roposition does,
some qualifying or explanatory idea, its priority prevents misconception
of the principal one; and therefore saves the mental effort needed to
correct such misconception. This will be seen in the annexed example:
"The secrecy once maintained in respect to the parliamentary debates,
is still thought needful in diplomacy; and in virtue of this secret
diplomacy, England may any day be unawares betrayed by its ministers
into a war costing a, hundred thousand lives, and hundreds of millions
of treasure: yet the English pique themselves on being a self-governed
people." The two subordinate propositions, ending with the semicolon and
colon respectively, almost wholly determine the meaning of the principal
proposition with which it concludes; and the effect would be lost were
they placed last instead of first.

Sec. 23. The general principle of right arrangement in sentences, which we
have traced in its application to the leading divisions of them, equally
determines the proper order of their minor divisions. In every sentence
of any complexity the complement to the subject contains several
clauses, and that to the predicate several others; and these may be
arranged in greater or less conformity to the law of easy apprehension.
Of course with these, as with the larger members, the succession should
be from the less specific to the more specific--from the abstract to the
concrete.

Sec. 24. Now, however, we must notice a further condition to be fulfilled
in the proper construction of a sentence; but still a condition dictated
by the same general principle with the other: the condition, namely,
that the words and expressions most nearly related in thought shall
be brought the closest together. Evidently the single words, the minor
clauses, and the leading divisions of every proposition, severally
qualify each other. The longer the time that elapses between the mention
of any qualifying member and the member qualified, the longer must the
mind be exerted in carrying forward the qualifying member ready for use.
And the more numerous the qualifications to be simultaneously remembered
and rightly applied, the greater will be the mental power expended, and
the smaller the effect produced. Hence, other things equal, force
will be gained by so arranging the members of a sentence that these
suspensions shall at any moment be the fewest in number; and shall also
be of the shortest duration. The following is an instance o