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greatness of his genius, in the same manner as bodies appear more gigantic on account of their being disproportioned and misshapen.

6. A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy inflames his crimes.

7. The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation; the fool when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him.

8. He embraced the cause of liberty faintly, and pursued it without resolution: he grew tired of it when he had much to hope; and gave it up when there was no ground for apprehension.

8. HARMONY.

Harmony in the structure of a sentence consists in the smooth and easy flow of its words and members.

To attain harmony in the structure of sentences, pay particular attention both to the selection and to the arrangement of the words, preferring such as are free from harshness of sound, combining them in the way most agreeable to the ear, and taking care that the cadence or close be not abrupt or unmusical.

Exercise 71.

Correct such errors, in the following sentences, as arise from want of harmony in their structure :—

1. Sober-mindedness suits the present state of man. 2. As conventiclers, these people were seized and punished. 3. It belongs not to our humble and confined station to censure, but to adore, submit, and trust.

4. Under all its labours, hope is the mind's solace; and the situations which exclude it entirely are few.

5. The humbling of those that are mighty, and the pre

cipitation of persons who are ambitious, from the towering height that they had gained, concern but little the bulk of

men.

6. Tranquillity, regularity, and magnanimity, reside with the religious and resigned man.

7. Sloth, ease, success, naturally tend to beget vices and follies.

8. By a cheerful, even, and open temper, he conciliated general favour.

9. We reached the mansion before noon: it was a strong, grand, Gothic house.

10. By means of society, our wants come to be supplied, and our lives are rendered comfortable, as well as our capacities enlarged, and our virtuous affections called forth into their proper exercise.

11. Life cannot but prove vain to such persons as affect a disrelish of every pleasure which is not both new and exquisite, measuring their enjoyment by fashion's standard, and not by what they feel themselves, and thinking that if others do not admire their state, they are miserable.

12. By experiencing distress, an arrogant insensibility of temper is most effectually corrected, from the remembrance of our own sufferings naturally prompting us to feel for others in their sufferings: and if Providence has favoured us so as not to make us subject in our own lot to much of this kind of discipline, we should extract improvement from the lot of others that is harder; and step aside sometimes from the flowery and smooth paths which it is permitted us to walk in, in order to view the toilsome march of our fellow-creatures through the thorny desert.

9. CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF SENTENCES.

Exercise 72.

Write a critical examination of the following passages, commenting particularly on the Clearness, Unity, Strength, and Harmony, in the structure of the sentences:

EXAMPLES.

1. "If we consider the works of nature and of art, as they are qualified to entertain the imagination, we shall find the latter very defective in comparison of the former; for, though they may sometimes appear as beautiful and strange, they can have nothing in them of that vastness and immensity, which afford so great an entertainment to the mind of a beholder."

In this sentence, the subject of discourse is the "works of nature and of art." These the author first considers together, and then draws a conclusion, that the latter are very inferior to the former. Having completed one distinct proposition, he should here have ended his first sentence. But, instead of doing so, he proceeds to the proofs of his conclusion; and thus introduces another proposition, which, to preserve unity of thought, should have been stated in a sentence by itself. If the author had expressed himself in two sentences, rather than in one, we should have had a much clearer idea of the subject. Besides, by such a division, an improvement would have been made in the perspicuity of the language; as it is not very obvious at first whether the pronoun "they" refers to the works of nature or of art.

ours.

2. "I can more readily admire the liberal spirit and integrity, than the sound judgment, of any man who prefers a republican form of government, in this or any other empire of equal extent, to a monarchy so qualified and limited as I am convinced, that neither is it in theory the wisest system of government, nor at all practicable in this country. Yet, though I hope the English constitution will for ever preserve its monarchical form, I would have an implicit submission to the laws only; and an affection to the magistrate, proportioned to the integrity and wisdom with which he distributes justice to his people, and administers their affairs."

In these sentences, every idea is expressed with the utmost brevity; every word is significant, and none is introduced but what is requisite to convey the meaning. The mind is

entertained with some new thought in every member of the sentence; while the words employed are chosen with accuracy, and the ideas are expressed with decision. The style, indeed, is destitute of smoothness and elegance; but, as it was the intention of the author to convince the understanding, he has therefore adopted vigorous expressions and short sentences, which are best adapted to make a forcible impression on the mind.

1. The English are naturally fanciful, and very often disposed, by that gloominess and melancholy of temper which is so frequent in our nation, to many wild notions and visions, to which others are not so liable.

2. By soothing those inequalities, which the necessary difference of ranks and conditions has introduced into society, religion not only reconciles us to the highest eminences of life, but leads us to consider them as affording to the social world, that sublime contrast which the landscape derives from the diversity of hill and dale, and as sending down those streams of benignity which refresh and gladden the lower stations.

3. The usual acceptation takes profit and pleasure for two different things, and not only calls the followers or votaries of them by several names of busy and idle men, but distinguishes the faculties of the mind that are conversant about them, calling the operations of the first wisdom, and of the other wit, which is a Saxon word that is used to express what the Spaniards and Italians call ingenio, and the French ésprit, both from the Latin; but I think wit more peculiarly signifies that of poetry, as may occur upon remarks on the Runic language.

4. There are few personages in history who have been more exposed to the calumny of enemies, and the adulation of friends, than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there is scarcely any whose reputation has been more certainly determined by the unanimous consent of posterity. The unusual length of her administration, and the strong features of her character,

were able to overcome all prejudices; and, obliging her detractors to abate much of their invectives, and her admirers somewhat of their panegyrics, have at last, in spite of political factions, and, what is more, of religious animosities, produced a uniform judgment with regard to her conduct.

SECTION II.-FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

The Language in which ideas are expressed may be either plain or figurative.

Language is said to be plain, when it is to be understood according to its literal and ordinary signification; as, 'A good man enjoys comfort in the midst of adversity.'

Language is said to be figurative, when words are employed, not in their literal signification, but in a sense which appeals to, and is suggested by, the imagination. Figurative language renders the impression stronger and more vivid, either by the words employed, or by the peculiar manner of their application or arrangement; as, 'To the upright there ariseth light in darkness.'

The figures of language which most frequently occur are, Simile or Comparison, Metaphor, Allegory, Personification, Apostrophe, Metonymy, Hyperbole, Antithesis, and Climax.

1. SIMILE, OR COMPARISON.

Simile, or Comparison, is a figure founded on the resemblance of two objects, the one being formally compared with the other by the use of like or as; as, 'The actions of princes are like those great rivers, the

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