that "to give the utmost force to a period, it ought, if possible,
to be closed with that word which makes the greatest figure." That
parentheses should be avoided and that Saxon words should be used
in preference to those of Latin origin, are established precepts.
But, however influential the truths thus dogmatically embodied,
they would be much more influential if reduced to something like
scientific ordination. In this, as in other cases, conviction will
be greatly strengthened when we understand the why. And we may be
sure that a comprehension of the general principle from which the
rules of composition result, will not only bring them home to us
with greater force, but will discover to us other rules of like
origin,

3. On seeking for some clue to the law underlying these current
maxims, we may see shadowed forth in many of them, the importance
of economizing the reader's or hearer's attention, To so present
ideas that they may be apprehended with the least possible mental
effort, is the desideratum towards which most of the rules above
quoted point. When we condemn writing that is wordy, or confused,
or intricate--when we praise this style as easy, and blame that as
fatiguing, we consciously or unconsciously assume this desideratum
as our standard of judgment. Regarding language as an apparatus
of symbols for the conveyance of thought, we may say that, as in a
mechanical apparatus, the more simple and the better arranged its
parts, the greater will be the effect produced. In either case,
whatever force is absorbed by the machine is deducted from the
result. A reader or listener has at each moment but a limited amount
of mental power available. To recognize and interpret the symbols
presented to him, requires part of this power; to arrange and combine
the images suggested requires a further part; and only that part