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SECTION X.

RULE 10. The last pause but one in a sentence, for the sake of variety and harmony, generally has the rising inflection, especially when all the rest require the falling.

EXAMPLES.

1. Be pèrfect, be of good còmfort, be of one mind, live in peace. 2. There is no national debt; the community is òpulent; the government, económical, and the public treasury, fùll.

3. The rocks crùmble; the trees fall; the leaves fáde, and the grass withers.

4. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not gò; keep her, for she is thy life.

5. True eloquence must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion.

6. Let me prepare for the approach of eternity; let me give up my soul to meditàtion; let solitude and silence acquaint me with the mysteries of devòtion; let me calmly await the hour of déath, and peacefully resign my spirit into the hands of my Maker.

NOTE. When the members of a sentence are followed by a semicolon, and require the falling slide, the rising suspensive inflection frequently precedes such pause, the same as in a complete sentence, especially when the member is long, and its component parts are separated by commas.

EXAMPLES.

1. The man of public spirit has recourse to retirement, in order to form plans for the general goòd; the man of génius, in order to dwell on his favorite thèmes; the philosopher, to pursue his discoveries; and the saint, to improve his gràces.

2. Christianity proposes for our imitation the highest examples of benèvolence, púrity, and piety; it shows that all our àctions,

QUESTIONS. What is the rule for the last.pause but one in a sentence? What the note under this rule?

purposes, and thoughts, are to us of infinite impòrtance; and their consequence, nothing less than happiness or misery in the life to

còme.

3. On no country have the charms of nature been more prod. igally lávished, than upon Amèrica. Behold her mighty lákes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains, bright with aerial tints; her válleys, teeming with fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thunderng in their sòlitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad, deep rivers, rolling in sullen silence to the ocean; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence; and her skíes, kindling with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine!

4. No man can now doubt the fact, that where the press is frée. it will emancipate the people; wherever knowledge circulates u restrained, it is no longer safe to opprèss; wherever public opinion is enlightened, it nourishes an independent spirit.

EXCEPTION. Strong emphasis sometimes requires the falling inflection on the penultimate pause.

EXAMPLES.

1. I have no desire for office, not even the highest. I am no candidate for any office in the gift of the people of these United States; I never wish, I never expect to be.

2. If you are traduced, and really innocent, tell your traducers the truth, tell them they are tyrants.

3. Law and order are forgòtten; violence and rapine are abròad; and the golden cords of society are loòsed.

4. The temples are profaned; the soldier's curse resounds in the house of God; the marble pavement is trampled by iron hoofs, and horses neigh beside the altar.

It may sometimes be somewhat difficult for the reader to determine whether a sentence should be read with the rising suspensive inflection, or the falling. In such cases, he must be governed by the emphasis, style, and sentiment. If the sense is incomplete, and the sentiment of a cheerful and lively nature, or expressive

QUESTIONS. What is the exception? In difficult cases, how may you determine whether the rising suspensive inflection, or the falling, should be employed?

of tender emotion, requiring an animated utterance with bu slight force, the rising suspensive inflection should generally be employed; but, if the sense is measurably complete, or the style and language are expressive of emotions of a sterner and more decided character, requiring a stronger degree of emphasis, in order best to express the sentiment, it should be read according to the above rule. In both cases, however, it must be remembered, that the inflections are less intensive than the slides of the direct and indirect questions.

EXERCISE.

1. There is nothing purer than hònesty; nothing sweeter than charity; nothing warmer than lòve; nothing richer than wisdom; nothing brighter than vírtue; nothing more steadfast than faith.

2. The cottager bars fast his door against the sleet; the fagot crackles on the hearth; the children hang the traveler's coat before the flame; the lamp trembles in the sòcket; the tempest beats upon the thatch; the wind howls in the chimney; and the hail rattles against the càsement.

3. Byron was naturally a man of great sensibility; he had been ill-èducated; his feelings had been early exposed to sharp trials; he had been crossed in his boyish lòve; he had been mortified by the failure of his first literary efforts; he was straitened in his pecuniary circumstances; he was unfortunate in his domestic relations; the public treated him with cruel injustice; his health and spirits suffered from his dissipated habits of life; and he was, on the whole, an unhappy man.

4. The object of my visit, said Mr. Wirt, is the hope of making some suggestion that may be sèrviceable; of calling into action some dormant ènergy; of pointing your attention to some attainable end of practical utility; of arousing your minds to high aspirations for èxcellence; and, with the hope of contributing, in some small degree, toward mak

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ing you happier in yourselves, and more useful to your country.

5. We cannot honor our country with a reverence too deep; we cannot love her with an affection too fèrvent; we cannot serve her with an energy of purpose too steadfast, nor a zeal too enthusiàstic.

6. To me, the mountain scene, in calm or in tempest, has been the source of the most absorbing sensations. There stands magnitude, giving the instant impression of power far above man; grandeur, that defies decay; antiquity, that tells of ages unnumbered; beauty, that the touch of time only makes more beautiful; use, exhaustless for the service of man; and strength, impregnable as the globe.

SECTION XI.

RULE 11. The last member of a commencing series, and the last but one in a concluding series, for the sake of harmony, generally take the rising suspensive inflection, and all the rest, the falling.

NOTE. When there are several members in the series, the inflection usually becomes more intensive, requiring a greater interval, and a greater degree of force, on each succeeding member.

EXCEPTION 1. The above rule, being the same in principle with the preceding one, admits of the same exception in its application.

EXCEPTION 2. When the language and sentiment are of a cheerful and sprightly character, or expressive of tender emotion, the commencing series may be rendered more effective, in the judgment of some readers, by giving each member the rising suspensive inflection, according to Rule 6, page 97.

QUESTIONS. What is the rule for the commencing and the concluding series What is the note under this rule? What is exception first? What is the second

EXAMPLES.

Simple Commencing Series.

1. Dependence and obédience belong to youth.

2. The goòd and the wise, at death, leave their memory be

hind.

3. Our knowledge and our árts are the fruits of their tòil. 4. The yoùng, the healthy, and prósperous, should not presume on their advantages.

5. The prèsence, knowledge, pòwer, wisdom, and goodness of God, must all be unbounded.

Simple Concluding Series.

1. The constitution is strengthened by éxercise and tèmper

ance.

2. The spirit of true religion breathes géntleness and affabìlity.

3. Mankind are besieged by wàr, fámine, and pèstilence.

4. Industry is the law of our beìng; it is the demand of nature, of reason, and of God.

Compound Commencing Series.

1. Common calamities, and common bléssings, fall heavily on the envious.

2. The dimensions and distances of the planets, and the causes of their revolutions, are now understood and explained.

3. To advise the ìgnorant, to relieve the weary, and comfort the afflicted, are duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives.

Compound Concluding Series.

1. Belief in the existence of God, is the great incentive to dúty, and the great source of consolation.

2. We should acknowledge God in all our ways, mark the operations of his hand, cheerfully submit to his severest dispensátions, and strictly observe his làw.

3. Without controversy, great is the mystery of gòdliness; God was manifest in the flèsh, justified in the spìrit, seen of àngels, preached unto the Gèntiles, believed on in the world, received up into glòry.

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