HYPERBOLES, OR EXTRAVAGANT EXPRESSIONS.

50. Definition.-AN expression which, literally understood, means more than the author really intends to utter, is called a Hyperbole. The word is derived from two Greek words which signify to throw beyond.

Under the influence of strong emotion, this is the most natural and the most common figure of speech. It abounds in conversation, oratory, poetry, in descriptions of persons, places, and events, and indeed is found in almost every species of composition.

The last verse of the Gospel according to St. John informs us, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." This can not be supposed to be the literal, arithmetical calculation of the writer, but it is a hyperbolical way of conveying the thought that what he had written was but a scanty description of the deeds and words of the eventful life of Jesus. There are but a few passages of the Bible undoubtedly hyperbolical.

51. Is Hyperbole morally Wrong?-Some critics and moralists have wholly disapproved of its use, but such persons are hypercritical, if not hyperbolical, and,

upon a narrow, undiscriminating basis of morality and taste, would rob the world of the most of its healthful passion and poetry. One of the chief elements of efficiency in oratory, and one of the chief charms of poetry, is Hyperbole. Language is not always to be understood literally, or according to what the words would mean if employed without passion and with scientific precision, but according to what the speaker may be properly supposed to mean when he uses it. The hearer is presumed to be able to make all due allowance for strong emotion, and there is a pleasure in feeling the power communicated to thought even by extravagant expression.

Many of the common expressions used in conversation and in epistolary writings are not designed to be construed with literal exactness. Washington, when elected Commander-in-chief of the American forces in 1775, wrote to his wife thus: "I should enjoy more real happiness with you at home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven years." Evidently he meant simply to be understood that it was a great sacrifice for him to yield the pleasures of domestic life, to respond to the call of his country. Many years afterward, though his writings are generally very cool and free from extravagance, he wrote to another lady thus: "None of which events, however, nor all of them together, have been able to eradicate from my mind the recollection of those happy moments, the happiest of my life, which I have enjoyed in your company,"

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Dr. Franklin, writing to David Hume, the historian, said: "We are told that gold and silver in Solomon's time were so plenty, as to be of no more value in his country than the stones in the street.

You have at

This was not

present just such a plenty-of wisdom." designed to be flattery, but it was a strong way of expressing his estimation of the accomplishments of Hume and his friends.

Even a scientific writer, Gaussen, speaking of the effects of spring on vegetation, says: "The whole creation" (literally, of course, including dead timber, stones, the stars, and all animals, angels, and other existences), "as if raised from a tomb, is penetrated with life, and pulsates with joy." No one could be so inconsiderate as to suppose that "the whole creation" in the above sentence means the same as in the following: "The whole creation, taken together, forms one grand, connected system, the sublime Cosmos, fitly exhibiting the power and wisdom of God."

52. The Philosophy of Hyperbole. It is a law of the mind that whatever occupies the attention at present should assume a disproportionate relative magnitude; and if others surrender themselves to the influence of that mind, they naturally, and generally unconsciously, expect to receive impressions and thoughts that are really magnified by the emotion and interest of the author. Thus, in a treatise on Physiology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Agriculture, Painting, or any other subject, we expect to see its claims set forth in what would be an undue prominence if we were not intelligent enough to supplement the information and

emotion thus acquired, by the successive examination of other subjects. Each subject is, in its turn, hyperbolically presented.

53. Prevalence of Hyperbole, and Examples.-From this fact, hyperbole abounds in sermons, orations, and eloquent addresses of every kind. The eccentric orator Randolph, in one of his speeches in Congress, exclaimed: "And what, sir, is debt? In an individual it is slavery. It is slavery of the worst sort, surpassing that of the West India Islands." Could he have meant to be understood literally?

Hon. Rufus Choate, describing what he conceived to be the evils of electing judges by a popular vote, exclaimed: "So nominated, the candidate is put through a violent election, abused by the press, abused on the stump, accused a thousand times over with being very little of a lawyer, and a good deal of a knave and a boor: and, after being tossed on this kind of a blanket for some uneasy months, is chosen by a majority of ten votes out of a hundred thousand, and comes into court breathless, terrified, with perspiration in drops on his brow, wondering how he ever got there, to take his seat on the bench."

However unbecoming the excessive use of Hyperbole may be regarded, it is evident that many of the best creations of ancient and modern times would be sadly mutilated and emasculated, were all hyperbolical expressions and sentiments expunged.

<Often writers and speakers assume a style of extravagant expression which is evidently not intended to be understood literally, but nevertheless is felt to be

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much more convincing and forcible than an exact statement of what they really do believe would be. Thus an English writer describes the north-east wind:

"Boreas is a ruffian and a bully, but the north-east is a rascal. It withers like an evil eye; it blights like a parent's curse; unkinder than ingratitude; more biting than forgotten benefits. It comes with sickness on its wings, and rejoices only the doctor and the sexton. While it reigns, no fire heats, no raiment comforts, no walls protect. It deflowers the earth, and it wans the sky. The ghastliest of hues overspreads the face of things, and collapsing Nature seems expiring of cholera."

Undoubtedly many critics would pronounce the above extravagant, as indeed we have seen in some treatises on Rhetoric some of the most impressive hyperboles of Shakspeare and other writers torn out of their connections, and after the life-blood has run out of them, pronounced extravagant and ugly! The merit of such expressions depends much upon the ability and mood of the hearer.

` 54. Much used in Poetry, Wit, Argument, etc.—Poetry of every kind abounds in Hyperbole, as we shall show when we come to treat of it. Wit also uses it as its most efficient aid, and it is not wanting, though it is generally out of place, in treatises on science.

Hyperbole is often employed in argument, to show the inconsistency of an opponent's position, by imagining it to be carried out into extreme results: the effects of alcoholic drinks, for instance, if all should drink; the effects of infidelity, if mothers and children. and all others were to have no faith in God. Such a use of Hyperbole, though it leads to the most extrava