St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1853-03-24
PHILOSOPHY oF STYLE.

PHILOSOPHY Of STYLE.
The varieties Of style or rDodrssor ex.
preston whether in speech or ID Mri'ing
are as numerous as lose OF Individual
characteristics. As no two persons have
VOICES precisely alike, 50 no TO have
qualities OF Iilersnce Precise14 like. in
respec, 70 III, s eRseA-,- >
70 the philosophy of style appear in ,
late number OF the Westminster Review.
The wriIer seems to 20 very shrewdly To
the root Of The matter. Many words
ihey darkcn speech although il is .
phrase used in the school books 10 illus
Irafe false grammer vet q true
import in regard 10 the clearn"ss and
force Of diciiOn But the choice OF WORKS,
as well az The number Of words, has Q
great deal to dn with the vivaciiy AMI
power Of expression. We leave the
subject, however, with the Rrueuv, from
W ich we quote the following:
No general theory OF expression
seems yet 10 have been enunciated. The
! max:ms contained in works on compost.
ton and rhetoric are presented in an
unorganized form. Standing as isolated
dosmas-as empirical congratulations,
they are neither 50 clearly unprecedented,
nor so much respected rs they would be
were they deduced from some simple
first principle. We are told that 'brevi,y
| is the soul Of wit We hear STYLES
| condemned as verbose or involved. Blair
says that every needless part OF sen.
ience interrupts the descriptions and
| clogs the image; and again, that long
sentence fatigues the readers attention.
II is remarked by Lord Kaimes, that TO
give the utmost force to period, d ought.
If possible, TO closei with the word that
makes the grrstest figure Tina pareH.
thesis should be a. oided, and thai Saxon
words should be used in preference To
those OF Latin origin, are established
precep;s. But, however influential the
truths thus dogma.ically embodied. they
would be much more influential il re
duced TO something like scientific ordina.
ton. Ia this, as in other cases, convic.
ton will be greatly strengthened when
we unders the shy. And we NAV
be sure that a perception Of the general
81 :-:-l = .;ch the rules of c',,..nas;
49," are P"'"ei expressions, will net only
c'"S Inc" no..'~ IN with greater
force, ou, VIII discover to ~s other rules
Of like origin.
"On seeking for some clue ,ctbe law
underlying these current maSims, we
may see Swallowed forth in man, them.
the importance Of economizing The rea.
der's or hearers attention. Tol so pre.
sent ideas that they may be ap,rehended
with the least possible mental Effort is the
| desideratum towards which most of the
rules above quoted point. When we
condemn writing that is wordh or con.
fused, or intricaie-when we Iraise this
style as easy, and blame that asiarisuing.
we consciously or uncnnsciouxy assume
this desideratum as our sianda 4 Of ind..
ment. Regarding language d an ap.
paratus Of symbols for the Conveyance Of
thought, we may say that. as in a me.
chanical apparatus. the more simple and
better arranged its parts, the geater will
be the effect produced. Ia eAher case,
whatever force is absorbed ~ the ma.
chine il deducted from the result. A
reader or listener has at eaeh momen,
but limited amount Of mental power
available. To recognize aud interpret
The symbols presented TO him requires
part OF this power; 70 arrange and
and combine the images sucgesiel re.
3uires further part /; and only thai pa IT
which remains can be used for The cali.
cation Of the though: conveyed. lIence
the more time and attention il takes 10
receive and understand each sente,ce,
the less time and attention can be gwen
to1he contained idea and the less ovid
ly will that idea be conceived. How
truly language must be regarded IS
hindrance to thought, though the Noes.
sary instrument Of il, we shall ciearly
perceive on remembering the compsra.
tive force with which simple ideas are
communicated by Inimeiic signs. To
say Leave the room,' is less expressive
than 10 point to the door. Placing a
. finger on the lips 10 more forcible iIan
whispering, DO not speak A heck of
the hand is better than Come here No
phrase can convey the idea Of surprise so
wildly as opening The eyes and raising
the eyebrows. shrug Of The shoulders
would lose much by translation into
words. Again il may be remarked that
when oral language is employed, the |
strongest efeis are produced by in,erloc. |
tons. which cOndense entire sentences
into syllablrs. And in other cases,
where custom allows u TO express
thoughts ny single words as in Besnre. |
Heigh, Fudge. much fnrce would be lost
by exPending them iniO specific vrbeal
Hence carrying OF, the |