" 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.
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.
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.
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