Sometimes,  though  rarely,  the  antithesis  affects  three  sev-
eral clauses.  In  this  case  the  clauses  ought  to  be  very  short,
that  the  artifice  may  not  be  too  apparent.  Sometimes,  too,
the  antithesis  is  not  in  the  different  members  of  the  same
sentence,  but  in  different  sentences.  Both  the  last  observa-
tions are  exemplified  in  the  following  quotation  from  the
same  performance  :  "  He  can  bribe,  ||  but  he  cannot  seduce.
He  can  buy,  ||  but  he  cannot  gain.  He  can  lie,  ||  but  he  can
not  deceive."  There  is  likewise  in  each  sentence  a  little  of
antithesis  between  the  very  short  clauses  themselves.
Neither  is  this  figure  entirely  confined  to  periods.     Sen-
*  On  the  Spirit  of  Patnotisia


394  THE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    RHETORIC.
tences  of  looser  composition  admit  it;  but  the  difference
here  is  the  less  observable,  that  an  antithesis  well  conducted
produces  tlie  effect  of  a  period,  by  preventing  the  languor
whicli  invariably  attends  a  loose  senience,  il"  it  happen  to  be
■ong.  The  following  is  an  instance  of  antithesis  in  such  a
sentence  :  "  No  man  is  able  to  make  a  juster  application  of
what  hath  been  here  adi:a?iced,  to  the  most  important  inter-
ests of  your  coiintri/,  to  the  true  interest  of  yoiu-  royal  master,
and  to  your  private  interest  too ;  if  that  will  add,  as  I  presume
it  will,  some  weight  to  the  scale;  and  if  that  requires,  as  1
presume  it  does,  a  regard  to  futurity  as  well  as  to  the  present
moment."*  That  this  is  a  loose  sentence,  a  little  attention
will  satisfy  every  reader.  I  have  marked  the  words  in  ital-
ics at  which,  without  violating  the  rules  of  grammar,  it  might
have  terminated.  I  acknowledge,  however,  that  the  marks
of  art  are  rather  too  visible  in  the  composition.
