English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 54

GRAMMAR instructs us how to express our thoughts correctly.

RHETORIC teaches us to express them with force and elegance.

The former is generally confined to the correct application of words in constructing single sentences. The latter treats of the proper choice of words, of the happiest method of constructing sentences, of their most advantageous arrangement in forming a discourse, and of the various kinds and qualities of composition. The principles of rhetoric are princ.i.p.ally based on those unfolded and ill.u.s.trated in the science of grammar. Hence, an acquaintance with the latter, and, indeed, with the liberal arts, is a prerequisite to the study of rhetoric and belles-lettres.

COMPOSITION.

It may be laid down as a maxim of eternal truth, that _good sense_ is the foundation of all good writing. One who understands a subject well, will scarcely write ill upon it.

Rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, requires in a writer, the union of good sense, and a lively and chaste imagination. It is, then, her province to teach him to embellish his thoughts with elegant and appropriate language, vivid imagery, and an agreeable variety of expression. It ought to be his aim,

"To mark the point where sense and dulness meet."

STYLE.--PERSPICUITY AND PRECISION.

STYLE is the peculiar manner in which we express our conceptions by means of language. It is a picture of the ideas which rise in our minds, and of the order in which they are produced.

The qualities of a good style, may be ranked under two heads.

_perspicuity_ and _ornament_.

PERSPICUITY, which is considered the fundamental quality of a good style, claims attention, first, to single words and phrases; and, secondly, to the construction of sentences. When considered with respect to words and phrases, it requires these three qualities, _purity_, _propriety,_ and _precision._

_Purity_ of language consists in the use of such words and such constructions as belong to the language which we speak, in opposition to words and phrases belonging to other languages, or which are obsolete or new-coined, or employed without proper authority.

_Propriety_ is the choice of those words which the best usage has appropriated to the ideas which we intend to express by them. It implies their correct and judicious application, in opposition to low expressions, and to words and phrases which would be less significant of the ideas which we wish to convey. It is the union of purity and propriety, which renders style graceful and perspicuous.

_Precision_, from _praecidere_, to cut off, signifies retrenching all superfluities, and pruning the expression in such a manner as to exhibit neither more nor less than an exact copy of the ideas intended to be conveyed.

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

A proper construction of sentences is of so great importance in every species of composition, that we cannot be too strict or minute in our attention to it.

Elegance of style requires us generally to _avoid_, many short or long sentences in succession; a monotonous correspondence of one member to another; and the commencing of a piece, section, or paragraph, with a long sentence.

The qualities most essential to a perfect sentence, are _Unity_, _Clearness_, _Strength_, and _Harmony_.

UNITY is an indispensable property of a correct sentence. A sentence implies an arrangement of words in which only _one_ proposition is expressed. It may, indeed, consist of parts; but these parts ought to be so closely bound together, as to make on the mind the impression, not of many objects, but of only one. In order to preserve this unity, the following rules may be useful.

1. _In the course of the sentence, the scene should be changed as little as possible._ In every sentence there is some leading or governing word, which, if possible, ought to be continued so from the beginning to the end of it. The following sentence is not constructed according to this rule: "After we came to anchor, they put me on sh.o.r.e, where I was saluted by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness."

In this sentence, though the objects are sufficiently connected, yet, by shifting so frequently the place and the person, the _vessel_, the _sh.o.r.e_, _we_, _they_, _I_ and _who_, they appear in so disunited a view, that the mind is led to wander for the sense. The sentence is restored to its proper unity by constructing it thus: "Having come to anchor, I was put on sh.o.r.e, where I was saluted by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness."

2. _Never crowd into one sentence things which have so little connexion, that they would bear to be divided into two or more sentences._ The violation of this rule produces so unfavorable an effect, that it is safer to err rather by too many short sentences, than by one that is overloaded and confused.

3. _Avoid all unnecessary parentheses_.

CLEARNESS. _Ambiguity_, which is opposed to clearness, may arise from a bad choice, or a bad arrangement of words.

A leading rule in the arrangement of sentences, is, that _those words or members most nearly related, should be placed in the sentence as near to each other as possible, so as thereby to make their mutual relation clearly appear._ This rule ought to be observed,

1. _In the position of adverbs._ "By greatness," says Mr. Addison, "I do not only mean the bulk of any single object, but the largeness of a whole view." The improper situation of the adverb _only_, in this sentence, renders it a limitation of the verb _mean_, whereas the author intended to have it qualify the phrase, _a single object;_ thus, "By greatness, I do not mean the bulk of any single object _only_, but the largeness of a whole view."

2. _In the position of phrases and members._ "Are these designs which any man who is born a Briton, in any circ.u.mstances, in any situation, ought to be ashamed or afraid to avow?" Corrected: "Are these designs which any man who is born a Briton, ought to be ashamed or afraid, _in any circ.u.mstances_, _in any situation_, to avow?"

3. _In the position of p.r.o.nouns._ The reference of a p.r.o.noun to its noun, should always be _so clear that we cannot possibly mistake it:_ otherwise the noun ought to be repeated. "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." _Which_, in this sentence, grammatically refers to _treasures;_ and this would convert the whole period into nonsense. The sentence should have been thus constructed, "It is folly to pretend, by heaping up treasures, to arm ourselves against the _accidents_ of life, against _which_ nothing can protect us but the good providence of our Heavenly Father."

STRENGTH. By the _strength_ of a sentence is meant such an arrangement of its several words and members, as exhibits the sense to the best advantage, and gives every word and member its due weight and force.

1. The first rule for promoting the strength of a sentence, is, to _take from it all redundant words and members._ Whatever can be easily supplied in the mind, should generally be omitted; thus, "Content with deserving a triumph, he refused the honor of it," is better than to say, "_Being_ content with deserving a triumph." &c. "They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth." If we expunge from this snort sentence _five_ which are were expletives, it will be much more neat and forcible thus, "They returned to the city whence they came." But we should be cautious of pruning so closely as to give a hardness and dryness to the style. Some leaves must be left to shelter and adorn the fruit.

2. _Particular attention to the use of copulatives, relatives, and all the particles employed for transition and connexion, is required_. In compositions of an elevated character, the _relative_ should generally be inserted. An injudicious repet.i.tion of _and_ enfeebles style; but when enumerating objects which we wish to have appear as distinct from each other as possible, it may be repeated with peculiar advantage; thus, "Such a man may fall a victim to power; but truth, _and_ reason, _and_ liberty, would fall with him."

3. _Dispose of the capital word or words in that part of the sentence in which they will make the most striking impression_.

4. _Cause the members of a sentence to go on rising in their importance one above another_. In a sentence of two members, the longer should generally be the concluding one.

5. _Avoid concluding a sentence with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word, unless it be emphatical_.

6. _Where two things are compared or contrasted with each other, a resemblance in the language and construction should be observed_.

FIGURES OF SPEECH.

Figures of Speech may be described as that language which is prompted either by the imagination, or by the pa.s.sions. They generally imply some departure from simplicity of expression; and exhibit ideas in a manner more vivid and impressive, than could be done by plain language. Figures have been commonly divided into two great cla.s.ses; Figures of _Words_, and Figures of _Thought_.

Figures of Words are called _Tropes_, and consist in a word's being employed to signify something that is different from its original meaning; so that by altering the word, we destroy the figure.

When we say of a person, that he has a fine _taste_ in wines, the word taste is used in its common, literal sense; but when we say, he has a fine _taste_ for painting, poetry, or music, we use the word figuratively. "A good man enjoys comfort in the midst of adversity," is simple language; but when it is said, "To the upright there ariseth _light_ in _darkness_," the same sentiment is expressed in a figurative style, _light_ is put in the place of _comfort_, and _darkness_ is used to suggest the idea of _adversity_.

The following are the most important figures:

1. A METAPHOR is founded on the resemblance which one object bears to another; or, it is a comparison in an abridged form.

When I say of some great minister, "That he upholds the state like a _pillar_ which supports the weight of a whole edifice," I fairly make a comparison; but when I say of such a minister, "That he is the _pillar_ of the state," the word pillar becomes a metaphor. In the latter construction, the comparison between the minister and a pillar, is made in the mind; but it is expressed without any of the words that denote comparison.

Metaphors abound in all writings. In the scriptures they may be found in vast variety. Thus, our blessed Lord is called a vine, a lamb, a lion, &c.; and men, according to their different dispositions, are styled wolves, sheep, dogs, serpents, vipers, &c.

Washington Irving, in speaking of the degraded state of the American Aborigines who linger on the borders of the "white settlements," employs the following beautiful metaphor: "The proud _pillar_ of their independence has been shaken down, and the whole moral _fabric_ lies in ruins."

2. AN ALLEGORY may be regarded as a metaphor continued; or it is several metaphors so connected together in sense, as frequently to form a kind of parable or fable. It differs from a single metaphor, in the same manner that a cl.u.s.ter on the vine differs from a single grape.

The following is a fine example of an allegory, taken from the 60th psalm; wherein the people of Israel are represented under the image of a vine. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it; and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs into the sea, and her branches into the river."

3. A SIMILE or COMPARISON is when the resemblance between two objects, whether real or imaginary, is expressed in form.

Thus, we use a simile, when we say, "The actions of princes are like those great rivers, the course of which every one beholds, but their springs have been seen by few." "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people." "The music of Caryl was like the memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul." "Our Indians are like those wild plants which thrive best in the shade, but which wither when exposed to the influence of the sun."