[ 5° ] 



"Notwithstanding the very genera} prevalence of thofe errors 

 in the flyle of Engllfh profe at the period of the revolution, it muft 



not 



" of it. We fliould not fay our laws want reformation when 'tis or.Iy our/elves 

 " that want if. If our lawgivers never more amend cur !,itus, we may mctid our ways 

 " with thofe we have already. Care fliould be taken to ketp our highways in repair, 

 " when the nation has been at the charge to put them in good repair." Synonimes 

 and puerile antithcfes. 



" Hence I fliall divide and dijlivguijh juftices of the peace into honorary and afting." 

 " But there is no neceffity for that neither, &c." Synonimes and -. d ;"able negative. 



Burnet, in his fcrnion at the Rolls Chapel, " That we ought not to truft neither to 

 ■" our reafon nor our fenfes." Double negative. " To Jemand an equity'' An 

 improper ufe of the word equity, as well as a harlh and coarle e>pi'eflion. 



" On the contrary, in dark ages, nothing was more coiniiiou than pretended appa- 

 " ritiotis and voices to confirm the impotture ; which ha\e \ miflied in an age that is 

 <' more apt to fufpe£t and examine fuch things, as the illufions of our dreams fly from 

 " us whenever we are awake." This fentence is perfeftly charafteriftic of the ftyle 

 of 88: //jf before impofture is improperly ufed, as it is impollure generally which 

 he fpeaks of, and to which therefore the definite article cannot be applied : the 

 relative -which is made to agree, not with the noun immediately preceding, but 

 with apparitions and voices : to both of thefe nouns the verb vanijh is applied, with 

 the common inaccuracy of the writers of this period, though it can in propriety agree 

 only to the firft, for no man would talk of a voice vanifiitig. What follows in this 

 fentence fliould have been matter for a new period, for to have defcribed the pre- 

 valence of fuperftition through feveral ages was enough for one fentence, and to 

 defcribe the fuperiority of the prcfent age anotlicr would not have been too much. 

 SufpeB and examine, though certainly not fynonimous, for many who fufpe£t will 

 often not take the trouble to examine, yet, in the ufe that is here made of them, 

 appear to be joined only for the fake of company. In the laft claufe when would 

 probably be much better both for found and fenfe than whenever. " If reafon be 

 " once given up, no wonder if wealth and other fecular advantages were thrown 

 " into the bargain." A figure more fitted for the fliop or the fliambles than the wri- 

 tings of a bifliop. 



In 



