peated, whereas by the latter nothing is added to it. In this sentence, 'They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth,' the words 'back,' again,'' same,' 'from,' and 'forth' are superfluous. They are of no use, they add nothing to the sense, and should therefore be expunged; and the sentence will then stand, 'They returned to the city whence they came.'

If

'I went home full of a great many reflections.' he was full, it adds nothing to the sense to say 'a great many.' Better, 'I went home full of reflections.'

'If he happens to have any leisure upon his hands' 'upon his hands' is redundant, and may be dispensed with.

'The everlasting club treats all other clubs with an eye of contempt.' The writer might have here said, 'regards' or 'treats' all other clubs with contempt; but to treat with an eye is incorrect, as well as pleonastic.

The form of sentence beginning, 'There are . . . who are,' &c., is also frequently a pleonasm. It may be occasionally used in introducing a subject, as giving it a certain importance; but, as a rule, it is better to avoid the particle there;' and instead of writing, 'There are few people who are not aware,' &c., say, 'Few people are not aware,' &c.

6

The phrases more or less,' 'as it were,' 'so to speak,' and some others, are frequently superfluous. They are often introduced merely to occupy space on the paper, and are, in a great majority of cases, unnecessary to the sense.

Many words called expletives are not on that account always pleonastic. Do and did, when used as signs

of tenses, are frequently indispensable, and sometimes emphatic. In negative and interrogative forms of the verb they are necessary; as, 'I do not think so,''Do you wish to see him?' 'What I did publicly affirm then, I do affirm now,' &c. But in other cases they are unnecessary and unidiomatic, and the use of them in modern English is faulty.

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS ON PART V.

1. What is meant by the word 'Style'?

2. Whence is this word derived?

3. Mention some qualities by which style may be characterised.

4. Which is the most important quality of style?

5. Under what three heads may clearness of style be considered?

6. What is implied by purity of style?

7. Are any foreign words admissible into English?

8. How are obsolete words to be considered?

9. By what rule should we be guided in the adoption of new words?

10. What is meant by a grammatical error?

11. About what period of our literature did English writers begin to pay some attention to grammar?

12. Give some examples of grammatical errors in the use of

pronouns.

13. What is meant by a grammatical inconsistency?

14. By what rule should we be guided in the number of the verb, when its subject is a noun of multitude?

15. In what number must the verb be put, when it has several singular subjects connected by 'or' or 'nor'?

16. What grammatical errors are frequently made when the words each,' 'every,' 'either,' and 'neither' are used as subjects?

17. What is the general rule for the use of the subjunctive? 18. When should the indicative mood be used after a con

junction?

19. What law regulates the sequence of moods and tenses in English grammar?

20. What kind of adjectives have no degrees of comparison? 21. What inaccuracies frequently occur in the use of the comparative and superlative degrees ?

22. What is the effect of two negatives in English?

23. Give some examples of the wrong use of the negative and disjunctive particles.

24. State some cases in which it is right to use adjectives as adverbs.

1. What is meant by an idiom?

2. Give some examples of English idioms.

3. What faults are frequently made under this head?

4. To what cause may errors in idiom be referred ?

5. Give some examples of unidiomatic expressions.

6. In the use of what part of speech do we meet with most mistakes of idiom?

1. What is meant by propriety of style?

2. State some causes of error in the use of words.

3. When are words said to be synonymous?

4. What classification may be made of synonymous words?

5. Give some examples of English words erroneously used in a foreign sense.

6. Give some cases of incorrect phrases often used.

7. How may obscurity arise from ellipsis?

8. From what other sources does obscurity sometimes arise? 9. What may be remarked, under this head, on the structure of sentences?

10. What is meant by technical terms?

11. How far are they admissible in writing on general subjects?

1. Show the difference between a concise and a diffusive style. 2. Which is, on the whole, to be preferred?

3. Which is the more difficult to attain ?

4. What is meant by 'Tautology'?

5. Describe some forms of tautology.

6. What is the difference between pleonasm and tautology? 7. Give some examples.

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PART VI.

ON SENTENCES.

SENTENCES.

A SENTENCE is the expression of some one complete thought; though it is not, of necessity, confined to one proposition.

Sentences are simple or complex. A simple sentence contains one member; as, 'So saying, they approached the gate.' Complex sentences contain two members; as, 'Straws swim on the surface, but pearls lie at the bottom.'

The members themselves are sometimes complex, and may be divided into clauses; as, 'The man is arrived, and has brought his son with him; but the magistrate is engaged, and their evidence cannot be now received.'

The members are not always separate, one is sometimes inserted in another; as, 'When Henry VIII., who was then nineteen years old, ascended the English throne, the nation received him with universal acclamation.' Here, 'who was then nineteen years old' is inserted in the proposition, ' When Henry VIII. ascended,' &c.