1. At the same time the discontent of the artisans made the lower class fear a revolution, and that class turned to Napoleon, because they felt him to be the sole hope for order and stable government.
  2. The members of the council were appointed by the king, and held office only at his pleasure.
  3. A society and institutions that had been growing up for years was overturned and swept away by the French Revolution.
  4. Galileo was summoned to Rome, imprisoned, and forced publicly to adjure his teaching that the earth moved around the sun.
  5. He draws and sketches with tolerable skill, but paints abominably.
  6. Loose sentences may be clear; periodic sentences may not be clear.
  7. He rode up the mountains as far as he could before dismounting and continuing the ascent on foot.
  8. They visited the town where their father had lived, and while there, procured the key to the house in which he had been born.
  9. His death caused great grief and extreme financial distress in the family.
  10. There stands the Tower of London in all its grimness and centuries of age, holding within its walls the scene of many a stirring tragedy.
  11. Few men dislike him, but many would gladly see him overthrown merely as an example.
  12. Germany is moving in the same direction, although the reformers find it a hard task to influence public opinion, and a far harder one to change the various laws prevalent in the many German states.
  13. Is this thing we call life, with all its troubles, pains, and woes, after all, worth living?
  14. He read much, but advanced little intellectually, for all the facts and philosophy of his reading found no permanent lodgment in his mind.
  15. His coming home was very unexpected, because he had started on a trip that usually took ten days, and that he had said would take longer this time.
  16. It was during the time of the National Convention that Napoleon first became very prominent by defending the convention against a mob.

Exercise 66

Combine each of the following groups of sentences into one well constructed long sentence:

  1. In highly developed commercial communities banks cannot afford space in their vaults for valuables. Especially, they cannot afford it merely to accommodate their patrons. Hence, in such communities the furnishing of places for safe deposit has become a separate business.
  2. History should be a part of the course in all schools. It develops the memory. It furnishes the explanation of many social phenomena. It broadens the intellectual view. It gives culture as no other study can give it.
  3. He never desired a higher education. This was possible because of the money bequeathed to him by his father. It had left him no need for a great earning capacity. More likely, it was because of the inborn dulness and lethargy of his mind.
  4. New York is the pivotal state in all national elections. Its great number of electors makes it always possible for it to throw the election either way. Therefore, until one knows to which party New York will fall, he cannot tell how the election will result.
  5. Our forefathers were devout. They were easily shocked in many ways. However, they permitted many liberties in the application of sermons to particular individuals. Such things would nowadays be strongly disapproved or resented.
  6. Man's life is divided into two parts by a constantly moving point. This point is called the present. It divides the past from the future.
  7. The Spartans were tormented by ten thousand absurd restraints. They were unable to please themselves in the choice of their wives. They were unable to please themselves in their choice of food or clothing. They were compelled to assume a peculiar manner, and to talk in a peculiar style. Yet they gloried in their liberty.
  8. The mere approach to the temperance question is through a forest of statistics. This forest is formidable and complicated. It causes one, in time, to doubt the truth of numbers.
  9. They passed the old castle. It was almost unrecognizable. This was by reason of the scaffolding which surrounded it. The castle was now being transformed into a national museum.
  10. He stood looking with curiosity at John Peters. Peters limped slightly. Otherwise, he looked well and happy. He was moving about shaking hands right and left.
  11. They rushed at him with a yell. He had by this time reached the base of the fountain. With a sudden wonderful leap he sprang onto the railing. There he was out of reach. He balanced himself by touching the brackets which held the lamps.
  12. The unintelligent worker reminds one of the squirrel on the wheel. The squirrel rushes round and round and round all day long. At the end of the day the squirrel is still a squirrel. It is still rushing round and round. It is getting nowhere.
  13. The man looked at the ladder. He believed he could reach it. There was a sudden flash of hope in his face. His face was already scorched by the fire.
  14. Smith was financially embarrassed. He was determined to get to his home. He crawled on top of the trucks of an express car. The car was about to leave the terminal. He courted almost certain death.
  15. The commander again looks toward the hills. He looks for a long time. Something seems to excite his apprehension. He converses earnestly with the staff officer. Then the two look more than once toward a poplar tree. The tree stands at the top of the hill. Only its top half shows. The hill is on the east.
  16. The most important political question has been the tariff question. This has been most important for ten years. It is important because it is believed to have caused high prices and trusts.
  17. The pleasantest month is June. It has flowers. It has mild weather. It has a slight haze in the atmosphere. These things seem to flood one's soul with peace and contentment.

91. The essential qualities that a sentence should possess, aside from correctness, are those of Unity, Coherence, Emphasis, and Euphony.

Unity. Unity demands that the sentence deal with but one general thought, and that it deal with it in such a consistent and connected manner that the thought is clearly and effectively presented. Unity demands, also, that closely related thoughts should not be improperly scattered among several sentences.

1. Statements having no necessary relation to one another should not be embodied in one sentence.

Bad: The house sat well back from the road, and its owner was a married man.
Good: The house sat well back from the road. Its owner was a married man.

a. Avoid the "comma blunder"; that is, do not use a comma to divide into clauses what should be separate sentences, or should be connected by a conjunction.

Bad: Jones lives in the country, he has a fine library.
Good: Jones lives in the country. He has a fine library.
Good: Jones lives in the country and has a fine library.