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the matter and on the audience. But two general rules can be laid down for preserving unity: (1) Nothing should be inserted that is likely to distract attention from the main idea of the sentence. (2) Where the sentence contains more than one idea, the ideas should have an intimate connexion with one another.

It should be noted that length does not of itself impair unity; nor does shortness ensure unity. But very often undue length and want of unity stand to each other in the relation of cause and effect.

The unity of the sentence is well exemplified in the following:

"Here he was standing by accident at an opening of his pavilion, enjoying the morning sunshine, when suddenly to the westward there arose a vast cloudy vapour, which by degrees expanded, mounted, and seemed to be slowly diffusing itself over the whole face of the heavens."

"Before this disappointment, Sir Roger was what you call a fine gentleman, had often supped with my Lord Rochester and Sir George Etheredge, fought a duel upon his first coming to town, and kicked bully Dawson in a public coffee-house for calling him youngster."

"In truth, he wished to command the respect at once of courtiers and of philosophers, to be admired for attaining high dignities and to be at the same time admired for despising them."

The following are instances of breach of unity. "The peasants wear curiously-shaped flat caps, and grow huge crops of buckwheat." Here incongruous ideas are wrongly linked together.

"Edith Dillingham has refused Alfred Hazel, who is first draughtsman in Pritchard's and earns, good week and bad week, his four golden sovereigns; what he saw in her I cannot think; but I had it from his cousin, Elizabeth Hazel, who is fitted to be a comfort to any man, if her nose was squeezed flat, when a baby by falling out of a first-floor window, waiting to see the firemen go by to put out no fire at all, but only because the Mayor and the Corporation had turned them out to show Mr Gladstone, who was being entertained in the Town Hall, how smart they could come up to the scratch, with their brass helmets and fire-brick trousers." What is the main idea in this sentence? We begin with Edith

and Alfred, but soon branch off to Elizabeth and the fire-brigade, who have the rest of the sentence between them, except the few words about Mr Gladstone.

"Macduff retained the privileges of leading the van in battle; of placing the King, when crowned at Scone, on the Stone of Destiny, brought from Dunstaffnage, perhaps from Ireland-that it came from the Holy Land, where it had served as Jacob's pillow, is a modern superstition-and of sanctuary and composition for his kin who committed murder in hot blood." The main idea is Macduff's privileges. Attention is drawn away from this by the insertion of the words "brought...superstition," especially of the disconcerting parenthesis, where the writer wishes to guard against being supposed to entertain an erroneous opinion on a point very wide of the main idea. The insertion, if required, should appear as a footnote.

Though excess of parentheses ought to be avoided, short and relevant parentheses are useful; as in the following.

"Then I myself-such was my purpose-had, on the sounding of the trumpet, appeared in the lists as thy champion."

"Though by no means proficients in boxing (and how should they box, since they have never had a teacher?) they are most pugnacious."

No rule can be given to

LONG AND SHORT SENTENCES. regulate the length of sentences. A short sentence is not necessarily more intelligible and effective than a long; neither is it necessarily less.

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For simple, direct statements, for proverbs, maxims, epigrams, etc., the short sentence is best; as Man proposes, God disposes"; "A stitch in time saves nine"; "Fear God, honour the king"; "Look before you leap"; "A good memory is the best monument."

But when qualifying circumstances must be introduced, or when related ideas must be brought close together, we require long sentences. See the sentences quoted as examples of unity, p. 109, and of periodic structure, p. 112.

Care, however, must be taken that a sentence, even if perfect

as regards unity, is not prolonged so as to be fatiguing to read or to hear, and difficult to comprehend because the beginning is too Examples will be found in Milton, as the

far from the end.

following from his Areopagitica.

"First, when a city shall be as it were besieged and blocked about, her navigable rivers infested, inroads and incursions round, defiance and battle oft rumoured to be marching up even to her walls and suburb trenches, that then the people, or the greater part, more than at other times, wholly taken up with the study of highest and most important matters to be reformed, should be disputing, reasoning, reading, inventing, discoursing, even to a rarity and admiration, things not before discoursed or written of, argues first a singular good will, contentedness and confidence in your prudent foresight and safe government, Lords and Commons; and from thence derives itself to a gallant bravery and well grounded contempt of their enemies, as if there were no small number of as great spirits among us, as his was who, when Rome was nigh besieged by Hannibal, being in the city, bought that piece of ground at no cheap rate, whereon Hannibal himself encamped his own regiment."

Some writers, Macaulay for example, are fond of a succession of short sentences. See the following from his essay on Sir William Temple.

"The allies had, during a short period, obtained success beyond their hopes. This was their auspicious moment. They neglected to improve it. It passed away; and it returned no more. The Prince of Orange arrested the progress of the French armies. Louis returned to be amused and flattered at Versailles. The country was under water. The winter approached. The weather became stormy. The fleets of the combined kings could no longer keep the sea. The republic had obtained a respite; and the circumstances were such that a respite was, in a military view, important, in a political view, almost decisive."

Such an accumulation of short sentences is faulty in two respects. On the mind it leaves an impression of want of connexion, and on the ear a feeling of jerkiness.

Long sentences, besides allowing the ideas to be qualified and amplified, give scope for melody. See examples quoted, p. 101. But a succession of long sentences, no less than a succession of short, becomes monotonous. Read, for example, the opening sentences of The Rambler, No. 1, where seven in succession contain respectively 38, 51, 56, 49, 51, 70, 75 words. This is an

average of over 55-fully six times the average in the passage from Macaulay.

PERIODIC AND LOOSE SENTENCES. In arranging the parts of a sentence, if we place qualifying, or modifying, adjuncts before what they qualify, or modify; if we place predicates before subjects; in short, if we in any way invert so as to keep the meaning and the interest in suspense till the close, we have a periodic sentence. The periodic sentence has many varieties, a few of which are here shown.

"Upon me, as upon others scattered thinly by tens and twenties over every thousand years, fell too powerfully and too early the vision of life."

"For, however erroneous they may be, they are never silly.”

"But to gauge and measure this immeasurable Thing, and what is called account for it, and reduce it to a dead logic-formula, attempt not!"

"Conspicuous among all parties, raised above and beyond them all, this man rises more and more."

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"On an evening in July, in the year 18-, at East Dtiful little town in a certain district of East Anglia, I first saw the light."

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

"Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction."

Another method of showing that the sentence is not yet finished, and thus suspending the interest, is to employ such co-relatives as both...and, not...but, not only...but also, either...or, so...as, so...that, more.... .than, etc.

"He had neither brother nor sister, neither son nor daughter."

"Her opinion of his writings was more important to him than the voice of the pit of Drury Lane Theatre or the judgment of the Monthly Review."

"But he soon found the task so little to his taste that he turn more attractive employments."

In a loose sentence the meaning is not su

main proposition comes first, and qualific

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afterwards. Loose sentences are extremely common in modern English. The following are typical instances.

"He learned much at this time, though his studies were withour. guidance and without plan."

"The old philosopher is still among us in the brown coat with the metal buttons and the shirt which ought to be at wash.. binking, puffing, rolling his head, drumming with his fingers, tearing his meat like a tiger, and swallowing his tea in oceans.”

"I had no time to see the town, having entered the me on Wednesday in the dusk of the evening, having been engaged all day yesterday in the inn, and having come out of it only to get into the coach this morning."

"I came here to meet my son, who was to return to London when we had done our business."

The loose style of writing sometimes becomes the detached · ¿.e. qualifying adjuncts, instead of being tacked on to the main statement, appear as independent statements. In the following passage the short closing sentences might, with advantage, re been incorporated in the first sentence.

"Talking of hedges reminds me of having seen a boxas I came out of Petworth, more than twelve feet broad, an fifteen feet high. I dare say it is several centuries aid. about forty yards long. It is a great curiosity."

Sometimes the periodic structure is preferacie. loose. Periods enable us to gather up the mandathem out of the way, in order to end with the Often, however, the loose construction vi example, we wish to keep some importa with: as in "The story that identifie Jacob's pillow world conclusiver ancient S is kent

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He was of a delicate e is said to have shown entleness of disposition. osition."

tender and delicate; but is ness and sweetness of dis

University. I was not long in My silence was most profound. during the space of eight years. A hundred words. I spoke, of course, lege."

.t the University, before I distinguished silence; for during the space of eight

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