the fenfe is divided and broken, the connexion of thought weakened, and the memory burdened, by being prefented with a long fucceffion of minute objects. And on the other hand, by the too frequent ufe of long periods, an author overloads the reader's ear, and fatigues his attention. In general, a writer ought to ftudy a due mixture of long and fhort periods, which prevents an irkfome uniformity, and entertains the mind with a variety of impreffions.

Long fentences cannot be properly introduced till the rea der's attention is thoroughly engaged. They ought never to be placed at the beginning of difcourfes of any defcription. The following exordiums are exceptionable on this account:

It has been obferved in all ages, that the advantages of nature or of fortune have contributed very little to the promotion of happiness; and that thofe whom the fplendour of their rank, or the extent of their capacity, have placed upon the fummit of human life, have not often given any just occafion to envy in those who look up to them from a lower ftation; whether it be that apparent fuperiority incites great defigns, and great defigns are naturally liable to fatal mifcarriages; or that the general lot of mankind is mifery, and the misfortunes of thofe, whofe eminence drew upon them an univerfal attention, have been more carefully recorded, because they were more generally obferved, and have in reality been only more confpicuous than thofe of others, not more frequent, or more fevere.

Johnson's life of Savage.

When I confider with a melancholy eye, the manifold needs and infirmities of human kind; when I reflect on the execution that is done in thefe northern climates, by the fpleen, fcurvy, cholick, the a-la-mode evil, and that numerous train of diftempers, that annoy us British iflanders ; Ι can't but concur with you in thinking, there ought to be a fuitable remedy provided against them, and that none is fo fovereign or univerfal, as the honeft endeavours of plotting heads to reform what is amifs in church and ftate, and to put their project on certain quantities of paper, in order to their being diftributed among his majefty's liege people, and compafs the defign by a regular application to the eyes of his diftempered fubjects, or (which is as common and proper, at the fame time) in usum posteriorum.

Arbuthnot's Supplement to Swift.

The French critics make a proper diftribution of style into the two general claffes of periodique and coupe. In the style periodique, the fentences are compofed of feveral members linked together, and depending upon each other, fo that the fenfe is not completely unfolded till the clofe :

When I fee and reckon the various forms of connubial infelicity, the unexpected canfes of lafting difcord, the di verfities of temper, the oppofitions of opinion, the rude col lifions of contrary defire, where both are urged by violent impulfes, the obftinate contefts of difagreeble virtue, where both are fupported by confcioufnefs of good intention, I am fometimes difpofed to think with the feverer cafuifts of moft nations, that marriage is rather permitted than approved, and that none, but by the inftigation of a paffion too much indulged, entangle themfelves with indiffoluble compact. Johnson's Rasselas

and

When we attend to the infinite divifibility of matter, when we pursue animal life into thefe exceffive fmall, and yet organized beings, that efcape the niceft inquifition of the fenfe, when we push our discoveries downward, yet confider thofe creatures fo many degrees yet fmaller, and the ftill-diminishing fcale of existence, in tracing which the imagination is loft as well as the fenfe, we become amazed and confounded at the wonders of minutenefs, nor can we diftinguith in its effect this extreme of little nefs from the vast itfelf. Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful. This is the moft pompous, mufical, and oratorical mode of compofition.

In the style coupe, the fenfe is expreffed in fhort indepen dent propofitions, each complete within itfelf:

Man he furveyed with the most accurate obfervation. His understanding, acute and vigorous, was well fitted for diving into the human mind. His humour, lively and verfatile, could paint jully and agreeably what he faw. He poffeffed a rapid and clear conception, with an animated and graceful ftyle. Anderson's Life of Smollett.

The women, in their turn, learned to be more vain, more gay, and more alluring. They grew ftudious to pleafe and to conquer. They loft fomewhat of the intrepidity aud fierceness which before were characteristic of them. They

were to affect a delicacy and even a weakness. Their education was to be an object of greater attention and care. A finer fenfe of beauty was to arife. They were to abandon all einployments which hurt the fhape and deform the body. They were to exert a fancy in dress and ornament. They were to be more fecluded from obfervation. A greater play was to be given to fentiment and anticipation. Greater referve was to accompany the commerce of the fexes. Modesty was to take the alarm fooner. Gallantry, in all its fashions, and in all its charms, was to unfold itfelf.

Stewart's View of Society.

may

This mode of writing always fuits gay and eafy fubjects. It is more lively and striking than the style periodique. According to the nature of the compofition, and the general character it ought to bear, the one or the other of these be predominant. But in every fpecies of compofition, they ought to be blended with each other. By a proper mixture of fhort and long periods, the ear is gratified, and a certain fprightlinefs is joined with majefty but when a fort of regu lar compafs of phrafes is employed, the reader foon becomes fatigued with the monotony. A train of fentences, conftructed in the fame manner, and with the fame number of members, whether long or fhort, fhould never be allowed to follow each other in clofe uninterrupted fucceffion. Nothing is fo tire fome as perpetual uniformity.

In the conftruction and diftribution of his fentences, Shaftesbury has shown great art. It has already been hinted that he is often guilty of facrificing precifion of style, to pomp of expreffion; and that his whole manner is strongly marked with a stiffness and affectation which render him very unfit to be confidered as a general model. But, as his ear was fine, and as he was extremely attentive to every fpecies of elegance, he was more ftudious and fuccefsful than any other English author in producing a proper intermixture of long and hort fentences, with variety and harmony in their ftructure.

Having offered thefe obfervations with regard to fentences in general, I fhall now enter upon a particular confideration of the most effential properties of a perfect fentence. Thefe feem to be clearnefs and precifion, unity, frength, and har

mony.

E

(38)

CHAP. VII.

OF CLEARNESS AND PRECISION IN THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

I

N the arrangement of a period, as well as in the choice of words, the chief object that ought to be kept in view is perfpicuity. This fhould never be facrificed to any other beauty. The leaft degree of ambiguity ought to be avoided with the greatest care: it is a fault almoft fufficient to counterbalance every beauty which an author may happen to poffefs. Ambiguity arifes from two caufes; from an improper choice of words, or an improper collocation of them.* The first of thefe caufes has already been fully confidered.

In the collocation of words, the first thing to be studied is a rigid conformity to the rules of grammar, as far as these can guide us. But as the fyftem of English grammar is not altogether complete, an ambiguous arrangement of words may frequently be obferved where we cannot difcover a tranfgreffion of any grammatical rule. The relation which the words or members of a period bear to each other, cannot be pointed out in English, as in the Greek and Latin, by means of their terminations: it must be ascertained by the pofition in which they ftand. Hence an important rule in the ftructure of a fentence is, that the words or members moft intimately connected, fhould be placed as near to each other as is confiftent with elegance and harmony, fo that their mutual relation may be plainly perceived.

I. Ambiguities are frequently occafioned by the improper ufe of the adverb. This part of fpeech, as its name implies is generally placed clofe or near to the word whichit modifies or affects; and its propriety and force dépend on its pofition. By neglecting to advert to this circumftance, writers frequently convey a different meaning from what they intended.

ན

*The reader will find this fubject treated by Condillac, Traite de l'Art d'Ecrire, liv. L. chap. xi.

Sixtus the Fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books at least. Bolingbroke on the Study of History.

At least, fhould not be connected with books, but with collector.

The Romans understood liberty, at least as well as we. Swift on the Adv. of Religion. Thefe words are fufceptible of two different interpretations, according as the emphasis, in reading them, is laid upon liberty, or upon at least. In the former cafe they will fignify, that whatever other things we may understand better than the Romans, liberty, at least was one thing which they understood as well as we. In the latter they will import, that liberty was understood, at least, as well by them as by ús. If this laft was the author's meaning, the ambiguity would have been avoided, and the fenfe rendered indepen dent of the manner of pronouncing, by arranging the words thus The Romans underflood liberty, as well, at leaft,

as we."

By greatness, I do not only mean the bulk of any fingle object, but the largenefs of a whole view.

Addison, Spectator. Here the pofition of the adverb only, renders it a limitation of the word mean; as if the author intended to fay, that he did fomething befides meaning. The ambiguity may be removed by the following arrangement: "By greatnefs, I do not mean the bulk of any fingle object only, but the largenefs of a whole view."

In common converfation, the tone and emphasis which we ufe in pronouncing fuch words as only, wholly, at least, generally ferves to fhew their reference, and to render the meaning clear and obvious: and hence we acquire a habit of throwing them in loofely in the courfe of a period. But, in written difcourfes, which addrefs the eye, and not the ear, greater accuracy is requifite. Thefe adverbs fhould be fo connected with the words they are meant to qualify, as to prevent all appearance of ambiguity.

II. Words expreffing things connected in the thought, fhould be placed as near together as poffible. This rule is derived immediately from the principles of human nature;