Heaven's doors swing open more smoothly, thus: "Heaven opened wide

Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound,

On golden hinges turning."

Motion also can be indicated by the sound of words. Pope excelled in this refinement.

"When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labors, and the words move slow."

Contrast this slow movement with the rapid one which follows:

"Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main."

That beautiful poem of Bryant, Thanatopsis, should be read aloud to exhibit its merits, not the least of which is the fitness of the sound to the soothing and triumphant hope which it expresses. Observe the music of the concluding lines, and its correspondence with the quiet close of a good life:

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death;

Then go not like the quarry slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed

By an unfaltering trust, approach the grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

34. Conclusion. It is very easy to carry attention to the sound of sentences to an excess. In the heat of composition, oral or written, it is well to give but little thought to it, but in revision it should not be wholly neglected. In this way appropriate habits will be formed.

CHAPTER VII.

STYLE.

35. Definition. THE peculiar mode of expression usually employed by any person is called his style.

Styles differ as much as human countenances, so that though millions may exist at once, no two are precisely alike. Still they may be classified in a few general groups.

There are many different methods of expressing the same thought or feeling, each of which may be called a different style.

The most of authors have a style that is either natural or habitual to them, so that having read a few of their writings, you come to expect that whatever you read from them hereafter will bear a certain similarity to what you have read. Careful critics will often detect the production of a favorite author in a writing that does not bear his name. How peculiar, for instance, are the styles of Samuel Johnson, Addison, Bunyan, Dean Swift, Carlyle, Macaulay, Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, and Charles Dickens.

36. What produces Variety?—Peculiarities of style are the outgrowth of an author's nature, or the effect of his habits. If an author has no peculiar style, but seems to write equally well in so great a variety of

VARIETIES IN STYLE.

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methods as to have no style of his own, he is likely to be weak in all his methods. "Non omnes omnia possumus"-"Every body can not do every thing." Each man should choose his weapons or his tools, and learn to work efficiently with them. Fortunate is he who chooses tools suited to his constitution and his genius. And yet it is well for a student to practice for a time many different styles.

37. Some Varieties in Style.-Some of the varieties of style are the following: The Saxon style, in which short words, mostly derived from the Anglo-Saxon or the mother-language, are principally employed. The Latin style, in which the long words mostly derived from the Latin language are abundant. Of course there may be an endless variety of styles on this matter alone. The abrupt style, made up entirely or principally of short sentences. The flowing style, made up of long sentences. The loose style, using only loose sentences when long ones are employed. The periodic style, abounding in periods. The dry style, which is destitute of figurative expressions, of wit, and of every thing to please the fancy or interest the mind, except the naked statement of facts and opinions. The florid style, abounding in tropes, met aphors, and other figures. There may be several subordinate styles under this head, as the tropical style, the metaphorical style, the allegorical style, the hyperbolical style, and many others. The idiomatic style, abounding in idioms, colloquialisms, and proverbial expressions. The scholastic style, in which the sentences are all artificially constructed with

great care, so as not to offend the severest grammatical rules, and in which the words are used with especial regard to their etymological meaning. The logical style, in which the author frequently argues, introducing syllogisms, or presents conclusions, preceded frequently by such words as "hence," "thence," "therefore," and "wherefore." The witty style, of which there may be many classes. In some, puns, quirks, singular combinations of words or thoughts are sought.

Various applications of any of the particular principles illustrated in the preceding part of this book will cause varieties of style.

38. Variations in Style innumerable. It is unnecessary to consider all the possible styles, and every intelligent student perceives that they are innumerable and indescribable. The only practical questions worthy of consideration are: Must every style, to be commendable, embrace certain qualities? If so, what are they? What faults should be avoided? What is the best method to obtain a good style?

39. No one Style can be pronounced best.— It would be a serious fault in a Rhetoric to recommend any particular style as essentially the best. No teacher does so much harm, in Rhetoric or Elocution, as one who induces all his pupils to strive to adopt one particular fashion of writing or speaking. Trees may be trimmed into the same shape, but they will not remain so unless they are dead. No two leading minds in the world ever had the same method of expressing or enforcing thought.

There are certain qualities that should always be aimed at, which we will mention.

40. Perspicuity.-Perspicuity is an essential element of a good style.

"Thus let me drop into each author's ear

A piece of counsel: Keep your meaning clear,
Your statements lucid; for of this be sure,
That dullness only ever is obscure."

This has already been recommended in the examination of words.* It should also be remembered in

the construction of sentences.

41. Should it always be particularly Sought?—The writer may consider for whom he is writing. If for profound scholars, he need not express his thought more than once, and that in as few words as possible, and may use illustrations and allusions which to other minds would be unintelligible. If he is writing for people unfamiliar with the topic presented, he may repeat his thoughts in new words and with new illustrations, till he is sure that it is understood. Great care will be requisite to hit the happy medium between too great brevity and too great diffuseness.

It is a characteristic of the style of the best advocates and pleaders before juries, that they dwell upon and repeat their thoughts till they are sure of having made an impression. Tediousness is however to be avoided.

42. Pre-requisite to Perspicuity.—It is an infallible pre-requisite to perspicuity that a man should thoroughly understand and clearly perceive what he is *See pp. 68--70.