cause. Philip found difficulty in managing the Athenians, on account of their natural dispositions; but the eloquence of Demosthenes was the great obstacle to his designs.

To distinguish, separate.—We distinguish what we do not wish to confound; we separate what we wish to remove. Objects are distinguished from each other by their qualities; they are separated by the distance of time or place.

Entire, complete.-A thing is entire by wanting none of its parts; complete by wanting none of its appendages. A man may be master of an entire house, which has not one complete apartment.

Equivocal, ambiguous.-An equivocal expression has one sense open, and designed to be understood; another sense concealed, and understood only by the person who uses the expression. An ambiguous expression has apparently two senses, and leaves us at a loss which of them to prefer. An equivocal expression is used with an intention to deceive; an ambiguous one, when purposely adopted, with an intention to give full information. An honest man will refrain from employing an equivocal expression; a confused man may often utter ambiguous terms without any design.

Haughtiness, disdain.-Haughtiness is founded on the high opinion which we entertain of ourselves; disdain, on the mean opinion which we entertain of others.

To invent, to discover.-To invent, signifies to produce something totally new; to discover, signifies to find out something which was before hidden. Galileo invented the telescope; Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood.

Only, alone.-Only imports that there is no other object of the same kind; alone imports being unaccompanied by any other object. An only child is one that has neither brother nor sister; a child alone, is one that is left by itself. There is a difference, therefore, in precise language, between these two phrases, "Virtue only makes us happy;" and "Virtue alone makes us happy." Virtue only makes us happy, implies that

nothing else can produce the effect. Virtue alone makes us happy, implies that virtue, unaccompanied with other advantages, makes us happy. In the following sentence, Mr. Gibbon has employed the two words as if they were perfectly synonymous: "Of the nineteen tyrants, Tetricus only was a senator; Piso alone was a noble." In the subsequent passage of Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. the word only ought apparently to have been substituted for alone; 'Duels, which at first could be appointed by the civil judge alone, were fought without the interposition of his authority, and in cases to which the law did not extend."

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Pride, vanity.-Pride is a word of more extensive signification, and is sometimes applied in a favourable sense; we speak of honest, as well as of low pride. Vanity, which always refers to inconsiderable objects, is never mentioned with commendation. A man may be too proud to be vain. "Pride," says Dr. Brown, "is often confounded with vanity, from which it differs, both in its essence and its effects. The vain, as well as the proud man, is enamoured of his own qualities and circumstances, and deems them superior to those of others. But, as the constant object of the former is applause, he is continually displaying his talents, his virtues, or his dignity, in order to obtain it. Sensible of his dependence on mankind, for that commendation at which he is always aiming, he endeavours to insure their admiration, although he excite, at the same time, their contempt. The proud man, on the contrary, disdains even commendation as a favour, but claims it as a debt, and demands respect as an homage to which he is entitled. Reverence is not a prize which he must win, but a property which it is injustice to withhold from him. The vain are objects of ridicule, but not of detestation. The proud are both contemptible and odious.'

To remark, observe.-We remark, in the way of attention, in order to remember; we observe, in the way of examination, in order to judge. A traveller remarks the most striking objects which he sees; a general observes all the motions of his enemy.

Surprised, astonished, amazed, confounded.-I am surprised at what is new or unexpected; I am astonished at what is vast or great; I am amazed at what is incomprehensible; I am confounded by what is shocking or terrible.

Wisdom, prudence.-Wisdom leads us to speak and act with propriety; prudence prevents our speaking or acting improperly. A wise man employs the most proper means for success; a prudent man the safest means to avoid being brought into danger.

With, by. Both these particles express the connexion between some instrument, or means of effecting an end, and the agent who employs that instrument or those means: with expresses a more close and immediate, by a more remote connexion. The proper distinction in the use of these particles is elegantly marked in a passage of Dr. Robertson's History of Scotland. When one of the old Scottish kings was making an enquiry into the tenure by which his nobles held their lands, they started up, and drawing their swords, "By these," said they, "we acquired our lands, and with these we will defend them." The following instances further exemplify the distinction. "He was killed by a stone which fell from the steeple.""He was killed with a stone by Peter." Here with refers to the instrument, and by to the agent.

THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

A SENTENCE always implies some one complete proposition, or enunciation of thought; but every sentence does not confine itself to a single proposition.

A sentence consists of component parts, which are called its members; and as those members may be

either few or many, and may be connected in several different ways, the same thought, or mental proposition, may often be either compressed into one sentence, or distributed into two or three, without the material breach of any rule.

Upon surveying the annals of past ages, it seems that the greatest geniuses have been subject to this historical darkness; as is evident in those great lights of antiquity, Homer and Euclid, whose writings indeed enrich mankind with perpetual stores of knowledge and delight; but whose lives are for the most part concealed in impenetrable oblivion.-Taylor's Life of Orpheus.

The same meaning may thus be expressed in three sentences: " Upon surveying the annals of past ages, it seems that the greatest geniuses have been subject to this historical darkness. This is evidently the case with regard to those great lights of antiquity, Homer and Euclid. The writings of these illustrious authors enrich mankind with perpetual stores of knowledge and delight; but their lives are for the most part concealed in impenetrable oblivion."

With regard to the precise length of sentences, no positive rule can be laid down; in this particular the writer must always be regulated by his own taste. A short period is lively and familiar; a long period, requiring more attention, makes an impression grave and solemn. There may be an extreme on either side.*

Nor in the field of war

The Greeks excel by discipline alone,

But from their manners. Grant thy ear, O king,
The diff'rence learn of Grecian bands, and thine.
The flow'r, the bulwark of thy pow'rful host
Are mercenaries. These are canton'd round
Thy provinces. No fertile field demands
Their painful hand to turn the fallow glebe.
Them to the noon-day toil no harvest calls.
The stubborn oak along the mountain's brow

Sinks not beneath their stroke. With careful eyes
They mark not how the flocks or heifers feed.

Glover

* A series of short periods produces a very disagreeable effect in poetry These two quotations will justify this assertion.

So saying they approach'd

The gate. The sentinel, soon as he heard
Thitherward footsteps, with uplifted lance

Challenged the darkling travellers. At their voice
He draws the strong bolts back, and painful turns
The massy entrance. To the careful chiefs

They pass.
At midnight of their extreme state
Counselling they sat, serious and stern. To them
Conrade. Assembled warriors! &c.

Southey.

By means of too many short sentences, the sense is divided and broken, the connexion of thought weakened, and the memory burdened, by being presented with a long succession of minute objects; and, on the other hand, by the too frequent use of long periods, an author overloads the reader's ear and fatigues his attention. In general, a writer ought to aim at a due mixture of long and short periods, which prevents an irksome uniformity, and entertains the mind with a variety of impressions. Long sentences cannot be properly introduced till the reader's attention is completely engaged: they ought never to be placed at the beginning of discourses of any description.

The French critics make a proper distribution of style into the two general classes of périodique and coupé. In the style périodique, the sentences are composed of several members linked together and depending upon each other, so that the sense is not completely unfolded till the close.

Something of a doubtful mist still hangs over these Highland traditions; nor can it be entirely dispelled by the most ingenious researches of modern criticism; but if we could with safety indulge the pleasing supposition that Fingal lived, and that Ossian sung, the striking contrast of the situation and manners of the contending nations might amuse a philosophic mind. The parallel would be little to the advantage of the more civilized people, if we compared the unrelenting revenge of Severus with the generous clemency of Fingal; the timid and brutal cruelty of Caracalla, with the bravery, the tenderness, the elegant genius of Ossian; the mercenary chiefs who, from motives of fear or interest, served under the imperial standard, with the freeborn warriors who started to arms at the voice of the king of Morven; if, in a word, we contemplated the untutored Caledonians, glowing with the warm virtues of nature, and the degenerate Romans, polluted with the mean vices of wealth and slavery.-Gibbon's Hist. of the Roman Empire.