270. “He is a distinguished antiquarian:” say, antiquary. Antiquarian is an adjective; antiquary, a noun.

271. An injudicious disposition of a clause in a sentence frequently creates great merriment in the reading. In Goldsmith’s “History of England,” a book remarkable for its carelessness of style, we find the following extraordinary sentence, in one of the chapters of the reign of Queen Elizabeth: “This” supplied the family with ale through a chink in the wall of her apartment.” A queer brewer that—to supply ale through a chink in the wall! How easy the alteration to make the passage clear! “This they effected by conveying their letters to her through a chink in the wall of her apartment, by means of a brewer that supplied the family with ale.”

272. “Lavater wrote on Physiognomy:” in the last word sound the g distinctly, as g is always pronounced before n, when it is not in the same syllable; as, indignity, &c.

273. “She is a very amiable girl:” pronounce girl as if written gurl; gal is a vulgarism; gehl or gul is an affectation of which many polite persons are guilty.

274. “He built a large granary:” do not pronounce granary so as to rhyme with tannery. Call the word grainary. Both pronunciations, however, are given by scholars.

275. Beware of using Oh! and O indiscriminately: Oh! is used to express the emotion of pain, sorrow, or surprise; as, “Oh! the exceeding grace of God.” O is used to express wishing, exclamation, or a direct address to a person; as,

“O mother, will the God above
Forgive my faults like thee?”

276. Be careful to sound distinctly the r in such words as farther, martyr, charter, murder, &c. Never say, fah-ther, mah-tyr, chah-ter and muh-der. On the other hand, avoid trilling the r, as mur-er-der, r'r'robber. It is altogether too tragical for common life.

277. “The Duke of Wellington was an Irishman, but knew nothing of the Irish language:” beware of saying Ierishman for Irishman, or Ierish for Irish; a very common mistake, which the “Know-Nothings” are quick to detect.

278. “He did it unbeknown to us:” say, unknown, &c.