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nized in its predecessor; on the principle of closing with already suggested thought as an outset, and pushing on from this to a new assertion.

EXAMPLES. Here may be placed side by side faulty and amended sentences showing the value of recognizing the dynamic stress.

1. MAKING THE CUE POINT PROMINENT.

"It was remarkable that although he [Barnaby Rudge] had that dim sense of the past, he sought out Hugh's dog, and took him under his care; and that he never could be tempted into London."1

"It was remarkable that although his sense of the past was so dim, he sought out Hugh's dog, and took him under his care; and that he never could be tempted into London."

Here the assertion of the main sentence depends not on the fact that Barnaby had the sense, but that the sense was so dim; hence the word dim should have the stress, and placing it at the end secures this.

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"I occupied a tug from which I could see the effect of the battle on both sides, within range of the enemy's guns; but a small tug, without armament, was not calculated to attract the fire of batteries while they were being assailed themselves." 2

"A tug, which I occupied, and from which I could see the effect of the battle on both sides, was within range of the enemy's guns; but a small tug, without armament, was not calculated to attract the fire of batteries while they were being assailed themselves."

Here the cue-point of the first part is, not that he occupied a tug but that it was within range; this, therefore, ought to have the main assertion.

2. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CUE.

"At first sight one would fancy that there never was a book more popular, or that formed more exclusively the mental centre of modern scholars, Orientalists, theologians, or jurists. What is the real truth? Paradoxical as it may seem, there | Paradoxical as it may seem, there never was a book at once more uni- never was a book at once more universally neglected and more univer-versally talked of and more universally talked of." 3 sally neglected."

1 DICKENS, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter the Last.

2 Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Vol. i, p. 476.

8 DEUTSCH, The Talmud, Literary Remains of Emanuel Deutsch, p. 3.

Here, by the proposed change, the word "talked of" uses the cue furnished by the preceding sentence, the word "neglected,” culminating the sentence, points the new assertion that the sentence exists to make.

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Then, too, in spite of all that is said about the absorbing and brutalizing influence of our passionate material progress, it seems to me indisputable that this progress is likely, though not certain, to lead in the end to an apparition of intellectual life; and that man, after he has made himself perfectly comfortable and has now to determine what to do with himself next, may begin to remember that he has a mind, and that the mind may be made the source of great pleasure.

I grant it is mainly the privilege of | I grant that, at present, to discern faith, at present, to discern this end this end to our railways, our busito our railways, our business, and ness, and our fortune-making, is our fortune-making; mainly the privilege of faith;

but we shall see if, here as elsewhere, faith is not in the end the true prophet." 1

Here the proposed change of order both makes the word "faith" use the cue of the preceding, and distinguishes it as itself the cue, in turn, for the assertion that follows.

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Claims of Variety. It is principally through the good management of the dynamic stress that the variety of phrase and movement so essential to the interest of the reader is maintained.2

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1. When, in clauses or sentences of like construction, an element has once had a certain stress, there is no need of giving it the same stress again, except in the special case where it is desirable to emphasize by iteration. It is better to put the repeated idea in a subordinate relation, or change its relative order, so as to reserve the stress for a new aspect of the thought.

EXAMPLE.

This is especially notable in a succession of clauses begin ning with that. The following will illustrate this:—

1 MATTHEW ARNOLD, Essays in Criticism, First Series, p. 17.

2 For the claim of variety in vocabulary, see above, p. 48.

8 For the use of iteration as a form of repetition, see above, p. 303.

"That Dryden was a great poet is undeniable; that he desecrated his powers and burned them, like the incense of Israel, in unhallowed shrines, is no less certain." 1

"That some facts were stated inaccurately, I do not doubt; that many opinions were crude, I am quite sure; that I had failed to understand much which I attempted to explain, is possible." 2

"That Dryden was a great poet is undeniable; but it is no less certain that he desecrated his powers and burned them, like the incense of Israel, in unhallowed shrines."

"That some facts were stated inaccurately, I do not doubt; that many opinions were crude, I am quite sure; and it is quite possible that I had failed to understand much which I attempted to explain."

Here the proposed amendments not only secure variety of stress and movement, but produce an effect of climax.

2. A natural result of the observance of the cue and the adjustment of succeeding stress to it, is that in a series of sentences the stress is continually varied, coming in the beginning of some sentences and at the end of others. This is of course a thing for watchfulness and artistic management; regard being had always for the two considerations: variation of rhythm, and grouping of related ideas together.

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EXAMPLES. To note how this variation of stress works in a passage of several sentences, compare the following extract with its respectfully suggested emendation : —

"The great ideas that lie in the "The great ideas that lie in the philosophic systems of the world philosophic systems of the world have more vitality and utility for have less vitality and utility for the the preacher than for the thinker thinker, who is aiming at the producwho is aiming at the production of tion of a scheme that shall render a scheme that shall render obsolete obsolete the whole mass of preceding the whole mass of preceding specula- speculation, than for the preacher tion. These systems of thought are [, who is putting thought into the mines which only the man in sympa- production of character]. It is only thetic ethical contact with mankind the man in sympathetic ethical concan operate to advantage. The learn- tact with mankind who can operate ing of the historian of philosophy he | these mines of systematic thought to

1 FARRAR, With the Poets.

2 TROLLOPE, Autobiography.

cannot possess, but the great thoughts | advantage. The learning of the historian of philosophy he cannot possess, but he may master and make his own, as few can, the great thoughts of the past. The same may be said

of the past he may master and make his own as few can. The same may be said of literaturę. The niceties of the study and the erudition of the literary commentator he may not have, but the spiritual possession of the vision and the passion of the world's great artists he may assuredly have. No form of human service is better fitted than the Christian ministry to reveal the vitality that is the source of all great literature."

of literature. The niceties of the study and the erudition of the literary commentator he may not have, but he may assuredly have the spiritual possession of the vision and the passion of the world's great artists. No form of human service is better fitted than the Christian ministry to reveal the vitality that is the source of all great literature."

3. The deadly snare of the jaded or perfunctory writer, — and, it may be added, of that much-vaunted being the spontaneous writer is, monotony of sentence structure, a wooden movement, with the same rise and fall, the same type of sentence, the same relative placement of stress, dominating the whole work. This rises simply from the relaxation of vigilance in calculating the relation of part to part; in other words, from neglecting to follow and adjust to each other the mass and movement of sentences.

EXAMPLE. - In the following, which is a perfunctory editorial notice, it will be seen that the sentences, with the sole exception of the second, and this more apparent than real, are all constructed in precisely the same way, - each consisting merely of two assertions connected by and: "The death of Senator Anthony has been long expected, and it releases him from a suffering which was beyond remedy. He was a public man of· long and honorable service, who filled every station to which he was called with dignity and grace. As the editor of The Providence Journal, and Governor and Senator, he was the most important political figure in the State, and in his death Rhode Island loses the most successful politician in her history.

"In other years Senator Anthony's crisp and pungent paragraphs in the Journal were very notable and influential, and his paper was one of the halfdozen leading journals in New England. It was by paragraphs rather than

by elaborate editorial articles that he preferred to affect opinion, and in the Senate it was by his occasional brief speeches, which were often singularly felicitous, and not by participation in debate or by prolonged orations, that he took part in the proceedings.

“He was a devoted party man, and his political experience and judgment made him a wise counsellor. At home he had the reputation of a shrewd manager, and his party will not easily find so well-trained a leader. Yet for a long time there have been complaints that his rule was too absolute, and that good politics required more freedom and independence than his sway permitted. Senator Anthony's social sympathies and his literary tastes made him a very pleasant companion, and his conversation was full of interesting political reminiscence. He had become the Father of the Senate, and no Senator would be more sincerely mourned by his associates than this courteous gentleman and devoted and faithful legislator."

IV. THE SENTENCE IN DICTION.

What we have here to consider will be apparent from the description of diction given on p. 107, above. Going back a little from the question of sentence organism, we are to note what effect sentences of various lengths or types have upon the general coloring and movement of the style; what the texture of a whole passage derives from the prevailing char acter of the sentences that make it up.

I.

As to Length. The question whether the sentences of a passage shall be long or short is by no means an idle one; it implies something regarding their kind of subject-matter, something also regarding their adaptedness to the taste or capacity of the reader. Accordingly we have to note of each class, what it is good for, and what ill effects result from using it injudiciously or in too great predominance.

The Short Sentence. The short sentence, with its single assertion, nucleates in the meaning or weight of some single word.

This suggests what it is especially good for: subject

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