opposed to secondary; the former is equivalent to original. and is opposed to derivative or acquired. RULE V-In doubtful cases ANALOGY should be regarded Thus it is better to use scarcely as an adverb than to use scarce. RULE VI-When expressions are in other respects equal, that should be preferred which is most AGREEABLE TO THE Thus authenticity is preferable to authenticalness. RULE VIL-SIMPLICITY should be regarded. Thus accept and approve are preferable to accept of and approve of. EAR. RULE VIII-ETYMOLOGY should be regarded. Thus unloose should, by analogy, signify to tie, just as to untie sig. nifies to loose. To annul and disannul ought, by analogy, to be contraries, though they are used as synonymous. RULE IX. All those expressions which, according to the established rules of the language, either have no meaning or involve a contradiction, or, according to the fair construction of the words, convey a meaning different from the intention of the speaker, should be dismissed. Thus, when a person says, "He sings a good song," the words strictly imply that the song is good; whereas the speaker means to say, "He sings well." PURITY. § 592. PURITY in the English language implies three things: I. That the words be English. II. That their construction be in the English language. III. That the words and phrases employed express the precise meaning which custom has assigned to them. Accordingly, in three different ways it may be injured: 1. The words may not be English. This fault has been called Barbarism. 2. The construction of the sentence may not be in the EnThis fault has the name of Solecism. glish idiom. 3. The words and phrases may not be employed to express the precise meaning which custom has affixed to them. This fault is called Impropriety. BARBARISM. § 593. BARBARISM may consist in the use of words entirely obsolete; or in the use of words entirely new; or in the use of new formations and derivations. 1. "Their alliance was sealed by the nuptial of Henry with the daughter of the Italian prince."-GIBBON. Nuptial is not in use now, though it formerly was. Nuptials is the proper word. Such words as connexity, introitive, fixtious, are barbarisms. 2. "I got a little scary, and a good deal mad." Here scary is improperly used for frightened. 3. "His hauteur was intolerable." Here the French word hauteur is improperly used for the English word haughtiness. 4. Foreign phrases and foreign idioms, instead of English phrases and idioms, are barbarisms. When, however, we receive from a foreign nation an invention or discovery for which we have no term, we can then be justified in receiving the name along with the thing. In this way we introduce into the language such words as gong, gutta percha, &c. The affectation of using old words, or new words, or foreign words disgusts a person of a correct taste. This affectation is very well hit off, in respect to style, in Hannah More's satirical letter from a lady to her Friend, in the reign of George the Fourth, quoted by Harrison, p. 108: "Alamode Castle. "DEAR MADAM, "I no sooner found myself here than I visited my new apartments, which are composed of five pieces. The small room that gives upon the garden is practiced through the great one, and there is no other issue. As I was exceeded with fatigue, I no sooner made my toilet than I let myself fall upon a bed of repose, where sleep came to surprise me. My lord and I are in the intention to make good cheer and a great expense; and this country is in possession to furnish withal to amuse one's self. All that England has of illus trious; all that youth has of amiable, or beauty of ravishing, sees itself in this quarter." Here the words are in English, but the idiom is French. SOLECISM. § 594. The violation of any of the rules of syntax is a SOLECISM. The following are specimens: 1. "The zeal of the seraphim breaks forth in a becoming warmth of sentiments and expressions, as the character which is given us of him denotes that generous scorn and intrepidity which attends heroic virtue."-Spectator. The solecism here consists in using a plural noun for a singular. 2. The vice of covetousness is what enters deepest into the soul of any other." The solecism here consists in using the superlative for the comparative. It should be, "The vice of covetousness is what enters deeper into the soul than any other." 3. "There is one that will think himself obliged to double his kindness and caresses of me." Kindness ought not to be followed by of. IMPROPRIETY. § 595. IMPROPRIETY is an offense against Lexicography, as Barbarism is an offense against Etymology, and as Solecism is one against Syntax. 1. "There is no sort of joy more grateful to the mind of man than that which ariseth from the invention of truth." For invention, discovery should have been used. 2. "To make such acquirements as fit them for useful avocations." The impropriety here consists in using the word avocations for vocations. By the latter is meant a "trade," or "profession," or "calling;" by the former, whatever withdraws or diverts us from that business. 3. "The learned well bred, and the well bred sincere; Humanly is here improperly used for humanely. 4. "No man had ever less friends and more enemies." Less refers to quantity, fewer to number. "fewer friends." It should be PART VII. RHETORICAL FORMS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS. § 596. RHETORIC, Greek pηтopɩký, from þýτwp, a speaker, has nearly the same signification as eloquence, Latin eloquentia, from eloquor, to speak out. It may be described as the Art of speaking well; and, when applied to written composition, as the Art of writing well. And since persua sion is often the principal object of the speaker and the writer in the higher specimens of the art, it may be more exactly defined as the Art of using language well for the purpose of persuasion. This may be accepted as a sufficiently correct definition of the term, though it falls short of the meaning often attached to it, since it does not include several varieties of composition in which persuasion is not aimed at, but which in their character are rhetorical. But in order to know what true Rhetoric or eloquence is, we must contemplate it under a three-fold view, namely, first, in its origin in the soul of the speaker; second, as it comes forth in living sounds from his lips; third, as it appears on the printed page. The Second belongs to the subject of elocution, which does not fall within the limits of the present work, though of course, in laying down rules for the use of language, we lay down rules, to a certain extent, for speaking as well as writing it. Our business is chiefly with the Third. The First is noticed only in its bearings upon the third, to which, indeed, it has the same relation as the fountain to the stream. § 597. Eloquence is the language of emotion. It is such an expression of emotion felt by a speaker that his hearers, under its influence, feel the same emotion. According to this definition, where there is no emotion there can not be eloquence; for evidently that can not be expressed which has no existence. It likewise follows that, whatever other qualifications a speaker may possess, as long as he is deficient in emotion he must be deficient in eloquence. He may be philosophic, instructive, and even attractive, but not an eloquent speaker. But if, like James Otis, the ora tor of New England in the days of colonial dependence, he has a "soul of fire," he may be expected to kindle a flame of fire in the breasts of others. § 598. Moreover, for the highest eloquence there must be continued emotion. There may, indeed, be a sudden burst of over-mastering feeling, as when one rises in debate to re pel a personal attack, which may express itself in the most eloquent language. But for a sustained, effective, and per suasive eloquence, there must be a sustained feeling during both the meditation and delivery. An emotion thus con tinued for a length of time will, by the law of association, collect all those thoughts, reasonings, images, and illustra tions which are related to the emotion, the subject, and the occasion; will render them vivid in the mind of the speak er, and help him to express them in vivid language. What was it but a permanent strong emotion that enabled Demosthenes to sustain his eloquence for years against Phil ip? What but a permanent emotion could have sustained the eloquence of Cicero during the delivery of his orations against Catiline? What but long-continued emotion, through years of opposition, could have sustained the eloquence of Wilberforce until it persuaded the British nation to put an end to the slave trade? The light of truth, unlike the light of the sun, moves slowly. The ardor of conviction is often but slowly transferred into the souls of others to make them burn with a kindred glow. A community is often but a refractory substance to deal with. There are so many com binations of error, prejudice, and passion in the public mind, that it is not easily reduced to a oneness of thought and feeling with that of the orator. The heart of the public is so mineralized, that nothing but the continued as well as intense ignition of his heart, brought closely into contact with |