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bad Style; we shall have more trouble afterwards in unlearning faults, and correcting negligences, than if we had not been accustomed to composition at all. In the beginning, therefore, we ought to write slowly and with much care. Let the facility and speed of writing be the fruit of longer practice. " Moram et " solicitudinem," says Quinctilian with the greatest reason, l. x. c. 3. "initiis impero. Nam primum hoc " constituendum ac obtinendum est, ut quam optime "scribamus: celeritatem dabit consuetudo. Pau" latim res facilius se ostendent, verba respondebunt, " compositio prosequetur. Cuncta denique ut in " familia bene institutâ in officio erunt. Summa hæc " est rei; cito scribendo non fit ut bene scribatur; "bene scribendo, sit ut cito." *

We must observe, however, that there may be an extreme, in too great and anxious care about words. We must not retard the course of thought, nor cool the heat of imagination, by pausing too long on every word we employ. There is, on certain occasions, a glow of composition which should be kept up, if we hope to express ourselves happily, though at the expence of allowing some inadvertencies to pass. A more severe examination of these must be left to be

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* " I enjoin that such as are beginning the practice of com" position, write slowly, and with anxious deliberation. Their " great object at first should be, to write as well as possible; " practice will enable them to write speedily. By degrees matter " will offer itself still more readily; words will be at hand; com" position will flow; every thing, as in the arrangement of a well" ordered family, will present itself in its proper place. The sum " of the whole is this, by hasty composition, we shall never " acquire the art of composing well; by writing well, we shall " come to write speedily."

the work of correction. For, if the practice of composition be useful, the laborious work of correcting is no less so; is indeed absolutely necessary to our reaping any benefit from the habit of composition. What we have written should be laid by for some little time, till the ardour of composition be past, till the fondness for the expressions we have used be worn off, and the expressions themselves be forgotten; and then reviewing our work with a cool and critical eye, as if it were the performance of another, we shall discern many imperfections which at first escaped us: Then is the season for pruning redundancies; for examining the arrangement of sentences; for attending to the juncture and connecting particles; and bringing Style into a regular, correct, and supported form. This " Limæ Labor" must be submitted to by all who would communicate their thoughts with proper advantage to others; and some practice in it will soon sharpen their eye to the most necessary objects of attention, and render it a much more easy and practicable work than might at first be imagined.

In the third place, with respect to the assistance that is to be gained from the writings of others, it is obvious, that we ought to render ourselves well acquainted with the Style of the best authors. This is requisite, both in order to form a just taste in Style, and to supply us with a full stock of words on every subject. In reading authors with a view to Style, attention should be given to the peculiarities of their different manners; and in this, and former Lectures, I have endeavoured to suggest several things that may be useful in this view. I know no exercise that will be found more useful for acquiring a proper Style, than to translate some passage from

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an eminent English author into our own words. What I mean is, to take, for instance, some page of one of Mr. Addison's Spectators, and read it carefully over two or three times, till we have got a firm hold of the thoughts contained in it; then to lay aside the book; to attempt to write out the passage from memory, in the best way we can; and having done so, next to open the book, and compare what we have written, with the Style of the author. Such an exercise will, by comparison, shew us where the defects of our Style lie; will lead us to the proper attentions for rectifying them; and among the different ways in which the same thought may be expressed, will make us perceive that which is the most beautiful. But,

ever.

In the fourth place, I must caution, at the same time, against a servile imitation of any author whatThis is always dangerous. It hampers genius; it is likely to produce a stiff manner; and those who are given to close imitation, generally imitate an author's faults as well as his beauties. No man will ever become a good writer or speaker, who has not some degree of confidence to follow his own genius. We ought to beware, in particular, of adopting any author's noted phrases, or transcribing passages from him. Such a habit will prove fatal to all genuine composition. Infinitely better it is to have something that is our own, though of moderate beauty, than to affect to shine in borrowed ornaments, which will, at last, betray the utter poverty of our genius. On these heads of composing, correcting, reading, and imitating, I advise every student of oratory to consult what Quinctilian has delivered in the Xth book of his Institutions, where he will find a variety of excellent observations and directions, that well deserve

attention.

In the fifth place, it is an obvious, but material rule, with respect to Style, that we always study to adapt it to the subject, and also to the capacity of our hearers, if we are to speak in public. Nothing merits the name of eloquent or beautiful, which is not suited to the occasion, and to the persons to whom it is addressed. It is to the last degree awkward and absurd, to attempt a poetical florid Style, on occasions when it should be our business only to argue and reason; or to speak with elaborate pomp of expression, before persons who comprehend nothing of it, and who can only stare at our unseasonable magnificence. These are defects not so much in point of Style, as, what is much worse, in point of common sense. When we begin to write or speak, we ought previously to fix in our minds a clear conception of the end to be aimed at; to keep this steadily in our view, and to suit our Style to it. If we do not sacrifice to this great object, every illtimed ornament that may occur to our fancy, we are unpardonable; and though children and fools may admire, men of sense will laugh at us and our Style.

In the last place, I cannot conclude the subject without this admonition, that, in any case, and on any occasion, attention to Style must not engross us so much, as to detract from a higher degree of attention to the thoughts; " Curam verborum," says the great Roman Critic, "rerum volo esse solicitudinem."*

* " To your expression be attentive; but about your matter he " solicitous."

A direction the more necessary, as the present state of the age in writing, seems to lean more to Style than to thought. It is much easier to dress up trivial and common sentiments with some beauty of expression, than to afford a fund of vigorous, ingenious, and useful thoughts. The latter requires true genius; the former may be attained by industry, with the help of very superficial parts. Hence, we find so many writers frivolously rich in Style, but wretch. edly poor in Sentiment. The public ear is now so much accustomed to a correct and ornamented Style, that no writer can, with safety, neglect the study of it. But he is a contemptible one, who does not look to something beyond it; who does not lay the chief stress upon his matter, and employ such ornaments of Style to recommend it, as are manly not foppish: "Majore animo," says the writer whom I have so often quoted, "aggredienda est eloquentia; " quæ si toto corpore valet, ungues polire et capillum componere, non existimabit ad curam suam pertiOrnatus et virilis et fortis, et sanctus sit; "nec effeminatam levitatem, et fuco ementitum " colorem amet; sanguine et viribus niteat."*

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* " A higher spirit ought to animate those who study eloquence. "They ought to consult the health and soundness of the whole body, " rather than bend their attention to such trifling objects as paring "the nails and dressing the hair. Let ornament be manly and " chaste, without effeminate gaiety, or artificial colouring; let it ' shine with the glow of health and strength."

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