CHAPTER XVII.

Of Unity.

Q. What do you mean by the Unity of a sentence?

A. Closeness and compactness of arrangement, and the restriction of the sentence to one leading idea.

Q. When is unity most apt to be violated?

A. When the sentence is long, and crowded with a number of qualifying clauses, among which there is no very close connexion.

Q. What, for the sake of unity, should there be in every sentence?

A. One principal object of thought, which should never be obscured, nor concealed from view.

Q. What is the first rule then for preserving unity?

A. Never, if possible, during the course of a sentence, to change the scene or the actor. Q. Can you exemplify the violation of this rule?

A. "After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness."

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 sen

tence; 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 such members as interrupt the natural train 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?

A. "The bliss of man, (could pride that blessing find,) Is not to act or think beyond mankind."

Q. Will you endeavour 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 Ægina.— Never delay till to-morrow (for to-morrow is not yours; and though 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 to-day. To-morrow is not yours; and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own.

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 sentence 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,