Thus, if a storm is the subject, something else is necessary than to say that torrents of rain pour down, and trees and houses are overthrown. We must seize on the more striking phenomena with which it is attended, and dwell only on its grander effects.

277. Conciseness is one of the most important essentials of sublimity in writing. The greatest thoughts must be presented in the fewest words. If the specimens in the last lesson, particularly those from Homer and Ossian, are examined, it will be seen that this is their leading feature; no words are introduced unless essential to the idea.

"I love God and little children," says the German philosopher Richter. In what more elevated terms could he have expressed his love for sinlessness and innocence? The sentence is grand, because so strikingly condensed. The same conciseness constitutes the sublimity of Cæsar's famous VENI, VIDI, VICI, in which he announced to the Senate the result of one of his battles; a saying which loses just half its terse energy, when translated into English, "I came, I saw, I conquered."

In the sentence before quoted, "Quid times? Cæsarem vehis," the effect is also due, in a measure, to the sententiousness of the style. It is readily seen how much is gained by conciseness, when we compare with these brief and eloquent words of the fearless conqueror, Lucan's account of the scene, in which, by attempting to amplify and adorn the thought, he has diluted it into insignificance.

"But Cæsar, still superior to distress,
Fearless and confident of sure success,
Thus to the pilot loud :-"The seas despise,
And the vain threatening of the noisy skies;
Though gods deny thee yon Ausonian strand,
Yet go, I charge you; go, at my command.
Thy ignorance alone can cause thy fears,

Thou know'st not what a freight thy vessel bears;
Thou know'st not I am he to whom 'tis given
Never to want the care of watchful Heaven.
Obedient fortune waits my humble thrall,

And, always ready, comes before I call.

Let winds and seas loud wars at freedom wage,
And waste upon themselves their empty rage!

cumstance is introduced? If a storm is the subject, what must be seized on, and what left untouched?

$277. What quality of style is particularly conducive to sublimity? What must be the character of the thoughts, and what of the words? What will be found, on examining the specimens in the last lesson? Give a sentence from Richter, which is sublime by reason of its conciseness. Give one from Cæsar. When translated into Engish, how does this sentence compare in sublimity with the original? What other

A stronger, mightier, demon is thy friend;
Thou and thy bark on Cæsar's fate depend.
Thou stand'st amazed to view this dreadful scene,
And wonder'st what the gods and fortune mean:
But artfully their bounties thus they raise,
And from my danger arrogate new praise;
Amidst the fears of death they bid me live,

And still enhance what they are sure to give."-RowE

278. Simplicity is no less essential to sublimity than conciseness. The words employed must be, not only few, but plain. High-flown and turgid expressions must be avoided no less carefully than mean, low, and trivial ones. Ornament, however conducive to beauty of style, is here out of place. Nothing is more mistaken than to suppose that magnificent words, accumulated epithets, and swelling expressions, constitute real elevation.

This will be apparent from an illustration. Longinus and all critics from his time to the present have concurred in attributing the highest sublimity to the verse in Genesis which describes the creation of light: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." But exchange its simplicity for misplaced ornament,-"The sovereign arbiter of nature, by the potent energy of a single word, commanded light to exist, and immediately it sprang into being,”—and the sound is indeed magnified, but the sentiment is degraded, and the grandeur is gone.

The reason why a deficiency of conciseness or simplicity is fatal to the sublime appears to be this. The emotion in question raises the mind considerably above its ordinary tone. A temporary enthusiasm is produced, extremely agreeable while it lasts, but from which the mind is every moment in danger of sinking to its usual level. Now, when an author has brought us, or is attempting to bring us, into this state of elevated rapture, if he indulges in unnecessary words, if he stops to introduce glittering ornaments, if he even throws in a single decoration that is inferior to the leading image, he loses the critical moment; the tension of the mind is relaxed; the emotion is dissipated. The beautiful may survive; the sublime is sacrificed.

sentence of Cæsar's owes a portion of its sublimity to conciseness? How is this shown?

§ 278. What besides conciseness is essential to sublimity? What kind of expressions must be avoided? Illustrate the different effects produced by simple and by high-flown language. Explain why a deficiency of conciseness or simplicity is fatal to the

sublime.

§ 279. The writer must not only be concise and simple; he must also have a lively impression of his subject. If his own enthusiasm is not awakened, he cannot hope to excite emotion in others.

All forced attempts by which a writer endeavors to excite himself and his readers, when his imagination begins to flag, have just the opposite effect from what is intended. A poet gains nothing by labored ap peals, invocations of the muses, or general exclamations concerning the greatness, terribleness, or majesty, of what he is about to describe. Wa find an example of such forced introductions in Addison's description of the Battle of Blenheim.

"But, O my muse! what numbers wilt thou find,

To sing the furious troops in battle joined ?
Methinks I hear the drum's tumultuous sound,

The victor's shouts, and dying groans confound;" &c.

§ 280. When, therefore, an awe-inspiring object is pre sented in nature, a grand creation in art, an exalted feeling in the human mind, or a heroic deed in human action; then, if our own impression is vivid, and we exhibit it in brief, plain, and simple terms, without rhetorical aids, but trusting mainly to the dignity which the thought naturally assumes, we may hope to attain to the sublime.

Sublimity, by its very nature, awakens but a short-lived emotion. By no force of genius can the mind for any considerable time be kept so far raised above its common tone. Neither are the abilities of any human writer sufficient to furnish a long continuation of uninterruptedly sublime ideas. The utmost we can expect is that the fire of imagination should sometimes flash upon us, like lightning from heaven, and then disappear. No author is sublime throughout, in the true sense of the word. Yet there are some, who, by the strength and dignity of their conceptions, and the current of high ideas that runs throughout their compositions, keep their readers' minds in a state of comparative

§ 279. What else must a writer have, to write sublimely? What is said of forced attempts to excite one's self and one's readers? From what does a writer gain noth ing? Illustrate this from Addison.

§ 280. How, then, may we hope to attain to the sublime? What kind of an emotion does sublimity awaken? Why can not the emotion continue for any length of time? What is the utmost we can expect? Can any author hope to be sublime throughout? What is the nearest approach to it? What writers among the ancients, and who among moderns, are distinguished for the elevated tone which runs throughout their compositions?

elevation. In this class Pindar, Demosthenes, and Plato, among the ancients, and Ossian and Milton, among moderns, are worthy of being ranked.

§ 281. An unimproved state of society is peculiarly favorable to the production of sublime compositions. When the mind is unaccustomed to the ornamental, it is more apt to ap preciate and admire the grand. In the infancy of nations, men are constantly meeting with objects to them new and striking; the imagination is kept glowing; and the passions are often vehemently excited. They think boldly, and express their thoughts without restraint. Advances towards refinement are conducive to the development of beauty in style, but signally limit the sphere of the sublime.

We find this theory borne out by fact. As a general thing, the sublimest writers have flourished either in the early ages of the world or in the infancy of their respective nations. Thus, the grandest of all passages are found in the earliest of books, the Bible. The style of the inspired writers is characterized by a sublimity commensurate with the majesty and solemnity of their subjects. What can transcend in grandeur the following descriptions of the Almighty? The student is requested to observe how they combine the various elements mentioned above as calculated to elevate the mind and affect the imagination.

"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies."-PSALM XVIII., 6-11.

"Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting. The mountains saw Thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the waters passed by:

§ 281. What state of society is favorable to the sublime? Explain the reason. To what are advances towards refinement conducive? At what period do we find that the sublimest writers have flourished? What book contains the grandest of all passages? What descriptions are peculiarly sublime? Repeat the description of the Almighty from Psalm xviii. Repeat that from Habakkuk. Wherein consists the sub

the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high."-HABAK KUK, III, 5, 6, 10.

The same remark holds true in Greek literature. Homer, who was the earliest, is also the most sublime, poet that has written in that language, his ideas being grand and his diction unaffected. We have already seen how magnificently he describes a battle. A similar passage, worthy of special mention, occurs in the 20th book of the Iliad. It repre sents the gods as taking part in an engagement between the Greeks and Trojans. All heaven and earth are in commotion. Jupiter thun. ders from on high. Minerva and Mars gird themselves for the terrible conflict. Neptune strikes the earth with his trident; the ships, the cities, and the mountains, shake; the earth trembles to its centre. Pluto starts from his throne, in dread lest the secrets of the infernal regions be laid open to the view of mortals.

After the magnificent passages quoted from Ossian, it is hardly necessary to say that he is one of the most sublime of writers. He possesses the plain and venerable manner of antiquity. He deals in no superfluous or gaudy ornaments, but throws forth his images with a rapid conciseness which appeals powerfully to the mind. Among poets of more polished times we must look for elaborate graces, exact proportion of parts, and skilfully conducted narratives. In the midst of smiling landscapes, the gay and beautiful have their home; the sublime dwells among the rude scenes of nature and society which Ossian describes; amid rocks and torrents, whirlpools and battles.

LESSON XLII.

THE SUBLIME IN WRITING (CONTINued).

§ 282. Rhyme, which generally forms a feature of English verse, is unfavorable to sublimity in writing, by reason of its constrained elegance, its studied smoothness, and the super

limity of these passages? Who is the sublimest of Greek poets? Give the substance of a fine passage in the 20th book of the Iliad. What is said of Ossian? Describe his style. Where must we look for the elaborate graces of writing? Where, for the sublime?

$282. What is the effect of rhyme as regards sublimity? How does it produce this