85.

The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun

With the deluge of summer it receives.--Lowell.

86. The wavering reflection of a silver star in the bosom of the brook told him that he was mistaken.-Irving.

87. And then came Autumn with his immense burden of apples, dropping them continually from his overladen shoulders as he trudged along.—Hawthorne.

88. Youth is the aromatic flower upon the tree; the grave life of maturer years, its sober solid fruit.—Curtis.

89. But is not autumn the manhood of the year? Is it not the ripest of the seasons? Do not proud flowers blossom-the golden-rod, the orchis, the dahlia, and the bloody cardinal of the swamp-lands?—Mitchell.

90. The plastic hand must be moved by the same ethereal instinct as the eloquent lips or the recording pen.-Everett.

91.

To behold the wandering moon
Riding near her highest noon,
Like one that had been led astray
Through the heaven's wide pathless way;

And oft, as if her head she bowed,

Stooping through the fleecy cloud.-Milton.

92. If your wine-bottle is the besetting sin, then, my friend, you must give up your wine-bottle or give up your soul.-Cuyler. 93. What a heart our Father has!

94. The Britannia library flourished with a new lease of life, and continued to bloom like a literary magnolia.

95. The world is convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

96. Each fragment of stone must tell its tale of faith, and art, and splendor.

97. This is likely a new city on the site of another, built when Time was young.

98. It is enough to say that his style is an anachronism, like knee-breeches.

99. Let us "hold out the olive-branch" by all means, yet when honest men read of such brutalities they are moved to add, "but don't let us forget the cat-o'-nine-tails.”

100. Into the witch's broth of modern thought have been poured all the isms and all the ologies.

FAULTY FIGURES.

Criticise the following where faulty; also reconstruct where possible: 1. The commercial liberties of rising states were shackled by paper chains.-Bancroft.

2. A hollow crystal pyramid he takes,

In firmamental waters dipped above;
Of this a broad extinguisher he makes,

And hoods the flames that to their quarry strove.

-Dryden.

3. There is a time when factions, by the vehemence of their own fermentation, stun and disable one another.-Bolingbroke. 4. Across the streets, at wide intervals, one clumsy lamp was slung by a rope and pulley; at night, when the lamplighter had let these down and lighted and hoisted them again, a feeble grove of dim wicks swung in a sickly manner overhead, as if they were at sea.-Dickens.

5. There is not a single view of human nature that is not sufficient to extinguish the seeds of pride.-Addison.

6. If no authority, not in its nature temporary, were allowed to one human being over another, society would not be employed in building up propensities with one hand which it has to curb with the other.-Mill.

7. Aumerle, thou weeps't, my tender-hearted cousin!

We'll make foul weather with despised tears:

Our sighs and they shall lodge the summer corn,
And make a dearth in this revolting land.—Shakespeare.

8. Milton, like Homer, wrote an epic, and, like Homer, he was blind.

9.

It gives a piteous groan, and so it broke;
In vain it something would have spoke;

10.

The love within too strong for❜t was,

Like poison put into a Venice glass.—Cowley.

Now from my fond embrace by tempests torn,
Our other column of the state is borne,

Nor took a kind adieu, nor sought consent.-Pɔpe.

11. He had now placed in the viceroyalty of Ireland that star of exceeding brightness, but sinister influence, the willing and able instrument of despotic power, Lord Strafford.-Hallam. 12. Isn't that a lovely bonnet? It's just charming.

13. Here is a young man that is as bold as a lion.

14. Draw them to the Tiber's bank, and weep your tears Into the channel, till the lowest stream

Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.

15. At the end of yonder bridge is his outstretched hand and open door.

16. The apple of discord is now fairly in our midst, and if not nipped in the bud it will burst forth into a conflagration that will deluge the sea of politics with an earthquake of heresies.

17. His heart swelled with the flames of passion.

18. What splendid, what magnificent gloves!

CHAPTER V.

VARIETY OF EXPRESSION.

In addition to clearness and force of expression, variety also is necessary.

Blair's Remark.-On this point Blair says: "If we would keep up the attention of the reader or hearer, if we would preserve vivacity and strength in our composition, we must be very attentive to vary our measures. This regards the distribution of the members as well as the cadence of the period. Sentences constructed in a similar manner, with the pauses falling at equal intervals, should never follow one another. Short sentences should be intermixed with long and swelling ones, to render discourse sprightly as well as magnificent. Even discords, properly introduced, abrupt sounds, departures from regular cadence, have sometimes a good effect. Monotony is the great fault into which writers are apt to fall who are fond of harmonious arrangement; and to have only one tune or measure is not much better than having none at all.”

Variety of expression may be secured either by changing the diction or by changing the structure of the sentence.

Change of diction may be secured

1. By the use of synonyms; as, fidelity and faithfulness, humble and lowly, friendly and amicable, etc. Thus we may speak either of one's fidelity or of his faithfulness, and express substantially the same idea.

2. By denying the contrary of a proposition; as, "It is not diffi cult to manage the matter," instead of "It is easy to manage

the matter;" or, "He could hardly be called a brave man," for "He is cowardly."

This form of expression is known as euphemism, and is by some rhetoricians considered a separate figure.

3. By circumlocution; that is, by saying indirectly what might be said directly; as, "the terrestrial sphere" for "the earth," and similar expressions. In general, this mode of variation is not advisable, as the statement is apt to lose in force.

4. By Recasting the Sentence.-Frequently, this is the only manner in which variety can be secured. No rule can be given for such recasting. Practice alone will enable the writer to express the idea in different forms.

Change of structure may be secured

1. By Substituting an Interrogative for a Declarative Sentence.Sometimes the interrogative form is more forcible than the declarative.

2. By Substituting an Exclamatory for a Declarative Sentence.— This also is in most cases a more forcible form of expression than the declarative.

Note how the following, "It is a beautiful sunset,” is improved in force by changing to the exclamatory form:

a beautiful sunset!"

3. By Changing the Voice of the Verb.-Thus,

"The teacher requested him to recite."

"He was requested by the teacher to recite."

"What

4. By the Use of THERE or IT as an Introductory Word. Thus, of the following sentences the first is the more impressive:

1. "There were none so brave as he."

2. "None were so brave as he."

5. By Substituting the Direct Form of Statement for the Indirect.

Thus, "Bacon said, 'Knowledge is power,'" for "Bacon said that knowledge is power."