halves to which they respectively belong. He is expected to go on
reading for a little without exercising any thought, nay, exerting
only his memory, in the hope that, when he comes to the end of the
sentence, he may see its meaning and so receive something to think
about; and he is thus given a great deal to learn by heart before
obtaining anything to understand. This is manifestly wrong and an
abuse of the reader's patience.

[Footnote 1: _Translator's Note._--This sentence in the original is
obviously meant to illustrate the fault of which it speaks. It does
so by the use of a construction very common in German, but happily
unknown in English; where, however, the fault itself exists none the
less, though in different form.]

The ordinary writer has an unmistakable preference for this
style, because it causes the reader to spend time and trouble in
understanding that which he would have understood in a moment without
it; and this makes it look as though the writer had more depth and
intelligence than the reader. This is, indeed, one of those artifices
referred to above, by means of which mediocre authors unconsciously,
and as it were by instinct, strive to conceal their poverty of thought
and give an appearance of the opposite. Their ingenuity in this
respect is really astounding.

It is manifestly against all sound reason to put one thought obliquely
on top of another, as though both together formed a wooden cross. But
this is what is done where a writer interrupts what he has begun
to say, for the purpose of inserting some quite alien matter; thus
depositing with the reader a meaningless half-sentence, and bidding
him keep it until the completion comes. It is much as though a man