intelligible utterance, rhetorical or other. But even in employing grammatical processes as working-tools, rhetoric imparts to them a new quality distinctively rhetorical, the quality by which they become methods in an art, means to an end. That is, it is not mere mechanism, but an issue and a purpose, much greater than sentence-building or the manipulation of a theme, that controls the rhetorical combination of words, the purpose, namely, of adapting thought in harmony with its subject and occasion, to the various requirements and capacities of readers and hearers.

In discussing, therefore, the processes of composition, we are to approach each principle, so to say, from its operative side; that is, we are to view it in the light of its adaptedness to promote some end in thought or emotion, of its power toward making an idea, according to our design, clear or emphatic or felicitous. These processes have their roots partly in grammatical laws and principles; but there are also many that go beyond and above the scope of grammar, into the more distinctive region of rhetorical

structure.

This chapter on composition comprises three sections: on fundamental processes; on the structure of the sentence; and on the structure of the paragraph.

SECTION FIRST.

FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES.

UNDER this head are discussed the most important features of grammatical and rhetorical combination. These are considered in themselves, as principles of expression, without reference to their agency in the construction of sentences and paragraphs. Some of the processes deal only with verbal combinations; others may operate over a broader field, equally applicable, it may be, to a single sentence, paragraph, or entire discourse; but so long as

the principle is the same, and requires one mental habit for its mastery, it is best considered under one head, be its scope broad

or narrow.

I. SYNTAX.

Every coherent assemblage of words has its necessary adjustments of number, case, mood, tense, and the like, which are to be carefully observed. Not all of these syntactical arrangements can or need be noticed here; it will be sufficient to discuss merely those wherein the grammatical principle receives a special significance or modification from the rhetorical point of view.

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Concord of Subject and Verb. The strict observance of the grammatical rule that a verb must agree in number with its subject is of special rhetorical importance in cases where, among a number of words, the exact subject is to be distinguished. Other cases occur where the concord is to be determined more from the idea than from the word.

1. Probably the most frequent source of error in concord is, where either some word of different number, or several subordinate details, intervening between the subject and the verb, may obscure the view of the former, and attract the verb to the different number suggested. This error is to be avoided, of course, only by keeping the exact subject well in mind.

EXAMPLES. Subject obscured by intervening words: "The enormous expense of governments have provoked men to think, by making them feel.". "This large homestead, including a large barn and beautiful garden, are to be sold next month."

Subject obscured by details: "But these Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, written as simply and straightforwardly as his battles were fought, couched in the most unpretentious phrase, with never a touch of grandiosity or attitudinizing, familiar, homely, even common in style, is a great piece of literature, because great literature is nothing more nor less than the clear expression of minds that have something great in them, whether religion, or beauty, or deep experience."

2. Subjects connected by conjunctions often require careful management, because what is grammatically of one number may sometimes be logically the opposite.

Thus, singular subjects connected by and may merely be synonymous words reiterating the one subject, or a closely connected couple making up together but a single idea; requiring therefore a singular verb. In some cases also singular subjects connected by or may be more truly a connected than a disjoined couple, and require either a plural verb or more frequently — a recast.

EXAMPLES.

Synonymous words: "All the furniture, the stock of shops, the machinery which could be found in the realm, was of less value than the property which some single parishes now contain." Here the writer (Macaulay) evidently views the three subjects as making together only a single idea, being practically synonymous.

Combined couples: "The composition and resolution of forces was largely applied by Newton."—"The ebb and flow of the tides is now understood."

False disjunction: "The Army or the Navy answer to that description." On this sentence Professor Bain remarks, "There is no real disjunction in such a case; the Army does not exclude the Navy, the predicate applies to each and to both." This construction, however, is unnecessarily awkward, and rather than use it the writer would do better to recast his sentence.

3. Unless, however, there is special reason to emphasize the unity or plurality of the idea, it is worth some painstaking to avoid such clashes in the concord of connected subjects. In most cases this can be effected without difficulty, by choosing some verbal form that is neutral in number, or by changing the structure of the sentence.

EXAMPLES. - The following illustrates a not infrequent case: "Only a few, perhaps only one, were (or was?) benefited." This clash may be evaded by choosing a verb with the same form for both numbers, e.g., "received any

benefit."

In the following example, where, "though the verb should formally be singular, still the number of alternate subjects is strongly suggestive of plurality," the difficulty is evaded, as above, by the employment of a neutral verb: -

"Truths that wake

To perish never;

Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavor,

Nor man, nor boy,

Nor all that is at enmity with joy,

Can utterly abolish or destroy!"

The verbal forms with auxiliaries are of especial use in evading clashes of

concord.

✓

V

4. The number of the verb used with a collective noun must be determined according to the logical predominance of the singular or the plural idea. This is often a nice point to settle, and sometimes indeed must be left to the writer's individual interpretation; the main caution, however, is, that the point be definitely settled, not left without care.

EXAMPLES.

“The Jewish people were all free." Here plurality predominates, the subject being the Jews regarded as individuals. "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." Here the action is so collective as to make a singular verb suitable.

In the following the concord of the collective seems to have been disregarded, or else not wisely judged: "The study of the moon's surface has been continued now from the time of Galileo, and of late years a whole class of competent observers has been devoted to it, so that astronomers engaged in other branches have oftener looked on this as a field for occasional hours of recreation with the telescope than made it a constant study."1

Tense. It is of special rhetorical importance to notice combinations of tenses, and modifications of tense due to the kind of idea presented, or to some particular effect sought.

5. In dependent clauses and infinitives the tense is to be counted relatively to the principal assertion, not absolutely in itself.

EXAMPLES. In the sentence, “He intended to have gone," the tense of the infinitive is incorrect, because it ought to be counted, not from the present time, but from the time of the intention; and relatively to that time it is future, "He intended to go." - "And so, you see, the thing never would have been looked into at all, if I hadn't happened to have been down there." -"No writer would write a book unless he thinks it will be read." Say either, "No writer will," etc., or, "unless he thought it would," etc.

In the use of the verb "should like" the mistake is very commonly made of interchanging the tense of the principal verb and the infinitive, – "I should like to have seen him," instead of "I should have liked to see him." This is owing, no doubt, to the difficulty of pronouncing “liked to,” when they are placed together; a difficulty which, however, should not be allowed to make the difference between accuracy and error. The following sentence, from

1 For an excellent discussion of Concord, from which the above examples are largely adopted, the student is referred to Bain's "Composition Grammar," pages 282-295.

Howells, illustrates the correct use: "There were some questions that she would have liked to ask him; but she had to content herself with trying to answer them when her husband put them to her."

6. General and universal truths are essentially timeless. In expressing them, therefore, the present tense is required, whatever the tense of the accompanying verbs.

EXAMPLE.

"He perceived clearly that this world is governed by an allwise and beneficent Ruler." This truth, being in no way affected by the time at which it is perceived, requires the present tense.

7. When a past occurrence is to be narrated with special vividness it is often treated as if taking place in the present. This so-called "historic present" is a very effectual means of giving life to a narrative; but it may also easily be overdone. It is not to be employed unless there is a real demand for vividness; and when once adopted it should be kept consistent throughout the passage.

EXAMPLES.-In the following passage the historic present is carelessly mixed with the past: "The Romans now turn aside in quest of provisions. The Helvetians mistook the movement for retreat. They pursue, and give Cæsar his chance. They fight at disadvantage, and after a desperate struggle are defeated."

In the following passage, from Dickens, the historic present is used advisedly and skilfully, with noticeable care in the transition from one tense to the other :"Let me remember how it used to be, and bring one morning back again. I come into the second-best parlor after breakfast, with my books, and an exercise-book, and a slate. My mother is ready for me at her writing-desk, but not half so ready as Mr. Murdstone in his easy-chair by the window (though he pretends to be reading a book), or as Miss Murdstone, sitting near my mother stringing steel beads." [After a page or so of this reminiscence in the historic present, the story is brought back to the ordinary past tense of narration by the remark, beginning a new paragraph]:

"It seems to me, at this distance of time, as if my unfortunate studies generally took this course." [And from here onward the tense is past.]

Shall and Will. — The niceties of idiom in the use of these auxiliaries arise from the original sense of the words, still inherent in them, and regulating their usage by the feeling of propriety,