RHETORIC AND BELLES-LETTRES. 



meaning, and therefore furthers the main object 

 of the address. Many of the words of our lan- 

 guage have a natural expressiveness, and they 

 may be so joined in composition as to have an 

 expressive structure. Pope has been admitted to 

 have been often very happy in bringing out this 

 quality. The following is an example : 



' If nature thundered in his opening ears, 

 And stunned him with the music of the spheres, 

 How would he wish that heaven had left him still 

 The whispering zephyr and the purling rill ! ' 



Expressiveness is often preferred to elegance, 

 as in cases where some coarse phrase carries 

 with it a vigorous meaning. No one would object 

 to Cromwell's saying of his Protectorate, that it 

 was a device that had been before resorted to 

 ' when this land was under the like hurliburlies.' 



Freshness. 



This much desired quality in all things pre- 

 sented to the senses or the mind of man may 

 belong in very unequal degrees to modes of ad- 

 dress. It is produced partly by mere novelty ; 

 partly by what, although not new, is in permanent 

 contrast to routine or commonplace ; partly by 

 what is genial, loving, and hearty ; and partly by 

 high and consummate art. There are composi- 

 tions which are fresh for the hour, and others that 

 are so to every new generation. It is indeed 

 possible to render the greatest compositions stale 

 by harping too much upon the letter of them ; but i 

 when moderately enjoyed, the creations of Homer, j 

 Aristophanes, Chaucer, Shakspeare, or Goethe I 

 have an everlasting relish. The freshness of j 

 loving warm geniality attained its perfection in 

 Don Quixote, which will remain an eternal ex- 

 ample of the qualities that make either a man 

 or a book universally agreeable. Addison and 

 Cowley are examples of the same fine-toned style 

 of thought and feeling. 



The revelations of the mystery and workings of 

 nature break out with perpetual freshness upon 

 the mind, just as its scenic beauty is a charm to 

 every new-comer. Hence scientific compositions 

 have all the delight of novelty at their first perusal. 

 In like manner the practical devices of human 

 life, the machinery, apparatus, and inventions 

 of man for overcoming nature and organising 

 human society, are a source of similar interest. 

 The works that describe the ongoings of distant 

 countries, as well as those relating to past ages, 

 have the advantage that newness and strangeness 

 of matter give to literary compositions ; but in 

 such cases, the subject-matter, rather than the 

 style, is the source of interest. 



All expressions and descriptions that direct the 

 view upon the outer world, have a healthier and 

 fresher action on the mind than such as relate to 

 inward feelings and emotions, or require an intro- 

 spective effort. Self-consciousness, although as 

 necessary in human life as sight or hearing, is 

 naturally a weakening and debilitating action, and 

 should be exercised only in a small proportion to 

 the efforts of outward attention and regard. Shak- 

 speare's description of Dover Cliff contains some 

 examples of the inward or subjective reference, 

 which will serve to illustrate what is here meant 

 by it : 



' Come on, sir ; here 's the place stand still. Haw 

 dreadful 



And dixty 'tit to cast one's eyes so law i 

 The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air, 

 Shew scarce so gross as beetles. Half-way down 

 Hangs one that gathers samphire : dreadful trad* f 

 Methinks he seems no bigger than his head ! 

 The fishermen that walk upon the beach 

 Appear like mice : and yon tall anchoring bark 

 Diminished to her cock ; her cock, a buoy, 

 Almost too small for sight The murmuring surge, 

 That on the unnumbered pebbles idly chafes, 

 Cannot be heard so high. I '11 look no more, 

 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 

 Topple down headlong.' 



A combination of freshness, animation, and 

 ease, will produce what is called the light in style, 

 so much desiderated by all who aim at securing 

 the patronage of the reading public. 



The group of qualities next to be discussed, 

 which allude to the various kinds of artistic effect, 

 likewise contribute essentially to the result that 

 we have last been considering. 



Taste, Elegance, &c. 



The qualities of Taste, being qualities super- 

 added to the conveyance of meaning, are the 

 secondary attributes of compositions whose object 

 is to give direction or information, although they 

 are the principal characteristics aimed at in the 

 poetic and literary art They are intended for the 

 immediate gratification of a wide surface of varied 

 human susceptibility, while the other purposes of 

 speech relate to the practical ends of life, which 

 may not be capable of taking on forms calculated 

 to give artistic enjoyment. Neither elegance nor 

 sublimity of expression is sought for in an act of 

 parliament or a deed of conveyance. 



The artistic qualities of style may be illustrated 

 under the following heads : 



Melody. 



The melody or music of articulate speech arises 

 from the proper choice and ordering of melodious 

 words and phrases. Certain combinations of 

 letters have a more musical effect upon the ear 

 than others ; and the due alternation of long and 

 short, emphatic and unemphatic syllables, under 

 the guidance of an ear for the music of style, is 

 calculated to gratify the sense of articulate melody. 

 The following sentence from Milton has often 

 been quoted as an instance of melodious com- 

 position : ' We shall conduct you to a hillside, 

 laborious, indeed, at the first ascent ; but else so 

 smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospects and 

 melodious sounds on every side, that the harp of 

 Orpheus was not more charming.' 



Comparison Metaphor. 



The employment of comparisons serves the pur- 

 pose of imparting clearness to composition in 

 cases when a familiar and distinct image is em- 

 ployed to illustrate what is indistinct or obscure, 

 as when the action of breathing is expressed by 

 the example of a common bellows. But com- 

 parison has an artistic effect also, in consequence 

 of the emotion that is produced by identifying and 

 harmonising the remote and the unlike. The fol- 

 lowing lines from Chaucer, in his description of 

 the squire, contain several highly artistic com- 

 parisons : 



'Embroided was he, as it were a nuati, 

 All full offreshifloures white and rede ; 



73J 



