sound, though they may be of different meanings. The English language has many of these, which are set down in every spelling-book-" night," "knight;" "red," "read" "altar," "alter," etc. They exist in all languages, and form the basis. upon which are founded certain figures of speech, like "paronomasia :"

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In the midst of this scene many villages with their picturesque costumes might be seen."

"The country wore an appearance of prosperity, and did not show many of the effects of a great and exhaustive war."

This fault is ridiculed by Juvenal in a line attributed to Cicero :

"O fortunatam natam me consule Romam."

Which Dryden has thus paraphrased :

"Fortune fortuned the dying notes of Rome,
Till I, thy consul sole, consoled thy doom."

The careless repetition of words of similar sound is a fault of the same kind :

"He felt afraid to mingle in such a fray.”

"The costumes of the people might seem strange, if their customs were not altogether surprising."

§ 265. REPETITION OF WORDS SOMETIMES NECESSARY. The cases here mentioned need not be confounded with those which have already been considered among the iterative figures. In the former it is a fault arising from carelessness; in the latter it is an ornament of style deliberately made use of.

Even where there is no question of figures, the writer may find it necessary to repeat a word for the sake of clearness, and in such cases the rejection of a good word, because it has just been used, would weaken the style and create obscurity. It is always necessary to employ the most precise terms, and mere euphony must give way to perspicuity. There are not a few words for which the writer can find no proper equivalents, and he must, therefore, employ these with great frequency, or else express himself in a vague and indefinite manner. In general, where any given word is best adapted to convey the writer's meaning it should be used, even if it have to be fre

quently repeated. To substitute others would be a petty pedagogism, leading to one of the worst of literary faults, since in the endeavor to avoid a mere inelegance the writer would be guilty of looseness of expression, intolerable circumlocutions, and general vagueness of meaning.

CHAPTER II.

ELEGANCE.

§ 266. ELEGANCE DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED. Elegance in Words.-By this is meant the choice of such words as are most pleasing to the correct taste. By their meaning, and by the associations connected with them, they should excite within the mind conceptions of the beautiful, and such thoughts as are mild, tender, and peaceful. With the strong force of energy, with the keenness and penetrating power of vivacity, such a quality as this has nothing in common. It never can rise to the sublime, and can never reach as far as the pathetic.

Shelley and Keats are pre-eminently the poets of the beautiful; and if we can find passages which are free from that intense passion which consumed these poets, they may be said to exhibit elegance :

"I see the deep's untrampled floor

With green and purple sea-weeds strewn;

I see the waves upon the shore

Like light dissolved in star-showers thrown;
I sit upon the sands alone;

The lightning of the noontide ocean

Is flashing round me, and a tone

Arises from its measured motion

How sweet did any heart now share in my emotion!"

-SHELLEY.

"I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs;
But in embalmed darkness guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows

The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
While hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine,
Fast-fading violets covered up with leaves,
And mid-May's eldest child,

The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves."-KEATS.

The following passage may serve as an example of elegance in prose composition:

"I saw the valley opening at the farther end, and spreading forth into an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running through the midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts. The clouds still rested on one half of it, insomuch that I could discover nothing in it; but the other appeared to me a vast ocean planted with innumerable islands, that were covered with fruits and flowers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining seas that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious habits, with garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, lying down by the side of fountains or resting on beds of flowers; and could hear a confused harmony of singing birds, falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments. Gladness grew on me upon the discovery of so delightful a scene. I wished for the wings of an eagle that I might fly away to those happy seats."-ADDISON.

§ 267. VIOLATIONS OF ELEGANCE.

Elegance, like euphony, can be most fully considered by observing the ways in which it is violated. These are very numerous, and it will only be necessary in this place to notice the most conspicuous.

§ 268. AFFECTATIONS.

1. Elegance is violated in the first place by various affectations.

Ist. Exclamations.-In ordinary composition there is sometimes an affectation of feeling in the use of ejaculations, such as, “oh !” “alas!" as—

"But oh! who can tell the pangs that rend the heart!"
"Man was originally created pure and holy, but alas !" etc.

The interjection should be used but sparingly, and then only when the circumstances fully justify its use.

2d. Strong Expressions.-Another affectation is found in the use of expressions that are stronger than the subject will warrant. Those writers who habitually deal in extravagance offend

the cultivated reader. A tendency to this is found in some of the political writing of the present day, and too often in the so-called "Temperance" literature, where a good cause is injured by the intemperance of its advocates. Intoxicating liquors are frequently alluded to, in an off-hand way, as "liquid fire" and "distilled damnation;" those who deal in them as "rumselling miscreants" or "beetle-browed murderers ;" and the business itself as "the infernal traffic." The same extravagant style is sometimes found in ordinary narrative; as

"The bloodthirsty tyrant, at the head of his ferocious legions, advanced with terrific speed into the midst of the panic-stricken people."

3d. Fine Writing.-There is also the affectation of what is considered fine writing, resulting in a style full of weak sentimentalisms, tawdry epithets, etc. The composition is stuffed with such phrases as "balmy zephyr," "azure skies," "heaving billows," "soaring aloft," "experiencing agony too great for utterance," and all the claptrap of the hysterical school. There are circumstances under which, in accordance with the hackneyed phrase, language is really "inadequate to express one's feelings." But in general language can be found if one seeks for it; and the best way to succeed is to reserve all fine words, as well as all strong words, for the proper occasions. When a writer uses high-flown words on common subjects, he will have nothing left with which to approach elevated themes. He will waste all his resources; and the very words themselves, by misuse, will cease to have for him their proper meaning.

§ 269. MANNERISM.

2. Another violation of elegance is found in mannerism. This is the habit acquired by a writer of using certain favorite words or phrases too frequently. It must not be confounded with "manner," which is very much the same as style, and which of course belongs to every writer.

Burke was fond of using the image "loosing the reins," "pouring forth the reins," derived from "laxas habenas," and "effundere habenas," of Virgil. His habit of extravagant praise, in which he heaps up the strongest possible assertions in favor of his subject, is liable to the same charge. This may be illustrated by his eulogy on Sheridan. Macaulay's frequent

allusions to the attainments of a schoolboy belong to the same class. His mode of saying that certain things are well known is, "Every schoolboy knows it." Dickens frequently repeats some pet epithet or phrase. Carlyle loves to reiterate favorite terms, names, and sayings-"the eternities," "the infinities," "sublime," "king of men ;" indeed, he surpasses all other writers in this respect; and his very style, so elliptical and abrupt, is of itself considered by some as a mannerism, but from such a reproach its great eloquence and vigor must fully redeem it. Emerson uses "shall" where other writers put "will," "may," or "might" he is fond of remote allusions, and mentions the Vedas or Brahma where other writers would be content with more familiar documents and deities. The term mannerism has been applied to Byron's misanthropical expressions; to Poe's incessant repetitions and echoes of words; to Wordsworth's affectation of bald literalness; to Browning's rough, abrupt pauses and elaborate obscurities. Bulwer, especially in his earlier novels, delighted in ringing the changes on the "real" and the "ideal," and Disraeli filled his fictions with pomp and splendor; and, like the exhaustless East, with richest hand, showered on his kings barbaric pearl and gold.

By mannerism is not meant the peculiar dialect or form of expression which a writer may adopt, but the excessive use of favorite forms. These, though excellent when used moderately, become a blemish when used too frequently.

$270. COLLOQUIALISMS.

3. Colloquialisms have a place in certain departments of literature, namely, familiar and humorous writing; but in grave composition they are objectionable. They consist of the following:

Ist. Contractions generally, which form so striking a distinction between conversational and literary English; as, "I'm," for "I am;" "I'm not," "he's going," "he isn't," "we're," "you're," "they're," "didn't," "hasn't," "wouldn't.”

2d. Various expressions, especially vulgarisms such as "most," for "almost ;" "likely," for "perhaps ;" as, "If the farmer has likely only a few books he is content."

3d. The omission of the relative pronouns, and of the con