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None of the rules for the compofition of periods are more liable to be abufed, than thofe laft mentioned; witnefs many Latin writers, among the moderns efpecially, whofe ftyle, by inverfions too violent, is rendered harfh and obfcure. Sufpenfion of the thought till the clofe of the period, ought . never to be preferred before perfpicuity. Neither ought fuch fufpenfion to be attempted in a long period; because in that cafe the mind is bewildered amidst a profufion of words: a traveller, while he is puzzled about the road, relishes not the finest profpect:

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All the rich prefents, which Aftyages had given him at parting, keeping only fome Median horfes, in order to propagate the breed of them in Perfia, he distributed among his friends whom he left at the court of Ecbatana.

Travels of Cyrus, book 1.

The foregoing rules concern the arrangement of fingle period: I add one rule more concerning the diftribution of a difcourfe into different periods. A fhort period is lively and familiar: a long period, requiring more attention, makes an impreffion grave and folemn.* In general, a writer ought to ftudy a mixture of long and fhort periods, which prevent an irkfome uniformity, and entertain the mind with variety of impreffions. In particular, long periods ought to be avoided till the reader's attention be thoroughly engaged; and therefore a difcourfe, efpecially of the familiar kind, ought never to be introduced with a long period. For that reafon, the commencement" of a letter to a very young lady on her marriage is faulty:

Madam,

Demetrius Phalereus (of Elocution, fect. 44.) obferves, that long members in a period make an impreffion of gravity and importance. The fame obfervation is applicable to periods.

Madam, The burry and impertinence of receiving and paying visits on account of your marriage, being now over, you are beginning to enter into a courfe of life, where you will want much advice to divert you from falling into many errors, fopperies, and follies, to which your fex is fubject. Swift.

See another example, ftill more faulty, in the commencement of Cicero's oration, Pro Archia poeta.

Before proceeding farther, it may be proper to review the rules laid down in this and the preceding fection, in order to make fome general obfervations. That order of the words and members of a period is justly termed natural, which correfponds to the natural order of the ideas that compofe the thought. The tendency of many of the foregoing rules is to fubstitute an artificial arrangement, in order to catch fome beauty either of found or meaning for which there is no place in the natural order. But feldom it happens, that in the fame period there is place for a plurality of these rules: if one beauty can be retained, another must be relinquished; and the only queftion is, Which ought to be preferred? This queftion cannot be refolved by any general rule: if the natural order be not relifhed, a few trials will difcover that artificial order which has the beft ef: fect; and this exercife, fupported by a good tafte, will in time make the choice eafy. All that can be faid in general is, that in making a choice, found ought to yield to fignification.

The tranfpofing words and members out of their natural order, fo remarkable in the learned languages, has been the subject of much fpeculation. It is agreed on all hands, that fuch tranfpofition or inversion bestows upon a period a very fenfible de

VOL. II,

gree

gree of force and elevation; and yet writers feem to be at a lofs how to account for this effect. Cerceau* afcribes fo much power to inverfion, as to make.it the characteristic of French verfe, and the fingle circumstance which in that language diftinguishes verse from profe; and yet he pretends not to fay, that it. hath any other effect but to raise furprise; he must mean curiofity, which is done by fufpending the thought during the period, and bringing it out entire at the clofe. This indeed is one effect of inverfion; but neither its fole effect, nor even that which is the most remarkable, as is made evident above. But waving cenfure, which is not an agreeable tafk, I enter into the matter; and begin with obferving, that if conformity between words and their meaning be agreeable, it must of courfe be agreeable to find the fame order or arrangement in both. Hence the beauty of a plain or natural ftyle, where the order of the words correfponds precifely to the order of the ideas. Nor is this the fingle beauty of a natural ftyle it is alfo agreeable by its fimplicity and perfpicuity. This obfervation throws light upon the fubject: for if a natural ftyle be in itfelf agreeable, a tranfpofed ftyle cannot be fo; and therefore its agreeableness must arise from admitting fome pofitive beauty that is excluded in a natural ftyle. To be confirmed in this opinion, we need but reflect upon fome of the foregoing rules, which make it evident, that language by means of inverfion, is fufceptible of many beauties that are totally excluded in a natural arrangement. From thefe premifes it clearly follows, that inverfion ought not to be indulged, unlefs in order to reach fome beauty fuperior to those of a natural ftyle. It may with great certainty be pronounced, that every inverfion which is not governed

Reflections fur la poësie Françoife.

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erned by this rule, will appear harth and ftrained, and be difrelished by every one of taste. Hence the beauty of inverfion when happily conducted; the beauty, not of an end, but of means, as furnishing opportunity for numberlefs ornaments that find no place in a natural ftyle: hence the force, the elevation, the harmony, the cadence, of fome compofitions: hence the manifold beauties of the Greek and Roman tongues, of which living languages afford but faint imitations.

SE C T. III.

Beauty of Language from a resemblance between Sound and Signification.

A RESEMBLANCE between the found of

certain words and their fignification, is a beauty that has escaped no critical writer, and yet is not handled with accuracy by any of them. They have probably been of opinion, that a beauty fo obvious to the feeling, requires no explanation. This is an error; and to avoid it, I fhall give examples of the various refemblances between found and fignification, ac companied with an endeavour to explain why fuch refemblances are beautiful. I begin with examples where the refemblance between the found and fignif ication is the most entire; and next examples where the resemblance is lefs and lefs fo.

There being frequently a ftrong refemblance of one found to another, it will not be surprising to find an articulate found refembling one that is not articulate: thus the found of a bow-ftring is imitated by the words that exprefs it:

The ring let fly,

Twang'd fhort and harp, like the thrill fwallow's cry.
Odysffey, xxi. 449.

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The

The found of felling trees in a wood:

Loud founds the ax, redoubling ftrokes on strokes,
On all fides round the foreft hurls her oaks
Headlong. Deep echoing groan the thickets brown,
Then rustling, crackling, crafbing, thunder down.
Iliad, xxiii. 144.

But when loud furges lath the founding fhore,
The hoarfe rough verfe thould like the torrent roar.
Pope's Effay on Criticism, 369..

Dire Scylla there a feene of horror forms,
And bere Charybdis fills the deep with storms:
When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves,
The rough rock roars: tumultuous boil the waves.
Pope.

No perfon can be at a lofs about the caufe of this beauty it is obviously that of imitation.

That there is any other natural refemblance of found to fignification, must not be taken for granted. There is no resemblance of found to motion, nor of found to fentiment. We are however apt to be deceived by artful pronunciation: the fame paflage may be pronounced in many different tones, elevated or humble, fweet or harth, brifk or melancholy, fo as to accord with the thought or fentiment: fuch concord must be diftinguished from that conçord between found and fenfe, which is perceived in fome expreffions independent of artful pronunciation the latter is the poet's work; the former must be attributed to the reader. Another thing contributes ftill more to the deceit; in language, found and fenfe being intimately connected, the properties of the one are readily communicated to the other; for example, the quality, of grandeur, of fweetnefs, or of melancholy, though belonging to the thought. folely,

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