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'Nor áir, nor éarth, nor skíes, nor séas,
Deny the tribute of their praise.'

"Eternal Wisdom, thee we praise,
Thee all thy creatures sing;

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While with thy name, rocks, hills, and séas,
And heaven's high pálace ring.

Thy glories blaze all nature round,

And strike the gazing sight,

Through skies, and séas, and solid ground,
With terror and delight.'

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Foolish fears, and fond desíres,

Vain regrets for things as váin,
Lips too seldom taught to práise,
Oft to murmur and complain;—
These, and every secret fault,

Filled with grief and shame, we own.'

*These extend no farther on the scale than the interval of a ' Second,'a single tone, or the space occupied by the transit of the voice from one note to the next above or below. Pathetic expression reduces them to the semitone.'

† Verse, and even poetic prose, require the comparatively melodious effect of the 'slight' inflection, in unemphatic 'series' or sequences, of words and clauses which are comprehended under one and the same rule of syntax.

'Monotone.'*

Sublimity and Awe.

Extract from Revelation XX.

V. 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sät on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12. And I saw the

dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were ōpened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

Stanzas.

'His voice is heard the earth around,

When through the heavens his thunders rōll;
The troubled ocean hears the sound,

And yields itself to his control.

When he upon the lightning rides,

His voice in loudest thunder speaks;

The fiery element divides,

And earth to its deep centre shakes.'

'Double Slide,' Circumflex' or 'Wave.'
Mockery.

And Elijah mocked the priests of Baal, and said, Cry alôud; for he is a god: either he is tâlking, or he is pur

Rigorous analysis may enable an attentive ear to detect the 'Second,' in the 'monotone,' so called. But the characteristic effect on the ear, by the recurrence of the same note, is that of strict monotone or sameness of sound,- -as in the successive sounds of a bell, compared with those of any other instrument of music.

† 'Falling Circumflex,' or 'Direet Wave,' in which there is first an 'Upward,' then a 'Downward Slide.'

'Rising Circumflex,' or 'Indirect Wave,' in which there is first a 'Downward' then an Upward' slide of voice.

sûing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awâked.'*

EXERCISES IN MOVEMENT.'

The word movement' has properly the same application in elocution as in music. It designates the rate of utterance, as slow, fast, or moderate, and implies the recognition of 'time,' as an element of effect, in the modifications of the voice. 'Movement,' in elocution, has not the strict gradations of music; and, in its applications to reading and speaking in the pulpit, is usually limited to the following degrees,—' slowest,' 'slow,' 'moderate,' 'lively.'

The first mentioned of these distinctions, is exemplified in the style of awe and deep solemnity, which prevails in the utterance of the profoundest emotions of the soul. It occurs in many passages of the Old Testament, in which the language is of a marked poetic character, as in the book of Job, the Psalms, and portions of the prophetic writings. It pervades, also, the peculiar style of the Book of Revelation, in the New Testament. The 'slowest movement' characterizes likewise the poetry of Milton and of Young, and, sometimes, that of Cowper and of Thomson. It belongs appropriately to the reading of those hymns which describe the awful majesty of Jehovah, and to those which imbody the ideas of death, retribution, and eternity. It is the peculiarly distinctive point of style in funeral discourses.

The full command over the movement of the voice, is an indispensable requisite to the proper effect of the utterance of devotion, whether in the reading of psalms and hymns, or in the act of prayer. The following exercises should be frequently practised till the full solemnity of the slowest enuncia

* The exemplifications of inflection, in detail, may be found in either of the manuals before mentioned. Those which are presented in the present work, are such as are most frequently required in the reading of the Scriptures and of hymns, or of pulpit discourses.

tion is attained, in that prolonged, though not drawling style, which gives ample scope and majestic effect to every sound of the voice, and causes every element of speech to succeed another in the most impressive and deliberate style.

The language of reverence and awe, demands space for feeling and imagination, in every characteristic sound. A single devotional exclamation ought, sometimes, to convey the whole heart and soul of the speaker, in one element of sound.

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'Slowest Movement.'

Awe.

Immortality.-Young.

'Thou! whose all providential eye surveys,

Whose hands directs, whose spirit fills and warms
Creation, and holds empire far beyond!
Eternity's Inhabitant august!

Of two eternities amazing Lord!—

One past, ere man's or angel's had begun;
Aid! while I rescue from the foe's assault
Thy glorious immortality in man:

A theme for ever, and for all, of weight,
Of moment infinite!'

Profound Solemnity.

Midnight.-Thomson.

'As yet 'tis midnight deep. The weary clouds,
Slow-meeting, mingle into solid gloom.

Now, while the drowsy world lies lost in sleep,
Let me associate with the serious Night,
And Contemplation, her sedate compeer.'

'Father of light and life, thou Good supreme!
Oh! teach me what is good! teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,

From every low pursuit; and feed my soul

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With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!'

Reverence and Awe.

Stanzas.-Needham.

'Holy and reverend is the name
Of our eternal King;

"Thrice holy Lord," the angels cry-
"Thrice holy," let us sing!

'The deepest reverence of the mind,
Pay, O my soul, to God;
Lift, with thy hands, a holy heart,
To his sublime abode !'

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Awe.

Extract from Psalm XC.

V. 2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4. For a thousand years, in thy sight, are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 6. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.'

Pathos and Sublimity.

Address of the pastor La Roche.-M'Kenzie.

'You behold, the mourner of his only child! the last earthly stay and blessing of his declining years! Such a child, too!-It becomes not me to speak of her virtues! yet it is but gratitude to mention them, because they were exerted towards myself!-Not many days ago, you saw her young, beautiful, virtuous, and happy!-Ye who are parents will

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