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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 ends with the falling upon the same syllable, and seems to twist the voice downwards. 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 Shakespeare's As You Like It.

I knew when seven justices could not make 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 succeeding particular, and a degree of animation corresponding with the nature of the subject.

EXAMPLES.

1. The Bible is the brightest mirror of the Deity: there we discern not only his being, but his character; not only his character, but his will; not only what he is in himself, but what he is to us, and what we may expect at his hands.

2. Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate; and whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

3. 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 many times when we do not think of it.

4. "Tis list'ning 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 heav'n,
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 over head 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, deep'ning, mingling; peal on peal
Crush'd horrible, convulsing heav'n and earth.

ACCENT.

RULE.-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 un`done.*

2. There is a material difference between giving and for giving.

3. Thought and language act' and re'act upon each other. 4. He who is good before invisible witnesses, is eminently so before the visible.

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

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

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

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, either preceding or succeeding.

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 reading, 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 immortality.

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

13. In the suitableness or un`suitableness, in the proportion or dis'proportion which the affection seems to bear to the cause or object which excites it, consists 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 Cataline was expert in all the arts of simulation 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 rest.

EXAMPLE.

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward',

A Change of Accent takes place on the following words according as they are Nouns, Verbs, or Adjectives.

[blocks in formation]

Sometimes the same parts of speech have a different accent to make a difference of signification.

buf'fet (a blow) buffet (a cupboard) || des'ert (a wilder• desert' (merit) to con'jure (to to conjure (to in- ness) sinis'ter (the left

practise magic) treat)

sin'ister (insidious) side)

EMPHASIS

Is that stress we lay on words which are in contradistinction to other words expressed or understood.-And hence will follow this gen eral 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 eonstitution.

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 agree. able 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 let 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 fall..

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