Chapter 26

1. James's son, Charles I., before the breath was out of his body was proclaimed king in his stead. 2. He told the coachman that he would be the death of him, if he did not take care what he was about, and mind what he said. 3. Richelieu said to the king that Mazarin would carry out his policy. 4. He was overjoyed to see him, and he sent for one of his workmen, and told him to consider himself at his service. 5. Blake answered the Spanish priest that if he had sent in a complaint, he would have punished the sailors severely; but he took it ill that he set the Spaniards on to punish them.

+Direction+.--_So place these subordinate clauses that they will remove the obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged_:--

1. The moon cast a pale light on the graves that were scattered around, as it peered above the horizon. 2. A large number of seats were occupied by pupils that had no backs. 3. Crusoe was surprised at seeing five canoes on the shore in which there were savages. 4. This tendency will be headed off by approximations which will be made from time to time of the written word to the spoken. 5. People had to travel on horseback and in wagons, which was a very slow way, if they traveled at all. 6. How can brethren partake of their Father's blessing that curse each other? 7. Two men will be tried for crimes in this town which are punishable with death, if a full court should attend.

Direction.--_Each of these sentences may have two meanings, supply the two ellipses in each sentence, and remove the ambiguity:_--

1. Let us trust no strength less than thine. 2. Study had more attraction for him than his friend. 3. He did not like the new teacher so well as his playmates. 4. He aimed at nothing less than the crown. 5. Lovest thou me more than these?

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LESSON 152.

PERSPICUITY--CRITICISM.

Direction.--_So place these italicized phrases that they will remove the obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:_--

1. These designs any man who is a Briton _in any situation_ ought to disavow. 2. The chief priests, mocking, said among themselves _with the scribes_, "He saved," etc. 3. Hay is given to horses _as well as corn_ to distend the stomach. 4. Boston has forty first class grammar-schools, _exclusive of Dorchester_. 5. He rode to town, and drove twelve cows _on horseback_. 6. He could not face an enraged father _in spite of his effrontery_. 7. Two owls sat upon a tree which grew near an old wall _out of a heap of rubbish_. 8. I spent most _on the river and in the river_ of the time I stayed there. 9. He wanted to go to sea, although it was contrary to the wishes of his parents, _at the age of eighteen_. 10. I have a wife and six children, and I have never seen _one of them._

+Direction.+--_So place the italicized words and phrases in each sentence that they will help to convey what you think is the author's thought, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:_--

1. In Paris, every lady _in full dress_ rides. 2. I saw my friend when I was in Boston _walking down Tremont street_. 3. The Prince of Wales was forbidden to become king _or any other man_. 4. What is his coming or going _to you_? 5. We do those things _frequently_ which we repent of afterwards. 6. I rushed out leaving the wretch with his tale half told, _horror-stricken at his crime_. 7. Exclamation points are scattered up and down the page by compositors _without any mercy._ 8. I want to make a present to one who is fond of chickens _for a Christmas gift_.

+Direction.+--_Make these sentences clear by using simpler words and phrases:_--

1. _A devastating conflagration raged_. 2. He _conducted_ her to the _altar of Hymen_. 3. A donkey has an _abnormal elongation of auricular appendages_. 4. Are you _excavating a subterranean canal?_ 5. He had no _capillary substance_ on the _summit_ of his head. 6. He made a sad _faux pas_. 7. A network is anything _reticulated or decussated, with interstices at equal distances between the intersections_. 8. Diligence is the _sine qua non_ of success. 9. She has _donned the habiliments of woe_. 10. The _deceased_ was to-day _deposited in his last resting-place_. 11. The _inmates proceeded to the sanctuary_. 12. I have _partaken of my morning repast_. 13. He _took the initiative in inaugurating the ceremony_.

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LESSON 153.

ENERGY--CRITICISM.

+Direction+.--_Expand these brief expressions into sentences full of long words, and note the loss of energy_:--

1. To your tents, 0 Israel! 2. Up, boys, and at them! 3. Indeed! 4. Bah! 5. Don't give up the ship! 6. Murder will out. 7. Oh! 8. Silence there! 9. Hurrah! 10. Death or free speech! 11. Rascal! 12. No matter. 13. Least said, soonest mended. 14. Death to the tyrant! 15. I'll none of it. 16. Help, ho! 17. Shame on you! 18. First come, first served.

+Direction+.--_Condense each of these italicized expressions into one or two words, and note the gain_:--

1. He _shuffled off this mortal coil_ yesterday. 2. The author surpassed all _those who were living at the same time with him_. 3. To say that revelation is _a thing which there is no need of_ is to talk wildly. 4. He _departed this life_. 5. Some say that ever _'gainst that season comes wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated_ this _bird of dawning_ singeth all night long.

+Direction+.--_Change these specific words to general terms, and note the loss in energy_:---

1. Don't _fire_ till _you see the whites of their eyes_. 2. _Break down_ the _dikes_, give Holland back to _ocean_. 3. _Three hundred men_ held the hosts of _Xerxes_ at bay. 4. I _sat_ at her _cradle_, I _followed_ her _hearse_. 5. Their _daggers_ have _stabbed_ Caesar. 6. When I'm _mad_, I _weigh a ton_. 7. _Burn_ Moscow, _starve back_ the _invaders_. 8. There's no use in _crying over spilt milk_. 9. In proportion as men delight in _battles_ and _bull-fights_ will they punish by _hanging, burning_, and the _rack_.

+Direction+.--_Change these general terms to specific words, and note the gain in energy_:--

1. Anne Boleyn was _executed_. 2. It were better for him that a _heavy weight were fastened to him_ and that he were _submerged_ in _the waste of waters_. 3. _The capital of the chosen people_ was _destroyed_ by _a Roman general_. 4. Consider the _flowers_ how they _increase in size_. 5. Caesar was _slain_ by _the conspirators_. 6. The _cities of the plain_ were _annihilated_.

+Direction+.--_Arrange these words, phrases, and clauses in the order of their strength, placing the strongest last, and note the gain in energy_:--

1. The nations of the earth repelled, surrounded, pursued, and resisted him. 2. He was no longer consul nor citizen nor general nor even an emperor, but a prisoner and an exile. 3. I shall die an American; I live an American; I was born an American. 4. All that I am, all that I hope to be, and all that I have in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. 5. I shall defend it without this House, in all places, and within this House; at all times, in time of peace and in time of war. 6. We must fight if we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate our rights, if we do not mean to abandon the struggle.

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LESSON 154.

FIGURES OF SPEECH--CRITICISM.

+Direction+.--_Name the figures of speech, and then recast a few sentences, using plain language, and note the loss of beauty and force_:--

1. Lend me your _ears_. 2. Please address the _chair_. 3. The robin knows when your grapes have _cooked_ long enough in the sun. 4. A day will come when _bullets_ and _bombs_ shall be replaced by _ballots_. 5. _Genius creates; taste appreciates what is created_. 6. Caesar were no _lion_ were not Romans _hinds_. 7. The soul of Jonathan was _knit_ to that of David. 8. _Traffic_ has _lain down_ to rest. 9. Borrowing _dulls_ _the edge_ of husbandry. 10. He will bring down my _gray hairs_ with sorrow to the grave. 11. Have you _read Froude_ or _Freeman?_ 12. The _pen_ is mightier than the _sword_. 13. If I can _catch him once upon the hip_, I will _feed fat_ the ancient grudge I bear him. 14. The destinies of mankind were _trembling in the balance_, while _death fell_ in showers. 15. The _threaded steel_ flies swiftly. 16. O Cassius, you are _yoked with a lamb_ that _carries anger as the flint bears fire_. 17. I called the _New World_ into existence to redress the balance of the Old_. 18. Nations shall _beat their swords into plowshares_, and _their spears into pruning-hooks_. 19. The _Morn_ in _russet mantle clad walks o'er the dew_ of yon high eastern hill. 20. _Homer_, like the _Nile_, pours out his riches with a _sudden overflow; Virgil_, like a _river in its banks_, with a _constant stream_. 21. The air _bites_ shrewdly. 22. He doth _bestride_ the narrow world _like a Colossus_. 23. My _heart_ is in the coffin there with Caesar. 24. All _hands_ to the pumps! 25. The _gray-eyed Morn smiles_ on the _frowning Night_. 26. The good is often buried with men's _bones_. 27. Beware of the _bottle_. 28. All nations respect our _flag_. 29. The _marble_ speaks. 30. I have no _spur to prick the sides_ of my intent. 31. I _am as constant as the northern star_. 32. Then _burst_ his mighty _heart_. 33. The ice is covered with _health_ and _beauty_ on skates. 34. Lentulus returned with _victorious eagles_. 35. _Death_ hath _sucked_ the honey of thy breath. 36. Our _chains are forged_. 37. I have _bought golden_ opinions. 38. The _hearth blazed_ high. 39. His words _fell softer than snows on the brine_. 40. _Night's candles are burnt out_, and _jocund Day stands tiptoe_ on the misty mountain top.

+Direction+.--_In the first four sentences, use similes; in the second four, metaphors; in the third four, personifications; in the last eight, metonymies:--_

1. He _flew with the swiftness of an arrow_. 2. In battle some men _are brave_, others _are cowardly_. 3. His head is as full of plans _as it can hold_. 4. I heard a _loud_ noise. 5. Boston is the _place where_ American liberty _began_. 6. Our dispositions should grow _mild_ as we _grow old_. 7. _The stars can no longer be seen_. 8. In battle some men are _brave_, others are _cowardly_. 9. The cock tears up the ground for his family of _hens_ and _chickens_. 10. The waves _were still_. 11. The oak stretches out _its_ strong _branches_. 12. The flowers are the sweet and pretty _growths_ of the earth and sun. 13. English _vessels_ plow the seas of the two _hemispheres_. 14. Have you read _Lamb's Essays_? 15. The _water_ is boiling. 16. We have prostrated ourselves before the _king_. 17. _Wretched people_ shiver in _their_ lair of straw. 18. The _soldier_ is giving way to the _husbandman_. 19. _Swords_ flashed, and _bullets_ fell. 20. His banner led the _spearmen_ no more.

+Remark+.--If what is begun as a metaphor is not completed as begun, but is completed by a part of another metaphor or by plain language, we have what, is called a _mixed metaphor_. It requires great care to avoid this very common error.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--

1. The _devouring_ fire _uprooted_ the stubble. 2. The _brittle_ thread of life may be _cut_ asunder. 3. All the _ripe fruit_ of three-score years was _blighted_ in a day. 4. _Unravel_ the _obscurities_ of this _knotty_ question. 5. We must apply the _axe_ to the _fountain_ of this evil. 6. The man _stalks_ into court like a _motionless_ statue, with the _cloak_ of hypocrisy in his _mouth_. 7. The thin _mantle_ of snow _dissolved_. 8. I smell a _rat_, I see him _brewing_ in the air, but I shall yet _nip him in the bud_.

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LESSON 155.

VARIETY IN EXPRESSION.

+Remark+.--You learned in Lessons 52, 53, 54 that the usual order may give way to the transposed; in 55, 56, that one kind of simple sentence may be changed to another; in 57, that simple sentences may be contracted; in 61, that adjectives may be expanded into clauses; in 67, that an adverb clause may stand before, between the parts of, and after, the independent clause; in 68, that an adverb clause may be contracted to a participle, a participle phrase, an absolute phrase, a prepositional phrase, that it may be contracted by the omission of words, and may be changed to an adjective clause or phrase; in 73, that a noun clause as subject may stand last, and as object complement may stand first, that it may be made prominent, and may be contracted; in 74, that direct quotations and questions may be changed to indirect, and indirect to direct; in 77, that compound sentences may be formed out of simple sentences, may be contracted to simple sentences, and may be changed to complex sentences; in 79, that participles, absolute phrases, and infinitives may be expanded into different kinds of clauses; and, in 130, that a verb may change its voice.

+Direction+.--_Illustrate all these changes_.

+Direction+.--_Recast these sentences, avoiding offensive repetitions of the same word or the same sounds_:--

1. We have to have money to have a horse. 2. We sailed across a bay and sailed up a creek and sailed back and sailed in all about fourteen miles. 3. It is then put into stacks, or it is put into barns either to use it to feed it to the stock or to sell it. 4. This day we undertake to render an account to the widows and orphans whom our decision will make; to the wretches that will be roasted at the stake. 5. The news of the battle of Bunker Hill, fought on the 17th of June in the year of our Lord 1775, roused the patriotism of the people to a high pitch of enthusiasm.

+Direction+.---_Using other words wholly or in part, see in how many ways you can express the thoughts contained in these sentences_:--

1. In the profusion and recklessness of her lies, Elizabeth had no peer in England. 2. Henry IV. said that James I. was the wisest fool in Christendom. 3. Cowper's letters are charming because they are simple and natural. 4. George IV., though he was pronounced the first gentleman in Europe, was, nevertheless, a snob.

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LESSON 156.

THE PARAGRAPH.

+The Paragraph+.--The clauses of complex sentences are so closely united in meaning that frequently they are not to be separated from each other even by the comma. The clauses of compound sentences are less closely united--a comma, a semicolon, or a colon is needed to divide them.

Between sentences there exists a wider separation in meaning, marked by a period or other terminal point. But even sentences may be connected, the bond which unites them being their common relation to the thought which jointly they develop. Sentences thus related are grouped together and form, as you have already learned, what we call a Paragraph, marked by beginning the first word a little to the right of the marginal line.

+Direction+.--_Notice the facts which this paragraph contains, and the relation to each other of the clauses and the sentences expressing these facts_:--

After a breeze of some sixty hours from the north and northwest, the wind died away about four o'clock yesterday afternoon. The calm continued till about nine in the evening. The mercury in the barometer fell, in the meantime, at an extraordinary rate; and the captain predicted that we should encounter a gale from the southeast. The gale came on about eleven o'clock; not violent at first, but increasing every moment.

1. A breeze from the north and northwest. 2. The wind died away. 3. A calm. 4. Barometer fell. 5. The captain predicted a gale. 6. It came on. 7. It increased in violence.

+Direction+.--Give and number the facts contained in the paragraph below:--

I awoke with a confused recollection of a good deal of rolling and thumping in the night, occasioned by the dashing of the waves against the ship. Hurrying on my clothes, I found such of the passengers as could stand, at the doors of the hurricane-house, holding on, and looking out in the utmost consternation. It was still quite dark. Four of the sails were already in ribbons: the winds whistling through the cordage; the rain dashing furiously and in torrents; the noise and spray scarcely less than I found them under the great sheet at Niagara.

+Direction+.---_Weave the facts below into a paragraph, supplying all you need to make the narrative smooth_:--

Rip's beard was grizzled. Fowling-piece rusty. Dress uncouth. Women and children at his heels. Attracted attention. Was eyed from head to foot. Was asked on which side he voted. Whether he was Federal or Democrat. Rip was dazed by the question. Stared in stupidity.

+Direction+.---_Weave the facts below into two paragraphs, supplying what you need, and tell what each paragraph is about_:--

In place of the old tree there was a pole. This was tall and naked. A flag was fluttering from it. The flag had on it the stars and stripes. This was strange to Rip. But Rip saw something he remembered. The tavern sign. He recognized on it the face of King George. Still the picture was changed. The red coat gone. One of blue and buff in its place. A sword, and not a scepter, in the hand. Wore a cocked hat. Underneath was painted--"General Washington."

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LESSON 157.

THE PARAGRAPH.

+Direction+.---_Weave the facts below into three paragraphs, and write on the margin what each is about_:--

The Nile rises in great lakes. Runs north. Sources two thousand miles from Alexandria. Receives two branches only. Runs through an alluvial valley. Course through the valley is 1,500 miles. Plows into the Mediterranean. Two principal channels. Minor outlets. Nile overflows its banks. Overflow caused by rains at the sources. The melting of the mountain snows. Begins at the end of June. Rises four inches daily. Rises till the close of September. Subsides. Whole valley an inland sea. Only villages above the surface. The valley very fertile. The deposit. The fertile strip is from five to one hundred and fifty miles wide. Renowned for fruitfulness. Egypt long the granary of the world. Three crops from December to June. Productions--grain, cotton, and indigo.

Direction.---_Weave these facts into four paragraphs, writing the margin of each the main thought_:--

The robin is thought by some to be migratory. But he stays with us all winter. Cheerful. Noisy. Poor soloist. A spice of vulgarity in him. Dash of prose in his song. Appetite extraordinary. Eats his own weight in a short time. Taste for fruit. Eats with a relishing gulp, like Dr. Johnson's. Fond of cherries. Earliest mess of peas. Mulberries. Lion's share of the raspberries. Angleworms his delight. A few years ago I had a grapevine. A foreigner. Shy of bearing. This summer bore a score of bunches. They secreted sugar from the sunbeams. One morning, went to pick them. The robins beforehand with me. Bustled out from the leaves. Made shrill, unhandsome remarks about me. Had sacked the vine. Remnant of a single bunch. How it looked at the bottom of my basket! A humming-bird's egg in an eagle's nest. Laughed. Robins joined in the merriment.

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LESSON 158.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction+.--_Weave these facts into four paragraphs_:--

Note that the several paragraphs form a composition, or +Theme+, the general subject of which is WOUTER VAN TWILLER (according to Diedrich Knickerbocker).

I. +Who he was+.--Van Twiller was a Dutchman. Born at Rotterdam. Descended from burgomasters. In 1629 appointed governor of Nieuw Nederlandts. Arrived in June at New Amsterdam--New York city.

II. +Person+.--Was five feet six inches high, six feet five in circumference. Head spherical, and too large for any neck. Nature set it on the back-bone. Body capacious. Legs short and sturdy. A beer-barrel on skids. Face a vast, unfurrowed expanse. No lines of thought. Two small, gray eyes. Cheeks had taken toll of all that had entered his mouth. Mottled and streaked with dusky red.

III. +Habits+.--Regular. Four meals daily, each an hour long. Smoked and doubted eight hours. Slept twelve. As self-contained as an oyster. Rarely spoke save in monosyllables. But never said a foolish thing. Never laughed. Perplexed by a joke. Conceived everything on a grand scale. When a question was asked, would put on a mysterious look. Shake his head. Smoke in silence. Observe, at length, he had doubts. Presided at the council, in state. Swayed a Turkish pipe instead of a scepter. Known to sit with eyes closed two hours. Internal commotion shown by guttural sounds. Noises of contending doubts, admirers said.

IV. +Exploits.+--Settled a dispute about accounts thus: sent for the parties; each produced his account-book; Van T. weighed the books; counted the leaves; equally heavy; equally thick; made each give the other a receipt; and the constable pay the costs. Demanded why Van Rensselaer seized Bear's Island. Battled with doubts regarding the Yankees. Smoked and breathed his last together.

+Direction.+---_Weave these facts into four paragraphs, write on the margin the special topic of each, and over the whole what you think it the general subject of the theme:--_

The prophets of Baal accept Elijah's challenge. They dress a bullock. Call on Baal. Are mocked by Elijah. Leap upon the altar. Cut themselves. Blood. Cry till the time of the evening sacrifice. No answer by fire. Elijah commands the people to come near. Repairs an old altar with twelve stones, one for each tribe. Digs a trench. Sacrifices. Pours water three times upon it. Prays. Fire falls, consumes flesh, wood, stones, dust, licks up water. People see it. Fall on their faces. Cry out twice, "The Lord, he is the God." Take the prophets to the brook Kishon, where they are slain. Elijah ascends Mount Carrael. Bows in prayer. "Go up now, look toward the sea." Servant reports, "There is nothing." "Go again seven times." "Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." Orders Ahab to prepare his chariot. Girding up his loins, he runs before Ahab to Jezreel.

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LESSON 159.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction.+--_Weave these facts into as many paragraphs as you think there should be, using the variety of expression insisted on in Lesson 150, and write on the margin of each paragraph the special topic, and over the whole the general subject of the theme:--_

Fort Ticonderoga on a peninsula. Formed by the outlet of Lake George and by Lake Champlain. Fronts south; water on three sides. Separated by Lake Champlain from Mount Independence, and by the outlet, from Mount Defiance. Fort one hundred feet above the water. May 7, 1775, two hundred and seventy men meet at Castleton, Vermont. All but forty-six, Green Mountain boys. Meet to plan and execute an attack upon Fort T. Allen and Arnold there. Each claims the command. Question left to the officers. Allen chosen. On evening of the 9th, they reach the lake. Difficulty in crossing. Send for a scow. Seize a boat at anchor. Search, and find small row boats. Only eighty-three able to cross. Day is dawning when these reach the shore. Not prudent to wait. Allen orders all who will follow him to poise their firelocks. Every man responds. Nathan Beman, a lad, guides them to the fort. Sentinel snaps his gun at A. Misses fire. Sentinel retreats. They follow. Rush upon the parade ground. Form. Loud cheer. A. climbs the stairs. Orders La Place, it is said, in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, to surrender. Capture forty-eight men. One hundred and twenty cannon. Used next winter at the siege of Boston. Several swords and howitzers, small arms, and ammunition.