drudg'd, difturb'd, rebuk'd, fledg'd. It is ftill lefs excufable to follow this practice in writing; for the hurry of speaking may excufe what would be *altogether improper in compofition: the syllable -ed, it is true, founds poorly at the end of a word; but rather that defect, than multiply the number of harsh words, which, after all, bear an overproportion in our tongue. The author above mentioned, by fhowing a good example, did all in his power to reftore that fyllable; and he well deferves to be imitated. Some exceptions however I would make. A word that fignifies labour or any thing harsh or rugged, ought not to be fmooth; therefore forc'd with an apoftrophe, is better than forced, without it. Another exception is where the penult fyllable ends with a vowel ; in that cafe the final fyllable ed may be apoftrophized without making the word harsh examples, betray'd, carry'd, deftroy'd, employ'd. The article next in order, is the mufic of words as united in a period. And as the arrangement of words in fucceffion fo as to afford the greatest pleasure to the ear, depends on principles remote from common view, it will be neceffary to premife fome general obfervations upon the appearance that objects make, when creafing or decreafing feries. jects vary by fmall differences, fo as to have a mutual resemblance, we in afcending conceive placed in an in Where the ob the the second object of no greater fize than the first, the third of no greater fize than the second, and fo of the reft; which diminisheth in appearance the fize of every object except the firft: but when, beginning at the greatest object, we proceed gradually to the leaft, refemblance makes us imagine the fecond as great as the first, and the third as great as the fecond; which in appearance magnifies every object except the first. On the other hand, in a feries varying by large differences, where contraft prevails, the effects are directly oppofite: a great object fucceeding a small one of the fame kind, appears greater than usual; and a little object fucceeding one that is great, appears less than usual *. Hence a remarkable pleasure in viewing a feries afcending by large differences; directly oppofite to what we feel when the differences are small. The leaft object of a feries afcending by large differences has the fame effect upon the mind, as if it stood fingle without making a part of the feries: but the fecond object, by means of contraft, appears greater than when viewed fingly and apart; and the fame effect is perceived in afcending progreffively, till we arrive at the laft object. The oppofite effect is produced. in defcending; for in this direction, every object, except the first, appears lefs than when viewed feparately and independent of the series. We may then affume as a maxim, which will hold in the compofition B 4 * See the reason, Chap. 8. compofition of language as well as of other fubjects, That a strong impulfe fucceeding a weak, makes double impreffion on the mind; and that a weak impulse fucceeding a ftrong, makes fcarce any impreffion. After establishing this maxim, we can be at no lofs about its application to the subject in hand. The following rule is laid down by Diomedes *. "In verbis observandum eft, ne a majoribus ad "minora defcendat oratio; melius enim dicitur, "Vir eft optimus, quàm, Vir optimus eft." This rule is also applicable to entire members of a period, which, according to our author's expreffion, ought not, more than fingle words, to proceed from the greater to the lefs, but from the lefs to the greater +. In arranging the members of a period, no writer equals Cicero: the beauty of the following examples out of many, will not fuffer me to flur them over by a reference. Quicum quæftor fueram, Quicum me fors confuetudoque majorum, Again: xerat. Habet honorem quem petimus, Habet fpem quam præpofitam nobis habemus, Habet *De ftructura perfectæ orationis, 1. 2. + See Demetrius Phalereus of Elocution, § 18. Habet exiftimationem, multo fudore, labore, vigiliisque, collectam. Again: Eripite nos ex miferiis, Eripite nos ex faucibus eorum, Quorum crudelitas noftro fanguine non poteft expleri, De Oratore, l. 1. § 52. This order of words or members gradually increafing in length, may, as far as concerns the pleasure of found, be denominated a climax in found. The laft article is the mufic of periods as united in a difcourfe; which fhall be dispatched in a very few words. By no other human means is it poffible to present to the mind, fuch a number of objects, and in fo fwift a fucceffion, as by speaking or writing; and for that reafon, variety ought more to be studied in these, than in any other fort of compofition. Hence a rule for arranging the members of different periods with relation to each other, That to avoid a tedious uniformity of found and cadence, the arrangement, the cadence, and the length of the members, ought to be diverfified as much as poffible: and if the members of different periods be fufficiently diverfified, the periods themselves will be equally fo. SECT. SECT. II.-Beauty of Language with respect to Signification. I T is well faid by a noted writer*, "That by "means of fpeech we can divert our forrows, "mingle our mirth, impart our fecrets, commu"nicate our counfels, and make mutual compacts "and agreements to fupply and affift each other." Confidering fpeech as contributing to so many good purposes, words that convey clear and diftinct ideas, muft be one of its capital beauties. This cause of beauty, is too extenfive to be handled as a branch of any other fubject: for to afcertain with accuracy even the proper meaning of words, not to talk of their figurative power, would require a large volume; an ufeful work indeed, but not to be attempted without a large stock of time, study, and reflection. This branch therefore of the subject I humbly decline. Nor do I propose to exhauft all the other beauties of language that relate to fignification: the reader, in a work like the present, cannot fairly expect more than a flight sketch of those that make the greateft figure. This task is the more to my tafte, as being connected with certain natural principles; and the rules *Scot's Christian Life. |