OF

ENGLISH COMPOSITION.

CHAP. I. INTRODUCTORY.

HE great and important object of language is, to ex

Tpregrehe various wants and affections of those by whom

it is fpoken. In the earliet ftages of civil fociety, man is contented with fuch comforts as are easily procured, and the operations of the human mind are circumfcribed within narrow limits. His vocabulary is confequently fcanty, though, at the fame time, it may be fully adequate to every purpofe to which it is applied. But as luxury and refinement advance in their gradual progrefs, the language of the community becomes more copious and elegant: it not only overfteps its ancient boundaries, but haftens to lay afide its ancient fudenefs and barbarity. Material improvements, however, cannot be introduced by any fudden exertion; they must be the refult of that experience, which a length of time only can bestow.

Before the elegancies of literature can lay claim to any confiderable fhare of attention, a fpirit of general improvement must have begun to pervade the ftate. Accordingly we find that vigour and originality of thought have always preceded beauty and accuracy of expreffion. In the firft efforts of untutored genius, the harmony of periods is little regarded; fuch words as most readily occur to the recollection of the writer, are almost indifcriminately adopted; and thefe are generally arranged without much attention to elegance or propriety.

Thus if we take a retrospective view of English literature at no very remote period, we shall often find the beauty of the thought obfcured by the meannefs of the expreffion. Its pages are frequently deformed with uncouthinefs and vulga rity. Nor is it altogether untainted with thefe faults in its prefent ftate. It would be difficult to point out a folitary inftance of an English book wholly free from vulgar expreffions and grammatical errors.

B

Propriety and beauty of style feem often to have been confidered as below the attention both of an author and a reader. The ancients, however, regarded this fubject in a different point of view. To be killed in their native tongue, was esteemed anong the number of the politeft accomplishments. Julius Cæfar, who was not only a great warrior but alfo a man of fathion, was defirous of adding this accomplishment to his other fhining qualities: and we are informed that he ftudied the language of his own country with much application, as we are fure he poffeffed it in the highest degree of purity and elegance. The literary world cannot fufficiently regret that the treatife wichh he wrote upon this fubject, has perifhed along with many other valuable works of the fame age. But, although we are deprived of the benefit of his obfervations, we are happily in poffeffion of an illustrious in. ftance of their effects; and his own Commentaries will ever remain as the brighteft exemplar not only of true generalship, but alfo of fine writing. He publifhed them, indeed, only as materials for the ufe of thofe who might be difpofed to enlarge upon that remarkable period of the Roman History: yet the purity and gracefulness of his ftyle are fuch, that no judicious writer afterwards dared to attempt the fame fubject.

Cicero frequently mentions as a very high encomium, that the celebrated Roman orators poffeffed the elegance of their native language. He introduces Brutus declaring, that he fhould prefer the honour of being efteemed the great mafter and improver of Roman eloquence, even to the glory of many triumphs.

Beauty of compofition tends to heighten the native charms of truth; it therefore ought never to be regarded as an object of fmall importance.-But it may be alledged, that truth does not require the aid of foreign ornament. It is not indeed neceffary, that the fhould be exhibited in a glaring habit; but he ought certainly to be cloathed with decency and propriety. A beautiful woman, in carelefs and fordid apparel, can never appear to great advantage.

To Locke, Cudworth, Clarke, and Butler, philofophy owes the most ferious obligations; but would those great authors have diminished the utility of their literary labours by

* Cicero, de Claris Oratoribus.

employing more finooth and polifhed language? Quite the reverfe. Never, indeed, does the force of reafon more effectually fabdue the human mind then when he is fupported by the powerful affiftance of manly eloquence: as on the contrary, the moft legitimate arguments may be rendered unavailing by being attended with a feeble and unanimated expreffion. There is as much difference between comprebending a thought cloathed in the language of Cicero, and that of an ordinary writer, as there is between viewing an object by the light of the fun and by the light of a taper.

Malebranche has affuredly fallen into a very frange conceit when he infinuates, that the pleafure arifing from the perufal of a beautiful compofition is of a criminal nature, and has its fource in the weakness and effeminacy of the buman mind. That man muft poffefs a very uncommon feverity of temper, who can find any thing to condemn in the practice. of embellishing truth with additional charins, and winning the heart by captivating the ear; in uniting rofes with the thorns of fcience, and joining pleasure with inftruction.

The mind is delighted with a fine fiyle upon the fame principle that it prefers regularity to confufion, and beauty to deformity. A tafte for the beauties of compofition is fo far from being a mark of any depravity of our nature, that I fhould rather be inclined to confider it as an evidence of the moral rectitude of our mental conftitution, fince it furnishes a direct proof that we retain fome relish of order and harmony. No object has ever appeared of greater importance to wife men, than to tincture the young and fufceptible mind with an early relish for the pleafures of tafte. Eafy in general is the tranfition from the purfuit of thefe to the difcharge of the higher and more important duties of life. Sanguine hopes may be entertained of thofe whofe minds have this liberal and elegant turn. It is favourable to the growth of many virtues: whereas, to be devoid of taste for the fine arts, is juftly regarded as an unpromising symptom in youth, and raifes fufpicions of their being prone to low gratifica tions, or deftined to drudge in the more vulgar and illiberal purfuits of life. There are few good difpofitions of any kind with which the improvement of this faculty is not in fome degree connected. A cultivated tafte increases fenfibility to all the tender and humane paffions, by giving them frequent exercife; while, on the other hand, it tends to weaken the

more violent and fierce emotions, by exciting in us a lively fenfe of decorum.

From thefe obfervations it will appear, that the charge of Malebranche is not only ill-founded, but abfolutely ridicu lous. One would however be apt to fufpect, that certain writers among us had confidered the fubject in the fame gloomy point of view; or at least that they had studiously avoided every refinement in ftyle, as unbecoming a lover of truth and wisdom. Their fentiments are debafed by the low. eft expreffions: they feem condemned to the curfe of creeping upon the ground all the days of their life.

But there is another extreme, which ought alfo to be carefully avoided. Language may be too pompous, as well as too mean. Some authors mistake pomp for dignity; and with the view of raising their expreffions above vulgar language, elevate them above common apprehenfion. They feem to confider it as a mark of their genius, that it requires fome ingenuity to discover their meaning. But when their meaning is difcovered, it feldom repays the labour of the fearch.

CHAP. II.

OF PURITY OF STYLE.

TYLE has been defined to be the peculiar manner in which a man expreffes his conceptions through the medium of language. It differs from mere language or words Though the words which an author employs, be unexceptionable, yet his ftyle may be chargeable with great faults; it may be dry, ftiff, feeble, affected. The style of an author is always intimately connected with his manner of thinking. It is a picture of the ideas which arife in his mind, and of the manner in which they do arife. Hence the difficulty of drawing an exact line of feparation between the flyle and the fentiment.

All that can be required of language is to convey our ideas clearly to the minds of others, and, at the fame time, to clothe them in an advantageous drefs. The two general heads of perfpicuity and ornament, therefore, comprehend all