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members of a sentence, where two things are compared or contrasted to each other; where either a resemblance or an opposition is intended to be expressed; some resemblance, in the language and construction, should be preserved. For when the things themselves correspond to each other, we naturally expect to find the words corresponding too. We are disappointed when it is otherwise; and the comparison, or contrast, appears more imperfect. Thus, when Lord Bolingbroke says, "The laughers will be for those who have most "wit; the serious part of mankind, for those who "have most reason on their side;" (Dissert. on Parties, Pref.)-the opposition would have been more complete, if he had said, "The laughers "will be for those who have most wit; the serious, "for those who have most reason on their side." The following passage from Mr Pope's Preface to his Homer, fully exemplifies the rule I am now giving: "Homer was the greater genius; Virgil "the better artist: in the one we must admire the

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man; in the other, the work. Homer hurries us "with a commanding impetuosity; Virgil leads "us with an attractive majesty. Homer scatters "with a generous profusion; Virgil bestows with "a careful magnificence. Homer, like the Nile, pours out his riches with a sudden overflow;

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Virgil, like a river in its banks, with a constant "stream.And when we look upon their ma"chines, Homer seems, like his own Jupiter in "his terrors, shaking Olympus, scattering the

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lightnings, and firing the heavens; Virgil, like "the same power in his benevolence, counselling "with the gods, laying plans for empires, and ordering his whole creation." Periods thus constructed, when introduced with propriety, and not returning too often, have a sensible beauty. But we must beware of carrying our attention to this beauty too far. It ought only to be occasionally studied, when comparison or opposition of objects naturally leads to it. If such a construction as this be aimed at in all our sentences, it leads to a disagreeable uniformity; produces a regularly returning clink in the period, which tires the ear, and plainly discovers affectation. Among the ancients, the style of Isocrates is faulty in this respect; and on that account, by some of their best critics, particularly by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he is severely censured.

This finishes what I had to say concerning sentences, considered with respect to their meaning, under the three heads of perspicuity, unity, and strength. It is a subject on which I have insisted fully, for two reasons: First, because it is a subject which, by its nature, can be rendered more didactic, and subjected more to precise rule, than many other subjects of criticism; and next, because it appears to me of considerable importance and use.

For, though many of those attentions, which I

have been recommending, may appear minute, yet their effect upon writing and style is much greater than might at first be imagined. A sentiment which is expressed in a period, clearly, neatly, and happily arranged, makes always a stronger impression on the mind than one that is feeble or embarrassed. Every one feels this upon a comparison; and if the effect be sensible in one sentence, how much more in a whole discourse, or composition, that is made up of such sentences?

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The fundamental rule of the construction of sentences, and into which all others might be resolved, undoubtedly is, to communicate, in the clearest and most natural order, the ideas which we mean to transfuse into the minds of others. Every arrangement that does most justice to the sense, and expresses it to most advantage, strikes us as beautiful. To this point have tended all the rules I have given. And, indeed, did men always think clearly, and were they, at the same time, fully masters of the language in which they write, there would be occasion for few rules. Their sentences would then, of course, acquire all those properties of precision, unity, and strength, which I have recommended. For we may rest assured, that whenever we express ourselves ill, there is, besides the mismanagement of language, for the most part, some mistake in our manner of conceiving the subject. Embarrassed, obscure, and feeble

sentences, are generally, if not always, the result of embarrassed, obscure, and feeble thought. Thought and language act and re-act upon each other mutually. Logic and rhetoric have here, as in many other cases, a strict connexion; and he that is learning to arrange his sentences with accuracy and order, is learning, at the same time, to think with accuracy and order;-an observation which alone will justify all the care and attention we have bestowed on this subject.

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LECTURE XIII.

STRUCTURE of sentences.-HARMONY.

HITHERTO We have considered sentences with respect to their meaning, under the heads of perspicuity, unity, and strength. We are now to consider them with respect to their sound, their harmony, or agreeableness to the ear; which was the last quality belonging to them that I proposed to treat of.

Sound is a quality much inferior to sense; yet such as must not be disregarded. For, as long as sounds are the vehicle of conveyance for our ideas, there will be always a very considerable connection between the idea which is conveyed, and the nature of the sound which conveys it. Pleasing ideas can hardly be transmitted to the mind by means of harsh and disagreeable sounds. The imagination revolts as soon as it hears them uttered. "Nihil," says Quinctilian, "potest intrare in af

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