cumstance. Hence evidently the preference of the following arrangement: Whether in any country a choice altogether unexceptionable has been made, seems doubtful. Before this other, Whether a choice altogether unexceptionable has in any country been made, &c. For this reason the following period is exceptionable in point of arrangement. I have considered formerly, with a good deal of attention, the subject upon which you command me to communicate my thoughts to you. Bolingbroke of the Study of History, Letter I. which, with a slight alteration, may be improved thus: I have formerly, with a good deal of attention, considered the subject, &c. Swift, speaking of a virtuous and learned education: And although they may be, and too often are drawn, by the temptations of youth, and the opportunities of a large fortune, into some irregularities, when they come forward into the great world; it is ever with reluctance and compunction of mind, because their bias to virtue still continues. Better: The Intelligencer, No. 9. And although, when they come forward into the great world, they may be, and too often, &c. The bad effect of placing a circumstance last or late in a period, will appear from the following examples: Let us endeavour to establish to ourselves an interest in him who holds the reins of the whole creation in his hand. Spectator, No. 12. Better thus: Let us endeavour to establish to ourselves an interest in him, who, in his hand, holds the reins of the whole creation. Virgil, who has cast the whole system of Platonic philosophy, so far as it relates to the soul of man, into beautiful allegories in the sixth book of his Æneid, gives us the punishment, &c. Spectator, No. 90. Better thus: Virgil, who in the sixth book of his Æneid, has cast, &c. 1 And Philip the Fourth was obliged at last to conclude a peace on terms repugnant to his inclination, to that of his people, to the - interest of Spain, and to that of all Europe, in the Pyrenean treaty. Better thus: Letters on History, vol. 1. let. vi. Bolingbroke. And at last in the Pyrenean treaty, Philip the Fourth was obliged to conclude a peace, &c. In arranging a period, it is of importance to determine in what part of it a word makes the greatest figure; whether at the beginning, during the course, or at the close. The breaking silence rouses the attention, and prepares for a deep impression at the beginning: the beginning, however, must yield to the close; which being succeeded by a pause, affords time for a word to make its deepest impression.* Hence the following rule, That to give the utmost force to a period, it ought if possible to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure. The opportunity of a pause should not be thrown away upon accessories, * To give force or elevation to a period, it ought to begin and end with a long syllable. For a long syllable makes naturally the strongest impres sion: and of all the syllables in a period, we are chiefly moved with the first Demetrius Phalereus of Elocution, sect. 39. and last. but reserved for the principal object, in order that it may make a full impression: which is an additional reason against closing a period with a circumstance. There are however periods that admit not such a structure; and in that case, the capital word ought, if possible, to be placed in the front, which next to the close is the most advantageous for making an impression. Hence, in directing our discourse to a man of figure, we ought to begin with his name; and one will be sensible of a degradation, when this rule is neglected, as it frequently is for the sake of verse. I give the following examples. Integer vitæ, scelerisque purus, Horat. Carm. L. 1. ode 22. Je crains Dieu, cher Abner, et n'ai point d'autre crainte. In these examples, the name of the person addressed to, makes a mean figure, being like a circumstance slipt into a corner. That this criticism is well founded, we need no further proof than Addison's translation of the last example : O Abner! I fear my God, and I fear none but him. Guardian, No. 117. O father, what intends thy band, she cried, Paradise Lost, book ii. l. 727. Every one must be sensible of a dignity in the invocation at the beginning, which is not attained by that in the middle. I mean not, however, to censure this passage: on the contrary, it appears beautiful, by distinguishing the respect that is due to a father from that which is due to a son. The substance of what is said in this and the foregoing section, upon the method of arranging words in a period, so as to make the deepest impression with respect to sound as well as signification, is comprehended in the following observation: That order of words in a period will always be the most agreeable, where, without obscuring the sense, the most important images, the most sonorous words, and the longest members, bring up the rear, what Hitherto of arranging single words, single members, and single circumstances. But the enumeration of many particulars in the same period is often necessary; and the question is, In what order they should be placed? It does not seem easy, at first view, to bring a subject apparently so loose under any general rule: but luckily, reflecting upon is said in the first chapter about order, we find rules laid down to our hand, which leave us no task but that of applying them to the present question. And, first, with respect to the enumerating particulars of equal rank, it is laid down in the place quoted, that as there is no cause for preferring any one before the rest, it is indifferent to the mind in what order they be viewed. And it is only necessary to be added here, that for the same reason, it is indifferent in what order they be named. 2dly, If a number of objects of the same kind, differing only in size, are to be ranged along a straight line, the most agreeable order to the eye is that of an increasing series. In surveying a number of such objects, beginning at the least, and proceeding to greater and greater, the mind swells gradually with the successive objects, and in its progress has a very sensible pleasure. Precisely for the same reason, words expressive of such objects ought to be placed in the same order. The beauty of this figure, which may be termed a climax in sense, has escaped Lord Bolingbroke in the first member of the following period. Let but one great, brave, disinterested, active man arise, and he will be received, followed, and almost adored. The following arrangement has sensibly a better effect: Let but one brave, great, active, disinterested man arise, &c. Whether the same rule ought to be followed in enumerating men of different ranks, seems doubtful on the one hand, a number of persons presented to the eye in form of an increasing series, is undoubtedly the most agreeable order: on the other hand, in every list of names, we set the person of the greatest dignity at the top, and descend gradually through his inferiors. Where the purpose is to honour the persons named according to their rank, the latter order ought to be followed; but every one who regards himself only, or his reader, will choose the former order. 3dly, As the sense of order directs the eye to descend from the principal to its greatest accessory, and from the whole to its greatest part, and in the same order through all the parts and accessories till we arrive at the minutest; the same order ought to be followed in the enumeration of such particulars. I shall give one familiar example. Talking of the parts of a column, the base, the shaft, the capital, these are capable of six different arrangements, and the question is, Which is the best? When we have in view the erecting a column, we are naturally led to ex'press the parts in the order above mentioned; which at the same time is agreeable by ascending. But considering the column as it stands, without reference to its erection, the sense of order, as observed above, requires the chief part to be named first: |