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III. Correct the errors in the position or the too frequent repetition of pronouns, in the following sen

tences:

1 These are the master's rules, who must be obeyed.

2. They attacked the Duke of Northumberland's house, whom they put

to death.

3. It is true what he says, but it is not applicable to the point.

4. He was taking a view, from a window, of the cathedral of Litchfield, in which a party of the royalists had fortified themselves.

5. It is folly to pretend to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, by heaping up treasures, which nothing can protect us against, but the good providence of our Heavenly Father.

6. Thus I have fairly given you my opinion, as well as that of a great majority of both houses here, relating to this weighty affair, upon which I am confident you may securely reckon.

7. From a habit of saving time and paper, which they acquired at the university, many write in so diminutive a manner, with such frequent blots and interlineations, that they are hardly able to go on without perpetual hesitation or extemporary expletives.

8. Lysias promised to his father never to abandon his friends.

9. Men look with an evil eye upon the good that is in others, and think that their reputation obscures them, and that their commendable qualities do stand in their light; and therefore they do what they can to cast a cloud over them, that the bright shining of their virtues may not obscure them.

CHAPTER XVII.

OF UNITY.

Q. What do you mean by the Unity of a sentence?

A. Closeness and compactness of arrangement, and tne restriction of the sentence to one leading idea. Q. When is unity most apt to be violated?

A. When the sentence is long, and crowded with a number of qualifying clauses, among which there is no very close connection.

Q. What, for the sake of unity, should there be in every sentence?

A. One principal object of thought, which should never be obscured, nor concealed from view.

Q. What is the first rule, then, for preserving unity?

A. Never, if possible, during the course of a senence, to change the scene or the actor.

Q. Can you exemplify the violation of this rule?

A "After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness."

Q. What is faulty in this sentence?

A. A frequent change of subject, as we, they, I, who, which are all nominatives to different verbs, and therefore tend to distract the attention.

Q. Can you give it in a corrected form?

A. "After we came to anchor, I was put on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, and received by them with the greatest kindness."

Q. What is the next rule for obtaining unity?

A. It is, never to crowd into one sentence things so unconnected that they would bear to be divided into different sentences.

Q. Can you give an example?

A. "Virtuous men are always the most happy ; but vice strows the path of her votaries with thorns.' Q. How would you correct this sentence?

A. By making each member a separate sentence, as, "Virtuous men are always the most happy. Vice strows the path of her followers with thorns."

Q. What is the next rule under this head?

A. It is to avoid all unnecessary parentheses, and all such words and members as interrupt the natural unity of thought which a sentence should exhibit. Q. Are parentheses always improper?

A. By no means; for they sometimes give elegance and vivacity to a sentence. They should, however, be used very sparingly, as they tend, when improperly introduced, to clog and embarrass a sentence.

Q. Are parentheses as much in use as they once were? A. No; for by modern writers they are mostly laid aside; but old writers were in general very profuse in the use of them.

Q. How may long and awkward parentheses be avoided?

A. Either by entirely rejecting them, or, if what they contain be necessary to the sense, by putting them into a separate sentence.

Can you give an example of the right use of parentheses? "The bliss of man (could pride that blessing find)

Is not to act or think beyond mankind."

Q. Will you endeavor to correct the following sentences, in which unity has been neglected? A short time after this injury, he came to himself; and the next day they put him on board a ship which conveyed him first to Corinth, and thence to the islano of Ægina. Never delay till to-morrow (for to-morrow is no

yours; and thougn you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own) what reason and conscience tell you ought to be performed to-day.

A. A short time after this injury, he came to himself; and being the next day put on board a ship, he was conveyed first to Corinth, and thence to the island of Ægina. Never delay till to-morrow what reason and conscience tell you ought to be performed today. To-morrow is not yours; and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own.

EXERCISES.

I. Correct the errors arising from the change of the scene or actor, in the following sentences:

1. The Britons, daily harassed by cruel inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their defence; who, consequently, reduced the greater part of the island to their own power, drove the Britons into the most remote and mountainous parts; and the rest of the country, in customs, religion, and languages, became wholly Saxon.

2 All the precautions of prudence, moderation, and condescension, which Eumenes employed, were incapable of mollifying the hearts of these barba rians, and of extinguishing their jealousy; and he must have renounced the virtue and merit which occasioned it, to have been capable of appeas ing them.

3. He who performs every employmont in its due place and season, suffers no part of time to escape without profit; and thus his days become multiplied, and much of life is enjoyed in little space.

4. Desire of pleasure ushers in temptation, and the growth of disorderly passions is forwarded.

II. Correct such errors, in the following passages, as arise from crowding into one sentence things which have no intimate connection:

1. The notions of Lord Sunderland were always good; but he was a man of great expense.

2. Cato died in the full vigor of life. under fifty: he was naturally warm and affectionate in his temper; comprehensive, impartial, and strongly possessed with the love of mankind

3. In this uneasy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed by a new and deep affliction, the death of his beloved daughter Tullia; which happened soon after her divorce from Dolabella, whose manners and humors were entirely disagreeable to her.

4. I single him out among the moderns, because he had the foolish pre sumption to censure Tacitus, and to write history himself; and your lord ship will forgive this short excursion in honor of a favorite author.

III. Correct the errors in the use of parentheses, in the following sentences:

1. Disappointments will often happen to the best and wisest men (not 'hrough any imprudence of theirs, nor eve through the malice or iH de

sign of others; but merely in consequence of some of those cross incidents of life which could not be foreseen), and sometimes to the wisest and best concerted plans.

2. It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries and was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself.

CHAPTER XVIII.

OF STRENGTH.

Q. What do you mean by the Strength of a sentence? A. The power which it possesses of making a deep impression upon the mind.

Q. What is the first requisite for obtaining strength?

A. It is, to avoid all tautology, and admit into a sen tence no words and members but such as the sense absolutely requires.

Q. What am I to understand by tautology?

A. The application of several words to express the same idea a practice which has, at all times, an enfeebling effect.

Q. Can you give an example of tautology?

A. " They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth."

Q. What words are here redundant?

A. Back, again, same, from, and forth, the meaning of all which is implied in the other words of the sen

tence.

Q. What is the next rule for promoting the strength of a sentence?

A. To dispose of the principal words and members in such a manner that they will produce the greatest possible effect upon the mind of the reader or hearer. Q. What must we often do to accomplish this?

A. We must frequently give the words an arrangement different from that which they usually have; as, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," which gives much more spirit to the sentiment than, "Diana_of_the Ephesians is great." See chapter xv.

Q. What do you call the placing of words out of their natural

ǝrder?

A. Inversion or transposition, which, when judi

ciously made, contributes both to the strength and elegance of a sentence.

Q. What is your next remark on the subject of strength?

A. It is, that a weaker assertion should never fol low a stronger; nor a shorter member one of greater length.

Q. Can you give an illustration of this principle

A. "When our passions have forsaken us, we flat ter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken them," is a better arrangement than, "We flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken our passions, when they have forsaken us.

Q. What is your next observation on the strength of senten ces?

A. It is, to avoid, if possible, concluding them with any short, trifling, or unemphatic word.

Q. What are the words which you would include in this class? A. Some of the pronouns, several of the adverbs, and most of the prepositions.

Q. Will you exemplify what you have stated?

A. "Avarice is a crime, which wise men are often guilty of," is less forcible and dignified than "Avarice is a crime, of which wise men are often guilty."

Q. What have you farther to observe on this topic?

A. When two things are contrasted with one another for the purpose of expressing either resemblance or opposition, a similar resemblance or opposition should be observed in the structure of the sentence. Q. Upon what principle is this rule founded?

A. Upon the principle that, when we find a correspondence among objects, we naturally expect a similar correspondence among the words by which they are denoted.

Q. Will you give an example of this?

A. "The idle never make so much improvement as diligent persons," should be, "The idle never make so much improvement as the diligent.'

Q. Can you correct the following sentences? It is six years ago since I paid a visit to my relations. The reason why he acted in the manner he did, was not fully and completely explained. It I mistake not, I think he is improved both in knowledge and be havior These two boys appear to be both equal in capacity.

A. It is six years since I paid a visit to my rela

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