GOD! GOD! the torrents, like a shout of nations, RULE II. Every new incident in a narration, every new object in a description, and every new subject in a didactic passage, requires distinctive' emphasis, or a force of utterince sufficient to render it striking or prominent. ་ Examples. "Their frail bark was, in a moment, overset, and a watery grave seemed to be the inevitable doom of the whole party.""The eye rested with delight on the long, low range of beautifully tinted clouds, which skirted the horizon."—"The power of faith was the subject of the preacher's discourse." RULE III. All correspondent, and all antithetic, or conrasted words, require a force sufficient to distinguish them from all the other words in a sentence, and to make them stand out prominently. When the comparison or contrast is of equal force, in its constituent parts, the emphasis is exactly balanced, in the words to which it is applied: when one of the objects compared or contrasted, is meant to preponderate over the other, the emphasis is stronger on the word by which the preponderance is expressed. Examples. "The gospel is peached equally to the rich and to the poor."-"Custom is the plague of wise men, and the idol of fools. -"The man is more KNAVE than fool." 1. "VIRTUE Exercises in Relative' Emphasis. is better than riches." 2. "Study || not so much to show knowledge, as to acquire it." 3. " They went out from us, but they were not of us." 4. "He that cannot bear a jest, should not make one." 5. "It is not so easy to hide one's faults, as to mend them." 6. "I that denied thee gold, will give my heart." 7. "You have done that you should be sorry for." 8. " Why beholdest thou the motel that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam Il that is in thine own eye?" 9. "As it is the part of justice | never to do violence; so it is the part of modesty || never to commit offence.' 10. "A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden | in adversity.” NOTE. Emphatic clauses, (those in which every word is emphatic,) are sometimes pronounced on a lower, sometimes on a higher key, but always with an intense force. Examples. 1. "Heaven and earth will witness,— IF ROME MUST FALL,-that we are innocent.' 2. "This state had then not one ship,-No, NOT ONE WALL!" 3. "But youth, it seems, is not my only crime: I have been accused of acting a THEATRICAL part." 4. "As to the present ministry, I cannot give them my confidence. Pardon me, gentlemen: Confidence is a plant of SLOW growth." General Remark. Young readers are commonly deficient in emphasis, and, hence, feeble and unimpressive, in their style of reading. Teachers should exert much vigilance on this point. At the same time, an overdone emphasis is one of the surest indications of defective judgment and bad taste. Faults which result from study are always the most offensive. [Application-See page 87.] § VIII.-CORRECT INFLECTIONS. 'Inflection' in elocution, signifies an upward or downward 'slide' of voice, from the average, or level of a sentence. There are two simple 'inflections', or 'slides',-the upward or 'rising', and the downward or 'falling'. The former is usually marked by the acute accent, [']—the latter, by the grave accent, [`]. The union of these two inflections, on the same syllable, is called the circumflex', or 'wave'.-When the circumflex commences with the falling inflection, and ends with the rising, it is called the rising circumflex',-[marked thus V,]— when it begins with the rising, and ends with the falling, it is called the falling circumflex',-[marked thus, ^]. When the tone of the voice has no upward or downward slide, but keeps comparatively level, it is called the 'monotone',-[marked thus -]. EXAMPLES: RISING INFLECTION,- Intensive', or high, upward slide, as in the tone of surprise, "Há! Is it possible!" -in the usual tone of a question that may be answered by Yes or No," Is it really so?"—' Moderate' rising inflection, as at the end of a clause which leaves the sense dependent on what follows it. "If we are sincerely desirous of advanc 6 ing in knowledge, we shall not be sparing of exertion."Slight' rising inflection, as when the voice is suddenly and unexpectedly interrupted: "When the visitor entered the room" **** Note. The last mentioned inflection, may, for distinction's sake, be marked as above, to indicate the absence of any positive upward or downward slide, and, at the same time, to distinguish it from the intentional and prolonged level of the 'monotone.' 'FALLING' INFLECTION,-intensive', or bold and low downward slide, as in the tone of anger and scorn: "Down, sooth. less insulter !"—The 'full', falling inflection, as in the cadence at a period: "All his efforts were in vàin.” 66 The moderate' falling inflection, as at the end of a clause which forms complete sense: Do not presume on wealth; it may be swept from you in a moment." "The horses were harnessed; the carriages were driven up to the door; the party were seated; and, in a few moments, the mansion was left to its former silence and solitude." The 'suspensive', or slight falling inflection, as in the members of a 'series', or sequence of words and clauses, in the same syntactical connexion: “ The force, the size, the weight, of the ship, bore the schooner down below the waves.' "The irresistible force, the vast size, the prodigious weight of the ship, rendered the destruction of the schooner inevitable." The 'suspensive' downward slide, is marked as above, to distinguish it from the deeper inflection at the end of a clause, or of a sentence. TABLE OF CONTRASTED INFLECTIONS The Rising followed by the Falling. 1. "Will you gó, or stày?" 2. "Will you ríde, or walk?" 3. "Did he travel for health, or for pleasure?" 4. "Does he pronounce corréctly, or incorrectly?" The Falling followed by the Rising. 1. "I would rather gò than stáy." EXAMPLES OF CIRCUMFLEX. Tone of Mockery." "I've caught you, then, at lâst!" Irony. "Courageous chief!-the first in flight from pain !" Punning. "And though heavy to wêigh, as a score of fat sheep, He was not, by any means, heavy to sleep." EXAMPLE OF MONOTONE. Awe and Horror. "I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Rules on the Rising Inflection. RULE I. The intensive' or high rising inflection, expresses surprise and wonder.—Example. "Há! laugh'st thou, Lochiel, my vision to scórn ?" RULE II. The 'moderate' rising inflection takes place, where the sense is incomplete, and depends on something which follows.-Ex. "As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the díal-plate, so we cannot always trace our progress in knowledge." Note. Words and phrases of address, as they are merely introductory expressions, take the 'moderate rising inflection.' -Example 1. “ Fríends, I come not here to talk."-2. "Sír, I deny that the assertion is correct."-3. "Sóldiers, you fight for home and liberty!" if Exception. In emphatic and in lengthened phrases of address, the falling inflection takes place.-Example 1. “On! ye brave, who rush to glory or the grave!"-2. "Sòldiers! my standard falls, look for the plume upon your king's helmet !"*-3. " My friends, my followers, and my children! the field we have entered, is one from which there is no retreat.” -4. "Gentlemen and knights,-commoners and soldiers, Edward the Fourth upon his throne, will not profit by a victory more than you." RULE III. The 'suspensive', or slight rising inflection, occurs, when expression is suddenly broken off, as in the fol lowing passage in dialogue. *Shouting tone. Ex. Poet. "The poisoning dåme-Friend. You meanP. I don't. F. You do." Note. This inflection, prolonged, is used in the appropriate tone of reading verse, or of poetic prose, when not emphatic, instead of a distinct rising or falling inflection, which would have the ordinary effect of prosaic utterance, or would divest the expression of all its beauty. Ex. 1. "Here waters, woods, and winds in concert join." 2. “And flocks, woods, streams around, repose and peace impart." 3. "The wild brook babbling down the mountain's side; The hum of bees, the linnet's lay of love,* 4. "White houses peep through the trees; cattle stand couling in the pool; the casement of the farm-house is covered with jessamine and honeysuckle; the stately green house exhales the perfume of summer climates." RULE IV. A question which may be answered by Yes or No, usually ends with the rising inflection.-Example. “Do you see yon clóud ?” Exception. Emphasis, as in the tone of impatience, of extreme earnestness, or of remonstrance, may, in such cases as the above, take the falling inflection.-Example. "Can you be so infatuated as to pursue a course which you know will end in your rùin!"-" Will you blindly rush on destruction?""Would you say so, if the case were your òwn?” RULE V. The penultimate, or last inflection but one, is, in most sentences, a rising slide, by which the voice prepares for an easy and natural descent at the cadence.-Example. "The rocks crumble, the trees fàll, the leaves fáde, and the grass withers." Exception. Emphasis may sometimes make the penultimate inflection fall, instead of rising; as the abruptness of that slide gives a more forcible effect.-Example. They have rushed through like a hurricane; like an army of lo * The penultimate inflection of a sentence, or a stanza, usı ally rises, so as to prepare for an easy cadence. See RULE V. |