Practical English Composition Part 21

VI. Model III

Theodor Mommsen's "Law of National Expansion," in view of the present war, is interesting. In his _History of Rome_, which was published in 1857, he says in substance that a young nation which has both vigor and culture is sure to absorb older nations whose vigor is waning and younger nations whose civilization is undeveloped, just as an educated young man is sure to supplant an old man in his dotage and to get the better of a muscular ignoramus. That nations, as well as individuals, should do this is, in Mommsen's opinion, not only inevitable but right.

In ancient times the Romans were the only people in whom were combined a superior political organization and a superior civilization. The result was that they subdued the Greek states of the East, which were ripe for destruction, and dispossessed the people of lower grades of culture in the West. The union of Italy was accomplished through the overthrow of the Samnite and Etruscan civilizations. The Roman Empire was built upon the ruins of countless secondary nationalities which had long before been marked out for destruction by the levelling hand of civilization. When Latium became too narrow for the Romans, they cured their political ills by conquering the rest of Italy. When Italy became too narrow, Caesar crossed the Alps.

So far Mommsen. The conclusions drawn from his "law" by some of his successors are ingenious. They amount to this: As Rome grew in power and culture, so Brandenburg, since the days of the Great Elector, has been expanding in spirit and in territory.

That ill.u.s.trious prince began by absorbing Prussia. Frederick the Great added Silesia and a slice of Poland. Wilhelm I obtained Schleswig, Holstein, Alsace, and Lorraine by war, and Saxony and Bavaria by benevolent a.s.similation. The present Kaiser has already acquired Belgium by the former and Austria by the latter process. Like the Rome of Caesar, the German Empire is now at war on the one hand with decadent civilizations and on the other with a horde of barbarians. What Greece and Carthage were to Rome, France and England are to Germany, while Russia is the modern counterpart of the Gauls, Britons, and Germans of the _Commentaries_. Such at least is what certain writers think the Germans think.

VII. Notes and Exercises

1. Note the framework: (Par. 1) Mommsen's Law; (Par. 2) Ill.u.s.tration 1--Rome; (Par. 3) Ill.u.s.tration 2--Germany.

2. Topics for short speeches: Theodor Mommsen; The Rise of the Roman Empire; The Greeks; The People of the West; The Samnites and Etruscans; Brandenburg; The Great Elector; Prussia; Frederick the Great; Silesia; Poland; Schleswig and Holstein; Alsace and Lorraine; Saxony and Bavaria; Carthage; Julius Caesar and his _Commentaries_.

3. Add to the model paragraphs on the expansion of Spain, France, Russia, England, and the United States, or on any one of them.

VIII. Suggested Reading

Caesar's _Commentaries on the Gallic War_. Macaulay's _Frederick the Great_. Southey's _Life of Nelson_. Parkman's _The Conspiracy of Pontiac_. Parkman's _Montcalm and Wolfe_. Fiske's _The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War_.

IX. Memorize

HUMANITY

I would not enter on my list of friends, Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility, the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path; But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will tread aside and let the reptile live.

The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes, A visitor unwelcome, into scenes Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, The chamber, or refectory, may die; A necessary act incurs no blame.

Not so when, held within their proper bounds, And guiltless of offence, they range the air, Or take their pastime in the s.p.a.cious field.

There they are privileged; and he that hunts Or harms them there is guilty of a wrong.

The sum is this: If man's convenience, health, Or safety interfere, his rights and claims Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs.

Else they are all--the meanest things that are-- As free to live and to enjoy that life, As G.o.d was free to form them at the first, Who, in his sovereign wisdom, made them all.

Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons To love it too.

WILLIAM COWPER.

CHAPTER XVI

EDITORIALS--CONSTRUCTIVE

"Opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making."

JOHN MILTON.

I. Introduction

An editorial is a newspaper article in which the opinions of the editor are set forth. News deals with fact. In news articles the opinion of the writer must be suppressed. The p.r.o.nouns "I" and "we" have no place in news. The essence of the editorial, on the other hand, is the opinion of the writer. On the editorial page, the man who directs the policy of a paper seeks to interpret the news in accordance with his own views and to persuade the public to adopt those views.

Editorials are therefore for the most part argumentative. In them the writer either comments directly on some news item and thus produces what may be called a constructive editorial, or takes issue with the editorial opinion of a rival in a controversial editorial, his object being to destroy the sentiment produced by his rival's article.

The power of the editorial writer for good or for evil is clear. That it is usually exerted for good is one of the best evidences that the newspapers of the country are controlled by men who desire to serve the public well.

II. a.s.signments

1. Write an editorial calling attention to some feature of current news.

2. Write an editorial advocating some plan or reform for the good of city, state, nation, or mankind.

III. Model I

We made the point some months ago that our electric light companies have been far behind those of Europe in making it possible for poor people to get their service. It is interesting to note that the Indiana and Michigan Electric Company, which operates in South Bend, Ind. (plows, wagons, sewing-machines), has started a campaign to do just this thing. About a third of the inhabitants of South Bend are laborers from Poland, Austria, and the Balkan countries, whose wages average about $1.50 or $1.75 per day. The electric company has figured out plans whereby houses can be wired at a cost of from $9 to $15 each, and lighting service can be given for a minimum of $1 per month.

A Polish sales agent has been hired to talk to the newcomers, write advertis.e.m.e.nts for their papers, and attend to their complaints--in short, to translate electricity into Slovak, etc.

The men engaged in the work are confident of success and are going after it. The effect in giving these people better ways and standards of living, in getting them a share in our modern American civilization, and a feeling that they are so sharing will necessarily be very great. This is solid public service, and it is far better than any charity. What is being done on this problem in your town?--_Collier's Weekly_, November 28, 1914.[10]

[10] Reprinted by permission of _Collier's Weekly_.

IV. Comments and Exercises

1. This is a constructive editorial with just a hint of argument.

Find the argument.

2. Note the framework of the paragraph: (Sentence 1) Topic; (Sentence 2--Sentence 6) Story; (Sentence 7) Conclusion.

3. Find the "Four W's."

4. Remember that the perfect tense denotes an act begun in the past and completed in the present. Does its use sufficiently tell when a thing is or was done?

5. Write a similar editorial commenting on some improvement in your own town.

V. Model II

Were we suddenly called upon to face a crisis such as Europe was called upon to face with but very little warning, it would find us wofully unprepared. In the security of our peace we have neglected to build up an organization capable of performing the mult.i.tudinous services of war, or of any great disaster, either political or physical, which may come into a nation's life. The thousands of young men in colleges and universities offer a field for the development of such a force of trained men in a way that would entirely revolutionize our educational as well as our defensive system.

As our athletics are conducted to-day, a few picked men have trainers, coaches, rubbers, and waiters for the purpose of preparing them for a conflict with a correspondingly small group of similarly trained men from other inst.i.tutions. The remainder of the student body, which makes this training possible, is meanwhile physically utterly neglected.

Yet the average young man entering college is quite as much in need of physical development and training as of mental. The country, too, is in need of disciplined, trained men; and this double need can be met--can be met for less money than is expended on a single season's football team. A system of military drill, under the supervision of experts in military discipline and hygiene, with the cooperation of the athletic a.s.sociations of the colleges, and under the auspices of the United States Government, would prove of inestimable value to every student in the college, and would furnish to the nation a groundwork upon which a magnificent national service could be established. A spirit of true patriotism and of unselfish public service would be instilled in the students. The nucleus of a trained military corps would be established from which officers and men could be recruited with but little additional training in time of war.--_Puck_.[11]

[11] Reprinted by permission of _Puck_.