The Philosophy of Style
Herbert Spencer
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF STYLE.
By Herbert Spencer
PART I.
CAUSES OF FORCE IN LANGUAGE WHICH DEPEND UPON ECONOMY OF THE MENTAL
ENERGIES.
i. The Principle of Economy.
1. Commenting on the seeming incongruity between his father's
argumentative powers and his ignorance of formal logic, Tristram
Shandy says:--"It was a matter of just wonder with my worthy tutor,
and two or three fellows of that learned society, that a man who
knew not so much as the names of his tools, should be able to work
after that fashion with them." Sterne's intended implication that
a knowledge of the principles of reasoning neither makes, nor is
essential to, a good reasoner, is doubtless true. Thus, too, is it
with grammar. As Dr. Latham, condemning the usual school-drill in
Lindley Murray, rightly remarks: "Gross vulgarity is a fault to be
prevented; but the proper prevention is to be got from habit--not
rules." Similarly, there can be little question that good composition
is far less dependent upon acquaintance with its laws, than upon
practice and natural aptitude. A clear head, a quick imagination,
and a sensitive ear, will go far towards making all rhetorical precepts
needless. He who daily hears and reads well-framed sentences, will
naturally more or less tend to use similar ones. And where there
exists any mental idiosyncrasy--where there is a deficient verbal
memory, or an inadequate sense of logical dependence, or but little
perception of order, or a lack of constructive ingenuity; no amount
of instruction will remedy the defect. Nevertheless, some practical
result may be expected from a familiarity with the principles of
style. The endeavour to conform to laws may tell, though slowly.
And if in no other way, yet, as facilitating revision, a knowledge
of the thing to be achieved--a clear idea of what constitutes a
beauty, and what a blemish--cannot fail to be of service.
2. No general theory of expression seems yet to have
been enunciated. The maxims contained in works on composition and
rhetoric, are presented in an unorganized form. Standing as isolated
dogmas--as empirical generalizations, they are neither so clearly
apprehended, nor so much respected, as they would be were they
deduced from some simple first principle. We are told that "brevity
is the soul of wit." We hear styles condemned as verbose or involved.
Blair says that every needless part of a sentence "interrupts the
description and clogs the image;" and again, that "long sentences
fatigue the reader's attention." It is remarked by Lord Kaimes,
that "to give the utmost force to a period, it ought, if possible,
to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure." That
parentheses should be avoided and that Saxon words should be used
in preference to those of Latin origin, are established precepts.
But, however influential the truths thus dogmatically embodied,
they would be much more influential if reduced to something like
scientific ordination. In this, as in other cases, conviction will
be greatly strengthened when we understand the why. And we may be
sure that a comprehension of the general principle from which the
rules of composition result, will not only bring them home to us
with greater force, but will discover to us other rules of like
origin,
3. On seeking for some clue to the law underlying these current
maxims, we may see shadowed forth in many of them, the importance
of economizing the reader's or hearer's attention, To so present
ideas that they may be apprehended with the least possible mental
effort, is the desideratum towards which most of the rules above
quoted point. When we condemn writing that is wordy, or confused,
or intricate--when we praise this style as easy, and blame that as
fatiguing, we consciously or unconsciously assume this desideratum
as our standard of judgment. Regarding language as an apparatus
of symbols for the conveyance of thought, we may say that, as in a
mechanical apparatus, the more simple and the better arranged its
parts, the greater will be the effect produced. In either case,
whatever force is absorbed by the machine is deducted from the
result. A reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount
of mental power available. To recognize and interpret the symbols
presented to him, requires part of this power; to arrange and combine
the images suggested requires a further part; and only that part
which remains can be used for realizing the thought conveyed. Hence,
the more time and attention it takes to receive and understand each
sentence, the less time and attention can be given to the contained
idea; and the less vividly will that idea be conceived.
4. How truly language must be regarded as a hindrance to thought,
though the necessary instrument of it, we shall clearly perceive
on remembering the comparative force with which simple ideas are
communicated by signs. To say, "Leave the room," is less expressive
than to point to the door. Placing a finger on the lips is more
forcible than whispering, "Do not speak." A beck of the hand is
better than, "Come here." No phrase can convey the idea of surprise
so vividly as opening the eyes and raising the eyebrows. A shrug of
the shoulders would lose much by translation into words. Again, it
may be remarked that when oral language is employed, the strongest
effects are produced by interjections, which condense entire
sentences into syllables. And in other cases, where custom allows
us to express thoughts by single words, as in _Beware, Heigho,
Fudge,_ much force would be lost by expanding them into specific
propositions. Hence, carrying out the metaphor that language is the
vehicle of thought, there seems reason to think that in all cases
the friction and inertia of the vehicle deduct from its efficiency;
and that in composition, the chief, if not the sole thing to be done,
is, to reduce this friction and inertia to the smallest possible
amount. Let us then inquire whether economy of the recipient's
attention is not the secret of effect, alike in the right choice
and collocation of words, in the best arrangement of clauses in
a sentence, in the proper order of its principal and subordinate
propositions, in the judicious use of simile, metaphor, and other
figures of speech, and even in the rhythmical sequence of syllables.
ii. Economy in the Use of Words.
5. The greater forcibleness of Saxon English, or rather non-Latin
English, first claims our attention. The several special reasons
assignable for this may all be reduced to the general reason--economy.
The most important of them is early association. A child's vocabulary
is almost wholly Saxon. He says, _I have,_ not _I possess_---_I
wish,_ not I _desire;_ he does not _reflect,_ he _thinks;_ he does
not beg for _amusement,_ but for _play_; he calls things _nice_
or _nasty,_ not _pleasant_ or _disagreeable._ The synonyms which
he learns in after years, never become so closely, so organically
connected with the ideas signified, as do these original words
used in childhood; and hence the association remains less strong.
But in what does a strong association between a word and an idea
differ from a weak one? Simply in the greater ease and rapidity
of the suggestive action. It can be in nothing else. Both of two
words, if they be strictly synonymous, eventually call up the same
image. The expression--It is _acid,_ must in the end give rise to
the same thought as--It is sour; but because the term _acid_ was
learnt later in life, and has not been so often followed by the
thought symbolized, it does not so readily arouse that thought as
the term sour. If we remember how slowly and with what labour the
appropriate ideas follow unfamiliar words in another language, and
how increasing familiarity with such words brings greater rapidity
and ease of comprehension; and if we consider that the same process
must have gone on with the words of our mother tongue from childhood
upwards, we shall clearly see that the earliest learnt and oftenest
used words, will, other things equal, call up images with less loss
of time and energy than their later learnt synonyms.
6. The further superiority possessed by Saxon English in its
comparative brevity, obviously comes under the same generalization.
If it be an advantage to express an idea in the smallest number of
words, then will it be an advantage to express it in the smallest
number of syllables. If circuitous phrases and needless expletives
distract the attention and diminish the strength of the impression
produced, then do surplus articulations do so. A certain effort,
though commonly an inappreciable one, must be required to recognize
every vowel and consonant. If, as all know, it is tiresome to listen
to an indistinct speaker, or read a badly-written manuscript; and
if, as we cannot doubt, the fatigue is a cumulative result of the
attention needed to catch successive syllables; it follows that
attention is in such cases absorbed by each syllable. And if this
be true when the syllables are difficult of recognition, it will
also be true, though in a less degree, when the recognition of
them is easy. Hence, the shortness of Saxon words becomes a reason
for their greater force. One qualification, however, must not
be overlooked. A word which in itself embodies the most important
part of the idea to be conveyed, especially when that idea is an
emotional one, may often with advantage be a polysyllabic word. Thus
it seems more forcible to say, "It is _magnificent,_" than "It is
_grand._" The word _vast_ is not so powerful a one as _stupendous._
Calling a thing _nasty_ is not so effective as calling it _disgusting._
7. There seem to be several causes for this exceptional superiority
of certain long words. We may ascribe it partly to the fact that a
voluminous, mouth-filling epithet is, by its very size, suggestive
of largeness or strength; witness the immense pomposity of
sesquipedalian verbiage: and when great power or intensity has to
be suggested, this association of ideas aids the effect. A further
cause may be that a word of several syllables admits of more emphatic
articulation; and as emphatic articulation is a sign of emotion,
the unusual impressiveness of the thing named is implied by it. Yet
another cause is that a long word (of which the latter syllables
are generally inferred as soon as the first are spoken) allows
the hearer's consciousness a longer time to dwell upon the quality
predicated; and where, as in the above cases, it is to this predicated
quality that the entire attention is called, an advantage results
from keeping it before the mind for an appreciable time. The
reasons which we have given for preferring short words evidently
do not hold here. So that to make our generalization quite correct
we must say, that while in certain sentences expressing strong feeling,
the word which more especially implies that feeling may often with
advantage be a many-syllabled or Latin one; in the immense majority
of cases, each word serving but as a step to the idea embodied
by the whole sentence, should, if possible, be a one-syllabled or
Saxon one.
8. Once more, that frequent cause of strength in Saxon and
other primitive words-their imitative character may be similarly
resolved into the more general cause. Both those directly imitative,
as _splash, bang, whiz, roar,_ &c., and those analogically imitative,
as _rough, smooth, keen, blunt, thin,_ hard, crag,_ &c., have a
greater or less likeness to the things symbolized; and by making
on the senses impressions allied to the ideas to be called up, they
save part of the effort needed to call up such ideas, and leave
more attention for the ideas themselves.
9. The economy of the recipient's mental energy, into which
are thus resolvable the several causes of the strength of Saxon
English, may equally be traced in the superiority of specific over
generic words. That concrete terms produce more vivid impressions
than abstract ones, and should, when possible, be used instead, is
a thorough maxim of composition. As Dr. Campbell says, "The more
general the terms are, the picture is the fainter; the more special
they are, 'tis the brighter." We should avoid such a sentence as:--"In
proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are
cruel and barbarous, the regulations of their penal code will be
severe." And in place of it we should write:--"In proportion as men
delight in battles, bull-fights, and combats of gladiators, will
they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack."
10. This superiority of specific expressions is clearly due to
a saving of the effort required to translate words into thoughts.
As we do not think in generals but in particulars--as, whenever any
class of things is referred to, we represent it to ourselves by
calling to mind individual members of it; it follows that when an
abstract word is used, the bearer or reader has to choose from his
stock of images, one or more, by which he may figure to himself the
genus mentioned. In doing this, some delay must arise some force
be expended; and if, by employing a specific term, an appropriate
image can be at once suggested, an economy is achieved, and a more
vivid impression produced.
ii The Principle of Economy applied to Sentences.
11. Turning now from the choice of words to their sequence, we
shall find the same general principle hold good. We have _a priori_
reasons for believing that in every sentence there is some one
order of words more effective than any other; and that this order
is the one which presents the elements of the proposition in the
succession in which they may be most readily put together. As in
a narrative, the events should be stated in such sequence that the
mind may not have to go backwards and forwards in order to rightly
connect them; as in a group of sentences, the arrangement should
be such, that each of them may be understood as it comes, without
waiting for subsequent ones; so in every sentence, the sequence of
words should be that which suggests the constituents of the thought
in the order most convenient for the building up that thought. Duly
to enforce this truth, and to prepare the way for applications of
it, we must briefly inquire into the mental act by which the meaning
of a series of words is apprehended.
12. We cannot more simply do this than by considering the
proper collocation of the substantive and adjective. Is it better
to place the adjective before the substantive, or the substantive
before the adjective? Ought we to say with the French--un _cheval
noir;_ or to say as we do--a black horse? Probably, most persons of
culture would decide that one order is as good as the other. Alive
to the bias produced by habit, they would ascribe to that the
preference they feel for our own form of expression. They would
expect those educated in the use of the opposite form to have an
equal preference for that. And thus they would conclude that neither
of these instinctive judgments is of any worth. There is, however, a
philosophical ground for deciding in favour of the English custom.
If "a horse black" be the arrangement, immediately on the utterance
of the word "horse," there arises, or tends to arise, in the mind,
a picture answering to that word; and as there has, been nothing
to indicate what _kind_ of horse, any image of a horse suggests
itself. Very likely, however, the image will be that of a brown
horse, brown horses being the most familiar. The result is that
when the word "black" is added, a check is given to the process
of thought. Either the picture of a brown horse already present to
the imagination has to be suppressed, and the picture of a black one
summoned in its place; or else, if the picture of a brown horse be
yet unformed, the tendency to form it has to be stopped. Whichever
is the case, a certain amount of hindrance results. But if, on the
other hand, "a black horse" be the expression used, no such mistake
can be made. The word "black," indicating an abstract quality, arouses
no definite idea. It simply prepares the mind for conceiving some
object of that colour; and the attention is kept suspended until
that object is known. If, then, by the precedence of the adjective,
the idea is conveyed without liability to error. whereas the
precedence of the substantive is apt to produce a misconception,
it follows that the one gives the mind less trouble than the other,
and is therefore more forcible.
13. Possibly it will be objected that the adjective and
substantive come so close together, that practically they may be
considered as uttered at the same moment; and that on hearing the
phrase, "a horse black," there is not time to imagine a wrongly-coloured
horse before the word "black" follows to prevent it. It must be
owned that it is not easy to decide by introspection whether this
is so or not. But there are facts collaterally implying that it
is not. Our ability to anticipate the words yet unspoken is one
of them If the ideas of the hearer kept considerably behind the,
expressions of the speaker, as the objection assumes, he could hardly
foresee the end of a sentence by the time it was half delivered:
yet this constantly happens. Were the supposition true, the mind,
instead of anticipating, would be continually falling more and
more in arrear. If the meanings of words are not realized as fast
as the words are uttered, then the loss of time over each word must
entail such an accumulation of delays as to leave a hearer entirely
behind. But whether the force of these replies be or be not admitted,
it will scarcely be denied that the right formation of a picture
will be facilitated by presenting its elements in the order in which
they are wanted; even though the mind should do nothing until it
has received them all.
14. What is here said respecting the succession of the adjective
and substantive is obviously applicable, by change of terms, to
the adverb and verb. And without further explanation, it will be
manifest, that in the use of prepositions and other particles, most
languages spontaneously conform with more or less completeness to
this law.
15. On applying a like analysis to the larger divisions of
a sentence, we find not only that the same principle holds good,
but that the advantage of respecting it becomes marked. In the
arrangement of predicate and subject, for example, we are at once
shown that as the predicate determines the aspect under which the
subject is to be conceived, it should be placed first; and the
striking effect produced by so placing it becomes comprehensible.
Take the often-quoted contrast between "Great is Diana of the
Ephesians," and "Diana of the Ephesians is great." When the first
arrangement is used, the utterance of the word "great" arouses those
vague associations of an impressive nature with which it has been
habitually connected; the imagination is prepared to clothe with
high attributes whatever follows; and when the words, "Diana of the
Ephesians," are heard, all the appropriate imagery which can, on
the instant, be summoned, is used in the formation of the picture:
the mind being thus led directly, and without error, to the intended
impression. When, on the contrary, the reverse order is followed,
the idea, "Diana of the Ephesians" is conceived with no special
reference to greatness; and when the words "is great" are added,
the conception has to be remodeled: whence arises a loss of mental
energy and a corresponding diminution of effect. The following verse
from Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner,' though somewhat irregular in
structure, well illustrates the same truth:
"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."
16. Of course the principle equally applies when the predicate
is a verb or a participle. And as effect is gained by placing
first all words indicating the quality, conduct or condition of the
subject, it follows that the copula also should have precedence.
It is true that the general habit of our language resists this
arrangement of predicate, copula and subject; but we may readily
find instances of the additional force gained by conforming to it.
Thus, in the line from 'Julius Caesar'
"Then burst his mighty heart,"
priority is given to a word embodying both predicate and copula.
In a passage contained in 'The Battle of Flodden Field,' the like
order is systematically employed with great effect:
"The Border slogan rent the sky!
_A Home! a Gordon!_ was the cry;
_Loud were _the clanging blows:
_Advanced--forced back---now low, now high,
_The pennon sunk and rose;
_As bends_ the bark's mast in the gale
When _rent are_ rigging, shrouds and sail,
It wavered 'mid the foes."
17. Pursuing the principle yet further, it is obvious that for
producing the greatest effect, not only should the main divisions
of a sentence observe this sequence, but the subdivisions of these
should be similarly arranged. In nearly all cases, the predicate is
accompanied by some limit or qualification, called its complement.
Commonly, also, the circumstances of the subject, which form its
complement, have to be specified. And as these qualifications and
circumstances must determine the mode in which the acts and things
they belong to are conceived, precedence should be given to them.
Lord Kaimes notices the fact that this order is preferable; though
without giving the reason. He says:--"When a circumstance is placed
at the beginning of the period, or near the beginning, the transition
from it to the principal subject is agreeable: it is like ascending
or going upward." A sentence arranged in illustration of this will
be desirable. Here is one:--"Whatever it may be in theory, it is
clear that in practice the French idea of liberty is--the right of
every man to be master of the rest."
18. In this case, were the first two clauses, up to the word
"I practice "inclusive, which qualify the subject, to be placed at
the end instead of the beginning, much of the force would be lost;
as thus:--"The French idea of liberty is--the right of every man to
be master of the rest; in practice at least, if not in theory."
19. Similarly with respect to the conditions under which any
fact is predicated. Observe in the following example the effect of
putting them last:--"How immense would be the stimulus to progress,
were the honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to
high achievements and intrinsic worth!"
20. And then observe the superior effect of putting them first:--"Were
the honour now given to wealth and title given exclusively to high
achievements and intrinsic worth, how immense would be the stimulus
to progress!"
21. The effect of giving priority to the complement of the
predicate, as well as the predicate itself, is finely displayed in
the opening of 'Hyperion':
"_Deep in the shady sadness of a vale
Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon and eve's one star
Sat_ gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone."
Here it will be observed, not only that the predicate "sat"
precedes the subject "Saturn," and that the three lines in italics,
constituting the complement of the predicate, come before it; but
that in the structure of that complement also, the same order is
followed: each line being so arranged that the qualifying words
are placed before the words suggesting concrete images.
22. The right succession of the principal and subordinate
propositions in a sentence manifestly depends on the same law.
Regard for economy of the recipient's attention, which, as we find,
determines the best order for the subject, copula, predicate and
their complements, dictates that the subordinate proposition shall
precede the principal one when the sentence includes two. Containing,
as the subordinate proposition does, some qualifying or explanatory
idea, its priority prevents misconception of the principal
one; and therefore saves the mental effort needed to correct such
misconception. This will be seen in the annexed example: "The
secrecy once maintained in respect to the parliamentary debates, is
still thought needful in diplomacy; and in virtue of this secret
diplomacy, England may any day be unawares betrayed by its ministers
into a war costing a, hundred thousand lives, and hundreds of
millions of treasure: yet the English pique themselves on being
a self-governed people." The two subordinate propositions, ending
with the semicolon and colon respectively, almost wholly determine
the meaning of the principal proposition with which it concludes;
and the effect would be lost were they placed last instead of first.
23. The general principle of right arrangement in sentences,
which we have traced in its application to the leading divisions of
them, equally determines the proper order of their minor divisions.
In every sentence of any complexity the complement to the subject
contains several clauses, and that to the predicate several others;
and these may be arranged in greater or less conformity to the
law of easy apprehension. Of course with these, as with the larger
members, the succession should be from the less specific to the
more specific--from the abstract to the concrete.
24. Now, however, we must notice a further condition to be
fulfilled in the proper construction of a sentence; but still a
condition dictated by the same general principle with the other:
the condition, namely, that the words and expressions most nearly
related in thought shall be brought the closest together. Evidently
the single words, the minor clauses, and the leading divisions of
every proposition, severally qualify each other. The longer the time
that elapses between the mention of any qualifying member and the
member qualified, the longer must the mind be exerted in carrying
forward the qualifying member ready for use. And the more numerous
the qualifications to be simultaneously remembered and rightly
applied, the greater will be the mental power expended, and the
smaller the effect produced. Hence, other things equal, force will
be gained by so arranging the members of a sentence that these
suspensions shall at any moment be the fewest in number; and shall
also be of the shortest duration. The following is an instance of
defective combination:--"A modern newspaper-statement, though probably
true, would be laughed at if quoted in a book as testimony; but
the letter of a court gossip is thought good historical evidence,
if written some centuries ago." A rearrangement of this, in accordance
with the principle indicated above, will be found to increase the
effect. Thus:--"Though probably true, a modern newspaper-statement
quoted in a book as testimony, would be laughed at; but the letter
of a court gossip, if written some centuries ago, is thought good
historical evidence."
25. By making this change, some of the suspensions are avoided
and others shortened; while there is less liability to produce
premature conceptions. The passage quoted below from 'Paradise Lost'
affords a fine instance of a sentence well arranged; alike in the
priority of the subordinate members, in the avoidance of long and
numerous suspensions, and in the correspondence between the order
of the clauses and the sequence of the phenomena described, which,
by the way, is a further prerequisite to easy comprehension, and
therefore to effect.
"As when a prowling wolf,
Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey,
Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eye,
In hurdled cotes amid the field secure,
Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold;
Or as a thief, bent to unhoard the cash
Of some rich burgher, whose substantial doors,
Cross-barr'd, and bolted fast, fear no assault,
In at the window climbs, or o'er the tiles;
So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold;
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb."
26. The habitual use of sentences in which all or most of
the descriptive and limiting elements precede those described and
limited, gives rise to what is called the inverted style: a title
which is, however, by no means confined to this structure, but is
often used where the order of the words is simply unusual. A more
appropriate title would be the _direct style,_ as contrasted with
the other, or _indirect style_: the peculiarity of the one being,
that it conveys each thought into the mind step by step with little
liability to error; and of the other, that it gets the right thought
conceived by a series of approximations.
27. The superiority of the direct over the indirect form of
sentence, implied by the several conclusions that have been drawn,
must not, however, be affirmed without reservation. Though, up to
a certain point, it is well for the qualifying clauses of a period
to precede those qualified; yet, as carrying forward each qualifying
clause costs some mental effort, it follows that when the number of
them and the time they are carried become great, we reach a limit
beyond which more is lost than is gained. Other things equal,
the arrangement should be such that no concrete image shall be
suggested until the materials out of which it is to be made have
been presented. And yet, as lately pointed out, other things equal,
the fewer the materials to be held at once, and the shorter the
distance they have to be borne, the better. Hence in some cases it
becomes a question whether most mental effort will be entailed by
the many and long suspensions, or by the correction of successive
misconceptions.
28. This question may sometimes be decided by considering
the capacity of the persons addressed. A greater grasp of mind
is required for the ready comprehension of thoughts expressed in
the direct manner, where the sentences are anywise intricate. To
recollect a number of preliminaries stated in elucidation of a coming
idea, and to apply them all to the formation of it when suggested,
demands a good memory and considerable power of concentration.
To one possessing these, the direct method will mostly seem the
best; while to one deficient in them it will seem the worst. Just
as it may cost a strong man less effort to carry a hundred-weight
from place to place at once, than by a stone at a time; so, to an
active mind it may be easier to bear along all the qualifications
of an idea and at once rightly form it when named, than to first
imperfectly conceive such idea and then carry back to it, one
by one, the details and limitations afterwards mentioned. While
conversely, as for a boy, the only possible mode of transferring
a hundred-weight, is that of taking it in portions; so, for a weak
mind, the only possible mode of forming a compound conception may
be that of building it up by carrying separately its several parts.
29. That the indirect method--the method of conveying
the meaning by a series of approximations--is best fitted for the
uncultivated, may indeed be inferred from their habitual use of
it. The form of expression adopted by the savage, as in "Water,
give me," is the simplest type of the approximate arrangement. In
pleonasms, which are comparatively prevalent among the uneducated,
the same essential structure is seen; as, for instance, in--"The
men, they were there." Again, the old possessive case --"The king,
his crown," conforms to the like order of thought. Moreover, the
fact that the indirect mode is called the natural one, implies that
it is the one spontaneously employed by the common people: that
is--the one easiest for undisciplined minds.
30. There are many cases, however, in which neither the direct
nor the indirect structure is the best; but where an intermediate
structure is preferable to both. When the number of circumstances and
qualifications to be included in the sentence is great, the most
judicious course is neither to enumerate them all before introducing
the idea to which they belong, nor to put this idea first and let
it be remodeled to agree with the particulars afterwards mentioned;
but to do a little of each. Take a case. It is desirable to avoid
so extremely indirect an arrangement as the following:--"We came
to our journey's end, at last, with no small difficulty after much
fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather." Yet to transform this
into an entirely direct sentence would not produce a satisfactory
effect; as witness:--"At last, with no small difficulty, after
much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad weather, we came to our
journey's end."
31. Dr. Whately, from whom we quote the first of these two
arrangements,' proposes this construction:--"At last, after much
fatigue, through deep roads and bad weather, we came, with no
small difficulty, to our journey's end." Here it will be observed
that by introducing the words "we came" a little earlier in
the sentence, the labour of carrying forward so many particulars
is diminished, and the subsequent qualification "with no small
difficulty" entails an addition to the thought that is very easily
made. But a further improvement may be produced by introducing
the words "we came" still earlier; especially if at the same time
the qualifications be rearranged in conformity with the principle
already explained, that the more abstract elements of the thought
should come before the more concrete. Observe the better effect
obtained by making these two changes:--"At last, with no small
difficulty, and after much fatigue, we came, through deep roads
and bad weather, to our journey's end." This reads with comparative
smoothness; that is, with less hindrance from suspensions and
reconstructions of thought--with less mental effort.
32. Before dismissing this branch of our subject, it should
be further remarked, that even when addressing the most vigorous
intellects, the direct style is unfit for communicating ideas of
a complex or abstract character. So long as the mind has not much
to do, it may be well able to grasp all the preparatory clauses
of a sentence, and to use them effectively; but if some subtlety
in the argument absorb the attention--if every faculty be strained
in endeavouring to catch the speaker's or writer's drift, it may
happen that the mind, unable to carry on both processes at once,
will break down, and allow the elements of the thought to lapse
into confusion.
iv. The Principle of Economy applied to Figures.
33. Turning now to consider figures of speech, we may equally
discern the same general law of effect. Underlying all the rules
given for the choice and right use of them, we shall find the same
fundamental requirement--economy of attention. It is indeed chiefly
because they so well subserve this requirement, that figures of
speech are employed. To bring the mind more easily to the desired
conception, is in many cases solely, and in all cases mainly, their
object.
34. Let us begin with the figure called Synecdoche. The advantage
sometimes gained by putting a part for the whole, is due to the
more convenient, or more accurate, presentation of the idea. If,
instead of saying "a fleet of ten ships," we say "a fleet of ten
_sail_," the picture of a group of vessels at sea is more readily
suggested; and is so because the sails constitute the most conspicuous
parts of vessels so circumstanced: whereas the word _ships_ would
very likely remind us of vessels in dock. Again, to say, "_All hands_
to the pumps," is better than to say, "All _men_ to the pumps," as
it suggests the men in the special attitude intended, and so saves
effort. Bringing "gray _hairs_ with sorrow to the grave," is
another expression, the effect of which has the same cause.
35. The occasional increase of force produced by Metonymy may
be similarly accounted for. "The low morality of _the bar,_" _is_
a phrase both more brief and significant than the literal one it
stands for. A belief in the ultimate supremacy of intelligence over
brute force, is conveyed in a more concrete, and therefore more
realizable form, if we substitute _the pen_ and _the sword_ for the
two abstract terms. To say, "Beware of drinking!" is less effective
than to say, "Beware of _the bottle!_" and is so, clearly because
it calls up a less specific image.
36. The Simile is in many cases used chiefly with a view to
ornament, but whenever it increases the _force_ of a passage, it
does so by being an economy. Here in an instance: "The illusion
that great men and great events came oftener in early times than
now, is partly due to historical perspective. As in a range of
equidistant columns, the furthest off look the closest; so, the
conspicuous objects of the past seem more thickly clustered the
more remote they are."
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