d. Macaulay is direct; not at all figurative, in his style, but withal he possesses elegance and impressiveness.

e. Of Milton's two famous works on liberty one was called the Defensio Populi, and the other was concerning the freedom of the press; this one was called Areopagitica.

EXERCISE 61. (Oral.) Revise the sentences of your themes to improve their unity of form.

§ 5. Ellipsis. By ellipsis is meant the omission of a word or words needed in a sentence to complete the unity of thought, the unity of form, the coherence, or the emphasis. Ellipses are as frequent in themes as sins of omission. are in lives. We are so sure of having captured our own thought by the choice of the right phrases that we neglect those chinks and crevices through which thought escapes like an Ariel, or sprite of the air. Indeed, a good share of the commoner ellipses come to pass mechanically, like lapses in speech. We think we have actually written a certain small word, -the, or an, or by, or in, when in reality the hand has glided on to some more important word, leaving the monosyllable still in the brain.

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Again, ellipsis is often due to the instinct of avoiding repetition. But men think in such ways that the same prepositional or conjunctive relationship occurs more than once in a brief

space, and when repetition of relationship occurs, there should usually be repetition of the relation-word. What prepositions should be repeated at the points indicated by carets in the following sentence? "We knew by the languid way A which he walked, and the

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plank he carried, and the dark trail left on the ground from that plank, that Peter had got something to make a bench and that he had reached out too far from the dock in getting it."

In like manner, the proper repetition of conjunctions is often neglected, particularly the repetition of that. Here the influence of spoken English is to be reckoned with; it is not permissible in writing to omit that so freely as in speaking. Orally we may say, "I knew he was going, and had room enough in the carriage to bring back any parcel I might send for, and had expressed a willingness to run errands for us all; yet I did not ask him." In written work, this sentence would hardly be allowed to stand unless enclosed in quotation marks. Writing of his own experience, a careful person would insert that in three places besides the pronoun he twice, the pronoun which once, and the preposition on once: "I knew that he was going, that he had room enough in the carriage

for any parcel for which I might send, and that he had expressed a willingness to run on errands for us all; yet I did not ask him.”

One other form of the ellipsis of conjunctions should be criticized here. Often a sentence which begins on the pattern of a compound sentence containing three independent clauses, the first and second unconnected, actually finishes with a subordinate clause for the third member, and yet leaves the independent statements without a conjunction :

The full-back got the ball, ran with it until he got near his enemy, when he threw the ball to Charles.

What conjunction should be inserted before

ran?

In the case of verbs, there is one question affected by oral usage. The neglect to repeat the verbal part of the infinitive, leaving only the prepositional sign, to, is sometimes permissible, as regularly in conversation; but the effect is always colloquial, and often beneath the dignity of the subject. The ellipsis at the end of the following passage is bad; "go' should be supplied:

Satan tells the fallen angels of a new creature called Man. He proposes to find out about this being, and since no one else proposes to go, he offers to.

EXERCISE 62.

(Oral.)

Supply needed

words at the places indicated in the following sentences by carets:

1. a. There was not one of them Л came.

b. The train got so far away we were unable to see it any longer.

c. Portia wanted her cousin to lend her notes and wear his garments.

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d. At Central Music Hall to-morrow, at both a matinée and night performance, Palmer Cox and Malcolm Douglas's new spectacular production," The Brownies in Fairyland," will be the attraction.

e. Getting off in the morning instead of the evening was lucky for them because Λ they would have no place to stay over night.

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f. A comparative quiet followed the repeal of this act for several years, but Л was brought to an end in 1779 by a bill providing for taxes on several articles of import. g. Several accidents occurred. One was the engine became unmanageable and dashed into an open draw. h. We were so happy in those days Λ

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i. He knew most of the estates in the surrounding country, and by whom they were owned.

j. Burke endeavored to prove his solution of the problem, namely, that England should concede as much as was necessary.

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k. Moloch, the fallen angel, wished to revenge the heavenly power which had cast him down.

1. The evil angels then devote themselves to various occupations and pursuits until Satan returns.

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m. His scheme seemed to further the country, but really did not

n. Charles A. Joslyn, Jr., proprietor of Golden Rule

Park, says that, owing to complaints of noise

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made

by the children in his playground, he has decided to curtail to some extent his original plan.

o. He never threw the newspaper on the floor, or anything else that would annoy his hard-working mother. 2. a. This apple is different and sweeter than the others.

[But see page 205.]

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b. This coffee is as good if not better than that we used to get at home.

[But see page 205.]

c. It was a small frame house, with a door on each side, with only two windows.

d. He is a kind of a slouch, for either his shoes are not blacked, or his necktie л on straight, or his trousers baggy. ^ pleased to meet you.

3. a. I am very

b. Some argue A c. I find

six causes.

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force would be worth while using.

the American love of freedom springs from

d. Hunting the deer is not like hunting the bear or Λ tiger.

e. The great beauty of Gray's Elegy cannot fail to impress the dullest reader.

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f. An Englishman is the worst person in the world to argue liberty from another Englishman.

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g. To-day I am not going to argue taxation. It is too deep for me.

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h. Coffee does not seem to stimulate him as it does Λ many people.

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i. It was hard for Milton to attain such magnificent poetry in a philosophical age.

j. The character of John Milton was a combination of the Λ two classes, the Puritans and the Cavaliers. k. The distance of the colonies from England is but not Л least of the difficulties of ruling them.

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