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.

Q. Can you give an example of the right use of parentheses? Ă. "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 island of Egina. Never delay till to-morrow (for to-morrow is not

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; anl 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 barbarians, and of extinguishing their jealousy; and he must have renounced the virtue and merit which occasioned it, to have been capable of appeasing them.

3. He who performs every employmont in its due place and season, suffers no part of time to escape without profit; and thus bis 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 presumption 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 through any imprudence of theirs, nor eve through the malice or ill 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 sen

tence?

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 natura! order?

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 flatter 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 sentences?

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. If I mistake not, I think he is improved both in knowledge and behavior These two boys appear to be both equal in capacity.

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

tions. The reason he acted in the manner he dia was never fully explained. If I mistake not, he is improved both in knowledge and behavior. These two boys appear equal in capacity.

EXERCISES.

I. Divest the following sentences of all redundant words and members:

1. Suspend your censure so long, till your judgment on the subject can be wisely formed.

2. How many are there by whom these tidings of good news were never heard!

3. He says nothing of it himself, and I am not disposed to travel into the regions of conjecture, but to relate a narrative of facts.

4. Never did Atticus succeed better in gaining the universal love and es teem of all men.

5. These points have been illustrated in so plain and evident a manner, that the perusal of the book has given me pleasure and satisfaction.

6. I was much moved on this occasion, and went home full of a great many serious reflections.

7. This measure may afford some profit, and furnish some amusement. 8. Less capacity is required for this business, but more time is necessary. 9. Thought and language act and react upon each other mutually.

II. Correct such errors, in the following passages, as arise from the improper use of copulatives, relatives, and particles employed in transition and connection:

1. The enemy said, I will pursue, and I will overtake, and I will divide the spoil.

2. There is nothing which promotes knowledge more than steady appl cation, and a habit of observation.

3. The faith he professed, and which he became an apostle of, was not his invention.

4. Their idleness, and their luxury and pleasures, their criminal deeds, and their immoderate passions, and their timidity and baseness of mind, have dejected them to such a degree, as to make them weary of life.

III. Correct such errors, in the following sentences, as arise from the improper position of the most important words:

1. I have considered the subject with a good deal of attention, upon which I was desired to communicate my thoughts.

2. Whether a choice, altogether unexceptionable, has in any country been made, seems doubtful.

3. The praise of judgment Virgil has justly contested with Homer, but his invention remains yet unrivaled.

4. Ambition creates seditions, wars, discord, and hatred.

5. Sloth pours upon us a deluge of crimes and evils, and saps the foundation of every virtue.

6. The ancient laws of Rome were so far from suffering a Roman citizen to be put to death, that they would not allow him to be bound, or even ta be whipped.