Imatges de pàgina
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Inelegant.

Better thus.

evils, and saps the foun- and pours upon us a de

dation of every virtue. His labours to acquire knowledge, have been productive of great satisfaction and success.

The comfort annexed to goodness is the pious 'man's strength. It inspires his zeal. It at taches his heart to religion. It accelerates his progress, and supports his constancy.

luge of crimes and evils. His labours to acquire knowledge, have been productive of great success and satisfaction.

The comfort annexed to goodness is the pious man's strength. It attaches his heart to religion. It inspires his zeal. It supports his constancy; and accelerates his pro gress.

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Inelegant.

Better thus.

1

but purely for the sake of but purely for the sake of being witty.

being witty.

It is folly to pretend to arın ourselves against the accidents of life, by heaping up treasures, which nothing can protect us against, but the good providence of our heavenly Father.

It is true what he says, but it is not applicable to the point.

Thus I have fairly given you, sir, my own opinion, as well as that

of a great majority of

both houses here, relat

ing to this weighty affair, upon which I am confi. dent you may securely

reckon.

He was taking a view, from a window, of the cathedral in Litchfield,

It is folly to pretend, by heaping up treasures, to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, against which nothing can protect us, but the good providence of our heavenly Father.

What he says is true, but it is not applicable to the point.

Thus, sir, I have given you my own opinion relating to this weighty affair, as well as that of a great majority of both houses here, upon which I am confident you may securely reckon.

He was at a window in Litchfield, taking a view of the cathedral,

where

Inelegant.

where a party of the royalists had fortified themselves.

Many act so contrary to this method, that from a habit of saving time and paper, which they acquired at the university, they write in so diminutive a manner, that they can hardly read what they have written.

Better thus.

where a party of the royalists had fortified themselves.

Many act so contrary to this method, that from a habit which they acquired at the university of. saving time and paper, they write in so diminutive a manner, that they can hardly read what they have written.

Another great source of ambiguity is the too frequent repetition of pronouns, when we have occasion to refer to different persons.

Ex. 1. "They were summoned occasionally by their kings, when compelled by their wants and by their fears to have recourse to their aid."

Ex. 2. "The Earl of Falmouth and Mr. Coventry were rivals, who should have most influence with the Duke, who loved the Earl best, but thought the other the wiser man, who supported Penn, who disobliged all the courtiers, even against the Earl, who contemned Penn as a fellow of no sense."

OF

OF UNITY IN THE STRUCTURE OF

SENTENCES.

1. One principal agent should lead the sentence, and one species of construction should prevail in it. The scene should not be wantonly shifted from agent to agent; nor should the construction be rashly changed by a mixture of verbs, active, passive, and

neuter.

Ex. That sort of instruction which is acquired by inculcating an important moral truth, &c."

This expression includes two persons, one acquiring and one inculcating; and the scene is changed without necessity. Better thus:

"That sort of instruction which is afforded by inculcating, &c."

2. We should never crowd into one sentence things which have so little connection that they could bear to be divided into two or three sentences.

Ex. The notions of Lord Sunderland were always good; but he was a man of great expence." Better thus:→

"The notions of Lord Sunderland were always good. This nobleman, however, was a man of great expence."

3. Parentheses are generally to be avoided.

Ex,

Ex. "Never delay till to-morrow (for to-morrow is not your's; and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own) what reason and conscience tell you ought to be performed to-day." Better thus:

"Never delay till to-morrow what reason and conscience tell you ought to be performed to-day. To-morrow is not your's; and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own."

4. Bring the sentence always to a full and perfect close. Every thing that is one should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. An unfinished sentence is no sentence at all. But very often we meet with sentences that are, so to speak, more than finished. All adjections to the proper close disfigure a sentence extremely.

Ex. "The first could not end his learned treatise without a panegyric of modern learning and knowledge in comparison of the ancient; and the other falls so grossly into the censure of the old poetry, and preference of the new, that I could not read either of these strains without indignation; which no quality among men is so apt to raise in me as selfsufficiency, the worst composition out of the pride and ignorance of mankind.”

Of

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