inhale with the pure air, and invigorated by the genial influences which descend into the heart from the quiet of the sylvan solitude around, and the soft serenity of the sky above."-LONGFELLOW. § 263. VIOLATIONS OF EUPHONY IN THE CASE OF VARIOUS LETTERS AND SYLLABLES. This subject will be more fully illustrated by considering the ways in which euphony is violated. 1. Where too many consonants are crowded together. This is not produced by individual words so much as by certain collocations of words. There is an undeniable roughness in such words as "conventiclers," "inextricable," "stretched," etc.; but the real difficulty arises when these are united with others of a similar nature, as "stretched through ;" "the best station;" "high-arched church." Many of the difficult combinations of letters are put forth in the form of playful exercises in articulation, as the rapid repetition of the words "good blood-bad blood;" "Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter." This is illustrated in the following line ""Twas thou that soothedst the rough, rugg'd bed of pain"-(BoWYER) quoted by De Quincey, who says, "It seems to us as if Bowyer's verses ought to be boiled before they can be read." 66 2. The hissing sound. This is more prevalent in the language than formerly. In Old English many plurals were in 'n," and down to a comparatively recent period the third person singular present of the verb ended in "th," as "loveth." Dr. Campbell, in his Philosophy of Rhetoric, uses this form invariably. Now it is obsolete in ordinary prose, and both of these musical terminations have changed to "s." This hissing sound is actually more prevalent than would seem from a mere cursory examination, for in its hard or soft form it exists in no less than five different letters-in "c," which is sounded like s before "e" and "i;" in "s" itself; in "z;" in "x," which is equal to "ks;" and in "t" whenever combined with "ion," as in "nation." 3. Where the accent is thrown far back. The English allows of this to a greater extent than other languages, none of which admit of the accent being pushed back farther than the antepenult. With us there are many words accented like the following: “prímarily," "cúrsorily," "súmmarily," "péremptoriness,” “ir réfragableness," "inéxplicableness." Many preachers accent the word Deuteronomy on the first syllable. 4. When the same syllable is repeated, as "holily," "lowlily," "farriery." Thus Thackeray, shunning this fault, says, "She, too, in our age busies herself only with the affairs of kings, waiting on them obsequiously and stately. "Statelily" would be intolerable. § 264. VIOLATIONS OF EUPHONY BY THE REPETITION OF WORDS. The next violation of euphony is to be found in the careless repetition of the same word. This is a fault of very frequent occurrence, and even the best writers fall into it with no little frequency: "The effect of the concluding verb, placed where it is, is most striking.” -WHATELY. "Whichever it was, it was equally bad.” “They exchanged looks of fear; they looked all around for some chance of escape." "The war then began, and great calamities befell both parties in the course of the war. "Their amazement, great though it was, was not greater than that of the stranger.' "He then became king; but no one who had known him believed that he would make a good king.". The Conjunction "and.”—Great care is required in the use of connectives. Words and clauses must all be joined in composition; but the unwary or careless writer often multiplies the conjunction "and" to an extent which is highly ineuphonious: "The king and all his nobles, and all that belonged to the palace, fled, and took with them their treasures and families, and sought refuge in a strong fortress; and arriving there they rested, and awaited the approach of Heraclius and his army." It is a characteristic of Old-English prose, such as that of Mandeville, Chaucer, and Wycliffe, to repeat the "and" to excess; but at the present day such repetition is awkward and slovenly. Such a sentence as the above may be corrected in one of two ways: first, by substituting other connectives; and, secondly, by reconstructing it altogether. But. This word is often used with equal carelessness: “But the Directory is not only generally allowed to have been one of the weakest and most discreditable governments, because its vices were disguised by the splendor of the victories won by the generals who nominally obeyed it; but those generals well knew its imbecility, and were preparing its ruin. But, though if France is to have a republic, it must be a republic with a president, her situation is such as enormously to aggravate the perilousness of the office."-Pall Mall Gazette. However: "This, however, was a futile attempt. He did not despair, however, but tried other measures." Which: "The road by which they travelled was the same one which had been traversed by the army of Hannibal.” The common substitute for "which" is "that." That. This word is very useful as an additional relative; yet on account of its manifold application it is liable to frequent repetition. It has three different characters: first, a conjunction; second, a relative; and, third, a demonstrative. This variety of meaning is illustrated by the well-known sen tence: "He said that that 'that' that that man considered, was not that 'that' that he mentioned." A very common fault is the following construction : "It was quite evident that that battle was decisive." Brougham, in his defence of Queen Caroline, says: "But I do here pour forth my humble supplications at the throne of mercy, that that mercy may be poured down upon the people." These remarks apply also to cases where the same word is used under different forms, such as are produced by inflection or composition in grammar: "He did not enter the house until after the rest had entered." "One man upon their diplomatic list thoroughly qualified in soul and qualities for the service." "Which again gaining strength flows onward." The same fault is seen in the repetition of words of the same sound, though they may be of different meanings. The English language has many of these, which are set down in every spelling-book-"night," "knight;" "red," "read;" "altar," "alter," etc. They exist in all languages, and form the basis upon which are founded certain figures of speech, like “paronomasia :" "In the midst of this scene many villages with their picturesque costumes might be seen.' "The country wore an appearance of prosperity, and did not show many of the effects of a great and exhaustive war." This fault is ridiculed by Juvenal in a line attributed to Cicero : "O fortunatam natam me consule Romam." Which Dryden has thus paraphrased : "Fortune fortuned the dying notes of Rome, The careless repetition of words of similar sound is a fault of the same kind : "He felt afraid to mingle in such a fray.” "The costumes of the people might seem strange, if their customs were not altogether surprising." § 265. REPETITION OF WORDS SOMETIMES NECESSARY. The cases here mentioned need not be confounded with those which have already been considered among the iterative figures. In the former it is a fault arising from carelessness; in the latter it is an ornament of style deliberately made use of. Even where there is no question of figures, the writer may find it necessary to repeat a word for the sake of clearness, and in such cases the rejection of a good word, because it has just been used, would weaken the style and create obscurity. It is always necessary to employ the most precise terms, and mere euphony must give way to perspicuity. There are not a few words for which the writer can find no proper equivalents, and he must, therefore, employ these with great frequency, or else express himself in a vague and indefinite manner. general, where any given word is best adapted to convey the writer's meaning it should be used, even if it have to be fre In quently repeated. To substitute others would be a petty pedagogism, leading to one of the worst of literary faults, since in the endeavor to avoid a mere inelegance the writer would be guilty of looseness of expression, intolerable circumlocutions, and general vagueness of meaning. CHAPTER II. ELEGANCE. § 266. ELEGANCE DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. Elegance in Words.-By this is meant the choice of such words as are most pleasing to the correct taste. By their meaning, and by the associations connected with them, they should excite within the mind conceptions of the beautiful, and such thoughts as are mild, tender, and peaceful. With the strong force of energy, with the keenness and penetrating power of vivacity, such a quality as this has nothing in common. It never can rise to the sublime, and can never reach as far as the pathetic. Shelley and Keats are pre-eminently the poets of the beautiful; and if we can find passages which are free from that intense passion which consumed these poets, they may be said to exhibit elegance : "I see the deep's untrampled floor With green and purple sea-weeds strewn ; I see the waves upon the shore Like light dissolved in star-showers thrown; The lightning of the noontide ocean Is flashing round me, and a tone Arises from its measured motion How sweet did any heart now share in my emotion !" -SHELLEY. "I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, |