Plain English Part 82

5. Liberty _for_ me _and_ slavery _for_ you means slavery _for_ both.

6. The greatest thing _in_ the world _is for_ a man to know _that_ he _is_ his own.

7. Nothing can work me damage _except_ myself.

8. He _that_ loveth maketh his own the grandeur _which_ he loves.

9. My life _is_ not an apology, _but_ a life.

10. I cannot consent to pay _for_ a privilege _where_ I have intrinsic right.

11. It _is_ difficult to free fools _from_ the chains _which_ they revere.

12. Desire nothing _for_ yourself _which_ you do not desire _for others_.

13. All our liberties _are_ due _to_ men _who_, _when_ their conscience compelled them, have broken the laws _of_ the land.

14. "It takes great strength to live _where_ you belong, _When_ other people think _that_ you _are_ wrong."

15. _If_ the truth shall make you free, ye _shall be_ free indeed.

16. He _is_ true _to_ G.o.d _who is_ true _to_ man.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences underscore all the connectives--copulative verbs, prepositions, relative p.r.o.nouns, co-ordinate and subordinate conjunctions.

"There was a bird's egg once, picked up by chance upon the ground, and those who found it bore it home and placed it under a barn-yard fowl.

And in time the chick bred out, and those who had found it chained it by the leg to a log lest it should stray and be lost. And by and by they gathered round it, and speculated as to what the bird might be.

One said, "It is surely a waterfowl, a duck, or it may be a goose; if we took it to the water it would swim and gabble." But another said, "It has no webs to its feet; it is a barn-yard fowl; if you should let it loose it will scratch and cackle with the others on the dungheap." But a third speculated, "Look now at its curved beak; no doubt it is a parrot, and can crack nuts."

But a fourth said, "No, but look at its wings; perhaps it is a bird of great flight." But several cried, "Nonsense! No one has ever seen it fly! Why should it fly? Can you suppose that a thing can do a thing which no one has ever seen it do?" And the bird, with its leg chained close to the log, preened its wings.

So they say about it, speculating and discussing it: and one said this, and another that.

And all the while, as they talked, the bird sat motionless, "Suppose we let the creature loose to see what it will do?"--and the bird s.h.i.+vered.

But the others cried, "It is too valuable; it might get lost. If it were to try to fly it might fall down and break its neck." And the bird, with its foot chained to the log, sat looking upward into the clear sky; the sky, in which it had never been--for the bird--the bird, knew what it would do--because it was an eaglet!"

--_Olive Schreiner_.

Exercise 5

These stirring lines are taken from Arturo Giovannitti's "Arrows in the Gale" and are a part of the poem "The Sermon on the Common." Note the use of the conjunctions. Mark all of the clauses.

Ye are the power of the earth, the foundations of society, the thinkers and the doers of all things good and all things fair and useful, the makers and dispensers of all the bounties and the joys and the happiness of the world, and if ye fold your mighty arms, all the life of the world stands still and death hovers on the darkened abodes of man.

Ye are the light of the world. There was darkness in all the ages when the torch of your will did not blaze forth, and the past and the future are full of the radiance that cometh from your eyes.

Ye are eternal, even as your father, labor, is eternal, and no power of time and dissolution can prevail against you.

Ages have come and gone, kingdoms and powers and dynasties have risen and fallen, old glories and ancient wisdoms have been turned into dust, heroes and sages have been forgotten and many a mighty and fearsome G.o.d has been hurled into the lightless chasms of oblivion.

But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and abide forever.

Therefore I say unto you, banish fear from your hearts, dispel the mists of ignorance from your minds, arm your yearning with your strength, your vision with your will, and open your eyes and behold.

Do not moan, do not submit, do not kneel, do not pray, do not wait.

Think, dare, do, rebel, fight--ARISE!

It is not true that ye are condemned to serve and to suffer in shame forever.

It is not true that injustice, iniquity, hunger, misery, abjection, depravity, hatred, theft, murder and fratricide are eternal.

There is no destiny that the will of man cannot break.

There are no chains of iron that other iron cannot destroy.

There is nothing that the power of your arms, lighted by the power of your mind, cannot transform and reconstruct and remake.

Arise, then, ye men of the plow and the hammer, the helm and the lever, and send forth to the four winds of the earth your new proclamation of freedom which shall be the last and shall abide forevermore.

Through you, through your united, almighty strength, order shall become equity, law shall become liberty, duty shall become love and religion shall become truth.

Through you, the man-beast shall die and the man be born.

Through you, the dark and b.l.o.o.d.y chronicles of the brute shall cease and the story of man shall begin.

Through you, by the power of your brain and hand,

All the predictions of the prophets,

All the wisdom of the sages,

All the dreams of the poets,

All the hopes of the heroes,

All the visions of the martyrs,

All the prayers of the saints,

All the crushed, tortured, strangled, maimed and murdered ideals of the ages, and all the glorious destinies of mankind shall become a triumphant and everlasting reality in the name of labor and bread and love, the great threefold truth forever.

And lo and behold, my brothers, this shall be called the revolution.

SPELLING

LESSON 22

In our study of the spelling of English words we have found that there are not many rules that apply. In fact, the only way to learn to spell correctly is by sheer dint of memory.

In last week's lesson we found that a number of adjectives can be formed from nouns or verbs by the addition of _able_ or _ible_, but we find it difficult to determine whether to add _able_ or _ible_. The sound is practically the same and we are confused as to whether we should use _a_ or _i_. There is no rule which applies in this case and there is nothing to do but to master the spelling of these words by memory. These are words which we use a great deal and which are very helpful members of our working vocabulary.