Better: There being tl roughout this kingdom a round million of creatures in human figure, whose whole subsistence, &c. Tom is a lively impudent clown, and has wit enough to have made him a pleasant companion, liad it been polished and rectified by good manners. Guardian, No. 162. It is the custom of the Mahometans, if they see any printed or written paper upon the ground, to take it up, and lay it aside carefully, as not knowing but it inay contain some piece of their Alcoran.-Spectator, No. 85. The arrangement here leads to a wrong sense, as if the ground were taken up, not the paper.-Better thus: It is the custom of the Mahometans, if they see upon the ground any printed or written paper, to take it up, &c. 444. The following rule depends on the communication of emotions to related objects, a principle in human nature that hath an extensive operation; and we find this operation even where the objects are not otherwise related than by juxtaposition of the words that express them. Hence, to elevate or depress an object, one method is, to join it in the expression with another that is naturally high or low witness the following speech of Eumenes to the Roman Senate: Causam veniendi sibi Romam fuisse, præter cupiditatem visendi deos hominesque, quorum beneficio in ea fortuna esset, supra quam ne optare quidem auderet, etiam ut coram moneret senatum ut Persei conatus obviam iret. Livy, 1. xiii. cap. xi. To join the Romans with the gods in the same enunciation, is an artful stroke of flattery, because it tacitly puts them on a level. On the other hand, the degrading or vilifying an object, is done success fully by ranking it with one that is really low: I hope to have this entertainment in a readiness for the next winter; and doubt not but it will please more than the opera or puppet-show. For Spectator; No. 28. Manifold have been the judgments which Heaven from time to time, for the chastisement of a sinful people, has inflicted upon whole nations. when the degeneracy becomes common, 'tis but just the punishment should be general. Of this kind, in our own unfortunate country, was that destructive pestilence, whose mortality was so fatal as to sweep away, if Sir William Petty may be believed, five millions of Christian souls, besides women and Jews. God's Revenge against Purning. Arbuthnot. Such also was that dreadful conflagration ensuing in this famous metropolis of London, which consumed, according to the computation of Sir Samuel Moreland, 100,000 houses, not to mention churches and stables.-Ibid. But on condition it might pass into a law, I would gladly exempt both lawyers of all ages, subaltern and field-officers, young heirs, dancing-masters, pick pockets, and players.-An infallible Scheme to pay the Public Debt. Swift. 443. The proper place for the pronoun. 444. Rule depending on the communication of emotions to related objects.-How to elevate or depress an object. Sooner let earth, air, sea, to chaos fall, Men, monkeys, lap-dogs, parrots, perish all. Rape of the Lock. 445. Circumstances in a period resemble small stones in a building, employed to fill up vacuities among those of a larger size. In the arrangement of a period, such underparts crowded together make a poor figure, and never are graceful but when interspersed among the capital parts. I illustrate this rule by the following example: It is likewise urged that there are, by computation, in this kingdom, above 10,000 parsons, whose revenues, added to those of my lords the bishops, would suffice to maintain, &c. Argument against abolishing Christianity. Swift. Here two circumstances, viz., by computation, and in this kingdom, are crowded together unnecessarily they make a better appearance separated in the following manner: It is likewise urged that in this kingdom there are, by computation, above 10,000 parsons, &c. If there be room for a choice, the sooner a circumstance is introduced the better; because circumstances are proper for that coolness of mind with which we begin a period as well as a volume: in the progress, the mind warms, and has a greater relish for matters of importance. When a circumstance is placed at the beginning of the period, or near the beginning, the transition from it to the principal subject is agreeable: it is like ascending or going upward. On the other hand, to place it late in the period has a bad effect; for after being engaged in the principal subject, one is with reluctance brought down to give attention to a circumstance. Hence evidently the preference of the following arrangement, Whether in any country a choice altogether unexceptionable has been made, seems doubtful. Before this other, Whether a choice altogether unexceptionable has in any country been made, &c. For this reason the following period is exceptionable in point of arrangement: I have considered formerly, with a good deal of attention, the subject upon which you command me to communicate my thoughts to you.-Bolingbroke on the Study of History, Letter 1. Which, with a slight alteration, may be improved thus: I have formerly, with a good deal of attention, considered the subject, &c. Swift, speaking of a virtuous and learned education: And although they may be, and too often are drawn, by the temptations o youth, and the opportunities of a large fortune, into some irregularities, when they come forward into the great world; it is ever with reluctance and compunction of mind, because their bias to virtue still continues.-The Intelligencer, No. 9. Better: And although, when they come forward into the great world, they may be, and too often, &c. The bad effect of placing a circumstance last or late in a period, will appear from the following examples : Let us endeavor to establish to ourselves an interest in him who holds the reins of the whole creation in his hand.-Spectator, No. 12. Better thus: Let us endeavor to establish to ourselves an interest in him, who, in his hand, holds the reins of the whole creation. Virgil, who has cast the whole system of Platonic philosophy, so far as it relates to the soul of man, into beautiful allegories, in the sixth book of his Eneid, gives us the punishment, &c.-Spectator, No. 90. Better thus: Virgil, who, in the sixth book of his Æneid, has cast, &c. And Philip the Fourth was obliged at last to conclude a peace on terms repugnant to his inclination, to that of his people, to the interest of Spain, and to that of all Europe, in the Pyrenean treaty.-Letters on History, vol. i. let. vi. Bolingbroke. Better thus: And at last in the Pyrenean treaty, Philip the Fourth was obliged to conclude a peace, &c. 446. In arranging a period, it is of importance to determine in what part of it a word makes the greatest figure; whether at the beginning, during the course, or at the close. The breaking silence rouses the attention, and prepares for a deep impression at the beginning the beginning, however, must yield to the close; which being succeeded by a pause, affords time for a word to make its deepest impression. Hence the following rule, That to give the utmost force to a period, it ought if possible to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure. The opportunity of a pause should not be thrown away upon accessories, but reserved for the principal object, in order that it may make a full impression; which is an additional reason against closing a period with a circumstance. There are however periods that admit not such a structure; and in that case, the capital word ought, if possible, to be placed in the front, which next to the close is the most advantageous for making an impression. Hence, in directing our discourse to a man of figure, we ought to begin with his name; and one will be sensible of a degradation, when this rule is neglected, as it frequently is for the sake of verse. I give the following examples: 445. Circumstances, how to be disposed of. Example. The best plan for them. Tran sition from it to the principal subject, agreeable. Example. Integer vitæ, scelerisque purus, Fusce, pharetra. Horat. Carm. 1. i. ode 22. Je crains Dieu, cher Abner, et n'ai point d'autre crainte. In these examples, the name of the person addressed to, makes a mean figure, being like a circumstance slipt into a corner. That this criticism is well founded, we need no further proof than Addison's translation of the last example: O Abner! I fear my God, and I fear none but him. Guardian, No. 117. O father, what intends thy hand, she cried, Paradise Lost, book ii. 1. 727. Every one must be sensible of a dignity in the invocation at the beginning, which is not attained by that in the middle. I mean not, however, to censure this passage: on the contrary, it appears beautiful, by distinguishing the respect that is due to a father from that which is due to a son. 447. The substance of what is said in this and the foregoing section, upon the method of arranging words in a period, so as to make the deepest impression with respect to sound as well as signification, is comprehended in the following observation: That order of words in a period will always be the most agreeable, where, without obscuring the sense, the most important images, the most sonorous words, and the longest members, bring up the rear. Hitherto of arranging single words, single members, and single circumstances. But the enumeration of many particulars in the same period is often necessary; and the question is, In what order they should be placed? It does not seem easy, at first view, to bring a subject apparently so loose under any general rule; but luckily, reflecting upon what is said in the first chapter about order, we find rules laid down to our hand, which leave us no task but that of applying them to the present question. And, first, with respect to the enumerating particulars of equal rank, it is laid down in the place quoted, that as there is no cause for preferring any one before the rest, it is indifferent to the mind in what order they be viewed. And it is only necessary to be added here, that for the same reason, it is indifferent in what order they be named. 2dly, If a number of objects of the same kind, differing only in size, are to be ranged along a straight line, the most agreeable order to the eye is that of an increasing series. In surveying a number of such ob 446. How to give the utmost force to a period.-The second best place for the capital word.-How to begin a discourse to a person of consequence. pung berzzing at the least, and proceeding to greater and greater, the successive objects, and in its proPrecisely for the same reason, winds extresite of still offerts ongit to be placed in the same orden. The beany of this fyre, wich may be termed a climaz nane, has escaped Lord Bingtroke in the first member of the 4. owing period: Les or the great, brave, dais.erested, active man arise, and he will be reCELÄ SALUTES ADA Am sicre i The following arrangement has sensibly a better effect: Zen bat toe brave, grest, active, disinterested man arise, &c. Whether the same rule caght to be followed in enumerating men of £ferent racks, seems disbtful: on the one hand, a number of persons presented to the eye in form of an increasing series, is und'abtedly the most agreeable order: on the other hand, in every list of names, we set the person of the greatest dignity at the top, and desert i gradually through his inferiors. Where the purpose is to honor the persons named according to their rank, the latter order cought to be followed: bat every one who regards himself only, or his reader, will choose the former order. 3dlv, As the sense of order direets the eye to descend from the principal to its greatest accessory, and from the whole to its greatest part, and in the same order through all the parts and accessories till we arrive at the minutest; the same order engit to be followed in the enumeration of such particulars. 448. When force and liveliness of expression are demanded, the rule is to suspend the thought as long as possible, and to bring it out full and entire at the close; which cannot be done but by inverting the natural arrangement. By introducing a word or member before its time, curiosity is raised about what is to follow; and it is agreeable to have our curiosity gratified at the close of the period the pleasure we feel resembles that of seeing a stroke exerted upon a body by the whole collected force of the agent. On the other hand, where a period is so constructed as to admit more than one complete close in the sense, the curiosity of the reader is exhausted at the first close, and what follows appears languid or superfluous: his disappointment contributes also to that appearance, when he finds, contrary to expectation, that the period is not yet finished. Cicero, and after him Quintilian, recommend the verb to the last place. This method evidently tends to suspend the sense till the close of the period; for without the verb the sense cannot be complete: and when the verb happens to be the capital word, which it frequently is, it ought at any rate to be the last, according to an 447 The best order of words in a period.-Rule for enumerating particulars of equal rark in a period-21, Where they differ in size.-Or ler when enumerating men d different ranks.-Sd, What the sease of order directs. operation. |