"The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, The great, the important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome." In the first two lines, the same sentiment is three times repeated in different words. "The dawn is overcast," means no more than "the morning lowers"; and both these expressions denote precisely the same thing as the line that follows. In the third line, three synonymous expressions appear," the great, the important day, big with the fate." In revising a composition, special regard must be had to Precision. Unnecessary words (and sometimes many will be found) must be unsparingly pruned out. The best method of avoiding such superfluities, or of breaking up a loose style, when once formed, is to endeavor, before writing, to get a well-defined conception of the subject. Redundancies often proceed from the writer's not having any precise idea himself of what he wants to say. §362. Another violation of Precision consists in the af fected substitution for the names of persons or the terms which we ordinarily apply to abstract ideas, circumlocutions expressive of some attribute, which may belong to another object, and is therefore liable to be mistaken by the reader. Thus, Shaftesbury, devoting several pages of one of his works to Aristotle, names him only as "the master critic", แ the mighty genius and judge of art ", " the prince of critics", grand master of art", and "the consummate philologist ", leaving the reader to infer who is meant by these high-sounding titles. So, in another passage, without designating them by name, he alludes to Homer, Socrates, and Plato, respectively, as "the grand poetic sire", "the philosophical patriarch", and "his disciple of noble birth and lofty genius". "the In like manner, when the proper name has been mentioned, an allusion to the same individual by means of a circumlocution is apt to give the reader a wrong impression; as, "Literary and scientific men hastened to the court of Charlemagne, anxious to secure the favor of the greatest point out the redundancies. In revising a composition, to what must special regard be had? What is the best method of avoiding superfluities and breaking up a loose style! From what do redundancies often proceed? § 362. What other violation of precision is here alluded to? Show how Shaftesbury violates this principle. When the proper name has been mentioned, what is the effect vf alluding to the same individual by means of a circumlocution? Illustrate this. monarch of his age." A reader ignorant of history might suppose that it was not Charlemagne's favor, but that of some other monarch residing at his court, that they were desirous of securing. A slight change will prevent the possibility of mistake as to the meaning: "Anxious to secure the favor of Charlemagne, literary and scientific men hastened to his court EXERCISE. In the following sentences, when two synonymes are presented within brackets, select the proper one; when Precision is violated, correct the error :— 1. He [only, or alone?] of all their number had sufficient resolution to declare himself ready to proceed. This circumstance [only, or alone?] is sufficient to prove the worthlessness of the criticism.-On questioning them, they all denied knowledge of the fact, except one [only, or alone?], in whose countenance I traced evident signs of guilt. 2. As soon as you have heard [enough, or sufficient?] music, we will adjourn to the other apartment. I am obliged to remain here, because I have not [enough, or sufficient?] money to proceed on my journey. 3. We [avow, acknowledge, or confess?] an omission of duty;-we a debt;- the criminal cannot be persuaded to -; the martyr -s his faith. 4. The equipment of the ship is [entire, or complete?]. 5. A being who has nothing to pardon or forgive in himself may reward every man according to his works. 6. The physician enjoined temperance and abstinence on his patient. 7. There was no tenant in the house; it was [vacant, or empty ?].-The house was stripped of its furniture; it was entirely [vacant, or empty ?].-Mr. D.'s death has left a [vacant, or empty] seat in the Board. 8. Paley has said that man is a bundle of [customs, or habits?].-Many great men have the [custom, or habit?] of taking snuff.-The [custom, or habit?] of going to church may produce [customs, or habits?] of piety. 9. The general said that he [received, or accepted?] with pride and satisfaction this token of their friendship. 10. Though numerous applications were made for the prisoner's [forgiveness, or pardon?], they were all [unsuccessful, or ineffectual?]. 11. The pleasures of imagination are more preferable than those of sense. 12. This is the chiefest objection that I have to such a course. 13. No man of spirit can acquiesce in, and remain satisfied with, this decision. 14. This wavering and unsettled policy cannot be too strongly condemned. 15. I am certain and confident that the account I have given is correct and true. 16. He then made his statement and related his story. 17. We rested beneath the umbrageous shadow of a shady oak, and then again resumed our journey anew. 18. The brightness of prosperity, shining on the anticipations of futurity, casts the shadows of adversity into the shade, and causes the prospects of the future to look bright. 19. We often conjure up grounds of apprehension, and give ourselves unnecessary uneasiness. 20. The magistrate questioned the prisoner minutely and examined him at length. 21. Now, if the fabric of the mind or temper appeared to us such as it really is; if we saw it impossible to remove hence any one good or orderly affection, or to in troduce any ill or disorderly one, without drawing on, in some degree, that dissolute state which, at its height, is confessed to be so miserable,it would then, undoubtedly, be confessed, that since no ill, immoral, or unjust action, can be committed without either a new inroad and breach on the temper and passions, or a further advancing of that execution already done; whoever did ill, or acted in prejudice to his integrity, good nature, or worth, would, of necessity, act with greater cruelty towards himself, than he who scrupled not to swallow what was poison. ous, or who, with his own hands, should voluntarily mangle or wound his outward form or constitution, natural limbs, or body. 22. Constan tine was constantly receiving presents, which were forwarded from all quarters to the great Christian emperor. § 363. THE fourth essential property of style is CLEARNESS, cr PERSPICUITY; which consists in such a use and arrangement of words and clauses, as at once distinctly indicate the meaning of the writer or speaker. To a certain extent, this quality involves the three already considered; that is, other things being equal, the greater the Purity, Propriety, and Precision, of a sentence, the clearer it will be. Yet these properties may belong, in a high degree, to a style which is far from perspicuous. Something more is necessary to constitute the quality under consideration. §364. The faults opposed to clearness are, I. Obscurity, which consists in the use of words and constructions from which it is difficult to gather any meaning at all. II. Equivocation, which consists in the use of words sus ceptible, in the connection in which they are placed, of more than one interpretation. 863. What is the fourth essential property of style? In what does it consist What does clearness, to a certain extent, involve? $364. Enumerate and define the three faults opposed to clearness. III. Ambiguity, which consists in such an arrangement of words or clauses as leaves the reader in doubt be tween two different significations. § 365. Obscurity.-Nothing disgusts us more with a composition than to find difficulty in arriving at its meaning. Whatever effect the thoughts it embodies might have produced had they been clearly expressed, is inevitably lost, while the reader is pondering its intricate periods. Obscurity results from various causes, of which the principal are as follows: I. An improper ellipsis. This figure, as we have seen in §317, authorizes the omission of words necessary to the construction, but not to the sense. Whenever the omission of a word renders the meaning of a sentence unintelligible, the ellipsis becomes improper. A writer in The Guardian uses this expression: "He is inspired with a true sense of that function." The meaning is not intelligible till we put in the words improperly left out: "He is inspired with a true sense of the importance of that function." "Arbitrary power", says another, "I look upon as a greater evil than anarchy itself, as much as a savage is a happier state of life than a galley-slave." We can not properly call a savage or a galley-slave a state of life, though we may with propriety compare their conditions. The obscurity is removed by doing away with the ellipsis: as much as the state of a savage is happier than that of a galley-slave." II. A bad arrangement. 66 Some sentences have their parts so arranged that, on commencing them, we imagine they will convey a certain meaning, which is quite different from what we find they really signify when we get to their close. Thus, in The Spectator the following sentence occurs: “I have hopes that when Will confronts him, and all the ladies in whose behalf he engages him cast kind looks and wishes of success at their champion, hɔ will have some shame." On hearing the first part of the sentence, we naturally imagine that Will is to confront all the ladies; but we soon find that it is necessary to construe this clause with the verb cast. To § 365. What feeling is produced in the reader by a composition difficult to be understood? What is the first source of obscurity? When is an ellipsis improper? Give examples of improper ellipses. What is the second source of obscurity? What false impression do we receive from some sentences whose parts are improperly arranged! Illustrate this error from The Spectator, and show how it may be corrected. What correct the error, the whole sentence must be remodelled, or we may simply introduce the adverb when after and: “I have hopes that when Will confronts him, and when all the ladies," &c. The words most frequently misplaced in such a way as to involve obscurity are adverbs, particularly only and not only. If these words are separated from what they are intended to modify, the meaning of the whole sentence is obscured. "He not only owns a house, but also a large farm." Not only, as it now stands, modifies the verb owns; and from the beginning of the sentence one naturally supposes that another verb is to follow,—that he not only owns the house, but lives in it, or something of the kind. Whereas, not only is intended to modify house, and should therefore be placed immediately before it: ' He owns, not only a house, but also a large farm." Sometimes a faulty arrangement of adjuncts or clauses produces a ludicrous combination of ideas; as when we say, "Here is a horse ploughing with one eye", instead of, "Here is a horse with one eye, ploughing." From the former sentence we would infer that the horse was turning up the ground with one of his organs of vision. So, in the following: "He was at a window in Litchfield, where a party of royalists had fortified themselves, taking a view of the cathedral." The royalists would hardly go to the trouble of fortifying themselves merely for the purpose of taking a view of the cathedral. It should read thus: "He was at a window in Litchfield, taking a view of the cathedral, where & party," &c. The sentences given above as examples would be ambiguous accord ing to our definition of that term, if there were any other than an absurd meaning to be gleaned from the construction which we first natu rally put upon them. As this is not the case, however, they fall under the head we are now considering,―obscurity. It may be argued that, in these and similar examples, the obscurity will quickly be removed if he reader uses the least reflection. But this is not sufficient; we must have no obscurity to be removed. Clearness requires, according to Quintilian, "not that the reader may understand if he will, but that he must understand whether he will or not". III. The use of the same word in different senses. words are most frequently misplaced in such a way as to involve obscurity? What is the effect of separating them from what they are intended to modify? Give an example of this error, show how it occasions obscurity, and correct it. What does a faulty arrangement of adjuncts and clauses sometimes produce? Give examples, and correct the errors they contain. Why do we not rank these cases under the head of ambiguous constructions? What may be argued with respect to them? Is this sufficient? What does Quintilian say respecting clearness? What is the third source of obscurity? Illus |