to the mind, our language requires that ordinarily it be placed first in the sentence. But sometimes it is the predicate in whole or in part, or the mode of the copula, upon which the orator wishes the attention more particularly to be fixed. To accomplish this inversion, in the first place, we have certain words and forms of expression which are used for this purpose alone and are in themselves utterly destitute of meaning; such as, there, there is, it is.

There is a feeling of the sublime in contemplating the shock of armies' just as there is in contemplating the devouring energy of a tempest; and this so elevates and engrosses the whole man, that his eye is blind to the tears of bereaved parents, and his ear is deaf to the piteous moan of the dying, and the shriek of their desolated families. There is a gracefulness in the picture of a youthful warrior burning for distinction on the field, etc.

It gives me pleasure to advance a further testimony in behalf of that government with which it has pleased God, who appointed to all men the bounds of their habitation, to bless that portion of the globe that we occupy.

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ which has poured the light of day into all the intricacies of this contemplation.

Again, when the predicate is separated in part or in whole from the copula, the predicate or a part of it may be placed first.

"Great is Diana of the Ephesians."

His faithful dogs howl on his hills, and his boars which he used to pursue, rejoice. Fallen is the arm of battle; the mighty among the valiants is low!

Further, the qualifying parts of a sentence, when they are to be made emphatic, may be placed first without violating the principles of the language.

So deeply were they impressed with the sense of their wrongs, that they would not even accept of life from their oppressors.

Once more, in the objective relation of the sentence, our language ordinarily requires that the object follow its verb. For the sake of energy, however, inversion is often allowable here.

All that I have and all that I am and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it.

§ 347. ANACOLUTHON is a figure in which, for the sake of energy, the orator drops the grammatical form with which he had commenced and adopts another not syntactically reconcilable with it.

This figure, common in the classical writings, is rarely allowable in our language. Only strong passion can warrant it, as it seems to imply such a degree of emotion in the speaker as to destroy the recollection of grammatical forms.

These forms in the English language are so few and simple compared with the number in the Greek and the Latin, that the emotion must be extreme indeed, which could be supposed violent enough to supplant the knowledge of them.

§ 348. APOSIOPESIS is a figure in which the feelings of the speaker induce him to interrupt the expression and leave the sentence incomplete.

This figure, by its direct address to the imagination of the hearer, is often one of great power.

Demosthenes employs it frequently with much effect; as in his address to Eschines: "O thou- by what name can I properly call thee?”

Must I remember? why she would hang on him

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on; yet, within a month

Let me not think - Frailty thy name is woman.

$349. SENTENTIOUSNESS is a deviation from that continuousness in style which thought naturally requires, (§ 295.) It characterizes that discourse which is broken up into short and abrupt sentences.

The women, in their turn, learned to be more vain, more gay, and more alluring. They grew studious to please and to conquer. They lost somewhat of the intrepidity and firmness which before were characteristic of them. They were to affect a delicacy and a weakness. Their education was to be an object of greater attention and care. A finer sense of duty

was to arise.

After all, what is high birth? Does it bestow a nature different from that of the rest of mankind? Has not the man of ancient line, human blood in his veins? Does he not experience hunger and thirst?

"Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable, and let it come. I repeat it, sir, let it come."

§ 350. There are certain general principles which apply to the use of figures and which should be carefully observed.

The first respects the occasion of using them; it requires that they never be introduced unless there be fit and suitable ground for them in the feelings of the speaker.

So far as figures appear to be sought after, they indicate labor and affectation which are in themselves most hostile to

energy. The proper rule to be observed in reference to propriety in the use of figures, is that, while familiarity be obtained by previous study with the various kinds of figures, such only be actually employed in discourse as spring up naturally at the time.

§ 351. The second principle respects the number of figures; it forbids a too frequent repetition of them, and, especially, the frequent repetition of the same figure.

§ 352. The third principle respects the relation to the ordinary essential properties of style; it requires that figurative expressions should be in conformity with the necessary principles that govern those properties.

Figures are deviations from the ordinary forms of speech, but can never be properly violations of its essential properties. In the use of figures, accordingly, the principles of etymology, syntax, and lexicography, for example, should

never be violated. No real energy is gained to discourse by the introduction of a figure which is unintelligible or

obscure.

§ 353. The fourth principle respects the quality of the figure itself; it requires that it be ever congruous and complete in itself; and at the same time be extended no further than is necessary for distinct apprehension.

The liability to an offense against this principle is greatest in the case of the representative figures. Whenever these are presented confusedly and with incongruous features they offend rather than impress. So, also, while offensive abruptness and incompleteness are to be avoided, the figure should never be extended further than the imagination of the hearer needs in order to grasp it intelligibly and fully. In the simile or comparison, for instance, to carry out the figure into every possible resemblance weakens as well as disgusts, and is fatal to energy.

The following extracts exemplify violations of this principle :

"There is not a single view of human nature which is not sufficient to extinguish the seeds of pride." — Addison.

"Men must acquire a very peculiar and strong habit of turning their eye inwards, in order to explore the interior regions and recesses of the mind, the hollow caverns of deep thought, the private seats of fancy, and the wastes and wildernesses, as well as the more fruitful and cultivated tracts, of this obscure climate." — Shaftesbury.

"These are the first-fruits of my unfledged eloquence, of which thou hast oft complained that it was buried in the shade."

"Upon thy mirror, earth's majestic view,
To paint thy presence, and to feel it too."

CHAPTER IV.

OF BEAUTY IN STYLE.

§ 354. BEAUTY in style is that property by virtue of which the discourse is commended to the taste of the hearer.

The general relations of discourse to beauty, to taste, to the imagination as both faculty and capacity of form, were summarily indicated in §§ 4, 6. We have found the principles of beauty- the principles of æsthetic science in application everywhere throughout the whole procedure in the production of discourse; more prominently, indeed, in some departments than in others, as in excitation, persuasion, in the use of imagery, yet in some degree in all. We have now to view them as they apply themselves only in another specific relation to the taste of the hearer; and the inquiry which presents itself is simply this: what attention to taste is requisite in the construction of discourse from mere consideration of the mind addressed beyond that already recognized as necessary in the provision of the thought and outward expression of it in language.

Beauty in style, it may be again remarked, is a relative property, (§ 307.) Hence arises the necessity that the orator carefully consult the taste of his hearers, that he may properly meet its degrees of culture and other peculiarities which determine or modify taste. He must never lose sight of that the æsthetic nature of his hearers. And although that nature is generically the same in all men, there are infinite diversities in the degrees of culture, particularly in respect to the diversity of objects in respect to which the taste may specifically be exercised or cultivated.

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