those who weep'; to please every one his neighbour for his good'; to be kind and tender-hearted'; to be pitiful and courteous'; to support the weak' ; and to be patient towards all`inen. 9 MEMBERS.-They through faith subdued kingdoms', wrought righteousness', obtained promises', stopped the months of lions', quenched the violence of fire', escaped the edge of the sword', out of weakness were made strong', waxed valiant in fight', turned to flight the armies of the aliens'. 10 MEMBERS.-Leviculus was so well satisfied with his own accomplishments, that he determined to commence fortunehunter; and when he was set at liberty, instead of beginning, as was expected, to walk the Exchange with a face of importance, or of associating himself with those who were most eminent for their knowledge of the Stocks, he at once threw off the solemnity of the counting'-house, equipped himself with a modish wig and a splendid coat', listened to wits in the coffee`houses, passed his evenings behind the scenes in the theatres', learned the names of beauties of quality', hummed the last stanzas of fashionable songs', talked with familiarity of high play', boasted of his achievements upon drawers and coachmen', told with negligence and jocularity of bilking a tailor', and now and then let fly a shrewd jest at a sober citizen'. EXAMPLES CONTAINING BOTH THE COMMENCING AND CONCLUDING SERIESES. 1. He who is self-existent', omnipresent', omniscient', and omnipotent', is likewise infinitely holy', and just', and good'. 2. He who resigns the world, has no temptation to envy', hatred', malice', or anger', but is in constant possession of a serene mind; he who follows the pleasures of it, which are in their very nature disappointing, is in constant search of care', solicitude', remorse', and confusion'. 3. To deserve', to acquire', and to enjoy' the respect and admiration of mankind, are the great objects of ambition' and emulation'. fill EXAMPLES. 1. Vicissitudes of good' and evil', of trials' and consolations', the life of man. up 2. While the earth remaineth, seed'-time and harvest,' cold' and heat', summer and winter', and day' and night', shall not cease. 3. The wise' and the foolish', the virtuous' and the vile', the learned' and the ignorant', the temperate' and the profligate', must often be blended together. 4. In all stations and conditions, the important relations take place, of masters' and servants', husbands and wives', parents' and children, brothers' and friends', citizens' and subjects'. SERIES OF SERIESES. RULE I.—When several members of a sentence, consisting of distinct portions of similar or opposite words in a series, follow in succession, they must be pronounced singly, according to the number of members in each portion, and together, according to the number of portions in the whole sentence, that the whole may form one related compound series. EXAMPLES. 1. The soul consists of many faculties, as the understanding' and the will', with all the senses both inward' and outward'; or, to speak more philosophically, the soul can exert herself in many different of action: she can understand', will', imagine', see', and hear'; love' and discourse'; and apply herself to many other like exercises of different kinds and natures'. ways 2. For I am persuaded, that neither death', nor life'; nor angels', nor principalities', nor powers'; nor things present', nor things to come'; nor height' nor depth`; nor any other creature', shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord'. RULE II.-Where the sense of the sentence does not require force, precision, or distinction, (which is but seldom the case), where the sentence commences with a conditional or suppositive conjunction, or where the language is plaintive and poetical, the falling inflection seems less suitable than the rising. EXAMPLES. 1. When the gay and smiling aspect of things has begun to leave the passages to a man's heart thus thoughtlessly unguard 1 ed'; when kind and caressing looks of every object without, that can flatter his senses, has conspired with the enemy within, to betray him and put him off his defence'; when Music likewise hath lent her aid, and tried her power upon the passions'; when the voice of singing men, and the voice of singing women, with the sound of the viol and the lute, have broken in upon his soul, and in some tender notes have touched the secret springs of rapture',-that moment let us dissect and look into his heart'; see how vain', how weak', how empty` a thing it is! 2. So when the faithful pencil has designed Some bright idea of the master's mind', Where a new world leaps out at his command, And ready nature waits upon his hand'; When the ripe colours soften and unite, And sweetly melt into just shade and light'; When mellowing years their full perfection give'; And each bold figure just begins to live'; The treacherous colours the fair art betray, And all' the bright' creation' fades' away'. EXERCISES on the SERIES. 1. Ambition creates hatred, shyness, discords, seditions, and wars. 2. To be moderate in our views, and to proceed temperately in the pursuit of them, is the best way to ensure success. 3. Joy, grief, love, admiration, devotion, are all of them passions which are naturally musical. 4. Substantives, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, must necessarily be found in all languages. 5. The several kinds of poetical composition which we find in Scripture, are chiefly the didactic, the elegiac, pastoral, and lyric. 6. Discomposed thoughts, agitated passions, and a ruffled temper, poison every pleasure of life. 7. The great business of life is to be employed in doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our Creator. 8. Tranquillity, order, and magnanimity, dwell with the pious and resigned man. 9. A wise man will desire no more than what he may get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and live upon contentedly. 10. The minor longs to be of age; then to be a man of business; then to make up an estate; then to arrive at honours; then to retire. 11. Though, at times, the ascent to the temple of virtue appears steep and craggy, be not discouraged. Persevere until thou gain the summit: there, all is order, beauty, and pleasure. 12. What is called profane history, exhibits our nature on its worst side: it is the history of perverse passions, of mean self-love, of revenge, hatred, extravagance, and folly. 13. An ostentatious, a feeble, a harsh, or an obscure style, are always faults; and perspicuity, strength, neatness, and simplicity, are beauties to be always aimed at. 14. Valour, truth, justice, fidelity, friendship, piety, magnanimity, are the objects which, in the course of epic compositions, are presented to our mind under the most splendid and honourable colours. 15. To be humble and modest in opinion, to be vigilant and attentive in conduct, to distrust fair appearances, and to restrain rash desires, are instructions which the darkness of our present state should strongly inculcate. 16. No blessing of life is any way comparable to the enjoyment of a discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unloads the mind, clears and improves the understanding, engenders thoughts and knowledge, animates virtue and good resolutions, sooths and allays the passions, and finds employment for most of the vacant hours of life. 17. The time at which the Saviour was to appear-the circumstances with which his nativity was to be attended-the nature of the kingdom he was to establish the power with which he was to be invested, and the success with which his labours were to be crowned-had been all prefigured and described, in a manner calculated to excite the liveliest expectation in the minds of the chosen people. 18. Were we united to beings of a more exalted order,-beings whose nature raised them superior to misfortune, placed them beyond the reach of disease and death, who were not the dupes of passion and prejudice, all of whose views were enlarged, whose goodness was perfected, and whose spirit breathed nothing but love and friendship,-then would the evils of which we now complain cease to be felt. 19. All the oriental lustre of the richest gems; all the enchanting beauties of exterior shape; the exquisite of all forms; the loveliness of colour; the harmony of sound; the heat and brightness of the enlivening sun; the heroic virtue of the bravest minds; with the purity and quickness of the highest intellect; are all emanations from the supreme Deity. 20. I conjure you by that which you profess (Howe'er you come to know it) answer me; 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 Macbeth to the Witches. HARMONIC INFLECTION. Besides that variety which necessarily arises from annexing certain inflections to sentences of a particular import, or structure, there is still another source of variety, in those parts of a sentence where the sense is C not at all concerned, and where the variety is merely to please the ear. There are many members of sentences which may be differently pronounced without greatly affecting their variety and harmony. It is chiefly towards the end of a sentence that the harmonic inflection is necessary in order to form an agreeable cadence. RULE I.-When a series of similar sentences, or members of sentences, form a branch of a subject or paragraph, the last sentence or member must fall gradually into a lower tone, and adopt the harmonic inflection, on such words as form the most agreeable cadence. EXAMPLE. Since I have mentioned this unaccountable zeal which appears in atheists and infidels, I must farther observe, that they are likewise in a most particular manner possessed with the spirit of bigotry. They are wedded' to opinions' full of contradiction' and impossibility', and at the same time' look upon the smallest' difficulty in an article' of faith' as a sufficient reason for rejecting it. RULE II.-When the last member of a sentence ends with four accented words, the falling inflection takes place on the first and last, and the rising on the second and third. EXAMPLES. 1. The immortality of the soul is the basis of morality, and the source of all the pleasing hopes' and secret' joys', that can arise' in the heart' of a reasonable' creature'. 2. A brave' man struggling' in the storms' of fate', RULE III.-When there are three accented words at the end of the last member, the first has either the rising or falling, the second the rising, and the last the falling inflection. EXAMPLE. Cicero concludes his celebrated books De Oratore, with some precepts for pronunciation and action, without which part he affirms, that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indifferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater' applause'. |