The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1870-02-24
Chr Smiley Siroinian.
sTAUNT0N, VIRGINIA.
Thursday, February "a, 1870.
STYLE

= !
STYLE.
We don't mean the stye of dress of the
present day, or the mode Of wearing the
hair or the scoopcd heels of ladies boots
but the style Of writing
The number of fine writers that the last
century has produced has had an effect on the
works Of many Of the present day, which
reason would hardly teach us to expect, and
which impartial criticism loudly condemns,
Suhjects so various, as those, Of which they
have treated, would naturally lead to the
adoption of diverse styles. Accordingly,
each one Of them, consulting his own pow
ers Of application, and duly weighing the
nature and extent of his subject, has adopted
a manner Of writing. peculiar and appropri-
ate. The same florid style, which is required
in treatise on oratory or poesy, would be i'll
applied to the gravity Of moral, or the rigid
sity of natural Philosophy. The vchemcnce
and fiery zeal which those who are seated in
the Senate chamber Of this Government en-
ploy, to gain favorite object, or to battle the
efforts Of their antagonists, would be esteem
ed ridiculous enthusiasm in them, whose task
and designit is, to build up the peaceablc king
dom Of Emanuel, and pcrscveringly inculcate
his pure, benignant, and sublime doctrines
When a calm appeal is made to the under
standing of men, on a.subject in which they
are nearly Interested, the flowers of rhetoric
lose all their fragrance and the impassioned
tones of oratorical defamation have as little
effect on the attentive ear as the gentle MUIR
muir of the passing winds.
Of all the writer's, with whose style We are
at all familiar VIC class that Of Walter Scott
9 as first on the list Of the great authors of
ceither prose or verse, and there can hardly be
. youth, at the present time, who would fail
to admire either his style Or his composition.
Many writer's of the present time, arc for
sgetful Of some excellent rules laid down, and,
fixing their eye steadfastly on their favorite
author, undcyiatingly follow him. whatever
be their subject, Or whatever their design.
Whether their captivating author. dealt in
ztle soft pcnsive strains Of doubtful love- or
whether he perplcxcd himself in. the more
rough aud intricate mazes Of augmentation
it is all the same He must be followed, i'm
gitated, and his style indiscriminately applied
to all subjects. A forced elevation is always
disgusting. 1t is as disagreeab'e, perhaps.
. to discover mean, low subject treated in a
lofty, magnificent style, as it is to see an elc-
waited subject clothed in the language of mean
ness and poverty.
AT our University, where the students be-
come acquainted with elegant writers-with
writers who professedly treat Of the most ele-
waited and important subjects, the gildedstr rap
pings of style are apt to be mistaken, and
substituted for purity and nobeness Of senti-
mcnt, and to be preferred to the perspicacity
8 Of uncloudcd reason. In no place, perhaps,
does prurient propensity for the clear bonn
/, bast prevail to a greater degree. 1t is there
frequently thought that few common ideas,
clothed with tawdry meretricious garb,
make, complete writer-one whose fame
(; will be extensive with the globe and lasting
as time. Impressed with these false notions
students dilate and initiate the meanest topics
and most vulgar conceptions. These habits,
gained without due consideration, and con-
frmed BY want of proper reflection, are apt
to abide during life Hence the reason why
the simplicity, SO agreeable in ancient authors.
is so rarely to be found in the present day.
Style should always correspond with the sub
ject and design. The best authors should be
81 consulted. But no rule, in all cases, initiated.
since no one has treated on all subjects A
painter or sculptor, who wished to leave to
posterity a perfect model, would wisely col
!lcct from those with whom he was acquainted
those features and members, whose sym.
n,etry and beauty would happily conspirc to
represent an harmonious and perfect whole
So the writer, who wishes his style to be hon
3 orcd with the epithet, perfect, will cautiously
scollect the scattered, yet harmonious beauties
which are discoyerable in the various works
Of his predecessors
~ Care is necessary. not only to mark how
each author of celebrity has written, but
:" bow he ,eould have written had he fallen on
a different subject. Without this care it is
idle and vain to think of lasting usefulness
{ and desirable estimation Let US see to it,
Jottings About the Capitol.
asa On Tuesday last Mr.. j. Amber Smith,
!. (Repub.l Of New Kent introduced in the