, devise, invent. (Ignorant of.)

CONCLUSION—result, finding. (Undetermined.)

CONDEMN—convict, find guilty, sentence, doom. (Acquit.)

CONDUCT, v.—direct, manage, govern. (Follow, obey, submit.)

CONFIRM—corroborate, ratify, endorse, support, uphold. (Weaken, enfeeble, reduce.)

CONFLICT—contend, contest, wrestle, tussle, clash, wrangle. (Harmonize, agree, fraternize, concur.)

CONFUTE—refute, disprove. (Demonstrate.)

CONQUER—defeat, vanquish, overcome. (Fail, be beaten, lose.)

CONSEQUENCE—effect, derivation, result, event, issue. (Cause, origin, source, antecedent.)

CONSIDER—reflect, deliberate. (Forget, ignore.)

CONSISTENT—accordant, concordant, compatible, consonant, congruous, reconcilable, harmonious. (Discordant, discrepant.)

CONSOLE—relieve, soothe, comfort. (Embitter.)

CONSTANCY—continuance, tenacity, stability. (Irresolution, fickleness.)

CONTAMINATE—Pollute, stain, taint, tarnish, blur, smudge, defile. (Cleanse, purify, purge.)

CONTEMN—despise, disdain, scorn. (Esteem, appreciate, admire.)

CONTEMPLATE—survey, scan, observe, intend. (Disregard.)

CONTEMPTIBLE—despicable, paltry, shabby, beggarly, worthless, vile, cheap, trashy. (Estimable.)

CONTEND—fight, wrangle, vie. (Be at peace.)

CONTINUAL—perpetual, endless, ceaseless. (Momentary, transient.)

CONTINUE—remain, persist, endure. (Desist, stay.)

CONTRADICT—deny, gainsay, oppose. (Affirm, assert, declare.)

CORRECT—mend, rectify. (Impair, muddle.)

COST—expense, charge, price, value.

COVETOUSNESS—avarice, cupidity, extortion. (Generosity, liberality.)

COWARDICE—poltroonery, faint-heartedness. (Courage, boldness, intrepidity.)

CRIME—offence, trespass, misdemeanor, felony, transgression. (Innocence, guiltlessness.)

CRIMINAL—culprit, felon, convict. (Paragon.)

CROOKED—twisted, distorted, bent, awry, wry, askew, deformed. (Straight, upright.)

CRUEL—brutal, ferocious, barbarous, blood-thirsty, fiendish. (Kind, benignant, benevolent.)

CULTIVATION—tillage, culture. (Waste.)

CURSORY—fugitive, hurried, perfunctory. (Permanent, thorough.)

CUSTOM—habit, wont, usage, fashion, practice.

DANGER—peril, hazard, jeopardy. (Safety.)

DARK—obscure, sombrous, opaque, unintelligible. (Light, luminous, shining, clear, lucid.)

DEADLY—mortal, fatal, destructive, lethal.

DEAR—costly, precious, high-priced, beloved, darling, pet, favorite. (Cheap, disliked, despised.)

DEATH—decease, demise, dissolution. (Birth, life.)

DECAY, n.—decline, consumption, atrophy. (Development, growth.)

DECEIVE—cheat, defraud, cozen, overreach, gull, dupe, swindle, victimize. (Truthfulness.)

DECEIT, n.—imposition, fraud, deception. (Veracity, honesty.)

DECIDE—determine, resolve, conclude, settle, adjudicate, arbitrate, terminate. (Hesitate, dilly-dally, shuffle.)

DECIPHER—interpret, explain, construe, unravel. (Mistake, confound.)

DECISION—determination, conclusion, firmness. (Wavering, hesitancy.)

DECLAMATION—harangue, oration, recitation, tirade, speech.

DECLARATION—affirmation, assertion. (Denial.)

DECREASE—diminish, lessen, reduce, wane, decline. (Increase, grow, enlarge.)

DEDICATE—consecrate, devote, offer, apportion.

DEED—act, transaction, exploit, document.

DEEM—judge, estimate, consider, esteem, suppose.

DEEP—profound, abtruse, hidden, extraordinarily wise. (Shallow, superficial.)

DEFACE—mar, spoil, injure, disfigure. (Beautify.)

DEFAULT—shortcoming, deficiency, defect, imperfection. (Sufficiency, satisfaction.)

DEFENCE—fortification, bulwark, vindication, justification, apology.

DEFEND—shield, vindicate. (Assault, accuse.)

DEFICIENT—incomplete, lacking. (Entire, perfect, whole.)

DEFILE—soil, smutch, besmear, begrime.

DEFINE—limit, bound. (Enlarge, expand.)

DEFRAY—pay, settle, liquidate, satisfy, clear.

DEGREE—grade, extent, measure, ratio, standard.

DELIBERATE, a.—circumspect, wary, cautious. (Heedless, thoughtless.)

DELICACY—nicety, dainty, tit-bit, taste, refinement, modesty. (Grossness, coarseness, vulgarity, indecorum.)

DELICATE—dainty, refined. (Coarse, beastly.)

DELICIOUS—savory, palatable, luscious, charming, delightful. (Offensive, nasty, odious, shocking, nauseous.)

DELIGHT—gratification, felicity. (Mortification, vexation.)

DELIVER—transfer, consign, utter, liberate, declare. (Keep, retain, restrain, check, bridle.)

DEMONSTRATE—prove, show, manifest. (Mystify, obscure.)

DEPART—quit, vacate, retire, withdraw, remove.

DEPRIVE—strip, bereave, despoil. (Invest, equip.)

DEPUTE—commission, delegate, accredit, entrust.

DERISION—ridicule, scoffing, mockery, raillery, chaff, badinage. (Awe, dread, reverence.)

DERIVATION—origin, source, spring, emanation, etymology.

DESCRIBE—delineate, portray, style, specify, characterize.

DESECRATE—profane, blaspheme, revile. (Consecrate, sanctify.)

DESERVE—merit, be entitled to, earn, justify.

DESIGN, n.—delineation, illustration, sketch, plan, drawing, portraiture, draught, projection, scheme, proposal, outline.

DESIRABLE—eligible, suitable, acceptable. (Unfit, objectionable.)

DESIRE, n.—wish, longing, hankering, appetite.

DESOLATE, a.—lonely, solitary, bereaved, forlorn, forsaken, deserted, bleak, dreary. (Befriended, social, festive.)

DESPERATE—frenzied, frantic, furious. (Calm, composed, moderate.)

DESTINY—fatality, doom, predestination, decree, fate. (Casualty, accident, contingency, chance.)

DESTRUCTIVE—mischievous, disastrous, deleterious. (Creative, beneficial.)

DESUETUDE—disuse, discontinuance. (Use, habit, practice.)

DESULTORY—immethodical, disconnected, rambling, discontinuous, interrupted, fitful, intermittent. (Continuous, consecutive, constant.)

DETAIL, n.—particular, item, count, specialty, individuality.

DETAIL, v.—particularize, enumerate, specify. (Generalize.)

DETER—discourage, dissuade. (Encourage, incite.)

DETRIMENT—damage, loss. (Benefit, improvement, betterment.)

DEVELOP—unfold, expand, increase. (Extirpate.)

DEVOID—wanting, destitute, bereft, denuded, bare, emptied, void. (Provided, supplied, furnished.)

DEVOTED—destined, consecrated, sworn to.

DICTATE—enjoin, order, prescribe, mark out.

DICTATORIAL—authoritative, imperative, overbearing, imperious, arbitrary, domineering.

DIE—expire, perish, depart this life, cease.

DIET—food, victuals, nourishment, aliment, board, sustenance, fare, viands, meal, repast, menu.

DIFFER—vary, diverge, disagree, bicker, nag, split. (Accord, harmonize.)

DIFFERENT—various, diverse, unlike. (Identical.)

DIFFICULT—hard, tough, laborious, arduous, formidable. (Easy, facile, manageable, pliant.)

DIFFUSE—discursive, digressive, diluted. (Condensed, concise, terse.)

DIGNIFY—elevate, exalt, ennoble, honor, advance, promote. (Degrade, disgrace, demean, vulgarize.)

DILATE—widen, extend, enlarge, expand, descant, expatiate. (Contract, narrow, compress, reduce.)

DILATORY—slow, tardy, slow-paced, procrastinating, lagging, dawdling. (Prompt, peremptory, quick, instant.)

DILIGENCE—zeal, ardor, assiduity. (Indolence.)

DIMINISH—lessen, reduce, curtail, retrench, bate, abate, shorten, contract. (Increase, augment, aggrandize, enlarge.)

DISABILITY—incapacity, unfitness. (Power.)

DISCERN—descry, perceive, distinguish, espy, scan, recognize, understand, discriminate. (Ignore.)

DISCIPLINE—order, training, drill, schooling. (Laxity, disorder, confusion, anarchy.)

DISCOVER—detect, find, unveil, reveal, open, expose, publish, disclose. (Cover, conceal, hide.)

DISCREDITABLE—disreputable, reprehensible, blameworthy, shameful, scandalous, flagrant. (Exemplary, laudable, commendable.)

DISCREET—prudent, politic, cautious, wary, guarded, judicious. (Reckless, heedless, rash, unadvised, foolhardy, precipitate.)

DISCREPANCY—disagreement, discordance, incongruity, disparity, unfitness, clash, jar. (Concord, unison, harmony, congruity.)

DISCRIMINATION—distinction, differentiation, discernment, appreciation, acuteness, judgment, tact, nicety. (Confusion.)

DISEASE—illness, sickness, ailment, indisposition, complaint, malady, disorder. (Health, sanity, soundness, robustness.)

DISGRACE, n.—stigma, reproach, brand, dishonor, shame, scandal, odium, infamy. (Honor.)

DISGUST—distaste, loathing, nausea, aversion, revulsion, abhorrence. (Predilection, partiality, inclination, bias.)

DISHONEST—fraudulent, unfair, tricky, unjust. (Straightforward, open, sincere, honest, fair, right, just, impartial.)

DISMAY, v.—alarm, startle, scare, frighten, affright, terrify, astound, appal, daunt. (Assure, cheer.)

DISMAY, n.—terror, dread, fear, fright. (Courage.)

DISMISS—send off, discharge, disband. (Instal, retain, keep.)

DISPEL—scatter, disperse, dissipate, drive off, chase. (Collect, rally, summon, gather.)

DISPLAY, v.—exhibit, show, parade. (Conceal.)

DISPOSE—arrange, place, order, marshal, rank, group, assort, distribute, co-ordinate, collocate. (Derange, embroil, jumble, muddle, huddle.)

DISPUTE, v.—discuss, debate, wrangle, controvert, contend. (Homologate, acquiesce in, assent to.)

DISPUTE, n.—argument, controversy, contention, polemic. (Homologation, acquiescence.)

DISTINCT—separate, detached. (Joined, involved.)

DISTINGUISH—perceive, separate. (Confound.)

DISTINGUISHED—famous, noted, marked, eminent, celebrated, illustrious. (Obscure, mean.)

DISTRACT—divert, disconcert, perplex, bewilder, fluster, dazzle. (Observe, study, note, mark.)

DISTRIBUTE—disperse, disseminate, dispense, retail, apportion, consign, dole out. (Accumulate.)

DISTURB—derange, displace, unsettle, trouble, vex, worry, annoy. (Compose, pacify, quiet, soothe.)

DIVIDE—disjoin, part, separate, sunder, sever, cleave, split, rend, partition, distribute. (Constitute, unite.)

DIVINE, a.—God-like, holy, heavenly. (Devilish.)

DIVINE, n.—clergyman, churchman, priest, pastor, shepherd, parson, minister. (Layman.)

DO—effect, make, accomplish, transact, act.

DOCILE—teachable, willing. (Refractory, stubborn, obstinate.)

DOCTRINE—teaching, lore, tenet, dogma, articles of faith, creed. (Ignorance, superstition.)

DOLEFUL—woeful, dismal. (Joyous, merry.)

DOOM, n.—sentence, fate, lot, destiny, decree.

DOUBT—uncertainty, skepticism, hesitation. (Certainty, faith.)

DRAW—pull, attract, inhale, sketch, delineate.

DREAD, n.—fear, horror, alarm, terror, dismay, apprehension. (Confidence, fearlessness.)

DREADFUL—fearful, alarming, formidable, portentous, direful, terrible, horrid, awful. (Mild, winsome, gentle.)

DRESS, n.—clothing, raiment, attire, apparel, clothes, trousseau. (Nudity, nakedness.)

DRIFT—tendency, direction, course, bearing, tenor.

DROLL—funny, laughable, grotesque, farcical, odd. (Dull, serious, solemn, grave.)

DRY, a.—arid, parched, bald, flat, dull. (Aqueous, green, fresh, juicy, interesting.)

DUE—owing, indebted, just, fair, proper.

DULL—heavy, sad, commonplace, gloomy, stupid. (Bright, gay, brilliant.)

DUNCE—blockhead, ignoramus, simpleton, donkey, ninny, dolt, booby, goose, dullard, numskull, dunderpate, clodhopper. (Sage, genius, man of talent, wit.)

DURABLE—abiding, lasting. (Evanescent.)

DWELL—stay, abide, sojourn, remain, tarry, stop. (Shift, wander, remove, tramp.)

DWINDLE—pine, waste, shrink, shrivel, diminish.

EAGER—keen, desirous, craving, ardent, impatient, intent, impetuous. (Loth, reluctant.)

EARN—gain, win, acquire. (Lose, miss, forfeit.)

EARNEST, a.—serious, resolved. (Trifling, giddy, irresolute, fickle.)

EARNEST, n.—pledge, gage, deposit, caution.

EASE, n.—content, rest, satisfaction, comfort, repose. (Worry, bother, friction, agitation, turmoil.)

EASE, v.—calm, console, appease, assuage, allay, mitigate. (Worry, fret, alarm, gall, harass.)

EASY—light, comfortable, unconstrained. (Hard, difficult, embarrassed, constrained.)

ECCENTRIC—wandering, irregular, peculiar, odd, unwonted, extraordinary, queer, nondescript. (Orderly, customary.)

ECONOMICAL—frugal, thrifty, provident. (Squandering, wasteful.)

EDGE—verge, brink, brim, rim, skirt, hem.

EFFECT, v.—produce, bring about, execute.

EFFECTIVE—efficient, operative, powerful, efficacious, competent. (Impotent, incapable, incompetent, inefficient.)

EFFICACY—efficiency, virtue, competence, agency, instrumentality.

ELIMINATE—expel, weed, thin, decimate, exclude, bar, reject, repudiate, winnow, eject, cast out. (Include, comprehend, incorporate, embrace.)

ELOQUENCE—oratory, rhetoric, declamation, facundity, grandiloquence, fluency. (Mumbling, stammering.)

ELUCIDATE—clear up, unfold, simplify, explain, decipher, unravel, disentangle. (Darken, obscure.)

ELUDE—escape, avoid, shun, slip, disappear, shirk.

EMBARRASS—perplex, entangle, involve, impede. (Relieve, unravel.)

EMBELLISH—adorn, decorate, beautify. (Tarnish, disfigure.)

EMBOLDEN—animate, encourage, cheer, instigate, impel, urge, stimulate. (Discourage, dispirit, dampen, depress.)

EMINENT—exalted, lofty, prominent, renowned, distinguished, famous, glorious, illustrious. (Base, obscure, low, unknown.)

EMIT—send out, despatch, spirt, publish, promulgate, edit. (Reserve, conceal, hide.)

EMOTION—feeling, sensation, pathos, nerve, ardor, agitation, excitement. (Apathy, frigidity, phlegm, nonchalance.)

EMPLOY—occupy, engage, utilize, exercise, turn to account, exploit, make use of.

ENCOMPASS—encircle, surround, gird, beset.

ENCOUNTER, v.—meet, run against, clash.

ENCOUNTER, n.—attack, conflict, assault, onset, engagement.

END, n.—object, aim, result, purpose, conclusion, upshot, termination. (Beginning, motive.)

ENDEAVOR, v.—attempt, try, essay, strive.

ENDURANCE—stay, stability, stamina, fortitude.

ENDURE—sustain, bear, brook, undergo.

ENEMY—foe, antagonist, adversary, opponent. (Friend, ally.)

ENERGETIC—active, vigorous, sinewy, nervous, forcible. (Lazy, languid, inert, flabby, flaccid, slack, effete.)

ENGAGE—occupy, busy, entice, captivate.

ENGROSS—monopolize, absorb, take up.

ENGULF—swallow up, drown, submerge, bury.

ENJOIN—order, command, decree, ordain, direct, appoint, prescribe, bind, impose, stipulate.

ENJOYMENT—pleasure, relish, zest. (Privation, grief, misery.)

ENLARGE—expand, widen, augment, broaden, increase, extend. (Diminish, narrow, straighten.)

ENLIGHTEN—illumine, instruct. (Darken, befog, mystify.)

ENLIVEN—cheer, animate, exhilarate, brighten, incite, inspire. (Sadden, deaden, mortify.)

ENMITY—hostility, hatred, antipathy, aversion, detestation. (Love, fondness, predilection.)

ENORMOUS—huge, immense, vast, stupendous, monstrous, gigantic, colossal, elephantine. (Tiny, little, minute, puny, petty, diminutive, infinitesimal, dwarfish.)

ENOUGH—sufficient, adequate. (Short, scrimp, insufficient.)

ENRAGED—infuriated, wrathful, wroth, rabid, mad, raging. (Pacified, calmed, lulled, assuaged.)

ENRAPTURE—captivate, fascinate, enchant, bewitch, ravish, transport, entrance. (Irritate, gall, shock, repel.)

ENROLL—enlist, register, enter, record.

ENTERPRISE—undertaking, endeavor, adventure, pursuit.

ENTHUSIASM—ardor, zeal, glow, unction, fervor. (Coolness, indifference, apathy, nonchalance.)

ENTHUSIAST—visionary, fanatic, devotee, zealot.

EQUAL—even, level, co-ordinate, balanced, alike, equable, equitable. (Unequal, disproportionate.)

ERADICATE—root out, extirpate. (Cherish.)

ERRONEOUS—fallacious, inaccurate, incorrect, untrue, false, inexact. (Accurate, just, right.)

ERROR—mistake, blunder, slip, delusion, fallacy, deception. (Truth, fact, verity, gospel, veracity.)

ESPECIALLY—chiefly, particularly, peculiarly.

ESSAY—endeavor, experiment, trial, attempt, venture, dissertation, treatise, disquisition, tract.

ESTABLISH—settle, fix, set, plant, pitch, lay down, confirm, authenticate, substantiate, verify.

ESTEEM, n.—value, appreciation, honor, regard. (Contempt, depreciation, disparagement.)

ESTIMATE, v.—value, assess, rate, appraise, gauge.

ETERNAL—everlasting, perpetual, endless, immortal, infinite. (Finite, transitory, temporary.)

EVADE—avoid, shun, elude, dodge, parry.

EVEN—plain, flat, level, smooth. (Uneven, rough, indented, protuberant.)

EVENT—occurrence, incident, affair, transaction, contingency.

EVIL—ill, harm, mischief, disaster, bane, calamity, catastrophe. (Good, benefit, advantage, boon.)

EXACT, a.—precise, literal, particular, correct.

EXAMINATION—investigation, inquiry, search, research, scrutiny, exploration, test, sitting, trial.

EXCEED—excel, outdo, transcend, surpass.

EXCEPTIONAL—uncommon, unusual, rare, extraordinary. (General, ordinary, regular, normal.)

EXCITE—urge, rouse, stir, awaken. (Assuage, calm, still, tranquilize.)

EXCURSION—tour, trip, expedition, ramble.

EXEMPT—free, absolved, cleared, discharged. (Implicated, included, bound, obliged.)

EXERCISE, n.—operation, practice, office, action, performance. (Stagnation, rest, stoppage.)

EXHAUSTIVE—complete, thorough, out-and-out.

EXIGENCY—predicament, emergency, crisis, push, pass, turning point, conjecture.

EXPRESS, v.—utter, tell, declare, signify.

EXTRAVAGANT—excessive, prodigal, profuse, wasteful, lavish, thriftless. (Penurious, stingy.)

FABLE—parable, tale, myth, romance. (Truth, fact, history, event, deed.)

FACE—aspect, visage, countenance.

FACETIOUS—pleasant, jocular. (Serious.)

FACTOR—manager, agent, officer.

FAIL—fall short, be deficient. (Accomplish.)

FAINT—feeble, languid. (Forcible.)

FAIR—clear. (Stormy.)

FAIR—equitable, honest, reasonable. (Unfair.)

FAITH—creed. (Unbelief, infidelity.)

FAITHFUL—true, loyal, constant. (Faithless.)

FAITHLESS—perfidious, treacherous. (Faithful.)

FALL—drop, droop, sink, tumble. (Rise.)

FAME—renown, reputation.

FAMOUS—celebrated, renowned. (Obscure.)

FANCIFUL—capricious, fantastical, whimsical.

FANCY—imagination.

FAST—rapid, quick, fleet, expeditious. (Slow.)

FATIGUE—weariness, lassitude. (Vigor.)

FEAR—timidity, timorousness. (Bravery.)

FEELING—sensation, sense.

FEELING—sensibility. (Insensibility.)

FEROCIOUS—fierce, savage, wild. (Mild.)

FERTILE—fruitful, prolific, plenteous. (Sterile.)

FICTION—falsehood, fabrication. (Fact.)

FIGURE—allegory, emblem, metaphor, symbol, picture, type.

FIND—descry, discover, espy. (Lose, overlook.)

FINE, a.—delicate, nice. (Coarse.)

FINE, n.—forfeit, forfeiture, mulct, penalty.

FIRE—glow, heat, warmth.

FIRM—constant, solid, steadfast, fixed. (Weak.)

FIRST—foremost, chief, earliest. (Last.)

FIT—accommodate, adapt, adjust, suit.

FIX—determine, establish, settle, limit.

FLAME—blaze, flare, flash, glare.

FLAT—level, even.

FLEXIBLE—pliant, pliable, ductile. (Inflexible.)

FLOURISH—prosper, thrive. (Decay.)

FLUCTUATING—wavering, hesitating, oscillating, vacillating, change. (Firm, steadfast, decided.)

FLUENT—flowing, glib, voluble, unembarrassed, ready. (Hesitating.)

FOLKS—persons, people, individuals.

FOLLOW—succeed, ensue, imitate, copy, pursue.

FOLLOWER—partisan, disciple, adherent, retainer, pursuer, successor.

FOLLY—silliness, foolishness, imbecility, weakness. (Wisdom.)

FOND—enamored, attached, affectionate. (Distant.)

FONDNESS—affection, attachment, kindness, love. (Aversion.)

FOOLHARDY—venturesome, incautious, hasty, adventurous, rash. (Cautious.)

FOOLISH—simple, silly, irrational, brainless, imbecile, crazy, absurd, preposterous, ridiculous, nonsensical. (Wise, discreet.)

FOP—dandy, dude, beau, coxcomb, puppy, jackanapes. (Gentleman.)

FORBEAR—abstain, refrain, withhold.

FORCE, n.—strength, vigor, dint, might, energy, power, violence, army, host.

FORCE, v.—compel. (Persuade.)

FORECAST—forethought, foresight, premeditation, prognostication.

FOREGO—quit, relinquish, let go, waive.

FOREGOING—antecedent, anterior, preceding, previous, prior, former.

FORERUNNER—herald, harbinger, precursor.

FORESIGHT—forethought, forecast, premeditation.

FORGE—coin, invent, frame, feign, fabricate.

FORGIVE—pardon, remit, absolve, acquit, excuse.

FORLORN—forsaken, abandoned, deserted, desolate, lone, lonesome.

FORM, n.—ceremony, solemnity, observance, rite, figure, shape, conformation, fashion, appearance, representation, semblance.

FORM, v.—make, create, produce, constitute, arrange, fashion, mould, shape.

FORMAL—ceremonious, precise, exact, stiff, methodical, affected. (Informal, natural.)

FORMER—antecedent, anterior, previous, prior, preceding, foregoing.

FORSAKEN—abandoned, forlorn, deserted, desolate, lone, lonesome.

FORTHWITH—immediately, directly, instantly, instantaneously. (Anon.)

FORTITUDE—endurance, resolution, fearlessness, dauntlessness. (Weakness.)

FORTUNATE—lucky, happy, auspicious, successful, prosperous. (Unfortunate.)

FORTUNE—chance, fate, luck, doom, possession, destiny, property, riches.

FOSTER—cherish, nurse, tend, harbor. (Neglect.)

FOUL—impure, nasty, filthy, dirty, unclean, defiled. (Pure, clean.)

FRACTIOUS—cross, captious, petulant, splenetic, touchy, testy, peevish, fretful. (Tractable.)

FRAGILE—brittle, frail, delicate, feeble. (Strong.)

FRAGMENTS—pieces, scraps, leavings, remnants, chips, remains.

FRAILTY—weakness, failing, foible, imperfection, fault, blemish. (Strength.)

FRAME, v.—construct, invent, coin, fabricate, feign, forge, mold, make, compose.

FRANCHISE—right, exemption, immunity, privilege, freedom, suffrage.

FRANK—artless, candid, sincere, free, easy, open, familiar, ingenious, plain. (Tricky, insincere.)

FRANTIC—distracted, furious, raving, frenzied, mad. (Quiet, subdued.)

FRAUD—deceit, deception, duplicity, guile, cheat, imposition. (Honesty.)

FREAK—fancy, humor, vagary, whim, caprice, crochet. (Purpose, resolution.)

FREE, a.—liberal, generous, bountiful, bounteous, munificent, frank, artless, candid, familiar, open, independent, unconfined, unreserved, unrestricted, exempt, clear, loose, easy, careless. (Slavish, stingy, artful, costly.)

FREE, v.—release, set free, deliver, rescue, liberate, enfranchise, affranchise, emancipate, exempt. (Enslave, bind.)

FREEDOM—liberty, independence, unrestraint, familiarity, franchise, exemption. (Slavery.)

FREQUENT—often, common, general. (Rare.)

FRET—gall, chafe, agitate, irritate, vex.

FRIENDLY—amicable, social, sociable. (Distant, reserved, cool.)

FRIGHTFUL—fearful, dreadful, dire, direful, awful, terrific, horrible, horrid.

FRIVOLOUS—trifling, trivial, petty. (Serious.)

FRUGAL—provident, economical, saving. (Wasteful, extravagant.)

FRUITFUL—fertile, prolific, productive, abundant, plentiful, plenteous. (Barren, sterile.)

FRUITLESS—vain, useless, idle, bootless, unavailing, without avail.

FRUSTRATE—defeat, foil, balk, disappoint.

FULFILL—accomplish, effect, complete.

FULLY—completely, abundantly, perfectly.

FULSOME—coarse, gross, sickening, offensive, rank. (Moderate.)

FURIOUS—violent, boisterous, vehement, dashing, sweeping, rolling, impetuous, frantic, distracted, stormy, angry, raging, fierce. (Calm.)

FUTILE—trifling, trivial, frivolous. (Effective.)

GAIN, n.—profit, emolument, advantage, benefit, winnings, earnings. (Loss.)

GAIN, v.—get, acquire, obtain, attain, procure, earn, win, achieve, reap, realize, reach. (Lose.)

GALLANT—brave, bold, courageous, gay, showy, fine, intrepid, fearless, heroic.

GALLING—chafing, irritating. (Soothing.)

GAME—play, pastime, diversion, amusement.

GANG—band, horde, company, troop, crew.

GAP—breach, chasm, hollow, cavity, cleft, crevice, rift, chink.

GARNISH—embellish, adorn, beautify, decorate.

GATHER—pick, cull, assemble, muster, infer, collect. (Scatter.)

GAUDY—showy, flashy, tawdry, gay, glittering, bespangled. (Sombre.)

GAUNT—emaciated, scraggy, skinny, meagre, lank, attenuated, spare, lean, thin. (Well-fed.)

GAY—cheerful, merry, lively, jolly, sprightly, blithe. (Solemn.)

GENERATE—form, make, beget, produce.

GENERATION—formation, race, breed, stock, kind, age, era.

GENEROUS—beneficent, noble, honorable, bountiful, liberal, free. (Niggardly.)

GENIAL—cordial, hearty, festive. (Distant, cold.)

GENIUS—intellect, invention, talent, taste, nature, character, adept.

GENTEEL—refined, polished, fashionable, polite, well-bred. (Boorish.)

GENTLE—placid, mild, bland, meek, tame, docile. (Rough, uncouth.)

GENUINE—real, true, unaffected. (False.)

GESTURE—attitude, action, posture.

GET—obtain, earn, gain, attain, procure, achieve.

GHASTLY—pallid, wan, hideous, grim, shocking.

GHOST—spectre, sprite, apparition, phantom.

GIBE—scoff, sneer, flout, jeer, mock, taunt, deride.

GIDDY—unsteady, thoughtless. (Steady.)

GIFT—donation, benefaction, grant, alms, gratuity, boon, present, faculty, talent. (Purchase.)

GIGANTIC—colossal, huge, enormous, prodigious, vast, immense. (Diminutive.)

GIVE—grant, bestow, confer, yield, impart.

GLAD—pleased, cheerful, joyful, gladsome, cheering, gratified. (Sad.)

GLEAM—glimmer, glance, glitter, shine, flash.

GLEE—gayety, merriment, mirth, joviality, joy, hilarity. (Sorrow.)

GLIDE—slip, slide, run, roll on.

GLIMMER, v.—gleam, flicker, glitter.

GLIMPSE—glance, look, glint.

GLITTER—gleam, shine, glisten, glister, radiate.

GLOOM—cloud, darkness, dimness, blackness, dullness, sadness. (Light, brightness, joy.)

GLOOMY—lowering, lurid, dim, dusky, sad, glum. (Bright, clear.)

GLORIFY—magnify, celebrate, adore, exalt.

GLORIOUS—famous, renowned, distinguished, exalted, noble. (Infamous.)

GLORY—honor, fame, renown, splendor, grandeur. (Infamy.)

GLUT—gorge, stuff, cram, cloy, satiate, block up.

GO—depart, proceed, move, budge, stir.

GOD—Creator, Lord, Almighty, Jehovah, Omnipotence, Providence.

GODLY—righteous, devout, holy, pious, religious.

GOOD—benefit, weal, advantage, profit. (Evil.)

GOOD, a.—virtuous, righteous, upright, just, true. (Wicked, bad.)

GORGE—glut, fill, cram, stuff, satiate.

GORGEOUS—superb, grand, magnificent, splendid. (Plain, simple.)

GOVERN—rule, direct, manage, command.

GOVERNMENT—rule, state, control, sway.

GRACEFUL—becoming, comely, elegant, beautiful. (Awkward.)

GRACIOUS—merciful, kindly, beneficent.

GRADUAL—slow, progressive. (Sudden.)

GRAND—majestic, stately, dignified, lofty, elevated, exalted, splendid, gorgeous, superb, magnificent, sublime, pompous. (Shabby.)

GRANT—bestow, impart, give, yield, cede, allow, confer, invest.

GRANT—gift, boon, donation.

GRAPHIC—forcible, telling, picturesque, pictorial.

GRASP—catch, seize, gripe, clasp, grapple.

GRATEFUL—agreeable, pleasing, welcome, thankful. (Harsh.)

GRATIFICATION—enjoyment, pleasure, delight, reward. (Disappointment.)

GRAVE, a.—serious, sedate, solemn, sober, pressing, heavy. (Giddy.)

GRAVE, n.—tomb, sepulchre, vault.

GREAT—big, huge, large, majestic, vast, grand, noble, august. (Small.)

GREEDINESS—avidity, eagerness. (Generosity.)

GRIEF—affliction, sorrow, trial, tribulation. (Joy.)

GRIEVE—mourn, lament, sorrow, pain, wound, hurt, bewail. (Rejoice.)

GRIEVOUS—painful, afflicting, heavy, unhappy.