But above all let us not be influenced by any angry feelings. Above all, let us not be influenced by any angry feelings. In the sentence just quoted the "but" is meaningless. the following sentence the "but" She [Mrs. Mount] never uttered an idea or a reflection, but Richard thought her the cleverest woman he had ever met. * He was a Puritan, but in many of his views went far beyond his party. is actually ambiguous: In Though she never uttered an idea or a reflection, Richard thought her the cleverest woman he had ever met. He was a Puritan who, in many of his views, went far beyond his party. The writer of the last sentence intended merely to describe Milton's peculiar form of Puritanism. Among prominent writers the one most addicted to excessive use of "but" is Macaulay. The following, from his essay on Addison, is a striking specimen : Addison sat for Malmesbury in the House of Commons which was elected in 1708. But (1) the House of Commons was not the field for him. The bashfulness of his nature made his wit and eloquence useless in debate. He once rose, but (2) could not overcome his diffidence, and ever after remained silent. Nobody can think it strange that a great writer should fail as a speaker. But (3) many, probably, will think it strange that Addison's failure as a speaker should have had no unfavorable effect upon his success as a politician. In our time a man of high rank and great fortune might, though speaking very little and very ill, hold a considerable post. But (4) it would now be inconceivable that a mere adventurer . . should become . . . Secretary of State, without some oratorical talent. Why could not Macaulay have written: (1) The House of Commons, however, was not, etc. (4) Nevertheless, it would now be inconceivable, etc. George Eliot, in her Silas Marner, chapter xii., is equally indiscriminating: But her arms had not yet relaxed, etc. But presently the warmth, etc. But where was Silas Marner, etc. THE HISTORICAL PRESENT. 40. By "historical present the rhetorician means in general narrating events of the past in terms of the present; the grammarian means the use of such forms as "is," "are," "has," "have," for "was,' were," "had," etc. 66 That is, the past is treated as if present. The form of expression is figurative. It presupposes in the writer a vivid imagination, operating to make past events seem actually present. To this extent the historical present is akin to the bolder figure called vision. When used by skillful writers, the historical present is an effective device; it gives to narration a certain vivacity. On the other hand, when used by unskillful writers, the historical present becomes an intolerable nuisance. Writers in school and college seem to be under the delusion that an occasional change of tense is needed for the sake of change. In consequence, the reader is forced to struggle through paragraphs and sentences in which present and past are hopelessly confounded. For example: * One day, when the Spectator was visiting at the Coverley mansion, Sir Roger arranges for a fox-hunt, because, on account of his age, he could not ride after foxes. *The Prince demanded that he stop, but he does not, and the Prince, enraged, struck him and addressed him as Sir." At last the long-looked-for spring appeared . . . and we gladly gave up. . . winter amusements for our out-of-door sports. Again we glide in our swift shells . . . again we play ball, etc.1 The historical present should always be marked, or at least suggested, by a word or two of explanation. A brilliant example is to be found in David Copperfield. The novelist, in giving a general account of David's life after the mother's second marriage, begins: 1 A. S. Hill, Foundations of Rhetoric, p. 97. 2 Quoted in Genung, Practical Rhetoric, p. 113. Let me remember how it used to be, and bring one morning back again. I come into the second-best parlor after breakfast. ready for me at her writing-desk, etc. And so on for two pages, all in the present form. end is marked: My mother is Then the It seems to me, at this distance of time, as if my unfortunate studies generally took this course, etc. Unfortunately the young writer in school or in college is not a Dickens, is wholly without imagination, uses the historical present without motive or excuse, merely as a clumsy trick for varying routine. In truth, there is no call for the historical present in ordinary writing. The kindest service, accordingly, that any teacher can render to his scholars is to require them summarily to discontinue all such uncouthness. When one enters the vocation of letters there will be time enough for the cultivation of the historical present. Not every instance, however, of the present tense in narrating the past is to be condemned as "historical.' Very many general truths and facts can be expressed only in the present tense and are thus expressed by the most careful writers. For example: Though they dwelt in such solitude, these people held daily converse with the world. The Notch is a great artery through which the lifeblood of internal commerce is continually throbbing, etc. It was one of those primitive taverns, where the traveller pays only for food and lodging, but meets with a homely kindness beyond all price. The family and the tavern here described by Hawthorne have long ago passed away. But the Crawford Notch still is a great artery; we may still find taverns where the traveller meets with such treatment. CHAPTER IV. PARAGRAPHING. 41. Kinds of Paragraph.-By the term Paragraph we mean two things, intimately related, yet quite distinct. 1. The Independent, or Isolated, Paragraph.-For example: The filing of an amended charter at Trenton yesterday by the Amalgamated Copper Company, increasing its capital stock from $75,000,000 to $155,000,000, was for the purpose of absorbing the Butte and Boston and Boston and Montana Companies. The Kings County Coöperative Building and Loan Association, which discontinued business early this year, will return all the invested funds, with a bonus of 7 per cent. Five shots, none of which took effect, were fired at Alexander B. Shepherd, ex-Governor of the District of Columbia, at Batopilas, Mexico, recently. The assailant, a Mexican, was captured and sent to the State capital to be dealt with. Every newspaper contains a column or more of such independent paragraphs. They are found also in literature. Thus Coleridge's Table Talk is little more than a string of independent paragraphs on every conceivable subject. For example: The best way to bring a clever young man, who has become unsettled and skeptical, to reason, is to make him feel something in any way. Love, if sincere and unworldly, will, in nine instances out of ten, bring him to a sense and assurance of something real and actual; and that sense alone will make him think to a sound purpose, instead of dreaming that he is thinking. I certainly think that juries would be more conscientious if they were allowed a larger discretion. But, after all, juries cannot be better than the mass out of which they are taken. And if juries are not honest and single-minded, they are the worst, because the least responsible, instruments of judicial or popular tyranny. 2. The Connected Paragraph.-This is merely a part of a larger whole. For example, the following three paragraphs from Addison's Sir Roger and the Witches: I was secretly concerned to see human nature in so much wretchedness and disgrace, but at the same time could not forbear smiling to hear Sir Roger, who is a little puzzled about the old woman, advising her, as a justice of the peace, to avoid all communication with the devil, and never to hurt any of her neighbors' cattle. We concluded our visit with a bounty, which was very acceptable. In our return home, Sir Roger told me that old Moll had been often brought before him for making children spit pins, and giving maids the nightmare; and that the country people would be tossing her into a pond, and trying experiments with her every day, if it was not for him and his chaplain. I have since found, upon inquiry, that Sir Roger was several times staggered with the reports that had been brought him concerning this old woman, and would frequently have bound her over to the county sessions, had not his chaplain with much ado persuaded him to the contrary. In modern writing and printing, the paragraph, whether independent or connected, is marked off to the eye by the device known as indenting. In printed matter, the first letter of the paragraph is set back one em, or two ems, from the flush line of the page or column. In writing, the first letter should be set back an inch or an inch and a half from the margin. 42. The Independent Paragraph.-This is practically a miniature essay. Whether long or short, whether made up of one sentence or of several sentences, it embodies all that the author intends to say on the subject. Evidently, then, the independent paragraph should be distinguished by directness and conciseness; the writer should go straight to the point, should employ as few words as possible. Paragraphs written for a newspaper may be left to the supervision of the editor, a person whose office it is to see that his contributors say the most in the fewest words. Further, the author by profession, Coleridge for example, may be |