TIIE ART OF PARAPHRASING. (From the Saturday Revisw.)

Otago Witness, Issue 568, 18 October 1862, Page 6

TIIE ART OF PARAPHRASING. (From the Saturday Revisw.)

I A few months back, wo unearthed the 235ih edition of the "S.iel'i-ij; !5 iok " of a certain Mr liutlor, w-iiic'i wo flc sure must have hi'lp^'l in no fe'ig'it manure towards the ch'ui'Ji'o i-oiiiirnu IVoiii p'aiu English into tlie odd tongue whicli is now fr..v murping irs place. A man whose books reach a 235 th edition nm=st bo prcnarcd ibr imitatirs. Such success* as lh;it of Mr Gutter would naturally kindle a gcucrou.s emulation in many mind^. Many am vn may bo tempted to string togcihcr a lew hard words on the cli nice of obtaining oulv tho tenth part of JSLr. Butter's success. A T \ r c have no doubt that lie has many pupils and followers, lie certainly has a most promising one in a Rev. .John Hunter, A.M., who describes hiimeli'as formerly Vice-Prin-cipal in tho National Bocic'y's Training College at Baltcrsea. iMr. Hunter's works have not yet reached their 235 th edition, but, as one of them went through three editions between IS-18 and 18G1, he may congratulate himself on treading in the steps of his great original as nearly as he can as reasonably expect to do. Mr. Hunter ha^, we think, achieved a great work. lie has successful!}' reduced the practice of the grand style to a system. He has \ given vis a great man}' rules and a great many examples to guide us iv the task of turning good English into bad. One thing only is wanted— Mr. Hunter should really give m a dictionary. It is quite needful to accomplish his object. That object is, to teach people how to exchange the good straightforward words which will first come into their heads, for the more elaborately ornimen ted and more ambitiously grandiloquent phraseology of the penny-a-liner. But for thia end dull wits w.H want" a dictionary. A pupil of Mr. Hunter's will, of course! scorn such a poor word as "begin:" but it may bs that " inaugurate may not once suggest once suggest itself to him," he may be driven to put up with so comparatively feeble a substitute as " commence." He may wish for some expression less homely than " cock-fight," but it is not everybody across whose mind Mr. Butter's " alectoromachy " would flash unbidden. A Dictionary of the High Polite .Style, by Mr. Hunter, would be an invaluable gift to waiters, commercial travellers, principals of educational establishments, and the literary public in general. Till this great want is supplied, avc must put up with Mr. Hunter's gramuior aud exercise book, and we muse do their author the justice to say that, by a careful use of them, a man may do a good deal towarda unlearning his mother tongns. Thouj-h Mr. Hunter is,, as far as we know, the first person who has reduced the art of " Paraphrasing " to a system, he can by no means claim the honor of being tiie first Paraphrast. Who has not seen " Scripture Paraphrases," in which the meaning of the sac-en writings and the vigorous En^linh of their translators are alike improved away ? A great master in this way was Bishop Simon Patrick, who, when thb Collects wore, in 1689, voted " too short and too dry," was set to make them longer and more ornamental. But the art of those daya was in its infancy, and, compared with modern masters, Patrick was a mere bungler. Sonn thing, in another tongue, was done about the same time by the editor of tho Delphinc Classics, who in the "Jiitirpretatio" of each book, paraphrased v vast deal of good Latin into bad. But all those attempts, though highly creditable in their way, were still merely desultory. Mr. Hunter is the first to teach thu art upon system. We are probably displaying our. own monstrous ignorance when we say that, till we got hold Mr. Hunte.t's little books, we had no sort of idea that "paraphrasing" waa an acknowledged art, taught by adepts like any other art. But we gather from Mr. Hunter's preface tbat the act has long bjeu taught traditionally. He •lias now won the honor of being the first to set down its principles in a book, but he has long lived in fear that someone else would be quick enough to snatch his unplucked laurels from him. In his own words — words winch sh./W how well he can teach by example as well as by precept--" The utility of that species of scholastic exercise called Paraphrasing has been for so many years gcnorally recognised ' among teachers, that the author of this lit tie work long expected some anticipation of his own treatise to issue from the pros." The asmc preface teaches us two or three more things about paraphrasing. It is a somewhat " diiHcuH f<uhj..'Ct." Mr. Hunter has "not yet seen any other publication professing to methodise and teach it." But there are persons "who arc desirous of attaining facility in composing, or in teach Ing to compose, n good paraphrase." To anch persons Mr. Ilunier "has been induced to contr.bute such assistance as his experience cnabics him." J.lr. Hunter further, with all tho authority of a former Vic?-Principal of the National Society's Training College at Battcivea, " would venture to recommend to schoolmasters the frequent employment of this specks of exercise, as a very useful auxiliary to other means of instruction in English composition, as its tendency is to form a taste and promote an aptitude for the proper expression of original thought, a* well as for a due appreciation of the writings of others." By this time we begin clearly to understand whatpaniphra«mgmeans. It clearly means that the boys and girls of our National Schools are, whenever schoolmasters can be found silly enough to do so, to be syt to tran*latc out of the* plain Engliah of their Bibles aud PrayerBooks into the jargon of Mr. Hunter and the penny newspapers. We really did not know that such an art was airywhere deliberately taught. The opposite process indeed we have sometimes amused ourselves by trying. We have both tried ourselves, and made others fry, to translate bits of newspaper language "into English, but we had no idea whatever that boys and girls were deliberately set to translate English into newspaper. Let uk, however, before we put ourselves under Mr. Hunter's guidance, ste what we can ourselves do by the light of nature. Here is as good a piece of plain English as ever was written, though, to be sure, its matter is too light to be quite the thing for National Schools :—: — If si body kiss a body, Need a body toll 1 Will not Mr. Hunter give us his very first prize when we paraphrase this into — On fie supposition that an individual salutes an individual. Door an individual lie under an obligation to make a btateraent of the fact 1 On tnvning over Mr. Hunter's pagos, we find that all his precepts strengthen our belief that our own first attempt is really a first-rate paraphrase. He tells us that " the poets, and those prose writers whose style is condensed, vigorous, or antiquated, supply the most suitable passages for exercises in paraphrasing." What can be more condensed and vigorous than the passage which we chose ? and its language is a little antiqated into the bargain. But Mr. Hunter tells ua that " frequently the original will be found more simply and clearly expressed than the paraphrase ? We have not the slightest doubt of it and we think our i example shows it wonderfully well, only if the original be more simply and cleat ly expi^cssed than the paraphrase, what becomes of Mr. Hunter's definition of the paraphrase?" To paraphrase," according to the first sentence of this book, " means to explain some passage in a book by changing the author's language, and developing the scope of his ideas, so as to exhibit his meaning with greater clearness, particularity, and fulness." Now, what v developing the scope of the author's ideas" may mean, we do not know the least bis. But, is it not rather odd that, if the object of paraphrasing be to " explain passages " and to l! exhibit the author's meaning with grcatev clearness," the result of paraphrasing should be that "frequently the original ivill be found more simply

and clearly expressed than the paraphrase ?" This result is, indeed, only just what we fihouM expect; hut, if .so, "tie utility of t'sis sjKcicJ of scholastic c x :eivisc" id KO.nsfchi.ij which we should have great difficulty in " recognizing.,' Agiin, Mr. ITunter, after telling us to pick out a<? our guides writers whose style is condensed, vigorous, oramiquated,goes on to saj r , with praiseworthy mode-ty, '' it inu^t always bo rcmcinljerorl tlvit the l.anmiaganf a good author generally loses both force;! 'id beauty by such transformation, and that no such attempt should be expected to produce something as aoo.l as the original." If so, one cannot help asking, why make the attempt at all ? Why turn tho original into something which confessedly is not so good ? Why subject the language of a good author to a transformation which avowedly takes away both it 3 force and b<_anty ? Where, in short is th<3 recognised utility of this species of schol.isf'c exercise ? By Mr. Hunter's own account, then, paraphrasing consists of turning good Eii«]ish into bad. VVe hold, therefore, that our own specimen paraphrase is really perfect. We believe that we have successfully destroyed all the force and. beauty of the original. We feel sure that we have produced something which no one will think as good a3 tlie oiiginal. If so, we have, according to Mr. Hunter, fully accomplished the object of a puuphra^e. The goodness of a p iraphrase consists in its badness, and, on that showing, we hold our own to be first-rate. *

But we must, iv fairness, let Mr. Hunter speak once more to explain the objects of his own art, and the powers required of those who would excel in it: —

" By paraphrasing, as a scholastic exercise, we mean — an explanatory variation of the languige of a given portion of discourse, prescribed in order to explain the degree in which the pupil understands the passage, to promote in him the habit of general attention to the meaning and spirit of what he reads, to cultivate his power of discerning the force and beauty of literary composition, and to assist in making him skilful and expert in the expression of his own thoughts. " In this spjeies of exorcise, care should be taken not to exceed those reasonable limits within whioh a faithful interpretation of the sense and significantly of the original may be comprehended.- The tendency to over-expan-sion and embellishmcnc must be duly restrained, the legitimate object and proper u tili I}' of the exercise being always kept in view." " Abilitj' to paraphrase may be said to depend, particularly, on iamiliarity with the principles of grammatical formation, and arrangement, on appreciation of the signi/icancy of words in themselves and in their relation and idiomatic uses, and on the power of readily recollecting synonymous expresSioild."

We copy these sentences without wholly uuderblanding them Indeed wo know that we have no right to ask to understand them. Mr. Hunter clearly writes in tho grand stj le, and to those who do not understand the grand stylo it has been saiJ by the highest authority, moriemini in pcecutis vextris. As far as we can make out any meaning, it would seem to mean uinler&tand what they read, and, secondly to teach them to write good English themselves. To accomplish these two eudd they are to be taught to paraphrase good English into bad — to change every Teutonic word into a Latin one, Thus, they are given this piece of Cowper's: How nest is the glance of the mind ! Compiled with the speed of its ili°ht, The tempest itself lags behind, And the swift-winged nirows of light. This perfectly clear and good English they are to " paraphrasu " into the following jargon :— " How rapid is the transition of thought J In comparison with its velocity, (lie sweep of the tempest, nn I tuc swift d'is'ling of the rays of li.cht, are but sluyyish movements." So again :—: — Cau fi utery soot'ie the dull cold ear of death 1 becomes in Mr. Hunter's hands — "Can the lnnirinj-e of flittery gratify the ear which dcntli lias sealed iv cold insensibility ? " When Milton says — O unexpected stroke, worse linn of (Kith ! Musi, 1 thin leave thee, Paraiiae ! Ilms leave T\i?e, r.a'.iwsoil ! these happy walks and bhidra, Fir haunt of god-; ! where I iiad hop -, ia spend Quiet, ilioimh. sad, iho respite of that day Tuai um&t be mortal to us both ! Mr. Hunter turns it into — " O thi-3 unk'Oufl-for cvdamifcy, more didhe3<-ful than ihe doom of do.itit ! O l'a:v.dis«. mu*t, I ;\n a bairfchoii one (h-put from thee? jWu<-t lin that manner haset : u: spot wlk-jo my life W.ai), tluw bi I a lieu to (liese blivtful w.iiiw and sluU-<. worlhy to be freqnenti'd by cele-.lial beii.^s and amid 4 whioh I had oii.r.'siied the «oo.liinj: fxpectation of spendini! in f,iii"tii(.-5-', thoii/n insmnl'iilly, the allowed renuiimler of iliat day m uliir-h by Divine decree we must both die." Our notions of good English doubtless differs from Mr. Hunter's, so it may be vain to try to prove to him that his process will do the exact opposite of" assisting in making the y.upil skilful and .expert in the expression of his own thoughts." But we may perhaps dispute v little as to its use in " ascertaining the degree in which the pupil understands the passage."' To us it seems to translate what is clear into what is obscure— to translate what i& c.isy^ into what is hard — ran eerve no purpose of the kind. If the pupil is encouraged in the use of big words to words to which he is not accustomed, and which cannot convey their meaning with the same distinctness as the words of his own daily talk, he has at once a means afforded him of cloaking his ignorance under :i cloud of sounding syllables. The real \say of iinding out whether a boy understands what he reads is not to hid him paraphrase it into the high-polite style, but to bid him toll the story in the plainest words of daily life. A child in a National school \vj?a asked, "What fli'l David do when they tokl him that his ch.ld was dead ? " " Please, sir, he cleaned himself and took to his victuals." All honor to a child who had so throughly entered into the story that he could at once tell it in just the word-s which he would use every day with his playmates. In Mr. Hunter's stylo the question and answer might stand thus : —

Q. " What course of action did David pursue when he received intelligence of the demise of his infant ?"

A. " He performed his ablutions and immediately proceeded to partake of refreshments."

_ Mr. Hunter would most likely think this a sign of great skilfulness and expertness in the expression of thought; but would it show the same " habit of general attention to the meaning and spirit of what he reads," as was shown by the little fellow who had so thoroughly called up the doings of David before his mind's c3 r e P We know not to what extent Mr. Hunter's theories and processes are adopted by teachers, but if this sort of thing goes on in the National Schools generally, there is indeed something for Mr. Lowe nnd the school inspectors to look to. — Saturday Review.

ltiun Silv kr Quartz — The Maryborough Advertiser slates that a small parcel of auriferous quartz, fcom Messrs Macrcdie and Mnstevs's leased grouiv', St. Arnnud, treated hy the Olwny process, has given the extraordinary average of 232 oz. pure silver to the ton. It is to be hoped ,tuat the bulk will prove equally rich. Chinese G-akdeners. — The Ffollowinjr singular statement appears in the Ovens Constitution of the 18th instant : •" Mr Gaunt, the Chiltern Police afagistrate, has decided upon preventing tlie Chinese from continuing to cultivate their "small gimlen pntches, on the ground that Asiatic gardeners injure JRuropean farmers. Mr. (Jaunt also added that it wns contrary to law to cultivate Crown lands " If' Mr. Gaunt has really, been guilty of the piece of absurdity described, we think his peculiar and mischievous notions ought to be corrected: by the Attor-ney-Gen.eral.-r.Af. A. Mail.