But it is time to return to our subject.--Our words, then, should be so disposed that every following one may be aptly connected with the preceding, so as to make an agreeable sound;--or that the mere form and _concinnity_ of our language may give our sentences their proper measure and dimensions;--or, lastly, that our periods may have a numerous and measured cadence. The first thing, then, to be attended to, is the _structure_ of our language, or the agreeable connection of one word with another; which, though it certainly requires care, ought not to be practised with a laborious nicety. For this would be an endless and puerile attempt, and is justly ridiculed by _Lucilius_, when he introduces _Scaevola_ thus reflecting upon _Albucius_: "As in the checquer'd pavement ev'ry square Is nicely fitted by the mason's care: So all thy words are plac'd with curious art, And ev'ry syllable performs its part." But though we are not to be minutely exact in the _structure_ of our language, a moderate share of practice will habituate us to every thing of this nature which is necessary. For as the eye in _reading_, so the mind in _speaking_, will readily discern what ought to follow,--that, in connecting our words, there may neither be a chasm, nor a disagreeable harshness. The most lively and interesting sentiments, if they are harshly expressed, will offend the ear, that delicate and fastidious judge of rhetorical harmony. This circumstance, therefore, is so carefully attended to in the Roman language, that there is scarcely a rustic among us who is not averse to a collision of vowels,--a defect which, in the opinion of some, was too scrupulously avoided by _Theopompus_, though his master _Isocrates_ was equally cautious. But _Thucydides_ was not so exact; nor was Plato, (though a much better writer)--not only in his _Dialogues_, in which it was necessary to maintain an easy negligence, to resemble the style of conversation, but in the famous _Panegyric_, in which (according to the custom of the Athenians) he celebrated the praises of those who fell in battle, and which was so greatly esteemed, that it is publicly repeated every year. In that Oration a collision of vowels occurs very frequently; though _Demosthenes_ generally avoids it as a fault. But let the Greeks determine for themselves: we Romans are not allowed to interrupt the connection of our words. Even the rude and unpolished Orations of _Cato_ are a proof of this; as are likewise all our poets, except in particular instances, in which they were obliged to admit a few breaks, to preserve their metre. Thus we find in _Naevius_, "_Vos_ QUI ACCOLITIS _histrum_ FLUVIUM ATQUE ALGIDUM." And in another place, "_Quam nunquam vobis_ GRAII ATQUE _Barbari_." But _Ennius_ admits it only once, when he says, "_Scipio invicte_;" and likewise I myself in "_Hoc motu radiantis_ ETESIAE IN _Vada Ponti_."