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of the world,) all these are concentrated to one point: a point'! in which the wise and the weak, the learned and the ignorant, the fair and the frightful, the sprightly and the dull, the rich and the poor, the patrician and plebeian, meet in one common uniform equality: an equality'! as religiously respected in the solemnities in which all distinctions are levelled at a blow, and of which the very spirit is therefore democratical, as it is combated in all other instances. HANNAH MORE on Female Education.

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THE MONOTONE,

In certain solemn and sublime passages, has a wonderful force and dignity; and by the uncommonness of its use, it even adds greatly to that variety with which the ear is so much delighted.*

EXAMPLES.

1. High on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde,
Or where the gōrgeous east, with richest hand,
Showers, on her kīngs barbāric, pearl' and gold',
Satan exalted sat.

2. Hence! loathed Melancholy,

Of Cerberus and blackest midnight born,

In Stygian cave forlorn,

'Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks, and sights unholy, Find out some uncouth cell,

Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings. And the night raven sings;

There, under ebon shades and low-brow'd rōcks,

As ragged as thy locks,

In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.

CIRCUMFLEXES.

The rising circumflex begins with the falling inflection, and ends with the rising upon the same syllable, and seems as it were to twist

This monotone may be defined to be a continuation or sameness of sound upon certain syllables of a word, exactly like that produced by repeatedly striking a bell;-such a stroke may be louder or softer, but continues exactly in the same pitch. To express this tone upor paper, a horizontal line may be adopted; such a one as is generally used to express a long syllable in verse: thus (−).

the voice upward. This turn of the voice is marked in this man ner (v)

EXAMPLE.

But it is foolish in us to compare Drusus Africanus and ourselves with Clodius; all our other calamities were tolerable; but no one can patiently bear the death of Clodius

The falling circumflex begins with the rising inflection, and end. with the falling upon the same syllable, and seems to twist the voice downward. This turn of the voice may be marked by the common circumflex: thus (^).

EXAMPLE.

Queen. Hamlet, you have your father much offended. Hamlet. Madam, yoû have my father much offended. Both these circumflex inflections may be exemplified in the word so, in a speech of the Clown in Shakspeare's As You Like It.

I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel, but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If; as if you said so, then I said sô· O ho! did you so? So they shook hands and were sworn brothers.

CLIMAX,

OR A GRADUAL INCREASE OF SIGNIFICATION,

Requires an increasing swell of the voice on every suc ceeding particular, and a degree of animation corres ponding with the nature of the subject.

EXAMPLES.

1. After we have practised good actions a while, they become easy, and when they are easy, we begin to take pleasure in them; and when they please us, we do them frequently; and, by frequency of acts, a thing grows into a habit; and a confirmed habit is a second kind of nature; and, so far as any thing is natural, so far it is necessary, and we can hardly do otherwise; nay, we do it may times when we do not think of it.

2. 'Tis listening fear and dumb amazement all,
When to the startled eye the sudden glance
Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud;
And following slower in explosion vast,"

The thunder raises his tremendous voice.
At first heard solemn o'er the verge of heaven,
The tempest growls; but, as it nearer comes,
And rolls its awful burden on the wind,
The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more
The noise astounds; till overhead a sheet
Of livid flame discloses wide; then shuts
And opens wider; shuts and opens still,
Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze:
Follows, the loosen'd aggravated roar,
Enlarging, deepening, mingling; peal on peal
Crush'd horrible, convulsing heaven and earth.

ACCENT.

1 ILE.-Emphasis requires a transposition of accent when two words which have a sameness in part of their formation, are opposed to each other in sense.

EXAMPLES.

1. What is done', cannot be undone.*

2. There is a material difference between giv'ing and forgiving.

3. Thought and language act' and re'act upon each otl.er.

4. He who is good before in'visible witnesses, is eminently so before the visible.

5 What fellowship hath right'eousness with un'righteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

6. The riches of the prince must increase or de'crease in proportion to the number and riches of his subjects.

*The signs (' and '), besides denoting the inflections, mark also the accented syllables.

Whatever inflection be adopted, the accented syllable is always louder than the rest; but if the accent be pronounced with the rising inflection, the accented syllable is higher than the preceding, and lower than the succeeding syllable; and if the accent have the falling inflection, the accented syllable is pronounced higher than any other syllable, rither pi ceding or succeeding.

7. Religion raises men above themselves; ir'religion sinks them beneath the brutes.

8. I shall always make reason, truth, and nature, the measures of praise' and dis`praise.

9. Whatever convenience may be thought to be in falsehood and dissimulation, it is soon over; but the in'convenience of it is perpetual.

10. The sense of an author being the first object of read ing, it will be necessary to inquire into those divisions and sub'divisions of a sentence, which are employed to fix and ascertain its meaning.

11. This corruptible must put on in'corruption, and this mor'tal must put on im'mortality.

12. For a full collection of topics and epithets to be used in the praise' and dis`praise of ministerial and un'ministerial persons, I refer to our rhetorical cabinet.

13. In the suit'ableness or un'suitableness, in the proportion or dis' proportion which the affection seems to bear to the cause or object which excites it, consist the propriety or im'propriety, the decency or ungracefulness of the consequent action.

14. He that compares what he has done with what he has left un'done, will feel the effect which must always follow the comparison of imagination with reality.

Note 1.-This transposition of the accent extends itself to all words which have a sameness of termination, though they may not be directly opposite in sense.

EXAMPLES.

1. In this species of composition, plau'sibility is much more essential than prob`ability.

2. Lucius Catiline was expert in all the arts of sim'ulation and dis`simulation; covetous of what belonged to others, lavish of his own.

Note 2.-When the accent is on the last syllable of a word which has no emphasis, it must be pronounced louder and a degree lower than the

zest.

EXAMPLE.

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward

EMPHASIS

Is that stress we lay on words which are in contradistinction to other words expressed or understood. And hence will follow this general rule: Wherever there is contradistinction in the sense of the words there ought to be emphasis in the pronunciation of them."

All words are pronounced either with emphatic force, accented force, or unaccented force; this last kind of force may be called by the name of feebleness. When the words are in contradistinction to other words, or to some sense implied, they may be called emphatic; where they do not denote contradistinction, and yet are more important than the particles, they may be called accented, and the particles and lesser words may be called unaccented or feeble.

EXAMPLES.

1. Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 2. Exercise and temperance strengthen even an INDIFFERENT Constitution.

The word printed in Roman capitals is pronounced with emphatic force; those in small Italics are pronounced with accented force; the rest with unaccented force.

Emphasis always implies antithesis; when this antithesis is agreeable to the sense of the author, the emphasis is proper; but where there is no antithesis in the thought, there ought to be none on the words; because, whenever an emphasis is placed upon an improper word, it will suggest an antithesis, which either does not exist, or is not agreeable to the sense and intention of the writer.

The best method to find the emphasis in these sentences, is to take the word we suppose to be emphatical, and try if it will admit of these words being supplied which an emphasis on it would suggest; if, when these words are supplied, we find them not only agreeable to the meaning of the writer, but an improvement of his meaning, we may pronounce the word emphatical; but if these words we supply are not agreeable to the meaning of the words expressed, or else give them an affected and fanciful meaning, we ought by no means to lay the emphasis upon them.

EXAMPLE.

3. A man of a polite imagination is led into a great many pleasures that the vulgar are not capable of receiving; he can converse with a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue.

In this sentence an emphasis on the word picture is not only an advantage to the thought, but is in some measure necessary to it: for it hints to the mind, that a polite imagination does not only find pleasure in conversing with those objects which give pleasure to all, but with those which give pleasure to such only as can converse with them.

All emphasis has an antithesis either expressed or understood: if the emphasis excludes the antithesis, the emphatic word has the falling

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