taken from the sources consulted, but also taking enou these sources to represent their true spirit.

Closely connected with accuracy in the use of printed is thoroughness. Of course, thoroughness is a relative and the conditions under which writing is done affect th of thoroughness which is essential or even possible. W expect a feature story in a Sunday newspaper to be p as thoroughly as an article in an authoritative referend But it is important for the writer to remember that th bility and the permanent value of his work depend lar the completeness with which he collects his material. not be able to use all that he collects, but if he has any a to produce a real work of scholarship, he must have the to consult all sources that could possibly yield anything cant, whether they be few or many, easily accessible or ible only with special exertion. The following paragrap Parkman's introduction to his Pioneers of France in th World' may serve to bring the inexperienced investigat realization of what thoroughness in authorship means: respect to that special research which, if inadequate, is the most emphatic sense indispensable, it has been the aim to exhaust the existing material of every subject t While it would be folly to claim success in such an at he has reason to hope that, so far at least as relates to th ent volume, nothing of much importance has escaped With respect to more general preparation . . . he ha been too fond of his theme to neglect any means with reach of making his conception of it distinct and true.' are told, too, that one of Huxley's chief reasons for le Greek was that he might be able to see for himself w Aristotle really said that the heart had only three char In fact, it is a commonplace of scholarship that a writer learn a language, visit a foreign library, exhaust every po expedient, rather than fail to consult any important source But the young writer will wonder whether thoroug

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which involves such enormous labor can ever be harmonized with the demands for prompt or frequent writing. Can one who aims at thoroughness, and yet cannot devote all his time to research, ever hope to produce more than one or two books in a lifetime? Must one who is obliged to turn out a theme, a report, or a magazine article in a short space of time be inevitably superficial? Nothing is impossible in this demand. Thoroughness is neither forbidding nor wasteful if the investigator knows how to strike a nice balance between thoroughness and economy. Experience shows many ways of saving time and energy, many perfectly legitimate short cuts. For the most part, these economical methods are purely personal; each writer who is obliged to consult printed sources soon develops ways of working which are suited to his own habits of mind. Nevertheless, some suggestions can be offered from the common experience of many literary workers.

For instance, it is a great advantage to know the standard works of reference, not only the general encyclopedias and dictionaries, but also the principal volumes dealing with special subjects; to know just what kind of material each contains and how it is arranged. Thus a writer will lose no time in searching promiscuously. He can also save himself much effort by using all available indexes and bibliographies, such as Poole's Index to Periodical Literature and lists of select references on special topics. Then, besides this intelligent familiarity with the apparatus of reference work, certain short cuts in reading are useful. The writer ought to know how to take full advantage of the information given in the table of contents and the preface or introduction of the book consulted. He ought to turn his own skill in writing to account by picking out the topic sentences, the summary paragraphs, and the transitional passages which "put in a nutshell" what has been said and what is to follow. He ought to learn to read rapidly through the pages, concentrating his attention closely on those parts alone which give him important material. Intelligent browsing is a real art. He ought also to keep putting the question ART WRIT. ENG. -5

to himself as he reads, in order to make sure that he is not s ping off the main line of his search and burdening himself w irrelevant matter. Finally, he must practice economy in t ing his notes. Most people waste much energy in enter up data from their reading. A writer ought not to take do more than he needs; and ordinarily he can avoid copy long extracts from his sources verbatim. Moreover, he ou by all means to take his notes in such permanent form that can keep them for possible reference at a later time with copying them. As an aid in this direction, he ought to deve some plan of his own, systematic yet flexible, which he can without stopping again and again to worry over some n point of form or policy. In all these ways and in many oth that every writer will learn from experience, it is possible economize time and effort in using printed sources without any sense compromising standards of accuracy and thoroughne

One other suggestion may be made about the use of print sources: the writer must be careful to discriminate betwe valuable sources and sources of questionable value. In t first place, he must remember that facts and opinions are the same, and that ordinarily facts are much more useful th opinions. What is actually true is almost sure to have so significance; but somebody's thought about what may be tr can have but little importance unless the somebody be an en nent authority. Hence any book or article which gives fa is likely to be an important source; but not necessarily so; much writing is done under conditions of haste or by prejudic authors, and for this reason will not stand thorough scrutin We know, for instance, that in the very nature of the case mu newspaper writing must be less accurate and thorough th writing done for monthly or quarterly magazines; that ma magazine articles are correspondingly less reliable than bool since books need not be published until their authors are abs lutely sure of their facts. Then, too, the character of the perio cal or publishing house concerned must be taken into accour Some editors and publishers have so good a reputation th

their name gives some assurance of the reliability of whatever they print, whereas others pursue no consistent policy, or are content with very low standards. Likewise, in consulting any work, it pays to investigate the author, in order to discover who he is and what his qualifications for writing really are. He may be a man who has devoted years to the study of the given subject, or he may be a man with no solid training at all, merely skilled in facile and plausible writing; he may be admirably fair-minded and free from entangling alliances, or he may be obviously affected by some personal interests or party affiliations. Similarly with works which contain ideas rather than facts. They also are very unequal in value. And anyone who goes to them for stimulus and guidance in his own writing must exercise all possible vigilance in detecting special bias or tricks of reasoning. The writer who searches for material in printed sources of any sort, then, must be just as strict in demanding soundness and interest in what he finds as he is in testing the availability of his own information and ideas. He must realize that appearance in print of itself guarantees nothing at all.

3. From field work. - Printed sources, occasionally, do not supply the necessary material. A writer may want to study some tendency in contemporary life which is too new to have been discussed much by others, or he may want to present a subject which is so close to human activities that the best material about it will come not from books but directly from people. Suppose, for instance, that he becomes interested in certain conditions which seem to threaten the health of his community, or in the attitude which his fellow citizens take toward child labor in his state. The best way, if not the only way, for him to gather material will be to go out into actual life. Thus the writer often becomes a field worker, observing characteristic scenes, interviewing influential men, mixing with all sorts of people and going into all sorts of places, working from house to house or shop to shop, perhaps traveling many miles from city to city or through the country, all in the endeavor to am

plify and support his germ idea with facts. Nor is t work any simple matter. The same accuracy, thoro economy, and discrimination which mark the skillfu printed sources are imperative here. But they are mo cult to attain, because of the active opposition which vestigators are likely to encounter and the confused contradictory facts which they are sure to gather. In a to these things, too, the field worker must have abundant sympathy and resourcefulness. As one editor has put writer who depends on his efforts as a field investigator material must possess the knowledge and patience of ciologist together with the human instinct of the new

man.

IV. GETTING MATERIAL FOR ESTHETIC

COMPOSITION

For many students of composition it is much easier material for instrumental writing than for æsthetic w In the former, if the occasion does not supply or sugge material, there are outside sources to aid one, or if need b can meet the demand by settling down to earnest thought. in the latter, where the writing is not done to serve a d practical end, mere industry or even sheer intellectual avails but little. So it happens that many a young upon learning the essentials of good material for æs pieces, at once gives up hope of having anything worth to say. Material of the right sort is, he thinks, altog impossible for anyone without literary genius. There is chance, he is sure, of his getting an idea for a sketch or a which would work up into anything of value. And yet who are writing their impressions of life seem not to material scarce. Quite the contrary. As one of them

Hope and the world are full; and he who drags into b pages a phase or two of the great life of passion, of endur of love, of sorrow, is out wetting a feather, in the sea that br