I  add,  as  another  cause  of  a  languid  verbosity,  the  loading
of  the  style  with  epithets,  when  almost  every  verb  liath  its
attendant  adverb,  which  may  be  called  its  epithet,  and  every
substantive  its  attendant  adjective,  and  when  both  adjectives
and  adverbs  are  often  raised  to  the  superlative  degree.  Epi-
thets used  sparingly  and  with  judgment  liave  a  great  effect
in  enlivening  the  expression,  but  nothing  has  more  of  an  op-
posite tendency  than  a  profusion  of  tliem.  That  such  pro-
fusion has  this  tendency  may  be  deduced  partly  from  a  prin-
ciple already  mentioned,  partly  from  a  principle  whicii  1  am
going  to  observe.  That  already  mentioned  is,  that  they
lengthen  the  sentence  without  adding  proportionable  strength.
The  other  principle  is,  that  the  crowding  of  epithets  into  a
discourse  betrays  a  violent  effort  to  say  something  extraor-
dinary ;  and  nothing  is  a  clearer  evidence  of  weakness  than
such  an  effort  when  the  effect  is  not  correspondent.  I  would
not,  however,  be  understood  to  signify,  that  adjectives  and
adverbs  are  always  to  be  regarded  as  mere  epithets.  What-
ever is  necessary  for  ascertaining  the  import  of  either  noun
or  verb,  whether  by  adding  to  the  sense  or  by  confining  it,  is
something  more  than  an  epithet,  in  the  common  acceptation
of  that  term.  Thus,  when  I  say  "  the  glorious  sun,"  the  word
glorious  is  an  epithet,  because  it  expresses  a  quality  which,
being  conceived  always  to  belong  to  the  object,  is,  like  all  its
other  qualities,  comprehended  in  the  name ;  but  when  I  say
"  the  meridian  sun,"  the  word  meridian  is  not  barely  an  epi-
thet, because  it  makes  a  real  addition  to  the  signification,
denoting  the  sun  in  that  situation  wherein  he  appears  at  noon.
