to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain - before the Frank had passed the Rhine - when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antiochwhen idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigor when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's. MACAULAY: Ranke's History of the Popes. A writer, whose style is acknowledged to be among the best, when a young man in college, wrote out the celebrated "London Bridge" paragraph from Macaulay's essay on the Roman Catholic Church, and practiced writing paragraphs on various subjects in the same form, matching noun with noun, verb with verb, etc., and placing all the parts in the same order. As a literary exercise this could hardly be excelled. - Baptist Watchman, July, 1905. To carry out an imitation, as was done by this student, afterwards a professor in a theological seminary, would indeed be an exacting exercise, but the imitation need not be so close and methodical. The picture of the New-Zealander, striking and original, has attracted the attention of many. Balance and antithesis keep the mind active; and the beauty of concrete details and the wide, sublime stretches of history from the past to the remote future unite to make this paragraph a model of interest. Three parts, each stated first in general, then in particular, may be distinguished: 1. The history of the Church; 2. Its life, "The Papacy remains;" 3. Its duration, " Nor do we see?" What are the predicates of each part and the proofs? In the exercises introduce the charm and suggestiveness of proper names. Subjects Take a wide and picturesque view: The fortunes of Greek and Latin Literature. The progress of science. The history of your native state or place. The career of a great man. 66 The immortality of Homer (Horace, etc.). Westward the course of empire takes its way: A fifth shall close the drama with the day: - BERKELEY: Destiny of America. III. Interest of Paragraphs 29. Make the sentences vary in length (long and short), in build (periodic, partly periodic, loose), in kind (declarative, interrogative, imperative, etc.). Any quality of style, if used too much, attracts attention to itself or by its iteration lulls the reader to inattention. Too much balance or parallel structure or repetition is monotonous; too much variety is bewildering. Good writers succeed in reconciling the conflicting claims of both. 30. Give ideas space according to their importance in their context. The most important idea receives most space and usually comes last (proportion). Sum up conclusions, especially at the close of a paragraph, in a general truth put in a pointed way (epigram). Interest is the spice of style, and as methods of arousing interest are liable to abuse, they should be resorted to with discretion. There are in general two causes of flagging interest: monotony of sound and triteness of thought, and under these two topics all the remarks in this chapter have been grouped. Interest from sound comes first; then interest from sense. EXERCISE 9 1. Never since literature became a calling in England had it been a less gainful calling than at the time when Johnson took up his residence in London. In the preceding generation, a writer of eminent merit was sure to be munificently rewarded by the government. The least that he could expect was a pension or a sinecure place; and, if he showed any aptitude for politics, he might hope to be a member of parliament, a lord of the treasury, an ambassador, a secretary of state. It would be easy, on the other hand, to name several writers of the nineteenth century of whom the least successful has received forty thousand pounds from the booksellers. But Johnson entered on his vocation in the most dreary part of the dreary interval which separated two ages of prosperity. Literature had ceased to flourish under the patronage of the great and had not begun to flourish under the patronage of the public. - MACAULAY: Johnson. The time is divided into three periods: before, after, during. The first two are contrasted with the third to prove the opening statement. The passage ends with a balanced and pointed conclusion, epigrammatic in form. How are the divisions kept clear? Would there be an improvement if we should read: "In the nineteenth century, on the other hand, it would be, etc."? Subjects Prove by a similar contrast that: You visited a place at the wrong time. Any event of your experience took place at the best or worst time 2. Taking Influence and Law to be the two great principles of Government, it is plain, that, historically speaking, Influence comes first, and then Law. Thus Orpheus preceded Lycurgus and Solon. Thus Deioces, the Mede, laid the foundations of his power in his personal reputation for justice, and then established it in the seven walls by which he surrounded himself in Ecbatana. First we have "the man revered for duty done," whose word "rules the spirits and soothes the breasts" of the multitude; or the warrior; or the mythologist and bard; then follow at length the dynasty and constitution. Such is the history of society: it begins in the poet, and ends in the policeman. NEWMAN: Historical Sketches. Newman sums up his conclusion in a pointed epigram which attracts more attention than the abstract statement of the same thought in the first sentence. Subjects Describe another course of events: The Roman Empire. The American Colonies. The question of Woman Suffrage. The rise of Trade Unions. The history of football or baseball. The digging of the Panama Canal. 3. Did I ever hear of the Halcyone? Who didn't? Was there a man, woman, or child, from the Cliffs of Moher to Achill Island, that did not know the dainty five-ton yacht, which, as a contrast to his own turbulent spirit, he had so named? Was it not everywhere said that Campion loved that yacht more than his child, that he spoke to her and caressed her as a living thing, and how they slept on the calm deep on summer nights, whilst phosphor-laden waves lapped around them, and only the dim dawn, with her cold, red finger woke them to life? And was it not told with pride and terror in every coracle along the coast with what fierce exultation he took her out on stormy days, and headed her straight against the billows, that broke into courtesies, on every side, and how she leaped up the walls of water which lay down meekly beneath her, and shook out her white sail to the blast, until its curved face brushed the breakers, and her leaden keel showed through the valleys of the sea? and men leaned on their spades to see her engulfed in the deep, and the coast-guards levelled their long glasses, and cried: "There goes mad Campion and the witch again!? SHEEHAN: My New Curate. Liveliness is given to this description by the questions, by the significant phrase quoted at the end, by the fine choice of details. Proportion is kept by giving more space to the yacht in storm. The close connection between master and boat helps the interest and lends force. The boat brings out the owner's character. In the exercises resort to an imaginary character if you choose. The relations between character and companion need not be friendly. Subjects Describe another character and a favorite pet: Rip Van Winkle and his dog or Bill Sykes. A horse and rider. An automobile and owner. A machinist and his engine. A locomotive and fireman. 4. A Man Must Not Laugh at His Own Jest: The severest exaction surely ever invented upon the self-denial of poor human nature! This is to expect a gentleman to give a treat without partaking of it; to sit esurient at his own table, and commend the flavor of his venison upon the absurd strength of his never touching it himself. On the contrary, we love to see a wag taste his own joke to his party; to catch a quirk, or a merry conceit, flickering upon the lips some seconds before the tongue is delivered of it. If it be good, fresh, and racy — begotten of the occasion; if he that utters it never thought it before, he is naturally the first to be tickled with it; and any suppression of such complacence we hold to be churlish and insulting. What does it seem to imply, but that your company is weak or foolish enough to be moved by an image or a fancy, that shall stir you not at all, or but faintly? This is exactly the humor of the fine gentleman in Mandeville, who, while he dazzles his guests with the display of some costly toy, affects himself to "see nothing considerable in it." -LAMB: Popular Fallacies. It would be impossible to enumerate and describe all the sources of interest in an author's thought or in his language, and nowhere is that fact more evident than in the bewildering novelty and the irrepressible liveliness of Lamb's chatty style. No sameness in words or sentences. It would be difficult to rival Lamb's inimitable nimbleness, but no harm is done by trying to be lively. Note the variety of the sentences, the absurdity of the consequences and the different ways of expressing laughter. Subjects Show the limitations in the following: That you must never put off to to-morrow what you can do today. That you must never do through another what you can do yourself. That everybody has his price (may be bribed). That two heads are better than one. 5. Many and diverse must be the judgments passed upon every great poet, upon every considerable writer. There is the judgment of enthusiasm and admiration, which proceeds from ardent youth, easily fired, eager to find a hero and to worship him. There is the judgment of gratitude and sympathy, which proceeds from those who find in an author what helps them, what they want, and who rate him at a very high value accordingly. There is the judgment of ignorance, the judgment of incompatibility, the judgment of envy and jealousy. Finally, there is the systematic judgment, and this judgment is the most worthless of all. The sharp scrutiny of envy and jealousy may bring real fault to light. The judgments of incompatibility and ignorance are in |