parts of vessels so circumstanced: whereas the word _ships_ would
very likely remind us of vessels in dock. Again, to say, "_All hands_
to the pumps," is better than to say, "All _men_ to the pumps," as
it suggests the men in the special attitude intended, and so saves
effort. Bringing "gray _hairs_ with sorrow to the grave," is
another expression, the effect of which has the same cause.

35. The occasional increase of force produced by Metonymy may
be similarly accounted for. "The low morality of _the bar,_" _is_
a phrase both more brief and significant than the literal one it
stands for. A belief in the ultimate supremacy of intelligence over
brute force, is conveyed in a more concrete, and therefore more
realizable form, if we substitute _the pen_ and _the sword_ for the
two abstract terms. To say, "Beware of drinking!" is less effective
than to say, "Beware of _the bottle!_" and is so, clearly because
it calls up a less specific image.

36. The Simile is in many cases used chiefly with a view to
ornament, but whenever it increases the _force_ of a passage, it
does so by being an economy. Here in an instance: "The illusion
that great men and great events came oftener in early times than
now, is partly due to historical perspective. As in a range of
equidistant columns, the furthest off look the closest; so, the
conspicuous objects of the past seem more thickly clustered the
more remote they are."

37. To construct by a process of literal explanation, the thought
thus conveyed would take many sentences, and the first elements
of the picture would become faint while the imagination was busy
in adding the others. But by the help of a comparison all effort