Mention the six essential properties of a good style.

In what does purity consist? (See Lesson LIII.) What three classes of words do the rules for purity forbid us to use?

In what does propriety consist? (See Lesson LIV.) What kind of expressions does propriety forbid us to use?

In what does precision consist? (See Lesson LV.) In what way is precision often violated? Mention some words that are often used as synonymes, but which really differ in their meaning.

In what does clearness consist? (See Lessons LVI. and LVII.) What is the opposite of clearness? To promote clearness, what words must be avoided? What is the rule with regard to making the same pronoun refer to different objects? When must we insert words that are omitted? How must words and clauses be placed? What words are most frequently misplaced?

In what does strength consist? (See Lessons LVIII. and LIX.) What is tautology? How may it be corrected?

What is redundancy? How may it be corrected?

Repeat the two short rules for the promotion of strength. What rule relates to the conjunction and? With what must you be careful not to end a sentence? When you have several similar dependent clauses, which should come last? When you have several assertions, which should come last?

In what does harmony consist? (See Lesson LX.) What three classes of words are, for the most part, inharmonious? What combinations of words are found to be inharmonious? What is the best guide for the general arrangement of words and clauses?

In what does unity consist? (See Lesson LXI.) Repeat the three rules for the preservation of unity.

MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISE.

Punctuate the following sentences, and correct them so that they may contain no violation of the rules for purity, propriety, precision, clearness, strength, harmony, and unity.

1. In the last Punic war the Romans soon got the upper hand of the Carthaginians

2. The earth moves round the sun at a quick rate

3. A French savant at a late meeting of the literati and scientific men of Paris by a chemical process froze some drops of water in a red-hot cup

4. The sky in New Holland is so singular and so beautiful in appearance that even the writers' descriptions who have been there can give us no adequate idea respecting it

5. No nation on the earth are so generally cheerful and light-hearted that I have met with as the French

6. He endeavored to disarm my fears by ordering the army who were all well armed to lay aside their arms 7. He looked coldly at me and eyed me sternly

8. The criminals were next placed in an enormous car 9. We know that it is hard to do right still let us try to do it

10. Amethyst means 'that which does not intoxicate' and it was so called because it was a prevalent doctrine among the ancients that wine would lose its intoxicating influence drunk from a cup of this precious stone

11. In the middle ages it was a habit for pilgrims to flock from all parts of the globe to the tomb of our Saviour

12. There was no crime that Catiline was not guilty of. He ruined not only a great number of young men but attempted to ruin his country itself.

LESSON LXIII.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF COMPOSITION.-ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

WHAT is Composition?

Composition is the art of expressing one's thoughts by means of written language.

What are the two great divisions, under which all compositions may be classed?

Prose and Poetry.

What compositions fall under the head of prose ?

All those in which a natural method of expression, and a natural order, are employed, without reference to the recurrence of certain sounds, or any exact arrangement of syllables.

What compositions fall under the head of poetry?

All those in which there is a departure from the natural order, or mode of expression; or in which there is a recurrence of certain sounds, or an exact arrangement of syllables.

Which of these two great divisions shall we now proceed to consider?

Prose.

What are the principal divisions under which the varieties of prose composition may be classed?

There are five leading divisions; viz., Letters, Descriptions, Narrations, Essays, and Argumentative Discourses.*

When a subject has been selected, no matter to which of these divisions your composition is to belong, what is the first thing to be done?

To reflect upon the various branches of the subject, to think what can be said about it, and then proceed to its analysis.

What is meant by the analysis of a subject?

By the analysis of a subject is meant the draw

*Note to the Teacher. The author has deemed it inexpedient to present the formal divisions usually given by rhetoricians. He has selected such as are essential, and seem properly to fall within the province of an elementary work.

ing out of the various heads under which it is intended to treat it.

Will the analysis of all subjects be the same?

No; the heads will depend altogether on the subject.

Suppose "COMMERCE" to be given you as your subject, how would you analyze it?

A proper analysis of "Commerce" would be as follows:

COMMERCE.

I. DEFINITION. (What is commerce?)

II. ORIGIN. (Under this head state who were the first

to engage in commerce the date; what other

nations soon followed in their steps.)

III. HISTORY. (State how commerce was originally carried on; describe the over-land trade between Europe and the East Indies.)

IV. DISCOVERIES. (Describe the two important discoveries that were made near the close of the 15th century; viz., the discovery of America by Columbus, and that of a passage to the Indies around the Cape of Good Hope. Mention their effects on the commerce of the world.)

V. ADVANTAGES.

1. Equalizing the supply of the productions of the earth.

2. Diffusing the blessings of education and civilization.

3. Spreading the truths of Christianity.

When you have a material object to describe, the analysis

would be somewhat different.

your subject, and analyze it.

Take, for example, "SHIPS" for

SHIPS.

I. ORIGIN. (When and by whom were the first ships

made?)

II. APPEARANCE. (What was their original form, and what improvements have modern times made

in them?)

IIL OBJECTS for which they are used.

IV. INVENTIONS that have added to their usefulness. (Particularly the mariners' compass, and its

effects.)

V. EFFECTS that ships have produced on mankind. VI. FEELINGS excited by seeing a ship under full sail. What heads belong to almost every subject?

Such general heads as Origin, History, Object, Effects, &c.

EXERCISE.

Copy the two analyses given above.

Analyze the following subjects according to the directions and models that have been given, remembering to ponder each subject carefully, and to give all the heads, under each, that you can think of.

WHAT is the first division belonging to prose composition?

Letters.