Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my soul as the wind, and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent. Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish.

ears.

Destruction and Death say, we have heard thereof with our

Night is the summer when the soul grows ripe
With Life's full harvest.

There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,

To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall awhile repair,

To dwell a weeping hermit there.

Correct the following figures:—

In the ferment of political revolutions, the dregs of society are sure to rise to the surface, and once there assume the reins of power with bold and unscrupulous hand.

Many a youth launches forth on the journey of life with no fixed goal in view.

The fire of jealousy will soon root all happiness out of the domestic circle.

Happy is it for the community when there are some unselfish hearts ready to step forward, and pluck the thoughtless and erring, like brands, from the abyss of vice.

Followers and friends, around the dying hero's couch, hold their breath, while the last spark of life is ebbing and the soul is preparing to take its heavenward flight.

FIGURES OF CONTIGUITY.

32. In this class of Figures, a thing is named, either by some accompaniment (Metonymy), or by some part (Synecdoche), that is peculiarly forcible or suggestive.

33. METONYMIES have been classified according to the nature of the accompaniment singled out.

(1.) The Sign, or Symbol, is used for the thing Signified.

As the crown or sceptre for royalty; the mitre, the lawn, the altar, the baton, the silk-gown, the purple, the ermine, the ballot-box. Red tape is the routine of office. Peace is signified by sheathing the sword, shutting the temple of Janus.

These signs and circumstances are usually more striking than the main subject; in many instances, however, all that is sought or gained is variety of expression.

(2.) The Instrument for the Agent.

Cowley says of Cromwell, "he set up Parliaments by the stroke of his pen, and scattered them with the breath of his mouth," the intention being to substitute for the hidden operations of the mind, some outward and expressive action.

In like manner, we say the arbitration of the sword; a thousand horse, a hundred lances; "to associate to our arms the tomahawk and the scalping-knife of the savage."

(3.) The Container for the thing Contained.

They smote the city." "Ye devour widows' houses." So we say familiarly, the kettle boils. The bottle is a powerful figure for intoxicating drink. "He keeps a good table." "He drank the cup." A carpet bag, for luggage. The purse for From the cradle to the gravé. money. The palace and the cottage. "I should rather be ruled by St. James's (the residence of the Court) than by St. Giles's (peopled by the lowest population)." "France would not consent."

A period of time is sometimes used for the productions or events included in it. In trade, we hear of a good season, a successful voyage.

Blossoms, and fruits, and flowers, together rise,

And the whole year in gay confusion lies."

The whole year stands for all the vegetable productions of the year.

(4.) An Effect for the Cause; as, the shade for trees. When gray hairs is put for age, we may call it both an effect and a sign.

(5.) An Author for his Works: "they have Moses and the prophets; ""a copy of Milton."

In like manner, the name of the inventor is used for his invention; as when the miner speaks of his Davy, meaning his safety lamp (invented by Davy). The names of mythological personages were similarly used in old times; as, Ceres for bread, Bacchus for wine. So, Mars, Neptune, Pallas, Venus, are put for war, the ocean, wisdom, love.

The interest attaching to personification, already alluded to, is what gives force to the figure in the present case also.

34. (1.) The chief form of the Synecdoche consists in naming a thing by some Part of it.

As, fifty sail; all hands at work; they sought his blood; the rule of three.

In putting sail for ship, the part is selected on account of its prominence or suggestiveness; the expression is thereby rendered more picturesque. So, when we speak of the redcoats, the greenbacks, the waves.

In the other instances, the part chosen is what most concerns the end in view; a workman's efficiency depends on his hands; the blood is more particularly identified with life. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings."

Other examples:—A passenger in a cab is called a fare. "I abjure all roofs." "She gave her hand but not her heart." "She had seen sixteen summers; his life had extended to seventy winters." Parts are here selected that will express the contrast between youth and age. A colt is said to be "three years old next grass," that is,—next spring. "The moment is at hand." "He was useful in his day."

On the same principle, a person is named by the part of his character suited to the occasion. "Thus spoke the tempter."

"The avenger of blood was on his track." When the Deity is mentioned by one of his attributes, what is predicated of him should be consistent therewith. "The Judge of all the earth will do right." "The Lord of Hosts is on our side." It would be an impropriety to say, "the Almighty knows our thoughts." "This subject reminds me of what I was told at Calais from a very good hand." It is not the hand that tells.

The designation of a great man by his locality is a figure useful only for varying the expression; as the Stagirite, the bard of Mantua, the distinguished Florentine.

(2.) The reverse operation of using the Whole for a Part is a species of synecdoche: as, the smiling year, for the spring; "cursed be the day when a manchild was born."

As in the case already mentioned of putting the genus for the species, this must be a rare figure, since it runs contrary to the general principle regulating vividness of impression. It may sometimes happen that there is something in the aspect of a whole that arrests the attention more forcibly than the part would do. The phrase "the Roman world" is intended to impress the mind with the vastness of the Roman empire.

(3.) The name of the Material is given for the thing Made: as, the glittering steel (for the sword); the marble speaks; the canvas glows; wine ten years in the wood.

The name of the material is strongly suggestive of the visible aspect of the thing, and especially the color, which it is more difficult to realize vividly than the form or outline. Hence this is one of the picturesque figures.

(4.) The name of a passion is sometimes given for the object that inspires it; as, my love, my joy, my delight, my admiration, my aversion, my horror, for the causes of those feelings.

By this figure the Deity is styled "the terror of the oppressor, and the refuge of the oppressed." Again, "The Lord

is my song, He is become my salvation." Dryden introduces the Duke of Monmouth as

"The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme,

The young men's vision, and the old men's dream."

Song, salvation, prayer, vision, dream, are used instead of their several objects. "The sigh of her sacred soul," in Ossian, designates him that is sighed for.

The name of a person is occasionally put for his fame or renown. "Kant, the greatest name in the philosophy of Germany." "The dreaded name of Demogorgon."

The effectiveness of the present variety of the Synecdoche is explained on the general principle of selecting the prominent or the pertinent portion of the thing designated.

The Euphemism is sometimes a figure of contiguity; as, stopping payment, for becoming bankrupt.

35. The Transferred Epithet is a common figure in poetry.

The shifting of an epithet from its proper subject to some allied subject or circumstance is illustrated in these examples: "Hence to his idle bed." "He plods his weary way." "The ignorant fumes that mantle their dearer reason." eye thou mayest behold."

"The little fields made green

By husbandry of many thrifty years."

"With easy

Kindred ideas are thus brought closer together; as, idle and bed. Thrifty years is vigorous by condensation.

We have cases in ordinary prose where this figure is used, for the sake of conciseness* as, a criminal court, the condemned cell.

FIGURES OF CONTRAST.

36. It is a first principle of the human mind that we are affected only by change of impression, as by passing from hot to cold, from hunger to repletion, from sound to silence. This applies to both Feeling and Knowledge.