A warning must here be given against mixed Metaphors, or the combination of two different comparisons in one figure. Of this we have an example in the following:

"I do not want to handle, to profane the leaves their winding sheets. I could as soon dislodge a shade. I seem to inhale learning walking amid their foliage."-Lamb.

Here the leaves of the books in a library are first compared to the 'winding sheets" of their authors, and are immediately afterwards compared to the "foliage" of trees.

33. 3. Allegory is a continued comparison, or a composition in which the language is figurative throughout. The Fable and the Parable belong to this class. In all these compositions, abstract truths are represented by sensible objects, or human affairs are described under the image of the conduct of the lower animals and of the processes of nature. This also involves Personification.

34. 4. Personification, which, like Simile and Metaphor, implies comparison, is that figure by which the lower animals and inanimate objects are endowed with the powers of human beings, specially with the power of speech; as,

"I am glad," answered the bee, "to hear you grant, at least,
that I came honestly by my wings and my voice."
"The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap
their hands."

35. 5. Apostrophe is personification of the second person, in which the inanimate and the absent are addressed as if they were persons, and present; as "O Death, where is thy sting?"

"Shrine of the mighty! can it be,

That this is all remains of thee?"

(a) Apostrophe (Gr. ¿xó, orgiqw) means literally a turning off or aside, and the figure is so called because the writer interrupts the natural course of his narration or description, to address the object to which it refers.

36. 6. Metonymy is the figure by which correlative terms are interchanged; as when we transpose,

1. The concrete and the abstract; as, the crown, for royalty;

the sword, for military power; Cæsar, for the sovereign

power; the fatal cup, for poison, etc., etc.

Her

Majesty, for the Queen; His Impudence, for an impudent fellow; etc., etc.

2. The effect and the cause; as, drunkenness, for wine; sunshine, for the sun; gray hairs, for old age.

3. The author and his works; as, "I am reading Shakspeare; "he is an admirer of Wordsworth.

(a) Metonymy literally signifies (Gr. μerá, övoμa) a change of name.

37. 7. Synecdoche is the figure which puts a part for the whole; as, fifty sail for fifty ships. "Consider the lilies how they grow, where lilies is put for all flowers, or for the whole vegetable world. The part in the latter case is the species, and the whole is the genus.

(a) Synecdoche literally signifies (Gr. ovv, ix, déxouas) the understanding or receiving of one thing out of another. The force of this figure consists in the greater vividness with which the part or the species is realized.

38. 8. Hyperbole is the figure of exaggeration. It frequently consists in putting the whole for a part, and may therefore be regarded in this case as the converse of synecdoche; as, แ "The whole city came forth to meet him." This example also involves Metonymy: the city is put for the inhabitants. The exaggeration, as in this instance, is frequently conveyed in the attribute: sometimes in the verb; as, "The French fleet was annihilated," meaning that it was rendered useless.

(a) Hyperbole (Gr. ¿rig, ßáλaw) literally signifies a throwing beyond, an overshooting.

39. 9. Epigram is the figure of apparent contradiction. It is a short, pointed, or witty saying, the true sense of which is different from that which appears on the surface. It involves a hidden meaning, which contradicts that which is expressed. The force of the figure lies in the pleasant surprise attendant upon the discovery of the paradox. It is an epigram to say that "solitude sometimes is best society." Taken literally, this is an absurdity; yet it is a forcible way of saying that the pleasures of solitude are

greater than those derived from ungenial companionship. Other examples are:

"Every man desireth to live long; but no man would be old."

"He is dissatisfied because he has nothing to complain of." "The half is greater than the whole."

"The child is father to the man."

"He is all fault that has no fault at all."

Many Proverbs are epigrammatic; e.g.,—

"Good words are worth much, and cost little."

"Many kinsfolk, but few friends."

"The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it." "When all men speak, no man hears."

(a) The primary signification of the Epigram (Gr. ii, ręάpw) was an inscription on a statue; the sense in which epigraph is now used. It was then applied to a short poem (a couplet, or stanza) containing a pithy or witty saying, generally at its close. Lastly, the name was applied to the witty saying itself, and hence to any saying characterized by wit and point.

40. 10. Irony is the figure of real contradiction. If epigram means something different from what is expressed, Irony expresses the opposite of what is meant. It bestows praise in such a manner as to convey disapprobation. It professes belief in a statement for the purpose of casting ridicule upon it. Elijah's address to the priests of Baal is a memorable example of Irony:-" Cry aloud; for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked." Job, also, mocked his friends when he said, "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom will die with you." Johnson's letter to the Earl of Chesterfield affords several examples of Irony; e.g.,-"To be so distinguished is an honour, which, being very little accustomed to favours from the great, Í know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge."

(a) Irony (Gr. sigwv, a dissembler) literally signifies dissimulation. It pretends to approve, in order to expose and ridicule.

Chapter IV.-Construction.

41. As regards the arrangement of its parts, there are four qualities which a sentence should possess:-1. Unity; 2. Clearness; 3. Strength; 4. Melody.

1. UNITY.

42. A sentence should contain only one leading idea, or a combination of ideas which have a natural and logical connexion with one another. As a simple sentence contains only one proposition, its unity is involved in its form. In the complex sentence, which is an expansion of the simple sentence, and contains only one leading proposition, the subordinate clauses are generally so closely interwoven with the principal clause, that unity of design is easily and naturally preserved. But care must be taken, in sentences of this kind, not to bury the main proposition in such a mass of secondary clauses that its identity is lost, or its superiority destroyed. It is, however, in the compound sentence that unity is most apt to be violated. The compound sentence contains at least two, it may contain many, principal clauses. Grammatically, these clauses are said to be independent of one another. They ought, therefore, to form separate sentences. But there may be a close logical connexion between them, and on this ground they may be combined. The connexion, however, must in every case be close and real, not merely formal. Where the ideas do not naturally combine, the sentence is overweighted, and the effect is indistinct and confused. The violation of unity interferes, not only with perspicuity, but also with energy and grace; e.g.,

"King Richard was a man of a revengeful and cruel spirit, and a passionate lover of poetry; he died on the 8th of April 1199, left no issue, and was succeeded by his brother John."

The want of unity in this sentence consists in the variety of independent topics, to each of which it gives the prominence of a principai clause. The fault may be corrected in two ways,—

1. By separation, or by expressing the leading points in separate sentences; thus :

King Richard died on the 8th of April 1199. He was a man of a revengeful and cruel spirit; but he was a passionate lover of poetry. He left no issue, and was succeeded by his brother John."

2. By contraction, or by throwing the points deemed of less importance into subordinate clauses; thus:

66

:

King Richard, who, though a passionate lover of poetry, was a man of a revengeful and cruel spirit, died on the 8th of April 1199; when, as he left no issue, he was succeeded by his brother John."

43. Unity is also violated by prolonging a sentence beyond its natural close, or by the addition of members which not only interfere with the completeness of the sentence, but would themselves produce a better effect if stated independently; e.g.,"He is not so happy as may be, who hath not the pleasure of making others so, and of seeing them put into a happy condition by his means; which is the highest pleasure, I had almost said pride, but I may truly say glory, of a good and great mind."

The period is naturally closed by the word "means." The introduction of the latter half of the sentence with the relative is clumsy. It were better to throw this part into a new sentence, beginning with "This," or "To accomplish this, is the highest pleasure," etc. The unity of the latter part of the sentence is further marred by the parenthetical clauses, "I had almost said pride, but I may truly say glory." Better thus:-"This satisfaction is the glory, if not the pride, of a good and great mind."

2. CLEARNESS.

44. The parts of the sentence should be so arranged as to leave no possibility of doubt as to the writer's meaning. Clearness is thus opposed to obscurity; and, as regards arrangement, the two great causes of obscurity are dislocation, or the unnatural separation of members that are connected in meaning, and ambiguity,