(often a secret to the proud man himself,) is the most ordinary spring of action among men. 2. What are our views of all worldly things, (and the same appearances they would always have if the same thoughts were always predóminant,) when a sharp or tedious sickness has set death before our eyes, and the last hour seems to be approàching. 3. If sometimes on account of virtue we should be exposed to evils, which is sometimes the case, (though men are much more frequently involved by their vices in evil, and that in a more shameful wáy,) virtue can teach us, if not to conquer, at least to bear them with resolution. 4. Though religion removes not all the evils of life; though it promises no continuance of undisturbed prospérity; (which indeed it were not salutary for man always to enjoy ;) yet if it mitigates the evils which necessarily belong to our state, it may justly be said, to give rest to them who labour and are heavy làden. 5. Nature makes us poor only when we want nècessaries; (the number thus in want are few indeed ;) but custom gives the name of poverty to the want of superflùities. 6. It often happens that those are the best people whose characters are most injured by slànderers; (and who so great or good that slander dares-not-assail?) as we usually find that to be the sweetest fruit, which the birds have been pècking-at. 7. Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men eminent for knowledge and sagacity, (all have heard of Aristotle, Cicero, Quinctilian, Longinus,) and since the revival of polite learning, the favourite pursuit of European schólars; has not yet attained the certainty and stability of science. 8. If, where these rules not far enough extend, (Since rules were made but to promote their end,) Some lucky licence answer to the full Th' intent propósed, that licence is a rùle. 9. If there's a Power above-us (And that there is, all nature cries aloud Through all her wórks,) he must delight in virtue; And that which he delights in, must be happy. 10. For one end, one much neglected use, Are riches worth our càre; (for nature's wants Are few, and without opulence supplied ;) Of bounteous Providence. 11. On a rock whose haughty brow Frowns o'er old Conway's foamy flood; (Loose his beard and hoary hair Streamed like a meteor to the troubled aír ;) And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire, Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre. 12, To Pandemonium the summons called By place or choice the worthiest they anon With hundreds and with thousands trooping came Attended all access was thronged; the gates And porches wide, but chief the spacious háll, (Though like a covered field where champions bold Wont ride in armed, and at the Soldan's chair Defied the best of Paynim chivalry To mortal combat or career with lánce,) Thick swarmed, both on the ground, and in the air, Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. Emphatic Modulation. Before the pupil enters on this subject, let him review the elements of Modulation already described and exemplified. These are the Suspensive and Conclusive, the Conjunctive and Disjunctive accents; the merely Modulative which prepare for them, and which, when near a level, take the name of Continuing tone; and the occasional dropping of the voice into a lower key. And these are all the means required for the correct modulation of sentences with a plain meaning, that is, of sentences which equal to their full purport, and do not require,intain terms 79 any of those terms, an oblique or e or allusive fo force, whether such sentences be affirmative or interrogative, exclamative or hortative, &c. for as the pupil will have perceived by the interrogative and exclamative sentences occasionally mingled with the others, they are modulated in the same way as s affirmative sentences, provided they comply with the condition of having all the terms answerable to their purport. The nature and conditions of Plain Modulation being understood, it will be anticipated that Emphatic Modulation must arise from the occasional necessity of suggesting a fuller meaning than the words to be pronounced actually contain; and we may define it as a variation from the usual manner of modulating a word, clause, or sentence, by which it is made to carry an oblique, referential, or allusive force. Now the only variations which can be made are, 1st. a different manner of uttering the accents; 2d. depriving words of accent which commonly claim it, or giving accent to words that are commonly without it; and 3d. using the downward accent where plain modulation would use the upward, and the upward where plain modulation would use the downward, Accordingly all these means are adopted in emphatic modulation, in proportion as se they are needed. As to the first peculiarity, it will generally be found that, in emphatic modulation, the slides become inflex; that is, the plain upward accent becomes inflex upward, and the plain downward, becomes inflex downward, . And as to the second and third peculiarities, when the occasions for them are pointed out, it will be perceived that they must prevail to a great extent, and that the common doctrine of emphasis, which considers it as nothing more than a stress of the voice on important words, is very inadequate to its actual practice. འ ་། ཀ The first and simplest occasion of emphasis, is when words are opposed to each other in a sentence, and that all the antitheses are expressed. It is the office of emphasis, in this case, to make each word allude or refer to its counterpart; but as, under such circumstances, no very forcible indication is needed, the emphatic accents readily identify with the merely mochilative, and all the differencer will be, that in proportion as the reader tries to enforce each refer ence, the plain accents will become inflex. Let the experiment be made by another reading of Exercise 2d at page 45. 69936 Another occasion of emphasis is when, for the purpose of giving words a distinctive force we oppose them to a meaning understood, perhaps without being able to state precisely the antithetic object. Thus, for instance, in the first example of Exercise 3, page 44, the speaker in using the word straw, opposes it to any common subject of contention, as if he had said not merely a common subject, but a straw: in the second example the speaker opposes emphasis to any previous or ensuing subjects of attention; in the third he opposes printing to other arts that have improved mankind; in the seventh while uttering the word overpowered, he has in view a less degree of feeling, as if he had said, a grateful heart is not merely affected, but is overpowered; and so of the other examples. Here the emphatic accent makes itself known by a kind of conclusive force before the sentence reaches its real conclusion. Another, and a most important, as well as a most frequent occasion of emphatic modulation, is the necessity of distinguishing words whose meaning is foreknown, implied, or presupposed, from those that carry on the speaker's thoughts by the addition of new matter. Here emphasis performs its office not by increasing but diminishing the accents, and pronouncing several words with one single accent, or at least with only one principal accent. The principle on which this is done, is precisely that by which all compound words are framed, as from the two words ròse búd, cheèse mónger, ticket pórter, water drinker,-each pronounced with equal accents, -are framed by a reference to other buds, other mongers, other porters, and other drinkers, the compound words cheesemonger, rósebud, ticketporter, and wàterdrinker. Here the student will observe two things, first, that what might be deemed the principal word is the one which loses its accent, and second, that this loss of accent, is no loss of force, but an increase of it, to the whole compound, inasmuch as a referential meaning arises from it, or at least, did arise when the union was originally made. It is the same when emphasis unites several words by pronouncing them with one accent: they are not always the less important words that on such occasions lose their accent, nor do they in fact, on that account, lose any portion of their force: on the contrary, the whole clause always receives an increase of meaning, by resigning the accents to one single, and often apparently unimportant word. We say, for instance, with a plain meaning and a usual accentuation, he behaves like a Prince: but if the sentence were pronounced with a reference to the previous knowledge that he is-a-prince, we should say he behaves like-a-Prince: here the word prince is not less important |
