the fault is eafily prevented by placing the circumftance before the verb or affertion, after the following manner :

For the English are naturally fanciful, and, by that gloominess and melancholy of temper which is fo frequent in our nation, are often disposed to many wild notions, &c.

For as no mortal author, in the ordinary fate and viciffitude of things, knows to what use his works may, fome time or other, be applied, &c. Spectator, No 85.

Better thus:

For as, in the ordinary fate and viciffitude of things, no mortal author knows to what use, fome time or other, his works may be apply'd.

From whence we may date likewise the rivalship of the house of France, for we may reckon that of the Valois and that of Bourbon as one upon this occafion, and the house of Auftria, that continues at this day, and has oft coft so much blood and fo much treasure in the course of it.

Letters on biftory, vol, 1. letter 6. Bolingbroke.

It

It cannot be impertinent or ridiculous therefore in fuch a country, whatever it might be in the Abbot of St Real's, which was Savoy I think; or in Peru, under the Incas, where Garcilaffo de la Vega fays it was lawful for none but the nobility to study-for men of all degrees to inftruct themselves in those affairs wherein they may be actors, or judof those that act, or controllers of those that

ges

judge.

Letters on biftory, vol. 1. letter 5. Bolingbroke.

If Scipio, who was naturally given to women, for which anecdote we have, if I mistake not, the authority of Polybius, as well as fome verses of Nevius preserved by Aulus Gellius, had been educated by Olympias at the court of Philip, it is improbable that he would have restored the beautiful Spaniard. Ibid. letter 3.

If any one have a curiofity for more fpecimens of this kind, they will be found without number in the works of the fame author.

A pronoun, which faves the naming a perfon or thing a fecond time, ought to be placed as near as poffible to the name of that person or thing. This is a branch of

the

the foregoing rule; and with the reafon there given, another concurs, viz. That if other ideas intervene, it is difficult to recal the person or thing by reference.

If I had leave to print the Latin letters transmitted to me from foreign parts, they would fill a volume, and be a full defence against all that Mr Partridge, or his accomplices of the Portugal inqui sition, will be ever able to object; who, by the way, are the only enemies my predictions have ever met with at home or abroad.

Better thus:

and be a full defence against all that can be objected by Mr Partridge, or his accomplices of the Portugal inquifition; who, by the way, are, &c.

There being a round million of creatures in human figure, throughout this kingdom, whose whole fubfiftence, &c.

Better:

A modest propofal, &c. Swift.

There being, throughout this kingdom, a round million of creatures in human figure, whose whole fubfiftence, &c.

Tom

Tom is a lively impudent clown, and has wit enough to have made him a pleasant companion, had it been polished and rectified by good manners. Guardian, No 162.

It is the custom of the Mahometans, if they fee any printed or written paper upon the ground, to take it up, and lay it afide carefully, as not knowing but it may contain some piece of their Alcoran. Spectator, No 85.

The arrangement here leads to a wrong fense, as if the ground were taken up, not the paper. Better thus:

It is the custom of the Mahometans, if they fee upon the ground any printed or written paper, to take it up, &c.

The following rule depends on the communication of emotions or feelings to related objects, a principle in human nature we have had more than one occafion to mention. We find this operation, even where the objects are not otherwise related than by the juxtapofition of the words that exprefs them. Hence to elevate or depress an object, one method is, to join it in the arrangement

rangement to another that is naturally high or low. Witness the following speech of Eumenes to the Roman fenate.

Caufam veniendi fibi Romam fuiffe, præter cu piditatem vifendi deos bominefque, quorum beneficio in ea fortuna effet, fupra quam ne optare quidem auderet, etiam ut coram moneret fenatum ut Perfei conatus obviam iret. Livy, 1.42. cap. i1.

To join the Romans with the gods in the fame enunciation, is an artful stroke of flattery, because it tacitly puts them on a level. On the other hand, when the purpofe is to degrade or vilify an object, this is done fuccefsfully by ranking it with one that is really low:

I hope to have this entertainment in a readiness for the next winter; and doubt not but it will please more than the opera or puppet-show.

Spectator, No 28.

Manifold have been the judgments which Heaven from time to time, for the chastisement of a finful people, has inflicted upon whole nations. For when the degeneracy becomes common, 'tis but VOL. II. Rr

juft