Here the subject plainly demands uniformity in expression instead of variety; and therefore it is submitted whether the period would not do better in the following manner:
If men of eminence be exposed to censure on the one hand, they are as much exposed to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due, they likewise receive praises which are not due.
I cannot but fancy, however, that this imitation, which passes so currently with _other judgements_, must at some time or other have stuck a little with your _Lordship_[86]. [Better thus:] I cannot but fancy, however, that this imitation, which passes so currently with others, must at some time or other have stuck a little with your Lordship.
A glutton or mere sensualist is as ridiculous as the other two characters.
They wisely prefer _the generous efforts of good-will and affection_, to the reluctant compliances _of such as_ obey by force.
_Remarks on the history of England. Letter 5. Bolingbroke._
Titus Livius, concerning the people of Enna demanding the keys from the Roman garrison, makes the governor say,
Quas simul tradiderimus, Carthaginiensium extemplo Enna erit, fœdiusque hic trucidabimir, quam Murgantiæ præsidium interfectum est.
Quintus Curtius, speaking of Porus mounted on an elephant, and leading his army to battle:
Magnitudini Pori adjicere videbatur bellua qua vehebatur, tantum inter cæteras eminens, quanto aliis ipse præstabat.
It is a still greater deviation from congruity, to affect not only variety in the words, but also in the construction. Describing Thermopylæ, Titus Livius says,
Id jugum, sicut Apennini dorso Italia dividitur, ita mediam Græciam deremit.
There may remain a suspicion that we over-rate the greatness of his genius; in the same manner as bodies appear more gigantic on account of their being disproportioned and mishapen.
This is studying variety in a period where the beauty lies in uniformity. Better thus:
There may remain a suspicion that we over-rate the greatness of his genius, in the same manner as we over-rate the greatness of bodies which are disproportioned and mishapen.
Next as to the length of the members that signify the resembling objects. To produce a resemblance betwixt such members, they ought not only to be constructed in the same manner, but as nearly as possible be equal in length. By neglecting this circumstance, the following example is defective in neatness.