which these bear to several other feelings excited by different causes, the term Sublimity is applied to various other subjects, as dignity of rank, extent of power, and eminence of merit. Hence those writers, who most successfully exhibit objects or characters of this kind before the imagination of their readers, are said to be sublime.

In like manner, because certain objects of sight are distinguished by characters of beauty, and are adapted to excite emotions of complacence, those writers who represent their fair forms, whether natural or moral, with the most lively colouring, are said to excel in the BEAUTIful.

Moreover, since there is in human nature a principle of curiosity which leads us to contemplate unusual objects with the pleasing emotion which is called wonder, NOVELTY becomes another source of pleasure in works of taste, which affords ample scope for the display of genius to those who are indued by nature with an imagination which can 66 body forth the forms of things unknown;" whence their pen

Turns them to shape, and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.

In reading works of taste, it is the business of criticism to remark in what manner any of these properties of thought, or others of the incidental kind, such as Pathos, Resemblance, Contrast, Congruity, and the like, are exemplified, or violated.

After the Thoughts themselves, the next object of criticism is the METHOD in which they are disposed.

Nothing is more inconsistent with good sense and true taste than the contempt with which some affect to treat that methodical arrangement which Horace so happily styles lucidus ordo. Every kind of writing is certainly illuminated by an accurate disposition of its several parts. Method is so far from being an absolute proof of stupidity, that it is no very questionable indication of strength of mind, and compass of thought. The first conceptions which accidental association may raise in the mind are not likely to come forth spontaneously in that order which is most natural, and best suited to form a regular piece. It is only by the exercise of much attention and accurate judgment that a writer can give his work the beauty of regularity amid variety; and, without this, the detached parts, however excel

lent, are but the members of a disjointed statue.* The reader, therefore, who wishes to form an accurate judgment concerning the merit of any literary production will inquire, whether the author's general arrangement be such as best suits his design; whether there be no confusion in the disposition of particular parts; no redundancies or unnecessary repetitions; in fine, whether every sentiment be not only just, but pertinent, and in its proper place.

The last, but not the least extensive field of criticism is EXPRESSION.

Here the first quality to be considered is PURITY. This consists in such a choice of words, and such a grammatical construction of sentences, as is consonant to the analogy of the language and to the general usage of accurate writers. Purity in the choice of words requires that, except in works of science, where new terms are wanted, no words be admitted but such as are established by good authority; that words be used in the sense which is commonly annexed to them; and that all heterogeneous mixtures of foreign or antiquated words be avoided. In the present state of modern languages, particularly the English, stability and uniformity are of more consequence than enlargement. It is not in the power of fashion to justify the affectation of introducing foreign words and phrases, to express even that which cannot be so concisely expressed in the vernacular tongue. With respect to grammatical purity, its importance, as a source of perspicuity and elegance, is universally acknowledged: but it is too commonly taken for granted that a competent acquaintance with grammar, especially with the grammatical structure of the English language, which is remarkable for its simplicity, may be easily acquired. Hence so little attention is paid to grammatical accuracy by some writers, in other respects of distinguished merit, that it would not be difficult to select from their works examples of the most flagrant violations of syntax. These are faults not to be protected by authority; and it is one of the most useful offices of criticism to detect and expose them.

A second kind of excellence in expression is PERSPICUITY. The chief sources of this essential property of

*Neque enim, quamquam fusis omnibus membris, statua sit, nisi collocetur.-Quintil.

good writing are, beside clearness of conception, already considered, Precision in the use of Terms, and Accuracy in the structure of Sentences.

VERBAL PRECISION requires that a writer express his exact meaning without tautology, ambiguity, or redundance; that he be careful not to load his sentences with words which are synonymous, or nearly so; that he make use of no terms, or phrases, but such as convey a determinate meaning; and that he avoid the introduction of uncommon words where words in ordinary use would answer his purpose as well. Perspicuity is equally injured by an excessive multiplicity of words, and by a parade of pompous and stately language.

Grammatical arrangement is favourable to perspicuity, when it marks distinctly the relation of the several parts of a sentence, and consequently of the ideas which they represent; and when it avoids such deviations from the natural or customary order of words, as might mislead or perplex the reader. It may also contribute, in some measure, toward perspicuity, to preserve, during the course of a sentence, unity of persons and scene; avoiding, as much as possible, all abrupt transitions from one person or subject to another. But there seems to be no sufficient ground for a rule, which has of late gained some authority, that a writer, for the sake of distinctness, should confine himself to the expression of a single thought in each sentence. It would be easy to show by example, that this fashionable method of reducing sentences to one standard, whatever it may add to the neatness and elegance of style, will at least equally diminish its richness and variety: and—which is still more important-that it must often materially impair the sense, by interrupting the relation and dependence of the thoughts. A writer who thinks closely, and in a train, will frequently have occasion to express combinations of ideas, which will require sentences of considerable length. The best writers of the last period, such as Swift, Addison, and Middleton, who disdained to confine their conceptions within the narrow enclosure of such arbitrary rules, took all the scope, in the structure of their periods, which the extent and concatenation of their thoughts required; and thus produced many successful imitations of the best models of antiquity, in that kind of writing which

is copious without verbosity, and complex without intricacy.

Whatever mode of construction a writer's subject, or genius, may lead him to adopt, he should, however, be careful that it be employed in a manner perfectly consistent with perspicuity. If, for the sake of strength and energy, he be disposed to lean toward conciseness, let him cautiously avoid that elliptical diction which leaves the reader too much to supply. If, through the fertility of his invention, his language naturally becomes diffuse, let him guard against that kind of obscurity which is the effect of involving the sense in a cloud of words. At all events, a writer should studiously avoid every mode of expression which is unfavourable to perspicuity; for what can be a greater fault than that language, which is only useful so far as it is perspicuous, should need an interpreter ?* Perspicuity requires not only that what is written may be understood, but that it cannot possibly be misunderstood. Every violation of this law of good writing it is the business of criticism carefully to remark.

Melody is another excellence in expression, of too much consequence to be overlooked. In every kind of writing, according to the degree of skill with which soft and rugged, long and short, accented and unaccented sounds, whether simple or complex, are combined, the ear receives an agreeable impression, in some degree similar to that which is produced by a melodious succession of musical notes. This effect is heightened when the divisions of distinct clauses, and the cadences at the close of entire sentences, are agreeably diversified. Melody is so intimately combined with the other graces of expression, and has so large a hare in the pleasures produced by ine writing, that it deserves more attention, both among writers and critics, than the moderns have been inclined to allow it.

Elegance, which is commonly considered as another property of expression, as far as it is distinct from the general result of the properties already enumerated, arises chiefly from a careful exclusion of those terms and phrases which general opinion and taste have pronounced vulgar; and

*Oratio vero, cujus summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa, si egeat interprete! - Quintil.

+ Non ut intelligere possit, sed ne omnino possit non intelligere.-Ib.

from such a regulated variety in the structure of sentences and periods, as prevents every appearance of negligence. Such words or phrases as are excluded from the conversation or writing of people of good breeding and polite education, and such slovenly modes of expression as would imply a want of respect for the reader, can have no place in elegant works of taste. That kind of elegance which arises from metaphors and other figures, though commonly considered as belonging to language, is, in fact, not so much the result of the writer's manner of expression as of his turn of thinking.

The same remark may be applied to several other properties of good writing, such as Simplicity, Vivacity, Strength, Dignity. These and other terms, made use of to express the excellences of Style, are, in reality, characters of good writing which depend upon the thought as well as the diction. When, on the contrary, it is said, that a writer's style is vulgar, feeble, obscure, dry, or florid, the faults, which these epithets are intended to express, arise from certain defects in the writer's powers or habits of thinking, which have an unfavourable influence upon his language. An author's style is the manner in which he writes, as a painter's style is the manner in which he paints; in both conception and expression are equally concerned. No one is able to write in a good style who has not learned to think well, to arrange his thoughts methodically, and to express them with propriety.

These and other properties of Thought, Disposition, and Language, in writing-concerning which, as well as upon the pecular characters of the several kinds of literary composition, many writers have treated at large*—while they afford ample scope for the display of Genius, also furnish an extensive field for the exercise of Criticism.

The clear result of the preceding remarks is, that young persons should be early introduced to an acquaintance with Polite Literature, in order to exercise their imagination, and form their taste. Selections from the best writers may at first be of use, in directing their attention to such passages as are most likely to make a strong impression upon

* See Lord Kames's Elements of Criticism; Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric; Blair's Lectures on the Belles Lettres; and Critical Essays in the Spectator, Rambler, &c.