same author, in the Spectator, says, “There is not a single view of human nature which is not sufficient to extinguish the seeds of pride." How can a view extinguish? and if it could do so, what sense is there in extinguishing seeds? Lord Macaulay points out a line faulty in this respect in the poems of Robert Montgomery : "One great Enchanter helmed the harmonious whole!" An enchanter does not helm; and helming has nothing to do with harmony. (3) Allegory is a metaphor continued through a long passage, or even through a whole book. A fine example of allegory occurs in the 8oth Psalm, where the Israelites are spoken of as a vine: “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt : Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room for it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land," etc. Jesus Christ's parables are mostly allegories; so also is Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," which represents the Christian as a pilgrim travelling on a long, difficult, and perilous journey. Spenser's "Faerie Queene" is the finest allegorical poem in the English language. The chief requisite about an allegory is, that it should be consistent throughout; that the figurative and literal meanings should not be mixed together, but be preserved everywhere distinct. (4) Metonomy is a figure by which the cause is substituted for the effect, or the effect for the cause; the thing containing for that which it contains; the sign for that which it signifies. Thus, if we say, "Have you read Milton?" we mean Milton's works "the kettle boils," signifies "the water in the kettle boils." So also we speak of the "throne," or the "sceptre," meaning the "kingdom," as in the phrases, "He succeeded to the throne," "He assumed the sceptre." (5) Synecdoche is a somewhat similar figure, by which a part is taken for the whole. "A fleet of twenty sail," is an instance, where the sail is taken for the whole ship. Similarly, we use "head" for " 66 person," and "waves" for " sea." A captain speaks of his sailors as "hands." A naval commander, sending home an account of a naval engagement, unconsciously made a curious use of this figure when he wrote, "One of our hands was shot through the nose." 66 (6) Hyperbole is a figure which produces an effect by means of exaggeration. A man who has become very thin is sometimes described as being worn to a shadow." So again, a person is said to have "died with fright," when the meaning is simply, that he was very much frightened. There are several instances of hyperbole in the Bible. Thus, Abraham's seed was to become as numerous as the sands on the sea shore." Other examples are found in John xxi. 25: “I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written ;" and Matt. xxiii. 24: "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." 66 The following line from Edgar Allen Poe furnishes a happy example of this figure. Speaking of the bells borne by the sledges, he says:— "What a world of merriment their melody foretells!" This figure requires to be employed with great judgment and moderation. If carried beyond the bounds of good taste, it becomes mere bombast, or rant, as in the following passage from Lee : "I found her on the floor In all the storm of grief, yet beautiful; That were the world on fire, they might have drowned The wrath of heaven, and quenched the mighty ruin." (7) Personification, or Prosopopoeia, is a figure which attributes life, feeling, and action to inanimate objects. It is often employed by the poets. "There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium's capital had gathered then "Where smiling Spring its earliest visit paid, And parting Summer's lingering blooms delayed.” Goldsmith. Psalm cxiv. contains several examples of personification :— "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.” Personification is a kind of metaphor. (8) Apostrophe is a turning aside from the direct course of the subject to address some person or thing. This figure is allied to Personification, when it is used to address inanimate objects or abstract qualities. There are many examples of it in the Bible. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" -1 Cor. xv. 55. See also Isaiah xiv. 14–20. The following are examples from the poets :— "O Tiber! father Tiber, To whom the Romans pray, A Roman's life, a Roman's arms Take thou in charge this day !”—Macaulay. "Must we but weep o'er days more bless'd? To make a new Thermopyla."-Byron. (9) Antithesis is a figure which is founded on the contrast or opposition of objects or ideas. The following are examples :— "If he had not been a great fool, he would not have been a great writer."—Macaulay. "Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; Strong without rage, without o'erflowing, full."-Denham. "So true, so brave; a lamb at home, A lion in the chase."-Spenser. "Men have done brave deeds, And bards have sung them well.”—Emerson. "For men may come, and men may go, But I go on for ever."-Tennyson. (10) Climax is a heightening of the thoughts or ideas contained in a sentence or passage, so as to produce a strong effect at the close. Thus Cæsar said: "I came, I saw, I conquered." Another example is contained in the line from Byron : "And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before." The following verse (taken in connection with the circumstances to which it refers) is an example of climax in narration. "Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken (1 Sam. iv. 17). Here the character of the tidings gradually becomes more and more painful to Eli, till the last and most dreadful statement of all, that the ark of God was taken, so overwhelms him that "he fell from the seat backward, and his neck brake, and he died." (11) Anti-climax is the converse of climax, and is used by satirical writers, to throw ridicule on some person or object. The following examples are from Pope, who is fond of this figure: "Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast When husbands or when lap-dogs breathe their last." "Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take-and sometimes tea." (We may here observe, in passing, with reference to the rhyme in the last two lines, that at the time when Pope wrote, the word "tea" was pronounced "tay.") PUNCTUATION. Punctuation (Lat. punctum, a point) is the art of marking a written composition with certain points or stops, so as to divide it into clauses or members in such a way as to indicate the different pauses which are required by the sense. In English, the marks employed in punctuation are properly four-the Comma, the Semicolon, the Colon, and the Period, or Full Stop. (1) The Comma (,) is the stop most frequently used, and represents a pause of the shortest duration. It is employed to separate those parts of a sentence which, though closely connected in sense and construction, yet require a pause between them. The following are the principal rules for its proper use, or omission. (a) It is generally wrong to separate the subject of a simple sentence from the predicate, even when the former is somewhat complicated, or consists of a substantive sentence. "Better late than never' is a very old proverb." Thus : "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” "But no artifice by which notoriety can be obtained is thought too abject for a man of letters." "How soon faction again began to ferment is well known." This rule is, however, not universally observed. Some good authors place a comma after a substantive sentence which forms a subject. (b) A comma is employed before and after a sentence or phrase introduced in a parenthetical manner. "Mr. Locke, I think, recommends the study of geometry." "The knight, in order to follow so laudable an example, laid aside his helmet." (c) Sometimes even a single word used parenthically is separated by commas from the rest of the sentence, in a similar manner. "Few, however, are those who venture into that world of independent thought." |