the others, he may bring in each in the position that may seem to him best. The following directions for argumentation in general will be found judicious. § 401. Never undertake to prove a self-evident propo sition. The attempt can not fail to be damaging to the author. Either it creates the suspicion of ignorance on his part, or it insinuates a want of capacity in those whom he addresses. § 402. Begin with a clear statement of your subject, or with an introduction which will naturally lead to that. If an introduction is used, it should be striking, appropriate, and proportionate. § 403. Observe a regular sequence in your arguments, that each one may naturally lead to the other. § 404. Let your chief arguments be few and cogent; and make them bear as directly on the point to be proven as possible. Superfluous arguments efface stronger ones, exhaust patience, and encourage the idea that where weak arguments are used, the point is weak. If the few are strong, they will be effectual. § 405. Express your arguments in as few words as possible, consistent with perspicuity. § 406. Illustrations should be so intermingled with arguments as to relieve and please the mind, and thus produce variety without confusion. § 407. Arguments should be arranged in the inverse order of their importance; the least important first, the strongest leading up the rear. They should form a climax. § 408. Opposing arguments should be considered in the introduction or exordium; suasive ones in the conclusion. § 409. Do not state the different arguments too formally, so as to give the composition an air of stiffness and pedantry. But learn to pass gracefully from argument to argument, as if one naturally suggested another. At the same time, the precise bearing of each one upon the question should be made clear, so that the force of none be lost. With these hints let the pupil prove the following theses in as many modes as he can. Sectarianism has hindered the progress of true religion. Scholastic emulation is disastrous to the finest elements of character. Public opinion is the strongest restraint on human passion. Commerce makes a nation intelligent and rich. Mankind are more indebted to the Jews than to the ancient Greeks and Romans. A free press will, sooner or later, overthrow every form of oppression. Erroneous opinions can not be suppressed by force. The passion for dress is the great obstacle in the elevation of woman. Occasional excitements are essential to progress. Literary fame is the most permanent. He that ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city. Fanaticism is a kind of insanity. Astronomy proves an intelligent Creator. Old age can be made a happier season than youth. Extravagance leads to poverty. The fruits of labor are sweeter than the gifts of fortune. We owe much to the Saracens. The art of printing has advanced civilization. PART SECOND. EXPRESSION-RESUMED. CHAPTER XXX. EUPHONY AND HARMONY. § 410. The fifth and last essential property of style so far as Structure is concerned is Harmony. Together with this, it is proposed to consider that quality of diction which is called Euphony. Harmony and Euphony both refer to that power which good style has to afford a pleasure to the listener, similar to that produced by music. This has been called "pleasing the ear." Euphony denotes this quality as possessed by individual words; Harmony the same quality as produced by the combination of words in sentences, and by a certain indefinable correspondence between the sound of the sentence and the meaning which it conveys. This last-mentioned variety of Harmony belongs more especially to poetry, and is sometimes designated as the rhetorical figure, onomatopoeia. On this account it needs no further treatment here. The rules that are now to be given are those of Euphony and of that variety of Harmony which consists in the happy combination of words in sentences and sentences in paragraphs. § 411. The first general rule is I. Avoid all combinations of sounds that are harsh, grating, or unmelodious. This includes the following special rules. § 412. (1.) The iteration of the same sound or the same combination of sounds, either in a single word, or in words that come near together, is unpleasant to the ear. This fault is called Tautophony. It is exemplified in such words as probably, identity, lowlily, farriery, ratiocination; and in such combinations as been in intimacy, an antidote, to two tunes, greater error, instead of a steady, uniform formality, etc. The following sentences are intolerable: "I confess with humility, the sterility of my fancy, and the debility of my judgment." "The publication of this allegation, though at the instigation of the entire delegation, was a violation of his promise." § 413. It may be regarded as a kind of exception to this rule that alliteration, skillfully introduced, conduces to strength: see § 360. The pupil will observe the following distinctions between the two cases. (1.) In the alliteration that conduces to strength, the iterated sound is never at the termination of the words, so as to make a kind of rhyme. (2.) The iterated sounds occur in a kind of balanced or rhythmical structure. For example, "fellow feeling;" in sin and sea-coal; Protestant and Papist; Saxon and Celt. The first of these examples, fellow feeling, is not so good as either of the others, for the reason that the words fellow and feeling are not in co-ordination. It is similarity of initial sound in similar parts of speech, sparingly used in similar constructions, that constitutes the impressive alliteration. All other iterations of sound are offensive. It must be borne in mind, however, that a writer sometimes of set purpose, introduces a displeasing combination of sounds, deliberately sacrificing euphony to strength. § 414. (2.) A crowding together either of consonants or vowels has a bad effect: they should be well alternated. This condemns such words as pledg'd, prob'd'st, fifthly, burden'st, logarithms, etc., and such combinations as greatest strain, sharp brier, idea of, etc. These are to be avoided, if any other words or arrangement will express the meaning as well, but if not, then they must be tolerated. § 415. (3.) Several short unaccented syllables coming together are offensive to the ear, especially when they constitute the latter part of a long word whose accent is on .or near the first syllable. EXAMPLES. Derogatorily, unprecedentedness, introductorily, in an unenviable manner, mercenary, illiberality, peremptorily, etc. § 416. (4.) A succession of long syllables is extremely unpleasant, whether the words are monosyllabic or diversified. EXAMPLES. Learn this hard task well. Load twelve broad-horns brimful. Our grandsires ate oat-meal cakes, as we now eat corn-bread. § 417. (5.) A succession of long and short syllables regularly alternated becomes displeasing, if continued so as to sound like metrical composition. Even in verse, harmony requires an occasional interruption to the regularity of the accent; and, of course, prose will admit of unvaried measured movement less than yerse. EXAMPLES. Oh, what joy it is to dwell among the fadeless glories there, and drink the rapture of that holy bliss! Homer's sparkling rills of nectar, streaming from celestial fountains, tempt our thirsty throats no longer. Anguish protracted through numberless centuries surely would finally render destruction a blessing. § 418. II. The clauses or members of a sentence should be arranged so as to produce an agreeable impression on the ear. Under this are the following special directions. § 419. (1.) The members should not be so long as to exhaust the breath. It is, of course, possible to take breath anywhere in a sentence; but there are certain connections between words which would render a pause long enough to take breath exceedingly improper. This rule forbids that these connections should be preserved continuously for so great a space as to offend a cultivated ear. The following from Tillotson is an instance of the violation of this rule. "This discourse concerning the easiness of God's commands does, all along, suppose and acknowledge the difficulties of the first entrance upon a religious course, except only in those persons who have had the happiness to be trained up to religion by the easy and insensible degrees of a pious and virtuous education." § 420. (2.) The sentence should not, by transposition or the insertion of modifiers, be broken up into short |