Risible, ridiculous. The former has an active, the latter a passive signification; thus, we say, Man is a risible animal; a fop is a ridicu lous character.

Riches, richness. The former denotes the things possessed, or what constitutes the opulence of the owner; the latter denotes the quality of the thing possessed.

Sophism, sophistry. The former denotes a fallacious argument, the latter fallacious reasoning.

Together, successively. The former means at the same time, the latter signifies one after the other.

Veracity, reality, or truth. Veracity is applicable to persons only, and denotes that moral quality which consists in speaking truth; truth is applied to things. We say the truth or verity of the relation or thing told, and the veracity of the relater.

Verdict, testimony. A witness gives his testimony; the jury give their verdict.

Whole, entire, complete. Whole excludes subtraction; entire excludes division; complete excludes deficiency. A whole orange has had nothing taken from it; an entire orange is not yet cut; and a complete orange is grown to its full size. A man may have an entire house to himself, and not one complete apartment.

Wisdom, prudence, discretion. Wisdom consists in speculative knowledge; prudence, in that which is practical; discretion acts according to circumstances, and is its own rule. Wisdom knows what is past; prudence, by foresight, knows what is to come; and discretion perceives what is, in all probability, right.

With, by. With expresses a closer and more immediate connection; by, a more remote one. With sometimes denotes the instrument; by, the cause; as, He was killed with a stone by David.

The preceding List of Synonymes is sufficiently ample to show the importance of this subject; for additional information, the student is referred to Crabbe's "English Synonymes."

This subject cannot be better concluded, than by recommending the student carefully to endeavour to render his meaning full and distinct; avoiding, on the one hand, too great a conciseness of expression, and, on the other, that kind of obscurity which arises from involving the sense in a cloud of words.

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

Different Kinds of Sentences.-Sentences may be divided into Periods, and into what are termed Loose sentences. A Period is a sentence, in which the parts are so intimately connected, that the meaning remains suspended till the whole is finished.

EXAMPLE."To eye God in all our comforts, and observe the smiling aspects of his face, when he dispenses them to us; to eye Him in all our afflictions, and consider the paternal wisdom that instructs us in them; how would this increase our mercies and mitigate our troubles." This is a Period consisting of several clauses, at any of which, if a stop were made before the end, the preceding words would not form a sentence, nor convey any determinate sense.

A Loose sentence admits either of one or of several places before the end, at which, if a stop were made, the construction of the preceding part would form a complete sentence.

EXAMPLE. "One party had given their whole attention, during several years, to the project of enriching themselves, and impoverishing the rest of the nation; and thus of establishing their dominion, under the government and with the favour of a family who were foreigners, who might, therefore, believe that they were established on the throne, by the good will and strength of this party alone." In this sentence, whether a pause be made at themselves, nation, dominion, or foreigners, the preceding words will form a perfect sentence.

Each of these kinds of sentences has its advantages and disadvantages. The Period gives to style, energy and vivacity, accompanied, however, with some degree of stateliliness and formality; on the other hand, the Loose sentence is generally characterized by ease and familiarity. Hence, the periodic structure ought to prevail more in historical, political, and philosophical writings; whilst, loose sentences ought to predominate in essays, dialogues, familiar letters, and moral tales.

When either of these kinds is continued too long, the style is apt to become tedious; attention, therefore, must be had to a proper variety in the structure of our sentences. In the employment of the periodic style, also, an author must not depart too far from colloquial usage, lest he betray an elaborate stateliness,-a fault which is always disagreeable.

In the Structure of Sentences, Perspicuity of Style requires, as before stated, Clearness and Unity.

Clearness.

Clearness in the Structure of Sentences, consists in that arrangement of the words and members of sentences, by which their relation and connection are rendered perspicuous and determinate.

Syntactical arrangement is confined to the position of words. Clearness in the structure of sentences is more comprehensive, including the collocation of words, phrases, and members of sentences.

1. Care must be taken in the proper position of relative pronouns, adverbs, and connecting particles.

Ample directions have been given on this subject under Syntax. Only one additional example is subjoined in this place;-"It is folly to pretend to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, by heaping up treasures, which nothing can protect us against, but the good providence of our heavenly Father." The sentence ought to have been arranged thus;-"It is folly to pretend, by heaping up treasures, to arm ourselves against the accidents of life, against which nothing can protect us, but the good providence of our heavenly Father."

2. Words expressing things connected in thought, should be placed as near together as possible. Thus, the sentence, "God heapeth favours on his servants, ever liberal and faithful," should be thus expressed, "God, ever liberal and faithful, heapeth favours on his servants."

"No mortal author, in the ordinary fate and vicissitude of things, knows to what use his works may, sometime or other, be applied." The following arrangement is preferable: "In the ordinary fate and vicissitude of things, no mortal author knows to what use his works may, sometime or other, be applied."

3. a. Clauses expressing the circumstances of time and place, must be placed as near as possible at the beginning of a sentence.

Thus, "The moon was casting a pale light on the numerous graves that were scattered before me, as it peered above the horizon, when I opened the small gate of the church yard," will be better rendered by saying, "When I opened the small gate of the church yard, the moon, as it peered above the horizon, was casting a pale light on the numerous graves that lay scattered before me."

This Rule does not apply to clauses intended to affect the meaning of particular parts of the sentence.

b. Clauses denoting circumstances respecting the action, should be placed near that part of the sentence, the meaning of which they are intended to affect.

EXAMPLE." The emperor was so intent on the establishment of his absolute power in Hungary, that he exposed the empire doubly to desolation and ruin for the sake of it." The sentence ought to be thus expressed, "The emperor was so intent on the establishment of his absolute power in Hungary, that, for the sake of it, he exposed the empire doubly to desolation and ruin."

4. a. A clause, expressing a circumstance, must never be placed between two principal members of a period; for, by such an arrangement, we are left in doubt to which of the two the circumstance refers.

EXAMPLE." Though our brother is upon the rack, as long as we ourselves are at ease, our senses will never inform us of what he suffers," will be better expressed thus, "Though our brother is upon the rack, our senses will never, as long as we ourselves are at ease, inform us of what he suffers."

b. Clauses, expressing circumstances, must not be crowded together, but be interspersed in different parts of the sentence, and joined with the principal words on which they depend.

EXAMPLE." What I had the opportunity of mentioning to my friend, sometime ago, in conversation, was not a new thought." The following arrangement is preferable,-"What I had the opportunity, some time ago, of mentioning to my friend, in conversation, was not a new thought."

5. When different things have an obvious relation to one another, with respect to the order of time, place, cause, and effect, or the like, a corresponding order should be observed, in assigning them their position in the sentence.

Thus, instead of saying, "He was resigned to the will of God in dying and suffering," we should say, "in suffering and dying." "He was respected and prudent," should be," He was prudent and respected."

Unity of a Sentence.

The Unity of a sentence denotes the predominancy of only one proposition or enunciation of thought, and a uniformity of construction throughout the sentence. Different circumstances may, indeed, be introduced, but these must always be made subservient to the principal subject.

1. a. We must avoid uniting, in the same sentence, those thoughts and statements which are distinct, and remotely connected with each other.

EXAMPLE. "In this uneasy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed by a new and cruel affliction, the death of his beloved Tullia; which happened soon after her divorce from Dolabella, whose manners and humours were entirely disagreeable to her." The principal subject in this sentence is the death of Tullia, which was the cause of her father's affliction. The time when the event took place is, without any impropriety, pointed out in the course of the sentence; but the addition of Dolabella's character is foreign to the main object. By presenting a new picture to the reader, we destroy the unity and compactness of the period. The sentiments would be better expressed in two sentences; thus, "In this uneasy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed with a new and cruel affliction, the death of his beloved Tullia, which event happened soon after her divorce from Dolabella. The manners and humours of this man were entirely disagreeable to her."

b. Hence, also, sentences must never be extended beyond their natural close.

EXAMPLE." Burnet could not end his learned treatise without a panegyric on modern learning and knowledge, in comparison of the ancient; whilst Fontenella falls so grossly into the censure of the old poetry, and preference of the new, that I could not read either of these strains without indignation, which no quality among men is so apt to raise in me as sufficiency, the worst composition out of the pride and ignorance of mankind." Of this sentence, the word indignation forms the natural conclusion; what follows is foreign to the proposition with which the author commenced.

2. a. In the construction of sentences, regard must be had, that they be, in general, neither very long nor very short. Long sentences, unless constructed with care, require close attention, to make us clearly perceive the connection of the several parts; whilst short ones are apt to break the sense, and weaken the connection of thought.

Whenever it is necessary to employ long sentences, care must be taken that the different parts be so arranged and constructed, that each part may be understood as the sentence proceeds, not leaving the meaning of the different parts as well as of the whole sentence, to be gathered at its close.

EXAMPLE." It is not without a degree of patient attention and persevering diligence, greater than the generality are willing to bestow, though not greater than the object deserves, that the habit can be acquired, of examining and judging of our own

conduct, with the same accuracy and impartiality as of that of another." Here, the sense is not clear till towards the close of the sentence; the following construction will remove this defect:-"The habit of examining our own conduct as accurately as that of another, and judging of it with the same impartiality, cannot be acquired without a degree of patient attention and persevering diligence, not greater, indeed, than the object deserves, but greater than the generality are willing to bestow." The two sentences are nearly the same, both in length and in the words employed; but the alteration of the arrangement allows the latter to be understood clause by clause, as it proceeds.

Another specimen of a long sentence is here given, that the pupil may perceive the disadvantages of such sentences, and how easily they may be amended. Though in yesterday's paper we showed how every thing that is great, new, or beautiful, is apt to affect the imagination with pleasure, we must own that it is impossible for us to assign the necessary cause of this pleasure, because we know neither the nature of an idea, nor the substance of a human soul; and, therefore, for want of such a light, all that we can do in speculations of this kind, is to reflect on those operations of the soul that are most agreeable; and to range, under their proper heads, what is pleasing or displeasing to the mind, without being able to trace out the several necessary and efficient causes, from whence the pleasure or displeasure arises." We shall now divide the foregoing into several distinct sentences. "In yesterday's paper, we showed that every thing which is great, new, or beautiful, is apt to affect the imagination with pleasure. We must own, that it is impossible for us to assign the efficient cause of this pleasure, because we know not the nature either of an idea, or of the human soul. All that we can do, therefore, in speculations of this kind, is to reflect on those operations of the soul which are most agreeable, and to range under proper heads, what is pleasing or displeasing to the mind."

b. In every discourse, there must be a proper mixture of long and short sentences, and of those variously constructed.

A continued succession of either long or short sentences, or of those constructed with the same number of members, is both tedious to the ear and destructive of animation and force of style.

3. During the course of the sentence, the scene should be changed as little as possible. As one principal person or thing should be predominant, so, one species of construction should be observed throughout.

EXAMPLE. "After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness." In this sentence, though the objects contained in it have a connection with one another, yet, by changing so often both the place and the person, we and they, I and who, and by unnecessarily mixing active and passive verbs, not only is the sense weakened, but the unity of the sentence impaired. The following construction renders the sentence correct;"Having come to anchor, I was put on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, and received with the greatest kindness."

4. Those members of a sentence which express a comparison or contrast between two things, require a corresponding resemblance in the language and construction.

EXAMPLES. "A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy inflames his crimes." Here, the opposition in the thought is neglected in the words; it will be properly expressed thus;-"A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy, his crimes."

"I have observed of late, the style of some great ministers very much to exceed that of any other productions." Instead of productions, which bears no relation to ministers, the author ought to have said writers or authors.

The following passage from Pope's Preface to his Homer, fully exemplifies the Rule just given: Homer was the greater genius; Virgil, the better artist; in the one, we most admire the man; in the other, the work. Homer hurries us with a commanding impetuosity; Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty. Homer scatters with a generous profusion; Virgil bestows with a careful magnificence. Homer, like the Nile, pours out his riches with a sudden overflow; Virgil, like a river in its