5. Avoid concluding a sentence with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word, unless it be emphatical.
6. Where two things are compared or contrasted with each other, a resemblance in the language and construction should be observed.
FIGURES OF SPEECH.
Figures of Speech may be described as that language which is prompted either by the imagination, or by the passions. They generally imply some departure from simplicity of expression; and exhibit ideas in a manner more vivid and impressive, than could be done by plain language. Figures have been commonly divided into two great classes; Figures of Words, and Figures of Thought.
Figures of Words are called Tropes, and consist in a word's being employed to signify something that is different from its original meaning; so that by altering the word, we destroy the figure.
When we say of a person, that he has a fine taste in wines, the word taste is used in its common, literal sense; but when we say, he has a fine taste for painting, poetry, or music, we use the word figuratively. "A good man enjoys comfort in the midst of adversity," is simple language; but when it is said, "To the upright there ariseth light in darkness," the same sentiment is expressed in a figurative style, light is put in the place of comfort, and darkness is used to suggest the idea of adversity.
The following are the most important figures:
1. A METAPHOR is founded on the resemblance which one object bears to another; or, it is a comparison in an abridged form.
When I say of some great minister, "That he upholds the state like a pillar which supports the weight of a whole edifice," I fairly make a comparison; but when I say of such a minister, "That he is the pillar of the state," the word pillar becomes a metaphor. In the latter construction, the comparison between the minister and a pillar, is made in the mind; but it is expressed without any of the words that denote comparison.