VI. PERSPICUITY.

431. Perspicuity, or clearness of arrangement, depends chiefly on placing all modifying terms so as to bear as directly as possible on the words to which they refer.

Swift says: 'It contained a warrant for conducting me and my retinue to Traldragdubb, or Trildrogdrib, for it is pronounced both ways, as near as I can remember, by a party of ten horse.' The clause by a party' is intended to modify conducting me and my retinue;' but as it stands, it more easily conveys that this difficult word is pronounced both ways by a party of ten horse. In the Guardian, No. 10, we have this: 'I perceived it had been scoured with half an eye,' conveying that the half eye had scoured the article in question. Again: 'He advanced against the fierce ancient, imitating his address, his pace and career, as well as the vigour of his horse, and his own skill would allow.' Here the clause as well as the vigour of his horse,' appears at first to be connected with career, and therefore to be one of the things imitated. Of course the least reflection in the reader at once corrects the impression. But it is a fundamental rule of good composition, that no false idea requiring after-correction should be produced in the mind.

Exercises.

The student should accustom himself to vary the arrangement of sentences, trying which form is most clear and harmonious. The following may each be transposed in several ways, without changing a word:

I survey thee, O Parnassus, with neither the frenzy of a dreamer, nor the ravings of a madman, but as thou appearest, in the wild pomp of thy mountain majesty.

Softened by prosperity, the rich pity the poor; disciplined into order, the poor respect the rich.

Early one summer morning, before the family was stirring, an old clock, that, without giving its owner any cause of complaint, had stood for fifty years in a farmer's kitchen, suddenly stopped.

At last he

By violent persecution compelled to quit his native land, Rabba Akiba wandered over barren wastes and dreary deserts. came, weary and almost exhausted, near a village.

In the treasury belonging to the cathedral, in this city, a dish, supposed to be made of emerald, has been preserved for upwards of six hundred years.

He had ploughed, sowed, and reaped his often scanty harvest with his own hands, assisted by three sons, who, even in boyhood, were happy to work with their father in the fields.

Looking eagerly around, he proceeded with joy, but of the objects with which he had formerly been conversant, he observed but few.

On the seventh day of the week, which I always keep holy, I ascended the high hills of Bagdad, in order to spend the time in meditation and prayer.

VII. UNITY.

432. The unity of a sentence implies that it contains but one principal enunciation, or a series similarly constructed. If, therefore, the student finds that he has in one sentence several propositions independent of each other, and dissimilar in construction, he may choose one as the leading clause, and reduce all the rest to the condition of subordinate and dependent ones. This may be done

Thus:

I. By using the present or past participle instead of the finite verb.

II. By changing the active voice into the passive, or the passive into the active.

III. By employing connective adverbs, as where, when, while, &c., or such conjunctions as since, as, for, &c.

The rain poured in torrents upon us, and we were obliged to take shelter in a forest."

This may be reduced to unity in several of the ways pointed

out:

The rain pouring in torrents upon us, we were obliged, &c. The rain poured in torrents upon us, and obliged us, &c. As the rain poured in torrents upon us, we were obliged to take shelter in a forest.'

Exercises.

(1.) Reduce the following to unity by employing the present purticiple:

The genius made me no answer, and I turned me about to address myself to him a second time, but I found that he had left me.

The trees were cultivated with much care, and the fruit was rich and abundant.

The love of praise is naturally implanted in our bosoms, and it is a very difficult task to rise above a desire of it, even for things that ought to be indifferent.

(11.) The following with the active voice instead of the passive and neuter (two actives in each sentence) :

The character of Florio was marked with haughtiness and affectation, and he was an object of disgust to all his acquaintance.

A general description of the country was given in a former letter, and I shall now entertain you with my adventures.

(III.) The following with adverbs or conjunctions:—

Offences and retaliations succeed each other in endless train, and human life will, without some degree of patience exercised under injuries, be rendered a state of perpetual hostilities.

The evidence and the sentence were stated, and the president put the question whether a pardon should be granted.

The controversies in religion had been left to the consideration of parliament, and the Protestants might reckon upon obtaining whatever decision was most favourable to the opinions they professed.

VIII. COMPLEX AND LOOSE SENTENCES.

433. A loose sentence-that is, one which forms complete sense at several stages-is generally less pleasing than a complicated one; for the unexpected continuation of a period which we had supposed concluded, is apt to produce the sensation of being disagreeably balked. This may be obviated either by varying the arrangement, or changing the connectives, or both. Thus:

'We came to our journey's end at last with no small difficulty, after much fatigue | through deep roads and bad weather.'

A simple change of arrangement would improve this :— 'At last, after much fatigue, through deep roads and bad weather, we came with no small difficulty to our journey's end.'

"The world is not eternal, nor the work of chance.'

The sense may be suspended by merely using neither for not :

The world is neither eternal nor the work of chance."

434. Care must be taken that such periods do not appear too artificial, or savour of elaborate stateliness, which is a worse fault than the slovenliness and languor of a very loose style. Sometimes it is best to break up such a sentence. Thus, Gibbon says:—

'He was honoured with the consulship at Rome; but the greatest part of his life was spent in a philosophic retirement at Athens and his adjacent villas; perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous

rival.'

Better thus:

"Though he was honoured with the consulship at Rome, the greatest part of his life was spent in philosophic retirement at Athens and his adjacent villas. Here he was perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous rival.'

Exercises.

Suspend the sense in the following:
:-

The vines afforded a refreshing shade, and a delicious fruit. Any of these may be useful to the community, and pass through the world with the reputation of good purposes and uncorrupted morals, but they are unfit for close and tender intimacies.

IX. LENGTH OF SENTENCES.

435. If a period be so constructed that the meaning of each part can be taken in as we proceed, though the sense is not brought to a close, a long sentence may be as clear as a short one; but if the earlier part of the sentence has conveyed so little distinct meaning that it requires to be read over, after the end has been reached, the student may be sure that it must either be broken up, or presented in a shorter and looser form. Thus :

"It is not without a degree of patient attention and persevering diligence, greater than the generality are willing to bestow, though not greater than the object deserves, that the habit can be acquired of examining and judging of our own conduct with the same accuracy and impartiality as of that of another.'

Better thus:

"The habit of examining and judging our own conduct as we would that of another, requires a degree of patience and diligence, not greater than the object deserves, but greater than the generality are willing to bestow.'

436. Even if the early clauses of a period have not this defect, yet if they are very long, and contain an enumeration of many circumstances, the reader feels the same kind of impatience for the close that he does in a very loose sentence. There is no cure for this but breaking up and recasting the whole.

The style of Dr Chalmers is remarkable for long-sustained periods. The student may with advantage try his skill upon some of them, retaining all the ideas, but bringing them out in an easier and more readable style.

437. On the other hand, a continued succession of short sentences should generally be avoided. The most pleasing effect is produced by commencing each paragraph with one or more short sentences, and drawing it to a close with longer ones. But even this, if constantly maintained, becomes monotonous.

Exercise.

In the following paragraphs, retain the introductory sentences as they stand, and unite the rest, so as to form three, or at most four, sentences in each paragraph::

You are at liberty to choose between the hypocrite and the coward. Your best friends are in doubt which way they shall incline. Your country unites the characters, and gives you credit for them both. For my own part, I see nothing inconsistent in your conduct. You

began with betraying the people; you conclude with betraying the king.-JUNIUS.

He who is a stranger to industry may possess, but he cannot enjoy. For it is labour only which gives relish to pleasure. It is the appointed vehicle of every good man. It is the indispensable condition of our possessing a sound mind in a sound body. Fly, therefore, from idleness as the certain parent both of guilt and ruin.— BLAIR.

We are a nation of islanders, and we cannot help it; nor mend ourselves, if we would. We are something in ourselves; nothing, when we try to ape others. Music and painting are not our forte. But we may boast of our poets and philosophers. That's something. We have had strong heads and sound hearts among us.-HAZLITT.

X. ANTITHESIS.

438. Antithesis is the balancing of sentences by the use of continued comparison, contrast, or opposition. It is in language what light and shade are in painting; and when judiciously managed, is very effective.

439. The number of words or clauses in each sentence should correspond as nearly as possible with those in the opposite one, and the construction should be the same.

EXAMPLES.

(438.) Men should beware of being captivated by a kind of savage philosophy; women by a thoughtless gallantry. When these precautions are not observed, the man often degenerates into a cynic, the woman into a coquet; the man grows sullen and morose, the woman impertinent and fantastical.

Philosophy makes us wiser, Christianity makes us better men ; philosophy elevates and steels the mind, Christianity softens and sweetens it. The former makes us the object of human admiration, the latter of divine love. That insures us a temporal, but this an eternal happiness.

The style of Dryden is capricious and varied; that of Pope is cautious and uniform. Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind; Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle. Dryden's page is a natural field rising into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and levelled by the roller.

Exercise.

Complete the sentences by filling up the blanks with suitable antithetical expressions :

No two feelings of the human mind are more opposite than pride and humility. Pride is founded on a high opinion of ourselves,