ressions: as, "His _memory_
shall be lost on the earth."--"I long since learned to like nothing but
what you _do_."

PRECEPT VII.--Avoid unintelligible, inconsistent, or inappropriate
expressions: such as, "I have observed that the superiority among these
coffee-house politicians proceeds from _an opinion_ of gallantry and
fashion."--"These words do not convey even an _opaque_ idea of the author's
meaning."

PRECEPT VIII.--Observe the natural order of things or events, and do not
_put the cart before the horse_: as, "The scribes _taught and studied_ the
Law of Moses."--"They can neither _return to nor leave_ their houses."--"He
tumbled, _head over heels_, into the water."--"'Pat, how did you carry that
quarter of beef?' 'Why, I thrust _it through a stick_, and threw _my
shoulder over it_.'"

SECTION III.--OF PRECISION.

Precision consists in avoiding all superfluous words, and adapting the
expression exactly to the thought, so as to say, with no deficiency or
surplus of terms, whatever is intended by the author. Its opposites are
noticed in the following precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid a useless tautology, either of expression or of
sentiment; as, "When will you return _again_?"--"We returned _back_ home
_again_."--"On entering _into_ the room, I saw _and discovered_ he had
fallen _down_ on the floor and could not _rise_ up."--"They have a _mutual_
dislike to each other."--"Whenever I go, he _always_ meets me
there."--"Where is he _at? In_ there."--"His faithfulness _and fidelity_
should be rewarded."

PRECEPT II.--Repeat words as often as an exact exhibition of your meaning
requires them; for repetition may be elegant, if it be not useless. The
following example does not appear faulty: "Moral _precepts_ are _precepts_
the reasons of which we see; positive _precepts_ are _precepts_ the reasons
of which we do not see."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 165.

PRECEPT III.--Observe the exact meaning of words accounted synonymous, and
employ those which are the most suitable; as, "A diligent scholar may
_acquire_ knowledge, _gain_ celebrity, _obtain_ rewards, _win_ prizes, and
_get_ high honour, though he _earn_ no money." These six verbs have nearly
the same meaning, and yet no two of them can here be correctly
interchanged.

PRECEPT IV.--Observe the proper form of each word, and do not confound such
as resemble each other. "Professor J. W. Gibbs, of Yale College," in
treating of the "Peculiarities of the Cockney Dialect,