more attention for the ideas themselves.

Sec. 9. The economy of the recipient's mental energy, into which are thus
resolvable the several causes of the strength of Saxon English, may
equally be traced in the superiority of specific over generic words.
That concrete terms produce more vivid impressions than abstract ones,
and should, when possible, be used instead, is a thorough maxim of
composition. As Dr. Campbell says, "The more general the terms are, the
picture is the fainter; the more special they are, 'tis the brighter."
We should avoid such a sentence as:--"In proportion as the manners,
customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the
regulations of their penal code will be severe." And in place of it we
should write:--"In proportion as men delight in battles, bull-fights,
and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the
rack."

Sec. 10. This superiority of specific expressions is clearly due to a
saving of the effort required to translate words into thoughts. As we
do not think in generals but in particulars--as, whenever any class of
things is referred to, we represent it to ourselves by calling to mind
individual members of it; it follows that when an abstract word is used,
the bearer or reader has to choose from his stock of images, one or
more, by which he may figure to himself the genus mentioned. In doing
this, some delay must arise some force be expended; and if, by employing
a specific term, an appropriate image can be at once suggested, an
economy is achieved, and a more vivid impression produced.

iii. The Principle of Economy applied to Sentences.

Sec. 11. Turning now from the choice of words to their sequence, we shall
find the same general principle hold good. We have _a priori_ reasons
for believing that in every sentence there is some one order of words
more effective than any other; and that this order is the one which
presents the elements of the proposition in the succession in which they
may be most readily put together. As in a narrative, the events should
be stated in such sequence that the mind may not have to go backwards
and forwards in order to rightly connect them; as in a group of
sentences, the arrangement should be such, that each of them may be
understood as it comes, without waiting for subsequent ones; so in
every sentence, the sequence of words should be that which suggests
the constituents of the thought in the order most conve