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tion in this paper, and endeavoured to recommend the pursuit of those pleasures to my readers by several considerations;' we must be sensible, that the sentence, thus clogged with circumstances in the wrong place, would neither have been so neat nor so clear, as it is by the present construction.

LECTURE XXI.

CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE STYLE IN No. 412 OF
THE SPECTATOR.

THE observations which have occurred in reviewing that paper of Mr. Addison's, which was the subject of the last lecture, sufficiently show, that, in the writings of an author of the most happy genius and distinguished talents, inaccuracies may sometimes be found. Though such inaccuracies may be overbalanced by so many beauties, as to render the style pleasing and agreeable upon the whole; yet it must be desirable to every writer to avoid, as far as he can, inaccuracy of any kind. As the subject, therefore, is of importance, I have thought it might be useful to carry on this criticism throughout two or three subsequent papers of the Spectator. At the same time I must intimate, that the lectures on these papers are solely intended for such as are applying themselves to the study of English style. I pretend not to give instruction to those who are already well acquainted with the powers of language. To them my remarks may prove unedifying; to some they may seem tedious and minute; but to such as have not yet made all the proficiency which they desire in elegance of style, strict attention to the composition and structure of sentences cannot fail to prove of considerable benefit: and though my remarks on Mr. Addison should, in any instance, be thought ill-founded, they will, at least, serve the purpose of leading them into the train of making proper remarks for themselves.*-I proceed, therefore, to the examina tion of the subsequent paper, No. 412.

If there be readers who think any further apology requisite for my adventuring to criticise the sentences of so eminent an author as Mr. Addison, I must take notice, that I was naturally led to it by the circumstances of that part of the kingdom where these Lectures were read; where the ordinary spoken language often differs much from what is used by good English authors. Hence it occurred to me, as a proper method of correcting any peculiarities of dialect, to direct students of eloquence, to analyze and examine, with particular attention, the structure of Mr. Addison's sentences. Those papers of the Spectator, which are the subject of the following Lectures, were accordingly given out in

"I shall first consider those pleasures of the imagination, which arise from the actual view and survey of outward objects: and these, I think, all proceed from the sight of what is great, uncommon, or beautiful.”

This sentence gives occasion for no material remark. It is simple and distinct. The two words which he here uses, "view" and "survey," are not altogether synonymous: as the former may be supposed to import mere inspection; the latter more deliberate examination. Yet they lie so near to one another in meaning, that in the present case, any one of them, perhaps, would have been sufficient. The epithet "actual," is introduced, in order to mark more strongly the distinction between what our author calls the primary pleasures of imagination, which arise from immediate view, and the secondary, which arise from remembrance or description.

"There may, indeed, be something so terrible or offensive that the horror or loathsomeness of an object may overbear the pleasure which results from its novelty, greatness, or beauty; but still there will be such a mixture of delight in the very disgust it gives us, as any of these three qualifications are most conspicuous and prevailing."

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This sentence must be acknowledged to be an unfortunate one. The sense is obscure and embarrassed, and the expression loose and irregular. The beginning of it is perplexed by the wrong position of the words "something" and "object." The natural arrangement would have been, There may, indeed, be something in an object so terrible or offensive, that the horror or loathsomeness of it may overhear."-These two epithets, "horor << loathsomeness," are awkwardly joined together. < Loathsomeness" is, indeed, a quality which may be ascribed to an object; but "horror" is not, it is a feeling excited in the mind. The language would have been much more correct, had our author said, 'There may, indeed, be something in an object so terrible or offensive, that the horror or disgust which it excites may overbear.'-The first two epithets," terrible" or "offensive," would then have expressed the qualities of an object; the latter, “horror" or "disgust," the corresponding sentiments which these qualities produce in us. "Loathsomeness" was the most unhappy word he could have chosen for to be loathsome,

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exercise to students, to be thus examined and analyzed; and several of the obser vations which follow, both on the beauties and blemishes of this author, were sug gested by the observations given to me in consequence of the exercise prescribed

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is to be odious, and seems totally to exclude any mixture of delight," which he afterwards supposes may be found in the object.

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In the latter part of the sentence there are several inaccuracies. When he says, "there will be such a mixture of delight in the very disgust it gives us, as any of these three qualifications are most conspicuous"-the construction is defective, and seems hardly grammatical. He meant assuredly to say, such a mixture of delight as is proportioned to the degree in which any of these three qualifications are most conspicuous.'-We know that there may be a mixture of pleasant and of disagreeable feelings excited by the same object; yet it appears inaccurate to say, that there is any "delight in the very disgust." -The plural verb "are" is improperly joined to "any of these three qualifications;" for as "any" is here used distributively, and means any one of these three qualifications,' the corresponding verb ought to have been singular. The order in which the two last words are placed, should have been reversed, and made to stand prevailing and conspicuous.' They are spicuous" because they prevail.

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"By greatness, I do not only mean the bulk of any single object, but the largeness of a whole view, considered as one entire piece."

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In a former lecture, when treating of the structure of sentences, I quoted this sentence as an instance of the careless manner in which adverbs are sometimes interjected in the midst of a period. Only," as it is here placed, appears to be a limitation of the following verb, " mean." The question might be put, What more does he than " only mean?" As the author undoubtedly, intended it to refer to the bulk of a single object," it would have been placed, with more propriety, after these words: 'I do not mean the bulk of any single object only, but the largeness of a whole view.'-As the following phrase, "considered as one entire piece," seems to be somewhat deficient, both in dignity and propriety, perhaps this adjection might have been altogether omitted, and the sentence have closed with fully as much advantage at the word "view."

"Such are the prospects of an open champaign country, a vast uncultivated desert, of huge heaps of mountains, high rocks and precipices, or a wide expanse of waters, where we are not struck with the novelty or beauty of the sight, but with that

rude kind of magnificence which appears in many of these stupendous works of nature.

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This sentence, in the main, is beautiful. The objects presented are all of them noble, selected with judgment, arranged with propriety, and accompanied with proper epithets. We must, however, observe, that the sentence is too loosely, and not very grammatically, connected with the preceding one. He says, such are the prospects ;"-" such," signifies of that nature or quality, which necessarily presupposes some adjective, or word descriptive of a quality going before, to which it refers. But in the foregoing sentence there is no such adjective. He had spoken of "greatness" in the abstract only; and, therefore," such" has no distinct antecedent to which we can refer it. The sentence would have been introduced with more grammatical propriety, by saying, 'To this class belong,' or, under this head are ranged the prospects,' &c. The " of," which is prefixed to "huge heaps of mountains," is misplaced, and has perhaps been an error in the printing; as, either all the particulars here enumerated should have had this mark of the genitive, or it should have been prefixed to none but the first.-When, in the close of the sentence the author speaks of that rude magnificence which appears in many of these stupendous works of nature," he had better have omitted the word "many," which seems to except some of them. Whereas, in his general proposition, he undoubtedly meant to include all the stupendous works he had enumerated; and there is no question, that, in all of them, a rude magnificence appears.

"Our imagination loves to be filled with an object, or to grasp at any thing that is too big for its capacity. We are flung into a pleasing astonishment at such unbounded views; and feel a delightful stillness and amazement in the soul, at the apprebension of them."

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The language here is elegant, and several of the expressions remarkably happy. There is nothing which requires any animadversion except the close," at the apprehension of them." Not only is this a languid enfeebling conclusion of a sentence, otherwise beautiful, but the apprehension of views," is a phrase destitute of all propriety, and, indeed, scarcely intelligible. Had this adjection been entirely omitted, and the sentence been allowed to close with "stillness and amazement in the soul," it would have been a great improvement. Nothing is frequently

more hurtful to the grace or vivacity of a period, than superfluous dragging words at the conclusion.

"The mind of man naturally hates every thing that looks like a restraint upon it, and it is apt to fancy itself under a sort of confinement, when the sight is pent up in a narrow compass, and shortened on every side by the neighbourhood of walls or mountains. On the contrary, a spacious horizon is an image of liberty, where the eye has room to range abroad, to expatiate at large on the immensity of its views, and to lose itself amidst the variety of objects that offer themselves to its observation. Such wide and undetermined prospects are pleasing to the fancy, as the speculations of eternity, or infinitude, are to the under standing."

Our author's style appears here in all that native beauty which cannot be too much praised. The numbers flow smoothly, and with a graceful harmony. The words which he has chosen, carry a certain amplitude and fulness, well suited to the nature of the subject; and the members of the periods rise in a gradation, accommodated to the rise of the thought. The eye first "ranges abroad;" then "expatiates at large on the immensity of its views ;" and, at last, "loses itself amidst the variety of objects that offer themselves to its observation." The "fancy" is elegantly contrasted with the " understanding;" "prospects" with "speculations ;" and " wide and undetermined prospects" with "speculations of eternity and infinitude.

"But if there be a beauty or uncommonness joined with this grandeur, as in a troubled ocean, a heaven adorned with stars and meteors, or a spacious landscape cut out into rivers, woods, rocks, and meadows, the pleasure still grows upon us, as it arises from more than a single principle."

The article prefixed to " beauty," in the beginning of this sentence, might have been omitted, and the style have run, perhaps, to more advantage thus: 'But if beauty, or uncommonness, be joined to this grandeur.'-' A landscape cut out into rivers, woods,' &c. seems unseasonably to imply an artificial formation, and would have been better expressed by, diversified with rivers, woods,' &c.

"Every thing that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. We are, indeed, so often conversant with

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