Here are some specimens to try your hand on—­

     (1) All those tears which inundated Lord Hugh Cecil’s head were
     dry in the case of Mr Harold Cox.

Poor Mr Cox! left gasping in his aquarium!

     (2) [From a cigar-merchant] In any case, let us send you a case
     on approval.

     (3) It is contended that Consols have fallen in consequence: 
     but such is by no means the case.

‘Such,’ by the way, is another spoilt child of Jargon, especially in Committee’s Rules—­’Co-opted members may be eligible as such; such members to continue to serve for such time as’—­and so on.

     (4) Even in the purely Celtic areas, only in two or three cases
     do the Bishops bear Celtic names.

For ‘cases’ read ‘dioceses.’

     Instance. In most instances the players were below their form.

But what were they playing at?  Instances?

Character—­Nature. There can be no doubt that the accident was caused through the dangerous nature of the spot, the hidden character of the by-road, and the utter absence of any warning or danger signal.

Mark the foggy wording of it all!  And yet the man hit something and broke his neck!  Contrast that explanation with the verdict of a coroner’s jury in the West of England on a drowned postman—­’We find that deceased met his death by an act of God, caused by sudden overflowing of the river Walkhan and helped out by the scandalous neglect of the way-wardens.’

     The Aintree course is notoriously of a trying nature.

     On account of its light character, purity and age, Usher’s whiskey
     is a whiskey that will agree with you.

     Order. The mesalliance was of a pronounced order.

     Condition. He was conveyed to his place of residence in an
     intoxicated condition.

‘He was carried home drunk.’

     Quality and Section. Mr ——­, exhibiting no less than five works,
     all of a superior quality, figures prominently in the oil section.

This was written of an exhibition of pictures.

     Degree. A singular degree of rarity prevails in the earlier
     editions of this romance.

That is Jargon.  In prose it runs simply ’The earlier editions of this romance are rare’—­or ’are very rare’—­or even (if you believe what I take leave to doubt), ‘are singularly rare’; which should mean that they are rarer than the editions of any other work in the world.

Now what I ask you to consider about these quotations is that in each the writer was using Jargon to shirk prose, palming off periphrases upon us when with a little trouble he could have gone straight to the point.  ’A singular degree of rarity prevails,’ ’the accident was caused through the dangerous nature of the spot,’ ‘but such is by no means the case.’  We may not be capable of much; but we can all write better than that, if we take a little trouble.  In place of, ‘the Aintree course is of a trying nature’ we can surely say ‘Aintree is a trying course’ or ’the Aintree course is a trying one’—­just that and nothing more.