We proceed to a rule of a different kind. During the course of a period, the same scene ought to be continued without variation. The changing from person to person, from subject to subject, or from person to subject, within the bounds of a single period, distracts the mind, and affords no time for a solid impression. I illustrate this rule by giving examples of deviations from it.
Honos alit artes, omnesque incenduntur ad studia gloriâ; jacentque ea semper quæ apud quosque improbantur.
Cicero, Tuscul. quæst. l. 1.
Speaking of the distemper contracted by Alexander bathing in the river Cydnus and of the cure offered by Philip the physician:
Inter hæc à Parmenione fidissimo purpuratorum, literas accipit, quibus ei denunciabat, ne salutem suam Philippo committeret.
Quintus Curtius, l. 3. cap. 6.
Hook, in his Roman history, speaking of Eumenes, who had been beat down to the ground with a stone, says,
After a short time he came to himself; and the next day, they put him on board his ship, which conveyed him first to Corinth, and thence to the island of Ægina.
I give another example of a period which is unpleasant, even by a very slight deviation from the rule.