Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

11. People do not simply admire an orator, that he can use big words.

12. He should care no more for meeting that phantom, opinion, than a ghost.

13. The error has and will again be exploded.

14. The lunatic, lover, and poet are of imagination all compact. 15. Six shots were fired by those who were placed to guard the treasure without effect.

16. He left the room very slowly repeating his determination not to obey.

17. Lothair was unaffectedly gratified at not only receiving his friends at his own castle, but under these circumstances of intimacy.

18. You are not obliged to take any money which is not gold or silver: not only the half-pence or farthings of England, but of any other country.

19. The Sabbath was regarded as a day for rest from worldly occupation and holy joy.

20. My rebuke did her good.

21. There are few artists who paint horses as well as Rosa Bonheur.

22. And thus the son the fervent sire addressed.

23. Those who drove James from his throne, seduced his army, alienated his friends, imprisoned him in his palace, broke in upon his very slumbers by imperious messages, and pursued him with fire and sword from one part of the empire to the other, were his nephew and his two daughters.

24. She has worn to-day a black and white dress.

25. Remember, you must be diligent to be successful, and if the idle have failed it is only because of idleness.

26. I never expect to see you again.

27. Wolsey left at his death many buildings which he had begun, in an unfinished state, and which no one expects to see complete. 28. Cardinal Richelieu hated Buckingham as sincerely as the Spaniard Olivares.

29. Adversity gives wisdom; it ought to be greatly prized.

30. The Emperor Alexander presented to the Emperor William a portrait of himself.

31. He aimed at nothing less than the crown.

32. The boy did not want opportunities.

Unity.-Unity is that property in a sentence which keeps all its parts in connection with the principal thought, and logically subordinate to it. Unity is such expression of thought as causes each sentence to make one impression. A sentence may consist of parts so combined as to produce the impression of oneness, or it may be so loosely thrown together as to produce only a confused and indefinite idea in the mind. The test of unity is the connection between the parts. If the connection is close, the sentence has unity; if it is remote, the sentence lacks unity. The following are the principal rules for preserving the unity of a sentence:

RULE I.-The subject should be changed as little as possible in the course of the sentence.

It is not meant by this that every sentence should have but one subject. Every complex sentence must, from its nature, have more than one subject. There is, however, in any sentence, the name of some person or thing which is the prominent subject of discourse; this should be continued, if possible, from the beginning to the end of the proposition. Thus: "After we reached Rouen, they soon conducted me to 116 Riviere Place, where I was received by my friend, who greatly rejoiced to see me."

Here, from the frequent changing of subject (“we,” "they," "I," "who,") the sense of connection is almost lost. Alter, so as to preserve the same subject or principal word throughout, and thereby secure the unity of the sentence: "After we reached Rouen, I was conducted to 116 Riviere Place, where I was received, with great joy, by my friend"; or, "After reaching Rouen, I was conducted to 116 Riviere Place, where I was received, with great joy, by my friend.”

RULE II.-Ideas that have but little connection should be expressed in separate sentences, and not crowded into one.

The great danger of violating this rule is in writing long compound sentences. The compound sentence contains two, and may contain many, principal propositions, and, hence, the liability to crowding. If the propositions be closely connected in thought, they should be united into one compound sentence; but if there be no logical connection, the propositions should be stated as separate sentences; for example, "In days long ago, when birds and flowers and trees could talk, in a country far over the sea, there was a beautiful fountain in an opening in the forest, and the little sunbeams that crept between the leaves, falling upon it, made it shine and sparkle like silver; and you would have thought the wind was playing a polka among the trees, so gayly did the fountain dance and bubble over the rocks.

This sentence contains material for three. Thus: "In days long ago, when birds and flowers and trees could talk, there was, in a country far over the sea, a beautiful fountain. It was in an opening in the forest, and the little sunbeams that crept between the leaves, falling upon it, made it shine and sparkle like silver. You would have thought the wind was playing a polka among the trees, so gayly did the fountain dance and bubble over the rocks."

There is not the least difficulty in preserving the unity of a simple sentence; it is secured by the very form of the

sentence.

RULE III.-Avoid using relative clauses in clauses that are themselves relative.

This rule is frequently violated in forming complex sentences. "The House That Jack Built" furnishes an illustration.

"His reign was like the course of a brilliant and rapid meteor, which shoots along the face of heaven, and which sheds around an unnecessary and portentous light, which is instantly swallowed up by universal darkness."

A better arrangement would be: "His reign was like the course of a rapid and brilliant meteor, shooting along the face of heaven, and shedding around an unnecessary and portentous light, which is instantly swallowed up,” etc.

This rule does not forbid two or more relative clauses having a common dependence upon some preceding word or clause; as, "He was a soldier who disregarded every hardship, who courted every danger, and who faced it boldly and even joyfully when found.”

RULE IV.-Long parentheses in the middle of a sentence should be avoided, as interfering with unity of expression.

Parentheses were formerly much more frequently employed than they are at present. Their excessive use indicates a lack of art in writing. They can in nearly all cases be avoided. We usually remedy the fault by removing the matter from the parenthesis and making it into a separate sentence; but if the matter is not necessary to the completeness of the thought, it may be omitted altogether. For example: "Mind your own business' is an ancient proverb (indeed all proverbs seem to be ancient), which deserves a due degree of attention from all mankind." Το correct, we may say, "Mind your own business' is an ancient proverb which deserves a due degree of attention from all mankind." "The learning of Sir William Jones (he was master of twenty-eight languages), was the wonder of his contemporaries.' Corrected: "Sir William Jones was master of twenty-eight languages. His learning was the wonder of his contemporaries.'

RULE V.-Avoid adding a supplementary clause to a sentence that has been apparently brought to a close.

"An unfinished sentence is no sentence at all. But very often we meet with sentences that are, so to speak, more than finished. When we have arrived at what we expected was to be the conclusion; when we have come to the word on which the mind is naturally led, by what went before, to rest; unexpectedly, some circumstance pops out, which ought to have been omitted, or to have been disposed of elsewhere; but which is left lagging behind, like a tail adjusted to the sentence. All these adjections to the proper

close disfigure a sentence extremely."-Blair.

"We start on our journey next week; while abroad we shall visit many places of note, and linger amid scenes made dear by associations, provided our brother can accompany us." The last clause destroys the unity of the sentence; it should either have been disposed of elsewhere in the sentence or have been left out altogether.

DIRECTION.

EXERCISE XLIX.

- Criticise the sentences with regard to unity:

1. Sir Andrew Freeport has a letter from one of his correspondents in those parts, that informs him that the old man caught a cold at the county sessions, as he was very warmly promoting an address of his own penning, in which he succeeded according to his wishes.

2. The landlady sent her son to get me some cream, and he was just such a chap as I was at his age, and dressed just in the same sort of way, his main garment being a blue smock-frock, faded from wear, and mended with pieces of new stuff, and, of course, not faded.

3. Having completed our arrangements for the voyage, we set sail on the 4th of July, which celebrates the Declaration of Independence. 4. Here we stopped to talk to Mr. Blank, who was returning from Batesville, where he had called to see our old friend Simpson, who

Rhet.-17.

« ZurückWeiter »