ADVICE TO CONTRIBUTORS.
By Editor
The duty of an editor is delicate as well as arduous, when exercising discretion in the articles furnished by his friends. We love to please, even those whom we are liable to affront. If a few rules are observed by correspondents, much of this embarrassment will be obviated. 1. Never attempt to write without a very distinct idea in mind, and conclude your article as soon as possible after it shall have been distinctly expressed. It is this practice which gives our city editors their raciness and popularity. We refer especially to the quality rather than the extent of an article; not insisting so much upon the length as upon the intrinsic value of what is written. 2. Avoid repetition of ideas. This is imperative upon writers, though not upon public speakers. Express yourself distinctly once, and let that answer. 3. Do not employ a profusion of adjectives. They are apt to prove noxious weeds in the field of ideas, choking out valuable thoughts. Over-dressed language is as distasteful to a sensible mind as an over-dressed individual. Persons of good sense apparel themselves and express their ideas in a manner calculated not to excite a thought. 4. Look very suspiciously upon every sentence which you regard as original and particularly smart. It is apt to prove the spoiled baby in an essay; agreeable to none but the parent. 5. Do not criticize the life out of your productions. Trimming in politics is detestable; a composition so pruned and wrought as to express little or nothing definitely, is not bearable. The uses of criticism are to remove excrescences, and to secure the best and most effective method of expressing ideas. When vivacity is taken out, and a leaden, obscure style remains, the criticism is worse than a failure. 6. Do not imagine that verse is necessarily poetry. It is often the very antipodes; and indeed, we are very jealous of versification. A poet is a creator; if you cannot give form to ideas filled with life and power, do not attempt rhyming. The best poetry which we have ever read was written in prose. 7. Do not write with pale ink, or on two sides of a sheet. Make your letters distinctly. Let the capital J never be written as though it was I.—Sel.