he widows in Corioli wear
And mothers that lack sons."

66. Let us note, point by point, the conditions of greatness common to
both these passages, so opposite in temper.

A. Absolute command over all passion, however intense; this the
first-of-first conditions, (see the King's own sentence just before, "We
are no tyrant, but a Christian King, Unto _whose grace_ our passion is
as subject As are our wretches fettered in our prisons"); and with this
self-command, the supremely surveying grasp of every thought that is to
be uttered, before its utterance; so that each may come in its exact
place, time, and connection. The slightest hurry, the misplacing of a
word, or the unnecessary accent on a syllable, would destroy the "style"
in an instant.

B. Choice of the fewest and simplest words that can be found in the
compass of the language, to express the thing meant: these few words
being also arranged in the most straightforward and intelligible way;
allowing inversion only when the subject can be made primary without
obscurity: (thus, "his present, and your pains, we thank you for" is
better than "we thank you for his present and your pains," because the
Dauphin's gift is by courtesy put before the Ambassador's pains; but
"when to these balls our rackets we have matched" would have spoiled the
style in a moment, because--I was going to have said, ball and racket
are of equal rank, and therefore only the natural order proper; but also
here the natural order is the desired one, the English racket to have
precedence of the French ball). In the fourth line the "in France" comes
first, as announcing the most important resolution of action; the "by
God's grace" next, as the only condition rendering resolution possible;
the detail of issue follows with the strictest limit in the final word.
The King does not say "danger," far less "dishonor," but "hazard" only;
of _that_ he is, humanly speaking, sure.

67. C. Perfectly emphatic and clear utterance of the chosen words;
slowly in the degree of their importance, with omission however of every
word not absolutely required; and natural use of the familiar
contractions of final dissyllable. Thus "play a set shall strike" is
better than "play a set _that_ shall strike," and "match'd" is kingly
short--no necessity of meter could have excused "matched" instead. On
the contrary, the three first words, "We are glad," would have been
spoken by the king more slowly and fully than any othe