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sentence; in pronouncing those passages that are of little importance to the meaning, or those with which the auditor may be supposed to be preacquainted.

As we perceive the shadow to have" moved along the di ̋al, but did not perceive" it moving; and it appears that the grass has grown' though nobody ever saw" it grow': so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute" steps', are only perceiv"able by the dis'tance gone oliver.

TABLES OF INFLEXIONS.

The acute accents (") denote the rising inflexion; the grave accents (') the falling inflexion. (The accented words in these tables require a

marked and distinctive pronunciation.)
169. The rising followed by the falling.
Did he say ho"ly, or wholly?
Did he say i"dle, or i"dol?
Did he say jes"ter, or ges"ture?
Did he say axe", or acts"?
Did he say rel'ic, or relict?
Did he
say father, or farther?
Did he say pull", or pool"?

The falling followed by the rising.
He said ho"ly, not wholly.
He said idle, not i"dol.
He said jes"ter, not gesture.
He said axe", not acts".
He said relic, not relict.
He said father, not far"ther.
He said pull", not pool".

170. The inflexions followed by unaccented syllables, continuative of the preceding inflexion.

"

Did he say presence of his friends, or presents of his friends?

་་

He said prese
ence of his friends, not presents of his friends.

Did he say the flour" was destroyed, or the flower was destroyed? He said the flour" was destroyed, not the flow"er was destroyed. Was he rational, or irrational in his speech? He was rational, not ir'rational in his speech.

Did he say the principle had no existence, or the principal had no

existence?

He said the principle had no existence, not the principal had no

existence.

Did he say the mare" was bought, or the may"or was bought?

He said the mare" was bought, not the may"or was bought.

171. I.-The inflexion is marked on the accented syllable, and continued in any that may follow, in a feebler tone.

Continuative tone may therefore be considered as possessed of inflexion, but subdued and dependent on accentuation and determinate inflexions may be left for the illustration of sense in its various proportions.-See Monotone for the difference between it and Continuative Tone.

II.—Unimportant words preceding the inflexion are read in the Continuative tone.

III. - The principal word before the rising inflexion may have a modulative fall; before the falling inflexion, a modulative rise.

IV.—The inflexions should be practised on all the musical intervals. Those most frequently employed are, the second, in ordinary discourse; the third, in animated speech; the fifth, in emphatic delivery; and (sometimes) the octave, in passion. The minor third in either rise or fall is peculiarly expressive of melancholy.

EXERCISES ON DETERMINATE INFLEXIONS.

172. RULE I.-Whenever the sense of a sentence, or clause of a sentence, is incomplete, dependent or suspended, a rising inflexion must be used.* As no man is alike unfit for every employment, so, there is not any man unfit for all.

Not an eminert orator has lived",† who is not an example of the power of industry.

Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome.

The Lord reign"eth, let the earth rejoice.

173. A series of members forming imperfect sense should be read with a progressively increasing rising inflexion. The determinate inflexion of the penultimate member may be superseded by a modulative falling inflexion, to prepare for the agreeable termination of the series.

To advise the ignorant, relieve the nee'dy, and comfort the afflicted, are duties that fall in our way every day of our lives.

The verdant lawn", the shady grove", the variegated land"scape, the boundless o'cean, and the starry fir'mament, are contemplated with pleasure by every beholder.

174. In sentences composed of several clauses conveying imperfect sense, and independent of each other's meaning, although dependent in construction, the distinctness of each portion is frequently best preserved by a falling inflexion; provided that there is no climax, or regular rhetorical gradation, either in the thought or the expression.

It was before Deity, embodied in a human form,-walking among men", partaking of their infirmities, leaning on their bosoms, weeping over their graves", slumbering in the

* Any sentence may be made appellative by a predominant rising inflexion. All sentences, therefore, which convey appeal, should be read with the suspended inflexion.

+ The grammatical sense of the first part is modified by the second, and therefore requires the rising inflexion.

man ger, bleeding on the cross",-that the prejudices of the synagogue, and the doubts of the academy, and the pride of the portico, and the fasces of the lic"tor, and the swords of thirty legions, were humbled in the dust.

I conjure you,—.

Though you untie the winds", and let them fight
Against the church"es; though the yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up";

Though bladed corn be lodged", and trees blown down";
Though castles topple on their warders' heads";

Though palaces and pyramids do slope

Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of Nature's germins tumble all together,

Even till Destruction sick"en; answer me

To what I ask you.

175. When any word is introduced that causes an oblique or a referential meaning to be conveyed, such word must be pronounced with emphatic force, and with a circumflexed inflexion.-Sec. 167. If the oblique word is absolute in its signification, the falling circumflex should be employed; if negative or relative, the rising.

When people are determined to quarrel, a straw will furnish the occasion.

The labour of years is often insufficient for a complete reformation.

A man of a polite imagination can converse with a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue.

And who but wishes to invert the laws

Of order, sins against the Eternal Cause.

176. RULE II. Whenever the sense of a sentence, or clause of a sentence, is complete or independent, a Falling Inflexion should be used.

The gradations of art are always labo"rious: no man can attain excellence at once.

Behold the emblem of thy state,

In flowers-which bloom and die`.

It is of the utmost importance to season the passions of a child with devotion,* which seldom dies in a mind that has received an early tincture of it.

When the relative pronoun limits its antecedent, a Rising Inflexion is required to note the incompletion of the rhetorical sentence; but, in all sentences where it merely echoes it (as in the above), it leaves the sense unchanged, and conforms to the rule.

If we hope for what we are not likely to possess, we act and think in vain"; and make life a greater dream and shadow than it really is'.

177. A series of members forming perfect sense should be read with a Falling Inflexion, progressively increasing in height and loudness of tone. A modulative Rising Inflexion may be introduced on the penultimate

member.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind"; charity en"vieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up", doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own", is not easily provoked", thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniq"uity, but rejoiceth in the truth"; bear"eth all things, believeth all things, hoʻpeth all things, endur"eth all things.

Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul,
Is the best gift of heaven; a happiness
That, even above the smiles and frowns of fate,
Exalts great Nature's favourites; a wealth
That ne'er encum"bers, nor to baser hands
Can be transferred" : it is the only good

Man justly boasts' of, or can call his own'.

178. Frequently the members of a series admit of classification; and then the idea of the separate distinctness of the parts may be best preserved by a Falling Inflexion at the termination of each group, except the last, which, in imperfect sense, requires a Rising Inflexion.

For I am persuaded that neither death', nor life",—nor anʼgels, nor principal'ities, nor pow"ers,-nor things present, nor things to come", -nor height', nor depth', nor any other crea"ture,-shall be able to separate us from the love of God.

179. In Climax there is a regular rhetorical gradation of meaning, which must be pronounced with a correspondent increase or swell of the voice. The Inflexions are the same as in sentences of a similar grammatical construction.

Consult your whole nature: consider yourselves not only as sen"sitive, but as rational beings; not only as ra'tional, but social; not only as so"cial, but immortal.

He causes the ban"ner to be erected, the charge" to be soun'ded, the soldiers at a distance recalled". He runs from place to place", his whole frame is in action; his words', his looks', his motion, his gestures, exhort his men to remember their former val'our. He draws them up, and causes the signal to be giv'en. Two of his legions are entirely surroun"ded: he seizes a buckler from one of his private men"; puts himself at the head of his broken troops"; darts into the thick of the battle; rescues his legions, and overthrows" the en'emy!

180. In Anti-Climax there is a gradual decrease of importance, which should be signified by a progressive and expressive decrease of voice.

What must the king do now? Must he submit?
The king shall do it: Must he be deposed?
The king shall be contented: Must he lose
The name of king ?-Why, let it go.
I'll give my jewels, for a set of beads;
My gorgeous palace, for a hermitage;
My gay apparel, for an almsman's gown;
My figured goblets, for a dish of wood;
My sceptre, for a palmer's walking-staff;
My subjects, for a pair of carved saints;
And my large kingdom, for a little grave-
A little, little grave-an obscure grave!

181. Sometimes a sentence that makes perfect sense is followed by another which has no direct dependence on it; yet, it may be desirable to form a connexion to the mind, which has no existence in grammatical structure. This conjunctive effect is best expressed by a Rising Inflexion.

No object is more pleasing to the eye, than the sight of a man whom you have obli"ged; nor any music so agreeable to the ear, as the voice of one that owns you for his benefactor.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace, from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time";
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusky death!

182. RULE III.-Words in apposition take the same inflexions; but these may be disturbed either by a Modulative Inflexion on the penultimate nember, or by emphasis.

Solomon-the son of Da"vid, and the builder of the temple at Jeru'salem-was the wisest man that the world

ever saw.

Na"ture, the great precep'tress, has annexed to the passion of grief a more forcible character than that of any other, that of tears'.

183. RULE IV.-Clauses or sentences that are negative, appealing, doubtful, or contingent, require a Rising Inflexion.

You are not left alone to climb the arduous ascent to heaven: God is with you.

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