This unlettered man's speaking and writing are standard English. Some words and phrases deemed vulgarisms and Americanisms before,... he has made standard American; such as "It will pay." It suggests that the one great rule of composition--and if I were a professor of rhetoric I should insist on this--is, to speak the truth. This first, this second, this third; pebbles in your mouth or not. This demands earnestness and manhood chiefly.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »