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CHAPTER II.

PROPOSITIONS.

7. Definition, and Examples.- ANY collection of words making complete sense is a Proposition. A Proposition in the English language may consist of only one or two words, and it may cover several pages. Instances:

"Grass grows."

"Every thing about him, his coat, his wig, his figure, his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus's dance, his rolling walk, his blinking eye, the outward signs which too clearly marked his approbation of his dinner, his insatiable appetite for fish-sauce and veal-pie with plums, his inextinguishable thirst for tea, his trick of touching the posts as he walked, his mysterious practice of treasuring up scraps of orange-peel, his morning slumbers, his midnight disputations, his contortions, his mutterings, his gruntings, his vigorous, acute, and ready eloquence, his sarcastic wit, his vehemence, his insolence, his fits of tempestuous rage, his queer inmates (old Mr. Levett and blind Mrs. Williams, the cat Hodge, and the negro Frank), all are as familiar to us as the objects by which we have been surrounded from childhood."

8. The Elements of a Proposition.-To every Proposition there are three parts: the subject treated of; the assertive word or words; and the copula which connects the two together. Sometimes the copula has no separate word, but it is expressed by a peculiar form of the verb, or assertive word, and in some languages a single word often embraces all the three

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elements of the Proposition. Thus, I am cold, is a proposition having the three separate parts. Rain falls is a proposition in which rain is the subject, falls is the assertive word in its true form, and the s added serves as a copula to connect the two.

9. The Order of the Terms of a Proposition. The natural order of the words in a proposition in our language is, first, the subject; second, the predicate, including the copula; or second, the copula; and third, the predicate. Man strives, is a proposition in which man is the subject, strives is the predicate and copula together. The word striving would express the predicate alone, and is would form the copula, thus: Man is striving.

There lives a man, is another form of the proposition A man lives.

In some instances the natural order of words in a proposition may be changed. "He loves my friend," "Loves he my friend," "My friend he loves," all may express the same thought.

10. Variety of Construction. There must be one best order of words for every one shade of thought. There is a slight difference between the meaning of "a broad and deep sea," and "a sea deep and broad." In the former we have to retain in the mind the ideas of the qualities "broad" and "deep" until we hear the word "sea," and then we connect them. In the latter, "sea" gives us at once a conception of a thing, and as soon as we hear the word "deep" we join it to the conception "sea," and then add the further qualification "deep." When several adjectives are

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used belonging to one noun, it is frequently best to employ them after the noun. It is well so to use words that each succeeding clause, and, as far as possible, each succeeding word, may give an additional thought to the hearer.

11. A Variety to be Studied.—It is idle to maintain that any one of the forms of sentences that express various shades of meaning is the best, or most to be cultivated. In some languages, in the use of a transitive verb with both subject and object, it is customary to present the object first, in others the subject first, and sometimes the verb is presented first. We can in our own language say, Nature man admires; but generally, to avoid ambiguity, we are compelled to preserve what from habit seems to us to be the natural order, thus: Man admires nature. But when any other arrangement of the parts of a proposition can be made without rendering the proposition ambiguous, or meaningless, often vivacity and energy may be thus secured. Thus: "Loud arose the shout above the hum of business, and immediately hushed was every breath," is much more expressive than "The loud shout arose above the hum of business, and every breath was hushed immediately." The superior energy of the former expression arises partly from its novelty or unusual form, and partly from the interest excited at once by the word "loud." Other instances are the following: "Great is Diana of the Ephesians;" "Turn we now to the holier impulses of our being." This last proposition may be expressed variously: "Now we turn to the holier impulses

of our being;" "Now turn we to the holier impulses of our being;" "To the holier impulses of our being now we turn."

It is evident that even in the English language simple propositions will admit of a great variety in the arrangement of their words.

12. Place of Adjectives, Adverbs, and other Words.—The natural order in our language is for the adjective to precede the noun the signification of which it limits; but, for variety and vivacity, this order may often be varied. "The reports of the guns, loud, sharp, constant, produced a startling effect."

Adverbs should generally be placed immediately before or after the words which they limit, but may sometimes be placed at a great distance from them, and thus become more emphatic. Thus we may say, Slowly he trudged along, singing, amid all his toil and care, merrily."

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In the use of qualifying words, clauses, and phrases, an author may show great skill, both in securing a variety of expressions, and in adapting his style to the character of the thought which he intends to express.

It becomes a disagreeable mannerism when an author deviates constantly, in one particular way, from the ordinary method of arranging words.

13. A Variety of Construction to be Sought.-It is an excellent practical exercise to select some expressive sentence from a good author, and ascertain, by actual trial, in how many different ways the same words may be arranged without materially changing the mean

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ing. Then let the words and expressions be changed, still preserving the sense. Then let all the forms be scrutinized, and the different degrees of force and beauty be noticed. In this way a writer will guard against monotony or uniformity of method in constructing sentences, and cultivate a variety of expressions.

Take, for instance, the following simple statement of Webster:

"When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments."

This may be rendered:

"When great interests are at stake, and strong passions are excited, and public bodies are to be addressed, nothing in speech is valuable farther than it is connected with high moral and intellectual endowments."

Or it might be:

"When strong passions are excited, and great interests are at stake, and public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, nothing in speech, farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments, is valuable."

Many other forms could be constructed, but none fully equal to the original. In that the attention is first called to a demand for good speaking, which is evidently the leading idea; then we have an idea of "momentous occasions," generally expressed, confirmed by "great interests are at stake;" still farther, by "strong passions are excited;" then we have a very general conclusion, "nothing is valuable in speech," immediately limited by "farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments."