,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,style4 ,by ,herbert ,spencer ,,part ,i4 ,,causes ,,of ,,force ,,in ,,language ,,which ,,depend ,,upon ,,economy ,,of ,,the ,,mental ,,energies4 i4 ,the ,principle of ,economy4 ,sec4 #a4 ,commenting on the seeming incongruity between his father's argumentative powers and his ignorance of formal logic1 ,tristram ,shandy says3--,it was a matter of just wonder with my worthy tutor1 and two or three fellows of that learned society1 that a man who knew not so much as the names of his tools1 should be able to work after that fashion with them4 ,sterne's intended implication that a knowledge of the principles of reasoning neither makes1 nor is essential to1 a good reasoner1 is doubtless true4 ,thus1 too1 is it with grammar4 ,as ,dr4 ,latham1 condemning the usual school-drill in ,lindley ,murray1 rightly remarks3 ,gross vulgarity is a fault to be prevented2 but the proper prevention is to be got from habit--not rules4 ,similarly1 there can be little question that good composition is far less dependent upon acquaintance with its laws1 than upon practice and natural aptitude4 ,a clear head1 a quick imagination1 and a sensitive ear1 will go far towards making all rhetorical precepts needless4 ,he who daily hears and reads well-framed sentences1 will naturally more or less tend to use similar ones4 ,and where there exists any mental idiosyncrasy--where there is a deficient verbal memory1 or an inadequate sense of logical dependence1 or but little perception of order1 or a lack of constructive ingenuity2 no amount of instruction will remedy the defect4 ,nevertheless1 some practical result may be expected from a familiarity with the principles of style4 ,the endeavour to conform to laws may tell1 though slowly4 ,and if in no other way1 yet1 as facilitating revision1 a knowledge of the thing to be achieved--a clear idea of what constitutes a beauty1 and what a blemish--cannot fail to be of service4 ,sec4 #b4 ,no general theory of expression seems yet to have been enunciated4 ,the maxims contained in works on composition and rhetoric1 are presented in an unorganized form4 ,standing as isolated dogmas--as empirical generalizations1 they are neither so clearly apprehended1 nor so much respected1 as they would be were they deduced from some simple first principle4 ,we are told that brevity is the soul of wit4 ,we hear styles condemned as verbose or involved4 ,blair says that every needless part of a sentence interrupts the description and clogs the image2 and again1 that long sentences fatigue the reader's attention4 ,it is remarked by ,lord ,kaimes1 that to give the utmost force to a period1 it ought1 if possible1 to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure4 ,that parentheses should be avoided and that ,saxon words should be used in preference to those of ,latin origin1 are established precepts4 ,but1 however influential the truths thus dogmatically embodied1 they would be much more influential if reduced to something like scientific ordination4 ,in this1 as in other cases1 conviction will be greatly strengthened when we understand the why4 ,and we may be sure that a comprehension of the general principle from which the rules of composition result1 will not only bring them home to us with greater force1 but will discover to us other rules of like origin4 ,sec4 #c4 ,on seeking for some clue to the law underlying these current maxims1 we may see shadowed forth in many of them1 the importance of economizing the reader's or hearer's attention1 ,to so present ideas that they may be apprehended with the least possible mental effort1 is the desideratum towards which most of the rules above quoted point4 ,when we condemn writing that is wordy1 or confused1 or intricate--when we praise this style as easy1 and blame that as fatiguing1 we consciously or unconsciously assume this desideratum as our standard of judgment4 ,regarding language as an apparatus of symbols for the conveyance of thought1 we may say that1 as in a mechanical apparatus1 the more simple and the better arranged its parts1 the greater will be the effect produced4 ,in either case1 whatever force is absorbed by the machine is deducted from the result4 ,a reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount of mental power available4 ,to recognize and interpret the symbols presented to him1 requires part of this power2 to arrange and combine the images suggested requires a further part2 and only that part which remains can be used for realizing the thought conveyed4 ,hence1 the more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each sentence1 the less time and attention can be given to the contained idea2 and the less vividly will that idea be conceived4 ,sec4 #d4 ,how truly language must be regarded as a hindrance to thought1 though the necessary instrument of it1 we shall clearly perceive on remembering the comparative force with which simple ideas are communicated by signs4 ,to say1 ,leave the room1 is less expressive than to point to the door4 ,placing a finger on the lips is more forcible than whispering1 ,do not speak4 ,a beck of the hand is better than1 ,come here4 ,no phrase can convey the idea of surprise so vividly as opening the eyes and raising the eyebrows4 ,a shrug of the shoulders would lose much by translation into words4 ,again1 it may be remarked that when oral language is employed1 the strongest effects are produced by interjections1 which condense entire sentences into syllables4 ,and in other cases1 where custom allows us to express thoughts by single words1 as in ,beware1 ,heigho1 ,fudge1 much force would be lost by expanding them into specific propositions4 ,hence1 carrying out the metaphor that language is the vehicle of thought1 there seems reason to think that in all cases the friction and inertia of the vehicle deduct from its efficiency2 and that in composition1 the chief1 if not the sole thing to be done1 is1 to reduce this friction and inertia to the smallest possible amount4 ,let us then inquire whether economy of the recipient's attention is not the secret of effect1 alike in the right choice and collocation of words1 in the best arrangement of clauses in a sentence1 in the proper order of its principal and subordinate propositions1 in the judicious use of simile1 metaphor1 and other figures of speech1 and even in the rhythmical sequence of syllables4 ii4 ,economy in the ,use of ,words4 ,sec4 #e4 ,the greater forcibleness of ,saxon ,english1 or rather non-,latin ,english1 first claims our attention4 ,the several special reasons assignable for this may all be reduced to the general reason--economy4 ,the most important of them is early association4 ,a child's vocabulary is almost wholly ,saxon4 ,he says1 ,i have1 not ,i possess---,i wish1 not ,i desire2 he does not reflect1 he thinks2 he does not beg for amusement1 but for play2 he calls things nice or nasty1 not pleasant or disagreeable4 ,the synonyms which he learns in after years1 never become so closely1 so organically connected with the ideas signified1 as do these original words used in childhood2 and hence the association remains less strong4 ,but in what does a strong association between a word and an idea differ from a weak one8 ,simply in the greater ease and rapidity of the suggestive action4 ,it can be in nothing else4 ,both of two words1 if they be strictly synonymous1 eventually call up the same image4 ,the expression--,it is acid1 must in the end give rise to the same thought as--,it is sour2 but because the term acid was learnt later in life1 and has not been so often followed by the thought symbolized1 it does not so readily arouse that thought as the term sour4 ,if we remember how slowly and with what labour the appropriate ideas follow unfamiliar words in another language1 and how increasing familiarity with such words brings greater rapidity and ease of comprehension2 and if we consider that the same process must have gone on with the words of our mother tongue from childhood upwards1 we shall clearly see that the earliest learnt and oftenest used words1 will1 other things equal1 call up images with less loss of time and energy than their later learnt synonyms4 ,sec4 #f4 ,the further superiority possessed by ,saxon ,english in its comparative brevity1 obviously comes under the same generalization4 ,if it be an advantage to express an idea in the smallest number of words1 then will it be an advantage to express it in the smallest number of syllables4 ,if circuitous phrases and needless expletives distract the attention and diminish the strength of the impression produced1 then do surplus articulations do so4 ,a certain effort1 though commonly an inappreciable one1 must be required to recognize every vowel and consonant4 ,if1 as all know1 it is tiresome to listen to an indistinct speaker1 or read a badly-written manuscript2 and if1 as we cannot doubt1 the fatigue is a cumulative result of the attention needed to catch successive syllables2 it follows that attention is in such cases absorbed by each syllable4 ,and if this be true when the syllables are difficult of recognition1 it will also be true1 though in a less degree1 when the recognition of them is easy4 ,hence1 the shortness of ,saxon words becomes a reason for their greater force4 ,one qualification1 however1 must not be overlooked4 ,a word which in itself embodies the most important part of the idea to be conveyed1 especially when that idea is an emotional one1 may often with advantage be a polysyllabic word4 ,thus it seems more forcible to say1 ,it is magnificent1 than ,it is grand4 ,the word vast is not so powerful a one as stupendous4 ,calling a thing nasty is not so effective as calling it disgusting4 ,sec4 #g4 ,there seem to be several causes for this exceptional superiority of certain long words4 ,we may ascribe it partly to the fact that a voluminous1 mouth-filling epithet is1 by its very size1 suggestive of largeness or strength2 witness the immense pomposity of sesquipedalian verbiage3 and when great power or intensity has to be suggested1 this association of ideas aids the effect4 ,a further cause may be that a word of several syllables admits of more emphatic articulation2 and as emphatic articulation is a sign of emotion1 the unusual impressiveness of the thing named is implied by it4 ,yet another cause is that a long word 7of which the latter syllables are generally inferred as soon as the first are spoken7 allows the hearer's consciousness a longer time to dwell upon the quality predicated2 and where1 as in the above cases1 it is to this predicated quality that the entire attention is called1 an advantage results from keeping it before the mind for an appreciable time4 ,the reasons which we have given for preferring short words evidently do not hold here4 ,so that to make our generalization quite correct we must say1 that while in certain sentences expressing strong feeling1 the word which more especially implies that feeling may often with advantage be a many-syllabled or ,latin one2 in the immense majority of cases1 each word serving but as a step to the idea embodied by the whole sentence1 should1 if possible1 be a one-syllabled or ,saxon one4 ,sec4 #h4 ,once more1 that frequent cause of strength in ,saxon and other primitive words-their imitative character may be similarly resolved into the more general cause4 ,both those directly imitative1 as splash1 bang1 whiz1 roar1 c41 and those analogically imitative1 as rough1 smooth1 keen1 blunt1 thin1 hard1 crag1 c41 have a greater or less likeness to the things symbolized2 and by making on the senses impressions allied to the ideas to be called up1 they save part of the effort needed to call up such ideas1 and leave more attention for the ideas themselves4 ,sec4 #i4 ,the economy of the recipient's mental energy1 into which are thus resolvable the several causes of the strength of ,saxon ,english1 may equally be traced in the superiority of specific over generic words4 ,that concrete terms produce more vivid impressions than abstract ones1 and should1 when possible1 be used instead1 is a thorough maxim of composition4 ,as ,dr4 ,campbell says1 ,the more general the terms are1 the picture is the fainter2 the more special they are1 'tis the brighter4 ,we should avoid such a sentence as3--,in proportion as the manners1 customs1 and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous1 the regulations of their penal code will be severe4 ,and in place of it we should write3--,in proportion as men delight in battles1 bull-fights1 and combats of gladiators1 will they punish by hanging1 burning1 and the rack4 ,sec4 #aj4 ,this superiority of specific expressions is clearly due to a saving of the effort required to translate words into thoughts4 ,as we do not think in generals but in particulars--as1 whenever any class of things is referred to1 we represent it to ourselves by calling to mind individual members of it2 it follows that when an abstract word is used1 the bearer or reader has to choose from his stock of images1 one or more1 by which he may figure to himself the genus mentioned4 ,in doing this1 some delay must arise some force be expended2 and if1 by employing a specific term1 an appropriate image can be at once suggested1 an economy is achieved1 and a more vivid impression produced4 iii4 ,the ,principle of ,economy applied to ,sentences4 ,sec4 #aa4 ,turning now from the choice of words to their sequence1 we shall find the same general principle hold good4 ,we have a priori reasons for believing that in every sentence there is some one order of words more effective than any other2 and that this order is the one which presents the elements of the proposition in the succession in which they may be most readily put together4 ,as in a narrative1 the events should be stated in such sequence that the mind may not have to go backwards and forwards in order to rightly connect them2 as in a group of sentences1 the arrangement should be such1 that each of them may be understood as it comes1 without waiting for subsequent ones2 so in every sentence1 the sequence of words should be that which suggests the constituents of the thought in the order most convenient for the building up that thought4 ,duly to enforce this truth1 and to prepare the way for applications of it1 we must briefly inquire into the mental act by which the meaning of a series of words is apprehended4 ,sec4 #ab4 ,we cannot more simply do this than by considering the proper collocation of the substantive and adjective4 ,is it better to place the adjective before the substantive1 or the substantive before the adjective8 ,ought we to say with the ,french--un cheval noir2 or to say as we do--a black horse8 ,probably1 most persons of culture would decide that one order is as good as the other4 ,alive to the bias produced by habit1 they would ascribe to that the preference they feel for our own form of expression4 ,they would expect those educated in the use of the opposite form to have an equal preference for that4 ,and thus they would conclude that neither of these instinctive judgments is of any worth4 ,there is1 however1 a philosophical ground for deciding in favour of the ,english custom4 ,if a horse black be the arrangement1 immediately on the utterance of the word horse1 there arises1 or tends to arise1 in the mind1 a picture answering to that word2 and as there has1 been nothing to indicate what kind of horse1 any image of a horse suggests itself4 ,very likely1 however1 the image will be that of a brown horse1 brown horses being the most familiar4 ,the result is that when the word black is added1 a check is given to the process of thought4 ,either the picture of a brown horse already present to the imagination has to be suppressed1 and the picture of a black one summoned in its place2 or else1 if the picture of a brown horse be yet unformed1 the tendency to form it has to be stopped4 ,whichever is the case1 a certain amount of hindrance results4 ,but if1 on the other hand1 a black horse be the expression used1 no such mistake can be made4 ,the word black1 indicating an abstract quality1 arouses no definite idea4 ,it simply prepares the mind for conceiving some object of that colour2 and the attention is kept suspended until that object is known4 ,if1 then1 by the precedence of the adjective1 the idea is conveyed without liability to error1 whereas the precedence of the substantive is apt to produce a misconception1 it follows that the one gives the mind less trouble than the other1 and is therefore more forcible4 ,sec4 #ac4 ,possibly it will be objected that the adjective and substantive come so close together1 that practically they may be considered as uttered at the same moment2 and that on hearing the phrase1 a horse black1 there is not time to imagine a wrongly-coloured horse before the word black follows to prevent it4 ,it must be owned that it is not easy to decide by introspection whether this is so or not4 ,but there are facts collaterally implying that it is not4 ,our ability to anticipate the words yet unspoken is one of them ,if the ideas of the hearer kept considerably behind the1 expressions of the speaker1 as the objection assumes1 he could hardly foresee the end of a sentence by the time it was half delivered3 yet this constantly happens4 ,were the supposition true1 the mind1 instead of anticipating1 would be continually falling more and more in arrear4 ,if the meanings of words are not realized as fast as the words are uttered1 then the loss of time over each word must entail such an accumulation of delays as to leave a hearer entirely behind4 ,but whether the force of these replies be or be not admitted1 it will scarcely be denied that the right formation of a picture will be facilitated by presenting its elements in the order in which they are wanted2 even though the mind should do nothing until it has received them all4 ,sec4 #ad4 ,what is here said respecting the succession of the adjective and substantive is obviously applicable1 by change of terms1 to the adverb and verb4 ,and without further explanation1 it will be manifest1 that in the use of prepositions and other particles1 most languages spontaneously conform with more or less completeness to this law4 ,sec4 #ae4 ,on applying a like analysis to the larger divisions of a sentence1 we find not only that the same principle holds good1 but that the advantage of respecting it becomes marked4 ,in the arrangement of predicate and subject1 for example1 we are at once shown that as the predicate determines the aspect under which the subject is to be conceived1 it should be placed first2 and the striking effect produced by so placing it becomes comprehensible4 ,take the often-quoted contrast between ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians1 and ,diana of the ,ephesians is great4 ,when the first arrangement is used1 the utterance of the word great arouses those vague associations of an impressive nature with which it has been habitually connected2 the imagination is prepared to clothe with high attributes whatever follows2 and when the words1 ,diana of the ,ephesians1 are heard1 all the appropriate imagery which can1 on the instant1 be summoned1 is used in the formation of the picture3 the mind being thus led directly1 and without error1 to the intended impression4 ,when1 on the contrary1 the reverse order is followed1 the idea1 ,diana of the ,ephesians is conceived with no special reference to greatness2 and when the words is great are added1 the conception has to be remodeled3 whence arises a loss of mental energy and a corresponding diminution of effect4 ,the following verse from ,coleridge's ',ancient ,mariner1' though somewhat irregular in structure1 well illustrates the same truth3 ,alone1 alone1 all1 all alone1 ,alone on a wide1 wide sea ,and never a saint took pity on ,my soul in agony4 ,sec4 #af4 ,of course the principle equally applies when the predicate is a verb or a participle4 ,and as effect is gained by placing first all words indicating the quality1 conduct or condition of the subject1 it follows that the copula also should have precedence4 ,it is true that the general habit of our language resists this arrangement of predicate1 copula and subject2 but we may readily find instances of the additional force gained by conforming to it4 ,thus1 in the line from ',julius ,caesar' ,then burst his mighty heart1 priority is given to a word embodying both predicate and copula4 ,in a passage contained in ',the ,battle of ,flodden ,field1' the like order is systematically employed with great effect3 ,the ,border slogan rent the sky6 ,a ,home6 a ,gordon6 was the cry2 ,loud were the clanging blows3 ,advanced--forced back---now low1 now high1 ,the pennon sunk and rose2 ,as bends the bark's mast in the gale ,when rent are rigging1 shrouds and sail1 ,it wavered 'mid the foes4 ,sec4 #ag4 ,pursuing the principle yet further1 it is obvious that for producing the greatest effect1 not only should the main divisions of a sentence observe this sequence1 but the subdivisions of these should be similarly arranged4 ,in nearly all cases1 the predicate is accompanied by some limit or qualification1 called its complement4 ,commonly1 also1 the circumstances of the subject1 which form its complement1 have to be specified4 ,and as these qualifications and circumstances must determine the mode in which the acts and things they belong to are conceived1 precedence should be given to them4 ,lord ,kaimes notices the fact that this order is preferable2 though without giving the reason4 ,he says3--,when a circumstance is placed at the beginning of the period1 or near the beginning1 the transition from it to the principal subject is agreeable3 it is like ascending or going upward4 ,a sentence arranged in illustration of this will be desirable4 ,here is one3--,whatever it may be in theory1 it is clear that in practice the ,french idea of liberty is--the right of every man to be master of the rest4 ,sec4 #ah4 ,in this case1 were the first two clauses1 up to the word ,i practice inclusive1 which qualify the subject1 to be placed at the end instead of the beginning1 much of the force would be lost2 as thus3--,the ,french idea of liberty is--the right of every man to be master of the rest2 in practice at least1 if not in theory4 ,sec4 #ai4 ,similarly with respect to the conditions under which any fact is predicated4 ,observe in the following example the effect of putting them last3--,how immense would be the stimulus to progress1 were the honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high achievements and intrinsic worth6 ,sec4 #bj4 ,and then observe the superior effect of putting them first3--,were the honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high achievements and intrinsic worth1 how immense would be the stimulus to progress6 ,sec4 #ba4 ,the effect of giving priority to the complement of the predicate1 as well as the predicate itself1 is finely displayed in the opening of ',hyperion'3 ,deep in the shady sadness of a vale ,far sunken from the healthy breath of morn1 ,far from the fiery noon and eve's one star ,sat gray-haired ,saturn1 quiet as a stone4 ,here it will be observed1 not only that the predicate sat precedes the subject ,saturn1 and that the three lines in italics1 constituting the complement of the predicate1 come before it2 but that in the structure of that complement also1 the same order is followed3 each line being so arranged that the qualifying words are placed before the words suggesting concrete images4 ,sec4 #bb4 ,the right succession of the principal and subordinate propositions in a sentence manifestly depends on the same law4 ,regard for economy of the recipient's attention1 which1 as we find1 determines the best order for the subject1 copula1 predicate and their complements1 dictates that the subordinate proposition shall precede the principal one when the sentence includes two4 ,containing1 as the subordinate proposition does1 some qualifying or explanatory idea1 its priority prevents misconception of the principal one2 and therefore saves the mental effort needed to correct such misconception4 ,this will be seen in the annexed example3 ,the secrecy once maintained in respect to the parliamentary debates1 is still thought needful in diplomacy2 and in virtue of this secret diplomacy1 ,england may any day be unawares betrayed by its ministers into a war costing a1 hundred thousand lives1 and hundreds of millions of treasure3 yet the ,english pique themselves on being a self-governed people4 ,the two subordinate propositions1 ending with the semicolon and colon respectively1 almost wholly determine the meaning of the principal proposition with which it concludes2 and the effect would be lost were they placed last instead of first4 ,sec4 #bc4 ,the general principle of right arrangement in sentences1 which we have traced in its application to the leading divisions of them1 equally determines the proper order of their minor divisions4 ,in every sentence of any complexity the complement to the subject contains several clauses1 and that to the predicate several others2 and these may be arranged in greater or less conformity to the law of easy apprehension4 ,of course with these1 as with the larger members1 the succession should be from the less specific to the more specific--from the abstract to the concrete4 ,sec4 #bd4 ,now1 however1 we must notice a further condition to be fulfilled in the proper construction of a sentence2 but still a condition dictated by the same general principle with the other3 the condition1 namely1 that the words and expressions most nearly related in thought shall be brought the closest together4 ,evidently the single words1 the minor clauses1 and the leading divisions of every proposition1 severally qualify each other4 ,the longer the time that elapses between the mention of any qualifying member and the member qualified1 the longer must the mind be exerted in carrying forward the qualifying member ready for use4 ,and the more numerous the qualifications to be simultaneously remembered and rightly applied1 the greater will be the mental power expended1 and the smaller the effect produced4 ,hence1 other things equal1 force will be gained by so arranging the members of a sentence that these suspensions shall at any moment be the fewest in number2 and shall also be of the shortest duration4 ,the following is an instance of defective combination3--,a modern newspaper-statement1 though probably true1 would be laughed at if quoted in a book as testimony2 but the letter of a court gossip is thought good historical evidence1 if written some centuries ago4 ,a rearrangement of this1 in accordance with the principle indicated above1 will be found to increase the effect4 ,thus3--,though probably true1 a modern newspaper-statement quoted in a book as testimony1 would be laughed at2 but the letter of a court gossip1 if written some centuries ago1 is thought good historical evidence4 ,sec4 #be4 ,by making this change1 some of the suspensions are avoided and others shortened2 while there is less liability to produce premature conceptions4 ,the passage quoted below from ',paradise ,lost' affords a fine instance of a sentence well arranged2 alike in the priority of the subordinate members1 in the avoidance of long and numerous suspensions1 and in the correspondence between the order of the clauses and the sequence of the phenomena described1 which1 by the way1 is a further prerequisite to easy comprehension1 and therefore to effect4 ,as when a prowling wolf1 ,whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey1 ,watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eye1 ,in hurdled cotes amid the field secure1 ,leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold2 ,or as a thief1 bent to unhoard the cash ,of some rich burgher1 whose substantial doors1 ,cross-barr'd1 and bolted fast1 fear no assault1 ,in at the window climbs1 or o'er the tiles2 ,so clomb this first grand thief into ,god's fold2 ,so since into his church lewd hirelings climb4 ,sec4 #bf4 ,the habitual use of sentences in which all or most of the descriptive and limiting elements precede those described and limited1 gives rise to what is called the inverted style3 a title which is1 however1 by no means confined to this structure1 but is often used where the order of the words is simply unusual4 ,a more appropriate title would be the direct style1 as contrasted with the other1 or indirect style3 the peculiarity of the one being1 that it conveys each thought into the mind step by step with little liability to error2 and of the other1 that it gets the right thought conceived by a series of approximations4 ,sec4 #bg4 ,the superiority of the direct over the indirect form of sentence1 implied by the several conclusions that have been drawn1 must not1 however1 be affirmed without reservation4 ,though1 up to a certain point1 it is well for the qualifying clauses of a period to precede those qualified2 yet1 as carrying forward each qualifying clause costs some mental effort1 it follows that when the number of them and the time they are carried become great1 we reach a limit beyond which more is lost than is gained4 ,other things equal1 the arrangement should be such that no concrete image shall be suggested until the materials out of which it is to be made have been presented4 ,and yet1 as lately pointed out1 other things equal1 the fewer the materials to be held at once1 and the shorter the distance they have to be borne1 the better4 ,hence in some cases it becomes a question whether most mental effort will be entailed by the many and long suspensions1 or by the correction of successive misconceptions4 ,sec4 #bh4 ,this question may sometimes be decided by considering the capacity of the persons addressed4 ,a greater grasp of mind is required for the ready comprehension of thoughts expressed in the direct manner1 where the sentences are anywise intricate4 ,to recollect a number of preliminaries stated in elucidation of a coming idea1 and to apply them all to the formation of it when suggested1 demands a good memory and considerable power of concentration4 ,to one possessing these1 the direct method will mostly seem the best2 while to one deficient in them it will seem the worst4 ,just as it may cost a strong man less effort to carry a hundred-weight from place to place at once1 than by a stone at a time2 so1 to an active mind it may be easier to bear along all the qualifications of an idea and at once rightly form it when named1 than to first imperfectly conceive such idea and then carry back to it1 one by one1 the details and limitations afterwards mentioned4 ,while conversely1 as for a boy1 the only possible mode of transferring a hundred-weight1 is that of taking it in portions2 so1 for a weak mind1 the only possible mode of forming a compound conception may be that of building it up by carrying separately its several parts4 ,sec4 #bi4 ,that the indirect method--the method of conveying the meaning by a series of approximations--is best fitted for the uncultivated1 may indeed be inferred from their habitual use of it4 ,the form of expression adopted by the savage1 as in ,water1 give me1 is the simplest type of the approximate arrangement4 ,in pleonasms1 which are comparatively prevalent among the uneducated1 the same essential structure is seen2 as1 for instance1 in--,the men1 they were there4 ,again1 the old possessive case--,the king1 his crown1 conforms to the like order of thought4 ,moreover1 the fact that the indirect mode is called the natural one1 implies that it is the one spontaneously employed by the common people3 that is--the one easiest for undisciplined minds4 ,sec4 #cj4 ,there are many cases1 however1 in which neither the direct nor the indirect structure is the best2 but where an intermediate structure is preferable to both4 ,when the number of circumstances and qualifications to be included in the sentence is great1 the most judicious course is neither to enumerate them all before introducing the idea to which they belong1 nor to put this idea first and let it be remodeled to agree with the particulars afterwards mentioned2 but to do a little of each4 ,take a case4 ,it is desirable to avoid so extremely indirect an arrangement as the following3--,we came to our journey's end1 at last1 with no small difficulty after much fatigue1 through deep roads1 and bad weather4 ,yet to transform this into an entirely direct sentence would not produce a satisfactory effect2 as witness3--,at last1 with no small difficulty1 after much fatigue1 through deep roads1 and bad weather1 we came to our journey's end4 ,sec4 #ca4 ,dr4 ,whately1 from whom we quote the first of these two arrangements1' proposes this construction3--,at last1 after much fatigue1 through deep roads and bad weather1 we came1 with no small difficulty1 to our journey's end4 ,here it will be observed that by introducing the words we came a little earlier in the sentence1 the labour of carrying forward so many particulars is diminished1 and the subsequent qualification with no small difficulty entails an addition to the thought that is very easily made4 ,but a further improvement may be produced by introducing the words we came still earlier2 especially if at the same time the qualifications be rearranged in conformity with the principle already explained1 that the more abstract elements of the thought should come before the more concrete4 ,observe the better effect obtained by making these two changes3--,at last1 with no small difficulty1 and after much fatigue1 we came1 through deep roads and bad weather1 to our journey's end4 ,this reads with comparative smoothness2 that is1 with less hindrance from suspensions and reconstructions of thought--with less mental effort4 ,sec4 #cb4 ,before dismissing this branch of our subject1 it should be further remarked1 that even when addressing the most vigorous intellects1 the direct style is unfit for communicating ideas of a complex or abstract character4 ,so long as the mind has not much to do1 it may be well able to grasp all the preparatory clauses of a sentence1 and to use them effectively2 but if some subtlety in the argument absorb the attention--if every faculty be strained in endeavouring to catch the speaker's or writer's drift1 it may happen that the mind1 unable to carry on both processes at once1 will break down1 and allow the elements of the thought to lapse into confusion4 iv4 ,the ,principle of ,economy applied to ,figures4 ,sec4 #cc4 ,turning now to consider figures of speech1 we may equally discern the same general law of effect4 ,underlying all the rules given for the choice and right use of them1 we shall find the same fundamental requirement--economy of attention4 ,it is indeed chiefly because they so well subserve this requirement1 that figures of speech are employed4 ,to bring the mind more easily to the desired conception1 is in many cases solely1 and in all cases mainly1 their object4 ,sec4 #cd4 ,let us begin with the figure called ,synecdoche4 ,the advantage sometimes gained by putting a part for the whole1 is due to the more convenient1 or more accurate1 presentation of the idea4 ,if1 instead of saying a fleet of ten ships1 we say a fleet of ten sail1 the picture of a group of vessels at sea is more readily suggested2 and is so because the sails constitute the most conspicuous parts of vessels so circumstanced3 whereas the word ships would very likely remind us of vessels in dock4 ,again1 to say1 ,all hands to the pumps1 is better than to say1 ,all men to the pumps1 as it suggests the men in the special attitude intended1 and so saves effort4 ,bringing gray hairs with sorrow to the grave1 is another expression1 the effect of which has the same cause4 ,sec4 #ce4 ,the occasional increase of force produced by ,metonymy may be similarly accounted for4 ,the low morality of the bar1 is a phrase both more brief and significant than the literal one it stands for4 ,a belief in the ultimate supremacy of intelligence over brute force1 is conveyed in a more concrete1 and therefore more realizable form1 if we substitute the pen and the sword for the two abstract terms4 ,to say1 ,beware of drinking6 is less effective than to say1 ,beware of the bottle6 and is so1 clearly because it calls up a less specific image4 ,sec4 #cf4 ,the ,simile is in many cases used chiefly with a view to ornament1 but whenever it increases the force of a passage1 it does so by being an economy4 ,here in an instance3 ,the illusion that great men and great events came oftener in early times than now1 is partly due to historical perspective4 ,as in a range of equidistant columns1 the furthest off look the closest2 so1 the conspicuous objects of the past seem more thickly clustered the more remote they are4 ,sec4 #cg4 ,to construct by a process of literal explanation1 the thought thus conveyed would take many sentences1 and the first elements of the picture would become faint while the imagination was busy in adding the others4 ,but by the help of a comparison all effort is saved2 the picture is instantly realized1 and its full effect produced4 ,sec4 #ch4 ,of the position of the ,simile1 it needs only to remark1 that what has been said respecting the order of the adjective and substantive1 predicate and subject1 principal and subordinate propositions1 c41 is applicable here4 ,as whatever qualifies should precede whatever is qualified1 force will generally be gained by placing the simile before the object to which it is applied4 ,that this arrangement is the best1 may be seen in the following passage from the ',lady of the ,lake'2 ,as wreath of snow1 on mountain breast1 ,slides from the rock that gave it rest1 ,poor ,ellen glided from her stay1 ,and at the monarch's feet she lay4 ,inverting these couplets will be found to diminish the effect considerably4 ,there are cases1 however1 even where the simile is a simple one1 in which it may with advantage be placed last1 as in these lines from ,alexander ,smith's ',life ,drama'3 ,i see the future stretch ,all dark and barren as a rainy sea4 ,the reason for this seems to be1 that so abstract an idea as that attaching to the word future1 does not present itself to the mind in any definite form1 and hence the subsequent arrival at the simile entails no reconstruction of the thought4 ,sec4 #ci4 ,such1 however1 are not the only cases in which this order is the most forcible4 ,as the advantage of putting the simile before the object depends on its being carried forward in the mind to assist in forming an image of the object1 it must happen that if1 from length or complexity1 it cannot be so carried forward1 the advantage is not gained4 ,the annexed sonnet1 by ,coleridge1 is defective from this cause3 ,as when a child1 on some long winter's night1 ,affrighted1 clinging to its grandam's knees1 ,with eager wond'ring and perturb'd delight ,listens strange tales of fearful dark decrees1 ,mutter'd to wretch by necromantic spell2 ,or of those hags who at the witching time ,of murky midnight1 ride the air sublime1 ,and mingle foul embrace with fiends of hell2 ,cold horror drinks its blood6 ,anon the tear ,more gentle starts1 to hear the beldame tell ,of pretty babes1 that lov'd each other dear1 ,murder'd by cruel uncle's mandate fell3 ,ev'n such the shiv'ring joys thy tones impart1 ,ev'n so1 thou1 ,siddons1 meltest my sad heart4 ,sec4 #dj4 ,here1 from the lapse of time and accumulation of circumstances1 the first part of the comparison is forgotten before its application is reached1 and requires re-reading4 ,had the main idea been first mentioned1 less effort would have been required to retain it1 and to modify the conception of it into harmony with the comparison1 than to remember the comparison1 and refer back to its successive features for help in forming the final image4 ,sec4 #da4 ,the superiority of the ,metaphor to the ,simile is ascribed by ,dr4 ,whately to the fact that all men are more gratified at catching the resemblance for themselves1 than in having it pointed out to them4 ,but after what has been said1 the great economy it achieves will seem the more probable cause4 ,lear's exclamation-- ,ingratitude6 thou marble-hearted fiend1 would lose part of its effect were it changed into-- ,ingratitude6 thou fiend with heart like marble2 and the loss would result partly from the position of the simile and partly from the extra number of words required4 ,when the comparison is an involved one1 the greater force of the metaphor1 consequent on its greater brevity1 becomes much more conspicuous4 ,if1 drawing an analogy between mental and physical phenomena1 we say1 ,as1 in passing through the crystal1 beams of white light are decomposed into the colours of the rainbow2 so1 in traversing the soul of the poet1 the colourless rays of truth are transformed into brightly tinted poetry2 it is clear that in receiving the double set of words expressing the two halves of the comparison1 and in carrying the one half to the other1 considerable attention is absorbed4 ,most of this is saved1 however1 by putting the comparison in a metaphorical form1 thus3 ,the white light of truth1 in traversing the many sided transparent soul of the poet1 is refracted into iris-hued poetry4 ,sec4 #db4 ,how much is conveyed in a few words by the help of the ,metaphor1 and how vivid the effect consequently produced1 may be abundantly exemplified4 ,from ',a ,life ,drama' may be quoted the phrase-- ,i spear'd him with a jest1 as a fine instance among the many which that poem contains4 ,a passage in the ',prometheus ,unbound1' of ,shelley1 displays the power of the metaphor to great advantage3 ,methought among the lawns together ,we wandered1 underneath the young gray dawn1 ,and multitudes of dense white fleecy clouds ,were wandering1 in thick flocks along the mountains ,shepherded by the slow unwilling wind4 ,this last expression is remarkable for the distinctness with which it realizes the features of the scene3 bringing the mind1 as it were1 by a bound to the desired conception4 ,sec4 #dc4 ,but a limit is put to the advantageous use of the ,metaphor1 by the condition that it must be sufficiently simple to be understood from a hint4 ,evidently1 if there be any obscurity in the meaning or application of it1 no economy of attention will be gained2 but rather the reverse4 ,hence1 when the comparison is complex1 it is usual to have recourse to the ,simile4 ,there is1 however1 a species of figure1 sometimes classed under ,allegory1 but which might1 perhaps1 be better called ,compound ,metaphor1 that enables us to retain the brevity of the metaphorical form even where the analogy is intricate4 ,this is done by indicating the application of the figure at the outset1 and then leaving the mind to continue the parallel4' ,emerson has employed it with great effect in the first of his ,i ,lectures on the ,times'3--,the main interest which any aspects of the ,times can have for us is the great spirit which gazes through them1 the light which they can shed on the wonderful questions1 ,what are we1 and ,whither we tend8 ,we do not wish to be deceived4 ,here we drift1 like white sail across the wild ocean1 now bright on the wave1 now darkling in the trough of the sea2 but from what port did we sail8 ,who knows8 ,or to what port are we bound8 ,who knows8 ,there is no one to tell us but such poor weather-tossed mariners as ourselves1 whom we speak as we pass1 or who have hoisted some signal1 or floated to us some letter in a bottle from far4 ,but what know they more than we8 ,they also found themselves on this wondrous sea4 ,no2 from the older sailors nothing4 ,over all their speaking trumpets the gray sea and the loud winds answer1 ,not in us2 not in ,time4 ,sec4 #dd4 ,the division of the ,simile from the ,metaphor is by no means a definite one4 ,between the one extreme in which the two elements of the comparison are detailed at full length and the analogy pointed out1 and the other extreme in which the comparison is implied instead of stated1 come intermediate forms1 in which the comparison is partly stated and partly implied4 ,for instance3--,astonished at the performances of the ,english plow1 the ,hindoos paint it1 set it up1 and worship it2 thus turning a tool into an idol3 linguists do the same with language4 ,there is an evident advantage in leaving the reader or hearer to complete the figure4 ,and generally these intermediate forms are good in proportion as they do this2 provided the mode of completing it be obvious4 ,sec4 #de4 ,passing over much that may be said of like purport upon ,hyperbole1 ,personification1 ,apostrophe1 c41 let us close our remarks upon construction by a typical example4 ,the general principle which has been enunciated is1 that other things equal1 the force of all verbal forms and arrangements is great1 in proportion as the time and mental effort they demand from the recipient is small4 ,the corollaries from this general principle have been severally illustrated2 and it has been shown that the relative goodness of any two modes of expressing an idea1 may be determined by observing which requires the shortest process of thought for its comprehension4 ,but though conformity in particular points has been exemplified1 no cases of complete conformity have yet been quoted4 ,it is indeed difficult to find them2 for the ,english idiom does not commonly permit the order which theory dictates4 ,a few1 however1 occur in ,ossian4 ,here is one3--,as autumn's dark storms pour from two echoing hills1 so towards each other approached the heroes4 ,as two dark streams from high rocks meet and mix1 and roar on the plain3 loud1 rough1 and dark in battle meet ,lochlin and ,inisfail444,as the troubled noise of the ocean when roll the waves on high2 as the last peal of the thunder of heaven2 such is noise of the battle4 ,sec4 #df4 ,except in the position of the verb in the first two similes1 the theoretically best arrangement is fully carried out in each of these sentences4 ,the simile comes before the qualified image1 the adjectives before the substantives1 the predicate and copula before the subject1 and their respective complements before them4 ,that the passage is open to the charge of being bombastic proves nothing2 or rather1 proves our case4 ,for what is bombast but a force of expression too great for the magnitude of the ideas embodied8 ,all that may rightly be inferred is1 that only in very rare cases1 and then only to produce a climax1 should all the conditions of effective expression be fulfilled4 v4 ,suggestion as a ,means of ,economy4 ,sec4 #dg4 ,passing on to a more complex application of the doctrine with which we set out1 it must now be remarked1 that not only in the structure of sentences1 and the use of figures of speech1 may economy of the recipient's mental energy be assigned as the cause of force2 but that in the choice and arrangement of the minor images1 out of which some large thought is to be built up1 we may trace the same condition to effect4 ,to select from the sentiment1 scene1 or event described those typical elements which carry many others along with them2 and so1 by saying a few things but suggesting many1 to abridge the description2 is the secret of producing a vivid impression4 ,an extract from ,tennyson's ',mariana' will well illustrate this3 ,all day within the dreamy house1 ,the door upon the hinges creaked1 ,the blue fly sung i' the pane2 the mouse ,behind the mouldering wainscot shrieked1 ,or from the crevice peered about4 ,sec4 #dh4 ,the several circumstances here specified bring with them many appropriate associations4 ,our attention is rarely drawn by the buzzing of a fly in the window1 save when everything is still4 ,while the inmates are moving about the house1 mice usually keep silence2 and it is only when extreme quietness reigns that they peep from their retreats4 ,hence each of the facts mentioned1 presupposing numerous others1 calls up these with more or less distinctness2 and revives the feeling of dull solitude with which they are connected in our experience4 ,were all these facts detailed instead of suggested1 the attention would be so frittered away that little impression of dreariness would be produced4 ,similarly in other cases4 ,whatever the nature of the thought to be conveyed1 this skilful selection of a few particulars which imply the rest1 is the key to success4 ,in the choice of component ideas1 as in the choice of expressions1 the aim must be to convey the greatest quantity of thoughts with the smallest quantity of words4 ,sec4 #di4 ,the same principle may in some cases be advantageously carried yet further1 by indirectly suggesting some entirely distinct thought in addition to the one expressed4 ,thus1 if we say1 ,the head of a good classic is as full of ancient myths1 as that of a servant-girl of ghost stories2 it is manifest that besides the fact asserted1 there is an implied opinion respecting the small value of classical knowledge3 and as this implied opinion is recognized much sooner than it can be put into words1 there is gain in omitting it4 ,in other cases1 again1 great effect is produced by an overt omission2 provided the nature of the idea left out is obvious4 ,a good instance of this occurs in ',heroes and ,heroworship4' ,after describing the way in which ,burns was sacrificed to the idle curiosity of ,lion-hunters--people who came not out of sympathy1 but merely to see him--people who sought a little amusement1 and who got their amusement while the ,hero's life went for it6 ,carlyle suggests a parallel thus3 ,richter says1 in the ,island of ,sumatra there is a kind of ',light-chafers1' large ,fire-flies1 which people stick upon spits1 and illuminate the ways with at night4 ,persons of condition can thus travel with a pleasant radiance1 which they much admire4 ,great honour to the ,fire-flies6 ,but--6-- vi4 ,the ,effect of ,poetry explained4 ,sec4 #ej4 ,before inquiring whether the law of effect1 thus far traced1 explains the superiority of poetry to prose1 it will be needful to notice some supplementary causes of force in expression1 that have not yet been mentioned4 ,these are not1 properly speaking1 additional causes2 but rather secondary ones1 originating from those already specified reflex results of them4 ,in the first place1 then1 we may remark that mental excitement spontaneously prompts the use of those forms of speech which have been pointed out as the most effective4 ,out with him6 ,away with him6 are the natural utterances of angry citizens at a disturbed meeting4 ,a voyager1 describing a terrible storm he had witnessed1 would rise to some such climax as--,crack went the ropes and down came the mast4 ,astonishment may be heard expressed in the phrase--,never was there such a sight6 ,all of which sentences are1 it will be observed1 constructed after the direct type4 ,again1 every one knows that excited persons are given to figures of speech4 ,the vituperation of the vulgar abounds with them3 often1 indeed1 consists of little else4 ,beast1 brute1 gallows rogue1 cut-throat villain1 these1 and other like metaphors and metaphorical epithets1 at once call to mind a street quarrel4 ,further1 it may be noticed that extreme brevity is another characteristic of passionate language4 ,the sentences are generally incomplete2 the particles are omitted2 and frequently important words are left to be gathered from the context4 ,great admiration does not vent itself in a precise proposition1 as--,it is beautiful2 but in the simple exclamation--,beautiful6 ,he who1 when reading a lawyer's letter1 should say1 ,vile rascal6 would be thought angry2 while1 ,he is a vile rascal6 would imply comparative coolness4 ,thus we see that alike in the order of the words1 in the frequent use of figures1 and in extreme conciseness1 the natural utterances of excitement conform to the theoretical conditions of forcible expression4 ,sec4 #ea4 ,hence1 then1 the higher forms of speech acquire a secondary strength from association4 ,having1 in actual life1 habitually heard them in connection with vivid mental impressions1 and having been accustomed to meet with them in the most powerful writing1 they come to have in themselves a species of force4 ,the emotions that have from time to time been produced by the strong thoughts wrapped up in these forms1 are partially aroused by the forms themselves4 ,they create a certain degree of animation2 they induce a preparatory sympathy1 and when the striking ideas looked for are reached1 they are the more vividly realized4 ,sec4 #eb4 ,the continuous use of these modes of expression that are alike forcible in themselves and forcible from their associations1 produces the peculiarly impressive species of composition which we call poetry4 ,poetry1 we shall find1 habitually adopts those symbols of thought1 and those methods of using them1 which instinct and analysis agree in choosing as most effective1 and becomes poetry by virtue of doing this4 ,on turning back to the various specimens that have been quoted1 it will be seen that the direct or inverted form of sentence predominates in them2 and that to a degree quite inadmissible in prose4 ,and not only in the frequency1 but in what is termed the violence of the inversions1 will this distinction be remarked4 ,in the abundant use of figures1 again1 we may recognize the same truth4 ,metaphors1 similes1 hyperboles1 and personifications1 are the poet's colours1 which he has liberty to employ almost without limit4 ,we characterize as poetical the prose which uses these appliances of language with any frequency1 and condemn it as over florid or affected long before they occur with the profusion allowed in verse4 ,further1 let it be remarked that in brevity--the other requisite of forcible expression which theory points out1 and emotion spontaneously fulfils--poetical phraseology similarly differs from ordinary phraseology4 ,imperfect periods are frequent2 elisions are perpetual2 and many of the minor words1 which would be deemed essential in prose1 are dispensed with4 ,sec4 #ec4 ,thus poetry1 regarded as a vehicle of thought1 is especially impressive partly because it obeys all the laws of effective speech1 and partly because in so doing it imitates the natural utterances of excitement4 ,while the matter embodied is idealized emotion1 the vehicle is the idealized language of emotion4 ,as the musical composer catches the cadences in which our feelings of joy and sympathy1 grief and despair1 vent themselves1 and out of these germs evolves melodies suggesting higher phases of these feelings2 ,i so1 the poet develops from the typical expressions in which men utter passion and sentiment1 those choice forms of verbal combination in which concentrated passion and sentiment may be fitly presented4 ,sec4 #ed4 ,there is one peculiarity of poetry conducing much to its effect--the peculiarity which is indeed usually thought its characteristic one--still remaining to be considered3 we mean its rhythmical structure4 ,this1 improbable though it seems1 will be found to come under the same generalization with the others4 ,like each of them1 it is an idealization of the natural language of strong emotion1 which is known to be more or less metrical if the emotion be not too violent2 and like each of them it is an economy of the reader's or hearer's attention4 ,in the peculiar tone and manner we adopt in uttering versified language1 may be discerned its relationship to the feelings2 and the pleasure which its measured movement gives us1 is ascribable to the comparative ease with which words metrically arranged can be recognized4 ,sec4 #ee4 ,this last position will scarcely be at once admitted2 but a little explanation will show its reasonableness4 ,for if1 as we have seen1 there is an expenditure of mental energy in the mere act of listening to verbal articulations1 or in that silent repetition of them which goes on in reading--if the perceptive faculties must be in active exercise to identify every syllable--then1 any mode of so combining words as to present a regular recurrence of certain traits which the mind can anticipate1 will diminish that strain upon the attention required by the total irregularity of prose4 ,just as the body1 in receiving a series of varying concussions1 must keep the muscles ready to meet the most violent of them1 as not knowing when such may come2 so1 the mind in receiving unarranged articulations1 must keep its perceptives active enough to recognize the least easily caught sounds4 ,and as1 if the concussions recur in a definite order1 the body may husband its forces by adjusting the resistance needful for each concussion2 so1 if the syllables be rhythmically arranged1 the mind may economize its energies by anticipating the attention required for each syllable4 ,sec4 #ef4 ,far-fetched though this idea will perhaps be thought1 a little introspection will countenance it4 ,that we do take advantage of metrical language to adjust our perceptive faculties to the force of the expected articulations1 is clear from the fact that we are balked by halting versification4 ,much as at the bottom of a flight of stairs1 a step more or less than we counted upon gives us a shock2 so1 too1 does a misplaced accent or a supernumerary syllable4 ,in the one case1 we know that there is an erroneous preadjustment2 and we can scarcely doubt that there is one in the other4 ,but if we habitually preadjust our perceptions to the measured movement of verse1 the physical analogy above given renders it probable that by so doing we economize attention2 and hence that metrical language is more effective than prose1 because it enables us to do this4 ,sec4 #eg4 ,were there space1 it might be worthwhile to inquire whether the pleasure we take in rhyme1 and also that which we take in euphony1 axe not partly ascribable to the same general cause4 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,causes ,,of ,,force ,,in ,,language ,,which ,,depend ,,upon ,,economy ,,of ,,the ,,mental ,,sensibilities4 i4 ,the ,law of ,mental ,exhaustion and ,repair4 ,sec4 #eh4 ,a few paragraphs only1 can be devoted to a second division of our subject that here presents itself4 ,to pursue in detail the laws of effect1 as applying to the larger features of composition1 would carry us beyond our limits4 ,but we may briefly indicate a further aspect of the general principle hitherto traced out1 and hint a few of its wider applications4 ,sec4 #ei4 ,thus far1 then1 we have considered only those causes of force in language which depend upon economy of the mental energies3 we have now to glance at those which depend upon economy of the mental sensibilities4 ,questionable though this division may be as a psychological one1 it will yet serve roughly to indicate the remaining field of investigation4 ,it will suggest that besides considering the extent to which any faculty or group of faculties is tasked in receiving a form of words and realizing its contained idea1 we have to consider the state in which this faculty or group of faculties is left2 and how the reception of subsequent sentences and images will be influenced by that state4 ,without going at length into so wide a topic as the exercise of faculties and its reactive effects1 it will be sufficient here to call to mind that every faculty 7when in a state of normal activity7 is most capable at the outset2 and that the change in its condition1 which ends in what we term exhaustion1 begins simultaneously with its exercise4 ,this generalization1 with which we are all familiar in our bodily experiences1 and which our daily language recognizes as true of the mind as a whole1 is equally true of each mental power1 from the simplest of the senses to the most complex of the sentiments4 ,if we hold a flower to the nose for long1 we become insensible to its scent4 ,we say of a very brilliant flash of lightning that it blinds us2 which means that our eyes have for a time lost their ability to appreciate light4 ,after eating a quantity of honey1 we are apt to think our tea is without sugar4 ,the phrase a deafening roar1 implies that men find a very loud sound temporarily incapacitates them for hearing faint ones4 ,to a hand which has for some time carried a heavy body1 small bodies afterwards lifted seem to have lost their weight4 ,now1 the truth at once recognized in these1 its extreme manifestations1 may be traced throughout4 ,it may be shown that alike in the reflective faculties1 in the imagination1 in the perceptions of the beautiful1 the ludicrous1 the sublime1 in the sentiments1 the instincts1 in all the mental powers1 however we may classify them-action exhausts2 and that in proportion as the action is violent1 the subsequent prostration is great4 ,sec4 #fj4 ,equally1 throughout the whole nature1 may be traced the law that exercised faculties are ever tending to resume their original state4 ,not only after continued rest1 do they regain their full power not only do brief cessations partially reinvigorate them2 but even while they are in action1 the resulting exhaustion is ever being neutralized4 ,the two processes of waste and repair go on together4 ,hence with faculties habitually exercised--as the senses of all persons1 or the muscles of any one who is strong--it happens that1 during moderate activity1 the repair is so nearly equal to the waste1 that the diminution of power is scarcely appreciable2 and it is only when the activity has been long continued1 or has been very violent1 that the repair becomes so far in arrear of the waste as to produce a perceptible prostration4 ,in all cases1 however1 when1 by the action of a faculty1 waste has been incurred1 some lapse of time must take place before full efficiency can be reacquired2 and this time must be long in proportion as the waste has been great4 ii ,explanation of ,climax1 ,antithesis1 and ,anticlimax4 ,sec4 #fa4 ,keeping in mind these general truths1 we shall be in a condition to understand certain causes of effect in composition now to be considered4 ,every perception received1 and every conception realized1 entailing some amount of waste--or1 as ,liebig would say1 some change of matter in the brain2 and the efficiency of the faculties subject to this waste being thereby temporarily1 though often but momentarily1 diminished2 the resulting partial inability must affect the acts of perception and conception that immediately succeed4 ,and hence we may expect that the vividness with which images are realized will1 in many cases1 depend on the order of their presentation3 even when one order is as convenient to the understanding as the other4 ,sec4 #fb4 ,there are sundry facts which alike illustrate this1 and are explained by it4 ,climax is one of them4 ,the marked effect obtained by placing last the most striking of any series of images1 and the weakness--often the ludicrous weakness--produced by reversing this arrangement1 depends on the general law indicated4 ,as immediately after looking at the sun we cannot perceive the light of a fire1 while by looking at the fire first and the sun afterwards we can perceive both2 so1 after receiving a brilliant1 or weighty1 or terrible thought1 we cannot appreciate a less brilliant1 less weighty1 or less terrible one1 while1 by reversing the order1 we can appreciate each4 ,in ,antithesis1 again1 we may recognize the same general truth4 ,the opposition of two thoughts that are the reverse of each other in some prominent trait1 insures an impressive effect2 and does this by giving a momentary relaxation to the faculties addressed4 ,if1 after a series of images of an ordinary character1 appealing in a moderate degree to the sentiment of reverence1 or approbation1 or beauty1 the mind has presented to it a very insignificant1 a very unworthy1 or a very ugly image2 the faculty of reverence1 or approbation1 or beauty1 as the case may be1 having for the time nothing to do1 tends to resume its full power2 and will immediately afterwards appreciate a vast1 admirable1 or beautiful image better than it would otherwise do4 ,conversely1 where the idea of absurdity due to extreme insignificance is to be produced1 it maybe greatly intensified by placing it after something highly impressive3 especially if the form of phrase implies that something still more impressive is coming4 ,a good illustration of the effect gained by thus presenting a petty idea to a consciousness that has not yet recovered from the shock of an exciting one1 occurs in a sketch by ,balzac4 ,his hero writes to a mistress who has cooled towards him the following letter3 ,madame1 ,votre conduite m'etonne autant qu'elle m'afflige ,non contente de me dechirer le coeur par vos dedains vous avez l'indelicatesse de me retenir une brosse a dents1 que mes moyens ne me permettent pas de remplacer1 mes proprietes etant grevees d'hypotheques ,adieu1 trop1 belle et trop ingrate ainie6 ,puissions nous nous revoir dans un monde meilleur6 ,charles ,edouard ,sec4 #fc4 ,thus we see that the phenomena of ,climax1 ,antithesis1 and ,anticlimax1 alike result from this general principle4 ,improbable as these momentary variations in susceptibility may seem1 we cannot doubt their occurrence when we contemplate the analogous variations in the susceptibility of the senses4 ,referring once more to phenomena of vision1 every one knows that a patch of black on a white ground looks blacker1 and a patch of white on a black ground looks whiter1 than elsewhere4 ,as the blackness and the whiteness must really be the same1 the only assignable cause for this is a difference in their actions upon us1 dependent upon the different states of our faculties4 ,it is simply a visual antithesis4 iii4 ,need of ,variety4 ,sec4 #fd4 ,but this extension of the general principle of economy--this further condition to effective composition1 that the sensitiveness of the faculties must be continuously husbanded--includes much more than has been yet hinted4 ,it implies not only that certain arrangements and certain juxtapositions of connected ideas are best2 but that some modes of dividing and presenting a subject will be more striking than others2 and that1 too1 irrespective of its logical cohesion4 ,it shows why we must progress from the less interesting to the more interesting2 and why not only the composition as a whole1 but each of its successive portions1 should tend towards a climax4 ,at the same time1 it forbids long continuity of the same kind of thought1 or repeated production of like effects4 ,it warns us against the error committed both by ,pope in his poems and by ,bacon in his essays--the error1 namely1 of constantly employing forcible forms of expression3 and it points out that as the easiest posture by and by becomes fatiguing1 and is with pleasure exchanged for one less easy1 so1 the most perfectly-constructed sentences will soon weary1 and relief will be given by using those of an inferior kind4 ,sec4 #fe4 ,further1 we may infer from it not only that we should avoid generally combining our words in one manner1 however good1 or working out our figures and illustrations in one way1 however telling2 but that we should avoid anything like uniform adherence1 even to the wider conditions of effect4 ,we should not make every section of our subject progress in interest2 we should not always rise to a climax4 ,as we saw that1 in single sentences1 it is but rarely allowable to fulfill all the conditions to strength2 so1 in the larger sections of a composition we must not often conform entirely to the law indicated4 ,we must subordinate the component effect to the total effect4 ,sec4 #ff4 ,in deciding how practically to carry out the principles of artistic composition1 we may derive help by bearing in mind a fact already pointed out--the fitness of certain verbal arrangements for certain kinds of thought4 ,that constant variety in the mode of presenting ideas which the theory demands1 will in a great degree result from a skilful adaptation of the form to the matter4 ,we saw how the direct or inverted sentence is spontaneously used by excited people2 and how their language is also characterized by figures of speech and by extreme brevity4 ,hence these may with advantage predominate in emotional passages2 and may increase as the emotion rises4 ,on the other hand1 for complex ideas1 the indirect sentence seems the best vehicle4 ,in conversation1 the excitement produced by the near approach to a desired conclusion1 will often show itself in a series of short1 sharp sentences2 while1 in impressing a view already enunciated1 we generally make our periods voluminous by piling thought upon thought4 ,these natural modes of procedure may serve as guides in writing4 ,keen observation and skilful analysis would1 in like manner1 detect further peculiarities of expression produced by other attitudes of mind2 and by paying due attention to all such traits1 a writer possessed of sufficient versatility might make some approach to a completely-organized work4 iv4 ,the ,ideal ,writer4 ,sec4 #fg4 ,this species of composition which the law of effect points out as the perfect one1 is the one which high genius tends naturally to produce4 ,as we found that the kinds of sentences which are theoretically best1 are those generally employed by superior minds1 and by inferior minds when excitement has raised them2 so1 we shall find that the ideal form for a poem1 essay1 or fiction1 is that which the ideal writer would evolve spontaneously4 ,one in whom the powers of expression fully responded to the state of feeling1 would unconsciously use that variety in the mode of presenting his thoughts1 which ,art demands4 ,this constant employment of one species of phraseology1 which all have now to strive against1 implies an undeveloped faculty of language4 ,to have a specific style is to be poor in speech4 ,if we remember that1 in the far past1 men had only nouns and verbs to convey their ideas with1 and that from then to now the growth has been towards a greater number of implements of thought1 and consequently towards a greater complexity and variety in their combinations2 we may infer that we are now1 in our use of sentences1 much what the primitive man was in his use of words2 and that a continuance of the process that has hitherto gone on1 must produce increasing heterogeneity in our modes of expression4 ,as now1 in a fine nature1 the play of the features1 the tones of the voice and its cadences1 vary in harmony with every thought uttered2 so1 in one possessed of a fully developed power of speech1 the mould in which each combination of words is cast will similarly vary with1 and be appropriate to the sentiment4 ,sec4 #fh4 ,that a perfectly endowed man must unconsciously write in all styles1 we may infer from considering how styles originate4 ,why is ,johnson pompous1 ,goldsmith simple8 ,why is one author abrupt1 another rhythmical1 another concise8 ,evidently in each case the habitual mode of utterance must depend upon the habitual balance of the nature4 ,the predominant feelings have by use trained the intellect to represent them4 ,but while long1 though unconscious1 discipline has made it do this efficiently1 it remains from lack of practice1 incapable of doing the same for the less active feelings2 and when these are excited1 the usual verbal forms undergo but slight modifications4 ,let the powers of speech be fully developed1 however--let the ability of the intellect to utter the emotions be complete2 and this fixity of style will disappear4 ,the perfect writer will express himself as ,junius1 when in the ,junius frame of mind2 when he feels as ,lamb felt1 will use a like familiar speech2 and will fall into the ruggedness of ,carlyle when in a ,carlylean mood4 ,now he will be rhythmical and now irregular2 here his language will be plain and there ornate2 sometimes his sentences will be balanced and at other times unsymmetrical2 for a while there will be considerable sameness1 and then again great variety4 ,his mode of expression naturally responding to his state of feeling1 there will flow from his pen a composition changing to the same degree that the aspects of his subject change4 ,he will thus without effort conform to what we have seen to be the laws of effect4 ,and while his work presents to the reader that variety needful to prevent continuous exertion of the same faculties1 it will also answer to the description of all highly organized products1 both of man and of nature3 it will be not a series of like parts simply placed in juxtaposition1 but one whole made up of unlike parts that are mutually dependent4