fewer than four hundred parentheses, threefourths of which seem to be introduced for no other purpose than to perplex the reader by violating the ordinary principles of punctuation. For a logician, this method of proceeding is, to say the least of it, very illogical. Doubtless, in a work of that character, the parenthesis is often unavoidable; but what, may we ask, can be the use of it in such sentences as the following ?

"The supposed argument may be reduced (without any alteration of its meaning) into the syllogistic form."

"An infinitive (though it often comes last in the sentence) is never the predicate."

"Generalisation (as has been remarked) implies abstraction." "The distribution of the predicate depends (not on the quantity, but) on the quality of the proposition."

"That premiss (wherever placed) is the major which contains the major term."

"If it were true, the consequent (which is granted to be false) would be true also."

"In these two examples (as well as very many others) it is implied."

"Any two circumstances (not naturally connected) are more rarely to be met with."

"The induction (in this last sense) has been sufficiently ample."

"The truth, (such as it is) of such propositions, is necessary and eternal."

In these sentences a comma would have satisfied all the requirements of punctuation;

while the more the character of the work imposed upon the writer the frequent introduction of the parenthesis, the more sparing he should have been of its use when it was wholly unnecessary.

As none but a careless or inaccurate writer will make use of a parenthesis where it may be avoided, so none but a writer of that character will omit it where the sense absolutely requires it. The following sentence is an example of such improper omission:

"Almost all these castles have their legends or romantic incidents, many of them connected with the Holy Wars, which are fondly dwelt on by the inhabitants."-ALISON. History of Europe.

Here the words in italics should form a parenthesis, in order to make the reader understand that what the inhabitants fondly dwelt upon were the legends or romantic incidents, and not the Holy Wars.

The method of punctuation which consists in "dashes" is quite a modern invention. It was first used in the sentimental poetry that came into vogue in the beginning of the nineteenth century; and thence it passed into the sentimental novels by which that poetry has been supplanted. It is a species of punctuation peculiarly suited to the delineation of the mockheroic; of that kind of intellectual abortion which we call "bathos," and which the French appro

priately style "la morgue de la littérature."* No author who values his reputation will consent to have his works disfigured by this affectation; and one is therefore surprised and shocked to see it adopted by writers of such ability as Sir Bulwer Lytton, Charles Lamb, John Wilson, and Thomas Carlyle. A single specimen will be sufficient to convince the reader of the absurdity of this system of punctuation; and that specimen I shall take from Sir B. Lytton. The writer is describing the causes of the prevalence of suicide in England, and he sums up in these words:

"The loss of fortune is the general cause of the voluntary loss of life. Wounded pride,—disappointment,—the schemes of an existence laid in the dust,-the insulting pity of friends, -the humbled despair of all our dearest connexions, for whom perhaps we toiled and wrought,—the height from which we have fallen,—the impossibility of regaining what we have lost, the searching curiosity of the public,-the petty annoyance added to the great woe,—all rushing upon a man's mind in the sudden convulsion and turbulence of its elements, what wonder that he welcomes the only escape from the abyss into which he has been hurled."-England and the English.

Here we have a double punctuation; the one ordinary and formed by the comma, such as

* The reader is requested not to confound "la morgue de la littérature with " la morgue littéraire." The former means the sink of literature;" the latter "the surliness and pride of the man of letters."

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Macaulay or any other great writer would be content to use; the other extraordinary and indicated by the significant such as is resorted to by writers who would have us believe that their words carry with them some uncommon import. It is as if the writer said to the reader: "Perhaps you fancy you are reading some commonplace composition, to be glanced at and thrown aside like the run of modern books; but you are mistaken. Here each word claims a peculiar emphasis; and to facilitate the weighing and leisurely digesting of our ideas, we have separated each member of the sentence by its proper dash." Of itself this species of punctuation is silly enough; but it ceases to be merely silly, when, as in the instance before us, it gives significance and weight to that frightfullest of all unchristian doctrines, namely, that, in certain circumstances, a man may "welcome suicide" as the only escape from the abyss into which he may have been hurled by the loss of his fortune: in other words, that the abyss created by a temporary loss is more to be avoided than that darkest and deepest of all abysses, into which a man hurls himself by the damning deed of self-destruction.

The mannerism which consists in the repetition of certain words may be appropriately classed under the peculiar expressions by which it is characterized; such as However, Of all others, But, If, and so forth. The following samples of

the However style are from Alison's "History of Europe during the French Revolution :"

Augereau was soon, however, dismissed the corps for a serious offence, and returned to Paris, penniless and in disgrace. There, however, his lofty stature and military air again attracted the attention of the recruiting sergeants, and he was enrolled in the regiment of Carabineers, commanded by the Marquis Poyanna. There, however, his mischievous disposition a second time broke out, and he was expelled from his new corps for carrying off his captain's horses to sell them in Switzerland."

"The Grand Vizier, however, alarmed for a fortress of such importance, at length recrossed the Danube and detached fifteen thousand men to beat up the enemy's quarters in its vicinity, in the end of October. Bagrathion advanced against this body, and an action, with no decisive results, ensued at Tartaritza, in which, however, it soon appeared that the Russians had been worsted; for Bagrathion immediately recrossed the Danube, and raised the blockade. Ismael, however, which had been long blockaded, surrendered on the 21st September.”

Among the "blunders" which I have had occasion to notice in the preceding chapter, is the expression "Of all others." Of rare occurrence in the generality of writers, and never to be met with in the most correct, this locution has become a "household word" with Sir A. Alison. The following examples of it are taken from his "History of Europe during the French Revolution." In his other works the instances of it are also very numerous :

"The quality of all others, by which distinction is acquired." "The event of all others which the Orleans party most ardently desired to avoid."