cating public opinion to appreciate a reformed Civil Service; which was much desired.

He was known to his country neighbors during more than forty years as a gentleman of cultivated mind, whose principles were high, with polished address, happy in his family, and actively discharging1 local duties; and among m political men, as an honest, industrious, and sensible member of Parliament, without eagerness to display his talents, who was staunch to his party," and attentive to the interests of those whose representative he was (57).

We cannot proceed regularly in this matter until some plan of organization is agreed upon by the executive committee on the one hand and by the chief officers on the other, by which questions that may be submitted to the convention, of jurisdiction, shall be decided.

The opening, by the Queen, on May 10, at noon, in Kensington, in the presence of great crowds of distinguished visitors, of the Imperial Institute, was, to all who were privileged to see it, a very impressive ceremony, and full of significance for the mother-land and her colonies, at least to every loyal Englishman.P

With the intention of fulfilling his promise, and intending also to clear himself from the suspicion that attached to him, he determined to ascertain how far this testimony was corroborated, and the motives of the persecutor, who had begun the Isuit last Christmas.9

To contend against such thoroughly organized combinations, wherein every attempt is guarded against on the part of opposing interests to promote the success by association of their principles, is useless."

NOTES TO THE ABOVE. —a. Do not change to passive voice. — b. The end of the sentence is weak; recast so as to end with "importance."— -C. Rearrange so as to put cause before effect. - - d. Study where the sentence requires similar constructions.-e. Compare note c. f. Is it consistent with sentence-unity to keep this in the same sentence with the preceding? If you put it into a new sentence, begin, "The father had died," etc.— - g.

"Barbarous ill-treatment." -h. Make stronger ending, by putting this first. 66 One is repelled by," etc.—i. Is this the proper place for "lately?" -j. How make this like in construction to previous adverb?—k. Make the details about mind, principles, and address like in construction. —1. "Active in the discharge of.”—m. With what ought this to be made parallel ? — n. Omit relative, and make "staunch" etc. like in construction to previous phrase. o. Observe how far the relative is from its antecedent; how remedy this? —p. Study out the best arrangement for these details. — q. Test the unity of this sentence.—r. This ending is weak; where will you put "is useless"

2. Combine the following data into sentences, studying especially: (1) how much to include in each sentence; (2) · what to put principal, what subordinate; (3) with what element to begin each sentence; (4) what connectives to use. Leave the paragraphs as they are.

It was in the

The simple what to make

It was more than a hundred years ago.a market-place at Uttoxeter. It was a rainy day. folk b were quite at a loss. They did not know of the strange conduct of a man. The man had just come among them. He was a large man. His appearance was rather imposing. His countenance was rugged but very intelligent. He had entered the market-place. He had made his way with careful search to one particular spot. He had not exchanged words with any one.d He had uncovered his head, and stood. His face was lighted by a solemn and reverent expression. He was regarded at first with silent curiosity. He continued to stand. He was exposed to the wind and the wet. Others were more civil. They proffered him the shelter of their stalls. He made no reply. He stood about an hour. He put on his hat and walked away.

Some began to jeer.

It was some days after. A clergyman of Lichfield passed through the market-place. He overheard the people talking about the incident. It had not ceased to be a wonder to them.

He remarked f that perhaps they would like to know who the stranger was,

They assured him they would.g

He asked them if they had ever heard of Doctor Johnson. There was a pause. An old man answered. He had never heard of any doctor of that name. He used to know an old Michael Johnson. Michael Johnson kept a book-stall in that very market. His stall stood on that very spot. The old man knew because his father's stood next to it. It was many years ago.

The clergyman replied. This Doctor Johnson was the man they saw the other day. He was the son of that old Michael Johnson. He was now a great man. He was an author. He had told some friends of his, when he reached home, why he came so strangely. His father had asked him to attend him in the market. It was fifty years ago that very day. He was then a boy. The boy had a foolish pride. He refused. The remembrance of that disobedience had remained with him all these years. It was painful to him. He was on a visit to this neighborhood. He came here. He stood a full hour. It was

in the rain. He did it in order to atone for that unfilial act. The general comment was that he must be a good man. Some looked rather shame-faced.

NOTES ON THE ABOVE. — The wording of the above data need not be changed much, except where some words have to be cut out in changing from clausal to phrasal form. A few notes are given, principally to aid the student in getting started.

a. Put time-elements together; and perhaps the best place for them is at the beginning; thus: "One rainy day, more than a hundred years ago, the simple folk," etc. - b. Would not the place be made prominent enough if after "folk" you put "in the market-place at Uttoxeter?"—c. "Did not know" so nearly repeats "were at loss" that it is superfluous.—d. Do you need to make these facts so prominent as to give them a principal verb?e. The being civil is not the important fact, but the proffering. Say, Others, more civil, proffered," etc. - f. Put the conversation between the clergyman and the people in direct discourse, - see Rule 60.

-g. This sentence need not be put in direct discourse.

The above notes will indicate some of the questions that you ought to

ask yourselves throughout.

IV. KINDS OF SENTENCES.

The question how to handle the various kinds of sentences is not a question of right or wrong, but of taste and judgment. The writer must decide for himself what he wants to do and what means he will take to do it. All that can be done here is to point out the special uses of each kind, its disadvantages when employed in excess, and the effect that the predominance of any one type of sentence has on the style of the passage wherein it

occurs.

I.

Rules denoting the General Uses of the various Kinds of Sentences. The kinds of sentences here to be discussed are: short, long, periodic, loose, and balanced. In naming what prevailing effect each kind is good for, we by no means imply that it is good for nothing else, nor that it is the only thing adapted to produce such effect. We are merely determining its most general and obvious use. And along with its use we name its equally general and obvious disadvantage when employed to

excess.

86. For vigor and emphasis, use short sentences.

The short sentence, containing ordinarily one concisely worded assertion, is good to give point and crispness to a thought; the reader gets the idea at once in its condensed strength, without having to allow for modifications and saving clauses. Such manner of expression is naturally good for important definitions, enunciations of weighty truth, and emphatic assertions.

ILLUSTRATION.

Note what weighty and emphatic effect is produced by the brief enunciations in the following sentences: "The

same party spirit naturally denies the patriotism of its opponents. Identifying itself with the country, it regards all others as public enemies. This is substantially revolutionary politics. It is the condition of France, where, in its own words, the revolution is permanent. Instead of regarding the other party as legitimate opponents— in the English phrase, His Majesty's Opposition-lawfully seeking a different policy under the government, it decries that party as a conspiracy plotting the overthrow of the government itself.”

This last sentence, just by being longer, produces a distinctly different effect, which will be specified presently.

When the sentences are not individually important, a series of short assertions produces a disagreeable scrappy effect, and the reader is made impatient by the feeling that he is not getting enough at a time to pay for giving his attention.

EXAMPLE.

The following passage from Victor Hugo goes at least to the very verge of this fault :

66

They lay down side by side on the sea-weed bed. The mendicant fell asleep immediately. The marquis, although very tired, remained thinking deeply for a few minutes. He gazed fixedly at the beggar in the shadow. Then he lay back. To lie on that bed was

to lie on the ground. He put his ear to the earth. He listened. He could hear a strange buzzing under ground. We know that sound stretches down into the depths. He could hear the noise of bells. The tocsin was still sounding. The marquis fell asleep."

87. For detail and rhythm, use long sentences.

1

The advantage of the long sentence lies in the fact that it has room enough to give an idea with all its necessary One can also get by it better effects of sound and rhythm, as it has a capability of flow that the short sentence lacks.

modifications.

1 Quoted from Carpenter's "Exercises in Rhetoric and Composition," in which is an excellent treatment of kinds of sentences.