Mar. 8.
RarHEer maliciously our correspondent to-day leaves us guessing whether he is against the stealthy inroad into the English language of the word ''Britisher,"" or seeks to excuse it. He inyokes a powerful advocate in quoting Stevenson. But it is not always certain that the immortal "R.L.S.'" meant to give his approbation to a word by using it; and in the sentence quoted he may very likely have deliberately employed ''Britisher'' for its suitability to the general meny of the sentence, or for the purpose of reproducing the words in which the thoughts of his character in the story would be likely to clothe themselves. In any case much may be excused in Stevenson (and certainly many strange uses of words) which ordinary mortals ought not to copy. And frankly, for our own part, we loathe the word ''Bri-fisher"" and wherever possible in these colurims alter it—a necessary exception being where it is used by any correspondent as a nom de guerre, as happens today. Nobody talks about a ""Frencher" or a ''Norwegianer."" Why, then, a "'Britisher,"" especially as it is so often used with the idea of conveying a sense of qualities anything but complimentary to the British people?
Yet it must be confessed that the orthodox substantive "Briton" does not quite prove satisfactory. If ''Britisher'' can be used to suggest some sort of contemptuonsness, ''Briton'' is also rather associated with the idea of a stocky, domineering John Bullish sort of person, of many sterling qualities no doubt, but not altogether very likeable. ''Punch'" has thus used the word for purposes of satire times out of number. The drawings of Clu Maurier found an inexhaustible theme in the contrast between the ''sturdy Briton' and the nimble-witted but frivolous Gaul—with no great advantage to either party in respect of compliment. The fact of the matter i3 that ''Briton" fails as a title of nationality because it does not exactly correspond to the idea of any one race now existing. It has been twist ed out of its original sense to supply the want of a word to cover all inhabitants of the British Empire and, out of de-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.