cal balance, always form. the brighteft ornaments of a wellcompofed hiftory. They tranfport our imagination to the fcene, domefticate us with eminent men, and afford us a kind of temporary existence in other ages. Few of our writers, excepting Lloyd, have attended fufficiently to the prefervation of thefe flashes of, fentiment and intelligence. A fingle word fometimes conveys as much information of character and principles, as a whole differtation."* Thefe obfervations are certainly juft but how is it poffible to afcertain whether in every inftance fuch expreffions have actually been used by the perfons to whom they are attributed? We even find that in reporting the expreffions used on certain Occafions by our Saviour, his difciples do not always come pletely coincide with each other, They express the fame meaning, but in different words.

If therefore a writer in our own times were to copy fuch expreffions as are here alluded to from fome ancient English chronologist, he might happen to deviate almoft as far from thofe originally uttered, as he could do by varying the phra feology according to his particular taste.

"With much difficulty, and after many entreaties, fhé prevailed on the two Earls to allow Melvil, together with three of her men fervants, and two of her maids, to attend her to the fcaffold. It was erected in the fame hall where The had been tried, raised a little above the floor, and covered, as well as a chair, the cushion, and block, with black cloth. Mary mounted the fteps with alacrity, beheld all thisapparatus of death with an unaltered countenance, and figning herfelf with the cross, the fat down in the chair.".

In the last of thefe fentences the pronoun she appears redunt. dant it is not more requisite before sat than before beheldi I would prefer the following reading; Mary mounted the Aeps with alacrity: "he beheld the apparatus of death with. an unaltered countenance, and, figning herself with the cross fat down in the chair."

Beale read the warrant for execution with a loud voice, to which the liftened with a a carelefs air, and like one occupied in other thoughts. Then the Dean of Peterborough began a devout difcourfe, fuitable to her prefent condition,

Ferriar's Menippean Effay on English Hiftorians..

and offered up prayers to Heaven in her behalf; but the declared that he could not in confcience hearken to the one, nor join with the other; and falling on her knees repeated a Latin prayer."

In the writings of our modern English authors the adverb then is feldom placed at the beginning of a fentence. But in a defcription of this folemu kind it perhaps would not have fuch a good effect in any other pofition. The author might have faid, "The Dean of Peterborough then began a devout difcourfe, fuitable to her prefent condition :" but he has with propriety adopted a different mode of arrangement.

The fentence does not clofe with great facility: the laft claufe forms no due counterbalance to the one immediately preceding.

"When the Dean had finifhed his devotions, fhe with an audible voice, and in the English tongue, recommended unto God the afflicted ftate of the Church, and prayed for profperity to her fon, and for a long life, and peaceable reign to Elizabeth. She declared the hoped for mercy only through the death of Chrift, at the foot of whofe image the now willingly fhed her blood; and lifting up and bleffing the crucifix, the thus addreffed: "As thy arms, O Jefus, were extended on the crofs; fo with the outstretched arms of thy mercy, receive me, and forgive me my fins."

She declared that she hoped for mercy only through the death of Christ.

The pofition of the adverb only occafions fome degree of ambiguity. Inftead of conveying what is evidently the author's meaning, these words may imply "That through the death of Chrift, fhe hoped for nothing belides mercy." This ambiguity, however, it would be difficult in the prefent intance to remove, except by adopting a quite different phrafeology. Should we place the adverb after Christ, the fenfe would ftill be left ambiguous; nor could the defect be remedied by placing it after death.

She thus addressed. The adverb address is never, as far as I remember, ufed in a neuter fenfe, except in poetical compofitions.

"She then prepared for the block, by taking off her veil and upper garments and one of the executioners rudely en

deavouring to affift, fhe gently checked him, and faid, with a fmile, that she had not been accustomed to undress before fo many fpectators, nor to be ferved by fuch valets. With calm but undaunted fortitude, fhe laid her neck on the block; and while one executioner held her hands, the other at the fecond ftroke, cut off her head, which falling out of its attire, discovered her hair already grown quite gray, with cares and forrows. The executioner held it up ftill ftreaming with blood, and the Dean crying out, "So perifh all Queen Elizabeth's enemies," the Earl of Kent alone answered Amen. The rest of the fpectators continued filent, and drowned in tears; being incapable at that moment, of any other fenti ments, but those of pity or admiration."

This paffage forms a very proper conclufion to the beautiful narration which we have been confidering.

CHAP. XXIX..

OF THE METHOD OF ATTAINING A GOOD

T

STYLE..

O pretend to preach the art of fine writing by a series of mechanical rules, would be highly abfurd. The young ftudent may, however, be affitted by a few plain directions concerning the proper method of attaining a style correct and elegant.

In the first place, we ought always to endeavour to obtain a clear and precife idea of every fubject of which we propofe to treat. This is a direction which may at first appear to have little relation to ftyle. Its relation to it, however, is extremely clofe. The foundation of fine writing, ist good fenfe accompanied with a lively imagination. The ftyle and thoughts of a writer are fo intimately connected, that it is frequently a difficult task to distinguish what depends upon the one, and what upon the other. Whenever the impreffions of objects upon the mind are faint and indiftinct, or perplexed and confused, our style in treating of fuch objects can never be luminous or beautiful. Whereas,

* Hiftory of Scotland, book vii.

what we conceive clearly and feel strongly, we shall naturally exprefs with clearness and with ftrength. This, then, we may be affured, is an important rule, to think closely of the fubject, till we have attained a full and diftinct view of the matter which we are to clothe in words, till we become warm and interested in it: then, and not till then, fhall we find expreffion begin to flow. Generally fpeaking, the best and moft proper expreffions are those which a clear view of the fubject fuggefts, without much labour or inquiry.

In the second place, to form a good ftyle, the frequent practice of compofing is indifpenfably neceffary. Many rules concerning ftyle have been delivered; but no rules will anfwer the end without exercife and habit. At the fame time, it is not every mode of compofing that will improve ftyle. This is fo far from being the cafe, that by carelefs and hafty compofition, we fhall inevitably acquire a very bad ftyle; we fhall have more trouble afterwards in unlearning faults and correcting negligences, then if we had been totally unaccustomed to compofition. At first, therefore, we ought to write flowly and with much care. the facility and fpeed of writing be the fruit of longer prac

tice.

Let

"I enjoin," fays Quinctilian, that fuch as are beginning the practice of compofition, write flowly and with anxious deliberation. Their great object at first should be, to write as well as poffible: practice will enable them to write Speedily. By degrees, matter will offer itself ftill more readily words will be at hand; compofition will flow; every thing as in the arrangement of a well ordered family, will prefent itself in its proper place. The fum of the whole is this; that by hafty compofition, we fhall never acquire the art of compofing well; by writing well, we shall come to write speedily.""

We must not, however, be too anxious about words: we must not retard the course of thought, nor cool the heat of imagination, by pausing too long on every word which we' employ. There is, on certain occafions, a glow of compofition which fhould be kept up, if we hope to exprefs ourfelves happily, though at the expenfe of allowing fome inadvertencies to pafs. These must afterwards be fcrutinized

* Quinctilian. de Institut. Orator. lib. x cap. iii.

with a critical eye. If the practice of compofition be ufeful, the laborious work of correcting is no lefs fo; it is abfolutely neceffary to our reaping any benefit from the habit of compofing. What we have written, thould be laid afide till the ardour of compofition be paft, till our fondness for the expreffions which we have used, be worn off, and the expreffions themselves be forgotten, By reviewing our work with a cool and critical eye, as if it were the performance of another, we fhall difcern many imperfections which at first efcaped our obfervation. It is then the feafon for pruning redundancies; for examining the arrangement of fentences; and for bringing style into a regular, correct, and fupported form. To this labour of correction all thofe muft fubmit who would communicate their thoughts to others with pro per advantage; and fome practice in it will foon fharpen the eye to the most neceffary objects of attention, and render the talk much more eafy and practicable than might at first be imagined.

In the third place, with refpect to the affiftance which is to be derived from the writings of others, it is obvious that, we ought to render ourselves well acquainted with the ftyle' of the best authors. This is requifite both to form a juft täfte in style, and to fupply us with a full flock of words on every fubject.

In the fourth place, we must beware of falling into a fervile imitation of any author whatfoever. Imitation is always dangerous. It fetters genius, and is likely to produce a fliff manner. Those who are addicted to close imitation, generally imitate an author's faults as well as his beauties. No man will ever become a good writer or speaker, who. has not fome degree of confidence to follow his own genius. We ought to beware, in particular, of adopting any au thor's noted phrafes, or tranfcribing paffages from him. Such a habit will prove fatal to all genuine compofition. is much better to have fomething that is our own, though of moderate beauty, than to affect to fine in borrowed ornaments, which will at laft betray the utter poverty of our genius. On thefe heads of compofing, reading, and imitating, I would advife every ftudent of oratory to confult what Quinctilian has delivered in the tenth book of his Inftitutions, where he will find a variety of excellent obfervations and directions.

It