Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 F.irm L 1 
 
 coc>\
 
 -' ^- 
 
 \3 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 f^" ^^29 
 
 J. -J
 
 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC 
 
 BY PRACTICE, 
 
 WITH EXERCISES, ADAPTED FOR USE IN HIGH 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 ^ BY 
 
 WILLIAM WILLIAMS, B.A., 
 
 Editor of Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," Cowper's " Task," etc. 
 
 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 
 
 Revised and Enlarged. 
 
 BOSTON, U.S.A.: 
 
 D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 1894.
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 Bt D. C. heath & CO. 
 
 NotixiDotj ^rfss : 
 
 J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. 
 
 Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This is, first of all, a practical book ; not that it excludes theory, 
 but that it gives prominence to practice. If this were not the 
 case, it need not have been written. There are already books 
 enough that deal ably with the theoretical part of the subject, but 
 there are none that combine with theory a sufficient amount of 
 practice. As composition is both a science and an art, no system 
 of teaching it can be successful that does not recognize both of 
 these departments. Young people do not acquire facility and cor- 
 rectness of expression merely by memorizing rules or by poring 
 over methods of sentential structure. Repeated and varied expe- 
 rience in the making of sentences is necessary as well. Still, the 
 learning of principles is not to be neglected ; for, although it is 
 not the whole, it is an essential part. How, then, can these two 
 departments of the subject be most advantageously presented to 
 the pupil? Every discerning teacher must have found that little 
 theory and much practice is by far the most effective method of 
 teaching composition. On this maxim this book is based ; and 
 its purpose is to furnish the teacher with the means of carrying 
 into effect the plan here indicated. It proceeds on the simple 
 method of laying down a few principles at a time, and then illus- 
 trating them with such number and variety of exercises that the 
 pupil may fully master the practical application of these principles, 
 and thereby learn not only to write, but to write correctly. 
 
 January 21, 1891. 
 
 iii
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introductory i 
 
 The Sentence i 
 
 Grammatical Classification ........ i 
 
 Rhetorical Classification 1 1 
 
 Capitalization 20 
 
 Punctuation 23 
 
 Style 38 
 
 Diction 39 
 
 Purity, Rhetorical ......... 39 
 
 " Grammatical ........ 45 
 
 Propriety ........... 63 
 
 Precision ........... 68 
 
 Formation of Sentences . . . . . . . . .81 
 
 Clearness. .......... 81 
 
 Strength 106 
 
 Unity 127 
 
 Elegance . . . . . . . . . . -133 
 
 Construction of Paragraphs ........ 146 
 
 Variety of Expression 160 
 
 Transposition of Prose . . . . . . . . .160 
 
 " " Poetry 184 
 
 Figures of Speech 206 
 
 Qualities of Style 234 
 
 Perspicuity 234 
 
 Picturesqueness 237 
 
 Force ....,„ 245 
 
 V
 
 VI CONTENTS 
 
 Pathos 
 
 The Ludicrous 
 
 The ^^sthetic . 
 Letters 
 The Plan . 
 
 A Paragraph . 
 
 A Theme 
 Kinds of Discourse 
 
 Narration 
 
 Description 
 
 Exposition 
 
 Argumentation 
 
 Persuasion 
 
 Poetry 
 Versification 
 Correcting Compositions 
 Proof-Reading and Marking 
 
 PAGE 
 247 
 
 263 
 270 
 
 278 
 284 
 284 
 290 
 
 295 
 298 
 
 300 
 304 
 
 311 
 
 322 
 
 323
 
 Composition and Rhetoric 
 
 BY PRACTICE. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The art of finding thoughts and of giving them suitable expres- 
 sion is Composition. 
 
 The science that discusses the principles which guide us in 
 composition is Rhetoric. 
 
 In practice Composition and Rhetoric are inseparably connected. 
 
 Composition has two distinct parts : the one deals with thoughts, 
 the other with forms of expression. The former is usually called 
 Invention; the latter, Style. 
 
 LESSON I. 
 
 THE SENTENCE. — GRAMMATICAL CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 Kinds of Sentences. — Sentences are classified, according to 
 t^heir form, into Simple, Complex, and Compound. 
 
 Simple Sentences. 
 
 The Simple Sentence. — The essential parts of the simple 
 sentence are the subject and predicate. In the most elementary 
 form neither of these has any qualification ; as, " Time flies."
 
 2 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Qualifiers. — The subject and predicate may each have a vast 
 variety of modifications. 
 
 I. The subject is always a substantive — that is, a noun, or 
 pronoun, or an adjective, adverb, infinitive, or other 
 part of speech — used as a noun. 
 
 1. The subject, when a noun or pronoun, may be modified 
 
 by:- 
 (i) An adjective or an adjective phrase, used either attri- 
 butively or appositively ; as, — 
 
 a. The good citizens, /earifig a revolt, fled. 
 
 b. The days of mail's life are few. 
 
 c. His father'' s estate was sold. 
 
 d. The husband, with his tvife and children, has 
 
 departed. 
 
 e. That new world, blessed with plenty, was ray hope. 
 
 f. The desire to please was too strong. 
 
 (2) A noun in apposition; as, "There, too, sat she, the 
 beautiful mother of a beautiful race, the Saint 
 Cecilia." 
 
 2. When the subject is a verbal, simple, or phrasal, it may 
 
 have the modifiers of a verb, as well as some of 
 those of a substantive ; as, — 
 
 a. To buy {^or buying) and sell {or selling) goods for 
 
 cash is a safe business. . . 
 
 b. To be sad and gloomy all through life argues a mis- 
 
 conception of its object. 
 
 c. His running violently doivn the street had a fatal result. 
 
 d. Being kept here week after week is a great annoyance. 
 
 3. When the subject is a word commonly used as an adjec- 
 
 tive or as an adverb, it may have the modifiers of those 
 parts of speech, as well as some of the modifiers of 
 nouns ; as, " The very good of all ages are often ridi- 
 culed." " This eternal now rang in his ears." 
 The subject may consist of two or more nouns or pronouns, each 
 with modifiers.
 
 THE SENTENCE. 3 
 
 II. The predicate may consist of: — 
 
 1. A single word. 
 
 The simple verb of the predicate may be modified 
 by:- 
 
 a. An adverb or adverbial phrase ; as, " He turned 
 
 quickly to the right." 
 
 b. An indirect or adverbial objective ; as, " I gave him 
 
 money " ; "He stayed a day.'' 
 
 c. An absolute word or phrase ; as, " The work beifig 
 
 finished, we repaired to our homes." 
 
 d. An infinitive ; as, " He left the hall to obey his 
 
 master's commands." 
 
 2. A verb and its object ; as, " They buiit a house.'' 
 
 The object may be: (i) a noun or its equivalent; 
 (2) an infinitive abbreviation for a noun clause ; as, " He 
 felt his face flush." 
 
 3. A copula and its complement ; as, " He was rich." 
 
 4. An incomplete verb and its complement ; as, "The time 
 
 seems long" ; "The irte. grows taller." 
 The complement of 3 and 4 may be : — 
 
 a. A substantival ; as, " That is the man " ; " This is 
 
 he " ; " My duty is to die " ; " Seeing is believ- 
 ing." 
 
 b. An adjectival ; as, " They are young" ; " He stands 
 
 firm" \ "The building is of wood" \ "They 
 seem exhausted." 
 
 c. An adverbial ; as, " The hat is here " ; " The work 
 
 is all-of-a-piece " ; " He is here to stay " ; "The 
 letter is to be written." 
 
 5. A verb completed by a factitive noun or adjective ; as. 
 
 "They made him king"; "He was made kitig" ; 
 
 "The pain drove him wild." 
 All the objects or complements of 2, 3, 4, and 5, whether sub- 
 stantival, adjectival, or adverbial, are themselves subject to modifi- 
 cation, each according to its nature.
 
 4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Position. — The various modifiers may sometimes occupy dif- 
 ferent positions in a sentence. It is, however, a good general rule 
 that words and phrases should be placed as near as possible to the 
 words they qualify. 
 
 EXERCISE I. 
 
 Simple Sentences. 
 
 1. Enlarge the subjects and the predicates of each of the fol- 
 lowing simple sentences in as many ways as you can : — 
 
 (I) (2) (3) 
 
 (a) Boys play. Girls sew. Man sees. 
 
 (/^) Horses travel. Farmers plough. Birds fly. 
 
 (<r) Mind is. Thought roams. Money paves. 
 
 2. Combine each of the following groups of statements into a 
 simple sentence : — 
 
 a. I pursued my walk. I pursued it to a door. The door was 
 arched. It opened. It opened to the interior of the abbey. 
 
 /a She was a maiden. She was born in the country. She was 
 shy. She was simple. She was sweet. She was different from 
 those reared in towns. They are boisterous. They are romping. 
 
 c. His head was small. It was flat. It was flat on top. His 
 ears were huge. His eyes were large. They were green. They 
 were glassy. 
 
 d. Night came. She came to receive their form. She came 
 with her mantle. It was bespangled. It was bespangled with 
 stars. 
 
 3. Analyze the following into simple sentences : — 
 
 a. An old, thick-set peasant, in rags, is driving his plough in 
 the field. 
 
 ^. She seemed to have survived all love, all friendship, all 
 society. 
 
 c. The faltering voice of the poor old woman rose to heaven 
 far before the responses of the clerk, the swell of the organ, or the 
 chanting of the choir.
 
 SIMPLE SENTENCES. 5 
 
 d. There lived Baron Landshort, the oracle of his table, the 
 absolute monarch of his little territory, and happy above all things 
 in the possession of superior wisdom. 
 
 e. His head was covered with a brown wig, faded and shrunk 
 from time and use, a fringe of thin grizzled hair showing below it 
 at the sides, and corresponding to his ragged whiskers. 
 
 4. Write a simple sentence having for subject (i) a noun (or 
 an adjective, or adverb used as a noun), (2) a pronoun, (3) a 
 verbal (infinitive or gerund), simple or phrasal. 
 
 5. Expand by one or more modifiers each of the subjects of the 
 sentences required by the preceding question. 
 
 6. Write a number of simple sentences having each a complete 
 verb for predicate. 
 
 7. Enlarge the predicate of each of the sentences of the pre- 
 ceding question by an adverb, an adverbial phrase, an indirect or 
 adverbial object, or by a nominative absolute. 
 
 8. Write sentences with nouns or pronouns for subjects, then 
 expand the subject of each by an adjective, adjective pronoun, 
 numeral adjective, an adjectival case or phrase, a verbal adjective, 
 or a participial phrase. 
 
 9. Write a simple sentence with a copula completed by (i) an 
 adjective of each of the various classes, (2) by a substantival of 
 each kind, (3) by each of the different kinds of adverbial com- 
 plements. 
 
 10. Write simple sentences whose predicates are incomplete 
 verbs, completed as in the last question. 
 
 11. Expand each of the complements of the predicates required 
 in the last question by one or more modifiers.
 
 b COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON 11. 
 
 COMPLEX SENTENCES. 
 
 A complex sentence consists of a principal statement with 
 which is combined one or more subordinate statements. It is a 
 simple sentence in which the modifying words or phrases are 
 developed into clauses. 
 
 The modifying clauses are of three kinds: (i) substantive, 
 (2) adjectival, (3) adverbial. 
 
 1. A substantive clause has the value of a noun and therefore 
 may be : — 
 
 a. The subject of a verb ; as, " That one should be shut out 
 
 fro?n all society, is unendurable." 
 h. The object of a verb ; as, " I know not what can be dojie." 
 
 c. The object of a preposition ; as, " I will give the estate to 
 
 whoever may deserve it.''' 
 
 d. The complement of a verb ; as, "The objection is, that people 
 
 are not disposed to lay this truth to hearth 
 
 e. An appositive modifier; as, "Many people are of opinion 
 
 that whatever is, is best." 
 /. In the adverbial objective relation ; as, " We investigate till 
 
 we are positive only that zae are positive of nothing." 
 A substantive clause may be inserted directly, or introduced by 
 a word of adverbial or conjunctive power. See above. 
 
 2. An adjective clause has the value of an attributive or ap- 
 positive adjective ; hence it is always attached to a substantive. 
 
 An adjective clause may be attached to the words it modifies 
 by:- 
 
 (i) A relative pronoun; as, "Fortunate is he who finds so 
 merciful a judge." 
 
 (2) A relative adverb ; as, " It was the day when we last met." 
 
 (3) A word having the value of a relative pronoun ; as, " Such 
 
 books as I have " ; " Not a man but thinks so."
 
 COMPLEX SENTENCES. 7 
 
 The connecting word may be omitted ; as, " They roused me 
 at the hour {at which) I desired to be called." 
 
 The antecedent and the connecting relative may be contained 
 in the same word ; as, " The actual fact differed materially from 
 what was first reported." 
 
 3. An adverbial clause has the value of an adverb and, con- 
 sequently, qualifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. 
 
 An adverbial clause may be connected with the word it modifies 
 by:- 
 
 ( 1 ) A subordinate conjunction of time, place, cause, manner, etc. 
 
 Thus : " As he wended his way back, every sound flut- 
 tered his imagination " ; " Water goes on contracting till 
 it reaches 39° Fahrenheit " ; " War is an evil because it 
 produces human misery." 
 
 (2) By words ordinarily used as relative pronouns. Thus: "The 
 
 man had no covering on his head which (though it) was 
 defended by his own thick hair." 
 Each subordinate clause may be modified as if it were a princi- 
 pal clause. 
 
 By the omission of easily supplied words a complex sentence is 
 often made to resemble a simple sentence; as, "The supper was 
 twice as good as the dinner " (was good). 
 
 EXERCISE II. 
 
 Complex Sentences. 
 
 I. Analyze the following complex sentences into simple sen- 
 tences : — 
 
 a. We know that this is sometimes a hard lesson. 
 
 d, I shall only add that when I awoke I was sorry because I 
 found that my golden scales had vanished. 
 
 c. Though the copying of this piece of music was strictly for- 
 bidden, yet Mozart, who was then but fourteen years old, deter- 
 mined that he would make himself master of it. 
 
 d. It is probable that when this work \vas begun, which must
 
 8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 have been many hundred years ago, this people had some rehgion ; 
 for they give it the name of a temple, and they have a tradition 
 that it was designed for men to pay their devotions in. 
 
 2. Combine the following simple sentences into complex sen- 
 tences : — 
 
 a. The blossom perishes. The infant perished similarly. The 
 recollection causes a pang. It causes a pang to the mother. Still 
 she would not forget it. 
 
 b. Shakespeare is buried. He is buried in the church. He is 
 buried in its chancel. It is a large pile. It is a venerable pile. 
 It is mouldering with age. It is richly ornamented. 
 
 c. The " Vicar of Wakefield " is captivating. The bookseller 
 did not appreciate it. He kept it by him two years. He then 
 published it. It has since attained popularity. It has attained 
 this in several languages. It retains that popularity. 
 
 3. Compose a complex sentence in which the predicate (i) is 
 modified by an adverbial clause of {a) time, {b) place, (<r) degree, 
 {d) manner, {e) cause; (2) is completed by a noun clause. 
 
 4. Compose a complex sentence in which a noun clause (i) is 
 subject, (2) is an appositive modifier, (3) is the object of a prep- 
 osition, (4) completes the predicate, (5) forms the object of the 
 predicate verb, (6) is in the objective adverbial relation. 
 
 5. Compose a complex sentence in which the subject is limited 
 by an adjective clause introduced (i) by a relative pronoun, (2) by 
 a relative adverb, (3) by as, (4) by but. 
 
 6. Compose a complex sentence in which the object is modified 
 as is the subject of the sentence required in 5. 
 
 7. Compose a complex sentence in which the adverbial clause 
 is introduced (i) by a subordinate conjunction {a) of time, {b) of 
 place, {c) of cause, (//) of manner; (2) by {a) who; {b) which.
 
 COMPOUND SENTENCES. 9 
 
 LESSON III. 
 
 » 
 
 COMPOUND SENTENCES. 
 
 A compound sentence consists of two or more independent 
 sentences. 
 
 1. The relation existing between the clauses of compound sen- 
 tences is usually expressed by co-ordinate conjunctions. Thus : — 
 
 a. In cumulative, by and^ also, liknuise, moreover, etc. 
 
 b. In adversative, by ht/f, yet, or, nor, nevertheless, otherwise, etc. 
 
 c. In illative, by therefore, hence, for, so, thus, then, etc. 
 
 2. Sometimes the relation between the parts of a compound sen- 
 tence is disguised by the connective, so that the sentence appears 
 to be complex ; as, " He had a ready command over his countenance, 
 which (and ... it) he could contract at pleasure into solemnity." 
 
 3. Occasionally the connective is omitted ; as, " Goldsmith tells 
 you shortly all you want to know ; Robertson detains you a great 
 deal too long." 
 
 4. The members of a compound sentence may be all simple ; one 
 or all of them may be complex, or even compound. When one or 
 both are complex, the whole sentence is called Compound Complex. 
 
 5. One of the members of a compound sentence maybe abbre- 
 viated by the omission of words easily supphed ; as, " Now inspira- 
 tion seemed to be at an end, and the poetic fire extinguished." 
 
 6. A compound sentence may be abbreviated by the use of a 
 compound subject or of a compound predicate or of both ; as, " Men 
 and money are asked for (and obtained) " ; " He reads and writes." 
 One so abbreviated is called a Contracted Compound Sentence. 
 
 EXERCISE III. 
 
 Compound Sentences. 
 
 I. Complete the following sentences by the addition of another 
 clause : — 
 
 a. Time passes away and ...
 
 lO COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 b. The sun is setting and . . . 
 
 c. He rode, not a mule, but . . . 
 
 d. Our captives are as fierce as Odin, yet . . . 
 
 e. He has transgressed the law, therefore . . , 
 /. Take the path to the left, for . . . 
 
 g. In his girdle he wore a long dagger, which . , . 
 
 //. His shield was covered with a scarlet cloth, which . . . 
 
 2. Combine the following simple sentences into compound sen- 
 tences : — 
 
 a. A number of horsemen were seen. They were slowly ad- 
 vancing. They nearly reached the foot of the hill. They then 
 struck off. They struck off in a different direction. 
 
 b. Animal attachment must be refreshed. It must be refreshed 
 continually. It must be kept alive. It must be kept alive by the 
 presence of its object. True affection is seated in the soul. It 
 can live on long remembrance. 
 
 c. He was a great reader. He read old legends. He read 
 romances. He could not believe them. He regretted this. Super- 
 stitious persons live in a kind of fairyland. He desired that pleasure. 
 
 3. Compose a compound sentence with simple subjects and 
 simple predicates about each of the following : Time, money, 
 sleep, base-ball, horses, railroads, steam-boats. 
 
 4. Introduce as many modifiers as you can into each of the 
 sentences required in 3. 
 
 5. Compose other sentences on the topics named in 3, in which 
 the members are (i) simple, (2) complex, (3) compound. 
 
 6. Write out fully the following abbreviated compound sen- 
 tences : — 
 
 a. Measures should be supported, not men. 
 
 b. At every turn I met with some illustrious name, or the cog- 
 nizance of some powerful house. 
 
 c. Now one of these elements appears most prominent, now the 
 other. 
 
 d. His hospitable intentions were brief, but expressive. 
 
 <?. He whistled after him, and shouted his name, but all in vain.
 
 RHETORICAL CLASSIFICATION. , II 
 
 LESSON IV. 
 
 THE SENTENCE. — RHETORICAL CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 Kinds of Sentences. — On the basis of rhetorical value, sen- 
 tences may be divided into Periodic, Loose, The Compromise, 
 Balanced, Short, and Long. 
 
 I. Periodic Sentence. 
 
 A periodic sentence is one which is so constructed that the 
 complete meaning is suspended till the close. 
 
 Examples. — (i) "When the sun shines forth, we will set 
 sail." 
 
 (2) "What I cannot describe is, how in the innermost recesses 
 of my own heart, I had a lurking suspicion." 
 
 2. Loose Sentence. 
 
 A loose sentence is one which is so constructed that it may be 
 brought to a close at one or more places and still be complete in 
 sense. 
 
 Examples. — ( i ) " The battle was won | at last | after hard 
 fighting I and prodigious displays of valor." 
 
 (2) "The mature man, in the desire to get quit of an early 
 habit, attempts an imitation | in which he is prevented from suc- 
 ceeding I by the lasting consequences of the unintentional imita- 
 tion, I into which he had glided when a child." 
 
 In these examples we may stop at the several places marked 
 and have complete sense. 
 
 A loose sentence is not necessarily a faulty sentence, but as a 
 person who writes such sentences is apt to fall into obscure and 
 careless constructions, it is well for beginners to give attention to 
 forming periodic sentences. 
 
 Most loose sentences may be converted into periodic by some
 
 12 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 change in arrangement. The first example will become periodic 
 if arranged thus : " At last, after hard fighting, and prodigious dis- 
 plays of bravery, the battle was won." 
 
 3. The Compromise. 
 
 The compromise is a sentence that is partly a periodic and 
 partly a loose sentence. It consists of two or more parts, one of 
 which is periodic, while the sentence taken as a whole is a loose 
 sentence. 
 
 Example. — "He then sent two more, and one of them, hurry- 
 ing back in affright, said that the whole British army was at hand." 
 
 4. Balanced Sentence. 
 
 A balanced sentence is one which contains two clauses that arc 
 similar in form, and either parallel or contrasted in meaning. 
 
 Examples. — ( i ) " Contempt is the proper punishment of affec-. 
 tation ; and detestation, the just consequence of hypocrisy." 
 
 (2) "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, always smooth, 
 uniform, and level. 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." 
 
 5. Short and Long Sentences. 
 
 These terms carry with them their own definition. 
 
 Advantages of Each. — Each of these kinds of sentences has 
 its advantage. Short sentences are more easily understood, and, 
 if introduced after a number of long ones, give sprightliness and 
 animation, as well as relieve the monotony by variety. If, how- 
 ever, too many of them are used together, the effect is irksome, 
 because abrupt. Long sentences, on the other hand, although 
 requiring closer attention, afford greater scope for the addition of
 
 LOOSE SENTENCES. 13 
 
 subordinate particulars, for the expansion of the main thought, and 
 for the introduction of finer oratorical cadences. 
 
 When Used. — It is impossible to lay down rules to determine 
 when each of the different classes of sentences should be used. 
 Perhaps, the loose sentence is best adapted to composition in which 
 simplicity and clearness are the aim, such as narration, description, 
 and exposition ; the periodic and the compromise, to those which 
 are required to be forcible, as persuasion ; the balanced sentence, 
 to satire, and to essays, in which characters or subjects are com- 
 pared or set off by contrast. Long and short sentences should be 
 introduced to relieve one another. As the continuous use of any 
 one kind becomes monotonous, the best rule that can be given is 
 to study variety. 
 
 EXERCISE IV. 
 Periodic and Loose Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Reconstruct these Periodic Sentences into Loose Sentences. 
 
 1. He excelled both in ability and in industry. 
 
 2. She spent her time either in sewing or in reading. 
 
 3. Without further preface he conducted them into his little 
 schoolroom. 
 
 4. While the sacred words, " I am a Roman citizen," were on 
 his lips, you ordered him to death. 
 
 5. If a doubt remains on the mind of any member, let him 
 examine the trade returns of the several States. 
 
 6. Were this opinion well founded, one generation would have 
 no advantage over another. 
 
 7. Unless this measure is clearly constitutional, I shall not vote 
 for it. 
 
 8. Where this is the case in any part of the world, those who 
 are free are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. 
 
 9. When he was not under the influence of some strange 
 scruple, or some domineering passion, which prevented him from 
 boldly and fairly investigating a subject, he was a wary and acute 
 reasoner.
 
 14 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 10. When he talked, he clothed his wit and his sense in forcible 
 and natural expressions. 
 
 11. It was during the thirty years which preceded the appear- 
 ance of Johnson's Lives that the diction and versification of Eng- 
 lish poetry were, in the sense in which the word is commonly used, 
 most correct. 
 
 12. Supposing the story true, we may remark that the gradual 
 change of manners, though imperceptible in the process, appears 
 great when different times, and those not very distant, are com- 
 pared. 
 
 13. Of the mind that can trade in corruption, and can deliber- 
 ately pollute itself with ideal wickedness for the sake of spreading 
 the contagion in society, I wish not to conceal or excuse the 
 depravity. 
 
 EXERCISE V. 
 
 Loose and Periodic Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Reconstruct each of these Loose Sentences into one or more 
 Periodic Sentences. 
 
 1. He repaid her by breaking her fortune, and nearly breaking 
 her heart. 
 
 2. We welcome you to the blessings of good government and 
 religious liberty. 
 
 3. The waves rolled over his head and threatened to drown him, 
 but he reached the shore in safety. 
 
 4. Olivia would be drawn as an Amazon, sitting upon a bank 
 of flowers, dressed in a green Joseph, richly laced with gold, and 
 a whip in her hand. 
 
 5. Alice could not see his blushing cheek, but she noticed his 
 hesitation and that he retracted the promise he had made. 
 
 6. Spenser's poem strikes the note of the coming Puritanism 
 both in its conception and in the way in which its conception is 
 realized in the portion of the work that he completed. 
 
 7. His habitation is some poor thatched roof, distinguished from 
 his barn by the loop-holes that let out smoke, which the rain had
 
 COMBINING SENTENCES. 1 5 
 
 long since washed through but for the double ceiling of bacon on 
 the inside, which has hung there from his grandsire's time, and is 
 yet to make rashers for posterity. 
 
 & I hereby caution all parties against giving credit in my name 
 without an order from me, as I will not be responsible for the same 
 after this date, without my written order. 
 
 9. Mr. Pym was looked upon as the man of greatest experience 
 in Parliament, where he had served very long, and was always a 
 man of business, being an officer in the Exchequer, and of a good 
 reputation generally, though known to be inclined to the Puritan 
 party ; not yet so furiously resolved against the Church as the other 
 leading men were, and wholly devoted to the Earl of Bedford, who 
 had nothing of that spirit. 
 
 10. A history that does not serve this purpose would be per- 
 fectly useless, though it might be filled with battles and commo- 
 tions. 
 
 11. The mind is crippled and contracted by perpetual attention 
 to the same ideas ; just as any act or posture, long continued, will 
 disfigure the limbs. 
 
 12. This happy region was peopled with innumerable swarms 
 of spirits, who applied themselves to exercises and diversions 
 according as their fancies led them. 
 
 EXERCISE VI. 
 
 Combining Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Combine the following short sentences into longer ones. 
 
 Caution. — In combining short sentences into longer ones, the pupil should 
 be careful to give every part its proper place. The leading thoughts must 
 form the principal clauses and the others must occupy positions of subordina- 
 tion, corresponding to their importance. For example, in combining the 
 statements, " In 1857 an Act was passed. It cut down the average of duty 
 to twenty per cent," if we wish to give " the passing of the Act " promi- 
 nence, the sentence will read, " In 1857 an Act was passed, cutting down," 
 etc. If, however, we desire to give prominence to the "cutting down of 
 the average of duty to twenty per cent," then we must write, " The average 
 of duty was cut down to twenty per cent by an Act passed in 1857."
 
 l6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Separate. — A frog had seen an ox. She wanted to make her- 
 self as big as he. She attempted it. She burst asunder. 
 
 Combined. — (i) A frog had seen an ox, and wanted to make 
 herself as big as he ; but whep she attempted it she burst asunder. 
 
 (2) A frog that had seen an ox, and wanted to make herself as 
 big as he, burst asunder when she attempted it. 
 
 (3) When the frog burst asunder, she was wishing and attempt- 
 ing to make herself as big as an ox which she had seen. 
 
 (4) Because a frog, when she had seen an ox, wanted to make 
 herself as big as he, and attempted it, she burst asunder. 
 
 (5) It is said that a frog, having seen an ox, wanted to make 
 herself as big as he, and burst asunder in the attempt. 
 
 1. He drew a picture of his old home. It showed the house. 
 He was born in it. It showed the barns. It showed the orchard. 
 
 2. They played on. They played till six in the evening. They 
 then desisted. They desisted till after dinner. 
 
 3. He reached his house. He gave orders. He was not to be 
 disturbed. He went to bed. He tried to sleep. He tried in 
 vain. 
 
 4. The Declaration of Indej^endence was agreed to. It was 
 agreed to on the 4th of July. It was engrossed on paper. It 
 was signed. John Hancock signed it. He was president of the 
 Congress. 
 
 5. Fair sir, you spit upon me. It was last Wednesday morning. 
 You called me dog. That was another time. I am to lend you 
 money. It is for these courtesies. 
 
 6. Xerxes resolved to invade Greece. He raised an army. The 
 army consisted of two millions of men. This was the greatest force 
 ever brought into the field. 
 
 7. He then left the lists. But he returned. He returned almost 
 immediately. He had in his hand a willow wand. It was long. 
 It was about six feet long. It was straight. It was thick. It was 
 thicker than a man's thumb. 
 
 8. I struck the man in self-defence. I explained this to the 
 magistrate. He would not believe me. Witnesses were called to
 
 THE RESOLVING OF SENTENCES. 1 7 
 
 support my statements. He committed me to prison. He had 
 a right to do this. Tliis riglit is rarely exercised in such circum- 
 stances. I remonstrated. 
 
 9. Then two or three boys laughed. They sneered. A big 
 fellow was standing in the middle of the room. He picked up a 
 slipper. He shied at the boy. The boy was kneeling. The big 
 fellow called him a snivelling young fellow. 
 
 10. The ceiling is arched and lofty. At one end is a gallery. 
 In this there is an organ. The room was once adorned with weap- 
 ons and trophies of the chase. The walls are now covered with 
 family portraits. 
 
 11. The Baron had just drawn on his jack-boots. He had 
 girded on his sword. He was about to mount. He intended to 
 sally forth. An apparition made him pause. A lady was approach- 
 ing. She was mounted on a palfrey. She was attended by a 
 cavalier; He was on horseback. She galloped up to the gate. 
 She sprang from her horse. She fell at the Baron's feet. She 
 embraced him. 
 
 12. The Agnostic tells me he is blind and deaf, dumb, torpid, 
 and dead to the spiritual. I must believe him. Jesus tells me that. 
 Paul tells me that. Science tells me that. He knows nothing of 
 this outermost circle. We are compelled to trust his sincerity. 
 
 EXERCISE VII. 
 
 The Resolving of Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Resolve these sentences into simple statements. 
 
 Combined. — All the rest of that day Assar was kept busy with 
 his master in counting out money, and making up accounts ; and," 
 though his brain was in a whirl, yet he made no mistakes. 
 
 Separate. — Assar was kept busy that day. He was kept busy 
 all that day. He was kept busy with his master. He was kept 
 busy counting money. He was kept busy making up accounts. 
 His brain was in a whirl. He made no mistakes.
 
 1 8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1 . I was born on the side of a mountain, near a village of Peru, 
 and made a voyage to England in an ingot, under the convoy of 
 Sir Francis Drake. 
 
 2. The people favored my disposition and shifted me so fast 
 from hand to hand, that, before I was five years old, I had travelled 
 into almost every corner of the nation. 
 
 3. The Mound-builders knew how to model in clay a variety 
 of objects, such as birds, quadrupeds, and human faces. They 
 practised farming, though they had no domestic animals to help 
 them. 
 
 4. Livingstone's example and death have acted like an inspi- 
 ration, filling Africa with an army of explorers and missionaries, 
 and raising in Europe a powerful feeling against the slave-trade. 
 
 5.. When the prisoners were ordered to enter the cell, they 
 miagined the soldiers were joking ; and being in high spirits on 
 account of the promise of the Nabob to spare their lives, they 
 laughed and jested at the absurdity of the notion. 
 
 6. Mr. Pickwick paused, considered, pulled off his gloves, and 
 put them in his hat, took two or three short runs, balked himself 
 as often, and at last took another run and went slowly down the 
 slide. 
 
 7. On the 2d April, Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth with 
 four vessels belonging to the Queen, and with twenty-four furnished 
 by the merchants of London, and other private individuals. 
 
 8. After the Restoration the entire control of printing was placed 
 in the hands of the Government by the Licensing Act of 1662, 
 which, though originally passed only for three years, was continued 
 by subsequent renewals until 1679. 
 
 9. Of nervous fire, indeed, he had an abundance, though it was 
 not the fire which flames up in the radiant colors of a strong 
 imagination. It was rather the glow of a thoroughly convinced 
 reason, of intellectual ingenuity, of argumentative keenness. 
 
 10. The new and fair lady of Castlewood found the sad, lonely 
 little occupant of this gallery busy over his great book, which he 
 laid down when he was aware that a stranger was at hand.
 
 BALANCED SENTENCES. I9 
 
 EXERCISE VIII. 
 
 Balanced Sentences. 
 
 1. Construct balanced sentences containing parallel statements 
 about, — genius and wealth, hope and expectation, honor and 
 dignity, bravery and courage, wit and humor, pleasure and profit, 
 promising and performing, grammar and rhetoric, poetry and 
 painting, advice and money, shrewdness and hard work, fame and 
 fortune, sympathy and support. 
 
 2. Form balanced sentences containing statements about the 
 opposites, — love and hate, virtue and vice, labor and rest, summer 
 and winter, pride and humility, knowledge and ignorance, inno- 
 cence and guilt, friend and enemy, violence and moderation, wis- 
 dom and folly, pleasure and pain, right and wrong, flattery and 
 detraction, reward and penalty, sobriety and drunkenness, ornament 
 and blemish, taste and vulgarity, beauty and ugliness, contentment 
 and discontentment, perspicuity and obscurity. 
 
 3. Draw up a series of contrasts about — North and South 
 America, Italy and Switzerland, France and England, Canada and 
 the United States, history and geography, mathematics and classics, 
 reading and writing, Scott and Byron, Pope and Cowper, Irving 
 and Goldsmith. 
 
 4. Make the parts of the following balanced sentences similar 
 in form : — 
 
 a. A wise son maketh a glad father ; but a son that is foolish 
 causes his mother much sorrow. 
 
 d. The errors of young men are the ruin of business ; but when 
 aged men err it is in not doing more or in not acting sooner. 
 
 c. I do not think that a broken heart is fatal to many of my 
 own sex ; but it is easy for me to believe that it withers many a 
 lovely woman into an early grave. 
 
 d. The character of Milton was distinguished by loftiness of 
 thought ; Dante had intensity of feeling. 
 
 e. It never occurred to Southey that a rumor does not always 
 prove a fact ; that a theory may not always be established by facts.
 
 20 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON V. 
 
 CAPITALIZATION, 
 
 Capitals are used in the following cases : — 
 ^i . The first word of a sentence. 
 
 2. The first word of every line of poetry. 
 
 3. Nouns personified ; as, " Come, gentle Spring." 
 
 4. The words I and O, 
 
 ^ 5. Every proper name. This includes : — 
 
 /a. The chief parts of a compound ; as, " New York," 
 "Alexander the Great." 
 
 b. The names of the months and the days of the week. 
 
 c. All names of the Deity ; as, "The Supreme Ruler," "The 
 
 Most High." Practice varies in the case of pronouns. 
 
 d. All the names of the Bible and of its books. If the Bible 
 
 is thought of merely as a book, a small letter is used ; 
 as, " He sold bibles and other books." 
 
 e. The names of the cardinal points, except when used to 
 
 express mere direction ; as, " He went north." 
 
 f. Titles of honor, respect, or office when joined to a 
 
 proper name of which they really form a part ; as, 
 " It was Queen Elizabeth that beheaded Lord Bur- 
 leigh." 
 
 g. Common nouns that are closely joined with proper 
 
 names ; as, " The Lake of the Woods," " The Chesa- 
 peake Bay," " Simcoe Street." 
 
 h. Any word that for the time being is used as a proper 
 name ; as, "The Wars of the Roses," "The Declaration 
 of Independence." 
 
 /. Every adjective derived from a proper name ; as, Roman, 
 American. Adjectives that have assumed a general 
 meaning are written with a small letter ; as, mercurial, 
 herculean.
 
 CAPITALIZATION. 21 
 
 6. Words that have some special importance ; as, " When a 
 woman is introduced into the Director's presence." A capital is 
 not used when the words have their ordinary application ; as, "He 
 is a director in the company." 
 
 /-^ 7. The first word of a direct quotation ; as, " He inquired, 
 • Where did your father live ? ' " If the quotation falls in with 
 the grammatical construction of the sentence, a small letter is used. 
 \^8. The principal words in the name of a book or in the title or 
 heading when in the body of discourse ; "The Position and Influ- 
 ence of Lord Byron's Poetry." 
 
 9. The titles of books, the headings, chapters, and sections are 
 generally written entirely in capitals. This is on the principle that 
 in fancy printing capitals are placed wherever they add to the 
 appearance. 
 
 10. To denote emphasis ; as, " He cried out, ' Strike ! Strike ! 
 Strike ! STRIKE ! ' " 
 
 1 1 . With the first word in each part of an enumeration when 
 the numbers are followed by a period. If the numbers are 
 enclosed in parentheses, small letters are used. 
 
 1 2. The first word of a sentence embodied in another sentence ; 
 as, "The question is, Who will be elected?" 
 
 13. To begin the real statement after an introductory word ; 
 as, " Resolved, That we, etc." 
 
 14. In some special cases in letters. See below. 
 
 15. Any important word that is repeated in the body of dis- 
 course. This rule should not be carried too far. 
 
 EXERCISE IX. 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Direction. — Write out the following, with capitals in the proper places. 
 Give reasons. 
 
 1. mr. partridge, secretary of the discharged prisoner's aid 
 society. 
 
 2. ben-hur : or, the days of the messiah, by lew Wallace.
 
 22 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 3. richard whately, lord archbishop of london, and sir Joshua 
 jebb, k.c.b. 
 
 4. when it was said to anaxagorus, " the athenians have con- 
 demned you to die," he said again, " and nature them." 
 
 5. the first works from caxton's press were " the game of chess " 
 and " the poems of chancer." 
 
 6. and freedom shrieked when kosciusko fell. 
 
 7. The poem is entitled english bards and scotch reviewers. 
 
 8. The lake of the woods is a fine sheet of water. 
 
 9. The committee drew up the following by-laws: i. that no 
 cattle be allowed on the streets; 2. that the lights be put out at 
 midnight. 
 
 10. The queen of sheba came to see king solomon's glory. 
 
 11. The last book of the old testament is called the book of 
 malachi. 
 
 12. He looked north and said, "the north is to be our future 
 home." 
 
 13. On coming back to maine on txiesday, november the 3d, 
 he found himself without a dollar in his pocket. 
 
 14. An invitation was sent to william, prince of orange, to come 
 and take the english throne. 
 
 15. He entered tlfe lists against luther with an "assertion of 
 the seven sacraments^' for which he was rewarded with the title 
 of " defender of the faith." 
 
 16. He travelled from new hampshire to nova scotia. 
 
 17. We have had our "revolutions of eighty-eight" officially 
 called " glorious " ; and our other revolutions not yet called 
 glorious. 
 
 18. Alas ! for the rarity of christian charity in the old world. 
 
 19. He set out on a friday early in the month of april and 
 travelled due north, hoping to reach the north pole. 
 
 20. The question, " whence are we and whither are we going? " 
 has re-echoed all down the ages. 
 
 21. The works of the creator of the universe could not hav^e 
 existed without the wisdom of a creator.
 
 PUNCTUATION. 23 
 
 LESSON VI. 
 
 PUNCTUATION. 
 
 Punctuation is a method of indicating the construction of a 
 sentence. Hence the grand rule that sliould guide us in punctu- 
 ating is : Understand the construction, and then punctuate so as 
 to show it. 
 
 Marks Used. — The principal marks used in punctuation are : — 
 The Comma (,), the Semi-colon (;), the Colon (:), the Dash 
 ( — ), the Period (.), the Interrogation Point (?), the Exclama- 
 tion Point (!), the Curves [()], the Caret (a). 
 
 The Comma. 
 
 The Comma is used : — 
 I. To isolate — 
 \a. The nominative absolute; as, "That finished, our duty 
 is done." 
 b. The nominative of address ; as, " O Grave, where is thy 
 victory?" 
 Vc. Words in apposition ; as, " Brutus, the last of the Romans, 
 was noble." 
 d. The relative clause when not restrictive ; as, " The sun, 
 
 which shines above, is golden." 
 ^e. Intermediate expressions ; as, " The sun, with its planets, 
 
 is but a small portion of the universe." 
 / Dependent clauses ; as, " Uriah proceeded, as I sat gazing 
 
 at him, with this thought in mind." 
 g. Phrases and single words used parenthetically ; such as 
 then, therefore, however, too, indeed, perhaps, surely, 
 finally, namely, in short, in fact, in brief, no doubt, as 
 it were, to be sure, of course, after all, to be brief; as, 
 " Poetry has, nevertheless, a refining influence."
 
 24 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Some of these words may be used with an adverbial 
 force only and then take no comma ; as, " However 
 wise he may be." 
 K^. Adverbs or phrases of order ; as, " In the first place, let 
 us deal with the spiritual." / 
 2. Between pairs of words or phrases ; as, " The rich and poor 
 the weak and strong, have one common father." 
 >'''3. When a word is omitted ; as, " To err is human ; to forgive, 
 divine." " Alfred was brave, pious, and patriotic." 
 
 It should be observed that the comma is inserted before 
 the and connecting the last of the series. Sometimes when 
 the parts are emphatic, the comma and the and are both 
 
 inserted. 
 
 4. To separate the parts of a compound sentence, if they are 
 simple in construction; as, "We can tolerate the first line, but 
 the allusion to trees is unsatisfactory." 
 
 If the parts are short and closely connected in sense, no comma 
 is needed. 
 
 5. To set off inverted phrases and clauses standing at the 
 beginning of a sentence ; as, " To obtain an education, he was 
 willing to make sacrifices." 
 
 The comma is often omitted in short sentences. 
 
 6. To separate adjectives qualifying the same noun, except 
 when the second adjective and the noun form a complex idea, 
 as in " His red right hand." 
 
 7. Before short direct quotations ; as, " The poet says, ' Be wise 
 to-day.' " 
 
 8. Before the predicate when the subject is long, or when it 
 has several qualifying words or phrases ; as, " Any one that refuses 
 to earn an honest livelihood, is not an object of charity." 
 
 9. To set off negative expressions, used by way of contrast ; 
 as, "The king, but not his councillors, was present." 
 
 10. Before a clause or phrase that is used loosely or apposi- 
 tively ; as, " There was no remains of the clown about him, save 
 and except the redness of his cheeks."
 
 THE COMMA. 2$ 
 
 11. Between a word and its repetition; as, "Sweet, sweet 
 home." 
 
 12. Between the parts of a transposed name ; as, " Thompson, 
 Henry S." 
 
 13. Before the explanatory or; as, "The skull, or cranium." 
 
 14. Between words or phrases that express contrast ; as, " Though 
 deep, yet clear." 
 
 15. To divide figures ; as, 7,840,321. 
 
 16. To separate titles and degrees from proper names, also 
 from each other; as, "John Campbell, M.A., Ph.D." 
 
 EXERCISE X. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Direction. — Insert commas in the proper places, and give your reason in 
 each case. 
 
 1. What, then is your view of it? 
 
 2. Truth -like gold shines brighter by collision. 
 
 3. Nature's sweet restorer balmy sleep. 
 
 4. All classes high and low rich and poor have the same oppor- 
 tunities. 
 
 5. To work is pleasant ; to ridejiealthful. 
 
 6. There being no remedy. he determined to endure his afflic- 
 tion. 
 
 7. Practically indeed^ the religious question hardly existed there. 
 
 8. Spring returning, the swallows reappear. 
 
 9. Destiny which gives and takes away.,_transfers fame from one 
 to another. 
 
 10. When fell the night, up sprung the breeze. 
 
 11. To gratify his wish, I was willing to do anything. 
 
 12. Our own heart, not others' opinions .forms our true honor. 
 
 13. It is an incessant act of creation ever advancing and ever 
 developing. 
 
 14. No man unless he is an absolute beggar should expect to 
 receive an education for nothing, any more than a loaf of bread.
 
 26 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 15. Having frowned upon the abashed Bob ^ the old gentleman 
 began to read the letter. 
 
 16. What lay there was if I saw aright a wingless bird. 
 
 17. Come back come back Horatius, 
 
 18. Volcanoes throw out melted rock, or lava~ ashes .sand and 
 dust. 
 
 19. Sugar. also is found there as for example in the sugar-beet. 
 
 20. He could not only lead .but mould an army. 
 
 21. It is easy Mrs. Dial, for you, who have always as every one 
 knows. set yourself above me to account for laziness. 
 
 22. The spirit. and not the letter of the law.should be followed. 
 
 23. He evinced astonishment at the eccentric^ not to say ex- 
 traordinary .behavior of his companions. 
 
 24. Yeta poet^to be a poet^must do something more. 
 
 25. The poetjwhen he finds a truth not to his liking forth- 
 with derides evades or perverts it. 
 
 LESSON VII. 
 
 The Semi-colon. 
 
 The semi-colon is used : — 
 
 I. To separate the members of a compound sentence less 
 closely connected than those requiring a comma. This may 
 occur : — 
 
 a. In contrasts ; as, " Flattery brings friends ; truth brings 
 
 foes." 
 
 b. In enumerations, when the parts are particulars indicated, 
 
 or preceded by a colon ; as, " The following articles 
 were to be added to the free Hst : agricultural imple- 
 ments ; bark for tanning purposes ; bath bricks ; bricks 
 for building ; hay ; lime ; malt ; manufactures of iron 
 and steel."
 
 THE SEMI-COLON. 2/ 
 
 c. When the parts are short, independent sentences, but 
 are written as a compound sentence to avoid abrupt- 
 ness; as, "Caesar was dead; the soldiers were dis- 
 persed ; all Rome was in confusion." 
 
 2. To separate such members of a sentence as are already sub- 
 divided by commas ; as, " A man ought warily to begin changes, 
 which once begun will continue ; but in matters that return not, 
 he may be more magnificent." 
 
 3. When a sentence, complete in itself, is followed by a clause 
 containing an inference, consequence, iteration, or enumeration ; 
 as, *' Of what consequence are all the qualities of a doctrine, if that 
 doctrine is not communicated ; and communicated it is not, if it 
 be not understood." 
 
 4. Before as followed by an example. See illustrations in this 
 Lesson. 
 
 The Colon. 
 
 The colon is used : — * 
 
 1. To indicate a greater break than that indicated by the semi- 
 colon. For example, parts that have the semi-colon are separated 
 by a colon. See (i. <^) above. 
 
 2. Before a sentence added as an explanation of a word or sen- 
 tence ; as, " English Grammar : an exposition of the Principles and 
 Usages of the English Language." 
 
 3. Before a direct quotation ; as, " Pope makes this remark : 
 ' There never was any party in which the most ignorant were not 
 the most violent.' " 
 
 When the quotation is short, a comma is used instead of a 
 colon. 
 
 4. A colon may be used instead of a semi-colon when the con- 
 nective is omitted. 
 
 5. A full stop or a dash is now often used where a colon would 
 formerly have been placed. See Bacon's Essays.
 
 28 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XI. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Direction. — Insert commas, semi-colons, and colons where they are re- 
 quired. State your reason in each case. 
 
 1. Economy is no disgrace it is better to live on a little than to 
 outlive a great deal. 
 
 2. You have called yourself an atom in the universe you have 
 said you are but an insect in the solar blaze is your present pride 
 consistent with these professions. 
 
 3. Mr. Gladstone says " The older I grow the more confirmed 
 I am in my faith in religion." 
 
 4. Our strongest sentiments are enveloped in obscurity modesty 
 virtuous love sincere friendship have all their secrets which the 
 world must not know. 
 
 5. The lake the bay the waterfall and then the spirit of them 
 all. 
 
 6. Mercy is twice blessed it blesseth him that gives and him 
 that takes. 
 
 7. Man counts his life by years the oak by centuries. 
 
 8. The artillery closes up the flanking fire from the gims opens 
 upon the head of their column the column breaks the Duke seizes 
 the moment and advances toward the ridge. 
 
 9. Provisions having failed the garrison was obliged to capitu- 
 late one of the terms being departure with military honors. 
 
 10. While I write the bell rings I wonder if it tells the correct 
 time strange is it not if it does. 
 
 11. You may swell every expense still more extravagantly accu- 
 mulate every assistance you can beg or borrow traffic and barter 
 with every prince that sends his subjects to the shambles of a 
 foreign country your efforts are forever vain and impotent. 
 
 12. He always observed the metrical form which is of itself of 
 the nature of poetry he also used the choicest of ordinary words 
 for the expression of fact very often he did more.
 
 THE DASH. 29 
 
 13. Poetic truth is a misnomer it is a play upon words. 
 
 14. He had brought all but one and that one was very heavy 
 had he had more time he could have brought it also. 
 
 15. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. 
 
 16. The outhne of the story was A slave determined to avenge 
 his own wrongs by inflicting terror upon the town. 
 
 17. The first great lesson a young man should learn is that he 
 knows nothing and the earlier and more thoroughly this lesson is 
 learned the better. 
 
 18. Reading makes a full man conference a ready man and 
 writing an exact man. 
 
 19. If the ship strikes upon Scylla it is dashed in pieces upon 
 the rocks if upon Charybdis it is swallowed outright. 
 
 20. The proposed treaty suggested (i) that the duration of the 
 treaty should be twenty-one years (2) that all the conditions of 
 the old treaty of 1854 should be renewed. 
 
 21. For Addison three defences may be set up (i) his satire 
 arouses no bitterness (2) it is never personal (3) it is always 
 employed on the side of virtue. 
 
 LESSON VIII. 
 
 The Dash. 
 
 The dash is used : — 
 
 1 . To indicate a pause made for rhetorical effect ; as, " I have 
 — only poverty and rags." 
 
 2. To mark suppressed feeling or an unexpected turn in the 
 sentiment ; as, " He had no malice on his mind — no ruffles on 
 his shirt." 
 
 3. Instead of parentheses or commas, especially when the par- 
 enthetical clause is abrupt or unexpected ; as, " I believe — at 
 least I know — that he was not rich."
 
 30 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 4. Between words repeated for emphasis; as, "Oh, do not— • 
 do not forsake me." 
 
 5. When such words as that is, najnely, as, are omitted ; as, 
 " They hastened onward — these three." 
 
 6. To denote a deUberate or hesitating manner of utterance ; 
 as, "I thought — you might — just — want — to." 
 
 7. Before a Word or clause that sums up preceding particu- 
 lars ; as, " Tears, prayers, supphcations — none of these moved 
 him." 
 
 8. Between the expressions ot different speakers in a dialogue, 
 when those expressions are written in the same Hne. 
 
 9. To denote an omission of : — 
 
 a. Letters in a word ; as, " He was born in C .*' 
 
 d. Figures or words ; as, " In the year " ; " In 18 — " ; 
 
 "Sections 1-56"; "Think of the time wasted, 
 
 of ." 
 
 10. With other stops : — 
 
 a. To denote a longer pause. 
 /k Before a quotation, if long. 
 
 c. After a side-head. 
 
 d. Before the name of an author whose words are quoted. 
 
 e. Before a new paragraph that drops to the next line. 
 
 The Pekiod. 
 The period is used : — 
 . I. After every complete sentence not interrogative or exclama- 
 tory. _, 
 2. ' After abbreviations ; as, Mo., LL.B., Dr. 
 With some familiar abbreviations the period is omitted ; as, 
 cab, Tom. 
 
 3. After Roman numerals, except in paging ; as, " Charles XII. 
 of Sweden." 
 
 4. After headings ; as, "Thomson's Seasons." 
 
 5. After signatures ; as, " U. S. Grant." 
 
 6. Before a decimal ; as, .042.
 
 THE PERIOD. 31 
 
 EXERCISE XII. 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences insert dashes, commas, and periods 
 Give reasons. 
 
 1. The marble floor was as smooth as glass he slipped he fell. 
 
 2. The farmers asked for a reduction of taxes and they got the 
 minister's blessing. 
 
 3. Something too much of this but now it is past and the spell 
 closes. 
 
 4. A Roman has his dignity to keep up and dignity is expensive 
 Clodius must cheat like a scoundrel to live like a gentleman. 
 
 5. Rider and horse friend and foe in one red burial blent. 
 
 6. I reverence the afflictions of a good man his sorrows are sacred. 
 
 7. He uttered no prayer no groan. 
 
 8. I felt yes idiot that I am I felt degraded. 
 
 9. The manner may be full of respect every word of impatience 
 repressed and yet the wits of the listener may be wool-gathering. 
 
 10. You she sobbed are a woman you have had sisters feel for 
 me save me. 
 
 1 1 . Give it no name earth has no name for it it is not of earth 
 why debase it with earthly epithets. 
 
 12. Has he been ill asked the child with a child's quick sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 13. You will marry some one much older five and iwenty years 
 perhaps than yourself. 
 
 14. To sit in dumb silence and be forever a recipient a bucket 
 eternally pumped into without power of reaction is doubtless good 
 for no man. 
 
 15. He was tolerably learned but chiefly in civil polity. 
 
 16. Does he forget and if he does Russel can give a case paral- 
 lel to his own but more full of instruction. 
 
 1 7. See Prov xx 2 5 also Is chap xxviii verse 9 and Matt xi 3. 
 
 18. Parse is derived from the \j3X pars lit a part. 
 
 19. Decimal 01422 divided by 9 gives decimal 00158.
 
 32 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 20. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon 
 him by the University of Leipsic and now he writes his name 
 John Jones M A Ph D. 
 
 2 1 . Such titles as K C B K G F and K G C do not flourish oa 
 this continent. 
 
 LESSON IX. 
 
 The Interrogation Point. 
 
 The interrogation point is used : — 
 
 1 . After every sentence that contains a direct question ; as, " How 
 can I tell? " " ' Where is the boat? ' exclaimed the captain." 
 
 In the indirect form it is not used ; as, " The gentleman asked 
 the groom where the horse was." 
 
 2. In curves to express doubt ; as, ■' It happened in the year 
 i856(?)." 
 
 The Exclamation Point. 
 
 The exclamation point is used : — 
 
 1. After interjections ; as, " Pshaw ! " " dear me ! " 
 
 2. After invocations ; as, " Hail, holy light ! offspring of heaven, 
 first-born ! " 
 
 3. After clauses or sentences that express sudden or violent 
 emotion ; as, " What is more admirable than virtue ! " 
 
 t 
 
 Quotation Marks. 
 
 Quotation marks are used : — 
 
 I. To enclose words that are the exact language of some other 
 person. 
 
 a. When a quotation contains another quotation, double 
 marks are used ; as, " This friend of humanity says : 
 ' When I consider their lives, I seem to see the 
 " golden age " beginning again.' "
 
 OTHER POINTS. 33 
 
 b. If a parenthetical phrase intervenes between parts of a 
 
 quotation, the marks are placed before and after each 
 
 part; as, "I weep," said he, "because weeping will 
 
 not help." 
 
 2. To enclose the names of books, magazines, papers, ships, 
 
 engines, and the like ; as, " Harper's Weekly." 
 
 When such names are written in italics the quotation marks are 
 not used. 
 
 The Apostrophe. 
 
 The apostrophe is used : — 
 
 1. To denote the omission of one or more letters or figures; 
 as, " That is o'er." " The war of '37." 
 
 2. To form the possessive case ; as, "The man's hand." " For 
 righteousness' sake." 
 
 3. To form some plurals; as, "Dot your t's." "He uses too 
 many if's." 
 
 Parentheses. 
 
 Parentheses are used : — 
 
 1. To enclose some incidental remark that does not affect the 
 structure of the sentence ; as, " I told him (and who would not ?) 
 just what I thought." 
 
 2. To enclose anything that cannot enter into the sentence; 
 as, (hear, hear). 
 
 The Hyphen. 
 
 The hyphen is used : — 
 
 1 . To join the parts of a compound word ; as, " Sense-construc- 
 tions." 
 
 2. At the end of a line to show that part of a word is carried to 
 the next line. 
 
 The Caret. 
 
 The caret is used to show that a word or words are omitted j 
 as, with 
 
 " He came along ^ a friend."
 
 34 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XIII. 
 
 Punctuation, 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences insert, where required, commas, 
 exclamation points, interrogation points, apostrophes, quotation marks, paren- 
 theses, hyphens, and other necessary marks. 
 
 1. Of Greece Byron says whereer we tread tis holy haunted 
 ground. 
 
 2. Alas said I man was made to mourn. 
 
 3. Fight on fight on said he. 
 
 4. Thou art Freedoms now and Fames. 
 
 5. He said it oer and oer. » 
 
 6. Let me go sir it is all I ask said he. 
 
 7. Believe it believe it yet cried Albert grasping his friends 
 hand. 
 
 8. Mrs Sarah said I I couldnt resist coming across the field. 
 
 9. It is for you to determine under God in what condition pos- 
 terity shall be born. 
 
 10. Expend expense tells us that money was once weighed out 
 Gen xxxiii 16. 
 
 11. A Chinese work contains this Fortune tellers rub the point 
 of a needle to give it the power of indicating the south. 
 
 12. They are apt to say with the old woman of Moliere He 
 speaks so well that I dont understand him a bit. 
 
 13. Why said he should I shun the name of an an he hesitated 
 for a phrase an out of doors artist. 
 
 14. I charge you said he to take away that man meaning the 
 judge in the red gown. 
 
 15. Tomorrow will be like today. 
 
 16. He did he did cried Sarah Pecker. 
 
 17. Madge Madge what have ye done with the horse was asked 
 by the men without. 
 
 18. Saved your life I have heard that story said the lady. 
 
 19. Plague on thee said Bucklaw interrupting and on me for 
 listening to you.
 
 GENERAL EXERCISE ON PUNCTUATION. 35 
 
 20. Read no farther said Deans the question is what is to be done. 
 
 21. O Procrastination exclaimed the hermit thou art a soul mur- 
 derer Unhappy man farewell not for a while but until we both 
 shall meet no matter where. 
 
 EXERCISE XIV. 
 
 General Exercise on Punctuation. 
 
 Direction. — Study these sentences till you understand their construction, 
 and then punctuate them in accordance with the rules given in the preceding 
 lessons. 
 
 1. Deut XX 21 2 Sam xix 23 A D 1890. 
 
 2. Bot 9 mos credit 4 yds 3 qrs at 12 cts a yd. 
 
 3. Habemus confiientem reiim We have the accused one con- 
 fessing / e you plead guilty. 
 
 4. The revolt however was important. 
 
 5. Seeing the fertile plains of Gaul they were dissatisfied with 
 their own land. 
 
 6. The hubbub was fearful even the critics took fright. 
 
 7. And what conclusion after all can be drawn from mere 
 inferiority ? 
 
 8. Byron had little dramatic talent he could not go out of 
 himself. 
 
 9. The weapons of a Roman soldier were of two kinds ( i) offen- 
 sive weapons (a) the javelin {b) the sword gladius (2) defensive 
 weapons (a) a brazen helmet {b) a cuirass (<r) greaves {d) a 
 shield. 
 
 10. He designated the greatest man then living as that reptile 
 Mr Burke. 
 
 11. That resolution was indeed unjust but till it was rescinded 
 could the minister advise the king to bestow any mark of appro- 
 bation on the person censured. 
 
 12. O thou that bringest good tidings aid me. 
 
 13. The French having been dispersed in a gale put back to 
 Toulon.
 
 36 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 14. Virtue merit everything that is praiseworthy will be made 
 the subject of ridicule. 
 
 15. With all his faults and they were neither few nor small only 
 one cemetery was worthy to contain his remains. 
 
 16. So came the autumn and passed and the winter yet Gabriel 
 came not. 
 
 17. This friend of humanity says When I consider their lives I 
 seem to see the golden age beginning again. 
 
 18. The double value it will be noticed is obtained in the same 
 way. 
 
 19. He was carried to a neighboring house where it appeared 
 that the wound though severe was not mortal. 
 
 20. The authors of the Act had established two independent 
 powers the one judicial the other poHtical. 
 
 21. Whatever I have tried to do in life I have tried with all 
 my heart to do well Whatever I have devoted myself to I have 
 devoted myself to completely. 
 
 22. Oh Rouen she said when she saw the lofty scaffold. 
 
 23. Some of his classmates were afterwards men of note e g 
 Abbott the historian Pierce the politician and Cheever the preacher 
 and author. 
 
 24. Thence in February 1827 he set out for Spain and while in 
 Madrid he made the acquaintance of Washington Irving then 
 engaged on his Life of Christopher Columbus. 
 
 25. Let the quotients and remainders be denoted by the letters 
 in the margin then we have the following results that is to say etc. 
 
 26. Each Roman citizen had usually three names the praenomen 
 the nomen and the cognomen. 
 
 27. In the year 600 b c the Greeks of Phocsea in Asia Minor 
 emigrated and settled at Massilia now Marseilles. 
 
 28. In 1843 the year of his second marriage he published a 
 dramatic poem on which he had long been working The Spanish 
 student. 
 
 29. How Conrade murdered and by the Grand Master his 
 sponsor and most intimate friend exclaimed Richard.
 
 GENERAL EXERCISE ON PUNCTUATION. 37 
 
 30. He shortly afterwards took up his residence at H as an 
 inmate of the household of the Rev Dr N. 
 
 3 1 . The spirit does but mean the breath Tennyson. 
 
 32. Distraction if the earth could swallow me. 
 
 33. Tired and hungry sick and sore they continued their march. 
 
 34. He fell over the cliff down down down into that awful 
 abyss. 
 
 35. Listen Listen methinks I hear that dreadful sound. 
 
 36. After his return from Germany he led a desultory life he was 
 in London Malta and Rome. 
 
 37. The character of Coleridge was peculiar his mind was active 
 powerful many-sided in politics religion metaphysics poetry and 
 literary criticism he thought deeply and few spoke more wisely but 
 of all he thought and of all he uttered only fragments remain. 
 
 38. To this day they always use the word political as synony- 
 mous with diplomatic. 
 
 39. Pope saw in the Indian only an object of compassion Fen- 
 nimore Cooper invested him with some dignity and other virtues 
 Longfellow found in him and his surroundings material for poetry. 
 
 40. As to the position pursuits and connections of Junius the 
 following are the most important facts First that he was acquainted 
 with the technical forms of the Secretary of States office secondly 
 he was acquainted with the business of the war office thirdly that 
 he during the year 1770 attended debates in the House of Lords 
 fourthly that he bitterly resented the appointment of Mr Charnier 
 fifthly that he was bound by some strong tie to the first Lord 
 Holland. 
 
 41. Had he permitted me to remain quiet I should have said 
 Tis his estate thats enough It is his by law what have I to do with 
 it or its history? He would naturally have said on his side Tis this 
 mans fortune He is as good now as my ancestor was two hundred 
 and fifty years ago.
 
 38 COMPOSITI-ON AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON X. 
 
 STYLE, 
 
 Style is the manner of expression. 
 
 Its mechanical elements are words, sentences, and paragraphs. 
 As these may be dealt with in an infinite variety of ways, style is 
 as diversified as the minds that produce it ; indeed, more so, for 
 the same person may vary his style according to the nature of the 
 subject with which he is dealing. Besides, every writer puts his 
 individuality into his composition and thereby gives his style a 
 peculiarity of its own. The excellences of style, so far at least as 
 they may be acquired, depend largely on a judicious and cultured 
 choice of words and on the correct and graceful form of sentences 
 and paragraphs. The first of these will be studied under the 
 head of Diction, and the latter under the heads of Formation 
 of Sentences and Construction of Paragraphs. 
 
 Importance. — To be able to clothe one's thoughts in appropri- 
 ate words is an accomplishment that every young person should 
 labor to possess. Language is the dress in which the mind shows 
 itself to the outside world ; and, as neat and seemly clothing ren- 
 ders the body more graceful, so choice and refined speech adorns 
 and beautifies the mind. Other things being equal, the person 
 who has the largest stock of words to choose from will be able to 
 select the aptest words and to frame the happiest expressions. To 
 every person, therefore, who wishes to become either a speaker or 
 a writer, the possession of a pure and wide vocabulary and an 
 accurate knowledge of the exact signification of words is of the 
 highest importance. 
 
 Means. — In the effort to attain such a knowledge and com- 
 mand of language, the following means will be found helpful : — 
 \ I. Listening to good speakers. 
 
 2. Associating with people of culture. 
 
 3. Reading the best authors.
 
 DICTION. 39 
 
 4. Translating with accuracy from other languages. 
 
 5. Unwearied reference to a good dictionary. 
 
 6. The study of some standard work on synonyms. 
 
 7. The study of etymology. 
 
 8. Employing in conversation and composition the vocabulary 
 acquired. 
 
 LESSON XI. 
 I. DICTION. 
 
 Diction is that part of Style which deals with the choice and 
 use of words. 
 
 Its Divisions. — For the purpose of systematic study, Diction 
 may be considered under the following heads : i. Purity ; 2. Pro- 
 priety ; 3. Precision. 
 
 Purity. 
 
 Purity consists in the use of such words, forms, and construc- 
 tions as are justified by the practice of the best writers. 
 
 Standard of Purity. — In the choice of language, we must be 
 guided by two principles. First, we must select such words, forms, 
 and constructions as are familiar to the great body of educated 
 people ; secondly, we must employ only such as are sanctioned by 
 good usage, — that is, by reputable, national, and present usage : 
 reputable, that of the majority of the best writers and speakers, as 
 opposed to that of the uncultivated ; national, as opposed to local, 
 professional, or foreign ; present, as opposed to obsolete or transient. 
 
 Errors in Purity may be dealt with under : ( i ) Violations of 
 Rhetorical Purity, (2) Violations of Grammatical Purity. 
 
 Rhetorical Purity forbids the use of such words, constructions, 
 and forms of expression as are foreign, obsolete, new, or low. 
 
 Grammatical Purity demands attention to the established rules 
 of Syntax.
 
 40 composition and rhetoric. 
 
 Rhetorical Purity. 
 
 Foreign words that are not fully domesticated should be 
 rejected, when it is possible to find pure English words that ade- 
 quately express the meaning. Some foreign words have been so 
 long in use that they have become familiar to ordinary readers, 
 while others express the idea intended more accurately than any 
 native word. They are such as ennui, 710m de plume, fiat, ignora- 
 mus, quorum, incognito, and anathema. Such words as these may 
 be used sparingly, but many of the words that are found in news- 
 papers and other corrupters of our language should be peremp- 
 torily rejected. Do not venture to use such words as hneute, poli- 
 te ssc, dernier res sort, n'importe, ?ious verrons. 
 
 Obsolete words are such as were once current in the language, 
 but are now fallen into disuse. No absolute rule can be given to 
 determine when a word has become so far obsolete that it can be 
 no longer used ; but it may be taken for granted that when words 
 are unintelligible to ordinary readers, the only safe course in prose 
 is to select others in their stead. Such words as erst, whilom, 
 wist, behest, and irks, add dignity to poetic diction, but in prose 
 are to be carefully eschewed. 
 
 New Words. — From a variety of sources new words are being 
 continually introduced into the language. Some of these, such as 
 those required to unfold the principles of a new science, have from 
 the first a recognized standing ; some, being used only in conver- 
 sation and in newspapers, soon disappear forever, while others rise 
 to respectability and become thoroughly established in the lan- 
 guage. The rule to follow in regard to the latter class is, not to 
 use them. Do not say deputize for commission, effectuate for effect, 
 eventuate for end. 
 
 Low "Words. — There is a large class of words that are much 
 used in conversation, and that are continually struggling for a 
 place in the written language. As they are generally brief, and fre- 
 quently used, they are felt to be very expressive. This, no doubt, 
 accounts for the fact that m.any of them have risen to colloquial
 
 PURITY. 41 
 
 respectability, while some have become recognized as a part of oui 
 written vocabulary, e.g. mob, cab, bus. 
 
 Social Meanings. — One kind of slang consists in using thor- 
 oughly established words with a " social " meaning. Thus people 
 say "jolly," "plucky," "dodge," and such like. Others fancy 
 themselves clever when they speak of " the rosy," " the fragrant 
 weed," or " the governor," while others from sheer laziness, that 
 prevents their taking the trouble to select the right word, fall into 
 the habit of using some slang expression in a great variety of 
 meanings. With them everything is " immense," " beastly," 
 "stunning," "nasty," "jolly," "splendid," or "just lovely." 
 
 Besides these, there is another kind of slang peculiar to almost 
 every business or profession. The student is " plucked," the busi- 
 ness man is " busted," and the tradesman is " gone up." And 
 when any of them die, they are " gone aloft." 
 
 How to Find what is Good Usage. — It is not to be expected 
 that young persons can know whether words have all the marks of 
 good usage or not. The common way of determining is to refer 
 to the dictionary. It is the duty of the lexicographer to find out 
 these points and to record them for our guidance, so that it is 
 customary to regard all words found in the dictionary as of recog- 
 nized authority, unless the contrary is stated. 
 
 A barbarism is an expression the use of which violates the rule 
 that in language good usage is reputable, national, and present. 
 
 A solecism is a violation of the laws of Syntax. 
 
 Divided Usage. — As the usage of good writers is not by any 
 means uniform, no one of them js to be followed absolutely.
 
 42 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XV. 
 
 Purity. 
 Direction. — Correct all violations of Purity in the following sentences. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 I 
 
 He succeeded in enthusing the company. 
 
 2. He wired him as soon as the office opened in the morning. 
 
 3. The demagogue tendeth more to words than to works. 
 
 4. He told me a long rigmarole about what happened. 
 
 5. I go where likes me best. 
 
 6. I wot not which to admire most, his delicatesse, his candid- 
 ness, or his amiableness. 
 
 7. Thou needest not pretend to be from France, for thy speech 
 bewrayeth thee. 
 
 8. Any one can see with half an eye that he has got the blues. 
 
 9. He is in the swim with the other politicians. 
 
 10. This change of fortune has almost transmogrified him. 
 
 11. The king soon found reason to repent him of provoking 
 these dangerous enemies. 
 
 12. I opine that any gentleman who devotes his time to the 
 beaux arts and hrllcs Icitrcs enjoys the highest agrements of life. 
 
 13. He remarked en passaut \\\'a.\. his friend had much esprit de 
 corps. 
 
 14. I confess that I was unmitigatedly disappointed with Mr. 
 Proctor's lecture on Tuesday evening. 
 
 15. He has a tendency to talk nonsense occasionally, or some- 
 thing very like blague. 
 
 r6. They have taken a journey out West for the purpose of 
 recuperating their health. 
 
 17. Several circumstances seem to militate against that idea. 
 
 18. Everything may not be so saturated witli couleur de rose. 
 
 19. He seems io be a ha rum scarum sort of a mortal, who 
 takes great delight in doing outre things. 
 
 20. The temptation to run a toll-gate seems to be irresistible 
 to a bicycler.
 
 PURITY. 43 
 
 21. His fatner was a true blue Revolution soldier, and his 
 mother a sincere Christian, 
 
 2 2. His style of writing was such as to enable people to clearly 
 understand him. 
 
 23. These rooms are generally occupied by the more quiet 
 inclined of the travelling public. 
 
 24. There is some agitation over the impracticable character of 
 the instruction of our public schools. 
 
 Tart H. 
 
 25. The three months are passed, and Shylock is wild for the 
 fulfilment of his bond. 
 
 26. He has just received a cablegram informing him of the 
 death of his friend. 
 
 27. Do you catch on to his meaning? 
 
 28. I never heard such a lovely singer before. 
 
 29. He gets rattled over the merest trifles. 
 
 30. That man is all broken up on works of ceramic art. 
 
 31. The people of the Hebrew persuasion expect to return to 
 live in Palestine. 
 
 32. The liquor business is run because it is profitable. 
 
 ^^. Let me tell you su/> rosa he behaves just comtne ilfaut. 
 
 34. He tries to bulldoze the House, but his pretences are far 
 too thin. 
 
 35. That will not go, it is altogether too thin. 
 
 T^(y. He just scraped through his exam., and he is in for making 
 his pile. 
 
 37. A teacher cannot afford to experimentalize. 
 
 38. He took the shibboleth of his party. 
 
 39. When he got to that town he found himself strapped. 
 
 40. He was somewhat addicted to wratli and usquebaugh. 
 
 41. The Society intends to excurt on the 4th of July. 
 
 42. fie will get himself into a fix some day. 
 
 43. They have determined to rendezvous near Qu'Apptlle. 
 
 44. His house was burglarized the day after he sent in his 
 declamature.
 
 44 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 45. He is not thoroughly posted on that subject. 
 
 46. I am greatly beholden to you. 
 
 47. Having acquired the savoir faire, he is never afraid of mak- 
 ing a faux pas, and in every conversation plunges in medias res. 
 
 48. The fair dcbuttante is on the look-out for un bon parti, but 
 her nez retrousse is against her. 
 
 49. She is accompanied by mamma en grande toilette, who, 
 entre nous, looks rather ridce, even in the gas light. 
 
 EXERCISE XVI. 
 
 Purity. 
 
 Direction. — Examine each word and determine which may be used and 
 which should be rejected. In all cases of doubt, refer to some standard 
 dictionary. 
 
 1. Donate, on dit, tapis, siesta, ungallantry, confutant, disillu- 
 sioned, blaze, soupQon, imprimatur. 
 
 2. Buildress, enthuse, gent, pant, gubernatorial, hydropathy, 
 electropathy, experimentalize, controversialist, walkist. 
 
 3. Practitioner, proven, rehable, disposable, anchorable, com- 
 plainable, unrepentable, preventative, casuality, resurrected. 
 
 4. Incurable, paragraphist, agriculturist, stabbist, intercessed, 
 flattress, presidential, multerosity, role, fabulosity. 
 
 5. Gallantness, obloquy, periculous, moonrise, docible, ovate, 
 memento, n^e, locate. 
 
 6. Soi-disant, acrobat, traducement, kraal, distingu^, amende, 
 amour-propre, skedaddle, opaque, confutement. 
 
 7. Cablegram, ivorytype, credibleness, ultimatum, incertain, 
 exonerableness, persiflage, parvenu, verbatim, atelier. 
 
 8. Misaffected, fete, plateau, spirituel, fauteuil, confutant, opti- 
 graph, employ^, alibi, saleslady. 
 
 9. Currentness, impromptu, patois, fashionist, jumpist, matin, 
 mulish, prot^g^, obedential, dilettante. 
 
 10. Boycott, Copperhead, blue-stocking, incog, cablegram, cute, 
 educationalist, suicided, reportorial, spec.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY, 45 
 
 LESSON XII. 
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY.— OF NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. 
 
 1. A noun or pronoun, used as subject of a verb, is in the nom- 
 inative ; as, " /am " ; " This perso7i is one wJio can be trusted." 
 
 2. A noun or pronoun, used as the subjective complement of a 
 verb, is in the nominative ; as, " He is the 7nan " ; " It is //<?." 
 
 But when a noun or pronoun is used as an objective comple- 
 ment, it is in the objective ; as, "They appointed him marshal.''' 
 
 3. A noun or pronoun, denoting the direct or indirect object of 
 an action, or, following a preposition, is in the objective ; as, " His 
 teacher gave him (indirect) a book" (direct). 
 
 4. A noun or pronoun, used as the subject of an infinitive, is in 
 the objective ; as, " I believe him to be the man." 
 
 5. A noun, used to denote time, value, weight, measure, and 
 the like, is in the objective ; as, " He stayed twenty daysT 
 
 6. A noun or pronoun whose case does not depend on any 
 other word is in the nominative absolute ; as, " Our zvork being 
 done, we retired." 
 
 7. A noun (or pronoun), used in apposition to another, agrees 
 with the latter in case ; as, " Washington, the first President of the 
 United States." 
 
 8. A noun or pronoun, used to limit a noun, is in the possessive 
 case ; as, " A mail's life " ; " His hand." 
 
 This rule applies when the limited noun is a verbal, simple, or 
 phrasal ; as, " This depends on your obeying the order." 
 
 When several nouns qualify the same noun, only the last takes 
 the possessive form, if the possession is common ; but all take 
 it if the possession is individual ; as, " A, B, and C's shares are as 
 6, 3, 9 " is evidently wrong, as each has a share. It should read, 
 "A's, B's, and C's shares are as 6, 3, 9." 
 
 For the sake of euphony, the s after the apostrophe is sometimes 
 omitted ; as, " For righteousness' sake."
 
 46 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 9. Incomplete verbs take the same case after them as before 
 them ; as, " I supposed // to be him " ; "I supposed that // was 
 her 
 
 OF PRONOUNS. 
 
 1. A pronoun or pronominal adjective must agree in gender^ 
 number, and person with that to which it refers. 
 
 In the case of the relative pronouns, the agreement is chiefly 
 nominal. 
 
 2. When a pronoun or pronominal adjective refers to a collec- 
 tive noun, its number depends on the sense and follows the num- 
 ber of the verb \ as, " This class seldom know their lessons." 
 " This class is working its way through Reduction." 
 
 3. A pronoun or pronominal adjective that refers to a noun 
 qualified by many a is singular or plural according to the sense ; 
 as, *' Many a light glimmered for a time, but soon they all became 
 extinguished." " Many a flower wastes its sweetness on the desert 
 air." 
 
 4. When a pronoun or pronominal adjective refers to a word 
 that embraces both genders, it may be plural ; as, " Every one 
 enjoyed themselves ^ 
 
 It is better, however, to say, " All enjoyed themselves." 
 
 5. When a pronoun or pronominal adjective refers to two or 
 more singular nouns connected by and, it is plural ; as, '' The lady 
 and the gentleman left their seat." 
 
 6. When the nouns are taken separately, the pronoun or pro- 
 nominal adjective is singular; as, " Neither John nor James saw 
 his opportunity." 
 
 7. When the nouns are of different genders and are taken sepa- 
 rately, a singular pronoun or pronominal adjective must be used 
 for each ; as, " Such a course is a benefit to any boy or girl in any 
 sphere he or she may enter." 
 
 Similarly when the nouns are connected by and ; thus, " Every 
 young man and woman present was tv\]oy'mg himself ox herself '' 
 (themselves?). This expression is awkward and should be
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 4p' 
 
 avoided. Say, " All the young men and women present enjoyed 
 themselves" 
 
 When a relative clause is descriptive, it is introduced by ivlio or 
 which. 
 
 When a relative clause is restrictive, it may be introduced by 
 that ; but there is usually a choice between lulio or which and 
 that. The following points deserve notice. In restrictive clauses 
 ivho or which is used, — 
 
 a. When the antecedent is limited by that. 
 
 b. When the conjunction //^a/ occurs in close proximity. 
 
 c. When the antecedent is a pronoun or pronominal adjective. 
 
 d. After a preposition. 
 
 e. For variety when there are two or more relative clauses. 
 /. When the relative is separated from the rest of the clause. 
 
 EXERCISE XVII. 
 
 Nouns and Pronouns. 
 
 Direction. — Correct all errors in the following sentences, and give a 
 reason for each change. 
 
 1. They asked you and I to come. 
 
 2. Who do you suppose he meant? 
 
 3. Is there any prospect of the Council passing such a bydaw ? 
 
 4. He was prouder of nothing than of wit and raillery, but he 
 was far from being happy in it. 
 
 5. If a Pythogoras or a Galileo suffer for their opinions they 
 are martyrs. 
 
 6. Do you think there is any chance of me finding him at home ? 
 
 7. If any person wishes employment he or she should keep 
 their eyes open. 
 
 8. About three-sevenths of the work are his own. 
 
 9. That is the man whom I heard was ill. 
 
 10. Nothing but trials and disappointments seem to await me. 
 
 11. Mrs. A.'s compliments to Mrs. P)., and I should like if you 
 would be kind enough to spend an evening with us.
 
 48 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 12. Every man and boy showed their joy, shouting and clap- 
 ping their hands. 
 
 13. Both Cato and Cicero loved his country. 
 
 14. Such an education will assist every boy and girl in any call- 
 ing they may choose. 
 
 15. There is more hkehhood of me leaving than of her. 
 
 16. He felt satisfied that it was me or her. 
 
 17. It was surely not us who was suspected. 
 
 18. The whole class knows its lesson, and they should be 
 praised for their diligence, 
 
 19. Each boy and girl must learn their lessons. 
 
 20. The jury are considering the case in its room. 
 
 21. When he shoots a partridge, a pigeon, or a pheasant, he 
 gives them away. 
 
 22. Many a man returns home with less than they went away 
 with. 
 
 23. The army went to its barracks and soon began their exer- 
 cises. 
 
 24. Every act and every thought has their effect on our 
 character. 
 
 25. The study of botany is a benefit to any boy or girl in any 
 country they may live. 
 
 26. That is the best part of beauty, that a picture cannot 
 express. 
 
 27. In the twilight it seemed to be her, the long-sought child. 
 
 28. This is John, Andrew, and Simon's farm. 
 
 29. What do you think of him learning so rapidly? 
 
 30. Is that him ? No, it is me. 
 
 31. O Thou who touched Isaiah's lips with fire ! 
 
 32. Many a man squanders money when they are young. 
 
 33. The rest must have been as glad as us to escape.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 49 
 
 LESSON XIII. 
 
 OF VERBS. — AGREEMENT. 
 
 1. A verb agrees with its subject in person and number. 
 Exceptions : — 
 
 a. In the pkiral there is no change of form ; therefore the 
 
 agreement is only nominal. 
 
 b. The tendency of modern English is to make the verb 
 
 follow the sense of the subject rather than the form. 
 Hence words that are plural in form, but that denote a 
 single object or idea, take a verb in the singular ; thus, 
 " Classics is my delight." 
 
 c. Similarly a word singular in form takes a plural verb when 
 
 it denotes plurality of idea ; as, " The crowd 7vere 
 throwing stones." 
 
 The verb is singular if the objects forming the whole 
 are to be thought of collectively ; as, " The crowd was 
 very great." 
 
 2. Two or more singular nouns, connected by atid, require a 
 rerb in the plural. 
 
 Exceptions. — The verb is singular : — 
 
 a. When the words are nearly synonymous ; as, " Wherein 
 
 doih sit the fear and dread of kings." 
 
 b. When the words denote a unit or a complete object ; as, 
 
 "The wheel and axle is a mechanical power." 
 
 c. Often when the subjects follow the verb. 
 
 This is the case even if one of the subjects is plural ; 
 as, " There was hurrying to and fro and tears and trem- 
 blings of distress." 
 
 d. When a second verb may be understood ; as, " There 7uas 
 
 racing and (there was) chasing on Cannobie Lee." 
 
 e. When the nouns are connected by wifh, the verb agrees 
 
 with the first noun ; as, " The man with his family is gone."
 
 50 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 It is better, however, to substitute aiul {ox with and to 
 make the verb plural. 
 
 /. When the nouns are qualified by eve7-y, the verb is singu- 
 lar ; as, '' I">ery leaf and twig is moving." 
 
 g. When the nouns refer to a single object, the verb is singu- 
 lar ; as, " Tlie saint, the father, and the husband /ravj"." 
 
 h. When it is intended to give special prominence to one c.f 
 the nouns, the verb is made to agree with it ; as, " His 
 time, his talent, his heart, was devoted to the work." 
 
 3. If a singular and a plural noun form the subject, the verb is 
 plural, however the nouns may be connected ; as, " The captain atid 
 the sailors a7-e drowned " ; "Tlie captain c^rthe sailors are drowned." 
 
 This rule holds also for pronouns of the third person. 
 The plural noun should stand next the verb. 
 
 4. When there is an affirmative and a negative subject, the verb 
 agrees with the former; as, "The king, not his soldiers, is su- 
 preme." 
 
 5. When the nouns are connected by as ivell as or like, the 
 verb usually agrees with the first noun ; as, " Hume, as well as 
 Faraday, 7vas a man of virtue." 
 
 6. When the subject of a verb consists of pronouns of differeiit 
 persons and numbers, connected by ami, the verb is plural and of 
 the highest person mentioned; as, "He, you, and I are" (first 
 person) ; " He and you are " (second person) ; " He and she 
 are" (third person). 
 
 7. If the pronouns are connected by or, the verb agrees with 
 the pronoun next it ; as, " He or thou ari here." 
 
 This rule and the preceding hold if a noun takes the place of one 
 of the pronouns.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 5 I 
 
 EXERCISE XVIII. 
 
 Verbs. — Agreement. 
 
 DlRKCriON. — Correct the errors in tlic following, and give a reason for each 
 change. 
 
 1. She was one of those impulsive natures that longs for a con- 
 fidant. 
 
 2. The door of one cell is open and within stands two figures. 
 
 3. Wisdom and i)rudence dwells with the lowly. 
 
 4. The meaning of words, sentences, and phrases are taken up 
 in the class. 
 
 5. Neither precept nor principle arc so forcible as liabit. 
 
 6. One of the plots were said to have been discovered by a noble. 
 
 7. What is the subordinate subjects of these paragraphs? 
 
 8. Avarice is one of the passions that is never satisfied. 
 
 9. The costliness of his armor and apparel are seen at a glance. 
 
 10. The Frank king, with his son and many of the nobles, were 
 taken prisoners. 
 
 1 1 . Profusion as well as parsimony are to be avoided. 
 
 1 2., More than one accident has happened in that way. 
 
 13. The news of his defection has just reached us. 
 
 14. Truth and truth only are worth seeking for their own sakes. 
 
 15. I and my ideal is nothing. 
 
 16. Either the young man or his guardians has done wrong. 
 
 17. He don't know that his brother ain't going to come. 
 
 18. The news that come from the seat of war are injuring the 
 general's fame. 
 
 19. To choose words judiciously and to use them accurately is 
 highly important in composing. 
 
 20. The assembly, one by one, is leaving the room. 
 
 21. Not loud talk, but strong proofs, bring conviction. 
 
 22. He or she or thou are the fortunate one. 
 
 23. Every bud and blossom are opening wide. 
 
 24. He and she is a loving couple. 
 
 25. The measles are going the rounds this sj^ring.
 
 52 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XIV. 
 
 OF VERBS. — MOODS. 
 
 1. The indicative mood is used in direct statements, and in 
 conditions or suppositions, believed or admitted by tiie speaker. 
 
 2. The imperative mood is used in commands, entreaties, and 
 the hke. 
 
 3. The subjunctive mood is used : — 
 
 a. In expressing suppositions invohdng futurity ; as, " I will 
 
 go if it do not rain." 
 
 b. In expressing conditions involving futurity or uncertainty ; 
 
 as, "Though he siay me, yet will I trust in him." 
 
 c. In suppositions contrary to the known fact ; as, '' If he 
 
 wc-fr here, I would tell him." 
 
 d. In expressing a wish ; as, " O, that he 7uere here." 
 
 e. In the present and past tenses, to express suppositions or 
 
 conditions which the speaker does not belie\-e or does 
 not know to be true j as, " If he 7vefe to say so, I 
 would not believe him." 
 
 If, however, in such cases the speaker believes the 
 supposition, or if he wishes to admit it, he uses the 
 indicative ; as, " If he 7mis to say so, I would believe 
 him." 
 
 f. To express a future or uncompleted act or state ; as, 
 
 "Thou shalt stone him with stones till \\q pe?-ishy 
 
 g. To express an intention not yet carried out ; as, " The 
 
 sentence of the court is, that you be flogged^ 
 
 Of Verbs. — Tenses. 
 
 The tenses must be so used as to indicate the relative time of 
 the acts or states expressed. 
 
 Examples. — "I thought I could have done that " should be " I
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 53 
 
 thought I cotild do that," because the thinking took place before 
 the doitig and could have expresses a time more remote than that 
 which is expressed by thought. 
 
 "As I never sazu one before, I examined it with care." Saw 
 should be had seen, as the seeing took place before the exam- 
 ining. 
 
 The past perfect tense is used to express an act that took place 
 before another act that also took place in past time. 
 
 " I intended to have bought a pair of new gloves." To have 
 bought should be to buy. 
 
 Actions that take place at the same time must be expressed by 
 the same tense. 
 
 Exceptions. — i. To express what is customary or always true, 
 the present tense is used even after the past ; as, " The science 
 teacher told the class that water always expands when \\. freezes.'' 
 
 2. After when, till, as soon as, etc., the present tense is used 
 instead of the future or future perfect ; as, " He will go as soon as 
 they come," i.e. shall come or shall have come. The going is 
 simultaneous with the coming or subsequent to it. 
 
 Interchange of Tenses. — One tense is sometimes used where 
 the strict rule would call for another. Thus : — 
 
 1. The present for the past in vivid narration; as, "Caesar 
 
 crosses the Rubicon, enters Rome." 
 
 2. The present for the future ; as, " Duncan comes to-night." 
 
 EXERCISE XIX. 
 
 Verbs. — Mood and Tense. 
 
 Direction. — Correct all errors in the following, and give reasons. 
 
 1. I intended to have written on Saturday. 
 
 2. It is now four hundred years since printing has been in- 
 vented. 
 
 3. I thought I should have finished before ten o'clock. 
 
 4. If he was my son I should be proud of him. 
 
 5. If I was he I should be ashamed to go there again.
 
 54 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. My horse has been blistered on the shoulder about three 
 weeks ago. 
 
 7. Did not the doctor say that bad water was the cause of 
 many epidemics ? 
 
 8. Plato was of opinion that man was immortal. 
 
 9. He wished to have gone weeks before. 
 
 10. The old man maintained that honesty was the best policy. 
 
 11. If I was sure of finding her, I would go at once. 
 
 12. Was there no other cause than the safety of that faithful 
 knave, Wamba, I would jeopard a point ere a hair of his head was 
 hurt. 
 
 13. If she was to come, I would go with her. 
 
 14. If I was sure of what you tell me, I should feel at rest. 
 
 15. If I am ready in time, I will call for you. 
 
 16. Take heed lest at any time your hearts are overcharged 
 with surfeiting. 
 
 17. If the mail was in now, I could give you a decided answer. 
 
 18. He said the sun went round the earth once every twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 19. I thought that he was to have come to-day. 
 
 20. If that be he, he has an unusual appearance. 
 
 21. I will stay here till he shall come back. 
 
 22. If he has a horse he will be your guide. 
 
 23. He laughed nearly all day to-day. 
 
 24. I have failed in that scheme, though I felt sure I should 
 have succeeded. 
 
 25. The family with whom he has lodged some months ago, 
 moved to Dakota last week. 
 
 26. He must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. 
 
 27. If I was able to speak, I would never hold my peace. 
 
 28. If he was in the city when I was, I should have met him. 
 
 29. He said that water was composed of oxygen and hydrogen. 
 
 30. If he was younger, he would study medicine.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 55 
 
 LESSON XV. 
 
 OF VERBS. — AUXILIARIES. 
 
 The auxiliaries must be used in their exact signification. 
 
 Must expresses compulsion resting on its subject. 
 
 Can expresses power in its subject. 
 
 May expresses possibility, probability ; also, permission granted 
 to its subject. 
 
 Could ^xA might\ia.vt the same general distinction as ca?i and tttay. 
 
 Might expresses possibiHty or past permission. 
 
 Could expresses power as the past of can ; also present condi- 
 tional power. 
 
 Shall expresses futurity and the subjection of its subject to for- 
 eign control ; tvill expresses futurity and the power of its subject 
 to control the act. 
 
 Will in the first person denotes the resolution, purpose, or 
 promise of its subject ; in the second and third persons, it denotes 
 chiefly futurity ; shall in the first person denotes futurity ; in the 
 second and third persons it denotes obligation, arising from the 
 will of the speaker or from some other power beyond the subject. 
 
 Should and would follow the general uses of shall and will. 
 
 Should and would have some special uses, e.g. to express moral 
 obligation ; as, " You should obey the laws of virtue " ; — to indi- 
 cate a modest expression of opinion ; as, " I should xhinV. so " ; — to 
 express future possibility ; as, " If he should attempt to break that 
 stone, he will fail " ; — to express a wish ; as, " Would that the day 
 were over"; — to express what was customary; as, "He luould 
 walk up and down his room all day " ; — to express fixed purpose ; 
 as, " He 7vould have his way." 
 
 Of Minor Points. 
 
 I. The adjective pronouns this and that agree in number with 
 what they limit or represent; thus, "That kind," not "Those 
 kind " ; " That will do," " Those will do."
 
 $6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 2. The past tense and past participle must not be confused. 
 Do not say, " I done my best," but, " I did my best." 
 
 3. The part of a verb that differs in form from the part ex- 
 pressed, must not be omitted ; thus, associate must be expressed 
 in "They do not (associate), and never have associated, with such 
 persons." 
 
 4. In comparison, use the comparative when two objects are 
 compared, and the superlative when more than two. Thus, "This 
 is the better of the two " ; " This is the best of all." 
 
 5. When two adjectives qualify the same singular noun, the 
 following arrangements are found : " The old and new books 
 are . . ."; "The old and the new book are . . ."; "The old 
 book and the new book are . . ." The first is ambiguous ; the 
 last is the best. 
 
 6. The use of adjectives and adverbs must be carefully discrim- 
 inated. Usually adjectives express a quality and adverbs express 
 manner, degree, etc. Some words in the adjective form are used 
 with the power of an adverbial adjective ; as, " He stood firm.'' 
 There is a nice distinction between this and " He stood firmly''' 
 
 7. To, the sign of the infinitive, should not be separated from 
 its verb. 
 
 To is omitted after the auxiliaries, after bid, dare, need, see, feel, 
 make, let, hear, and sometimes after a few other verbs. 
 
 EXERCISE XX. 
 
 Verbs. — Auxiliaries and Other Minor Points. 
 
 Direction. — Give a reason for changing the auxiliary in any of the fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 1. I would not like to do it and I shall not. 
 
 2. The genius told me I would not reach those beautiful islands 
 till I would die. 
 
 3. Will I help you, or shall you do it alone? 
 
 4. I fear I will not be able to pass my examination. 
 
 5. Can I have the pleasure of helping you?
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY, 57 
 
 6. I would be astonished if he went to church. 
 
 7. If he would not succeed, then I would be the loser. 
 
 8. It is now high time that we would return. 
 
 9. If you refuse medicine in health, it shall be too strong for 
 your body when you will need it. 
 
 10. You shall get into trouble if you pursue that course. 
 
 Direction. — Distinguish the meaning of the following. 
 
 a. I must (should, ought to) attend in person. 
 
 b. I could (might) not wonder at his conduct. 
 
 c. He declared he would (should) go home. 
 
 d. He did as I would (should) have done. 
 
 e. I thought I would (should) speak my mind. 
 /. I should (would) go if he came. 
 
 g. I will (shall) be obliged to leave fo-day. 
 
 h. I will (shall) live in the house of the Lord forever. 
 
 /. I would (should) take part if I could. 
 J. He may (can) walk a mile. 
 
 k. You may (can) be happy. 
 
 /. Thou shalt (wilt) endure and thy years shall (will) not 
 change. 
 m. May (can) I have the pleasure of helping you? 
 
 Ji. I can (may) not call riches better than the baggage of 
 virtue. 
 
 Direction. — Correct errors in the following. Give reasons for changes. 
 
 1. She will not wear those kind of gloves. 
 
 2. He had spoke an hour before the audience seen the drift of 
 his discourse. 
 
 3. The weary traveller saw the sun to set. 
 
 4. Those apples taste sweetly. 
 
 5. Wisdom bids us to hearken to that voice. 
 
 6. He has abstained from food this two days. 
 
 7. A divine and human law-giver seeks to accomplish difterent 
 purposes.
 
 58 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 8. Of those two oaks the oldest is the shortest. 
 
 9. The ebb and flow of the tides has been accounted for. 
 10. The rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise. 
 
 EXERCISE XXI. 
 
 Direction. — Point out the violations of grammatical purity in the follow- 
 ing sentences, state wherein each consists, correct, and give the reason. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. The syntax and etymology of the language is thus placed 
 before the learner. 
 
 2. He or you is in the way. 
 
 3. The idea of me being president seems utterly ridiculous. 
 
 4. The people was divided. 
 
 5. Bread and milk are good food for children. 
 
 6. More than one has had a hand in that affair. 
 
 7. I gave the book to Mary, she who wears the white hat. 
 
 8. Both money and labor was spent on it. 
 
 9. He said he would give it to whomsoever could solve the 
 question. 
 
 10. He told us there was two principal propositions in the 
 sentence. 
 
 11. The fleet was under orders to sail. 
 
 12. I intended to have written it on Saturday. 
 
 13. Every one of the persons who have pews in his church 
 have concurred. 
 
 14. It must, indeed, be confessed that a lampoon or a satire do 
 not carry in them robbery or murder. 
 
 15. In olden times hanging and beheading were the punish- 
 ments of high treason. 
 
 16. Each of these circumstances being impressed upon the 
 composer's mind tend to improve the performance. 
 
 1 7. Give the book to Smith, he that is sitting by the window. 
 
 18. I wish you would come with my sister and I.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 59 
 
 19. If a piece of iron or glass be heated to the same degree, 
 they communicate to the hand a very different sensation, 
 
 20. The officer has power of detention over even those whom 
 he knows will get intoxicated. 
 
 Part II. - 
 
 21. One, if not more, of these proprietors hold land in large 
 quantities, buying it before the land Act was passed. 
 
 22. Every one must follow their own views on the question. 
 
 23. Every religious association has an undoubted right to form 
 a creed for themselves. 
 
 24. It must be confessed that this is none of those turbulent 
 pleasures which is apt to gratify a man in the heats of youth. 
 
 25. He goes after what he has lost till he finds it. 
 
 26. I must observe that there are a set of merry drolls whom the 
 common people of every country admires. 
 
 27. Every emotion and every operation of the mind have a 
 corresponding expression of the countenance. 
 
 28. If the donor was rich, the present was too little ; if he were 
 poor, it was too much. 
 
 29. Neither my brother nor I were able to endure it any longer. 
 
 30. If he was here, he would open the box. 
 
 31. This is just as if an eye or a foot should demand a salary 
 for their services to the body. 
 
 32. Providence, and not pomp, are the basis of his fame. 
 ;^^. Three-quarters of the lake are shallow. 
 
 34. It is as cold, if not colder, than any day this year. 
 
 35. Profusion as well as parsimony are to be avoided. 
 
 36. There is no use in me trying the examination. 
 
 37. If he does come, I will be ready. 
 
 38. He is the smallest of the pair. 
 
 39. No professional man, no business man, in fact no man of 
 sense would risk their reputation by supporting such a cause. 
 
 40. My friend and companion have often warned me of the 
 danger.
 
 60 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Part III. 
 
 41. In the meantime, I will have to take the case as it stands. 
 
 42. Will I find you at home this evening? 
 
 43. If I stayed there I would offend the archbishop. 
 
 44. A few inches more or less in a lady's height makes a great 
 difference. 
 
 45. I cannot help thinking that the proprietor of the hotel has 
 not told all he knew. 
 
 46. If he was to find out that it was me who wrote it, he would 
 be very angry. 
 
 47. 'Twas Love's mistake who fancied what it feared. 
 
 48. The tidings of his return give joy. 
 
 49. No office in the church, no preferment in the state, but go 
 to the king's friends. 
 
 50. If we act thus, we will be miserable ourselves and will 
 make others miserable. 
 
 51. I will now accept your kind invitation. 
 
 52. Every grape-vine and fig-tree are stripped of their foliage. 
 
 53. A person can rest as well in a parlor car as they could in 
 their own parlor. 
 
 54. He works as if his life depended on him attaining the 
 position. 
 
 55. Addison thought that a person was bound to be cheerful. 
 
 56. There is in this country but few young persons who may 
 not attend school. 
 
 57. Every boy and girl should avail themselves of any oppor- 
 tunity to get an education. 
 
 58. Your challenge should soon be answered if your antagonist 
 was here. 
 
 59. If Ivanhoe ever return from Palestine, I shall be his surety 
 that he meet you. 
 
 60. The carefully kept memoranda shows that physics are rapidly 
 becoming a popular study.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 6 1 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 6i. Every train and boat were crowded on civic holiday. 
 62. Either you or I are the one who they have selected. 
 6;^. The ashes was taken out of the grate. 
 
 64. The measles are very prevalent at this season. 
 
 65. Each of these courses have their own special difficulties. 
 
 66. If a man was to come back who had lived a hundred years 
 ago, should he not think the world was going crazy. 
 
 67. Every subordinate clause may be modified as if it was a 
 principal clause. 
 
 68. For in cheerfulness the spirits does a Htde go and come. 
 
 69. The captain, with many of the crew, were lost in the 
 storm. 
 
 70. He reached the end of his journey half an hour earlier than 
 he expected. 
 
 71. If ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother 
 their trespasses. 
 
 72. He said the Mississippi ran through the United States. 
 
 73. If he was now living, he would have sufficient judgment to 
 wish to be shown as he was. 
 
 74. The sunshine and rain is making the flowers open. 
 
 75. It is evident that large pile of icebergs are sailing around 
 in the Atlantic. 
 
 76. The generality of his hearers refuses to accept his views. 
 
 77. A considerable number were inclined to withdraw its sup- 
 port. 
 
 78. Did you ever hear what that man's name was? 
 
 79. To instruct and preserve society are one of the designs of 
 the Christian religion. 
 
 80. He supported those whom he thought supported him.
 
 62 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, 
 
 Part V. 
 
 8i. They said he had went away and broke his pledge ; at any 
 rate he drunk several glasses and begun to stagger in his gait. 
 
 82. I shall have great pleasure in accepting your invitation. 
 
 St,. When he died, his son and namesake and successor were an 
 infant. 
 
 84. Oxygen and nitrogen united, forms the air we breathe. 
 
 85. One half of men do not know how the other half lives. 
 
 86. " Don't cry about it," said Midas, that was ashamed to 
 confess that he himself had wrought the change that afflicted her. 
 
 87. He was sure that the objects that he had been watching 
 was only cattle. 
 
 88. He would have done a great deal better, if he took a dif- 
 ferent course. 
 
 89. Her knights, her dames, her court were there. 
 
 90. There are many that can testify that that man was not 
 there. 
 
 91. Each of the members of the committee made their report. 
 
 92. The moral and religious element of the community were 
 aroused. 
 
 93. I have examined both the methods and believe the first to 
 be the best. 
 
 94. The report of the mayor and clerk were presented. 
 
 95. News were sent that the gallows were erected. 
 
 96. The traveller did not feel well, yet he ate a hearty meal. 
 
 97. My friend and companion have often warned me of the 
 danger. 
 
 98. Praise from a friend or censure from a foe are lost on 
 hearers who know our merits. 
 
 99. The last month or two has been spent among the islands. 
 
 1 00. Hoping that I will hear from you as soon as convenient, I 
 will subscribe myself, Yours truly.
 
 PROPRIETY. 63 
 
 LESSON XVI. 
 
 PROPRIETY. 
 
 Propriety consists in using words in the sense they bear in the 
 usage of the best writers and speakers. 
 
 Importance of Propriety. — If a writer or speaker does not 
 use a word as it is understood by the reader or listener, he 
 cannot convey the meaning he intends, or, if he does, it will be 
 because his reader or listener has, from the context, seen the 
 intended meaning and mentally substituted the correct word. 
 Hence it is of the utmost importance that words should be used 
 in their general, well-understood, and established sense. To be 
 able to do this requires time and patient toil, and he who is 
 unwilling to accept the task on these terms may never hope to 
 succeed either in writing correctly or in understanding his own 
 language. 
 
 Impropriety. — The application of a word in a sense not 
 authorized by good usage, is called Impropriety. 
 
 Examples. — A few examples are given to illustrate more fully 
 what is to be avoided and what is to be attained. 
 
 Predicate (Latin predicare, to publish or state) means simply 
 to affirm in regard to something that already is, but it is fre- 
 quently found in the sense of " foretell " or " predict " ; as, " It is 
 impossible to predicate what he will or will not do." 
 
 Expect is very widely used in the sense of suppose, think, gtiess ; 
 as, " I expect you had much trouble on that occasion." Expect 
 refers only to that which is to come, and which, therefore, is 
 looked for {ex, out, and spectare, to look). We cannot expect 
 backwards. 
 
 Adopt is often used for " decide upon," and for " to take " ; as, 
 "The measures adopted, as the result of his inquiry, will be 
 productive of good." 
 
 Caption is derived from Latin capere, to take, not from caput,
 
 64 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 the head. Hence it means seizure, or the act of taking, not 
 heading. 
 
 Appreciate (from ap, to, :mdi pretiutn, price), means to estimate 
 justly. Hence we cannot say, " I appreciate your kindness 
 highly." 
 
 Demean is not from mean, low, but from the French demener.^ 
 to conduct one's self. 
 
 Restive. This word, which means inclined to rest, obstinate, 
 umi'illing to go, is frequently employed in a sense directly the 
 reverse of this ; that is, for uneasy, restless. 
 
 Avocation is often used for vocation, or calling. A man's 
 avocations are those pursuits or amusements which engage his 
 attention when he is called away from his regular business or pro- 
 fession, as .music, fishing, or boating. 
 
 Rendition is sometimes used for rendering ; as, " Mr. Booth's 
 rendition of Hamlet." Rendition means surrender, giving up; 
 as, when we speak of the rendition of a beleagured town to the 
 besieger. 
 
 Condign is from con, and digitus, worthy, and signifies deserved 
 or merited. Many who use it seem to think it means severe; as, 
 "The villain received condign punishment." 
 
 Quite means entirely, completely, a fact that is lost sight of when 
 it is placed before a noun ; as, " They collected quite a sum." 
 
 Witness (A.S. witnesse, knowledge) is to bear testimony of 
 what one knows by personal observation. We should not say, 
 "I never witnessed such a lovely day." 
 
 Pell-mell implies a number in confusion ; so it is absurd to say 
 of one person, " He rushed out pell-mell." 
 
 Get means to obtain by a voluntary effort. We should not say, 
 " I have got a cold," or " I have got a house to sell." 
 
 Alternative. An alternative is one choice out of two (Latin, 
 alter, one of two) . 
 
 Female should not be used for woman or lady. 
 
 Alloiv is to give by measure or in due proportion. A father 
 allows his son a reasonable amount of spending money. Such
 
 PROPRIETY. 65 
 
 uses of the word as, " He allows he can defeat his opponent," are 
 mere vulgarisms. 
 
 Balance (Latin, bilancem, scales) denotes equilibrium. It 
 should, therefore, not be used for remainder. 
 
 Citizen. It is proper to call a person a citizen when he is 
 spoken of in relation to the state, but improper when in relation 
 to his fellow-men ; as, " Some citizens behaved badly on show 
 day." 
 
 Aggravate (Latin, aggravare, to make worse) means to make 
 worse. It is often improperly used for vex or annoy. 
 
 Transpire should not be used for happen. 
 
 Eliminate means literally to thi'oiv out of doors. Hence it 
 should not be used for elicit or draw forth. 
 
 Extend is to increase in one or all directions, to stretch out. 
 So we should not say, " Extend an invitation." 
 
 Replace. Literally, we can replace only that which was pre- 
 viously in its place ; but such expressions as, " He can never hope 
 to replace so eminent a man" seem to have obtained a strong 
 foothold in the language. 
 
 Dock should be distinguished from %vharf. A dock is usually 
 an excavation, while a wharf \% an elevation. 
 
 Plenty is often wrongly construed as an adjective ; as, " Money 
 is plenty this year." 
 
 Mistaken. To mistake is to take wrongly, so to be mistaken 
 should mean to be taken by error for some one else. Say, " You 
 are in error," not, " You are mistaken." 
 
 To a degree is sometimes used where exceedingly would be the 
 proper word. 
 
 At length should not be used for at last. At length means fully ; 
 at last, finally. 
 
 Nice is now one of those " social " adjectives that are used for 
 almost any quality that pleases the speaker. Its correct meaning 
 is delicate and exact. 
 
 Description should not be used for kind or sort. 
 
 Words similar in form or derivation are often mistaken; as.
 
 66 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 " contemptuous " for " contemptible " ; " exceptionable " for " ex- 
 ceptional " ; "respectfully" for "respectively" ; "observation" 
 for " observance " ; " purpose " for " propose." 
 
 EXERCISE XXII. 
 
 Propriety. 
 
 Direction. — Point out the word that is not properly used, supply tha 
 correct word, and give the ordinary meaning of the rejected word. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. His conduct aggravates me continually. 
 
 2. Her sister has got a very severe attack of fever. 
 
 3. Directly he heard the alarm he rushed out pell-mell. 
 
 4. Johnson died from blows administered by a policeman. 
 
 5. The measures adopted by the House will do good. 
 
 6. He allows that he has the finest horse in the country. 
 
 7. This road will serve to convene the public. 
 
 8. A great amount of perfection has been attained in that art. 
 
 9. He was unwilling to demean himself by a public apology. 
 
 10. The alternatives set before him were, to abjure the faith, to 
 submit to the torture, or to go into perpetual exile. 
 
 11. He had exceptionable opportunities for learning the lan- 
 guage. 
 
 12. The troops, though fighting bravely, were terribly deci- 
 mated, nearly half of them having fallen. 
 
 13. I have sat and heard him tell any amount of anecdotes. 
 
 14. I have always considered him an honest man. 
 
 15. " Sir," said he to Dr. Parr, " I have a contemptible opinion 
 of you." " That does not surprise me," replied the Doctor ; " all 
 your opinions are contemptible." 
 
 16. We have travelled quite a piece to-day, 
 
 17. A century transpired before it was revisited. 
 
 18. We had a nice time yesterday ; the weather was nice, the 
 company was nice, and everything went off nice.
 
 PROPRIETY. 6"] 
 
 19. Peaches are very plenty this season. 
 
 20. I have every confidence that he will turn out well. 
 
 21. I expect you have had a great many difficulties. 
 
 22. His manner is calculated to hinder his business. 
 
 23. A vessel of this description had been hovering in sight. 
 
 24. He aims at eliminating truth from spirit, fact and duty from 
 f-^uth. 
 
 25. The elevation of 100 feet eliminated a hearty cheer. 
 
 26. It also looks to the final elimination of the soul from the 
 body. 
 
 27. When the boat came ashore, it contained only one female. 
 
 28. Can we suppose that good blood replaces teaching? 
 
 29. I declare this is the most splendid bay I ever witnessed. 
 
 30. They followed the ancient avocation of picking pockets. 
 
 Part H. 
 
 31. He is fond of reading such fictitious writers as Hawthorne. 
 
 32. A young man abortively seized two pieces of alpaca. 
 2^2)- A lady having two boys, would like to adopt one. 
 
 34. A society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, has lately 
 been inaugurated. 
 
 35. A great part of the congregation went home at ten o'clock, 
 but the balance remained till twelve. 
 
 36. She has several other little poems of a much higher calibre. 
 
 37. There is an article in the last issue of our contemporary 
 under the above caption. 
 
 38. Several citizens carried the sufferer to a drug store on the 
 next block. 
 
 39. The marriage was happily consummated at Paris last April. 
 
 40. The Mosque in Eastern lands must go, and the Christian 
 Church will replace it. 
 
 41. The President convened Congress early in January. 
 
 42. This application of reason predicates a great national future. 
 
 43. An invitation was extended to him to dine with his friends. 
 
 44. He was at length induced to desist.
 
 68 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 45. His name has never been replaced by any other in the 
 transaction. 
 
 46. Twice in history has there been witnessed the struggle of 
 the highest individual genius against a nation. 
 
 47. If you are of that opinion, you are mistaken. 
 
 48. The man by some strange accident fell off the dock. 
 
 49. His offence is of the most aggravated description. 
 
 50. He rushed pell-mell out of the house. 
 
 51. The piece of roast beef is perfectly splendid. 
 
 52. The police drill will transpire under shelter to-day. 
 
 53. I promise you I was very much surprised. 
 
 54. What do you propose doing in this matter? 
 
 55. He was foolish to a degree. 
 
 56. He has for years been a confirmed invalid. 
 
 57. I have found the package you allude to in your letter. 
 
 58. We were stopping at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. 
 
 59. Mr. Booth's rendition of Hamlet was admirable. 
 
 60. The reader soon wearies of such stuff. 
 
 6 1 . The above extract is sufficient to verify my assertion. 
 
 62. He is a party who has risen to eminence. 
 
 63. How are you to-day? Nicely, thanks. 
 
 LESSON XVII. 
 
 PRECISION. 
 
 Precision consists in selecting the word or expression that con- 
 veys the exact meaning intended — no more, no less. 
 
 Examples. — It would be more correct to say damp clothes 
 than moist clothes, because anything is said to be damp when the 
 wetness is from some outward cause, or when the article is in an 
 abnormal state ; while that is moist which is naturally damp, as 
 the soil when fitted for vegetation.
 
 PRECISION. 69 
 
 We say a vacant chair, not an empty chair; for though both 
 words imply that the chair has no occupant, yet vacatit conveys 
 the idea that it should be filled, but is not, while empty simply 
 means that there is nothing in it. 
 
 How attained. — As English abounds in words which express 
 nearly the same meaning, great exactness of expression is possible, 
 and much care and thought are necessary to be able to select 
 always the word which conveys just what is meant. Much may be 
 learned by observing the practice of good authors, but the most 
 efficient method of attaining precision is the careful and contin- 
 uous study of synonyms. This may be carried on by collating 
 and examining words of nearly the same meaning ; by revising 
 every sentence that one writes, and studiously inquiring whether 
 each word in it is accurately used ; and by the study of some 
 standard work on the subject, such as Crabb's or Smith's Syno- 
 nyms, or Roget's Thesaurus. 
 
 Further Examples. — In order more fully to illustrate the sub- 
 ject a few synonyms are here explained, but they must be regarded, 
 by those who would attain proficiency, as the merest beginning. 
 
 1. Visitor, Visitant. Visitor ox visitant 1% one who pays a visit; 
 but a visitor is a human being, and a visitant, a supernatural one. 
 
 2. Neglect, Negligence. Neglect is an act, or, rather, a failure 
 to act ; negligence implies a failure to conform to an established 
 standard or custom. 
 
 3. Continual, Continuous. Continual is said of acts that are 
 frequently repeated ; continuous of uninterrupted action. 
 
 4. Remember, Recollect. Remember implies only that the -im- 
 pression remains ; recollect, that an effort is made to recall to 
 the mind something that for the time seems to have escaped it. 
 
 5. Utter, Express. To utter is simply to sound anything with 
 the voice ; to express carries the additional idea of meaning and 
 formality. 
 
 6. Crime, Sin. Crime is a violation of law divine or human, 
 though it is now generally applied to offences against the state. 
 Sin is a departure from divine law.
 
 JO COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 7. Courage, Fortitude. Courage is an active, energetic resist- 
 ance of all the trials or difificulties of life ; fortitude is a resolute 
 endurance of present evils and a patient resignation to the worst 
 that may happen. 
 
 8. Conscious, Aware. We are conscious of anything when we 
 know of it by reflection ; we are aware of anything when we know 
 of it by observation and experience. 
 
 9. Healthy, JV/ioIesome. ZT^r*^?////)' is said of that which increases 
 our strength — physical, mental, or moral ; %vholesoine, of that 
 which does it no injury. 
 
 10. Couple, Two. Cotiple implies that the two united are 
 bound by some tie and are of such a nature as to be suitable for 
 such a union ; tiuo indicates number only. 
 
 11. Less. Feiver. Zifj-jr is applied to things measured ; _/<?7£/(?r, 
 to those that are numbered. 
 
 12. Disti?iguish, Discrimijiate. We distinguish by our mental 
 or physical faculties ; we discriminate by our judgment alone. A 
 distinction is an important or marked difference ; a discrimination 
 is a nice or exact difference. 
 
 13. Answer, Reply. An aiiswer'vi given to a question or de- 
 mand, and should satisfy it. A reply is a formal answer. It may 
 be made to arguments, may go beyond them, and may be made 
 whether it is, or is not, expected or asked. 
 
 14. Deface, Disfigure. To deface is wilfully to injure the 
 exterior by any means ; to disfigure is to mar the effect by some 
 injury to the appearance. Things are defaced ; living beings 
 disfigured. 
 
 15. Habit, Custom. Habit \'i S2i\<l of the individual; custom, 
 of the community. The latter is voluntary ; the former is not 
 purely so. 
 
 16. Dumb, Mute. He is du)nb who cannot speak; he is mute 
 who can speak, l)ut will not. 
 
 1 7. Fault, Defect. A defect is something wanting ; a fault is 
 something wrong. 
 
 18. Excite, Incite. To excite is to awaken or rouse feelings
 
 PRECISION. 71 
 
 that are dormant or calm. To incite is to urge forward into acts 
 corresponding to the feelings that have been aroused. 
 
 19. Manners, Morals. Manners respect the minor forms of 
 acting with others and toward others ; morals include the impor- 
 tant duties of life. Good manners make us good companions ; 
 good morals make us good members of society. 
 
 20. Truth, Veracity. Truth belongs to the thing ; veracity, to 
 the person. The truth of the story is admitted upon the veracity 
 of the narrator. 
 
 21. Love, Affection. Both these words express good will; 
 affection is a tender sentiment that dwells with pleasure on the 
 object ; love is a tender sentiment accompanied with longing for 
 the object ; we cannot have love without affection, but we may 
 have affection without love. Love is a passion, exclusive, restless, 
 and capricious ; affection is a chastened feeling under the control 
 of the understanding. 
 
 22. Bring, Fetch. To bring is simply to take with one's self 
 from the place where one is ; to fetch is first to go to a place and 
 then bring the object; \o fetch, therefore, is a species oi bringing : 
 whatever is near at hand is brought ; whatever is at a distance 
 must be fetched : the porter at an inn brings a parcel, a servant 
 who is sent for it fetches it. 
 
 23. Character, Reputation. Character lies in a man ; it is the 
 mark of what he is ; it shows itself on all occasions ; reputation 
 depends upon others ; it is what they think of him. It is possible 
 for a man to have a fair reputation who has not in reality a good 
 character; although men of really good chai-acter axe. not likely 
 to have a bad reputation.
 
 ^2 
 
 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XXIII. 
 
 Precision. 
 
 Direction. — Explain these synonyms so as to show clearly the distinction 
 in the meanings they bear; then write a sentence in which each is properly used. 
 
 In — into. 
 May — can. 
 Shall — will. 
 Fewer — less. 
 Two — couple. 
 Much — many. 
 On — upon. 
 8. Sit — Set. 
 
 Aught — Ought. 
 Beside — besides. 
 Sex — gender. 
 Like — love. 
 Between — among. 
 Live — dwell. 
 Learning — wisdom. 
 Talk — conversation. 
 Letter — epistle. 
 News — tidings. 
 Wood — timber. 
 Home — dwelling. 
 Annual — yearly. 
 
 9- 
 
 ID. 
 II. 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 
 IS- 
 16. 
 
 17- 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23- 
 
 gan,p 
 
 Bad, wicked, evil. 
 Band, company, 
 
 crew, 
 
 24. Beautiful, fine, handsome, 
 pretty. 
 
 25. Beg, beseech, solicit, en- 
 treat, supplicate, implore, crave. 
 
 26. Bring, fetch, carry. 
 Call, bid, summon, invite. 
 Character, reputation, 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 fame. 
 
 29. 
 
 30- 
 
 Clear, lucid, bnguc. vivid. 
 Command, order, injunc- 
 tion, precept. 
 
 31. Compensation, satisfac- 
 tion, amends, remuneration, re- 
 compense, requital, reward. 
 
 32. Complete, perfect, fin- 
 ished. 
 
 33. Decision, judgment, sen- 
 tence. 
 
 EXERCISE XXIV. 
 
 Precision. 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences, select the correct synonym, and 
 give a reason for your choice. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. What (further, or farther) need have we of caution? 
 
 2. We may try hard and still be (further, or farther) from success.
 
 PRECISION. 73 
 
 3. Our (acts, or actions) generally proceed from instinct or 
 impulse. 
 
 4. It is difficult for one unaccustomed to (sophism, or sophis- 
 try) to succeed in a (sophism, or sophistry). 
 
 5. The house was stripped of its furniture, and was entirely 
 (empty, or vacant). 
 
 6. This circumstance (alone, or only) is sufficient to prove the 
 worthlessness of the criticism. 
 
 7. We (avow, acknowledge, own, or confess) a neglect of duty. 
 
 8. Though numerous applications were made for the prisoner's 
 (forgiveness, or pardon), they were all (unsuccessful, or ineffec- 
 tual). 
 
 9. A very successful (social, or sociable) was held in the base- 
 ment of the church. 
 
 10. Notwithstanding all his efforts, he could not (recollect, or 
 remember) the date. 
 
 11. My old and tried friend (introduced, or presented) me to 
 his wife. 
 
 12. He was (aware, or conscious) of a very unpleasant feeling 
 coming over him. 
 
 13. The (negligence, or neglect) of this leaves us exposed to 
 an uncommon levity in our conversation. 
 
 14. The (enormity, or enormousness) of the distance between 
 the earth and the sun accounts for these effects. 
 
 15. His domestic virtues are too well known to make it neces- 
 sary to (allude, or refer) to them. 
 
 16. He was careful in his (observance, or observation) of all the 
 usages of his Church. 
 
 17. (Continuous, continual, or continued) droppings wear the 
 stone. 
 
 18. The vegetation of these regions is (luxurious, or luxuriant). 
 
 19. The food furnished to the men was (healthy, or whole- 
 some). 
 
 20. In the most rigorous weather he is scarcely (sensitive to, or 
 sensible of) the cold.
 
 74 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 21. He was surprised by the appearance of a heavenly (visitor, 
 or visitant). 
 
 22. After that witness had given his (evidence, or testimony), 
 the case was adjourned. 
 
 23. The Irish are (perpetually, or continually) using shall for 
 will. 
 
 24. Her death was hourly (anticipated, or expected). 
 
 25. It was (due, or owing) to his earnestness that the plan 
 succeeded. 
 
 26. He acted towards the prisoners with too much (lenity, or 
 leniency). 
 
 27. There were not (less, or fewer) than twenty persons 
 present. 
 
 28. He went in and took the (vacant, empty, or unoccupied) 
 seat. 
 
 29. Having examined the affair, I wish to (say, or state) that 
 I find nothing wrong. 
 
 30. I have frequently heard him (utter, express, or pronounce) 
 that opinion. 
 
 31. He held a very (decided, or decisive) opinion on almost 
 all such subjects. 
 
 32. He has not yet (answered, or replied to) my last letter. 
 TyT,. The murderer was (hanged, or hung) on the 17th of last 
 
 month. 
 
 34. He rejected the (proposal, or proposition) made by his 
 friend. 
 
 35. I have found the package (alluded, or referred) to in your 
 advertisement. 
 
 36. He took up the cup and (taught, or educated, or instructed) 
 his disciples how to drink it to his (memory, or remembrance).
 
 PRECISION. 75 
 
 EXERCISE XXV. 
 
 Precision. 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences, find the words not used precisely 
 and substitute for them the proper synonyms. 
 
 1. The discovery of steamboats produced a beneficent in- 
 fluence on the commerce of the world. 
 
 2. He completes the story without freeing the heroine. 
 
 3. His apparent guilt justified his friends in disowning him. 
 
 4. He must content himself with the common privileges of the 
 place. 
 
 5. It would have puzzled him to make good the assertion, if 
 its veracity had been tested by the actual condition of the people. 
 
 6. My heart was entirely subdued by the captivating strains. 
 
 7. A glance at the clock will make you conscious that it is 
 nearly three in the morning. 
 
 8. And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, 
 " Fetch me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread." 
 
 9. A couple of ladies fell upon the ice yesterday afternoon. 
 
 10. In a house like this, the inhabitants must resemble the 
 knights of an enchanted castle. 
 
 11. The Principal is an astute, ambitious, and uncommonly 
 zealous individual. 
 
 12. He was disposed to a sincere remorse for the crimes he 
 had committed in the sight of heaven, and also for his recent sin 
 in breaking the laws of his country. 
 
 13. She seems to love green peas and apple pie. 
 
 14. A prodigious number of hands were employed in removing 
 the debris. 
 
 15. I have tried all day to remember the details of that dread- 
 ful affair. 
 
 16. The sincerity of his religion was clearly seen in his rever- 
 ence for everything virtuous. 
 
 1 7. He excited the feelings of patriotism that had lain dormant 
 in the nation.
 
 76 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1 8. His bravery under this painful operation, and the fortitude 
 he had shown in heading the last charge in the recent action, 
 inspired every one with admiration. 
 
 19. There is a sect in that city who believe in the efficiency oi 
 prayer to cure all diseases. 
 
 20. Our side-walks shew that we are a people almost wholly 
 given over to expectoration. 
 
 2 1 . The Christmas tree was denuded of its gifts. 
 
 22. The naked bodies and barbarous weapons of the natives 
 were no match for the weapons of the Spaniards. 
 
 23. The desks were all disfigured by penknives. 
 
 24. He felt himself compelled to acknowledge the justice of 
 my remark. 
 
 25. I asked him to fetch the book with him when he came. 
 
 26. Have you any idea of writing to him? 
 
 27. It is difficult to discriminate between adjectives and parti- 
 ciples. 
 
 28. The health of the Empress of Germany is greatly ameli- 
 orated. 
 
 29. They were all personages of more or less consequence. 
 
 30. It is the usefulness of any moral rule alone which consti- 
 tutes the moral obligation. 
 
 EXERCISE XXVI. 
 
 Purity, Propriety, Precision. 
 
 Direction. — In the following, examine whether the error is one of Purity, 
 Propriety, or Precision, and then correct it, giving your reason. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. Negligence of duty often produces unhappiness. 
 
 2. The prince next made propositions of marriage, but was 
 rejected on account of his disgraceful customs. 
 
 3. That nation is noted for its observation of the Sabbath, and 
 for its intoleration of the opinions of other people.
 
 PURITY, PROPRIETY, PRECISION. 'J'J 
 
 4. His conscience of his own integrity has supported him despite 
 the negligence of his friends. 
 
 5. This appUcation of reason, so continually and generally 
 exercised, predicates a great national failure. 
 
 6. The first sleighing of the season arrived yesterday. 
 
 7. Some of these publications are calculated to injure society. 
 
 8. Her debut was made on a sudden emergency, when she 
 made so decided a success that she has since been retained. 
 
 9. No artist who has ever visited the city created a greater 
 furore than this queen of song. 
 
 10. There appears to be a determination on the part of some 
 of the leading men in England to sit on the patent medicine 
 dealers. 
 
 1 1 . Adulterations in food are becoming so general that no one 
 knows what he is consuming unless it is produced before his eyes. 
 
 12. There will be some tall swearing, some big fees, some 
 legal sharpness, and all that kind of thing, before this miserable 
 case comes to an end. 
 
 13. The present parties in the Reichstag are engaged in a 
 perpetual struggle between the Empire and the Church.* 
 
 14. He thought that the action of the Government might 
 jeopardize the unity of the Empire. 
 
 15. The assumption that a man who goes into a caucus is 
 bound to vote in accordance with the caucus majority, is wholly 
 gratuitous. 
 
 16. The smooth sea grew rough; the moon grew smaller after 
 the full. 
 
 17. The Mormon prophet has taken his forty-fifth help-mate. 
 
 18. Cornelia, pointing to her sons, exclaimed, "These are my 
 jewelry." 
 
 19. I guess I shall locate out West. 
 
 20. He never lived in this section of the country.
 
 j8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 21. The plan of the University embraces the building of a new 
 convocation hall. 
 
 2 2. He has been cutting a ridiculous figure for quite a spell. 
 
 23. Manufactures profited by the discovery of Watt and Ark- 
 wright, and by the consumption of raw cotton in the mills of 
 Lancashire. 
 
 24. I will not be answerable for the exactitude of these 
 speeches. 
 
 25. And hast thou walked in the world with so little observance 
 as to wonder that men are not what they seem ? 
 
 26. The deacons seem to have been quite unconscious that the 
 law prohibited what they were doing. 
 
 27. Events had transpired in the country which changed the 
 aspect of affairs. 
 
 28. The rains rendered the roads impracticable. 
 
 29. No one besides ourselves will be admitted. 
 
 30. There is a serious fault in that man's character. 
 
 31. Tkey deserted the sinking ship. 
 
 32. The rules are indorsed by most writers on the subject. 
 ;^;^. The number of blunders imputed to him is endless. 
 
 34. I never saw such a quantity of horses at any show. 
 
 35. They formed a procession to proceed the palanquin. 
 
 2,6. I am well aware that this view of my subject is not 
 prevalent. 
 
 37. What he supposed to be a stone turned out to be only the 
 apparition of one. 
 
 ;i8. Some change will probably soon arrive. 
 
 39. The emeute, was caused by the hauteur of the new governor, 
 
 40. He deprecates the whole proceeding.
 
 PURITY, PROPRIETY, PRECISION. 79 
 
 Part III. 
 
 41. The sportsmen bagged a large amount of game. 
 
 42. I have heard of the gents, but I never indorsed them. 
 
 43. He came home unbeknown to his parents. 
 
 44. An Assurance Company has been started in the town. 
 
 45. He perambulated up and down the street. 
 
 46. After several years, they at length heard from him. 
 
 47. They all refused to come except Mary and Ahce would. 
 
 48. Directly I found the house inhabited, I began to be sorry 
 that it was not vacant. 
 
 49. The epithets, thief, coward, Uar, were heaped upon him. 
 
 50. I expect to receive an invitation to that party. 
 
 51. Such a statement was enough to dumbfounder him. 
 
 52. He was a model in mildness of temper and in propemess 
 of behavior. 
 
 53. The rogue deserved condign punishment for his crime. 
 
 54. The announcement of the victory was premature, as it 
 turned out that the supposed victors were vanquished. 
 
 55. He died in the conscience of never having failed in his 
 duty to the Pope. 
 
 56. We are more liable to see people's faults than their virtues. 
 
 57. Most of his statements were the converse of the facts. 
 
 58. We had an awfully jolly time that evening. 
 
 59. He was dragged in by the heels and afterwards ejected in 
 the same manner. 
 
 60. When the English greeted the French soldiers, the latter 
 
 evinced a reciprocity. 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 61. He experienced a very painful sensation. 
 
 62. That meeting was a howling success and the opponent's 
 chances are now higher than a kite. 
 
 63. He was that sick that he could not proceed a step further. 
 
 64. That man is a great worker and he will be sure to " get 
 there."
 
 8o COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 65. Though lampoons do not reUeve a man of his money, they 
 lacerate his soul. 
 
 66. He soon acquired the custom of using tobacco. 
 
 67. In spite of all their threats he remained perfectly dumb. 
 
 68. We had a delightful dinner yesterday. 
 
 69. It is not difficult to discriminate between orange and green. 
 
 70. I am prepared to give my evidence on the case. 
 
 71. "We are," said the preacher, " incessantly reminding peo- 
 ple of their sins." 
 
 72. The public will heartily indorse the sentiments uttered by 
 the court. 
 
 73. The state was, as the century crept on, invaded by bands 
 of courageous settlers. 
 
 74. In spite of their universal determination, midnight arrived 
 without anything decided. 
 
 75. His friends pardoned him for the injury he had done them. 
 
 76. There was a general outcry of surprise. 
 
 77. They assumed a seat at the banquet. 
 
 78. The island was then frequented by no travellers and few 
 visitants of any kind. 
 
 79. He led us into a room lighted up with abundance of 
 
 candles. 
 
 80. He read the recital of that dreadful accident. 
 
 81. He acts like a downright dude. 
 
 82. One would have thought by their acts that they had just 
 blown in from the country. 
 
 8;^. Obstacles are overcome by dihgence. 
 
 84. He was notorious for his charity. 
 
 85. Believe me. Yours respectively.
 
 THE FORMATION OF SENTENCES. 8l 
 
 LESSON XVIII. 
 
 II. THE FORMATION OF SENTENCES. 
 
 The formation of sentences will be considered under four heads t 
 I, Clearness, 2. Strength, 3. Unity, 4. Elegance. 
 
 I. Clearness. 
 
 Clearness requires a sentence to be so constructed that the 
 meaning is easily and readily apparent to the reader. When the 
 meaning is not clear, the sentence is said to be obscure ; and 
 when there is an uncertainty as to which of two different meanings 
 the author intends to convey, the sentence is said to be ambiguous. 
 
 How promoted. — Clearness is a relative term. What is clear 
 to one person may be obscure to another. A writer's aim should 
 be to make his meaning easily intelligible to persons who under- 
 stand the language. Clearness is promoted by attending to the 
 following points : The Words, Arrangement, Pronouns, Emphatic 
 Words, Same Construction, Ellipses, Length of Sentences. 
 
 THE WORDS. 
 
 If we wish to make our meaning clear, we must use such words 
 as are understood by the persons addressed. Discourse is some- 
 times rendered partially or wholly obscure through an excessive 
 use of long, unfamihar words. In dealing with abstract subjects, 
 and in unfolding the principles of the various sciences, difficult, 
 technical language is often necessary and proper ; but in treating 
 of subjects, such as are dealt with in ordinary narration or descrip- 
 tion, short, simple, familiar words should as far as possible be 
 used. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 Qualifying words, phrases, and clauses should be placed so near 
 the words they modify, that there can be no mistaking the con- 
 nection intended.
 
 82 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1. An adverb should stand close to the word, phrase, or clause, 
 that it modifies ; as, " The general nearly lost a thousand of his 
 men." Here "nearly" is placed so as to quaUfy "lost," though 
 it was probably intended to qualify " a thousand." 
 
 2. Adverbial phrases and clauses must, likewise, be placed 
 near the words they qualify. Thus, " The eagle saw the lamb while 
 flying." Here " flying " seems to qualify " lamb," but it was no 
 doubt intended to qualify " eagle " ; so the sentence should read, 
 " The eagle while flying saw the lamb." 
 
 3. Participial Clauses. — In placing participial clauses, care 
 must be taken not to leave it ambiguous to which of two nouns the 
 participle and its qualifying words belong. Thus, " I saw my friend 
 by mere accident when I was in the city at the fair, walking down 
 the main street." Arrange : " When I was in the city at the fair, 
 I, by mere accident, saw my friend walking down the main street." 
 
 When using, instead of adverbial phrases, participles implying 
 "while," "when," "though," "that," or "if," make it clear, by 
 the context, or by the arrangement, which conjunction is implied. 
 If this cannot be done, turn the phrase into a relative pronoun 
 and finite verb ; as, " Deafened by the sound, he went away." 
 This sentence, as it stands, is open to different meanings, and 
 unless the context makes clear which meaning is intended, the 
 conjunction should be inserted. Thus, it may read, " because," 
 "since," "as," "though," "when," "he was deafened by the 
 sound, he went away." 
 
 " Men, following after shadows, are sure to be deceived." This 
 may mean, " Men that," etc. ; or " When men," etc. 
 
 " Seeing his danger, he withdrew." In a sentence like this, the 
 ambiguity may be removed by inserting a preposition ; as, " On 
 seeing," etc. 
 
 4. Clauses. — Dependent clauses should be so arranged as to 
 keep them distinct from each other and from independent clauses ; 
 as, " He stated that he wished to be present, and intended to 
 speak on the question." To make the intended arrangement 
 clear, fkaf should be inserted before inte7uied.
 
 CLEARNESS. 83 
 
 5. Misleading Arrangement. — Sometimes sentences are so 
 arranged that the reader is led to suppose that a certain meaning 
 is intended, but as he proceeds he finds that something very differ- 
 ent is the sense conveyed ; as, " The Rev. J. Jones is the only 
 gentleman travelling authorized to collect subscriptions for this 
 paper." 
 
 6. Words that have a number of meanings must be placed so 
 that theie can be no mistaking which sense is intended; thus, 
 "The general had some fast friends in the city." "Fast" is 
 ambiguous; say, "firm/' or "dissolute." 
 
 EXERCISE XXVII. 
 
 The Words. 
 
 Direction. — Study these sentences till you understand them, and then 
 write out the meaning in simpler words. 
 
 1. That conflagration consumed numerous edifices. 
 
 2. That audacious individual continued an incessant disturb- 
 ance, terminating only with the termination of the lecture. 
 
 3. The lunar effulgence shed a luminous radiance over our 
 pathway. 
 
 4. He expired amid circumstances of the most direful indigence. 
 
 5. Here we discovered a spacious cavern which afforded us 
 adequate protection from the inclemencies of the elements. 
 
 6. He gently insinuated the incapacity of the entire assemblage. 
 
 7. I remember a similar objection being made to a company 
 of sable functionaries. 
 
 8. Her maternal relative had been snatched away by the relent- 
 less hand of Death. 
 
 9. Nor is it improbable that the teeming future may usher in 
 existence men whose resplendent genius will entitle them to take 
 rank with the immortals of extinct civilizations. 
 
 10. An inventive genius who was a profound searcher of nature 
 and a sagacious scholar, founded the immortal system of Homoe- 
 opathy.
 
 84 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 11. A youthful personage was declared culpable and was sen- 
 tenced to be chastised. 
 
 12. He was hot prepared to confront parental displeasure under 
 the stigma of dereliction. 
 
 13. The benignant pedagogue arranged matters satisfactorily 
 by administering a sound castigation. 
 
 14. I bore the diminution of my riches without any outrages of 
 sorrow or pusillanimity of dejection. 
 
 15. Dialect has become the appellation for the centrifugal ten- 
 dencies of languages, whether originating in individuals, in fami- 
 lies, or provinces, as opposed to the centripetal power of analogy, 
 represented by the sway which majorities always exercise over 
 minorities. 
 
 EXERCISE XXVIII. 
 
 Arrangement. 
 
 Direction. — Arrange these sentences so as to make the intended mean- 
 ing clear. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. Everybody thought that it was destined to be a great city 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 2. The French, having nearly lost five thousand men, became 
 discouraged. 
 
 3. Being the only boy, I was loved by both my parents, and 
 almost allowed to do as I liked. 
 
 4. I am this year offering the public a large and well selected 
 stock to select from at reduced prices. 
 
 5. Suppose an adult man could be suddenly placed in the 
 world, as Adam is said to have been, and then left to do as best 
 he might, in the full vigor of his faculties. 
 
 6. It was my father's custom to hear me repeat to him the 
 lessons I was learning when I was a boy. 
 
 7. He is bound to execute any order you give. 
 
 8. He walked away very reluctantly acknowledging his fault. 
 
 9. I saw some boys going to school through the window.
 
 CLEARNESS. 85 
 
 10. He answered all the questions that were put to him quite 
 readily. 
 
 11. His rebuke had the desired effect. 
 
 12. The last scene of Canonchet's life is worthy as one of the 
 noblest instances on record of Indian magnanimity. 
 
 13. The fire started in the basement, caused by the explosion 
 of a lamp. 
 
 14. The great ends of the Revolution were, indeed, secured 
 even amidst the confusion and intrigue which we shall have to 
 describe, by the common consent of all. 
 
 15. They broke down both the door of the stable and of the 
 cellar. 
 
 16. He pulled up the three first plants in the row. 
 
 1 7. All of us wish sometimes to communicate our thoughts to 
 others. 
 
 18. There is a set of merry drolls whom the people love so 
 well that they could eat them according to the old proverb. 
 
 19. Prove that Waterloo was fit retribution before you praise. 
 
 20. He stabbed Csesar twenty-three times between Pompey's 
 Pillar and eleven o'clock, many of which were fatal. 
 
 21. These we not only hear now sometimes, but even see in 
 print. 
 
 22. The judge sentenced him to jail for disorderly conduct for 
 ten days. 
 
 23. I shall have a comedy for you in a season or two at the 
 farthest, that, I believe, will be worth your acceptance. 
 
 24. A stupid butt is only fit for the conversation of ordinary 
 people. 
 
 25. For they call me wise, even though I am not wise, when 
 they want to reproach you. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 26. Under the circumstances, I must admit that you acted fairly. 
 2 7. She did not hear what you said running so quickly down 
 
 the crowded street. -^
 
 86 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 28. They ran home crying " Fire ! " in their overcoats. 
 
 29. I saw the sunset walking on the pier behind the mountain. 
 
 30. The whale crushed the boat to atoms while floating. 
 
 31. And keep the flame from wasting by repose. 
 
 32. He did not notice what you said, going unexpectedly out 
 at that moment. 
 
 ^^. We departed and left a great many people very sorry be- 
 hind us. 
 
 34. He has lately applied steam to move coal-wagons on a 
 railway, instead of drawing them with horses, with great success. 
 
 35. In that room hangs a picture neatly painted behind the 
 door. 
 
 1^6. He left the room quickly dropping the purse on the floor. 
 
 37. He did not pretend to extirpate French music, but only to 
 cultivate it. ^ 
 
 38. Why, I believe, with a tolerable grace, I do bear a part. I 
 desire not to be misunderstood. 
 
 39. Poverty had driven him in boyhood to accept a writership 
 in the company's service. 
 
 40. Awaking with a start, the waters heaved around me. 
 
 41. When I came into the country visiting my friends, looking 
 up the street, I saw my father coming to fetch me home. 
 
 42. A master who is essentially a crammer, cannot be prevented 
 from cramming by any power on earth. 
 
 43. Let not English manufacturers depart from the maxims of 
 self-help, which have made them what they are, by calling upon 
 the Government to do their work for them. 
 
 44. Among the first arrivals was Mr. Derby, now so loved by 
 every one, who was to officiate on the occasion. 
 
 45. The beaux of that day used the abominable art of painting 
 their faces as well as the women. 
 
 46. The enemy attacked us before the day had begun to break, 
 at three o'clock in the morning. 
 
 47. Wanted, a young woman to take care of two orphan chil- 
 dren, of a religious turn of mind.
 
 CLEARNESS. 8/ 
 
 48. Lost, a cow, belonging to an old woman, with brass knobs 
 on her horns. 
 
 49. After the robins have pinched and pounded all the life out 
 of an earth-worm, as Italian cooks pound all the spirit out of a 
 steak, and then gulped him, they stand up in honest self-confi- 
 dence. 
 
 50. To be superannuated at that age must be regarded rather 
 as a hardship than as a favor by men of energetic dispositions. 
 
 LESSON XIX. 
 
 CLEARNESS. — PRONOUNS. 
 
 Pronouns. — Owing to the fact that we have in English so few 
 pronouns of the third person, it is often very difficult to make 
 clear to which antecedent a pronoun refers. This is especially 
 the case in long sentences where there are two or more nouns 
 of the same number and gender. Various expedients may be 
 employed to obviate the difficulty ; as, — 
 
 1. To break up the sentence into two or more shorter ones. 
 
 2. To make one of the nouns singular and the other plural. 
 
 3. To change the construction so as to make the pronouns of 
 different persons. 
 
 4. To report a speech in the first person. 
 
 5. To put a synonym instead of the noun. 
 
 6. To supply the nouns. 
 
 Examples. — " He told his father that he would never forget 
 his promise." The last " his " is ambiguous. Read, " He said 
 to his father, ' I will never forget my {or your) promise.' " 
 
 "Almost immediately after the accession of Henry VI. the 
 French king died, and he was proclaimed king of France at 
 Paris." Here " he " seems to have " French king " for its ante- 
 cedent. For " he " substitute " Henry of England."
 
 S8   COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Relative Pronouns. — The relative pronouns must be placed 
 so as to refer clearly to their antecedents. 
 
 The following nfles will be found of service : — 
 
 1. Do not, if possible, allow any words to intervene between 
 the relative and its antecedent. 
 
 2. When the relative clause is restrictive, and the use of " who " 
 or " which " causes ambiguity, use " that." 
 
 3. The ambiguity arising from the use of "who" or "which" 
 may sometimes be removed by placing a definite article, or other 
 demonstrative word, before the antecedent. Thus, " Virtue which 
 hides itself is not sure of its reward." This sentence is open to 
 two meanings, as "which " may be either connective or restrictive. 
 By placing " the " or " that " before " virtue " the relative is made 
 restrictive only. 
 
 4. Ambiguity may sometimes be removed by repeating the 
 antecedent in some new form. Thus, " He said that he would 
 not even hear me, which I had expected." " He said that he 
 would not even hear me, a refusal (or a favor) which (or that) I 
 had expected." 
 
 5. Do not use a redundant "and" before "which"; as, "I 
 gave him an interesting book for a present, and which cost me 
 five dollars." 
 
 " And " is not redundant when it stands between two co-ordinate 
 relative clauses each introduced by " which." 
 
 6. Sometimes it is better to begin a new sentence and to turn 
 "who" or "which" into a personal pronoun, or pronoun and 
 conjunction ; as, " He " or " And he," " It " or " And it." 
 
 7. Again, the relative and its preposition may be changed into 
 "whereby," "whereupon," "whereat," or into some other subor- 
 dinate conjunction ; " As the skeleton that waited at their feast, 
 by which (whereby) their sinful pleasure was increased." 
 
 8. Ambiguity may at times be avoided by omitting the relative 
 or by making its clause a participial phrase.
 
 CLEARNESS. 89 
 
 EXERCISE XXIX. 
 
 Pronouns. 
 
 Direction. — Remove the ambiguity from these sentences, by applying some 
 of the expedients suggested. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. The captain of the ship swam ashore, and so did the cook= 
 She was insured for iifteen thousand dollars, and was heavily 
 loaded with iron. 
 
 2. They were persons of ordinary abilities, even before they 
 were injured by their vices. 
 
 3. He promised his father that he would never forget his 
 advice. 
 
 4. The farmer went to his neighbor, and told him that his 
 cattle were in his field. 
 
 5 . The boy told his master that whatever he did, he could not 
 please him. 
 
 6. People of all diseases, and without any kind of disease, buy 
 patent medicines, and they are swallowed down by the barrel in 
 every town and city. 
 
 7. It would be a great thing if our youthful agriculturists 
 would read more, and whatever stimulates that is to be looked on 
 as good. 
 
 8. I have come to the conclusion that freedom where any 
 person is free to do as he likes with any one or his property, and 
 who can have no redress, is no freedom at all. 
 
 9. A young girl, it is said, has just died in an asylum in Ham- 
 burg, whose hair was accustomed to change its color according to 
 her states of mind. 
 
 10. He said to me that if he did not wish to do so, he need 
 not, but that he would do so any way. 
 
 11. The picture of the king hung on the wall behind the door; 
 it was covered with a cloth. 
 
 12. He said that he would send him help if he was willing to 
 accept it.
 
 90 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 13. He fired accidentally and shot the man while he was out 
 walking. 
 
 14. PJe informed the man that he had seen his brother and 
 that he had gone to see the exhibition. 
 
 15. In the confusion that followed. the carriage ran over the 
 boy that had black wheels. 
 
 16. Although I have looked everywhere, I cannot find one of 
 my books. 
 
 1 7. He shot the man and broke his leg. 
 
 t8. The dog ran away wnth the meat, whose tail had been cut 
 off by a wagon that had been stolen from the cook. 
 
 ig. While he was going through the country, he met a friend 
 and he was very ill, but he gave him food and he recovered. 
 
 20. He is unworthy of the confidence of a fellow-being who 
 disregards the laws of his Maker. 
 
 2 1 . When very little snow falls, or when it is blown off the 
 fields, it greatly diminishes the crop of fall-wheat the next season. 
 
 22. John told James that if he did not start sooner, he would 
 be late, and that this would not suit him. 
 
 23. He hath made him to be sin tor us who knew no sin. 
 
 24. She asked her if she would keep house for her while she 
 was away. 
 
 25. He said that he had seen his brother and that he would fulfil 
 
 his part of the bargain. 
 
 Part H. 
 
 26. He went to the officer and told him if he did not make 
 that man give him back his purse, he would have him prosecuted. 
 
 27. There is a mortgage on the property, which will likely 
 cause some trouble. 
 
 28. I thus obtained a character for natural powers of reasoning 
 which I could not refute, and yet which I felt was undeserved. 
 
 29. Meanwhile the sponsors of both champions went as was 
 their duty, to see that they were duly armed for the combat. 
 
 30. Henrique forced him to his knees and beat him till he was 
 out of breath.
 
 CLEARNESS. 9I 
 
 31. It is a kind of basin twenty feet long, enclosed in a wall, 
 which comes from a distance of several miles. 
 
 32. He is ruining his health by the same errors that so many 
 have ruined theirs before. 
 
 ;^;^. The prior had control of a large part of the revenues, 
 which gave him the means of defraying his own expenses. 
 
 34. In the spring of 1888, he lost his sight through an injury 
 CO the optic nerve, which was caused by exposure, after eighteen 
 years of service devoted to Hfe-saving. 
 
 35. His servant being ill, he had consented to allow his brother, 
 a timid youth from the country, to take his place for a short time^ 
 and for that short time he was a constant source of annoyance. 
 
 36. While he was out hunting he met an Indian, and he at- 
 tempted to take his life, but he could not. 
 
 37. Xenophon is always celebrating the good nature of his 
 hero, which he tells us he brought into the world with him. 
 
 38. He bequeathed to his brother Alexander, the sum of 
 ^12,000, to his wife ^1000, and to his three children $1000 each. 
 
 39. The king was shot by his nephew while he was crossing the 
 mountain. 
 
 40. The man was driving an old ox when he became angry and 
 kicked him, hitting his jawbone with such force as to break his leg. 
 
 41. In general I enjoy settled confirmed health, to which 7 
 have for some years paid great attention, chiefly from public views. 
 
 42. Her maid said that when she had a fine face she was always 
 looking on it in her glass. 
 
 43. This way will direct you to a gentleman's house that hath 
 skill to take off these burdens. 
 
 44. All persons wishing to have the Times sent to any of their 
 friends, will please give their naines to any member of the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 45. Tell her of a piece of good fortune that has befallen one of 
 her acquaintances ; and she wishes it may prosper with her, but 
 her mother used one of her nieces badly. 
 
 46. I notified the constable and he arrested the man at once.
 
 92 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 47. I offer for sale the stock saved from the fire, which consists 
 of tweeds, yarns, and a few gray blankets. 
 
 48. Last night I lay on a gondola on the Grand Canal, drinking 
 it all in, and life never seemed so full before. 
 
 49. A dream varies our being and changes our condition while 
 it lasts. 
 
 50. Mr. Frelinghuysen, the Secretary of State, tendered me the 
 appointment, which I accepted. 
 
 LESSON XX. 
 
 CLEARNESS. — EMPHATIC WORDS. 
 
 Emphatic words should occupy emphatic positions. 
 
 Subject and Predicate. — In order that a sentence may be 
 easily and clearly understood, it is important that the subject and 
 the predicate should occupy prominent positions. 
 
 1. The Subject. — When the principal subject is the same as 
 the grammatical there are three places of prominence that it may 
 occupy : — 
 
 a. At the beginning of the sentence ; as, " The medicine man 
 pitched his magic lodge in the woods." 
 
 b. After an adverbial, participial, or other subsidiary clause ; 
 as, " With great difficulty, we managed to glide down the slippery 
 trunk of a pine tree." 
 
 c. At the end of the sentence ; as, " The most shameless thing 
 in the world is a perfect democracy." 
 
 2. The Predicate. — It is no less important that the predicate 
 should be placed in a conspicuous position. Its natural place is 
 after the subject. When, however, it is specially emphatic, it may 
 precede the subject, or even stand first in the sentence. Thus, 
 "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," is much more emphatic than 
 *' Diana of the Ephesians is great."
 
 CLEARNESS. 93 
 
 Caution. — The grammatical subject and the principal subject 
 of a sentence, though usually the same, are not always so. For 
 example, in the following sentence the principal subject is the part 
 in italics : " Happy if they all had continued to know their indis- 
 soluble iniion, and the 17- proper place." 
 
 Other Emphatic Words. — Clearness as well as force further 
 requires that all other emphatic words in a sentence should occupy 
 emphatic positions, and that where there are several emphatic 
 words it should be made clear which are the most emphatic. 
 
 It may be laid down as a general rule that, when words are 
 placed out of their usual order, they are made more emphatic. 
 
 See also what is said in " Caution " to Exercise VI. 
 
 The Same Construction. 
 
 The Same Construction. — ^ In the different parts of a sentence 
 that are joined together in the same connection, the same con- 
 struction should generally be maintained throughout. This rule 
 applies, chiefly, to words, phrases, and clauses that come near 
 together ; it must not be adhered to so closely as to make the 
 sentence stiff or monotonous. 
 
 Examples. — Say " good and brave," or, " of goodness and 
 bravery," not, "of goodness and brave," 
 
 " He was fully resolved to give up commercial life and on devot- 
 ing himself to the study of languages." This should read, " He 
 was fully resolved to give up commercial life and to devote him- 
 self to the study of languages," or " on giving " and " on devoting." 
 
 In contrasts, the sentences are both clearer and more forcible if 
 the contrasted members are constructed alike. For example, the 
 sentence, " Scriptural language burst from his lips when he saw 
 victory at Dunbar ; they faltered it even in death, though he had 
 almost lost his policy and consciousness," is much better as the 
 author has it : " Scriptural language burst from his lips when he 
 saw victory at Dunbar ; it hovered on them in death, when policy, 
 and almost consciousness, was gone."
 
 94 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XXX. 
 
 Emphatic ^VoRDS. 
 Direction. — Give the emphatic words a conspicuous situation. 
 
 1. There is little question of his genius. 
 
 2. The idea of Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum grew out of 
 the discussion of pumps. 
 
 3. Nor is the reason which has led to the establishment of this 
 moral law difficult to be discerned. 
 
 4. I should have come up last week, if I had known you were 
 sick. 
 
 5. All mankind are passing or have passed through such con- 
 ceptions of the plan and working of the Universe. 
 
 6. His is a mind that, in discerning and reflecting whatever 
 odd or amusing things occur in life around, occupies itself pre- 
 eminently. 
 
 7. There is surely nothing in these explanations that is not 
 borne out by the facts. 
 
 8. That our older writers quoted to excess, it would be the 
 blindness of partiality to deny. 
 
 9. The spirit of the famous house of Vasa rose to the first 
 heroic height in him. 
 
 10. They drew off slowly and sullenly, leaving nothing to the 
 victor except some guns of position. 
 
 11. The business will task your skill and fidelity. (Make 
 " fidelity " emphatic.) 
 
 12. The nights that had been spent by him, not on his couch, 
 were many. 
 
 13. The exhaustion that he had experienced had been great. 
 
 14. The lustre of his youth had sometimes been haggard. 
 
 15. We should first secure a good definition of Oratory. I 
 think this is not difficult. 
 
 16. It must have seemed dreadful to all who were within sight 
 or hearing of Liitzen when that battle was over.
 
 CLEARNESS. 95 
 
 17. A mere conqueror ought not to obtain from us the rev- 
 erence that is due to the great benefactors of mankind. 
 
 18. But who can doubt that this man's religion was sincere? 
 
 19. Colored people are more successfully photographed, as a 
 rule, than white people, in the opinion of an experienced artist. 
 
 20. All thy towers are sunk in shapeless ruin. 
 
 21. The man who, void of cares, retains a shilling in silken or 
 in leathern purse, is happy. 
 
 22. To the command of the parliamentary party was appointed 
 the Earl of Essex, a man of respectable abilities and of some 
 military experience. 
 
 23. The house occupied five years in building, costing the 
 proprietor a hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 24. The Indians are exceedingly skilful in shooting buffaloes ; 
 sending an arrow quite through the body of a full-grown buffalo, 
 he being in a favorable position, and sufficiently near. 
 
 25. Zenobia assumed the government after the murder of her 
 husband, avenging his death, and making herself formidable to all 
 the nations within her reach. 
 
 EXERCISE XXXI. 
 
 The Samk Construction, 
 Direction. — In these sentences, make both parts of tlie same form. 
 
 1. The opponents of the Government are naturally, and not 
 without justification, elated at the failure of the attempt. 
 
 2. The general was quite aware how treacherous were the in- 
 tentions of Ills entertainers, and of the dangers from which he had 
 lately escaped. 
 
 3. To deride the miseries of the unhappy is inhuman, and want- 
 ing compassion towards them is unchristian. 
 
 4. Before the locusts came, the country was a paradise ; after 
 their work was done, they left only a desert. 
 
 5. These funds will be available for meeting such expenses, and 
 to enable the committee to carry out the scheme.
 
 g6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. The boys said, " We are going, and that Jhey would not stay 
 long." 
 
 7. He is one of the few surviving magistrates of the island of 
 which he is a native, and has lived in it all his life. 
 
 8. Deserters from principle, listed with fortune, they never see 
 any good in suffering virtue ; nor, with them, is usurpation a crime 
 if prosperous. 
 
 9. All returned to their homes well pleased with the exercises 
 of the evening, and in the conscious enjoyment of the time profit- 
 ably spent. 
 
 10. The love of Christ is hke a sea, into whose bosom you can 
 look a little way, but its depths are unfathomable. 
 
 11. In England we are said to learn manners at second hand 
 from your side of the water, and that we dress our behavior in 
 the frippery of France. 
 
 12. As far as appears there was no prejudicing the case, and 
 no attempt to strain evidence to accompUsh their conviction. 
 
 13. I recollect the good, honest, wholesome, hungry repast 
 which we made under a beech-tree, just by a spring of pure, sweet 
 water that stole out of the side of a hill ; and how, when it was over, 
 one of the party read old Izaak Walton's " Scene with the Milkmaid." 
 
 14. He undertook the preparation of the hall, and to provide 
 accommodations and refreshments for all who might come. 
 
 15. I fancied how these ugly suburbs would join with the open 
 fields, and that the city would soon reach to the river. 
 
 16. No matter how bright the future may appear, we should 
 not depend on it, but let us act in the present. 
 
 1 7. He decided to visit the gorge, and if he saw any of the 
 party, he would ask for his dog and gun. 
 
 18. The judgments which Johnson passed on books were, in 
 his own time, regarded with superstitious veneration, and, in our 
 time, people generally treat them with contempt. 
 
 19. Of the two great creative minds of the latter half of the 
 seventeenth century, one produced the " Paradise Lost," and the 
 " Pilgrim's Progress " was the work of the other.
 
 CLEARNESS. 97 
 
 20,. There is a principle which Hastings was fond of asserting in 
 the strongest terms, and he acted on it with undeviating steadiness. 
 
 21. Wisdom is the promise of the past ; but if we want pledges 
 for the future, we look to beauty. 
 
 LESSON XXI. 
 
 CLEARNESS. — IMPROPER ELLIPSES. 
 
 Improper Ellipses. — Although, as we shall hereafter see, a 
 sentence is strengthened by omitting all words not necessary to 
 a clear expression of the thought, yet if this is carried too far, 
 ambiguity, obscurity, or loss of vigor, will be the result. 
 
 The following hints will be found useful : — 
 
 1. The article should be repeated before each noun when dis- 
 tinct things are meant ; as, " a treasurer and secretary " means 
 one person who holds two offices, but " a treasurer and a secre- 
 tary" means two officers. "The good and wise " are one class 
 with two qualities ; " the good and the wise " are two classes. 
 
 2. The subject, or some word representing it, should be inserted 
 when the omission would perplex the reader. Thus : " He pre- 
 tends to be working for his friends, whom he is actually betraying, 
 and (he? ^rthey?) will not allow any one else to interfere." 
 
 3. A conjunction should be repeated when its omission makes 
 the construction doubtful. Thus : " When we look back upon the 
 havoc that two hundred years have made in the ranks of our 
 authors, — and, above all, (when) we refer their disappearance 
 to the succession of new competitors, — we are dismayed at the 
 prospect of present writers." 
 
 4. When there are two or more relative clauses the relative 
 pronoun must generally be repeated with each ; as, " His heroes 
 are men who have arrived by different roads at the same goal of 
 despair, and (who) to the last defy the power of earth and heaven."
 
 98 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 5. After the conjunctions than or as the verb or other words 
 whose omission causes ambiguity must be inserted ; as " He Hkes 
 me better than you " should be " He hkes me better than you 
 like me," or, " better than he likes you." 
 
 6. When the sentence is long and the verb far from its subject, 
 the subject or some word that will stand as a summary of what 
 has been said must be inserted. Thus : " Gold and cotton, banks 
 and railways, crowded ports and populous cities, although matters 
 of great moment, these are not the elements that constitute a great 
 
 nation 
 
 Length of Sentences. 
 
 Long Sentences. — With young persons there is no more fruit- 
 ful source of obscurity than long sentences. The beginner plunges 
 with such zest into his subject that he never thinks of a full stop, 
 but goes on m one continuous sentence and is soon hopelessly lost 
 in his maze of words. Then he flounders about evidently without 
 the faintest idea of what is the subject, what the predicate, which 
 the dependent, or which the independent clause, in his never- 
 ending sentence. His remedy is to put in plenty of full stops, 
 and, if the style has no other excellence, it will at least possess 
 some degree of clearness. 
 
 If, in a sentence, the subordinate clauses are all of the same 
 kind, all constructed in a similar form, and all depending on the 
 same principal clause, there is not necessarily any obscurity ; but 
 when a sentence consists of many clauses promiscuously thrown 
 together, or when the dependent clauses have others depending 
 on them, very close attention — closer than the writer is entitled 
 to demand — is required to gather the meaning.
 
 CLEARNESS. 99 
 
 EXERCISE XXXII. 
 
 Improper Ellipses. 
 
 Direction. — Supply the words whose omission causes obscurity or am 
 biguity. 
 
 1. She always thought more of attending to the wants of others 
 than of herself. 
 
 2. My boyhood days were, in a measure, like all other boys, 
 spent in school and at home. 
 
 3. Some young people find it difficult to distinguish between a 
 synecdoche and metonymy. 
 
 4. They aimed at nothing less the supreme control of the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 5. The hotel's night watchman enables gendemen to be called 
 at any time, and adds greatly to the comfort and security of all. 
 
 6. If dead, his wife and children may apply. 
 
 7. We hope tlie time will be short until your health is restored 
 and in our midst again. 
 
 8. He wished for nothing more than a dictionary. 
 
 9. Of those now at the Home some were born in England and 
 Ireland, and some came from the city. 
 
 10. The geography and history are valuable books. 
 
 11. I have no more influence over him than others. 
 
 12. His childhood was like many others, the happiest part of 
 his Hfe. 
 
 13. To add to their burdens, they suffered from the exactions 
 of the nobles and land-owners. 
 
 14. The clergyman announced that there would be no prayer- 
 meeting that week as usual. 
 
 15. Every advantage manufacturers desire can be had, and sub- 
 stantial aid when deserving. 
 
 16. Our wedding-cakes are got up in a style equal to any baker 
 in the city. 
 
 17. The opinions of people in those days differed so much from 
 the present time that he was popular though vicious.
 
 100 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1 8. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and 
 fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 
 
 19. One would think there were more sophists than one had 
 a hand in the argument. 
 
 EXERCISE XXXIII. 
 
 Length of Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Improve these sentences by breaking them up into shorter 
 ones. 
 
 1. It is to be hoped that the distinguished author will be spared 
 to fill up this gap himself, when, in his own words, there will be a 
 " continuous history of the French occupation of the Continent," 
 written we may add, with the most painstaking research, and the 
 most praiseworthy impartiality, combined with such picturesque 
 and graphic narrative power as have already made it the great 
 authority on the subject of which it treats, and will, we doubt not, 
 long maintain it in that most honorable and deserved position. 
 
 2. There is a great controversy about the most convenient and 
 genteel way of holding your plate at meals ; some stick it between 
 the frame and the back of the chair, which is an excellent expe- 
 dient, where the make of the chair will allow it ; others, for fear 
 the plate should fall, grasp it so firmly that their thumb reaches to 
 the middle of the hollow : which, however, if your thumb be dry, 
 is no secure method ; and therefore, in that case, I advise your 
 wetting the ball of it with your tongue ; as to that absurd practice 
 of letting the back of the plate lie leaning on the hollow of your 
 hand, which some ladies recommend, it is universally exploded, 
 being liable to so many accidents. 
 
 3. Notwithstanding the urgent entreaties of his friends, for him 
 to abandon his enterprise, Columbus, the discoverer of America, 
 set sail from Palos on the morning of Friday, the 3d of August, 
 1492, and after a stormy and difficult voyage he landed on one of 
 the West India Islands on the 4th day of October in the same 
 year ; although his sailors had always despaired of ever reaching
 
 CLEARNESS. lOI 
 
 land, and had been wishing during the last few weeks of their 
 voyage, for Columbus to return with them to Spain. 
 
 4. To the apprehension of the Corporation of Trinity Univer- 
 sity, and the Board of Regents of Victoria University, that, were 
 the proposed University Professoriate and the new University 
 College in the same building, i.e. the building at present occupied 
 by University College, then University college would, by its loca- 
 tion under the University roof, its proximity to the University 
 Professoriate, overshadow the other colleges and put them into 
 an unfair comparison with it — to this apprehension must be as- 
 signed the motive of the amendments proposing that the con- 
 federating colleges, University College included, shall be placed 
 on precisely the same footing towards the common University ; 
 which, being interpreted, is that the University Professoriate and 
 University College shall have separate buildings provided for them. 
 
 EXERCISE XXXIV. 
 
 Clearness. 
 
 Direction. — In this miscellaneous exercise point out the cause of the 
 ambiguity or obscurity, and then reconstruct the sentence so as to make the 
 meaning clear. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. The interjection more nearly resembles the verb than any 
 other part of speech. 
 
 2. The wife of this distinguished lecturer accompanied him to 
 the city ; and though her hair is quite white and apparently his 
 senior, she walks with a firm step. 
 
 3. After some difficulty, we reached the gate where we parted. 
 
 4. Children in the East have their own pet elephants, and the 
 big creatures enjoy a frolic with the little ones, as well as they do 
 themselves. 
 
 5. While oiling the gearing of the machine his hand caught in 
 it, nearly taking it off. 
 
 6. When Julius Caesar was lampooned by Catullus, he invited
 
 I02 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 him to a supper and treated him with such generous civihty that 
 he made him his friend ever after. 
 
 7. By the articles subsisting between us, on the day of marriage, 
 you agreed to pay down the sum of eighty thousand dollars. 
 
 8. He forgets the gratitude he owes to those that helped him 
 when he was poor, and John Smith in particular. 
 
 9. He told his servant to call upon his friend to give informa- 
 tion, and not to leave him till he started. 
 
 10. I thought that the safest plan was to praise everything he did. 
 
 11. Classify the following, analyzing the derivatives and com- 
 pounds, and translate each into an equivalent phrase. 
 
 12. Although the people were rid of the locusts, they were not 
 rid of the trouble which they caused them. 
 
 13. About the Falls hung a cloud or mist, and which was in- 
 creasing every moment. 
 
 14. It is necessary that God should choose for us, and there- 
 with to be content. 
 
 15. May asked her sister if she would bring her her work-bas- 
 ket, as she wished to make something for her mother. 
 
 16. With the beloved daughter she kept up the most intimate 
 fellowship, though she tried to hide from her all knowledge of her 
 father's intense cruelty to her. 
 
 1 7. When the strangers spoke of the ferocity of his dogs, he 
 said they were ill-bred curs. 
 
 18. He told his friend that his brother was surprised that he 
 had given so small a sum, for he was a very rich man, in spite of 
 his recent losses, compared with himself. 
 
 19. Never allow the muzzle of a gun to point towards yourself 
 or any other person. 
 
 20. Tell him, if he is wrong, he should retrace his steps. 
 
 21. His remains were committed to that bourne whence no 
 traveller returns, attended by his family and friends. 
 
 22. The laborers crowd into the towns to enter into competi- 
 tion with you, to lower the rate of wages, and to huddle popula- 
 tion together until healthful dweUings become impossible.
 
 CLEARNESS. lOj 
 
 23. Passing over the bridge in a carriage, the horses became 
 unmanageable, the carriage was on the edge of a precipice, the 
 two leaders fell over and were killed, but Pascal's life was pre- 
 served through a breaking of the traces. 
 
 24. From this very diversity there springs a multifariousness of 
 aspects under which it may be considered, that is sufficient of 
 itself to inspire the subject with interest. 
 
 25. Let us create more of that spirit that I have tried to convey 
 above, and less of the present wrangling, how much more profit- 
 ably could our weekly meetings be held. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 26. The Spectator discussed and condemned the evils of the 
 day, as well as all other topics which might please and profit its 
 readers. 
 
 27. Tickled with the flattery, like a little fool, I went to work, 
 and bitterly did I rue the day. 
 
 28. This king encouraged not only learned men, but also 
 founded a number of schools of learning. 
 
 29. " Bois-Guilbert? " said Cedric, in the half-arguing tone, 
 which the habit of living among dependents had accustomed him 
 to employ, and resembled a man who talks to himself rather than 
 to those around him. 
 
 30. He gave a whimsical account of the sudden apparition of 
 one of them at his gay apartments in the Temple, who may have 
 been a welcome visitor at his squalid quarters in Green Arbour 
 Court. 
 
 31. The picture of the village pastor in this poem, which we 
 have already printed, was taken in part from the character of his 
 pathos, embodied likewise recollections of his brother Henry. 
 
 32. You forget that those were real dinners where people were 
 hungry and thirsty, and you met a very miscellaneous company. 
 
 33. The house was crowded to its utmost capacity ; every 
 available seat was occupied and many remained standing till the 
 close.
 
 104 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 34. We have seen that there are many angles of different mag- 
 nitudes, which have the same sine. 
 
 35. When I see a man flattering the people, making great pro- 
 fessions of attachment to liberty, who is in private life a tyrant, I 
 say to myself, " Look out, good people ! that fellow will set you to 
 turning grindstones." 
 
 36. The polar bears live on seal and walrus, crawling stealthily 
 up to the former on the ice-floes and catching them ; while of the 
 walrus only the young are caught, for an old walrus is twice as big 
 as Bruin. 
 
 37. Obrutscheff regards war as inevitable, and urges immediate 
 mobilization, and that not a moment should be lost in pushing on 
 to Herat and Candahar. 
 
 38. The intellectual qualities of the youth were superior to those 
 of his raiment. 
 
 39. The same night, while Crozier was at Carlton, Riel sent 
 him word to come for his dead, and afterwards to Prince Albert, 
 and said if they did not come he would bury them. 
 
 40. He is said to prefer plain food ; he is also said to be ex- 
 tremely fond of bread, and dotes on water. 
 
 41. The young man did not want natural talents; but the 
 father of him was a coxcomb, who affected being a fine gentleman 
 so unmercifully that he could not endure in his sight, or the fre- 
 quent mention of, one who was his son, growing into manhood 
 and thrusting him out of the gay world. 
 
 42. He advanced against the old man, imitating his address, 
 his face, and career, as well as the vigor of his horse and his own 
 skill would allow. 
 
 43. When thousands are left without pity and unattended on a 
 field of battle, amid the insults of an enraged foe and the tramp- 
 ling of horses, while the blood from their wounds, freezing as it 
 flows, binds them to the earth, and they are exposed to the pierc- 
 ing air, it must be, indeed, a painful scene. 
 
 44. The bull I am speaking of was granted five years ago to 
 the faithful people of Spain, by the late pope, which a gentleman
 
 CLEARNESS. IO5 
 
 of the army took accidentally from a master of a ship, whose name 
 is Peter de Zologa, in the bay of Biscay, as it is signed by himself 
 in the same bull, and may be seen at the publishers. 
 
 45. Nine times out of ten when you hear a farmer's boy set 
 down as a hard case, you find his father to blame for it, for he haif 
 been too harsh and arbitrary. 
 
 46. In order further to advertise my business, I will send my 
 new pipe organ to any one sending me ^75, provided I receive 
 fifty names, the same as given away at the concert of December 
 the 3d. 
 
 47. The critical position of the new free state, which is being 
 founded in Africa by the King of the Belgians, is owing to its pres- 
 ent jurisdiction on the Congo, being an island, and to the rights 
 it possesses on the sea coast to the north of the Congo, being cov- 
 eted by France. 
 
 48. This they effected by conveying their letters to her by 
 means of a brewer that supplied the family with ale, through a 
 chink in the wall of her apartment. 
 
 49. We live in the past by a knowledge of its history, and we 
 have hope and anticipation in the future. 
 
 50. A brazen statue of Justice stood in the public square, once 
 in an ancient city, whose name I no longer remember, raised aloft 
 on a column, upholding the scales in its left hand, and in its right 
 a sword. 
 
 51. These funds will be available for meeting such expenses, 
 and to enable the committee to carry out the scheme properly. 
 
 52. Two nights ago, I lectured to a large assembly in this halL 
 nearly all belonging to your country. 
 
 53. The progress of civilization works for land as against labor, 
 shutting men off from free access to mother earth, whose bounteous 
 breasts are stored with the food of men, making the landless ii> 
 creasingly dependent.
 
 f06 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXII. 
 
 2. STRENGTH. 
 
 Strength consists in constructing sentences in such a way as to 
 give full force to the thought or meaning they contain. 
 
 When to be sought. — In some kinds of composition, such as 
 judicial opinions and text-books of science, all that is necessary is 
 to make the language clear. If, however, the communication of 
 knowledge is not the only aim, if the reader's attention cannot 
 be taken for granted, the language must be more than clear, it 
 must be forcible. 
 
 How promoted. — As strength in expression depends largely 
 on the manner in which a sentence is formed, much may be gained 
 by attending to the following points : Number of Words, the Order 
 of Words, Forcible Words, Connection and Transition, Variety. 
 
 Number of Words. 
 
 Every word that does not add to the meaning of a sentence, 
 enfeebles it. Hence, a sentence is strengthened by rejecting 
 every clause, phrase, or word, that is redundant. Thus, " Hands 
 off ! " is more forcible than '' Keep your hands off ! " ; " Strange ! ", 
 than " That is very strange ! " 
 
 Among the principal violations of brevity are : Tautology, 
 Redundancy, and Verbosity. 
 
 Caution. — Beginners must not run away v/ith the idea that 
 every sentence should be constructed with the smallest number 
 of words possible. There are many considerations to be taken 
 into account in determining just how many words should be used. 
 The nature of the subject, the character of the treatment, as well 
 as the capacity and intelligence of the persons addressed, demand 
 variations that only a due attention to these things can justify. 
 Commonplace thoughts on familiar topics admit briefer expres-
 
 STRENGTH. lO/ 
 
 sion than original ideas ; greater conciseness is demanded in a 
 book than in a newspaper or a speech ; intelligent people require 
 less explanation than ignorant ones. In any case, one should 
 avoid excessive conciseness on the one hand, and excessive dif- 
 fuseness on the other. 
 
 1. Tautology is the fault of saying again in other words what 
 has just been said. 
 
 Examples. — '^ False ////^-representations." '■'■Umbrageous shade.'" 
 *' He was by no means deficient in the subordinate and limited 
 virtue which alleviates and relieves the wants of others." In each 
 of these expressions one of the italicized words may be omitted* 
 with advantage. 
 
 "When Permissible. — What might appear Tautology by a strict 
 Tendering of the rule is allowable 
 
 a. When one word does not express the full sense intended ; 
 as, Subject-matter, part and parcel, tvays and means. 
 
 b. For greater emphasis ; as, " The head and front of his 
 offending." " He ruled with might and main.'' 
 
 c. In strong passion ; as, " I am astonished, I am shocked, to 
 hear such principles confessed." 
 
 2. Redundancy, or pleonasm, consists in the addition of use- 
 less words. 
 
 Examples. — "They returned back agaijt to the same .city from 
 whence they cdime. fort hi" "Throughout "his whole career." 
 
 When Permissible. — Redundancy is permissible when neces- 
 sary to important statements, to give emphasis, and in the language 
 of passion. Sometimes what is said directly may be said again 
 indirectly ; the abstract may be reproduced in the concrete form ; 
 the literal, in a metaphor ; an object may be presented from a 
 new point of view ; an argini>ent may be stated in a variety of 
 forms. Thus, "We have seen it tvith our oivn eyes." "Kings 
 will be tyrants from policy 7e'//<?// subjects are rebels from principle.'' 
 
 Epithets. — The handling of epithets requires great care on the 
 part of beginners. With them the tendency generally is to heap 
 up adjectives that add neither force nor beauty to the sentence.
 
 I08 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Although it is not always well to have the waves " silvery," the 
 sun " glorious," the snow " feathery," and the groves " shady," 
 yet whenever force, beauty, or an additional interest can be 
 secured by the use of an adjective, or even two, there need be no 
 scruple about employing them ; as, "The iideless Mediterranean." 
 
 3. Verbosity consists in a diffuse mode of expression which so 
 pervades the sentence that the only remedy is to recast the whole 
 in fewer words. 
 
 Example. — " She regrets that the multiplicity of his engage- 
 ments precludes the possibility of her accepting your polite invi- 
 tation." 
 
 Circumlocution, or Paraphrasing, which is confessedly one 
 form of Verbosity, is permissible as a means of explanation or 
 illustration. It is a method of diluting strong thoughts so as to 
 suit them to weak or uninformed minds. It may also be used 
 with advantage to avoid the repetition of a word, or to give greater 
 prominence to some point of importance. 
 
 Prolixity, another form of Verbosity, consists in enumerating 
 unimportant or obvious particulars that might have been left to 
 the reader to supply ; as, " On receiving the news, he arose from 
 his chair, put on his coat and hat, took his umbrella, went down 
 stairs, walked to the railway station, bought a ticket for the city, 
 and started in the eleven o'clock train." "On receiving this 
 message, he started for the city by the eleven o'clock train." 
 
 Strength is generally gained by using brief modes of expression ; 
 as, — 
 
 1. Omitting words easily supplied; as, "What makes ambition 
 virtue? — the sense of honor." Compare widi " It is the sense 
 of honor that makes ambition virtue." 
 
 2. Expressing in a single word the idea contained in a phrase 
 or clause; as, "An intelligible book" for "A book that may be 
 easily understood." 
 
 3. Rejecting prefacing or introductory expressions ; as, " I think 
 I should be entitled to speak on this subject." " There is nothing 
 so tiresome as listening to a speaker who has no message."
 
 STRENGTH. lOQ 
 
 On the other hand, strength may sometimes be gained by ex- 
 pressing an idea with much fulness, or even by the repetition of 
 a word, phrase, or clause ; as, " Act, act in the living present " ; 
 " Deep, deep in the living rock beneath you " ; " My merit was 
 to support every right, every privilege, every franchise in this my 
 adopted country." 
 
 EXERCISE XXXV. 
 
 Number of Words. 
 
 Direction. — Rewrite these sentences, omitting all superfluous words, and 
 note the effect. 
 
 1. You are welcome. 
 
 2. What am I? I am nothing. 
 
 3. I hope that you may be very successful. 
 
 4. Can you really be a philosopher ? 
 
 5. If little is said, the matter may soon be set right. 
 
 6. You may let our blood be upon our own heads. 
 
 7. Let him who sees any chance to save himself take advantage 
 of his opportunity. 
 
 8. Speech about a man's self ought to be seldom used, and it 
 ought to be well chosen. 
 
 9. Thanks be unto God, men have at last begun to under- 
 stand one another's rights, and have at last begun to feel for one 
 another's wrongs. 
 
 10. The different departments of science and of art mutually 
 reflect light on one another. 
 
 1 1 . The universal opinion of all the people is, that the prisoner 
 who is in the prison, is innocent. 
 
 12. The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, and heavily in 
 clouds brings on the day. 
 
 13. I never was so astonished before in the whole course of my 
 existence. 
 
 14. He was a man of powerful strength. 
 
 15. All praised his magnanimity and greatness of mind. 
 
 16. He has arrived at the final completion of his work.
 
 no COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1 7. He stood gazing at the spangled canopy, which appeared 
 to be lit up with innumerable orbs. 
 
 1 8. It was a cool, deliberately planned homicide. 
 
 19. It was said that two eagles sent forth by Jupiter, one from 
 the east and one from the west, met at Delphi at the same time. 
 
 20. As you proceed forward down the lawn, you will see two 
 gates opposite each other. 
 
 21. We all of us complain of the shortness of time. 
 
 22. Being conscious of his own integrity, he disdained submission. 
 
 23. During the time of peace, Napoleon once more returned 
 back to France. 
 
 24. He is an American ambassador sent by the United States. 
 
 25. There is no doubt that his conduct was reprehensible. 
 
 26. The house was closely crowded with a very large audience. 
 
 27. There is no doubt your head aches, trying to make some- 
 thing of my description. 
 
 28. They did not hesitate or pause, but with one accord they 
 grasped each other's hand. 
 
 29. They told us stories about what they had experienced in Japan. 
 
 30. He never attended to the interests of those whom he had 
 the honor to represent. 
 
 31. This will, indeed, be rough work, it will be iconoclasm ; but 
 it is certainly the way to get at truth. 
 
 32. The aim and end of our institutions is, that we may think 
 what we like and say what we think. 
 
 33. On arriving at the station, he stepped from the train, looked 
 about for a cab, hired one, got into it, told the driver to move on, 
 and reached his house without accident. 
 
 34. Myra who was a new beginner felt shy about taking the 
 new position to which she had just been appointed. 
 
 35. If men of eminence receive reproaches which they do not 
 deserve, they likewise receive praises which are not due them. 
 
 36. Mrs. Hope thought bright colors unbecoming a Christian, 
 and she thought them especially unbecoming one who held a 
 responsible position
 
 STRENGTH. Ill 
 
 LESSON XXIII. 
 
 STRENGTH. — ORDER OF WORDS. 
 
 Much of the force of a sentence depends on the order in which 
 the parts are arranged, 
 
 1. Emphatic Words. — Strength as well as Clearness is pro- 
 moted by disposing of the important words in the place where 
 they will make the greatest impression. 
 
 Examples. — " To know some Latin, even if it be nothing but a 
 few Latin roots, is useful^ Better thus : " It is useful," etc. " Nozv 
 is your time." " Such a show I never saw before." " Up flew 
 the price." 
 
 2. Closing. — Care should be taken in bringing a sentence to 
 a close. The mind naturally dwells on the last word and is disap- 
 pointed when, contrary to expectation, it finds at the end of the 
 sentence some unimportant or merely relational word. For this 
 reason it is rarely well to end a sentence with an adverb, a prepo- 
 sition, or even a preposition and the pronoun " it." 
 
 Examples. — " According to Southey, the laws governed form- 
 erly." " This is a question I did not expect, and I must ask time 
 to reflect on it." These sentences would gain in force if written 
 thus : " Formerly, according to Southey, the laws governed." 
 "This is a question I did not expect, and therefore I must ask 
 time for reflection." 
 
 We may, however, end with a particle when it is very closely 
 connected with a leading word : as. " This must be attended to.''' 
 "That was well thought of.'' 
 
 Again, such words may close a sentence when they v^'ouid create 
 a stiffness if placed in their grammatical position. Thus, if "of" 
 were placed before " which " in the follov/ing sentence, the con- 
 struction would be felt to be harsh. " Ministers' wives have duties 
 laid upon them which a home body hke me can hardly con- 
 ceive of."
 
 112 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Sometimes an adverb or pronoun is made emphatic by being 
 placed at tlie end of the sentence ; as, " People have found out 
 their need of civil government, and have instituted it accordhigly." 
 " Dying for a principle seems to me a nobler act than scolding 
 for itr 
 
 Suspense. • — ^ Similarly, unimportant phrases and clauses should 
 generally be kept from the end of the sentence. This, however, 
 must not be construed to mean that the periodic sentence is to be 
 used to the exclusion of the loose, or to imply that all phrases or 
 clauses are to precede the main statement. As the periodic 
 structure keeps the mind on the stretch until the last word has 
 been reached, it makes a deeper impression by securing closer 
 attention. Still if carried too far, it would lose its effect, and, con- 
 sequently, the loose construction must be freely intermingled with 
 the periodic. 
 
 Phrases and clauses may stand at the close of the sentence 
 when they are emphatic ; as, " His drawings are beautiful, not to 
 mentioji his paintings." 
 
 When they are clearly subordinate, it is generally best to place 
 them before the principal assertion. 
 
 Examples. — " He mounted his camel, and thus performed the 
 circuits round the Caaba, being too weak and infirm to go on foot." 
 " He slew sixty-three of the camels with his own hand, 7ti/ien they 
 were to he offered up in sacrifice." These sentences may be made 
 more forcible by placing the clauses in italics at the beginning. 
 
 4. Climax. — Strength may be gained by the arrangement of 
 the parts of discourse in the order required by the Climax. The 
 Climax, usually reckoned a figure of speech, consists in arranging 
 the parts of an expression in the order of their strength — the 
 weakest standing first. Wards, phrases, clauses, sentences, para- 
 graphs, and even the leading divisions of a subject may be arranged 
 in climacteric order. 
 
 When a weaker expression or thought follows a stronger, the 
 mind is disappointed, and receives but a feeble impression from 
 the whole.
 
 STRENGTH. I I 3 
 
 Anti-Climax consists in arranging the parts in an order the 
 opposite of that followed in the CUmax — an arrangement that is 
 always weak, except for the purpose of burlesque or ridicule. 
 
 Examples. — " In this state of mind, Hfe itself is a burden, and 
 3very object is gloomy." Place the weaker member first, and 
 observe how much more forcible the sentence becomes ; thus : 
 "In this state of mind, every object is gloomy, and life itself a 
 burden." 
 
 " Contentment makes a man pass through fire and not be 
 burned, through hunger and nakedness yet want for nothing, 
 through seas and not be drowned." Write : " Contentedness 
 makes a man pass through hunger and nakedness yet want for 
 nothing, through seas and not be drowned, through fire and not 
 be burned." 
 
 EXERCISE XXXVI. 
 
 Order of Words. 
 
 Direction. — Examine these sentences; change the order of the words 
 whenever by so doing you can increase the force; defend the present order 
 when you make no change. 
 
 1. Dryden possessed, in a pre-eminent degree, the power of 
 reasoning in verse, as we have said. 
 
 2. So able a critic was never so free from fastidiousness. 
 
 3. No writer has carried the flattery of dedication to a greater 
 length, it must be owned. 
 
 4. We have prostrated ourselves at the foot of the throne, we 
 have remonstrated, we have petitioned. 
 
 5. If you give this clause a fair construction, what is the true 
 meaning of it ? 
 
 6. The Seventh Regiment marched last of all. 
 
 7. He was indebted for many a good suggestion to her. 
 
 8. Smith started on a trip to California, but died on the way, 
 having poor health. 
 
 9. After working hard all day he soon went to sleep, being very 
 tired.
 
 114 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 10. The teacher should endeavor to repress the practice of 
 throwing stones as far as possible. 
 
 11. A quaint or poetic thought appears in every line of it. 
 
 12. What pen can describe the tears, the lamentations, the 
 agonies, the animated remonstrances of the unfortunate prisoners ! 
 
 13. The power of man, his glory, and his greatness, depend on 
 essential qualities. 
 
 14. The approaching marriage of Bonanza Mackay's daughter 
 to the prince of Galati is to be celebrated with great simplicity, 
 so it is said. 
 
 15. There is one subject more I wish to speak of. 
 
 16. She came up, listened, stopped in bewilderment, caught 
 the infection, looked, and began dancing, too. 
 
 1 7. Contentedness is a duty, a blessing, and a privilege. 
 
 18. He doubled his fist and looked at it as if he wanted to hit 
 somebody a pernicious punch with it. 
 
 19. About one in a hundred will be found safe and agreeable 
 persons to deal and live with. 
 
 20. There are three real saints, at least, among the women, to 
 one among the men, in every denomination. 
 
 21. As to that process, I will give you a specimen of one way 
 of managing it if you like. 
 
 22. A busy stream ran along the ravine, and we could catch an 
 occasional glimpse of it. 
 
 23. We would like dinner immediately, as we must resume our 
 journey in an hour if possible. 
 
 24. There, thanks to your quick temper, I think I have roused 
 you sufficiently. 
 
 25. We again set out after getting nicely warmed, and being 
 supplied with some hot bricks, which the woman of the house 
 insisted upon our taking. 
 
 26. Disease and pain often sour the temper and contract the 
 heart, if poverty makes men thieves. 
 
 27. These are such words as Columbus himself would have 
 made use of.
 
 STRENGTH. I I 5 
 
 28. He has expressed some doubts that will not raise him in 
 the opinion of some of our modern millenarians assuredly. 
 
 29. I have not taken particular pains to find out whether Birch- 
 all is a moral idiot or not, but I know there are such people, and 
 lots of them, too. 
 
 30. No earthly judge can touch him now. 
 
 31. He forced him to say it at last. 
 
 32. A time was at hand when the seven vials of the Apocalypse 
 were poured forth over those pleasant countries ; a time of slaugh- 
 ter, beggary, infamy, famine, despair, slavery. 
 
 2^. She would not be human, if the tears did not start unbidden 
 to her eyes, as she turns back the pages of her life. 
 
 34. Much was forgiven to such a man, — hollow friendship, vio- 
 lated faith, ungenerous enmity. 
 
 35. I cannot conceive whence this man has gained his notions 
 of Christianity : he has the most inveterate malice against errors 
 in conscience, and the most evangelical charity for errors in arith- 
 metic. 
 
 ;^6. The students of the past toiled, explored, constructed for 
 us. 
 
 37. He would be heard by the most profligate minister with 
 deference and respect, whenever an important question called for 
 his opinion in Parliament. 
 
 38. He, deserted by his friends, was compelled to have recourse 
 to his enemies for aid. 
 
 39. The great English nation was then formed ; the national 
 character then began to exhibit those peculiarities which it has 
 ever since retained ; and our fathers then became emphatically 
 islanders. (Make " then " emphatic.) 
 
 40. I rushed from the room at once, leaving the wretch where 
 he stood, with his tale half told, horror-stricken at his crime. 
 
 41. We will not pretend to guess what our grandchildren may 
 think of the character of Lord Byron, as exhibited in his poetry.
 
 Il6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXIV. 
 
 STRENGTH. — FORCIBLE WORDS. 
 
 There are some classes of words that convey ideas with peculiar 
 energy to the mind. Among these are (i) familiar words, (2) 
 particular terms, and (3) concrete terms. The first of these have 
 great force, because we more fully and readily realize their mean- 
 ing ; the second and third, because they present to the mind ideas 
 that it can easily grasp. 
 
 Example. — "I have neither the necessaries of life, nor the 
 means of procuring them." Instead of this, write : " I have not 
 a crust of bread, nor a penny to buy one." 
 
 Idioms, Proverbs, and Quotations. 
 
 A thought may sometimes be expressed forcibly by being put 
 into idiomatic language, or by being thrown into the form of a 
 proverb or of a pithy quotation. Commonplace and thread-bare 
 expressions must be avoided. 
 
 Examples. — " He is out of his head " is a vigorous way of say- 
 ing " He is not in possession of his right senses." " A burnt child 
 dreads the fire " is a proverbial expression which conveys with 
 energy the idea that "A person who has been injured by an 
 object, will take good care to avoid it in the future." 
 
 Connection and Transition. 
 
 The strength of a sentence may often be increased by a careful 
 use of the words that mark connection or transition. These are, 
 chiefly, the relative pronouns, the conjunctions, and the preposi- 
 tions. No rules can be framed to suit all cases that arise ; but 
 from the subjoined examples it will be seen that the too frequent 
 repetition of connectives is sometimes a source of weakness, and 
 that when, on the other hand, it is desirable, the transition from
 
 STRENGTH. llj 
 
 one object to another should not be too rapid, the conjunction 
 may be repeated with advantage. One of the most common faults 
 of beginners is the excessive use of afid, but, when, and other such 
 words. 
 
 Examples. — " His clothes were of seedy black, and very much 
 worn ; and a silk handkerchief was twisted around his neck, a7id 
 he had no collar, and his shirt- bosom was rumpled and soiled." 
 
 In this sentence, the first three and^s would be better omitted. 
 In the following, the and's should be retained because they help 
 to emphasize each of the particulars. 
 
 " And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds 
 blew, and beat upon that house ; a?id it fell : and great was the fall 
 of it." 
 
 The omission of conjunctions or other connective words, aids in 
 expressing animation or rapidity ; as, " I came, saw, conquered." 
 
 EXERCISE XXXVII. 
 
 Forcible Words. 
 
 Direction. — Make the sentences more forcible by employing some of the 
 expedients mentioned in the preceding Lesson. 
 
 1. Had he intended to keep the country in slavery, he should 
 have kept it poor. 
 
 2. They knew that he was false and dishonest. 
 
 3. Along the coast of the sea are to be found all the delicacies 
 that may be had in tropical countries. 
 
 4. The ancient erections of Egypt naturally excited feehngs 
 of veneration. 
 
 5. In Havana there are modern improvements in the mode 
 of living. 
 
 6. Some village patriot that with dauntless breast the little 
 tyrant of his fields withstood. 
 
 7. She was turned out on the street without any resources. 
 
 8. They sank like metal in the mighty waters.
 
 Il8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 9. Will you die of want in the land which your labor has made 
 productive ? 
 
 10. God is seen in the growth of vegetation, in the movements 
 of the heavenly bodies, and in the rage of the elements. 
 
 11. A very small proportion of those who have attempted to 
 solve this problem, have succeeded. 
 
 12. The garden was filled with an immense number of flowers. 
 
 13. When he began to fight, ne meant to win or die (sword 
 . . . scabbard). 
 
 14. Will you behold your country in flames, and the fruit of 
 the people's toil (harvests) destroyed? 
 
 15. Peace had now been enjoyed by the nation for a consider- 
 able time, during which the public revenue had increased by a 
 large sum. 
 
 16. Will you look on while the inhabitants (Cossacks) of the 
 north crush (tread . . . foot) your dearest friends (fathers, 
 mothers, etc.) ? 
 
 I 7. Do men gather grateful and nutritious fruit from trees that 
 bear only prickly armor (figs . . . thistles) ? 
 
 18. I sat by her when she was a babe (cradle), I followed her 
 to the grave. 
 
 19. The Jewish nation, relying on the teaching of its prophets, 
 looked forward to a time when its descendants should be as 
 numerous as the stars, when the corn of the earth should be 
 abundant, when each man should rest beneath the shade of his 
 own trees, and when the instruments of war should be converted 
 to the uses of peace. 
 
 20. The wood I walk in on this mild May day, with the young 
 foliage of the trees between me and the blue sky, the various 
 flowers and herbs at my feet — what grove of tropical trees, plants, 
 or flowers, could ever thrill me like this home scene ? 
 
 21. Such a man might fall a victim to power; but truth, and 
 reason, and liberty, would fall with him. 
 
 22. Then did ^neas pass on his way, and the goddess led him, 
 and the flames gave place to him, and the javelins harmed him not.
 
 STRENGTH. I IQ 
 
 23. They brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and 
 wheat and barley and flour and parched corn and beans and lentil 
 and parched pulse and honey and butter and sheep and cheese 
 
 of kine. 
 
 24. I cannot but imagine that the virtuous heroes, the virtuous 
 legislators, and the virtuous patriots of every age and of every 
 country, are bending from their elevated seats to witness this contest. 
 
 25. True liberty can exist only when justice is equally adminis- 
 tered to the king and the beggar. 
 
 26. The walls are scaled, and the gates stormed, and the con- 
 flict follows, and blood flows. Then the magistrates interfere ; 
 Savonarola and one of his chief friends are seized and conveyed, 
 by order of the magistrates, to prison. 
 
 27. Although he was then nearly eighty years of age, he sent 
 to England for books, and began the task of learning Greek. 
 
 28. Thou hast done well, thou who art a good and faithful servant. 
 
 29. Let us have Liberty first, and then let us have Union after- 
 wards. 
 
 30. Newton was very far from being correct (was out) in his 
 calculations. 
 
 31. He reached a conclusion without giving the matter due 
 consideration (jumped to). 
 
 32. People who make very loud threats seldom have the heart 
 to carry them out. (Barking dogs, etc.) 
 
 ;^;^. When our difficulties are overcome, we frequently forget to 
 be grateful to those who aided us in the hour of need. (The 
 river past, and God forgotten.) 
 
 34. The poet is born, he cannot be made by any course of 
 training. 
 
 35. His ambition was to gain honor and to gain wealth and to 
 gain fame. 
 
 36. Do not complain of things that are done and cannot be 
 helped. (Spilt milk.) 
 
 37. It is folly to let the cause of an evil continue and still labor 
 to prevent the results. (Pump with the leak open.)
 
 120 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXV. 
 
 STRENGTH P^ROM VARIETY. 
 
 Strength is promoted by Variety. Sameness of any kind in 
 writing is tiresome ; variety is one of the chief sources of pleasure. 
 Light and shade, energy and ease, strength and weakness, beauty 
 and deformity, have a greater effect when placed side by side. 
 
 Kinds of Variety. — The variety here spoken of may be of 
 sev'eral kinds. 
 
 1. Instead of repeating a word, it is generally better to use a 
 synonym; as, "The flesh was iveary, the spirit y^^/;//, and I was 
 getting out of humor with the bustling crowd." 
 
 2. Variety of expression, as illustrated in subsequent Lessons, 
 should be constantly turned to use, so that no stereotyped form 
 may be allowed to appear. 
 
 3. Particular and general terms should be introduced, each 
 when most effective. 
 
 4. Sentences of all kinds — long, short, simple, compound, and 
 complex, the period, loose sentence, and compromise — should 
 all be employed, not with studied stiffness and measured precision, 
 but in such alternation that they may relieve one another, and 
 effectually bar all monotony. 
 
 5. The order should be varied — sometimes the direct, some- 
 times the indirect. 
 
 6. At times thoughts should be stated at length, and even re- 
 peated ; at others, they must be uttered with the baldest brevity. 
 
 7. Sometimes the simplest words appeal most strongly to our 
 feelings ; at other times the longest and heaviest strike the hardest 
 blows. 
 
 S. Figures of Speech should be introduced to enforce, beautify, 
 and enliven the plain language, as the nature of the subject and 
 its treatment will permit. 
 
 9. Discourse may sometimes be rendered more animated by
 
 STRENGTH. 121 
 
 turning some of the leading declarative sentences into the inter- 
 rogative form. This arrangement is usually known as a figure of 
 speech, under the name of Interrogation. Thus, the expression 
 "Who is equal to him?" is more lively than " He has no equal." 
 Besides, if such interrogations are interspersed among declara- 
 tions, they break the monotony as well as flatter the reader by 
 asking him to take part in the discussion, and by showing respect 
 for his opinions. 
 
 10. Again, when strong feehng is- being expressed, the writer 
 may, instead of making a full length statement, break out into an 
 Exclamation. Thus, it would both indicate and arouse greater 
 intensity of feeling to burst out with the exclamation, " Beauti- 
 ful ! '" or, "How beautiful!" than to say, "This is beautiful." 
 This, also, is generally classed as a figure of speech. 
 
 11. In narration or description, one may conceive so lively a 
 view of his subject as to fancy that the distant or the past is 
 actually present, and may speak of it in the present tense, as if 
 at the moment under his view. This manner of speaking is 
 commonly called Vision. 
 
 EXERCISE XXXVIII. 
 
 Strength from Variety. 
 
 Direction. — Refer to the sections of the preceding Lesson, ami make 
 these expressions stronger by using some of the means there pointed out. 
 
 1. There are here many goodly creatures (lo). 
 
 2. He that hath planted the ear, must surely be able to 
 hear (9). 
 
 3. All this bustle and terror is not because anything substantial 
 is expected (9). 
 
 4. He must exert his talents at home, for there is surely no 
 other place where he can obtain a profitable credit for his exer- 
 tion (9). 
 
 5. The scenes of my childhood are dear to my heart (10).
 
 122 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. The fears which such a situation must inspire are bound- 
 less (lo). 
 
 7. You cannot put your hand into the fire and not be 
 burned (9). 
 
 8. Our hearts were beating when we saw the army of the League 
 drawn out in long array (10). 
 
 9. He commanded them to fix bayonets and charge (10). 
 
 10. We laid him down slowly and sadly (5). 
 
 11. The world of God around us is indeed glorious; but the 
 world of God within us is still more glorious (5). 
 
 12. They sailed by the sandy shores of Araya, they sailed past 
 the lofty cocoanut trees that stand over Cumana, they sailed along 
 that beautiful coast, they sailed through the difficult waters of the 
 gloomy Golofo Trieste, they sailed past the province of Venezuela, 
 and they sailed on to Darien (i). 
 
 13. And, once again, man asks for light. It is as he sits yon- 
 der beside his dead in the chamber (2) that has grown dark. His 
 heart went out (5) to her in the jocund days (2) of youth, and 
 twined (5) its tendrils round her. Lovely and beautiful (5) were 
 they as they grew in wisdom, confidence, and love. But (5) over 
 her the ruthless blast has swept, she gave up the ghost (5) in the 
 very pride of motherhood : she died while yet a young woman (8. 
 her sun . . .). And soon he "must bury his dead out of his 
 sight." Mysterious and dark are the mission and meaning of 
 Death (9. What is . , . , O Death?). Perhaps it ends all, or 
 perhaps we pass through it back again, as rain-drops, into the vast 
 immensity of the all-individuality and are lost forever ; or perhaps 
 we shall live again (9. Dost thou, indeed, ...?). It is not sen- 
 timentalism that thus speaks, for (4) the strongest minds have 
 heaved the lead in these mysterious depths, and (4) the mightiest 
 hearts have quaked with strange terror in presence of these 
 problems. He who is Christianity himself replies. In His own 
 person He grappled with, wrested the power (3) from the sover- 
 eign (3) of terrors, and over his prostrate form marched forth 
 from Death's dominion (3) with the note of triumph on His lip
 
 STRENGTH. 1 23 
 
 and said (2. Use direct form here) that He was "the resurrection 
 and the Hfe." 
 
 14. It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen 
 of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles ; and surely a more 
 (5) delightful vision never lighted on this orb, which she hardly 
 seemed to touch. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating 
 and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in — 
 glittering like the morning star, full of life, and splendor, and joy. 
 There has since that (10. Oh, what a . . .) been a great revolu- 
 tion, and I would have (10) a hard heart if I could contemplate 
 without emotion that elevation and that fall. When she added 
 titles of veneration to those of enthusiastic, distant love, I little 
 dreamt (10. Give "little" the most emphatic position, and 
 " dreamt " the next) that she would ever be obliged to carry poi- 
 son (8. . . . antidote . . . disgrace . . .) with which to save her- 
 self from the vengeance of her people ; (Repeat in emphatic posi- 
 tion "little "... "dream" ) that I should have lived to see such 
 disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men (Repeat "in a 
 nation" and expand " gallant ") . I thought her courtly attend- 
 ants (8. . . . swords . . . scabbards . . . ) would instantly have 
 avenged the slightest (8. . . . look . . . ) attempt to offer her 
 insult. But I was very far astray (6), for the days of noble (8. 
 chivalry) and self-sacrificing deeds are past (4), and are succeeded 
 by the reign of sophisters, economists, and calculators, and the glory 
 of Europe is forever (Make "forever" emphatic) extinguished. 
 
 15. Frederick immediately sent relief; and in an instant all 
 Saxony was overflowed (11) with armed men. 
 
 16. The brain-women (6) never interest us like the heart- 
 women (6) ; white roses please less than red (8). (Justify or 
 suggest improvements in this and the next two.) 
 
 17. When you can get the bitter out of the partridge's thigh, 
 you can make an enlightened commonwealth of Indians (6). 
 A provisional race (6), Sir, — nothing more. 
 
 18. On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, they 
 looked down with contempt (4).
 
 124 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XXXIX. 
 
 GENER-4L Exercise on Strength. 
 
 Direction. — Explain wherein these sentences are deficient in strength, 
 then make any improvements you can. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 1. He advanced up to the door. 
 
 2. As I previously remarked before now, I say again. 
 
 3. He reduced the pound down to shilUngsand pence. 
 
 4. He appears to enjoy the universal esteem of all men. 
 
 5. I went away, full of a great many serious reflections. 
 
 6. The sentence is full of the greatest number of mistakes. 
 
 7. The whole of it is filled with gems of thought. 
 
 8. He was a man of fine reputation and enjoyed a high degree 
 of popularity. 
 
 9. When such a man is found, his name is on every one's lips, 
 his deeds are lauded by all. 
 
 10. The man of virtue and of honor will be trusted and es- 
 teemed and respected and relied upon. 
 
 1 1 . We should not avenge ourselves on our enemies, nor take 
 revenge on our foes. 
 
 12. Man is immortal; he will live forever. 
 
 13. The lawyer questioned the prisoner minutely, and examined 
 him at length, 
 
 14. We often conjure up grounds of apprehension, and give 
 ourselves unnecessary uneasiness. 
 
 15. We rested under the umbrageous shadow of a shady oak, 
 and then again resumed our journey anew. 
 
 16. That esculent succulent on which so many poor people 
 depend for their daily sustenance. 
 
 I 7. Cook Teets was last week sentenced to be hanged for poi- 
 soning Rosannah his wife about this time last year. 
 
 18. They periodically and regularly exposed the mould to 
 the air.
 
 STRENGTH. 12$ 
 
 19. The picture was universally admired by everybody. 
 
 20. The President holds the executive power of the land, but 
 the legislative power is vested in Congress. 
 
 21. I heard him often reiterate repeatedly, that he would never 
 again, if a safe and secure path was open to him, prefer the per- 
 ilous road of danger, however alluring and attractive the latter 
 might be. 
 
 22. Alfred the Great, of England, was one of the most remark- 
 able and distinguished men that we read of in history. Though 
 his efforts were unable and insufficient to entirely banish the dark- 
 ness of the age he lived in, yet he greatly improved the condition 
 of his countrymen, and was the means of doing much good to 
 them. 
 
 23. While these whispers were passing, the sleeper's features 
 did not betray the least token of interest, his heart did not throb, 
 nor his breath become agitated. 
 
 24. He thought of May Dacre, he thought of everything that 
 was pure, and holy, and beautiful, and luminous, and calm. 
 
 25. I know not why you came, without it was to learn how we 
 all are, as a sociable neighbor ought to. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 26. The people gave him their support, and he was again 
 re-elected to the same position from whence he had been 
 rejected. 
 
 27. On their journey to the Pacific coast, they passed through 
 Detroit, Chicago, and Victoria ; returning home again the next 
 year by the same road, they passed through the same cities again. 
 
 28. It is only in novels, and on tomb-stones, that we meet with 
 people who are indulgent to the faults of others, and do not look 
 with mercy on their own. 
 
 29. We have passed the clause which gives unlimited authority 
 over the national wealth, and here is one by which unbounded 
 control is given over the strength of the nation.
 
 126 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 30. Every body of matter, with the possible exception of the 
 molecule, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, may be forced into a 
 smaller volume. (Compare, — Matter is compressible.) 
 
 31. Those who are habitually silent by disposition and morose, 
 are less liable and open to the fault of exaggeration than those who 
 are habitually fond of talking and of a pleasant disposition. 
 
 32. Consider the flowers how they gradually .increase in their 
 size ; they do no manner of work, and yet I declare to you that no 
 king whatever, in his most splendid habit, is dressed up like them. 
 
 2;^. If, then, God in His providence doth so adorn the vege- 
 table productions, which continue but a litde time on the land, and 
 are afterwards put into the fire, how much more will He provide 
 clothing for you ! 
 
 34. Fashionable society gets at these rich natures very often in 
 a way one would hardly at first think of. 
 
 35. The lake is very grand and inspiring when rough, but very 
 beautiful when calm. (Make exclamatory.) 
 
 36. Charity beareth all things, and believeth all things, and en- 
 dureth all things. 
 
 37. In the Attic commonwealth, it was the privilege and birth- 
 right of every citizen and poet, to rail aloud and in public. 
 
 38. I have got a cold together with a fever. 
 
 39. On the supposition that one person salutes another person, 
 does the first person lie under an obligation to exclaim in a vehe- 
 ment and plaintive voice ? 
 
 40. He had been false to his God, to his conscience, to his 
 mother. 
 
 41. There is no government without a magistrate; no enjoy- 
 ment of property without government ; no obedience where every 
 one acts as he pleases ; and no magistrate without obedience. 
 
 42. The elegancies and suavities of life die out one by one as 
 we sink through the social scale. 
 
 43. I'his animal is said /f /lat'e the potver of living in the air or 
 in water. (In this and the two following sentences, substitute 
 one word for the words in italics.)
 
 UNITY.   127 
 
 44. This writer everywhere exhibits a vain show of learning 
 which lie attempts to display in stiff atid pompous pJuaseology. 
 
 45. When we became better acquainted with him we found 
 him to be a man fond of fine dress, and extravagantly nice about 
 his personal appearance. 
 
 46. A chairman and a deputy-chairman and subscriptions and 
 an annual sermon would give great dignity to their proceedings. 
 
 47. " I will die for you, I will relieve you," said the cloud. 
 
 48. He determined to seek out its author in the inmost recesses 
 of the consecrated bed-chamber, of the palace, of the capital city 
 — and wherever found to lodge a dagger in his heart. 
 
 49. The soldier, in order to attend to his duties, forsook 
 friends, wealth, pleasure. 
 
 LESSON XXVL 
 
 3. UNITY. 
 
 Every sentence should possess Unity, that is, every part of it 
 should be subservient to one principal affirmation. 
 
 Subsidiary Clauses and Details. — This Unity does not pre- 
 clude the enumeration in a sentence of various details, nor the 
 introduction of several dependent clauses ; but these details must 
 be closely related, and the thoughts of these dependent clauses 
 must be subordinate to one governing idea, or must be a conse- 
 quence of it, or an inference from it, so that all the parts of the 
 sentence may combine to form a unit, not a collection of units. 
 
 How attained. — In seeking to attain Unity, care must be 
 given to these matters : Change of Subject, Things Unconnected, 
 Parentheses, Supplementary Clauses. 
 
 I. Change of Subject. 
 
 In the course of the same sentence, the subject should be 
 changed as little as possible.
 
 128 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Exafnple. — " Although he fulfilled his duties honorably, pro- 
 motion came slowly ; and it was not until he was fortv-three that 
 the rank of captain was attained." Here are four subjects " he," 
 "promotion," " it," "rank," with as many different verbs. The 
 principal subject is " he," and the sentence should be written, 
 " Although he fulfilled his duties honorably, he was slowly pro- 
 moted ; and, before he had attained the rank of captain, he was 
 fully forty-three." 
 
 2. Things Unconnected. 
 
 Things that have so little connection in sense that they may just 
 as well be expressed in separate sentences, should not be crowcled 
 into one sentence. There should be but one leading thought in a 
 sentence. 
 
 Exatnple. — " What we understand by gentleman-like feelings 
 he knew nothing about ; I will give you a curious instance." Here 
 it would be better to stop at " about " and begin a new sentence ; 
 thus, " Of this I will give you a curious instance." 
 
 3. Parentheses. 
 
 A parenthesis may occasionally be introduced into a sentence 
 with good effect ; as, " We are all (and who would not be ?) 
 offended at the treatment we have received." This is more 
 vigorous than " We are all offended at the treatment we have 
 received. Who, indeed, would not be offended?" As, however, 
 parentheses, by calling off attention from the main subject, tend 
 to make sentences heavy and obscure, the use of them is fraught 
 with danger, and should be avoided by young writers. 
 
 Example. — " The quicksilver mines of Idria in Austria (which 
 were discovered in 1797, by a peasant, who, catching some water 
 from a spring, found the tub so heavy that he could not move it, 
 and the bottom covered with a shining substance, which turned 
 out to be mercury), yield every year over three hundred thousand 
 pounds of that valuable metal." In this, the parenthesis should 
 be made a separate sentence.
 
 UNITY. 129 
 
 4. Supplementary Clauses. 
 
 A clause should not be added after the sentence has been appar- 
 ently brought to a close. 
 
 Example. — " As he moralized on these words they seemed to 
 soothe the sadness of his heart ; which was sometimes subject to 
 palpitation." 
 
 This sentence should end at " heart," and the remainder ought 
 either to be formed into a separate sentence, or to be neatly 
 embodied in the main statement. 
 
 Exceptions. — The rules here laid down for Unity must be 
 construed with considerable liberality. 
 
 1. It must not be regarded as a violation of them to add after 
 a semi-colon a clause of consequence, explanation, iteration, 
 exemplification, or qualification ; as, " Surely this ought not to 
 be asserted, unless it can be proved ; we should speak with cau- 
 tious reverence upon such a subject.' ' " Agriculture is the founda- 
 tion of manufactures ; the productions of nature are the materials 
 of art." 
 
 2. In Description and Narration it is often desirable to bring 
 together several distinct facts in the same sentence, as in the 
 following : " By night, sweet odors, varying with every hour of the 
 watch, were wafted from the shore to the vessel lying near ; | and 
 the forest trees, brought together by the serpent tracery of myriads 
 of strange parasitical plants, might well seem to the fancy like 
 some great design of building, | over which the lofty palms ap- 
 peared to present a new order of architecture." Here, there are 
 three distinct facts that might have been written in as many sepa- 
 rate sentences, but as they are closely connected in sense, they 
 have a better effect in one sentence than they would have in three 
 curt and abrupt ones.
 
 130 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XL. 
 
 • Direction. — Examine these sentences, determine which of the rules of 
 Unity is violated, and then rewrite the sentences with the necessary corrections 
 
 1. By adopting this system the estimator will know that each 
 item is complete, and it will be almost impossible to err in the 
 final result. 
 
 2. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a friend of his, and unexpectedly 
 there dined with us an Irish Knight, who follows the '.aw here, but 
 at a great distance : he was so pert, I was forced to take him down 
 more than once. 
 
 3. Unlike the others, she is very fond of water, and if left to 
 her own inclinations, would swim all day, having once saved the 
 life of a child in Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi River ; 
 she can never go near the water where people are bathing but that 
 she insists upon fetching them out. 
 
 4. Fritz is a white and mouse-colored hound, very savage from 
 the day he was born, and shows a disposition like his mother, to be 
 very treacherous, he is inclined to be cross and unruly at times, 
 and nothing but the most severe discipline, coupled with a certain 
 amount of kindness, ever kept him within bounds. 
 
 5. The opposition induced the governor (who exercises the 
 power of appointing judges during the recess of the legislature) 
 not to make any appointment. 
 
 6. If the object of the people assembled at Bethlehem was of a 
 public nature (which it certainly was if they assembled with intent 
 to prevent the execution of both the above-mentioned acts of 
 Congress, or either of them), it must be proved that the prisoner 
 incited the insurrection. 
 
 7. His Excellency read his letter (wherein he says, that not- 
 withstanding his objections to the Constitution, he would adopt it 
 rather than lose the union), and then proceeded to prove the cor- 
 rectness of his opinion. 
 
 8. The first order of business shall be receiving the annual 
 report of the trustees (showing the state of the school for the year,
 
 UNIT\. 131 
 
 the proceedings of the trustees, and giving a detailed account of 
 the receipt and expenditure of all school moneys) and disposing 
 of the same. 
 
 9. When you send up butter for sauce, be so thrifty as to let it 
 be half water; which is also much wholesomer. 
 
 10. I am convinced that the name "scold" is as offensive to 
 female ears, as the effects of that incurable distemper are to the 
 ears of men ; which, to be sure, is inexpressible. 
 
 11. I have frequently observed that at the bar and the pulpit, 
 those who have the least learning or sense generally meet with the 
 largest share of promotions and profits ; of which many instances 
 might be produced. 
 
 12. A Church-of-England man will never be swayed by passion 
 or interest to advance an opinion merely because it is that of the 
 party he approves ; which, on single principle, he looks upon as 
 the root of all our civil animosities. 
 
 13. And no wonder this is so, when in order to find out the 
 character of a person, instead of inquiring whether he be a man of 
 virtue, honor, piety, wit, good sense, or learning, the modern ques- 
 tion is only whether he be a Whig or a Tory ; under which terms 
 all good and ill quaUties are included. 
 
 14. After the sabbath evening service, this noble man stood 
 upon a chair on a corner of the street and preached in the open 
 air to a large audience who crowded the street, and no policeman 
 interfered. 
 
 15. Six days out of the seven spent on the ocean were among 
 the most pleasant days of my life, and now my difficulty is in part- 
 ing with Mr. and Mrs. Frost, and the many kind friends whom I 
 have met. 
 
 16. If some men, according to the fashionable metaphor, are 
 square, while others are round, the Right Honorable Robert Lowe 
 must be described as multangular, with whom it is not very easy to 
 live comfortably and at peace. 
 
 I 7. Lord Bacon's maxims are full of philosophy ; but he was a 
 very mean man.
 
 132 COMPOSITiaN AND RHETORIC. 
 
 18. Mr. Scott, of this town, met with a painful accident last 
 week ; he is now quite an old man. 
 
 19. The king fell from his horse and died two hours after the 
 fall, which was occasioned by the horse's stumbling on a mole-hill, 
 while he was on his return from reviewing his troops. 
 
 20. We intend to have observations of rainfall and temperature 
 taken at the stations, and in this way data will accumulate to show 
 what varieties from normal seasons take place. 
 
 21. I was at the Court of Requests to get some lords to be at a 
 committee to-morrow about a friend's bill : and then the Duke of 
 Beaufort gave me a poem, finely bound in folio, printed in Stam- 
 ford, and written by a country squire. 
 
 22. Mr. Harley continues out of order, yet his affairs force him 
 abroad ; he is subject to a sore throat, and was cupped last night ; 
 I sent and called two or three times. 
 
 23. Here also would properly arise the question, started by 
 Charles Fox (but properly due originally to the conversation of 
 some far subtler friend, such as Edmund Burke), how far the prac- 
 tice of foot-notes (a practice purely modern in its form) is recon- 
 cilable with the laws of just composition ; and whether in virtue, 
 though not in form, such foot-notes did not exist for the ancients, 
 by an evasion we could point out. 
 
 24. Shortly after the accident happened he went for a tour on 
 the continent ; where he saw many wonderful sights, with which he 
 was delighted ; and throughout his whole travels he was treated 
 with every mark of respect ; and returned after an absence of two 
 years. 
 
 25. Roderick Dhu is too boastful and confident in his own skill 
 and powers ; he shows this in throwing down his targe in the duel 
 between Fitz -James and himself; which action cost him his life.
 
 ELEGANCE. 1 33 
 
 LESSON XXVII. 
 
 4. ELEGANCE. 
 
 Elegance constitutes the charm of language. It is the quality 
 which pleases, as distinguished from that which instructs (Clear- 
 ness), or that which impresses (Strength) . As the professed object 
 of poetry is to please. Elegance is its appropriate excellence ; yet, 
 since beauty always gives effectiveness to language, Elegance holds 
 no unimportant place in prose. 
 
 How Attained. • — In seeking to attain Elegance, which is 
 really the outcome of good taste, the beginner may gain some- 
 thing by giving attention to Melody, Harmony, the Avoidance 
 of Fine Writing, and Keeping. 
 
 Melody. 
 
 Elegance requires Melody in language ; that is, it requires the 
 choice of such words as are agreeable to the ear, the taste, and 
 the imagination. 
 
 Melody may be promoted by the use of : — 
 
 I. Euphonious Words. — The sound of some words is much 
 more agreeable to the ear than that of others. The followmg are 
 harsh : — 
 
 a. Derivatives from long compounds ; as, unsuccessfubiess, 
 wrongheadedness. 
 
 b. Words that contain a succession of consonants ; as, plead- 
 ed'' st, pledged'' st, disrespect. 
 
 c. Words that contain a succession of unaccented syllables ; 
 as, derogatorily , peremptorlness. 
 
 d. Words that contain vowels of the same, or nearly the same 
 sound ; as, holily. 
 
 e. A succession of words having the same or a similar sound , 
 as, " The party departed in the early part of the evening.
 
 134 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 On the other hand, it may be noted that : — 
 
 a. A preponderance of vowels and Hquids gives ease and soft- 
 ness to the sound ; as, eluiiination, moderation. 
 
 b. An alternation of vowels and consonants heightens the 
 melody ; as, celerity, a lonely day. 
 
 c. A due alternation of long and short, of accented and unac- 
 cented syllables, is an essential condition of melody; as, "The 
 pomp and circumstance of glorious war." 
 
 d. A difficult and harsh combination of letters may produce 
 an agreeable variety, if made to follow a succession of smooth 
 and liquid sounds. 
 
 2. Euphonious Arrangement. — Words may be well-chosen, 
 and may be euphonious in themselves, yet if they are not skil- 
 fully arranged, the musical flow, or rhythm, of the sentence will be 
 broken. 
 
 a. Euphonious words sometimes produce an unpleasing efl"ect 
 when placed in an order that causes unpleasant consonantal com- 
 binations, or a repetition of the same sounds in close succession ; 
 as, " up by " ; "I can candidly tell you " ; " He will wilfully wan- 
 der from the way." 
 
 These combinations may be avoided by using synonyms; as, 
 " up near " ; " I can frankly tell you " ; " He will purposely wander 
 from the path." 
 
 l>. A succession of words of the same number of syllables is 
 seldom conducive to harmony ; as, " No kind of joy can long 
 please us " is improved by writing, " No species of joy can long 
 
 delight us." 
 
 e. The melody of a sentence may be heightened by arranging 
 the words so that the accents fall with some sort of regularity and 
 on important words. In the following beautiful sentence from 
 Cxeorge Eliot, the rhythm of the latter part is almost poetic : 
 " The boat re-appeared, but brother and sister had gone down 
 in an embrace never to be parted ; living through again, in one 
 supreme moment, the days when they had clasped their little 
 hands in love, and roamed the daisied fields together."
 
 ELEGANCE. 135 
 
 Euphonious Endings. — It. it important to have a pleasing 
 cadence at the end of a sentence, and, when possible, so to 
 arrange the words and clauses that the sound may swell to the 
 close. The following beautiful sentence from Sterne is an admir- 
 able example of the pleasing effect produced in this way : " The 
 accusing spirit which liew up to Heaven's chancery with the oath, 
 blushed as he gave it in ; and the recording angel dropped a tear 
 upon it and blotted it out forever." 
 
 Good endings may be formed by concluding with : — 
 
 a. A long syllable, especially if that syllable ends with a con- 
 tinuing consonant ; as, appear, supreme. 
 
 b. With one or more unaccented syllables ; as, country, free- 
 dom, liberty. 
 
 Very long words, or words with the accent far from the end, do 
 not make a pleasing close ; as, peremptorily, irresistibly. 
 
 Harmony. 
 
 Lastly, there is a kind of Harmony that arises from having the 
 sound of the words and of the sentence an echo of the sense. So 
 far we have spoken of the use of euphonious words only, but words 
 of every variety of sound have their place, and Harmony is pro- 
 moted by the selection of such as are adapted to the sense. 
 Words of harsh and unpleasant sound may be employed with 
 advantage to express something disagreeable ; words of slow and 
 measured sound are adapted to grave and serious thoughts ; and 
 those of soft and flowing sounds, to gentle and benignant feelings. 
 The expression of motion, too, may be made more effective by 
 the use of suitable words and combinations : rapid and easy 
 motion, by short, easily-pronounced syllables, or by those of soft 
 and flowing smoothness ; slow and laborious movement, by a series 
 of long syllables, of accented words, or of words that have so many 
 difficult consonants that they cannot be rapidly pronounced.
 
 136 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC 
 
 EXERCISE XLI. 
 
 Melody and Harmony. 
 Direction. — Improve the Melody and Harmony of these sentences. 
 
 1. They were all the children of whim, and satire, and wit. 
 
 2. They had already reached the road that runs round to Sleepy 
 Hollow. 
 
 3. This difficulty was at last got rid of. 
 
 4. The man who lived there last year has made up his mind to 
 move to the city. 
 
 5. He was much pleased with the way the boys and girls said 
 their tasks. 
 
 6. He was just as just as his neighbors. 
 
 7. The leaves of the trees fall in the fall. 
 
 8. He described it in an uninteresting manner. 
 
 9. Sketch Scott's early education in Edinburgh. 
 
 10. Boys are apt, too, to attribute ridicule to wrong motives. 
 
 11. His employer peremptorily dismissed him. 
 
 12. All men do not seem to have the same mind as this man. 
 
 13. The passing bell tolled the knell when the hero fell. 
 
 14. The standard to which all form must conform is usage. 
 
 15. The master is placed there specially to influence — intellec- 
 tually only, many think, but as truly morally. 
 
 16. He excelled in keen satire, and in broad humor, too. 
 
 17. The principal explained the principle on which he gov- 
 erned. 
 
 18. These impecunious, characterless adventurers, for weeks 
 and weeks, haunted the parliamentary buildings. 
 
 19. There will be willing parents who will wish to water the 
 seed scattered by me. 
 
 20. Such a thing was not to be thought of, or if it was, it was 
 only to gratify my selfishness. 
 
 21. The night is past and the morning is coming. 
 
 22. Lazy people seldom gather riches.
 
 ELEGANCE. 13/ 
 
 23. A beautiful island, famous in song and story, lies upon the 
 other side of the wide Atlantic. (There lies . . . song.) 
 
 24. Of genius and greatness, it has given to the world more 
 than its share. 
 
 25. Let us consider the ambitious ; and both in their progress 
 to greatness, and after the attaining of it. 
 
 - 26. Her constant connection with the family as a fast friend of 
 the fastidious little Miss H., left an indelible impression on her 
 mind. 
 
 27. A few rough logs laid side by side served for a bridge to 
 cross on. 
 
 28. On approaching the home of his childhood he saw the 
 leaves searing, for winter was nearing, and the birds were about 
 disappearing. 
 
 29. The separate casts of the arm look immense, but in its 
 place the limb looks light. 
 
 30. The raging waters rolled over his child, and he was left sor- 
 rowing. (Campbell.) 
 
 31. Up the lofty hill he raises a large, round stone. (Pope.) 
 
 32. A great many things seemingly relatively perfectly plain, 
 are very difficult to unravel. 
 
 33. Walled round with rocks as is an inland island. 
 
 34. Their ghosts circle thee in an endless confusion. 
 
 35. We live in an enlightened age. 
 
 36. The qualities necessary to save the popular party in the 
 hour of danger, others might possess ; both the power and the 
 inclination to restrain its excesses in the hour of triumph, Hamp- 
 den alone had. (Others . . . danger ; Hampden . . . triumph.) 
 
 37. While leaning on a post he told me that, when at the mili- 
 tary post, he obtained a post of great honor and trust, in which it 
 was his duty not only to post the general's letters, but also to post 
 his private ledger.
 
 138 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXVIII. 
 
 ELEGANCE. — FINE WRITING. 
 
 Elegance as well as Clearness requires the avoidance of Fine 
 Writing, that is, the use of exquisite phrases, long-swelling words, 
 affected expressions, and voluble circumlocutions, instead of say- 
 ing what one means in a simple, natural, and straightforward 
 manner. 
 
 Sometimes this fault manifests itself in a desire to interlard 
 one's writing with poetic phrases or quotations, as " the festive 
 board," for " table " ; " the cup that cheers, but not inebriates," 
 for "tea." Such quotations are allowable when they are in 
 keeping with the rest of the writing, and are in point. 
 
 This pretentious kind of language is so much used by public 
 speakers, and in newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, 
 that it bids fair to destroy the native simplicity, force, and beauty 
 of our tongue. 
 
 In Fine Writing people do not live in houses, " they reside in 
 residences " ; iires are not put out, but " conflagrations are extin- 
 guished " ; the law does not hang rogues, but it " launches into 
 eternity the victims of unbridled passions"; people do not send 
 for the doctor, but " call into requisition the services of the family 
 physician " ; they do not die, but " the spirit wings its flight into 
 eternity " ; a man does not breakfast, but he " discusses the 
 morning repast " ; he does not go to bed, but " retires to his 
 downy couch " ; he does not go to church, but " attends divine 
 service " ; he does not lose his mother by death, but " sustains 
 a bereavement of his maternal relative " ; ladies are not married, 
 but " led to the hymeneal altar " ; doctors do not order a poultice, 
 but an " emollient cataplasm."
 
 ELEGANCE. 139 
 
 Keeping. 
 
 Elegance requires all parts of discourse to be in Keeping. The 
 mode of treatment and .the style should be suitable to the subject ; 
 the language and the subject should support each other ; discords 
 of all kinds should be avoided; and bold figures should be 
 sparingly used. 
 
 1. The different parts of a sentence should correspond to 
 one another; as, " All proper nouns should begin with a capital." 
 Here the first part of the sentence is plural, and the latter part 
 singular. Say " Every proper noun." 
 
 2. The harshness caused by making two verbs or prepositions 
 govern the same object should be avoided ; as, " In the batde, he 
 furiously sought to close with, and cut down, his rival." 
 
 3. Low or trivial language must not be used in serious compo- 
 sition ; as, " ' Blessed are the meek,' that was one of His obser- 
 
 vations." 
 
 4. The same word should not be used at short intervals in 
 different senses ; as, " If the show of anything is good for any- 
 thing, sincerity is better." 
 
 5. The repetition of th« same word at brief intervals even in 
 the same sense, is offensive to the taste as well as to the ear ; as, 
 " The Colonel ordered the subordinate officers to order their 
 troops to come to order." 
 
 Exceptions. — Sometimes, however, the same word may be 
 repeated with a fine effect ; as, " Nofhing is omitted ; nothing is 
 crowded." " An unpardonable fault, the fault of tediousness, 
 pervades the whole of the Fairy Queen." 
 
 Sometimes, also, the repetition is necessary in order to make 
 the sense clear ; as, " Can it be laid down as a general rule that 
 the movement of political and religious truth is rather downwards 
 from the government to the people, than upwards from the people 
 to the government.^'' 
 
 Similarly, a succession of phrases or clauses of the same kind 
 becomes disaereeable.
 
 I40 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. The practice of beginning sentence after sentence witn "he" 
 or some similar word, is an inelegance into which young writers 
 are very apt to fall. 
 
 7. A poetic metaphor should not be used to illustrate a prosaic 
 subject; as, " Consols soared to 94^^." 
 
 8. Incongruous statements should not, in serious composition, 
 be united in the same sentence ; as, " He was a loving husband, 
 a tender father, and a good shot." 
 
 9. A literal statement should not follow immediately after a 
 metaphor ; as, " He was the father of chemistry, and brother to 
 the Earl of Cork." 
 
 EXERCISE XLII. 
 
 Fine Writing. 
 
 Direction. — Express these sentences in language better suited to the 
 thought. 
 
 1. Those individuals were eagerly hastening towards their pa- 
 rental domicile. 
 
 2. That institution was inaugurated under the auspices of a 
 most distinguished personage. 
 
 3. Previous to making a sudden tran'sition, you should execute 
 a survey of your surroundings. (Look before, etc.) 
 
 4. In recompense for his splendid munificence, he was made 
 the recipient of many grateful acknowledgments. 
 
 5. The house that was lately in process of erection, has been 
 destroyed in its entirety by the devouring element. 
 
 6. In the intensity of his passion, he indulged in minatory 
 expressions. 
 
 7. His parental relative was a gentleman long identified with 
 the building interest. 
 
 8. Please convey to me that dissecting instrument. 
 
 9. A petrified body of rotary motion has no affinity for gra- 
 mineous matter. (A rolling stone, etc.) 
 
 10. Pedal teguments artistically illuminated and lubricated for 
 the infinitesimal compensation of five cents per operation.
 
 ELEGANCE. I4I 
 
 11. One of those omnipresent characters, who, as if in pursu- 
 ance of some previous arrangement, are certain to be encountered 
 when an accident occurs, ventured the suggestion. (A bystander.) 
 
 12. While pursuing my esoteric cogitations on the empyrean 
 atmosphere, I was approached by an erubescent damsel, who 
 informed me that the nocturnal revelries were about to ensue. 
 
 13. I opine you adorn the bountifully furnished table of the 
 excellent lady who provides so liberally for the company that 
 assembles around her hospitable board. 
 
 14. When the luminary of day had driven his chariot behind 
 the mountains, the eminent agriculturists began to discuss the 
 succulent bivalves. 
 
 15. After attending divine service, a vast concourse congre- 
 gated to behold the victims of unbridled passions launched into 
 eternity. 
 
 16. After being the recipients of multitudinous favors, and par- 
 ticipating for some weeks in the hospitalities of their host, they 
 took their departure. 
 
 1 7. The friends speedily called into requisition the services of 
 the family physician, but the disease had taken so firm a hold 
 of his system that after a few hours of agony his spirit winged its 
 flight into realms unknown. 
 
 18. The remains of the departed author of my being were 
 placed in a casket and conveyed to their last resting-place. 
 
 19. Before she was led to the hymeneal altar, she had charge 
 of the culinary department of a prominent hotel. 
 
 20. The patrons of husbandry, having thoroughly examined 
 all the inventions of genius to be found within the machinery 
 hall, retired to an adjoining apartment to partake of some liquid 
 refreshments.
 
 142 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XLIII. 
 
 Keeping. 
 
 Direction. — Correct the violations of the rules of Keeping. Give a 
 reason for each change. 
 
 1. All verbs agree with their subject. 
 
 2. The fairest of her daughters, Eve. 
 
 3. The first project was to shorten discourse by cutting poly- 
 syllables into one. 
 
 4. We are at peace with all the world, and seek to maintain 
 our cherished relations of amity with the rest of mankind. 
 
 5. In the construction of the Act, "teacher" shall include 
 female as well as male teachers. 
 
 6. That author approaches the subject from an unusual stand- 
 point. 
 
 7. The brain needs rest as much, if not more, than the rest 
 of the body. 
 
 8. He looked very unnatural after he had received that un- 
 xiatural treatment. 
 
 9. He successfully avoided threatening evils, and steered the 
 ship of state into a safe harbor. 
 
 10. An anxious face opened the door and led us upstairs. 
 
 11. The chariot of revolution is rolling onward and gnashing 
 its teeth as it rolls. 
 
 12. I was sitting at the table enjoying a cup of coffee, when a 
 gentle voice tapped me on the shoulder. 
 
 13. In the beginning it was intended that all men should marry 
 but one wife. 
 
 14. He was a firm believer in the immortal gods who are now 
 dead. 
 
 15. Shakespeare was the sun among the lesser lights of English 
 poetry, and a native of Stratford-on-Avon. 
 
 16. He guided the people from the quicksands of protection 
 into the safe harbor of free trade, and saved the country several 
 millions.
 
 ELEGANCE. 143 
 
 17. They were refused entrance into, and forcibly driven from, 
 the house. 
 
 18. I was sailing in a vast ocean, without other help than the 
 pole-star of the ancients and the rules of the French stage. 
 
 19. The truth is that truth and error are blended together. 
 
 20. In a house like this the inmates resemble a knight in an 
 enchanted castle. 
 
 21. At the news of a Russian war, the price of wheat instantly 
 soared up to a dollar a bushel. 
 
 22. He had sense enough not to use that word in that sense. 
 
 23. If the loss of temporal gain be the gain of eternal good, 
 the reverse of fortune is the reverse of misfortune. 
 
 24. The farmer gave orders to his son to order the hired man 
 to put the reaper in good order. 
 
 25. When I was there, there were friends of mine there also. 
 
 EXERCISE XLIV. 
 
 General Exercise on Elegance. 
 
 Direction. — Reconstruct these sentences so as to correct all violations of 
 the laws of Elegance. 
 
 1. We are a firm beUever in keeping pace with the times. 
 
 2. The scene is laid on an inland lake. 
 
 3. He was tired with his journey and sad and dispirited. 
 
 4. He never seemed to be capable of it. 
 
 5. Generally speaking, a prudent general will in the face of 
 odds avoid a general engagement. 
 
 6. Shamefacedness may recommend many more than money. 
 
 7. The essayist could not find a trace of some of those worthies 
 of whom the world was not worthy. 
 
 8. Everybody knows that that knows anything at all. 
 
 9. It was in vain they reached the other side; such fate does 
 fate assign us. 
 
 10. Thou strokedst me and mad'st much of me.
 
 144 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 11. You know, when you don't know where you are going, you 
 generally take a rather slow pace. 
 
 12. Though generally scrupulous, he did not scruple to do that 
 base act. 
 
 13. After describing so interesting a meeting concerning the 
 rival parties contending for supremacy, the speaker paused. 
 
 14. They found that at an inroad of the Indians he had been 
 taken prisoner. 
 
 15. As we approached the church we met crowds of respect- 
 able people hurrying towards it, as if afraid of being too late to 
 obtain a good seat, or even admittance, etc. 
 
 16. She always displays a cheerful temper and pleasant humor. 
 
 17. Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults. 
 
 18. He attempted to express the inexplicable pleasure he felt. 
 
 19. Moral faults only, and then only extremely rarely, should 
 be corrected by ridicule. 
 
 20. Boys are sensitive, and to ridicule more than anything else, 
 especially where both sexes are taught in the same room. 
 
 2 1 . Though virtue borrows no assistance from, yet it may often 
 be accompanied by, the advantages of fortune. 
 
 22. It is hard to make good the pretence of a good quality. 
 
 23. He refused taking any further notice of it. 
 
 24. It is in my power to refuse you, and since I have the power 
 to do it I will do it. 
 
 25. They directed their course in the direction of their father's 
 house. 
 
 26. The night which descended upon her was the night {or the 
 darkness ?) of an Arctic summer. 
 
 27. A man of his sense should have a higher sense of honor. 
 
 28. I am acquainted with a certain man who has a certain in- 
 come obtained from the investment of a certain sum. 
 
 29. He was also known to, and visited by, Sheridan. 
 
 30. The devouring element consumed the edifice before its 
 progress could be arrested. 
 
 31. He abruptly turned to the left and left the house.
 
 ELEGANCE. I45 
 
 32. The relations between maid and mistress became sorely 
 strained. 
 
 33. He is tlie individual wlio took the initiative in introducing 
 piscine preserves in this locality. 
 
 34. I look upon it as my duty, so long as I keep within the 
 bounds of truth and duty, and of decency. 
 
 35. Listlessly talking over village gossip, or telling sleepy, end- 
 less stories about nothing, they used to sit here in the shade 
 through a long lazy summer's day. (Here . . . through . . . 
 talking . . . nothing.) 
 
 36. Therefore nothing, neither learning nor knowledge of the 
 world, neither forensic acuteness, nor that eloquence which charms 
 pohtical assemblies, was wanting to the defence of Clive. (To 
 the defence . . . assemblies.) 
 
 37. As they proceeded down the hill the rocks gradually receded 
 from view. 
 
 38. Societies like these will help to educate society and to over- 
 throw its drinking usages. 
 
 39. And see, first of all, that you have hearts, and sound hearts, 
 too, to give. 
 
 40. After the appetizing banquet had been done full justice to, 
 the party spent an extended period in pleasantly tripping the light 
 fantastic. 
 
 41. She asked him to visit her paternal domicile, when the 
 diurnal luminary sought his nocturnal resting-place behind the 
 occidental horizon. 
 
 42. The Little Gentleman lies where he longed to lie, among 
 the old names and the old bones of the Boston people. (Should 
 old be repeated ?)
 
 146 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXIX. 
 
 III. THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARAGRAPHS. 
 
 Hitherto we have considered only separate words and single 
 sentences. We now come to study the connection of sentences 
 in paragraphs, and of paragraphs in sketches. 
 
 The paragraph is a larger division of discourse than the sen- 
 tence, and, like it, should deal with a single topic. It is, in fact, 
 a whole composition and should therefore be complete in itself. 
 It aids the reader by showing him where the development of a 
 point begins and where it ends. 
 
 Principles. — The leading principles that govern the formation 
 of the paragraph are : — 
 
 I. The Topic Sentence. 
 
 The opening sentence should set forth the subject of the para- 
 graph. This sentence is generally most effective when short. 
 
 Example. — " The government went on, oppressing at home 
 and blundering abroad. (Topic sentence.) A war was foolishly 
 undertaken against France, and more foolishly conducted. Buck- 
 ingham led an expedition against Rh6, and failed ignominiously. 
 In the meantime soldiers were billeted on the people. Crimes 
 of which ordinary justice should have taken cognizance were 
 punished by martial law. Near eighty gentlemen," etc. The 
 paragraph goes on enumerating other acts of " oppressing " and 
 " blundering." 
 
 Sometimes one or more sentences at the beginning of a para- 
 graph are intended to connect it with the one that precedes, or 
 to prepare the way for the topic sentence. 
 
 Exa7tiple. — " These were mere follies. (Connective and intro- 
 ductory sentence.) But the spirit excited by these writers pro- 
 duced more serious effects. (Topic sentence.) The greater part 
 of the crimes which disgraced the revolution," etc.
 
 the construction of paragraihs. i47 
 
 2. Arrangement. 
 
 The different sentences that compose a paragraph must foUcv^ 
 one another in natural and logical order. It they do not, the 
 attention of the reader is distracted and he finds it difficult, if 
 not impossible, to keep the thread of the discourse. 
 
 Example. — " On the third day after the action the dead were 
 buried in the naval churchyard ; the ceremony was made as 
 public and as solemn as the occasion required. A public monu- 
 ment was erected upon the spot where the slain were gathered 
 together. A subscription was opened on the day of the funeral 
 for the relief of the sufferers, and collections in aid of it through- 
 out all the churches in the kingdom. This appeal to the feelings 
 of the people was made with circumstances which gave it full 
 effect. A monument was raised in the midst of the church ; 
 young maidens, dressed in white, stood round it ; and a suitable 
 oration was delivered from the pulpit." 
 
 In this paragraph the sentences do not follow the order of 
 events. 
 
 3. Continuity. 
 
 It is not enough that the sentences of a paragraph follow one 
 another in proper order ; the connection of each with the preced- 
 ing context must be made clear and unmistakable. It is of the 
 utmost importance that the sentences should be connected in a 
 clear, smooth, easy, and natural manner, so that the thought may 
 be carried on without interruption from the beginning to the 
 close. 
 
 How Attained. — Continuity is secured in various ways : — 
 
 I. By the use of conjunctions, adverbs, pronouns, or connect- 
 ing phrases ; as : — 
 
 " One person might have fallen asleep, but two — but three — 
 that was a mere impossibility. And even supposing all three 
 'together with the baby locked in sleep, still how unaccountable 
 was this utter silence ! Most naturally ai this moment something 
 like hysterical horror overshadowed the poor girl. And now, a>
 
 148 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 last, she rang the bell with violence. This doie, she paused. 
 Self-command enough she still retained." 
 
 The Connectives Used. — Among the most common connec- 
 tive words and phrases are : — 
 
 a. Those called cumulative ; as, — and, also, so, besides, further, 
 moreover, first, secondly. 
 
 b. Those expressing consequence, similarity, repetition, or the 
 repetition of a subject \ as, — therefore, hence, consequently, 
 accordingly, in this way, again, once more, in fact, upon this, in 
 that case, on the other hand, to proceed, to return. 
 
 c. Those expressing opposition or negation ; as, — otherwise, 
 nevertheless, still, however, but, on the contrary, conversely. 
 
 d. Those expressing suspension ; as, — some . . . others ; partly 
 . . . pardy; undoubtedly . . . but; indeed . . . yet. 
 
 2. Connectives are often omitted, and other means employed 
 for joining sentences ; as : — 
 
 a. The repetition of some word or words ; as, " His canny 
 humor lights up the political and theological controversies of the 
 times with quaint incisive phrases. His reading was extensive'; 
 and he was a voluminous author on subjects which ranged from 
 predestinarianism to tobacco. But his shrewdness and learning 
 only left him the wisest fool in Christendom." 
 
 b. The inversion of the order of the words, or the giving of 
 some word or words a position that enables them to point 
 definitely to what was said in the preceding sentence ; as, " Enter- 
 ing the gulf, he endeavored to find the river Darien. This river 
 he could not discover." 
 
 3. Sometimes the relation of the sentences is such that the 
 connection is evident without the insertion of any joining word or 
 phrase. This is the case : — 
 
 a. When the thoughts are very closely related ; as, " He 
 turned his horse towards Thame, where he arrived almost faint- 
 ing with agony. The surgeon dressed his wounds. But there 
 was no hope." 
 
 b. When the sentence explains or repeats the one going before
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARAGRAPHS. I49 
 
 it; as, "I need not enlarge upon the subject. The case is per- 
 fectly plain." 
 
 c. In cumulative statements; as in 2 («), p. 148. 
 
 d. In a statement of consequence ; as, " Further resistance on 
 your part is hopeless. I ask the surrender of your army." 
 
 4. Unity. 
 
 The paragraph should possess unity ; that is, every statement 
 should be subservient to one principal affirmation, and that prin- 
 cipal affirmation should be kept prominent throughout the para- 
 graph. Every sentence must be part of one whole, and that whole 
 should be the presentation of one point of a subject, or one part 
 in description or narration. 
 
 Example. — The following paragraph illustrates how every sen- 
 tence should bear on the topic sentence : — 
 
 " What, then, are the proper encouragements of genius ? (Topic 
 sentence.) I answer, subsistence and respect ; for these are re- 
 wards congenial to nature. Every animal has an aliment suited 
 to its constitution. (General illustration.) The heavy ox seeks 
 nourishment from earth ; the light chameleon has been supposed 
 to exist on air. (Particular illustration.) A sparer diet than even 
 this satisfies the man of true genius, for he makes a luxurious ban- 
 quet upon empty applause. (Comparison.) It is this alone which 
 has inspired all that ever was truly great and noble among us. It 
 is, as Cicero finely calls it, the echo of virtue. (Amplification.) 
 Avarice is the passion of inferior natures ; money the pay of the 
 common herd. (Contrasting sentences.) The author who draws 
 his quill merely to take a purse no more deserves success than he 
 who presents a pistol. (Conclusion.)" 
 
 5. Due Proportion. 
 
 As in the sentence, a due proportion must exist between the 
 principal and the subordinate statement. This is a principle of 
 symmetry that applies to every work of art, and the utmost skill
 
 150 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 and much practice are required to give each part of a paragraph 
 that due bulk and importance which rounds it out and gives finish 
 and completeness to the whole. 
 
 Example. — The sentence quoted as an example of Unity may 
 be considered under this head. It will be found symmetrical and 
 well balanced. 
 
 6. Parallel Construction. 
 
 If the matter of a paragraph is such that consecutive sen- 
 tences repeat, expand, or illustrate the same idea, these sentences 
 should, as far as possible, be formed alike. 
 
 Example. — "We must not omit to mention that those who 
 were afterwards the nu^^t distinguished ornaments of the King's 
 party, supported the bill of attainder. It is almost certain that 
 Hyde voted for it. It is quite certain that Falkland both voted 
 and spoke for it. The opinion of Hampden, as far as can be 
 collected from a very obscure note of one of his speeches, seems 
 to have been that the proceeding by bill was unnecessary, and 
 that it would be a better course to obtain judgment on the 
 impeachment." 
 
 Caution. — Parallel constructions should not be followed when 
 they become monotonous or otherwise lessen the vigor of dis- 
 course. 
 
 7. Variety. 
 
 In the mechanical construction of the paragraph every device 
 should be taken in order to prevent monotony. The sentences 
 should be of different length ; some short, some long ; they should 
 be varied in construction, simple, periodic, and so on ; and they 
 should be connected with all possible variety of method. 
 
 Connection of Paragraphs. — The connection of paragraphs 
 requires the same care as the connection of sentences, and is 
 effected by similar methods.
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARAGRAPHS. 15I 
 
 EXERCISE XLV. 
 
 The Construction of Paragraphs. 
 
 Direction. — Study these sentences till you understand them. Then 
 form them into paragraphs that follow the rules laid down in the preceding 
 Lesson. 
 
 I. Insects are the curse of tropical climates. The hcfe rouge 
 lays the foundation of a tremendous ulcer. In a moment you are 
 covered with ticks. Chigoes bury themselves in your flesh. 
 They hatch a colony of young chigoes in a few hours. They will 
 not live together. Every chigoe sets up a separate ulcer. Flies 
 get entry into your mouth, into your eyes, into your nose ; you 
 eat flies, drink flies, and breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches, and 
 snakes, get into the bed ; ants eat up the books ; scorpions sting 
 you on the foot. Everything bites, stings, or bruises ; every 
 minute you are wounded by some piece of animal life. An in- 
 sect with eleven legs is swimming in your teacup, a nondescript 
 with nine wings is struggling in the small beer, or a caterpillar 
 with several dozen eyes in his belly is hastening over the bread 
 and butter. All nature is alive. It seems to be gathering its 
 hosts to eat you up as you are standing out of your coat and 
 breeches. Such are the tropics. This reconciles us to our dews, 
 fogs, and drizzles. This helps us to put up with our apothecaries 
 rushing about with gargles and tinctures. It helps us to endure 
 our coughs, sore throats, and swelled faces. The danger seems 
 to be much less with snakes and wild beasts if you conduct your- 
 self like a gentleman. If you pass on gently, you may walk un- 
 hurt within a yard of the Labairi snake. If you rush upon him, 
 he will put you to death. The tagman knocks you down with a 
 blow of his paw, if suddenly interrupted. He will run away if 
 you give him time. Most animals look upon man as a very ugly 
 customer. They do not care to attack him. They do it for food 
 or in self-defence. Mr. Waterton made a Labairi snake bite itself 
 No harm ensued. No harm would ensue if a sinful soldier gave 
 himself a thousand lashes.
 
 152 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 2. Still there were not knighthoods enough. In 1783 the king 
 instituted the Order of St. Patrick. Scotland had its most ancient 
 Order of the Thistle. No order of knighthood had, until that 
 time, been appropriated to Ireland. The Hanoverian Guelphic 
 Order of Knighthood had been opened to the ambition of Eng- 
 lishmen ; William IV., during his reign, added to its roll a goodly 
 company of English knights. The Order of the Bath, originally 
 a military order, was enlarged in 1815 ; again in 1847, the Queen 
 added a civil division to the order. This was to comprise such 
 persons as by their personal services to the Crown, or by the per- 
 formance of public duties, had merited the royal favor. Beside 
 these several titled orders, may be noticed officers enjoying naval 
 and military rank, whose numbers were extraordinarily augmented 
 by the long war with France, and by the extension of the British 
 possessions abroad. Men holding high offices in the State, the 
 Church, the Law, the Universities, and other great incorporations 
 have associated their powers and influence with those of the 
 nobility. The continual growth and accumulation of property 
 have been a source of increasing strength to the British nobles. 
 Wealth is in itself an aristocracy, and it may desire to rival the 
 nobility of a country, even to detract from its glory. In this land 
 of associations, it seeks only to enjoy the smiles and favors of the 
 aristocracy, craves admission to its society, aspires to its connec- 
 tion, is ambitious of its dignities ; the learned professions and com- 
 merce and manufactures and public employments have created an 
 enormous body of persons of independent income ; some con- 
 nected with the landed gentry, others with the commercial classes : 
 so all three form part of the independent " gentry." They are 
 spread over the fairest parts of the country. Noble cities have 
 been built for their accommodation. Bath, Cheltenham, Leam- 
 ington, Brighton, attest their numbers, their opulence. They form 
 a strong outwork of the peerage, with much social influence and 
 political weight, and uphold its ascendency by moral as well as by 
 political support. Professions lean as a body on the higher ranks 
 of society ; the Church is peculiarly connected with the landed
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARAGRAPHS. 1 53 
 
 interest ; everywhere the clergy cleave to power ; the vast lay 
 patronage vested in the proprietors of the soil, draws close the 
 bond between them and the Church ; the legal and medical pro- 
 fessions, being mainly supported by wealthy patrons, have the same 
 political and social interests. How vast a community of rank and 
 of wealth and of intelligence do these several classes of society 
 constitute ! The House of Lords, in truth, is not only a privileged 
 body, but a great representative institution, standing out as the 
 embodiment of the aristocratic influence and sympathies of the 
 country. 
 
 3. All was now confusion and despondency. The provisions 
 had been so ill managed by the Committee, that there was no 
 longer food for the troops. The Highlanders consequently de- 
 serted by hundreds ; and the Earl, broken-hearted by his misfor- 
 tune, yielded to the urgency of those who pertinaciously insisted 
 that he should march into the Lowlands. The htde army there- 
 fore hastened to the shore of Loch Long, passed that inlet by 
 night in boats, and landed in Dumbartonshire. Hither, on the 
 following morning, came news that the frigates had forced a pas- 
 sage, that all the Earl's ships had been taken, and that Elphinstone 
 had fled from Ealan Ghierig without a blow, leaving the castle 
 and stores to the enemy. All that remained was to invade the 
 Lowlands under every disadvantage. Argyle resolved to make a 
 bold push for Glasgow, but as soon as this resolution was an- 
 nounced, the very men who had, up to that moment, been urging 
 him to hasten into the low country, took fright, argued, remon- 
 strated, and when argument and remonstrance proved vain, laid a 
 scheme for seizing the boats, making their own escape, and leav- 
 ing their General and his clansmen to conquer or perish unaided. 
 This scheme failed, and the poltroons who had formed it were 
 compelled to share with braver men the risks of the last venture. 
 During the march through the country which Res between Loch 
 Long and Loch Lomond, the insurgents were constantly infested 
 by parties of militia. Some skirmishes took place in which the 
 Earl had the advantage, but the bands which he repelled, falling
 
 154 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 back before him, spread the tidings of his approach, and, soon 
 after he had crossed the river Leven, he found a strong body of 
 regular and irregular troops prepared to encounter him. He was 
 for giving battle. Ayloffe was of the same opinion. Hume, on 
 the other hand, declared that to fight would be madness. He saw 
 one regiment in scarlet ; more might be behind. To attack such 
 a force was to rush on certain death. The best course was to 
 remain quiet till night, and then give the enemy the slip. A little 
 altercation followed, which was with difficulty quieted by the medi- 
 ation of Rumbold. It was now evening. The hostile armies en- 
 camped at no great distance from each other. The Earl ventured 
 to propose a night attack, and was again overruled. 
 
 EXERCISE XLVI. 
 
 General Exercise on Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Study these sentences. If you hnd a fault in any of them, 
 state the reason for any change you propose. 
 
 1. The King was wounded in the eye, by an arrow, after long 
 fighting. 
 
 2. In his old age the man became wrinkled and broken and 
 bowed. 
 
 3. They call me wise, although I am not wise, when they want 
 to reproach you. 
 
 4. The house was crowded to its utmost capacity ; every avail- 
 able seat was occupied and many remained standing till the close. 
 
 5. I had an indistinct glimpse of Mr. H. flying over the fence, 
 and I rolled comfortably out of the sleigh, wrapped in the buffalo 
 robe, under a pine-tree. , 
 
 6. One of our expert wheelmen was caught in a machine fan- 
 ning mill a few days ago. The effect is likely to be permanent. 
 
 7. I never saw a man in the whole course of my life and the 
 doctors all said so, that observed directions or took medicine 
 better than he did.
 
 GENERAL EXERCISE ON SENTENCES. 1 55 
 
 8. When the locusts approached the inhabitants shut themselves 
 up ro keep them out, but it is impossible as they are so thiclc. 
 
 9. War and famine and death had made them discouraged. 
 
 10. When he was first arrested, he said that he and Benwell 
 came to the outskirts of Woodstock that day and he remained 
 there. 
 
 11. No real reason can be given for such differences; it is 
 simply the case that the one is customary, or what we are used to, 
 and the other not. 
 
 12. The appearance of the serf, or bondsman, was more sad 
 and sullen than W\amba. 
 
 13. His absent friends had every confidence in him and 
 believed their deposits were perfectly safe in his hands; and 
 when he told them shortly after the bank had failed that they had 
 plenty to pay every dollar they owed, and that all that they asked 
 was a little time, and the bank would be open in a few days, they 
 fully believed him. 
 
 14. It is for this class that the following directions and sugges- 
 tions are offered, and which, if carried out, will ensure healthy, 
 luxuriant plants. 
 
 15. Flower-pots should be washed as often as mould or fungus 
 growth appears, to allow evaporation and a free access of air. 
 
 16. A periphrasis is a circumlocutory and pleonastic cycle of 
 oratorial sonorosity, circumscribing an atom of ideality, enveloped 
 in verbal profundity. 
 
 17. You have the power of sending your name down through 
 all times, illustrated by deeds of higher fame and more useful 
 import, than ever were done within these walls. 
 
 18. Let us inquire whether the present system of education is 
 harmful to the present generation or not. 
 
 19. As Addison's subjects are common, so his language was 
 language that could be understood, and his essays are somewhat 
 long sometimes and tedious. 
 
 20. Some, perhaps, are not so fortunate as to have a true friend 
 in their teacher, a kind of guide ; for I think if teachers knew the
 
 156 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 way in which children imitate their actions and follow their 
 example they would be more careful to make that example more 
 like the divine teacher of humanity. 
 
 21. As the locusts fell to the earth they were trampled under 
 the hoof of the travellers' horses and they did not miss them their 
 numbers were so great. 
 
 22. The city has a large dock- yard compared with its size. 
 
 23. He is a boy that has nothing the matter with him, that 
 takes the relish of this world out. 
 
 24. He was not an author, but he was a bard. 
 
 25. Man has two natures, that of spirituality and that of being 
 corporeal, which always may be considered separate. 
 
 26. The doctor answered after a pause for a moment, and rub- 
 bing his head at the same time, that it was the only thing he could 
 do. 
 
 27. A cloth served in some degree to protect the dignitaries 
 who occupied the chair from the weather. 
 
 28. He rode, not a mule, like his companion, but a strong 
 hackney horse. 
 
 29. I was not, like His Grace of Bedford, dandled, rocked, and 
 swaddled into a legislator. 
 
 30. You have already been informed of the sale of Ford's 
 Theatre, where Mr. Lincoln was assassinated, for religious pur' 
 poses. 
 
 31. The works of God are very wonderful. 
 
 32. The duke owed Lord Dice about five thousand pounds, 
 and Temple Grace owed him as many hundreds ; Lord Castleford 
 also owed him seven hundred and fifty, and the ba-ron owed hiro 
 a small sum. 
 
 ;^;^. As smoke is driven away, so chase (drive?) them away. 
 
 34. We played croquet in the morning; we played lawn tennis 
 in the afternoon ; and we played chess in the evening. 
 
 35. No one seems to have believed our report. (Interrogation.) 
 
 36. He worked all night in his office, he worked next day at 
 his trade, and he worked at his garden in the evening.
 
 GENERAL EXERCISE ON SENTENCES. 1 57 
 
 37. He became, however, as time passed on, sensual, selfish, 
 despotic, and cruel. 
 
 38. A diminutive specimen of the feminine gender, rejoicing 
 in the euphonious cognomen of Mary, was possessed of a young 
 animal called, in common parlance, a lamb. The exterior woolly 
 covering of the quadruped was in color white as the driven snow ; 
 and to all places and localities whithersoever the said Mary in 
 her wanderings did perambulate, the aforesaid small quadruped 
 in like manner was just as certain to peregrinate. 
 
 39. Resolved, That this Association expresses the regret with 
 which they have heard of the death of Mr. J. B., who added to 
 great ability the virtues of courtesy and kindness to the other 
 members of his profession, coupled with the highest integrity, and 
 they desire to convey to Mrs. B. and family their heartfelt sym- 
 pathy in a bereavement, that is felt by the profession throughout 
 the province. 
 
 40. Addison suffered much from attacks of asthma, and died 
 in the calmness of a confident trust'in God. 
 
 41. He fell forward suddenly one day whilst gardening with 
 his head in a bed of mignonette, and when taken up was as dead 
 as a stone. 
 
 42. A man finds himself pleased, he does not know how or 
 why with the cheerfulness of his companion ; it is hke a sudden 
 sunshine that awakens a secret delight in the mind without his 
 attending to it. 
 
 43. " If you wish to find the Professor," said the student, " cru- 
 cify the quadrangle, ascend the grades, make a dextral vert, and 
 you will find him perambulating his domicile or prospecting his 
 fenestrum. 
 
 44. Along the ranks go officer and sergeant until the front rank 
 is reached. 
 
 45. Our hearts will go out to those that have helped to make the 
 Convention days profitable, never to be forgotten, and delightful. 
 
 46. Being deeply sensible of the increasing evils caused by 
 intemperance, alarmed at the dangers of, and commiserating the
 
 158 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 misery caused by intemperance, we believe it has become our duty 
 to unite our efforts for its extermuiation. 
 
 47. The secretary shall read the minutes and all the papers 
 ordered to be read. 
 
 48. In a short editorial in our last number, we pointed out the 
 want in our school system of any attention being paid to the 
 artistic sensibilities of our pupils. 
 
 49. The old soil should be picked out from the outer edges of 
 the roots, care being taken not to break the roots too much, the 
 object of re-potting being to not only give a larger-sized pot, but 
 making the soil more porous by renewing as in cultivating land. 
 
 50. His reign was like the course of a meteor, which shoots 
 along the face of heaven, which sheds around an unnecessary and 
 portentous light, which is swallowed up by universal darkness. 
 
 51. The best possible way to learn geography would probably 
 be to travel through the country ; perhaps the next best way is by 
 studying the progress of a war in the newspapers with the aid of 
 
 t 
 
 maps. 
 
 52. If the formation of character is one of the aims of the 
 teacher, as we have often insisted, let him be excessively cautious 
 how he ridicules. 
 
 53. We spoke lately of discouragement as being one of the 
 strongest wasters of brain power ; there is a method employed by 
 some teachers to correct faults which is even worse in its injurious 
 results — ridicule. 
 
 54. Joseph Wilson Swan, the electric light inventor, lives ele- 
 gantly at Bromley, England ; and is described as a handsome man 
 with a noble head set on a rather long neck, a distinguishing 
 character of the Swan family. 
 
 55. Why remain in the land of snow, when you can visit New 
 Orleans and return for $31.85, where the magnolia is iii bloom. 
 
 56. A gentleman once drove up to a hotel, and giving his horse 
 mto the care of the hostler said : " Extricate this quadruped from 
 the vehicle, stabulate him, supply him with a sufficient quantity 
 of nutritious aliment, and when the Aurora of morn shall again
 
 GENERAL EXERCISE ON SENTENCES. 1 59 
 
 dawn, I will amply repay you for your amiable hospitality." The 
 hostler, amazed, hastened in to tell his master that a Dutchman 
 wanted to see him. 
 
 57. Answer my prayer which is, if you dwell on this island or 
 no, and that you inform me how to conduct myself. 
 
 58. All these tales were told in that drowsy tone that men talk 
 in in the dark. 
 
 59. The expression of his face showed no more self-denial than 
 his dress that he despised earthly pomp. 
 
 60. He was a man of many accomplishments and virtues, 
 thoughtful in his doings, winning in his address, a kind friend, a 
 faithful and loving husband, an affectionate father, and he played 
 melodious tunes on the jews-harp. 
 
 61. The French foot guards are dressed in blue and all the 
 marching regiments in white, which has a very foolish appearance 
 for soldiers, and as for blue regimentals, it is only fit for the Horse 
 Guards Blue or the Artillery. 
 
 62. Up the perfume-swept avenue of love, and under the rose- 
 ate archway of hymen, they had passed into the joy-lit realms of 
 that higher and holier existence where soul meets soul on hmpid 
 waves of ecstatic feeling, and hearts touch hearts through the 
 blended channel of lips in rapture linked. 
 
 63. The author of the Waverley Novels was not only remarkable 
 for his talent ; he was equally remarkable for his industry. 
 
 64. I heard a cobbler who could scarcely put a sole on a shoe 
 say that the soul is not immortal, and his sole reason was that he 
 could not believe it. 
 
 65. But though we think the conduct of the regicides blam- 
 able, that of Milton appears to us in a very different light. The 
 deed was done. It could not be undone. The evil was incurred. 
 The object was to render it as small as possible. We censure the 
 chiefs of the army for not yielding to the popular opinion. We 
 cannot censure Milton for wishing to change that opinion. (Dis- 
 cuss the advantages and disadvantages of inserting connectives 
 between these sentences.)
 
 i6o 
 
 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 66. Compose a sentence on each of these subjects : 
 
 Health. 
 
 Autumn. 
 
 Content. 
 
 Harvest. 
 
 Friendship. 
 
 Newspapers. 
 
 Honor. 
 
 The Ocean. 
 
 Pleasure. 
 
 Poverty. 
 
 Evangeline. 
 
 School-life. 
 
 Sickness. 
 
 Rip Van Winkle. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Railways. 
 
 Public speaking. 
 The value of time. 
 The true aim of life. 
 The use of tobacco. 
 Bathing in the surf. 
 Your birthplace. 
 Your own town. 
 The value of education. 
 
 Criticise each of your sentences rigidly. Where you find any 
 violation of the laws of Clearness, Strength, Unity, or Elegance, 
 rewrite the defective sentence in improved form. 
 
 LESSON XXX. 
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 I. Prose. 
 
 Explanation. — Though there is one set of words that expresses 
 a thought with greater exactness than any other can, yet every 
 thought may be expressed in a great variety of ways. Exercise 
 in casting about to find these different modes of expression tends 
 to give freedom and readiness of choice and to assist in learn- 
 ing to select the form that most fittingly conveys the meaning 
 intended. 
 
 Kinds of Variety. — There may be variety of expression in : 
 (i) The order of the words; (2) The construction of the sen- 
 tences ; (3) The kinds of the sentences ; (4) The form ; (5) The 
 individual words ; (6) The phraseology. 
 
 How attained. — This variety may be made by: (i) Change 
 of Order; (2) Construction; (3) Synonyms; (4) Phraseology.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. l6l 
 
 CHANGE OF ORDER. 
 
 The parts of a sentence may frequently be arranged in several 
 ways without altering -the meaning; yet, in every case, there is a 
 particular order that is more appropriate than any other. 
 
 Example. — " The next argument you will all appreciate." Or : 
 "You will all appreciate the next argument." Or : "You all will 
 appreciate the next argument." 
 
 EXERCISE XLVII. 
 
 Change of Order. 
 
 Direction. — Vary the following sentences by changing the order of the 
 words, clauses, or phrases. 
 
 1. We know how cheaply praise is won. 
 
 2. After their death it was passed round somewhat freely, and 
 fell into my hands. 
 
 3. Talent backs into the shafts Hke a lamb, 
 
 4. On this issue they were overwhelmingly defeated. 
 
 5. When the danger of a war had passed by, he again retired 
 to his home. 
 
 6. The traces of martyrdom, it seems, are worn in the other 
 world as stars and ribands are worn in this. 
 
 7. In a fierce battle he was struck by a musket ball which broke 
 his ankle-bone. 
 
 8. I went on my way with a sad heart. 
 
 9. When the beavers build on the bank of a stream, they make 
 a dam across it. 
 
 10. One by one, day after day, man learns to coin his wishes 
 into facts. 
 
 11. By a long course of study and discipline he made himself 
 
 what he was. 
 
 12. He had just raised the cup to his lips when his eye fell 
 on a poor, dying soldier who was looking longingly at the cool 
 drink.
 
 l62 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 13. Many born poets, I am afraid, flower poorly in song, or not 
 at all, because they have been too often transplanted. 
 
 14. All legislative powers granted by the Constitution of the 
 United States are vested in Congress, which consists of the Senate 
 and the House of Representatives. 
 
 15. I fear the popular notion of success stands in direct 
 opposition in all points to the real and wholesome success. 
 
 LESSON XXXI. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Substitution. — In the construction of sentences, great latitude 
 is afforded in the choice of the form of expression. As Variety in 
 this respect is one of the beauties of good composition, pains must 
 be taken to acquire a readiness and tact in substituting one con- 
 struction for another. 
 
 How Secured. — Variety of construction may be secured by 
 (i) substituting one kind of phrase or clause for another, (2) 
 by varying the predicate, (3) by combining or expanding 
 sentences, (4) by changing the form. 
 
 I. Adjectival phrases or clauses may be changed into : — 
 
 1. Adjectives; as, "A man of virtue " ; "A virtuous man." 
 " He assumed a gravity that was ridiculous " ; " He assumed a 
 ridiculous gravity." 
 
 2. hifinitives ; as, " He was the first that entered " ; "He was 
 the first to enter." 
 
 3. Adverbial Clauses; as, "A man that does not care for 
 music is to be pitied " ; "A man, if he does not care for music, 
 is to be pitied." Or : " If a man does not care for music, he is 
 to be pitied." 
 
 4. Prepositional Phrases ; as, " A man who has little sense, is
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 163 
 
 seldom aware of the fact " ; " A man, with little sense, is seldom 
 aware of the fact." 
 
 5. Participles or Participial Phrases ; as, '•' Glaciers, which 
 flow down mountain gorges, obey the law of rivers " ; " Glaciers, 
 flowing down mountain gorges, obey the law of rivers." 
 
 6. Nouns ; as, " Let those who win laugh " ; " Let the winners 
 laugh." 
 
 2. Adverbial phrases or clauses may be changed into : — 
 
 1. Participles, or Phrases containing Participles ; as, " She gave 
 it to me when she was dying " ; " She, dying, gave it to me-." 
 
 2. Imperative Mood ; as, " If that be granted, the rest is easily 
 proved " ; " Grant that, and the rest is easily proved." 
 
 3. Prepositional Phrases; as, "My mother, when she does 
 praise me, grieves me''; "My mother, in praising me, grieves 
 me." 
 
 4. Nominative Absolute ; as, " When the cat's away, the mice 
 will play " ; " The cat being away, the mice will play." 
 
 5. Other Adverbial Plirases ; as, "Many people fail because 
 they neglect their own business " ; " Many people fail through 
 neglecting their own business." 
 
 6. Infinitive Phrases ; as, "We should rejoice on hearing of 
 the prosperity of others " ; " We should rejoice to hear of the 
 prosperity of others." 
 
 7. Adverbs ; as, " As far as we can judge by appearance, she is 
 wealthy " ; " She is apparently wealthy." 
 
 3. Noun clauses may be changed into : — 
 
 1. Infinitives ; as, " We know not what we should do " ; " We 
 know not what to do." 
 
 2. Lifnited Infinitives ; as, " It was a lucky thing that Tom was 
 here " ; " Tom's being here was a lucky thing." 
 
 3. Infinitives with Subject ; as, " I believe that he is honest " ; 
 " I believe him to be honest." 
 
 4. P-epositional Phrases ; as, "I cannot accept the notion that 
 school life affected him so " ; "I cannot accept the notion of 
 school life affecting him so."
 
 164 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XLVIII. 
 
 Adjective Phr-^ses and Clauses. 
 
 Direction. — Change the adjectival phrases or clauses as illustrated in the 
 preceding Lesson. 
 
 1. We were in a sloping channel which had sloping banks on 
 each side. 
 
 2. A man who has started in life on wrong principles may yet 
 learn the true lesson. 
 
 3. Those who work should be paid. 
 
 4. The trees that were not protected were winter-killed. 
 
 5. The nations that are the best educated are the most 
 prosperous. 
 
 6. She placed the posy she had gathered beneath a clump of 
 brakes. . - 
 
 7. That happened at the time when all were seeking to save 
 themselves. 
 
 8. A reward was offered to any one who might find him. 
 
 9. He expunged the passages that had given offence. 
 
 10. He offered a reward to any person who should reveal the 
 author. 
 
 1 1 . There is nothing which we ought more to encourage in 
 ourselves and others than cheerfulness. 
 
 12. A being who has nothing to pardon in himself may reward 
 every man according to his works. 
 
 13. The treatise I mention has been noticed by several authors 
 who have attained eminence. 
 
 14. A small river that goes nearly round the town overflows in 
 the rains. 
 
 15. The windows are of open wood-work, which is carved in 
 fanciful figures.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 165 
 
 Direction. — Change the adjectives, infinitives, adverbial clauses, prepo- 
 sitional phrases, participles, and appositive nouns into adjectival phrases or 
 clauses. 
 
 1. No ancient or modern hero ever had more contempt for death. 
 
 2. In the proclamation offering the reward, the criminal was 
 described. 
 
 3. The king, curious to see the result, went to the prison. 
 
 4. She redeemed the tyranny of her father's reign. 
 
 5. A murmur of astonishment ran through the company. 
 
 6. The mirth of the company rapidly increased. 
 
 7. We breathe by means of lungs, placed in that part of the 
 body called the chest. 
 
 8. No man of ordinary intelligence would venture the statement. 
 
 9. He was the first to make the discovery. 
 
 10. Virtue extends to those parts of our existence lying beyond 
 the grave. 
 
 11. Our eternity is to take its color from the hours here 
 employed in virtue or in vice. 
 
 12. That man has but a small talent to improve. 
 
 13. Country life abounds in healthful pleasures. 
 
 14. His stable doors are patched with noses of foxes of the 
 Knight's own hunting down. 
 
 15. They use sauces of a hundred ingredients. 
 
 EXERCISE XLIX. 
 
 Adverbial Phrases and Clauses. 
 
 Direction. ---Change the adverbial phrases and clauses as illustrated in the 
 preceding Lesson. 
 
 1. The majority of the passengers had been made aware of the 
 state of affairs. 
 
 2. Passe-partout made a grimace when he gazed at his elegant 
 but thin slippers. 
 
 3. The animal had been purchased for a fighting elephant, not 
 for carrying purposes.
 
 l66 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 4. Elephants in India are dear, for they are becoming some- 
 what scarce. 
 
 5. As the night wore on, the accounts grew much worse. 
 
 6. To this place many of the rioters had straggled, because it 
 afforded the means of a barricade. 
 
 7. As they had been warned by each other and by the scout, 
 they knew something about the matter. 
 
 8. Nothing is more amiable than true modesty, 
 
 9. Discretion does not always show itself in words. 
 
 10. A man should conduct himself so that he will be respected. 
 
 11. Nature delights in the most plain and simple diet. 
 
 12. This observation, in my opinion, has no foundation in nature. 
 
 13. The Son of Man hath no place where he may lay his head. 
 
 14. After I had dined, I returned home. 
 
 15. When I was young, I thought as you do. 
 
 Direction. — Change the participial, prepositional, infinitive, and absolute 
 phrases, the imperatives, and adverbs, into adverbial phrases or clauses. 
 
 1 . He turned his head to look behind him. 
 
 2. She was a beautiful girl with flowing flaxen hair. 
 
 3. The spot was immediately erased. 
 
 4. Admit that point, and all the rest follows. 
 
 5. Uttering these words, he left the room. 
 
 6. Having made this remark, he soon began his task. 
 
 7. This preface being made, they addressed themselves to the 
 work. 
 
 8. He calmly contemplates the approach of death. 
 
 9. The evening was spent conversing with friends; 
 
 10. The object of the book being discovered, both parties 
 were indignant at the writer. 
 
 1 1. His mind was busy planning schemes of improvement. 
 
 12. Taylor being released determined to remain in Wales. 
 
 13. I scrambled up with pain and shame. 
 
 14. He did not care to live with his friend dead. 
 
 15. Grant the supposition, and the conclusion must follow.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 16/ 
 
 EXERCISE L. 
 
 Noun Clauses. 
 
 Direction. — Change the noun clauses as indicated in the preceding Lesson 
 
 1 . I believe you are a friend of the defendant. 
 
 2. 1 hope I shall have the pleasure of judging. 
 
 3. He determined that he would sell his endre stock. 
 
 4. He has long had a notion that he would retire from business. 
 
 5. He found that the boys were disobedient. 
 
 6. He expected that he would meet him at a dinner. 
 
 7. The king commanded that the leaders should be put to 
 death. 
 
 8. He asked that they should be his friends also. 
 
 9. They found that the place was inhabited by savages. 
 
 10. It seemed to him that he had become a new boy again. 
 
 1 1 . He denied that he had used that expression. 
 
 12. They did not think they were doing anything wrong. 
 
 1 3. It is not always enough that we should mean right. 
 
 14. We are not certain that mind and matter are necessarily 
 connected. 
 
 15. They cannot tell where they ought to sell their produce. 
 
 Direction. — Change the infinitives to noun clauses, to participles, to 
 nouns, or to other infinitives. 
 
 1. He begged to know if he could do anything. 
 
 2. They were anxious to hear what was to follow. 
 
 3. My friend proposed to walk through the park. 
 
 4. He hurried out to meet his friend. 
 
 5. I shall be permitted to die for my country. 
 
 6. He did his utmost to be here. 
 
 7. His being punished was an act of justice. 
 
 8. It was impossible for him to come. 
 
 9. The object of educating children is to develop the mind. 
 TO. I was much surprised to hear my old friend tell him not to 
 
 disturb the congregation.
 
 1 68 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 11. I believe him to be a thorough scholar, 
 
 12. The chiefs being absent was unfortunate. 
 
 13. To be united is to be strong. 
 
 14. He is not a man to forget his promise. 
 
 15. He struck with such violence as to injure his skull. 
 
 LESSON XXXII. 
 
 THE PREDICATE. 
 
 Sentences may be varied by changing the predicate. 
 
 1. The verb be and an adjective may be substituted for the 
 predicate verb ; as, " That suffices for me " ; " That is sufficient 
 for me." 
 
 2. Sometimes the verb be and an attributive noun may be sub- 
 stituted for the predicate verb ; as, " He invents " ; " He is an 
 inventor." 
 
 3. The verb have and an object may be substituted . for the 
 predicate verb ; as, " He is not discreet " ; " He has no discre- 
 tion." 
 
 4. The voice of the verb may be changed ; as, " They searched 
 for you " ; "You were searched for." 
 
 5. The chief part of the predicate may be changed to an adjec- 
 tive ; as, " Her disease cannot be cured " ; " Her disease is incur- 
 able." 
 
 6. Instead of an affirmative statement we may use a denial of 
 the opposite ; as, " He is learned " ; " He is not uneducated." 
 
 SENTENCES. 
 
 The construction may be varied by combining, contracting, and 
 expanding sentences. 
 
 Simple Sentences. — i. Two or more simple sentences may 
 be combined by changing one of them into : —
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. I69 
 
 a. An Appositive Phrase; as, "The keeper was a man of 
 great strength. He killed a lion" ; "The keeper, a man of great 
 strength, killed a lion." 
 
 b. A Participial Phrase ; as, "The trees are growing along 
 the river. They are very large " ; "The trees, growing along the 
 river, are very large." 
 
 c. An Infinitive Phrase ; as, " I have come. I shall tell 
 you"; "I have come to tell you." 
 
 d. A Prepositional Phrase; as, "There is a path through 
 the woods. It is shady"; "The path through the woods is 
 shady." 
 
 2. Two or more simple sentences may be combined into a 
 complex sentence by making one the independent clause, and 
 turning the others into dependent clauses : — 
 
 a. Into an Adjectival Clause; as, "The tree is dead. The 
 tree was struck by lightning"; "The tree which was struck by 
 lightning is dead." 
 
 h. Into -2^^ Adverbial Clause ; as, "I have come. I shall tell 
 you " ; "I have come that I may tell you." 
 
 c. Into a Noun Clause ; as, " Plato's enemies had spoken ill 
 of him. He was told this " ; •' Plato was told that his enemies 
 had spoken ill of him." 
 
 3. Two or more simple sentences may be combined into one 
 simple sentence with a compound subject or a compound 
 predicate ; as, " Life is work. Life is warfare " ; " Life is work 
 and warfare." "The men are diligent. The boys are diligent" ; 
 "The men and the boys are diligent." " He is a wise man. He 
 is a good man. He is a patriotic man " ; " He is a wise, good, 
 and patriotic man." 
 
 4. Simple sentences may be expanded into compound or into 
 complex sentences. 
 
 Example. — "On approaching the house, we saw the enemy 
 retreating"; "As we approached the house we saw the en- 
 emy retreating." Or: "We approached the house and saw the 
 enemy retreating."
 
 170 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Compound and complex sentences may be contracted into 
 simple sentences. 
 
 Example. — " He always stood up for what was right " ; " He 
 always stood up for the right." 
 
 Compound sentences may be changed into complex, and 
 complex into compound. 
 
 Example. — "I was too far from home to think of returning, 
 and so I determined to go forward " ; "As I was too far from 
 home to think of returning, I determined to go forward." 
 
 Direct Discourse for Indirect. 
 
 Direct discourse introduces the speakers themselves, while 
 indirect merely tells what they said or did. It is often convenient 
 or desirable to change the one into the other. This is done chiefly 
 by changing the first and second person to the third, and the 
 present tense to the past. 
 
 Example. — Direct: "Paint me as I am," said Cromwell, 
 " with all my scars, wrinkles, and warts, or I will not pay you a 
 shilling." 
 
 Lidirect : " Cromwell said that the painter was to paint him as 
 he was, with all his scars, warts, and wrinkles, or he would not pay 
 him a shilling for the picture." 
 
 EXERCISE LI. 
 
 The Predicate. 
 
 Direction. — Vary the form of these sentences by changing the predicate 
 as indicated in the preceding Lesson. 
 
 1. They earned money. 
 
 2. She had no distrust. 
 
 3. I had no alternative. 
 
 4. Shelley desired the realization of the ideal. 
 
 5. Almost all young persons are fond of the sea. 
 
 6. My opinion differs from yours. 
 
 7. This statement applies only to certain districts.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. I/I 
 
 8. He is foolish. 
 
 9. Your words showed your thoughts. 
 
 10. He was friendly to us. 
 
 11. Money will supply your wants. 
 
 12. Hope buoys up the sinking soul. 
 
 13. Our interference did not produce much good. 
 
 14. They have none of my sympathy. 
 
 15. She does not love him^ 
 
 16. You are not kind. 
 
 1 7. He is not polite. 
 
 18. He is not thoughtful. 
 
 19. The mystery was soon solved. 
 
 20. The obstacles cannot be surmounted. 
 
 2 1 . He is worthy of contempt. 
 
 22. His speaking could not be heard. 
 
 23. It is expected. 
 
 24. I am mindful of you. 
 
 25. What the man earned during the day was squandered in 
 the evening. 
 
 EXERCISE LII. 
 
 Simple Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Combine the simple sentences into compound or complex, 
 as illustrated in the preceding Lesson. 
 
 1. Lying is a great sin against God. He gave us a tongue to 
 speak the truth, not falsehood. 
 
 2. Their work was not yet finished. The Iroquois came again 
 upon them. 
 
 3. They bore her along the crowded path. It was covered 
 with snow. She was as pure as the snow. 
 
 4. The largest telescope shows mahy stars. It shows them in 
 every part of the heavens. We cannot count them. They are 
 many millions. 
 
 5. These are the mansions of good men after death. They are 
 distributed among these islands according to the degrees of virtue
 
 X' 
 
 172 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 in which they excelled. These islands abound with pleasures of 
 different degrees. These pleasures are suitable to the perfections 
 of those who settled in them. 
 
 6. Thales looked upon the stars. He fell towards the water. 
 He might have looked into the water. He might have seen stars 
 in the water. He looked up to the stars. He saw no water 
 there. 
 
 7. He was a comely personage. He was a little above the 
 ordinary stature. His countenance was reverend. He was little 
 like a churchman. His face was honest. It vv^as not strange. It 
 was not dark. It was not wifining. 
 
 8. Caesar was tolerably learned. He was learned chiefly in 
 civil matters. He was well versed in history. He understood 
 the weight of words. He attributed much to his good stars. He 
 was fond of astronomy. 
 
 9. Antonio was one of the kindest men that ever lived. He 
 was one of the best conditioned. He had the most unwearied 
 spirit in doing courtesies. In him the ancient Roman honor 
 appeared. It appeared more than in any other man in Italy. 
 
 10. Nature influenced Wordsworth. The freedom of life 
 among the Cumberland hills influenced him. So did the sim- 
 pUcity of life there. This freedom and simpUcity affected his 
 mind. They affected his character. 
 
 EXERCISE LIII. 
 
 Simple Sentences. 
 
 Direction. — Expand the simple sentences into compound or complex 
 sentences. 
 
 1. There he stood, pointing me out with his dusky finger to 
 the mob. 
 
 2. I could see the road lying dim and grey below us. 
 
 3. Five minutes later a tall figure wrapped in an overcoat rose 
 from the heather. 
 
 4. The lowering sky had brought the promised storm.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 173 
 
 5. Frost-bitten people should not run to the stove. 
 
 6. I never pass this point without shaking some forty years off 
 my shoulders. 
 
 7. There is something brave in your spirit as well as penetrat- 
 ing in your eye. 
 
 8. Curiosity getting the better of reserve, she pulled open the 
 heavy grate. 
 
 9. Without his help you would not have succeeded. 
 
 10. A surprised expression crossed his face. 
 
 11. They now left the main road, striking into a green by-path. 
 
 12. There is not one in my circle so handsome and so strong. 
 
 13. She observed two ladies slowly pacing the piazza. 
 
 14. The sudden change from heat to cold experienced on 
 going into water is apt to be very hurtful. 
 
 15. She proudly drew herself up, exulting in the bright 
 prospects of the future. 
 
 Direction. — Contract the compound and complex sentences into simple 
 sentences. 
 
 1. My sight cleared for a moment, and I managed to look up. 
 
 2. He forgot the loss of his hat, and hurried to meet his friend. 
 
 3. I know not how thy palate may relish the composition. 
 
 4. The fine lady or fine gentleman who shows me, shows 
 bones. 
 
 5. She came so heedlessly that she stumbled. 
 
 6. Never leave a street-car while it is in motion. 
 
 7. Men uniformly overrate riches and underrate their own 
 strength. 
 
 8. The fact is, that a thief is a very dainty gentleman. 
 
 9. My ambition is to give them a beau-ideal of welcome when 
 they arrive. 
 
 10. He broke with his family, and has for some years led an 
 unsettled life. 
 
 11. No one who loves and studies nature can feel alone in the 
 world.
 
 174 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 12. The examinations are just coming on, and it would not be 
 advisable to break up school. 
 
 13. That farm is valuable because it is near the town. 
 
 14. I stretched out my neck, and caught with my teeth at the 
 stoutest root within my reach. 
 
 15. If you are heated with either play or work, take care not 
 to let the body cool too quickly. 
 
 Direction. — Change the complex sentences into compound, and the 
 compound into complex. 
 
 1 . The blows were strong enough, but they came from a man 
 who struck at random. 
 
 2. He remained in silent admiration, and we all joined him in 
 his worship. 
 
 3. Three seasons have elapsed since the last of these laws were 
 passed. 
 
 4. If poaching can be extirpated by intensity ot punishment, 
 why may not all other crimes? 
 
 5. I detected the substitute before I was old enough to reason 
 whether it were artificial or not. 
 
 6. He left the temple a devotee, and returned a rationalist. 
 
 7. If this dish have time to cool, it is the most tasteless of all 
 meats. 
 
 8. He burnt his fingers, and to cool them applied them to his 
 mouth. 
 
 9. The small stock of provisions which we took with us was 
 soon exhausted. 
 
 10. What I want is that you should write to your sisters, and 
 tell them of the fortune that has accrued to them. 
 
 11. She offered to relieve him of the task, which he resigned to 
 her instantly. 
 
 12. He knew how the desire to become a dashing equestrienne 
 had taken possession of her soul. 
 
 13. He was a close observer, and from his stand-point he was 
 able to discern signs of character.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1/5 
 
 14. When the light infantry joined the main body, the army 
 retreated into the town. 
 
 15. His eyes closed with the torpor of approaching death, and 
 those around sustained his fainting form. 
 
 EXERCISE LIV. 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences change the direct form to the 
 indirect, and the indirect to the direct. 
 
 1. "I did not rise," said he, "with the expectation that I 
 should convince the honorable gentlemen that they are wrong and 
 that I am right." 
 
 2. Wallace told the priests to remain with him, as he could not 
 protect them from his soldiers when out of his presence. 
 
 3. The crabbed old schoolmaster used to ask, when they 
 brought him a new pupil, " But are you sure he is not a dunce? " 
 
 4. " I intended that work to be my best," said Thackeray, 
 " but I have failed. Nobody reads it." 
 
 5. "My conscience," said he, "tells me that I have labored 
 honestly to destroy that which is evil and build up that which is 
 good." 
 
 6. Dr. Johnson is reported to have said : " If a boy says he 
 looked out of this window when he looked out of that one, whip 
 him." 
 
 7. He said that he had often played under these trees when a 
 boy, and that he felt a degree of filial reverence for them. 
 
 8. Dean Swift averred that he never knew a man come to 
 eminence who lay in bed of a morning. 
 
 9. "The pubUc," Goldsmith used to say, "will never do me 
 justice ; whenever I write anything, they make a point to know 
 nothing about it." 
 
 10. She said that she was glad I had come, and that she had 
 been running down the lane looking for me.
 
 1/6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXXIII. 
 
 SYNONYMS. 
 
 Variety of expression may generally be secured by putting in 
 the place of the nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs some of 
 their synonyms. As no two words convey exactly the same sense, 
 there is always one that is the most fitting to be used, while there 
 may be several that are admissible. 
 
 Example. — Many good, brave, and moderate men, who dis- 
 liked his former conduct, and who entertained doubts touching 
 his present sincerity, espoused his cause unwillingly and with many 
 painful misgivings, because, though they dreaded his tyranny much, 
 they dreaded democratic violence more. 
 
 With Synonyms. — A large number of noble, fearless, and 
 reasonable persons, who disapproved of his previous course of 
 action, and who had their suspicions concerning his present hon- 
 esty of purpose, supported his interests reluctantly and with much 
 distressing hesitation, because, though they feared his iron rule 
 much, they feared popular outrage more. 
 
 Phraseology. 
 
 Variety of expression may be secured by recasting a sentence, 
 paragraph, or whole sketch in entirely different phraseology. This 
 may be done either by way of paraphrase or condensation. 
 
 Example of Sentence. — She died. She passed away. She was 
 no more. She fell asleep forever. She slept the sleep that knows 
 no waking. Her dissolution took place. She breathed her last. 
 She departed this life. She sank into the grave. She closed 
 her eyes forever. She terminated her earthly existence. She 
 dropped off. Her demise occurred. After a long and painful 
 illness, borne with true Christian resignation, she passed away at 
 the early age of twenty-six, beloved and lamented by all who knew 
 her.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1/7 
 
 The Paraphrase. — Reproducing thought with greater fulness 
 of detail or illustration is usually termed Paraphrasing. 
 In this exercise — 
 
 1. Do not merely substitute one word for another, or even one 
 sentence for another. 
 
 2. Study the passage to be transposed till you have thoroughly 
 mastered it in detail and as a whole. 
 
 3. If it is too long to be easily retained in the memory, make a 
 brief list of the leading heads or parts, and arrange them in the 
 order in which you intend to write them out. 
 
 4. Then lay aside the passage and express freely in your own 
 language the several thoughts, facts, or statements it contains. 
 
 5 . Criticise your work, — 
 
 a. See that none of the ideas have been omitted or misunder- 
 stood. 
 
 b. Be sure that all your words and expressions are new. 
 
 c. See that your words, sentences, and paragraphs are correct. 
 Exajnple of Sketch. — Damon and Pythias were intimate friends. 
 
 Damon being condemned to death by the tyrant Dionysius, 
 asked liberty to go home for the purpose of setting his affairs 
 in order ; and his friend offered to be his surety, and to submit 
 to death if Damon should not return. Every one thought he 
 knew what the end of the affair would be, and began to condemn 
 Pythias for so rash an act ; but he, confident of the integrity of 
 his friend, awaited the appointed time with cheerfulness. Damon, 
 strict to his engagement, returned at the time fixed. Dionysius 
 so much admired their mutual fidelity that he pardoned Damon, 
 and asked to be admitted into the friendship of two such worthy 
 men. 
 
 Recast. — Damon and Pythias were very dear friends, and 
 thought a good deal of each other, as the following instance 
 shows. Damon, having in some way or other transgressed the law 
 of Dionysius, was put into prison and condemned to death. Being 
 very desirous of going home to bid his friends good by, and to 
 put his affairs in order before his death, he begged Dionysius to
 
 178 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 allow him to go, promising to return on the day of execution. 
 But Dionysius, fearing that it was a plot to get Damon out of his 
 hands, promised to let him go on condition that he would get 
 some one to act as surety for him. With this Damon's heart 
 sank, for he never thought that any one would be willing to risk 
 his life for him. But Damon had at least one true friend, who 
 did not desert him in this time of trouble. This friend was 
 Pythias. He freely ofifered to go security, saying that, if Damon 
 did not return, he would cheerfully die in his stead. So Damon 
 went to his home, and Pythias went to prison. As the day of 
 execution drew near, the people began to ridicule Pythias for 
 running such a risk ; they said they knew very well that Damon 
 would not return. However, Pythias said that he could trust his 
 friend's integrity ; and he was not deceived ; for, true to his 
 promise, on the day appointed, Damon did return. This so 
 pleased the king that he freely forgave Damon, and asked to be 
 a sharer in their friendship, a friendship which made them stand 
 by each other in such a time of trial. 
 
 Condensation, on the other hand, consists in expressing thought 
 with greater brevity. 
 
 Exajnple. — Though a man has all other perfections and wants 
 discretion, he will be of no great consequence in the world ; but 
 if he has this single talent in perfection, and but a common share 
 of others, he may do what he pleases in his particular station of life. 
 
 Condensed. — In our intercourse with the world, discretion is 
 of more value than any other quality of mind.
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1/9 
 
 EXERCISE LV. 
 
 Direction. — In the following sentences, change the wording by putting 
 in place of the nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, one of their synonyms 
 that will express as nearly as may be the same meaning. 
 
 1. Indolence is the cause of many evils. 
 
 2. Wealth which is desired by all is accompanied by many 
 troubles. 
 
 3. In establishing his government he had to feel his way, to 
 sound men's dispositions, and to conciliate different interests. 
 
 4. The Protectorate, with all its glories, was not the conception 
 of a lowly intellect, but the revolutionary energy of a mighty nation 
 concentrated in a single chief. 
 
 5. Attempts have often been made, and very recently have been 
 renewed with much affirmation of success, to prove that such low 
 forms of life may originate spontaneously from their materials in 
 the water. 
 
 6. Great gates of brass, richly and delicately wrought, turn 
 heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the 
 feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchres. 
 
 7. The more, however, James pressed for the consummation 
 of his projects, the more Spain held back ; but so bent was the 
 king on its realization that, after fruitless negotiations, the prince 
 quitted England in disguise, and appeared with Buckingham at 
 Madrid, to claim his promised bride. 
 
 8. Human fat is fuel laid away for use. It constitutes a hoard 
 of combustible material upon which the owner may draw when- 
 ever his ordinary supplies are intercepted. 
 
 9. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their 
 scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. 
 But the agd of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, 
 and calculators has succeeded ; and the glory of Europe is extin- 
 guished forever. 
 
 10. It may well be doubted if any one of the great poets who 
 have arisen during the last half century has so closely touched the 
 popular heart as Longfellow has.
 
 l80 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LVI. 
 
 Transposing. 
 
 Direction. — Express in different phraseology as illustrated in the preced- 
 ing Lesson. 
 
 1. He gives his parents no anxiety. 
 
 2. Truth, crushed to death, shall rise again. 
 
 3. Cradles rock us nearer to the tomb. 
 
 4. He hides his own offences, and strips others' bare. 
 
 5. The gale had sighed itself to rest. 
 
 6. When faith is lost, when honor dies, the man is dead. 
 
 7. He who would search for pearls must dive below. 
 '^ 8. The evil that men do lives after them. 
 
 9. They never pardon who have done the wrong. 
 
 10. That life is long which answers hfe's great end. 
 
 11. Mammon wins his way where seraphs might despair, 
 
 12. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
 >f 13. It is more blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 14. They all with one consent began to make excuse. 
 
 15. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. 
 
 16. How very much happier we should all be if people attended 
 to their own business, and let their neighbors attend to theirs. 
 
 1 7. The Court of Elizabeth was as immoral as that of her suc- 
 cessor, but its immorality was shrouded by a veil of grace and 
 chivalry. 
 
 18. He was a most severe judge of himself as well as of others. 
 ^ 19. There is scarcely a man living who is not actuated by 
 ambition. 
 
 EXERCISE LVII. 
 
 Transposing. , 
 
 Direction. — Render the following in different phraseology as illustrated 
 in the Lesson. 
 
 I. Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my 
 heart to do well ; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1^1 
 
 devoted myself to completely. In great aims and in small, I 
 have always been thoroughly in earnest. 
 
 2. It was a mystery to many people why Governor Briggs, of 
 Massachusetts, wore a cravat but no collar. Some people thought 
 it was an absurd eccentricity. This was the secret : Many years 
 before he was talking with an inebriate and telling him that his 
 habit was unnecessary, and the inebriate retorted upon him and 
 said, " We do a great many things that are not necessary. It is 
 not necessary for you to wear that collar. " Well," said the gov- 
 ernor, " I will never wear a collar again if you won't drink." 
 " Agreed," said the inebriate. Governor Briggs never wore a 
 collar. They both kept their bargain for twenty years. They 
 kept it to the death. That is the reason Governor Briggs did 
 not wear a collar, 
 
 3. When Syracuse was taken, Archimedes was describing math- 
 ematical figures upon the earth, and when one of the enemy came 
 upon him, and asked his name, he was so engrossed with the 
 desire of preserving the figures entire, that he answered only by 
 an earnest request to the soldier to keep off, and not break in 
 upon his circle. The soldier, thinking himself scorned, ran Archi- 
 medes through the body, and the purple stream of blood soon 
 obscured all traces of the problem on which he had been so 
 intent. Thus fell this illustrious man by the mere neglect to tell 
 his name, for the general, Marcellus, had given orders to respect 
 the life and person of the philosopher. 
 
 4. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, whose melancholy shipwreck on the 
 rocks of Scilly is well known, was, when a boy, on board a ship 
 commanded by Sir John Narborough, who, during an action, ex- 
 pressed a very earnest wish to have some orders of consequence 
 conveyed to a ship at a considerable distance. Shovel, hearing 
 this, immediately undertook to convey it ; and this he actually 
 performed, swimming through the enemy's line of fire with the 
 despatches in his mouth.
 
 l82 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LVIII. 
 
 Expansion. 
 
 Direction. — Expand each of the following into a paragraph of two ot 
 more sentences. 
 
 1. Columbus discovered America, 
 
 2. Brevity is the soul of wit. 
 
 3. Wisdom is justified of her children. 
 
 4. It is glorious to die for one's country. 
 
 5. War is a great evil. 
 
 6. There is strength in unity. 
 
 7. The amiable gain many friends. 
 
 8. Party is the madness of many for the gain of a few. 
 
 9. Procrastination is the thief of time. 
 
 I o. There's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. 
 
 1 1 . We know what we are, but know not what we may be. 
 
 12. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. 
 
 13. Every one can master a grief but he that has it. 
 
 14. The great clock at Strasburg is a wonderful piece of mech- 
 anism. 
 
 Direction. — Condense the substance of the following paragraphs into 
 one or two sentences. 
 
 1. I was not, like His Grace of Bedford, swaddled and rocked 
 and dandled into a legislator. " Nitorin adversum " is the motto 
 for a man like me. I possessed not one of the qualities, nor cul- 
 tivated one of the arts, that recommend men to the favor and 
 protection of the great. I was not made for a minion or a tool. 
 
 2. Malevolence to the clergy is seldom at a great distance from 
 irreverence of religion, and Dryden affords no exception to this 
 observance. His writings exhibit many passages, which, with all 
 the allowance that can be made for character and occasions, are 
 such as piety would not have admitted, and such as may vitiate 
 light and unprincipled minds. But there is no reason for suppos- 
 ing that he disbelieved the religion which he disobeyed. He for-
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1 83 
 
 got his duty rather than disowned it. His tendency to profaneness 
 is the effect of levity, negligence, and light conversation, with a 
 desire of accommodating himself to the conception of his times 
 by venturing to be wicked as far as he durst. 
 
 3. " I'll tell you a story, -gentlemen, which is as true as that this 
 pipe is made of clay. When I was delivered of my first book, I 
 owed my tailor for a suit of clothes ; but that is nothing new, you 
 know, and may be any man's case as well as mine. Well, owing 
 him for a suit of clothes, and hearing that my book took very well, 
 he sent for his money and insisted on being paid immediately. 
 Though I was at the time rich in fame, for my book ran like wild- 
 fire, yet I was very short in money, and being unable to satisfy 
 his demand, prudently resolved to keep my chamber, preferring a 
 prison of my own choosing at home to one of my tailor's choosing 
 abroad. In vain the bailiffs used all their arts to decoy me from 
 my citadel ; in vain they sent to let me know that a gentleman 
 wanted to speak to me at the next tavern ; in vain they came with 
 an urgent message from my aunt in the country ; in vain was I 
 told that a particular friend was at the point of death and desired 
 to take his last forewell. I was deaf, insensible, rock, adamant ; 
 the bailiffs could make no impression on my hard heart, for I 
 effectually kept my liberty by never stirring out of my room." 
 
 4. Write a paragraph on " Our Sight," taking the following as 
 principal and subordinate subjects : A general statement a'oout 
 "Our Sight" — The pleasure it affords — Contrast these pleasures 
 with those received through "the sense of feeling" — The ideas 
 it furnishes the imagination, and their nature — How much we 
 should value "Sight." 
 
 5. Write a paragraph describing "A Meadow suitable for a 
 Tournament." Take the following as heads : An introductory 
 sentence — The location — Surface — Kind of enclosure — The 
 size — The form — The entrance and how guarded. 
 
 6. Write a paragraph on "Successive Steps to Prohibition." 
 Heads : No sale to minors — No sale to drunkards — No sale of 
 adulterated liquors — High license — Prohibition.
 
 184 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXXIV. 
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 
 II. Poetry to Prose. 
 
 Two Forms. — All thought may be expressed either in the 
 form of poetry or in that of prose. Sometimes these two forms 
 approach very closely, at others they stand very widely apart, but 
 they never coincide. Moreover, the effect produced on the mind 
 by a thought when dressed in the most artistic garb of poetry is 
 very different from the effect produced by the same thought when 
 clad in the commonplace habiliments of ordinary prose ; and even 
 when clothed in the humblest poetic attire, thought carries with it 
 a charm that it does not possess when couched in the highest form 
 of prose. The learner should try to distinguish between the effect 
 of the naked thought itself and that of the language which gives it 
 expression. In this he will be aided by the exercise of transpo- 
 sition. 
 
 Methods. — Poetry may be transposed into prose, either by a 
 change of phraseology, or by merely eliminating what is poetic. 
 
 FIRST METHOD. 
 
 The first method consists in writing out in good prose the gen- 
 eral meaning of the poetry under consideration. This, if properly 
 carried out, is a profitable exercise for beginners in composition, 
 as it trains them in examining closely the meaning of terse and 
 compact language, and in expressing thoughts with care and exact- 
 ness. This exercise scarcely differs from that in the last Lesson, 
 where prose is transposed into other prose by changing the phra- 
 seology. The object in both is to reproduce the same thought in 
 different language. 
 
 How to Paraphrase. — The following directions will assist in 
 paraphrasing : —
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1 85 
 
 1. Read and re-read the poem till you understand it perfectly. 
 
 2. Make a list of the leading and subordinate thoughts. 
 
 3. Lay aside the poem and express the thoughts in your own 
 language. 
 
 4. Be careful not to leave out any of the thoughts or sentiments 
 of the original. 
 
 5. Be equally careful not to introduce any not contained in it. 
 
 6. Do not use poetic words or expressions. 
 
 7. Bring out as far as possible the full force of all figures, poetic 
 epithets, and phrases. 
 
 8. Compare your version, sentence by sentence and thought by 
 thought, with the original. 
 
 9. If you have used any of the language of the poem put other 
 words in their stead. 
 
 10. After you have severely criticised your work rewrite it. 
 Example. — 
 
 " Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
 Is our destined end or way ; 
 But to act that each to-morrow 
 Find us farther than to-day. 
 
 " Art is long, and time is fleeting, 
 
 And our hearts though stout and brave, 
 Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave." 
 
 Paraphrased. — We are not placed in this world merely for the 
 purpose of enjoying ourselves, or of dragging out our lives in sor- 
 row, but we are sent here to improve the time in developing the 
 capabilities that are given us. For this, ample opportunity is 
 afforded in the vast fields of knowledge, research, and toil that 
 lie spread out before us. Though the full investigation of these 
 might employ ages, yet but a few short years are granted us. At 
 times, indeed, we feel as if we might live forever, but we should not 
 presume on life, for every throb of our hearts reminds us that we 
 are rapidly drawing nearer the close of our allotted time.
 
 l86 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 SECOND METHOD. 
 
 The second method of transposing poetry into prose, consists in 
 making only such changes as are necessary to change the one form 
 of expression into the other. 
 
 Where to Begin. — The pupil must first of all acquire a defi- 
 nite idea of the distinction between the form of poetry and that 
 of prose. He must not fall into the error of supposing that form 
 is spirit, that measure and arrangement are poetry. It is not dif- 
 ficult to tell where the mechanical structure of verse ends and 
 that of prose begins ; but apart from this, poetry and prose exist 
 in so great variety, and are so gradually shaded into each other, 
 that the most expert critic is befogged when he attempts to dis- 
 cern the line between them. The truth is, we have much poetical 
 prose, as well as an abundance of prosaic poetry. 
 
 What is to be Done. — What poetry is in its essence, we need 
 not attempt to determine. If we could decide, we should not be 
 materially assisted in the ungracious task before us — the task of 
 destroying an intrinsic beauty we can neither create nor define, 
 but one that we can all enjoy and admire. In transposing poetry 
 into prose, that is, into the prose form, we need not in every 
 case drive out the living and pervading poetic spirit. Our task is 
 simply to change the form from the poetic to the prose. In order 
 to do this, we shall proceed to examine the differences between 
 these two forms. 
 
 Differences. — The points of difference to be noticed are in- 
 cluded under the heads of Rhyme, Measure, and Diction. Diction 
 comprises Arrangement, Expedients for Brevity, Words, Concrete 
 and Particular Terms, and Figurative Language. 
 
 Rhyme. — As rhyme cannot in any case enter into prose, it 
 presents no difficulty. In transposing it is simply eliminated by 
 substituting for one of the rhyming words some suitable synonym. 
 
 Measure. — Of all the characteristics in which poetry differs 
 from prose, there is but one that is pecuHar to poetry. That one 
 is metre. Composition that is written in metre is poetry, in form
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1 87 
 
 at least, while that which is not is prose. Some poetry seems to 
 
 be distinguished from prose only by the possession of metre. 
 
 How Transposed. — In poetry which is expressed in this plain 
 
 and simple style, all that is necessary to convert it into prose form 
 
 is merely to remove the metre by inserting or omitting words, as 
 
 in the example following. 
 
 Example. — 
 
 " Pray, do not mock me, 
 
 I am a very foolish, fond old man. 
 
 Four-score and upwards ; and, to deal plainly, 
 
 I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 
 
 Methinks I should know you, and know this man ; 
 
 Yet I am doubtful ; for I am mainly ignorant 
 
 What place this is, and all the skill I have 
 
 Remembers not these garments ; nor I know not 
 
 Where I did lodge last night. — Do not laugh at me. 
 
 For, as I am a man, I think this lady 
 
 To be my child Cordelia ! " 
 
 In this there is not a word, not a phrase, not an expression, that 
 might not be used in the plainest and simplest prose, yet no per- 
 son whose ear is attuned to the music of verse can fail to discover 
 in it that something we cannot describe, but which we call poetry. 
 Now, let us make a change the least possible, but still sufficient to 
 throw out the metre, and we shall find that the imprisoned spirit 
 has fled, that the poetry has become prose. 
 
 Transposed. — I pray you do not mock me, I am, indeed, a 
 very foolish, fond old man of four-score year'^ and upwards ; and, 
 to deal plainly with you, I fear I am not in my perfect mind. I 
 think I should know you, and this man, also, but yet I am doubt- 
 ful ; for I am quite ignorant what place this is, and all the skill I 
 have does not remember these garments, nor do I know where I 
 lodged last night. — Do not laugh at me, for as surely as I am a 
 man, I think this lady is my child Cordelia.
 
 l88 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LIX. 
 
 Transposing and Paraphrasing. 
   Direction. — Transpose by removing the measure; then paraphrase. 
 
 1. " I met a little cottage girl ; 
 
 She was eight years old, she said ; 
 Her hair was thick with many a curl 
 That clustered round her head." 
 
 2. " They got into a hackney coach, 
 
 And trotted down the street. 
 I saw them go ; one horse was blind. 
 The tails of both hung down behind. 
 Their shoes were on their feet." 
 
 3. " True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 
 
 As those move easiest who have learned to dance." 
 
 4. " The sound must be an echo of the sense. 
 
 Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, 
 
 And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; 
 
 But when loud surges lash the sounding shore. 
 
 The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar." 
 
 5. "The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, 
 
 And charged, perhaps, with venom, that intrudes, 
 
 A visitor unwelcome, into scenes 
 
 Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, 
 
 The chamber, or refectory, may die — 
 
 A necessary act incurs no blame." 
 
 6. " Defend me therefore. Common Sense, say I, 
 
 From reveries so airy, from the toil 
 Of dropping buckets into empty wells, 
 And growing old in drawing nothing up."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 1 89 
 
 ' O yet we trust that somehow good 
 Will be the final goal of ill ; 
 That nothing walks with aimless feet, 
 That not one life shall be destroyed, 
 Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
 When God hath made the pile complete." 
 
 LESSON XXXV. 
 
 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POETRY AND PROSE. — DICTION. 
 
 Poetic diction is a term employed to denote the form of ex- 
 pression peculiar to poetry. It has already been stated that only 
 in a modified sense can it be asserted that poetry has a diction of 
 its own. There are comparatively few words or forms of expres- 
 sion used in poetry that may not also be employed in some of the 
 higher forms of prose, especially in Oratory. But we must not 
 suppose that in narrative, descriptive, or expository prose it is 
 befitting to avail oneself of the delicacy of wording and structure 
 that is quite in place in poetry, and that is one of its chief orna- 
 ments. In poetry, as in prose, there is great variety of diction. 
 Sometimes, as we have just seen, the language is as plain and 
 simple and unadorned as in the humblest prose ; from this it rises 
 through all possible gradations of elaboration, till it reaches the 
 highest point of polished splendor. 
 
 Arrangement. 
 
 One of the features of poetic diction is the use of less usual and 
 more inverted constructions than are commonly found in prose. 
 We must never lose sight of the fact that the object of poetry is, 
 primarily, to please. This it seeks to do by many arts. As agree- 
 able sounds, both those that are actively and those that are pas- 
 sively so^ are a source of pleasure, the poet arranges his line so as
 
 IQO COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 to secure the highest degree of melody. Again, an unusual and 
 unexpected order of words may give rise to an agreeable surprise. 
 If, therefore, the melody can be increased and a pleasing surprise 
 effected by the same deviation, a double pleasure is afforded. 
 The attainment of these objects, along with the requirements of 
 measure, accounts for the inverted constructions of poetry. In 
 prose, on the other hand, as the object is to inform the under- 
 standing, everything is made subservient to clearness, directness, 
 and force of expression. Not that the prose writer has no ear for 
 melody or no eye for beauty. He does not disdain to embody as 
 much of music and of all the other beauties of composition as is 
 consistent with the nature of the subject he is treating ; but with 
 him these are secondary objects. 
 
 PiCTURESQUENESS. 
 
 Many words darken speech. Poetry seeks to present clear and 
 distinct images to the mind — its diction is picturesque. Long 
 sentences and involved constructions which convey the thought in 
 such a manner that it cannot be grasped without an effort, require 
 a labor that destroys the pleasure poetry is intended to impart ; 
 hence it makes use of the briefest forms of expression consistent 
 with clearness. Many, if not all, of the expedients employed to 
 attain brevity in poetry are also used in prose, but poetry, as will 
 be seen, makes a still bolder use of them. 
 
 Among the means adopted to render the language of poetry 
 picturesque may be mentioned — 
 
 1. The omission of connectives; as, — 
 
 " The dew was foiling fast ; the stars began to blink ; 
 I heard a voice ; it cried : ' Drink, pretty creature, drink ! ' " 
 
 On the other hand, the connectives are sometimes repeated in 
 poetry where they would be omitted in prose. 
 
 2. Absolute constructions ; as, — 
 
 " The hour concealed, aiid so femote the fear, 
 Death still draws nearer, never seeming near."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. I9I 
 
 3. Adjectives instead of clauses. — The adjective takes the 
 place of a variety of kinds of clauses that would ordinarily be 
 expressed at length in prose ; as, — 
 
 " Lely on animated canvas stole 
 The sleepy eye which spoke the melting soul." 
 
 i.e., the canvas which assumed life under his pencil. 
 
 4. Participial constructions ; as, — 
 
 " Nigh foundered, on he fares, 
 Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, \\dX{ flying.''' 
 
 " My sudden hand 
 Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds what it intends." 
 
 5. Ellipses that would not be permissible in prose are fre- 
 quently found in poetry ; as, — 
 
 a. Of the article ; as, — 
 
 " The why is plain as way to parish church." 
 
 b. Of pronouns ; as, — 
 
 " It was a tall young gentleman lived by the riverside." 
 
 c. Of the verb ; as, — 
 
 " Sweet the pleasure, rich the treasure." 
 
 d. Of the conjunction and verb ; as, — 
 
 " By thee I might correct, erroneous oft, 
 The clock of history." 
 
 6. Poetic Grammar. — For the sake of an agreeable surprise, 
 and for the sake of brevity, liberties are taken with the rules of 
 grammar, and deviations from them made, under the name of 
 Poetic License. 
 
 a. Adjectives for adverbs ; as, — 
 
 " So stveet she sung " ; 
 for " sweetly."
 
 192 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 b. One conjunction for another ; as, — 
 
 ^' Nor day nor night my heart has rest " ; 
 for " Neither day nor night my heart has rest." 
 
 c. One case for another ; as, — 
 
 " So you must ride on horseback after we.'^ 
 
 d. One part of the verb for another ; as, — 
 
 " But saw her not 
 Before his weary pilgrimage begun." 
 
 e. One pronoun for another ; as, — 
 
 " I will paint me with black." 
 /. Pleonastic pronouns ; as, — 
 
 " My banks they are furnished with bees." 
 
 7. Epithets. — As poetry combines with the object of graphi- 
 cally presenting ideas and images, the still higher one of giving 
 pleasure, it makes use of language at once instructive and pleas- 
 ing. In this way, we find poetry coining new words, or combining 
 other words into epithets in an original and delightful manner. 
 These epithets often convey, in brief, a fulness of meaning that 
 could be expressed only by a whole clause or sentence in the 
 common prosaic style. Thus : — 
 
 " Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves. 
 O'er the unretuniing brave." 
 
 i.e., " The brave who are destined never to return." 
 
 ^^ New-lighted o\\ a heaven-kissing hill." 
 
 i.e., "A hill that reaches up to and kisses the heavens." 
 
 8. Pictorial Epithets. — Sometimes epithets are used, not be- 
 cause they are necessary to the sense, but because they suggest som/" 
 idea that helps to render the picture more complete. Thus : — 
 
 "Under a j/;Ytz^///^ chestnut-tree."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. I93 
 
 9. Epithet for Name. — The poet often goes further, and puts 
 the epithet for the name of the thing, with a boldness that would 
 not be allowable in prose. Thus : — 
 
 " Below the chestnut when their buds 
 Were glistening to the breezy blue.'''' 
 i.e., "The sky." 
 
 " The dead vast of night." 
 i.e., " Waste." 
 
 Words. 
 
 Certain words and word-forms are peculiar to poetry. 
 
 1. Poetic Words. — Poetry, especially poetry of the elevated 
 style, makes use of many words that may be called poetic, as they 
 are seldom, if ever, admissible in prose of any kind. They are 
 such as stilly, vasty, bewept, welkin, wend, meed, wilding, quoth. 
 
 Closely allied to these is another class, used in the higher kinds 
 of prose, and also in poetry. They are such as isle, mount, betwixt, 
 vale, nigh, ire, yore. 
 
 Again, words are often used in poetry in an unusual or improper 
 sense ; as, — 
 
 " Chill penury repressed their noble rage.''' 
 
 2. Altered Words. — To suit the measure, words are frequently 
 altered in form. This may be done by cutting off a syllable at the 
 beginning (Aphaeresis), or at the end (Apocope), or by throwing 
 out a syllable from the middle (Syncope). Thus : 'plaint, ''gainst, 
 'gan ; morn, eve, ope, vampire ; ne''er, fav'rite. 
 
 3. Old Words. — Because old words and archaic forms add 
 dignity to the style, and because they are shorter than the modern, 
 poetry makes frequent use of them, though they would not be 
 allowed in prose. They are such as ween, whilom, clomb, hight, 
 yclept, erst. 
 
 4. Proper Names. — In this connection, it may be mentioned 
 that in the names of places, countries, or persons, old names or
 
 194 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 altered forms of modern niMiies are very often employed for the 
 sake of elevation or euphon) ; as, — 
 
 ''Though the last glimpse o{ Erin with sorrow I see, 
 Yet wherever thou art shall seem Erin to me." 
 
 In the same way, instead of the name of a person, place, or 
 thing, is found in poetry some quality, characteristic, or accom- 
 paniment that suggests it ; as, " He loves the Green Is/e." 
 
 Concrete and Specific Terms. 
 
 It has already been pointed out that both Strength and Clear- 
 ness are promoted by the use of concrete terms instead of abstract, 
 and of particular instead of generic. In poetry, where pleasure is 
 the purpose of the language, it is natural that every word should as 
 far as possible be adapted to call up some image. So we find that 
 poetry even more than prose prefers specific and concrete terms 
 to generic and abstract. Thus : — 
 
 " The haivtJiorn bitsli with seats beneath the shade." 
 
 "The hollow-sounding hiiteni guards its nest ; 
 Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies." 
 
 EUPHONIOUSNESS. 
 
 In the diction of poetry special attention is given to sound. For 
 the purpose of heightening th„ music of the lines, free use is made 
 
 of — 
 
 1. Alliteration; as, — 
 
 "bareheaded, /breathless, and besprent with mire." 
 
 2. The most musical syllables and combinations that can 
 be found ; as, — 
 
 " Oh ! make her a grave where the sunbeams rest 
 When they promise a glorious morrow."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 195 
 
 3. Imitative harmony in words and movement; as, — • 
 
 " O'er the river, through the brake. 
 On we hie with screech and roar ! 
 
 Splashing ! Hashing ! crashing ! dashing ! 
 Over ridges, gulHes, bridges ! 
 By the bubbhng rill, and mill — 
 Highways, byways, 
 Hollow hill — 
 Jumping — bumping — rocking — roaring 
 Like forty thousand giants snoring ! " 
 
 Sometimes proper names are changed or modified for the sake 
 of euphony ; as, — 
 
 " Which Albyri's hills have heard." 
 
 " Under the Ethiop line." 
 
 FlGURATFVE LANGUAGE. 
 
 Figurative language, like most of the other features of poetic 
 diction, is not peculiar to poetry, but is common also to prose ; 
 yet there is a wide distinction in its use in these two departments 
 of composition. \\\ the divisions of prose that fall under the heads 
 of Description, Narration, and Exposition, figures of speech are 
 sparingly used, and rarely for any purpose except that of illus- 
 tration or explanation ; in Oratory, whose object is to influence 
 the will by appealing to the feelings, the passions, or the prejudices 
 of the listeners, figurative language is more freely employed. The 
 orator seeks to ingratiate himself with his hearers in order that his 
 opinions and views may find acceptance with them. Hence, he 
 makes his language pleasing that he may first catch the ear and 
 afterwards win the judgment. In poetry, whose chief object is 
 to give pleasure, and whose grand aim is missed if it does not, 
 the adornment of the language is of the highest importance. Yet 
 figures of speech are not the only, nor even the chief beauty of 
 poetic diction ; there is much true poetry in which the language
 
 ig6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 is as plain and simple as that of any prose. In this the very 
 plainness, simplicity, and neatness are the choicest embellish- 
 ments. But poetry is allowed every variety of diction from the 
 lowest to the highest, according to the nature of the subject and 
 the style of treatment required. Although there is no subject 
 dealt with in poetry that might not be treated in prose, yet the 
 converse is not true, for the materials of poetry are confined to 
 nature and humanity, while even here the choice of subjects is 
 limited by the laws of aesthetic feeling and by a consideration 
 of what will give pleasure. Now, it is evident that if the same 
 subject is treated in poetry and in prose, as the ' ' ject is, in each 
 case, different, so the style, diction, and effect must be dissimilar. 
 In Narrative and Descriptive poetry, for example, there is dis- 
 tinct purpose to be attained ; in th^ one, to relate a story, and in 
 the other to present a picture to the mind's eye. In both cases 
 that purpose is to be accomplished in such a manner that the 
 process and the result, the means and the end, shall be pleasing 
 apart from the intrinsic interest of the story or the beauty of the 
 picture. The instrumentahty by which each of these purposes 
 is to be effected is language. Hence, as figurative speech is 
 briefer, more pleasing, and more striking than literal, it is the 
 chosen vehicle of poetry. 
 
 In transposing, the difficulty is to determine just what figures 
 are to be allowed to remain, and what ones are to be cast out. 
 This cannot be taught by rule, but must be left to the taste and 
 judgment of the pupil. 
 
 The Limit. — Perhaps, after all, it is only the humbler and 
 more indifferent kinds of poetry that can be rendered in prose. 
 It is true, as already stated, that thoughts or fancies may be ex- 
 pressed either in the prose or in the poetic form. But how much 
 is sometimes conveyed in the form alone ! What richness of 
 fancy, what sublime harmony, what warmth of coloring, what 
 delicacy of feeling, what grandeur and loftiness of sentiment, are 
 often enwrapped in the very language in which poetry clothes the 
 thought ! Who, for example, could express in prose all the effect
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. I97 
 
 of Milton's description of Satan's flight to this world, or of the 
 Garden of Eden, or, in fact, any of our sublimer poetry ? The 
 literal meaning of the words may, undoubtedly, be written out in 
 a pitiful kind of prose — prose that at its best is scarcely fit to be 
 considered a caric.iture of the original. It may convey the same 
 ideas, but these ideas, so presented, do not produce on the mind 
 the same effect as they do in the form of poetry. Words are not 
 all of language ; the manner in which they are combined, and the 
 way in which they are made to present pictures to the mind, and, 
 above all, the power they have, in a master's hand, to suggest im- 
 ages, thoughts, and fancies, to fill themselves, as it were, with life, 
 and beauty, and passion, — this is the body and soul of language, 
 and without this the words themselves are but as the dry bones in 
 Ezekiel's valley. 
 
 EXERCISE LX. 
 
 Transposing and Paraphrasing. 
 
 Direction. — Transpose by removing the measure and the poetic arrange- 
 ment; then paraphrase. 
 
 1 . " For contemplation he, and valor, formed ; 
 
 For softness she, and sweet attractive grace." 
 
 2. " His step than the red-deer's was freer and lighter ; 
 
 His eye than the eagle's was keener and brighter." 
 
 3. " Here rests his head upon the lap of earth, 
 
 A youth to fortune and to fame unknown." 
 
 4. " When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, 
 
 The line too labors, and the words move slow." 
 
 5. "The power of music all our hearts allow. 
 
 And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now." 
 
 6. " How sleep the brave that sink to rest, 
 
 By all their country's wishes blest ! "
 
 198 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 7. " On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread ; 
 And Glory guards, with solemn round, 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 8. " I saw from the beach when the morning was shining, 
 
 A bark o'er the waters move gloriously on : 
 I came, when the sun o'er that beach was declining — 
 The bark was still there, but the waters were gone." 
 
 9. " 'Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints, 
 
 How sweet to the soul is communion with Saints ; 
 To find at the banquet of mercy there's room. 
 And feel in the presence of Jesus at home ! " 
 
 EXERCISE LXI. 
 
 Transposing and Paraphrasing. 
 
 Direction. — Transpose by removing the rhyme, measure, and poetic 
 diction; then paraphrase. 
 
 1 . " Six frozen winters spent. 
 Return with welcome home from banishment." 
 
 2. " The cock is crowing : the stream is flowing ; 
 
 The small birds twitter : the lake doth glitter ; 
 The green fields sleep in the sun." 
 
 3. " Lives of great men all remind us 
 
 We can make our lives sublime ; 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footprints on the sands of time." 
 
 4. " And as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue, 
 
 Pants to the place from whence at first she flew, 
 I still had hopes, my long vexations past. 
 Here to return — and die at home at last."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 199 
 
 " The crawling glaciers pierce me with the spears 
 Of their raoon-freezing crystals, the bright chains 
 Eat with their burning cold into my bones." 
 
 " Know ye ot me, 
 The Titan ? He who made his agony 
 The barrier to your else all-conqu :ring foe ? 
 Oh, rock-embosomed lawns, a id snow-fed streams, 
 Now seen athwart frore vapors, deep bebw. 
 Through whose o'ershadowing woods I wandered once 
 With Asia, drinking life from her oved eyes." 
 
 " Thus ended he, and both 
 Sat silent : for the maid was very loth 
 To answer ; feeling well that breathed words 
 Would all be lost, unheard, and vain as swords 
 Against the encased crocodile, or leaps 
 Of grasshoppers against the sun." 
 
 EXERCISE LXII. 
 
 Transposing and Paraphrasing. 
 
 Directions. — Transpose by removing the rhyme, measure, and poetic 
 diction; then paraphrase. 
 
 1. " Deep in the shady sadness of a vale 
 
 Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn. 
 Far from the fiery noon, and eve's lone star. 
 Sat gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone." 
 
 2. " He held him with hi; skinny hand ; 
 
 'There was a ship,' quoth he. 
 * Hold off ! unhand me, gray-beard loon ! ' 
 Eftsoons his hand dropt he."
 
 200 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 3. " Oh, lone and lorn my lot ! 
 To me the sunshine is a joy unknown ; 
 
 In vain earth's lap with rarest flowers are strown — 
 I crush, but see them not." 
 
 4. " Thy converse drew us with delight, 
 
 The man of rathe and riper years : 
 The feeble soul a haunt of fears. 
 Forgot his weakness in thy sight." 
 
 5. " Well I ween, the charm he held 
 
 The noble Ladye had soon dispelled ; 
 But she was deeply busied then 
 To tend the wounded Deloraine." 
 
 6. " Who shall tempt with wandering feet 
 The dark, unbottomed, infinite abyss, 
 
 And through the palpable obscure find out 
 His uncouth way, or spread his aery flight, 
 Upborne with indefatigable wings. 
 Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive 
 The happy isle?" 
 
 7. " For thus it chanced one morn when all the court, 
 
 Green-suited, but with plumes that mocked the May, 
 Had been, their wont, a-maying and return'd, 
 That Modred still in green, all ear and eye, 
 Climbed to the top of the garden wall 
 To spy some secret scandal if he might, 
 And saw the Queen, who sat betwixt her best 
 Enid, and lissome Vivien, of her Court 
 The wiliest and the worst."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 20I 
 
 EXERCISE LXIII. 
 
 Paraphrasing. 
 
 Directions. — Write out in prose the meaning of the following poem. 
 Review. See that all your words are properly used, all your sentences cor- 
 rectly formed, and all your paragraphs regularly constructed. 
 
 THE SOLDIER OF THE RHINE. 
 
 A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, 
 
 There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's 
 
 tears ; 
 But a comrade stood beside him, while his life-blood ebbed away. 
 And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say. 
 The dying soldier faltered, as he took that comrade's hand, 
 And he said : " I never more shall see my own, my native land ; 
 Take a message and a token to some distant friends of mine, 
 For I was born at Bingen, — at Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 "Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd 
 
 around. 
 To hear my mournful story in the pleasant vineyard ground. 
 That we fought the battle bravely, and when the day was done. 
 Full many a corpse lay ghastly pale beneath the setting sun ; 
 And 'mid the dead and dying, were some grown old in wars, — 
 The death-wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars ; 
 But some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline, — 
 And one had come from Bingen, — fair Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 " Tell my mother that her other sons shall comfort her old age. 
 
 For I was aye a truant bird, that thought his home a cage. 
 
 For my father was a soldier, and, even when a child, 
 
 My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild ; 
 
 And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard, 
 
 I let them take whate'er they would, but kept my father's sword ;
 
 202 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 And with boyish love I hung it where the bright Hght used to 
 
 shine, 
 On the cottage wall at Bingen, — calm Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 " Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping 
 
 head. 
 When the troops come marching home again, with glad and 
 
 gallant tread. 
 But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye, 
 For her brother was a soldier too, and not afraid to die ; 
 And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in my name 
 To listen to him kindly, without regret or shame. 
 And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and 
 
 mine). 
 For the honor of old Bingen, — dear Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 " There's another, — not a sister, — in the happy days gone by ; 
 You'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye ; 
 Too innocent for coquetry, — too fond for idle scorning, — 
 
 friend ! I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest 
 
 mourning ! 
 Tell her the last night of my life — (for ere the moon be risen, 
 My body will be out of pain, my soul be out of prison) — 
 
 1 dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yellow sunlight shine 
 On the vine-clad hills of Bingen, — fair Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 " I saw the blue Rhine sweep along ; I heard, or seemed to hear, 
 The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear ; 
 And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill. 
 The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still ; 
 And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we passed, with friendly 
 
 talk, 
 Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk ; 
 And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly in mine, — 
 But we'll meet no more at Bingen,- — loved Bingen on the Rhine."
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 203 
 
 His trembling voice grew faint and hoarse ; his grasp was childish 
 
 weak, 
 His eyes put on a dying look, — he sighed and ceased to speak. 
 His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled — 
 The soldier of the Legion in a foreign land was dead ! 
 And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked down 
 On the red sand of the battle-field, with bloody corpses strewn ; 
 Yes, calmly on that dreadful scene, her pale light seemed to shine, 
 As it shone on distant Bingen, — fair Bingen on the Rhine. 
 
 — Hon. Mrs. Norton. 
 
 EXERCISE LXIV. 
 
 Paraphr.'\sing. 
 Direction. — Follow the Direction of the preceding Exercise. 
 
 THANATOPSIS. 
 
 To him who in the love of Nature holds 
 
 Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
 
 A various language ; for his gayer hours 
 
 She has a voice of gladness, and a smile 
 
 And eloquence of beauty : and she glides 
 
 Into his darker musings with a mild 
 
 And healing sympathy that steals away 
 
 Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts 
 
 Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 
 
 Over thy spirit, and sad images 
 
 Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, 
 
 And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, 
 
 Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart ; — 
 
 Go forth under the open sky, and list 
 
 To Nature's teachings, while from all around — 
 
 Earth and her waters, and the depths of air — 
 
 Comes a still voice. — Yet a few days, and thee 
 
 The all-beholding sun shall see no more
 
 204 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 In all his course ; nor yet in the cold ground, 
 
 Where thy pale form is laid with many tears, 
 
 Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist 
 
 Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim 
 
 Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again, 
 
 And, lost each human trace, surrendering up 
 
 Thine individual being, shalt thou go 
 
 To mix for ever with the elements, — 
 
 To be a brother to the insensible rock, 
 
 And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain 
 
 Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak 
 
 Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould. 
 
 Yet not to thine eternal resting-place 
 
 Shalt thou retire alone : — nor couldst thou wish 
 
 Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down 
 
 With patriarchs of the infant world — with kings. 
 
 The powerful of the earth — the wise, the good, 
 
 Fair forms, and hoary seers, of ages past, 
 
 All in one mighty sepulchre. — The hills 
 
 Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun ; the vales 
 
 Stretching in pensive quietness between ; 
 
 The venerable woods ; rivers that move 
 
 In majesty, and the complaining brooks 
 
 That make the meadows green ; and, poured round all, 
 
 Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste, — 
 
 Are but the solemn decorations all 
 
 Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun, 
 
 The planets, all the infinite host of heaven. 
 
 Are shining on the sad abodes of death. 
 
 Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread 
 
 The globe are but a handful to the tribes 
 
 That slumber in its bosom. — Take the wings 
 
 Of morning, and the Barcan desert pierce, 
 
 Or lose thyself in the continuous woods 
 
 Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound
 
 VARIETY OF EXPRESSION. 205 
 
 Save his own dashings — yet the dead are there ; 
 And miUions in those sohtudes, since first 
 The flight of years began, have laid them down 
 In their last sleep — the dead there reign alone. 
 
 So shalt thou rest ; and what if thou withdraw 
 Unheeded by the living, and no friend 
 Take note of thy departure ? All that breathe 
 Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh 
 When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care 
 Plod on, and each one, as before, will chase 
 His favorite phantom ; yet all these shall leave 
 Their mirth and their employments, and shall come 
 And make their bed with thee. As the long train 
 Of ages glides away, the sons of men, 
 The youth in hfe's green spring, and he who goes 
 In the full strength of years, matron and maid, 
 The bowed with age, the infant in the smiles 
 And beauty of its innocent age, cut off. 
 Shall one by one be gathered to tliy side, 
 By those who in their turn shall follow them. 
 
 So live that when thy summons comes to join 
 The innumerable caravan that moves 
 To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
 Thou go not, like the quarry-slave, at night, 
 Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
 Like one that draws the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 
 
 — William Cullen Bryant.
 
 206 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXXVI. 
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 
 
 In preceding Lessons we have studied some of the different 
 forms in which thought may be expressed. We now come to con- 
 sider other forms which are of such importance that they deserve 
 to be examined by themselves. These are usually called Figures 
 of Speech. They consist of intentional deviations from the ordi- 
 nary application of words or from the usual forms of expression. 
 The purpose of these deviations is to increase the effect of lan- 
 guage — to present thought in a more attractive or more forcible 
 
 manner. 
 
 Examples. — " He is a Hon." Here the word " lion " is turned 
 from its usual signification to denote " a man of strength and 
 courage," and it expresses the idea in a more pleasing and 
 striking way than do the plain words. 
 
 " The silver moon " is much more beautiful than " The moon 
 which has a pale bright color." 
 
 Compare further : — 
 
 " All is not gold that glitters." "Appearances are often de- 
 
 ceptive." 
 " Our heads are in the lion's " We are completely in the 
 
 mouth." power of our enemy, and he 
 
 may destroy us at any moment." 
 " The arrows fell like flakes " The arrows fell in countless 
 
 of snow on Christmas Day." numbers." 
 
 Value and Use of Figures. — Figures of Speech perform a 
 very important part in language. They are at once its ornament 
 and its strength. Among their chief uses are these : — 
 
 I. They give variety by affording an entirely different way of 
 expressing a thought.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 20/ 
 
 2. They enable us to present ideas so that ;:hey may be more 
 easily grasped. This is especially true of abstract ideas, as they are 
 made easier of comprehension by being associated with concrete 
 objects. 
 
 3. They add to the force of language. 
 
 4. They enable us to express our thoughts in a more attractive 
 form. 
 
 5. They give elevation, dignity, and grace to language. 
 
 6. They increase the capabilities of language by giving the same 
 word the power of presenting different ideas. For example, in 
 the sentence, "He is a fox," the word "fox," which usually 
 denotes an animal, is here employed to designate the " quahty of 
 craftiness." 
 
 7. In general terms, it may be said that Figures of Speech 
 intensify all the qualities of style. 
 
 Kinds of Figures. — The Figures of Speech most commonly 
 used may be classified thus : — 
 
 1. Those based on the idea of resemblance, — the Simile, Met- 
 aphor, Allegory, Personification. 
 
 2. Those based on contiguity or the law of association, — 
 Synecdoche, Metonymy, Hyperbole, Apostrophe, Vision, 
 
 3. Those based on the idea of contrast, — Antithesis, Epigram, 
 Euphemism, Irony, Interrogation, Climax. 
 
 The Simile. 
 
 A Simile is a figure which expresses the likeness one object 
 bears to another. The objects compared must differ in kind ; 
 likening one man to another or one house to another does not 
 constitute the rhetorical figure. 
 
 The likeness is generally expressed by some word such as, like, 
 as, compared to. 
 
 Sometimes the sign of comparison is omitted, as, " When the 
 rising sun fell on Memnon's statue, it awakened music in that 
 breast of stone. Religion does the same with human nature."
 
 208 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Rules. — In the use of similes, the following rules should be 
 observed : — 
 
 1. Similes should not be drawn from things which have too 
 near a reseniblance to tlie object compared. 
 
 2. Similes should not be drawn from objects in which the like- 
 ness is too faint or remote. 
 
 3. Similes should not be drawn from objects unfamiliar to 
 ordinary readers. 
 
 4. In serious discourse, similes should not be drawn from low 
 or mean objects. 
 
 5. In describing what is low or trivial, similes should not be 
 drawn from great or subHme objects. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — The simile aids the understanding in 
 illustrating the thought by a comparison to something already 
 known ; it impresses the feelings by the surprise of finding a like- 
 ness where none was expected ; and it pleases by the beauty of 
 the comparison. 
 
 The Metaphor. 
 
 The Metaphor is a figure of speech in which likeness between 
 two objects is implied. 
 
 Of the two objects or thoughts, one is well known and the 
 other is unknown ; and the former is applied to explain the latter ; 
 thus, " The French Revolution was the whirlwind of the universe." 
 Here the well-known power and effects of the " whirlwind " are 
 used to give a vivid idea of the terribly destructive effects of the 
 French Revolution. 
 
 Difference between Metaphor and Simile.— The metaphor 
 and the simile both contain a comparison, but in the latter the 
 resemblance between the things compared is formally expressed, 
 while in the former it is only implied. If we say " He upholds 
 the state as the pillar upholds the edifice," we make a comparison 
 by a simile ; but if we say " He is the pillar of the state," we make 
 a comparison by a metaphor. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — i. The metaphor is often of great value 
 in explaining what is unknown. For example, the Scriptures in
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 2O9 
 
 attempting to describe to us the abode of the blest, speak of it as 
 a "city." We know what a city is and our knowledge is at once 
 transferred to explain the unknown. 2. It is also employed to 
 deepen the impression on our feelings by adding a force and 
 energy that could not be secured by plain language ; as, " The 
 news was a dagger to his heart." 3. Again, it may give an agree- 
 able surprise and enable us to clothe abstract ideas with life, form, 
 color, and motion. 
 
 Rules for the use of Metaphors. — The rules given for 
 similes hold also for metaphors. The following additional ones 
 are also to be observed : — 
 
 1. A metaphorical and a literal statement should not be used 
 in close connection ; as, " In peace thou art the gale of spring ; 
 in war, a valiant soldier." 
 
 2. Metaphors from different subjects should not be combined 
 in the same expression ; as, " His parents wished to pave his way 
 over the stormy sea of temptation." Such a combination is 
 usually called a Mixed Metaphor. 
 
 3. Metaphors should not be carried too far; if too many of 
 the minor points of resemblance are dwelt upon, the reader feels 
 the pleasure begin to cloy. 
 
 4. Metaphors should not be multiplied to excess. 
 
 5. Metaphors should be natural and becoming and worthy of 
 the subject. Thus the inappropriateness of the following must 
 strike every one. "That wonderful old furnace (a volcano) 
 where the hand of God works the bellows." 
 
 Metaphors Expanded. — Every simile may be compressed 
 into a metaphor, and every metaphor may be expanded into a 
 simile. The metaphor is a briefer, stronger, and more lively 
 figure than the simile. Hence, as poetry loves to dwell on the 
 pleasing, the simile is better adapted to it, while the vigorous and 
 animated comparison of the metaphor is more suited to prose. 
 Examples. — Metaphor : "The ship ploughs the sea." 
 Simile : " As the plough turns up the land so the ship acts on 
 the sea."
 
 2IO COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Metaphor : " Harrowing care." 
 
 Simile : " Care that affects the mind as the harrow does the soil." 
 
 Allusion, or reference to some well-known fact, fable, custom, 
 
 or incident, is often embodied in a metaphor or a simile ; as, 
 
 " That body is an Augean stable of corruption." 
 
 Allegory. 
 
 The Allegory consists of a series of metaphors so connected 
 as to form a story, each step of which is symbolic of something 
 else. A well-known example is the *' Pilgrim's Progress." In it 
 the difficulties of the Christian life are symbolized and simplilied 
 by being depicted under the figure of the difficulties of a journey 
 from the City of Destruction to the New Jerusalem. 
 
 The Parable and Fable are forms of Allegory. 
 
 A Parable is a short allegory in which some religious or moral 
 truth is taught or illustrated. The incident or event may be real 
 or supposed and is usually drawn from nature or human life. For 
 examples, see "The Sower," or the "Ten Talents." 
 
 A Fable, or Apologue, is a kind of allegory in which the story 
 or incident that points or illustrates a moral, is supposed to be 
 spoken by some animal or inanimate object. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — As these figures contain an incident or 
 story each possesses, in addition to the usual advantages of a 
 metaphor, the clearness of the concrete and the interest of a plot. 
 
 Personification. 
 
 Personification consists in attributing life and mind to inani- 
 mate things. 
 
 1. The lowest form of personification is produced with adjec- 
 tives, and consists in ascribing the qualities of living beings to 
 inanimate objects ; as, " the raging storm " ; " the angry sea " ; 
 " the hungry shore " ; " the smiling land." 
 
 2. The next higher form of personification is produced with 
 verbs, and consists in making inanimate objects perform the actions 
 of living beings ; as, " The very walls will cry out against it."
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 211 
 
 3. The highest form consists in ascribing to the objects human 
 feehngs and purposes, and with distinction of gender ; as, " Earth 
 felt the wound." This form of personification is sometimes com- 
 bined with apostrophe ; as, " Put on thy beautiful garments, O 
 Jerusalem, the holy city." 
 
 All Metaphors. — All forms of personification are metaphors, 
 but they are called personifications because objects are raised to 
 or towards persons. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — The rhetorical value of the figure arises 
 from the fact that inanimate things are invested with a greater 
 interest as they rise in dignity and become endowed with personal 
 quaUties that lead us to have a fellow-feeling with them. 
 
 EXERCISE XLV. 
 
 Similes. 
 Direction. — Find resemblances to complete the comparisons. 
 
 1. He IS as silent as . . . 
 
 2. His heart is as weak as . . . 
 
 3. Her life was as dull as . . . 
 
 4. Her tears flowed like . . . 
 
 5. He spoke with a voice like . . , 
 
 6. The tongue is like . . . 
 
 7. The righteous shall flourish as . . . 
 
 8. The horizon blazed like ... 
 
 9. The huntsmen swept by like . . . 
 
 10. His hounds were as fierce as . . . 
 
 11. Their jaws were foaming like . . , 
 
 12. Her eyes were as blue as . . . 
 
 13. The muscle of his arm was as strong as . . . 
 
 14. The wounded heart like . . . soon closes. 
 
 15. The people flew before the savage foe like . . . 
 
 16. Life passes by like . . , 
 
 17. Pleasures are like . . .
 
 212 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LXVI. 
 
 Similes. 
 
 Direction. — Substitute plain language for the figurative and describe the 
 effect. 
 
 1. Their eyes were like embers. 
 
 2. I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. 
 
 3. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. 
 
 4. He fell as falls the thunder-riven oak. 
 
 5. They shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water. 
 
 6. Like a bird frightened from its prey, she disappeared from 
 view. 
 
 7. Thy smile is as the dawn of vernal day. 
 
 8. Lakes and rivers are as refreshing to the imagination as to 
 the soil through which they pass. 
 
 9. Like the temples of the gods, virtue is venerable even in 
 her ruins. 
 
 10. The yellow perch looked like sunbeams in the water. 
 
 11. The foe retreated like a wolf untimely scared. 
 
 12. These wonderful representations come and go like visions 
 in a dream. 
 
 13. The gushes of melody warble along the roof like the pure 
 airs of heaven. 
 
 14. His history is as a tale that is told. 
 
 15. The brand shot up hke a streamer of the northern sky. 
 
 16. The agony of their lamentation was like a wind that thrills 
 all night in a waste land. 
 
 17. Let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
 
 18. The barge moved off like some full-breasted swan. 
 
 19. Intellect is to a woman's nature what her watch-spring 
 skirt is to her dress. 
 
 20. Whatever comes from the brain carries the hue of the place 
 it came from, and whatever comes from the heart carries the heat 
 and color of its birthplace.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. .213 
 
 EXERCISE LXVII. 
 
 Metaphors. 
 
 Direction. — Name the two objects compared, state the point of resem- 
 blance and the rhetorical value of the figure; then express the thought in 
 plain language and estnnate the loss. 
 
 1 . He is a worthy pillar of the state. 
 
 2. He knew that there were dark spats in his fame. 
 
 3. The class are making rapid steps in knowledge. 
 
 4. This quarrel must be patched with cloth of any color. 
 
 5. The valiant taste death but once. 
 
 6. What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent. 
 
 7. Ferocity is the natural weapon of the common people. 
 
 8. He was a cruel and iron-hearted man. 
 
 9. Gaul may champ the bit and foam in fetters. 
 
 10. My child is a withered branch that will never bear the 
 print of grace. 
 
 11. The door to success is always labelled " Push." 
 
 12. Procrastination is th thief of time. 
 
 13. Death is a debt which all are bound to pay. 
 
 14. He intended to clothe himself with this power. 
 
 15. That deep and flowing sympathy comes from the fountains 
 of personal suffering. 
 
 16. He has sometimes smothered the child-like simplicity of 
 Chaucer under the feather-beds of verbiage. 
 
 17. Ignorance is the curse of God, knowledge the wing where- 
 with we fly to heaven. 
 
 18. But let the curtains of the future hang. 
 
 19. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and 
 some few to be chewed and digested. 
 
 20. We stood together beside the narrow house made for nil 
 living. 
 
 21. He dared to stem the tide of tyranny. 
 
 22. He appeared to be but the step-son of fortune.
 
 214. COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 23. The kirk was shorn of its beams. 
 
 24. The most efficient weapon with which men can encounter 
 falsehood is truth. 
 
 25. The French shook the tree of Anglo-Saxon inflections so 
 rudely as to bring down all its fruit. 
 
 EXERCISE LXVIII. 
 
 Metaphors. 
 Direction. — Expand the metaphors into similes. 
 
 1. He is a wolf. 
 
 2. I bridle in my strugghng muse. 
 
 3. Her disdain stung him to the heart. 
 
 4. They have passed happily through the storms of life. 
 
 5. That school-room is a hive of industry. 
 
 6. They reaped a golden harvest. 
 
 7. 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical love. 
 
 8. The table was garlanded with guests. 
 
 9. There was a lion in the path. 
 
 10. The hero's ability was overshadowed by that of the heroine. 
 
 11. The thought struck my mind. 
 
 1 2. The standards reel to and fro on the tossing sea of bayonets. 
 
 13. Beauty is unripe childhood's cheat. 
 
 14. Life's cup sparkles near the brim. 
 
 15. So the poor child, in her soul's hunger, began to nibble 
 at the thick-rinded fruit of the tree of knowledge. 
 
 16. The moon threw her silver mantle over the darkness. 
 
 I 7. We loose our dogs of war against our own countrymen. 
 
 18. The poet should live in the country where he can hear the 
 heart of nature beat. 
 
 19. The army of Hyder swept everything before it. 
 
 20. The clouds have dropped their garnered fulness down.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 215 
 
 EXERCISE LXIX. 
 
 Mixed Metaphors. 
 
 Direction. — In these mixed metaphors change one of the figures so as 
 to make it correspond to the other. 
 
 1. To take arms against a sea of troubles. 
 
 2. Be thou a rock to them that are afar upon the sea. 
 
 3. The sharp scythe of conflict hovers over the land. 
 
 4. " My friend," said the professor, " you are sailing into dan- 
 gerous ground." 
 
 5. He shall be measured in the government scales. 
 
 6. Our future is a sealed seed-plot. 
 
 7. Pillar of fire, that didst go before me to guide and quicken me. 
 
 8. The chariot of day peers over the mountain top. 
 
 9. He stooped to such lengths of meanness. 
 
 10. There is a time when factions, by the vehemence of their 
 own fermentation, stun and disable one another. 
 
 11. A torrent of superstition consumed the land. 
 
 12. His speech conveyed a deep impression to the mind. 
 
 13. They labored hard to unravel those obscurities. 
 
 14. Their knowledge was based on these sources of information. 
 
 15. The colonies are not yet ripe to bid adieu to maternal 
 connection. 
 
 16. Christ is the anchor of our hope, which reaches beyond 
 the vale of death. 
 
 1 7. An immortal flame swells the breast of that man who adores 
 and is adored. 
 
 18. There is not a view of human nature that is not sufficient 
 to extinguish the seeds of pride. 
 
 19. When the mustang is caught in a lasso, all his struggles 
 serve only to rivet his chains. 
 
 20. T bridle in my struggling muse in vain that longs to launch 
 into a bolder strain. 
 
 21. I smell a rat ; I see it brewing in the distance ; and I shall 
 nip it in the bud.
 
 2l6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LXX. 
 
 Metaphors. 
 
 Direction. — Explain the allusions in the figures, and rewrite the sentences 
 in plain language. 
 
 1. These politicians are after the loaves and fishes. 
 
 2. He falls like Lucifer, never to hope again. 
 
 3. The sword of Damocles hangs over his head. 
 
 4. He has not troubled the waters of phonetic spelling of late. 
 
 5. He listened to the song of the Sirens, yet glided by the 
 fatal shore. 
 
 6. When a man is popular, people climb up into sycamore 
 trees to see him. 
 
 7. Before this paper reaches its readers, Gladstone may have 
 crossed the Rubicon. 
 
 8. They are simply throwing a tub to the whale. 
 
 9. He followed the profession of law, but at a great distance. 
 
 10. The happy parents entertained an angel unawares. 
 
 11. He went into the highways and hedges of thought, and 
 compelled figures to come in. 
 
 12. Nature does not require those who enter her University to 
 subscribe to any Test Act. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXI. 
 
 Metaphors. 
 Direction. — Express the thoughts in metaphorical language, 
 I. He is very poor. 
 
 He is exceedingly foolish. 
 
 The school-room is a busy place. 
 
 He was a brave man. 
 
 He tried to help his friends. 
 
 They have started a new project. 
 
 He has failed in business. 
 
 He is now enjoying the result of his toil.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 21/ 
 
 9. Our body is so formed that it is easily put out of order. 
 
 10. Her brow was wrinkled. 
 
 11. Suspicion is a source of great unhappiness. 
 
 12. Tiie sanguine man sometimes finds that he is sadly dis- 
 appointed (dreams). 
 
 13. Guilt and misery are inseparably joined (wed). 
 
 14. The career of many a conqueror has been marked by 
 cruelty (path . . . stained . . . blood). 
 
 15. They nobly gave up everything for the sake of their 
 country (altar). 
 
 16. They have begun a new business (embark). 
 
 1 7. After a few day's illness, he unexpectedly died. 
 
 18. I shall not attempt to estimate the opposition that is 
 (force . . . arrayed) against the ministry. 
 
 19. Providence has wisely ordained that we shall not know the 
 future (sealed). 
 
 20. Calumnious reports are often circulated about those whose 
 lives are pure (aim . . . arrows). 
 
 EXERCISE LXXII. 
 
 Similes and Metaphors. 
 
 Direction. — Inquire into the appropriateness of the similes and meta- 
 phors. Give reasons for your conclusions, and substitute suitable figures for 
 any you reject. 
 
 1. The Storms of seventy winters have passed over his head. 
 
 2. A Western preacher, in paraphrasing the words, " The Lord 
 hath made bare his mighty arm," said, "The Lord rolled up his 
 sleeves, and buckled into the work." 
 
 3. The vessel that was launched to-day shot broadside into 
 the water like an arrow from a well-strung bow. 
 
 4. The dew shall weep thy fall to-night, O Flower ! 
 
 5. Some lay brethren think that the old rule of paying your 
 money and taking your choice should hold in the matter of clergy- 
 men as well as neckties.
 
 2l8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. Her brow was ploughed by age and sorrow. 
 
 7. Having tasted the food of confiscation, the favorites became 
 ravenous, 
 
 S. Method is the mother of memory. 
 
 9. Hadst thou ruled thy unreasonable passion, thy father would 
 not have been left a solitary oak that throws its shattered and 
 unprotected branches against the full sweep of the tempest. 
 
 10. The thunder reverberated through the rocks like some 
 great organ pipe. 
 
 1 1. His sermon was a crazy quilt of rhetoric. 
 
 12. In that speech there were fragments where the muscular 
 arm showed through the sleeve. 
 
 13. Politics is usually looked upon as a career which means 
 mud up to the knees and filth up to the elbows. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXIII. 
 
 , Personification. 
 
 Direction. — State what you think is gained in each case by the personi- 
 fication. 
 
 1. The mountains sing together, the hills rejoice and clap their 
 hands. 
 
 2. Every flower enjoys the air it breathes. 
 
 3. And Freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell. 
 
 4. The mountains saw Thee, O Lord, and trembled. 
 
 5. What ailed thee, O sea, that thou fledest? and thou, O Jor- 
 dan, that thou wast driven back ? 
 
 6. The depth saith. It is not in me : and the sea saith, It is 
 not in me. 
 
 7. The earth was laughing after the shower passed by. 
 <S. Fell thirst and famine scowl. 
 
 9. The hungry sea was roaring. 
 
 10. Morning looked on the dreadful scene. 
 
 1 1 . Pain and pleasure were at his elbow, telling what to do and 
 what to avoid.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 2I9 
 
 12. Nature is still continuing her patient education of us all in 
 her great University. 
 
 13. Tongue was the lawyer and argued the case. 
 
 14. Blasphemy's loud scream strov^e with that sweet music of 
 deliverance. 
 
 15. Herein fortune shows herself more kind than is her custom. 
 
 16. The ship flew over the angry waves. 
 
 17. The conscious water saw its Lord and blushed. 
 
 18. The aspen heard them, and she trembled. 
 
 19. Write a sentence containing each of the following objects 
 personified. 
 
 A ship. Youth. Sleep. 
 
 The sun. INIorning. Earth. 
 
 Spring. A horse. A tree. 
 
 20. Detail point by point the features in the life oi man that 
 are depicted in the Vision of Mirza.^ 
 
 21. State what advantages such a method of picturing life has 
 over plain description. 
 
 22. Name other Allegories that you have read, and make notes 
 on their rhetorical value. 
 
 23. Quote a Parable from the New Testament, and state why 
 the Parable is an effective way of teaching moral truths. 
 
 24. Relate any Fable you have read, and tell why instruction 
 .may be forcibly given by means of a Fable. 
 
 25. Distinguish as clearly as you can between Allegory and 
 Parable, Allegory and Fable, Parable and Fable.
 
 220 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXXVII. 
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. — METONYMY. 
 
 Metonymy is a figure of speech in which an object is presented 
 to the mind, not by naming it, but by naming something else that 
 readily suggests it. 
 
 Kinds of Metonymy. — Owing to the varied relations by which 
 things may be connected, there are many kinds of this figure. 
 The most common relations that give rise to metonymy are : — 
 
 1. Cause and effect; as, "He writes a beautiful hand" (hand- 
 writing) . 
 
 2. Effect and cause ; as, " There is death (something that causes 
 death) in the pot." 
 
 3. Container and the thiijg contained ; as, " The kettle (the 
 water) boils." 
 
 4. Sign and thing signified ; as, " The bullet (war) is giving 
 place to the ballot" (the organizations of peace). 
 
 5. Instrument and agent ; as, " He scattered parliaments with 
 the breath of his mouth " (powerful influence). 
 
 6. Material and thing made out of it ; as, " The marble (mon- 
 ument) speaks." 
 
 7. An author and his work ; as, " They have Moses and the 
 prophets" (their writings). 
 
 8. Abstract and concrete ; as, " Youth and beauty (the young 
 and the beautiful) shall be laid in the dust." 
 
 9. Progenitor and posterity ; as, " Hear, O Israel " (descend- 
 ants of Israel). 
 
 10. Name of an object and the object that inspires it; as, 
 "That is my delight" (the cause of my delight). 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — Metonymy presents an object, not by 
 naming it, but by suggesting it through some relation, and thus 
 adds vividness, variety, and beauty to style.
 
 figures of speech. 221 
 
 Synecdoche. 
 
 Synecdoche is a figure of speech by which the name of a part 
 is applied to the whole, or that of the whole to a part. 
 
 The most common and useful kinds of synecdoche consist in 
 putting — 
 
 1. The part for the whole ; as, " She has seen sixteen summers " 
 (years). 
 
 2. The species for the genus; as, "He is a cut-throat" (mur- 
 derer). 
 
 3. An individual for the species ; as, " He is a Croesus " (a very 
 rich man). Putting a proper name for a common, or a common 
 for a proper, is called also Antonomasia. 
 
 4. One of the characteristics of a person for the person's name ; 
 as, " The covenants of the Almighty." 
 
 5. The whole for the part; as, "The arrow struck me" (my 
 arm). 
 
 6. The genus for the species ; as, " He is a wretched creature " 
 (man). 
 
 7. A definite number for an indefinite ; as, " Ten thousand fleets 
 sweep over thee in vain." 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — As we grasp a part of a thing more easily 
 than the whole, this figure enables us to put something that we are 
 familiar with for something that we do not know so well, and 
 thereby adds vividness, clearness, and force to the expression. 
 
 Metonymy and Synecdoche. — In metonymy, an object is 
 suggested by mentioning some prominent property, quahty, or 
 characteristic ; in the synecdoche, by naming some part. 
 
 Metonymy and Metaphor. — Each of these figures presents 
 an object to the mind by naming something else ; but the meta- 
 phor implies a comparison between what is said and what is 
 meant, while the metonymy does not, but mentions something 
 which is so related as readily to suggest the idea intended.
 
 222 composition and rhetoric. 
 
 Hyperbole. 
 
 Hyperbole is exaggeration. It represents things as greater or 
 less, better or worse, than they really are. Thus, " The waves ran 
 mountains high." 
 
 Apostrophe. 
 
 Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which the speaker turns away 
 from his subject to address some object he imagines to be present. 
 
 If the object is something inanimate it is personified by the 
 address. 
 
 Example. — "O thou bright moon! thou object of my first 
 love ! thou shalt not escape an invocation, although perchance at 
 this very moment some varlet sonneteer is prating of ' the boy 
 Endymion ' and ' thy silver bow.' " 
 
 Personification and Apostrophe. — When inanimate objects 
 are addressed, they are, of course, personified ; but the difference 
 between these two figures consists in the address. Objects per- 
 sonified are carried up towards, or to the rank of persons, but they 
 are not addressed ; objects apostrophized, whether persons or per- 
 sonified things, are addressed. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — The rhetorical value of the figure consists 
 in giving variety and surprise by the unexpected form, and anima- 
 tion by the vivid conception of the presence of something known 
 to be absent. 
 
 For Vision, see page 121. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXIV. 
 
 Metonymy. 
 
 Direction. — State the relation upon which each of the metonymies is 
 based. Express the idea in plain language and characterize the effect of the 
 change. 
 
 1. He drank only one bottle. 
 
 2. He addressed the chair. 
 
 3. The whole country was in arms.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 223 
 
 4. Princes and lords are but the breath of kings. 
 
 5. What land so barbarous as to allow this? 
 
 6. Maggie was still panting for happiness. 
 
 7. Lift your thoughts from earth to heaven. 
 
 8. It cost much blood and treasure to carry the town. 
 
 9. Her brain was busy with schemes of flight. 
 
 10. The sword and the purse support the nation. 
 
 1 1 . Do you favor the red rose or the white ? 
 
 12. The farmer exchanged the plough for the counter. 
 
 13. The cottage excels the palace in piety. 
 
 14. His gray hairs saved him from death. 
 
 15. Youth should always reverence age. 
 
 16. There is death in the cup. 
 
 I 7. The host saw the mantling bliss go round. 
 
 18. The grave mingles the dust of enemies. 
 
 19. There is but a step from the throne to the grave. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXV. 
 
 Metonyimy. 
 
 Direction. — Recast the following sentences so as to introduce one or 
 more metonymies. Point out the rhetorical gain. 
 
 1 . Why should mortal man be proud ? 
 
 2. The sun is beginning to adorn the mountain tops. 
 
 3. The hedges are white with the flowers of spring. 
 
 4. He was emperor when Rome was most powerful. 
 
 5. He has dishonored the judgeship. 
 
 C. Old people seldom form very ardent friendships. 
 
 7. All the witty people in the city were present. 
 
 8. The wealthy and the great are not free from care. 
 
 9. The horsemen plied the whip and sword. 
 
 10. We are trying to do what the people of Holland have 
 failed to accomplish. 
 
 1 1. He has read the works of Josephus through and through-
 
 224 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 12. The virtuous as well as the vicious must suffer the con- 
 sequences of foolish acts. 
 
 13. The most illustrious men are sometimes defeated at thf 
 polls through party feeling. 
 
 14. No people are so barbarous as to allow such an injustice. 
 
 15. The bullets from the enemy's guns fell in showers. 
 
 16. The victuals are prepared. 
 
 1 7. The class are now reading Scott's works. 
 
 18. Old people should always be reverenced by the young. 
 
 19. His sword was the cause of terror to every opponent. 
 
 20. By his powerful influence, he scattered all the enemies ol 
 the Crown. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXVI. 
 
 Synecdoche. 
 
 Direction. — Point out the relation on which the synecdoche is based. 
 Express the idea in plain language; state the loss. 
 
 1. He is gone to tea. 
 
 2. A hundred head of sheep. 
 
 3. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold. 
 
 4. A thousand bosoms throbbed with delight. 
 
 5. The hand of the diligent maketh rich. 
 
 6. He was a lad of scarcely eighteen summers. 
 
 7. The duke is the Leviathan among all the creatures of the 
 Crown. 
 
 8. He left the protection of his father's roof. 
 
 9. Milton's wife left his bed and board. 
 
 10. The commerce is carried on by American bottoms. 
 
 1 1 . He employs a score of hands, 
 
 12. The boy had fewer summers, but his heart had outgrown 
 his years. 
 
 13. It is a village of five hundred chimneys. 
 
 14. It is a city of spires. 
 
 15. The harbor was crowded with masts. 
 
 16. He is a Hercules at that work-
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 22$ 
 
 17. He is the Carlyle of America. 
 
 18. For such a crime they brought the tyrant to the block. 
 
 19. He is one of the most unhappy beings I know of. 
 
 20. She had seen but six winters when she died. 
 
 21. All things are open to the view of the Omniscient. 
 
 22. Twenty sail of the line entered the harbor. 
 
 23. Hastings fully deserved to be admitted into such a 
 Pantheon. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXVII. 
 
 S\TSfECDOCHE. 
 Direction. — Recast the sentences, using at least one synecdoche. 
 
 1. The object of his ambition was money. 
 
 2. He has a large number of cattle in this yard. 
 
 3. She is an unhappy woman. 
 
 4. Immense numbers have made the attempt. 
 
 5. She was a maiden of sixteen years. 
 
 6. They lacked the necessaries of life. 
 
 7. He was a man of great wisdom. 
 
 8. God always beholds our acts. 
 
 9. His wealth was beyond computation. 
 
 10. The house protects us from the storm. 
 
 11. She is a very wicked woman. 
 
 12. He is very quick at all kinds of work. 
 
 13. Tell the members the queen is now prepared. 
 
 14. These murderers should all be executed. 
 
 15. In that instant years seemed to roll over his mind. 
 
 Direction. — State the rhetorical value of the following hyperboles. 
 
 1. You are musty chaff; and you are smelt above the moon. 
 
 2. On the battle-field were rivers of blood and hills of slain. 
 
 3. The miller took the grist and sent the farmer home with 
 the toll. 
 
 4. The train flew at lightning speed.
 
 226 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 5. They sent up a shout that tore hell's concave and beyond 
 frighted chaos and old Night ! 
 
 6. The waves ran mountains high. 
 
 7. Make or find sentences in each of which one of the follow- 
 ing subjects is apostrophized : home, sleep, money, moon, night, 
 flowers, spring, stars, morning, sun, avarice, wine. 
 
 LESSON XXXVIII. 
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. — ANTITHESIS. 
 
 Antithesis consists in putting in juxtaposition two things unlike, 
 so that each will appear more striking by the contrast. 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — The effect of this figure arises chiefly 
 from the fact that an object or idea appears most striking when 
 it stands side by side with its opposite. White appears whiter 
 when bordered with black ; sound seems louder when followed by 
 silence. If, therefore, we wish to give a thought special emphasis, 
 we can employ no more effective method than to place it in contrast 
 with its opposite. 
 
 Examples. — "To be a blessing, and not a curse." "The 
 prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself." 
 
 Rule. — In antithesis the contrasted ideas should be expressed 
 by similar constructions ; nouns should be contrasted with nouns, 
 adjectives with adjectives, verbs with verbs, and so on ; and the 
 arrangement of the words in the contrasted clauses should be as 
 nearly alike as possible ; as, — 
 
 " Flattery brings friends ; truth brings foes." 
 
 " Enemies in war ; in peace, friends." 
 
 " Forewarned, forearmed." 
 
 " Fit the same intellect to a man, and it is a bow-string ; to a 
 woman, and it is a harp-string."
 
 figures of speech. 22/ 
 
 Epigram, 
 
 The Epigram is a figure of speech in which there is a conflict 
 or contradiction between the literal meaning of the words and the 
 meaning really intended. Thus, " The child is father of the man." 
 
 Its Relation. — The epigram is akin to the antithesis on the 
 one hand and to the pun on the other. The element of contrariety 
 in the epigram, however, differs from that in the antithesis. In the 
 former, it exists between the real and the apparent meaning of the 
 words, while in the latter, it is between the things that are brought 
 together. Epigram often consists mainly in taking words in 
 different senses ; in this respect it resembles the pun, which turns 
 entirely upon using words in a double meaning. Thus, Home 
 Tooke said of the poor poets : " We may well be called a republic 
 of letters for there is not a sovereign among us." 
 
 Euphemism. 
 
 Euphemism is a softened way of saying what would be dis- 
 agreeable or offensive if told in plain language. It is usually based 
 on some other figure, as synecdoche, metonymy, or metaphor. 
 Thus, " He fell asleep," may be used for " He died." 
 
 Irony. 
 
 Irony is language which taken literally expresses the contrary of 
 what is meant. The real drift of the speaker is seen in his tone or 
 manner. Thus, Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, " Cry aloud, 
 for he is a god." 
 
 Rhetorical Value. — These figures by stating not what is meant, 
 but something else which suggests it, produce a livelier impression 
 than does the direct statement. Moreover, the surprise, arising 
 from finding that words may convey a meaning so different from 
 that which they literally bear, or one so skilfully interwoven with 
 it, interests and delights the reader. 
 
 For Interrogation and Climax, see pages 120, 121.
 
 228 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXVIII. 
 
 Antitheses. 
 
 Direction. — Point out the words that denote the objects, actions, qualities, 
 or circumstances contrasted; and recast the sentences without using the anti- 
 theses. 
 
 1. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand 
 and my heart to this vote. 
 
 2. At his touch, crowns crumbled and beggers reigned. 
 
 3. She is a help, not a hindrance to her mother. 
 
 4. As when a husband or a lap-dog dies. 
 
 5. Every man would live long, but no man would be old. 
 
 6. If you regulate your desires according to the standard of 
 nature, you will never be poor ; if according to the standard of 
 opinion, you will never be rich. 
 
 7. The rich man complains aloud ; the poor man repines in secret. 
 
 8. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 
 
 9. He loves the whole human family, and hates to see the least 
 member of it injured. 
 
 10. As we wax hot in faction, in battle we grow cold. 
 
 Direction. — Point out any violations of the rule given for Antithesis, and 
 rewrite the sentences so as to make the figure as directed. 
 
 11. Better reign in hell, than be in the condition of a servant 
 in heaven. 
 
 12. Fools rush where angels would be afraid to venture. 
 
 13. The battle of Sadowa was won by the schoolmaster, and 
 the battle of Sedan was lost because the people are not so well 
 educated (ignorance). 
 
 14. If the end brings me out right, what is said against me is of 
 no account ; if in the end I am wrong, ten angels swearing I was 
 right would make no difference. 
 
 15. My people are to do what they please, and it is agreed that 
 X shall do what pleases me.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 229 
 
 1 6. I would rather die after having spoken after my manner, 
 than speak in your manner and Uve. 
 
 1 7. Kings will be tyrants from policy when those who are under 
 them are rebellious from principle. 
 
 18. If you wish to make a man rich, study not to increase his 
 stores, but that his desires may be diminished. 
 
 19. If in the morn of life you remember God, you will not be 
 forgotten by Him in your latter days. 
 
 20. A blind man is a poor man, and blind a poor man is ; for 
 the former sees no man, and the latter is not seen by any one. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXIX. 
 
 The Epigram and other Figures. 
 
 Direction. — Name the figures, rewrite the sentences in plain language, 
 and note the effect. 
 
 1. It was conspicuous by its absence. 
 
 2. Beauty, when unadorned, is adorned the most. 
 
 3. When you have nothing to say, say it. 
 
 4. Summer has set in with its usual severity. 
 
 5. Words were given to hide our thoughts. 
 
 6. He is a disciple of Bacchus. 
 
 7. That merchant prince has stopped payment. 
 
 8. You are laboring under a mistake. 
 
 9. The tall oaks reach far up into the clouds. 
 
 10. He appropriated the money to his own use. 
 
 1 1 . No doubt ye are the people and that wisdom will die with 
 you. 
 
 12. The obedient wife commands her husband.
 
 230 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXX. 
 
 General Exercise on Figures. 
 
 Direction. — Name the figure or figures in each of the following sentences, 
 and then express the meaning in plain language. Also point out and correct 
 any errors in the use or form of the figures. 
 
 1. The heavens are veined with fire. 
 
 2. She was the favorite lamb of the teacher's flock. 
 
 3. The Lord is my rock and my fortress. 
 
 4. Man is the creature of a day. 
 
 5. Nothing succeeds Hke success. 
 
 6. Rules are of no use till they are of no use. 
 
 7. He could scarcely earn enough to keep body and soul 
 together. 
 
 8. She thought of her child as a flower of the field cut down 
 and withered in the midst of its sweetness. 
 
 ■- 9. They died amid their country's shouts of victory. 
 
 10. The old man leaned his silver head against the breast of 
 youth. 
 
 1 1 . My beloved would shame the full moon and cause the 
 evening star to hide its face. 
 
 12. The keen morning air bites our face and hands. 
 
 13. A cloud lay cradled near the setting sun. 
 
 14. The mountains and the valleys their joyous voices raise. 
 
 15. The sun smiled far over the summer sea. 
 
 16. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as mild 
 behavior and humility ; but when the blast of war blows, let us 
 be tigers in our fierce deportment. 
 
 I 7. Fair laughs the morn and soft the zephyr blows. 
 
 18. His feet are nearing the grave. 
 
 19. I saw their thousand years of snow. 
 
 20. He knocks down a dinner with his gun twice or thrice 
 a week. 
 
 2 1 . Age shakes Athena's tower, but spares gray Marathon.
 
 i-IGURES OF SPEECH. 231 
 
 2 2. Solitude sometimes is best society. 
 
 23. There is a tide in the alTairs of men, which, taken at the 
 flood, leads on to fortune. 
 
 V 24. A friend cannot be known in prosperity, and an enemy 
 cannot be hidden in adversity. 
 
 25. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them 
 too much for ornament, is affectation. 
 
 26. 'Twould scald my tongue to spit out your hated name. 
 
 27. Your absence of mind we have borne, till your presence of 
 body came to be called in question by it. 
 
 -^ 28. I shall watch your pen to see if it is consecrated to the state. 
 
 29. The legendary age is a past that was never present. 
 
 30. I love a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying Tiber 
 in it. 
 
 31. This noble passion, child of integrity, hath from my soul 
 wiped the black scruples. 
 
 - 32. I think our country sinks beneath the yoke. 
 
 - 33. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 
 
 34. He remained too long under "the influence of the views 
 which he had imbibed from the board. 
 
 , 35. An upright minister asks what recommends a man; a cor- 
 rupt minister, who. 
 
 36. This prior, they say, loves the wine-cup and the bugle- 
 horn better than bell and book. 
 
 37. What saw the winter moon that night as its beams struggled 
 through the rain ? 
 
 38. Till Love and Joy look round and call the earth their own. 
 
 39. I am a young man with a very old pension ; he is an old 
 mafl with a very young pension : that is all. 
 
 - 40. A yell that rent the firmament from all the town arose. 
 
 41. That heart never melted at the concourse of sweet sounds. 
 
 42. The credulous multitude consisted of women of both sexes. 
 
 43. If you can get along with people who carry n certificate in 
 their faces that their goodness is so great as to make them raiser- 
 able, your children cannot.
 
 232 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 44. The world is the chess-board> the pieces are the phenomena 
 of the Universe, the rules of the game are the laws of nature. 
 
 45. Love though deep as the sea will wither as a rose. 
 
 46. His cup had been quaffed too quickly, and the dregs were 
 wormwood. 
 
 47. The Countess of Darlington was a cataract of tallow, with 
 eyebrows like a cart-wheel, and dim, coaly disks for eyes. 
 
 48. Choose and eat ; there is life in the one and death in the 
 other. 
 
 49. He drank his house and lot, and now his wife and children 
 are on the street. 
 
 50. France was torn by internal strife. 
 
 51. Words were given us to conceal our thoughts. 
 
 52. Thus the successors of the old Cavahers had turned dema- 
 gogues ; the successors of the old Roundheads had turned courtiers. 
 
 53. An ass covered with gold has more respect than a horse 
 with a pack saddle. 
 
 54. God made man in his own image ; but the public is made 
 by newspapers. 
 
 55. The spring sun was setting, and it flung a crimson flush over 
 the blue waters and white houses. 
 
 56. Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret. 
 
 57. Her gay spirits might revolt at the dark downward path of 
 low humility suddenly pointed out before her, and might cling to 
 the sunny regions in which they had hitherto revelled. 
 
 58. On a summer's day might be heard the appalling sound of 
 the birch, as the master urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery 
 path of knowledge. 
 
 59. Compared with her friend she is a rushlight to the waning 
 star — a glowworm to Antares. 
 
 60. These boys will grow to be men, and will drag the heavy 
 artillery along the dusty roads of life. 
 
 61. He knew not that a phantom of Wealth had thrown a golden 
 hue upon its waters, nor that Love had sighed softly to their mur- 
 mur, nor that Death had threatened to crimson them with blood.
 
 FIGURES OF SPEECH. 233 
 
 62. Round thee the sea flings her steel-bright armor and shields 
 thee from the guile and hurt of thy foes. 
 
 63. The quick eye of Clive soon perceived that the head of the 
 young volunteer would be more useful than his arm. 
 
 64. That means the removal of hindrances and the surmounting 
 of obstacles broad as continents, high as the Himalayas. 
 
 65. It is not the crozier spear, but the sceptre. 
 
 66. Another morning came, and there they sat ankle-deep in 
 cards. 
 
 ^67. His purse was ever an assistance to the men of letters. 
 \ 68. As the tall corn bends beneath the sweeping hurricane, 
 wave succeeding wave, so did the steel-clad squadrons of the 
 enemy before the victorious torrent of the dashing cavalry. 
 
 69. Can any one study Shakespeare without reaping benefit? 
 
 70. Their souls rose on the ardor of prayer like Elijah ascend- 
 ing to heaven. 
 
 71. Smiles are the channels of future tears. 
 
 72. The life of man is the path of an arrow, which immediately 
 closes up. 
 
 73. The soft snow came ; it seemed as if nature had let fall its 
 handkerchief to hide the earth. 
 
 74. Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all 
 things to industry. 
 
 75. We may be sure that confidence sat undisturbed upon his 
 brow. 
 
 76. In the best of Whittier's poems the pulse of human sym- 
 pathy beats more strongly than in any of Longfellow's songs. 
 
 77. If I could shake off but one seven years from these old 
 arms and legs, I would go with thee every foot. 
 
 78. His heart's his mouth : what his breast forges, that his 
 tongue must vent. 
 
 79. Time writes no wrinkles on thine azure brow.
 
 234 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XXXIX. 
 
 THE QUALITIES OF STYLE. 
 
 The properties of Style studied in preceding Lessons are called 
 Elements of Style, because they belong pre-eminently to Words, 
 Sentences, and Paragraphs, which are the mechanical elements of 
 language. Besides these, Style possesses other subtler properties, 
 known as the Qualities of Style. Among these qualities may be 
 mentioned Perspicuity, Picturesqueness, Force, Pathos, The Lu- 
 dicrous, Melody, Harmony, Taste, and Beauty. 
 
 These quahties may, with some correctness, be classified as 
 follows : — 
 
 1 . Intellectual : Perspicuity and Picturesqueness ; 
 
 2. Emotional: Force, Pathos, The Ludicrous ; 
 
 3. Esthetic : Melody, Harmony, Taste, Beauty. 
 Perspicuity is the quality of being easily understood. It applies 
 
 to the general form of expression, to the way in which the thoughts 
 are presented. Either simple or abstruse thoughts may be placed 
 clearly before the reader; yet abstruse thoughts may still be diffi- 
 cult to apprehend, although clearly expressed ; and simple thoughts 
 may be so expressed as to appear confused or ambiguous. 
 
 Perspicuity may be gained by — 
 
 I. Simplicity, — 
 
 a. In diction, — 
 
 (</) Familiar words convey ideas more clearly than do 
 
 those that are seldom heard. 
 {b) Concrete terms call up more definite ideas than do 
 
 abstract. 
 (c) Particular terms, likewise, are always more striking 
 
 than general. 
 
 b. In structure, — 
 
 {a) Of sentences, {b^ of paragraphs, (r) of the plan of 
 the discourse.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 235 
 
 c. In figures of speech. Figures which are simple and 
 familiar, but not trite, are object lessons to the mind. 
 
 The following sentence illustrates how obscurity arises from 
 some of these causes : — 
 
 " Seraphite, the marvellous creature, whose passage from Matter 
 to Spirit, from the Specialist to the Divine conditions, the theme 
 of Balzac's genius, in this case is intended to typify the final 
 function of a long course of steadfast upward working by a soul 
 which has, by many re-incarnations, won its way past the instinc- 
 tive and abstractive spheres of existence, and has at length attained 
 that delicate balance of the material and spiritual which is the 
 last possible manifestation on the earthly plane." 
 
 2. Precision in the use of language. This is indispensable to 
 perspicuity. The thought must be fully and clearly grasped by the 
 mind, and then words must be found that faithfully reproduce it. 
 
 3. The employment of a definite and apparent plan or outline. 
 The reader's attention should be fixed upon some central thought 
 or bold framework on which the entire structure is made to 
 depend. 
 
 4. The systematic arrangement of the subordinate parts. For 
 example, if any one will take the pains to examine critically the 
 ninety-third paper of the " Spectator," he will find that it owes 
 its perspicuity in a great degree to the points mentioned in 3 
 and 4, 
 
 The framework is as below : — 
 
 Theme : The proper employment of leisure. 
 
 1 . Introduction, — 
 
 a. Quotation from Seneca. 
 
 b. Men are also inconsistent in wishing time away. 
 
 c. About nineteen parts out of twenty, of leisure, is 
 
 wasted. 
 
 2. Employments suggested, — 
 a. The practice of virtue. 
 
 I. In acts of benevolence. 
 
 ■^.. In communion with the Creator.
 
 236 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 b. Innocent amusements. 
 
 1. The stage. 
 
 2. Conversation. 
 
 3. The fine arts. 
 
 4. Reading. 
 
 5. A skilful use of the various means of illustration. This 
 may be — 
 
 a. By example ; as, " Exclusiveness is deadly. The exclu- 
 
 sive in social life does not see that he excludes himself 
 from enjoyment in the attempt to appropriate it." 
 
 b. By contrast ; as, " Drawing lots would be a prudent and 
 
 reasonable method of appointing the officers of state, 
 compared to a late disposition of the secretary's 
 office." 
 
 c. By an anecdote or story ; this has the advantage of the 
 
 concrete and of the particular. Thus : " Virtue is its 
 own reward. Catherine of Livonia, a common peasant 
 girl, attracted, by her modest and virtuous conduct, 
 the attention of Peter the Great ; became his wife ; 
 and, after his death, was proclaimed his successor in 
 the Russian Empire." 
 
 d. By a parallel case ; as, '^'' I have seen eagles in a cage ; 
 
 but their wings showed me that nature never intended 
 them to be there. So I have seen man covered with 
 the leprosy of sin and moral disease ; but his aspirations 
 after goodness told me that his Creator never designed 
 him for the pest-house. A nobler destiny is his." 
 
 e. By a judicious use of the figures of speech, especially 
 
 of Simile, Metaphor, and Antithesis. 
 /. By employing several of these methods in the same 
 case. For example, in the following, the idea is illus- 
 trated ( I ) by a contrast in the nature of the things ; 
 (2) by a contrast of their effects ; (3) by figures. 
 
 " Mirth I consider as an act ; cheerfulness, as a 
 habit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient;
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 23/ 
 
 cheerfulness, fixed and permanent. Those are often 
 raised into the greatest transports of mirth, who are 
 subject to the greatest depression of melancholy. 
 Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through 
 a gloom of clouds and glitters for a moment ; cheer- 
 fulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and 
 fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity." 
 6. The careful observance of the suggestions made under the 
 head of Clearness. These, if followed, will enable the writer to 
 use language in such a way as to secure clearness of expression in 
 minor details. 
 
 PiCTURESQUENESS. 
 
 When a scene, object, or event is represented in language in 
 such a way as to picture it to the mind as it actually is or was, 
 the style is said to be picturesque. 
 
 This quality depends chiefly on the following considerations : — 
 
 1. A clear and comprehensive view of the scene, object, or 
 event. The outline must be definite, and the parts must be 
 arranged in the order of time, place, and importance. 
 
 2. The use of appropriate epithets and phrases. These may 
 introduce — 
 
 a. Some quality whose incidental mention adds reality ; as, 
 
 " Those tireless wheels whose busy hum never ceases." 
 
 b. Some associated circumstance that tends to give com- 
 
 pleteness ; as, " A huge sea of verdure that was ten- 
 anted by flocks and herds which seeitied to wander 
 tinrestrained and nnbonnded throiigh the rich pasture.^'' 
 
 c. Some pleasing feature ; as^ " The lurid lightning flashed 
 
 over the tempest-tossed oc^'sca..'''' "The gigantic corpses 
 of dead trees, decaying on the leaf-strewn soil." 
 
 3. A scene may be presented more vividly by mentioning some 
 striking particulars instead of using a general statement ; as, 
 "They looked forth, they saw the river thick set with rocks, 
 yfhexe phmging over ledges, gurgling over drift- logs, darting alo7ig
 
 238 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 clefts, and boiling in chasms [instead of rushing madly on"], the 
 angry waters filled the solitude with monotonous ravings." 
 
 4. The description of a scene or event is rendered more pic- 
 turesque by giving the exact time and place. 
 
 5. Vividness is gained by viewing a scene as it appeared at 
 a given point of time. Thus, Niagara as seen by moonlight. 
 
 6. Figures of speech may intensify this c[uality ; as, " The cav- 
 alry s7£/e/>l past the base of the hill." " The blackening wave is 
 edged with white." 
 
 7. All the arts that contribute to perspicuity aid in pictur- 
 esqueness. 
 
 8. The central figure or main hne must be kept well in the 
 foreground, and the filling must be so managed as to be clearly 
 the background. 
 
 9. The mind must be kept on prominent features, and not bur- 
 dened with a multitude of unimportant details. 
 
 The following extract illustrates some of the foregoing require- 
 ments : — 
 
 " If I were to choose a spot from which the rising or setting 
 sun could be seen to the greatest possible advantage, it would be 
 that wild path winding around the foot of the high belt of semi- 
 circular rocks, called Salisbury Crags, and marking the verge of 
 the steep descent which slopes down into the glen on the south- 
 eastern side of the city of Edinburg. The prospect, in its general 
 outline, commands a close-built, high-piled city, stretching itself 
 out beneath in a form, which, to a romantic imagination, may be 
 supposed to represent that of a dragon ; now, a noble arm of the 
 sea, with its rocks, isles, distant shores, and boundary of moun- 
 tains ; and now, a fair and fertile champaign country, varied with 
 hill, dale, and rock, and skirted by the picturesque ridge of the 
 Ventland Mountains. But as the path gently circles around the 
 v^ase of the cliffs, the prospect, composed as it is of these enchant- 
 ng and sublime objects, changes at every step, and presents them 
 blended with, or divided from, each other, in every possible vari- 
 ety which can gratify the eye and the imagination. When a piece
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 239 
 
 of scenery so beautiful, yet so varied, — so exciting by its intri- 
 cacy, and yet so sublime, — is lighted up by the tints of morning 
 or of evening, and displays all that variety of shadowy depths, 
 exchanged with partial brilliancy, which gives character even 
 to the tamest of landscapes, the effect approaches near to 
 enchantment." 
 
 1. The place is distinctly located in the first sentence. 
 
 2. The outline is clearly defined in the second sentence. 
 
 3. The suggestion of 3 is followed in "with its rocks, isles, 
 distant shores, and boundary of mountains." 
 
 4. Notice the effect of such epithets and phrases as " semi- 
 circular," " close-built," " high-piled," " distant," " fertile," " pic- 
 turesque." 
 
 5. Observe the gain of showing the scene when "lighted up 
 by the tints of morning or of evening." 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXI. 
 
 Perspicuity and Picturesqueness. 
 
 Direction. — Examine the following extracts with special reference to the 
 qualities of perspicuity and picturesqueness. Point out the various means by 
 which these qualities have been secured or enhanced. 
 
 I. Oftentimes, as I have lain swinging on the water, in the 
 swell of the Chelsea ferry boats, in that long sharp-pointed, black 
 cradle in which I love to let the great mother rock me, I have 
 seen a tall ship glide by against the tide, as if drawn by some 
 invisible tow-line, with a hundred strong arms pulling it. Her 
 sails hung unfilled, her streamers were drooping, she had neither 
 side-wheel nor stern-wheel ; still she moved on, stately in serene 
 triumph, as if with her own life. But I knew that on the other 
 side of the ship, hidden beneath the great hulk that swam so 
 majestically, there was a little toiling steam-tug, with heart of fire 
 and arms of iron, that was liugging it close, and dragging it 
 bravely on ; and I knew that if the little steam-tug untwined her
 
 240 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 arms and left the tall ship, it would wallow and roll about, and 
 drift hither and thither, and go off with the refluent tide, no man 
 knows whither. And so I have known more than one genius, 
 high-decked, full-freighted, wide-sailed, gay-pennoned, that, but 
 for the bare toiling arms, and brave, warm, beating heart of the 
 fliithful little wife, that nestled close in his shadow, and clung to 
 him, so that no wind or wave could part them, and dragged him 
 on against all the tide of circumstance, would soon have gone 
 down the stream and been heard of no more. 
 
 2. Woe now to all body-guards, mercy is none for them ! 
 Miomaudre de Sainte-Marie pleads with soft words, on the grand 
 staircase, descending four steps to the soaring tornado. His com- 
 rades snatch him up by the skirts and belts ; literally from the 
 jaws of Destruction ; and slam to their door. This, also, will 
 stand for few instants ; the panels shivering on like potsherds. 
 Barricading serves not ; fly fast, ye body-guards ! rabid Insurrec- 
 tion, like the Hell-bound Chast, iproaring at your heels ! 
 
 3. The terror-struck body-^aards fly, bolting and barricading; 
 it follows. Whitherward ? Thr ugh hall on hall ; woe, now ! 
 towards the Que:n's suite of rooms, in the furthest room of which 
 the Queen is now asleep. Fiv sentinels through that long suite ; 
 they are in the ante-rooms knocking aloud : " Save the Queen ! " 
 Trembling women fall at their feet with tears ; are answered : 
 " Yes, we will die ; save ye the Queen ! " 
 
 4. The coach stops here half an hour, gentlemen : dinner quite 
 ready ! 'Tis a delightful sound. And what a dinner ! What a 
 profusion of substantial dehcacies ! What mighty and iris-tinted 
 rounds of beef ! What vast and marble-veined ribs ! What gelat- 
 inous veal pies ! What colossal hams ! Those are evidently prize 
 cheeses ! And how invigorating is the perfume of those various 
 and variegated pickles ! Then the bustle emulating the plenty ; the 
 ringing of bells, the clash of thoroughfare, the summoning of ubiq- 
 uitous waiters, and the all-pervading feeling of omnipotence from 
 the guests, who order what they please, to the landlord, who can 
 produce and execute everything they can desire. 'Tis a wondrous
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE, 24I 
 
 sight. Why should a man go and see the pyramids and cross the 
 desert, when he has not beheld York Minster, or travelled on the 
 road? 
 
 5. Like Windsor Castle, the palace of the Alhambra is situated 
 upon the northern brow of a steep hill, commanding an extensive 
 prospect over a beautiful country, and towering with venerable 
 aspect above the City of Grenada. The sides towards the citadel 
 are so dilapidated, or encumbered with modern buildings, that 
 very few traces are visible of the ancient external walls. But the 
 interior remains of the palace are in tolerable preservation, and 
 present a striking picture of the romantic magnificence of its 
 former kings. How strange does every object in this edifice 
 appear ! how different from all that we are accustomed to behold ! 
 Yet, even in its present deserted state, we recognize in architec- 
 ture the condition of the owner, the seat of power, and the grav- 
 ity of the Arabian character. But the splendor of the turbaned 
 monarch has vanished, and the throne of the son of Nasr is filled 
 by bats and owls. 
 
 6. We cannot part with our friends. We cannot let our angels 
 go. We do not see that they only go out, that archangels may 
 come in. We are idolaters of the old. We do not believe in the 
 riches of the soul, in its proper eternity and omnipresence. We 
 do not believe there is any force in to-day to rival or recreate that 
 beautiful yesterday. We linger in the ruins of the old tent, where 
 once we had bread and shelter and organs, nor believe that the 
 spirit can feed, cover, and nerve us again. We cannot again find 
 aught so dear, so sweet, so graceful. But we sit and weep in vain. 
 The voice of the Almighty saith, " Up and onward forevermore ! " 
 We cannot stay amid the ruins. Neither will we rely on the new ; 
 and so we walk ever with reverted eyes, like those monsters who 
 look backwards. 
 
 7. Nothing is more amiable than true modesty, and nothing is 
 more contemptible than the false. The one guards virtue, the 
 other betrays it. True modesty is ashamed to do anything that 
 is repugnant to the rules of right reason : false modesty is ashamed
 
 242 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 to do anything that is opposite to the humor of the company. 
 True modesty avoids everything that is criminal, false modesty 
 everything that is unfashionable. The latter is only a general 
 undetermined instinct; the former is that instinct, limited and 
 circumscribed by the rules of prudence and religion. 
 
 8. On the other side he looked down into a deep mountam 
 glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments 
 from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the rays of the 
 setting sun. For some time Rip lay musing on the scene ; even- 
 ing was gradually advancing ; the mountains began to throw their 
 long blue shadows over the valleys ; he saw that it would be dark 
 long before he could reach the village, and he heaved a sigh when 
 he thought of encountering the terrors of Dame Van Winkle. 
 
 9. Manners are partly factitious ; but, mainly, there must be 
 capacity for culture in the blood, else all culture is vain. Every 
 man — mathematician, artist, soldier, or merchant — looks with 
 confidence for some traits and talents in his own child which he 
 would not dare to presume in the child of a stranger. The 
 Orientalists are very orthodox on this point. "Take a thorn- 
 bush," said the Emir Abdel-Kader, " and sprinkle it for a whole 
 year with water ; it will yield nothing but thorns. Take a date- 
 tree, leave it without culture, and it will produce dates." 
 
 10. He issued from the hut, followed by little Joe, who kept 
 fast hold of his father's hand. The early sunshine was already 
 pouring its gold upon the mountain-tops ; and though the valleys 
 were still in shadow, they smiled cheerfully in the promise of the 
 bright day that was hastening onward. The village, completely 
 shut in by hills, which swelled away gently about it, looked as if it 
 had rested peacefully in the hollow of the great hand of Provi- 
 dence. Every dwelling was distinctly visible ; the little spires of 
 the two churches pointed upwards, and caught a fore-glimmering 
 of brightness from the sun-gilt skies upon their gilded weather- 
 cocks. Scattered likewise over the breasts of the surroundins 
 mountains there were heaps of hoary mist or cloud, hovering in 
 the gold radiance of the upper atmosphere. Stepping from one
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 243 
 
 to another of the clouds that rested on the hills, and thence to the 
 loftier brotherhood that sailed in the air, it seemed almost as if a 
 mortal man might thus ascend into the heavenly regions. Earth 
 was so mingled with the sky that it was a day-dream to look at it. 
 II. The figure of Rebecca might, indeed, have compared with 
 the proudest beauties of England, even though it had been judged 
 by as shrewd a connoisseur as King John. Her form was exquisitely 
 symmetrical, and was shown to advantage by a sort of Eastern 
 dress. Her turban of yellow silk suited well with the darkness of 
 her complexion. The brilliancy of her eyes, the superb arch 
 of her eyebrows, her well-formed aquiline nose, her teeth as white 
 as pearl, and the profusion of her sable tresses which, each arranged 
 in its own little spiral-twisted curls, fell down upon as much of a 
 lovely neck and bosom as a simarre of the richest Persian silk, 
 exhibiting flowers in their natural colors embossed upon a purple 
 ground, permitted to be visible, — all these constituted a combi- 
 nation of loveliness which yielded not to the most beautiful of the 
 maidens who surrounded her. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXIL 
 
 Rhetorical Analysis. 
 
 I. Examine No. i of Exercise LXXXI. under the following 
 heads : — 
 
 a. The choice and use of words : — 
 
 {a) Is every word used in its proper sense? 
 (3) Is every word the best that can be found to express the 
 meaning intended ? 
 l/. The formation of the sentences : — 
 
 {a) Is each of the sentences so formed as to present its 
 
 meaning readily and clearly? 
 (/^) Does each sentence deal with a single idea, or does it 
 
 give prominence to its leading thought? 
 (^) Is due attention given to melody and the other recjuire- 
 ments of elegance ?
 
 244 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 c. Construction of paragraphs : — 
 (a) Is there a topic sentence? 
 
 {b) Are the sentences arranged in logical order? 
 
 (r) Are the sentences smoothly and properly connected? 
 
 (a') Does the paragraph possess unity; that is, do all the 
 
 sentences bear on the topic? 
 {e) Is there due proportion between the theme and the 
 
 illustration, or does the illustration occupy so much 
 
 space and attract so much attention as to overshadow 
 
 the main thought? 
 
 d. Figures of speech. Name the various figures of speech that 
 
 occur, and remark on the rhetorical value of each. 
 2. Go through the Exercise, dealing with each of the parts in a 
 similar manner. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXIII. 
 
 Reproduction. 
 
 1. Study No. I of the preceding Exercise till you are thoroughly 
 familiar with its meaning and sentiment. 
 
 2. Then close the book, and try to reproduce them in other 
 language. 
 
 3. Next compare your work with the original, and if yours 
 suffers by the comparison, try again. 
 
 4. When you feel satisfied with the manner in which you have 
 brought out the sense and spirit f th passage, make a critical 
 examination of your work, as indicated in the preceding Exercise. 
 
 5. Rewrite with emendations. 
 
 Note the suggestions made in Lesson XXXIV. 
 
 6. Go through the Exercise, dealing with each part in a similai 
 manner.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 245 
 
 LESSON XL. 
 
 FORCE. 
 
 Force is a general name for that quality, or rather combination 
 of qualities, which causes discourse to make a deep impression on 
 the mind. Force is therefore the cause of impressiveness. 
 
 This quality manifests itself in a great variety of forms or de- 
 grees, and is therefore conveniently known by a variety of terms. 
 Those most commonly used are, Strength, Energy, Vigor, Vivacity, 
 Liveliness, Animation, Brilliancy, Grandeur, Magnificence, Lofti- 
 ness, Subhmity. 
 
 Force applies to language addressed to the emotions as well as 
 to that which informs the intellect ; hence, partly, its complexity. 
 
 In order that discourse may be forcible there must be — 
 
 1. A vigorous and skilful use of that part of our vocabulary 
 which expresses power, physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional. 
 
 2. A clear and full representation of the object or thought. 
 For example, a description of Niagara Falls might fail to awaken 
 emotions of awe or sublimity if feebly or inadequately given. 
 
 3. While the central object or thought must be kept promi- 
 nently before the mind, the supports and surroundings must be 
 made to harmonize. 
 
 4. Striking features or points must have prominence, and details 
 must be kept in due subordination, or omitted. 
 
 5. Young people are inclined to think that "big words" and 
 dazzhng figures of speech are the great cause of force. At times 
 they may be, but simplicity in language and in the structure of 
 sentences is often most effective. If the mind labors to get the 
 meaning, it will be less impressed. What could be more effective 
 than, "A world of waters wide and deep "? 
 
 6. Force may be gained by dividing a general term into its 
 chief parts, and stating, or, it may be, describing each part sepa- 
 rately j as, " Neither /ove, sorrow, fame, ambiiion, nor strife (for
 
 246 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 no feelings) can cut his heart with the keen edge of silent, sharp 
 endurance." 
 
 7. Impressiveness, the outcome of force, is assured by building 
 an argument on a generally accepted basis ; e.g., if a person builds 
 a logical argument on such a basis as " the fatherhood of God and 
 the brotherhood of man," he will be sure to carry strong conviction 
 to the minds of his readers. 
 
 8. One source of force is the author's vivid conception of the 
 subject, accompanied by strong and deep emotion. As an exam- 
 ple, take this definition of history : " History is a mighty drama, 
 enacted upon the theatre of time, with suns for lamps and eternity 
 for a background." 
 
 9. Whatever contributes to perspicuity contributes likewise to 
 force. Hence simplicity, concreteness, and transparent clearness 
 of arrangement are of vital importance. 
 
 10. Force may sometimes be given by the form of the sentence. 
 For example, vigor is sometimes gained by a number of short sen- 
 tences, by inversion of the order, or by turning the expression into 
 the form of an exclamation or an interrogation. 
 
 11. Force may be obtained by a repetition of the same thought 
 in various forms or under various figures ; as, " How soon man is 
 forgotten. History fades into fable ; fact becomes clouded with 
 doubt and controversy ; the inscription moulders from the tablet ; 
 the statue falls from the pedestal." 
 
 12. One of the most effective means of adding force is the use 
 of appropriate and original figures of speech. This has already 
 been seen in preceding Lessons. 
 
 13. As was shown in discussing Strength, there are in the use 
 of language many devices that increase the force of style. All 
 these may be employed to intensify the effect. 
 
 14. One great source of force is originality. This may show 
 itself in the form, as in Carlyle ; in the conception, as in Newton. 
 
 15. Force, as well as other qualities of style, may be increased 
 by comparing the subject with some other whose impressive gran- 
 deur is well known. For example, a writer renders his portrayal
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 247 
 
 of the destruction done by the locusts more vivid by saying, " The 
 locusts have done what the winds and the lightnings could not do ; 
 and the whole promise of the vintage, leaves and all, is gone." 
 
 Pathos. 
 
 The quality of style that awakens tender emotions is usually 
 called Pathos, or Feeling. It is the power of producing in the 
 mind by means of language an effect similar to that which the 
 scenes or incidents would themselves have created. 
 
 Pathos is awakened by descriptions or relations of — 
 
 1. The love of parents for their children, of children for their 
 parents, or of persons of one sex for those of the other. 
 
 2. True friendship or self-sacrificing devotion to the interests 
 of others. See the story of Damon and Pythias. 
 
 3. Tender sentiments, humane actions, or whatever else tends 
 to increase human happiness or lessen human woe. 
 
 4. Scenes of suffering, misery, or distress. Those are all the 
 more touching when prominence is given to the heroism, meek- 
 ness, patience, or whatever serves to exhibit the nobility of the 
 character of the sufferer. 
 
 As style is only form of expression, we should distingin'sh clearly 
 between Pathos of subject and Pathos of style. Pathos of subject 
 is always the same, though it may affect different persons dif- 
 ferently, or even the same persons differently at different times : 
 but the pathos of style varies according to the manner in which 
 the subject is presented. In the statements that follow, pathos 
 of style only is considered. 
 
 Pathos may be increased — 
 
 I. By a clear and impressive presentation of the subject. For 
 example, a scene of distress may affect us but little if it is so 
 described as to give us but an imperfect idea of it. 
 
 Here, then, is room for the employment of all the devices that 
 contribute to perspicuity, picturesqueness, and force. Attention 
 should be given to what has been said under each of these heads ; 
 our feelings are reached through our intellect.
 
 248 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 2. By giving judicious care to the choice of such language and 
 imagery as, by their own power or by means of association, most 
 effectually touch the tender chords of our common human nature. 
 
 3. By having the circumstances and surroundings such as har- 
 monize with the scene. This implies that — 
 
 a. All discordant matter must be kept out. 
 
 b. Distracting particulars are to be avoided. 
 
 c. Only salient and essential features are to be dealt with. 
 
 d. All over-straining is to be eschewed. 
 
 e. Such particulars be chosen as really intensify the effect. 
 /. The natural scenery should be suitable. 
 
 g. Orators and poets often represent nature as being in sym- 
 pathy with the men and women of their story. 
 
 4. By introducing such associated circumstances as tend to 
 heighten the effect. This may be done — 
 
 a. By such epithets and phrases as tend to heighten the effect j 
 as, " That beautiful child of tender years." 
 
 b. By the incidental mention of touching features. 
 
 c. By a fuller statement, or from viewing a circumstance from 
 different standpoints. For example, the pain of personal bereave- 
 ment is made more impressive by dwelling on the graces and 
 excellences of the departed, the pang of separation, the void left 
 in the heart of the living, the difficulty of forming new friendships 
 when the warmth of youth is gone, or on the desolateness of life 
 without companionship. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXIV. 
 
 Force and Pathos. 
 
 Direction. — Examine these paragraphs. Point out the various devices 
 on which the force or pathos of the style depends. 
 
 1. I spoke boldly, freely, — in a word, I spoke with passion. 
 I concealed nothing — nothing even of my weakness. 
 
 2. Oh, but, my friend ! to think what a blow I am to give to 
 all her future prospects. How I am to strike her very soul to the
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 249 
 
 earth, by telling her that her husband is a beggar ; that she is to 
 forego all the elegancies of life — all the" pleasures of society — 
 to shrink with me into indigence and obscurity. 
 
 3. The heart is woman's world ; it is there her ambition strives 
 for empire ; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden treasures. 
 She sends forth her sympathies on adventure ; she embarks her 
 whole soul in the traffic of affection ; and if shipwrecked, her case 
 is hopeless — for it is a bankruptcy of the heart. 
 
 4. When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of 
 envy dies in me ; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every 
 inordinate desire goes out : when I meet with the grief of parents 
 upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion ; when I see 
 the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of griev- 
 ing for those whom we must quickly follow. When I see kings 
 lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits 
 placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with 
 their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment 
 on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. 
 When T read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died 
 yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great 
 day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our 
 appearance together. 
 
 5. If they had only taken pictures then as they do now ! — he 
 said. — All gone ! all gone ! Nothing but her face as she leaned 
 on the arms of her great chair ; and I would give a hundred 
 pounds for the poorest litde picture of her, such as you can buy 
 for a shilling of anybody that you don't want to see. — The old 
 gentleman put his hand to his forehead so as to shade his eyes. 
 I saw he was thinking f his mother. 
 
 6. But were I Brutus, and Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
 would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue in every wound of 
 Caesar that should move the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. 
 
 7. Here the vast bed of the waters, seamed and scarred into a 
 thousand conflicting channels, burst suddenly into frenzied con- 
 vulsion — heaving, boiling, hissing — gyrating in gigantic and in-
 
 250 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 numerable vortices, and all whirling and plunging on to the 
 eastward with a rapidity which water never elsewhere assumes 
 except in precipitous descents. 
 
 8. They had at this time attained an altitude of above three 
 miles and a half, having surmounted the highest strata of clouds. 
 What a place for two human beings to find themselves in, looking 
 upon sights never beheld but by the sun and moon, and by eyes 
 spiritual ! \Vho is to wonder at any enthusiasm excited by them ? 
 It seems to me that if I had been there I should have felt as if I 
 had no business in such a region till disembodied ; life and death 
 would have seemed to meet together, and their united wonders 
 oppressed me beyond endurance. 
 
 9. " He blenches not ! he blenches not ! " said Rebecca. " I 
 see him now ; he leads a body of men close under the outer 
 barrier of the barbican. They pull down the piles and palisades ; 
 they hew down the barriers with axes. His high black plume floats 
 abroad over the throng, like a raven over the field of the slain. 
 — They have made a breach in the barriers — they rush in — they 
 are thrust back ! Front-de-Boeuf heads the defenders ; I see his 
 gigantic form above the press. They throng again to the breach, 
 and the pass is disputed hand to hand, and man to man. God of 
 Jacob ! it is the meeting of two fierce tides — the conflict of two 
 oceans moved by adverse winds !" 
 
 She turned her head from the lattice, as if unable longer to 
 endure a sight so terrible. 
 
 10. And the king was much moved and went up to the cham- 
 ber over the gate, and wept ; and as he went thus he said, "O my 
 son Absolom, my son, my son Absolom ! Would to God I had 
 died for thee, O Absolom, my son, my son ! " 
 
 11. But who are those who make the streets their couch, and 
 find a short repose from wretchedness at the doors of the opulent? 
 These are strangers, wanderers and orphans, whose circumstances 
 are too humble to expect redress, and whose distresses are too 
 great even for pity. The world has disclaimed them ; society 
 turns its back upon their distress, and has given them up to 
 nakedness and hunger.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 25 I 
 
 12. On the barbarians came like an avalanche, a mountain tor- 
 rent, shaking the sohd earth, and sweeping away every obstacle in 
 its path. The little army of Spaniards opposed a bold front to 
 the overwhelming mass. But no strength could withstand it. 
 They faltered, gave way, were borne along before it, and their 
 ranks were broken and thrown into disorder. It was in vain the 
 general called on them to close again and rally. His voice was 
 drowned by the din of fight, and the fierce cries of the assailants. 
 For a moment it seemed that all was lost. The tide of battle had 
 turned against them, and the fate of the Christians was sealed. 
 
 13. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that 
 stood by him ; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from 
 me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made him- 
 self known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud ; and the 
 Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said 
 unto his brethren, I am Joseph ; doth my father yet live ? And 
 his brethren could not answer him ; for they were troubled at his 
 presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren. Come near to me, I 
 pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your 
 brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved 
 nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither : for God did 
 send me before you to preserve life. 
 
 14. I approached the grave. On the coffin was inscribed 
 " George Somers, aged twenty-six years." The poor mother had 
 been assisted to kneel down at the head of it. Her withered 
 hands were clasped, as if in prayer, but I could perceive by a 
 feeble rocking of the body, and a convulsive motion of the lips, 
 that she was gazing on the last relics of her son, with the yearn- 
 ings of a mother's heart. 
 
 Preparations were made to deposit the coffin in the earth. The 
 bustle around seemed to waken the mother from a wretched reverie. 
 She raised her glazed eyes, and looked about with a faint wildness. 
 As the men approached with cords to lower the coffin into the 
 grave, she wrung her hands, and broke into an agony of grief. 
 
 As they lowered the body into the earth, the creaking of the
 
 252 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 cords seemed to agonize her ; but when, on some accidental 
 obstruction, there was a justhng of the coffin, all the tenderness 
 of the mother burst forth ; I could see no more — my heart swelled 
 into my throat — my eyes filled with tears. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXV. 
 
 Rhetorical Analysis. 
 
 I. In No. 9 of the preceding Exercise, give your views on the 
 following points : — 
 
 a. What is the effect of repeating " blenches " ? 
 
 b. Would it be a gain or a loss to introduce a conjunction or 
 connective phrase between the different sentences? 
 
 c. "Close . o . barbican." Might the melody be improved ? 
 
 d. "They pull . . . palisades." Is the alUteration an advantage? 
 
 e. "Like . . . slain." What is the point of the comparison? 
 Is the simile used for ornament or illustration ? Does it make the 
 " floating of the plume " more easily comprehended? 
 
 /. To what is the animation of the description due ? 
 
 g. " Meeting . . . winds." Remark on the use and fitness of 
 the metaphors. Are they becoming in the mouth of the speaker? 
 Do they suit the scene ? 
 
 //. How does the length of the sentences harmonize with the 
 nature of the scene ? 
 
 /. Are the sentences arranged in natural order? 
 
 j. Is there a topic sentence? Does such a paragraph admit 
 of one ? 
 
 k. What qualities of style are prevalent in the passage? 
 
 /. By what devices are these qualities brought out? 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXVI. 
 
 Reproduction. 
 
 1. Make yourself fully master of the meaning of No. i of 
 Exercise LXXXIV. 
 
 2. Reproduce the ideas in such language as you can command.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 253 
 
 3. Compare your version with the original to see that you have 
 caught the exact meaning. 
 
 4. Criticise your words, sentences, paragraphs, and figures of 
 speech, 
 
 5 . Go through the Exercise, deahng with each of the parts in a 
 similar way. 
 
 LESSON XLL 
 
 THE LUDICROUS. 
 
 The Ludicrous embraces those quahties of style that stir the 
 comic or mirthful part of our nature. They appeal to our feelings, 
 but chiefly through the medium of our intellect. 
 
 Under the term " The Ludicrous " may be comprised, — Vituper- 
 ation, Satire, Sarcasm, Ridicule, Derision, Raillery, Wit, Humor. 
 
 Vituperation, whose chief feature is intense, yet restrained, 
 denunciation, does not necessarily provoke mirth. It may either 
 condemn its object to scorn or hold it up to ridicule. 
 
 Satire consists in such a description of the acts or character of 
 a person as exposes his weaknesses, foUies, or vices, and thereby 
 lays him open to ridicule. As its purpose is to reform men, it 
 lays bare only what is reprehensible in the management of public 
 affairs, or what is blameworthy in private morals. 
 
 Sarcasm. — When satire becomes virulent and denounces with 
 derision the character, conduct, or views of men, it is called 
 Sarcasm. 
 
 Ridicule consists in making the failings, errors, or vices of men 
 the subject of good-natured raillery. 
 
 Derision differs from ridicule in being ill-natured and scornful. 
 It is angry denunciation under the disguise of laughter. 
 
 Raillery is a gentler kind of ridicule, in which a person is 
 made the object of good-humored pleasantry or of slight satire.
 
 254 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 These qualities are rendered effective by, — 
 
 1. A command of suitable language. 
 
 2. A vigorous use of striking figures, such as Antithesis, Inu 
 endo, Epigram, Irony. 
 
 3. Clearness, pointedness, and simplicity of language. 
 
 4. Plausibility in the charge. 
 
 5. Originality. 
 
 6. Wit and humor. 
 
 Wit and Humor. 
 
 Wit consists chiefly in the discovery of incongruous combina- 
 tions or relations, or of unexpected resemblances. Two kinds of 
 wit may be noted : — 
 
 1. The first consists in discovering a point of similarity between 
 ideas or objects that are seldom associated, and that appear to 
 ordinary observation to be entirely unlike. 
 
 A great part of the pleasure derived from such works as Don 
 Quixote arises from the ludicrous or absurd situations in which 
 the characters are continually being placed. 
 
 2. The second consists in the discovery of a double meaning 
 for a word, in finding puns ; as, " When the Chief Justice threat- 
 ened to commit Sheridan, that gentleman replied, ' It will l)e the 
 best thing you ever committed.' " 
 
 Jests are minor witticisms, intended only to provoke laughter. 
 
 The pleasure arising from wit is that of surprise accompanied 
 by admiration. 
 
 Humor is that tone which, running through a composition, pro- 
 vokes in the reader a good-natured feeling that breaks out in a 
 smile, sometimes a laugh. It arises from the joining of things that 
 are incongruous, and from presenting objects and ideas in an odd 
 and unusual light. It does not, like wit, break out and sparkle at 
 points, but permeates every part of the subject with a genial glow 
 of delight. Humor is always kindly ; it never attempts to injure 
 or destroy, but is ever bathed in sympathy or tenderness. It 
 laughs not at men and things, but with them.
 
 QUALITIES OF STVLE. 255 
 
 Wit and humor, more, perhaps, than any other quahties of style, 
 are natural gifts. They cannot be acquired ; but as their effective- 
 ness is increased or diminished by the form in which they are 
 expressed, attention to language and to all the rules of correct 
 expression cannot fail to sweeten and smooth the channel through 
 which humor flows, or to point the language in which wit corus- 
 cates. To be effective they must, like other qualities of style, be 
 expressed in clear, chaste, and suitable language. 
 
 Among the kinds of composition in which wit and humor play 
 a prominent part are : — 
 
 1. Parody, in which some great or serious subject is degraded 
 by being applied to something of a lighter or lower nature. The 
 degradation is effected by the change of some of the words of the 
 original ; as, "To marry, or not to marry, that is the question." 
 
 2. Travesty, which consists in distorting or misinterpreting 
 character or action by giving it a garb that disguises its real 
 nature. 
 
 3. Mock-heroic, which treats mean or trivial things as if they 
 were of vast importance. Pope's Rape of the Lock is a prominent 
 example. 
 
 4. Burlesque, which amuses by representing a person as acting 
 a part that is unsuited to his character, or by placing him in situa- 
 tions unbecoming his actual station in society. Great men may 
 be represented as acting basely, or base men as acting nobly. 
 
 Esthetic Qualities. 
 
 The .^ilsthetic Qualities of style are those which tend to make 
 discourse gratifying to our sense of the beautiful. They embrace 
 Melody, Harmony, Taste, and Beauty. 
 
 I. Melody, as we have already seen, consists in using those 
 devices that make language pleasing to the ear. When spoken 
 of a whole composition, it includes, in addition to the melody of 
 which we have spoken in Lesson XXVII., a consideration of the 
 general effect of minute melody on the writing taken as a whole.
 
 256 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 The melody of the several sentences must blend harmoniously, 
 and must be adapted to the subject. 
 
 2. Harmony has a variety of appHcations, all of which are 
 important in composition. 
 
 a. It means, as previously stated, the adaptation of sound to 
 sense. 
 
 b. Harmony requires that all the parts of a composition should 
 correspond with one another. 
 
 (i) The language should be suitable to the subject, and be 
 expressive of the feelings of the speaker. 
 
 (2) The scene should correspond with the actions that take 
 place in it. 
 
 (3) The tone of feeling should be suited to the thoughts ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 (4) The different parts of a picture should correspond with one 
 another. It will not do to have a frozen river running through a 
 harvest-field. 
 
 See also what is said on page 135. 
 
 3. Taste in rhetoric means cultivated judgment, a refined 
 sensibility to the effects of all the expedients of composition. A 
 writer who possesses taste will avoid whatever is harsh and incon- 
 gruous. He will have everything chaste and in keeping. His 
 productions will not have excrescences on the one hand, or gaps 
 on the other. Symmetry will be one of his first excellences. His 
 diction will be choice and precise, but will be free from mannerism. 
 He will not carry striking artifices to excess. Everything coarse 
 or indelicate in figure or allusion will be avoided. Figures of 
 speech, the adornment of 'language, will be used sparingly and 
 gracefully ; no tawdry finery will be worked in ; no straining after 
 effect will be indulged. 
 
 The word " taste " is applied also to composition. Discourse 
 which is so written as to be pleasing to a person of refined literary 
 sensibility is said to be in good taste. 
 
 The term " beauty " is, likewise, often used to indicate in a gen- 
 eral way the possession of those qualities that gratify a cultured 
 intellect and refined feelings.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 257 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXVII. 
 
 The Ludicrous. 
 
 Direction. — Name the feature of the ludicrous that is prevalent in each 
 of the following sentences. Analyze each feature, and show on what each 
 depends. 
 
 1. He described a volcano as a mountain with a fireplace in it. 
 
 2. " It was probable," said the Indian king, as they viewed 
 Westminster Abbey, " that when this great work was begun, which 
 must have been many hundred years ago, there was some religion 
 among this people ; for they give it the name of a temple, and 
 have a tradition that it was designed for men to pay their devo- 
 tions in. And indeed there are several reasons which make us 
 think that the natives of this country had formerly among them 
 some sort of worship ; for they set apart every seventh day as 
 sacred : but upon my going into one of these holy houses on 
 that day, I could not observe any circumstance of devotion in 
 their behavior : there was indeed a man in black who was mounted 
 above the rest, and seemed to utter something with a great deal 
 of vehemence ; but as for those underneath him, instead of paying 
 their worship to the Deity of the place, they were most of them 
 bowing and courtesying to one another, and a considerable number 
 of them were fast asleep." 
 
 3. All the time, Mr. Winkle, with his face and hands blue with 
 the cold, had been forcing a gimlet into the soles of his feet, and 
 putting his skates on with the points behind, and getting the 
 straps into a very complicated and entangled state, with the assist- 
 ance of Mr. Snodgrass, who knew rather less about skates than a 
 Hindoo. 
 
 4. His son was generally seen trooping like a colt at his mother's 
 heels, equipped in a pair of his father's cast-off gallygaskins, which 
 he had much ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does 
 her train in bad weather. 
 
 5. An absent-minded professor, in going out of the gate of his 
 college, ran against a cow. In the confusion of the moment, he
 
 25^ COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 raised his hat and exclaimed, " I beg your pardon, madam." 
 Soon after, he stumbled against a lady in the street. In sudden 
 recollection of his former mishap, he called out, " Is that you 
 again, you brute? " 
 
 6. Harrowgate is the most heaven-forgotten country under the 
 sun. When I saw it, there were only nine mangy fir-trees there ; 
 and even they all leaned away from it. 
 
 7. Cranmer could vindicate himself from the danger of being a 
 heretic only by arguments which made him out to be a murderer. 
 
 8. It is the misfortune of your life, and originally the cause of 
 every reproach and distress which has attended your government, 
 that you should never have been acquainted with the language of 
 truth, until you heard it in the complaints of your people. 
 
 9. Two maxims of any great man at court are : always to keep 
 his countenance, and never to keep his word. 
 
 10. "Every other chief of a party," says Carnot, "has found 
 apologists : one set of men exalts the Girondists, another set 
 justifies Danton, a third deifies Robespierre; but Barere has 
 remained without a defender. We venture to suggest a very 
 simple solution of this phenomenon. All the other chiefs of 
 parties had some good qualities ; and Barere had none. The 
 genius, courage, patriotism, and humanity of the Girondists states- 
 men more than atoned for what was culpable in their conduct, and 
 should have protected them from the insult of being compared 
 with such a man as Barere. Danton and Robespierre were indeed 
 bad men; but in bath of them some important parts of the mind 
 remained sound. Danton was brave and resolute, fond of pleas- 
 ure, of power, and of distinction ; with vehement passions, with 
 lax principles, but with some kind and manly feelings ; capable 
 of great crimes, but capable also of friendship and of compassion. 
 He, therefore, naturally finds admirers among persons of bold and 
 sanguine dispositions. Robespierre was a vain, envious, and sus- 
 picious man, with a hard heart, weak nerves, and a gloomy temper. 
 But we cannot with truth deny that he was disinterested, that his 
 private life was correct, or that he was zealous fur his own system
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 259 
 
 of politics and morals. He, therefore, naturally finds admirers 
 among honest but moody and bitter democrats. If no class has 
 taken the reputation of Barere under its patronage, the reason is 
 plain : Barere had not a single virtue, nor even the semblance 
 of one." 
 
 11. Railroad travelling is a delightful improvement of human 
 life. Man is become a bird ; he can fly longer and quicker than 
 a Solan goose. The mamma rushes sixty miles in two hours, to 
 the aching fingers of her conjugating and declining grammar boy. 
 The early Scotchman scratches hnnself in the morning mists of the 
 North, and has his porridge in Piccadilly before the setting sun. 
 
 1 2. " Do you think I shall have justice done me ? " said a culprit 
 to his counsel, a shrewd Kentucky lawyer of the best class of that 
 eloquent state. " I am a little afraid that you will not," replied the 
 other ; " I see two men on the jury who are opposed to hanging." 
 
 13. Some one threw a head of cabbage at an Irish orator while 
 he was making a speech. He paused a second, and said, "Gentle- 
 men, I asked only for your ears ; I don't care for your heads." 
 
 14. Two sons of the Green Isle, travelling, came in sight of a 
 gibbet, or gallows, in a lonely field. One of them said to the 
 other, "Where would you be, if that gallows had its due?" — 
 " Oh ! " he replied, " I should be travelling alone." 
 
 15. Her face resembles a congress at the close of a general 
 war, wherein all the members, even to her eyes, appear to have a 
 different interest, and her nose and chin are the only parties likely 
 to join issue. 
 
 16. Plato having defined man to be a bii)ed without feathers, 
 Diogenes plucked a rooster and carried it to Plato's school, with 
 the remark, " Here's Plato's man." 
 
 17. Cond6 admired William III. ; he also admired his lap-dog. 
 
 18. You are too severe on the widow. It is not that she paints 
 so badly ; but, when she has finished her face, she joins it on so 
 badly with the neck, that she looks like a mended statue, in which 
 the connoisseur may see at once that the head is modern and the 
 trunk is antique.
 
 260 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXVIII. 
 
 ^Esthetic Qualities. 
 
 Direction. — Point out the aesthetic qualities. State to what each is due, 
 and remark on the rhetorical gain. 
 
 1. Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back. 
 Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the 
 shadowy future, without fear and with a manly heart. 
 
 2. She is dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from 
 trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh 
 from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life, not one 
 who had lived and suffered death. 
 
 3. The wood I walk in on this mild May day, with the young 
 yellow-brown foliage of the oaks between me and the blue sky, 
 the white star-flowers, and the blue-eyed speedwell, and the 
 ground ivy at my feet, — what grove of tropic palms, what strange 
 ferns, or splendid broad-petaled blossoms could ever thrill such 
 deep and delicate fibres within me as the home scene ? 
 
 4. As he had sometimes felt, gazing up from the deck at mid- 
 night into the boundless starlit depths overhead, in a rapture of 
 devout wonder at that endless brightness and beauty, — in some 
 such a way now, the depth of this pure devotion quite smote upon 
 him, and filled his heart with thanksgiving. 
 
 5. April advanced to May; a bright serene May it was; days 
 of blue sky, placid sunshine, and soft western or southern gales 
 Ailed up its duration. Lo ! wood shook loose its tresses ; it became 
 all green, all flowery ; woodland plants sprang up profusely in its 
 recesses, unnumbered varieties of moss filled its hollows, making 
 a strange ground-sunshine out of the wealth of its wild primrose 
 plants. 
 
 6. There was nothing to mar her delight in the whispers and 
 the dreamy silences, when she listened to the light dipping sounds 
 of the rising fish and the gentle rustling, as if the willows and the 
 reeds and the water had their happy whisperings also.
 
 QUALITIES OF STYLE. 26l 
 
 7. The slanting light of the setting sun quivers on the sea-like 
 expanse of the river. The shivery canes and the tall dark cypress, 
 hung with wreaths of dark funereal moss, glow in the golden ray, 
 as the heavily laden steamboat marches onward. 
 
 8. These home scenes are the mother-tongue of our imagination, 
 the language that is laden with all the subtle inextricable associa- 
 tions the fleeting hours of our childhood left behind them. Our 
 delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass to-day might be 
 no more than the faint perception of wearied .souls, if it were not 
 for the sunshine and grass of far-off years, which still live in us, 
 and transform our perception into love. (Are the diction and 
 rhythm beyond the limits of prose? Give reasons for your 
 answer.) 
 
 9. "Willingly," saidst thou? Ay, as willingly as when in the 
 Gulf of Lyons, I flung over my merchandise to lighten the ship, 
 while she labored in the tempest — robed the seething billows in 
 my choice silks, perfumed their briny foam with myrrh and aloes, 
 enriched their caverns with gold and silver work. (Are the figures 
 too abundant?) 
 
 10. When I married him, the bald spot on his head was not 
 much bigger than a silver dollar. Now the top of his head is as 
 smooth and clean as one of our China dinner-plates ; and if a 
 Aorse-jockey was to try to judge of his age by looking at his teeth, 
 he would be baffled, not because he has none, but because they 
 are Hke hen's teeth, few and far between. But still pure love tri- 
 umphs over lost teeth and vanished sandy hair. There is not a man 
 on earth who looks so good to me. (Give reasons why the figures 
 do, or do not, meet your views of the requirements of taste.) 
 
 11. The winding river gleamed like silver far below, the shadows 
 gathered over mountain and valley, and a solemn awe filled the 
 soul. Down, down as far as the eye could reach, the mighty 
 torrent rushed and tumbled in great jumps over gigantic rocks 
 that have broken away from above, and settled in the narrow bed. 
 (Point out the cause of the melody in the first sentence, and of 
 the harmony in the second.)
 
 262 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 12. The Duke of Bedford is the leviathan among all the crea- 
 tures of the crown. He tumbles about his unwieldy bulk; he 
 plays and frolics in the ocean of the royal bounty. Huge as he 
 is, and while he lies, "floating many a rood," he is still a creature. 
 His ribs, his fins, his whalebone, his blubber, the very spiracles 
 through which he spouts a torrent of brine against his origin, and 
 covers me all over with the spray, — everything of him and about 
 him is from the throne. (Inquire whether the vituperation goes 
 beyond the bounds. of good taste.) 
 
 13. These, our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits, and are 
 melted into air, into thin air. And like the baseless fabric of this 
 vision, the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn 
 temples, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dis- 
 solve, and, like this unsubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rock 
 behind. (Do the words harmonize with the thought?) 
 
 14. "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation, 
 rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her 
 invincible locks; methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her 
 mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday 
 beam ; purging and unsealing her long-abused sight at the fountain 
 itself of the heavenly radiance ; while the whole noise of timorous 
 and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter 
 about, amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble 
 would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms." (Show that 
 the language harmonizes with the thought.)
 
 LETTERS. 263 
 
 LESSON XLII. 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 A Letter is a written communication sent by one person to 
 another. 
 
 Importance. — To people in general there is no part of com- 
 position so important as letter-writing. Almost every person needs 
 to make use of it at some time in his hfe. In fact, it is the 
 only kind of composition that most people ever write. It should, 
 therefore, receive a due share of attention in any course of instruc- 
 tion intended to fit young people for the practical duties of life. 
 
 Kinds. — Letters are generally classed under two heads, — 
 Familiar Letters and Business Letters. 
 
 Form. — In the form of a letter the following points require 
 attention : the Heading, the Address, the Body of the Letter, the 
 Conclusion, and the Superscription. 
 
 I. The Heading consists of two parts, (i) the place, (2) the 
 date. 
 
 a. In letters written from a small town, village, or country 
 place, the name of the post-office and of the state is sufficient ; 
 but in writing from a city, the street and the door-number should 
 be given, as well as the name of the city and of the state. Some- 
 times the name of a hotel or public institution is used instead of 
 the street and door-number. 
 
 h. The date consists of the month, the day of the month, ?nd 
 the year. Abbreviations are commonly used ; as Dec. loth, 1889, 
 or loth Dec, 1889. 
 
 c. The heading stands at such a distance front the top of the 
 page, and from the right edge, as good taste may dictate. It may 
 consist of one, two, or three lines. When there are more than 
 one, the date occupies one line, and the lines slope to the right, 
 (See specimens.)
 
 264 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 2. The Address has four parts : (i) the name ; (2) the title ; 
 (3) the place of business, or the residence ; (4) the salutation. 
 
 a. The address stands on the left, beginning on the next line 
 below the heading. 
 
 l>. The first two parts are written on the first line, the third part 
 on the second line, and the fourth on the succeeding Hne. These 
 lines may all slope to the right, or the first two may slope and the 
 third begin under the first. 
 
 c. The title should be appropriate to the person addressed. 
 Those commonly used are : To the name of a young lady, Miss 
 is prefixed ; of a married lady or widow, Mrs. ; of a lad, Master ; 
 of a man without special title, Mr. (with its plural Messrs. for 
 more than one man) . Instead of Mr., Esq. after the name is fre- 
 quently used, and is considered preferable in addressing men in 
 liberal professions. To the name of a clergyman is prefixed Rev. 
 or Rev. Mr. ; if he is a Doctor of Divinity or of Medicine, Rev. 
 Dr. or Rev. may be written before the name and D.D. or 'M.D. 
 after it. When a person has a professional title, as Dr., Pres., 
 Capf., Col., Prof., it should be used. Hon. stands before the 
 name of a cabinet officer, a member of Congress, or of the state 
 legislature, a judge, or a mayor. His Excellency precedes the 
 name of the President, a governor, or an ambassador. The Presi- 
 dent of the United States is addressed simply Mr. President. 
 
 d. The salutation should be in keeping with the title as well as 
 with the writer's relation to the one addressed. It may be Sir, 
 Dear Sir, My dear Sir, Madam, Dear Madam, My dear Madam, 
 Rev. Sir, Dear Mr. Mobcrly, My dear Mr. Moberly, Dear 
 Mary, etc. 
 
 e. In business letters the whole address is generally written as 
 indicated in ((?), but in familiar and official letters the salutation 
 usually stands alone at the beginning, and the remainder of the 
 address is placed below the conclusion on the left side. 
 
 3. The Body of the Letter follows at the end of the saluta- 
 tion, and on the same line, if the address occupies three or four 
 lines ; otherwise, on the line below it.
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 265 
 
 4. The conclusion consists of (i) the Complimentary Close, 
 (2) the Signature. 
 
 a. The conclusion begins on the next line below the body of 
 the letter, its parts slope to the right, and the last words stand a 
 little distance from the right edge of the sheet. 
 
 b. The complimentary close consists of some words of attach- 
 ment or of respect and should always correspond with the salu- 
 tation. Yours truly, Truly yours, Yours respectfully, Your friend, 
 Yours faithfully, Your obedient servant, and many other such 
 terms are used. 
 
 c. The signature consists of the full name of the writer. With 
 friends, the initials of the Christian name may be used. In writing to 
 a stranger, a lady should place {Miss) or {Mrs.) before her signature. 
 
 5. The superscription, or address on the envelope, has three 
 parts: (i) the name; (2) the title; (3) the place of business, or 
 the residence. 
 
 a. These should be the same as in the address, with such addi- 
 tional particulars as to the street, door-number, city, state, as will 
 ensure the safe delivery of the letter. 
 
 b. The name should be written about the middle of the envelope, 
 and the other items should slope to the right as in the address, so 
 that the last word ends near the right corner. Thus : — 
 
 ' 
 
 STAMP. 
 
 c 

 
 266 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Familiar Letters are chiefly confined to personal matters that 
 concern only the writer and the person addressed, but they may 
 include a very wide range of subjects. Sometimes they go far 
 beyond this limit and embrace narrations, descriptions, or even 
 disquisitions, that are of interest to the two friends. 
 
 Style. — Whatever the nature of the subject or matters treated 
 of in familiar letters, the style should be simple, easy, and natural. 
 As letters are the best expedient that can be adopted in place of 
 conversation, the language should be clear, vigorous, and collo- 
 quial. All straining after effect, all elaboration of diction, all far- 
 fetched ornaments are out of place and lessen the reader's pleas- 
 ure by leaving the impression that the letter was not sent simply 
 out of friendship, as is professed, but for some other object, pre- 
 sumably the glorification of the writer. All such manifestations 
 of self-interest freeze the flow of true friendship, and transform 
 letters into cold and formal essays. As essays they may possess 
 all the excellences of superior composition ; yet they lack the 
 touch of nature that binds heart to heart. In saying this, it is not 
 meant that the style should be careless and slovenly, that no 
 attention is to be given to neatness and beauty, that all wit, humor, 
 and liveliness are to be excluded. On the contrary, let there be 
 all of these qualities and characteristics possible, but let them be 
 such as naturally suggest themselves ; not the result of effort, but 
 the spontaneous outflow of sympathy, and the promptings of a 
 warm and affectionate nature. In letters of true friendship the 
 head is the handmaid, not the mistress, of the heart. Lastly, let 
 it be observed that though the predominant feature of the style 
 of familiar letters is naturalness and ease, yet from the variety of 
 subjects that may be introduced, the general rules of composition 
 apply and should in due subordination exert their proper influence. 
 
 Notes of Invitation. — Formal notes are written in the third 
 person, and are without heading, introduction, or conclusion. 
 The name of the place and the date are written at the bottom at 
 the left side of the page. The answer should be as nearly as 
 possible in the same form as the original note, thus : —
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 267 
 
 Mrs. Smith requests the pleas- 
 ure of Mr. and Mrs. Gamble's 
 company on next Tuesday even- 
 ing at eight o'clock. 
 
 ^8 Pine Street, Aug. 5 th. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gamble accept 
 with pleasure Mrs. Smith's kind 
 invitation for next Tuesday 
 evening. 
 
 107 Maple Street, Aug. 5th. 
 
 Business Letters. — In business letters, the chief requisites 
 are clearness, neatness, and brevity. As few words as possible 
 should be used, and all irrelevant matter omitted. A reply to a 
 letter should follow the order therein, and should discuss each 
 subject separately. Care must be taken to word every sentence 
 so that there can be no possibility of mistaking the meaning. 
 
 Capitals and Punctuation. — The general rules are that 
 
 every important word begins with a capital, all items are followed 
 
 by commas, and the whole of each part is closed by a period. 
 
 The salutation is, however, followed by a comma and a dash, 
 
 sometimes by a colon. 
 
 Exa77iple : — 
 
 493 Jefferson Ave., 
 
 Detroit, Mich., 
 
 Aug. 8, 1793. 
 
 My dear Sir, — 
 
 Phihp Towler, Esq., 
 Findlay, O. 
 
 I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 Ever most affectionately yours, 
 Geo. Canning.
 
 268 
 
 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Dearest Edward, — 
 
 382 Pennsylvania St., 
 Buffalo, N.Y., 
 
 May II, 181 1. 
 
 E. H. Black, Esq., 
 
 Chicago Theo. Seminary, 
 45 Warren Ave., 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 I am, your kindest brother, 
 John Wilson. 
 
 Messrs. Hare & Smith, 
 Pittsburg, Pa. 
 
 Gentlemen, — 
 
 297 Washington St., 
 Buffalo, N.Y., 
 
 May 9, 1889. 
 
 We remain, 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 Thomson & Co, 
 
 J. C. Selover, Esq., 
 
 75 New St., New York. 
 Dear Sir, — 
 
 300 Hamburg Ave., 
 Paterson, N.J., 
 June 8, 1888. 
 
 I am. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. L. Lewis.
 
 LETTERS. 269 
 
 162 S. Clark St., 
 Chicago, 111., 
 
 May 5, 18S9. 
 Messrs. Jones & Co., 
 Denver, Col. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Having set up in business here with pros- 
 pects of good success, I desire to open an account with your house, 
 and trust it will be to our mutual advantage. With this view, I 
 enclose order to be filled with the least possible delay, and on 
 your lowest terms. As this is a first transaction, upon the receipt 
 of the invoice, less the discount for cash, I will send my check for 
 the amount. 
 
 Referring you to Messrs. Henderson & Co., of this place, 
 
 I am, gentlemen, 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 W. L. Stevens. 
 
 EXERCISE LXXXIX. 
 
 Letters. 
 
 Direction. — Write the following in the proper form of a letter as illus- 
 trated in the specimens. Give attention to the position of the parts, to 
 capitals, punctuation, and all other points. 
 
 1. 249 nassau st. hamilton o august loth 1891 messrs moss 
 James & co richmond n y gentlemen we remain gen- 
 tlemen yours respectfully harper henderson & co. 
 
 2. Washington d c march 14th 1890 my dear son 
 
 your father henry Jameson samuel Jameson 97 fifth st Cincinnati. 
 
 3. brooklyn april 21st 1891 gentlemen yours obe- 
 diently mills & tilton to messrs c moore & co 100 45 th n y. 
 
 4. Write a letter to a supposed cousin, Andrew King, at 169 
 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit. Date the letter at your own home. 
 
 5. Illustrate the form of a letter to Messrs. Jones, Smith, & Co., 
 Toledo, Ohio, remitting a check. Date the letter at your place 
 of business.
 
 2/0 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XLIII. 
 
 THE PLAN. 
 
 Invention means finding out what to say and the best plan on 
 which to arrange what is said. 
 
 The Difficulty. — In the former part of this work, we have 
 spoken chiefly of the dress in which our thoughts are clothed, now 
 we come to speak of the thoughts themselves and of the methods 
 of discourse. With young writers, this is the most difficult and 
 discouraging part of composition. When they have thoughts, as 
 in conversation or in letter-writing, they can always manage to 
 express them in some way. But how to get the thoughts? how 
 to tell what to say? that is the real difficulty. The following 
 hints, if carefully attended to, will afford some assistance. 
 
 How to begin. — When a subject has been selected, the 
 student must set to work to think over it. As thoughts come into 
 the mind he should note them down. It is not necessary to 
 write them out in full, but merely to make such a note of them 
 as will enable him to recall them when needed. 
 
 How to get Thoughts. — When thoughts do not come, they 
 can sometimes be drawn out by asking How? When? Why? 
 Where? Then, again, ideas may be found by conversing with 
 people who know something of the subject ; they may also be 
 gathered from the works of those who have written on the same 
 or on similar subjects. The learner should always think over 
 what is acquired in this way and try to make the thoughts his 
 own, so that when he comes to express them, he may be able to 
 do so in his own language. 
 
 Construction. — After all available material has been col- 
 lected, and the subject has been thought over till it is fairly 
 understood, the next thing to do is to arrange the matter under 
 distinct heads. Usually it is well to have but few divisions ; they 
 should be entirely separate, and should lead naturally and easily
 
 THE PLAN. 271 
 
 from point to point in the subject. Ample time should be given 
 to making a simple, clear, and logical framework. 
 
 When the material is all under the eye in the form of notes, 
 search it carefully for the leading thoughts. Be sure you do not 
 rank as principal, any of the thoughts that may be classified under 
 some one of the general heads. See that no point is allowed to 
 appear twice, disguised under different words. If you find any 
 points that at first seem relevant, but on further consideration, are 
 not so, throw them out without hesitation. 
 
 In every kind of discourse the question of order is vital. No 
 subject can be written out clearly unless the framework is regular 
 and symmetrical. There is always one order that is superior to 
 all others. Study your material till you find it. 
 
 Amplification. — When the material has been arranged under 
 the different heads, the next thing to be done is to treat each 
 head as a separate subject, but also as forming part of a whole. 
 In thinking these over, note down carefully, as before, all the 
 thoughts that arise ; seek for illustrations of the main idea in 
 the topic, and of each thought or view that it contains. Find 
 also, if you can, some apt quotation by which your point may 
 be enforced. When all the thoughts and illustrations that can be 
 obtained are noted down, begin to arrange them in logical order. 
 Then in thought review the whole again and again, till the mind 
 has mastered every part of it and is in a manner filled with it. 
 When this is done, all is ready to begin the labor of writing out. 
 
 Form. — Every theme, when complete, consists of three parts 
 — the Introduction, the Discussion, and the Conclusion. 
 
 The Introduction usually consists of two parts. The first part 
 contains one or more sentences that prepare the way for the 
 second part. This consists of a statement of the proposition or 
 subject to be discussed. Sometimes the two parts are combined, 
 or the first part is omitted altogether. 
 
 The Discussion is the methodical development of the proposi- 
 tion. This should grow naturally from the leading thought, and 
 should proceed on a well arranged plan.
 
 2/2 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 The Conclusion is that part of discourse by which it is prop- 
 erly completed. It may be used to repeat the chief points, to 
 remove doubts, to explain difficulties, to enlist sympathies, or 
 to strengthen convictions. In it the most elaborate expressions 
 may be used ; the last sentence should be one of such finished 
 beauty that it will linger in the hearer's mind. 
 
 Writing out. — It has been said that teachers never can be 
 good writers, because their mind is so much set on correctness 
 of form, that the warmth of feeling is chilled, and the flow of ideas 
 is cramped. There is much truth in this, as a general proposition. 
 If the mind is trammelled with rules and formulas, it does not act 
 with freedom, but with a stiffness that mars the beauty of the 
 production. In view of this fact, it will be found best to write on 
 as freely and rapidly as the thoughts come to the mind, without 
 paying much attention to the words used, to the rhetorical form 
 of the sentences, to grammatical rules, or to anything except the 
 expression of the thought. It is a good plan to write the lines 
 some distance apart, so as to allow space for interlining. 
 
 Review. — After the whole essay, or any one of the parts, has 
 been written out, read it over carefully to see if all the thoughts 
 have been expressed, and expressed in the proper place, as well 
 as in the most suitable manner. If the first writing seems generally 
 unsatisfactory, rewrite the whole again, and even a third time. 
 Such labor will be amply repaid. 
 
 Criticism. — After the writing out has been finished, the work 
 of criticism should begin. In this part of the task, the following 
 points should receive due attention : — 
 
 1. The spelling and the grammatical structure of the sentences 
 should be carefully examined. 
 
 2. The words employed should be examined under the rules 
 laid down for Diction. 
 
 3. The sentences should be closely considered, to see whether 
 they conform to all the principles that govern the Formation of 
 Sentences. 
 
 4. The figures of speech should be examined to see that they 
 are well conceived and appropriate.
 
 THE PLAN. 273 
 
 5. In criticising the illustrations and quotations, one should 
 inquire whether they bring out or enforce the exact points that 
 are to be made clear or prominent. 
 
 6. No word or form of expression should be repeated so fre- 
 quently as to make the style stiff or monotonous. 
 
 7. The sentences must be smoothly and logically connected 
 with one another, and properly marked off into paragraphs. 
 
 8. The paragraphs must be joined so as not to break up the 
 continuity of the writing. 
 
 LESSON XLIV. 
 
 PRACTICE IN COMPOSITION. — A PARAGRAPH. 
 
 As we have previously seen, the paragraph is a complete com- 
 position. Now, all discourse consists only of a number of para- 
 graphs, properly arranged and connected ; hence, when a person 
 has learned to write one paragraph correctly, he has in some sense 
 mastered the art of composition. 
 
 Since the paragraph is the next larger division of discourse after 
 the sentence, it follows that, when one has learned how to write a 
 sentence, the next step is to learn how to form a paragraph. 
 
 In order to make this part of the subject as practical as possi- 
 ble, it is proposed to go through the construction of a number of 
 paragraphs, as produced in the ordinary course of school work. 
 
 First Example. 
 
 The class are requested to write a paragraph of four or five sen- 
 tences on " The Importance of Farming." To assist them the 
 following hints are given : — 
 
 1. The paragraph is to consist of three parts : a topic sentence, 
 reasons why " farming is important," and a conclusion. 
 
 2. As the first sentence contains the general statement, the
 
 2/4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 thought has not to be sought for ; the form of expression is all 
 that is necessary to find. 
 
 3. The body of the paragraph will contain the statements that 
 go to establish the topic, to illustrate, or to enforce it. 
 
 4. To find these ask yourself, To whom is it important? How 
 is it important? Why is it important? How can I illustrate each 
 or any of these points ? 
 
 5. Lastly will come a reflection forming the conclusion. 
 
 After all the exercises are brought in, read, and marked, two are 
 selected, placed on the blackboard, and criticised with the assist- 
 ance of the class. Then these two paragraphs are given to the 
 whole class to study, correct, and return. 
 
 The marks on the margin are made to indicate the suggestions 
 for improvement. 
 
 First Paragraph. 
 
 * Cap P Farming is An Important industry 
 
 D ' ^ It is well known to every person that "farming 
 
 W is one of the best industries in the world. It 
 
 WD is an employment for the poor laboring men 
 
 D during the year. It increases navigation very 
 
 K Ex much by shipping grain to other countries 
 
 W where they grow none. It provides food and 
 
 St Cap Gr other things that are necessary to keep us, if 
 
 D it was not for the farmers how would the city 
 
 W P or town people live. Since farming is the best 
 
 D W industry going the people that are not farmers 
 
 C should help the farmers as much as they could. 
 
 * For explanation of the symbols used, see " Correcting Compositions," below.
 
 11 
 
 W 
 
 w 
 
 P 
 
 D 
 
 
 Cn 
 
 
 D 
 
 P 
 
 W 
 
 
 W 
 
 P 
 
 W 
 
 Cap 
 
 P 
 
 
 W 
 
 11 
 
 Gr 
 
 P 
 
 W 
 
 
 THE PLAN. 275 
 
 Second Paragraph. 
 
 Cap Farming is An Important Industry. 
 
 Farming is an important industry not only 
 to the farmer, but to the whole community. 
 The farmer not only works for himself as some 
 stingy men do who despise the farmer, but he 
 works for the benefit of others. It has been 
 
 D well said that the farmer is a slave and also a 
 patriot to his country. The farmer is the chief 
 
 D member of business and as the mainspring of 
 a watch keeps the other members in motion 
 so the farmer by his incessant toil keeps the 
 business world in motion. Thus we see, if it 
 was not for the farmer the world would soon 
 be in a sad condition. 
 
 The following are two of those returned. 
 
 First Paragraph Rewritten. 
 
 Farming is an hnportant Industry. 
 
 Farming is one of the chief industries in the world. It fur- 
 nishes employment for laboring men. It increases the commerce, 
 the wealth, and the power of a country. For example, the ship- 
 ping trade exists chiefly to carry produce from one country to 
 another. By it, food and other necessaries of life are supplied. 
 If it were not for the farmer how would the city people live? 
 Since farming is so important, it should receive every encourage- 
 ment from the State. 
 
 Second Paragraph Rewritten. 
 
 Farming is an Important Industry. 
 
 Farming is an important industry not only to the farmer, but to 
 the entire community. The farmer works both for himself and 
 for others. His is the foundation of almost every other industry.
 
 276 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 As the mainspring of a watch keeps the other parts in motion, 
 so the farmer by his incessant toil keeps the business world 
 moving. Indeed, it has been well said, " The farmer is a slave 
 and a patriot to his country." So we see, if it were not for the 
 farmer, all other industries would soon come to a stand-still. 
 
 Second Example. 
 
 In this instance the theme, " Why is Labor Necessary ? " is 
 given to the class with the same general instructions. The ques- 
 tion. What shall form the subordinate heads of the paragraph? 
 is then discussed. It is asked, Why is labor necessary? Various 
 answers are given. These are all written down, and from among 
 them the following are selected as subordinate heads : — 
 
 1. In order to obtain a living. 
 
 2. For the promotion of health. 
 
 3. To bring forth the fruits of the earth. 
 
 4. To develop manufactures and arts. 
 
 Of the paragraphs written, one is here selected. It is marked 
 as in the margin, and returned to be rewritten. Below are the 
 original and the improved copy. 
 
 Original Paragraph. 
 
 IV/iy Labor is Necessary. 
 
 W St There are many reasons why every one must 
 
 P do a certain amount of labor. In the first 
 
 C place there are a great many people who could 
 
 Trt not obtain a livelihood were it not for the work 
 
 D P W Gr we do, and to these idleness would mean pov- 
 
 St P erty and perhaps starvation. In the next place 
 
 Too formal P Ind it is csscntial to good health and happiness, 
 
 Happiness is de- f for the most miserable persons are generally 
 
 pendent on health. j found to be those who are most inchned to 
 
 " For," etc., is not t-^^,. -r%-i i- •!_ 
 
 a reason for what ^ lazincss. Besides this, much labor must be 
 precedes. \v - performed before the earth gives forth her
 
 THE PLAN, 277 
 
 '■' for," etc., not a reason, incrcasc, for manufactures and agriculture can- 
 Already included s not bc Carried on without the constant employ- 
 P ment of large numbers of men. Thus it would 
 W ^same°cllr^*"' bc impossiblc to Hvc were it not for the labor 
 of some, and impossible to enjoy Hfe unless we 
 W S Inc ourselves do a certain amount of work. 
 
 Rewritten. 
 
 W/iy Labor is Necessary. 
 
 There are vartous reasons why every one must labor. In the 
 first place, most people are dependent on their own exertions for 
 a livelihood ; to them idleness means poverty, and perhaps star- 
 vation. Further, our bodies are so formed that they cannot be 
 vigorous unless employed in labor, either voluntary or enforced. 
 Labor is, therefore, essential to health, the great source of happi- 
 ness ; indeed, the idle are the most miserable, both in body and 
 in mind. Besides, much labor must be performed before the 
 earth will yield her increase ; nor can manufactures, or, in short, 
 any industry be carried on without the continued toil of large 
 numbers of men. Thus, it would be impossible to live without the 
 labor of the many, and equally impossible to enjoy life without 
 doing some kind of work. 
 
 EXERCISE XC. 
 
 Writing Paragraphs. 
 
 Direction. — Note the directions given in the preceding Lesson, and then 
 write a paragraph on each of the following subjects. Lay your exercise aside, 
 and the next day criticise it closely under Diction, Formation of Sentences, 
 Construction of Paragraphs. After this is done, write it over, inserting your 
 emendations. 
 
 1 . Pleasures of Spring. 
 
 2. The Evil of War. 
 
 3. Unity is Strength. 
 
 4. The Importance of the Period of Youth.
 
 2/8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 5. The Difference between Labor and Exercise. 
 
 6. We need Rest. 
 
 7. The Benefit of Adversity. 
 
 8. Flattery is Agreeable. 
 
 9. Money is a good Friend. 
 
 10. Virtue is its own Reward. 
 
 11. All the World is a Prison. 
 
 12. Silence is Golden. 
 
 13. Time is Money. 
 
 14. The study of English. 
 
 15. Character is the Valuable Possession. 
 
 LESSON XLV. 
 
 PRACTICE IN COMPOSITION. — A THEME. 
 
 Having in the preceding Lesson obtained an idea of how to con- 
 struct a paragraph, we may now attempt a complete theme, or 
 collection of paragraphs. In doing so, we follow a class through 
 this greater effort. The subject chosen is " Cheerfulness is pro- 
 ductive of Happiness." To assist in making the framework, the 
 following suggestions are made : — 
 
 1. The essay, like the paragraphs already written, consists of 
 three parts : Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion. 
 
 2. The first and last part may be one short paragraph each, the 
 second may consist of several paragraphs. 
 
 3. The Introduction and Conclusion may be written as sug- 
 gested in Lesson XL. 
 
 4. The proposition is submitted to be estabhshed by reasons. 
 We must, therefore, search for such as will support the statement. 
 The chief question to keep before the mind is. How? 
 
 5. To find reasons, turn the subject over and over in your mind, 
 asking yourself, " How is cheerfulness conducive to happiness?"
 
 THE PLAN. 279 
 
 Read anything you can find that in any way bears upon the sub- 
 ject. Note down any thoughts as soon as you get them. 
 
 6. After the thoughts are noted down, select such as you think 
 suitable, and arrange them in order. 
 
 The following is one of the frameworks brought in. 
 
 Theme : Cheerfulness is Productive of Happiness. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 1. Introduction : The general statement. 
 
 1 1. Discussion : — • 
 Reasons : — 
 
 1. A cheerful man expects to find others cheerful. 
 
 2. The heart becomes light. 
 
 3. It fits one for social life. 
 
 4. It tends to make others happy. 
 
 5. Sorrow is banished. 
 
 6. Thought of sliglits or insults in mere jokes is ex- 
 
 pelled. 
 
 in. Conclusion : Let us endeavor to be cheerful. 
 
 This framework is placed on the blackboard and carefully exam- 
 ined with the assistance of the class. It is then given to the class 
 to study and bring back improved. 
 
 Below are the suggestions for improvement. 
 
 I; Divide the Introduction into two parts, an introductory sen- 
 tence and a fuller statement of the theme. 
 
 2. Reason No. i. "What a man expects to find" is not a 
 reason why " Cheerfulness is productive of happiness." 
 
 3. No. 2. This, although poorly expressed, is a good reason. 
 
 4. No. 3. As the pleasures of social life are among the chief 
 sources of our happiness, whatever fits us for that life, enhances 
 our happiness. Express this " reason " better. 
 
 5. No. 4 might be used in showing how cheerfulness indirectly 
 contributes to happiness.
 
 280 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. No. 5 may be worked in with No. 2. 
 
 7. No. 6 will have to be thrown out, as it does not bear directly 
 on the theme. It may perhaps be used somewhere as an illus- 
 tration. 
 
 From the complete frameworks returned the following is selected 
 and given to the class to be written out. 
 
 Theme : Cheerfulness is Productive of Happiness. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction: i. An introductory sentence. 
 
 2. A fuller statement of the subject. 
 II. Discussion : — 
 Reasons : — 
 
 1. Cheerfulness fits us for the enjoyment of social life. 
 
 2. It tends to lighten the sorrows of life. 
 
 3. It promotes health. 
 
 III. Conclusion : Let us endeavor to be cheerful. 
 
 Written out. 
 
 Cheerfulness is Productive of Happiness. 
 
 P Cheerfulness is like a sunny day, it sheds 
 
 DA D its brightness on everything round about us. 
 No trait of character is more valuable or more 
 is P productive of happiness than cheerfulness. It 
 
 W P lightens our burdens, makes friends and pro- 
 
 motes our health. 
 Cn Be cheerful, for it is the only way to live a 
 
 P happy life. Times may be bad but it will make 
 
 D them no easier to wear a gloomy and sad coun- 
 
 D W tenance. It is not the clouds, but sunshine that 
 
 S makes the flowers. We all have troubles and 
 
 Trt perhaps it is well that we should, for it gives 
 
 us power and increases our courage if we cheer-
 
 THE PLAN. 
 
 281 
 
 D 
 
 Cn 
 
 No topic sentence. 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 K 
 
 Complete the 
 Simile and Ex. 
 
 Trt in Expression. 
 
 fully grapple with every obstacle that may come 
 in our way. It is a dull sea that makes un- 
 
 r skilled sailors. It is therefore the duty of every 
 man to extract all the happiness and enjoyment 
 
 { from life he can. To meet this end and pur- 
 pose he must not go about hanging his head 
 but cultivate a warm and genial disposition.) 
 
 There are some men who are inclined to 
 look always on the gloomy side of everything, 
 searching all the troubles they can find, while 
 on the other hand there are some natures so 
 constituted that they can find good in every- 
 thing. The latter considered in the relation 
 to his fellow-men with whom he comes in daily 
 contact, is productive of love and good will 
 towards all. The man who is possessed of 
 this excellent frame of mind is not only free 
 and easy in his conversation and thought, but 
 his imagination and judgment are always clear 
 and undisturbed, causing every person to court 
 his company. A cheerful man is not only dis- 
 posed to be polite and obhging but it raises 
 the same good humor in those who come under 
 his influence ; his companions feel drawn to- 
 wards him they know not why. Like the soft 
 rain gently penetrating the soil his influence 
 finds its way to his associates. 
 
 Cheerfulness not only casts off gloom, but 
 it helps to promote health. It is seldom 
 found where there is not a certain degree of 
 health, but very often it is found where there 
 is not a great degree of health. There is no 
 use of repining and mourning over our condi- 
 tion in time of afflictions, for if we give away 
 to our feelings we encourage the malady, while
 
 282 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 if we brace up we banish all those discontented 
 passions and soothe our spirits. Cheerfulness 
 bears the same effect on the mind as to the 
 C body. If we have troubles or worries and 
 
 continually harbor them in our mind, we cause 
 W our mental calibre to become languid and 
 
 Give both parts of the ^ull ; SO if we Icccp in mind our bodily afflic- 
 baiance the same form, tions wc causc a jar to the delicatc fibres of 
 which our body is composed. On the con- 
 trary if we banish all thoughts of our ailments 
 or troubles, we raise our spirits and promote 
 our health. 
 
 Seeing that cheerfulness is productive of so 
 much happiness, let us all endeavor, no matter 
 how dark the gloom may be, to help at least to 
 D brighten it by our smiles and cheerfulness. 
 
 Rewritten. 
 
 Cheerfulness is like a sunny day ; it sheds brightness on every- 
 thing around us. No trait of character is more valuable or more 
 productive of happiness than is cheerfulness ; it lightens our 
 burdens, multiplies our friends, and promotes our health. 
 
 First, cheerfulness may do much to lighten our burdens and 
 thereby make life happy. Times may be hard, but wearing a sad 
 and gloomy countenance will make them no easier. It is not 
 clouds, but sunshine that brings out the flowers. Sorrows will 
 surely come, but, brightened by the hopeful views of a cheerful 
 disposition, they appear less fearful and depressing. Cheerfulness 
 makes the air seem more balmy, the sky clearer, and even the 
 sunshine more beautiful ; while gloominess is a mildew that blights 
 our talents, blasts our happiness, and beclouds our life. 
 
 Again, social intercourse is one of the chief sources of our 
 earthly happiness ; and nothing so well fits us for the enjoyment 
 of that intercourse as cheerfulness. The possessor of this frame of
 
 THE PLAN. 283 
 
 mind is not only free and easy in his conversation and manner, 
 but has his imagination clear and his judgment undisturbed. He 
 is disposed to be polite and obliging, and naturally awakens similar 
 feelings in those with whom he comes in contact. As the soft 
 rain, falling gently on the earth, penetrates the soil and endues all 
 nature with freshness and beauty, so the influence of his genial 
 disposition permeates all hearts and fills them with joy and glad- 
 ness. In this atmosphere of happiness that he has created he 
 breathes the sweetest joys of life. 
 
 Cheerfulness not only lightens the burdens of life and increases 
 social pleasures, but it also promotes health. Cheerfulness affects 
 beneficially not the mind alone, but likewise the body. If in 
 ill-health, we give way to repining, we encourage the malady ; 
 while if we brace up, we banish our fretful passions and with them 
 a large part of our trouble. If we continually worry over our 
 sorrows, we cause our mental faculties to become dull and lan- 
 guid ; so, if we keep in mind our bodily afflictions, we impercepti- 
 bly injure the delicate fibres of which our bodies are composed. 
 On the contrary, if we banish all thoughts of our ailments, or 
 troubles, we raise our spirits and promote our health. 
 
 Seeing, then, that cheerfulness is productive of so much happi- 
 ness, let us all endeavor, no matter how dark the gloom may be, 
 to help to brighten it by our smiles. 
 
 EXERCISE XCI. 
 
 Themes. 
 
 Direction. — Make a framework on the following topics, as illustrated in 
 the preceding Lesson; revise it; write out; revise your composition thoroughly; 
 write in between the lines all the emendations you c?n; finally, rewrite the 
 whole. 
 
 1. The benefits of gardening. 
 
 2. The use of the rain. 
 
 3. The pleasures of a well informed mind. . 
 
 4. Why we should resist the beginnings of evil.
 
 284 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 5. Why the wealthy are influential. 
 
 6. The advantages of shrewdness. 
 
 7. Why we should not kill little birds. 
 
 8. We should not waste time. 
 
 9. The schoolmaster's place in society. 
 
 10. It is more profitable to publish books than to write them. 
 
 LESSON XLVI. 
 
 KINDS OF DISCOURSE. 
 
 Prose embraces all kinds of composition not in verse. As we 
 have already seen, the grand formal distinction between poetry 
 and prose is metre. Metrical arrangement is effected largely by 
 inversion of the natural or grammatical order of the words and 
 other parts of the sentence. As inversion is the characteristic of 
 poetic order, so directness is the chief feature of prose arrange- 
 ment. Prose, however, is not confined to the strict grammatical 
 order, but is allowed to deviate from it for the sake of clearness, 
 force, or beauty. 
 
 Varieties. — The chief varieties of composition are, — Narra- 
 tion, Description, Exposition, Argumentation, Oratory, and Poetry. 
 
 Narration. 
 
 Narration presents a succession of events in the order of time, 
 or with special reference to time. The aim of the narrative writer 
 should be to make the reader an eye-witness, as it were, of the 
 events narrated. 
 
 Under Narration may be classed, — History, Annals, Chronicles, 
 Memoirs, Biography, Diary, Travels, News, and Fiction. 
 
 Kinds of Narration. — i. _Hisiory, in its broadest accepta- 
 tion, is a formal and connected account of the hfe of a nation. 
 Every age has had its theory of what history should be. This has
 
 NARRATION. 
 
 28s 
 
 varied from a mere catalogue of events to the modern idea that 
 history should contain not only a narrative of events, but also a 
 philosophic analysis of motive and action, as well as a clear inter- 
 pretation of cause and effect. 
 
 2. Annals are a bare record of public events, written down from 
 year to year. 
 
 3. Chronicles are also a primitive kind of history. They con- 
 sist of a narrative of affairs of state, somewhat more extensive than 
 annals, but with strict attention to chronological order. 
 
 4. Memoirs is a term applied chiefly to the relation of events 
 that have come within the writer's personal knowledge. In the 
 higher forms it deals with topics that belong to the province of 
 history. It does not, however, pretend to be a systematic record, 
 but rather a conversational account of matters of greater or less 
 importance. 
 
 5. Biography is the history of an individual Ufe. When written 
 by the person himself, it is called Autobiography. The biography 
 of prominent men often entails much of the history of their times. 
 A short biography is called a Memoir. 
 
 6. Diary is a daily record of a person's life. It resembles 
 Autobiography, but differs from it in that it deals with the events 
 of only one day at a time. Moreover, it is not intended to be 
 seen by any one except the writer. 
 
 7. Travels contain an account of what a person sees or learns 
 from day to day on his journey through foreign countries. They 
 consist largely of description, and ought to be clear and accurate. 
 
 8. News, an account of events of all kinds from all parts of the 
 world, is at present one of the most common kinds of writing. 
 Though it may not strictly deserve the name of literature, yet 
 much skill and experience are required to write it with the neces- 
 sary clearness, brevity, and accuracy. 
 
 9. Fiction resembles biography, but differs from it in that the 
 matter is invented by the writer. Though the incidents it nar- 
 rates never actually occurred, and the persons whose lives and 
 characters it describes never lived, yet they are types of what did
 
 286 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 exist at the time and under the circumstances indicated. It is 
 true to nature. 
 
 Fiction may be divided into the Romance and the Novel. 
 
 The Romance is a kind of Fiction in which the incidents are 
 of an extravagant and improbable character. 
 
 The Novel is of two kinds, — the Historical Novel and the 
 Domestic Novel. In the former, historical characters are made to 
 take part in the supposed incidents. Scott's novels are a good 
 example. In the latter domestic life and character are depicted 
 in minute detail. There is always a plot, and in its development 
 the passions, particularly love, play an important part. 
 
 The purpose of Fiction is manifold. It may aim at teaching 
 history, at conveying some doctrine, enforcing some moral or 
 religious views, making the reader acquainted with the customs 
 and modes of life of by-gone days, or of merely giving pleasure 
 by the excitement of plot, the beauty of language, and the charm 
 of description. 
 
 Principles. — In Narration there are certain principles that 
 should be observed. 
 
 1. The events should be placed before the reader as he would 
 have seen them had he been present. 
 
 2. Every fact or event should be made to grow out of some- 
 thing previous. In fiction this principle is often violated for the 
 purpose of creating a more intense interest in the plot. 
 
 3. The entire narration should centre in one principal action or 
 event. Where this is not possible for the whole, as in history, then 
 each distinct part should be formed on this principle. 
 
 4. Where there are simultaneous trains of action, there should, 
 generally, be a principal one, and such subordinate ones as are nat- 
 urally connected with it as causes, consequences, or circumstances. 
 
 5. When there are several streams of events of nearly equal 
 importance, the ordinary method is to carry one up to a certain 
 point, and then return to bring up the others, one by one, to the 
 same date. This must be repeated to the end of the whole. 
 Every reader of fiction will have noticed this method.
 
 NARRATION. 28/ 
 
 6. The scene and the actors should be changed as seldom as 
 possible ; and when such a change is made, attention should be 
 called to the fact. This rule does not hold in fiction. 
 
 7. In addition to the general rules laid down above, the follow- 
 ing points may be noted respecting history : — 
 
 a. As many features have to be detailed, such as the progress 
 of the arts and sciences, the development of literature, the advance- 
 ment of morality, and the delineation of character, the writer is com- 
 pelled to take up these various topics one by one and complete 
 each singly, or, at least, carry it through a certain period. 
 
 b. History must be systematic and complete ; the plan must 
 show the unity of the whole and at the same time give every part 
 its proper setting. 
 
 c. It is essential that the order of time be clearly followed, and 
 that the dates should be so interwoven with the narrative as to 
 form a definite framework on which to hang the events. 
 
 d. To give the reader a clear insight into the situation of affairs, 
 the historian often goes backward and recounts the preceding cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 e. Again, for clearness and for aid to the memory, he makes 
 frequent summaries of the events which he has related in detail. 
 By these succinct and comprehensive views, the mind "is assisted 
 in grasping the subject as a whole. 
 
 /. In the delineation of character the historian has an oppor- 
 tunity to vary the narrative by word-pictures of the men who have 
 fixed the destiny of the nation. 
 
 8. The narrator should not attempt to relate everything. He 
 should give the salient points, and leave the rest to the reader to 
 supply. 
 
 Style. — The topics of narration are so varied that no absolute 
 rule s can be laid down as to the language to be employed. It 
 must, however, always be suited to the subject in hand. In gen- 
 eral, it should be plain, simple, and perspicuous. In history it 
 must be calm and dignified ; while its elegance and beauty are 
 among the most engaging charms of fiction. When the subject
 
 288 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 will allow, the style may rise to the graceful, the flowing, or even 
 to the elegant, but should never be pompous or stilted, or in any 
 way adapted to draw off the attention from the subject to itself. 
 
 The Parts. — The Introduction should contain such particulars 
 about the time, place, and actors or events, as are necessary to 
 place the subject clearly before the reader and to awaken his 
 interest in it. This may occupy one or more paragraphs. 
 
 The Discussion contains the events arranged in their order oi 
 occurrence. 
 
 In the Conclusion will come the result, detailed to suit the special 
 circumstances of the case. 
 
 Sometimes no formal conclusion is required ; at others, a sum- 
 mary of events is a valuable aid to the memory. 
 
 The Paragraphs should, as far as possible, deal each with a 
 separate part of the relation, and should be so connected as to 
 carry on the story in a clear and connected manner. 
 
 Framework. — As Narration consists merely in a presentation of 
 known events or facts, there is nothing to be done in the way of inven- 
 tion (except in Fiction) but to devise the method, form, and style. 
 
 Practice in Narration. — In order to secure practice in Nar- 
 ration, a story may be selected from which to draw up a frame- 
 work. In this exercise special care must be taken to distinguish 
 between the leading thoughts and the subordinate ones. The fol- 
 ing is an example from Scott's Talisman. 
 
 Theme : The Combat. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction : — 
 
 1. Time, Third Crusade. 
 
 2. Place, The Diamond of the Desert. 
 
 3. Persons, Sir Kenneth and Conrad. 
 
 II. Discussion : — 
 
 I. The preparations. 
 
 a. Arming. 
 
 b. The herald's proclamation.
 
 NARRATION. 2Sg 
 
 c. Taking positions. 
 
 d. The invocation. 
 2. The combat proper. 
 
 a. The signal. 
 
 b. The start. 
 
 c. In career. 
 
 d. The shock at meeting. 
 
 e. Its result. 
 
 III. Conclusion : The effect in settling the dispute. 
 
 As a more difficult exercise, a framework may be constructed 
 on some event that has come under the "learner's notice and that 
 has not yet been committed to writing. Take the following as an 
 example : — 
 
 Theme : How I spent the Holidays. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction : — 
 
 1. Where. 
 
 2. With whom. 
 
 II. Discussion : — 
 
 How we spent the time. 
 
 1. In boating. 
 
 Incident — an upset. 
 
 2. Trout-fishing. 
 
 One big fish. 
 
 3. Riding. 
 
 4. In the woods. 
 
 Incident with a friendly Indian. 
 
 III. Conclusion : What I learned, and how much my health was 
 improved. 
 
 Writing out. — In writing out these outlines, the Introduction, 
 the Conclusion, and the several divisions of the Discussion may 
 each form a paragraph ; or, when it is desired to be more minute, 
 each of these may form several paragraphs.
 
 290 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXERCISE XCII. 
 
 Narration. 
 
 Direction. — Construct a framework of a theme on each of the following 
 topics; write out each theme in full. 
 
 1. First Week at High School. 
 
 2. How we spent Independence Day. 
 
 3. Our Experience of Camping Out. 
 
 4. A Fishing Excursion. 
 
 5. The Crossing of the Red Sea. 
 
 6. Our Visit to a Printing Office. 
 
 7. How the Spring came on. 
 
 8. History of St. Paul. 
 
 9. The Story of a Shilling. 
 
 10. A Sail down the Mississippi. 
 
 LESSON XLVII. 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 Description. — The aim of the descriptive writer is to present 
 to the mind by means of language such an idea of an object or 
 scene as the reader would have conceived had he viewed it him- 
 self. Description is word-painting. 
 
 Kinds of Description. — Three kinds of Description may be 
 noted: (i) of external objects, (2) of character, (3) of feelings 
 and intellectual processes. 
 
 Principles. — In the description of external scenes or objects, 
 the following rules will be found useful : — 
 
 I. It is important to place at, or near, the beginning a compre- 
 hensive statement or general plan. This outline should be clear 
 and simple. For example, Victor Hugo, in describing the battle 
 of Waterloo, says, " It was fought on a piece of ground resembling
 
 DESCRIPTION. 291 
 
 a capital A. The English were at the apex, the French at the 
 feet, and the battle was decided about the centre." 
 
 a. The idea of the general plan may be furnished by indicating 
 the form or by stating the size. 
 
 b. It may be shown by arranging the parts as radiating from a 
 common centre, or as branching put from a main trunk. 
 
 2. A description should be made from a favorable point of 
 view. 
 
 a. Sometimes the whole object or scene may be described from 
 one standpoint, as the painter draws his picture. 
 
 b. Sometimes the scene may be presented in a succession of 
 aspects, as it would appear to a person if he were moving along 
 through it. 
 
 Example. — If one is to describe a town he may first take up 
 his position at the central square, or at the head of the principal 
 street. Thence, he pictures the direction of the main street or 
 streets, and gives an outline of the whole. Next, he may locate 
 the parks and chief public buildings. Having thus established a 
 lucid outline, he may adopt the traveller's method, and, starting 
 from the centre or from the main street, he may go along each 
 street, describing its buildings in detail. 
 
 3. In describing a person, the form may first be outlined, then 
 the features may be described, lastly the dress and ornaments. 
 See the description of " Rebecca" on page 243. 
 
 4. In delineating character, some general or comprehensive 
 statements may first be made. Then the various qualities of the 
 character may be taken up separately ; the moral, the intellectual, 
 the social. In a public man his capacity for performing civic or 
 national functions, as that of general or statesman, will form parts 
 of the description. 
 
 5. Our feelings and intellectual operations are less easily de- 
 scribed than objects of sense. The former may be described by 
 likenesses, comparisons, analogies. " His wrath broke forth like 
 flames from a furnace." " T.ove though deep as the sea, shall fade 
 away like autumn leaves." They may also be suggested by their
 
 292 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 visible manifestations. Anger may be indicated by " the curling 
 lip " and " tlie frowning brow," by violence of language, or by 
 rashness of action. 
 
 6. The details must be systematically grouped. In describing 
 external objects, they may be arranged one after another as they 
 appear in nature, or they may be grouped about some central 
 point. In delineating character, in sketching mental operations, 
 or in the expression of feeling, they must be placed according to 
 importance or effect. 
 
 In filling in the details, the writer should attempt to form a 
 clear conception of each part, and then to select the most striking 
 or interesting features. It is a mistake to try to tell everything. 
 
 7. Description is made more striking and realistic by being in- 
 dividualized, that is, given at a particular time and under the cir- 
 cumstances of a stated moment. If not so made, it is as sure to 
 be confused as the photograph of a moving object taken by the 
 old process. For example, a description of Spring might be taken 
 in the morning, when the sun is well up, when the birds are sing- 
 ing, and when all nature has on its richest garb. 
 
 8. A still further gain is made by introducing such associated 
 circumstances as make the picture complete without overcrowding 
 it. See page 237. 
 
 This gain is still greater when the associated ideas consist in 
 attributing human feelings to natural objects. We are more inter- 
 ested in anything that is supposed to be of " like passions with 
 ourselves," than in objects that appear totally unlike us. 
 
 9. Much of the so-called exposition in the Sciences might more 
 correctly be classed as description. Its special feature is that it 
 makes us acquainted with an object by analyzing it, by describing 
 each part minutely, by showing us the connection of the parts, 
 and the result of their union. For example, Botany describes a 
 flower by taking it to pieces, and showing us the delicate forma- 
 tion of each part, its connection with others, and its place and 
 function in the complete flower. 
 
 10. Poetry adopts a method of descripdon different from that
 
 DESCRIPTION. 293 
 
 pursued in prose. As its object is not to convey exact informa- 
 tion, but to please, scenes and objects are not described with 
 mathematical precision, but are presented by a few bold strokes, 
 pictorial epithets, or fertile suggestions. For example, Longfellow, 
 in describing the situation of the " httle village," puts the land- 
 scape before the reader by a picturesque presentation of a few 
 prominent features: "vast meadows," "flocks without number," 
 " dikes raised with labor incessant," and so on. When he is tell- 
 ing the numbers that came at the command of the English general, 
 he suggests it by such strokes as " Every house was an inn." 
 
 II. Under the head of Picturesqueness will be found several 
 suggestions that indicate how description may be made clear, 
 striking, and complete. 
 
 Style. — As description forms a large part of all composition, 
 and embraces so great a diversity of subjects, it admits of almost 
 every variety of language and style, and allows the widest scope 
 for ornament and beauty. If the object treated is humble, the 
 language may be familiar ; if it is grand, the language may be ele- 
 vated ; if it is characterized by great beauty, then the language 
 may assume its richest garb. The style must be adapted to the 
 nature of the object described. 
 
 Framework. — Though the framework may consist of three 
 distinct parts, yet the discussion will vary according to the nature 
 of the subject. It should be clearly and systematically arranged 
 before writing is begun. 
 
 Theme : The Thermometer. 
 
 Framework. 
 I. Introduction : — 
 
 1. All substances produce the sensation of heat or cold. 
 
 2. Heat and cold vary —   water. 
 
 3. Our sense of feeling does not give true or accurate in- 
 
 formation about temperature. 
 
 4. Hence the need of an exact measure ; this furnished 
 
 by the thermometer
 
 294 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 II. Discussion : — 
 
 1. Invention. 
 
 a. The expanding and shrinking of bodies had long 
 
 been noticed. 
 
 b. This suggested the thermometer. 
 
 2. Construction. 
 
 a. A hollow tube with bulb. 
 
 b. The bulb is filled with mercury. 
 
 c. A vacuum is left above. 
 
 d. How the measuring is done. 
 
 {a) The tube is fixed in a marked plate. 
 {b^ The degrees are counted upwards. 
 
 e. How the scale is made. 
 
 (<7) The tube is immersed in melting ice for 
 
 the freezing-point. 
 {b) Plunged in steam for the boiling-point. 
 {c) The intervening space divided into equal 
 spaces. 
 III. Conclusion : Its uses. 
 
 a. To compare the heat of different climates. 
 
 b. In the arts. 
 
 EXERCISE XCIII. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Direction. — Construct the framework of a theme on each of the following 
 topics, and then write out each theme in full. 
 
 1. Your School-house. 9. The Alhambra. 
 
 2. A Snow-storm. .. 10. An Evening Sunset. 
 
 3. The Thousand Islands. 11. The Microscope. 
 
 4. The Falls of Niagara. 12. A Wedding. 
 
 5. A Modern Newspaper. 13. A Country Fair. 
 
 6. A Railway. 14. A Game of Cricket. 
 
 7. Your own Town. 15. A Steamship. 
 
 8. Your own State. 16. A Canary-Bird.
 
 EXPOSITION. 295 
 
 LESSON XLVIII. 
 
 EXPOSITION. 
 
 Exposition consists in setting forth the attributes of any subject, 
 in presenting doctrines, principles, or views, for the instruction of 
 others. The subjects of which it treats may be divided into, — 
 Scientific and Moral. Scientific Exposition expounds truth with- 
 out reference to right or wrong ; Moral Exposition deals with 
 human actions and duties. 
 
 The chief kinds of Exposition may be classed under (i) Essays, 
 (2) Treatises. 
 
 An Essay is a modest attempt to state the author's views on a 
 subject. It does not particularly aim at being formal or complete, 
 but rather at giving the writer's general thoughts in an easy, but 
 intelligent and interesting manner. 
 
 Editorials, Reviews, Criticisms, are species of the Essay. 
 
 An Editorial is a short essay on any subject. It contains the 
 opinion of the editor of a newspaper on some current topic. 
 
 Reviews resemble Editorials, but they deal with a subject at 
 much greater length. They generally contain a pretty exhaustive 
 examination of the opinions or statements of the articles considered. 
 
 Criticisms differ from Reviews in being written for the purpose 
 of determining how far a work follows the principles on which it 
 presumes to be constructed. They exhibit ahke defects and ex- 
 cellences. 
 
 The Thoughts. — In Narration and Description the materials 
 are obtained chiefly through the five senses, but in Exposition 
 they are the product of the reasoning faculty. Hence, in a com- 
 jXDsition of this class, the chief difficulty with beginners is to find 
 the thoughts. In seeking for and arranging them, the means 
 indicated in the Lesson on Themes are to be pursued. 
 
 The Parts. — In the Introduction is placed the formal state 
 ment of the principles or views to be unfolded ; the Discussion,
 
 296 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, 
 
 or body of the composition, contains the methodical develop- 
 ment of the subject ; and the Conclusion, a summary of the 
 whole. 
 
 Method. — It is not to be expected that young persons, such 
 as those who study these pages, are attempting to master all the 
 principles upon which the various sciences are expounded ; but 
 that they may be moving on right lines so far as they go, a few 
 points in the method of exposition are here mentioned. 
 
 1. In expounding a subject it is necessary to divide it into 
 parts. The divisions must be — 
 
 a. Distinct, so that they do not overlap each other. 
 
 b. Exhaustive, so that they embrace the whole subject. In the 
 Essay this is not essential. 
 
 2. After the plan of discussion has been sketched, the subject 
 must be expounded part by part. 
 
 3. If it is necessary to subdivide any part, the rules above 
 must be observed. 
 
 4. The principle, or leading thought, of each part or subordi- 
 nate part must be clearly stated. 
 
 5. In expounding the general principles under each head the 
 following devices assist : — 
 
 a. Repeating them in other words, in other forms, or under 
 other figures of speech. 
 
 b. Obverse iteration, that is, expressing the same idea from the 
 opposite point of view : as, " The day is bright " ; " The day is 
 not gloomy." 
 
 c. The various means of illustration mentioned on page 236. 
 
 d. Drawing inferences to show the effect of the principles when 
 carried to their logical conclusions. 
 
 e. Applying the views expounded to particular cases so as to 
 illustrate their practical effect. 
 
 Style. — As clearness is the chief object to be attained, the 
 language should be plain and the style neat and concise. Each 
 point should, when practicable, be illustrated by examples, and 
 strengthened by quotations.
 
 EXPOSITION, 297 
 
 Theme : Anger. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction : The mind is subject to various ebullitions 
 of feeling. 
 
 II. Discussion : — 
 
 1. What Anger is. 
 
 a. A feeling of displeasure against wrong. 
 
 b. A feeUng that desires vengeance on its object. 
 
 c. In its intensity it resembles madness. 
 
 2. What Anger does. 
 
 a. It carries the mind beyond the control of reason. 
 
 d. It leads a person to say and do unreasonable 
 
 things. Illustrations. 
 c. It may cause a man to im'ure his own cause, or 
 even himself. Examples. 
 
 III. Conclusion : As all feelings grow if uncurbed, we should 
 keep our temper under the control of reason. 
 
 EXERCISE XCIV. 
 
 Exposition. 
 
 Direction. — Construct the framework of a theme on each of the folle^ving 
 topics; write out each theme in full. 
 
 I. 
 
 Hope. 
 
 8. Idleness. 
 
 2. 
 
 Anger. 
 
 9. Humility. 
 
 3- 
 
 Candor. 
 
 10. Contemplation. 
 
 4- 
 
 Taste. 
 
 II. Passion for Dress. 
 
 5- 
 
 Modesty. 
 
 12. Evils of War. 
 
 6. 
 
 Freedom. 
 
 13. Blessings of Liberty. 
 
 7. 
 
 Courage. 
 
 14. Decision of Character, 
 
 
 ^5- 
 
 Advantages of Railroads.
 
 208 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON XLIX. 
 
 ARGUMENTATION. 
 
 Argumentativt composition is that in which the aim is to 
 modify or induce belief by means of argument. The body of a 
 composition of this class consists of two parts, — the Proposition, 
 or that which is to be proved, and the Arguments, or Proof. 
 
 Two Methods. — Two methods may be employed in Argu- 
 mentative Composition, — the Deductive and the Inductive. In 
 the first, the line of thought proceeds from the subject to the 
 predicate of the proposition to be proved ; and in the second, 
 from the predicate to the subject. 
 
 Parts. — When the -proposition is stated at the outset, it should 
 be stated in the clearest and briefest manner possible. After the 
 Introduction follow the Arguments. They should be so arranged 
 that the weakest come in the middle and the strongest last. The 
 connection between the arguments and the conclusion must be 
 made clear in each case. The Conclusion consists of a re-state- 
 ment of the proposition as enforced by the combined strength of 
 all the arguments. 
 
 Style. — Clearness and force are here the chief requisites; 
 little or no ornament is required ; the style should be neat, but 
 sufficiently diffuse to make the points easily seen. Every argu- 
 ment should have illustrations, examples, quotations, or instances, 
 to make its force and meaning perfectly clear. 
 
 Theme : To be Good is to be Happy. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction : Explain clearly goodness and happiness. 
 
 II. Discussion: Goodness leads to happiness because — 
 
 I. It gives a good conscience, one of the conditions of 
 happiness. Example,
 
 ARGUMENTATION. 299 
 
 2. It gives happiness under all conditions. 
 
 3. Its power does not grow old. 
 
 4. It wins the approbation of our fellows. 
 
 5. It meets with the approval of Heaven. 
 
 III. Conclusion : We should make goodness our highest aim. 
 
 EXERCISE XCV. 
 
 Argumentation. 
 
 Direction. — Construct the framework of a theme on each of the following 
 topics; write out the theme in full. 
 
 1. Whatever is, is Right. 
 
 2. Honesty is the Best Policy. 
 
 3. Should Judges be elected ? 
 
 4. Our Antagonist is our Helper. 
 
 5. Knowledge is Power. 
 
 6. Labor is a Blessing. 
 
 7. Life is a School. 
 
 8. Wisdom leads to Happiness. 
 
 9. Contrivance proves Design. 
 
 10. Manhood Suffrage is Desirable. 
 
 11. It is Expedient to wear Mourning Apparel. 
 
 12. Compulsory Education is a Benefit to the State. 
 
 13. Is Execution by Electricity advisable? 
 
 14. Self-praise is no Commendation. 
 
 15. Example is more Powerful than Precept. 
 
 16. We should resist the Beginnings of Evil. 
 
 17. Mathematics is a useful Study. 
 
 18. Education leads to Virtue. 
 
 19. Expectation excels Realization. 
 
 20. Party Covernment is injurious to the State. 
 
 2 1 . Lady Teachers should receive the same Wages as Gentlemen. 
 
 22. One should not be above One's Business. 
 
 23. Extremes should be avoided.
 
 300 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON L. 
 
 PERSUASION. 
 
 Persuasion, or Oratory, is that kind of composition whose 
 object is to move the will by presenting motives for action. 
 
 The Ends of Oratory. — In Exposition and Argumentation 
 we appeal entirely to man's intellectual nature ; we seek to inform 
 his understanding, and then allow him to act as he pleases. Oratory 
 goes further : it would not only convince the judgment, but change 
 the will and rouse to action. It presupposes an opposition between 
 the speaker and his audience, and then sets to work to remove 
 this opposition, to induce the latter to accept the views of the 
 former and to act upon them. 
 
 Classification. — The usual forms of persuasion are, — Ora- 
 tions, Addresses, Lectures, Sermons. 
 
 1. Or,a.tions are ornate formal compositions, elaborately pre- 
 pared for special occasions. Their object is not to persuade, but 
 to pronounce a panegyric on some person or event. They are 
 elevated, forcible, brilliant, and aim at pleasing the imagination 
 and stirring the passions. 
 
 2. Addresses are less formal than orations. They may be of 
 almost any length and on almost any subject. They need not 
 be labored examinations of any subject, but must be clear, and 
 adapted to the character and circumstances of the persons ad- 
 dressed. 
 
 3. Speeches are still less formal than addresses. They are 
 almost unlimited in variety ; they may be on the gravest ques- 
 tions of public policy or on the commonest affairs in social life. In 
 the higher sense they consist of an analytical investigation of some 
 great political, social, or economic question ; while in the humbler 
 view they may be made on the ordinary concerns of everyday 
 life. Speeches should be ready, fluent, and pleasing. The object
 
 PERSUASION. 301 
 
 is by explanation, argument, or illustration to lead the hearer to 
 accept the views of the speaker. 
 
 4. A Lecture is a learned discussion of some subject of im- 
 portance or interest. The lecturer is expected to have a special 
 acquaintance with his subject, and to be able to explain it in a 
 clear and methodical manner, so that his hearers may be able to 
 comprehend the meaning. 
 
 5. Sermons are carefully prepared expositions of religious truths. 
 They are generally based on texts of Scripture, and, besides their 
 expository qualities, usually contain appeals to the listener to 
 accept the views enunciated or to act on the admonitions given. 
 
 Means of Persuasion. — Among the means employed to move 
 the will and rouse to action are : — 
 
 a. To lay before the mind a full and clear description of the 
 object, circumstances, or scene. See pages 237 and 245. 
 
 h. To narrate in a vivid manner the incident or story ^at is 
 intended to induce the will to act. Such an explanation as enables 
 one clearly to understand a case or situation may move him to 
 sympathy. 
 
 These may be called the pictorial methods of persuasion. 
 
 c. To present cogent reasons to convince the judgment and 
 then to apply them to prove to the listener his advantage, or to 
 move him by the higher motives of duty. Such arguments must 
 be simple and direct. Every point must be fully illustrated. See 
 page 236. 
 
 d. To state objections fairly and then answer them fully and 
 convincingly. Omission or weakness here is fatal. 
 
 e. To appeal directly to the feelings by dwelling on the points 
 likely to arouse sympathy, or by infusing the hearer with the 
 speaker's own enthusiasm. 
 
 Style. — In Oratory, the chief qualities of style required are 
 clearness and force, but the other qualities are scarcely less requi- 
 site. Here all the beauties of prose composition are in place, and 
 nothing low or trivial should be admitted. The language should 
 always be elevated and refined. Illustrations should be freely
 
 302 COMPOSITION AND KHETOKIC. 
 
 introduced, and when possible the main idea should be clothed 
 in original imagery. 
 
 In oratory there is more than language ; the speaker is present 
 with his personal influence to weaken or strengthen the effect of 
 his words. The movements of the body, the expression of the 
 countenance, the flash of the eye, the whole bearing, may be made 
 to tell in favor of the speaker's views. To rouse his audience, he 
 must himself be deeply impressed with his subject. He need not 
 show all his feelings ; indeed, if they seem to overcome him and 
 break out against his will, they are all the more likely to touch the 
 listeners. 
 
 The speaker must know his audiepce and must adapt his sub- 
 ject, style, and language to their capacity. With uneducated 
 people, he must be plain, pathetic, and humorous ; with a cultured 
 assembly, he should appeal more to the judgment and sympathy, 
 and sjiould employ only such language as is grateful to their ear. 
 
 Theme : IVork while you may. 
 
 Framework. 
 
 I. Introduction : We are all disposed to procrastinate. Illus- 
 trate. 
 
 il. Discussion : We should seize the present because — 
 
 1. Life is short and uncertain. Illustrate. 
 
 2. Opportunities do not stay. Amplify by quotations and 
 
 examples. 
 
 3. If opportunities do present themselves in the future, we 
 
 may not be in a position to embrace them. Illustrate. 
 Support by quotations and incidents. 
 
 III. Conclusion : A summing up and exhortation.
 
 PERSUASION. 303 
 
 EXERCISE XCVI. 
 
 Persuasion. 
 
 Direction. — Construct the framework of a theme on each of the following 
 topics; write out each theme in full. 
 
 1. Silent Influence. 
 
 2. The Habit of Reading. 
 
 3. The Value of Character. 
 
 4. The Power of Kindness. 
 
 5. The Power of Habit. 
 
 6. No Place like Home. 
 
 7. The Vanity of Riches. 
 
 8. Do not despise Poverty. 
 
 9. Live within your Means. 
 
 10. The Dress is not the Man. 
 
 11. Influence of Good Manners. 
 
 12. The Baseness of Ingratitude. 
 
 13. Poverty develops the Character better than Riches 
 
 14. He is Rich who desires Nothing. 
 
 15. A Good Conscience is better than Wealth. 
 
 16. We should have an Object in Life. 
 
 1 7. No Pains, no Gains. 
 
 18. Forgiveness is the Noblest Revenge. 
 
 19. Keep your Honor Bright. 
 
 20. Youth is the Time for Preparation. 
 
 21. We should be Courteous. 
 
 22. Young People should learn to be Punctual. 
 
 23. We must obey the Laws of our Country. 
 
 24. We should value the good Opinion of Others, 
 
 25. Youth should reverence Age. 
 
 26. We should cultivate Self- Reliance. 
 
 27. We must practise Honesty.
 
 304 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 LESSON LI. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 Poetry differs from prose in form, diction, and object. Its 
 lorm is Verse — that is, composition arranged in lines of a fixed 
 number of regularly recurring accented and unaccented syllables ; 
 its diction, as we have already seen, is usually more " archaic, 
 picturesque, and euphonious " than that of prose ; while its object 
 is to please rather than to instruct. Of these, the first only is 
 essential. The diction of poetry and that of prose shade off in- 
 sensibly into each other so that it is impossible to draw any dis- 
 tinct line of separation ; and though the primary object of poetry 
 may be to give pleasure, yet much that bears the name and 
 assumes the form does not hesitate to attempt other ends. 
 
 Materials of Poetry, 
 
 Since poetry has the definite object of giving pleasure, chiefly 
 by gratifying our fine-art emotions, it is restricted to such sub- 
 jects and to such a manner of handling as will secure that end. 
 
 The chief sources from which the poet draws his materials, that 
 is, his subjects and his illustrations, are : — 
 
 I. External Nature. — Its majesty — mountain and forest, 
 vaulted sky and pealing thunder ; its movements — the flowing river 
 and the purling brook, the heaving ocean and the foaming cata- 
 ract, the bounding stag and the pursuing hound ; its sounds — the 
 song of the bird, the moaning of the wind, the raging of the tem- 
 pest, the roaring of the waterfall ; its colors — the plumage of the 
 bird, the tints of the rose, the brown heath, the green sward, the 
 flush of health, the purpling east and the glowing west, the silver 
 moon and the golden stars, — all these, with ten thousand other 
 beauties, detected by the poet's eye and ear, supply material for 
 his song.
 
 POETRY. 305 
 
 2. Humanity. — The life of man abounds in materials for 
 poetry. Man's physical strength and dazzling deeds ; his intel- 
 lectual powers and the wonders they have achieved ; his acts of 
 courage, of kindness, and of self-sacrifice ; but, especially, his 
 emotional nature, his displays of tenderness, of sympathy, of 
 affection, or of love ; his moral and religious sentiments, — all 
 these may be the theme of poetry. 
 
 3. Imagination. — Not the real world alone, but the ideal, the 
 world created and peopled by the imagination, is available for the 
 purposes of poetry. Plot, incident, character, all that springs from 
 the fertile fancy of the poet, may be employed by him to charm 
 and delight the mind, even to inspire hope and to influence con- 
 duct by lofty ideals. 
 
 While the poet lays these vast fields under contribution, he 
 must select in each with due regard to the demands of our aes- 
 thetic nature. Whatever is disgusting, offensive, or even indiffer- 
 ent, must be rejected. 
 
 In the selection and treatment of subjects, the following points 
 may be observed : — 
 
 1. Poetry chooses for its themes and illustrations the concrete 
 rather than the abstract, and the particular ra,ther than the general. 
 
 2. Poetry collects together a greater number of beauties and 
 excellences, more lively incidents, more sparkling wit, more 
 charming figures of speech, than are compressed within the same 
 limits in prose. Prose is a meadow with here and there a daisy 
 or a primrose ; poetry is a flower garden clustering with lovely 
 forms and colors, and fragrant with sweet odors. 
 
 3. Continuing this process of combination, poetry indulges 
 more or less in idealizing its object. Its scenes are more beau- 
 tiful than the actual ; its heroes are more valiant and noble, its 
 characters more virtuous and lofty than those met with in life ; 
 while its justice gratifies our feelings rather than satisfies our sense 
 of right. 
 
 4. Poetry does not always reject painful subjects. They may 
 become themes of poetry when the distressing effects they produce
 
 3o6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 are fully redeemed by the beauty of the language or imagery, by 
 vivid descriptions of the nobility of fortitude under suffering, or 
 by the pleasurable emotions of the sympathy they arouse. 
 
 5. In its treatment of subjects, poetry studies to embody all 
 the elegances and all the attractions of style. In the story, in 
 the incidents, in the scenes, in the characters, and in the expres- 
 sion of emotion, it pays a stricter attention to the demands of 
 Harmony than does prose in its loftiest strain. 
 
 DrvisiONS OF Poetry. 
 
 Poetry is usually classified into Epic, Dramatic, Lyric, and 
 Didactic. 
 
 The first two of these divisions are the same in matter, — the 
 essential element of each is a story, — but they differ in the man- 
 ner of presenting their subject. In the Drama, the author never 
 appears ; his characters speak and act for themselves. In the 
 Epic the writer is always present, telling us of the actions and 
 speeches of others. 
 
 I. Epic, or Narrative, Poetry must contain a story. It is 
 subdivided into — 
 
 a. The Great Epic. This must have — 
 
 (a) A great and noble subject. 
 {b) Grave and dignified treatment. 
 (^) A hero and other important actors. 
 {d) A complete and complicated plot or story. 
 (<?) The events chiefly or wholly under superhuman 
 control. 
 Examples. — Milton's Paradise Lost; Pollock's Course 
 of Titne ; Beowulf. 
 
 b. The Metrical RoiMance. As compared with the Great 
 
 Epic, (i) the subject is less lofty and important ; (2) the 
 treatment is more easy and familiar; (3) the control of 
 events is partially or wholly human ; (4) more promi- 
 nence is given to Love; (5) the metre is lighter.
 
 POETRY. 307 
 
 Examples. — Spenser's Faerie Queene ; Scott's Lady of 
 ihe Lake ; Moore's Loves of the Angels. 
 
 c. The Tale is still less formal than the Romance, and its treat- 
 
 ment admits of greater ease and variety. 
 
 Examples. — Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ; Byron's Cor- 
 sair; Tennyson's Enoch Arden ; Longfellow's Evangeline. 
 
 It sometimes takes the form of a metrical history ; as 
 Dryden's Annus Mirabilis. 
 
 d. The Ballad contains a simple and rapid relation of some 
 
 incident of war, love, or daily life. 
 
 Exa?nples. — Chevy Chase ; Robin Hood ; John Gilpin ; 
 Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. 
 
 e. The Mixed Epic is a poem that contains a story with which 
 
 is intermingled more or less of reflection and description. 
 Examples. — Byron's Childe Harold. Sometimes the 
 story is not continuous, as in Wordsworth's Excursion. 
 
 f. Pastorals, Idylls, etc. These poems, which are of a mixed 
 
 character, reflective, descriptive, and emotional, may be 
 classed as Epic, since they contain a story more or less 
 continuous. 
 
 Examples. — Tennyson's Liylls of the King; Keats's 
 
 Endyjnion ; and Thomson's Seaso/is. 
 
 2. The Drama embraces all that part of poetry which, though 
 
 narrative in its matter, yet does not present its subject in the form 
 
 of a relation, but allows its characters to appear and speak and 
 
 act for themselves. It is divided into — 
 
 a. Tragedy. This deals with solemn, serious, and grave topics ; 
 and is intended to move the deepest feelings of pity, 
 admiration, and awe. 
 There must be — 
 
 (a) A plot more or less complicated and important. 
 
 (b) A leading character, or characters, and several less in 
 
 importance. 
 
 (c) Unity of subject and of action. 
 
 Examples. — Hamlet; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet.
 
 308 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 b. Comedy is designed to provoke mirth, or, at least, pleasurable 
 emotion, and consequently chooses its subjects from the 
 follies, accidents, or humors of life. As in the tragedy 
 there must be a plot, and much of the interest often arises 
 from the skill with which it is woven and developed, as 
 well as from the ridiculous situations in which the char- 
 acters are placed. 
 
 The Comedy is divided into the Comedy proper, the 
 Farce, the Opera, the Melodrama, and the Mask. 
 
 A Farce is a short comedy, and consists of extravagant 
 acts and ridiculous situations. 
 
 An Opera is a kind of comedy in which the actors sing 
 their parts. 
 
 A Melodrama is partly spoken and partly sung. 
 A Mask is a romantic scene with supernatural charac- 
 ters. 
 3. Lyric Poetry. — In Epic and in Dramatic poetry the poet 
 voices the acts, words, and thoughts of others ; in Lyric poetry 
 he expresses his own thoughts and feelings. 
 Lyric poetry may be classified as follows : — 
 
 a. Odes. These express a wide range of feeling, reaching 
 
 from the gay and thoughtful to the noblest and most 
 sublime. 
 
 Examples. — Keats's Ode to a Nightingale ; Collins's 
 Ode on the Passions ; Milton's Hymn on the Nativity. 
 
 b. Songs. These embrace a vast variety of subjects, sacred 
 
 and secular. 
 
 {a) Sacred songs comprise psalms, hymns, anthems, 
 
 choruses, etc. 
 (^) Secular songs may be patriotic, comic, sentimental, 
 
 moral, of love, of war, etc. 
 
 c. The Elegy contains reflections on some mournful subject, 
 
 personal or general. 
 
 Examples. — Milton's Lycidas ; Gray's Elegy written in 
 a Country Churchyard.
 
 POETRY. 309 
 
 d. The Sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines. It may deal with 
 
 any subject, and is always of the same metre, iambic pen- 
 tameter. Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth are the 
 great names in this species of poetry. 
 
 e. The Simple Lyric. Many minor Lyric poems cannot be 
 
 said to possess the characteristics of any of these classes. 
 They are such as Wordsworth's Cuckoo ; Rosetti's Cloud 
 Confines ; Mrs. Browning's A Dead Rose ; O. W. Holmes's 
 Contentment. 
 4. Didactic Poetry attempts to combine instruction with 
 pleasure. As its object is jDartially the same as that of Persua- 
 sion, it employs most of the means mentioned under that head. 
 Examples. — Voce's Moral Essays ; Cowper's Task. 
 Nearly allied to Didactic Poetry is Satiric Poetry, but it departs 
 stilL further from the true purpose of giving pleasure. Indeed, 
 it simply assumes the form of poetry to increase its venom. As 
 its object is similar to that of prose compositions of the satiric 
 class, it uses the methods named on pages 253, 254. 
 
 Examples. — Dryden's Absalom and Ahitophel ; Johnson's 
 London ; Lowell's Bigloiv Papers, 
 
 EXERCISE XCVII. 
 
 Poetry. 
 
 How does poetry differ from prose ? 
 What do you understand by the materials of poetry? 
 Where does poetry select its materials ? 
 How is the choice of the subjects of poetry limited? 
 What methods of treatment are peculiar to poetry? 
 Name the leading divisions of poetry. 
 
 Name the classes of epic poetry, and give the characteris- 
 of each. 
 Name an example of each class of epic poetry. 
 Give a minute account of the structure of any epic poem 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 7 
 tics 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 you have read.
 
 3IO COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 10. Classify all the epic poems you have read. 
 
 11. How does dramatic poetry differ from epic? 
 
 12. State the prominent features of each kind of dramatic 
 poetry. 
 
 13. Point out clearly the distinction between the tragedy and 
 the comedy. 
 
 14. Classify all the dramas you have read, with reasons. 
 
 1 5 . How does lyric poetry differ from dramatic and epic ? 
 
 16. Describe each class of lyric poetry. 
 
 1 7. Make a line of the classes of lyric poetry, and write down 
 under its proper class the name of each of the lyric poems you 
 can recollect reading. 
 
 18. Describe didactic poetry. 
 
 19. What relation does satiric poetry bear to what you consider 
 true poetry ? 
 
 20. What is poetry? 
 
 21. Describe the sonnet. 
 
 22. What are the leading characteristics of poetic diction? 
 
 23. How does the method of poetic description differ from 
 that of prose ? 
 
 24. Why does poetry choose the concrete and the particular? 
 
 25. What is meant by saying that "the language ef poetry is 
 archaic"? Illustrate. 
 
 26. Illustrate what is meant by the music of poetry. 
 
 27. How is the use of figurative language in poetry limited? 
 
 28. How do Songs differ from other lyric poetry? 
 
 29. Describe an Ode. 
 
 30. What arguments in favor of the existence of didactic poetry ?
 
 VERSIFICATION. 3 II 
 
 LESSON LII. 
 
 VERSIFICATION. 
 
 Versification is that part of Rhetoric which treats of verse- 
 making. Its leading features may be studied under (i) Metre, 
 (2) Rhyme, (3) Stanza. 
 
 Metre. 
 
 Rhythm. — All well-written composition has a smooth and 
 graceful flow known by the name of rhythm. Rhythm varies in 
 prose from the quiet level, or harsh abruptness, in which the 
 music of motion is scarcely perceptible, to a measured flow 
 closely approaching the regularity of verse. 
 
 This rhythm arises from such a choice and arrangement of syl- 
 lables as cause the voice to fall at intervals that tend to produce 
 a pleasing and effective cadence. When these cadences occur at 
 regular distances, we have metre ; in fact, metre is rhythm reduced 
 to regularity. 
 
 Accent. — From this it appears that metre is based on accent, 
 which is a stress of the voice laid on a certain syllable or syllables 
 of a word or of a collection of words. When it falls on one of the 
 syllables of a word of two or more syllables it is called 7vord 
 accent, and when on a monosyllable it is called metrical accent. 
 
 Exa7nple : — 
 
 " Avenger of his kinsman's death." 
 
 Here the accent on avenger and on kinsman's are of the former 
 kmd, while the accent on ^^and on deatli are of the latter. They 
 have the same value in scansion. 
 
 Feet. — The regular recurrence of the accent naturally divides 
 the line into parts. These parts are called feet. A foot, there- 
 fore, consists of a combination of two or more syllables, one of 
 which is accented.
 
 312 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 The syllables comprised in a foot do not necessarily form a 
 single word, but may be any parts. Thus : — 
 
 " One cell | there is | concealed | from vul|gar eye, 
 The cave | of pov|erty | and po|etry." 
 Kinds of Feet. — In prose two accented syllables may follow 
 in succession ; as, " divine providence." In poetry one or two 
 unaccented syllables must intervene between the accents ; except 
 in the case of a substituted foot, or of pauses taking the place of 
 the unaccented syllable or syllables ; as, — 
 
 ■^ ^ ^ >• 
 
 " A little angel unawares." 
 " Her all had a meaning, her movements a grace." 
 
 This gives rise to two kinds of basal feet. But, as the unac- 
 cented syllable or syllables may come on either side of the 
 accented one, four varieties of feet are produced. Thus, if ' 
 denotes an accented syllable, and ^ denotes an unaccented one, 
 we have ^ ' or ^ ^ ' ; or if the accented syllable comes 
 first, we get ' ^ or ' ^ ^, named as follows: — 
 
 \j 
 
 Iambus, ^ ' ; as, beheld. 
 
 Anapaest, ^ '' ; as, intermingled. 
 
 Trochee, ' ^ ; as, singing. 
 
 Dactyl, ' ^ ^ ; as, mournfully. 
 
 A Verse, or line of poetry, is a combination of feet. 
 Kinds of Verse. — Metre is doubly named : first, from the kind 
 of foot ; secondly, from the number of feet in the line. Thus : — 
 
 A line of one iambic foot is called iambic monometer. 
 
 iambic dimeter, 
 iambic trimeter, 
 iambic tetrameter, 
 iambic pentameter, 
 iambic hexameter, 
 iambic heptameter. 
 
 The other three kinds are similarly named. 
 
 two " feet 
 
 three " " 
 
 four " " 
 
 five " " 
 
 six " " 
 
 seven " "
 
 VERSIFICATION. 313 
 
 An iambic pentameter is often called heroic measure, because 
 it is used in heroic or epic poems. 
 
 An iambic hexameter is sometimes called an Alexandrine, be- 
 cause in the Middle Ages poems about Alexander the Great were 
 written in this measure. 
 
 Other Feet. — Other combinations of accented and unac- 
 cented syllables may be made, but they are unnecessary. One is 
 
 named Amphibrach ; as, " receiving." 
 
 Examples : — 
 
 Iambic Measure. 
 
 Iambic monometer : — 
 
 " Farewell, 
 Sweet dell." 
 
 Iambic dimeter : — 
 
 w -• \j ■> 
 " I feel 1 like one 
 
 Who treads | alone." 
 
 Iambic trimeter : — 
 
 "The villlage smithly stands." 
 Iambic tetrameter : — 
 
 " Sow peace, | and reap | its harlvest bright." 
 Iambic pentameter : — 
 
 " Know well | thyself; | presume | not God | to scan." 
 Iambic hexameter : — 
 
 " The frost | nipped sharp | without, ] the canjker preyed | 
 
 within." 
 Iambic heptameter : — 
 
 "Yon island strength | is guardjed well, | say, broth|ers, 
 
 ' ^^ . ' 
 will I you in? "
 
 314 composition and rhetoric. 
 
 Trochaic Measure. 
 Trochaic monometer : — 
 
 " Sweetest." 
 Trochaic dimeter : — 
 
 " Rich the | treasure, 
 
 Sweet the | pleasure." 
 Trochaic trimeter : — 
 
 "Go where | glory | waits thee." 
 Trochaic tetrameter : — 
 
 " In her | ear he | whispers | gently." 
 Trochaic octometer : — 
 
 "And the | silken, ] sad, un|certain | rusding | of each 
 purple I curtain." 
 
 Anap^stic Measure. 
 Anapaestic dimeter : — - 
 
 "There is smoke | in the flame." 
 Anapaestic trimeter : — 
 
 "Of the beau'tiful Anajabel Lee." 
 Anapaestic tetrameter : — 
 
 " Have wakjened thy fondjest thy lovelliest thrill." 
 
 Dactylic Measure. 
 Dactylic monometer : — 
 
 "Tenderly." 
 Dactylic dimeter : — 
 
 "One more unifortunate."
 
 VERSIFICATION. 31$ 
 
 Dactylic tetrameter : — 
 
 "Joy of the | desolate | light of the | straying." 
 Dactylic hexameter : — 
 
 "This is the | forest pri|meval the | murmuring | pines and 
 the I hemlocks." 
 
 Scanning is dividing a line into the feet of which it is com- 
 posed. Thus: — 
 
 "Then flashed | the liv|ing light[ning from | her eyes." 
 
 The accent of words of more than one syllable is fixed by the 
 dictionary ; the accent of monosyllables varies according to the 
 requirements of the line. It is not always possible to determine 
 the measure without examining a number of the lines to find out 
 what is the prevailing foot. In trying to scan a piece, first mark 
 the accents that are known ; that is, the accents of the words of 
 more than one syllable ; then arrange the accents of the mono- 
 syllables to suit these. 
 
 Substituted Feet. — One foot is frequently substituted for 
 another for the sake of convenience, or to give variety or richness 
 t!0 the music of the line. Thus : — 
 
 A trochee for an iambus ; as, — 
 
 " .\ golden clasp, claspmg a shred of gold." 
 An anapaest for an iambus ; as, — 
 
 " I stood on the bridge at midnight." 
 A dactyl for a trochee ; as, — 
 
 " Many a gallant gay domestic." 
 An iambus for an anapaest ; as, — 
 
 " King PhH\\^ had vaunt|ed his claims."
 
 3l6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 Elision. — In the substitution of a longer foot for a shorter, the 
 additional syllables are sometimes said to be elided or slurred 
 over. It is better to regard the foot as substituted. 
 
 At the End. — When the substitution takes place at the end 
 of the Une, special names have unnecessarily been used. If a line 
 has more than the regular number of syllables, it is said to be 
 hypercatalectic ; if just the number, acatalectic ; if less, catalectic. 
 Thus : — 
 
 Hypercatalectic, — 
 
 " If the pulse | of the pat|riot sol'dier or lov|er." 
 
 Acatalectic, — 
 
 X ^ ^ ■' 
 
 " I would I not have | the horse | I drive 
 
 ^ ^ J* ^ 
 
 So fast I that folks | must stop | and stare." 
 Catalectic, — 
 
 >< >. X X 
 
 "Slaughtered | down by ] heathen | blade." 
 
 Incomplete Feet. — Not infrequently the unaccented syllable 
 or syllables are omitted, and the omission supplied by a pause. 
 Thus : — 
 
 "Break , | break , | breal: 
 
 On thy cold | gray stones, | O sea." 
 
 ^ \u \j 
 
 " Rashly imjportunate, 
 Gone to her ] death ." 
 
 Mixed Verse. — It is usual to find one kind of feet prevailing 
 throughout the same poem. Sometimes, however, several kinds 
 are employed in the same line or in different lines. This is espe- 
 cially the case in the ode, in songs, in tales, and in romances. 
 
 Emphasis is a special stress of the voice laid on a word to give 
 its meaning prominence. If the metrical accent falls on an unem- 
 
 phatic word, a harshness is produced ; as, — 
 
 ^ >• -^ ^ 
 
 " And a small seal, her mother's legacy."
 
 VERSIFICATION. 3 I / 
 
 Quantity. — Though Enghsh metre depends on accent, yet 
 quantity, or the length of time required to pronounce a syllable, is 
 not without its effect in the music of the line. One or more 
 naturally long syllables may give the line that slowness, solemnity, 
 or stateliness of movement that suits the subject. Thus : — 
 
 "And breathless darkness and the narrow house." 
 
 " The vales 
 Stretching in pensive quietness between." 
 
 On the other hand, short, light syllables make the rhythm quick 
 and lively. Thus : — 
 
 " Last, came Joy's ecstatic trial." 
 
 " First to the lively pipe his hand addressed." 
 
 Pauses. — Besides the pause which occurs at the end of every 
 line of poetry, there are usually one or more pauses in the body 
 of the line. The chief pause, called csesura, may fall after any 
 syllable ; but seldom at the same place in any two contiguous 
 lines. The minor pauses, called semi-csesuras, may likewise occur 
 at any point in the line. Sometimes several pauses of equal value 
 are found in tl /e same verse. 
 
 Examples : — 
 
 "The lights are out, || and gone | are all the guests, 
 That thronging came | with merriment and jests 
 
 To celebrate | the Hanging of the Crane 
 In the new house, — || into the night | are gone ; 
 But still I the fire upon the hearth j burns on, 
 
 And I alone | remain." 
 
 Rhyme. 
 
 Rhyme is a correspondence of sound. Its most familiar use is 
 at the end of the line, but it may occur at various points within 
 the line.
 
 3l8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 1. A similarity of sound in the consonants is called AUiteratrve 
 Rhyme, or AlHteration. It may occur — 
 
 a. At the beginning of the words ; as, — 
 
 " As ships ^rift darkling ^own the tide." 
 
 d. At the end of the word, within the word, or within one word 
 and at the beginning or end of another word ; as, — 
 
 "And thist/es, and nett/es, and darne/s rank." 
 
 " And the night sha// be fi//ed with music." 
 
 "Thus we waXk with her and /^eep unbro/^en." 
 
 c. In consecutive lines ; as, — 
 
 "The modest stranger /ow/y bends, 
 And fo//ows to the ce//." 
 
 i/. The alliterated syllables may be arranged in various order ; 
 as, — 
 
 "An^the dock, and //enbane, and htwXock dzxkT 
 
 " As ^lood to the /^eart that will ^eat no more." 
 
 " But w//o would sQZx the i-olar //eight." 
 
 " And J/ammon wins his way 7^/here Seraphs ///:ght despair." 
 
 " Sha// ib/d their tents /ike the Arabs." 
 
 " 77/e/ountain o/ /ei^etua//eace/ows ///ere." 
 
 2. A correspondence in the sound of the vowels at the close of 
 two lines is called Assonantal Rhyme ; as, — 
 
 " It fortifies my soul to kiiow 
 That, though I perish, truth is so^ 
 
 3. Consonantal Rhyme, when perfect, has the following condi 
 tions fulfilled : — 
 
 a. The vowel sounds are the same. 
 
 b. The consonants after the vowels are similar in sound. 
 
 c. The consonants before the vowels are different in sound. 
 
 d. The rhyming syllables are similarly accented.
 
 VERSIFICATION. 319 
 
 Thus song, thong ; laid, shade, form perfect rhymes ; but come, 
 home, are imperfect. 
 
 This rhyme usually occurs at the end of the line, and is for that 
 reason called Terminal ; it may, however, appear within the line. 
 
 Single Rhyme consists of one rhyming syllable, as sound, found ; 
 Double Rhyme, of two, as shaken, zvaken; Triple Rhyme, of 
 three, as tenderly, slendet'ly. The syllables that form the rhymes 
 are not necessarily contained in one word. 
 
 Blank Verse is verse without rhyme. It is generally used in 
 dealing with lofty and dignified subjects, as they could not be sub- 
 jected to the cramping restraint of rhyme. 
 
 The Stanza. 
 
 A Stanza is a combination of two or more verses. 
 
 1. ^ Distich, or Couplet, contains two or more rhyming lines. 
 
 2. A Triplet contains three lines that rhyme together. Exam- 
 ple, Tennyson's Eagle. A triplet does not always rhyme. 
 
 3. Quatrain contains four verses ; these usually rhyme alter- 
 nately. 
 
 When this stanza consists of four iambic pentameters with alter- 
 nate rhyme, it is called Elegiac Stanza ; when of four iambic 
 tetrameters. Long Metre ; when of four iambic trimeters, with an 
 additional foot in the third line, Short Metre ; when of four iambic 
 tetrameters alternating with three, Common Metr*". Thus : — 
 
 \J 
 
 ^Iw 
 
 ^Iw 
 
 .\kj 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 w 
 
 Akj 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 \-J 
 
 ^iw 
 
 ^i^ 
 
 A^ 
 
 \J 
 
 .iw 
 
 .Iw 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 \J 
 
 A^ 
 
 Akj 
 
 v- 
 
 
 '.y 
 
 A^ 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^1^ 
 
 .Iw 
 
 A^ 
 
 - 
 
 \^ 
 
 A^ 
 
 A^ 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 \y 
 
 .1^ 
 
 .Iw 
 
 A^ 
 
 w 
 
 ^Iw 
 
 ^Iw 
 
 A^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 \j 
 
 A^ 
 
 Akj 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 V- ' 
 
 .Iw 
 
 Ak^ 
 
 Common Metre is called also Ballad Metre, from its being 
 much used in that class of poetry. 
 
 4. The stanza of five lines is occasionally used, as in Shelley's 
 Ode to a Skylark. 
 
 5. Six-line stanzas are much niore common, as in Longfellow's 
 The Village Blacksmith.
 
 320 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 6. The seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter bears the name 
 of Rhyme Royal. In this the first four lines form an alternately 
 rhyming quatrain, the fifth line rhymes with the fourth, and the 
 last two form a couplet. 
 
 7. The eight-line stanza of iambic pentameter is the famous 
 ottava ri?na. Here the first six Hnes rhyme alternately, and 
 the last two rhyme together. Byron's Do7i Juan furnishes an 
 example. 
 
 8. The Spenserian stanza consists of nine lines ; the first eight 
 are iambic pentameters, and the ninth an Alexandrine. The first 
 and third lines rhyme together ; also the second, fourth, fifth, and 
 seventh, as well as the sixth, eighth, and ninth. The Faerie 
 Quee7ie, The Castle of Indolence, and Childe Harold are in this 
 stanza. The Vision of Don Roderick affords an example of 
 different rhyming. 
 
 EXERCISE XCVIII. 
 
 Versification. 
 
 1. Explain the difference between metre and rhythm. 
 
 2. Explain why it is that there are only four kinds of basal feet 
 in English. 
 
 3. Distinguish between quantity and accent. 
 
 4. Name and describe the various kinds of verse. 
 
 5. Name and illustrate the various kinds of rhyme. 
 
 6. Explain the term stanza, and quote an example of each of 
 the different kinds of stanza. 
 
 7. Explain and illustrate each of the following terms : Verse, 
 foot, accent, emphasis, scansion, blank verse, elision, substituted 
 feet, incomplete feet. 
 
 8. Arrange the following in four iambic tetrameters : " The 
 bitter-sweet, the haunting air creepeth, bloweth everywnere ; it 
 preys on all, all prey on it, blooms in beauty, thinks in evil." 
 
 9. Arrange in three iambic pentameters : " Seek him in rising 
 vapors, and in clouds of crimson or dun, and often on the edge 
 of the gray morning and of tawny eve."
 
 VERSIFICATION. 321 
 
 10. Arrange in five trochaic tetrameters : " Round about him 
 spun the landscape, sky and forest reeled together, and his strong 
 heart leaped within him, as the sturgeon leaps and struggles in a 
 net to break its meshes." 
 
 1 1 . Bring in four lines of each of the following metres, with the 
 scansion marked : Iambic tetrameter, iambic hexameter ; trochaic 
 trimeter, trochaic pentameter; dactylic hexameter; anapaestic 
 tetrameter. Point out clearly any variations that occur. 
 
 12. Arrange in two trochaic lines: "Women, I am but a girl, 
 but heroes' blood is in my veins, and I will shed it drop by drop, 
 before I see my land in chains." 
 
 13. Scan 12 in another measure. 
 
 14. Illustrate the effect of pauses. 
 
 15. Explain what you understand by aUiteration. 
 
 1 6. Quote lines that show various methods of alliteration. 
 
 17. Quote Unes in which you consider the alliteration excessive. 
 
 18. State the requirements of common metre, short metre, 
 long metre, elegiac stanza. 
 
 19. Describe rhyme royal and Spenserian stanza. Name poems 
 in these measures. 
 
 20. What is blank verse ? 
 
 21. Arrange in six iambic lines, making the third and sixth lines 
 trimeters : " Faith overleaps the confines of our reason, and if by 
 faith, as in old times was said, women received their dead raised 
 up to life, then only for a season our partings are, nor shall we 
 wait in vain until we meet again." 
 
 22. Explain and illustrate the terms, hypercatalectic, acatalectic, 
 and catalectic. 
 
 23. Quote a line to illustrate what is meant by unemphatic 
 accent. 
 
 24. Arrange in iaml)ic lines : " Time, as he passes us, has a 
 dove's wing, unsoiled and swift and of a silken sound. But the 
 world's time is time in masquerade."
 
 •^22 
 
 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 CORRECTING COMPOSITIONS. 
 
 The labor of correcting compositions, especially in large classes, 
 is very great ; yet minute correction is the best way of showing 
 the pupil how to avoid errors and attain excellence. General 
 remarks are of little avail. The beauty and suitability of the 
 various parts constitute the beauty of the whole. Hence it is 
 necessary to call the learner's attention to the exact points in 
 which he has failed, that he may know just what to avoid in 
 future. The toil of criticising may be lightened by using a system 
 of abbreviated marks, such as those given below. (These are 
 taken chiefly from Huffcut's Englisli in the Preparatory Schools.) 
 
 o 
 
 Orthography. 
 
 S 
 
 Change construction. 
 
 Cap 
 
 Capitalization. 
 
 Com 
 
 Incompleteness of statement. 
 
 P 
 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Tr 
 
 Transpose. 
 
 Gr 
 
 Bad grammar. 
 
 Ob. 
 
 Obscurity. 
 
 W 
 
 Wording. 
 
 X 
 
 Calls attention to errors not 
 
 CI 
 
 Want of clearness. 
 
 
 specified. 
 
 St 
 
 Want of strength. 
 
 Ac 
 
 Want of accuracy. 
 
 u 
 
 Lack of unity. 
 
 C 
 
 Condense. 
 
 11 
 
 Inelegant. 
 
 Cd 
 
 Confused statement. 
 
 Cn 
 
 Sentences not well connected. 
 
 L) 
 
 Strike out. 
 
 A 
 
 Ambiguity. 
 
 T 
 
 Lack' of taste. 
 
 Ind. 
 
 Indefinite. 
 
 K 
 
 Awkward construction. 
 
 Sim. 
 
 Want of simplicity. 
 
 Trt 
 
 Trite. 
 
 I.e. 
 
 No capital. 
 
 Ex - 
 
 Expand. 
 
 V 
 
 Vague. 
 
 \ 
 
 Paragraph required. 
 
 ? 
 
 Questions the truth of a state- 
 
 not 
 
 No paragraph required. 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 Ms 
 
 Manuscript lacks neatness. 
 
 Inc 
 
 Inconsequent. 
 

 
 PROOF-READING AND MARKING. 323 
 
 PROOF-READING AND MARKING. 
 
 Before a manuscript is brought to the printer it ought to be as 
 perfect as the author can make it. The compositor is bound to 
 " follow the copy," in word and sentiment, unless, indeed, he 
 meets with instances of wrong punctuation or false grammar (and 
 such instances are not rare), which his intelligence enables him 
 to amend. After the matter has been read and corrected in the 
 office, a proof is sent to the author, and if it corresponds with the 
 copy the compositor's responsibility is at an end. He has done 
 all he is paid for ; and should the author desire any changes made 
 in his matter, of course he must pay for them. 
 
 Sentiments in print look marvellously different from the same 
 ideas in manuscript ; and we are not surprised that writers should 
 wish to polish a little ; nor do we object to their natural desire of 
 amending or beautifying their mental products. But let them not 
 forget that pay-time will come, — when the item for alterations will 
 loom oiit with a startling distinctness in the bill. They found it 
 easy in the proof to erase a word or two here and insert a word 
 or two there, without dreaming, perhaps, that in consequence of 
 these little erasures and insertions the compositor would be com- 
 pelled to alter and reconstruct much of his work. We know of a 
 volume on which the alterations alone have consumed time equal 
 to one man's work for nearly two and a half years. How unrea- 
 sonable — nay, how transparently unjust — the expectation that 
 
 1 This chapter is based on tlie chapter on Proof-reading in " The American 
 Printer," published by The MacKellar, Smiths, lii Jordan Co., Philadelphia, and is 
 used by their permission.
 
 324 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 the printer should give gratuitously the time and trouble requisite 
 for the radical changes in the type which an author's whim or 
 taste may demand ! 
 
 An authority on this subject says : " It may not be improper, in 
 this place, just to take notice of the great danger to the correct- 
 ness of a work which arises from the practice, too common with 
 some authors, of keeping their proof-sheets too long in their hands 
 before J:hey are returned to the printer. The impatience of authors 
 to see their works in a fit state for publication is almost proverbial. 
 The pleasure arising from beholding, as it were, the ' form and 
 texture ' of one's thoughts is a sensation much easier felt than 
 described. That authors, therefore, may partake of this pleasure 
 in a speedy and regular succession, they should make a point of 
 forwarding their proof-sheets to the printer as quickly as possible, 
 not only that they may the sooner be got ready for the press, but 
 that the work may proceed in a regular manner, without being 
 interrupted by the forwarding of other works in lieu of theirs. 
 
 " Authors are very apt to make alterations, and to correct and 
 amend the style or arguments of their works, when they first see 
 them in print. This is certainly the worst time for this labor, as 
 it is necessarily attended with an expense which, iu large works, 
 will imperceptibly swell to a serious sum ; when, however, this 
 method of alteration is adopted by an author, the reader must 
 always be careful to read the whole sheet over once more with 
 very great attention before it is finally put to press. 
 
 " A proof-sheet, having duly undergone this routine of purga- 
 tion, may be supposed to be as free from errata as the nature of 
 the thing will admit, and the word ' Press ' may be written at the 
 top of the first page if to be printed from type, and ' Cast' if to be 
 electrotyped. These are important words to every proof-reader ; 
 if he have suffered his attention to be drawn aside from the nature 
 of his proper business, and errors should be discovered when it is 
 too late to have them corrected, these words are as the signature 
 of the death-warrant of his reputation. A proof-reader, therefore, 
 should be a man of one business, always upon the alert, all eye,
 
 PROOF-READING AND MARKING. 325 
 
 all attention. Possessing a becoming reliance on his own powers, 
 he should never be too confident of success. Imperfection clings 
 to him on every side. Errors and mistakes assail him from every 
 quarter. His business is of a nature that may render him obnox- 
 ious to blame, but can hardly be said to bring him in any very 
 large stock of praise. If errors escape him, he is justly to be cen- 
 sured ; for perfection is his duty. If his labors are wholly free 
 from mistake, — which is, alas ! a very rare case, — he has done 
 no more than he ought, and, consequently, can merit only a com- 
 parative degree of commendation, in that he had the good fortune 
 to be more successful in his labors after perfection than some of 
 his brethren in the same employment."
 
 326 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 ^(Z / Though several differing opinions exist as to 
 
 /the individual by wWbm the art of printing was ^J 
 
 first discovered; yet all authorities concur in 
 
 admitting Peter Schoeffer to be the person ^ <^ / 
 
 who invented cast metal types, having learned 
 
 ^ the art -ef of cutting tiie letters from the Gu- 
 
 5;/ tenbergs/ he is also supposed to have been 
 
 ^^ the first whoengraved on copper plates. The'' I -I 
 A A 
 
 following testimony is preseved in the family, ^1 
 
 I by' Jo. l^ Fred. ^ Faustus, J^ of '''Ascheffenburg: 
 
 '°D ^ ' ^^^^^ Schoeffer, of Gernsheim, perceiving ^^^^^ 
 
 "^y his master Fausts design, and being himself 
 
 "^ fdesirous "1 ardently! to improve the art, found 
 
 out (by the good pro\-idence of God) the 
 
 method of cutting { mciderfdi ) the characters ^fi^^- 
 
 in a matri.i', that the letters might easily be 
 
 *->/ singly cast] instead of bieng cu^. He pri- "^^ 
 
 »*J_ vately cut matrices, for the whole alphabet: . 15 
 
 Faust was so pleased with the contrivanp^; 
 
 -<^at he promised F'eter to give him h^g^nly ^^'i/j/- 
 
 ^ ' daughter Christina in marriage.^a: promise 3 /^ / 
 
 which he soon after performed, yf 
 
 '^^/ ' But there were manvXiifiiculties at first ^'^ I' 
 
 with these letters, as^diere had been before ^^^(^'^^, 
 
 „ . with wooden oneaQ he metal being too soft 3 r^ / 
 
 to support th^^orce of the im pression : but 2' -'"^ 
 
 this defepr was soon remedied, by mixing 
 
 a suljjyfance with the metal which sufficiently "^. 
 
 raened it/ 
 
 c/ z{A^e?i /le d^ozitec/ um Tnctd^d ^A^e 
 ceUe'ld ccM^ /ioni i!ue-:)e 9?^ci^Ucedj
 
 TYPOGRAPHICAL MARKS EXEMPLIFIED. 327 
 
 Though several differing opinions exist as to 
 the individual by whom the art of printing was 
 first discovered ; yet all authorities concur in 
 admitting PETER SCHOEFFER to be the 
 person who invented cast metal types, having 
 learned the art of cutting the letters from the 
 Gutenbergs : he is also supposed to have been 
 the first who engraved on copper-plates. The 
 following testimony is preserved in the family, 
 by Jo. Fred. Faustus, of Ascheffenburg : 
 
 ' Peter Schoeffer, of Gernsheim, perceiv- 
 ing his master Faust's design, and being him- 
 self ardently desirous to improve the art, found 
 out (by the good providence of God) the 
 method of cutting (incidendi) the characters in 
 a fnatrix, that the letters might easily be singly 
 cast, instead of being cut. He privately cut 
 mOftrices for the whole alphabet: and when he 
 shiWed liis master the letters cast from these 
 matrices, Faust was so pleased with the con- 
 trivance, that he promised Peter to give him 
 his only daughter Christina in marriage, a 
 promise which he soon after performed. But 
 there were as many difficulties at first with 
 these letters, as there had been before with 
 wooden ones, the metal being too soft to sup- 
 port the force of the impression : but this defect 
 was soon remedied, by mixing the metal with 
 a substance which sufficiently hardened it. '
 
 328 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE CORRECTIONS. 
 
 A wrong letter in a word is noted by drawing a short perpendicular 
 line through it, and making another short Une in the margin, behind 
 which the right letter is placed. (See No. i.) So with whole words 
 also, a line being drawn across the wrong word and the right one writ- 
 ten in the margin opposite. 
 
 A turned letter is noted by drawing a line through it, and writing the 
 mark No. 2 in the margin. 
 
 If letters or words require to be altered to make them more con- 
 spicuous, a parallel line or lines must be made underneath the word or 
 letter, — viz. for capitals, three lines; small capitals, two lines; and 
 Italic, one line ; and, in the margin opposite the line where the altera- 
 tion occurs. Caps, Small Caps, or Ital. must be written. (See No. 3.) 
 
 When letters or words are set double, or are required to be taken out, 
 a line is drawn through the superfluous word or letter, and the mark 
 No. 4 placed opposite in the margin. 
 
 Whe|^ the punctuation requires alteration, the correc'c point should 
 be written in the margin. (See No. 5.) 
 
 When a space has been omitted between two words, a caret must be 
 made where the separation ought to be, and the sign No. 6 placed oppo- 
 site in the margin. 
 
 When a word should form a compound with another, it is denoted as 
 in No. 7. 
 
 When a letter has been omitted, a caret is put at the place of omis- 
 sion, and the letter marked as No. 8. 
 
 Where a line is too widely spaced, the mark No. 9 must be placed 
 between the words and also in the margin. 
 
 Where a new paragraph is required, a quadrangle is drawn in the 
 margin, and a caret placed at the beginning of the sentence. (See 
 No. 10.) 
 
 No. II shows the way in which the apostrophe, inverted commas, 
 the star and other references, and superior letters and figures, are 
 marked.
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE CORRECTIONS. 329 
 
 Where two words are transposed, a line is drawn over one word and 
 below the other, and the mark No. 12 placed in the margin; but where 
 several words require to be transposed, their right order is signified by 
 a figure placed over each word, and the mark No. 12 in the margin. 
 
 Where words have been struck out that have afterward been approved 
 of, dots should be marked under them, and stet written in the margin. 
 (See No. 13.) 
 
 Where a space sticks up between two words, a horizontal line is 
 drawn under it, and the mark No. 14 placed opposite, in the margin. 
 
 Where several words have been left out, they are transcribed at the 
 bottom of the page, and a line drawn from the place of omission to the 
 written words (see No. 15); but if the omitted matter is too exten- 
 sive to be copied at the foot of the page. Out, see copy, is written in the 
 margin, and the missing lines are enclosed between brackets, and the 
 word Out is inserted in the margin of the copy. 
 
 Where letters stand crooked, they are noted by a line see (No. 16) ; 
 but, where a page hangs, lines are drawn across the entire part affected. 
 
 When a smaller or larger letter, of a different fount, is improperly 
 introduced into the page, it is noted by the mark No. 17, which signi- 
 fies wrong fount. 
 
 If a paragraph is improperly made, a line is drawn from the broken- 
 off matter to the next paragraph, and No ^ written in the margin. 
 (See No. i8.) 
 
 Where a word has been left out or is to be added, a caret must be 
 made in the jlace where it should come in, and the word written in the 
 margin. (See No. 19.) 
 
 Where a faulty letter appears, it is denoted by making a cross under 
 it, and placing a similar mark in the margin (see No. 20) ; though 
 some prefer to draw a perpendicular line through it, as in the case of a 
 wrong letter. 
 
 Where a word has been accidentally separated by a space, it is marked 
 as in No. 21. 
 
 ^»v
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Apostrophe, rules for, ^^. 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Auxiliaries, 55. 
 
 Adjectives, with one noun, 56. 
 Adjectives and adverbs, 56. 
 Adapt, use of, 63. 
 Appreciate, use of, 64. 
 Avocation, use of, 64. 
 Alternative, use of, 64. 
 Allow, use of, 64. 
 Aggi-avate, use of, 65. 
 At length, use of, 65. 
 Adjective clause, 6. 
 
 changed, 162. 
 Adverbial clause, 7. 
 Arrangement, 
 
 of adverbs, 82. 
 
 of adverbial phrases, 82. 
 
 of adverbial clauses, 82. 
 
 participial clauses, 82. 
 
 misleading arrangement, 83. 
 
 exercises on, 84, 85, 86, 87. 
 
 euphonious, 134. 
 
 of sentences in paragraph, 147. 
 
 poetic. 189, 190. 
 Anti-climax, 113. 
 Alliteration, 194. 
 Allegory, 210. 
 
 rhetorical value, 210. 
 
 questions on, 2 1 9. 
 Apostrophe, 222. 
 
 compared with personification, 222. 
 
 rhetorical value, 222. 
 
 Antithesis, defined, 226. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 226. 
 
 rule of, 226. 
 
 exercise on, 228, 229. 
 Esthetic qualities, 255. 
 
 exercise on, 260, 262. 
 Amplification, 271. 
 Annals, 285. 
 Argumentation, 298, 299. 
 
 methods, 298. 
 
 parts, 298. 
 
 style, 298. 
 
 theme, 298. 
 
 exercise on, 299. 
 Addresses, 300. 
 Accent, 314. 
 Anapsestic measure, 
 
 examples of, 314. 
 Acatalectic line, 316. 
 
 B. 
 
 Biography, 285. 
 
 Composition, defined, I. 
 Copula, 2. 
 Complement, 
 
 of simple predicate, 2. 
 
 of incomplete verb, 2. 
 Complex sentence, 6. 
 
 exercise on, 7, 8. 
 Clauses, kinds, 6. 
 
 substantive clause, 6. 
 what it may be, 6.
 
 332 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Clauses, adjective clause, 6. 
 its value, 6. 
 how attached, 6, 7. 
 
 adverbial clause, 7. 
 its value, 7. 
 how connected, 7. 
 Compromise, the, 12. 
 Capitalization, 20, 21. 
 
 exercises on, 21, 22. 
 Comma, rules for, 23-25, 31, 32, 34. 
 
 exercises on, 25, 26. 
 Colon, rules for, 27. 
 
 exercises on, 28, 29. 
 Caret, rule for, 33. 
 Caption, use of, 63. 
 Condign, use of, 64. 
 Citizen, use of, 65. 
 Continual, synonym of, 69. 
 Crime, synonym of, 69. 
 Courage, synonym of, 70. 
 Conscious, synonym of, 70. 
 Couple, synonym of, 70. 
 Character, synonym of, 70. 
 Clearness, 81-105. 
 
 what it requires, 81. 
 
 how promoted, 81. 
 
 from reference of pronouns, 87. 
 
 from position of emphatic words, 
 92. 
 
 lost by improper ellipses, 97. 
 
 lost by long sentences, 98. 
 
 general exercise on, 101-106. 
 Comparative, use of, 56. 
 Combining sentence, 15. 
 Compound sentences, 
 
 defined, 9. 
 
 relation of parts, 9. 
 
 exercise on, 9, 10. 
 Construction, the same, 93. 
 
 exercises on, 95-97. 
 Closing, how done, 112. 
 Climax, 112. 
 
 Connection, words of, 116. 
 Change of subject, 127. 
 Continuity, 147. 
 
 Continuity, how attained, 147. 
 
 Connectives, 147. 
 
 Change of order of words, 161. 
 
 exercise on, 162. 
 Construction, variety, 162, 163. 
 
 exercises on, 164-168. 
 
 varied by combining, contracting, 
 expanding sentences, 168, 170. 
 Condensation, defined, 178. 
 
 exercise on, 182, 1S3. 
 Chronicles, 285. 
 Criticisms, 295. 
 Comedy, 308. 
 Catalectic line, 316. 
 Correcting composition, 322. 
 
 proof, 324-327. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dash, rules for, 29, 30. 
 
 exercise on, 31, 32. 
 Diction, defined, 39. 
 
 qualities of, 39. 
 
 general exercise on, 76-80. 
 
 poetic, 1S9. 
 Divided usage, 41. 
 Demean, use of, 64. 
 Dock, use of, 65. 
 Description, use of, 65. 
 Distinguish, synonym of, 70. 
 Deface, synonym of, 70. 
 Dumb, synonym of, 70. 
 Defect, synonym of, 70. 
 Due proportion, 149. 
 Direct discourse, 170. 
 
 exercise on, 175. 
 Derision, defined, 253. 
 Discourse, kinds of, 284-310. 
 Diary, 285. 
 Description, 290. 
 
 kinds of, 290. 
 
 principles of, 290-293. 
 
 style of, 293. 
 
 framework, 293, 294. 
 
 exercise on, 294,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 33; 
 
 Drama, the, 307, 308. 
 Didactic poetry, 309. 
 Dactylic measure, 
 
 examples of, 314. 
 Distich, 319. 
 
 .Exclamation point, rules for, 32. 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Expect, use of, 63. 
 Eliminate, use of, 65. 
 Extend, use of, 65. 
 Excite, synonym of, 70. 
 Ellipses, improper, 97. 
 
 exercise on, 99, 100. 
 Epithets, prose, 107. 
 
 poetic, 192. 
 Exclamation, 121. 
 Elegance, defined, 133. 
 how attained, 133. 
 by melody of language, 133.. 
 by harmony, 135. 
 by avoiding fine writing, 1 38. 
 by keeping, 139. 
 general exercise on, 143-145. 
 Euphonious words, 133. 
 arrangement, 134. 
 endings, 135. 
 Euphoniousness, 194. 
 Epigram, defined, 227. 
 
 relation to other figures, 227. 
 rhetorical value of, 227. 
 exercise on, 229. 
 Euphemism, defined, 227. 
 rhetorical value of, 227. 
 exercise on, 229. 
 Exposition, 295-297. 
 divisions, 295. 
 parts, 295. 
 method, 296. 
 style, 296. 
 theme, 297. 
 exercise on, 297. 
 Essay, 295. 
 Editorials, 295. 
 
 Epic poetry, 306, 307. 
 
 divisions, 306, 307. 
 Elegy, the, 308. 
 Elision, in the Une, 316. 
 
 at the end, 316. 
 Emphasis, 316. 
 
 Foreign words, 40. 
 Female, use of, 64. 
 Fault, synonym of, 70. 
 Fe-wer, synonym of, 70. 
 Fetch, synonym of, 71. 
 Formation of sentences, 81-145. 
 general exercise on, 1 54-160. 
 Forcible words, 1 16. 
 
 exercise on, 11 7-1 19. 
 Fine writing, 1 38. 
 
 exercise on, 140, 141. 
 Figurative language, i95-'97- 
 Plgures of speech, 206-233. 
 defined, 206. 
 
 value and use of, 206, 207. 
 fcinds of figures, 207. 
 general exercise on, 230-233. 
 Force, defined, 245. 
 varieties of, 245. 
 requirements of, 245-247. 
 exercise on, 248-251. 
 Fable, defined, 210. 
 rhetorical value, 210. 
 questions on, 219. 
 Framework, 279. 
 Fiction, defined, 285. 
 
 divisions, 286. 
 Force, 308. 
 Feet, defined, 311. 
 kinds of, 312. 
 substituted, 315. 
 incomplete, 316. 
 
 G. 
 
 Good usage, 39. 
 how to find, 41.
 
 334 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Grammatical purity, 39, 41. 
 Get, use of, 64. 
 Grammar, poetic, 191. 
 Great epic, 306. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hyphen, rules for, 2,2,. 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Healthy, synonym of, 70. 
 Habit, synonym of, 70. 
 Harmony, 135, 256. 
 
 exercise on, 136, 137. 
 
 iyiitative, 195. 
 Hyperbole, defined, 222. 
 
 exercise on, 225, 226. 
 Humor, defined, 254. 
 History, 284, 285. 
 
 points respecting, 287. 
 Humanity, 305. 
 Hypercatalectic line, 316. 
 
 I. 
 
 Invention, i. 
 
 Interrogation point, rules for, 32. 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Impropriety, 63. 
 Idioms, 116. 
 Interrogation, 121. 
 Indirect discourse, 170. 
 
 exercise on, 175. 
 Irony, defined, 227. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 227. 
 Imagination, 305. 
 Idylls, 307. 
 Iambic measure, 313. 
 
 examples of, 313. 
 Index, 323, 331. 
 
 J- 
 
 Jests, defined, 254. 
 
 K. 
 
 Keeping, 139, 140. 
 
 exercise on, 142, 143. 
 
 Low words, 40. 
 
 Loose sentences, defined, li. 
 
 exercise on, 13-15. 
 Less, synonym of, 70. 
 Lone, synonym of, 71. 
 Long sentences may lead to obscuritv, 
 98. 
 
 exercise on, 100, loi. 
 Ludicrous, the, defined, 253. 
 
 kinds of, 253. 
 
 exercise on, 257-259. 
 Letters, 263-269. 
 
 kinds, 263. 
 
 form, 263. 
 
 heading, 263. 
 
 address, 264. 
 
 body of, 264. 
 
 conclusion, 265. 
 
 superscription, 265. 
 
 style of, 266. 
 
 business, 267. 
 
 examples of, 267, 269. 
 
 exercise on, 269. 
 Lecture, 301. 
 Lyric poetry, 308, 309. 
 
 M. 
 
 Minor points, of syntax, 55, 56. 
 
 exercise on, 56, 57. 
 Moods, syntax of, 52. 
 Jl/istaken, use of, 65. 
 Manners, synonym of, 71. 
 Melody, 133, 255. 
 
 exercise on, 136, 137. 
 Methods of transposing poetrv, 184- 
 
 187. 
 Measure, 186. 
 Metaphor, 208-210. 
 
 defined, 208. 
 
 compared with simile, 208. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 208, 209. 
 
 rules for, 209. 
 
 expanded, 209-210. 
 
 exercises on, 212-218.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 335 
 
 Metonymy, defined, 220. 
 
 kinds of, 220. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 220. 
 
 exercise on, 222, 224. 
 Mock-heroic, 255. 
 Memoirs, 285. 
 Metrical romance, 306, 307. 
 Mixed epic, 307. 
 Mask, the, 308. 
 Melodrama, 308. 
 Metre, 311-317. 
 
 long, short, common, 319. 
 
 N. 
 
 New words, 40. 
 Nouns, syntax of, 45. 
 Nouns, exercise on, 47. 
 Nice, use of, 65. 
 A^eglect, synonym of, 69. 
 Number of words, 106. 
 
 exercise on, 108- no. 
 Narration, 284-291. 
 
 kinds of, 284-286. 
 
 style of, 287, 288. 
 
 parts, 288. 
 
 framework, 288. 
 
 practice in, 288-290. 
 
 exercise in, 290. 
 News, 285. 
 Novel, kinds, 286. 
 
 principles of, 286, 287. 
 
 O. 
 
 Obsolete words, 40. 
 Order of words, in. 
 
 exercise on, 113-115. 
 Oratory, 300. 
 Orations, 300. 
 Opera, an, 308. 
 Odes, 308. 
 
 P. 
 
 Parable, defined, 210. 
 questions on, 219. 
 
 Perspicuity, 234-237. 
 
 defined, 234. 
 
 how gained, 234-237. 
 
 exercise on, 239-243. 
 Picturesqueness, 237-239. 
 
 defined, 237. 
 
 on what it depends, 237-239. 
 
 exercise on, 239-243. 
 Pathos, defined, 247. 
 
 how awakened, 247. 
 
 to what it applies, 247. 
 
 how increased, 247, 248. 
 
 exercise on, 248-251. 
 Parody, 255. 
 
 plan, the, 270-284. 
 
 practice in composition, 273-284. 
 Persuasion, 300-303. 
 
 ends, 300. 
 
 classification, 300, 301. 
 
 means of, 301. 
 
 style, 301. 
 
 theme, 302. 
 
 exercise, 303. 
 Pastorals, 307. 
 Poetry, 304-310. 
 
 Pauses, 
 
 ii7- 
 
 Proof, correcting, 324, 327. 
 Predicate, what it consists of, 3, 
 
 its modifiers, 3. 
 
 position of, 92. 
 
 varying of, 168. 
 
 exercise on, 170. 
 Punctuation, 23-36. 
 
 general exercise on, 35-37. 
 Period, rules for, 30. 
 
 exercise on, 31, 32. 
 Parentheses, rules for, 33. 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Purity, rhetorical, what it consists in, 39. 
 
 standard of, 39. 
 
 errors in, 39. 
 
 exercises on, 42-44. 
 Purity, grammatical, 45. 
 
 of nouns and pronouns, 45. 
 
 of pronouns, 46, 47.
 
 336 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Purity, grammatical, exercise on, 47, 
 4S. 
 
 of verbs, agreement, 49. 
 Periodic sentences, delined, 11. 
 
 exercise on, 13-15. 
 Pleonasm, 107. 
 Proverbs, 116. 
 Parentheses, 128. 
 Paragraphs, construction of, 146-154. 
 
 exercise on, 151-154. 
 
 writing of, 273-278. 
 Parallel construction, 150. 
 Phrases or clauses, 
 
 adjectival, changed, 162, 163. 
 
 exercise on, 164, 165. 
 
 adverbial, changed, 163. 
 
 exercise on, 165, 166. 
 
 noun, changed, 163. 
 
 exercise on, 167, 168. 
 Pronouns, syntax of, 46. 
 
 exercise on, 47, 48. 
 Past tense and past participle, 56. 
 Propriety, 63. 
 
 defined, 63. 
 
 importance of, 63. 
 
 examples of, 63-66. 
 
 exercise on, 66-68. 
 Predicate, use of, 63. 
 Pell-mell, use of, 64. 
 Plenty, use of, 65. 
 Precision, defined, 68. 
 
 examples of, 68-71. 
 
 how attained, 69. 
 
 exercise on, 72-75. 
 Pronouns, reference to antecedents, 87. 
 relative pronouns, use of, 88. 
 
 exercise on reference of, 89-92. 
 Phraseology, 176. 
 Paraphrase, directions, 172, 178. 
 
 exercise on, 182. 
 
 poetry, 184-205. 
 
 how done, 184, 185. 
 
 exercise on, 188, 189, 197-205. 
 Poetry, how differs from prose, 186, 
 
 197. 304- 
 
 Poetry, its materials, 304, 305. 
 
 its method of treatment, 305, 306. 
 
 its divisions, 306-309. 
 
 questions on, 309, 310. 
 Picturesqueness, poetry, 190-193. 
 Poetic epithets, 192. 
 
 words, 193, 194. 
 
 description, 293. 
 Personification, defined, 210, 211. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 211. 
 
 exercise on, 218, 219. 
 
 Q- 
 
 Qualifiers of the subject, 2. 
 Quotation marks, rules for, 32, 'i,!)- 
 
 exercise on, 34. 
 Quite, use of, 64. 
 Quotations, 116. 
 Qualities of style, 234. 
 
 defined, 234. 
 
 classified, 234. 
 Quantity, 317. 
 Quatrain, 319. 
 
 R. 
 
 Reviews, 295. 
 Rhetoric, defined, i. 
 Resolving sentences, 17, 18. 
 Rhetorical purity, 39. 
 Restive, use of, 64. 
 Rendition, use of, 64. 
 Replace, use of, 65. 
 Remember, synonym of, 69. 
 Redundancy, defined, 107. 
 
 when permissible, 107. 
 Rhyme, 186. 
 
 kinds of, 317-319- 
 Rhetorical analysis, 243, 252. 
 Reproduction, 244, 252, 253. 
 Ridicule, defined, 253. 
 
 rendered effective by, 254. 
 Raillery, defined, 253. 
 
 rendered effective by, 254. 
 Romance, 286. 
 Rhythm, 311.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 337 
 
 style, I. 
 
 Sentence, grammatical classification, i. 
 kinds of, i. 
 simple sentence, i. 
 subjects of, 2. 
 its qualifiers, 2. 
 exercise on, 4, 5. 
 combined, contracted, and ex- 
 panded, 168, 169. 
 exercise on, 171, 173. 
 complex sentences, 6. 
 its clauses, 6. 
 exercise on, 7, 8. 
 contracted, 170. 
 exercise on, 174, 175. 
 compound sentences, 9. 
 what they consist of, 9. 
 relation between parts, how 
 
 made, 9. 
 what members are, 9. 
 one member may be abbre- 
 viated, 9. 
 exercise on, 9, 10. 
 contracted, 170. 
 exercise on, 173, 174. 
 Sentence, rhetorical, 11. 
 classification, 11, 
 kinds of rhetorical sentences, 11. 
 periodic sentence, 11. 
 loose sentence, 11. 
 compromise sentence, 12. 
 balanced sentence, 12. 
 defined, 12. 
 exercise on, 19. 
 short sentences defined, 12. 
 long sentences, 12. 
 topic sentence, 146. 
 Semi-colon, rules for, 26, 27. 
 
 •exercise on, 28, 29. 
 Style, defined, 38. 
 its elements, 38. 
 its importance, 38. 
 means of attaining, 38. 
 
 Style, its qualities, 234, 
 Social meanings, 41. 
 Slang, 41. 
 Solecism, 41. 
 Subjunctive mood, 52. 
 Short sentences, 12. 
 
 exercise on, 15, 16. 
 Subject, position of, 92. 
 Strength, defined, 106. 
 
 where desirable, 106. 
 
 how promoted, 106. 
 
 from number of words, 106. 
 
 from order of words, 111-113. 
 
 from forcible words, 1 1 6, 117. 
 
 from variety, 120, 121. 
 
 general exercise on, 1 24-127. 
 Suspense, 1 12. 
 Supplementary clauses, 129. 
 Synonyms, 176. 
 
 exercise on, 179. 
 Syntax, 
 
 of nouns and pronouns, 45-47. 
 
 of verbs, 49-52. 
 
 of moods, 52. 
 
 of tense, 52, 53. 
 
 of auxiliaries, 55. 
 
 of minor points, 55, 56. 
 
 general exercise on, 58-62. 
 Simile, the, defined, 207. 
 
 rules for, 208. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 208. 
 
 exercises on, 211, 212, 217. 
 Synecdoche, defined, 221. 
 
 rhetorical value of, 221. 
 
 compared with metonymy and 
 metaphor, 221. 
 
 exercise on, 224-226. 
 Satire, defined, 253. 
 
 rendered effective by, 254. 
 Sarcasm, defined, 253. 
 
 rendered effective by, 254. 
 Speeches, 300. 
 Sermons, 301. 
 Songs, 308. 
 Sonnet, the, 309.
 
 338 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Simple lyric, 309. 
 Satiric poetry, 309, 
 Scanning, defined, 315. 
 Stanza, the, defined, 319. 
 
 elegiac, 319. 
 
 of five lines, of six lines, 319. 
 
 of seven lines, of eight, 320. 
 
 Spenserian, 320. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tenses, 52, 53. 
 
 This and that, 55. 
 To, of the infinitive, 56. 
 
 Transpire^ use of, 65. 
 
 To a degree, use of, 65. 
 
 Truth, synonym of, 70. 
 Tautology, defined, 107. 
 
 when permissible, 107. 
 Transition, 116. 
 Things unconnected, 128. 
 Topic sentence, 146, 
 Transposing, prose, 177. 
 
 exercise on, 180, 181. 
 poetry, 184, 205. 
 
 exercises on, 188, 189, 197- 
 205. 
 Terms, concrete, specific, 194. 
 Travesty, 255. 
 Taste, defined, 256. 
 Themes, general, 270-273. 
 Theme, a, 278-284. 
 Travels, 285, 
 Tale, the, 307. 
 Tragedy, the, 307. 
 Trochaic measure, examples of, 314. 
 Triplet, 319. 
 
 U. 
 
 Utter, synonym of, 69. 
 Unity, defined, 127. 
 how attained, 127. 
 
 Unity, exercise on, 130-132. 
 of paragraph, 149. 
 
 V. 
 
 Verbs, agreement, 49, 50. 
 
 exercise on, 51. 
 
 moods, tenses, 52, 53. 
 
 exercise on, 53, 54. 
 
 auxiliaries, 55. 
 J'isitor, synonym of, 69. 
 V'ariety, strength from, 120, 121. 
 
 exercise on, 1 21-123. 
 
 in paragraphs, 150. 
 Vision, 121, 207. 
 Variety of expression, 160-205. 
 
 of prose, 160-183. 
 
 of poetry, 183-205. 
 
 explanation, 160. 
 
 kinds, how attained, 160. 
 
 of construction, 162. 
 how secured, 162. 
 
 poetry to prose, 184. 
 methods, 184-187. 
 Vituperation, defined, 253. 
 
 rendered effective by, 254. 
 Versification, 311-321. 
 
 its parts, 321. 
 
 exercise on, 320, 321. 
 Verse, a, defined, 312. 
 
 kinds of, 312. 
 
 mixed, 316. 
 
 W. 
 
 Witness, use of, 64. 
 Words to use for clearness, 81. 
 placing of, 83. 
 exercise on, 83, 84. 
 emphatic, place of, 92, 93, III. 
 exercise on, 94, 95. 
 number of, 106. 
 Wit, defined, 254. 
 consists in, 254.
 
 English. 
 
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