Class JBAl^JLL 
Book , M13 



1 



\ 



( 

THE 



ELEMENTS 

-77*0 



OF 



READING AND ORATORY. 



BY HENRY MANDEVILLE, 

PROFESSOR OF MORAL SCIENCE AND BELLES LETTRZ8, 
IN HAMILTON COLLEGE. 



UTICA*: 

R. NGRTHWAY & Co. PRINTER 

M DCCC XLV. 



\\\ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by 

HENRY MANDEVILLE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Northern District of New-York. 



n 



"i 






Ul 









-, u^ 



PREFACE. 



Of all the departments of learning in our schools, there is none which, by 
general concession, is more important than that of reading and speaking ; and 
yet, there is none in which the instruction given is at once so arbitrary, so vague, 
so unprofitable. In every other, there exists some recognised standard of pro- 
priety, tangible, and always at hand, by reference to which, the student can 
accurately prepare himself for recitation beforehand ; and by reference to which, 
should he make a mistake, while the recitation is in progress, his teacher can 
intelligibly correct him : make him clearly comprehend the nature of the error 
into which he has fallen, and effectually guard him against a repetition of it. 
In writing, he must imitate his copy : in geography, he must implicitly receive 
the statements of his text-book, and studiously conform to the delineations of 
his map : in arithmetic, every process has its rule, which offers itself to him as 
an infallible guide, through all the intricacies and mazes of numbers : in reading 
and speaking alone, he is left to acquire a correct and graceful delivery, as he 
may, with such imperfect light as his teacher, whose judgment may be riper, 
but whose sources of information are not better than his own, can throw upon 
his path. In truth, the only means by which either of them can determine, 
that a given passage should be delivered in one way rather than in another, is 
a mere supposition ; namely, that such is the way in which it would be delivered 
by an artless speaker ; or, to adopt the cant phraseology of the day on this sub- 
ject, such is the natural way ; or the way in which one would deliver it, who 
conforms to nature : a supposition, which, considering the inexperience of the 
parties forming it, the extensive observation and comparison of the best models 
of delivery, the cultivated judgment, and the nice critical tact, necessary to form 
it, and withal the prevalence of bad examples even at the Bar and in the Pulpit, 
to say nothing of the vicious elocution of the multitude, is as liable to be false, 
as true ; and whether false or true, it can be neither denied nor affirmed ; since 
there is nothing beyond itself, in the shape of an authorised standard, with which 
it may be compared. To conform to nature, or rather to know when we conform 
to nature, we should previously know what that nature is : what it prescribes : 
what it excludes. 

The inadequacy, I had almost said, the absurdity, of such a method of instruc- 
tion in grammar, if method it may be called, would be apparent to the most 
indifferent thinker in the land. Imagine a student endeavoring to acquire a 
knowledge of its principles without a nomenclature, designating and describing 
the parts of speech : without examples, illustrating them : without rules show- 
ing their relation and government : in short, without any guide whatever to a 
knowledge of its facts and laws, except a vague reference to the conflicting 



IV PREFACE. 

practice of those who speak and write the English language : does not every 
one perceive, that, with such means of study, it would be all but impossible to 
obtain a clear insight into the mysteries of the science ? or that, if some inquirer, 
more ardent than usual, should persist in the pursuit until success crowned, at 
length, his diligence, the work would consume a large proportion of his life ? 
Yet there is no difficulty here, which does not meet the student in learning to 
read and speak by the same process ; the scene is changed, but the actor and 
his part remain as before. He must grope his way in the dark in the same 
manner : with uncertain footing, and at a venture. He can never be sure of 
his position, and he is as likely to move in a circle as to advance. 

Nor will it materially avail him, in the absence of a nomenclature and of rules, 
that he possesses in his teacher the very best model of elocution. From such 
a teacher he may acquire a good articulation, for this, in some measure, is sub- 
ject to rule ; but beyond this, which, though important, is yet subordinate, he 
can derive no more aid from such a teacher than from any other immeasurably 
his inferior. Indeed, he will derive less, if the latter, with his imperfect quali- 
fications as a reader, should happen to possess the superior tact as a disciplina- 
rian : greater facility in winning the regard of his pupils ; in commanding their 
attention ; in exciting their emulation. In other respects, the more and the 
less gifted teacher, occupy, in relation to him, the same level. Neither of them 
can do more than superintend his exercises : neither of them can add anything 
to the benefit he derives from the practice those exercises afford. Whatever 
may be his faults of modulation, no correction of theirs, however just, can, from 
the very nature of the case, be followed by improvement. To have occular and 
auricular demonstration of this, we have only to enter one of our schools in city 
or country, when a class, containing perhaps a dozen pupils, is called up to 
read. Observe. The lesson, distributed among them, gives to each scarcely 
more than a single sentence for rehearsal. One of the pupils, reading his sen- 
tence, fails in the judgment of the teacher, to employ the proper delivery. He 
is now shown how it should be read, (that is, the teacher reads it for him, with, 
what he deems, the proper modulation,) and is commanded to read it again; 
and this time, we may presume, he will read it correctly. But what then ? If 
this was the only sentence he ever expected to read, the correction might 
answer a good purpose. He would probably remember it ; and at the next 
reading, and still more certainly at the next, he would make no mistake. But 
when called up again, he has the infinitesimal portion of another lesson, to 
which no correction of the one previously read, is applicable ; or if it is, neither 
he nor his teacher is aware of it. His reading is again faulty, and is again 
corrected ; and so on with every successive lesson, day after day, the year 
through. Each correction is an independent one. Having its root in no settled 
principle, illustrated by examples ; falling under no general law, confirmed by 
reason and obvious facts ; it neither borrows light from the past, nor reflects 
light on the future. It guards the pupil against nothing but the specific error 
corrected : its whole force is exhausted on a single sentence which may never 
be read again, or, if read, recognized as having been read before. It is therefore 
manifestly of no use, then or thenceforward. In any other branch of study, it 



* PEEPACE. V 

would be the stopping-stone of a continually accelerating progress ; here it 
terminates with itself: elsewhere a quickening spirit ; here a dead letter. 

These obvious defects of the prevailing method of instruction, and the enor- 
mous waste both of money and of time, it occasions, have led a number of 
ingenious and able men, during the last sixty or seventy years, to inquire 
whether a better one could not be devised : whether, in other words, the facts 
and principles of elocution could not be systematised like those of grammar, 
arithmetic, &c, and hence taught in the same manner. Their works, which 
are before the public and well known, propose for our consideration, two distinct 
systems : the one formed on sentential construction, the other, variously modi- 
fied, on a theory of Dr. Rush. Of these, the first is unquestionably the system 
of nature ; and that it should not have made its way into public favor, and 
become the basis of elementary instruction wherever the English language is 
spoken, must be imputed, not to anything wrong in the plan, but simply to the 
imperfect manner, in which, hitherto, it has been developed ; for, unfortunately, 
Mr. Walker, by whom it was first broached in his " Elements of Elocution," 
and by whom it was carried to a point, not yet passed, and scarcely reached, 
by those who have followed him, stopped short with an extremely imperfect 
account of one or two sentences only, and arbitrarily applied, or expected the 
student to apply, the laws derived from these, to every other, however unlike in 
structure. Hence his failure : acknowledged by himself in the Rhetorical Gram- 
mar which the published subsequently to the " Elements." His work, therefore, 
sustains the same relation to a complete system of Elocution, that would be sus- 
tained by a defective map of the state of New-York, to a universal Atlas ; and, 
carrying the illustration a little farther, to expect it, with whatever diligence 
studied, to form a good reader or speaker, would be equivalent to expecting, that 
a man, by looking at such a map of this state, should be qualified to describe the 
boundaries, towns, rivers, lakes and mountains, of every other state and empire 
on the surface of the globe. 

The other system, that derived from Dr. Rush, and confined, I believe, to this 
country, however ingenious, and though ably and fully developed, is rather, it 
must be admitted, a system of vocal exercises, than of elocution : as such, its 
utility in the school room is not readily seen. Should a person become tho- 
roughly versed in its various movements, which is no easy attainment, he has 
not taken, as yet, one step toward a correct and graceful delivery of a single 
sentence in the English language. Suppose a sentence presented : the ques- 
tion is, with what vocal movements, or more generally, with what modulation, 
shall it be read or spoken ? To this question the system gives no reply : the 
appropriate delivery is yet to be ascertained. These authors end, therefore, 
just where Walker and others begin ; or if they proceed farther, and prescribe 
a delivery for a given passage, they are governed in so doing, by no broad gen- 
eral principles authorised by induction, but by the caprices of individual tastes, 
or like the writers just mentioned, by questionable laws, derived from a few 
isolated cases. — I may add, that this system is exposed to the serious objection 
of having a strong tendency to form an artificial and mechanical delivery. I 



VI PREFACE. 

have met with several individuals, whose voices, trained by its processes, very 
distinctly betrayed it. 

Such are the exceptions which may be taken to the most systematic and elabo- 
rate writers on elocution : writers of the higher aim, and the more solid worth. 
Of others, it is scarcely necessary to speak ; for they attempt rather to mitigate 
the evils of the existing method of instruction, than to remove them by introdu - 
cing another. Their observations are local, isolated, special : not without value 
jn the particular instances to which they apply ; but apart as they are, from 
principles, and incapable of generalisation, they merely supersede the incidental 
and arbitrary dogmas of the instructor. 

On the whole, it must be acknowledged that the desideratum in the department 
of elocution ; the work, which seizes, generalises and arranges its facts, devel- 
ops its principles, and declares its laws ; the work in which the public may 
universally confide as an exposition of true science ; the work on which the 
professor, the academical and common school teacher, can lay their hands, 
assured that, in it, they have a safe guide in all that relates to reading and speak- 
ing ; the work, finally, which shall displace the prevailing inefficient, and clumsy 
method, and banish it forever from our schools ; — such a work is yet to appear ; 
and when it does appear, it will doubtless bear upon its face the evidence of its 
mission, and compel assent to its revelations ; and the man who produces it, 
there can be as little doubt, will be hailed as the benefactor of the young. 

That the following work, which I have now the honor of submitting to the 
public, possesses this high and decisive character, I am, of course, far from 
believing. Yet, I confess, I am not entirely without hope, (founded on long 
and patient investigation, unbiased by received theories, or preconceived opin- 
ions, and still more on having tested its utility, during the past two years, 
in the institution with which I am professionally connected.) that it may prove 
to be at least, the herald of the morning : the day-star to such a sun. If it 
should, I shall be content ; though merely glimmering for a space, where my 
successor will pour full-orbed effulgence. 

It will be seen, on examination, that the leading idea of Mr. Walker, is mine ; 
namely, that the law of delivery must be derived from the structure of the sen- 
tence. Mr. Walker, however, either because that idea was not a very clear 
one, or because he wanted leisure or patience for a wide, comprehensive and 
exact induction, satisfied himself, as I have already observed, with an extremely 
imperfect development of it. What he left undone, I have attempted to do : to 
give a complete enumeration of the different sentences in the English language, 
and a description of their distinctive peculiarities of structure. This part of 
my work, which forms its base, is comprised in chapter fourth. Chapter second, 
on Punctuation, chapter third on Modulation, and chapter sixth, containing the 
laws of delivery, with a long train of examples under each for exercise, are 
merely derivations from chapter fourth. 

The chapter on Emphasis, (ch. 5th,) is the result of discovering, that the laws 
of delivery, derived from structure, are limited to termination and direction : to 
the former, in declarative, and to the latter, in interrogative sentences. In other 
words, I found that structure determined the modulation at the end of declara- 



PREFACE. VII 



tive sentences, and of their parts, and the general direction of the voice, through 
interrogative; but not the modulation of the intermediate portions. This I 
subsequently traced to the nature, position and influence of emphasis ; my dis- 
cussion of which, the fruit of laborious and protracted examination, will be 
deemed, I trust, satisfactory : few subjects have been treated, hitherto, with 
less precision : why, it would be difficult to explain. 

Having now made the student thoroughly acquainted with every variety of 
sentential structure, and the laws of delivery as derived from structure and 
emphasis combined, I introduce him, in chapter seventh, to the common reading- 
book ; where he is mainly left to apply for himself, the information obtained from 
the previous portions of the work. As a reading-book, I think it will be found 
inferior to none in use. In some respects, it is peculiar. The selections com- 
prise sentences of every variety of construction, and in every degree of expan- 
sion, both in prose and verse. With most of the reading-books in use, this is 
not the case. I have introduced colloquial pieces, as well as the more 
sustained composition of books ; and also several other species of reading, not 
usually met with in school-books : such as epigrams ; anecdotes ; preambles 
and resolutions of deliberative assemblies ; advertisements ; legal notices ; 
letters ; &c, &c. These are all written to be read, and I cannot perceive why 
we should not learn to read them ; but I have inserted them more particularly, 
to show that the construction of sentences is the same in every species of com- 
position ; and that these sentences are subject to the same laws of delivery, 
wherever found : whether in low life, or high life ; in conversation or in writing ; 
and in one kind of writing as well as in another ; in prose or verse. 

The chapter on Pronunciation, the latest written and perhaps the least studied 
of the series, though occupying the first place, is introduced not so much on 
account of its value, as to mark my sense of the importance of the subject. 
Distinct, easy, accurate utterance of elementary sounds, syllables, and words, is 
a fundamental and indispensable quality of good reading and speaking ; and yet 
how sadly is it neglected, beyond a few unmeaning and inefficient common- 
places, by a majority of the teachers of the present day ! However, it may be 
hoped, that better habits are forming. There are a few instructors, certainly,who 
seem, in this respect, apprised of their responsibility ; and among these, it gives 
me pleasure to refer to the accomplished principal of the Normal School, at 
Albany, as an example of just appreciation, and unwearied labor in this depart- 
ment. I have not personally witnessed his exercises, but I have been told, by 
those competent to judge, that they are, as it regards accurate and tasteful 
pronunciation, thorough. From his position, and the influence it will enable 
him to exert over elementary instruction throughout the State, we may antici- 
pate, I think, the happiest results, not only in this relation, but in others equally 
important to the educational interests of the people. 

In bringing these prefatory observations to a close, it may be proper for me to 
say, that, although I have endeavored to confirm every position taken in the 
following work, by a sufficient number of examples, or where examples were 
inadmissible, which is seldom the case, with sufficient reasons, it may appear 
notwithstanding, that I have sometimes spoken unadvisedly : if so, I trust that 



V1I1 PREFACE. 

I have, at the same time, placed at the disposal of the reader, all that can be 
requisite for my correction. It may appear also, after more extended and 
searching examination, that some things, I have advanced, need additions, 
abridgment or modification. As I do not profess to have produced a perfect 
work, but merely to have laid the foundations for one ; I hope such deficiencies 
may be regarded with some degree of indulgence. I should state that what 
may be deemed one of these, my silence on the subject of gesture, is the result 
of design ; my plan, in the present work, limiting me to those " elements" which 
are common to " Reading and Oratory." 

Something I wished to say, before concluding, on the bearing of what I have 
advanced, if acknowledged to be just, on the art of composition : something on 
its relation to the general subject of style : something also on its application to 
elementary instruction in other languages, both ancient and modern ; soon, pro- 
bably, to be tested by one of the most finished classical scholars in the country ; 
but having already extended my observations to an unusual length, I reluctantly 
suppress what I might add on these points, and submit my work, without farther 
ceremony, to the judgment of an intelligent and candid Public : being very sure, 
that if it possesses value, it will receive proportionate approbation ; and that it 
can fail to be approved only, because, in the opinion of discerning and just men, 
less interested than myself, it fails to deserve it. 

Hamilton College, September 1st, 1845. 



CHAPTER I. 



PRONUNCIATION. 

Pronunciation anciently included the whole of delivery. By mod- 
ern usage, it is limited to the enunciation of single words. It compre- 
hends articulation and accent. 

SEC I. ARTICULATION. 

I. Articulation primarily, signifies the junction which takes place 
in the organs of speech when a sound is interrupted and thus separated 
from other sounds ; and, secondarily, by an easy transition from cause 
to efFect, the distinct utterance of the various vocal sounds, represented 
by letters, diphthongs, triphthongs, syllables and words. 

II. By distinct utterance is to be understood, 

1. The expression of all the sounds which enter into the pronunciation 
of a word. 

The fault opposed to this, the suppression of essential 6ounds, is one of common occurrence. 
Thus, h is often dropped in the pronunciation of where, which, what, and their derivatives : 
of shrill, shriek, shrunk, humble, and many others. N is often dropped from government ; pro- 
nounced as if written goverment : er from governor, andw, from regular; as if written goviior, 
reglar. 

*2. The exact expression of the sounds which enter into the pronuncia- 
tion of a word. 

It is not sufficient, for example, that a should have any one of its sounds, but that specific 
sound which usage ascribes to it in a given position ; as in mane, man, mat. 

Bad articulation, in this respect, will leave the hearer in doubt as to the particular word used, 
or suggest one different from that used ; and the result will be either a perplexed or perverted 
meaning. 

3. The separate and complete expression of sounds, whether of let 
ters, syllables or entire words. 

Intermingling sounds is the fault here. Thus, the following sentence, He understands and 
obeys, would be read or spoken by many, as if written, He understan-zan-dobeys. 

It cannot be too often, or too earnestly impressed on the minds of instructors and students, 
that in reading or speaking, the sound of every letter which is not mute, of every syllable, and 
of every word, should be accurately and distinctly uttered, before another is heard. Unless 
this be done, the delivery will not be intelligible : much less distinguished by that force and 
grace, to which good articulation contributes in so great a degree. 

2 



10 PRONUNCIATION. 

III. To acquire an articulation which shall be, at once, accurate and 
tasteful, it is necessary, 

1. To get an exact knowledge of the elementary sounds of the lan- 
guage; 

2. To learn the appropriate place of these sounds, as determined by 
usage, in syllables and words ; and, 

3. To apply this knowledge, constantly, in conversation, reading and 
speaking, with a view to correct every deviation from propriety which 
we may detect in expressing them. 

Most writers on elocution give exercises for the improvement of articulation; but manifestly, 
from the nature of the case, with little benefit to the student. A good articulation is not to be 
acquired in a day, nor from a few lessons. Practice should begin\vith the spelling book, and 
continue through the whole course of education ; and even then, there will remain room for im- 
provement. 

IV. The elementary sounds of language are represented by vowels, 
diphthongs, triphthongs and consonants. 

In describing these elementary sounds on succeeding pages, I have, in a few instances, dif- 
fered from received opinions. I have enumerated some sounds as regular, which are treated 
by others, apparently for no valid reason, as irregular ; I have adopted the middle a sound of 
Perry, and have added a corresponding short sound, though found only in unaccented sylla- 
bles ; I have denominated the vowel sounds succeeding a, when identical, as they often arc, 
with those of a, as the alphabetical, middle, flat, or broad a sound of e, i, &c, and 
omitting the mute, liquid, and semi-vowel distinction of consonants, I have substituted others 
more simple, and, as I conceive, in a practical, oratorical point of view, more important. Should 
any one object to these changes, I can only say, that they seem to me well founded, and 
that I have tested their utility : especially in relation to the sounds of the unaccented vowels, 
and the easier discrimination of the consonants ; the former of which, have not received that 
degree of attention they deserve. 

V. A vowel is a sound which may be uttered either alone, or in con- 
nection with another vowel. 

Some orthoepists define vowels as simple sounds ; others, as sounds which may be uttered 
with the mouth open ; and others, as sounds which may be uttered without aid from the organs 
of articulation. Each of these definitions is objectionable: the first, because at least two of 
them are compound : the second, because many of the consonants are uttered with the mouth 
open as well as the vowels : the third, because disproved by experiment. It will be found, on 
trial, that they require the aid of the articulatory organs as really as consonants. The most 
that can be said, is, that they do not require the aid of all of them, nor to the same extent ; 
which is also true of the consonants. 

VI. The vowels are seven in number : a, e, i, o, u, y and w. Of these, 

1. A, e and o, are simple sounds: may be uttered alone. 

2. / and u are compound sounds : cannot be uttered alone. 

3. I, y and zv are sometimes consonants. 



I. A has eight sounds. 



1. 


Alphabetical 


2. 


" short. 


X. 


Middle 


"c . 


" short, 


5. 


Flat 


6. 


" short, 


7. 


Rroad 


H. 


short, 



I game, debate, spectator. 

{ any, many, miscellany, herbage. 

< care, dare, fare. 

, , ■ } liar, regular, inward. 

5 father, calm, star, lava. 

J far, that, glass. 

\ all, law, salt, walk, also, water, war- 

\ what, want; was, wash, warrant, 



PRONUNCIATION. 11 



REMARKS. 



I. Alphabetical a long has this sound, 

1 . When it ends an accented syllable ; as in maker, legislation. 

Exceptions. Papa, father, mama, lava, water, and proper names ending 
with a. 

2. When followed by a single consonant (except r) and e mute in the 
same accented syllable. 

Exceptions. Gape, are, have. 

Note.— In unaccented syllables, it often retains this sound. 

II. Alphabetical short a. This sound is treated by orthoepists as irreg- 
ular. The reason for this, I presume, is, that it occurs under accent, only 
in the two words adduced in the table : a reason which will apply with 
nearly equal force to other sounds, enumerated notwithstanding among 
those that are regular ; as, for example, the sound of o in move. My 
reasons for treating it as regular, aside from the one involved in what I have 
just said, are, 

1. That e in men is precisely the short sound of Alphabetical a, as ac- 
knowledged by the best orthoepists ; (see Walker ;) and this is precisely 
the sound of a in many. 

2. The improper diphthong ai, under accent, has this sound in numerous 
words ; (see diphthong ai ;) but why it should, unless alphabetical short 
a is a regular sound, I am unable to perceive. 

The admission of this short sound of alphabetical a among regular sounds, 
has, I conceive, an important bearing on the pronunciation of the unaccen- 
ted terminations of a large class of words ; as age, any, able, ably, ace, ate, 
ately, &c, in most of which the long alphabetical sound is abandoned ; and 
in which, consequently, the short, as being the nearest, should be heard. 

III. Middle a long. I follow Perry in regarding this sound as quite too 
remote from alphabetical a long, to be classed with it. It is called middle 
a because its sound is about equally distant from that of a in game, and a 
in father. It occurs only before r and final e mute. 

IV. Middle a short. I am alone, I believe, in enumerating this among 
distinct vowel sounds. It sustains precisely the same relation to a in care, 
fare, dare, &c, that a alphabetical short, sustains to alphabetical a long. It 
appears only in unaccented syllables before r ; but it is represented by e be- 
fore r in the same syllable under accent ; as in herd, merchant, &c. : hence, 
the a in liar, friar, &c, is not accurately represented, as Walker intimates, 
by short u ; it has a sound a shade less guttural and broad ; as may be ob- 
served in comparing mercy and merry with murder, blunder, &c. 

V. Flat a long. A has this sound when followed by r or h in the same 
accented syllable ; as in art, cart, dart, ah, bah. 

Exceptions. A in this position preceded by w, has its long broad sound ; 
as in war, ward. 

VI. Flat a short. " The short sound of middle or Italian a, (i. e. flat 
a,) which is generally confounded with the short sound of slender a, (al- 
phabetical a,) is the sound of this vowel in man, pan, tan, hat, &c. &c." 

Walker. 
A has this sound for the most part, 

1 . When followed by a single consonant, (except r and occasionally I,) 
in the same accented syllable ; as in ballad, capstan, massive. 
Exceptions. Alien, ancient, cambric, chamber, manger, angel. 



12 PRONUNCIATION. 

2. When followed by more than one consonant, (except ?-and /, followed 
by another consonant,) in the same accented syllable ; as in band, catch, 
cramp, act, apt. 

VII. Broad a long. The regular place for this sound is before 11 ; as in 
all, ball, call, fall, hall, wall ; though it occurs in some other positions ;. as 
in ward, bawd, chalk. 

2. E has five sounds. 

1. Alphabetical J j me, scheme, theme. 

2. " short, ', j pretty, been, England, faces, linen 

3. " a short, i as heard in ) bet, end, them, sell, method. 

4 Middle a / \ where, there, ere, e'er, ne'er. 

5. " (< short. J \ herd, merchant, certain,consternation, 

REMARKS. 

E is mute, 

1 . When final and preceded by another vowel in the same syllable ; as in 
mute, rebuke, literature. 

2. When preceding I and n, in final unaccented syllables in many in- 
stances ; as in navel, drivel, swivel, weasel, open, often, heaven. 

3. When it precedes d in the preterit of verbs, and is not preceded by d 
or t ; as in lived, loved, revealed, justified. 

Note.— E is often in position final, where, in pronunciation it is not; as in theatre, centre mas- 
sacre, : where final, it is often viciously treated, as if not ; as in the derivatives knavery, brave-ry, 
xmage-ry, nicety, slave ry, finery, savage ry, &c. ; all of which words, Walker pronounces in 
three or four syllables ; while others, correctly enough, he pronounces m two ; as in safety, ninety, 
surety. Webster adverts to this error of Walker, yet in several instances leaves it uncorrected. 

I. Alphabetical e long. E has this sound when it ends a syllable, and 
when it is followed in the same syllable by a consonant and final e ; as in 

meteor, secretion, severe, atmosphere, revere. 
Exceptions. Where, there, were, ere. 

Note. — This sound is often incorrectly superseded by alphabetical a short; as in establish, esteem, 
especial; espial, espy, espouse, esquire, egotist, &c ; in which words, long alphabetical e should be 
invariably heard. It is also often viciously suppressed in the prefix pre; as in precede, prevent, 
predict, &c. ; which are pronouneed as if written pr-cede, pr-vent, pr-dict. 

II. Alphabetical e short. This sound, like that of alphabetical a short, is 
treated by orthoepists and grammarians, as anomalous ; when the ear alone, 
one should think, is sufficient to establish its character as the short sound of 
e in scheme. The report of the ear is confirmed by the analogy of the 
French and German languages ; in which the long and short sound of e in 
scheme and pretty, are represented by the long and short sound of i. Short 
alphabetical e is heard in accented syllables in the words adduced in the 
table, and generally in the unaccented syllables es, en, et. 

III. Alphabetical a short. For the propriety of so calling e in men, met, 
&c, see above. E has this sound when followed by a consonant (except r) 
in the same syllable. In many words, as in chapel, gospel, rebel, &c, (which 
are exceptions to e mute, No. 2 above,) this sound is dropped, when it should 
be distinctly heard. 

IV. Middle a long. This sound is only heard in the words enumerated in 
the table. Where, there, and ere have this sound, I believe, in consequenee 
of their derivation : they should have been written with a instead of e. (See 
Dictionaries of Webster and Richardson.) Ne'er, being a contraction of 
never, the vowels of which are alphabetical short a, and middle short a, is 
very properly pronounced as if written nare ; for this is precisely the long 



PRONUNCIATION. 13 

sound into which the two short ones, being after contraction followed by r, 
should pass. 

V. Middle a short. If e in met is the short sound of a in mate, there can 
be little doubt that e in merchant is the short sound of a in care. The same 
reason, in fact, which should induce us to treat a in care as a different 
sound from a in mate, should also induce us to treat e in merchant as a dif- 
ferent sound from e in met. In both cases, the letter r produces the same 
modification of sound. 

It should be observed, however, that this modification of the sound of 
e before r is not always the same. In a few words, as in merry, the sound 
though deeper than that of e in men, is a shade higher than that of e in 
mercy. 

3. /has four sounds. 

1. Alphabetical ? \\ chide, decide, sign, countermine. 

2. " e, \ i j • ] machine, ravine, caprice, shire, 

3. " " short, as heard m | chin, rich, wit, hill. 

4. Middle a short, \ \ bird, flirt, stir, virtue. 

REMARKS. 

I. Alphabetical i. " This letter is a perfect diphthong, composed of the 
sounds of a in father and e in he, pronounced as closely together as possible." 

Walker. 
It has this sound, 

1 . When it ends an accented syllable ; as in liar, reliance. 

2. When followed by e mute in accented syllables ; as in line, pine, 
wine, combine, canine. 

Exception's. 1. In words of French origin ; as in machine, caprice, &e. 
2. In the unaccented syllables of many words, though followed by e 
mute ; as in engine, rapine. 

II. Alphabetical e. This, be it observed, is one of the vowels of which 
the preceding is composed. 

III. Alphabetical e short. Dr. Johnson, (see introduction to his Dic- 
tionary,) not taking into consideration the compound character of alpha- 
betical i, pronounced this short sound wholly unlike it ; but Walker very 
justly observes that it " is the sound of e : the last letter of the diphthong 
that forms long i." Hence, I term it alphabetical e short. A similar de- 
rivation of a short sound from a part of a diphthongal sound, may be seen 
in the short sound of u in full, &c, below : called the short muffled 
sound of o. 

J has this sound, generally, before a consonant, (except r,) or more than 
one consonant, in the same syllable ; as in tin, tinder, wind, which, hitch. 

Note. — A common error in the pronunciation of i , for which we are indebted to Mr. Walker and 
his admirers, consists in giving to it, without reference to the origin of the word in which it appears, 
the sound of alphabetical e long, when it forms a syllable or ends one unaccented ; as in divide^ indi- 
visibility, ability ; which he pronounces as if written de-vide, in-devise-bil-e-ty, abile-ty. In these 
words, however, and in others, forming a very numerous class, alphabetical e short should be slightly, 
but distinctly heard. (See Webster's Dictionary, introduction.) 

IV. Middle a short. As this sound of i occurs only before r, and is pre- 
cisely like that of middle a short, and of middle a short e, I have given 
it the same name. The short u sound which many substitute for this, 
should be in all cases avoided as a vulgarity. The two sounds, as I have 
already observed, (see on middle a short) though similar, are by no means 
identical : u has a deeper and broader sound. 



14 . PBONUNi i LTIO* 

4. O has six sounds. 

1. Alphabetical j < tone, droll, wrote, remote. 

-• " short, J j love, money, other, havoc, method 

3. Muffled !ashcarclinj do > movc >1'" w > who - 

4. " short, < j woman, wolf. 

5. Broad a I cost, former, fortune, lost, nor. 

6. " " short, \ \ not, top, robber, conglomerate 

REMARKS. 

I. Alphabetical o long-. O has this sound, 

1. When it ends an accented syllable ; as in romance, explosion. 
Exceptions. Do, to, who, ado. 

2. When followed by a single consonant and mute e ; as in lone, devote, 
Exceptions. Prove, move, behoove, lose, love, dove, above, come, done, none, 

one, pomegranate, some. 

II. Alphabetical o short. " The long sound which seems the nearest 
relation to it, is the first sound of o in note, tone, rove, &c." Walker. 

As this sound, that of broad a long, that of short broad a, and that of 
muffled short, occur nearly in the same positions, usage alone must de- 
termine which of them is employed in a given case. 

III. The long sound of muffled o is a middle sound between u in tube and 
u in full. It is, in fact, precisely the oo sound (as heard in groove) ol 
which u in tube in part consists ; (see alphabetical u beloiu ;) and of this, 
u in full is a slight contraction. It occurs in a few words only : prove, 
move, behoove, (and their derivatives,) do, who, to, ado, tomb, ivomb. 

IV. The remarks, just made, show the propriety of treating the o in 
woman and wolf, and also in tool, the beginning of many proper names, 
(being exactly the sound of u in full,) as the short sound of muffled o 
long. It occurs, I believe, only in the words adduced. 

V. Broad a long. This sound of o is admitted by orthoepists with re- 
luctance and hesitation ; but it is as well established by usage, at least in 
this country, as any other elementary sound in the language : the speaker 
who should pronounce o in cost, lost, or, nor, &c, like o in not, would ex- 
pose himself to merited ridicule. The positions in which this sound oc- 
curs can only be learned from usage. 

VI. Broad a short. This sound " corresponds exactly to that of a in 
what, with which the words not, got, lot, &c, are perfect rhymes." 

Walker. 
Webster places both of the a sounds of o, very arbitrarily I think, under 
this head ; but the editor of his octavo edition candidly admits, that in 
some cases, o approximates to the broad a long sound. 

Note.— This letter is, in several instances, incorrectly pronounced. Home, stone, rchole, which 
should invariably have the sound of alphabetical o long, are heard pronounced, not seldom, as if 
written hum, stun, hull: does and doth, the o in which is alphabetical short, as if written doos and 
dothe: in the unaccented syllable of such words as creator, governor, &c, the short broad a sound 
of o, is, with very bad taste, substituted for the alphabetical short ; which sound, it should be 
observed, is the proper one in nearly all unaccented terminations : the prefix pro, like pre, no- 
ticed above, in the careless pronunciation of some speakers, loses its vowel. 

5. U has five sounds. 

1. Alphabetical. * J mule, pure, tube, cubic, union. 

2. Muffled o short, I j full, push, put, cushion, bullock. 

3. Alph. o short, I as heard in \ dull, tub, lumber, adumbration. 

4. " e short, \ busy, minute, and their compounds. 

5. Middle a short, \ \ bury, and its compounds. 



PRONUNCIATION. 15 

REMARKS. 

1. Alphabetical it. This vowel is comnpund. It is composed ol al- 
phabetical e and muffled o, or coo; which, rapidly pronounced, will express 
it. U has this sound, 

1 . When it ends a syllable ; as in duly, futurity, accumulate. 

2. When followed by a single consonant and filial e ; as in acute, tube. 

II. The muffled or oo portion of alphabetical u, is heard in prove, move, 
&c. : and of this, the u in full is the short sound ; as may be observed 
by comparing the o in wolf. Hence I call the second sound of u, the 
muffled o short. 

III. Alphabetical o short : so called because precisely the sound of al- 
phabetical o short. (See above.) This u, as well as the preceding, is 
followed by one or more consonants in the same syllable : as they occur 
in the same position, practice alone can enable us to distinguish them. 

IV. Alphabetical e and middle a short. Busy, bury, with their com= 
pounds, and minute, are, I think, the only words in which these sounds 
occur. The pronunciation of minute is clearly improper. The u, when 
shortened, should, at least, have passed into alphabetical o short, after the 
analogy of rapine, and have been pronounced as if written minut, not 
minit. But custom, usage has settled the matter apparently beyond change. 

As to busy and bury, they seem to have preserved their original pronun- 
ciation, while they lost their original orthography. 

Busy is derived from the Saxon bysgian, to occupy or employ ; and it 
should therefore have been written with an i instead of aw; it was so 
written by Wicklif ; as in the following passage : 

" But I woll that ghe be without bisyness ; for he that is without wif is 
bisi what things ben of the Lord, how he schal plese God ; but he that is 
with a wif, is bisi what things ben of the world, how he schal plese the 
wif, and he is departed." 

Bury is derived from the Saxon byrgan, to place in safety ; and hence 
like the preceding word it should have been written with an i. Birie is 
the orthography of Wicklif: the following passages show this. 

'■ Another of hise disciples seide to him, Lord, suffre me to go first, and 
birie my fadir ; but Jhesus seide to him, Sue thou me, and lete the dede 
men birie their dede men." 

" The earth schook, and stoones weren cloven, and birials weren opened, 
and many bodies of sayntes that hadden slept rysen up." (See Rich- 
ardson's Dictionary on the words.) 

Note.— The alphabetical sound of this vowel, it must be confessed, is sadly abused in pronun- 
ciation, and sometimes quite suppressed : abused by being pronounced like muffled o or oo in a 
multitude of words; as in tube, literature, &c, and suppressed in such words as regular, popular, 
particular, &c. 

6. Y, when a vowel, has four sounds. 

1. Alphabetical i, J J my, tyrant, multiply, thyme. 

2. " e as heard in fancy ' P hiloso P h y> hol y> env y- 

3. " e short, i \ lyric, hypocrite, pyramid, system, 

4. Middle a short, \ > myrtle, martyr. 

REMARKS. 

I. Alphabetical i. Y has this sound at the end of an accented syllable ; 
as in my, tyrant. 

II. Alphabetical e. It has this sound generally when in unaccented 



K) PRONUNCIATION. 

.syllables ; as in baby, fancy, muddy, angry, balmy, many, philosophy, happy, 
phrenzy, &e. 

Exceptions. These are very numerous ; as in all words ending in fy; 
vas justify ; and others ; as* multiply, occupy, butterfly, prophesy, gyration, &c. 

III. Alphabetical e short and middle a short. These sounds, as the ex- 
amples in the table prove, occur in the same circumstances. Practice 
must enable us to distinguish them. 

7. W, as a vowel, has no independent sound. It becomes vocal 
only in conjunction with another vowel with which it forms a diphthong ; 
as in blow, cow, howl, scowl. 

VIII. A diphthong is the union of two vowels in one articulation; as 
ou in sour : a triphthong is the union of three vowels in one articulation ; 
as eau in beau. 

Diphthongs are divided into proper and improper, or digraphs. In 
the first, the vowels blend and form one sound ; as au in caught : in the 
second, one of the vowels only is vocal ; as ea in beat, oa in coat, and coin 
leopard. I proceed to enumerate and describe them. 

1. Aa, ae, ai, au, aw, ay. 

1. Aa has two sounds. 

1. Of alphabetical a, \ , , . \ Aaron. 

2. Of flat a short, \ as neara m \ Balaam, Canaan, Isaac. 

2. Ae has one sound: viz, of alphabetical e; as heard in jEneas, 
Caesar. 

3* Ai has three sounds. 

1. Of alphabetical a, J I ail, bail, fail. 

2. " " a short, \ as heard in ) said, again, fountain, 

3. " flat a short, \ \ plaid, raillery. 

REMARK. 

In Britain, certain, fountain, and other words of the same termination, 
ai is pronounced by Walker and others like i in tin ; but for what reason 
is not obvious ; and as for usage, the obscure sound of e, as in chicken and 
kitchen, is as often heard as any other, among polished speakers ; as it is 
unquestionably the legitimate short sound of ai in ail, bail ; which is nothing 
more than a representative of alphabetical a. 

4. Au has four sounds. 

1. Of flat a short, \ \ aunt, gauntlet, laugh. 

2. " broad a long, \ , , . \ caught, fraught, taught. 
o u u u it \ < as heard in , & ,' b ' & 

3. " " " short, i laurel. 

4. " alphabetical o, \ \ hautboy. 

5. Aw has always one sound: viz, of broad a long; as in bawl, 
crawl, scrawl. 

6. Ay has always the sound of alphabetical a long; as in bay, day, 
delay. 



PRONUNCIATION. 



17 



2. Ea, eau, ee, ei, eo, cou, ew, ew, ey< 
1 . Ea has six sounds. 



as heard in 



break, greai. 
meadow, thread, 
bear, tear, 
earth, dearth, earl 
heart, hearken, 
beaver, appear. 



Of alphabetical a long, 
" " a short, 

" middle a long, 

" " a short, 

" flat a long, 

" alphabetical e long, 

2. Eau has two sounds. 

Of alphabetical o long, I , a- \ beau, portmanteau. 
" " w, \ \ beauty and its compounds. 

3* Ee has two sounds. 

Of alphabetical e long, I asheardin 
e short, > asnearam 

4. £i has six sounds. 



beet, creep, sweep, 
been, breeches. 



Of alphabetical a long, 
" " a short, 



a long, 



" middle 

" alphabetical e long, 
" M e short, 

" « i, 

5. Eo has four sounds. 
Of alphabetical a short, 



as heard in 



t °' S asheardin 
o long, 

o short, 



deign, heinous, veil, 
heifer, leisure, nonpareil, 
heir, their. 

deceit, receive, seize, 
foreign, forfeit, surfeit, 
height, sleight. 



leopard, jeopardy, 
people, 
yeoman, 
surgeon, dungeon. 



6. Eou, when a triphthong, has but one sound: viz., of alphabetical 
o short ; as in righteous, advantageous, gorgeous, outrageous, &c. 

7. Eu has uniformly the sound of alphabetical u; as in deuce, deu- 
teronomy, feud, grandeur. It is often erroneously pronounced like oo. 

8. Ew has two sounds. 

Of alphabetical o long, 
■ " u, 



as heard in 



shew, sew. 



crew, dew, mew. 
Like eu, it is often erroneously pronounced oo. 

9. Ey has three sounds. 

Of alphabetical a long, J \ bey, prey. 

" " e long, \ as heard in s key, ley, alley. 

" " «> j \ eye. 

3. iitf, ze, ieu, iew, i& y iou. 

1. la, when a diphthong, has the sound of alphabetical e short;, ea 
in marriage, carriage. 

3 



18 



PRONUNCIATION. 



2. 7e,,when a diphthong, has four sounds. 

Of alphabetical a short, J J friend. 

lone, \ , j . \ chief, grief, 
as heard in * 



e short, 



sieve, species, 
die, lie, pie. 



3. leu has the sound of alphabetical u; as in Sew, adieu, purlieu. 

4. Jew has also the sound of alphabetical u; as in view, review. 

5. Io, when a diphthong, has the alphabetical o short sound of u; 
as in marchioness, cushion, conversion, devotion, question, digestion. 

6. Iou, when a triphthong, has the sound of alphabetical o short ; 
as in precious, vexatious. It is often incorrectly pronounced after d 
as a triphthong ; as in tedious, spoken as if written te-je-ous or te-jus. 



4. Oa, oe, oeu, oi, oo, ou, ow, oy. 
1. Oa has two sounds. 



Of broad a long, 
" alphabetical o long, 

2. Oe has five sounds. 

Of alphabetical a short, 
" " e long, 

" " o long, 

" " o short, 

" muffled o long, 



as heard in 



as heard in 



broad, groat, 
boat, loaf, road. 



cecumenic, foetid, 
foetus, oeiliad. 
doe, foe, toe, hoe. 
does, 
canoe, shoe. 



3. Oeu has the sound of muffled o long; as in manoeuvre. 

4. Oi has six sounds. 



Of middle a short, 
" broad a and of al- > 
phabetical e long $ 
" alphabetical e long, 
" " e short, 

" " i, 

" w and broad a long, 

5. Oo has four sounds. 

Of alphabetical o long, 

" " o short, 

" muffled o long, 

" " o short, 

6. Ow has six sounds. 
* 

Of broad a long, 

" alphabetical o long, 
" " ■ o short, 

" muffled o long, 
" " o short, 

'Thia sound has no representative. 



as heard in 



as heard in 



as heard in 



avoirdupois. 

boil, toil. 

chamois, turcois. 

connoisseur, tortoise. 

choir. 

devoir, reservoir. 



door, floor, 
blood, flood, 
fool, moon, rood, 
hood, foot, wool, root. 

bound, doubt, cloud, hour, 
cough, brought, thought, 
mourn, pour, though, 
enough, journey, tough, 
soup, surtout, through, your, 
could, should, would. 



PRONUNCIATION. 



19 



cow, vow, brown, 
knowledge, 
blow, blown. 



7. Ow has three sounds. 

1. s 

2. Of broad a short, \ as heard in 

3. " alphabetical o long, \ 

8. Oy has only one sound: viz, that of broad a and alphabetical e 
long; as in cloy, boy. 

5. Ua, ue, ui, uo, uoy, uy. 
1. Ua has three sounds. 



Of w and alph. a long, \ 

" flat a long ; \ as heard in 

" alphabetical e short, \ 

2. Tie has four sounds. 

Of w and alph. a short, 
" alphabetical a short, 
" middle a short, 

" alphabetical u, 



as heard in 



assuage, persuade, 
guard, piquant, 
victuals, victualer. 



quench, conquest, 
coquet, guest, 
conquer, guerdon, 
ague, cue, hue, virtue. 



It is sometimes mute; as in antique, dialogue, &c. 
3. Ui has four sounds. 



1. Of w and alph. e short, 

2. " alphabetical e short, 

3. " " i, 

4. " " u, 

4. Uo has two sounds. 

1. Of w and alph. o long, 

2. " w and alph. o short, 



as heard in 



as heard in 



languid, vanquish, 
guilt, guinea, 
guide, disguise, 
juice, pursuit. 



quote, quotation, 
quoth. 



5. Uoy has one sound : viz., of w and broad a and e long ; or of w 
and oi in boil. It occurs only in one word : buoy. 



6. Uy has three sounds. 

1. Of w and alph. e long, 5 

2. " alphabetical e long, < 

3. " alphabetical i, \ 



as heard in 



obloquy, colloquy. 

plaguy, roguy. 

buy and its derivatives. 



IX. All the letters of the alphabet, not hitherto described, are called 
consonants : so called, because some of them cannot be uttered at all, 
and the remainder but in part, independently of the vowels. They 
are as follows : b, c, d, f, g, h, i, j, k, I, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z ; 
to which must be added ih, ch, sh, zh, wh, ng : being plainly elementary 
sounds, and as such belonging to the alphabet, though not formally inclu- 
ded in it. 



X. Consonants may be divided into two classes : real consonants, and 
substitutes. 

By a real consonant, is meant that which has a peculiar and determinate 
sound of its own, though it may assume that of another letter or a com- 



30 PRONUNCIATION. 

bination of letters ; and by a substitute, one which has no peculiar 
and determinate sound of its own, but uniformly represents that of 
some other letter or combination of letters. 

XI. The real consonants are, b, d, f, g> h, j, k, I, m, n, p, r, 8, t, v, 
w, x, y, z, ch, sh, ih, wh, ng. 

Real consonants are either unchangeable or changeable. Unchange- 
able consonants are those which uniformly have the same sound : 
changeable, those which, beside having their peculiar sounds, in certain 
positions assume other sounds. 

A consonant is not changeable because in one or two instances it may assume another sound ; 
(which may be merely a vicious effect of custom ;) but only when it assumes another sound, in 
the same position, in all words, or generally; and hence when this assumption can be traced to 
a general law. 

1. The unchangeable are, b,f h,j, k, I, m, p, r, v, w, y, sh, ih, wh. 

1. B. Its sound is heard in battle, rebel, bibber, cub. After m, 
(except in accumb, succumb, rhomb,) and before t, in the same syllable, it 
is silent ; as in lamb, bomb, thumb, debtor, doubt, subtle. 

2. F. F is heard infancy, muffin. In of, but not in its com- 
pounds, it has the sound of v. 

3. H. This letter is merely a strong breathing, which may be 
heard in hat, horse, hedge. At the beginning of the words, heir, heir- 
ess, herb, herbage, honest, honesty, honor, lumorable, hour, after r, as in 
rhomb, rhetoric, and at the end of a word preceded by a vowel, as in 
ah, oh, it is silent. 

In many words it is suppressed where it should be heard ; as in 
hostler, humble, exhale, exhibit, exhort, exhaust, exhilarate, &c. 

4. J. The sound of j is heard in James, jelly. It has the sound 
of y in hallelujah. 

5. K. The sound of k is heard in keep, skirt, murky. Before », 
it is mute ; as in knife, knell, knocker, knew. 

6. L. This letter has a soft liquid sound; as in sorrel, billow, 
love. It is often silent before d, f k, m, and v; as in could, should, 
ivould, calf, half, talk, balm, salve. 

7. M. M is heard in man, deem, murmur, monumental. In comp- 
troller it has the sound of n; and in mnemonic, it is silent. 

8. P. The sound of p is heard in pay, lip, puppy. It is silent 
before n, between m and t, and before s and t at the beginning of 
words ; as in pneumatics, tempt, ptisan, psalm ; and also in the words, 
corps, raspberry, receipt. 

9. R. The sound of this letter is heard inrage, brimstone, hurra. 

10. V. The sound of v is heard in vain, levity, ovation, relieve. It 
is silent in sevennight. 

1 1 . W. W is heard in want, will, word, ween, reward. In answer, 
sword, and before r, as in wrap, wreck, wrong, it is silent. 

12. Y. The sound of y is heard in yonder, &c. 

13. Sh. The peculiar sound of sh is heard in shine, short, refresh- 
ment, relish. 

14. Th. This combination has two sounds: the one sharp, as in 



PRONUNCIATION. 21 

think, with; the other flat, as in them, clothe. The h is silent in 

asthenic, asthma, isthmus, 'phthisic, phthisical, Thomas, Thames, thyme. 

15. Wh. This sound is heard in which, what, when, where, whale, 

&c. The w is sometimes silent ; as in whole, who, whose, whom, whoop. 

2. The changeable consonants are d, g, n, s, t, x, z, ch, ng. 

1. D. The peculiar sound of d is heard in dead, meddle, ruddy. It 
assumes the sound of t in the termination ed of the past tense, when 
immediately preceded by c, f k, p, s, x, ch, sh, or q; as in faced, 
stuffed, cracked, tripped, vexed, vouched, flashed, piqued. In handsome, 
stadtholder, and Wednesday, it is silent. 

The sound of j, which Walker assigns to this letter after the accent and followed by ia, ie, u 
alph., o and eou, as in radiance, obedience, mediocrity, arduous, hideous, &c, as if written 
rajiance, obejience, mejiocrity, arjuous, hijeous, is unwarranted, absurd and mischievous. 
Even in soldier, in which d is generally allowed to have the sound of j, it may be doubted 
whether d loses its proper sound. It is rather partially blended in the rapidity of articulation 
with the y sound of the i which follows it, 

2. G. The peculiar sound of g, (usually called its hard sound,) 
is heard at the end of words, and before a, o, u, I, r; as in bag, log, rug; 
game, gone, gull, glory, grandeur. It assumes the sound of j, (usually 
called its soft sound,) before e, i, and y; as in gem, giant, ginger, Egypt, 
gyration, badge, edge, &c. Exceptions are numerous ; as in get, finger, 
gilt, gimblet, girl, give, giddy, geld, girt, girth, &c. Before m and n in 
the same syllable, as in phlegm, gnash, malign, and before I in the 
words intaglio and seraglio, g is silent. 

3. N. The proper sound of n is heard in manner, number. It as- 
sumes the sound of ng when followed in the same syllable by k, c, ch, 
q, x; as in bank, ankle, cincture, distinct, bronchial, banquet, anxiously. 
After I and m in the same syllable, it is silent ; as in kiln, condemn, 
hymn. 

4. S. The peculiar sound of s is heard in sap, passing, use. It 
has this sound, 

1 . At the beginning of words ; as in sabbath, saddle, set, smile, 
spin, suit; except sugar, sure, &c. 

2. After f, k, p, t; as in scoffs, strifes, kicks, rakes, hops, 
hopes, bats, gates, &c. 

3. When double, except perhaps in dissolve, possess, and before 
the terminations ion, ia, ie or u, &c. 

4. In the inseparable prefix dis, except in disarm, discern, dis- 
dain, disease, dishonor, and their compounds : in mis ; and in the 
terminations ase, ese, ise, except wise, otherwise, otherguise; and 
ose, use; sive, sory, and osity, of adjectives. 

It assumes the sound of %, 

1. In the following words: as, is, was, his, has, these, those, 
and others. 

2. After b, d, g, v, I, m, n, r; as in hubs, ribs, beds, buds, 
heads, rags, shrugs, serves, fills, clams, dens, bars, stars. 

3. When together with e, (not mute e,) it forms the plural of 
nouns, and the third person singular of verbs ; as in praises, 
riches, shoes, tries, flies, dies, &c. 



22 PRONUNCIATION. 

4. After the inseparable prefix re, almost always ; as in re- 
serve, reside, result; generally in the terminations son, ser, sin; 
and often in the terminations sy, scy, sible, ise. 
It assumes the sound of sh, 

1. In sure, sugar, and their compounds. 

2. When preceded by the accent and another s, or I, m, n, r, and 
followed by ia, ie, io, or alphabetical u; as in cassia, circen- 
sian, expulsion, transient, mansion, version, censure, pressure. 
It assumes the sound of zh, 

When preceded by the accent and a vowel, and followed by 
ia, ie, io, or alphabetical u ; as in ambrosial, brasier, vision, 
usual, pleasure, erasure. 

Exceptions. Enthusiastic, ecclesiastic. 

It is silent in aisle, corps, demesne, isle, island, puisne, viscount. 

5. T. The peculiar sound of t is heard in ten, met, written. 
It assumes the sound of sh, 

When preceded by the accent either primary or secondary, 
and followed by ia, ie, or io; as in partial, patient, notation. 
It assumes the sound of ch, 

When preceded by the accent and s or x ; as in fustian, ques- 
tion, mixtion. It is silent before le (except in pestle) and en; 
as in hasten, bustle; in billetdoux, eclat, hautboy, mortgage; 
and in the first syllable of chestnut. 

6. X. The peculiar sound of this letter is heard in exit, exercise, 
excellence, luxury, which always occurs, 

1. At the end of an accented syllable ; as in the words quoted. 

2. At the end of a syllable followed by an accented syllable, 
beginning with a consonant ; as in excuse, extent, expense. 

It assumes the sound of z, 

At the beginning of a word ; as in Xenophon, Xerxes, Xanthus. 
It assumes the sound of gz, 

At the end of a syllable followed by another syllable under 
accent beginning with a vowel ; as in example, exert, exist. 

Exceptions. Doxology, proximity, and compound words of which 
the primitives end in x ; as in fixation, vexation, relaxation, &c. 
The words exhale, exhibit, exhort, exhaust, should also be enumera- 
ted as exceptions to this rule, if x is to be pronounced gz ; since it im- 
mediately precedes an accented syllable beginning with a consonant. 
But as this sound is all but incompatible with the aspiration of h, and 
has led to the almost general suppression of h in these words, I think 
it ought to be rejected. It is silent in billetdoux, and at the end of all 
words derived from the French. 

7. Z. The peculiar sound of z isheard in zest, zink, zone. It as- 
sumes the sound of zh, when preceded by the accent and a vowel, 
and is followed by ie or alphabetical u ; as in glazier, azure. 

8. Ch. The peculiar sound of this combination is heard in chin, 
chub, church. It assumes the sound of sh, in words from the French ; 
as in machine, chagrin, chaise. It assumes the sound of k, in words 
from the learned languages ; as in scheme, chorus, distich, Achish, 
Enoch. It is silent in schism, yacht and drachm. 



PRONUNCIATION. 23 

9. Ng. The peculiar sound of ng is heard in sing, song, sung, 
mingling. It assumes the sound of nj, when followed by e at the end 
of a syllable ; as in arrange, derange. 

XII. The substitutes are c, gh, i, ph, a. 

1. C. This letter is a substitute, 

1. For k, at the end of a syllable, and before a, o, u, r, I, t ; 
as in vaccination, cart, colt, cut, cur, college, cottage. 

2. For s, before e, i, y; as in cedar, cider, cymbal, mercy. 

3. For sh, when followed by ea, ia, ie, io, iou, and preceded 
by the accent primary or secondary ; as in ocean, social, species, 
spacious. 

4. For z, as in discern, sacrifice, suffice. 

C is silent in arbuscle, corpuscle, czar, czarina, endict, muscle, 
victuals. 

2. Gh. This combination, when one or the other, or both of the let- 
ters are not silent, is a substitute for f; as in laugh, cough, trough. 

3. I. This letter, as a consonant, is a substitute for y ; as in pin- 
ion, &c. 

4. Ph. Ph is always a substitute for/; as in philosopher, caliph. 

5. Q. This letter is a substitute for k; as in banquet, conquer, coquet. 

SEC II. ACCENT. 

Accent, in general, is that greater stress which is laid on one syllable 
of a word in comparison with another. It is employed to promote ease 
of articulation, to distinguish different parts of speech having the same 
form, and to express opposition of thought. Hence, as it subserves any 
one of these ends, it may be denominated articulatory, discriminative, or 
rhetorical. 

1. Articulatory Accent. 

Articulatory accent is either primary or secondary : the first, distin- 
guished from the last, by appearing at an earlier stage in the formation 
of words, by being indispensable to all words of more than one syllable, 
and by being produced by a more forcible utterance. A word never has 
the secondary accent until it contains three or more syllables ; and it may 
have three, four, and even five syllables, without having the secondary 
accent in a degree to attract notice ; as in relative, communicative. The 
greater force of the primary may be observed in such words as estimated, 
recommendation, heterogeneous. 

But few general rules can be given to determine the place of the ac- 
cent. Many that are prescribed as such, have exceptions as numerous 
as the words which they embrace. The limited number subjoined, are 
mainly drawn from Webster. 

1 . Monosyllables, though they may be pronounced with force, are ne- 
cessarily without accent : comparison of one syllable with another being 
involved in the very nature of accent. 

2. Dissyllables submit to no general rule of accentuation whatever ; 
as may be readily ascertained by testing those rules which Walker, 
Murray and others apply to this class of words. 



24 



PRONUNCIATION. 



3. Trissyllables, derived from dissyllables, usually retain the accent 
of their primitives; as in poet, poetess; pleasant, pleasantly; gracious. 
graciously; relate, related; polite, politely, politest. 

4. Words of four syllables also, derived from dissyllables, generally 
retain the accent of their primitives ; as in collectible from collect ; ser- 
viceable from service; virtuously from virtue; dictionary from diction; 
fancifulness from fancy. » 

5. In all cases, the preterit and participles of verbs retain the accents 
of the verbs. 

6. Words ending in Hon, sion, tian, cious, tious, cial, tial, tiate, tient, 
cient, have the accent on the syllable preceding that termination; as 
motion, aversion, christian, avaricious, adventitious, commercial, geometri- 
cian, substantial, negotiate, patient, ancient. 

7. Words of more than two syllables, ending in ty, have, for the most 
part, the accent on the antepenult ; as entity, liberty, gratuity, propriety, 
prosperity, insensibility . 

8. Trissyllables ending in ment, for the most part, have the accent on 
the first syllable ; as complement, detriment; but to this rule there are 
many exceptions, and particularly nouns formed from verbs ; as amend- 
ment, commandment. 

Words ending with cracy, fiuous, ferous, fluent, gonal, gony, macliy, 
loquy, mathy, meter, nomy, ogy, pailiy, phony, parous, scopy, strophe, vo- 
mous, tomy, raphy, have the accent on the antepenultimate syllable ; as 
democracy, superfluous, odoriferous, mellifluent, diagonal, cosmogony, logo- 
machy, obloquy, polymathy, barometer, economy, theology, apathy, euphony, 
oviparous, aeroscopy, apostrophe, ignivomous, duatomy, geography. 

Such is a brief statement of the rules of accentuation which possess 
any value. 

2. Discriminative Accent. 

This, as I have already observed, is employed to distinguish differ- 
ent parts of speech having the same form : principally nouns and verbs, 
but in a few instances nouns and adjectives ; as in the following list, which 
I obtain from Mr. Walker. 



ab'ject 


abject 


des'cant 


descant' 


absent 


absent 


digest 


digest 


abstract 


abstract 


essay 


essay 


accent 


accent 


export 


export 


affix 


affix 


extract 


extract 


augment 


augment 


exile 


exile 


bombard 


bombard 


ferment 


ferment 


cement 


cement 


frequent 


frequent 


colleague 


colleague 


import 


import 


collect 


collect 


incense 


incense 


compact 


compact 


insult 


insult 


compound 


compound 


object 


object 


compress 


compress 


perfume 


perfume 


concert 


concert 


prefix 


prefix 


concrete 


concrete 


premise 


premise 





PRONUNCIATION. 




con'duct 

confine 

conflict 


conduct' 

confine 

conflict 


pres'age 

present 

produce 


presage' 

present 

produce 


conserve 
consort 
contest 
contrast 


conserve 
consort 
contest 
contrast 


project 
protest 
rebel 
refuse 


project 
protest 
rebel 
refuse 


converse 


converse 


subject 


subject 


convert 


convert 


survey- 


survey 



25 



3. Rhetorical Accent. 

This is a temporary accent, or, perhaps more properly speaking, the 
customary accent transferred from its place to another syllable, to ex- 
press opposition of thought. 

Examples. 

1. He must increase, but I must decrease. 

2. What fellowship hath righteousness with imrighteousness ? 

3. Consider well what you have done, and what you have left 
wndone. 

4. This corruptible must put on ^corruption ; and this mortal must 
put on immortality. 

5. The difference in this case, is no less than betwixt decency and 
mdecency : betwixt religion and irreligion. 

6. In the suitableness or imsuitableness, the proportion or ^propor- 
tion of the affection to the object which excites it, consists the propri- 
ety or impropriety of the consequent action. 

7. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first 
into the lower parts of the earth ? He that descended, is the same also 
that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. 

The Effect of Accent on Delivery. 

Primary accent, and, in a lower degree, secondary accent, is a 
greater force of voice applied to one syllable of a word than to another. 

To prepare for this application of greater force, the voice is slightly 
raised above the key ; and as the result of this application, the voice is 
carried slightly below the key : the first of these movements I term the 
upper sweep; the second, the lower. (.See Plate, jig. 1.) The con- 
stant recurrence of these movements in the delivery of successive words 
at irregular intervals, according to the number of unaccented syllables 
between the accents, produces those undulations or successive waves of 
the voice on a small scale, which mav be observed in the following frag- 
ment of a sentence, if delivered without emphasis. " Yet because of 
his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." 

Such being the effect of accent, the monotone of which some, if not all 
works of elocution, speak, has therefore no existence. Accordingly I 
dispense with it in this work ; and when I have occasion to speak of the 
delivery of a sentence with no other variations of the voice than those 
produced by accent, I say, "delivered with accentual sweeps." 

4 



CHAPTER II. 



PUNCTUATION. 

What I have to say, under this head, rests on the following propo- 
sitions : 

1 . That our language comprises a limited number of sentences, hav- 
ing each a peculiar and uniform construction by which they may be al- 
ways and easily recognized : 

2. That all sentences of the same construction, should, in strict pro- 
priety, be punctuated, without regard to their brevity or length, in the 
same manner: 

3. That the punctuation should always coincide with the delivery ; so 
that the one may be a guide to the other ; or, rather, so that the con- 
struction of a sentence may determine the punctuation and the delivery 
at the same time : 

4. That every departure from the proper punctuation, by which the 
latter is brought in conflict with the delivery, should be systematic ; that 
is to say, should be for reasons which apply to all cases of the same 
kind ; so that the design of the change in punctuation may be, in every 
case, obvious, and the proper delivery retained notwithstanding. 

In the remarks which follow, I purposely refrain from entering on the details of punctuation : 
nothing more being necessary at present, than the general rules which determine the proper 
use of the different pauses, and so prepare the way to understand the classification and descrip- 
tion of sentences on succeeding pages. Their special application, I deem it best to reserve un- 
til the subject of structure shall be under consideration. 

Pauses are employed for three purposes : 

1 . To mark divisions of sense ; 

2. To indicate the nature of the sentence; and 

3. To denote unusual construction or significance. 

SEC I. PAUSES WHICH MARK DIVISIONS OF SENSE. 

These are, 1. The comma, \ 

2. " semicolon. > 



3. " colon, \ written thus 

4. " period, j 

5. " double period, \ 



PUNCTUATION. 27 

I. THE COMMA. 

1. The comma is properly employed, only, in separating the mem- 
bers of a sentence, making imperfect sense. 

As a pause, it suspends the voice, in unimpassioned reading or speak- 
ing, sufficiently long to draw breath : under the influence of emotion, its 
time is indefinite. 

Note 1. By imperfect sense, I mean sense imperfect according to the author ; for a sentence 
may be so constructed that the first half or the first quarter of it, i ^considered apart from what fol- 
lows, would of itself make perfect sense, and consequently demand, in conformity to the rule, some 
pause different from the comma ; but, if considered with reference to the author's intention, the 
sense is imperfect, until what follows, be subjoined. Observe this sentence: "We came to our 
journey's end, at last, with no small difficulty, after much fatigue, through deep roads, and bad wea- 
ther." Take any part of this sentence terminating with a comma, and, if you look no farther than 
that part, you will have perfect sense, but not the perfect sense of the author : what follows the 
comma being absolutely necessary to the completeness of his thought ; as much so, as if the sen- 
tence were written thus: "At last, after much fatigue, through deep roads and bad weather, we 
came, with no small difficulty, to our journey's end." This is unquestionably a better construction 
than the other, but the parts are not more closely allied, nor more indispensable to the complete- 
ness of the author's thought than before. What then is the difference between the two forms of con- 
struction ? None with regard to the author, and none, consequently, with regard to the use of the 
comma. The difference between them respects the hearer or reader exclusively ; and that differ- 
ence is this : the first at no point raises an expectation of any thing to follow : the second excites 
and keeps up such an expectation until the close of the sentence is reached. 

Note 2. When I say, the comma as a pause suspends the voice, &c. &c, I mean to intimate that 
the comma does not necessarily represent a pause, but simply designates the place where, if neces- 
sary, a pause may be made : where the relation of the words is norso close, but that, if necessary, 
they can be separated long enough to take breath, or to produce some rhetorical effect, without in- 
jury to the sense. The pause should, if possible, be limited to those commas which mark principal 
or leading divisions of imperfect sense ; inasmuch as its frequent repetition, together with the pe- 
culiar inflexion connected with it, tends to monotony. 

1. Examjrtes of the proper use of the Comma. 

1. Industry, good sense and virtue, are, as a general thing, essen- 
tial to health, wealth and happiness. 

2. Uncommon expressions, strong flashes of wit, pointed similes, epi- 
grammatic turns, especially when they recur too frequently, are a dis- 
figurement rather than any embellishment of discourse. 

3. His dashing spirit, unused to control, and above submission to the 
loss of fortune, health and tranquillity, finishes the career of glory with 
a pistol. 

4. But it appears to me, that the exhibition of the first magistrate, 
and of great statesmen, in caricature, must contribute to diminish or de- 
stroy that reverence which is always due to legal authority and estab- 
lished rank, and confessedly conducive to the most valuable ends of hu- 
man society. 

5. Destitute of education, and without a true friend to guide them; 
they turned out unfortunately, ran away from their trades, entered in 
low situations into the army and navy, married imprudently, or* died 
early of intemperance. 

6. Rural employments are certainly natural, amusing and healthy. 

7. What is it you call eloquence ? Is it the wretched trade of imi- 
tating that criminal, mentioned by a poet in his satires, who balanced 
his crimes before his judges with antithesis 1 

8. And where is the man that has not foibles, weaknesses, follies 
and defects of some kind ? And where is the man that has greater vir- 
tues, greater abilities, more useful labors, to put into the opposite scale 
against his defects, than Dr. Johnson? 

9. As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. 



28 PUNCTUATION. 

10. When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part 
sjiall be done away. 

11. Where the carcase is, there will the eagles he gathered together. 

12. If a more perfect union was formed, if justice was administered, 
if domestic tranquillity was secured, if the common defence was provided 
for, if the general welfare was promoted, it was all for the attainment of 
this end. 

13. That faith which is one, that faith which renews and justifies all 
who possess it, that faith which confessions and formularies can never 
adequately express, is the property of each alike. 

2. Examples of improper use. 

1. This paper gentlemen insists upon the necessity of emancipating 
the Catholics of Ireland, and that is charged as part of the libel. 

2. In their day and generation, they served and honored the country 
and the whole country, and their renown is the treasure of the whole 
country. 

3. Such is the simile of a hero to a lion, of a person in sorrow to a 
flower drooping its head, of a violent passion to a tempest, of chastity to 
snow, of virtue to the sun and stars, and many others of the same kind. 

4. It was the spirit of liberty which still abides on the earth and whose 
home is in the bosoms of the brave, which but yesterday in beautiful 
France restored their charter, which even now burns brightly on the 
towers of Belgium and has rescued Poland from the tyrant's grasp, 
making their sons and their daughters the wonder and the admiration 
of the world, the pride and glory of the human race ! 

In not one of these examples, (which are none of my own making, but all of them drawn from 
books,) does the comma separate parts making imperfect sense. In the first and second, the 
parts ending with Ireland and country, are complete propositions, which are followed by no- 
thing to augment, or diminish, or qualify their meaning in any particular; and the succeeding 
parts are similar propositions : connected indeed, with the preceding, but. nevertheless com- 
plete ; and were it not for this slight connection, they would be clearly not less independent, 
than they are essentially different, propositions. 

Again, in the third, the part ending with lion, is a complete proposition, unqualified by any 
thing in the succeeding parts : the author's idea is complete. The comma is, therefore, mani- 
festly not the pause which, according to the rule, should be placed at the end of it. But if 
this makes perfect sense, so, for the same reason does the next ; and the next ; until we reach 
the end : each of them in succession rejecting the comma, and calling for some other pause. It 
is true that a portion of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth part, must be supplied from 
the first part ; but there is no common regimen : it, is simply a case of abbreviation in view of 
the fact, that all the parts have the same subject. When the subjects are different, as example 
1 and 2 above, they are necessarily expressed as in 2, or represented by the pronouns, as in 1. 
When even they are the same, they are not seldom, as in the following example, repeated : 

"Such was the man : such was the occasion : such was the event." 

Example fourth, it will be observed, contains a double series of members : the first ending 
with grasp, and the second, with race, at the end. Each of these series has a construction 
precisely like example 3rd ; and each should, therefore, be punctuated in the same manner, so 
far as any thing yet appears to the contrary : at least they alike exclude the comma. 

As perfect sense is made at grasp, the comma is not the pause which should be inserted 
there ; but as the punctuation before a participle in such a position as that of the Avord making, 
deserves a more extended consideration than I can give it here, and may receive it more ad- 
vantageously on a succeeding page, I shall at present content mvself with what I have al- 
ready said. 

II. The comma being mainly designed to subserve perspicuity, it 
might be expected, that, where the sense is in no danger of being ob- 



PUNCTUATION. 29 

scured by its suppression, though a pause may be made at the place, and 
often is indispensable, it would be omitted. Such is the case ; and with 
a view to emphasis, (hereafter to be discussed, and with which punctu- 
ation is closely connected,) as well as the importance of knowing all the 
positions of the pauses, to one who wishes to speak correctly, I will no- 
tice a few instances of this. 

1. When the subject of a sentence stands at the beginning, is not one 
of the pronouns, and has either nothing between it and the verb, or 
merely a single word, as in example 3d, or a short inseparable adjunct, 
as in example 4th, the comma is not inserted, though a pause must fre- 
quently be made : e. g. 

"Industry is the guardian of innocence." "Necessity is the mother 
of invention." '-Virtue therefore is its own reward." "The tender 
mercies of the wicked are cruel." 

It should be observed here, however, that the pause is necessary after the subject, only, when 
it is under emphasis : a fact which has hitherto escaped the attention of writers on elocution. 
Place the emphasis on the verb or any succeeding word, and the pause disappears. This is 
the reason that the pronouns, though the subject of the sentence, and placed at the beginning, 
like "it," at the beginning of this note, are not followed by a pause, except when a special ef- 
fort is made to render them emphatic. 

2. When a part (of a sentence) making imperfect sense, is short, and 
is followed by another part beginning with a relative pronoun, restrain- 
ing the meaning of its antecedent, the comma is always omitted, though 
a pause may be made : e. g. " Self-denial is the sacrifice which virtue 
must make." "A man who is of a detracting spirit, will misconstrue 
the most innocent words that can be put together." 

3. Before and after such words as then, therefore, thus, hence, &c, 
the comma is suppressed for the most part, though a pause may be ne- 
cessary : e. g. 

"Wherefore I was grieved with that generation." " Let us therefore 
come boldly unto a throne of grace." " Being then made free from sin, 
ye became the servants of righteousness." "But now being made free 
from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness." 

4. The comma is frequently omitted, though a pause must be made, 
between the parts of a sentence transposed, or having the natural order 
reversed : e. g. 

" In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my 
soul." "In the morning it flourisheth : in the evening it is cut down." 

A pause is necessary in these sentences after me, morning and evening. 

5. A pause may be made between parts which may be transposed 
without injury to the sense, although they are not transposed ; and al- 
though the comma is seldom, I believe, inserted in such circumstances. 
Thus transposition removed from one of the sentences above, it would 
read as follows : "It flourisheth in the morning: it is cut down in the 
evening ;" and a pause may be made with propriety before in, in each 
member of the sentence. 

It will be seen, hereafter, that the effect of emphasis is precisely the same, at such a point in 
the sentence, as at any at which the admission of the comma is not" disputed. In this view, the 
fact is one which it is important to remember. 



80 PUNCTUATION. 

III. Exception to the General Rule for the proper use of the 
Comma. 

When sentences, consisting of parts making imperfect sense, and be- 
ginning (like No. 9, 10, 11, of proper use) with correlative adverbs or 
conjunctions, have both these correlative words understood, the comma 
is displaced by the semicolon : e. g. 

"It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in 
dishonor ; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness ; it is raised in 
power. It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body." 

" But not all the chapters of human history are thus important ; the 
annals of our race have been filled up with incidents which convey no 
instruction." 

Each of the series from Scripture has parts beginning with the correlative words, though 
— yet, understood ; and the last sentence has parts beginning with the correlative words, there- 
fore—for or because, understood. If supplied, as they might be without impropriety, and of- 
ten are, (as we shall hereafter see,) the sense would be manifestly imperfect ; inasmuch as 
though, in the one case, and therefore, in the other, would suggest the other correlative words 
respectively, as yet to come. But their influence upon the sense and delivery is the same be- 
ing understood, as if they were expressed. At the same time, their suppression requires a 
longer pause ; and since we have none bearing the same relation to the comma, that is borne 
by the colon to the semicolon, the last must be employed, though it is thus really diverted 
from its proper use. 

II. THE SEMICOLON. 

The semicolon properly separates the parts of a sentence making per- 
fect sense, and connected, not as members of the same regimen,* or of 
the same proposition,")" but of a different regimen, and of distinct though 
related propositions, by conjunctions, adverbs, or relative pronouns, ex- 
pressed. It is relatively twice the length of the comma : under the 
influence of passion, it has no determinate time. 

The first part is always complete in its construction, except in poetry, which enjoys a license 
in this respect as in many others, and in broken prose of the passions, which often leaves the im- 
agination to supply what is left unsaid : the second part, and every succeeding part, are also of- 
ten complete in their construction ; but almost as often, if not quite, they must be completed by 
supplying a portion understood from the first part. 

It should be observed, that these principal parts or divisions of a sentence may have sub- 
parts of the same nature. 

1 . Examples of the proper use of the Semicolon. 

1. I would have your papers consist also of all things which may be 
necessary or useful to any part of society ; and the mechanic arts should 
have their place as well as the liberal. 

2. He has annexed a secret pleasure to any thing that is new or un- 
common, that he might encourage us in the pursuit after knowledge, 

*By common regimen, I mean the common dependence (for instance) of verbs, in different mem- 
bers of the sentence, but in the same mood and tense, and connected by conjunctions expressed or 
understood, on the same subject or nominative case: e. g. "But he held his peace, and answered 
nothing." 

The difference between this construction and that of the following sentence, in which there is no 
common regimen, but distinct propositions are given, is obvious. "And it was the third hour ; and 
they crucified him." 

t"I would have, your papers consist also of all things which may be necessary or useful to soci- 
ety." " Which," in this sentence, connects members of a different regimen but of the same propo- 
sition. Or connects members of the same regimen and proposition. 

"I would have your papers consist also of all things which may be necessary or useful to society ; 
and the mechanic arts should have their place as well as the liberal." Andhere connects members 
of a different regimen and of distinct though related propositions. 



PUNCTUATION. 31 

and engage us to search into the wonders of creation ; for every new 
idea brings such a pleasure along with it, as rewards any pains we have 
taken in the acquisition, and consequently serves as a motive to put us on 
fresh discoveries. 

3. The person he chanced to see, was, to appearance, an old, sordid, 
blind man ; hut upon his following him from place to place, he at last 
found, by his own confession, that he was Plutus, the god of riches ; and 
that he was just come out of the house of a miser. 

4. All superiority and pre-eminence that one man can have over ano- 
ther, may be reduced to the notion of quality ; which, considered at large, 
is either that of fortune, body, or mind. 

5. The mode of reasoning more generally used, and most suited to the 
train of popular speaking, is what is called the synthetic ; when the point 
to be proved is fairly laid down, and one argument after another is made 
to bear upon it, till the hearers be fully convinced. 

6. By and by, Clodius met him on the road, on horseback, like a man 
prepared for action ; whilst Milo is travelling in a carriage with his wife, 
wrapped up in his cloak, embarrassed with baggage, and attended by a 
great train of women, servants and boys. 

7. Consider whether it can be illustrated to advantage by pointing out 
examples, or appealing to the feelings of the hearers; that thus, a definite, 
precise, circumstantial view may be afforded of the doctrine to be incul- 
cated. 

8. But besides this consideration, there is another of still higher impor- 
tance ; though I am not sure of its being attended to as much as it de- 
serves; namely, that from the fountain of real and genuine virtue are 
drawn those sentiments which will ever be the most powerful in affect- 
ing the hearts of others. 

9. I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the pleas- 
ures of the imagination, I meant only such pleasures as arise originally 
from sight ; and that I divide these pleasures into two kinds. 

10. Let it be the study of public speakers, in addressing any popular 
assembly, to be previously masters of the business on which they are to 
speak ; to be well provided with matter and argument ; and to rest upon 
these the chief stress. 

11. Knowing this : that the law is not made for a righteous man, but 
for the lawless and disobedient ; for the ungodly and for sinners ; for 
unholy and profane ; for murderers of fathers and murderers of moth- 
ers ; for manslayers ; for whoremongers ; for them that defile themselves 
with mankind ; for men-stealers ; for liars ; for perjured persons ; and* 
if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine [for that.] 

12. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue ; 
and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; and to tem- 
perance, patience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to godliness, brotherly 
kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 

2. Examples of improper use. 

1. When an author is always calling on us to enter into transports 
which he has done nothing to inspire ; we are both disgusted and enraged 
at him. 

* If the connective is expressed before the last part of a series, it is sufficient for the rule. 



32 PUNCTUATION. 

2. Vexed at the arbitrary proceedings of the Assembly ; willing to 
escape from a town where good people pointed with horror at his freedom ; 
indignant also at the tyranny of his brother, who, passionate as a mas- 
ter, often beat his apprentice ; Benjamin Franklin, then but seventeen 
years old, sailed clandestinely for New York. 

3. The soil of a Republic sprouts with the rankest fertility ; it has 
been sown with dragon's teeth. To lessen the hopes of usurping dema- 
gogues, we must enlighten, animate and combine the spirits of freemen ; 
we must fortify and guard the constitutional ramparts about liberty. 

4. I put these together, both because they fall nearly under the same 
rules, and because they commonly answer the same purpose ; serving to 
illustrate the cause or the subject of which the orator treats before he 
proceeds to argue either on one side or the other. 

5. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. 

6. History, as it has been written, is the genealogy of princes; the 
field-book of conquerors. 

The parts separated by the semicolon in No. 1 and 2, make imperfect sense ; and hence 
they should be separated by the comma. 

The parts in No. 3 make perfect sense, but the connective is suppressed. Accordingly, they 
cannot be separated by the semicolon under the rule. 

The parts in No. 4 and 5, also make perfect sense, but in both the connective is suppressed, 
as in the preceding No. 3 : consequently, the semicolon is incorrect punctuation. In No. 5, the 
punctuation is inconsistent ; for while it has a semicolon before teaching, it has only a comma 
before baptizing ; and yet the circumstances are precisely the same. 

Why neither the comma nor semicolon is admissible before the participles in this position, 
will be fully explained under the next pause. 

In No. 6, the connective is not expressed. The semicolon is therefore improperly used. 

III. THE COLON. 

The colon properly separates the parts of a sentence, making perfect 
sense, and connected, not as members of the same regimen, or of the 
same proposition, but of a different regimen, and of distinct though rela- 
ted propositions, by conjunctions, adverbs, or relative pronouns under- 
stood. (See Semicolon, Notes.) 

In the suppression of the connectives or copulatives, lies the only ra- 
tional and even imaginable distinction between the colon and semicolon. 
By this suppression alone, is the connection between the parts of a sen- 
tence in which either of them may be employed, made less close, and a 
longer pause than the semicolon, necessary ; and then a longer pause is 
necessary : a fact which printers of the present day, who almost univer- 
sally dispense with the use of the colon, seem to have forgotten, or studi- 
ously to neglect. 

The sentence in which the colon is properly employed, does not differ 
in construction from that in which the semicolon is inserted. ( See Sem- 
icolon.) 

This pause is relatively as long again as the semicolon : under the in- 
fluence of passion its time is indefinite. 

1. Examples of the proper use of the Colon. 

1. He shows you what you ought to do, but excites not the desire of 
doing it : he treats man as if he were a being of pure intellect, without 
imagination or passions. 



PUNCTUATION. 33 

2. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven : I will 
exalt my throne above the stars of God : I will sit also upon the mount 
of the congregation in the sides of the north. 

3. Gratitude is of a fruitful and diffusive nature : of a free and com- 
municative disposition : of an open and sociable temper. It will be im- 
parting, discovering, and propagating itself : it affects light, company and 
liberty : it cannot endure to be smothered in privacy and obscurity. 
(Sec Deviations II) 

4. The faults opposed to the sublime are chiefly two : the frigid and 
the bombast. 

5. One of the court party interrupted him in these words : " How 
dare you praise a rebel before the representatives of the nation?" 

6. The following observations exactly correspond with the sentiments 
of our author : " Nothing can contribute more towards bringing the pow- 
ers of genius to their ultimate perfection than a severe judgment, equal 
in degree to the genius possessed." 

7. And with this, I finish the discussion of the structure of sentences : 
having fully considered them under all the heads I mentioned, of perspi- 
cuity, unity, strength, and musical arrangement. 

8. Is he the God of the Jews only 1 Is he not also of the Gentiles ? 
Yes, of the Gentiles also : seeing it is one God who shall justify the cir- 
cumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. 

9. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live 
with him : knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more : 
death hath no more dominion over him. 

The parts of No. 1, 2 and 3, are properly separated by the colon, because the connective and 
is understood. 

In No. 4, 5 and 6, namely is undex-stood. The colon is therefore correctly used. 

In No. 7, 8 and 9, we have at length the proper punctuation before the participles, when em- 
ployed as in these sentences. I now call the student's attention to the reason for this. The 
participles when so used, (and the perfect as well as the present is so used, though I have given 
no examples,) are uniformly abbreviated forms substituted for the finite verb preceded by con- 
junctions, adverbs, or relative pronouns. Thus, having in No. 7, is strictly the equivalent of 
Iliave; seeing, in No. 8, of we see; and knowing, in No. 9, of we know ; and as these fuller 
expressions would, if employed, be preceded by the semicolon or colon, according as the con- 
nective for might be expressed or understood, no reason can be assigned why their equivalents 
should not be treated in the same manner ; that is, (since the connective, not merely, but also 
the pronoun, is understood,) with the colon. 

Against the use of the comma, which, as we have seen, is employed before the participle so 
situated, and I may now add, very frequently employed, there is a stronger objection than 
against that of the semicolon ; for the participle is often employed in nearly the same manner 
after imperfect sense. Observe above the first sentence under the head of colon. "The colon 
properly separates the parts of a sentence, making perfect sense." The participle making here 
is the substitute or equivalent of "which make," preceded by imperfect sense. Take another 
example. "And there was seen a great way off - a herd of swine, feeding." Here the parti- 
ciple is a mere abbreviation of "which were feeding," as before preceded by imperfect sense ; 
and consequently it should be separated from what precedes by the comma. How shall we 
distinguish cases of this kind from such as we find in Nos. 7, 8, 9, if we point them in the same 
manner ? 

It should be observed before dismissing this subject, that the participle often appears in what 
seems to be the one or the other of the two positions which I have just noticed, but which is yet 
very distinct from both: e. g. "I saw him sliding down hill." "He went crying all the 
way home." " The horse stood champing the bit." Here the participle limits, restrains or 
qualifies the object or action, and therefore cannot be separated from it even by the comma, un- 
less some specification of time or place, &c, should intervene ; as, " I saw him, just at night, 
sliding down hill." "The horse stood, in the yard, champing," &c. 

2. Examples of improper use. 

1 . They entered in, and dwelt together : and the second possession 
was worse than the first. 

5 



61 PUNCTUATION. 

2. One may have a considerable degree of taste in poetry, eloquence, 
or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for composi- 
tion or execution in any of these arts : but genius cannot be found with- 
out including taste also. 

3. But on other occasions, this were improper: for what is the use of 
melody, or for what end has the poet composed in verse, if in reading 
his lines, we suppress his numbers, and degrade them, by our pronun- 
ciation, into mere prose? 

4. These are degrading : whereas, similes are commonly intended to 
embellish and to dignify. 

5. He first lost by his misconduct the flourishing provinces of France, 
the ancient patrimony of the family : he subjected his kingdom to a 
shameful vassalage under the see of Rome : he saw the prerogatives of 
his crown diminished by law, and still more reduced by faction: and 
he died at last, when in danger of being totally expelled by a foreign 
power, and of either ending his' life miserably in prison, or seeking shel- 
ter as a fugitive from the pursuit of his enemies. 

6. When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business 
that is done upon the earth : then I beheld all the works of God, that a 
man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. 

7. As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
not perceive it moving ; and it appears the grass has grown, though no- 
body ever saw it grow : so the advances we make in knowledge, as they 
make such minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

In the first five of these examples, the colon is improperly employed, because the connectives 
are expressed : in the last two, because it separates parts making imperfect sense. 

It may be worth while to notice the improper use of the comma between the sub-parts of the 
first part of No. 5. At France, we have perfect sense : consequently the comma should be 
displaced by the colon : which were, the connective and the verb, being suppressed. 

IV. THE PERIOD. 

The period is properly placed at the end of a complete and indepen- 
dent enunciation of thought. Its relative length is double that of the 
colon ; but under the influence of passion, its length is indeterminate. 

As this pause is too well known to need illustration, I shall confine 
my examples to the purpose of showing its improper use. 

Examples of improper use. 

1. It is not the insolence of the haughty, however, which is the only 
disquiet of others. There is a power in every individual, over the tran- 
quillity of almost every individual. 

2. Jurists may be permitted with comparative safety to pile tome upon 
tome of interminable disquisition upon the motives, reasons and causes of 
just and unjust war.. Metaphysicians may be suffered with impunity to 
spin the thread of their speculations until it is attenuated to a cob-web ; 
but for a body created for the government of a great nation, and for the 
adjustment and protection of its diversified interests, it is worse lhan folly 
to speculate upon the causes of war, until the great question shall be 
presented for immediate action. 



PUNCTUATION. 35 

3. The most eminent physicians bear uniform testimony to this pro- 
pitious effect of entire abstinence. And the spirit of inspiration has re- 
corded, " He that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." 

4. The immortal Edwards, too, repeatedly records his own experience 
of the happy effect of strict temperance both on the mind and body. And 
the recent reformations from moderate drinking, in different parts of the 
land, have revealed numerous examples of renovated health and spirits 
in consequence of the change. 

5. In the full persuasion of the excellency of our government, let us 
shun those vices which tend to its subversion, and cultivate those vir- 
tues which will render it permanent, and transmit it in full vigor to all 
succeeding ages. Let not the haggard forms of intemperance and lux- 
ury ever lift their destroying visages in this happy country. Let econ- 
omy, frugality, moderation and justice, at home and abroad, mark the 
conduct of all our citizens. Let it be our constant care to diffuse know- 
ledge and goodness through all ranks of society. 

6. Learned men have marked out four of these happy ages. The 
first is the Grecian age, which commenced near the time of the Pelopon- 
nesian war, and extended till the time of Alexander the Great ; within 
which period, we have Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Socrates, 
Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, iEschines, Lysias, Isocrates, Pindar, JE&- 
chylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Menander, Anacreon, The- 
ocritus, Lysippus, Apelles, Phidias, Praxitiles. The second is the Ro- 
man age : included nearly within the days of Julius Caesar and Augustus : 
affording us Catullus, Lucretius, Terence, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, 
Propertius, Ovid, Phsedrus, Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Sallust, Varro, and 
Vitruvius. The third age is that of the restoration of learning under 
the popes Julius II and Leo X ; when flourished Ariosto, Tasso, San- 
nazarius, Vida, Machiavel, Guicciardini, Davila, Erasmus, Paul Jovius, 
Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian. The fourth comprehends the age of 
Louis XIV and Queen Anne ; when flourished in France, Corneille, 
Racine, De Retz, Moliere, Boileau, Fontaine, Baptiste, Rousseau, Bos- 
suet, Fenelon, Bourdaloue, Pascal, Malebranche, Massilon, Bruyere, 
Bayle, Fontenelle, Vertot; and in England, Dryden, Pope, Addison, 
Prior, Swift, Parnell, Arbuthnot, Congreve, Otway, Young, Rowe, At- 
terbury, Shaftsbury, Bolingbroke, Tillotson, Temple, Boyle, Locke, 
Newton, Clark. 

No. 1 is an exception to the proper use of the comma. (See above.) It should therefore 
have been punctuated with the semicolon. 

In No. 2, it will be readily observed, that the part beginning with jurists and the part be- 
ginning with metaphysicians, bear precisely the same relation to the succeeding conjunction 
but : a sufficient reason surely against the insertion of the period after war. 

In Nos. 3, 4, for the reason that the parts are allied in thought, and connected as propositions 
by the connective and, the semicolon should have been used. 

In No. 5, we have the same connection with the connective understood. The period there- 
fore should give place to the colon. The same may be said of the period after Praxitiles, Vi- 
truvius and Titian in No. 6 ; which in other respects is punctuated correctly. I would have 
the student notice particularly the same use of the present and perfect participles, affording and 
included, together with the punctuation before them ; which is here correct. I would have 
him observe also, that the use of the semicolon is, in every one of the five instances in which it 
occurs, in exact conformity to our rules. 

V. THE DOUBLE PERIOD. 

The double period is the pause which occurs at the end of a para- 
graph, or a series of sentences evolving the same general thought. It 



36 PUNCTUATION. 

lias no sign of its own, but is represented by the common period. It is 
usually indicated by a break or blank space in the page. This, how- 
ever, is not always the ease ; for neither speakers, writers, nor printers, 
are always accurate in marking the transition from one general thought 
to another ; and when not, the reader must exercise his own judgment 
in marking it for himself. 

The length of the double period, as the name implies, is relatively 
about double the length of the common period. 

No examples are necessary to illustrate this pause; a bare reference to any book within 
reach, will be sufficient to satisfy the inquiring that this pause has a real existence in nature; 
and though hitherto unnoticed by writers on elocution, one of great importance to a correct, 
graceful, and impressive delivery. By neglecting to observe it, many speakers and readers, 
both at the bar and in the pulpit, as well as jn less conspicuous positions, impair seriously the 
effect of what they speak and read on those who hear them. Many cases of this have fallen 
under my own observation. 

DEVIATIONS FROM THE LEGITIMATE USE OF THE PAUSES WHICH MARK 
DIVISIONS OF SENSE. 

I have said at the beginning of this chapter, " that every departure 
from the proper punctuation, by which the latter is brought in conflict 
with the delivery, should be systematic ; that is to say, should be for 
reasons which apply to all cases of the same kind ; so that the design 
of the change in punctuation may be alw 7 ays obvious, and the proper 
delivery retained notwithstanding." 

Unhappily, for the want of a sufficient number of pauses to meet all 
the exigencies of punctuation, such a departure is frequently necessary ; 
and I now proceed to state the rules in conformity to which, it should uni- 
formly take place. As I have hitherto introduced no rule, not founded 
in the nature of things, and sustained by abundant examples from the 
best practice of printers, (the leading practice, in fact, of all printers, but 
from which they are often seen capriciously wandering,) so here I shall 
lay down no principle which is not amply justified by the best punctua- 
tion in this country and Great Britain. I do not aim at originality, but 
simply to introduce system, where hitherto, it must be confessed, practice 
has often been incompatible with itself, often arbitrary, not seldom ex- 
tremely sloven, frequently and glaringly false, and, since confusion here 
must necessarily produce a corresponding confusion in the delivery, al- 
ways more or less injurious. 

I. When the parts (of a sentence) making imperfect sense, are not 
merely long, but comprise subdivisions which require separation by the 
comma, we may employ the semicolon to mark their limits, and distin- 
guish them from these subdivisions ;* and if, for the same reason, a re- 
moter punctuation be necessary, we may employ the colon. 

Examples. 

1 . The bounding of Satan over the walls of Paradise ; his sitting in 
the shape of a cormorant upon the tree of life, which stood in the centre 

* When a sentence contains a succession of similar members making imperfect sense, and any one 
of them requires the semicolon for the reason assigned ; all of them, for the sake of uniformity, may 
be punctuated in the same manner, though without subdivisions requiring the comma. The first 
and second example are pertinent illustrations of this. 



PUNCTUATION. 37 

of it, and overtopped all the other trees in the garden ; his alighting 
among the herd of animals, which are so beautifully represented as play- 
ing about Adam and Eve, together with his transforming himself into dif- 
ferent shapes, in order to hear their conversation ; are circumstances 
that give an agreeable surprise to the reader, and are devised with great 
art to connect that series of adventures, in which the poet has engaged 
this artifice of fraud. 

2. That a man, to whom he was, in a great measure, beholden for his 
crown, and even for his life ; a man, to whom, by every honor and favor, 
he had endeavored to express his gratitude ; whose brother, the Earl of 
Derby, was his own father-in-law ; to whom he had committed the trust 
of his person, by creating him lord chamberlain ; that a man enjoying 
his full confidence and affection ; not actuated by any motive of discon- 
tent or apprehension ; that this man should engage in a conspiracy 
against him, he deemed absoultely false and incredible. 

3. Seeing then that the soul has many different faculties, or in other 
words, many different ways of acting ; that it can be intensely pleased or 
made happy by all these different faculties or ways of acting ; that it 
may be endowed with several latent faculties, which it is not at present in 
a condition to exert ; that we cannot believe the soul is endowed with 
any faculty which is of no use to it ; that whenever any one of these 
faculties is transcendantly pleased, the soul is in a state of happiness ; 
and, in the last place, considering that the happiness of another world is to 
be the happiness of the whole man ; who can question but that there is an 
infinite variety in those pleasures we are speaking of; and that this ful- 
ness of joy will be made up of all those pleasures which the nature of the 
soul is capable of receiving ? 

4. Besides the ignorance of masters who teach the first rudiments of 
reading, and the want of skill or negligence in that article, of those who 
teach the learned languages ; besides the erroneous manner, which the 
untutored pupils fall into, through the want of early attention in masters, 
to correct small faults in the beginning, which increase and gain strength 
with years ; besides bad habits contracted from imitation of particular 
persons, or the contagion of example, from a general prevalence of a 
certain tone or cant in reading or reciting, peculiar to each school, and 
regularly transmitted from one generation of boys to another ; besides 
all these, which are fruitful sources of vicious elocution, there is one 
fundamental error in the method universally used in teaching to read, 
which at first gives a wrong bias, and leads us ever after blindfold from 
the right path, under the guidance of a false rule. 

5. As the middle, and the fairest, and the most conspicuous places 
in cities, are usually chosen for the erection of statues and monuments, 
dedicated to the memory of the most worthy men who have nobly de- 
served of their country ; so should we in the heart and centre of our soul, 
in the best and highest apartment thereof, in the places most exposed to 
ordinary observation, and most secure from worldly care, erect lively 
representations, and lasting memorials of divine bounty. 

6. When the gay and smiling aspect of things has begun to leave the 
passage to a man's heart thus thoughtlessly unguarded ; when kind and 
caressing looks of every object without, that can flatter his senses, have 
conspired with the enemy within, to betray him, and put him off his de- 
fence ; when music likewise hath lent her aid, and tried her power upon 



38 PUNCTUATION. 

the passions ; when the voice of singing men, and the voice of singing 
women, with the sound of the viol and the lute, have broke 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 ! 

7. If, indeed, we desire to behold a literature like that which has 
sculptured with such energy of expression, which has painted so faith- 
fully and vividly the crimes, the vices, the follies of ancient and modern 
Europe ; if we desire that our land should furnish for the orator and 
the novelist, for the painter and the poet, age after age, the wild and 
romantic scenery of war ; the glittering march of armies, and the re- 
velry of the camp ; the shrieks and blasphemies, and all the horrors of 
the battle-field ; the desolation of the harvest, and the burning cottage ; 
the storm, the sack and the ruin of cities : if we desire to unchain the furi- 
ous passions of jealousy and selfishness, hatred and revenge, those lions 
that now sleep harmless in their den ; if we desire that the lake, the 
river, the ocean, should blush with the blood of brothers ; that the winds 
should waft from the land to the sea, from the sea to the land, the roar 
and smoke of battle ; that the very mountain-tops should become altars 
for the sacrifice of brothers ; if we desire that these, and such things as 
these, (the elements, to an incredible extent, of the literature of the old 
world,) should be our literature ; then, but then only, let us hurl from 
its pedestal, the majestic statue of our union, and scatter the fragments 
over all our land. 

II. When the parts (of a sentence) making perfect sense, comprise 
sub-parts also making perfect sense, and both have the connectives ex- 
pressed or understood at the same time, and hence both according to 
rule require the same punctuation; to mark these respective limits and 
distinguish them from one another, we may punctuate the sub-parts one 
degree lower than the principal parts ; that is to say, if the principal 
parts require the colon, the sub-parts may be separated by the semicolon : 
if the principal parts require the semicolon, the sub-parts may be separa- 
ted by the comma. 

Examples. 

1. TO^ey now heard of the exact accomplishment of obscure predic- 
tions : of the punishment over which the justice of heaven had seemed 
to slumber : of dreams ; omens ; warnings from the dead : of princesses, 
for whom noble suitors contended in every generous exercise of strength 
and skill : of infants, strangely preserved from the dagger of the as- 
sassin, to fulfill high destinies. 

2. Gratitude is of a fruitful and diffusive nature ; of a free and com- 
municative dispositon ; of an open and sociable temper : it will be im- 
parting, discovering and propagating itself: it affects light, company 
and liberty : it cannot endure to be smothered in privacy and obscurity. 

3. We swear to preserve the blessings which they toiled to gain ; 
which they obtained by the incessant labors of eight distressful years : 
to transmit to our posterity our right undiminished, our honor untar- 
nished, and our freedom unimpaired. 

4. This was the gymnastic school, in which Washington was brought 



PUNCTUATION. 39 

up ; in which his quick glance was formed, destined to range hereafter 
across the battle-field, through clouds of smoke and bristling rows of 
bayonets : the school in which his senses, weaned from the tastes for 
those detestable indulgences miscalled pleasure, in which the flower of 
adolescence so often languishes and pines away, were early braced up 
to that sinewy manhood which became the 

Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye. 

5. In the book of Judges, we see the strength and weakness of Samp- 
son : in that of Ruth, the plain-dealing and equity of Boaz : in those 
of Kings, the holiness of Samuel, of Elijah, and the other prophets ; 
the reprobation of Saul ; the fall and repentance of David, his mild- 
ness and patience ; the wisdom of Solomon ; the piety of Hezekiah and 
Josiah : in Esdras, the zeal for the law of God : in Tobit, the conduct 
of a holy family : in Judith, the power of grace : in Esther, prudence : 
in Job, a pattern of admirable patience. 

In all of these sentences, the sub-parts are constructed precisely like the principal parts ; and 
if they were pointed in the same manner, as in strict propriety they should be, they would be 
confounded. The sub-parts are therefore separated by the semicolon, to mark their subordina- 
tion. In No. 4, the sub-part, ending with bayonets, and in No. 5, the sub-part respecting 
David, have themselves sub-parts of the same construction. These, consequently, are separa- 
ted by the comma. 



SEC. II. PAUSES DENOTING THE NATURE OF THE SENTENCE. 

1. The interrogation, \ , , ., . J? 
o tu, i e *; marked thus: \ , 

2. I he exclamation, | \ I 

These, accurately speaking, are not pauses, but the representatives 
of the pauses, already considered, which mark divisions of sense ; and 
this representative character it is very important to remember ; for other- 
wise we shall be constantly in danger of regarding, and in delivery 
treating, as distinct sentences, what are in fact but parts of the same 
sentence. 

Being representatives, they have, of course, no time of their own, 
but adopt that of the pauses of sense for which they stand ; and they 
stand indifferently for the comma, semicolon, colon or period, 

I ought, perhaps, to enumerate the parenthesis among pauses that indicate the nature of the 
sentence, and have a representative character ; but as modern practice usually associates 
the pause with it, as it indicates no peculiarity in the sentence itself, which it includes, but sim- 
ply that, whatever the nature of the sentence may be, it is necessary neither to the general 
construction nor sense, and especially as it would lead to a repetition of the same matter in a 
subsequent ;part of this work, where the parenthesis is fully discussed, I deem it best to 
waive every thing in this place beyond this brief allusion. 

I. The interrogation declares the sentence before it, a question. 
1. Examples of proper use. 

1 . How shall a man obtain the kingdom of God ? By impiety ? 
theft ? murder ? adultery ? 

2. Will the Lord cast off forever 1 and will he be favorable no more ? 

3. Doth his promise fail forevermore ? hath God forgotten to be gra- 
cious ? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies ? 



40 PUNCTUATION. 

4. Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook ? or his tongue 
with a cord which thou lettest down ? 

5. During a life so transitory, what lasting monument then can our 
fondest hopes erect? My brethren ! we stand on the borders of an aw- 
ful gulf, which is swallowing up all things human. 

In No. 1, after "impiety," &c, the interrogation represents the comma: in the middle of 
Nos. 2, 4, the semicolon : in the middle of No. 3, the colon : [in No. 1, after "God," and at the 
•end of Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and the first part of No. 5, the period. 

2. Examples of improper use. 

Two cases of this occur : 

1. Where a question is not asked, but merely said or commanded to be 
asked : e.g. 

1. And they asked him when he intended to enter upon the enterprise 
of which he spoke ? 

2. If the question be put, what class of those pleasures of taste, 
which I have enumerated, that pleasure is to be referred, which we re- 
ceive from poetry, eloquence, or fine writing ? my answer is, not to any 
one, but to them all. 

3. Presumptuous man ! the reason would'st thou find, 
Why formed so weak, so little, or so blind ? 
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, 
Why formed no weaker, blinder, and no less. 
Ask of thy mother, earth, why oaks are made 
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade ? 
Or ask of yonder argent fields above, 
Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove ? 

The only question, properly so called, in these three examples, is contained in the first 
couplet of the third. The interrogation at the end of the first, should give place to the period : 
in the second, to the comma : in the third, at the end of the third couplet, to the semicolon ; 
and alt the end of the fourth, to the period. 

2. Where a sentence is punctuated as a question, when in fact it is 
an exclamation : no answer being required, expected or even thought 
of: e. g. 

1 . The earth must be labored before it will give its increase ; and 
when it is forced into its several products, how many hands must they 
pass through before they are fit for use ? 

2. How great must be the majesty of that place, where the whole 
art of creation has been employed ; and where God has chosen to show 
himself in the most magnificent manner ? 

3. And when no longer himself, how affecting was it to behold the 
disordered efforts of his wandering mind employed on subjects of litera- 
ture ? 

II. The exclamation denotes that a sentence, or part of a sentence, 
before it, contains an expression of some one of the various emotions or 
passions. 

Examples of proper use. 

1 . Death ! great proprietor of all ! 'tis thine 
To tread out empires and to quench the stars. 



PUNCTUATION. 41 

2. Why is it that to man have been given passions which he cannot 
tame ; and which sink him below the brute ! and why is it that a few 
ambitious men are permitted by the great Ruler, in the selfish pursuit of 
their own aggrandizement, to scatter in ruin, desolation and death whole 
kingdoms: making misery and destruction the steps by which they 
mount up to their seats of pride ! 

3. The treasures of America are now in heaven. How long the 
list of our good and wise and true, assembled there ! how few remain 
with us ! 

4. But " they complained of injustice." God of heaven ! had they 
not a right to complain ! After a solemn treaty, plundered of all their 
property, and on the eve of the last extremity of wretchedness, were 
they to be deprived of the last resource of impotent wretchedness, com- 
plaint and lamentation ! 

5. Oh ! does not the God, who is said to be love shed over this attri- 
bute of his, its finest illustration ! when, while he sits in the highest hea- 
ven, and pours out his fulness on the whole subordinate domain of na- 
ture and providence, he bestows a pitying regard on the very humblest 
of his children, and sends his reviving Spirit into every heart, and cheers 
by his presence every home, and provides for the wants of every family, 
and watches every sick bed, and listens to the complaints of every suf- 
ferer ; and while, by his wondrous mind, the weight of universal govern- 
ment is borne, oh ! is it not more wondrous and more excellent still, that 
he feels for every sorrow, and has an ear open to every prayer ! 

In the first example, and the first instance of the fourth, and the first, second and third in- 
stances of the fifth example, the exclamation point represents the comma : in the second, the 
semicolon and period : in the third, the colon and period : in the second and third instances 
of the fourth and the last of the fifth, the period. 

As the exclamation is comparatively seldom misapplied, I think it unnecessary to trouble the 
student with examples of improper use. 

SEC. III. THE PAUSE DENOTING UNUSUAL CONSTRUCTION OR SIGNIFICANCE. 

This pause is commonly called the dash : occasionally, the emphatic 
pause : in this work, the rhetorical pause. It is represented thus : — 

Haste, indolence, or, perhaps, ignorance of the laws of punctuation, has effected a total per- 
version of the appropriate use of this pause. We frequently find it substituted, not merely in 
the journals of the day, but in productions of a permanent and standard character, for the com- 
ma, semicolon and colon. The impropriety of this is too obvious to be insisted on ; and, I re- 
gret to add, too much a matter of custom, perhaps, to be corrected. Yet there can be little 
doubt that this indiscriminate use of the dash is at once useless and mischievous : useless, 
because the pauses of sense are equally significant ; and mischievous, because it confounds 
pauses in their nature distinct, often obscures the sense, and always in the eyes of a man of 
taste, mars the beauty of the printed page. 

The rhetorical pause is properly employed in the following cases : 

I. Before a slight change in the construction of the sentence : e. g. 

The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic ; the high 
purpose ; the firm resolve ; the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, 
beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the w^hole 
man onward, right onward to his object ; — this, this is eloquence. 

6 



42 PUNCTUATION. 

II. After a portion of a sentence abruptly broken off: e. g. 
1 . If thou beest he — but O how fallen ! how changed ! 

2. Here lies the great — false marble, where ? 
Nothing but sordid dust lies here. 

3. Frankness, .suavity, tenderness, benevolence, breathed through 
their exercise. And his family ! — but he is gone : that noble heart beats 
no more. 

4. Leonidas! Cato ! Phocion ! Tell! — one peculiarity marks them 
all : thev dared and suffered for their native land. 

III. After a sentence which abruptly terminates a thought : the next 
sentence beginning another : hence between the remarks of different 
speakers in informal dialogue : e. g. 

1. Oh, how I trembled with disgust ! — And now blue dismal flames 
gleamed along the walls : the tombs were rent asunder : bands of fierce 
spectres rushed around me in frantic dance : furiously they gnashed 
their teeth, while they gazed upon me, and shrieked in loud yells, " Wel- 
come thou fratricide ! Welcome thou lost forever! — Horror burst the 
bands of sleep ; but my feelings — words are too weak, too powerless, to 
express them. — Surely this was no idle dream! — 'Twas a celestial 
warning. 

2. " Have you read my Key to the Romans ?" said Dr. Taylor, of Nor- 
wich, to Mr. Newton. — "I have turned it over." — You have turned it 
over 1 And is this the treatment a book must meet with, which has 
cost me many years of hard study ? Must I be told, at last, that you 
have " turned it over," and thrown it aside ? You ought to have read it 
carefully and weighed deliberately what comes forward on so serious a 
subject." — -"Hold! you have cut me out full employment, if my life 
were to be as long as Methuselah's. 

The rhetorical pause after "feelings," in No. 1, belongs to case second above. In the pre- 
sent case and case 1, the rhetorical pause is usually associated with the pause of sense : in this 
respect differing from case second and the two which follow. 

IV. After a part of a sentence, followed by an unexpected turn of 
sentiment : e. g. 

1. This world, 'tis true 
Was made for Csesar — but for Titus too. 

2. He that has these may pass his life, 
Drink with the Squire, and kiss his wife : 
On Sundays preach, and eat his fill, 
And fast on Fridays — if he will. 

3. I now solemnly declare that so far as personal happiness is con- 
cerned, I would infinitely prefer to pass my life as a member of the bar, 
in the practice of my profession, according to the ability which God has 
given me, to that life which I have led, and in which I have held places 
of high trust, honor, responsibility, and — obloquy. 

V. Before and sometimes after a word, clause or sentence of more 
than usual significance : e. g. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity : these three ; but the greatest 
of these is — charity. 



PUNCTUATION. 43 

2. Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ like a — God. 

3. Jesus wept — 

4. And Nathan said unto David — thou art the man. 

5. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of 
chains and slavery? — Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course 
others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me — death ! 

Examples of the improper use of the Rhetorical Pause. 

1. Thus, without any innovation — without altering or abolishing any 
thing but pernicious novelties, introduced for the encouragement of sloth 
and idleness — by converting, for the future, the same funds for the use of 
the serviceable, which are spent, at present, upon the unprofitable, you 
may be well served. 

2. To acquire a thorough knowledge of our hearts and characters, — 
to restrain every irregular inclination, — to subdue every rebellious pas- 
sion, — to purify our motives and our conduct, — to form ourselves to that 
temperance which no pleasure can seduce — to that meekness which no 
provocation can ruffle, — to that patience which no affliction can over- 
whelm, and that integrity which no interest can shake; this is the task 
which is assigned to us, — a task which cannot be performed without the 
utmost diligence and care. 

3. The church has commenced her march — Samaria has with one 
accord, believed the gospel — Antioch has become obedient to the faith 
— the name of Christ has been proclaimed throughout Asia Minor — the 
temples of the gods, as though smitten by an invisible hand, are deserted 
— the citizens of Ephesus cry out in despair, " great is Diana of the 
Ephesians" — licentious Corinth is purified by the preaching of Christ 
crucified. 

4. He who cannot persuade himself to withdraw from society, must 
be content to pay a tribute to a multitude of tyrants : to the loiterer who 
makes appointments he never keeps — to the consulter who asks advice 
he never takes — to the boaster who blusters only to be praised — to the 
complainer who whines only to be pitied — to the projector whose hap- 
piness is only to entertain his friends with expectations, which all but 
himself know to be vain — to the economist who tells of bargains and 
settlements — to the politician who predicts the fate of battle and breach 
of alliances — to the usurer who compares the different funds — and to 
the talker who talks only because he loves talking. 

In example first, the dash usurps the place of the comma : in the second, of the semicolon in 
the first three, and of the comma in the succeeding two instances, (See Deviations from the 
legitimate use of pauses between divisions of sense No. 1.,) and of the colon in ihe last instance. 
The association of the comma with the dash in this case, augments the impropriety of the punc- 
tuation. In example 3d and 4th, the colon and semicolon are the pauses which should be in- 
serted instead of the dash. 



CHAPTER III. 



MODULATION 

Modulation includes the consideration of key, evolutions or varia- 
tions, force and rate. 

I. THE KEY. 

The key, otherwise called pitch, is the predominating tone of reading 
or speaking. 

Different voices, in consequence of organic diversity, occupy dif- 
ferent portions of the scale of vocal sounds. Some are treble, some are 
tenor, and some are bass ; while others can scarcely be called either tre- 
ble, tenor or bass ; but occupy intermediate places in the scale. Still, 
whatever these organic differences may be, every human voice has its 
relatively high, medium and low tones, any of which may be adopted, 
though not with equal propriety, as the prevailing tone of delivery. It is 
easy to show from a variety of considerations that the medium tone, 
which is that of sustained and animated conversation, is the only one that 
can be made the key of reading or speaking, with any regard for the 
exactions and exigencies of protracted discourse. 

1. The organs of speech, being unaccustomed to any thing more than 
slight and infrequent exertions at a high pitch, soon tire ; and in conse- 
quence, the voice becomes harsh, or breaks, under the unnatural strain 
which it is forced to endure. 

2. In like manner, they are unaccustomed to a low pitch : the other 
extreme ; and for the same reason, the voice will soon become thick and 
unintelligible. 

3. No sentence can be said to be properly delivered which has not its 
close indicated by the voice as well as by the period. This is generally 
done by dropping the voice to a point somewhat below the key. Of 
course, such a close is impossible with the voice already depressed to its 
lowest note ; and with it elevated at a high pitch, the fall must be unnatu- 
rally deep, and therefore exaggerated and absurd. 

Not unfrequently the sentence should terminate, after traversing nearly 
the whole compass of the voice, with its highest notes ; at others, after 
the same movement in a different direction, with its lowest. For exam- 
ple : " Will you ride to town to-day ?" requires a beginning below the key, 
and an ascent extended indefinitely above it. On the other hand, the 
question, " When will you ride to town and buy those goods of which you 
speak ?" demands a beginning above the key, and a descent indefinitely 
extended below it. Now it is obvious that if the key be not a medium 
tone, such exigencies of discourse cannot be met with safety and success. 



MODULATION. 45 

4. It may be observed, farther, that the almost inevitable consequence 
of adopting the high or low extreme, is monotony ; or that sing-song 
manner which is to the orator, what the shoal and the rock are to the 
ship : fatal. Experience proves that while at a high pitch, the voice can- 
not rise higher, it will not descend lower, but must run in a uniform 
stream or not run at all ; if pitched low, the case is different, but the result 
the same. 

On the whole, about nothing should the student who desires to become 
a correct and tasteful reader or speaker, evince more solicitude, than to 
form his delivery on the right key. He should spare no pains to acquire, 
(if he has it not,) the habit of reading and speaking as he converses : 
with the same tone predominating, and with the same easy and natural 
variations of voice. Of these I shall now speak. 

II. VOCAL EVOLUTIONS, OR VARIATIONS FROM THE KEY. 

By vocal evolutions, I mean the different movements of the voice in 
the delivery of a sentence. These are what I shall term the sweeps, 
the bend, the slides, and the closes. 

1 . The sweeps are of two kinds : the accentual and the emphatic ; 
both of which are farther divided into upper and lower, 

2. The bend is the rising inflection of other works on elocution. 

3. The slides are four ; the upward, the downward,, the waving and 
the double slide. 

4. The closes are two ; the partial and perfect close. 

As these are not indicated by the pauses enumerated and described 
in the preceding chapter, and as a merely verbal description would be 
unintelligible, writers on elocution have resorted to a train of signs for 
the purpose of expressing them to the eye. In the figures which follow, 
and the remarks subjoined to them, they are exhibited and fully ex- 
plained. 

1. THE SWEEPS. 

These are represented in the plate. The first and shortest of them, 
are the accentual upper and lower sweeps. (See Plate, figure 1.) They 
precede and follow the accents primary and secondary, (See effect of ac- 
cent, Ch. 1, Sec. 2, at the end.) 

The curves which succeed the accentual, (See Plate, figure 2,) repre- 
sent the emphatic sweeps ; which, unlike the accentual, are not limited 
to a part of a word, or even an entire word ; but sometimes extend over 
the half of a sentence. The superior sweep precedes, and the inferior 
follows, the primary accent of the word on which emphasis is placed. 

Emphasis frequently falls on a word in such a position as renders their 
prolongation, for the want of room, impossible. In this case, they are 
formed on the emphatic word alone ; and they are then represented by 
the first of the emphatic series, (See Plate, figure 2,) and are called by 
Dr. Porter and other writers on elocution, the circumflex. As this term 
is a convenient one, I shall continue to use it : it being understood, how- 
ever, that I mean by it nothing more than the greatest condensation of 
the emphatic sweeps. What I have to say additionally on these sweeps, 
I reserve until I shall have reached the subject of emphasis, 



46 MODULATION. 

2. THE BEND. 

The bend is represented by the acute accent of the Greek, thus : ' It 
indicates a slight turn of the voice upward at a pause of imperfect sense. 

Examples. 

If there be any consolation in Christ', any comfort of love', any fel- 
lowship of the spirit', any bowels and mercies', fulfil ye my joy. 

The trials of wandering and exile', of the ocean, the winter, the wil- 
derness and the savage foe', were the final assurances of success. 

3. THE SLIDES. 

1. The upward slide, ] J ? 

2. The downward slide, \ , , Al _ \ ? 

3. The waving slide marked thus: f 

4. The double slide, \ \ 8 

1 . The upward slide carries the voice upward through a succession of 
tones, and suspends it at the highest. (See Plate, fig. 3.) 

Examples. 

Did Paul make a worse preacher for being brought up at the feet of 
Gamaliel ? Does God uniformly work in one way ? Has he never em- 
ployed talents usefully? 

2. The downward slide reverses the upward : carrying the voice down- 
ward through a succession of tones, and suspending it at the lowest. (See 
Plate, figure 4.) 

Examples. 

Who possessed more advantages or more eloquence than the apostle 
whose words are alluded to in the objection ? 

To whom do we owe it, under an allwise Providence, that this nation 
so miraculously born, is now contributing with such effect to the welfare 
of the human family, by aiding the march of mental and moral improve- 
ment, and giving an example to the nations of the earth ? 

3. The waving slide does not differ essentially from a very full devel- 
opment of the two emphatic sweeps : the voice rising above the level 
of the sentence from the beginning, to descend upon the emphatic word, 
pass below the level of the sentence, and return to it or above it at the 
end. (See Plate, fig. 2, e.f.) 

Examples. 

You will ride to town to-day f 
You will ride to town to-day f 
You will ride to town to day f 
You will ride to town to-day f 



MODULATION. 47 

4. The double slide carries the voice upward, as in the first slide, and 
then downward, as in the second. The disjunctive conjunction or, which 
is always present in questions of this kind, forms the point at which the 
one ends, and the other begins. (See Plate, jig. 5, a, b, c.) 

Examples. 

Barabbas, or Jesus 8 

Is it lawful to give tribute unto Csesar, or not 8 

Shall we call him a patriot, or shall we stigmatize him as a traitor 8 

4. THE CLOSES. 

2. I substitute this word for cadences, because the latter is not suffi- 
ciently general, and suggests that sentences terminate like a piece of 
music. This indeed was the theory of Walker, a theory in an unfor- 
tunate moment endorsed by Porter; but it is a theory notwithstanding, 
which has no foundation in facts : sentences terminate in a variety of 
ways ; and even the same sentence has not always the same close. 

1. The partial close, J marked thus ; S C) 

2. I he perfect close, i ] (.) 

1. The partial close* is a descent or fall of the voice at the end of one 
of the parts of a compound sentence to the key, or to a point near the 
key, preparatory to the perfect close. It is represented by the grave 
accent of the Greeks. 

2. The perfect close is a descent or fall of the voice, at the end of 
a sentence, quite down to the key or to a point below it. It is repre- 
sented by the period. 

Examples of both in connection. 

The faults opposed to the sublime are chiefly two N : the frigid and the 
bombast. 

Before closing this, I wish to make one observation^: I shall make it 
once for all. 

For instance : if I am speaking of virtue, in the course of ordinary 
conversation, I refer the word to no sex or gender; I say, "Virtue is its 
own reward v ; or, It is the law of nature." 

Among similes, faulty through too great obviousness of the likeness, 
we must likewise rank those which, taken from objects become trite and 
familiar in poetical language. Such is the simile of a hero to a lion x ; 
of a person in sorrow to a flower drooping its head v ; of a violent pas- 
sion to a tempesf; of chastity to snow x ; of virtue to the sun or stars v ; 
and many others of the same kind. 

III. FORCE. 

When a person, reading or speaking, is requested to read or speak 
louder, he can, without rising in tone, and simply by a slight additional 
exertion, so increase the volume of his voice, that any one within a rea- 
sonable distance, and not deaf, may hear distinctly and with ease. 

"This is the falling inflection of other writers on elocution. 



48 MODULATION. 

This increase of volume, without change of tone, is an increase of 
force ; which may be varied by those who have powerful vocal organs, 
from a whisper to the awful reverberations of thunder. 

I need scarcely say that the judicious management of force, is a dis- 
tinct and important addition to that variety which renders good reading 
and speaking so singularly attractive to all classes of hearers. 

Some passages, of course, should be delivered with a greater degree 
of force than others. When these occur, the student must be governed 
in their delivery by the relative importance of the thought, or the nature 
of the sentiment or passion expressed. I know of no other rule for the 
management of force in such cases. 

In a general view, however, when we have regard to the tenor of an 
entire discourse, we should never employ a greater degree of force than 
may be necessary to be easily and distinctly heard ; which may be as- 
certained without difficulty by observing the movements of the more dis- 
tant auditors. The reasons for this rule are the following : 

1. To speak with more force than is necessary to be distinctly and 
easily heard by the remoter part of the audience, is to incur the hazard 
of speaking too forcibly or loud for those hearers who are near ; which 
has an unhappy effect. 

2. To use a degree of force much greater than that of animated con- 
versation, (and greater than this is scarcely ever necessary in reading 
and speaking to common audiences,) is what the organs of speech are 
not accustomed to, and is therefore fatiguing, and not easily sustained. 

3. The continued use of an unusual degree of force, destroys the flex- 
ibility of the voice, and is one of the principal causes of monotony. 

4. But the main reason for employing, in the tenor of discourse, no 
more force than may be requisite for the purpose specified in the rule, is, 
that the reader or speaker may have a reserve for use, when the nature 
of the thought or sentiment or passion expressed in particular passages, 
calls for an increase of volume and power. For such emergencies, he 
whose delivery is uniformly loud and vociferous, is never prepared. 
Additional force will hardly be remarked ; or if it attract observation, the 
only effect produced will be to augment the dissatisfaction with which the 
speaker is heard. 

We should be careful not to confound force with vivacity. Force is strength, energy : vi- 
vacity is life, animation. Force has respect to the hearer : vivacity, to the subject. A certain 
degree of force is always necessary from the beginning of a discourse to the end : vivacity, on 
the other hand, in some parts of a discourse, as in an introduction, would be out of place ; and 
in others, as in passages highly charged with the benevolent affections, (love, sympathy, com- 
passion, &c.,) incompatible with just delivery. Force to the verge of vociferation, especially 
if uniform, may be associated with dullness : vivacity, never ; and yet there may be great 
vivacity in speakers who have little force. I think I have observed numerous examples of this. 

But the most important distinction between them remains to be noticed. Force is under the 
control of the will; and is measured and regulated by the judgment: vivacity depends upon 
the feelings, and their susceptibility of excitement from the progress of discussion. The one 
is, therefore, voluntary : the other, involuntary. A speaker can command force at any time ; 
but vivacity, if it comes at all, comes without being summoned or solicited. It appears only, 
when the speaker begins to be interested in his subject ; and as this penetrates and warms and 
absorbs him, it grows apace, independently both of judgment and volition. 

The practical bearing of this distinction is obvious, vivacity, though an essential element 
of fine elocution, is subject to no rules. All that can be said, is, that if we would have it, we 
must appreciate and profoundly feel what we read or speak : enter into its spirit : identify our- 
selves with it : yield ourselves up unreservedly to its influence. When we do this, vivacity 
will not be wanting. 



MODULATION. 49 

IV. RATE. 

Rate in particular passages, like force, must necessarily vary with 
the nature of the thought, the sentiment, and the emotion. It should not, 
however, be so slow that the audience may anticipate what we are 
about to say, nor so fast that we cease to articulate distinctly. In nei- 
ther case will we be heard with any satisfaction ; though the second is 
the greater fault. We may be slow and yet intelligible ; but when a 
man becomes inarticulate in consequence of the rapidity of his utter- 
ance, he entertains his hearers with nothing but "sound and fury." 

The general rate, which may be retarded or accelerated according to 
circumstances, as just now implied, should be as slow as is consistent 
with commanding and sustaining the attention of the audience. It was 
a precept given by one of the most distinguished men of his day to 
Aaron Burr, " speak as slow as you can." This, as I have already 
hinted, may be carried to an extreme ; but it is one to which speakers 
seldom pass. The tendency and the temptation are in the opposite di- 
rection. If I mistake not, the opinion is prevalent in this country, that 
rapidity of utterance is a marked characteristic of eloquence. In con- 
sequence, it is desired and aimed at as an oratorical accomplishment. 
But this is a serious mistake. 

In the first place, a rapid speaker, unless he possess extraordinary 
mental activity, ot speaks memoriter, will find his power of thought un- 
able to keep pace with his current of language. His voice will outrun 
his mind ; and he will consequently speak incoherently and little to the 
purpose. 

2. Experience proves, I think, that a rapid delivery, especially at the 
beginning of a discourse, is incompatible with that self-possession, and 
universal self-command, which are absolutely necessary to produce im- 
portant oratorical effects. It throws the speaker into a flutter of spirits 
w T hich, at the same time, confounds memory, confuses thought, and em- 
barrasses action. 

3. Of good elocution, distinct articulation is a fundamental requisite; 
and this, in connection with rapid delivery, is very rare. The slow 
speaker may articulate badly ; but it has seldom been my good fortune 
to hear a rapid speaker w T ho articulated well. 

4. A slow delivery in general, is, I conceive, absolutely necessary, 
in conformity with what I have said above, to enable a reader or speaker 
to comply with the demands of sentiment and emotion. The rapid 
speaker cannot increase his rate, and yet the sentiment of a sentence or 
paragraph may demand a very considerably accelerated, and even a 
hurried utterance in comparison with the general rate, in order to give 
it due expression. For such emergencies, the slow speaker is alone pre- 
pared ; and they are emergencies which afford both reader and speaker 
the best opportunities for the highest achievements of the rhetorical art. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Every sentence in the English language is either simple or compound. 

1. A simple sentence is one which has but one subject and one finite 
verb : e. g. Jesus wept. Beauty is admired. Caesar conquered the 
Gauls. 

Though a simple sentence can have but one subject and one finite verb, it by no means follows, 
that it can have nothing beside. The number of its words may be indefinitely increased with- 
out changing its simple character. In the third of the examples given, there is not only a sub- 
ject, and finite verb, but an object : " the Gauls." To this, we may add the time during which, 
" in a few months," and the time at which, "a little before the beginning of the Christian era." 
With this we may connect the means : "some thousands of men." We may give Caesar an 
attribute : " the immortal Caesar." We may qualify the verb : " easily conquered." We may 
qualify even that qualification : " very easily." And so on. Comprising all these additions in 
one sentence we have the following : " The immortal Caesar very easily conquered the Gauls 
in a few months, a little before the beginning of the Christian era, with some thousands of 
men ;" which is still a simple sentence, because, notwithstanding the additions made to it, it 
has but one subject and one finite verb. 

2. A compound sentence is one which comprises two or more simple 
sentences connected by copulatives ; that is, by conjunctions, adverbs or 
relative pronouns ; or it is a sentence having two or more subjects, and 
finite verbs : e. g. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. The animals 
turned, looked and ran away. Take off his chains and use him well. 
They rejected with contempt the ceremonious homage, which other sects 
substituted for the pure worship of the soul. He who is disposed to deny 
this, cannot have given much attention to the subject. Peace be with 
you all that are in Christ Jesus. God made man erect, rational, free, 
immortal. Though he fall, he will rise again. I could honor thy 
courage, but I detest and punish thy crimes. 

All sentences, whether simple or compound, are comprehended in three 
classes : the declarative, the interrogative and exclamatory. 

I. Declarative sentences state or declare something, affirmatively or 
negatively, in some one or more of the various relations, of time past, 
present or future ; as true or false ; absolute or conditional ; possible or 
impossible ; certain or contingent ; &c. &c. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 5i 

II. Interrogative sentences are such as contain questions. 

III. Exclamatory sentences are such as are employed to express emo- 
tion or passion. 

SEC I. SIMPLE SENTENCES. 

Punctuation. All simple sentences terminate with the period, or its 
representative, the interrogation or exclamation point. 

As no part of a simple sentence can separately make perfect sense ; 
in other words, inasmuch as simple sentences make, at every point, ex- 
cept at the end, imperfect sense ; the comma is the only intermediate 
pause which they admit; {See Plate, figure 8 ;) and this is admissible 
only in the following cases. 

1. When the subject or nominative case is followed by an inseparable 
adjunct of some length, a comma may be inserted immediately before 
the verb : e. g. 

The good taste of the present enlightened age, has not allowed us to 
neglect the cultivation of the English language. To be totally indifferent 
to praise or censure, is a real defect of character. 

2. When the connection is interrupted by a circumstance, a comma 
may be inserted both before and after it. 

For a full explanation of the circumstance, and its appropriate punctuation, see Supplemen- 
tary Observations at the end of this classification ; and also Comma II, 3. 

3. When the natural order of the sentence is reversed by transposi- 
tion, a comma maybe inserted between the parts transposed : e. g. 

In the day of trouble, I called on the name of the Lord. Of all this, 
I was ignorant. Under these circumstances, he gave up the contest. 

4. When the sentence is long, and the natural order unchanged, a 
comma may be inserted between parts which admit of transposition : e. g. 

He began with censuring the ministry very severely, for delaying to 
give earlier notice to parliament of the disturbances in America. 

CLASS I. SIMPLE DECLARATIVE SENTENCES. 

Examples. 

I fear the consequences. I will shortly return. You should acknowl- 
edge your faults. He has been a long time ill. Hold thy peace. Fear 
God. The windows of heaven were opened. The poor are often in 
want of the necessaries of life. Public wisdom, on some occasions, must 
condescend to give way to popular folly. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. The 
prosperity of the wicked is not durable. Be not desirous of vain glory. 
Be not forward in the presence of your superiors. He was not, at that 
time, in the city. 



52 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

By means of their standing armies, they have every one lost their 
liberties. Beside this powerful engine of government, he had a most 
extraordinary talent of persuading men to his purpose. As to the tem- 
poral side of the question, I can have no dispute with you. 

This fastened on my mind more strongly, from its beauty being unex- 
pected. He found in them the guileless manner of the earliest times, 
with the culture of the most refined ones. 



The words, yes, with its equivalents yea, ay and aye, no, with its 
equivalent nay, and well, when employed elliptically, have some peculiar- 
ities which may, perhaps, be as well explained in connection with simple 
declaratives as any where else ; though much that I shall say about 
them, may not be perfectly intelligible until we shall have reached a 
more advanced stage of the classification. 

1. Yes and no. 

1. When these words or their equivalents, merely reply to a question, 
or assent to or deny a proposition, in other words when they are used 
singly and independently, they represent simple or compound sentences, 
and are to be treated as such : e. g. 

Is your master at home ? Yes. Is your brother well ? Yes. 
You are not wounded father f No. But the young hero fell not f No. 
Are they those whom want compels to toil for their daily bread ? No. 

Yes and no, in the first four of these examples, represent simple declarative sentences, and 
consequently are themselves to be considered and treated as simple declaratives. The sen- 
tences successively represented are these : " He is at home : "My brother is well:" " I am 
not wounded :" "The young hero fell not." 

In the fifth example, no represents the following compound sentence ; and it must itself 
therefore be treated as a compound sentence ; "They are not those whom want compels to toil 
for their daily bread." 

In order, then, to determine when yes or no is simple or compound, it 
must be ascertained, in the first place, whether it is used independently ; 
that is, unconnected with any thing succeeding it, expressed or under- 
stood ; and then, secondly, whether the sentence it represents, is simple 
or compound. 

With regard to the last particular, there is little danger of mistake ; 
for the sentence, preceding yes or no, always contains the sentence rep- 
resented by it. Nor is it difficult to ascertain the first, when the con- 
nection is expressed and properly punctuated. But this is not always the 
case ; for sometimes the connection is understood ; and sometimes, if ex- 
pressed, yes and no are separated from it by the period, or by what is 
supposed to be its representative., an exclamation point. In such cases, 
these words appear to be simple sentences, or what is the same, to repre- 
sent simple sentences, when they are actually parts of compound sen- 
tences: e. g. 

Are they those whom want compels to toil for their daily bread ? 
No. The labors of such are the very blessings of their condition. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 53 

What will content you ? Talent? No! Enterprise? No! Courage? 
No ! Reputation ? No ! Virtue ? No ! The men whom you would se- 
lect, should possess, not one, but all of these. 

In the first of these examples, no is not independent, though it seems to be so, in consequence 
of the period after it, but is closely connected with the succeeding words, together with which 
it forms a double compact sentence, with the first and second part expressed. (See Double 
Compact below.) The longest pause which can be properly inserted between these parts, is the 
semicolon. (See Punctuation, Comma III.) 

No, in the second example, is not more independent than in the first. It is the first part of a 
double compact as before, with the second and all the other parts understood. Completed, it 
would read thus : "Talent? No; but something more," '&c, or thus: "Talent? No; for 
the men whom I would select, should possess not talent merely, but enterprise, courage, repu- 
tation and virtue." 

2. These words are often emphatically repeated : e. g. 

Is he indeed a villain ? No, no. Will you accept my offer ? Yes, yes. 

When thus repeated, though independent of a sequent connection, the repetition as such, 
forms a compound loose sentence ; for the sentences, represented by yes and no, being substi- 
tuted, we should have the following: "He is not a villain: he is not a villain." "I will 
accept your offer : I will accept your offer." These are loose sentences. (See Loose Sentence 
below.) 

3. With or without repetition, yes and no are often followed by the 
sentences they represent : e. g. 

1. Without repetition. 

Ag. I am going to walk in the garden. 
Har. And so am I. 

Ag. You are ? 
Har. Yes, I am. 

Car. Does he remain here ? 

Am. No, he does not remain here. 

2. With repetition. 

2d Soldier. We will command ourselves. For Milan, comrades. 
bih Soldier. Ay, aye, for Milan. 

Ah ! no ! no ! no ! 
It cannot be ! 

Taking the last sentence as an example of all, and substituting the equivalent for no in each 
instance, the following perfect loose sentence will be the result : " Ah ! it cannot be : it cannot 
be : it cannot be : it cannot be." (See, as above, Perfect Loose Sentence.) 

4. I have hitherto, except incidentally, spoken of yes and no, as being 
employed independently ; that is, without being followed by any thing 
with which they could combine and form compound sentences. I shall 
now show that they do this ; and that all the peculiarities I have pointed 
out, follow them in this new relation. 

1. They are employed singly : e. g. 
Berth. Wilt thou wear it ? 



54 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Ethw. Yes, and press it too. 

Freb. It is Jane De Montfort. 

Lady. No ; such description suits not her. 

Berth. What ! Ethward, say ye ? 
Sig. No ; it is Selred. 

Sel. What tidings, man ? Is Ethwald at the gate ? 
Ser. No, nor yet within the walls. 

Wog. My place of strength ? 
Fol. Yes : I spake with one new from the west, 
Who saw the ruinous broil. 

The first example is a close sentence : (see Close :) the second, double compact with the first 
and second part expressed : the third, the same with the first and third part expressed : the 
fourth, the same with the first part only expressed, but this comprising two members : the fifth 
is a loose sentence. 

2. They are employed with repetition : e. g. 

Ethw. You weep, good Ethelbert. 

Eth. Yes, yes ; such tears as doth the warm showered earth 
Shew kindly to the sun. 

Freb. My friend, your face is pale : have you been ill % 
Be Mon. No, Freberg, no : I think I have been well. 

Her. I beseech you, let me stay with you. 
Ray. No, no, no ! speak of this no more. 

The first of these sentences is a single compact : the second and third are both loose. 

3. Single with the represented sentence inserted : e. g. 

Jane. And he is well you say f 
Freb. Yes, well, but joyless. 

Ethw. It is some night-bird screaming on the tower. 
Boy. Ay, so belike it seemeth, but I know — 
Ethw. What dost thou know V 

Ethw. Thou dost not grieve I am safe returned f 
Berth. O no, I do not grieve, yet I must weep. 

These sentences are all of them single compacts. 

4. Repeated and followed by the represented sentence : e. g. 

Mrs. B. I do think I could contrive to find you employment if you 
are inclined to it. 

Charles. Yes, yes, I am inclined to it : idleness is tiresome. 

Mrs. B. O you are wounded, Baltimore. 

True. No, no ! there are no wounds ; we are victorious. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 55 

Theo. Hear me, I do entreat thee. 
Out. Nay, nay ! no foolish pleadings, for thy life 
Is forfeit now : [have at thee.] 

Under the preceding head, each of the sentences is a single compact ; (uhich see ;) but un- 
der this, the first is loose : the second and third are double compacts. (See Double Compact 
below.) 

2. Well 

This word is not a representative like yes and no, but an elliptical ex- 
pression for such forms as, "It is well," "You say well," "I know 
well," "If it be well," "As it is well," "Since it is well," &c. 

1. It is a simple sentence when employed independently, like yes and 
no, for assent or approval : e. g. 

Do I say well ? Well. He did well # Very well. 

2. It is often independently repeated, like yes and no, and then forms 
in like manner, a perfect loose sentence : e. g. 

Al. You will never see him again. 
Tob. Well, well. 

3. In the main, however, it is employed in connection with words fol- 
lowing, like yes and no, and then forms, in like manner, several species 
of compound sentences. Like them, too, in such a connection, it is em- 
ployed with or without repetition : e. g. 

Har. Would they have a man give up the woman of his heart, be- 
cause she likes a bit of lace upon her petticoat ? 
Roy. Well, but she is, &c. &c. 

Est. Do you know, last night, before twilight, I peeped over the 
blind, and saw him walking with slow, pensive steps, under my window ? 

Mar. Well ; what happened then ? 

Est. I drew in my head, you may be sure ; but a little while after 
I peeped out again, and, do you know, I saw him coming out of the per- 
fumer's, just opposite my dressing room, where he had been all the while ? 

Mar. Very well ; and what happened then ? 

Ros. One fault he has : I know but only one : 
His too great love of military fame 
Absorbs his thoughts, and makes him oft appear 
Unsocial and severe. 
Fred. Well ; feel I not undaunted in the field ? 
As much enthusiastic love of glory 1 
Why am I not as good a man as he ? 

Jer. Alas, my lord, she's dead. 

Be Mon. Well, then she is at rest. 

Jer. How well, my lord ? 

Be Mon. Is she not with the dead, the quiet dead, where all is peace ? 

Jer. Oh, I am stunned ! My head is cracked in twain : 
Your honor does forget how old I am. 



5G CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Be Man. Well, well ; the wall is harder than I wist. 

With. I will have an end put to all this foolery. 

Mar. Very well ; I have just been following your advice. 

All these examples of well, in connection with sequent matter, are compact sentences, of 
which well constitutes the first part : the first four having the relative words, indeed — but, ex- 
pressed or understood, and the last three, therefore — because, understood. 

Before closing my remarks on this word, I should say that, like yes and no, it often appears 
to be single and independent, in consequence of the suppression of a part of the sentence, when, 
such being the case, it is, of course, in connection with the suppressed portion, compound. 
For an example, see Ch. VI., Simple Declarative Sentences, Note. 



CLASS II. SIMPLE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

Simple interrogative sentences are either definite, indefinite, or 
indirect. 

1. The definite are those which begin with verbs, and may be an- 
swered by yes or no. 

Examples. 

Will you ride to town to-day ? Am I my brother's keeper ? Were 
there not ten cleansed ? Will ye also go away ? Is any among you 
afflicted ? Do ye not hear the law 1 Are they ministers of Christ ? 
Do ye look on things after the outward appearance ? Have all the 
gifts of healing 1 Have not we power to forbear working ? Could ye 
not watch one hour? Should not children obey their parents in all 
things % 

2. The indefinite are such as begin with adverbs and relative pro- 
nouns, and cannot be answered by yes or no.. 

Examples. 

Where did we last meet ? When will you leave town ? At what 
hour, this evening, will the moon rise ? Why was this important fact 
concealed ? By whom was the deed done ? Which of the two is the 
most admired? How is the object, in view, to be secured? Where- 
fore then serveth the law ? Who can estimate the influence of the Sab- 
bath school ? 

The adverb why, when employed as in the passages which follow, 
though usually regarded as a mere expletive, is unquestionably an ab- 
breviated indefinite interrogative. 

And who, I pray, is to judge of their necessity ? Why, the King. 

"Sir," — and so forth. — "Why, yes: the thing is fact, 

Though in regard to number, not exact : 

It was not two black crows, 'twas only one : 

The truth of that you may depend upon : 

The gentleman himself told me the case." — 

"Where may I find him?" — u Why, — in such a place." 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 57 

The gentleman himself told me the case." — 
"Where may I find him? — "Why, — in such a place." 

In each of these instances, why is obviously equivalent to the inter- 
rogative sentence, " Why ask the question." 

When was formerly used in the same way : e. g. 

Why, when, I say — Nay, good sweet Kate, be merry. 

Taming the Shrew, IV, 1. 

When, Harry, when, — 
Obedience bids: I should not bid again. King Richard II, I, 1. 

3. The indirect are interrogative sentences in a declarative form: 
they are of three kinds. The first and most common is answered by 
yes or no, like the definite : the second is distinguished by being em- 
ployed in supplication : the third occurs where a proposition is ex- 
pressed with such confidence in its truth, as precludes contradiction, 
and commands assent. 

1 . Examples of the first kind. 

You will go to the city of New York next week ? You will convey 
my message f They never were heard of afterward ? He refused 
obedience ? 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

Lady, 
Dear Queen that ended when I but began, 
Give me that hand of yours to kiss ? 

The last line, which is all I quote as an example of simple indirect, 
is evidently equivalent to " Will you give me that hand of yours to 
kiss?" (See Indirect Interrogatives, Ch. VI.) 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

Surely, sir, I have seen you before? Truly, this was the Son of 
God? 

Out jumps the gardener in a fright, 
And runs away with all his might ; 
And as he runs, impressed with dread, 
Exclaims, "Sure Satan's in the shed?" 



The exclamation here, which is all that I quote as example, together 
with the sentences which precede, are manifestly equivalent to ques- 
tions : differing only from other questions in the direct form, in that they 
take the answer for granted. As the examples show, this question may 
be put to another or to one's self. The third kind always, or almost al- 
ways, includes some word like sure, surely, truly, certainly, &c, by 
which it may be distinguished. 

8 



58 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

CLASS III. SIMPLE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

Simple exclamatory sentences are declarative, interrogative ', compella- 
tive* and spontaneous. , 

1. Declarative. These are so called, because they are declarative 
sentences employed as exclamations. In other words, they are declara- 
tive sentences which, besides expressing a thought, express it with 
emotion. 

Examples. 

He died a madman ! It is impossible ! May that time never come ! 
Happy are they ! May the will of the Lord be done ! Not for the 
world would I peril my soul by such a deed ! God grant to those few 
friends courage to declare themselves in opposition to your formidable 
enemies ! Thus was felt his despotism over the heart ! 

The declarative exclamatory sentence is not always entire : it is often a mere fragment, the 
complement of which must be supplied, perhaps inferred, from the context : e. g. 

Impossible ! Beautiful ! Happy day ! What is life ? A shadow ! 
Did you, sir, throw up a black crow ? Not I ! Cruel fortune ! Delu- 
sive hopes ! Piercing thought ! This to me ! 

The complete sentence in each of these cases is as follows : It is impossible ! This is a 
happy day I That is beautiful ! Life is a shadow ! I did not throw up a black crow I This 
is a cruel fortune ! These are delusive hopes ! It is a piercing thought ! This is said to me ! 

2. Interrogative ; which are so called, because they assume in- 
terrogative forms. They are definite, indefinite and indirect. 

1. THE definite. 
These, like the declarative, appear very often in fragments. 

Examples. 

Do you envy my good fortune ! Are you mad ! Is it indeed so ! 
Hath it not burst upon thee ! Seest thou that old man there ! Art 
thou my father ! Is this to me ! Could he possibly, at his years, be 
guilty of an outrage like that ! Darest thou thus provoke me ! 

Are his talents adequate to the occasion ? Adequate ! — Will he suc- 
ceed ? Succeed ! — Will you go there ? I go there ! Never. — He is 
a thief. A thief! I cannot believe it. 

Note. It is not easy to distinguish this sentence, when fragmentary, from the fragmentary de- 
clarative on the one hand, and the fragmentary compact, hereafter to be noticed, on the other. 
When it is a mere echo, as in three of the examples above, there is little difficulty ; but this is not 
always the case. In a given passage, the only criterion is the sense. 

* " We make use of speech only to communicate our thoughts to others ; and consequently our lan- 
guage is always addressed to some one. That those to whom we speak, may know that we are 
addressing them, we call upon them, either by name, or some equivalent expression, proper to fix 
their attention. Thus: I say, "Victor, you are not attentive :" "Lord! I am thy creature:" "Sir, 
are you my friend"?" These words, "Victor," "Lord," "Sir," make no part of the proposition. 
I shall call this part of speech a Compilative, from a Latin word which signifies " to address, to 
accost." (De Sacy. Principles of General Grammar.) 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 59 

2. THE INDEFINITE. 

Examples. 

Why do I suffer so many sorrows ! How can I endure them ! When 
will they cease pressing me to the dust ! What could I have done to 
provoke thus the thunderbolts of heaven against my defenceless head ! 
With what feelings must an intelligent heathen approach his final catas- 
trophe ! How hard would it seem for your neighbors to neglect your 
misery ! How pale ! How silent ! How vain ! 

How and what often appear alone at the beginning of sentences as ex- 
clamations : e. g. 

But how and by what means ? 
What ! not a word ! 

What ! shall we be told that the exasperated feelings of a people were 
excited ? 

How ! will you suffer your glory to be sullied ? 

In these and similar instances, they are used to call for a repetition 
of a previous remark not understood ; or too shocking, wonderful or ab- 
surd to be received in the sense understood : they are employed not un- 
like the second interrogative who, in the following passage. 

Who are thine accusers ? Who ? 
The living ! they who never felt thy power, 
And know thee not ! 

If I mistake not, it will be ultimately ascertained, that the expletive 
why, already noticed, {see Simple Indefinite Interrogative,) when it does 
not represent an indefinite question, is employed, though with less delib- 
eration, in the same way. This supposition will account for the differ- 
ence observable in its delivery : it having sometimes the delivery of a 
regular indefinite interrogative, and at others, that of how and ivhat, as 
above. 

3. THE INDIRECT. 

1. Examples of the first kind. 

You would not screen a traitor from the law! Thou wouldst not 
have me make a trial of my skill upon my child ! Impossible. 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

Let me not perish in this horrid manner ! Grant me this favor for 
once! 

Examples of this second kind of indirect interrogative exclamation, are somewhat rare ; 
though they occur more frequently than is generally supposed : especially in the drama, and 
in prose of a colloquial description. In conversation they frequently occur. 



00 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

You are surely mistaken in that supposition ! She will certainly get 
lost in this wilderness of streets ! You surely will not deprive me of 
my only pleasure in life ! 

3. Compellative. These are single names, used in the direct address. 

Examples. 

Mary! Jesus! Master! My lord! Mr. President! Mr. Chairman! 
Sir! Gentlemen! Soldiers! Fellow-Citizens! Ye winds! Ye waves! 
Ye waters ! Hypocrites ! Ye blind leaders of the blind ! &c. &c 

4. Spontaneous : being so called, because they are, for the most part, 
uttered without deliberation : 

They may be divided, with sufficient accuracy, into abbreviations of 
simple sentences, (including a few formed from sounds which they imi- 
tate,) and equivalents of simple sentences : the former having an invari- 
able, and the latter a variable delivery. 

1. Examples of the Abbreviations. 

Hold! Ho! Shame! Hail! Look! Lo! Hush! Hist! Farewell! Fie! 
Pshaw ! Pish ! Pugh ! Fob. ! Hey-day ! Heigh-ho ! Mum ! Avaunt ! 
Avast! Away! Whoh ! Hurra! Halloo! Tush! Tut! Fudge! Bah! 
Heavens ! My stars ! &c. &c. 

The abbreviated character of many of these exclamations, is too obvi- 
ous to need illustration : the others, having lost their original meaning, in 
consequence of being dropped from the language, except as mere sym- 
bols of certain emotions which they serve to express, may need a word 
or two of explanation. It might suffice, perhaps, to refer the reader to the 
"Diversions of Purley," or Richardson's Dictionary; but as these works 
may not be accessible to many who consult this work, it may be well to 
say, that pshav) and pish, which are different forms of the same word, 
are abbreviations of the simple sentence, " It is pish," i. .e. trumpery, 
trick; fie, foh, faugh, fough, (also different forms of the same word,) of 
the simple sentence, " It is fough !" i. e. hateful ; and so with the re- 
maining words. 

2. Examples of Equivalents. 

O ! Oh ! Ah ! Eh ! Ha ! Hah ! Aha ! Alas ! Alack ! 
This enumeration comprises, I believe, all that occur. 

SEC. II. COMPOUND SENTENCES. 

Compound sentences are either close, compact or loose. 

I. The close sentence is one, which has its members so nearly allied 
in sense, and so closely connected by copulatives, that is to say, by con- 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 61 

junctions, adverbs and relative pronouns, that it rejects every interme- 
diate pause except the comma. (See Plate, fig. 8, a.) 

Punctuation. As the definition of a close sentence excludes, except 
in cases of allowable deviation, (see Chapter II. Punct. Deviations I.) 
every pause longer than the comma, it is only necessary to determine 
when this should be inserted. The following rule will be found, I be- 
lieve, to be at once comprehensive and exact : a comma should or may be 
inserted before all the copulatives expressed or understood; or what 
is the same thing in other words, between all the simple sentences of 
which the compound close is composed. 

The exceptions to this rule,* which is too simple to need illustration, 
are these : 

1. The cases specified in Chap. II, Punct. Commma II. 

2. When two or more nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs, unattended 
by other words, have the copulative expressed between them, the comma 
is omitted : e. g. 

Intelligence and beauty and modesty are the principal charms of 
woman. Virtue and vice form a strong contrast to each other. The 
study of natural history expands and elevates the mind. It was dex- 
terously and quickly and neatly done. True worth is modest and re- 
tired. Some men sin deliberately and presumptiously. 

The husband, wife and children suffered extremely. In a letter, we 
may advise, exhort, comfort, request and discuss. Success generally 
depends on acting prudently, steadily and vigorously, in what we un- 
dertake. 

There is a natural difference between merit and demerit, virtue and 
vice, wisdom and folly. Truth is fair and artless, simple and sincere, 
uniform and consistent. Whether we eat or drink, labor or sleep, we 
should be moderate. 

It will be observed, that as soon as the copulative is suppressed, as in the second paragraph 
of examples, the comma appears. 

When the last copulative is expressed, as in the same paragraph, practice, as regards the 
omission of the comma, is not uniform. Some insert it notwithstanding the presence of the 
copulative. 

The exception now under consideration, extends no farther than the particular case specified : 
when the nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs, are attended by other words, preceding or fol- 
lowing, the comma is inserted before the copulative ; or, though unattended as before, if the 
copulative be suppressed, the comma is inserted in its place. 

3. An exception to the insertion of the comma, occurs, when it is 
superseded, under the necessity of deviating from proper punctuation, by 
the semicolon. (See punctuation, Chap. Ill, Deviations I ; also Plate, 
figure 9, I.) 

II. The compact sentence is distinguished from every other by con- 
sisting of parts, beginning with correlative words expressed or under- 
stood. 

The principal of these correlatives, or those which most frequently 
occur, are the following : such — as ; so — as ; so — that ; if — then ; 
if — yet ; though — yet ; unless — then ; now, then — while ; where — - 

*Not to the rule strictly speaking, but rather to the application of the rule by printers. 



62 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

there; either — or; whether — or; though, although — nevertheless; 
forasmuch as, inasmuch as — insomuch ; indeed, truly — but ; there- 
fore, because, for, since, more, rather, better, richer, stronger, &c. — than. 
They are usually placed at the beginning of the parts which they 
qualify, and in the order in which I have written them ; but their order 
is frequently reversed, and often, instead of occupying their appropriate 
places at the beginning of the parts, they are brought together in the 
middle of the sentence : one of them only occupying its proper position. 
This is particularly the case with more, rather, fyc. — Hum. 

Compact sentences are either single or double. 

1. The single compact sentence consists of two parts, with a correl- 
ative word at the beginning of each. 

Sometimes both of these correlatives are expressed : sometimes only 
one of them : sometimes neither. If both are expressed, the sentence 
is called a single compact of the first form : if only one, a single com- 
pact of the second form : if neither, a single compact of the third form. 

Punctuation. Since the correlative words, whether expressed or un- 
derstood, always imply each other, the first part of the sentence alone, 
must contain imperfect sense. The proper punctuation between the 
parts, is therefore that of the comma. (But see Punctuation, Comma III: 
also Deviation I: also Plate, figure 10, a. b.) 

For the same reason, viz., imperfect sense, the first part must always 
receive the intermediate punctuation of the simple sentence or compound 
close, according as it has a simple or compound construction. 

The second part, if a simple sentence, or a compound close, must be 
intermediately punctuated in the same manner : if loose, it should be 
punctuated accordingly. (See Loose Sentence below.) 

I should add, that either part of the compact sentence, may itself be a 
compact, consisting of two parts complete ; and cases are not wanting 
in which even these sub-parts are complete compacts. The punctuation 
of each compact, however, whether principal or subordinate, is the same. 

2. The double compact, as the name implies, consists of two single 
compacts united : making one compact with four parts. The correla- 
tive words in each of the single compacts are therefore — for, because. 

Of the double compact, there are two species ; the affirmative and 
negative : the former so called, because the first of its four parts always 
contains an affirmative proposition : and the latter, because the first of its 
four parts always contains a negative proposition. 

As the affirmative double compact may be resolved into the single com- 
pact, and presents no marked peculiarities, I shall take no farther notice 
of it, except perhaps to advert to it incidentally at some subsequent stage 
of this work. 

The negative is an extraordinary sentence : extraordinary alike for 
the frequency of its occurrence, the singular changes and modifications 
to which it is subject, and its magnificent capacity. Some of the sub- 
limest thoughts that ever issued from human lips have adopted the 
structure of this sentence for their expression. For a more particular 
description I refer the student to compound declarative sentences below. 
The space it would occupy, and the repetition to which it would lead, 



, 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 63 

forbid me to give it here. I request him to turn to the place and acquaint 
himself with the nature of the sentence. This will prepare him to under- 
stand its punctuation. 

Punctuation. Whatever the combination of the parts, the proper 
pause between the first two, or between the two, if two only are employed, 
or betw r een the members of the first, if the first only is employed, is the 
comma. (But see Ch. II, Comma III, and Deviation I.) 

The punctuation between the second and third part, if three parts are 
employed, is that of the semicolon or colon : the second, concluding with 
perfect sense. 

The pause between the third and fourth part, if four parts are em- 
ployed, depends upon the circumstance, whether the correlative words 
are both expressed : if they are, their influence excludes a longer pause 
than the comma from between the parts : if they are not expressed, their 
influence as understood, is not sufficient to arrest the tendency to perfect 
sense at the end of the third part ; and accordingly the semicolon or 
colon should be inserted. 

Separately considered, the parts may be either simple or compound ; 
close, compact, or, with the exception of the first, loose : the first always 
and necessarily makes imperfect sense. Their punctuation, respectively, 
will therefore conform to the nature of the sentence. 

III. The loose sentence is one which contains two or more parts, 
each making perfect sense, connected, not as members of the same regi- 
men, or of the same proposition, but of a different regimen and of distinct, 
though related, propositions, by conjunctions, adverbs, or relative pro- 
nouns expressed or understood. (See Punctuation, Semicolon, Note.) 

There are two species of the loose sentence : the perfect and imperfect. 

1. The perfect has all its parts complete. 

2. The imperfect has its first parts complete, but the succeeding part 
or parts are fragmentary : requiring a portion of the first part, (which is 
understood,) to complete their construction. 

Punctuation. For this, I refer the student to Ch. II, Semicolon and 
Colon ; and also to Deviations from Proper Punctuation II; the whole of 
which describes exclusively the punctuation of the perfect and imperfect 
loose sentence. (See Plate, fig. 11, a. b. c.) 



GENERAL NOTE ON THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF COMPOUND SENTENCES. 

Though these sentences in their pure state, are broadly distinct, as 
their respective definitions imply and the examples subjoined prove, yet, 
as might be expected, they frequently approximate in a degree to render 
it doubtful whether we should regard them as belonging to one species 
or another. Thus, single compact sentences of the third form and third 
division of that form, (see Examples below,) are not strikingly different 
from some close sentences ; (compare Close Sentences ;) and yet, if we ex- 
amine the first closely, they are readily distinguished by universally 
involving correlative words, and, in the main, by having a different (not 
common) regimen in the parts. 



64 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Again, single compact sentences of the second form, (that is, compact 
sentences having only one of the correlative words expressed,) and per- 
fect loose, in consequence of the fact that the same connectives are com- 
mon to both, and still more of the fact that some writers are not sufficiently 
attentive to unequivocal construction, often approximate in the same man- 
ner ; and when they do, the sense only of a given sentence or its con- 
nection, can determine to which it should be referred. 

Finally, the compound close and imperfect loose often so nearly re- 
semble each other, that the reader is left to determine which construction 
should be preferred, in a given case, by a regard to delivery ; that is to 
say, by considering which will produce the superior oratorical effect. 

These occasional approximations of the different species, however, 
lead to no practical difficulties ; for when it is once ascertained to which 
a given sentence should be referred by consulting the structure or the 
sense, or, when these afford no light, by considering which will produce 
the superior oratorical effect, the delivery is then settled ; since the de- 
livery must conform to that of the species to which, by assignment, it 
belongs. 

CLASS I. COMPOUND DECLARATIVE SENTENCES. 

1. Examples of the Close. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. John, William 
and James have returned. He was half maddened by glorious or ter- 
rible illusions. The hour is coming, in which all that are in their graves, 
shall hear his voice, and come forth. This is the bread which cometh 
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. He found 
what he sought. He that entereth in by the door, is the shepherd of the 
sheep. I cannot consent out of tenderness to the memory of the Gages, 
the Hutchinsons, the Grenvilles and Norths, the Dartmouths and Hills- 
boroughs, to cast a veil over the labors, and the sacrifices of the Quincys, 
the Hancocks, and the Warrens. 

2. Examples of the Compact. 

1. Of the Single Compact. 

1. With both the correlative words expressed. 

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. So to see thy glory, as 
I have seen thee in the sanctuary. As in Adam all die, so in Christ 
shall all be made alive. Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be 
gathered together. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. 
If you know that the object is good, then seek it. Better is a dinner of 
herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. 

2. With only one of the correlative words expressed. 

I writ, because it amused me. I published, because I was told I might 
please. Whither I go, ye cannot come. If they hear not Moses and 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 65 

the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the 
dead. As they have won an honorable station among independent states, 
it becomes our imperative duty to treat them as such. 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

Of this, there are several varieties. The first differs very little from the preceding except 
in the entire suppression of the correlative words : the second uniformly begins with the pres- 
ent and perfect participles : the third has parts apparently making perfect sense like the parts 
of a loose sentence, yet requires the punctuation of the close. The parts are connected some- 
times by the copulative and, and sometimes by and yet, and then, and so. I subjoin exam- 
ples of each in separate paragraphs. 

Had he assisted me, I would have done it. Should he go, I will attend 
him. A professed catholic, he imprisoned the pope. A pretended pa- 
triot, he impoverished his country. Were it not for the impediments I 
speak of, I would pursue the course you have pointed out. I should feel 
ashamed of an enthusiasm for Italy and Greece, did I not feel it for a 
land like this. 

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Having given this account of the constitution of the ever- 
lasting club, I should here endeavor to say something of the manners and 
characters of the several members. Affected by this spectacle of suf- 
fering, he proffered relief. Highly elated by his unexpected good fortune, 
he returned home. Saving carefully the fruits of his labor, he at length 
was able to purchase a farm. 

Seek, and ye shall find. I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat. 
The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
upon that house ; and it fell. I have given five times as much as he, and 
yet I fear I have not given enough. The idea of God, it is said, may be 
expunged from the heart of man, and yet that the heart will be the seat, 
still, of the same constitutional impulses as ever. 

In the first of these paragraphs, the construction of the examples is precisely the same as in 
1, 2, except that in two or three of them there is a slight change in the arrangement of the words. 
In the second, the use of participles at the beginning modifies the construction ; but these 
are, manifestly, mere substitutes for the verbs j as, for example, " Being justified," and 
" Having given," are merely other forms for, " When we are justified — then," and for, " As 
I have given — so." In the third, we observe a change from the conditional and hypothet- 
ical construction, &c, to the positive or absolute ; but the correlative words are obviously un- 
derstood. 

2. Of the Double Compact. 

This sentence, if entire, consists, as I have already said, of two single 
compacts, having each of them therefore in the first part, and for or be- 
cause in the second. I now add, that in the first of these sentences, the 
part beginning with therefore contains a negative proposition : that which 
follows and begins with because, an affirmative or negative proposition 
which assigns a reason for the preceding negative. In the second of 
these sentences, the part beginning with therefore, contains an affirma- 
tive proposition in opposition or contrast with the negative or first prop- 
osition in the preceding sentence ; and that which follows beginning with 
because, assigns a reason for this affirmative, e. g. 

Swear not by heaven, for it is God's throne , but let your communi- 

9 



66 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

cation be yea, yea ; and nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than these, 
cometh of evil. 

Or thus : 

Therefore swear not by heaven, because it is God's throne ; but there- 
fore let your communication be yea, yea ; and nay, nay ; because 
whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil. 

In the one or the other of these forms would the double compact always appear, if entire ; but 
this is very rarely the case. I have, in fact, met with but one complete example in all my reading 
with a view to this work : it will be found under the appropriate head in Ch. VI. The one I 
have given above, is constructed, as the observing will perceive, out of materials afforded, by 
Matin,. V. Three of the four propositions which legitimately belong to this sentence, are as 
many as are commonly used at the same time : more frequently not more than two of them are 
employed, and sometimes one alone. I subjoin examples of the different combinations in which 
they appear. 

1. The fourth proposition is sometimes omitted: e. g. 

They had not come in search of gain, for the soil was sterile and unpro- 
ductive ; but they had come that they might worship God according to 
the dictates of their consciences. 

It was not enough that our fathers were of England ; the masters of 
Ireland and the lords of Hindostan were of England too ; but our fathers 
were Englishmen, aggrieved, persecuted and banished. 

2. The third and fourth proposition are sometimes omitted : e. g. 

We must not impute the delay to indifference, for delay may be de- 
signed to promote our happiness.. 

We dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with 
some that commend themselves, for they, measuring themselves by 
themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 

Not all the chapters of human history are thus important ; the annals 
of our race have been filled up with incidents which convey no instruc- 
tion. 

3. When the negative or first proposition contains several members, 
the second, third and fourth are sometimes omitted : e. g. 

And what is our country V It is not the East with her hills and val- 
leys, with her countless sails, and the rocky rampart of her shores ; it 
is not the North with her thousand villages, and her harvest-home, with 
her frontier of the lake and ocean ; it is not the West with her forest 
sea and her inland isles, with her luxuriant expanses, clothed in the ver- 
dant corn, with her beautiful Ohio and her majestic Missouri ; nor is it yet 
the South, opulent in the mimic snow of the cotton, in the rich plantation 
of the rustling cane, and the golden robes of the rice field. 

4. The second only is sometimes omitted : e. g. 

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey 
it in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as instruments of 
unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God as those that 
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteous- 
ness unto God; for sin shall not have dominion over you. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 67 

5. The second and fourth are generally omitted ; and the negative 
and affirmative, or the first and third proposition, are brought into imme- 
diate contrast : e. g. 

I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Labor not for the meat that 
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Man 
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of 
the mouth of Ge-d. 

It is not his power, as attested, by all that exists within the limits of 
actual discovery, but his power, as conceived to form and uphold a 
universe whose outskirts are unknown. 

We do not recognize in her the Christian, who has attained to the 
perfect liberty of God's children, but the exact type of those souls, at all 
times numerous, and especially among her sex, who, drawn powerfully 
to look to heaven, have not strength sufficient to disengage themselves 
entirely from the bondage of earth. 

6. Occasionally, when the first and third propositions are thus in im- 
mediate contrast, they are transposed: e. g. 

You was paid to fight against Alexander; not to rail at him. They 
were asleep ; not alienated. 

7. Finally, the negative is occasionally inserted as a clause in the af- 
firmative : e. g. 

His wisdom, not his talents, attracts attention. Intrinsic worth, and 
not riches, procures esteem. Strong proofs, not a loud voice, produce 
conviction. Ambition, and not the safety of the state, was concerned. 

The copulative and, which occurs in one or two of these examples, is here equivalent to 
but, and elegantly used for it. 

It should be observed, before leaving the double compact sentence, that, 
the negative is sometimes reduced to a single word : e. g. 

Nay, but it's really true : 
I had it from good hands, and so may you. 

(See Simple Declarative, Yes, No.) 



GENERAL NOTE ON THE DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF DOUBLE COMPACT. 

Between the first and the succeeding proposition, especially when the 
first consists of several members, no or nay is often introduced as a sum- 
mary and equivalent expression of the former : and occasionally when 
so introduced, it is immediately followed by the sentence which, in con- 
formity with what I have said on a preceding page, it represents. (See 
Simple Declarative, Remarks on Yes and No.) I subjoin an example of 
each case. They are worthy of careful observation in view of de- 
livery. The first is an example of the use of no alone : the second, of 
no and the sentence it represents together. 



68 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

No wars have ravaged these lands and depopulated these villages ; no 
civil discords have been felt ; no disputed succession ; no religious rage ; 
no merciless enemy ; no affliction of Providence, which, while it scourged 
for the moment, cut off the sources of resuscitation ; no voracious and 
poisonous monsters ; no ; all this has been accomplished by the friend- 
ship, generosity and kindness of the English nation. 

No effeminate nobility crowded into the dark and austere ranks of 
the pilgrims ; no Carr nor Villiers would lead on the ill-provided band 
of the despised Puritans ; no well-endowed clergy were on the alert to 
quit their cathedrals, and set up a pompous hierarchy in the frozen wil- 
derness; no craving governors were anxious to be sent over to our 
cheerless El Dorados of ice and of snow ; no ; they could not say they 
had encouraged, patronized or helped the pilgrims: their own cares, 
their own labors, their own councils, their own blood, contrived all, 
achieved all, bore all, sealed all. 

When no or nay is thus introduced, it should be regarded and treated precisely as if it be- 
gan the sentence like nay in the last example under No. 7 above, 

3. Examples of the Loose. 
1. Of the Perfect Loose. 

Christians, familiar with the principles of justice, desire to see them 
adhered to in proceedings against others or themselves ; but those who 
are accustomed to act according to their own will, are much surprised 
when required to proceed regularly and agreeably to form and law. 
Let your moderation be known unto all men : the Lord is at hand. 
The first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man is the Lord from 
heaven. 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

History, as it has been written, is the genealogy o£ princes : the field- 
book of conquerors. The law is not made for a righteous man, but for 
the lawless and disobedient ; for the unholy and profane ; for murder- 
ers of fathers and murderers of mothers ; for manslayers ; for whore- 
mongers ; for them that defile themselves with mankind ; for mansteal- 
ers ; for liars ; for perjured persons ; and if there be any other thing 
that is contrary to sound doctrine. 

CLASS II. COMPOUND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

Compound interrogative sentences, beside being, like simple inter nega- 
tives, definite, indefinite and indirect, are also double and semi-inter- 
rogative. 

The double interrogative consists of two definite interrogatives, united 
by the disjunctive conjunction or. The second of these is often much 
abbreviated ; and both the first and second, considered independently of 
each other, may have either a close, compact or loose construction. As 
a whole, the double interrogative is a declarative single compact sen- 
tence, with the correlative words, whether — or : the former nearly always 
understood. I say nearly always, because I have met with a few ex- 
ceptions. The following is an example : " Whether is it easier to say to 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 69 

tne sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee ? or to say, Arise, and 
take up thy bed, and walk 8" Mark, ii. 9. Of course, the interrogation 
between its parts, properly represents the comma; though it may, in 
view of allowable deviations, represent the semicolon. (See Examples 
below.) 

The semi-interrogative is distinguished from all other interrogatives, 
by being in part declarative or exclamatory. The interrogative portion 
may be either definite, indefinite, indirect or double ; and both the inter- 
rogative and the declarative or exclamatory, may be either simple or 
compound : if compound, either close, compact or loose. Beside this 
variety of construction of each separately considered, the interrogative, 
and the declarative or exclamatory portion, form together, relatively to 
one another, either a close, compact, or loose sentence. (See Examples 
below.) They are punctuated like the sentences which, independently 
or relatively, they form. 

1. THE DEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1. Examples of the Close. 

Are John and James residing at home this summer? Is not virtue 
rewarded and vice punished 1 Is it true, that the woman died of mere 
joy, on being told that her long lost child had been discovered ? Can 
any gentleman look this subject fairly in the face, and not perceive that 
such a government as ours cannot turn aside from its high duties, and 
undertake to control the domestic industry of individuals without under- 
mining the very foundations of our republican system ? Do you think 
it wise or humane, at this moment, to insult them by sticking up in the 
pillory the man who dared to stand forth their advocate ? Do you think 
that a blessing of that kind, that a victory, obtained by justice over big- 
otry and oppression, should have a stigma cast upon it, by an ignomini- 
ous sentence upon men, bold and honest enough to propose that meas- 
ure 1 Has he not himself, have not all the martyrs after him, poured 
forth their blood in the conflict ? 

2. Examples of the Single Compact.* f 

1. With both correlative words expressed. 

Is it then a time to remove foundations, when the earth itself is sha- 
ken ? Is eloquence therefore less excellent in itself, because it has been 
abused ? Is he so seriously ill, in consequence of the accident which 
occurred the other day, that he cannot leave his room ? 

2. With one of the correlative words expressed. 

Is this a time to forfeit the protection of God, when the hearts of men 

* The examples are confined to the illustration of single compacts. Though I have looked dili- 
gently for a double compact, I have hitherto been unable to find one. I have recently met with a 
definite interrogative exclamatory loose sentence, in part double compact, which may be seen in its 
proper place : Still more recently, with a definite interrogative double compact exclamatory sen- 
tence, which may be seen among the miscellaneous exclamatory sentences. 

t Almost all compacts purely interrogative, appear with the correlative words and parts reversed. 
With the parts in the natural order, they would cease to be purely interrogative, and become semi- 
interrogative. 



70 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

are failing them for fear ? Is it because foreigners are in a condition to 
set our malice at defiance, that we are willing to contract engagements 
of friendship ? Must we remain here, while he is absent on this expe- 
dition ? Shall we proceed, though the expected aid should not arrive ? 
Am I to forgive, if he will not repent ? 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

Could you succeed, had you the means of which you speak ? Would 
you perform a benevolent action, did you not know that others would 
see and applaud it ? Can you insult a man, unable, by reason of his 
physical infirmities, to avenge himself? Should we oppress a man, al- 
ready driven to despair, by the miseries of those who are depending on 
him for support ? Did he die, still hoping for pardon ? 

3. Examples of tlie Loose. 

The loose interrogative, and the loose interrogative exclamation, of 
the different species, have the interrogation and exclamation point some- 
times inserted between the parts, and sometimes only at the end : the 
semicolon and colon taking their place. The student should bear this 
in mind ; that, when he meets with a loose sentence having the interro- 
gation or exclamation point between the parts, he may not mistake such 
parts for independent sentences. In this work, when the interrogation 
or exclamation point is thus inserted, he will be kept from error by ob- 
serving that the first letter succeeding it, is not a capital. This is the 
manner, I conceive, in which the loose interrogative, or loose interroga- 
tive exclamatory, should always be printed ; and this is the manner of 
the older works. The modern practice, however, at least on this side of 
the Atlantic, is almost uniform in neglecting it. 

1. Of the Perfect Loose. 

Had not the shepherd made them to lie down in green pastures ; had 
he not led them beside the still waters ; restored he not their souls ; did 
he not lead them, for his own name sake, in paths of righteousness ; and 
though, at length, they walked where death had cast his shadow, was 
he not with them, still keeping them from evil ? 

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee ? or hast thou seen the 
doors of the shadow of death ? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his 
season 1 or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons ? 

Are we formed with a passionate longing for immortality, and yet des- 
tined to perish after this short period of existence 1 are we prompted to 
the noblest actions, and supported through life under the severest hard- 
ships, and the most delicate temptations, by the hope of a reward which 
is visionary and chimerical 1 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

Do we never meet with the charity which melts at suffering : with the 
honesty which disdains, and is proudly superior to falsehood : with the ac- 
tive beneficence which ^ives to others its time and its labor : with the 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 71 

modesty which shrinks from notice, and gives all its sweetness to retire- 
ment : with the gentleness which breathes peace to all, and throws a 
beautiful lustre over the walks of domestic society ? 

Knowest thou it because thou wast then born 1 or because the number 
of thy days is great. 

2. THE INDEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1. Examples of the Close. 

Where is the man whose moral courage is equal to the task of rising 
and pleading this cause against this host of the licentious and profane ? 
When did patriotism attempt or moral courage achieve a more signal 
victory V Whose house is that which I perceive on the hill yonder V 
Who does not feel, what reflective American does not acknowledge, the 
incalculable advantage, derived to this land, out of the foundations of 
civil, intellectual and moral truth, from which we have drawn in Eng- 
land? 

Examples of Fragmentary Close. 
The man and woman, with her child ? What virtues and vices V 

The context of the first example implies "What became of" at the beginning; and of the 
second, " approximate in the way you mention ;" i.e. certain virtues to vices : certain vices to 
virtues. 

2. Examples of the Single Compact.* 

1. With both of the correlative words expressed. 

What is so calculated to impress them with the importance of prayer, 
as the being called at stated intervals to take part in our devotional suppli- 
cations to God ? Who can tell how often there the waves of barbarous 
migrations may have broken harmless against the cliffs, where nature 
was the strong ally of the defenders of the land ? 

2. With one of the correlative words expressed. 

Why should I question his veracity, when he assured me that this 
man had never done an act of beneficence in his life ? When can you 
hope for such another, if this be neglected ? To what shall we impute 
the misfortunes that have overtaken and overwhelmed the country within 
the last five years, if not to an officious, arbitrary, tyrannical meddling 
with the natural currents and laws of trade? 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed, 

Who would not have committed the same crime, had he been exposed 
to the same temptation ? What would be the result, were he to fail in 
the very outset of the enterprise ? 

The indefinite compact is often made fragmentary, by the suppression of all of the first part 
except the interrogative what, thus : What, if he did? What, though he fled ? What, when 
you met him ? 

*Thc double not found 



72 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

3. Examples of the Loose. 

1. Of the Perfect Loose. 

By what authority doest thou these things ; or who gave thee this 
authority ? When shall these things be ? and what sign shall there be, 
when these things come to pass ? Where is now that splendor of the 
most exalted dignities ? where are those marks of honor and distinction V 
what has become of that pomp of feastings and rejoicings ? what is the 
issue of those frequent acclamations, and extravagantly flattering enco- 
miums, lavished by a whole people assembled in the circus to see the 
public shows V 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

Where is her splendor : her wealth : her power : her glory $ To 
whom do we owe it, that in this favored land the gospel of the blessed 
God has best displayed its power to bless humanity, by uniting the an- 
ticipations of a better world with the highest interests and pursuits of 
this : by carrying its merciful influence into the very business and bo- 
soms of men : by making the ignorant wise, and the miserable happy : 
by breaking the fetters of the slave, and teaching " the babe and the suck- 
ling" those simple and sublime truths which give life its dignity and 
virtue, and fill immortality with hope V 

3. THE INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE. 

These sentences, like other compounds, are close, compact and loose ; 
but as they seldom occur, I shall content myself with giving examples 
without reference to these divisions: trusting that the student is well 
enough acquainted, at this stage, with their distinctive features, to rec- 
ognize them, whenever they appear. 

1. Examples of the first kind. 

You do not think, I hope, that I will join in conversation with such a 
man ; or that I will so far betray my character, as to give countenance 
to such desperate proceedings f 

This sentence is, alone, an illustration of close, compact and loose. As a whole, it is imper- 
fect loose : having in the first part a close, and in the second, a compact construction. 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full 
of leprosy ; who, seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought him : say- 
ing, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean f And he put forth 
his hand and touched him : saying, I will : be thou clean. 

I quote no more of this sentence, as example, than the question it contains : the question of 
the leper. 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

You surely will not say I am bound to read such books f Truth, 
Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's ta- 
ble ? Sure he that made us, made us to enjoy 1 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 73 

4. THE DOUBLE INTERROGATIVE. 

Examples. 

Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not # Art thou he that 
should come, or do we look for another? Is it lawful on the Sabbath 
day to do good, or to do evil 8 to save life or to destroy it 8 Has God 
forsaken the works of his own hands, or does he always graciously pre- 
serve and keep and guide them 8 

5. THE SEMI-INTERROGATIVE. 

Examples. 

He approached the man and said, what place is this? And he turned 
unto the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman ? 

If you reasoned aright, and probed the soul well, would you not find 
that from these, as from hidden springs, a great deal of all the best feli- 
city, you have tasted, has welled up ? 

Beasts of burden may easily be managed by a new master, but will 
the wild ass submit to bonds ? 

In such a state, eloquence, it is obvious, would be most studied as 
the surest means of rising to influence and power ; and what sort of elo- 
quence ? 

To you the world is in its prime : why should you anticipate its decay ? 

The baptism of John: was it from heaven, or of men 8 

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing : is it lawful on 
the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil 8 to save life, or to destroy it 8 

During the conversation he was silent ; but I heard him, as he went 
out, saying to a man with whom he was walking, And so he died without 
making, after all, a confession of his many crimes f 

He who maims my person, affects that which medicine may remedy ; 
but what herb has sovereignty over the wound of slander S he who ridi- 
cules my poverty or reproaches my profession, upbraids me with that 
which industry may retrieve, and integrity may rectify ; but what riches 
shall redeem the bankrupt fame ? 

CLASS III. COMPOUND EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

Compound exclamatory sentences are declarative, interrogative, com- 
pellative and semi-exclamatory : the last so called, because only in part 
exclamatory. 

Compound compellatives differ in nothing from the simple, except in 
comprising two or more names connected by copulatives expressed or 
understood, or either one or two, followed by an adjunct or rather cir- 
cumstance, also connected by a copulative expressed or understood. As 
the compellatives necessarily make imperfect sense, they must always be 
separated from what follows by the comma : if followed by a circum- 
stance, that too, making imperfect sense, must be separated from the 
succeeding part of the sentence by the comma. 

Almost every species of exclamatory sentences appears in a fragmen- 
tary form. 

10 



74 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

1. THE DECLARATIVE EXCLAMATORY. 

1, Examples of the Close. 

Shame and death to the enemies of the Queen and State ! Wo to 
those who in disgust shall venture to crush her ! There goes one who 
belonged to the army of Italy ! God forbid that my happiness should be 
bought at such a price ! The next gale that sweeps from the north, will 
bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Would that the prin- 
ciple of that faith which we have believed, and which we prize, were 
also hers ! 

That they should have attempted to pass the grand, yet solid and judi- 
cious operations of a mind like his, as being the mere theatrical start and 
emotion, the giddy, hair-brained eccentricities of a romantic boy ; that 
they should have had the presumption to suppose themselves, capable of 
chaining down to the floor of Parliament, a genius so etherial, towering 
and sublime, seems unaccountable ! 

Examples of Fragmentary Close. 

Washington and Hamilton in five years ! One million of men torn 
from their homes, butchered in battle, and left to rot and bleach where 
they fell, to gratify the ambition of a despot ! That those who have been 
rocked in the same cradle by the same maternal hand, and imbibed the 
first genial nourishment of infant existence from the same blessed source, 
should be forced to contend in impious strife for the destruction of that 
being, derived from their common parents ! 

• [He launched forth upon the unknown deep to discover a new world 
under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella.] The patronage of 
Ferdinand and Isabella ! [Let us dwell for a moment on the auspices 
under which our country was brought to light.] The patronage of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella ! [Yes, doubtless, they have fitted out a convoy, 
worthy the noble temper of the man, and the gallantry of the object.] 

2. Examples of the Compact. 
1. Of the Single Compact. 

1 . With both of the correlative words expressed. 

When at length we meet again, before the blessed tribunal of that 
Deity whose mild doctrines, and whose mercies, ye have this day re- 
nounced ; then shall you feel the agony and grief of soul, which now 
tear the bosom of your weak accuser ! 

Then, if you see my limbs convulsed, my teeth clenched, my hair brist- 
ling, and cold dews trembling on my brow ; seize me ! 

2. With one of the correlative words expressed. 

Troy thought so once, yet the land of Priam lives only in song ! — The 
believers in Christianity are many, but it belongs to the few that are wise 
to correct their credulity ! 

[Oh God !] if thou art still the widow's husband, and the father of the 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 75 

fatherless, pity, O pity this afflicted mother, and grant that her hapless 
orphans may find a friend, a benefactor, a father in thee ! 

While led by thy hand, and fighting under thy banners ; open thou 
their eyes to behold in every valley and in every plain, what the pro- 
phets beheld by the same illumination : chariots of fire, and horses of fire ! 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

Happy would it have been for her and all, had my first counsels pre- 
vailed ! — Happy were it for us, did we constantly view the great Creator 
and Preserver of all, continually manifesting himself in his various works ! 

Could we approach thee, gladly would we drop the tear of sympathy, 
and pour into thy bleeding bosom, the balm of consolation ! 

You have vanquished him in the field ; strive now to rival him in the 
sacred acts of peace ! 

You will never think as I do, and I will never think as you do! 
Stain my ribbond blue, cries the illustrious knight, and the fountain of 
honor will have a fast and faithful servant ! 

Flung into life in the midst of a revolution that quickened every en- 
ergy of a people who acknowledge no superior, he commenced his course 
a stranger by birth, and a scholar by charity ! 

Examples of Fragmentary Single Compact. 

Did you know the burning of this bosom ! — [but I speak unthinkingly 
perhaps what my delicacy should not have whispered even in the ear of 
friendship !] 

Could we but prevail on my father to think thus ! [Alas, his mind is 
not formed for contracting into that narrow sphere, which his fortune has 
now marked out for him.] 

Had you seen him, Julia, when he pronounced this forever I 

Had you seen her eyes, how they spoke, when her father gave me her 
hand! 

Did you feel that name as I do! — [Even traced with my pen, what 
throbbing remembrances has it raised.] 

Could I be with you ! — [but I shall not be forgotten at the interview !] 

When I think of the many thousands of my fellow creatures groaning 
under oppression and misery ! — [Great God ! hast thou peopled those 
regions of thy world for the purpose of casting out their inhabitants to 
chains and torture ?] 

Admirable ! but upon this doctrine, the poor man who has but one sin- 
gle vice, must be in a bad way. 

Each of these exclamatory sentences, except the last, has its second part, beginning with then, 
understood. What that part may be the student must surmise. 

The last example, which has the correlative word indeed suppressed, has the first part in a 
fragmentary state ; which is here, it will be observed, pointed as exclamatory. This is often 
the case with every species of exclamatory sentence. I make this remark once for all. 

To become familiar with these fragmentary forms, is of the highest importance, to a correct 
delivery. They are frequently met with. 

2. Of the Double Compact. 
Surely victories and triumph do not give immortal glory to a city ! 



76 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

but the exercise of mercy towards a vanquished enemy, the using of mod- 
eration in the greatest prosperity, and fearing to offend God by a haughty 
and insolent pride ! 

It disturbed no innocent man ; it knew there its appearance would 
strike terror, and who would cry out, " A ghost !" it made itself visible in 
the right quarter, and compelled the guilty and the conscience-smitten, 
and none others to start with, 

PrVthee, see there ! behold ! look ! lo ! 
If I stand here, I saw him ! 

He is not content to triumph over the Gauls, the Egyptians and Phar- 
naces ; he must triumph over his own countrymen ! He is not content 
to cause the statues of Scipio and Petrius to be carried before him ; he 
must be graced by that of Cato ! He is not content with the simple ef- 
figy of Cato ; he must exhibit that of his suicide ! He is not satisfied to 
insult the Romans by triumphing over the death of liberty ; they must 
gaze upon the representation of her expiring agonies, and mark the 
writhings of her last, fatal struggle ! 

They are not fighting ; (do not disturb them ;) they are merely paus- 
ing ! This man is not expiring with agony ; that man is not dead ; he 
is only pausing ! They are not angry with one another ; they have no 
cause of quarrel, but their country thinks that there should be a pause ! 
All that you see, sir, is nothing like fighting ; there is no harm, nor cru- 
elty, nor bloodshed in it whatever; it is nothing more than a political 
pause ! 

You would not select the public firebrand ; you would not seek your 
seconds in the tavern or in the brothel ; you would not inquire out the 
man who was oppressed with debts, contracted by licentiousness, de- 
bauchery, every species of profligacy ! [who, sir, I ask, were Csesar's 
seconds in his undertakings ?] 

In the first of these examples, we have the first and third propositions in contact : in the sec- 
ond, the first, second and third : in the third, a series of double compacts, consisting of the first 
and third : the fourth, differs from the third only in having the first proposition of most of the 
compacts consist of two or more members : the last consists of the first proposition, only, with 
several members. 

3. Examples of the Loose. 
1. Of the Perfect Loose, 

Time flies : words are unavailing : the chieftains prepare for instant 
battle ! 

This is the consequence of your generosity : he whom your goodness 
raised to an equality with your own children, is the murderer of your 
children ! 

May the disciples of Washington then see, as we now see, the flag of 
the Union floating on the top of the Capitol ; and then, as now, may the 
sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than 
this our own country ! 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

He aspired to be the highest ! above the people ! above the authorL 
ties'! above the laws ! above his country ! 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 77 

This is the way to fall, when one must fall ! to surrender, when one 
must surrender ! to die, when death comes ! 

Oh the insupportable anguish of reflecting that we died of hunger, 
when there was bread enough and to spare ! that we perished from 
thirst, when the waters of salvation were rolling at our very feet ! 

It was the spirit of liberty which still abides on earth, and has its 
home in the bosoms of the brave : which but yesterday in beautiful 
France restored their violated charter : which even now burns brightly 
on the towers of Belgium, and has rescued Poland from the tyrant's 
grasp : making their sons, aye, and their daughters too, the wonder and 
the admiration of the world ; the pride and glory of the human race ! 

2. THE INTERROGATIVE EXCLAMATORY. 

1. THE DEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1. Examples of the Close. 

Shall it be said that we will not sacrifice one prejudice on the altar 
of the Union for its preservation ! 

Was it a wonder, then, that I seized my prejudices, and, with a blush, 
burned them on the altar of my country ! 

[Is it come to this !] Shall an inferior magistrate, a governor who 
holds his power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight 
of Italy, bind, scourge, torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and 
at last put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen ! 

Examples of Fragmentary Close. 

Of a friend who had saved his life ! [Incredible.] 

That God and nature have put into our hands ! 

Go from Boston to New York and thence to Philadelphia in two days ! 

2. Examples of the Compact. 

I have not been able to find a double compact definite, and even sin- 
gle compacts are very scarce. Such as I have been able to collect will 
be found below, and in the appropriate place in Chapter VI. 

1. With both correlative words expressed. 

Might Rome then have been taken, if these men, who were at our 
gates, had not wanted courage for the attempt ! 

Would it not be advisable rather to attend to this declared object of 
the war now, than wait until after the Canadian scheme is effected ! 

2. With one correlative word expressed. 

Will you charge me with a purpose to overthrow the government, 
because I oppose misrule ! 

Do you strike me like a dog, because I will not submit to oppression ! 
Is tyranny of this kind to be borne with, where law is said to exist ! 
Do you propose to defeat the enemy, when at the gates ! 



78 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

Could hope have ever visited your breasts, had Christ not suffered on 
the cross the vengeance of man and the wrath of God ! 

Would the enemies of the country dare to assail us, having made such 
ample preparations to repel them ! 

Could he do this, and I remain silent ! 

Victory, and I not there ! 

3. Examples of the Loose. 

1. Of the Perfect Loose. 

Was it not enough that sorrow robed the happy home in mourning : 
was it not enough that disappointment preyed upon its loveliest pros- 
pects : was it not enough that its little inmates cried in vain for bread, 
and heard no answer but the poor father's sigh, and drank no suste- 
nance but the wretched mother's tears : was this a time for passion, 
conscienceless, licentious passion, with its eye of lust, its heart of stone, 
its hand of rapine, to rush into the mournful sanctuary of misfortune, 
casting crime into the cup of wo, and rob the parents of their last wealth, 
their child, and rob the child of her only charm, her innocence ! 

Examples of Fragmentary Perfect Loose. 

To change the settled law of property ! to confiscate the widow's pit- 
tance ! to plunder the orphan's cradle ! and to violate the dead man's 
grave ! [For this, too, there was a precedent.] 

To turn forth into our settlements, among our ancient connections, 
friends and relations, the merciless cannibal, thirsting for the blood of 
man, woman and child ! to send forth the infidel savage against your 
protestant brethren to lay waste their country, desolate their dwellings 
and extirpate their race and name, with these horrible hell-hounds of 
savage war ! 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

Are we brought into the world and allowed to occupy a place in it, 
only that we may pursue trifles ! that we may brutishly gratify our ap- 
petites and passions ! that we may leave the world at last, perhaps at 
the expiration of three score years and ten, without having derived any 
advantage from being in it, or conferring a single benefit upon it ! 

Fragmentary Imperfect Loose. 

What ! to attribute the sacred sanctions of God and nature to the mas- 
sacres of the Indian scalping-knife ! to the cannibal savage, torturing, 
murdering, devouring, drinking the blood of his mangled victims ! 

[By what name shall I now address you ? Shall I call you soldiers ?] 
Soldiers ! who have dared to besiege the son of your emperor ! who have 
made him a prisoner in his own entrenchments ! [Can I call you citi- 
zens ?] Citizens ! who have trampled under your feet the authority of 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 79 

the Senate ! who have violated the most awful sanctions, even those 
which hostile states have ever held in respect, the rights of ambassadors, 
and the laws of nations ! 

2. THE INDEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1. Examples of the Close. 

How easily do vigor of body and infirmity of mind lodge under the 
same roof! 

What a multitude of this and that living host, now glorious in the blaze 
of arms, and burning with desires of conquest, will fall and perish ! 

How often do we see in our public gazettes, a pompous display of 
honors to the memory of some veteran patriot, who has been suffered to 
linger out his latter days in unregarded penury ! 

2. Examples of the Compact. 

I have not been able to find a double compact indefinite : consequently 
the examples below are confined to the single, as under the head of 
definite. 

1. With both correlative words expressed. 

Where then shall the poor longing for the improvement of their con- 
dition, the ignorant yearning to look with intelligence upon the fair page 
of knowledge, the oppressed sighing for liberty and the persecuted for 
rest, the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed and persecuted of every clime, 
find an asylum, when young America, w r hose boast has been the largest 
liberty of conscience and exertion, closes the door against their approach, 
or allowing them to enter, places upon their limbs the very fetters from 
which they fled ! 

2. With one of the correlatives expressed. 

What momentous meaning hangs upon that word, first, when its pecu- 
liar relations in this connection are understood ! 

How many favorite schemes of enjoyment would the thought of him 
and his will put to flight, if faithfully admitted to the inner chambers of 
the mind! 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

How well would it have been, had he but retraced the fountain of that 
document ! 

How different would have been our lot this day, both as men and citi- 
zens, had the revolution failed of success ! 

What, what are the hours of a splendid wretch like this, compared 
with those that shed their poppies and their roses upon the pillows of our 
peaceful and virtuous patriots ! 

The only fragmentary form of the indefinite compact, of which I am 
at present aware, is the following : varied by the use of different relative 
words, what, though ; what, then. 



80 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

[The success of the campaign depends upon the occurrence of no un- 
favorable contingency.] But what, if our supplies should be cut off! 

" Then shall we do," or something similar, is here understood after whai. 

3. Examples of the Loose. 
1. Of the Perfect Loose. 

How striking the event! how wide its influence! how strange its 
effects ! Who can deny that the existence of such a country presents a 
subject for human congratulation: who can deny that its gigantic ad- 
vancement, offers a field for the most rational conjecture ! 

How few modern orators could venture on such apostrophes; and 
what a power of genius would it require to give such figures now their 
proper grace, or make them produce a due effect on the hearers ! 

2. Of the Imperfect Loose. 

How precious must that liberty be, which could prompt a great people 
to suffer their native prince to wander in exile ! which could move them 
to resist every attempt to replace him on the throne ! 

What a spectacle was this, to see uncircumcised Philistines laying 
their profane hands upon the testimony of God's presence ! to see the 
glorious mercy-seat under the roof of an idol ! to see the two cherubims 
spreading their wings under a false god ! 

Where in the compass of human literature, can the fancy be so 
elevated by sublime description : can the heart be so warmed by simple, 
unaffected tenderness! 

3. THE INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE. 

1 . Examples of the first kind. 

Thou dost not mean — 
No, no, thou wouldst not have me make 
A trial of my skill upon my child ! 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

Of this variety of the indirect, I have met with no examples. 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

[But how was it received by the American cabinet ?] Surely, they 
were indignant at this treatment : surely the air rings with reproaches 
upon a man, who has thus made them stake their reputation upon a false- 
hood, and then gives little less than the lie direct to their assertions ! 
[No, sir : nothing of the kind.] 

3. THE COMPELLATIVE EXCLAMATORY. 

Examples. 

Men, brethren and fathers ! — Friends and fellow citizens ! — Truth ! 
friendship! my country! [accept my last sacrifice.] Princes, poten- 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 81 

tates, and powers ! — Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! — Prescott, Put- 
nam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! — [our eyes seek for you 
in vain amidst the broken band.] 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them 
that are sent unto thee ! [how often would I have gathered, &c &c] 

Ye Who have hearts of pity ! ye who have experienced the anguish of 
dissolving friendship ! who have wept and still weep over the mould- 
erings of departed kindred ! — [ye can enter into this reflection.] 
O thou great Arbiter of life and death ! 
Nature's immortal, immaterial sun ! 
Whose all-prolific beam late called me forth 
From darkness, (teeming darkness, where I lay 
The worm's inferior, and in rank beneath 
The dust I tread on,) high to bear my brow, 
To drink the spirit of the golden day, 
And triumph in existence ; and could know 
No motive but my bliss ; and hast ordained 
A rise in blessing ! [with the patriot's joy 
Thy call I follow to the land unknown.] 

IV. SEMI-EXCLAMATORY. 

Examples. 

And when he came to himself he said, how many hired servants of 
my father have enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! 

Oh God ! most merciful, most righteous Father of all mercies ! he 
cried in a transport of devotion, with what marvellous love hast thou 
embraced us : even us, thine enemies ! 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest 
them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy chil- 
dren together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not ! 

While he feels in himself nothing but frailty and weakness, how apt 
is he to apprehend some fatal overthrow ! 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask him ! 

Under such circumstances, a sensation of happiness for a single mo- 
ment would be a cause of gratitude ; how much more, if this form of 
happiness continue throughout our whole extent of being ! 

He sacrificed every thing he had in the world : what could we ask 
more ! 

When a government forbids its citizens under pain of death, to receive 
any pension or largess from the hands of foreigners, how gentle and easy 
is that law to those who, for the sake of their father-land and liberty, 
would, of their own accord abstain from so unworthy an act ! but on the 
contrary, how harsh and oppressive does it appear to those, who care for 
nothing but their selfish gains ! 



ii 



82 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 



THE MIXED SENTENCE, CIRCUMSTANCE AND PARENTHESIS. 

The preceding classification comprises, I believe, every variety of sen- 
tence to be found in the English language ; and, indeed, in any language, 
whether ancient or modern ; for in them all, the laws of construction, 
if we except an unimportant difference in the arrangement of words, are 
precisely the same. It now only remains to observe, that these sentences 
are not always found in a pure state. They are frequently combined ; 
and when combined, they are equally necessary to the sense and con- 
struction, or one or more of them, are necessary to the sense, but not to 
the construction, or one or more of them are necessary neither to the 
sense nor construction. In the first case, I call the sentence a mixed 
sentence : in the second, the part or sentence not necessary to the con- 
struction, I call, after Dr. Blair, a circumstance : in the third case, the 
part or sentence inserted, but neither necessary to the sense nor construc- 
tion, I call a parenthesis. 

As the combinations, of course, somewhat modify the delivery, their 
peculiarities should be understood. I shall, therefore, before dismissing 
the classification of sentences, describe them : subjoining as hitherto a 
number of examples, sufficient for all the purposes of illustration. 



I. The mixed sentence is formed of two or more of the same species, 
or of different species of sentences, so combined, that both or all are 
equally necessary to the construction and the sense. 

Examples. 

It is happy that these governors into whose hands you have resigned 
your power, are so good, and so gracious, as to continue your allowance 
to see plays. 

It is the garment of vengeance with which the Deity arrays himself, 
when he comes forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth. 

The counsel remarked that one of the letters should not be taken in 
evidence, because it was evidently and abstractedly private. 

It is all resolute, manly resistance for conscience and liberty's sake, 
not merely of an overwhelming power, but of all the force of long- rooted 
habits and native love of order and peace. 

If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop 
remained in my country, I never would lay down my arms. 

I 'm surprised at that ; 
Where I come from, it is the common chat. 

When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun 
in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored 
fragments of a once glorious union ; on states dissevered, discordant, 
belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in 
fraternal blood ! let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather, behold 
the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout 
the earth, still full high advanced : its arms and trophies streaming in 
their original lustre : not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 83 

obscured : bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as, What 
is all this worth ? nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty 
first and union afterward ; but every where, spread all over in charac- 
ters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they float over the sea 
and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other 
sentiment, dear to every true American heart, Liberty and union, now 
and forever, one and inseparable ! 

The first three of these examples are respectively combinations of close and single compact 
sentences. 

The fourth is a combination of a close and double compact. 

The fifth is a combination of three single compacts. It is compact as a whole, and has a com- 
pact in each of its parts : if — then, being the correlative words of the whole ; as — so, of the 
first part, and while — then, of the second. 

The sixth contains two tingle compacts : one comprising the whole, and the other the second 
part : the first has the correlative words, therefore — for, because, and the second, where — 
there. 

The last, a noble sentence, is singularly interlaced and complicated. It opens with the fh\st 
part of a single compact, the second part of which begins the first of a double compact with the 
first and third proposition expressed : the last beginning at the exclamation and continuing with 
an imperfect loose construction until the word motto is reached ; when another double compact 
with the first and third proposition expressed, is commenced to terminate only with the close. 
Let these examples suffice to show the nature of the mixed sentence. The punctuation con- 
forms to the nature of the sentences combined. 

II. A circumstance is a part of a simple or compound sentence, 
required by the sense, but not essential to the grammatical construction. 

It may be a word, clause or sentence : if a sentence, almost any of 
the species or varieties enumerated in the preceding classification. 

It may stand at the beginning, in the middle, (by which I mean any 
where between the first and last word,) or at the end of a simple, or part of 
a compound sentence. At the beginning it should be followed, in the 
middle, preceded and followed, and at the end, preceded by a comma : 
at the end of the first part of a compact, it should have the comma after 
it : at the end of any part of a loose sentence except the last, it should be 
followed by the semicolon or colon : at the end of a simple, or of the last 
part of a compound sentence, it terminates of course with the period. 

1. Examples at the beginning. 

Thus, the Puritan was made up of two different men. 

Soon, we hear they have filled Jerusalem with their doctrine. 

In these respects, our poetry is more true to nature, and more conform- 
able to just taste. 

On the other side, there are those who have no love for polished 
perfection of style : for sustained and unimpassioned accuracy : for per- 
suasive but equable diction. 

Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the Deity through an obscu- 
ring veil, they aspired to gaze full on the intolerable brightness, and to 
commune with him face to face. 

In the midst of all this peace, this innocence, and this tranquillity, this 
feast of the mind, this pure banquet of the heart, the destroyer comes. 

2. Examples in the middle. 

There is, therefore, now, no condemnation to them that are in Christ 
Jesus. 



84 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Whether, in any country, a choice altogether unexceptionable has 
been made, seems doubtful. 

I have, with a good deal of attention, considered the subject on which 
I was desired to communicate my thoughts. 

The combatants encountered with such rage that, eager to assail, 
and thoughtless of defence, they fell dead upon the field together. 

Far be it from me, cried Demetrius, to lay so heavy a charge upon him. 

There are some remembrances, said Harley, which rise involuntarily 
on my heart and make me almost wish to live. 

A wife, who is said to be lovely even beyond her sex, and graced with 
every accomplishment that can render it irresistible, had blessed him 
with her love. 

God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spake, in times 
past, unto the fathers by the prophets, hath, in these last days, spoken 
unto us by his Son. 

Why are the statues of the most celebrated modern sculptors, notwith- 
standing the perfection to which the arts have been carried, so much infe- 
rior to those of the ancients V 

Will the condign punishment of their countrymen, not for disturbing 
the public peace, or the violation of property, but for a well meant 
endeavor to diffuse the principles of piety and the blessings of religion, 
augment their reverence for the laws ? 

3. Examples at the end. 

He has forfeited my esteem and attachment, answered Demetrius. 
And has he also forfeited the esteem and attachment of the rest of man- 
kind ? continued Socrates. 

Acquaint me with those means, answered Demetrius ; for I am a 
stranger to them. — No, answered Demetrius : I would repeat no griev- 
ances. 

Hug not this delusion to your breast, I pray you. 

No woman is capable of being beautiful, who is not incapable of being 
false. 

I cannot tell how to account for it, but these people have usually the 
preference to our own fools, in the opinion of the sillier part of womankind. 

I never traveled in my life, but I do not know whether I could have 
spoken of any foreign country with more familiarity than I do at present, 
in company who are strangers to me. 

III. A parenthesis is a sentence, or a part of a sentence, unnecessary 
both to the construction and sense of the sentence or paragraph in which 
it is inserted ; and it is inserted either in another sentence, after a part 
making imperfect or perfect sense, or between two sentences. 

The proper pauses are usually associated with the parenthetic marks ; 
but when the parenthesis is very short, and especially when inserted, as 
it sometimes is, between the parts of a sentence which should not receive 
a pause if the parenthesis were not inserted, they are omitted. 

The rule for the punctuation of a parenthesis is very short and simple : 
it always requires after it the pause, or the representative of the pause, 
which properly precedes it. The only exception to this rule occurs when 
the parenthesis concludes a sentence. Then, whatever the pause before 
it, the period, of course, must follow it. 



CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 85 

The rulers sometimes transgressed, but with manifest impropriety ; 
for any pause longer than a comma before and after the parenthesis, 
when inserted between parts of a sentence making imperfect sense, 
would destroy the connection. On the other hand, any pause, when 
the parenthesis is inserted between parts making perfect sense, shorter 
than the semicolon or colon, would make the connection closer than it 
really is. The application of the rule, when the parenthesis stands be- 
tween two independent sentences, is too obvious to need remark. 

EXAMPLES OF THE PARENTHESIS. 

1. With the pauses necessarily omitted. 

Godwin will punctually go again (Wednesday is Johnson's open day) 
yesterday four weeks next. 

B. is coming to town on Monday (if no kind angel intervene) to sur- 
render himself to prison. 

Calling in accidentally on the Professor while he was out, I was ush- 
ered into the study ; and my nose quickly (most sagacious always) 
pointed me to four tokens lying loose upon the table, which indicated 
thy violent and satanical pride of heart. 

In particular, inquire at Florence for his colossal bronze statue (in 
the grand square, or somewhere) of Perseus. 

My tragedy will be a medley (I intend it to be a medley) of laugh- 
ter and tears, prose and verse, and in some places, rhyme, songs, wit, 
pathos, humor, and, if possible, sublimity. 

Are you still (I fear you are) far from being comfortably settled ? 

It will be observed, that in these examples the parenthesis is inserted between parts not 
merely making imperfect sense, but parts that should not be separated, and are not, by the 
shortest pause, in the absence of the parenthesis. 

2. With the pauses omitted, out not necessarily. 

I write rather what answers to my feelings (which are sometimes 
sharp enough) than express my present ones. 

I therefore walked back, and repassed her with such a look (for I 
could bring myself to nothing more) as might induce her to speak. 

If no public regulation can be contrived for that purpose, (though I 
cannot help thinking this disease of the great people meets the attention 
of government, as much as the distemper among the horned cattle) try, 
at least, the effects of private admonition, to prevent the sound from ap- 
proaching the infected. 

I know a merry fellow (you partly know him) who, when his medi- 
cal adviser told him he had drunk away all that part, congratulated 
himself (now his liver was gone) that he should be the longest liver of 
the two. 

3. With the pauses properly inserted. 

We hold, you know, (and rightly too,) that all government is, or 
ought to be, made and managed for the benefit of the people. 

And there will I nourish thee, (for yet there are five years of famine,) 
lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast come to poverty. 



86 CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SENTENCES. 

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how 
that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ? 

Should liberty continue to be abused in this country, as it has been 
for some time past, (and though demagogues may not admit, yet ob- 
serving and sensible men will not deny that it has been,) the people 
will seek relief in a despotism, or in emigration. 

The power of such characters in nature, says Mr. Whately, (from 
whom I am happy to borrow the following observations, not only from 
the beauty of their expression, but from their singular coincidence in 
the illustration of the fact I have been endeavoring to establish,) the 
power of such characters is not confined to the ideas which the objects 
themselves immediately suggest. 

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ; (for he 
is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke 
one another to love and good works. 

Then went the Captain with the officers, and brought them without 
violence; (for they feared the people lest they should have been stoned;) 
and when they had brought them, they set them before the council. 

I will therefore chastise him, and release him. (For of necessity, he 
must release one unto them at the feast.) And they cried out all at 
once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas; (who 
for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into 
prison.) 

While they wish to please, (and why should they not wish it ?) they 
disdain dishonorable means. 

Let the bishop be one that ruleth well his own house : having his 
children in subjection with all gravity : (for if a man know not how to 
rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) not 
a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of 
the devil. 

The little room (was it not a little one ?) at the Salutation was 
already in the way of becoming a fading idea. 

I am so ill just at present, (an illness of my own procuring last night: 
who is perfect ?) that nothing but your very great kindness could make 
me write. 

It was represented by an analogy, (oh, how inadequate !) which was 
borrowed from the religion of paganism. 

She managed this matter so well, (oh, she was the most artful of wo- 
men !) that my father's heart was gone, before I suspected it was in 
danger. 

In short, my genius, (which is a short word now-a-days for what-a- 
great-man-am-I !) was absolutely stifled and overlaid with its own riches. 



CHAPTER V. 



EMPHASIS. 

1 shall speak of emphasis under two heads : first, the nature and dif- 
ferent kinds of emphasis, and secondly, the effect. 

SEC. I. THE NATURE OF EMPHASIS IN GENERAL ; OR COMMON EMPHASIS. 

1. Every word in a sentence in part declares, and in part implies 
three propositions : first, an affirmative ; second, a negative, denying 
that affirmative ; and third, another affirmative incompatible with the 
first. 

Example. 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in a 
dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and landscapes 
more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole compass of 
nature. 

The definite article the, the second word in this sentence, is used by 
the author, as all will acknowledge, not only to designate a particular 
faculty to the exclusion of every other which forms a part of our con- 
stitution, but more especially to contradict a possible assertion or sup- 
position, that there is more than one faculty with this particular func- 
tion : an assertion or supposition which would be expressed, if a, each 
or every were substituted for the in the example. 

Such being the case, we have found two of the propositions above 
enumerated: the first is that which the declares: the second is that 
which the contradicts. Somebody says, has said, or may say, By a, 
each or every faculty of, &c. ; but the author, to exclude this, says, By 
the faculty of, &c. But these two propositions necessarily imply a 
third ; namely, an intermediate denial of the first ; for to oppose one as- 
sertion to another, is equivalent to asserting, not merely that the one is 
true, but also that the other is not. Introducing then the intermediate 
proposition, we obtain the entire series involved in the use of the definite 
article in the case before us, as follows : 

By a faculty : not by a faculty, but by the faculty. 

Take another example : the word faculty is applied to the imagina- 



88 EMPHASIS. 

tion by the author, in opposition to theories which would make it a mere 
modification of some other faculty, or of the intellect in general. It has 
a furtive reference, therefore, to one or both of these ideas, and excludes 
them as false. Consequently we have here, as above, three propositions, 
thus: 

By the modification, &c. : not by the modification, &c, but by the 
faculty. 

Proceeding from word to word, in the same manner, to the conclusion 
of the sentence, we shall find the same number of propositions involved 
in each : e. g. 

By the faculty of memory : not of memory, but the imagination. 

Of a dull and common-place : not a dull and common-place, but a 
lively and picturesque. 

A man any where : not any where, but in a dungeon. 

As beautiful : not as beautiful, but more beautiful. 

Than some : not some, but any. 

That have been : not that have been, but that can be. 

In a province : not in a province, but in the whole compass of nature, 
&c. &c. &c. &c. &c. 

2. The first of these propositions being that which the second denies, 
and the third contradicts, I term the relative idea of the series : the 
second, the negative : the third, the contradictory. 

3. Most of the words in a sentence, being employed to convey re- 
ceived ideas, that is, ideas common both to the writer and reader, 
speaker and hearer, no necessity exists for indicating the exclusion of 
their relatives, either by formally introducing the series of propositions 
involved, or by any other means. 

This, however, is not true of all : in every sentence, one or more are 
intended to convey ideas, differing from those entertained by the reader 
or hearer ; or supposed to be different ; or different from those of third 
parties referred to : in a word, they are intended to convey, not merely 
particular ideas, but particular ideas in opposition to other ideas. 

In this case, the exclusion of these other ideas must be shown by the 
process before neglected ; or by some associated and received sign of 
that process ; that is, either by formally introducing the series of propo- 
sitions in every such instance, or by some other expedient, natural or 
conventional, which shall infallibly suggest them. 

But to introduce the series of propositions in every such instance, 
would render discourse prolix and wearisome : hence, it is seldom done 
except in dialogue ; where these consequences j are shunned, or at least 
mitigated, by distributing the propositions among the different speakers. 
In continuous and sustained prose or poetry, the exclusion of the rela- 
tive ideas is indicated by an unusual pressure of the voice alone, on the 
negative or contradictory or both, as the one, or the other, or both, hap- 
pen to be expressed : a pressure, always associated with the series when 
expressed, and therefore the better fitted to suggest the series, when 
omitted. 

4. This pressure of the voice is emphasis ; which may therefore be 



EMPHASIS. 89 

defined, a significant stress laid on a ivord to mark the exclusion of its 
relative idea or ideas, expressed or understood. 

It follows that such a thing as absolute emphasis, that is, emphasis without relation, a kind of 
emphasis for which Dr. Porter (see his Analysis of Rhetorical Delivery) contends at some 
length, is unknown to the English language. It will be seen that I have appropriated his 
examples below, (see No. 5 and 6,) as excellent illustrations of relative emphasis in its most 
common phase. 

5. The series of propositions, involved, as we have seen, in every 
word of a sentence, and distinctly brought into view by emphasis, is, as 
I have already implied, often complete. More generally, however, 
one or two of the propositions are understood. I subjoin a number of 
examples sufficient to illustrate usage in this respect. 

1. An Example of the whole Series. 

He is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for 
the sins of the whole world. (See 2 Tim. iv. 8.) 

2. Of the first and second alone. 

What would content you ? Talent ? No. Enterprise ? No. Cour- 
age ? No. Reputation ? No. Virtue ? No. The men whom you 
would select, should possess, not one, but all of these. 

Talent, enterprise, courage, reputation, virtue, are respectively the 
relative ideas of each succeeding no, or negative proposition, and a 
common contradictory understood ; the exact nature of which may be 
inferred from the conclusion of the sentence. Converting then the in- 
terrogative into declarative sentences, expanding no into its equivalent, 
and supplying the contradictory, we have the series of propositions as 
follows : 

Talent would content you : not talent alone, but something more. 

Enterprise would content you: not enterprise alone, but something 
more. 

Courage would content you : not courage alone, but something more. 

Reputation would content you : not reputation alone, but something 
more. 

Virtue would content you : not virtue alone, but something more. 
The men whom you would select, should possess, not one, but all of 
these. 

Or, if it please, thus : 

Talent. ? No, but something more. Enterprise 1 No, but some- 
thing more. Courage ? No, but something more. Reputation ? No, 
but something more. Virtue ? No, but something more. The men 
whom you would, &c. 

3. Of the first and third alone. 

Pilate therefore willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But 
they cried, saying, Crucify him : crucify him. 

Pet. Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon ! 
Kath. The moon ! the sun : it is not moonlight now. 

12 



90 EMPHASIS. 

Pet. I say it is the moon that shines so bright. 
Kath. I know it is the sun that shines so bright. 

In both of these examples, the negative proposition is understood, and, 
to complete the series, must be supplied : if supplied, the series in the 
first will run thus : 

Pilate was willing to release Jesus : do not release, but crucify him. 

In the second, thus : 

It is the moon : it is not the moon ; it is the sun. 
It is the sun : it is not the sun ; it is the moon. 

I wish the student to observe here the distribution of the propositions among different speak- 
ers in dialogue as hinted above. 

4. Of the second alone. 

Are you desirous that your talents and abilities may procure you 
esteem ? Display them not ostentatiously to view. 

The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of sense, 
nor so refined as those of the understanding. 

The relatives and contradictories, involved in these negatives, being 
supplied, the series in the two examples would be the following : 

Display them ostentatiously to view : display them not ostentatiously 
to view, but unostentatiously. 

The pleasures of the imagination are as gross as those of sense : the 
pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of sense, but more 
refined. 

The pleasures of the imagination are as refined as those of the under- 
standing : they are not so refined as those of the understanding, but 
more gross. 

5. Of the second and third alone. 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 
It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, 
but to regulate them. 

Csesar generously replied that he came into Italy, not to injure the 
liberties of Rome and its citizens, but to restore them. 

When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his officer 
reprimanded him by saying, Sir, you was paid to fight against Alexan- 
der, not to rail at him. 

Resolved into the series thus : 

In our stars : not in our stars, but in ourselves. 
To extirpate : not to extirpate, but to regulate. 
To injure : not to injure ; to restore. 
To rail : not to rail ; to fight. 

The intelligent student will not fail to observe that this combination of the emphatic series, is 
identical with the double compact, with the first and third part alone expressed. 



EMPHASIS. 91 

6. Of the third alone. 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in a 
dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and landscapes 
more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole compass of 
nature. 

Up ! comrades ! up ! in Rokeby's halls 
Ne'er be it said your courage falls. 

Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you home, 
Is this a holiday ? 

The relative and negative of the first example, have already been 
given on a preceding page. (See Sec. I, 1.) Those of the second and 
third example are as follows : 

We will stay, sit or lie here : stay, &c, not, but up ! up ! 

Always be it said : not always, &c, but ne'er. 

We will stay here : stay not here, but hence ! home ! &e. 

6. The contradictory often excludes several relative ideas. This 
will be observed in the following quasi dialogue, and the two succeed- 
ing examples. 

A. Describe an orange. 

B. An orange is conical, yellow and juicy. 

C. An orange is not conical, but oblong, yellow and juicy. 

D. An orange is neither conical nor oblong, but round, yellow and 
juicy. 

Round, the contradictory of D, excludes, as the two negatives before 
it clearly imply, both the relative conical in the description of B, and the 
relative oblong in that of C. 

In the examples which follow, the relatives are understood, but the 
negatives render them obvious. 

Rather than man's innocency should want an outward comfort, God 
will begin a new creation : not out of the earth, which was the matter 
of man ; not out of the inferior creatures, which were the servants of 
man ; but out of man himself. 

Not outward magnificence, not state, not wealth, not the favor of the 
mighty, but God is the glory of Israel. 

II. ANTITHETIC EMPHASIS. 

I. Antithetic emphasis is emphasis in contrast with emphasis. It oc- 
curs only in the rhetorical figure, antithesis ; from which, as well as 
from the nature of the emphasis itself, I derive the name. It is single, 
double, treble, quadruple, &c. &c. 

1. Antithetic emphasis is single, when only one emphatic word in 
contrast occurs in each member of the antithesis : e. g. 



92 EMPHASIS. 

The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but 
they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, neither marry 
nor are given in marriage. 

2, It is double, when two emphatic words in one member of the anti- 
thesis, are in contrast with two in the succeeding member or mem- 
bers : e. g. 

The young are slaves to novelty : the old, to custom. 
The first gave two shillings ; the second, three ; the third, four ; the 
fourth, five ; the fifth, six ; &c. &c. 

3. It is treble, quadruple, &c, when three or more emphatic words 
occur in the same member of the antithesis in contrast respectively with 
a corresponding number in the succeeding member or members. It 
should be observed, that antithesis of this kind seldom occurs ; and when 
it does, on account of the difficulty, if not impossibility of marking such 
complicated contrasts with the voice, it is practically resolved into the 
double : I had almost said into the single ; for rarely is more than three 
of the emphatic words, even of the double, distinctly marked as such by 
the voice ; though in theory all of them are equally emphatic. But this 
effect, which is much like that of deferred emphasis, (see Deferred Em- 
phasis below,) is strikingly obvious in the treble now under considera- 
tion ; as the following examples, which I adduce from Walker, will show. 

He raised a mortal to the skies ; 
She drew an angel down. 

She in her girls again is courted ; 
I go a wooing with my boys. 

The following example of the double, however, will prove that this 
effect is not confined to the treble. 

A good man loves himself too well to lose an estate by gaming, and 
his neighbor too well to win one. 

There are here four words in both members of the antithesis, which in theory are equally 
emphatic ; yet three of them only, namely, himself, neighbor, and win, can, with propriety, be 
marked emphatically by the voice. 

II. It is a peculiarity of antithetic emphasis, that each of the con- 
trasted words has all the others for its relatives : e. g. 

The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but 
they who shall be accounted worthy of that world, neither marry nor are 
given in marriage. 

Giving the series of propositions involved in each of these words, they 
will be as follows : 

The children of that world marry and are given in marriage : not the 
children of thai world, but the children of this world. 



EMPHASIS. 93 

They who shall be accounted worthy of that world : not of that, 
but this. 

Again : 

The young are slaves to novelty : the old, to custom. 

Giving the series involved in each of these emphatic words, we shall 
have the following : 

The old are slaves to novelty : not the old, but the young. 
The young are slaves to custom : not the young, but the old. 

Or the following : 

The young are slaves to custom : not to custom, but to novelty. 
The old are slaves to novelty : not to novelty, but to custom. 

The same principle holds good, I believe, whatever the number of 
members of which the antithesis may consist : e. g. 

The young are slaves to novelty : the old, to custom : the middle-aged, 
to both : the dead, to neither. 

The following is the series of the first emphatic word in each member : 

The old, middle-aged and dead are slaves to novelty : not the old, &c, 
but the young. 

The young, the middle-aged and dead are slaves to custom : not the 
young, &c, but the old. 

The young, old and dead are slaves to both : not the young, &c, but 
the middle-aged. 

The young, old and middle-aged are slaves to neither : not the young, 
&c, but the dead. 

An exception to this mutual or reciprocal relation occurs in an an- 
tithesis formed on negative propositions : e. g. 

The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of sense, 
nor so refined as those of the understanding. 

If the student will turn to I, 5, 4, above, he will perceive that the two series when produced, 
are entirely distinct ; and consequently that the emphatic words are not mutually relative ; for 
gross and refined relate, not to each other, but to gross and refined understood. Though anti- 
thetic in position, the example therefore must be regarded as a case of common emphasis. 

III. DEFERRED EMPHASIS. 

When two or more adverbs, adjectives, nouns, or verbs, immediately 
connected by copulative conjunctions expressed or understood, are in 
theory equally emphatic, the emphatic stress is laid on the last of the 
series only ; that is to say, the emphasis is deferred. 

To deliver them all with the same pressure of the voice, would cause 
at the same time harshness and monotony. 

1. Adverbs. 
When or where I saw it, I am unable, at the present moment, to say. 



94 EMPHASIS. 

2. Adjectives. 

True charity is not a meteor which occasionally glares, but a lumi- 
nary which, in its orderly and regular course, dispenses a benignant 
influence. 

In this respect its meaning, like that of words, is arbitrary, local, and 
mutable. 

Next to want of skill in selection, is the fault of an undiscriminatinff, 
inanimate manner of reading. 

Its tidings, whether of peace or woe, are the same to the poor, the 
ignorant, and the weak, as to the rich, the wise, and the powerful. 

3. Nouns. 

It was a charge of which there was not only no proof or probability, 
but which was, in itself, wholly impossible to be true. 

A man who cherishes a strong ambition for preferment, if he does not 
fall into adulation and servility, is in danger of losing all manly inde- 
pendence. 

It is reasonable to suppose that affections, and intellectual habits, such 
as benevolence or malignity, cheerfulness or melancholy, deep thought or 
frivolity, must impress themselves upon the face. 

4. Verbs. 

If you had protested or rebelled, you might now have been safe. 
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes ; but great minds 
rise above them. 

IV. CONVENTIONAL EMPHASIS. 

By conventional emphasis, I mean emphasis established in particular 
instances by general consent, though improperly placed. 

Among examples of this, may be enumerated the usual formula of 
continuation, and so forth, or simply, fyc. ; which is always delivered 
with emphasis on so, when forth is really the emphatic word. 

To this head, we must also refer such phrases as, from day to day, 
from week to week, from year to year, from month to month, from house to 
house, from hand to hand, from heart to heart, from time to time, &c. &c. 
Custom uniformly places the emphasis in such phrases, on the nouns ; 
when propriety manifestly requires it to be placed on the prepositions : 
as in Ps. xc, 2 : Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou 
hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, 
thou art God. 

SEC. II. THE VOCAL EFFECT OF EMPHASIS. 

I. The peculiar effect of emphasis is to raise the voice, by means of 
an upper sweep, above the level of the sentence, to cause its descent with 
unusual force upon the emphatic word, if a word of one syllable, or up- 
on its primary accent, if a word of two or more syllables, and thence by 
means of a lower sweep, to carry it below the level of the sentence, and 
back again to it or above it. (See Plate, Fig. 2, e, f) 



emf:: 

In the examples which follow, other words are emphatic beside those which are marked as 
such. Those are marked which are intended for present illustration : to these, the attention of the 
student is exclusively deSSred. 

Examples of this effect. 

The Americans may become faithful friends of the English, but sub- 
jects, never. 

The good man loves himself too well to lose an estate by gaming, and 
his neighbor too well to win one. 

Where / come from, it is the common chat. 

Matches and overmatches ! Tutse terms are more applicable else- 
where than here, and fitter for other assemblies than this. . 

You have invited me. and I have veiy willingly accepted your invita- 
tion, to address you en this anniversary occasion. 

If he find himself pleased with the associations, and prepared to be quite 
sfied, though the parallel should be entirely completed. I had almost 
said. I am satisfied also ; but that I shall think of. 

Yet the echo and report of the blows by which other countries have 
fallen, are supposed to have more effect on us than the blows themselves 
produced upon the miserable victims who sunk beneath them. 

When I took occasion, Mr. President, two days ago. to throw out some 
ideas with respect to the policy of the government in relation to the pub- 
lic lands, nothing certainly could have been further from my thoughts, 
than that I should be compelled again to throw myself upon the indul- 
gence of the senate. 

II. The upper sweep is developed on so much of the sentence, as lies 
between the primary accent of the emphatic word, and the first pause 
either of perfect or imperfect sense preceding it : and the lower sweep 
on so much of the sentence, as lies between the primary accent of the em- 
phatic word, and the first pause of imperfect sense succeeding it. 

Here it is of the utmost importance to hare in mind the various cases in which the comma is 
suppressed : in other words, the circumstances in which the shortest pause may be made, though 
the comma is not inserted ; for in all these cases, the effect on emphasis is precisely the same, 
whether the comma is inserted or not : the development of the sweeps is arrested and limited to • 
the division of sense to which the emphatic word belonss. 

The rule above given applies exclusively to declarative or declarative exclamatory sentences. 

Examples. 

If the student will turn to the examples under the preceding head, he 
will find as much illustration, as he needs, of the effect of emphasis in a 
central position. I shall limit my quotations here to the purpose of show- 
ing how the sweeps are affected by approximation of the emphatic word, 
or its primary accent, to the pause before and after it. 

Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. 

Real war. my friends, is a very different thing from that painted 
image of it, which we see on a parade, or at a review. 

Equinoctial stomis occur in the spring and fall : they are distinguished 
both for length and severity. 

There is a natural difference between merit and demerit. 



96 EMPHASIS. 

Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet 
because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he 
needeth. 

These ages have no memory, but they left 
Their traces in the desert. 
For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves 
with some that commend themselves, for they, measuring themselves by 
themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 

I might multiply examples to any extent, but I presume the preceding 
are sufficient to show that the upper sweep diminishes with the approx- 
imation of the emphatic word to the pause before it, until, being the first 
word after the pause and having primary accent on its first syllable, the 
upper sweep is cut off, and the voice descends directly from a higher 
point than the level of the sentence upon it: (see Plate, Fig. 2, b:) to 
show also that with the approximation of the emphatic word to the pause 
of imperfect sense after it, the lower sweep diminishes, until it is formed 
on the last word and very last syllable of that word, if having the pri- 
mary accent. (See Plate, Fig. 2, c.) 

Exception to the Rule. When emphasis is placed upon the last 
word of a division of imperfect sense, followed by a short circumstance, 
the lower sweep is often developed on this circumstance, notwithstand- 
ing the pause. 

Examples. 

But youth, sir, is not my only crime. 

We may be assured, gentlemen, that he who really loves the thing 
itself, loves its finest exhibitions. 

The pillage and bloody devastation of Italy strike us with horror ; 
but Italy, we are to believe, is contented with what has befallen her. 

Oh, cease not yet to beat, thou vital urn ! 
Wait gushing life, oh, wait my love's return. 

There be, perhaps, who barren hearts avow, 
Cold as the rocks on Torneo's hoary brow. 

III. Though legitimately falling under the preceding rule, it deserves 
distinct notice, that when an emphatic word is immediately preceded and 
followed by the pause, (preceded by the pause either of perfect or im- 
perfect sense, and followed by the pause of imperfect sense,) the empha- 
sis is exhausted upon that word, though a word of one syllable, and 
forms the shortest possible development of the sweeps ; viz., the circum- 
flex. (See Plate, Fig. 1.) 

Examples. 

Necessity is the mother of invention. 

Delicacy leans more to feeling : correctness more to reason and judg- 
ment. 

War is the law of violence : peace the law of love. 



EMPHASIS. 97 

Nothing certainly could have been further from my thoughts, than 
that I should be compelled again to throw myself on the indulgence of 
the senate. 

Still, it may be well for some proud men to remember that a fire is 
lighted in these colonies, which one breath of their king may kindle into 
such fury, that the blood of all England cannot extinguish it. 

No doubt the sheep he meant to steal ; 
But, hapless, close behind his heel, 

Was ploughman Joe ; 
Who just arrived in time to stop 

The murderous blow. 

IV. When emphasis, and partial or perfect close, nteei on the same 
word, they coincide. Occasionally the emphasis makes the close pro- 
ceed from a higher pitch of voice, and descend with greater force, than 
usual. 

Examples. 

Nor is he willing to stop there. 

The Americans may become faithful friends of the English^ but sub- 
jects, never. 

Whose is this image and superscription ? They say unto him, 
Ccesar's. 

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, 
they perceived that he spake of them. 

Delicacy leans more to feelHng : correctness more to reason and 
judgment. The former is the gift of naHufe : the latter more the pro- 
duct of culture and art. 

These things I say no*w, not to insult one who is fallen^ but to render 
more secure those who stand}: not to irritate the hearts of the wounded, 
but to preserve those who are not yet wounded, in sound health>: 
not to submerge him who is tossed on the billows, but to instruct those 
who are sailing before a propitious bfeeze. 

It is the sacrament of our naHure : not only the duty, but the indul- 
gence of man. It is his first great privilege. It is among his last, most 
endearing delights, when the bosom glows with the idea of reverberated 
love x : when to requite on the visitations of nature, and return the bless- 
ings that have been received, what was emotion, is fixed into vital 
principle; what was instinct, is habituated into a mdLSter-pas x si(m, 
sways all the sweetest energies of man s , hangs over each vicissitude of 
all that must pass away", aids the melancholy virtues in their last sad 
task of life s , cheers the languor of decrepitude and age\ explores the 
thoughP, explains the aching eye ! 

V. When emphasis is placed on a Word preceding partial or perfect 
close, in the same division of sense, the lower sweep is converted into 
the falling slide to the close. (See Plate, Fig. 2, d.) 

This effect may be traced to the want of room for the development of the sweep before 4he 
influence of the close is felt. 

13 



98 EMPHASIS. 

Examples. 

Force decided all things. 

If the gentleman provoke the war, he shall have war. 

The gentleman, sir, in declining to postpone the debate, told the 
senate, with the emphasis of his hand upon his heart, that there was 
something rankling here, which he wished to relieve. But the gentle- 
man disclaims having used the word rankling. It would not be safe, 
Mr. President, for the honorable member to appeal to those around him, 
upon the question, whether he did, in fact, make use of that word, but 
he may have been unconscious of it. But still, with or without the 
use of that particular word, he had yet something here, he said, of which 
he wished to rid himself by an immediate reply. In this respect, sir, I 
have a great advantage over the honorable gentleman. 

The value of the graphic art consists in its being a medium for the 
acquisition of knowledge, and for the communication of it. 

Art may diminish, but cannot remove the difficulty. 

VI. When emphasis in any part of a sentence is unusually strong, 
as in an earnest assertion, in an energetic and pointed denial, in a stern 
command, in an imprecation, or in a direct contradiction ; it is followed 
by the falling slide to the close partial or perfect, as the case may be. 
(See ibid.) 

The reason of this is obvious : the force of the emphasis is overpowering : it carries every 
thing before it. 

Examples. 

Then, patriotism is eloquent: then, self-devotion is eloquent. The 
clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high purpose, 
the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beam- 
ing from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man 
onward, right onward to his object, — this, this is eloquence ; or rather 
it is something greater and higher than all eloquence : it is action ; 
noble, sublime, godlike action. 

And he began to curse and to swear : saying, I know not this man of 
whom ye speak. 

It is not true that he played the traitor to his country in the hour of 
her trial. 

Go to your natural religion. 
Answer me to what I ask you. 

Infected be the air whereon they ride ! 
Accursed be the tongue that tells me so ! 

Pet. How bright and goodly shines the moon ! 

Kath. The moon ! the sun : it is not moonlight now. 
Pet. I say it is the moon that shines so bright. 
Kath. I know it is the sun that shines so bright. 



EMPHASIS. 99 

VII. When emphasis is placed on any word in a definite interroga- 
tive, the only effect caused, is a dip or indentation in the general direc- 
tion of voice, or rising slide. (See Plate, Fig. 6, a, b, c, d.) 

Examples. 

Were there not ten cleansed ? 

Will ye also go away ? • 

Believe ye that I am able to do this ? 

Is Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized 
in the name of Paul ? 

If his son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, 
will he give him a serpent ? 

Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink of? and to be baptized 
with the baptism that I am baptized with ? 

Has a wise and good God furnished us with desires which have no 
corresponding objects, and raised expectations in our breasts, with no 
other view but to disappoint them ? 

VIII. When emphasis is placed on any word in an indefinite inter- 
rogative, it is preceded either by the upper emphatic sweep, or simply 
by accentual sweeps, and followed by the falling slide to partial or 
perfect close ; unless arrested by another emphatic word ; in which 
case the voice recovers from the slide to repeat the previous process. 
(Plate, Fig. 7.) 

Examples. 

What think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ? 

Who is this ? 

Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am V 

Who touched me ? 

Why tempt ye me ? 

Why, what evil hath he done ? 

What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the king 
of the Jews ? 

By what authority doest thou these things ; or who gave thee this 
authority ? 

Why could not we cast him out V 

When saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, 
or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee $ 

Who could witness, without indignant desperation, the mother who 
bore him, inhumanly murdered, in the defence of her infants $ 

Where is the youth in this assembly, who could, without agonized 
emotions, behold the Gallic invader hurling the brand of devastation into 
the dwelling of his father, or with sacrilegious cupidity plundering the 
communion table of his God V 



IX. Emphasis in indirect interrogations is preceded by the upper 
and followed by the lower sweep : producing the waving slide of this 
species of question. (See Plate, fig. 2, e, /.) 



100 EMPHASIS. 

Example. 

Your father gave you permission to go there yesterday f 

You saw him after the event occurred f 

You will ride to town to-day f 

You will ride to town to-day f 

You will ride to town to-day f 

You will ride to town to-day f 

You will ride to town to-day? 

X. The effect of emphasis on the first part of a double interrogative 
is the same as that on definite interrogatives ; and on the second part, it 
is the same as that on indefinite interrogatives, except that the upper em- 
phatic sweep is scarcely ever developed. The strong tendency to slide 
down is almost too strong even for accentual sweeps. (See Plate, Fig. 
6,7.) 

Examples. 

Can we see God, or must we believe in him 8 

Will you ride to town to-day, or to-morrow 8 

Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another 8 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 



The design of the rules which follow, it must be borne in mind, is to 
prescribe only the peculiar and therefore characteristic delivery of the 
different species of sentences, enumerated in the Classification. With 
regard to pitch, force and rate, they are silent ; and also with regard to 
emphasis : to the former, because it is a fundamental assertion in this 
system of elocution, that whatever the pitch, force or rate, the sentence 
is delivered, if delivered correctly, in the same manner : to the latter, 
because emphasis merely modifies the characteristic delivery of a sen- 
tence, without changing it ; and more especially, because it modifies it 
in conformity to fixed and invariable rules which have been stated and 
illustrated with great care in the preceding chapter: rules, showing 
that its effects depend not at all on the structure of sentences, but with 
one or two exceptions, upon its position relatively to the pauses. The 
exceptions referred to, relate to its effects when unusually strong and 
on the rising and falling slide. (See Emph., Sec. 2, VI. VII, VIII.) 

Such being the scope of the rules which follow, I now add that the 
consideration of pitch, force, rate and emphasis, is by no means exclu- 
ded from the exercises under them. On the contrary, there is nothing, 
comprised in the general subject of modulation, which is not here to be 
applied. For this purpose, the following directions are given, with 
great confidence in the tendency of a compliance with them to form a 
correct, varied and graceful delivery. 

1. Describe the sentence before you, as simple or compound; de- 
clarative, interrogative or exclamatory ; close, compact or loose, &c. : 
continually defining what you mean by simple, by compound, &c. &c. 

2. State the proper punctuation; and why proper, with allowable 
deviations ; and in what circumstances allowable. 

3. Give its characteristic delivery under the rule. 

4. Deliver it at every variety of pitch ; finally at the true or medium 
pitch : with every variety of force ; finally with the proper degree : 
with every variety of rate ; finally with the proper rate. 

5. Show what would be the effect of emphasis on each of the words 
in succession, or some of the most important of them ; and the reason 
why ; and finally point out the true emphatic word, and describe the 
effect of emphasis on it. 

6. Now deliver the sentence, as modified by emphasis. 



102 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

In obeying the last of these directions, the student should be careful 
to give as full a development of the emphatic sweeps, as the nature of 
the case will allow. No harm will be done, if even they are a little 
exaggerated ; that is, if their curves are expanded somewhat beyond 
the actual demands of the sense. They break up, and break up effec- 
tually, habits of monotony : they give compass and variety to intona- 
tion ; flexibility and power to the voice. 



SEC I. SIMPLE SENTENCES. 
CLASS I. SIMPLE DECLARATIVE SENTENCES. 

Rule I. Simple declarative sentences are delivered with accentual 
sweeps, the bend, if necessary, at intermediate pauses, and perfect close. 

Accentual sweeps, it will be remembered, are those slight undulations produced in the tenor 
of speech by articulatory accents. 

Simple sentences seldom have intermediate pauses, and when they do, the bend is not always 
associated with them : a bare suspension of the voice being all that is necessary to mark the di- 
vision of sense. (See Plate, Fig. 8, a, b.) 

Examples for exercise. 

Jesus wept. Rejoice evermore. Birds fly. Remember Lot's wife. 
It was the general. All were hushed. Pray without ceasing. It is 
not ten years ago. The national independence had been won. Let 
love be without dissimulation. Be of the same mind one toward ano- 
ther. Let every one be subject to the higher powers. Let every one 
please his neighbor for his good to edification. Ye are the light of the 
world. I was never there in my life. I have told you the truth. I 
heard their drowning cry, mingling with the wind. He was distin- 
guished by modesty. That garment is not well made* Be not for- 
ward in the presence of your superiors. 

He left his father's house for the halls of the academy. We were 
up before daylight to enjoy the magnificent spectacle of the rising sun. 
His great qualities were attended by a due sense of his own imperfec- 
tions. Then shall the innumerable varieties of the human race worship 
in her glorious temple. It shall turn to you for a testimony. Ye 
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. He makes a vow to 
forsake the world. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of 
none effect by your tradition. I received a letter in time to reply be- 
fore the departure of the mail last Saturday morning. Accept the 
patriotic farewell of an overflowing heart. The universe might be 
poised on a drop of water kept in a compact state. One cannot read 
the Scriptures without becoming a better man. 

Now did Micah begin to see some little glimpses of his own error. 
Such is the moral effect of the excitement of intemperance. This occa- 
sioned his being hissed by the whole audience. His wit was of the 
first order. The stores of his mind were inexhaustible. The army is 
loaded with the spoil of many nations. Let no one detract from the 
influence of woman. Now the God of peace be with you all. The 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And every man went to 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 103 

his own house. Thou art the Son of God. Now his parents went 
every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. Their claim 
possesses a peculiar title to our consideration. The contest becomes, 
at last, a scene of unmitigated anguish. 

Virtue' is the condition of happiness. Ignorance' is the mother of 
error. One ounce of gold' is worth fifteen ounces of silver. To listen 
to the voice of reason is always safe. The distinction of his fortune 
was the consequence of his temerity. The whole course of his life has 
been distinguished by generous actions. The study of mathematics is 
an excellent discipline of the mind. Sensitiveness to the approbation 
of virtuous men, is laudable. 

Of neither of these persuasives' have the effects been great. At the 
bottom of the garden' ran a little rivulet. With his conduct last eve- 
ning' I was not pleased. The pursuit of that affair' I will defer no 
longer. That interesting history' he did not read. To the perusal of 
the authors of the second class I shall now proceed. To the ancients 
fire-arms were unknown. That he is a great man you cannot deny. 
After a denial of the charge he withdrew in dignified displeasure to his 
own house. To pray well is the better half of study. Over these 
matchless talents probity threw her brightest lustre. To the fate of the 
government is united the fate of the country. But on this part of the 
subject I need not enlarge. For successive infractions of the law these 
punishments may be increased up to a certain limit. Of a new truth 
then flashed on his mind the first gleams. 

Another impediment to excellence is versatility. From the nature of 
Christianity this must be so. Like a spectre in the night, the grandeur 
of Rome has vanished. Among the most remarkable of its attributes, 
is justice. To the necessity of endeavoring to reach New York by 
land, this embarrassing circumstance reduced him. 

Sometimes a distant sail, gliding along the edge of the horizon', 
would be a theme of idle speculation. These debts, contracted during 
his former dissipated course of life', he was unable to discharge. The 
excessive labor, undergone in preparing for his examination', occasioned 
a dangerous illness. To her', many a soldier, on the point of accom- 
plishing his ambition', sacrifices the opportunity. Vanity, of all the 
passions, is the most unsocial. I cannot part with you, fellow-citizens, 
without urging the long remembrance of our present assembly. He 
ought, therefore, to take the greatest care of the fortune still in his pos- 
session. And there was, a great way off, a herd of swine, feeding. 
The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. And very early in 
the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at 
the rising of the sun. 

In the autumn of 1783', the war had closed with glory. The dif- 
ferent periods of revolving day seemed each, with cunning magic', to 
diffuse a different charm over the scene. The loss of reputation for 
good management', is, in this case, to be traced to a little circumstance. 
The mind, soothed into a hallowed melancholy by the solemn mystery 
of the scene', listened, with pensive stillness, to catch each sound vaguely 
echoed from the shore. Risk not, for a moment, in visionary theories, 
the solid blessings of your lot. But on this part of the subject, I need 
not enlarge. The less pleasing task now devolves upon me, of bidding 
you, in the name of the nation, adieu. The success of one, is the dis- 



104 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

appointment of multitudes. The surest evidence of Robert Hall's 
greatness, is the very fact of his celebrity. 

You may be assured, gentlemen', of my continued regard. You 
live, my friends', in an extraordinary age. It is too late, now', to 
make a fresh distribution of the honors, awarded by their cotemporaries 
to the worthies of the Revolution. To all, in truth, the same lesson 
comes. Suddenly, the sound of the signal gun broke the stillness of the 
night. We will endeavor to refute, now, his third argument. To a 
great extent, the same is true of literary pursuits. But every differ- 
ence of opinion, is not a difference of principle. It is in vain, sir, to 
extenuate the matter. Besides, sir, we have no election. He may not 
accept the invitation without the permission of his parents. An orator 
may often, by this kind of style, gain great admiration, without being 
nearer to his proper end. 

It has been usual, on occasions like the present', to give a history of 
the wrongs endured by our fathers. In the prodigious efforts of a 
veteran army, beneath the dazzling splendor of their array', there is 
something revolting to a reflecting mind. Sir, I see no wisdom in mak- 
ing this provision for future changes. We have, under circumstances 
calculated to give the event great celebrity, invited him to our shores. 
Beyond that, I seek not to penetrate the veil. 

Nations would do well 
To extort their truncheons from the puny hands 
Of heroes. 

With eye askance 
I view the muscular proportioned limb 
Transformed to a lean shank. 

And still, in memory's twilight bowers, 

The spirits of departed hours, 

With mellowing tints, portray 

The blossoms of life's vernal flowers 

Forever fallen away. 

Light o'er the woods of dark brown oak, 
The west, wind wreathed the hovering smoke 

From cottage roofs, concealed 

Below a rock abruptly broke 

In rosy light revealed. 

To the rule above given for the delivery of simple declarative sen- 
tences, there are apparently many exceptions ; but it will be found on 
examination, that they are merely apparent, not real. I refer to those 
sentences which instead of coming to a perfect declarative close, termi- 
nate with the emphatic lower sweep or with the circumflex. These 
are not simple declarative sentences, nor even, in the main, simple 
sentences ; but simple indirect interrogatives incorrectly punctuated ; 
or the first part of a single compact either incorrectly punctuated, or 
having the second part understood ; or the first part of a double compact 
incorrectly punctuated. I subjoin examples of each, that when the 
student meets with them, he may easily recognize and refer them to 
their appropriate places in the classification. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 105 

Examples. 

My dear, you have some pretty beads; there. Yes, papa. — 
He is not gone. No. 

He could go there. But when 1 asked him to go with me, he refused. 
— Surely he was guilty of a great breach of propriety. 

Aman. He saw her and gave the letter. 
Mar. Well. 

Aman. And when he got his answer he returned. 
Mar. Well. 

Aman. And finding; no one at home, came to me. 
Mar. Well. 

Aman. Well, well : what means this well. 
Mar. It means, tell me all. 

It was not on account of his manners. His morals formed the objec- 
tion. 

I am not the panegyrist of England. I am not dazzled by her riches, 
nor awed by her power. 

The first two of these examples, though they took very much like simple declarative senten- 
ces, are obviously indirect questions. 

Again, the first part of the nest example looks altogether like a simple declarative : %vhen in 
fact it is the first part of a single compact, of which, but, immediately succeeding, begins the 
second. The two parts should have been separated by the comma. 

Well, in the dialogue, three times repeated, is each time the first part of a single compact : the 
second part is understood. If complete, it would read thus: "Well, indeed, but what then?" 
Or thus : " He did so far well, indeed, but what did he next \ " 

The last pair of examples are first parts of double compacts : the first being followed by the 
third part, and the second being one of a series of the first part. The period, in both cases, 
incorrecdy supplants the semicolon. 

CLASS U. SIMPLE LSTEKEOGATPvE SENTENCES. 
1. THE DEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

Rule II. Simple definite interrogative sentences are delivered with 
the rising slide, ending only with the last word. (See Plate, Fig. 3.) 

For the effect of emphasis, see Emph. II. 7. Pauses have so little influence on this species 
of sentence that I have thought it unnecessary to notice them in the rule. Unless the sentence 
is a long one, they should not have the bend associated with them, but be merely marked by a 
suspension of the voice. 

Examples. 

Can you read % Shall we go ? Do they sing well ? Have they 
gone into the country ? Will you ride to town to-day ? Will it not 
afflict your friends '? Did not your submission appease the anger of 
your offended father? Should not merchants be punctual in paying 
their debts ? Is not forgiveness honorable to any man ? Shall we sully 
a character, rendered illustrious by an uninterrupted career of virtue ? 
Should I not have devoted myself entirely to the service of my country ? 
Would you wish to ruin yourself in public opinion to gratify your 

14 



106 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

resentment ? Would it be proper to write to his friends, now absent 
from home, about this melancholy event ? Are you aware of the dis- 
creditable reports in circulation about you ? May not this disastrous 
event, my friend, have, after all, a tendency to advance the interests of 
those, at present, most painfully affected by it ? Can you think me 
capable of so vile a deed ? Has any one called on you, this morning, 
to invite you to the musical entertainment at the Odeon ? Could you, 
with your knowledge of his character, deem him vain enough to aspire 
to that high degree of honor ? Are ye without understanding also ? 
Shall the Turk still pollute the soil sanctified by the brightest genius ? 
Will you not contribute to the release of such a people ? Will you 
make no effort for their redemption ? Shall they still bend their neck 
to the cruel yoke for the want of your assistance ? Did not even-handed 
justice, ere long, commend the poisoned chalice to their own lips ? And 
has it come to this ? May we fly at the approach of danger ? 

Is this a dagger lying now before me, 
The handle toward my hand ? 

Can the deep statesman, skilled in deep design, 
Protract but for a day precarious breath ? — 

Can the tuned follower of the sacred nine 
Soothe, with his melody, insatiate death ? 

Can wisdom lend, with all her heavenly power. 
The pledge of joy's anticipated hour? 

Can human hand a tone so fine 

Sweep from the string with touch profane $ — 

Can human lip with breath divine 
Pour on the gale so sweet a strain ? 

Has nature, in her calm, majestic march, 
Faltered with age at last? — Does the bright sun 
Grow dim in heaven ? 

When a circumstance succeeds a simple definite interrogative sen- 
tence, and is dependent on it, both are delivered with the same rising 
slide ; or rather, the slide of the interrogation is continued to the end of 
the circumstance. 

Examples. 

Am I my brother's keeper ? said the unhappy man. 

Have you read my Key to the Romans ? said Dr. Taylor, of Nor- 
wich, to Mr. Newton. 

Do you dread death in my company ? he cried to the anxious sailors, 
when the ice on the coast of Holland had almost crushed the boat that 
was bearing him to the shore. 

Exceptions to the rule. 

1. When the same simple definite question is repeated, the repetition 
may adopt the falling slide from the emphatic word. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 107 

I say may adopt, because, though in most cases, reversing the slide gives variety and increased 
energy to the delivery, it is not absolutely necessary. This repetition usually takes place in 
conversational or dramatic pieces ; when a question, asked for the first time, has not been dis- 
tinctly understood ; when the reply is not to the point or evasive ; or when the question refers to 
two different objects antithetically opposed. In formal discourses it is employed simply for the 
sake of greater emphasis. Examples of each are subjoined in the order of enumeration. 

Examples. 

Am. Did you see him there ? 

Karl. Sir? 

Am. Did you see him there ? 

Count. Howe'er I charge thee, 

As Heaven shall work in me for thine avail, 
To tell me truly. 

Hel. Good madam, pardon me ! 

Count. Do you love my son ? 

Hel. Your pardon, noble mistress ! 

Count. Love you my son V 

Hel. Do not you love him, madam 1 

Count. Go not about : my love hath in 't a bond, 
Whereof the world takes note. Come, come, disclose 
The state of your affections. 

Peters, fearful that his companion might overlook some of the happy 
hits of the different personages on the stage, soon electrified the audience 
by exclaiming, without turning his head, in a suppressed but emphatic 
voice when particularly pleased, Austin, d'ye hear that? and again 
after a little while, Austin, oVye hear that*. 

Has the gentleman done ? Has he completely done ? He was unpar- 
liamentary from the beginning to the end of his speech. 

Will you deny it ? Will you deny it* said he, repeating the question 
in a louder and more emphatic tone. 

2. A series of simple definite questions, with or without intermediate 
answers, may have its last member delivered with the falling slide 
from the emphatic word. (See Plate, Fig. 4.) 

I say may for the same reason as before. The nature of the series will not always admit of 
it ; but when it will, reversing the slide has a fine effect. 

Examples. 

Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways. 
Was ever man so beaten ? Was ever man so rayed S. * Was ever man 
so weary *. 

Do you know me, sir ? Am I Dromio ? Am I your man ? Am I 
myself*. 

Is he the God of the Jews only ? Is he not also of the Gentiles * 

Am I not an Apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus 
Christ our Lord ? Are not ye my work in the Lord ? 

* Dirty, bewrayed. 



108 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Have ye not known ? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told 
you from the beginning ? Have ye not understood from the foundation 
of the world ? 

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all 
workers of miracles ? Have all the gifts of healing ? Do all speak 
with tongues ? Do all interpret S. 

Shy. Three thousand ducats : well. 
Bass. Ay, sir, for three months. 
Shy. For three months : well. 

Bass. For the which, I told you, Antonio shall be bound. 
Shy. Antonio shall become bound : well. 

Bass. May you stead me ? Will you pleasure me ? Shall I know 
your answer ? 

Art thou bound to a wife ? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed 
from a wife ? Seek not a wife. 

What would content you ? Talent ? No. Enterprise ? No. Cour- 
age ? No. Virtue ? No. The men whom you would select, should 
possess, not one, but all of these. 

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am 1. 
Are they the seed of Abraham ? So am I. Are they the ministers aj 
Christ ? I am more. 

I am the king ; for so stands the comparison : thou the beggar ; for 
so witnesseth thy lowliness : shall I command thy love ? I may. Shall 
I enforce thy love? I could. Shall I entreat thy love? I will. 

Oh how hast thou with jealousy infected 

The sweetness of affiance ! Show men dutiful ? 

Why so didst thou. Or seem they grave and learned ? 

Why so didst thou. Come they of noble family? 

Why so didst thou. Seem they religious^. 

Why so didst thou. 

Are you ignorant of many things ? The Gospel offers you instruc- 
tion. Have you deviated from the path of duty ? The Gospel offers 
you forgiveness. Do temptations surround you ? The Gospel offers 
you the aid of heaven. Are you exposed to misery ? It consoles you. 
Are you subject to death V It offers you immortality. 

Do you plead the unavoidable consequences of illustrious descent ? 
You know some who, with a name still more distinguished than your 
own, impart sanctity to splendor. Do you plead the vivacity of your 
years ? Every day will show you some who, in the bloom of youth, 
and with all the talents suited to this world, have their minds su- 
premely bent on heaven. Is it the distraction of business ? You may 
see those engaged in the same cares with yourself, who, notwithstand- 
ing, make salvation their principal concern. Is pleasure your delight? 
Pleasure is the first desire of all men, and of the righteous ; in some of 
whom it is even stronger, and whose natural dispositions are less favor- 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 109 

able to virtue, than your own. Do you plead your afflictions ? There 
are some good men distressed. Or prosperity ? There are those to be 
met with, who, amid their abundance, devote themselves to God. Or 
the state of your health ? You discover some who, in sickly bodies, pos- 
sess souls filled with divine fortitude. 

Leonato, stand I here 1 
Is this the prince ? Is this the prince's brother ? 
Is this face Hero's ? Are our eyes our own ? 

Art thou ambitious ? Why, then, make the worm 
Thine equal ? Runs thy taste of pleasure high ? 
Why, patronize sure death of every joy ? 
Charm Riches ? Why, chose beggary in the grave, 
Of every hope a bankrupt and forever ? 

2. THE INDEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

Rule III. Simple indefinite interrogative sentences are delivered 
with accentual sweeps, or the rising slide, to the emphatic word, and 
the falling slide from it to the close. (See Plate, Fig. 7, a, b, c, d.) 

If the question is not very energetic, accentual sweeps should precede the emphasis : on the 
contrary, if the question has energy, and especially, if it has unusual energy, the rising slide 
should precede. With the former the voice will proceed, of course, nearly on a level to the 
emphasis : with the latter slide upward to it. 

Examples. 

Why? When? Where? Wherefore? How? Who? Which? 
What? Whose? Whom? Wherein? In which? In whom? In 
whose? In what? For which? For whom? For whose? For 
what ? Through which ? By whom ? In relation to what ? In con- 
sequence of whose ? With respect to which ? Why so ? Where 
then ? Where am I ? What will you do ? Who told you that ? Who 
touched me? How can he succeed? Who then can be saved? In 
what can I serve you ? Whom will you consult ? To what purpose 
is this waste ? When will he arrive there ? Which of these pictures 
do you prefer ? How long will you continue abroad ? What shall be 
the sign of his coming ? Why are all the works of nature so perfect ? 
Why, on the contrary, are the works of man so imperfect ? How then 
can the Scriptures be fulfilled ? Which is the great commandment in 
the law? Who can forgive sins but God only? Why reason ye these 
things in your hearts ? How then will ye know all parables ? What 
think ye ? Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? What shall 
we do to inherit eternal life ? Where are you going ? From whence 
hath this man these things ? Why troublest thou the master any fur- 
ther? Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? To 
what shall I liken the men of this generation ? Where is the promised 
fruit of all his toils ? Whence can a man satisfy these men with bread 
here in the wilderness? In which way shall I extricate myself? By 
whom was this extraordinary work of art executed ? Where shall I eat 
the passover with my disciples ? What were the unpleasant circum- 



110 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

stances spoken of? How is it possible in such a case to be impressed 
by the solemnity of the divine admonitions ? What foreigner is suffi- 
ciently versed in the English language to discover the excellences of 
Shakspeare ? Why was he displeased with your conduct on the occa- 
sion referred to in your interesting letter to me of last Thursday morn- 
ing? Who is this? How is it to be reconciled to common sense? To 
whom is it addressed ? To what interest does it appeal ? What have 
we in this ode ? Wherein lies the difference between these two men ? 

What are the riches of Mexico's mines 

To the riches far down in the deep waters shining ? 

What terror can confound me, 
With God at my right hand ? 

But who the wonders of his hand can trace 
Through the dread ocean of unfathomed space ? 

Who would choose, how grand soever. 
The shortest day to last forever ? — 
Who would choose, however bright, 
A dog-day noon without a night ? 

Then why to these rude scenes repair, 
Of shades the solitary guest ? 

Where then, ah, where shall poverty reside, 
To 'scape the pressure of contiguous pride ? 

What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head ? — 
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son ? — 
What means that hand upon that breast of thine? — 
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum, 
Like a proud river peering o'er its bounds ? 

Why at her presence with such quickness flows 
The vital current ? 

What dotage will not vanity maintain? — 
What web too weak to catch a modern brain ? 

Why weeps the muse of England? — what appears 
In England's case, to move the muse to tears ? 

The interrogative character of what is usually called ' expletive ' why, 
has been already alluded to in the Classification; where it was also 
intimated that it has a two- fold delivery. In the examples which I 
subjoin, it should be delivered in conformity to the rule ; but with the 
shortest possible falling slide : merely, if I may so speak, with a down- 
ward intimation. 

Why, what evil hath he done ? 

Charles. And what may that be ? 

Penn. Why, I depend upon themselves, &e. &c. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. Ill 

Penn. What right hast thou to their lands ? 

C/iarles. Why, the right of discovery, to be sure ; &c. 

Penn. A kind of strange right, indeed. Now suppose, friend 
Charles, that some canoe-loads of these Indians, crossing the sea and 
discovering thy island of Great Britain, were to claim it as their own, 
and set it up for sale over thy head ; what would'st thou think of it $ 

Charles. Why, — why, — why,— I must confess, I should think it a 
piece of impudence in them. 

Hoh. Your patriot care, sir, would redress all wrongs 

That spring from harsh restraints of law and justice : 
Your virtue prompts you to make war on tyrants 
And like another Brutus free your country. 

Alas. Why, if there were some slanderous tool of state, 
Some taunting, dull, unmannered deputy, 
Some district despot prompt to play the Tarquin, 
By Heaven ! I well could act the Roman part, 
And strike the brutal tyrant to the earth. 

Siv. Here 5 s rich poverty 

Though wrapped in rags : my fifty brave companions, 
Who throw the force of fifteen thousand foes, 
Bore off their king, and saved his great remains. 

Crust. Why, Captain, 

We could but die alone ; with these we conquer. 

The first of these examples is equivalent to, "Why so?" The next three are respectively 
equivalent to the question, " Why should you ask ?" or, "Why ask?" The fourth to, "Why 
should it be concealed?" or "Why deny it?" and the fifth to, "Why make such a fuss about 
it, Captain?" 

Exception to the Rule. When a simple indefinite is repeated to 
obtain a more distinct answer, or when another simple indefinite is put 
as if to obtain a repetition of a previous remark or question, it is deliv- 
ered with the rising slide. (See Plate, Fig. 3.) Such repetitions only 
or mainly occur in conversation or dialogue. 

Examples. 

When will you finish my picture? Next week. When will you 
finish my picture ? Next week. 

Falstaff. A plague on all cowards, say I. 
Prince H. What J s the matter ? 

Fal. What 's the matter? Here be four of us have taken a thousand 
pounds this morning. 

Prince H. Where is it, Jack ? Where is it ? 
Fal. Where is it ? taken from us, it is. 

Dr. W. Hark you, fellow ; whom do you live with V 
T. O'K. Whom do I live with ? Why, with my mistress to be sure. 
Dr. W. And pray, sir, how long have you lived with her ladyship $ 
T. G'K, How long ? Ever since the day she hired me. 



112 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AiND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Bowl. Well, then, away goes old Jack to the hospital. 
Capt. What 's that you say ? &c. &c. 

Douglass. Percy : knowest thou that name ? 
Raby. How? What of Percy? 

What is he V What ? Touchpaper, to be sure. 

Why did I do that ? Why ? Because of wrongs, 
Deep, bitter wrongs, which they had done me. 

Why, why, I will tell you. 

By comparing the last two of these examples, the student may perceive how it is that " exple- 
tive why may often have a delivery different from that above under the rule. 

3. THE INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE. 

Rule IV. The simple indirect interrogative is delivered with the 
waving slide ; that is to say, with the upper sweep to the emphatic 
word and the lower sweep from it. (See Plate, Fig. 2, e,f.) 

As this slide is the most difficult to execute with ease and grace, no pains should be spared to 
acquire a perfect command of it. The student should, therefore, be detained by the examples 
below until every one of them can be delivered at a glance with precision. 

It should be remembered that the sweeps are developed relatively to the position of the empha- 
tic word. If it be the first word, and in proportion to its approximation to the first word, the 
upper sweep is curtailed: if the last, &c., the lower. If the sentence consists of a single word, 
the slide is reduced to a simple circumflex. 

1. Examples of the first kind. 

He? She? It? We? You? They? His? Ours? Theirs? 
Yours ? Both ? He went ? They fell ? So she came ? The flock 
rose on the wing then ? You overcame him in the struggle ? The 
company saw it ? They were gone on your arrival ? Hoped for it ? 
Met them ? All were carried off? Without notice all this was done ? 
He did not deny his share in the unhappy transaction ? To strike your 
toe with a tight shoe on, then, rather disturbs your equanimity, my good 
friend ? It was expected of him on that occasion last year ? He never 
recovered, notwithstanding the most skilful medical assistance, from the 
effects of that fall from his horse last winter ? 

Orlando. I pray you, mar no more of my verses with reading them 
ill-favoredly. 

Jaa. Rosalind is your love's name ? 
Orl. Yes, just. 

Capt. Give it here, my honest fellow. 
Bowl. You will take it ? 
Capt. To be sure I will. 
Bowl. And will smoke it ? 
Capt. That I will. (Feeling in his pocket.) 
Bowl. And will not think of giving me anything m return ? 
Capt. ( Withdrawing his hand from his pocket!) No : no : you are 
right. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 11 '3 

And. You live here, sir f 
Mark. Yes, sir. 

And. You know Mr. Brown, living the other side of the way f 
Mark. I do, sir. 
And. He is at home now f 
Mark, No ; he left yesterday for Bath. 
And. He did not take Emily with him f 
Mark. No. 

And. She is at home, then f 

Mark. Before I answer any more of your questions, sir, I should like 
to know who you are. 

Exceptions. The members of a series of simple indirect interroga- 
tives, after the first, frequently require the delivery of simple declarative 
sentences. 

Examples. 

My dear, you have some pretty beads there f Yes, papa. And you 
seem to be vastly pleased with them f Yes, papa. 

Dr. You are not a glutton, sir f 

Pat. God forbid ! sir : I'm one of the plainest men living in the west. 

Dr. Then, perhaps, you are a drunkard f 

Dr. You take a little pudding, then f 

Pat. Yes. 

Dr. And afterwards some cheese f 

Pat. Yes. 

Dr. You west-country people generally take a glass of Highland 
whiskey after dinner f 

Pat. Yes, we do. 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

Dear Queen, give me that hand of yours to kiss f Grant me per- 
mission to go there this once f Mother, let me stay with you at home 
to-day f Forgive me for trespassing upon you f Tell me the way to 
the city f Jesus, Master, have mercy on us f Give us this day our 
daily bread f 

Note. This kind of indirect, as well as that which follows, is very unusual in books ; though 
the latter is more frequently found than the former ; but both occur ; and the few examples given 
will enable the student to understand their nature. In conversation, they occur perhaps as often 
as any other. 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

Surely you are mistaken in that supposition f Surely the Lord is m 
this place f They will surely reverence my son f Certainly he,, at 
least, complained of such conduct f He undoubtedly entered a protest 
against their measures f You surely cannot be ignorant of the conse- 
quences f Unquestionably it was a hard case f Truly this was the 
Son of God f Surely thou wilt slay the wicked f 

15 



114 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

What shall I do vvitli my doublet? What did he? What said he? 
How looked he ? Wherein went he ? What makes he here ? Did he 
ask for me ? How parted he with thee ? When shalt thou see him 
again ? 

Who came ? The king. Why did he come ? To see. Why did 
he see? To overcome. To whom came he ? To the beggar. What 
saw he? The beggar. Who overcame he? The beggar. The 
conclusion is victory. On whose side ? The king's. The captive is 
enriched. On whose side ? The beggar's. The catastrophe is a nup- 
tial. On whose side ? The king's ? [No, on both in one.] I am the 
king. Thou art the beggar. Shall I command thy love ? I may. 
Shall I enforce thy love ? I could. Shall I entreat thy love ? I will. 
What shalt thou exchange for rags ? Robes. 

What sayest thou ? What ? Is she pleased ? — You saw my master 
wink upon you i Stands Scotland in its place ? Who comes there ? 
Do you mark that ? Who would have thought that the old man had 
so much blood in him ? Shall I doubt his disposition to approve of the 
enterprise ? 

Shall he, for such deliverance wrought, 

Recompense ill 1 

No pleasure ? Are domestic comforts dead ? 

Are all the nameless sweets of friendship fled ? 

No pleasure ? Has some sickly eastern waste 

Sent us a wind to parch us at a blast ? — 

Can British Paradise no scenes afford 

To please ? 

Are sweet philosophy's enjoyments run 

Quite to the lees ? — And has religion none ? 

Then you never knew the history of the young man f What have 
you to advance against this charge ? Will you deny it ? By what 
name shall I call you ? Shall I call you soldiers 1 What did the 
British lion do ? Did he whet his tusks ? Did he bristle up ? Did he 
shake his mane ? Did he roar ? What power shall blanch the sullied 
snow of character ? Can there be an injury more deadly ? Can there 
be a crime more cruel ? He did, ay f Did what ? 

Who leads the British senate ? A protestant Irishman. Who guides 
the British arms ? A protestant Irishman. Why, then, is Catholic 
Ireland, with her quintuple population, stationary ? Have physical 
causes neutralized its energies ? Has the religion of Christ stupefied its 
intellect ? Has the God of mankind become the partisan of monopoly ? 
Has he put an interdict on its advancement ? 

How then ? Can honor set a leg ? No. Or an arm ? No. Or 
take away the grief of a wound ? , No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, 
then f No. What is honor ? A word. What is in that word, honor? 
What is that honor? Air. Who hath it? He that died on Wednes- 
day. Doth he feel it ? No. Doth he hear it ? No. Is it insensible, 
then ? Yes, to the dead. But will it not live with the living 1 No. 
Why ? Detraction will not suffer it. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 115 

Can this man have been a prince in Africa ? said I to myself. But 
is this absolutely necessary ? But is this absolutely necessary ? said 
he, repeating the question. 

Sisters and brothers, little maid, 

How many may you be V 
How many ? [seven in all, she said, 

And wondering looked at me.] 

Whence this magic of thy mind V — 

Why thrills thy music on the springs of thought $ — 
Why, at thy pencil's touch refined, 

Starts into life the glowing draught ? 

Are we in life through one great error led ? — 

Is each man perjured? — Is each nymph betrayed ? — 

Of the superior sex art thou the worst ? — 

Am I of mine the most completely curst ? 

He would not receive you f He gave you no intimation of good 
will f Is not this the son of Joseph ? What went ye out in the wilder- 
ness to see $ A reed shaken by the wind ? But what went ye out to 
see V A man clothed in soft raiment ? But what went ye out to see V 
A prophet ? By what authority doest thou these things ? Who gave 
thee this authority to do these things ? Hearest thou ? Why then did 
ye not believe on him $ For what purpose did the infinite Creator give 
existence to this majestic monument of his almighty power $' Was it 
not to communicate happiness ? Is he not infinitely good ? 

Have any alarms been occasioned by the emancipation of our Catholic 
brethren ? Has the bigoted malignity of any individual been crushed ? 
Do you wish to prepare then for the revocation of these improvident 
concessions? Whence that doubt? exclaimed Morton. You do not 
suppose it entirely unfounded f Can you be so blind to the force of 
evidence ? What do you say to this ? What ? Are you mad ? How ? 
Will you persist ? When will this farce terminate ? When ? 

Is any among you afflicted ? Let him pray. Is any merry ? Let 
him sing psalms. Is any sick among you ? Let him send for the 
elders of the church. 

What eye could look upon thy shrine 
Untroubled at thy sight V 

Why throw away a needful day 
To go in search of yarrow V 

O terror ! What hath she perceived ? O joy ! 

What doth she look on $ — Whom doth she behold S ■ — 
Her hero slain upon the beach of Troy ? — 

His vital presence ? — His corporeal mould 9 

What could he do, 
Thus daily thirsting, in that lonesome life, 
With blind endeavors ? 



11(> THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

May I name 
Without offence, that fair-faced cottage-boy ? 

Are they not mainly outward ministers 
Of inward conscience ? 

Grain shall I call it ? Grain of what V — For whom V 

What could she perform 
To shake the burden off? 

Can the mother thrive 
By the destruction of her innocent sons ? 



CLASS III. SIMPLE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

Rule V. Simple exclamatory sentences are delivered like the cor- 
responding declarative and interrogative sentences from which they are 
derived; except that they express additionally the peculiar effects of 
the emotions or passions. 

These peculiar effects are perceived in the intonation, not at all in the general direction, of the 
voice. For example : the slide in the definite interrogative exclamation is precisely the same h . 
all respects as in the definite interrogative. The voice proceeds through the same succession o. 
tones, in the same direction, and to the same limits ; but in the exclamation the succession of 
tones begins at a lower or higher pitch, succeed each other more slowly or rapidly, are tremulous 
or firm, soft or harsh, gentle or violent, &c, according to the nature of the emotion or passion 
which they are employed to express. These modifications of tone, force, pitch and rate, I need 
scarcely say, can be taught only by nature. 

There is, I believe, but one exception to the rule : this will be noticed under the head of 
equivalent spontaneous exclamations. 

I. SIMPLE DECLARATIVE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

Examples. 

Live ! Die ! Be gone ! Away ! Strike ! Make haste ! Retire ! 
Pursue them ! May he live ! Scorn to be slaves ! Forget not your 
fathers ! Forbid it ! Welcome to our shores ! Be ye blotted from my 
mind forever ! He is fallen ! The foe is gone ! We meet again this 
night ! They are gone together ! That was well ! So said the spec- 
tre ! I appeal to history ! The war is actually begun ! The throne 
is in danger ! Talk of hypocrisy after this ! She murmured in a hol- 
low voice ! I shudder to see thee approach my couch ! Never shall 
they return ! The serenest beam of your glory is extinguished in the 
tomb ! Pour into their hearts the spirit of departed heroes ! There 
stands the mighty Mansfield ! Our brethren are already in the field \ 
May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ! May I be the last 
victim sacrificed to the furious spirit of party ! God grant to those few 
friends courage to declare themselves in opposition to your formidable 
enemies ! 

My flesh trembles at the prospect ! Behold the French Demosthenes ! 
Look on this massive wedge of gold ! That soldier is a man ! It is 
the shriek of America ! Washington is no more ! The sky is changed ! 
Sin not against thy God ! It was the night of the soul ! My mind was 



I 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED, 117 

wrapped in impenetrable gloom ! My eye-lids seemed pressed down- 
ward with an invincible burden ! My eye-balls were ready to burst 
from their sockets ! The whole endless night seemed filled with one 
appalling idea ! Think on my chains ! Let not the blood of heathen 
millions, in that hour, be found in our skirts ! All are now vanished ! 
I will paint the death-dew on his brow ! 

The shaft of fate 
Strikes the devoted victim to the ground ! 

Lo ! unveiled 
The scene of those dark ages ! 

The starless grave shall shine 
The portal of eternal day ! 

The might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, 
Hath melted, like snow, in the glance of the Lord ! 

Night the pall of gloom had thrown 
On Nature's still convexity ! 

Thus Switzerland again was free ! — 
Thus death made way for liberty ! 

The faithful watchman's cry 
Speaks a conflagration nigh ! 

It gives birth 
To sacred thought in souls of worth ! 

He lay, like a warrior taking his rest, 
With his martial cloak around him ! 

The call of each sword upon liberty's aid, 
Shall be written in gore on the steel of its blade ! 

A parent's curse light on the whole Gipsy race ! — 
They have bowed me almost to the grave ! 

Far along, 
From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, 
Leaps the live thunder ! 

Simple declarative exclamations often appear in a fragmentary form ; 
and when they so appear, they should be delivered precisely as they 
would be, if they were complete. Several examples are given at the 
beginning above ; but a more enlarged illustration here, will not, I 
presume, be thought impertinent. The examples subjoined, are, in 
several instances, necessarily interwoven with other sentences ; but 
they will be readily distinguished by the exclamation point which suc- 
ceeds. (See Classification, Simple Definite Interrogative Exclamation, 
Note.) 



118 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Examples. 

Go ! Beware ! See ! Stand ! Run ! Up ! Hear ! Make way ! 
Hark! There! Here! He! She! Them! We! Ours! Yours! 

Back ! back ! It is impossible. — Hurt thee, darling ? No! — How 
now? A priest! What means this most unwelcome visit? — Not so! 
Mercy on me ! — A trial of skill upon my child ? Impossible ! — What 
is life? A shadow! — There! thus do I trample on the insolence of 
Gesler. — Well done ! — Thoughtless boy ! — The foe ! they come. 

All. Rest thee content. 

Theo. Content! O mockery of grief ! Content! 

Oh, must we part forever ? Cruel fortune ! 
Wilt thou then tear him hence ? Severe divorce ! 

Deluded hopes ! — Oh worse than death. 

My friend destroyed ! — Oh piercing thought ! — 
Oh dismal chance ! — In my destruction ruined ! — 
In my sad fall undone ! 

Without the smiles from partial beauty won, 
Oh what were man V A world without a sun ! 

Under the head of simple declarative sentences, it was shown that a 
sentence, in consequence of defective construction or incorrect punctu- 
ation, is often apparently simple declarative, when in fact it is either a 
compound sentence or a simple indirect interrogative. The same is as 
often the case with simple declarative exclamations. 

Examples. 

1. Beware ! Think on thy chains. — 

2. In vain ! I must give o'er. 

In the first of these examples, the exclamation, instead of being simple, as it seems to be, is 
either the first member of a close, or the first part of a loose sentence. If treated as the former, 
it should be delivered as if written and punctuated thus : Beware, and think of thy chains : if 
as the latter, thus : Beware : think of thy chains. 

The exclamation in the second example, is either the first part of a compact, or of a loose. If 
treated as compact, with both correlative words as — so, understood, it should be delivered as if 
written thus: In vain; I must give o'er: if as a loose sentence, thus: It is in vain: I must 
give o'er. 

1. You are not all here I Time and the sword have thinned your 
ranks. — 

2. Let him not faint ! Rack him till he revives. — 

3. I will not be dragged into the defence of my friend from Missouri ! 
The South shall not be forced into a conflict not its own. The gentle- 
man from Missouri is able to fight his own battles. 

Example 1st, is a double compact, with the first and second proposition expressed. The ex- 
clamation, therefore, is not a simple sentence. 

Example 2d, is a double compact, with the first and third proposition expressed. 

Example 3d, is a double compact, with the first and second proposition expressed : the first 
having two members, of which the first only is pointed as an exclamation. All these exclama- 
tions seem to be simple sentences. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS. SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 119 

1. 'Twasso! But it is vanished : gone. 

2. Rienzi. Ye dare not 

Ask for mercy now. 
Sav. Yet he is noble ! 

Let him not die a felon's death. 

3. Cat. Would you destroy ? 
Aur. Were I a thunderbolt ! 

Rome's ship is rotten : 
Has she not cast you out ; <Scc. ? 

4. Ham. 'Tis very strange ! 

Hor. As I do live, my honored lord, 'tis true ; 
And we did think it writ down in our duty, 
To let you know it. 

The exclamation in the first example is the first part of a single compact, followed by the 
second part. The exclamation represents the comma, thus: "It -was so indeed, but it is 
vanished : gone." 

The exclamation in the second is the first part of a single compact indirect semi-interrogative 
exclamation with both the correlative words understood. If complete it would read thus : Yet 
because he is noble, therefore let him not die a felon's death ! The interrogative portion is the 
second kind of indirect : that used in supplication. 

The exclamation in the third example is the first part of a single compact, with the second 
part understood, thus : If I were a thunderbolt, then I would destroy. 

In the fourth and last example, the exclamation is a simple indirect interrogative : having the 
reply partly understood, thus : 

Ham. 'Tis very strange! 

Hor. Yes, indeed, but as I do live, my honored lord, 'tis true ; &c. 

H. ETTERBOGATIYE EXCLA3IATOSY SENTENCES. 
1. THE DEFINITE INTERROGATIVE EXCLAMATORY. 

Examples. 

Art thou my father ! Is he dead ! Was it not terrible ! Are such 
things possible ! Darest thou thus provoke me, insolent ! Could he 
think of it in such circumstances ! Has it come to this ! Were they 
so infatuated ! Am I, with undoubted right on my side, to be thus 
despoiled ! Will tins unhappy contest, already quite too protracted for 
the reputation of the parties, never come to an end ! Can it be possible ! 
Is that little insignificant creature the cause of all this turmoil ! 

This sentence appears for the most part in fragments. I subjoin 
numerous examples. They are delivered precisely as when complete. 

Examples. 

Liberty! It is for noble minds. — I am charged with being an 
emissary of France. An emissary of France! — Sell my country's 
independence to France ! And for what $ — Not inferior to this was 
the wisdom of him who resolved to shear the wolf. Shear a wolf! — 
As their parents are, so are they destined to become. Destined ! — Is 
a man possessed of talents adequate to the occasion ? Adequate ! — To 
send forth the merciless cannibal thirsting for blood ! Against whom S 



120 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Mr. H. And why were they overworked, pray ? 
Slew. To carry water, sir. 

Mr. H. To carry water ! And what were they carrying water for V 
Stew. Sure, sir, to put out the fire. 
Mr. H. Fire! What fire V 

Stew. Oh, sir, your father's house is burned down to the ground. 
Mr. H. My father's house burned down ! And how came it set on 
fire? 

Stew. I think, sir, it must have been the torches. 
Mr. H. Torches! What torches? 
Stew. At your mother's funeral. 
Mr. H. My mother dead ! 

Thou here ! And have not prison gloom 
And taunting foes, and threatened doom 
Obscured thy courage yet ? 

2. THE INDEFINITE EXCLAMATORY. 

Examples. 

What sounds these are ! What a scene is this ! How beautiful it 
appears ! How he glares ! What an honorable testimony this from a 
vanquished adversary ! What a noble idea doth it give of that wonderful 
orator's action ! With what force, in particular, does he maintain the 
doctrines of grace ! With what feelings must an intelligent heathen 
approach his final catastrophe ! Oh why am I thus ! Where could 
my thoughts have been ! How wretched the condition of that infatuated 
man ! How pleasing is the prospect ! What a deal of pains for little 
profit ! How great the command over his passions ! What an affect- 
ing gracefulness in his instructions ! 

Who ever thought 
In such a homely piece of stuff, to see 
The mighty senate's tool ! 

What bare- faced shifting ! — 
What real fierceness could grow tame so soon ! 

Fragmentary indefinite exclamations are common ; but there is too 
little variety in them to require much illustration. 

Examples. 

Who! When! What! Where! Which! Why ! — For what ! 
A mess of pottage. — How ! To whom ! How beautiful ! What 
greatness of conception ! How pale ! What impertinence ! How 
shameful ! What a spectacle ! 

Simple indefinite exclamations, like simple indefinite interrogatives, 
frequently call for a repetition of a previous declaration or question 
either not understood, or of such an extraordinary character as to appear 
improbable if literally understood ; in which case their delivery is in 
like manner reversed ; that is to say, instead of taking the falling slide, 
they take the rising. (See Indefinite Interrogative.) 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 121 

Generally, however, such exclamations consist merely of interroga- 
tive pronouns and adverbs, as, for the most part, in the examples 
subjoined. 

Examples. 

How ! Will you suffer your glory to be sullied 1 — What ! Shall 
we be told that the exasperated feelings of a people were exerted ? — 
What motive, then, could have such influence in their bosom ? What 
motive ! That which nature, the common parent, plants in the bosom 
of men. — Not inferior to this was the wisdom of him who resolved to 
shear a wolf. What! Shear a wolf ? 

But how, and by what means? 
What ! Not a word ! I ask you once again. 

How ! Leap into the pit our life to save % 
To save our life, leap all into the grave ? 

When ! Why, yesterda)^ 
When all the world were out to play. 

3. THE INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE EXCLAMATORY. 

1. Examples of the first kind. 

You will not go there ! He was not a hypocrite ! Then we shall 
not see him pass by with chains on his legs ! He went ! Thou wert 
unarmed ! Thou hearest him deny the atrocious deed ! You have not 
read it, then ! Thou art not wont to join in idle tales ! You never met 
the like but once ! You did not see him, then ! They were all present 
in that hour ! Ye will not murder him ! Then saw you not his face ! 
You would not screen a traitor from the law ! Thou wouldst not have 
me make a trial of my skill upon my child ! You witnessed the horrid 
spectacle ! They saw nothing in that transaction to disgrace them 
forever ! You left them on the verge of the precipice ! 

These sentences, like the interrogatives from which they are derived, 
are often fragmentary ; and when so employed, it is difficult to distin- 
guish them from simple declarative and simple definite interrogative 
exclamations. If, however, the emotion be either purely or in part that 
of contempt, scorn or disgust, the fragment, it is pretty certain, is indi- 
rect, and should be delivered with the waving slide. 

Examples. 

Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame, 
And hang a calf-skin on those recreant limbs. 

Wal. Alasco, this is wild and mutinous : 

An outrage, marking deep and settled spleen. 
To just authority. 
' Alas. Authority ! 

Show me authority in honor's garb, 

16 



122 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

And I will down upon the humblest knee, 
That ever homage bent to sovereign sway. 

Val. Indeed, when you turned justice into rigor, 

And even that rigor was pursued with fury, 

We undertook to mediate for the queen, 

And hoped to moderate 

Van. To moderate ! 

What would you moderate V My indignation ? 

To mediate for the queen ! — You undertook ! — 

Wherein concerned it you ? 
Val. Did not the Romans civilize you ? 
Van. No. 

Val. We found you naked. 
Van. And you found us free. 

Val. Would you be temperate once and hear me out. 
Van. Speak things that honest men may hear with temper : 

Speak the plain truth and varnish not your crimes. 

Say that you once were virtuous : long ago 

A frugal, hardy people, like the Britons, 

Before you grew thus elegant in vice, 

And gave your luxuries the name of virtues. 

The civilizers ! — the disturbers, say : 

The robbers : the corruptors of mankind. 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

Spare him ! Grant me this favor for once ! Let me not perish in 
this horrid manner ! Let me live ! Give us this day our daily bread ! 
For heaven's sake, permit me to go with you ! 

The rare occurrence of this exclamation, in books, must be my apology for so few examples. 
The interrogative is very scarce, but the exclamation is still more so. 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

You are surely mistaken in that supposition ! She will certainly get 
lost in this wilderness of streets ! You surely will not deprive me of 
my only pleasure in life ! Verily, it is a wonderful thing ! Surely I 
have seen you in very different circumstances ! Surely it is unneces- 
sary for a man to make a fool of himself to pass for a man of fashion ! 

How is this, my father ? 
You are not angry, sure ! What have I done ? 

III. COMPELLATIVE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

Compellative exclamations, being imperfect divisions, strictly speak- 
ing, of declarative sentences, form no exception to the rule that exclam- 
atory sentences are delivered like the corresponding declarative and 
interrogative from which they are derived. Peculiarities, however, 
they have, which deserve attention. 

1 . Whether they occur at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end 
of perfect sense, they should always, with an exception to be noticed in 
the proper place, terminate with the bend. Ordinary divisions of 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 123 

imperfect sense at the end of perfect sense, terminate with partial or 
perfect close. 

2. They are often repeated : sometimes for the purpose of being 
heard and sometimes not. When repeated for the purpose of being 
heard, the repetition is delivered with perfect close ; and every succeed- 
ing repetition is delivered in the same manner, but with increased force : 
when repeated, but not for the purpose of being heard, the repetition, or 
the last of the series of repetition, is delivered with the circumflex. 

Examples. 
1. Of simple compellatives not repeated. 

Gentlemen', I rise to address you on one of the most interesting sub- 
jects that can engage the human mind. 

Ladies', the consequence of such a step on your fame and happiness 
would be too serious to be lightly incurred. 

Wives', submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

Husbands', love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church. 

Children', obey your parents in the Lord ; for this is right. 

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the 
flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ. 

Yes, land of liberty'! thy children have no cause to blush for thee. 

When I came here, my friends', I little expected to behold a scene 
like this. 

I perceive, conscript fathers', that every look, that every eye, is fixed 
on me. 

Long since, Cataline'! ought the consul to have doomed thy life a 
forfeit to thy country. 

As to the wealth, Mr. Speaker, which the colonies have drawn from 
the sea by their fisheries, you had all that matter opened at the bar. 

To form a just estimate of Csesar's aims, Mr. President, look to his 
triumphs after the surrender of Utica. 

You are a fool\ Harry'.* Your senses leave you\ Caius'! Give me 
answer\ Drusus'! Good morning v , uncle'. Good morning x , little man'. 
Stay thee\ Saladin ! Read here, young Arthur ! How now, foolish 
rheum ! 

Haughty lord! 
Think not I stoop to deprecate your wrath. 

Unhappy youth f 
Art thou a sufferer too from that same fight ? 

Bright angels ! strike your loudest strings i 

Your sweetest voices raise : 
Let heaven and all created things 

Sound our Immanuel's praise. 

* It is very important to observe, that the compellative is the only reason for the turning of 
the voice upward at the end of these sentences. Without it, they properly end with the perfect 



124 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Arise, O King of grace, arise, 

And enter to thy rest : 
Lo ! thy church waits with longing eyes, 

Thus to be owned and blessed. 

Here, mighty God, accept our vows : 

Here let thy praise be spread : 
Bless the provision of thy house, 

And fill thy poor with bread. 

For heaven's sake, Hubert, let me not be bound ! 
Nay, hear me, Hubert ! drive these men away. 

Are you sick, Hubert ? You look pale to-day. 

How now, Rodrigo ? 
I pray you, after the lieutenant : go. 

Mon. What's the matter, lieutenant V 
Cas. A knave ! — teach me my duty. 

I'll beat the knave into a twiggin bottle.. 

Des. Let me find a charter in your voice 

To assist my simpleness. 
Duke. What would you, Desdemona ? 

Bra. Come hither, Moor. 

I here do give thee that with all my heart 

Which, but thou hast already, with all my heart 

I would keep from thee. — For your sake, jewel, 

I am glad at soul I have no other child ; 

For thy escape would teach me tyranny, 

To hang clogs on them. — I have done, my lord. 

Exception. Single compellatives, when at the end of very emphatic 
declarative or indefinite interrogative sentences, or their derivative 
exclamations, conform to the delivery of those sentences : that is, sub- 
mit to the partial or perfect close of the one, or the falling slide of the 
other : e. g. 

Get thee behind me, Satan\ Hence ! home ! ye idle creatures\ 

This is all idle : there are deeds to do : 
Arouse thee, Procida x ! 

Charge, Chested ! Charge ! On ! Stanley v I On ! 
Were the last words of Marmion. 

Love. Get along, you impudent villain v ! 
James. Nay, sir, you said you wouldn't be angry- 
Love. Get out, you dog v ! you 

Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites^ f 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 125 

2. Of simple compellatives repeated. 

1. For the purpose of being heard. 

John', John v ! Mr. Speaker', Mr. Speaker v ! Fellow-citizens', fellow. 
citizens v ! Lord', Lord x ! open unto us. Macbeth', Macbeth v , Macbeth v ! 
beware Macduff! 

Oh, Mother', mother\ do not jest 
On such a theme as this. 

Emil. [ Within.'] My lord', my lord x ! what ! ho ! my lord', my lord v ! 

Oth. What noise is this ? — Not dead ? Not yet quite dead ? 
I, that am cruel, am yet merciful : 
I would not have thee linger in thy pain. — 
So: so. 

Emil. What ! ho ! my lord, my lord ! 

Oth. Who's there ? 

Emil. O good my lord, I would speak a word with you. 

Ham. Hold off thy hand. 

King. Pluck them asunder. 

Queen. Hamlet, Hamlet ! 

All. Gentlemen, 

Hot. Good my lord, be quiet. 

Help me, Lysander !* help me ! do thy best 
To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast ! 
Ah me, for pity ! What a dream was here ! 
Lysander, look how I do quake and fear. 
Methought a serpent ate my heart away, 
And you sat smiling at his cruel prey. 
Lysander ! what I removed ? Lysander ! lord !f 
What ! out of hearing 1 gone ? no sound, no word ? 

Prince Hen. But Ned, to drive away the time till Falstaff come, I 
pr'ythee, do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my puny 
drawer, to what end he gave me the sugar ; and do thou never leave 
calling, Francis ; that his tale to me may be nothing but — anon. Step 
aside, and I will show thee a precedent. 

Poins. Francis' ! 

P. Hen. Thou art perfect. 

Poins. Francis' !J [Exit Poins.] 

Enter Francis. 
Fran. Anon: anon, sir. Look down in the Pomegranate, Ralph. 
P. Hen. Come hither, Francis. 

* This should be delivered like the exceptions above. The lady being asleep at this point, is not 
supposed to recollect that she has called on Lysander here. Hence repetition does not begin until 
the seventh line, and third Lysander. 

tThe word lord, being the equivalent of Lysander, is delivered as if it was Lysander; that is, it 
being the second repetition, with increased force, but with perfect close. 

t The call begins at this point. 



126 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Fran. My lord. 

P. Hen. How long hast thou to serve, Francis S 

Fran. Forsooth, five years, and as much as to 

Poins. [Within.] Francis N ! 

Fran. Anon : anon, sir ! 

P. Hen. Five years ! by'r lady, a long lease for the clinking of 
pewter. But Francis, darest thou be so valiant, as to play the coward 
with thy indenture, and show it a fair pair of heels, and run for it ? 

Fran. O Lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon the books in England, I 
could find in my heart 

Poins. [Within.] Francis^! 

Fran. Anon : anon, sir. 

P. Hen. How old art thou, Francis ? 

Fran. Let me see. About Michaelmas next I shall be 

Poins. [Within.] FrancisM 

Fran. Anon, sir. — Pray you, stay a little, my lord. 

P. Hen. Nay, but hark you, Francis. For the sugar thou gavest 
me, — 't was a penny-worth : was it not ? 

Fran. O Lord, sir ! I would it had been two. 

P. Hen. I will give thee for it a thousand pounds : ask me when 
thou wilt, and thou shalt have it. 

Poins. [ Within.] Francis^ ! 

Fran. Anon : anon, sir. 

P. Hen. Anon, Francis ? No, Francis ; but to-morrow, Francis ; 
or, Francis, on Thursday ; or indeed, Francis, when thou wilt. But, 
Francis, 

Fran. My lord ? 

P. Hen. Wilt thou rob this leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, nott- 
pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish- 
pouch, 

Fran. O Lord, sir, who do you mean V 

P. Hen. Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink ; for 
look you, Francis, your white canvass doublet will sully : in Barbary, 
sir, it cannot come to so much. 

Fran. What, sir ? 

Poins. [Within.] Francis^ !* 

P. Hen. Away, you rogue !f Dost thou not hear them call ? 

2. Repeated, but not for the purpose of being heard. 

Oh, my son Absalom ! my son ! my son Absalom' f Would to God 
I had died for thee, O Absalom ! my son ! my son' ! 

Oh ! Raimond, Raimond 1 ! 
If it should be that I have wronged thee, say 
Thou dost forgive me. 

O Cromwell, Cromwell', 
Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king, he would not in mine age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies. 

* This call, in my opinion, should gradually increase from the second repetition, which is really 
the first of the series, in impatience and force to the last. 
tThis again belongs to the exceptions above. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 127 

Oh monster, monster' ! 
The brute that tears the infant from its nurse, 
Is excellent to thee, for in his form 
The impulse of his nature may be read ; 
But thou, so beautiful, so proud, so noble, — 
Oh, what a wretch art thou ! 

Reg. What ! did my father's godson seek your life ? 
He whom my father named ? Your Edgar ? 
Glo. O lady, lady, Shame would have it hid ! 

IV. SPONTANEOUS EXCLAMATIONS. 
1. INVARIABLE SPONTANEOUS EXCLAMATIONS. 

These are all fragments of simple declarative sentences, and, of 
course, are delivered like simple declaratives. (See the Rule.) 

Examples. 

See there v ! behold x ! * look x ! Wl * 
If I stand here, I saw him ! 

And they bowed their knees before him, and mocked him: saying, 
Hail v ! king of the Jews. 

But previously I should have mentioned the very impolite behavior of 
Mr. Burchell ; who, during this discourse, sate with his face turned to 
the fire, and at the conclusion of every sentence would cry out, Fudge\ r 
an expression that displeased us all, and in some measure damped the 
rising spirit of the conversation. 

TushM tush v ! son, said Cecropia : if you say you love, but withal 
you fear, you fear lest you should offend. 

Tut\' man : one fire burns out another. 

And he said, tutM tut x ! tut\ r shaking his head three or four times. 

Rob. I'll make all happy : I'll lower all your rents. 

All. Huzza ! Long live lord Robin ! 

Rob. You shant pay no rent at all. 

All. Huzza x ! huzza v ! Long live lord Robin ! 

Rob. I'll have no poor people in the parish, for I'll make them all 
rich; I'll have no widows, for I'll marry them all ; I'll have no orphan 
children, for I'll father them all myself; and if that's not doing as a 
lord should do, then I say I know nothing about the matter : that's all. 

All. Huzza\ f huzza v ! f 

Sir H. Upon my word, sir, you must beat me, or I will beat you : 
take your choice. 

Aid. S. Psha! psha! you jest. 

Pris. Hem! hem! 

Witty. He 's dry : he hems : on quickly. 

* These two exclamations are of constant occurrence in the Scriptures: they should always be 
delivered in the manner here indicated, 
t Hurrah, pronounced hooraw, is the same word, differently, but more correctly, written. 



128 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

I am your lordship's most obsequious zounds ! what a peer 

of the realm ! 

Rosse. Let not your ears despise my tongue forever, 

Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound, 
That ever yet they heard. 

Macd. Humph ! I guess at it. 

Avaunt ! thou witch ! Come, Dromio : let us go. 
Mercy ! sir, how the folks will talk of it ! 
'Tis not his words that shake me thus — Pish ! 

James. Why, sir, since you will have it, then, they make a jest of you 
every where : nay, of your servants on your account. One says, you 
pick a quarrel with them quarterly, in order to find an excuse to pay 
them no wages. 

Love. Poh ! poh ! 

Fie ! daughter : fie ! when my old wife lived, upon 
This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook : 
Both dame and servant. 

Fie ! fie ! Gratiano ! Where are all the rest ? 

Yes, forsooth, I will hold my tongue. So your face bids me, though 
you say nothing. Mum ! mum ! 

Hum ! hum ! And so there is no remedy f None ? None. 

Hum ! Is this a vision ? Is this a dream ? Do I sleep ? Master 
Ford, awake ! awake ! 

Slender. Whoo ! ho ! ho ! Father Page. 

Page. Son ! How now ? how now, son ? Have you despatched ? 

Stew. Help, ho ! murder ! help ! 

Kent. Strike, you slave : stand, rogue : stand : you neat slave, strike. 

Stew. Help, ho ! murder ! help ! 

Heigh! sirs, what a noise you make here. 

Heigh! heigh! what's the matter? 

I do so : I confess it. Sir, a body would think this was well counter- 
feited : I pray you, tell your brother how well I counterfeited. — Heigh 
ho! 

J T is almost five o'clock, cousin : 't is time you were ready : by my 
troth, I am exceeding ill : hey ho ! 

Hey-day! What Hans Flutterkin is this? What Dutchman does 
build or frame castles in the air ? 

2. VARIABLE SPONTANEOUS EXCLAMATIONS. 

These exclamations form the only exception to the general rule of 
delivery; namely, that exclamatory sentences are delivered like the 
corresponding declarative and interrogative from which they are de- 
rived. Strictly speaking, indeed, even these are not exceptions ; since, 
to be exceptions, they should be derivatives, like other exclamations ; 
and this they are not. They spring directly from the passions, as they 
are exclusively employed by the passions. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 129 

Though I have enumerated them among sentences, it is only by 
courtesy that they can receive that title, In the classification, I have 
therefore denominated them, equivalents ; i. e. of the declarative and 
different interrogative exclamations which have so far been noticed : a 
name, which seems to express with perfect precision their true character. 

As equivalents, they are delivered exactly like the sentences for 
which they are substituted. 

Examples. 
1. Of Ah! 

1. Ahj when used to express surprise, suspicion, curiosity or triumph, 
is equivalent to a definite interrogative exclamation : e. g. 

What! so rank? Ah! ah! There is mischief in this man. 
O 't was most wonderful ! — Ah ! was it so ? 

2. When used to express pity, it is equivalent to a declarative, or an 
indefinite interrogative exclamation : e. g. 

What a pity ! — Ah ! poor thing ! ah ! 

3. When used to express sorrow, a wish, admiration, &c, it is a 
mere emission of sound, forming a species of key-note to the phrase, 
clause or sentence which follows : e. g. 

Ah, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline, torments him 
so, that he will surely run mad. 

Ah, sinful nation. — Ah ! beautiful ! — Ah ! if you only had been 
there. — Ah! sir, ah! sir. Well, death's the end of all. — Ah me! 
This object kills me. 

Rom. That I might touch that cheek ! 

Jul* Ah me ! 

Rom. She speaks ! 

II. Of Ha for Hah! 

1. When this expresses surprise or exultation, it is equivalent to a 
definite interrogative exclamation : e. g. 

Ha ! sure it is not so f — Ha ! say'st thou so ? — Hah ! what is 't 
thou sayest? — Hah ! have I caught thee at last ? — 

Des. Well, well, 

Do your discretion. 

logo. Ha ! I like not that. 

logo. You cannot, if my heart were in your hand ; 
Nor shall not, while \ is in my custody. 
Oth. Ha! 
Iago. O beware, my lord, of jealousy. 

17 



130 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

2. When it expresses fear or disgust, it is equivalent to a declarative 
exclamation : e. g. 

Hali ! it is a sight to freeze one ! 
Ha ! it sickens me. 

3. When employed as an imitation of laughter, it is equivalent to a 
declarative exclamation : e. g. 

Fool. Then, pr'ythee, be merry; thy wit shall not go slip-shod. 
Lear. Ha! ha! ha! 

Cap. Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed, 
Acquaint her here of my Paris' love, 

And bid her, you mark me, on Wednesday next 

But, soft : what day is this ? 

Par. Monday, my Lord. 

Cap. Monday ? ha ! ha ! Well, Wednesday is too soon : 
On Thursday let it be. 

III. Of Aha l or, Ah! ha! 

This is always an expression of innocent or insulting exultation ; and 
it is equivalent to two definite interrogative exclamations delivered in 
quick succession: e.g. 

Ah ! ha ! you thought me blind : did you ? 

Ah! ha! Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page, have I encompassed you? Go 
to: via! 

Yea, they opened their mouth against me and said, Aha ! aha ! our 
eye hath seen it. 

Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame which say Unto 
me, Aha ! aha ! 

Ham. Didst perceive ? 

Hor. Very well, my lord. 

Ham. Upon the talk of the poisoning 

Hor. I did very well note him. 

Ham. Ah, ha! — Come, some music: come, the recorders. — 

IV. Of Eh! 

When an expression of surprise or curiosity, it is equivalent to a 
definite interrogative exclamation: when of pain, to a declarative 
exclamation : e. g. 

Eh ! are you sure of it ? 
Eh! you hurt me. 

James. Sir, how the folks will talk of it ! Indeed, people say enough 
of you already. 

Love. Eh ! what do the people say, pray ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 131 

V. Of Of or, Oh! 

1. When these exclamations are prefixed to exclamatory sentences 
expressing admiration, wonder, astonishment, love, fear, grief, &c, &c, 
they form, like No. I, 3, above, merely the key-note, more or less pro- 
longed, of those sentences : e. g. 

noble judge ! O excellent young man ! 

O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven ! 
Keep me in temper : I would not be mad ! 

Nurse. O lamentable day ! 
Lady Cap. What 3 s' the matter ? 
Nurse. Look ! look ! heavy day ! 
Lady Cap. me ! O me ! my child, my only life, 
Revive, look up, or I will die with thee ! 

Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion ! When God 
bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel 
shall be glad. 

Oh that I knew where I might find him ! that I might come even 
to his seat ! 

2. When employed independently to express mental or physical 
suffering, they are equivalent to declarative exclamations : e. g. 

Why, then let fall 
Your horrible pleasure : here I stand, your slave : 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. — 
But yet I call you servile ministers, 
That have with two pernicious daughters joined 
Your high-engendered battles, 'gainst a head 
So old and white as this. O ! ! 'tis foul ! 

Had it pleased heaven 
To try me with affliction ; had he rained 
All kind of sores, and shames, on my bare head ; 
Steeped me in poverty to the very lips ; 
Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes ; 

1 should have found in some part of my soul 
A drop of patience : but (alas !) to make me 
A fixed figure, for the hand of scorn 

To point his slow, unmoving finger at, — 
O! O! 

Iago. What ! are you mad ? I charge you, get you home. 

Emil. Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak : 
'T is proper I obey him, but not now. — 
Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home. 

Oth. ! O ! O ! [Hanging over his wife.] 

Emil. Nay, lay thee down and roar; 

For thou hast killed the sweetest innocent. 
That e'er did lift up eye. 



132 TJIE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 



O Desdemona ! Desdemona ! dead ? 
Dead! O! O! O! 

Oh ! oh ! - — Sir, you '11 certainly break my bones. 

Quick. With trial-fire touch me his finger-end : 
If he be chaste, the flame will back descend 
And turn him to no pain ; but if he start, 
It is the flesh of a corrupted heart. 

Pist, A trial : come. 

Eva. Come : will this wood take fire ? 

[They burn him with their tapers.] 

Falstaff. Oh! Oh! Oh! 

VI. Of Alas.' and Alack! 

These two words, which are really the same though differently 
written, are unlike all the preceding, in being equivalent to a part of a 
sentence only, terminating with the bend. Its delivery is accurately 
represented by the first two words in each of the following sentences * 
" A lass, just sixteen years old to-day, was married this morning, at the 
house of her father." " A lack, I mean of rupees, is equal to fifty-five 
thousand dollars." E. g. 

Alas, the day! I know not. — Alas! sir, how fell you beside your 
five wits. 

Alas! alas! 
It is not honesty in me to speak 
What I have seen and known. 

Alas, what boots it with incessant care, 

To tend the homely, slighted shepherd's trade, 

And strictly meditate the thankless muse ? 

Alack ! how may I do it : having the hour limited ? 

Alack ! alack ! Edmund, I like not this unnatural dealing, 

Scar. I never saw an action of such shame : 
Experience, manhood, honor, ne'er before 
Did violate so itself. 

Eno. Alack ! alack ! 

Miscellaneous Examples of Exclamations, 

Some of these examples are not, correctly speaking, the simple sentences they purport to be, 
but rather parts of compound sentences. I wish it particularly understood, therefore, that every 
exclamation point separates what precedes from what follows it, into perfect independence of each 
other. Each is to be considered by itself, as if the other had no existence. The Rhetorical 
pause or dash, is here and there employed, as an additional means of separation. 

What a spectacle ! — Behold a parent subject to the degrading influ- 
ence of an ungovernable temper ! — Her very soul sickened at the sight! 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 133 

— O impossible ! replied Mary. — O shocking ! — How very tiresome ! — 
And this was once a court! thought she. — Humph ! That's the reason 
people are always so glad to see them. — Fatigue ! Phoo ! I am sure I 
mind fatigue as little as any man. — My sweetest Blanch, do be quiet! 

I look after the pigs, Mr. Guffaw ! I am really astonished at you ! 
Do I look like a person made to look after pigs ? For heaven's sake, 
Mr. Guffaw, make less noise ! 

But you thought me the greatest delicacy of all! my dear. — You 
left all your other delicacies for me!. Ha! ha! ha! — What do you 
say to that ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! Surely, my mother cannot be dis- 
pleased at my attending church ! said she in astonishment. — Oh ! what 
a situation I am placed in! — How fortunate! — How excessively 
childish ! — 

There's a slap on the cheek for me ! Mercy! how it burns! — God's 
will be done ! — What ! afraid of the effects of evil example ! — shock- 
ing! to mention pigeon-pies in the same breath with roses! — Oh! my 
friends ! how little with all my boasting, have I known my own heart ! 
— Alas! all earthly good still blends itself with home! — I shall go 
down to posterity with the code in my hand ! — Strive now to rival him 
in the sacred arts of peace ! 

Oh ! with what a sorrowful air of forced gaiety was all this uttered ! 
— How shall I endure it! — Oh! Epictetus, how! — Pho! pho! non- 
sense, man! I never saw you before ! — Never saw me! Never saw 
me! Is it come to this! — Who then can be saved! — You are not 
angry, sure! — Grant me this favor for once! — Let me not perish in 
this horrid manner ! — Tush ! tush ! man, I made no reference to you ! 
— vOut upon you ! 

Nurse. [Within.] Madam! 

Jul. I come anon. — But if thou mean'st not well, 

I do beseech thee « 

Nurse. [Within.] Madam! 

Jul, By and by I come : — 

To cease thy suit and leave me to my grief: 

To-morrow will I send. 

And yet ^— yet what ? No news ! Mankind is mad ! 

Unheard their clock repeats the hours ! — 
Cold is the hearth within their bowers ! — 

Looked not on thee, the rudest partisan 
With brow relaxed to love ! Yes. — 

Die for thy country ! — Thou romantic fool ! 
Thy country ! What to thee ? — 

But hark ! What nearer war-drum shakes the glade ? 

Joy ! joy ! Columbia's friends are trampling through the shade ! 

It is 
That man of sorrow ! O how changed ! What pomp ! 
Ih grandeur terrible, all heaven descends ! 



134 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Hark ! from the battlements of yonder tower, 
The solemn bell has tolled the midnight hour ! — 
Soon may this fluttering spark of vital flame, 
Forsake its languid ■ frame ! 

Miscellaneous Examples of Declarative, Interrogative and Exclamatory 

Sentences. 

How now, brother ? Where is my cousin, your son ? Hath he pro- 
vided this music ? 

To be whipped! What's his fault? Wilt thou make a trust, a 
transgression ? The transgression is in the stealer. 
D. How now ? Why are you sad ? 

C. Sad ! I am not sad. 

D. How then? Sick? 
C. I am neither, sir. 

What fire is in mine ears ? Can this be true ? 
Stand I condemned for pride so much ? — 
Contempt, farewell ! Maiden pride, adieu ! 

Hero. Fie upon thee ! Art thou not ashamed ? 
Marg. Of what, lady ? Of speaking honorably ? Is not marriage 
honorable in a beggar ? Is not your lorcl honorable without marriage ? 

Friar. You come hither, my lord, to marry this lady f 
Claud, No. 

Leon. To be married to her, friar. You come to marry her. 

Friar. Lady, you come hither to be married to this count f 

Hero. I do. 

Claud. Bid her answer truly. 

Leon. I charge thee, daughter, to do so. 

Hero. O God ! defend me ! How I am beset ! What kind of 
catechising do you call this ? 

Claud. To make you answer truly to your name. 

Hero. Is it not Hero? Who can blot that name with any just 
reproach ? 

Bene. How doth the lady § 

Beat. She seems dead. Help, uncle ! 

Hero ! Why, Hero ! — Uncle ! Seignior Benedick ! friar ! 
Leon. O Fate ! take not away thy heavy hand ! 

Death is the fairest cover for her shame. 
Beat. How now, cousin Hero ? 

Friar. Have comfort, lady. 
Leon. Dost thou look up ? 
Friar. Wherefore should she not ? 
Leon. Wherefore ? Why,* doth not every earthly thing 

Cry shame upon her ? Could she here deny 

The story ? 

*In this example, the necessity of treating why as an interrogative, is very apparent. (Soe Clas- 
sification, Sec. I, 2. 2.) 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 135 

Besides all this, his children had the general advantage of a father's 
example. They saw the virtues he inculcated attended by all their 
consequences in himself. Piety in him was recompensed by peace of 
mind. Benevolence in him was rewarded by self-satisfaction. Integ- 
rity in him was crowned by the blessings of a good conscience. How 
natural the result! Each became a reflection of his worth. Is not 
this an encouraging illustration of the power of a good life in purifying 
the domestic atmosphere ? What could be more ? The question needs 
no answer. Parents ! consider it well. Your own happiness is involved 
in this matter. 

This, Oh men of Athens ! my duty prompted me to represent to you 
on this occasion. May God inspire you to determine upon measures 
most expedient for the common good of our country ! 

Proceed then, Athenians, to support your deliberations with vigor. 
What time so proper for action ? Has not Philip, contrary to all trea- 
ties, insulted you in Thrace ? Is he not an implacable enemy ? Indeed, 
what is he not ? 

What have you left unviolated ? By what name shall I now address 
you ? Shall I call you soldiers ? Soldiers ! who have dared to besiege 
the son of your emperor ! Can I call you citizens ? Citizens ! who 
have trampled under your feet the authority of the senate ! 

If I exist? — -Hah! whence that doubt? "We meet again this 
night \" — so said the spectre ! Dreadful words, be ye blotted from my 
mind forever ! Hassan, to your vigilance, I leave the care of my 
beloved. Fly to me that instant, on the approach of any unbidden foot- 
step to your door. I '11 to my couch. Follow me, Saib. 

How long he did pause on the brink of the Rubicon ! How came he 
to the brink of that river ? How dared he cross it ? Shall a man pay 
no respect to the boundaries of his ' country's rights ? How dared he 
cross that river? Oh! but he paused upon the brink! He should 
have perished upon the brink before attempting to cross it ! Why did 
he pause ? Why does a man's heart palpitate, on the point of commit- 
ting an unlawful deed ? Why does the very murderer strike wide of 
the mortal part ? Because of conscience ! That made Ceesar pause 
upon the brink of the Rubicon ! — What was the Rubicon ? The bound- 
ary of Caesar's province. From what did it separate his province? 
From his country. Was that country a desert ? No. 

Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Let us not deceive 
ourselves, sir. What means this martial array ? Is it not designed to 
force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible 
motive for it ? Has Great Britain an enemy in this quarter of the 
world, to call for all this accumulation of force ? No ! Sir. She has 
none. They are meant for us. And what have we to oppose to them ? 
Shall we try argument ? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten 
years. Have we any thing new to offer upon the subject ? Nothing. 
Shall we resort to humble supplication ? Let us not, sir, deceive our- 
selves longer. 

Blush, Grandeur ! Blush, proud Courts ! Withdraw your blaze, 
Ye little stars ! Hide your diminished rays. 

Fear held them mute. Alone, untaught to fear, 
Stood dauntless Carl. "Behold that rival here l u 



136 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

" A rat ! a rat ! Clap to the door." — 
The cat comes bouncing on the floor. 

What ! They admire him for his jokes ? 
See but the fortune of some folks ! 

Let Sporus tremble. What ? that thing of silk ? 
Sporus ! [that mere white curd of asses milk ?] 
Satire, alas ! alas ! can Sporus feel ! 
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel ? 

Booth enters. Hark ! the universal peal ! 
But has he spoken ? Not a syllable. 

Alas ! delusive dream ! 
Too well I know him. 

Give me another horse. — Bind up my Wounds. — 
Have mercy, Jesus! — Soft! I did but dream.* — 

coward conscience ! How dost thou afflict me ! 
The lights burn blue. — It is now dead midnight. 
Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. 
What do I fear ? Myself? There J s none else by.* — 
Is there a murderer here ? No. — Yes. — I am. 

Then fly. — What ! from myself ? Great reason.* Why? 
Lest I revenge. What? Myself on myself ? 

1 love myself. Wherefore ? 

Mess. My lord ! My lord ! [Knocking.] 

Hast. [Within.] Who knocks? 
Mess. One from lord Stanley. 

Hast. [Within.] What is 't o'clock ? 

Mess. Upon the stroke of four. 

War is the law of violence. Peace is the law of love* That law of 
violence prevailed without mitigation from the murder of Abel to the 
advent of the Prince of Peace. 

Brothers ! let us talk together of Logan. Ye aged men ! bear ye 
testimony to the deeds of his strength. Who was like him? Who 
could resist him ? Who may withstand the winds uprooting the great 
trees of the mountain ? Let him be the foe of Logan. Thrice in one 
day hath he given battle. Thrice in one day hath he come back vie* 

* All these sentences have the appearance of being simple declarative sentences, and as such, seem* 
to be at variance with the rule laid down for their delivery : inasmuch as they end with the inferior 
sweep. But are they declarative sentences'? The first is an indirect interrogative (with the answer 
implied,) put by the speaker to himself, to assure himself of the real state"of things : the second, 
is the first part or negative of a double compact, with the affirmative opposed to it understood, 
but implied by the next line ; which, because it contained a compound sentence, I have not inserted 
in the text. Adding the affirmative and subjoining the line omitted, the whole passage will read 
thus: 

There is none else by, but Richard is alone. 
And Richard loves Richard ; that is, I am I. 

The third sentence is the first part of a single compact, with the corresponding words and the 
second part suppressed. Written in full, it would read thus: Then fly. What! from myself? 
Yet I have great reason, though I should or do not. Why I Lest I revenge. 

The fourth is likewise a single compact, thus : " To the penitent indeed, but I am not penitent." 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 137 

torious. Who may bear up against the strong man ? Let the young 
hear me. Let them follow him. Warriors ! Logan was the father of 
Harold ! 

What ? old acquaintance ! could not all this flesh 

Keep in a little life ? Poor Jack, farewell ! 

I could have better spared a better man. 

Bal. You are, doubtless, happy in your prosperity f 

Far. Happy in my prosperity ! How can I be ? Can prosperity 
give me back my buried child ? 

Bal. For such a sorrow there is a divine consolation. Have you 
sought it 1 

Far. A consolation beyond my reach. 1 dare not seek it. 

Bal. Why not $ God is abundantly merciful I 

Far. To the penitent.* I, alas ! am not penitent. I cannot repent 
without restoring my ill-gotten wealth to its owners. Hence all my 
sorrows. 

Bal. Sir, you deserve them. May they not prove eternal ! 

SEC II. COMPOUND SENTENCES. 

I. DECLARATIVE SENTENCES. 

1. CLOSE SENTENCES. 

Rule VI. The close declarative is delivered with accentual sweeps, 
the bend at intermediate pause, and perfect close. (See Rule I, also 
Plate, Fig. 9.) 

Examples. 

The whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate. They, 
who are moderate in their expectations', meet with few disappointments. 
The rocks and hills of New England will remain till the last conflagra- 
tion. Rome carefully recorded these requests and intercessions', and 
smiled to see the nations throw themselves into her arms. Rome was 
the greatest, the rich'est, the most powerful city in the world. And 
the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. 

The citizens of America celebrate that day which gave birth to their 
liberties. The recollection of this event swells every heart w ith joy', 
and fills every tongue with praise. It was then that they struck that 
terrible blow under which the greatness of Persia sunk and expired. 
Old nations, with different systems of government', may be slow to 
acknowledge all that justly belongs to us. There are two principles, 
gentlemen', strictly and purely American', which are now likely to 
overrun the world. Popular governments and general education, acting 
and reacting', mutually producing and reproducing each other', are 
the mighty agencies, which, in our days, appear to be exciting, stimu- 
lating and changing the aspect of the civilized world. 

It is a considerable benefit of piety', that it affords the best friendships 
and sweetest society. To have a friend, wise and good, to whom, upon 

* See note on the preceding page. 

18 



138 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

all occasions, we may resort for advice, for assistance, for consolation', 
is a great convenience in life. A late English writer has permitted 
himself to say', that the original establishment of the United States, and 
that of the colony of Botany Bay', were pretty nearly modelled on the 
same plan. The meaning of this slanderous insinuation is, that the 
United States were settled by deported convicts, in like manner as New 
South Wales has been, by felons whose punishment has been commuted 
into transportation. It is a principle amply borne out by the history of 
the great and powerful nations of the earth, and by that of none more 
than the country of which we speak, that the best fruits and choicest 
action of the commendable qualities of the national character, are to be 
found on the side of the oppressed few. 

That great man, Luther', gave an impulse to society, which it has 
ever since preserved. He unfolded to the wondering gaze of men', a 
form of moral beauty, which had been too long shrouded from their 
eyes by the timid dogmatism of the Papal Church. It is to protestant 
Christianity, gentlemen', that you are indebted for the noblest exercise 
of your rational powers. It is to protestant Christianity that you owe 
the vigor of your intellectual exertions and the purity of your moral 
sentiments. I could easily show you how much the manliness of Eng- 
lish literature, and the fearless intrepidity of German speculation, and 
how much even of the accurate sciences of France, may be ascribed to 
the spirit of protestant Christianity. It is from the influence of this, 
spirit, that the sublime astronomy of La Place, has not been, like that 
of Galileo, condemned as heretical. The framers of the constitution 
devised a scheme of confederate and representative sovereign republics, 
united on a happy distribution of powers, which, reserving to the sepa- 
rate states all the political functions essential to the public peace and 
to private justice, bestowed upon the general government those, and 
those only, required for the service of the whole. 

The ambition and avarice of man' are the sources of his unhappiness. 
Natural dispositions, or acquired habits', regulate the tenor of our lives. 
I feel your kindness', and wish for an opportunity to requite it. Nobody 
ever told him a misfortune in which he did not take an interest', or 
requested good offices which he refused to grant. He who says I am 
to instruct and to warn with a face of instruction or admonition, prepares 
his audience for hearing what the young and the lively always avoid as 
tiresome, or fear as unpleasant. The firmness of mind which is created 
or increased by the study of letters, or the admiration of the arts, is 
supposed to incapacitate a man for the drudgery by which professional 
eminence is gained. A young man, destined for law or commerce, is 
advised to look only into his folio of precedents, or his method of book- 
keeping. To the beauty of her form and excellence of her natural 
disposition, a parent, equally indulgent and attentive, had done the 
fullest justice. A man may enjoy the present and forget the future, at 
the very moment in which he is writing of the insignificance of the 
former and the importance of the latter. The dying Englishman, 
pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per cent., into a spoon 
which has paid fifteen per cent., flings himself back upon his chintz bed 
which has paid twenty-two per cent., makes his will on an eight-pound 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 139 

stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a license 
of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. 

War, peace, darts, spears, towns, rivers, every thing, in short, in his 
writings', is alive. Fire of imagination', strength of mind', and firmness 
of soul', are gifts of nature. Wit, grace and beauty, are captivating. 
The warbling of birds', the murmuring of streams', the enamel of 
meadows', the coolness of woods', the fragrance of flowers', and the 
sweet smell of plants', contribute greatly to the pleasures of the mind' 
and the health of the body. The diversity of objects, the extent of the 
horizon, the immense height, the country like a map at your feet, the 
ocean around, the heavens above, conspire to overwhelm the mind. 
That faith which is one, that faith which renews and justifies all who 
profess it, that faith which confessions and formularies can never 
adequately express, is the property of all alike. A mind bold, indepen- 
dent and decisive, a will despotic in its dictates, an energy that distanced 
expedition, and a conscience pliable to every touch of self-interest, 
marked the outline of this extraordinary character. 

He who follows the pleasures of the world, which are in their very 
nature disappointing', is in constant search of care, solicitude, remorse 
and confusion. Notwithstanding all the pains which Cicero took in the 
education of his son', history informs us, that nature rendered him inca- 
pable of improving by all the rules of eloquence', the precepts of philos- 
ophy', his own endeavors', and the most refined conversation of Athens. 
His library consisted, as far as I can remember, of several volumes of 
sermons', a concordance', Thomas a Kempis', Antoninus' Meditations', 
the works of the author of the Whole Duty of Man', a translation of 
Boethius', the original editions of the Spectator and Guardian', Cowley's 
Poems', Dryden's Works', Baker's Chronicle', Burnet's History of his 
own times', Lamb's Royal Cookery', Abercromby's Scots Warriors', 
and Nisbet's Heraldry. With the newly-found continent of New 
Holland, she embraces under her protection, or in her possession, the 
Philippine Islands, Java, Sumatra'; passes the coast of Malacca'; rests 
for a short time fruitlessly to endeavor to number the countless millions 
of her subjects in Hindostan'; winds into the sea of Arabia'; skirts 
along the coasts of Coromandel and Ceylon'; stops for a moment for 
refreshment at the Cape of Good Hope'; visits her plantations of the 
Isles of France and Bourbon'; sweeps along the whole of the Antilles'; 
doubles Cape Horn to protect her whalemen in the northern and south- 
ern Pacific Oceans'; crosses the American continent, from Queen 
Charlotte's Sound to Hudson's Bay', glancing in the passage at her col- 
onies of the Canadas, Nova Scotia and New-Brunswick'; thence con- 
tinues to Newfoundland, to look after and foster her fisheries'; and then 
takes her departure for the united kingdoms of England, Scotland and 
Ireland. I could not conceive how he would be able to let his audience 
down from the height to which he had wound them, without impairing 
the solemnity and dignity of his subject, or, perhaps, shocking them by 
the abruptness of his fall. 

Whatever may be the obstacles which ignorance, prejudice and envy- 
oppose to the doctrines of religion', we ought never to be deterred from 
propagating them. Whatever talents you may possess', whatever 



140 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

advantages you may have received from nature and education', with 
whatever perfections you may be endowed', expect only the suffrage of 
a small number of men. By ascending to an association with our 
ancestors', by contemplating their example and studying their charac- 
ter', by partaking their sentiments and imbibing their spirit', by 
accompanying them in their toils', by sympathising in their sufferings 
and rejoicing in their successes and their triumphs', we mingle our 
existence with theirs, and seem to belong to their age. Truth, as 
directed against themselves ; holiness, as refusing to dwell in peaceful 
or approving fellowship with themselves; justice, as committed to a 
sentence of severe and inflexible retribution upon themselves ; — all 
these are out of their contemplation at that moment. How men have 
labored to disprove them ; what intellectual power and ardor and 
acumen, urged on by inveterate hate, have assailed their credibility ; 
what stores of learning have been exhausted, what wit and what ridi- 
cule expended, to evince their absurdity; what ferocity of godless 
ambition, of bigoted power, and even of popular legislation, have been 
employed to enervate, if not destroy their influence; is well known. 
Those who fell victims to their principles in the civil convulsions of the 
short-lived republics of .Greece, or who sunk beneath the power of her 
invading foes ; those victims of Austrian tyranny in Switzerland, and 
of Spanish tyranny in Holland ; the solitary champions, or the united 
bands of high-minded and patriotic men who have in any region or age, 
struggled and suffered in this great cause ; belong to that people of the 
free, whose fortunes and progress are the most noble theme which man 
can contemplate. 

We have only to pity his delusions, and view him as the hopeless 
victim of a sad and ruinous infatuation'; we have only to carry our eye 
onwards to the agonies of that death which will shortly lay hold of him, 
and compute the horrors of that eternity which he is about to enter'; 
we have only, in a word, to put forth an exercise of faith in certain 
near and impending realities, the evidence of which is altogether resist- 
less'; in order to summon up such motives, and such considerations, as 
may cause the compassion of our nature to predominate over the resent- 
ment of our nature. 

Besides the ignorance of masters who teach the first rudiments of 
reading, and the want of skill, or negligence in that article, of those 
who teach the learned languages ; besides the erroneous manner, which 
the untutored pupil falls into, through the want of early attention in 
masters, to correct small faults in the beginning, which increase and 
gain strength with years ; besides bad habits contracted from imitation 
of particular persons, or the contagion of example ; from a general 
prevalence of a certain tone or cant in reading or reciting, peculiar to 
each school, and regularly transmitted from one generation to another : 
besides all these, which are fruitful sources of vicious elocution ; there 
is one fundamental error in the method universally used in teaching to 
read, which at first gives a wrong bias, and leads us ever after blind- 
fold from the right path, under the guidance of a false rule. 

From the worm that grovels in the dust, beneath our feet, to the track 
of the leviathan in the foaming deep; from the moth that corrupts the 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 141 

secret treasure, to the eagle that soars above eyry in the clouds ; from 
the wild ass in the desert, to the lamb within the shepherd's fold ; from 
the consuming beast, to the cattle upon a thousand hills ; from the rose 
of Sharon, to the cedar of Lebanon; from the crystal stream, gushing 
forth out of the flinty rock, to the wide waters of the deluge ; from the 
lonely path of the wanderer, to the gathering of a mighty multitude ; 
from the tear that falls in secret, to the din of battle, and the shout of a 
triumphant host ; from the solitary in the wilderness, to the satrap on 
the throne ; from the mourner clad in sackcloth, to the prince in purple 
robes ; from the gnawings of the worm that dieth not, to the seraphic 
visions of the blest ; from the still small voice, to the thunders of Omni- 
potence ; from the depths of hell, to the regions of eternal glory ; there 
is no degree of beauty or deformity, no tendency to good or evil, no 
shade of darkness nor gleam of light, which does not come within the 
cognizance of the holy Scriptures. 

Our immense extent of fertile territory opening an inexhaustible field 
for successful enterprise, thus assuring to industry a certain reward 
for its labors, and preserving the land, for centuries to come, from the 
manifold evils of an over-crowded, and consequently degraded popula- 
tion ; our magnificent system of federated republics, carrying out and 
applying the principles of representative democracy to an extent never 
hoped or imagined in the boldest theories of the old speculative republi- 
can philosophers, the Harringtons, Sydneys, and Lockes of former 
times ; the reaction of our political system upon our social and domestic 
concerns, bringing the influence of popular feeling and public opinion 
to bear upon all the affairs of life in a degree hitherto wholly unprece- 
dented ; the unconstrained range of freedom of opinion, of speech, and 
of the press, and the habitual and daring exercise of that liberty upon 
the highest subjects ; the absence of all serious inequality of fortune 
and rank in the condition of our citizens ; our divisions into innumerable 
religious sects, and the consequent co-existence, never before regarded 
as possible, of intense religious zeal, with a great degree of toleration in 
feeling and perfect equality of rights ; our intimate connection with that 
elder world beyond the Atlantic, communicating to us, through the 
press and emigration, much of good and much of evil not our own, high 
science, refined art, and the best knowledge of old experience, as well 
as prejudices and luxuries, vices and crimes, such as could not have 
been expected to spring up in our soil for ages ; — all these, combined 
with numerous other peculiarities in the institutions and in the moral, 
civil and social condition of the American people, have given to our 
society, through all its relations, a character exclusively its own. 

The sick untended then', 
Languished in the dark shade, and died afar from men. 

In man or woman', but far most in man', 
And most of all in man that ministers 
And serves the altar', in my soul I loathe 
All affectation. 

All night the dreadless angel, unpursued, 

Through heaven's wide champaign held his way, till morn, 



142 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Waked by the circling hours, with rosy hand 
Unbarred the gates of light. 

He that negotiates between God and man 
As God's ambassador, the grand concerns 
Of judgment and of mercy', should beware 
Of lightness in his speech. 

He that attends to his interior self, 

That has a heart and keeps it, has a mind 

That hungers, and supplies it, and who seeks 

A social, not a dissipated life, 

Has business. 

Through the night 
Of years, the steps of virtue she shall trace, 
And show the earlier ages, where her sight 
Can pierce the eternal shadows o'er her face. 

Late, from this western shore, that morning chased 
The deep and ancient night, that threw its shroud 
O'er the green land of groves, the beautiful waste, 
Nurse of full streams, and lifter up of proud 
Sky-mingling mountains that o'erlook the cloud. 

Upon the hill 
The tall old maples, verdant still, 
Yet tell, in grandeur of decay 
How swift the years have passed away, 
Since first, a child and half afraid 
I wandered in the forest shade. 
This little rill that, from the springs 
Of yonder grove, its current brings, 
Plays on the slope awhile, and then 
Goes prattling into groves again, 
Oft to its warbling waters drew 
My little feet. 

To the reverent throng', 
Grave and time-wrinkled men, with locks all white, 
Gave laws, and judged their strifes, and taught the way of right', 
Till bolder spirits seized the rule and nailed 
On men the yoke, that man should never bear', 
And drove them forth to battle. 

Then all this youthful paradise around', 
And all the broad and boundless mainland', lay 
Cooled by the interminable wood that frowned 
O'er mount and vale, where never summer ray 
Glanced, till the strong tornado broke his way 
Through the gay giants of the sylvan wild. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 143 

His simple heart 
Might not resist the sacred influences', 
Which, from the stilly twilight of the place', 
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven 
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound 
Of the invisible breath that swayed at once 
All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed 
His spirit with the thought of boundless power 
And inaccessible majesty. 

His native hills that rise in happier climes', 
The grot that heard his song of other times', 
His cottage-home', his bark of slender sail', 
His glassy lake', and broom- wood-blossomed veil', 
Rush on his thoughts. 

Each ray, that shone, in early time, to light 

The faltering footstep in the path of right'; 

Each gleam of clearer brightness shed to aid 

In man's maturer day his bolder sight'; 

(All blended, like the rainbow's radiant braid';) 

Pour yet, and still shall pour, the blaze that cannot fade. 

Whatever fruits in different climes are found 
That proudly rise, or humbly court the ground ; 
Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear, 
Whose bright succession decks the varied year ; 
Whatever sweets salute the northern sky 
With vernal lines that blossom but to die ; — 
These, here disporting, own a kindred soil, 
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil. 

The hills 
Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun, the vales 
Stretching in pensive quietness between, 
The venerable w T oods, rivers that move 
In majesty, and the complaining brooks 
That make the meadows green, and, poured round all, 
Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste, 
Are but the solemn decorations all 
Of the great tomb of man. 

This royal throne of kings ; this sceptred isle ; 

This earth of majesty; this seat of Mars; 

This other Eden, demi-paradise ; 

This fortress, built by nature for herself, 

Against infection, and the hand of war ; 

This precious stone, set in the silver sea, 

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house, 

Against the envy of less happy lands ; 

This blessed plot ; this earth ; this realm ; this England ; 

This nurse ; this teeming womb of Royal Kings, 



144 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Feared by their breed, and famous by their birth ; 

Renowned for their deeds, as far from home 

As is the sepulchre, in stubborn Jewry, 

Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's son : 

This land of such dear souls ; this dear, dear land ; 

Dear for her reputation, through the world ; 

Is now leased out, (I die pronouncing it,) 

Like to a tenement or paltry farm. 

Exception. I have the same remark to make here that I made 
under Rule first ; namely, that indirect interrogatives, and parts of com- 
pacts, both single and double, in consequence of incorrect punctuation, 
are often mistaken for compound close declaratives : e. g. 

You could not foresee the reception you met with. — No. 

Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. 

It is surely excessively extraordinary that she should have alarmed 
me so much about your health, and sent me such precise instructions 
to take care of it. 

The mind may improve', may enlarge its stores of information and 
strengthen its powers, after a certain age 7 . The body having reached 
its maturity, falls inevitably into decay. 

I admit that the evidence of this man's guilt must insure his condem- 
nation'. Yet we are to consider, and consider well, what we shall do 
with him after condemnation. 

I am not the advocate of indolence and improvidence'. But I pity 
the poor who have become poor in consequence of disasters, they could 
not avert. 

We should not bestow our faculties on a multitude of small and unim- 
portant affairs'. This is to waste them without benefit to ourselves or 
mankind\ We should employ them in the pursuit of some one great 
and good end. 

The first three of these examples are indirect interrogatives : one of each kind. The suc- 
ceeding three are single compacts ; the parts of which should be separated by the comma, 
except in the first of these ; which, having both correlative words understood, may receive the 
semicolon. (See Punct. Comma, III.) The last example is a double compact, with the first, 
second and third proposition expressed. 

2. COMPACT SENTENCES. 

1. Single Compact. 

Rule VII. The first part of a single compact sentence, and all the 
members of the first part, should it comprise more than one, terminate 
with the bend : the second part, if it comprise but one member, must 
terminate with perfect close ; but if it comprise two or more members, 
the series' must be delivered like an imperfect loose sentence. (See 
Imperfect Loose below, and Plate, Fig. 10.) 

The first part, and the members of the first part, should there be any, may be either simple 
or compound ; and if compound, either close or compact : the second part, and also the mem- 
bers of the second part, in addition to this variety of construction, may be also either perfect or 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED, 145 

imperfect loose : and hence the generality of the rule. It refers only to the termination of parts, 
or members of parts. The delivery of the intermediate portion of these, depends on their con- 
struction : if simple declaratives, they should be delivered like simple declaratives, in conformity 
with Rule I : if close, like close : if compact, like compact : if loose, like loose. 

I have said in the rule above, that " the first part of a single compact, and all the members of 
the first part, should it comprise more than one, terminate with the bend." The following cases 
may be regarded as exceptions to this. 

1 . If two compact sentences with the same correlative words immediately succeed each other, 
the first part of each, being in contrast with that of the other, the second first part, instead of 
being terminated with the bend, according to the rule, ends with partial close : e. g. 

[His style is always beautiful.] If clear', you are pleased with him. 
If he is obscure N , you are pleased with him. 

2. If the same compact sentence comprise two similar members in the first port in contrast, 
the second of these members is delivered with partial close : e. g. 

If a good man has injured you', if a bad man has injured you\ it is 
all the same N : you must forgive. 

3. If the last member of a series in the first part, contain an intensive particle, it should termi- 
nate with partial close : e. g. 

If they have wealth', if they have even a competency*, then, many 
think, they could be happy. 

Though they lost the esteem of the world', though their nearest and 
dearest relatives forsook them', nay, though even the sanctity of life 
itself was invaded N , yet they held to their faith unshaken : met all : 
endured all. 

4. The last member of a series in the first part, though it contain neither contrast nor inten- 
sive particles, may yet, for the sake of varying the delivery, be made to terminate with partial 
close. Of this, I need give no example, since the experiment may be made with any of the 
examples of a series, which follow under the general rule. ( Tlie delivery here recommended, 
conforms to the representation, Plate, Fig. 14, c.) 

Examples. 

1. With both the correlative words expressed. 

As with one', so with another. 

As it was then', so is it now. 

As ye have received Christ', so walk ye in him. 

As in Adam all die', so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

As soon as he sees what he never saw before', so soon does he feel 
what he never felt before. 

As the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, 
shineth unto the other part under heaven', so shall the Son of Man be 
in his day. 

As in private character, adversity is often requisite to give a proper 
direction and temper to strong qualities', so the noblest traits of a 
national character, even under the freest and most independent of 
hereditary governments, are commonly to be sought in the ranks of a 
minority, or of a dissenting sect. 

As the admirer of painting is most offended with the scrawls of a 
dauber', as the enthusiast in music is most hurt with the discords of an 

19 



146 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

ill-played instrument', so the lover of mankind, as his own sense of virtue 
has painted them, when he comes abroad into life and sees what they 
really are, feels the disappointment in the severest manner. 

As the middle, and the fairest, and the most conspicuous places in 
cities, are usually chosen for the erection of statues and monuments 
dedicated to the memory of worthy men who have nobly deserved of 
their country'; so should we in the heart and centre of our soul, in the 
best and highest apartment thereof, in the places most exposed to ordi- 
nary observation, and most secure from worldly care, erect lively rep- 
resentations, and lasting memorials of divine bounty. 

As a covetous man, whatever beside he is doing, will be carking 
about his bags and treasure', an ambitious man will be devising his 
plots and projects', a voluptuous man will have his mind on his dishes', 
a lascivious man will be doting on his amours/ a studious man will be 
musing on his notions', every man, according to his particular inclina- 
tion, will lard his business and besprinkle all his actions with cares and 
wishes tending to the enjoyment of what he most esteems and affects'; 
so may a good Christian, through all his undertakings, wind in devout 
reflections, and pious motions of soul toward the chief object of his mind 
and affection. 

As no cause 
For such exalted confidence could e'er 
Exist', so none is now for fixed despair. 

As pants the hart for cooling streams. 

When heated in the chase'; 
So longs my soul, O God, for thee, 

And thy refreshing grace. 

As men from men 
Do, in the constitution of their souls, 
Differ by mysteries not to be explained'; 
And as we fall by various ways, and sink 
Through manifold degrees of guilt and shame'; 
So manifold and various are the ways 
Of restoration. 

As one who long in thickets and in brakes 

Entangled, winds now this way and now that, 

His devious course uncertain, seeking home'; 

Or having long in miry ways been foiled, 

And sore discomfited, from slough to slough 

Plunging, and half despairing of escape'; 

If chance at length he find a greensward smooth 

And faithful to the foot, his spirits rise, 

He cheerups brisk his ear-erecting steed, 

And winds his way with pleasure and with ease'; 

So I, designing other themes, and called 

To adorn the sofa with eulogium due, 

To tell its slumbers, and to paint its dreams, 

Have rambled wide. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 147 

As when a traveler, a long day past 

In painful search of what he cannot find, 

At night's approach, content with the next cot, 

There ruminates, awhile, his labor lost, 

Then cheers his heart with what his fate affords, 

And chants a sonnet to deceive the time, 

Till the due season calls him to repose ; 

Thus I, long traveled in the ways of men, 

And dancing, with the rest, the giddy maze, 

Where disappointment smiles at hope's career ; 

Warned by the languor of life's evening ray, 

At length have housed me in an humble shed ; 

Where future wandering banished from my thought 

And, waiting, patient, the sweet hour of rest, 

I chase the moments with a serious song. 

Because Ham sinned against his father', therefore shall he be plagued 
in his children. 

Because Japhet set his shoulder to Shem's to bear the cloak of shame', 
therefore shall he dwell in the tents of Shem. 

. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily', 
therefore the heart of the sons of men, is fully set in them to do evil. 

Because he saw his head higher, his arms stronger, his sword and 
spear larger, his shield heavier than any Israelite's, therefore he defies 
the whole host. 

For that [because] they hated knowledge, and did not choose the 
fear of the Lord, they would none of my counsel, they despised all my 
reproof, therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be 
filled with their own devices. 

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. 

Profit is therefore so much affected and pursued, because it is, or 
doth seem, apt to procure or promote some good desirable to us. 

The gain of money, or of something equivalent, is therefore specially 
termed profit in the language of men', because it readily supplies 
necessity*; furnishes convenience*; feeds pleasure*; satisfies fancy and 
curiosity*; promotes ease and liberty*; supports honor and dignity*; 
procures power, dependencies and friendships*; renders a man some- 
what considerable in the world*; and, in fine, enables one to do good. 

Whereas a treaty of cession was concluded at Washington city, in 
the District of Columbia, by James Barbour, Secretary of War, of the 
one part, and John Stidman and others, of the other part, and which 
treaty bears date the twenty-fourth day of January, one thousand eight 
hundred and twenty-six'; and whereas the object of said treaty being 
to embrace a cession, by the Creek nation, of all the lands owned by 
them within the chartered limits of Georgia, and it having been the 
opinion of the parties, at the time when the said treaty was concluded, 
that all, or nearly all of said lands were embraced in said cession, and by 
the lines as defined in said treaty, and the supplemental article thereto'; 
and whereas it having been since ascertained that the said lines in said 
treaty, and the supplement thereto, do not embrace all the lands owned 
by the Creek nation within the chartered limits of Georgia, and the 
President of the United States having urged the Creek nation further to 



148 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

extend the limits as defined in the treaty aforesaid, and the chiefs and 
head men of the Creek nation being desirous of complying with the 
wish of the President of the United States'; therefore, they, the chiefs 
and head men aforesaid, agree to cede, and they do hereby cede, to the 
United States, all the remaining lands now owned or claimed by the 
Creek nation, not heretofore ceded, and found on actual survey, to lie 
within the chartered limits of the State of Georgia. 

Either the mere will of the magistrate', or the conscience of the 
individual must decide in the case. 

Either he will hate the one and love the other', or else he will hold 
to the one and despise the other. 

He either thought the action so near to indifFerent that he forgot it, or 
so laudable that he expected his friend to approve it. 

Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. 

Neither could he obtain the benefits which he so earnestly desired, 
and diligently sought, nor avert, the calamities which he so greatly 
feared. 

If he', then I. 

If he confessed it', then forgive him. 

If there be no resurrection of the dead', then is Christ not risen. 

If Christ be not risen', then is our preaching vain ; and your faith is 
also vain. 

If God will be with me, and keep me in the way I go, and will give 
me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my 
father's house in peace', then shall the Lord be my God. 

If, in the wanton exercise of this right, we capriciously reject the 
old and faithful servant, whose services have an equal claim on our 
admiration and gratitude', then we are tyrants. 

If, for a nation to be free and happy, it were only necessary that it 
should be able to boast of a republican form of government, then we 
should be the only free and happy nation on earth. 

If through female encouragement and example, the spirit of this age 
is to be purified from folly', if it is to be elevated and adorned by excel- 
lence', then women must be sincerely and practically religious. 

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments 
with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine 
heart unto understanding'; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and 
liftest up thy voice after understanding'; if thou seekest her as silver, 
and searchest for her, as for hid treasure'; then shalt thou understand 
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 

If pleasure, unmixed with forecastings of retributive bitterness, is 
sought ; if the body is to be recruited after the exhaustion of disease ; 
if the wounded spirit is to be healed after the anguish of privation, or 
the agony of misfortune ; nay,* if there be any hope that reason shall 
resume her power after the pressure of the mind has been more than its 
strength ; then, the joy that bringeth no sorrow, the medicine for the 
disease, the balm for the wounded spirit, the asylum for the wandering 
mind, are found nowhere but in the' sunny glades, the green canopies, 
and the life-imparting breezes of nature. 

* Not only so, but if, Arc. (See Classification, Si?nule Declarative, Yes and No, Double Camp. 
Gen. Note and Rule VIII, 3.) 



THE BEND, SWEEPS. SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 149 

If indeed we desire to behold a literature like that which has sculp- 
tured with such energy of expression, which has painted so faithfully 
and vividly, the crimes, the vices, the follies of ancient and modern 
Europe ; if we desire that our land should furnish for the orator and 
the novelist, for the painter and the poet, age after age, the wild and 
romantic scenery of war ; the glittering march of armies and the revelry 
of the camp ; the shrieks and blasphemies, and all the horrors of the 
battle-field ; the desolations of the harvest and the burning cottage ; the 
storm, the sack, and the ruin of cities : if we desire to unchain the 
furious passions of jealousy and selfishness, of hatred, revenge, and 
ambition, those lions that now sleep harmless in their den ; if we desire 
that the lake, the river, the ocean, should blush with the blood of 
brothers ; that the winds should waft from the land to the sea, from the 
sea to the land, the roar and smoke of battle ; that the very mountain- 
tops should become altars for the sacrifice of brothers : if we desire that 
these, and such as these, the elements to an incredible extent of the 
literature of the old world, should be the elements of our literature ; 
then, but then only, let us hurl from its pedestal the majestic statue of 
our union, and scatter its fragments over all our land. But if we court 
for our country the noblest, purest, loveliest literature, the world has 
ever seen, such a literature as shall honor God and bless mankind ; a 
literature whose smiles might play upon an angel's face, whose tears 
would not stain an angel's cheek, then let us cling to the union of these 
states with a patriot's love, with a scholar's enthusiasm, with a Chris- 
tian's hope. 

If haply, from his guarded breast, 
Did steal the unsuspected sigh; 
And memory, an unbidden guest, 
With former passions filled his eye'; 
Then, pious hope and duty praised 
The wisdom of the unerring sway ; 
And while his eye to heaven he raised, 
Its silent waters sunk away. 

If the midnight bell 
Did, with his iron tongue and brazen moutb, 
Sound one unto the drowsy race of night'; 
If this same were a churchyard where we stand, 
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs'; 
Or if that surly spirit, melancholy, 
Had baked thy blood and made it heavy, thick'; 
Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes. 
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply 
Without a tongue ; using conceit alone, 
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words': 
Then, in despite of brooded, watchful day, 
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts. 

Yes, indeed', but not now. 

The spirit, indeed, is willing', but the flesh is weak. 

Bourdaloue is, indeed, a great reasoner', but his style is verbose. 



150 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Innocence, indeed, possessed my heart', but it was innocence unguarded 
and intoxicated with foolish desires and liable to temptation. 

I know, indeed, little of the philosophy you talk of, but I believe that 
you and I will never atone to the world for one-half the mischief we 
have done. 

Ye shall, indeed, drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is 
not mine to give. 

I would not, indeed, undertake to maintain that no one can be an 
orator who is not a virtuous man, but there certainly is a kind of moral 
excellence implied in a renunciation of all effort after display, in a for- 
getfulness of self, which is absolutely necessary, both in the manner of 
writing and in the delivery, to give the full force to what is said. 

Theirs is, indeed, 
A teaching voice', but 'tis the praise of them, 
That whom it teaches, it makes prompt to learn, 
And, with the boon, gives talents for its use. 

The mind, indeed, enlightened from above, 
Views him in all, ascribes to the grand cause 
The grand effect, acknowledges with joy 
His manner, and with rapture tastes his style'; 
But never yet did philosophic tube, 
That brings the planets home into the eye 
Of observation, and discovers, else 
Not visible, his family of worlds, 
Discover him that rules them. 

Rather he', than I. 

Rather be good', than seem to be. 

Rather would I miserably starve', than gain wealth by such means. 

I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than dwell in 
the tents of wickedness. 

He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to 
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. 

Rather than man's innocency shall want an outward comfort, God 
will begin a new creation. 

In the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, 
that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in 
an unknown tongue. 

Than prefer the temporal to the eternal with its happiness and glory, 
than give up the joy I find in religion, than forsake God who has hith- 
erto crowned my life with loving kindness and tender mercy, and con- 
sequently who has deserved at my hands nothing but veneration, grati- 
tude and love ; I would rather die. 

Greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues. 

It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes. 

Of greater uncharitableness we cannot be guilty, than to interpret 
the afflictions that befall our neighbors, as punishments and judgments. 

It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteous- 
ness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy command- 
ment delivered unto them. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 151 

Though deep', yet clear. 

Though he slay me', yet will I trust in him. 

Though Samson's hair was shorter', yet he knew God's hand was not. 

Yet he said not a word of the angels', though it was the invariable 
custom to do so on St. Michael's day. 

Although that woman shows more fortitude than the others', she is 
not, on that account, the least distressed. 

Although it is not true that this man intended to take the life of his 
neighbor, yet it cannot be denied that he was the cause of his death. 

Though the bare word of an offender can never be taken against the 
oath of his accuser, yet it must be acknowledged that the matter of his 
defence was sufficiently pertinent to obtain his acquittal. 

Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the 
vines'; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
meat'; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no 
herd in the stalls'; yet I will rejoice in the Lord : I will joy in the God 
of my salvation. 

Though I bewail 
This triumph', yet the pity of my heart 
Prevents me not from owning that the law 
By which mankind now suffers, is most just. 

Though from the world and worldly care 
My wearied mind I mean to free'; 
Yet every hour that heaven can spare, 
My Armine, I devote to thee. 

Though thy wild heart some hapless hour may miss 
The peaceful tenor of unvarying bliss', 
Yet still may hope her talisman employ 
To snatch from heaven anticipated joy. 

Though dull the close of life, and far away r 

Each flower that hailed the dawning of the day'; 

Yet o'er her lonely hopes that once were dear, 

The time-taught spirit, pensive, not severe, 

With milder griefs her aged eye shall fill, 

And weep their falsehood, while she loves them still. 

When you hear this', then fly. 

When this shall have occurred, then be assured their ruin is at hand. 

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of 
by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place', then let them who 
are in Judea flee into the mountains. 

When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh 
as a whirlwind'; when distress and anguish cometh upon you'; then 
shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me 
early, but they shall not find me. 

When you hear a man making any exceptions to any fundamental 
law of duty in favor of some particular pursuit or passion, and consid- 
ering the dictates of honor as neither more nor less than motives of self- 



152 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

ish prudence in respect to character, in other words, as conventional 
and ever changing regulations, the breach of which, will, if detected, 
blackball the offender, and send him to Coventry in that particular rank 
and class of society of which he was born or has become a member'; 
when, instead of giving instantaneous and unconditional obedience to 
the original voice from within, a man substitutes for this, and listens 
after, the mere echo of the voice from without'; then I say, that to smile, 
or show yourself smiling-angry, as if a tap with your fan was a suffi- 
cient punishment, and a "for shame! you don't think so, I am sure," 
or, "you should not say so," a sufficient reproof, w r ould be an ominous 
symptom either of your own laxity of moral principle and deadness to 
true honor and the unspeakable coniemptibleness of this gentlemanly 
counterfeit of it', or of your abandonment to a blind passion kindled by 
superficial advantages and outside agreeables, and blown and fueled by 
that most base and yet frequent thought, " one must not be over nice, 
or a woman may say no, till no one asks her to say yes." 

When any fresh, any rare, any remarkable benefit happens to us'; 
when prosperity attends our honest endeavors'; when unexpected favors 
fall, as it were, of their own accord into our bosoms, like the grain in 
the golden age, springing, without our care or our toil, for our use and 
enjoyment'; when we are delivered from straits, in our apprehension, 
inextricable', surmount difficulties seeming insuperable', escape hazards 
apparently inevitable'; when we revolve in our minds the favorable pas- 
sages of Providence, that in the whole course of our lives have befallen 
us'; how in our extreme poverty and distress, God has raised up friends 
who have commisserated, comforted and succored us, and changed our 
sorrowful condition into a state of joy'; has turned our mourning into 
dancing'; has put off our sackcloth and girded us with gladness'; has 
considered our troubles and known our soul in adversity'; has set our 
feet in a large room and furnished us with plentiful means of subsist- 
ence': how in the various changes and adventures and travels of our 
life, upon sea and land, at home and abroad, among friends and stran- 
gers and enemies, he has protected us from wants and dangers'; from 
devouring disease, and the distemperature of infectious air'; from the 
assaults of bloody thieves and barbarous pirates'; from the rage of fire 
and the fury of tempests'; from disastrous casualties'; from treacherous 
surprises'; from open mischiefs that with dreadful force approached 
and threatened our destruction': when the ordinary effects of divine 
providence do, in any advantageous manner, present themselves to our 
view'; when we peruse the volumes of story, and therein observe the 
various events of human actions'; especially the seasonable rewards of 
virtue, the noticeable protections and deliverances of innocence, and the 
unexpected punishments of malicious wickedness'; when we contem- 
plate the wonderful works of nature, and, walking about at our leisure, 
gaze upon this ample theatre of the world, considering the stately 
beauty, constant order, and sumptuous furniture thereof; the glorious 
splendor, and uniform motion of the heavens'; the pleasant fertility of 
the earth'; the curious figure and fragrant sweets of plants'; the exquis- 
ite frame of animals'; and all the amazing miracles of nature, wherein 
the glorious attributes of God are most conspicuously displayed'; then 
should we admire, exult and celebrated then should our hearts be filled 
with gratitude and our lips break forth in praise. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 153 

When Babel was confounded, and the great 
Confederacy of projectors, wild and vain, 
Was split into diversity of tongues'; 
Then, as a shepherd separates his flock, 
These to the upland, to the valley those, 
God drave asunder, and assigned their lot, 
To all the nations. 

While we are deeply moved at the awful spectacle of majesty labor- 
ing under a permanent and hopeless eclipse', then we are consoled with 
the reflection that he walked in the light while he possessed the light. 

While we were engaged in the fearful struggle which has been at 
length so successfully terminated', then it pleased the great Ruler of 
nations to visit our aged, beloved and revered monarch with one of the 
most dreadful calamities incident to human nature. 

Even while his mother, during her last illness, was obliged to accept 
of money from her physician, because she could not obtain payment of 
her jointure ; and while, after her decease, his two sisters were dunning 
him, every day, without effect, for the small annuity left them by their 
father, then, even then, he was called a good-hearted man by three- 
fourths of his acquaintance. 

Where I am', there shall also my servant be. 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is', there is liberty. 

Where there is no law', there is no transgression. 

Where the carcass is', there will the eagles be gathered together. 

For where two or three are gathered together in my name', there am 
I in the midst of them. 

Where you see a man meeting obstacles and removing them, strug- 
gling with difficulties and overcoming them, and still pressing forward 
under every discouragement, self-denying and self- relying ; there you 
see a man who will probably rise in the world. 

Wheresoever there is faith in God, there God abides. 

Wheresoever God is, there is awakened a zeal which urges and con- 
strains men to perform good works. 

Where the olive leaves were twinkling in every wind that blew', 
There sat beneath the pleasant shade a damsel of Peru. 

There is a cave, 
Within the mount of God, fast by his throne', 
Where light and darkness in perpetual round 
Lodge and dislodge by turns. 

There is not a people on earth so abject', as to think that national 
courtesy requires them to hush up the tale of the glorious exploits of 
their fathers and countrymen. 

He was so filled with the desire of wealth', so engrossed by the cares 
of business', and, in a word, so lost to all other considerations than those 
of money', that the moral and intellectual welfare of his children were 
entirely forgotten. 

20 



154 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

2. With one of the correlative words expressed. 

As the South American states have thus won an honorable station 
among independent states', it becomes our imperative duty to treat them 
as such. 

As his excessive good nature makes him take vast delight in the 
office', his great penetration into the human mind, joined to his great 
experience, renders him a wonderful proficient in it. 

As the authors of this race were more desirous, perhaps, of being 
admired than understood', they sometimes drew their conceits from 
recesses of learning not very much frequented by common readers of 
poetry. 

As the right to use the means of happiness which God has given him 
in such a manner as he will, provided he do not violate the correspond- 
ing rights of others, is conferred upon the individual by the Creator', it 
is manifest that no being but the Creator can restrict it. 

As it is impossible for us to conceive either how numerous, or how 
important may be our relations to other creatures in another state, or 
how much more intimate may be the relations in which we shall stand 
to our Creator'; and as there can be no limit conceived to our power of 
comprehending these relations, nor to our power of becoming conscious 
of the obligations they involve'; it is manifest that no limit can be con- 
ceived to the progress of man's capacity for virtue. 

He was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time 
past. 

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my 
brethren, ye have done it unto me. 

Inasmuch as I have an exclusive right to appropriate innocently, the 
possessions I have acquired by the means stated above ; and inasmuch 
as every other man has the same right ; we may, if we choose, volun- 
tarily exchange our right to particular things with each other. 

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a 
declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 
even as they delivered them unto us, who, from the beginning, were 
eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, 
having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to 
write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest 
know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. 

Because I live, ye shall live also. 

The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling. 

Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love 
the brethren. 

Because some men have suddenly become rich by some happy acci- 
dent of fortune, without labor'; because others have been brought, by 
an extraordinary combination of circumstances, unexpectedly into pop- 
ular notice and esteem', and yet others have risen to eminence without 
showing the successive steps by which they attained it'; many foolishly 
imagine that advancement goes by destiny; and so they waste their 
lives in indulging, idly, expectations which can end only in bitter dis- 
appointment. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 155 

Raphael, said he, thou nearest what stir on earth 
Satan, from hell scaped through the darksome gulf, 
Hath raised in Paradise ; and how disturbed 
This night the human pair ; how he designs 
In them at once to ruin all mankind : 
Go, therefore, half this day, as friend with friend, 
Converse with Adam, in what lower shade 
Thou findest him from the heat of noon retired, 
To respite his day-labor with repast 
Or with repose. 

You may skim the surface of science', or fathom its depths. 

You may become florid declaimers', or cloud-compelling reasoners. 

Genius, intellect, imagination, taste and sensibility, must be baptized 
into religion 7 ; or they will never know, and never make known their 
real glory and immortal power. 

You may dwindle into political ephemera ; or plume your wings for 
immortality, with Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, Jefferson, the Adamses and 
a host of living worthies. 

You may, if you please, become literary fops and dandies, and 
acquire the affected lisp and drawling nonchalance of the London 
cockney; or you may learn to wield the herculean club of Doctor 
Johnson. 

It will be a blessing of inestimable value to the human family of 
every clime from the frozen regions of the north to the sunny and lux- 
uriant slopes of the south, from the rising sun to its setting, quite round 
the globe ; or a disappointment of all aspirations after something nobler 
and purer : something better adapted to human nature, its circumstan- 
ces, wants and tendencies, than the miserable apologies for governments 
which now exist throughout the world. 

If any man love the world', the love of the Father is not in him. 

If we say we have no sin', we deceive ourselves and the truth is 
not in us. ■ 

If we confess our sins', he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death 
of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, 
he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal 
bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. 

If we are true to our country, in our day and generation, and those 
who come after us shall be true to it also ; assuredly, assuredly, we 
shall elevate her to a pitch of prosperity and happiness, of honor and 
power, never yet reached by any nation beneath the sun. 

Had our forefathers failed on that day of trial which we now cele- 
brate'; had their votes and their resolves ended in the breath in which 
they began'; had the rebels laid down their arms as they were com- 
manded, and the military stores which had been frugally treasured up 
for the crisis, been, without resistance, destroyed'; then the Revolution 
had been at an end ; or rather it had never been begun. 

If we entered the world with the same reason which we carry with 



156 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

us to an opera, the first time we enter a theatre ; and if the curtain of 
the universe, if I may so term it, were to he rapidly drawn up, struck 
with the grandeur of every thing which we saw, and all the ohvious 
contrivances exhibited, we should not he capahle of refusing our hom- 
age to the Eternal Power which had prepared for us such a spectacle. 

Were there indeed but reason enough to stir or stagger the infidel ; 
were it somewhat dubious, which is far from being the case, whether 
punishments are reserved for impiety ; were there but any small reason 
for a judgment to come, as there are apparently very many and great 
ones ; had most men conspired in denying Providence, as ever generally 
they have consented in avowing it ; were there a pretence of miracles 
for establishing the mortality and impunity of souls, as there have been 
numberless strongly testified by good witnesses and great events, to 
confirm the opposite doctrine ; did most wise and sober men judge in 
favor of irreligion, as commonly they ever did, and still do, otherwise ; 
yet wisdom would require that men should choose to be pious; since 
otherwise no man can be thoroughly secure. 

If a multitude of parts, all manifestly relating to each other, and 
producing a result, which itself has as manifest a relation to the results 
of other proportions, cannot be observed by us without an irresistible 
impression of design ; if it is impossible for us to conceive, that nine 
millions of alphabetic characters could fall of themselves into a treatise 
or poem ; that all the pictures, I will not say in the whole world, but 
even the few which are to be found in a single gallery, were the pro- 
duct of colors, thrown at random from a brush upon canvass ; that a 
city with all its distinct houses, and all the distinct apartments in those 
houses, and all the implements of domestic use which those apartments 
contain, could not have existed without some designing mind, and with- 
out some hands that fashioned the stone and the wood, and performed 
all the other operations necessary for erecting and adorning the differ- 
ent edifices : if it be easier for us to believe, that our senses deceived us 
in exhibiting to us such a city, and that there was truly nothing seen 
by us, than to believe that the houses existed of themselves, without any 
contrivance ; the only question, as I have already said, is, whether the 
universe exhibit such combination of parts relating to each other as the 
poem, the picture, the city, or any other object for which we find it 
necessary to have recourse to designing skill. 

If self must be denied, 

And sin forsaken quite'; 

They rather choose the way that 's wide, 

And strive to think it right. 

If your ears refuse 
The language of his grace'; 
And hearts grow hard like stubborn Jews 
That unbelieving race'; 
The Lord, in vengeance drest, 
Will lift his hand and swear, 
"Ye that despise my promised rest, 
Shall have no portion there." 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 157 

Had it pleased Heaven 
To try me with affliction ; had he rained 
All kinds of sores, and shames, on my bare head ; 
Steeped me in poverty to the very lips ; 
Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes : 
I should have found in some part of my soul 
A drop of patience. 

If servility, with supple knees 
Whose trade it is to smile, to crouch, to please ; 
If smooth dissimulation, skilled to grace 
A devil's purpose with an angel's face ; 
If smiling peeresses, and simpering peers 
Encompassing his throne a few short years ; 
If the gilt carriage and the pampered steed 
That wants no driving, and disdains the lead ; 
If guards, mechanically formed in ranks, 
Playing, at beat of drum, their martial pranks, 
Should'ring and standing as if struck to stone, 
While condescending majesty looks on ; 
If monarchy consist in such base things ; 
Sighing, I say again, I pity kings. 

I go', but I return. 

Well', but he fled. 

Yes', but with hesitation. 

What you say is true', but not at all to the point. 

You may starve me', but you can never compel me to do what 
you ask. 

You may have a large share of these and other estimable principles', 
but along with these many things, you may lack one things and that 
one thing is the love of God. 

You may try to darken and transform this piece of casuistry as you 
will, and work up your own minds into the peaceable conviction that it 
is all right, and as it should be ; but be very certain that where the 
moral sense of your domestic is not already overthrown, there is, at 
least, one bosom within which you have raised a war of doubts and 
difficulties. 

He may be feelingly alive to the beauties of what is seen and what 
is sensible ; the scenery of external nature may charm him ; the sub- 
limities of a surrounding materialism may kindle and dilate him with 
images of grandeur ; even the moralities of a fellow-creature may 
engage him, and, with works of genius, may fascinate him into an idol- 
atrous devotion of human power or human virtue ; but while he thus 
luxuriates and delights himself with the forms of derived excellence, 
there is no sensibility of his heart toward God. 

Jurists may be permitted with comparative safety to pile tome upon 
tome of interminable disquisition upon the motives, reasons and causes 
of just and unjust war; metaphysicians may be suffered with impunity 
to spin the thread of thin speculations until it is attenuated to a cobweb ; 
but for a body created for the government of a great nation, and for the 
adjustment and protection of its infinitely diversified interests, it is worse 



158 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

than folly to speculate on the causes of war until the great question shall 
be presented for immediate action. 

O it is excellent 
To have a giant's strength', but ? t is tyrannous 
To use it like a giant. 

Nature inanimate employs sweet sounds', 
But animated nature sweeter still, 
To soothe and satisfy the human ear. 

It is a fearful thing 
To stand upon the beetling verge, and see 
Where storms and lightning, from that huge gray wall, 
Have tumbled down vast blocks, and at the base 
Dashed them in fragments, and to lay thine ear 
Over the dizzy depth, and hear the sound 
Of winds, that struggle with the woods below, 
Come up like ocean murmurs'; but the scene 
Is lovely round; a beautiful river there 
Wanders amid the fresh and fertile meads : 
The paradise he made unto himself; 
Mining the soil of ages. 

Philosophy, indeed, on Grecian eyes 
Had poured the day, and cleared the Roman skies ; 
In other climes, perhaps, creative art, 
With power surpassing theirs, performed her part ; 
Might give more life to marble, or might fill 
The glowing tablets with a juster skill ; 
Might shine in fable, and grace idle themes 
With all the embroidery of poetic dreams : 
• 5 T was theirs alone to dive into the plan 
That truth and mercy had revealed to man. 

Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet, 
With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the sun, 
When first on this delightful land he speeds 
His orient beams on herb, tree, fruit, and flower, 
Glistering with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth 
After soft showers ; and sweet the coming on 
Of grateful evening mild ; then silent night 
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon, 
And these the gems of heaven, her starry train ; 
But neither breath of morn when she ascends 
With charm of earliest birds, nor rising sun 
On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower 
Glistering with dew, nor fragrance after showers, 
Nor grateful evening mild, nor silent night 
With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon 
Or glittering starlight, without thee, is sweet. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 159 

Though hotly pursued', he escaped. 

Though they soon discovered their mistake', the mischief was done. 

Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto 
you than that we have preached unto you', let him be accursed. 

In freedom, as in most things, the ancient nations made surprisingly 
near approaches to the truth', yet for want of some one great principle 
or instrument, came utterly short of in practice. 

They had profound and elegant scholars, yet for want . of the art of 
printing, they could not send information out among the people, where 
alone it is of great use with reference to human happiness. 

Some of them ventured boldly to sea, and possessed an aptitude for 
commerce, yet for want of the mariner's compass, they could not navi- 
gate distant oceans, but crept for ages along the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean. 

Though I would most willingly have continued a gratified listener, 
my engagements to you, gentlemen of the Adelphic Union, require that 
I should trespass for a short time upon the patience of the audience, 
even at this late hour, with the utterance of some thoughts on that sub- 
ject which, upon an anniversary like this, may be regarded as the only 
peculiarly appropriate topic of discourse. 

Though the blood of a Wallace had failed to purchase freedom for 
his country, and the conquest of Scotland had added glory to the 
triumphs of an Edward ; though the short-lived flame which burst from 
the enthusiasm of a Cromwell had served only to render still darker the 
succeeding political obscuration ; though the vices of a Stuart had, like 
the pestilential soil of Egypt, produced their swarms of devouring lo- 
custs, gilded with titles of nobility ; the battles of Saratoga, Monmouth 
and Yorktown, proclaimed in language not to be misunderstood, that all 
men are born equal ; that the right to govern, must be based upon the 
will of the governed : and that, in this country, no distinctions can be 
tolerated, save those which flow from merit and ability. 

Rightly is it said, 
That man descends into the vale of years'; 
Yet have I thought that we might also speak, 
And not presumptuously, I trust, of age 
As of a final eminence. 

The gay will laugh 
When thou art gone'; the solemn brood of care 
Plod on, and each one as before will choose 
His favorite phantom'; yet all these shall leave 
Their mirth and their employment, and shall come 
And make their bed with thee. 

Though forced to drudge for the dregs of men 

And scrawl strange words with the barbarous pen, 

And mingle among the jostling crowd, 

Where the sons of strife are subtle and loud ; 

I often come to this quiet place, 

To breathe the airs that ruffle thy face 

And gaze upon thee in silent dream. 



100 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Take the wings 
Of the morning, and the Barcan desert pierce ; 
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound, 
Save his own dashing ; yet the dead are there ; 
And millions in those solitudes, since first 
The flight of years began, have laid them down 
In their last sleep. 

Though you untie the winds and let them fight 

Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 

Confound and swallow navigation up ; 

Though bladed corn be lodged, and trees blown down ; 

Though palaces and pyramids do slope 

To their foundations ; though the treasure 

Of nature's germs do tumble all together 

Even till destruction sicken ; answer me 

To what I ask you. 

When he rose', every sound was hushed. 

When you look into the Bible', you see holiness and purity its great 
characteristics. 

When it speaks of God', it represents him as the greatest and holiest 
being in the universe. 

When it speaks of man', it speaks of his primitive integrity with 
approbation, and of his subsequent apostacy and sinfulness, with pity 
and abhorrence. 

When my spirit shall be wafted to a more friendly port'; when my 
shade shall have joined the bands of those martyred heroes who have 
shed their blood on the scaffold and in the field'; this is my hope. 

When this mental disease, for so it may be called without a meta- 
phor', seizes irrecoverably upon the thoughts of the retiring, the sensi- 
tive and timid lover of books and meditation', his capacity for useful 
exertion is ended v : he is thenceforward doomed to lead a life of fretful 
restlessness, alternated with querulous dejection. 

When the great Earl of Chatham first made his appearance in the 
House of Commons, and began to astonish and transport the British 
Parliament and British nation by the boldness, the force and range of 
his thoughts, and the celestial fire and pathos of his eloquence ; it is 
well known that the minister Walpole, and his brother Horace, from 
motives very easily understood, exerted all their wit, all their oratory, 
all their acquirements of every description, sustained and enforced by 
the unfeeling insolence of office, to heave a mountain on his gigantic 
genius, and hide it from the world. 

When in this almost prodigal w T aste of life, we perceive that every 
being from the puny insect which flutters in the evening ray, from the 
lichen which the eye can easily distinguish on the moldering rock, from 
the fungus that springs up and reanimates the mass of dead and decom- 
posing substances ; that every living form possesses a structure as per- 
fect in its sphere, an organization sometimes as complex, always as truly 
and completely adapted to its purposes and modes of existence, as that 
of the most perfect animal : when we discover them all to be governed 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 161 

by laws as definite, as immutable, as those which regulate the planetary 
movements ; great must be our admiration of the wisdom which has 
arranged, and the power which has perfected this stupendous fabric. 

When, however, we consider the wonderful connection and inter- 
dependence of all knowledge, made more and more manifest by eveiy 
day 's advance in science, so as almost to prove by an accumulation of 
particular examples the sublime hypothesis of the old philosophy, "that 
by circuit of deduction, all truth out of any truth may be concluded;" 
when we reflect how singularly adapted the various parts of knowledge 
are to the individual tastes and character of different men, so as to seize 
and draw them as with an irresistible mental magnetism to their several 
studies ; we cannot, I think, doubt that all that is most valuable in sci- 
ence or literature, will find votaries among us, who, not content to make 
such studies the amusements of their leisure, or to devote a life of mo- 
nastic gloom to their solitary worship, will make or find for them a fit 
application. 

And when, amid the calm profound, 
I turn, those gentle eyes to seek', 
They, like the lovely landscape round, 
Of innocence and peace shall speak. 

When he breathes his master-lay 
Of Alloway's witch-haunted wall', 
All passions in our frames of clay, 
Come thronging at his call. 

When the soft hand of sleep had closed the latch 
On the tired household of corporal sense, 
And fancy, keeping unreluctant watch, 
Was free her choicest favors to dispense ; 
I saw in wondrous perspective displayed, 
A landscape more august than happiest skill 
Of pencil, ever clothed with light and shade. 

When thoughts 
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 
Over thy spirit, and sad images 
Of the stern agony, and shroud and pall, 
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house 
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart ; 
Go forth, under the open sky, and list 
To nature's teachings. 

W r hen to the common rest that crowns our days, 

Called in the noon of life, the good man goes', 

Or full of years, and ripe in wisdom lays 

His silver temples in their last repose'; 

When o'er the buds of youth, the death-wind blows 

And blights the fairest'; w r hen our bitterest tears 

Stream, as the eyes of all that loved us, close'; 

We think on what they w T ere, and leave the coming years. 

21 



162 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

When man and nature mourned their first decay ; 
When every form of death and every woe 
Shot from malignant stars to earth below ; 
When murder bared his arm, and rampant war 
Yoked the red dragons of his iron car ; 
When peace and mercy, banished from the plain 
Sprung on the viewless winds to heaven again ; 
All, all forsook the friendless guilty mind, 
But hope, the charmer, lingered still behind. 

Where thou goest', I will go. 

They could not fairly pretend to reap', where they had not sowed. 

Where a correspondence cannot be obtained', it is necessary to be 
content with something equivalent. 

Where a community is limited in number, and forms one great patri- 
archal family, as in an Indian tribe, the injury of an individual is the 
injury of the whole. 

Where men speak affection in the strongest terms, and dislike in the 
faintest, it is a comical mixture of incidents to see disguises thrown aside 
in the one case, and increased on the other, according as favor or dis- 
grace attended the respective objects of men's approbation or disesteem. 

Where the demands for competent ability are so pressing and the 
temptations to employ that ability in such occupations as bring with 
them instant rewards are so great, it is quite certain that but few will 
be found inclined to spend their lives in studies which have no interest 
for others, and no perceptible bearing on private or public good. 

Where high the heavenly temple stands, 
The house of God not made with hands'; 
A great High Priest our nature wears x : 
Our friend and advocate appears. 

And where his willing waves yon bright blue bay 

Sends up to kiss his decorated brim, 

And cradles, in his soft embrace, the gay 

Young group of grassy islands born of him, 

And, crowding nigh, or in the distance dim, 

Lifts the white throng of sails that bear or bring 

The commerce of the world ; with tawny limb 

And belt and beads in sunlight glistening, 

The savage urged his skiff like wild bird on the wing. 

While he is sick', he is penitent. 

While he enjoys prosperity', he shows good nature. 

While he remained in the city, and he remained nearly two weeks', 
he scarcely went abroad. 

While most others were solicitous to procure for themselves fame or 
wealth', Wesley seemed only ambitious to do good. 

While he delights in enterprise and action, and the exercise of the 
stronger energies of the soul, she is led to engage in calmer pursuits, 
and seek for gentler employment. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 163 

While he is summoned into the wide and busy theatre of a conten- 
tious world, where the love of power and the love of gain, in all their 
innumerable forms occupy and tyrannize over the soul, she is walking 
in a more peaceful sphere. 

While that venerated instrument shall continue to exist; while its 
sacred spirit shall dwell with the people of this nation, or the free insti- 
tutions that have grown out of it, be preserved and respected ; our chil- 
dren, and our children's children, to the latest generation, will bless the 
names of these illustrious benefactors, and cherish their memory with 
reverential respect. 

While then we should seek, by every proper influence, to send abroad 
the spirit and the blessings of liberty, and hail with enthusiasm the arri- 
val on our shores of all men of every name, and from every clime, who 
love liberty, and are prepared to enjoy and preserve it'; as the deposita- 
ries and sentinels of that inestimable birth-right which God has confer- 
red upon us, let us be ever erect and ever wakeful^: prepared at all 
times to give up all, rather than this crown of our country, and glory 
of our age. 

While we perceive with gladness the happy social uses to which na- 
ture has made the passion for power in mankind instrumental, or rather, 
to speak with more accuracy, the uses for which nature has made 
us susceptible of this passion ; and while we know well, that the world, 
therefore, never can be without those who will be moved by ambition to 
seek the honors and dignities which it is necessary for the happiness of 
the world that some should seek ; it is pleasing for those, whose fortune 
or whose wishes lead them to more tranquil and happier, though less 
enviable occupations, to think, that the happiness which so many are 
seeking, is not confined by nature to the dignities which so very few 
only are capable of attaining ; that it is as wide as the situations of 
men ; and that while no rank is too high for the enjoyment of virtue, 
there is no rank that can be regarded as too low for it. 

And while that spot so wild and lone and fair, 

A look of glad and innocent beauty wore', 

And peace was on the earth and in the air', 

The warrior lit the pile, and bound the captive there. 

Yet while with close delight and inward pride, 
Which from the world my .careful soul shall hide, 
I see thee, lord and end of my desire, 
Exalted high as virtue can require, 
With power invested and with pleasure cheered, 
Sought by the good, by the oppressor feared, 
Loaded and blest with all the affluent store 
Which human vows at smoking shrines adore ; 
Grateful and humble grant me to employ 
My life subservient only to thy joy. 

Since such is the fact', you have no cause for solicitude. 

Since God is a moral governor and must delight in and reward vir- 
tuous tempers', there is a manifest moral propriety in his making these 
tempers the antecedent to his bestowment of blessings. 



164 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Since any event whatever may be the antecedent to any other event 
whatever', we are surely not competent to say that prayer cannot be 
the antecedent to the bestovvment of favors, any more than to say this of 
any thing else. 

Since every impure, revengeful, deceitful or envious thought, is a 
violation of our obligations to our Maker, and much more, the words 
and actions to which these thoughts give rise'; and since even the 
imperfect conscience of every individual accuses him of countless 
instances, if not of habits, of such violation'; if the preceding observa- 
tions be just, it is manifest, that our present moral condition involves 
the elements of much that is alarming. 

Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days, 
Wants e'en the cheap reward of empty praise'; 
In those cursed walls, devote to vice and gain, 
Since unrewarded science toils in vain'; 
Since hope but soothes to double my distress, 
And every moment leaves my little less'; 
While yet my steady steps no staff sustains, 
And life still vigorous revels in my veins'; 
Grant me, kind Heaven, to find some happier place, 
Where honesty and sense are no disgrace. 

3. With neither of the correlative words expressed. 

It is sown in corruption'; it is raised in incorruption. 

It is sown a natural body'; it is raised a spiritual body. 

Were it true that the Gospel constrains men'; its constraint would 
be preferable to that of fashion and vice. 

Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may 
aspire after it'; they cannot reach it. 

Had they informed themselves of all the circumstances, hazards and 
demands of the enterprise before engaging in it'; had they after enga- 
ging in it, listened to the advice of those who were better informed than 
themselves'; or had they withdrawn from it, when they discovered the 
obstacles to its success'; they might have escaped dishonor. 

Did faithful history compel us to cast on all England united, the 
reproach of these measures that drove our fathers to arms ; and were 
it, in consequence, the unavoidable effect of these celebrations to revive 
the feelings of revolutionary times in the bosoms of the aged ; to kindle 
those feelings anew in the susceptible hearts of the young : it would 
still be our duty, on every becoming occasion, in the strongest colors, 
and in the boldest lines we can command, to retrace the picture of the 
times that tried men's souls. 

Could the genius of our country reveal to our astonished view the 
future glories which await the progress of confederated America ; could 
he show us the countless millions who will swarm in the wide-spread 
valleys of the west, tasting of happiness and sharing the blessing of equal 
laws ; could he unroll the pages of her history, and permit us to see 
the fierce struggles of her factions, the rapid mutations of her empire, 
the bloody fields of her triumphs and her disasters; could he crowd 
these awful visions upon our souls ; we should see that all the prosper- 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 165 

ity that awaits us depends on the supremacy of mind : on the cultivation 
of intellect : on the diffusion of knowledge and the arts. 

Had Milton confined himself to the studies of his library or the halls 
of his university ; had he not thrown himself into the hottest conflicts of 
the day ; had he not stood forth the terrible champion of freedom of 
opinion and of republican liberty, raising on high his spirit-stirring 
voice in their defence in worst extremes, and " on the perilous verge of 
battle where it raged " ; had he not participated in counsel, in act, and 
in suffering with England's boldest spirits ; had he not thus felt in him- 
self, and seen in others, the " might of the unconquerable will," the 
unshaken, unseduced, unterrified constancy of faithful zeal and love ; 
he would not have gained that insight into the seemly and generous 
arts and affairs, that intimate acquaintance with the nobler parts of 
human nature that made him the greatest of poets. 

Doubtless he '11 see us to the city gates'; 
'T will be the least respect that he can pay 
To his fallen rival. 

Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, 
Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own 7 ; 
Paul should himself direct me. 

Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause, 

When I spake darkly what I purposed ; 

Or turned an eye of doubt upon my face, 

And bid me tell my tale in express words ; 

Deep shame had struck me dumb, and made me break off; 

And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me. 

Rejecting the vain systems of the schoolmen', he adhered to the plain 
word of God. 

Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of wit- 
nesses', let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily 
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 

Having, therefore, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of 
Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us 
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh'; and having an high priest 
over the house of God'; let us draw near with a true hearts in full 
assurance of faitm; having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, 
and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Disappointed and disgusted', they are now tempted to ascribe their 
disappointment to the republican institutions of their country. 

Trained and instructed', strengthened by wise discipline and guided 
by pure principle', it ripens into an intelligence but a little lower than 
the angels. 

Deeply impressed with the greatness of that love of God, which is 
from everlasting, the herald of grace adopted a strain of impassioned 
earnestness in the invitations which he addressed to the irresolute and 
fearful. 

Vexed at the arbitrary proceedings of the assembly; willing to 
escape from a town where good people pointed with horror at his free- 
dom ; indignant also at the tyranny of his brother, who, as a passionate 



166 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

master, often beat his apprentice ; Benjamin Franklin, then but seven- 
teen years old, sailed clandestinely for New York. 

Sent to defend an extensive mountain frontier with forces wholly 
inadequate to the object, the sport of contradictory orders from a civil 
governor inexperienced in war, defrauded by contractors, tormented 
with arrogant pretensions of subaltern officers in the royal army, weak- 
ened by wholesale desertions in the hour of danger, misrepresented by 
jealous competitors, traduced, maligned; the youthful commander-in- 
chief was obliged to foresee every thing, to create every thing, to endure 
every thing, to effect every thing, without encouragement, without 
means, without co-operation. 

A professed Catholic, he imprisoned the Pope. 

The orphan of Saint Louis, he became the adopted child of the 
Eepublic. 

Grand, gloomy, and peculiar, he sat upon the throne a sceptred 
hermit wrapped in the solitude of his own originality. 

A royalist, a republican, and an emperor ; a Mohammedan, a Cath- 
$lic^ and a patron of the synagogue ; a subaltern and a sovereign ; a 
traitor and a tyrant ; a Christian and an infidel ; he was through all 
his vicissitudes, the same stern, impatient, inflexible original : the same 
mysterious, incomprehensible self: the man without a model and with- 
out a shadow. 

Confused, and struck with silence at the deed', 
He flies, but, trembling, fails to fly with speed. 

Consulting what I feel within, 
In times when most existence with herself 
Is satisfied', I cannot but believe, 
That, far as kindly nature hath free scope, 
And reason's sway predominates, even so far, 
Country, society, and even time itself, 
That saps the individual's bodily frame, 
And lays the generations low in dust, 
Do, by the Almighty Ruler's grace, partake 
Of one maternal spirit': bringing forth 
And cherishing with ever constant love, 
That tires not, nor betrays. 

Seek', and ye shall find. 

I was hungry', and ye gave me no meat. 

He enjoyed fine opportunities to establish a character', and he neg- 
lected them. 

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness'; and all 
these things shall be added unto you. 

The idea of God, it is said, may be expunged from the heart of man ; 
and that heart will be the seat, still, of the same constitutional impulses. 

They feel that they have incurred no outrageous forfeiture of char- 
acter among men ; and this instills a treacherous complacency in their 
own hearts. 

Here is a case, in which the voice, that cometh forth from the tribunal 
of public opinion, pronounces one thing ; and the voice, that cometh 
forth from the sanctuary of God, pronounces another. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 167 

Let the sinner then look to God through the medium of such a 
revelation ; and the sight which meets him there may well tame the 
obstinacy of that heart, which had wrapped itself up in impenetrable 
hardness against the force of every other consideration. 

Let me be made to understand, that God has passed by my transgres- 
sions, and generously admitted me into the privileges and the rewards 
of obedience ; I see in this, a tenderness, and a mercy, and a love, for 
his creatures, which, if blended at the same time with all that is high 
and honorable in the more august attributes of his nature, have the 
effect of presenting him to my mind, and of drawing out my heart in moral 
regard to him, as a most amiable and estimable object of contemplation. 

Give me a man who seizes with ravenous approbation all that I have 
to bestow, and who hoards it, or feeds upon it, or in any way rejoices 
over it, without one grateful movement of his heart toward me ; and 
you lay before me a character, not merely unlike, but diametrically 
opposite, to the character of him who obtains the very same gift, and, 
perhaps, derives from the use of it, an equal, or a greater degree of 
enjoyment, to the sensitive part of his nature, but who, in addition to all 
this, has thought, and affection, and the higher principles of his nature, 
excited by the consideration of the giver. 

The simple truths of the Gospel may enter with acceptance into the 
mind of a peasant, and there work all the proper influences on his heart 
and character which the Bible ascribes to them ; and yet he may be 
utterly incapable of tracing that series of inward movements, by which 
he is carried onwards from a belief in the truth, to all those moral and 
affectionate regards, which mark a genuine disciple of the truth. 

Let him who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shine into 
our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of his own glory, in the 
face of Jesus Christ ; let us only look upon him as God in Christ recon- 
ciling the world unto himself, and not imputing unto them trespasses ; 
let him, without expunging the characters of truth and majesty from 
that one aspect of perfect excellence which belongs to him ; let him, in 
his own unsearchable wisdom, devise a way by which he can both bring 
them out in the eye of sinners with brighter illumination, and make 
these sinners feel that they are safe ; let him lift off from the men of 
this guilty world, the burden of his violated law, and make it honorable ; 
let him publish a full release from all its penalties, but in such a way 
as that the truth which proclaimed them, and the justice which should 
execute them, shall remain untainted under the dispensation of mercy ; 
let him, instead of awaking the sword of vengeance against us, awake it 
against a sufferer of such worth and dignity, that his blood shall be the 
atonement of a world, and by pouring out his soul unto death, he shall 
make the pardon of the transgressor meet and be at one with the ever- 
lasting righteousness of God ; in a word, instead of the character of God 
being lighted up in the eye of the sinner by the fire of his own indigna- 
tion, let it through the demonstration of the Spirit be illustrated and 
shone upon by the mild and peaceful light of the Sun of Righteousness ; 
and then may the sinner look in peace and safety on the manifested 
character of God. 



168 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

GENERAL NOTE. I. 

The single compact sentence, with or without correlative words 
expressed, often appears in a fragmentary form. If either of the cor- 
relative words is expressed, the nature of the sentence and the delivery 
will be obvious ; for the mere fact of its being fragmentary changes 
neither the one, nor the other. When the correlative words are want- 
ing, the nature of the sentence may not be at once apparent ; and though 
the compact delivery should be plainly required, the cause of this, may 
not be suspected. I subjoin one or two examples : they are printed in 
italic. 

Vol. We found you naked. 

Van. And you found us free. 

Vol. Would you he temperate once, and hear me out'. 

Van. Speak things that honest men may hear with temper. 

[Enter attendant and Malek Adhel.'] 
Sal. Leave us together. [Exit attend.] (Aside.) I should know 
That form. 

The first of these examples, if complete and regularly constructed, would probably read thus : 
If you would, &c, then you would, &c. The second, thus : Therefore I should know that 
form, because its proportions or features are familial*. 

GENERAL NOTE. II. 

Single compact sentences, like simple and compound close declara- 
tives, are often employed as in indirect interrogatives with or without 
interrogative punctuation : e. g. 

Ros. You'll marry me, if I he willing f 

Phe. That would I, should I die the hour after. 

He admitted the validity of the will, when you produced it. Yes, but 
with hesitation. 

2. Double Compact. 

Rule VIII. The first part of a double compact sentence is delivered 
like the first part of a single compact : the remaining part or parts, like 
the parts of a perfect loose sentence. (See Loose Sentence helow.) 

1. The parts separately considered may have all the varieties of construction which distin- 
guish the parts of single compact. (See Remarks under the Rule for the delivery of Single 
Compact Sentences, above.) 

2. When the first part is employed in connection with the other parts and consists of two or 
more members, the last of these, like the last of a similar series in the first part of a single 
compact, may be terminated with partial close ; in which case the delivery will conform to Fig. 
14, c : (See Plate :) when the first part is employed alone, the last of the series must necessarily 
terminate with perfect close. 

3. When no or nay ends a series of members in the first part, it should always be delivered 
like the first member, and the member immediately preceding it, should end with partial close. 
The reason of this is that no, in such a case, to all intents begins the sentence anew. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED, 169 

Examples. 

1. Of double compact with all the parts. 

Swear not by heaven'; for it is God's throne v ; but let your commu- 
nication be yea, yea ; and nay, nay v ; for whatsoever is more than these, 
cometh of evil. 

It was not an eclipse that caused the darkness at the crucifixion of 
our Lord'; for the sun and moon were not relatively in a position to 
produce an eclipse v ; but a direct interposition of God x ; for on no other 
supposition can we account for it. 

2. With the fourth part omitted. 

And not as it was by one that sinned, so also is the free gift'; for the 
judgment was by one unto condemnation^; but the free gift is of many 
offences unto justification. 

They had not come hither in search of gain', for the soil was sterile 
and unproductive^; but they had come that they might worship God 
according to the dictates of their own consciences. 

It was not enough that our fathers were of England'; the masters of 
Ireland and the lords of Hindostan are of England too x ; but our fathers 
were Englishmen, aggrieved, persecuted and banished. 

We do not say that his error lies in being a good member of society'; 
this though only a circumstance at present, is a very fortunate one v : the 
error lies in his having discarded the authority of God, as his legislator^ 
or rather, in his never having admitted the influence of that authority 
over his mind, heart or practice. 

He does not satisfy himself with barely moving on to a higher point 
in the scale of human attainment, and then sitting down with the senti- 
ment that it is enough ; he never counts it enough : the practical 
attitude of the believer is that of one who is ever looking forward : the 
practical movement of the believer is that of one who is ever pressing 
forward. 

It is not by an utterance of rash and sweeping totality to refuse him 
the possession of what is kind in sympathy, or what is dignified in prin- 
ciple ; this were in the face of all observation : it is to charge him 
direct with his utter disloyalty to God : it is to convict him of treason 
against the majesty of heaven : it is to press home upon him the impiety 
of not caring about God. 

Note. In double compact sentences of this form, comprising two or more members in the 
first part, it is not unusual to find the second part distributed among them ; that is, to find each 
of these members followed by a second part of its own : e. g. 

It was not their rank which gave the apostles such marvellous success 
in spreading Christianity in every part of the Roman empire', for they 
sprang from the lowest order of the people v ; it was not their wealth', for 
they were poor v ; it was not their learning', for they were unlettered 
men v ; but it was the miraculous powers with which they were endowed v ; 
and the wisdom of God, and the power of God unto salvation, which 
attended them. 

It is not that we wish our sister church were swept away, for we 
honestly think, that the overthrow of that establishment would be a 
22 



170 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

severe blow to the Christianity of our land ; it is not that we envy that 
great hierarchy the splendor of her endowments, for better a dinner of 
herbs, when surrounded by the love of parishioners, than a preferment 
of stalled dignity and strife therewith ; it is not either that we look upon 
her ministers as having at all disgraced themselves by their rapacity, 
for look to the encroachments upon them, and you will see that they 
have carried their privileges with the most exemplary forbearance and 
moderation ; but from these very encroachments do we infer how law- 
less a human being will become, when emancipated from the bond of 
his own interest. 

I am not the panegyrist of England'; I am not dazzled by her riches 
nor awed by her power'; the sceptre, the mitre, and the coronet, stars, 
garters and blue ribbons, seem to me poor things for great men to con- 
tend for x ; nor is my admiration awakened by her armies mustered for 
the battles of Europe x , her navies overshadowing the ocean\ nor her 
empire grasping the farthest east v ; it is these, and the price of guilt and 
blood by which they are maintained, which are the cause why no friend 
of liberty can salute her with undivided affections^; but it is the refuge 
of free principles, though often persecuted^; the school of religious 
liberty, the more precious for the struggles to which it has been called^; 
the tombs of those who have reflected honor on all who speak the 
English tongue v : it is the birth-place of our fathers^; the home of the 
pilgrims^: it is these which I love and venerate in England. 

3. With the third and fourth part omitted. 

We must not impute the delay to indifference', for delay may be 
designed to promote our happiness. 

The present life is not wholly prosaic, precise, tame and finite'; to 
the gifted eye, it abounds in the poetic. 

Not all the chapters of human history are thus important'; the annals 
of our race have been filled up with incidents which convey no instruction. 

Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses ; nor scrip 
for your journey ; neither two coats ; neither two shoes ; nor yet 
staves ; for the workman is worthy of his meat. 

We dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves 
with some that commend themselves ; for they measuring themselves by 
themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 

It is not true that the poet paints a life which does not exist ; he only 
extracts and concentrates, as it were, life's ethereal essence, arrests and 
condenses its volatile fragrance, brings together its scattered beauties, 
and prolongs its more refined, but evanescent joys. 

No matter in what language his doom may have been pronounced ; 
no matter what complexion, incompatible with freedom, an Indian or 
African sun may have burnt upon him ; no matter in what disastrous 
battle his liberty may have been cloven down ; no matter with what 
solemnities he may have been devoted upon the altar of slavery ; the 
moment he touches the sacred soil of Britain, the altar and the god sink 
together in the dust : his soul walks abroad in her own majesty ; his 
body swells beyond the measure of his chains, that burst from around 
him; and he stands redeemed, regenerated and disenthralled by the 
irresistible spirit of universal emancipation. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 171 

It is not that Christ is set forth a propitiation for their sins ; it is not 
that they stagger not at the promise of God, because of unbelief; it is 
not that the "love of him is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy 
Ghost; it is not that they carry along with them any consciousness 
whatever of a growing conformity to the image of the Saviour ; it is not 
that their calling and election are made sure to them, by the successful 
diligence with which they are cultivating the various accomplishments 
of the Christian character ; there is not one of these ingredients, will 
we venture to say, which enters into the satisfaction that many feel 
with their own prospects, and into the complacency they have in their 
own attainments, and into their opinion that God is looking to them with 
indulgence and friendship. 

Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret ; 
I will be master of what is mine own. 

It is not now as it hath been of yore ; 

Turn wheresoe'er I may, 

By night or day, 
The things which I have seen, I now can see no more. 

Thou art no child of fancy ; thou 

The very look dost wear, 
That gave enchantment to a brow, 

Wreathed with luxuriant hair. 

Grudge not, ye rich, (since luxury must have 
His dainties, and the world's more numerous half 
Lives by contriving delicates for you,) 
Grudge not the cost ; ye little know the cares, 
The vigilance, the labor, and the skill 
That day and night are exercised, and hang 
Upon the ticklish balance of suspense, 
That ye may garnish your profuse regales 
With summer fruits brought forth by wintry suns. 

4. With the second, third and fourth omitted. 

You would not select the public fire-brand'; you would not seek your 
seconds in the tavern, or in the brothel'; you would not inquire out the 
man who was oppressed with debts, contracted by licentiousness, de- 
bauchery, and every species of profligacy. [Who, sir, were Ccesar's 
seconds in his undertakings $] 

[And what is our country ?] It is not the East with her hills and 
valleys, with her countless sails, and the rocky ramparts of her shores'; 
it is not the North with her thousand villages, and her harvest home, 
with her frontiers of the lake and the ocean'; it is not the West with 
her forest-sea, with her beautiful Ohio, and her majestic Missouri'; nor 
yet is it the South, opulent in the mimic snow of the cotton, in the rich 
plantation of the rustling cane, and in the golden robes of the rice-fields. 

They did not know, that every town and village in America had dis- 
cussed the great questions at issue for itself, and in its town-meetings 
and committees of correspondence and safety, had come to the resolu- 



172 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

tion that America must not be taxed by England ; the English govern- 
ment did not understand, (we hardly understood, ourselves, till we saw 
it in action,) the operation of a state of society, where every man is or 
may be a freeholder, a voter for every elective office, a candidate for 
every one ; where the means of a good education are universally acces- 
sible ; where the artificial distinctions of society are known but in a 
slight degree ; where glaring contrasts of condition are rarely met with ; 
where few are raised by the extreme of wealth above their fellow men, 
and fewer sunk by the extreme of poverty beneath it : the English min- 
istry had not reasoned on the natural growth of such a soil ; that it 
could not permanently bear either a colonial or monarchical govern- 
ment ; that the only true and native growth of such a soil was a per- 
fect independence, and intelligent republicanism. 

5. With the second and fourth omitted. 

I am not come to destroy', but to fulfil. 

Labor not for the meat that perisheth', but for that meat which endu- 
reth unto everlasting life. 

It was not enough for him to stand on the defensive'; he felt that he 
must become the assailant, and return blow for blow. 

The method of our salvation is not left to the random caprices of 
human thought, and human fancy'; it is a method devised and made 
known to us by unsearchable wisdom. 

He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision 
which is outward in the nesh v ; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly x ; 
and circumcision is that of the hearts in the spirit, and not in the let- 
ter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

We do not recognize in her the Christian who has attained to the 
perfect liberty of God's children, but the exact type of those souls, at 
all times so numerous, and especially among her sex, who, drawn pow- 
erfully to look to heaven, have not strength sufficient to disengage them- 
selves entirely from the bondage of earth. 

We pay no homage at the tomb of kings to sublime our feelings, we 
trace no line of illustrious ancestors to support our dignity, we recur to 
no usages, sanctioned by the authority of the great, to protract our 
rejoicing^; no'; * we love liberty : we glory in the rights of men : we 
glory in independence. 

His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, 
unpractised by the rest of the world, by the peculiarities of studies and 
professions, which can operate but upon small numbers, or by the acci- 
dents of transient fashions, or temporary opinions ; they are the genuine 
progeny of common humanity : such as the world will always supply, 
and observation will always find. 

No wars have ravaged these lands and depopulated these villages', 
no civil discords have been felt', no disputed succession', no religious 
rage', no merciless enemy', no affliction of Providence, which, while it 
scourged for the moment, cut off the sources of resuscitation'; no vora- 
cious and poisonous monsters^; no'; f all this has been accomplished by 
the friendship, generosity and kindness of the English nation. 

*We do nothing like this, but, &c. > See the Second Sentence below, and Zd Note 
t It was not any of these, but all, &c. ) under Rule. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 173 

Society, in this country, has not made its progress like Chinese skill, 
by a greater acuteness of ingenuity in trifles'; it has not merely lashed 
itself to an increased speed round the old circles of thought and action*'; 
but it has assumed a new character*; it has raised itself from beneath 
governments to a participation in governments*; it has mixed moral and 
political objects with the daily pursuits of individual men*; and, with a 
freedom and strength before altogether unknown, it has applied to these 
objects the whole power of the human understanding. 

We do not pray to instruct or advise God ; not to tell him news, or 
inform him of our wants ; nor do we pray by dint of argument, to per- 
suade God and bring him to our bent; nor that, by fair speech, we 
may cajole him, or move his affections toward us by pathetical orations*; 
not for any such purpose are we obliged to pray'; but because it becom- 
eth and behooveth us so to do : because it is a proper instrument of bet- 
tering, ennobling and perfecting our souls : because it breedeth most 
holy affections, and pure satisfactions, and worthy resolutions : because 
it fitteth us for the enjoyment of happiness, and leadeth us thither : for 
such ends devotion is prescribed. 

Then waited not the murderer for the night', 
But smote his brother down in the bright day. 

Not for these sad issues 
Was man created', but to obey the law 
Of life and hope and action. 

Nor rural sights alone', but rural sounds 
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore 
The tone of languid nature. 

Man hath no part in all this glorious work ; 

The hand, that built the firmament, hath heaved 

And smoothed these verdant swells, and sown these slopes 

With herbage : planted their island-groves, 

And hedged them round with forests. 

He, who has tamed the elements, shall not live 
The slave of his own passions ; he, whose eye 
Unwinds the eternal dances in the sky, 
And in the abyss of brightness dares to span 
The sun's broad circle, rising yet more high, 
In God's magnificent works his will shall scan. 

Then let us not think hard 
One easy prohibition, when we enjoy 
Free leave so large to all things else, and choice 
Unlimited of manifold delights ; 
But let us ever praise him, and extol 
His bounty : following our delightful task 
To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers. 

I do not mean to wake the gloomy form 
Of superstition, dressed in wisdom's garb, 



174 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

To damp your tender hopes ; I do not mean 
To bid the jealous thunderer fire the heavens, 
Or shapes infernal rend the groaning earth, 
To fright you from your joys ; my cheerful song 
With better omens calls you to the field : 
Pleased with your generous ardor in the chase, 
And warm like you. 

The Sovereign Maker said, 
That not in humble, nor in brief delight, 
Not in the fading echoes of renown, 
Power's purple robes, nor pleasure's flowery lap, 
The soul should find enjoyment ; but from these, 
Turning disdainful to an equal good, 
Through all the ascent of. things to enlarge her view, 
Till every bound at length should disappear, 
And infinite perfection close the scene. 

It is not much that to the fragrant blossom, 

The ragged brier should change, the bitter fir 

Distill Arabian myrrh ; 

Nor that, upon the wintry desert's bosom, 

The harvest should rise plenteous, and the swain 

Bear home the abundant grain ; 

But come and see the bleak high hills and mountains, 

Thick to their tops with roses : come and see 

Leaves on the dry dead tree : 

The perished plant, set out by living fountains 

Grows fruitful ; and beauteous branches rise, 

Forever, toward the skies. 

6. With the second alone omitted. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust 
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal'; but lay up foj 
yourselves treasures in heaven x ; where neither moth nor rust corrupt, 
and where thieves do not break through and steal v ; for where your 
treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey 
it in the lusts thereof, neither yield ye your members as instruments of 
unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God as those that 
are alive from the dead, and your members, as instruments of right- 
eousness unto God ; for sin shall not have dominion over you. 

Nay'; but it's really true x : 
I had it from good hands, and so may you. 

[Officer. [What may this mean ? let us pass on : we stop not, 

Whate'er betide.] 
Rayner. Nay', but you do N ; for here there is a power 

Stronger than law or judgment. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 175 

III. THE LOOSE DECLARATIVE SENTENCE. 

Rule IX. The parts of a loose sentence, whether perfect or imper- 
fect, should be successively delivered in a very slightly lower tone of 
voice, and terminated with partial close, except the last; which of 
course ends with perfect close. (See Plate, Fig. 11, a, b, c.) 

The parts separately considered must be delivered like the species or variety to which they 
belong ; and I need scarcely say, they may belong to any of the species and varieties of declara- 
tive sentences hitherto passed under review. 

The first part of this rule applies more particularly to loose sentences of no great length. When 
long, it will be found necessary to deliver them, except toward the last, nearly in the same tone. 

1. Perfect Loose. 
Examples. 

I speak as to wise men x : judge ye what I say. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity x : these three x ; but the greatest 
of these is charity. 

Receive us x : we have wronged no man', we have corrupted no man', 
we have defrauded no man. 

I am crucified with Christ x : nevertheless I live x : yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me x ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the 
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations x : baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost x : teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you x ; and, lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 

Christians, familiar with the principles of justice, desire to see them 
adhered to in proceedings against others and themselves^; but those, 
who are accustomed to act according to their own will, are much sur- 
prised, when required to proceed regularly and agreeably to form and 
law. 

Liberty was theirs as men x : without it, they did not esteem them- 
selves men x : more than any other privilege or possession, it was essential 
to their happiness, for it was essential to their original nature x ; and 
therefore they preferred it above wealth and ease and country x ; and 
that they might enjoy and exercise it fully, they forsook houses and 
lands and kindred. 

A man may be led to precisely the same conduct, on the impulse of 
many different principles : he may be gentle, because it is a prescrip- 
tion of the divine law ; or, he may be gentle, because he is naturally 
of a timid or indolent constitution ; or, he may be gentle, because he 
sees it to be an amiable gracefulness, with which he wishes to adorn 
his character ; or, he may be gentle, because it is the ready way of 
perpetuating the friendship of those around him ; or, he may be gentle, 
because taught to observe it, as a part of courtly and fashionable deport- 
ment ; and what was implanted by education may come in time to be 
confirmed by habit and experience : it is only under the first of these 
principles, that there is any religion in gentleness. 

They left all these : they left England ; which, whatever it might 
have been called, was not to them a land of freedom : they launched 
forth on the pathless ocean : the wide, fathomless ocean, soiled not by 



176 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

the earth beneath, and bounded, all round and above, only by heaven ; 
and it seemed to them like that better and sublimer freedom, which 
their country knew not, but of which they had the conception and image 
in their hearts ; and after a toilsome and painful voyage, they came to 
a hard and wintry coast ; unfruitful and desolate, but unguarded and 
boundless : its calm silence interrupted not the ascent of their prayers : 
it had no eyes to watch, no ears to hearken, no tongues to report of 
them: here again there was an answer to their soul's desire ; and they 
were satisfied and gave thanks : they^ saw that they were free and the 
desert smiled. 

Our object is not to recover the holy sepulchre from the possession of 
heretics, but to make known the death of him who descended to it ; to 
wrest the keys of empire from the king of terrors : the weapons of our 
warfare are not carnal, as the sword, the spear, the battle-axe ; but 
spiritual, as the doctrines of the gospel exhibited in the sermons of our 
missionaries : the line of our march will not be marked by ensanguined 
fields, and the reign of desolation, but the comforts of civilization, and 
the blessings of Christianity : we shall not be followed in our career by 
the groans of dying warriors, and the shrieks of bereaved widows ; but 
by the songs of redeemed sinners, and the shouts of enraptured angels ; 
while our trophies will consist, not of bits of the cross, or shreds of the 
Virgin's robe ; but in the rejected idols of Pomare, with the regenerated 
souls of those who once adored him. 

If you would not like him to do it for you ; then there is nothing in 
the compass of this sentence now before you, that at all obligates you 
to do it for him : if you would not like your neighbor to make so roman- 
tic a surrender to your interests, as to offer you to the extent of half his 
fortune ; then there is nothing in that part of the gospel code which now 
engages us, that renders it imperative upon you to make the same offer 
to your neighbor : if you would positively recoil, in all the reluctance 
of ingenuous delicacy, from the selfishness of laying on a relation the 
burden of the expenses of all your family ; then this is not the good 
office that you would have him do unto you ; and this, therefore, is not 
the good office which the text prescribes you to do unto him : if you 
have such consideration for another's ease, and another's convenience, 
that you could not take the ungenerous advantage of so much of his 
time for your accommodation, there may be other verses in the Bible 
which point to a greater sacrifice, on }-our part, for the good of others, 
than you would like these others to make for yours ; but, most assuredly, 
this is not the verse which imposes that sacrifice : if you would not that 
others should do these things on your account ; then these things form 
no part of "the all things whatsoever" you would that men should do 
unto you ; and, therefore, they form no part of "the all things whatso- 
ever" that you are required, by this verse, to do for them. 

Contrasted faults through all his manners reign x : 
Though poor', luxurious x ; though submissive', vain v ; 
Though grave', yet trifling^; zealous', yet untrue % ; 
And e'en in penance, planning sins anew. 

But misery brought in love x : in passion's strife, 
Man gave his heart to mercy, pleading long, 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 177 

And sought out gentle deeds to gladden life v : 
The weak, against the sons of spoil and wrong, 
Banded, and watched their hamlets and grew strong. 

He who felt the wrong, and had the might, 
His own avenger, girt himself to slay x : 
Beside the path the unburied carcass lay r : 
The shepherd, by the fountain of the glen, 
Fled, while the robber swept his flocks away, 
And slew his babes. 

So spake the cherub ; and his grave rebuke, 
Severe in youthful beauty, added grace 
Invincible : abashed the devil stood, 
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw 
Virtue in her shape how lovely : saw and pined 
His loss ; but chiefly to find here observed 
His lustre visibly impaired : yet seemed 
Undaunted. 

To him, who in the love of nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language : for his gayer hours 
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile 
And eloquence of beauty ; and she glides 
Into his darker musings, with a mild 
And healing sympathy, that steals away 
Their sharpness, ere he is aware. 

Still Heaven deferred the hour ordained to rend, 

From saintly rottenness, the sacred stole ; 

And cowl and worshipped shrine could still defend 

The wretch with felon stains upon his soul ; 

And crimes were set to sale ; and hard his dole, 

Who could not bribe a passage to the skies ; 

And vice, beneath the mitre's kind control, 

Sinned gaily on, and grew to giant size : 

Shielded by priestly power, and watched by priestly eyes'. 

Look now abroad : another race has filled 
These populous borders : wide the wood recedes, 
And towns shoot up, and fertile realms are tilled : 
The land is full of harvests, and green meads : 
Streams numberless, that many a fountain feeds, 
Shine, disembowered, and give to sun and breeze 
Their virgin waters : the full region leads 
New colonies forth, that toward the western seas, 
Spread, like a rapid flame, among autumnal trees. 

The more thou dam'st it up, the more it burns : 
The current that with gentle murmur glides, 
Thou knowest, being stopped, impatiently doth rage ; 
But, when his fair course is not hindered, 

23 



178 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

He makes sweet music with the enameled stones : 

Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge 

He overtaketh in his pilgrimage ; 

And so by many winding nooks he strays, 

With willing sport, to the wild ocean. 

Peace to the just man's memory : let it grow 

Greener with years, and blossom through the flight 

Of ages ; let the mimic canvass show 

His calm, benevolent features ; let the light 

Stream on his deeds of love, that shunned the sight 

Of all but heaven ; and, in the book of fame, 

The glorious record of his virtues write, 

And hold it up to men and bid them claim 

A palm like his, and catch from him the hallowed flame. 

At midnight in his guarded tent, 

The Turk was dreaming of the hour 

When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent, 

Should tremble at his power : 

In dreams, through camp and court, he bore 

The trophies of a conqueror : 

In dreams his song of triumph heard : 

Then wore his monarch's signet ring : 

Then pressed that monarch's throne, a king : 

As wild his thoughts and gay of wing, 

As Eden's garden bird. 

In all the modern languages, she was 

Exceedingly well versed ; and had devoted 

To their attainment, far more time than has, 

By the best teachers, lately been allotted ; 

For she had taken lessons, twice a week, 

For a full month in each ; and she could speak 

French and Italian, equally as well 

As Chinese, Portuguese, or German ; and 

What is still more surprising, she could spell 

Most of our longest English words, off hand : 

Was quite familiar in low Dutch and Spanish, 

And thought of studying modern Greek and Danish. 

2. Imperfect Loose. 
Examples. 

History, as it has been written, is the genealogy of princes*: the 
field book of conquerors. 

Christianity came prepared for a gradual work*: to perform its labor 
as sunshine and the moisture perform theirs*: to bring its ideas to per- 
fection among men, as the seed is brought forth to the harvest. 

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue*; and 
to virtue, knowledge*; and to knowledge, temperance*; and to temper- 
ance, patience*; and to patience, godliness*; and to godliness, brotherly 
kindness*; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 179 

Knowing this v : that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for 
the lawless and disobedient; for the ungodly and for sinners x ; for un- 
holy and profane^ for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers^; 
for manslayers N ; for whoremongers^; for them that defile themselves 
with mankind^; for man-stealers x ; for liars v ; for perjured persons^; and 
if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. 

Time would fail us to recount the measures by which the way was 
prepared for the Revolution : the stamp act ; its repeal, with the decla- 
ration of right to tax America ; the landing of troops in Boston, beneath 
the battery of fourteen vessels of war, lying broadside to the town, with 
springs on their cables, their guns loaded, and matches smoking ; the 
repeated insults ; and, finally, the massacre of the fifth of March, result- 
ing from this military occupation, and the Boston Port Bill, by which 
the final catastrophe was hurried on. 

We celebrate the return of a day on which our separate national 
existence was declared : the day when the momentous experiment was 
commenced, by which the world and posterity and we ourselves were 
to be taught, how far a nation of men can be trusted with self-govern- 
ment ; how far life, liberty and property are safe, and the progress of 
social improvement secure, under the influence of laws, made by those 
who are to obey the laws : the day when, for the first time in the world, 
a numerous people was ushered into the family of nations, organized on 
the principle of the political equality of all the citizens. 

Let the young man, who is to gain his living by his labor and skill, 
remember that he is a citizen of a free State : that on him and his con- 
temporaries it depends whether he will be happy and prosperous him- 
self in his social condition, and whether a precious inheritance of social 
blessings shall descend, unimpaired, to those who come after him : that 
there is no important difference in the situation of individuals, but that 
which they themselves cause, or permit to exist : that if something of 
the inequality, in the goods of fortune, which is inseparable from human 
things, exists in this country, it ought to be viewed only as another 
incitement to that industry by which, nine times out of ten, wealth is 
acquired ; and still more to that cultivation of the mind, which, next to 
the moral character, makes the great difference between man and man. 

Give us the benevolence of the man, who can ply his faithful task in 
the face of every discouragement; who can labor in scenes, where 
there is no brilliancy whatever to reward him ; whose kindness is that 
of sturdy and abiding principle, which can weather all the murmurs of 
ingratitude, and all the provocations of dishonesty ; who can find his 
way through poverty's putrid lanes, and depravity's most nauseous and 
disgusting receptacles ; who can maintain the uniform and placid tem- 
per within the secrecy of his own home, and amid the irksome annoy- 
ances of his own family ; who can endure hardships, as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ ; whose humanity acts with as much vigor amid the 
reproach, and the calumny, and the contradictions of sinners, as when 
soothed and softened by the poetic accompaniment of weeping orphans, 
and interesting cottages ; and, above all, who labors to convert sinners ; 
to subdue their resistance to the gospel ; and to spiritualize them into a 
meetness for the inheritance of the saints. 

We know, or think we know, that God is ; and that all other exist- 
ence is suspended upon his will ; and that, were it not for his upholding 



180 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES AITLIED. 

arm, the whole of nature would go into dissolution ; and that, while he 
sits in high authority over all worlds, there is not one individual member 
of his vast family, that is overlooked by him ; and, more particularly, 
that he looks with the eye of a wise and a watchful judge, into every 
heart, and every conscience ; and that he claims a right and a property 
in the services of all his creatures ; and that he is more absolutely the 
owner and the master of thern all, than is man of the machine that he 
hath made, and to whose touch all its movements are subordinate ; and 
that he is a God of august and inviolable sacredness, in whose presence 
evil cannot dwell, and between the sanctity of whose nature and sin, 
there is a wide and implacable enmity ; and that he does not sit in lofty 
and remote indiffererfce to the characters of his children, but takes deep 
and perpetual and most vigilant concern in them all : loving their 
righteousness; hating their iniquity; treasuring their thoughts, and 
their purposes, and their doing, in the book of his remembrance ; and 
that, with a view to the manifestation of them, on that day, when time 
shall be no more ; and each of his accountable offspring shall have 
their condition awarded to them through eternity ; when the mystery of 
God shall be finished, and the glory of his attributes shall be made to 
shine forth at the close and the consummation of all things. 

In rustic solitude 't is sweet 

The earliest flowers of spring to greets 

The violet from its tomb y : 
The strawberry, creeping at your feef: 

The sorrell's simple bloom. 

Their flame 
Kindled within his breast the love of fame, 
And politics and country^; the pure glow 
Of patriot ardor x ; and the consciousness 
That talents such as his would well bestow 
A lustre on the city. 

The spirit of that day 
Through the idle mesh of power shall break, 
Like billows o'er the Asian monarch's chain, 
Till men are filled with him, and feel how vain, 
Instead of the pure heart and innocent hands, 
Are all the proud and pompous modes to gain 
The smile of heaven : till a new age expands 
Its white and holy wings above the peaceful lands. 

Those ages have no memory, but they left 

A record in the desert : columns strown 

On the waste sands ; and statues fallen and cleft, 

Heaped like a host in battle overthrown : 

Vast mines, where the mountain's ribs of stone 

Were hewn into a city : streets that spread 

In the dark earth, where never breath has blown 

Of heaven's sweet air, nor foot of man dares tread 

The long and perilous ways : the cities of the dead. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 181 

I would trace 
His master-strokes, and draw from his design : 
I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; 
In doctrine incorrupt ; in language plain, 
And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste, 
And natural in gesture ; much impressed 
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
May feel it too ; affectionate in look, 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty man. 

Oh, leave me, still, the rapid flight 

That makes the changing seasons gay : 

The grateful speed that brings the night : 

The swift and glad return of day : 

The months that touch, with added grace, 

This little prattler at my knee ; 

In whose arch eye and speaking face, 

New meaning every hour I see : 

The years, that o'er each sister land, 

Shall lift the country of my birth, 

And nurse her strength, till she shall stand 

The pride and pattern of the earth ; 

Till younger commonwealths, for aid, 

Shall cling about her ample robe ; 

And from her frown shall shrink afraid, 

The crowned oppressors of the globe. 

Note 1. Loose sentences, both perfect and imperfect, are employed as indirect interroga- 
tives without being punctuated as such : e. g. 

If the means were in themselves bad, you would not say that the end 
justified them ; or if the means were good, you would not say that they 
justified all the results which might flow from their use. — No. 

You know the history of this man's enterprises : how his doings and 
observations were among the veriest outcasts of humanity : how he 
descended into prison-houses, and there made himself familiar with all 
that could revolt or terrify in the exhibition of our fallen nature : how 
for this purpose he made the tour of Europe. 

Note 2. Compact sentences with the first part, only, expressed on account of similarity 
of construction, are sometimes confounded with perfect and imperfect loose : e. g. 

You would not select the public firebrand'; you would not seek your 
seconds in the tavern, or the brothel'; you would not inquire out the 
man who was oppressed with debts, contracted by licentiousness, de- 
bauchery, every species of profligacy*. [Who, sir, I ask, were Caesar's 
seconds in his undertakings ?] 

It is easy to awaken generous sentiments in privacy': to despise 
death, when there is no danger': to glow with benevolence, when there 
is nothing to be given*. [While such ideas are formed, they are felt.] 



182 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

T is pitiful 
To court a grin, when you should woo a soul : 
To break a jest, when pity should inspire 
Pathetic exhortation ; and to address 
The skittish fancy with facetious tales, 
When sent with God's commission to the heart. 

The first of these sentences, though apparently a perfect loose, is, as it has been already 
shown, a double compact, with the first part, only, consisting of several members, expressed : the 
second is a single compact, with the first part expressed, with a continuation understood some- 
thing like this : " But to awaken them in public, to despise death when facing it, to show 
benevolence when called upon to give, is more difficult." Indeed — but, are the correlative 
words. The third is also a single compact, having the second part understood ; and having for 
its correlative words, therefore — because, thus : " Therefore it is pitiful, &c, because a violation 
of every principle of duty and benevolence." 

Miscellaneous Examples of Declarative Sentences. 

To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is 
an excellent preparative. From the moment you lose sight of the land 
you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the opposite shore, and 
are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world.* 

We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. 
At sea, every thing that breaks the monotony of the surrounding 
expanse, attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that 
must have been completely wrecked • for there were the remains of 
handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to 
this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. 

Such was the state of Eden, when the serpent entered its bowers. 
The prisoner in a more engaging form, winding himself into the open 
and unpractised heart of the unfortunate Blennerhasset, found but little 
difficulty in changing the native character of that heart and the objects 
of its affections. By degrees, he infuses into it the poison of his own 
ambition : he breathes into it the fire of his own courage ; a daring and 
desperate thirst for glory ; an ardor panting for all the storm and bustle 
and hurricane of life. 

The succession and contrast of the seasons give scope to that care 
and foresight, diligence and industry, which are essential to the dignity 
and enjoyment of human beings, whose happiness is connected with the 
exertions of their faculties. With our present constitution and the state 
in which impressions on the senses enter so much into our pleasures 
and pains, and the vivacity of our sensations is affected by comparison, 
the uniformity and continuance of perpetual spring would greatly impair 
its pleasing effect on our feelings. 

Our life is compared to a falling leaf. When we are disposed to 
count on protracted years, to defer any serious thoughts of futurity, and 
to extend our plans through a long succession of seasons ; the spectacle 
of the " fading, many-colored woods/"' and the naked trees, affords a 
salutary admonition of our frailty. It should teach us to fill the short 
year of life, or that portion of it which may be allotted to us, with use- 
ful employments, and harmless pleasures : to practice that industry, 
activity and order, which the course of the natural world is constantly 
preaching. 

* Though sentences under this head are given in their connection, they are intended in all cases to 
be read and described separately and independently. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 183 

Let not the passions blight the intellect in the spring of its advance- 
ment, nor indolence nor vice canker the promise of the heart in blossom. 
Then shall the summer of life be adorned with moral beauty, the 
autumn yield a harvest of wisdom and virtue, and the winter of age be 
cheered with pleasing reflections on the past, and bright hopes of the 
future. 

Looking upon the declaration of independence as the one prominent 
event which is to represent the American system, I deem it right in 
itself and seasonable to assert, that, while all other political revolutions, 
reforms and improvements have been in various ways of the nature of 
palliatives and alleviations of systems essentially and irremediably 
vicious, this alone is the great discovery in political science. 

Such has been the case with Mr. Roscoe. Born in a place apparent- 
ly ungenial to the growth of literary talent ; in the veiy market-place 
of trade ; without fortune, family connections, or patronage ; self- 
prompted, self-sustained, and almost self-taught ; he has conquered 
every obstacle ; achieved his way to eminence ; and, having become 
one of the ornaments of the nation, has turned the whole force of his 
talents and influence to advance and embellish his native town. 

Their practice of the law was not in the narrow litigation of the 
courts, but in the great forum of contending empires : it was not nice 
legal fictions they were employed to balance, but sober realities of 
indescribable weight : the life and death of their country was the all- 
important issue. 

The time is well adapted to the deed. It is now eight years since 
the corner-stone was laid, on the day that completed the half century 
from the battle. Let us this year urge the work to the close, with the 
completion of the half century since the termination of the war. If we 
celebrated the grand commencement of hostilities, in the foundation, let 
us bring forth the top-stone, in the happy commemoration of the return 
of peace. I believe, sir, as I have already said, that the work is in 
proper hands. I mean no fulsome compliment ; I speak what history 
avouches : that the mechanics, as a class, were prime agents, in all the 
measures of the revolution. 

If there is any cause, in which it is right and proper to employ the 
social principle, the promotion of temperance is that cause ; for intem- 
perance, in its origin, is peculiarly a social vice. Although, in its 
progress, men may creep away, out of shame, to indulge the depraved 
appetite in secret; yet no man, in a state of civilization, is born, I 
imagine, with a taste so unnatural, that he seeks an intoxicating liquor, 
in the outset, for his ordinary drink. 

The maxims of temperance are not new ; they are as old as Chris- 
tianity : as old as any of the inculcations of personal and social duty. 
Every other instrument of moral censure had been tried, in the case of 
intemperance, as in that of other prevailing errors, vices and crimes. 
The law had done something ; the press had done something ; the 
stated ministrations of religion had done something ; but altogether had 
done little ; and intemperance had reached a most alarming degree of 
prevalence. At length the principle of association was applied ; socie- 
ties were formed ; meetings were held ; public addresses made ; inform- 
ation collected and communicated ; pledges mutually given ; the minds 
of men excited and their hearts warmed, by comparison of opinions : 



184 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

by concert and sympathy ; and within the space of twenty years, of 
which not more than ten have been devoted to strenuous eilbrt, a most 
signal and unexampled reform has been achieved. 

When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, 
when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing 
is valuable in speech, farther, than it is connected with high intellectual 
and moral endowments. Clearness, force and earnestness are the qual- 
ities which produce conviction. True eloquence indeed does not consist 
in speech ; it cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may 
toil for it, but they toil for it in vain : words and phrases may be mar- 
shalled in every way, but they cannot compass it : it must exist in the 
man ; in the subject ; and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense 
expression, the pomp of declamation, — all may aspire after it; they 
cannot reach it: it comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a 
fountain from the earth or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with 
spontaneous, original, native force. 

The hour of retribution is at length arrived. He who had no mercy 
upon others, is now reduced to a condition which may excite the pity of 
his most implacable enemy: he who has made so many miserable, is 
now condemned to drink, to the very dregs, the bitter cup of degrada- 
tion and sorrow. 

I speak not now of the public employment of informers, with a prom- 
ise of secrecy and extravagant reward ; I speak not of the fate of those 
horrid wretches who have been so often transferred from the table to 
the dock, and from the dock to the pillory ; I speak of what your own 
eyes have seen, day after day, during the course of this commission, 
from the box where you are now sitting. 

As it is not a vain and false, but an exalted and religious imagina- 
tion, which leads us to raise our thoughts from the orb which, amidst 
this universe of worlds, the Creator has given us to inhabit, and to send 
them with something of the feeling which nature prompts and teaches 
to be proper among children of the same Eternal Parent, to the con- 
templation of the myriads of fellow-beings, with which his goodness has 
peopled infinite space ; so neither is it false or vain to consider ourselves 
as interested or connected with our whole race through all time. 

They solicit them in one manner, and they execute them in another. 
They set out with a great appearance of activity, humility and modera- 
tion ; and they quickly fall into sloth, pride and avarice. 

Grateful for the indulgence with which they were favored, and thank- 
ful for the patience and politeness with which they were honored ; they 
should certainly be the last to condemn that, in which they themselves 
were the greatest transgressors. 

To carry on with effect an expensive war, and yet be frugal of the 
public money ; to oblige those to serve, whom it may be delicate to of- 
fend ; to conduct, at the same time, a complicated variety of operations; 
to concert measures at home, answerable to the state of things abroad ; 
and to gain every valuable end, in spite of opposition from the envious 
and disaffected ; — this is more difficult than is generally thought. 

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay 
down my life for the sheep. Other sheep I have, which are not of this 
fold : them also must I bring ; and they shall hear my voice ; and there 
shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 185 

me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man 
taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it 
down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I 
received of my Father. 

It is no uncommon circumstance in controversy, for the parties to 
engage in all the fury of disputation, without precisely knowing, them- 
selves, the particulars about which they differ. Hence that fruitless 
parade of argument, and those opposite pretences to demonstration, with 
which most debates, on every subject, have been infested. Would the 
contending parties first be sure of their own meaning, and then commu- 
nicate their sense to others in plain terms and simplicity of heart, the 
face of controversy would soon be changed ; and real knowledge, in- 
stead of imaginary conquest, would be the noble reward of literary toil. 

If thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul or a fur- 
row to the silvered brow of an affectionate parent ; if thou art a hus- 
band, and hast ever caused the fond bosom that ventured its whole hap- 
piness in thy arms, to doubt one moment of thy kindness or thy truth ; 
if thou art a friend, and hast ever wronged in thought, or word or deed, 
the spirit that generously confided in thee ; if thou art a lover, and hast 
ever given one unmerited pang to that true heart that now lies cold and 
still beneath thy feet; then be sure that every unkind look, every 
ungracious word, every ungentle action, will come thronging back upon 
thy memory, and knocking dolefully at thy soul : then be sure that thou 
wilt lie down sorrowing and repenting on the grave, and utter the un- 
heard groan, and pour the unavailing tear ; more deep, more bitter, 
because unavailing. 

But the pious man is, like Scipio, never less alone than when alone : 
his solitude and retirement are not only tolerable, but commonly the 
most grateful part of his life : he can ever with much pleasure, and 
more advantage, converse with himself: digesting and marshalling his 
thoughts, his affections, his purposes, into good order : searching and 
discussing his heart : reflecting on his past ways : enforcing his former 
good resolutions, and framing new ones : inquiring after edifying truths: 
stretching his meditations toward the best and the sublimest objects : 
raising his hopes, and warming his affections towards spiritual and 
heavenly things : asking himself pertinent questions, and resolving inci- 
dental doubts concerning his practice : in fine, conversing with his best 
Friend in devotion : with admiration and love contemplating the divine 
perfections displayed in the works of nature, of providence, of grace : 
praising God for his excellent benefits and mercies : confessing his de- 
fects and offences : deprecating wrath and imploring pardon, with grace 
and ability to amend : praying for the supply of all his wants. 

The prophecy will obtain its fulfilment, but not till the fulfilment of 
the verses which go before it : not till the influence of the gospel has 
found its way to the human bosom, and plucked out of it the elementary 
principles of war : not till the law of love shall spread its melting and 
all-subduing efficacy among the children of one common nature : not 
till ambition be dethroned from its mastery over the affections of the 
inner man : not till the guilty splendors of war shall cease to captivate 
its admirers, and spread the blaze of a deceitful heroism over the whole- 
sale butchery of the species : not till national pride be humbled, and 
man shall learn that if it be individually the duty of each of us in honor 

24 



180 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

to prefer one another, then let these individuals combine as they may, 
and form societies as numerous and extensive as they may, and each of 
these be swelled out to the dimensions of an empire, still, that mutual 
condescension and forbearance remain the unalterable Christian duties 
of these empires to each other : not till man learn to revere his brother 
as man, whatever portion of the globe he occupies, and all the jealous- 
ies and preferences of a contracted patriotism be given to the wind: 
not till war shall cease to be prosecuted as a trade, and the charm of 
all that interest which is linked with its continuance, shall cease to be- 
guile men in the peaceful walks of merchandise, into a barbarous long- 
ing after war : not, in one word, till pride, and jealousy, and interest, 
and all that is opposite to the law of God, and the charity of the gospel, 
shall be forever eradicated from the character of those who possess an 
effectual control over the public and political movements of the species : 
not till all this be brought about ; and there is not another agent in the 
whole compass of nature that can bring it about but the gospel of Christ, 
carried home by the all-subduing power of the Spirit to the consciences 
of men : — then,* and not till then, will peace come to take up its peren- 
nial abode with us, and its blessed advent on earth be hailed by one 
shout of joyful acclamation throughout all its families : then, and not 
till then, will the sacred principle of good will to men circulate as free 
as the air of heaven among all countries ; and the sun, looking out from 
the firmament, will behold one fine aspect of harmony throughout the 
wide extent of a regenerated world. 

We have been discoursing of infancy, childhood, boyhood, and youth : 
of pleasures lying upon the unfolding intellect plenteously as morning 
dew-drops of knowledge inhaled insensibly like fragrance : of disposi- 
tions stealing into the spirit like music from unknown quarters : of ima- 
ges uncalled for, and rising up like exhalations : of hopes plucked, like 
beautiful wild flowers from the ruined tombs that border the highways 
of antiquity, to make a garland for a living forehead : in a word, we 
have been treating of nature as a teacher of truth through joy and 
through gladness, and as a creatress of the faculties by a process of 
smoothness and delight. We have made no mention of fear, shame, 
sorrow, nor of ungovernable and vexing thoughts; because, although 
these have been, and have done mighty service, they are overlooked in 
that stage of life, when youth is passing into manhood : overlooked, or 
forgotten. 

Unnatural must be that son, and hard his heart, who, after having 
received from parental love and care, his life, protection, and suste- 
nance, the nurture of the body, and the culture of the soul, could coldly 
turn away from the hearth of his father and mother, when old age was 
gathering around them, and their powers were in decay, and their path 
beset with danger and infirmity, and leave them, unnoticed and unhon- 
ored, to descend the painful declivity of life into a sepulchre of sorrow. 

The effect of this devotion of elegant minds to rural occupations, has 
been wonderful on the face of the country. 

A ball of wood could not be thus softened by blows. 

I cut it open. 

He slept. 

*The following is manifestly understood before this word: "but when it shall be brought 
about." 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. § 1 87 

Once more unto the breach, my friends, once more, 
Or close the wall up with our English dead. 

Since plays are but a kind of public feasts, 
Where tickets only make the welcome guests ; 
Methinks, instead of grace, we should prepare 
Your taste in prologue, with your bill of fare. 

Were you but half so humble to confess, 
As you are wise to know, your happiness ; 
Our author would not grieve to see you sit 
Ruling, with such unquestioned power, his wit. 

Swans sing before they die : ' T were no bad thing, 
Should certain persons die before they sing. 

I had a thing to say, but let it go. 

Would he were fatter, but I fear him not. 

Protected by that hand, whose law 
The threatening storms obey, 
Intrepid virtue smiles secure, 
As in the blaze of day. 

You are meek and humble mouthed ; 
You sign your place and calling, in full seeming 
With meekness and humility ; but your heart 
Is crammed with arrogance, spleen and pride. 

Were I crowned the most imperial monarch, 
Thereof most worthy ; were I the fairest youth, 
That ever made eye swerve ; had force and knowledge 
More than was ever man's ; I would not prize them 
Without her love. 

I were, indeed, indifferent to fame, 
Grudging two lines to immortalize my name. 

While malice, Pope, denies thy page 

Its own celestial fire ; 
While critics and while bards in rage, 

Admiring, won't admire ; 
While wayward pens thy works assail, 

And envious tongues decry ; 
These times, though many a friend bewail, 

These times bewail not I. 

Beauty is but a vain, a fleeting good : 
A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly : 
A flower that dies when almost in the bud : 
A brittle glass that breaketh presently : 
A fleeting good, a glass, a glass, a flower, 
Lost, faded, broken, dead, within the hour. 



18B < THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

As goods, when lost, we know are seldom found, 

As fading gloss no rubbing can excite, 

As flowers when dead are trampled on the ground, 

As broken glass no cement can unite, 

So beauty, blemished once, is ever lost, 

In spite of physic, painting, pains and cost. 

Where yon old trees bend o'er a place of graves, 

And solemn shade a chapel's sad remains ; 

Where yon scathed poplar through the window waves, 

And, twining round, the hoary arch sustains ; 

There oft, at dawn, as one forgot behind, 

Who longs to follow, yet unknowing where, 

Some hoary shepherd, o'er his staff reclined 

Pores on the graves, and sighs a broken prayer. 

To wake the soul by tender strokes of art ; 
To raise the genius, and to mend the heart ; 
To make mankind in conscious virtue bold, 
Live o'er the scene, and be what they behold ; — 
For this the tragic muse first trod the stage : 
Commanding tears to stream through every age. 

There various news I heard of love and strife : 

Of peace and war, health, sickness, death and life : 

Of loss and gain : of famine, and of store : 

Of storms at sea, and travels on the shore : 

Of prodigies and portents in the air : 

Of fires and plagues, and stars with blazing hair : 

Of turns of fortune ; changes in the state ; 

The falls of favorites ; projects of the great : 

Of old mismanagements ; taxations new : 

All neither wholly false, nor wholly true. 

By the fair and brave 
Who, blushing, unite, 
Like the sun and wave 
When they meet at night ; 
By the tear that shows 
When passion is nigh, 
As the raindrop flows 
From the heat of the sky ; 
By the first love beat 
Of the youthful heart ; 
By the bliss to meet, 
And the pain to part ; 
By all that thou hast 
To mortals given, 
Which could it but last, 
This earth were heaven ; 
We call thee hither, entrancing power. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 189 

The low of herds 
Blends with the rustling of the heavy grain 
Over the dark-brown furrows. 

Did sweeter sounds adorn my flowing tongue, 
Than ever man pronounced, or angel sung ; 
Had I all knowledge, human and divine, 
That thought can reach, or science can define ; 
And had I power to give that knowledge birth, 
In all the speeches of the babbling earth ; 
Did Shadrach's zeal my glowing breast inspire 
To weary tortures, and rejoice in fire ; 
Or had I faith like that which Israel saw, 
When Moses gave them miracles and law ; 
Yet, gracious Charity, indulgent guest, 
Were not thy power exerted in my breast, 
That scorn of life would be but wild despair : 
A cymbal's sound were better than my voice : 
My faith were form : my eloquence were noise. 

There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, 
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet : 
Oh ! the last rays of feeling and life must depart, 
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart. 
Yet it was not that nature had shed o'er the scene 
Her purest of crystal and brightest of green ; 
'T was not the soft magic of streamlet and hill ; 
Oh ! no,* it was something more exquisite still : 
'T was, that friends, the beloved of my bosom, were near, 
Who made each scene of enchantment more dear ; 
And who felt how the blessed charms of nature improve, 
When we see them reflected from looks that we love. 

Thou art not noble, 
For all the accommodations that thou bearest, 
Are nursed by baseness : thou art by no means valiant, 
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork 
Of a poor worm. The best of rest is sleep ; 
And that thou oft provokest, yet grossly fearest 
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself. 
For thou existest on many a thousand grains, 
That issue out of dust : happy thou art not, 
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get ; 
And what thou hast, forgettest : thou art not certain, 
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects, 
After the moon. If thou art rich, thou 'rt poor ; 
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows, 
Thou bearest thy heavy riches but a journey, 
And death unloads thee. Friend thou hast none, 
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire, 
The mere effusion of thy proper loins, 

* Observe that no is the equivalent of the line preceding. 



190 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum, 

For ending thee no sooner : thou hast nor youth nor age, 

But, as it were, an after dinner sleep, 

Dreaming on both ; for all thy blessed youth 

Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms 

Of palsied eld ; and when thou art old and rich, 

Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty, 

To make thy riches pleasant. 

Love and awe 
Mingled in the regard of Helon's eye, 
As he beheld the stranger. He was not 
In costly raiment clad, nor on his brow 
The symbol of a princely lineage wore ; 
No followers at his back, nor in his hand 
Buckler, or sword, or spear ; yet in his mien 
Command sat throned serene ; and, if he smiled, 
A kingly condescension graced his lips, 
The lion would have crouched to, in his lair. 

While the trees are leafless, 
While the fields are bare, 
Buttercups and daisies 
Spring up here and there. 

Ere the snow-drop peepeth, 

Ere the crocus bold, 

Ere the early primrose 

Opes its paly gold, 

Somewhere on a sunny bank, 

Buttercups are bright : 

Somewhere 'mong the frozen grass 

Peeps the daisy white. 
Little hardy flowers, 
Like to children poor 
Playing in their sturdy health 
By their mother's door: 
Purple with the north wind 
Yet alert and bold : 
Fearing not and caring not 
Though they be a-cold. 

The Nautilus ever loves to glide, 
Upon the crest of the radiant tide. 

Tree nor shrub 
Dares that drear atmosphere ; no polar pine 
Uprears a veteran front ; yet there ye stand, 
Leaning your cheeks against the thick-ribbed ice, 
And looking up with brilliant eyes to Him 
Who bids you bloom unblanched amid the waste 
Of desolation. Man, who, panting, toils 
O'er slippery steeps, or, trembling, treads the verge 
Of yawning gulfs, o'er which the headlong plunge 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 191 

Is to eternity, looks shuddering up, 
And marks ye in your placid loveliness, 
Fearless, yet frail, and, clasping his chill hands, 
Blesses your pencilled beauty. 'Mid the pomp 
Of mountain summits rushing on the sky, 
And chaining the rapt soul in breathless awe 
He bows to bind you drooping to his breast, 
Inhales your spirit from the frost-winged gale, 
And freer dreams of heaven. 

CLASS H. COMPOUND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

Having under the preceding head of compound declarative sentences, adduced very numerous 
examples of close, compact and loose, I presume that, by this time, the student is sufficiently 
acquainted with their peculiarities, to recognize them, whether they appear as declaratives, inter- 
rogatives, or exclamations. I shall not, therefore, quote a greater number of examples than may 
be necessary to enable the student to obtain a clear conception of the rule of their delivery, anc 
to apply it with facility. 

I. DEFINITE INTEKEOGATIVES. 

1. Close. 

Rule X. The close definite interrogative is delivered either with 
the upward slide from the beginning to the end, (see Plate, Fig. 3,) or 
with the upward slide at the beginning, passing into a level tone of voice 
in the middle, and terminating with the upward slide at the end : (see 
Plate, Fig. 15 :) when it has a series, i. e. two more members of similar 
construction ; or being still more complex, when either of these mem- 
bers contains a series ; they are successively delivered in the same 
manner as the first, but in a slightly more elevated tone of voice. (See 
Plate, Fig. 12.) 

Of the two methods of delivery stated in the first half of the rule, the first should be adopted 
in every case in which it is practicable ; and it is practicable more frequently than is generally 
supposed : when, however, the sentence is a very long one, and consequently the space to be trav- 
ersed by the slide is too great for the compass of the voice, the second must be, necessarily, 
preferred. 

Examples. 

Is not this he that sat and begged ? 

Do the rulers know indeed, that this is the very Christ 1 

Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? 

Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused 
that even this man should not have died ? 

Have they not in this place every motive, assistance and encourage- 
ment to engage them in a virtuous and moral life, and to animate them 
in the attainment of useful learning 1 

Is it not remarkable that the same temper of weather, which raises 
this general warmth in animals, should cover the trees with leaves, and 
the fields with grass, for their security and concealment, and produce 
such infinite swarms of insects for the support and sustenance of their 
respective broods ? 



192 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Do atheism or universal skepticism dilate the heart with the liberal 
and generous sentiments, and that love of human kind which would 
render a man revered and blessed, as the patron of depressed merit, 
the friend of the widow and the orphan, the refuge and support of the 
poor and unhappy ? 

Is it possible in the present state of the public sentiment of the world, 
with the present rapid diffusion of knowledge, with the present reduction 
of antiquated error to the test of reason, that such a quarter of the world 
will be permitted to derive nothing but barbarism from intercourse with 
the countries which stand at the head of civilization ? 

Are the miseries of man, and is the fatal necessity of death in contem- 
plation ? 

Has he not himself, have not all the martyrs after him poured forth 
their blood in the conflict ? 

Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the 
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary ? 

Does not the farmer cultivating his lands, does not the mariner navi- 
gating his vessel on the ocean, do not professional men in their various 
pursuits, contribute as really as the statesman in his cabinet to the 
prosperity of the country ? 

Are all the feelings of ancestry, posterity and fellow-citizenship ; all 
the charm, veneration and love bound up in the name of country ; the 
delight, the enthusiasm, with which we seek out, after the lapse of gen- 
erations and ages, the traces of our fathers' bravery and wisdom ; — are 
these all a legal fiction ? 

Is the gift of articulate speech, which enables man to impart his con- 
dition to man, the organized sense which enables him to comprehend 
what is imparted, is that sympathy which subjects our opinions and 
feelings, and through them our conduct to the influence of others, and 
their conduct to our influence, is that chain of cause and effect which 
makes our characters receive impressions from the generations before 
us, and puts it in our power by a good or bad precedent to distil a poison 
or a balm into the characters of posterity, — are these, indeed, all by- 
laws of a corporation ? 

Will you believe that the pure system of christian faith, which 
appeared eighteen hundred years ago, in one of the obscurest regions 
of the Roman empire, at the moment of the highest cultivation and of 
the lowest moral degeneracy ; which superseded at once all the curious 
fabrics of pagan philosophy ; which spread almost instantaneously 
through the civilized world in opposition to the prejudices, the pride, 
and the persecution of the times ; which has already had the most bene- 
ficial influence on society, and been the source of almost all the melior- 
ation of the human character ; and which is now the chief support of 
the harmony, the domestic happiness, the morals, and the intellectual 
improvements of the best part of the world ; will you believe, I say, that 
this system originated in the unaided reflections of twelve Jewish fish- 
ermen on the sea of Galilee, with the son of a carpenter at their head ? 



Does prodigal autumn to our age deny 

The plenty that once swelled beneath his sober eye ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 193 

Will he quench the ray- 
Infused by his own forming smile at first, 
And leave a work so far all blighted and accurst 1 

Will a man play tricks, will he indulge 
A silly, fond conceit of his fair form 
And just proportion, fashionable mien, 
And pretty face, in presence of his God ? 

Can we want obedience then 
To him, or possibly his love desert, 
Who formed us from the dust and placed us here, 
Full to the utmost measure of what bliss 
Human desires can seek or apprehend ? 

Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn 
The just decree of God, pronounced and sworn, 
That to his only son, by right endued 
With regal sceptre, every soul in heaven 
Shall bend the knee, and in that honor due 
Confess him rightful king 1 

Will then the merciful One, who stamped our race 
With his own image, and who gave them sway 
O'er earth, and the glad dwellers on her face, 
Now that our flourishing nations far away 
Are spread, where'er the moist earth drinks the day, 
Forget the ancient care that taught and nursed 
His latest offspring ? 

2. Compact. 

Single compacts only are employed as interrogatives : at least, I have not met with any double 
compact interrogatives in the course of my reading. I have found them interwoven with other 
interrogative sentences, but in this form, they are referred to the head of " Combined sentences." 

The single compact sentence in most of its varieties (in all, I believe, except those formed on 
the comparatives, more, better, tlian, &c.,) is wholly interrogative only when the parts appear in 
the reversed order, thus : " Is it then a time to remove foundations when the earth itself is sha- 
ken V Restore the natural order of the pails of this sentence, and it ceases to be wholly inter- 
rogative : the question being limited to the second part, thus : " When the earth itself is shaken, 
is it then a time to remove foundations?" In this form the sentence is a variety of the semi- 
interrogative ; and consequentiy it does not belong here. 

Under the head of declarative compacts, I have taken pains to show that the correlative words 
are sometimes both expressed, sometimes only one, and sometimes neither. I shall take it for 
granted that this is now understood ; and therefore shall adduce examples under the rule indis- 
criminately. 

Rule XI. The compact definite interrogative, when its parts con- 
sist of single members, is delivered precisely like the close ; (see pre- 
ceding Rule ;) but when they contain two or more members, the series 
in the first part is delivered like the series in the close : and the series 
in the second part, like the series of an imperfect loose. (See Loose.) 

Examples. 
Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth ?' 

25 



194 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar 
were dead, to live all freemen ? 

Would you renounce being useful to the present generation, because 
you feel the envenomed shaft of envy ? 

Shall we therefore consider these statutes, I have enumerated, as 
harmless, because they are too wicked for execution ? 

Do ye so well understand matter, are your ideas of it so complete, 
that it is not susceptible of more than this or that ? 

Is it likely you will succeed in this wish, while you neglect to afford 
them an example of what you wish them to practice ? 

Is this then a time to forget the protection of heaven, when the hearts 
of men are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things 
which are coming on the earth ? 

Could he possibly have committed this crime, which, all will admit, 
is at variance with the character hitherto imputed to him, and with the 
tenor of his life, if he had been sane 1 

Are not the just, the brave, and the good, necessarily exposed to the 
disagreeable emotions of dislike and aversion, when they respectively 
meet with instances of fraud, of cowardice or of villany ? 

Do you not imagine that Themistocles also, and those that fell at 
Marathon and at Platea, and the very tombs of our ancestors, will raise 
a groan, if this man, who, avowedly siding with barbarians, opposed the 
Greeks, shall be crowned ? 

Could the children of Israel have been imposed on to receive an Ark, 
and a Tabernacle, then forged, and a complete set of service and liturgy, 
as descending from Moses by the direction of God, -unless that ark and 
that service had come to them from their ancestors, as authorized by 
God? 

Is it then possible that we can be indifferent, that we can delay prep- 
aration for another state, that we can hesitate to embrace the proffers of 
grace, when death is an event which may occur at any moment : when 
it may occur now while I am speaking from the sacred desk 1 

Then do we not recommend ourselves, when employed either in qual- 
ifying ourselves for doing good or in doing it: when we have the common 
advantage for our constant pursuit : when we seek for pleasure in 
making ourselves of use, and feel happiness in the degree in which we 
communicate it ? 

Should we not think it very unreasonable, if he should, in this case, 
persist in discrediting the testimony even of a single man, whose vera- 
city he had no reason to suspect ; and much more, if he should persist 
in opposition to the concurrent and continually increasing testimony of 
numbers ? 

Shall we deny the occurrence of a given event in a place or times 
remote, because we did not witness its occurrence : because it was extra- 
ordinary : because we cannot account for it on ordinary principles : 
because they who testified to its occurrence, did not happen to be an 
Aristotle, a Plato, or a Socrates ? 

Can the obscurity in which providence hath been pleased to wrap up 
some of its designs, raise doubts about the justice of the Creator, if the 
principles of the gospel be admitted : if we be persuaded that the tyrant, 
whose prosperity astonished us, fulfil the counsel of God : if ecclesiastical 
history assures us, that Herods and Pilates themselves contributed to the 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 195 

establishment of that Christianity which they meant to destroy : espe- 
cially, if we admit a state of future reward and punishment? 

In their far blue arch, 
Sparkle the crowd of stars less brightly 
When day is done ? 

Will he seek to dazzle me with tropes 
As with the diamond on his lilly hand, 
And play his brilliant parts before my eyes, 
When I am hungry for the bread of life ? 

So jest with heaven, 
Make such inconstant children of ourselves, 
As now again to snatch our palm from palm, 
Unswear faith sworn, and on the marriage-bed 
Of smiling peace to march a bloody host, 
And make a riot on the gentle brow 
Of true sincerity ? 

Note. The following examples, if they had a declarative instead of an interrogative con- 
struction, would be single compacts of the third form ; and of that variety of the third form 
which, beside having the correlative words understood, has its two parts connected by and or 
and yet, or and then, expressed. If, as interrogatives, they had the regular construction, they 
would be classed with semi-interrogatives. The regular form of the first example below, would 
be the following: "If you are a scholar, shall the land of the Muses ask your help in vain?" 
This is semi-interrogative ; as may be seen by referring to the appropriate head. With the first 
part, however, as well as the second, constructed interrogatively, to call it a semi-interrogative, 
would be to misname it. On this account, I have thought it best to introduce it, together with 
others of a more complex character, in this place. The delivery does not vary materially from 
the rule ; though a delivery approaching that of the perfect loose sentence is often heard, and is 
not inadmissible. Still, I prefer that which makes the second part begin after the pause with a 
continuation of the tone with which the first ends, and from thence advance up the slide. 

Examples. 

Are you a scholar, and shall the land of the Muses ask your help 
in vain 1 

Are you a Christian, and do you cheerfully contribute your property 
to christianize the heathen world 1 

Did I grow up side by side with your father, and shall his son pass 
me like a stranger in these old streets of Padua ? 

With the eye of the enthusiast do you often gaze at the triumphs of 
the arts, and will you do nothing to rescue their choicest relics from 
worse than vandal barbarism 1 

Are you a mother, rejoicing in all the charities of domestic life ; are 
you a daughter, rich and safe in conscious innocence and parental love ; 
and shall thousands more among the purest and loveliest of your sex, 
glut the shambles of Smyrna, and be doomed to a capacity inconceiv- 
ably worse than death ? 

Can we minister to the intellectual and spiritual wants of Syria, of 
Greece, of Burmah, of Ceylon, and of the remotest isles of the Pa- 
cific ; have we enough and to spare for these remote nations and tribes 
with whom we have no nearer kindred than that Adam is our common 
parent and Christ our common Saviour ; and shall we shut our hands 
on the call for the souPs food, which is addressed to us by these our 



196 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

brethren, our school-mates, whose fathers stood side by side with ours, 
in the great crisis of the country's fortune ? 

Could thirst of vengeance and desire of fame 
Excite the female breast with martial flame ; 
And shall not love's diviner power inspire 
More hardy virtue and more generous fire ? 

3. Loose. 

Loose interrogative sentences, both definite and indefinite, are liable to be mistaken for close, 
in consequence of having the interrogation point placed by printers as often at the «nd of the 
parts, as at the end of the sentence alone. (See Plate. Fig. 12, a, b, c.) The examples 
which follow are pointed in both ways ; but the student will observe that when the interrogation 
is placed after each of the parts, it is not followed by a capital letter, as too often and incorrectly 
in books. This practice is uniform throughout this work. 

Rule XII. The parts relatively considered, should be delivered suc- 
cessively with the upward slide ; each part beginning at a slightly more 
elevated tone of voice : (see Plate, Fig. 12 :) separately and indepen- 
dently, according as they are simple or compound, close or compact, in 
conformity with the rules hereinbefore given for their delivery. 

1. Perfect Loose. 
Examples. 

Is the tale now told : is the contrast now complete : are our destinies 
all fulfilled : are we declining or even stationary ? 

Could he expect the concurrence of every individual in that house ; 
and was he so weak or wicked, as to contrive plans of government of 
such a texture, that the intervention of circumstances, obvious and 
unavoidable, would occasion their total failure ? 

Was it to be wondered at, that a people, so circumstanced, should 
search for the cause and source of all their calamities ; or was it to be 
wondered at that they should find them in the arbitrary interpretations 
of their Constitution, and in the prodigal and corrupt administration of 
their revenues ? 

Is this the genuine fruit of the pious care of our ancestors, for the 
security and propagation of religion and good manners to the latest pos- 
terity ? is this at last the reward of their munificence ? or does this con- 
duct correspond with their views, or with their just expectations and 
demands of your friends and your country ? 

Had not the Shepherd made them to lie down in green pastures ; had 
he not led them beside the still waters ; restored he not their souls ; 
did he not lead them for his name's sake in the paths of righteousness ; 
and was he not with them still, though at length they walked the val- 
ley where death had cast his never departing shadow 1 

Ought not a title-deed like this to become the acquisition of the na- 
tion ? ought it not to be laid up in the archives of the people % ought 
not the price at which it is bought to be a provision for the ease and 
comfort of the old age of him who drew it ? ought not he who at the age 
of thirty, declared the independence of his country, at the age of eighty' 
to be received by his country in the enjoyment of his own ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 197 

Had not a paltry unconstitutional tax, neither in amount nor in prin- 
cipal to be named with the taxes of France, just put the continent of 
America in a flame ; and was it possible that the young officers of the 
French army should come back to their native land from the war of 
political emancipation waged on this continent, and sit down contented, 
under the old abuses at home ? 

Was it the winter's beating upon the houseless heads of women and 
children, was it hard labor and spare meals, was it disease, was it the 
tomahawk, was it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined enter- 
prise and a broken heart aching in its last moments at the recollection 
of the loved and left beyond the sea, was it some, or all of these united, 
that hurried this forsaken company to their melancholy fate ; and is it 
possible that neither of these causes, that not all combined, were able to 
blast this bud of hope ? 

Is the spot less precious now that eight more seasons have wept their 
dews over the dear and sacred blood, that has remained for eight more 
years uncommemorated beneath the sod ? are the valor, the self-devo- 
tion of the heroes of that day, of Warren, and Prescott, and Putnam, 
and Stark, and their gallant associates less deserving of celebration ? is 
this mighty and eventful scene in the opening drama of the Revolution 
less worthy of celebration, now that eight years more, in the prosperous 
enjoyment of our liberties, contrasted as they have been with the disas- 
trous struggles in other countries, have given us fresh cause for grati- 
tude to our fathers 1 

Do they (atheism or universal skepticism) tend to inspire that mag- 
nanimity and elevation of mind, that superiority of selfish gratifications, 
that contempt of danger and of death, when the cause of virtue, of lib- 
erty, or their country require it, which distinguish characters of patriots 
and heroes ; is their influence more favorable on the humbler and gent- 
ler virtues of private and domestic life ; do they soften the heart, and 
render it more delicately sensible of the thousand nameless duties and 
endearments of a husband, a father, a friend ; do they produce that 
habitual serenity and cheerfulness of temper, that gaiety of heart, which 
makes a man beloved as a companion ; or do they dilate the heart with 
the liberal and generous sentiments, and that love of human kind, which 
would render him revered and blessed as the patron of depressed merit, 
the friend of the widowed and the orphan, the refuge and support of the 
poor and the unhappy ? 

Would not a strain of greater loftiness be heard to ascend from those 
regions where the all-working God had left the traces of his immensity, 
than from the tame and the humbler scenery of an ordinary landscape ; 
would you not look for a gladder acclamation from the fertile field, than 
from an arid waste where no character of grandeur made up for the 
barrenness that was around you ; would not the goodly tree, compassed 
about with the glories of it ssummer foliage, lift up an anthem of louder 
gratitude, than the lowly shrub that grew beneath it ; would not the 
flower, from whose leaves every hue of loveliness was reflected, send 
forth a sweeter rapture than the russet- weed, which never drew the 
eye of any admiring passenger ; and would it not be there that you 
looked for the deepest tones of devotion, where you saw the towering 
eminences of nature, or the garniture of her more rich and beauteous 
adornments ? 



19H THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Can the deep statesman, skilled in great design, 
Protect but for a day precarious breath ? 
Or the tuned follower of the sacred nine, 
Soothe with his melody, insatiate death ? 

Is the sword well suited to the band ; 
Does 'broidered coat agree with sable gown : 
Can Mechlin laces shade a churchman's hand ; 
Or learning's votaries ape the beaux of town ? 

Has Nature in her calm majestic march 
Faltered with age at last ; does the bright sun 
Grow dim in heaven ; or, in their fair blue arch, 
Sparkle the crowd of stars, when day is done, 
Less brightly ? 

Has silence pressed her seal upon his lips? 
Does adamantine faith invest his heart ? 
Will he not bend beneath a tyrant's frown ? 
Will he not melt before ambition's fire ? 
Will he not soften in a friend's embrace ? 
Or flow dissolving in a woman's tears ? 

Is he not thine own, 
Thyself in miniature, thy flesh, thy bone ; 
And hop'st thou not 

That since thy strength must w r ith thy years elope, 
And then wilt need some comfort to assuage 
Health's last farewell, a staff of thine old age, 
That then, in recompense of all thy cares, 
Thy child shall show respect to thy gray hairs, 
Befriend thee, of all other friends bereft, 
And give thy life its only cordial left ? 

2. Imperfect Loose. 

Examples. 

May we doubt how guilty that attachment to pleasure is, which lays 
waste our understanding : which entails on us ignorance or error : 
which renders us even more useless than the beings whom instinct 
alone directs ? 

Are we so humble, so low, so debased, that we dare not express our 
sympathy for suffering Greece : that we dare not articulate our detest- 
ation of the brutal excesses of which she has been the bleeding victim ? 

Do not scriptures clearly show that they who persecute are generally 
in the wrong, and they who suffer persecution in the right : that the 
majority has always been on the side of falsehood, and the minority 
only on the side of truth ? 

Is anything more evident than that serious applications cannot be long 
sustained ; that we must sink under their weight ; that they soon stu- 
pefy or distract us ; and that they cannot be carried on but by allowing 
us intervals of relaxation and mirth ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED, 199 

Do we never meet with charity whicli melts at suffering : with the 
honesty which disdains, and is probably superior to falsehood : with the 
active beneficence which gives to others its time and its labor : with the 
modesty which shrinks from notice, and gives all its sweetness to retire- 
ment : with the gentleness which breathes peace to all, and throws a 
beautiful lustre over the walks of domestic society ? 

Are we so mean, so base, so despicable that we may not attempt to 
express our horror, utter our indignation, at the most brutal and atro- 
cious war that ever stained earth or shocked high Heaven : at the 
ferocious deeds of a savage and infuriated soldiery, stimulated and 
urged by the clergy of a fanatical and inimicable religion, and rioting 
in all the excesses of blood and butchery, at the mere details of which 
the heart sickens and recoils ? 

Might not sensibility shed forth its tears, friendship perform its servi- 
ces, liberality impart of its treasures, patriotism earn the gratitude of 
its country, honor maintain itself entire and untainted, and all the soft- 
enings of what is amiable, and all the glories of what is chivalrous and 
manly, gather into one bright effulgence of moral accomplishment on 
the person of him, who never, for a single day of his life, subordinates 
one habit, or one affection, to the will of the Almighty; who is just as 
careless and unconcerned about God, as if the native tendencies of his 
constitution had compounded him into a monster of deformity ; and who 
just as effectually realizes this attribute of rebellion against his Maker, 
as the most loathsome and profligate of the species that walks in the 
counsel of his own heart and after the light of his own eyes 1 

Have you never read in your own character, or in the observed 
character of others, that the claims of the Divinity may be entirely for- 
gotten by the very man to whom society around him yield, and rightly 
yield, the homage of an unsullied and honorable reputation ; that this 
man may have all his foundations in the world ; that every security on 
which he rests, and every enjoyment upon which his heart is set, lieth 
on this side of death ; that a sense of the coming day in which God is 
to enter into judgment with him, is, to every purpose of practical 
ascendancy, as good as expunged altogether from his bosom ; that he is 
far in desire, and far in enjoyment, and far in habitual contemplation, 
away from that God, who is not far from any one of us; that his 
extending credit, and his brightening prosperity, and his magnificent 
retreat from business, with all the splendor of its accommodations, are 
the futurities at which he terminates ; and that he goes not in thought 
beyond them to that eternity, which, in the flight of a few years, will 
absorb all, and annihilate all ? 

Hast thou incurred 
His anger, who can waste thee with a word ; 
Who poises and proportions sea and land, 
Weighing them in the hollow of his hand ; 
And in whose awful sight all nations seem 
As grasshoppers, as dust, a drop, a dream ? 

Can I forget what charms did once adorn 

My garden, stored with peas, and mint, and thyme, 

And rose, and lilly, for the Sabbath morn : 



I 

200 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

The Sabbath bells, and their delightful chime : 

The gambols and wild freaks at shearing time : 

My hen's rich nest through long grass scarce espied : 

The cowslip-gathering in June's dewy prime : 

The swans, that when I sought the water-side, 

From far to meet me came, spreading their snowy pride ? 

Hast thou not learned, what thou art often told 
A truth still sacred, and believed of old, 
That no success attends on spears and swords 
Unblest, and that the battle is the Lord's : 
That courage is his creature, and dismay, 
The frost that at his bidding speeds away, 
Ghastly in feature, and his stammering tongue 
With doleful humor, and sad presage hung, 
To quell the valor of the stoutest heart, 
And teach the combatant the woman's part : 
That he bids thousands fly when none pursue, 
Saves as he will by many or by few, 
And claims forever, as his royal right, 
The event and sure decision of the fight 1 

But is it fit, or can it bear the shock 
Of rational discussion, that a man, 
Compounded and made up like other men • 
Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust 
And folly in as ample measure meet, 
As in the bosoms of the slaves he rules, 
Should be a despot absolute, and boast 
Himself the only freeman of his land : 
Should, when he pleases, and on whom he will, 
Wage war, with any or with no pretence 
Of provocation given, or wrong sustained, 
And force the beggarly last doit by means, 
That his own humor dictates, from the clutch 
Of poverty, that thus he may procure 
His thousands, weary of penurious life, 
A splendid opportunity to die ? 

Miscellaneous Examples of Definite Interrogatives. 

Can gray hairs make folly venerable 1 and is not their period to be 
reserved for retirement and meditation ? 

Does he suppose me less capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or 
sympathy for his sufferings, than if his eyes had first opened upon the 
light in Massachusetts, instead of South Carolina ? 

Has the gentleman discovered in former controversies with the gentle- 
man from Missouri that he is overmatched by that senator ; and does 
he hope for an easy victory over a more feeble adversary ? 

Is it then, for a sovereign state to fold her arms and stand still in sub- 
missive apathy, when the loud clamors of the people, whom Providence 
has committed to her charge, are ascending to heaven for justice ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 201 

Can all the illusions of ambition realized, can all the wealth of uni- 
versal commerce, can all the achievements of successful heroism, or all 
the establishments of this world's wisdom, secure to empire the perma- 
nency of its possessions ? 

Have any alarms been occasioned by the emancipation of our catholic 
brethren ; has the bigoted malignity of any individual been crushed ; or 
has the stability of the government, or that of the country been weak- 
ened ; or is one million of subjects stronger than four millions ? 

Would it have been quite amiable in me, sir, to interrupt this excel- 
lent good feeling ? must I not have been absolutely malicious, if I could 
have thrust myself forward to destroy sensations thus pleasing ? was it 
not much better and kindlier, both to sleep upon them myself, and to 
allow others, also, the pleasure of sleeping upon them 1 

Has not Philip, contrary to all treaties, insulted you in Thrace : does 
he not at this instant, straiten and invade your confederates, whom you 
have solemnly sworn to protect : is he not an implacable enemy, a faith- 
less ally, the usurper of provinces to which he has no title nor pretence, 
a stranger, a barbarian, a tyrant ? 

Do you think, as honest men, anxious for the public tranquillity, con- 
scious that there are wounds not yet completely cicatrized, that you 
ought to speak this language, at this time, to men who are too much 
disposed to think that in this very emancipation they have been saved 
from their own parliament by the humanity of their sovereign ? 

Can a man, who by divine meditation, is admitted, as it were, into the 
conversation of this ineffable, incomprehensible Majesty, think days, or 
years, or ages, too long for the continuance of so ravishing an honor ; 
shall the trifling amusements, the palling pleasures, the silly business of 
the world, roll away our hours too swiftly from us ; and shall the space 
of time seem sluggish to a mind exercised in studies so high, so impor- 
tant, and so glorious ? 

Must I wound his ear with the news of your revolt : must he hear 
from me, that neither the soldiers raised by himself, nor the veterans 
who fought under him, are willing to own his authority : must he be 
told that neither dismissions from the service, nor money lavishly granted, 
can appease the fury of ungrateful men : must I inform him that here 
centurions are murdered ; that, in this camp, the tribunes are driven 
from their posts ; that here the ambassadors of Rome are detained as 
prisoners ; that the intrenchments present a scene of slaughter ; that 
rivers are discolored with our blood ; and that a Roman general leads 
a precarious life, at the mercy of men inflamed with an epidemic mad- 
ness ? 

Do not you, and did not they, feel, that this life cannot be man's only 
abiding place ? that this spirit cannot pass, upon the hasty and uncertain 
waves of time, to an eternal nothing ? that the restless, irrepressible, 
and unsatisfied leapings of the heart and the affections, after that which 
is higher and beyond all that surrounds us, demand that we should credit 
something which belongs not to the passing hour ? that all the economy 
of nature, the beauty of the earth, the brilliancy of the stars, the glory of 
the lights of the day and the night, the forms of human strength and love- 
liness, cannot be taken from us and pass forever from our sight and our 
enjoyment ? That there must be a continued, a prolonged existence, 
where the eye shall see, the ear hear, beauty fade not, the affections of 

26 



202 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

the heart be not blasted, and the glorious panoply of nature be spread 
out forever? 

Is the world to gaze in admiration on this fine spectacle of virtue ; 
and are we to be told that the Being, who gave such faculties to one of 
his children, and provides the theatre for their exercise, that the Being, 
who called this moral scene into existence, and gave it all its beauties, 
that he is to be forgotten, and neglected as of no consequence ? 

Are you christians ; and, by upholding duelists will you deluge the 
land with blood, and fill it with widows and orphans 1 

Will you bestow your suffrage, when you know that by withholding 
it you may arrest this deadly evil ? 

And have not prison gloom, 
And taunting foes, and threatened doom 
Obscured thy courage yet ? 

Hear ye the sounds that the winds on their pinions 

Exultingly roll from the shore to the sea, 

With a voice that resounds through her boundless dominions ? 

Has earth a clod 
Its Maker meant not should be trod 
By man, the image of his God, 

Erect and free, 
Unscourged by superstition's rod, 

To bow the knee ? 

Is not the lovely woman 
I met in the adjacent hall, who, with 
An air, and port and eye which would have better 
Beseemed this palace in its brightest days, 
Though in a garb adapted to its present 
Abandonment, returned my salutation, — 
Is not the same your spouse ? 

Art thou that traitor angel, art thou he 

Who first broke peace in heaven, and faith, till then 

Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms 

Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons, 

Conjured against the Highest ; for which both thou 

And they, outcast from God, are here condemned 

To waste eternal days in woe and pain ? 

Is it a time to wrangle, when the props 
And pillars of our planet seem to fail, 
And Nature with a dim and sickly eye 
To wait the close of all ? 

Canst thou, the tear just trembling on thy lids, 
And while the dreadful risk foreseen forbids, 
Free too, and under no constraining force, 
Unless the sway of custom warp thy course, 
Lay such a stake upon the losing side 
Merely to gratify so blind a guide ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 203 

Shall yon exulting peak, 
Whose glittering top is like a distant star, 
Lie low beneath the boiling of the deep, 
No more to have the morning sun break forth, 
And scatter back the mists in floating folds 
From its tremendous brow : no more to have 
Day's broad orb drop behind its head at even ; 
Leaving it with a crown of many hues : 
No more to be the beacon of the world 
For angels to alight on, as the spot 
Nearest the stars ? 

[Oh earth !] dost thou too sorrow for the past 
Like man thy offspring ; do I hear thee mourn 
Thy childhood's unreturning hours, thy springs 
Gone with their genial airs and melodies, 
The gentle generations of thy flowers, 
And thy majestic groves of olden time, 
Perished with all their dwellers ; dost thou wail 
For that fair age of which the poets tell, 
Ere the rude winds grew keen with frost, or fire 
Fell with the rains, or spouted from the hills, 
To blast thy greenness, while the virgin night 
Was guiltless and salubrious as the day ; 
Or, haply, dost thou grieve for those that die : 
For living things that trod awhile thy face, 
The loved of thee and heaven, and now they sleep, 
Mixed with the shapeless dust on which thy herds 
Trample and graze ? 

2. INDEFINITE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

1. Close. 

Rule XIII. This interrogative should be delivered either with an 
uninterrupted downward slide, {see Plate, Fig. 4,) or with the down- 
ward slide at the beginning passing into a level tone of voice through 
the middle, and terminating with the downward slide at the end : [see 
Plate, Fig. 16 :) when it has two or more members similarly constructed 
at the beginning, or either of these members has sub-members of similar 
construction, these members are successively delivered in the same 
manner, but in a slightly lower tone of voice. 

Of the two methods spoken of in the beginning of the rule, the first is to be preferred if practi- 
cable ; but when the sentence is too long for a continuous downward slide, the second must of 
necessity be adopted : even then the level should rather be comparative than absolute, and the 
voice perceptibly fall : just perceptibly, and no more. 

Examples. 

What citizen of our republic is not grateful in view of the contrast 
which our history presents ? 



204 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Who ever sought honor, glory, praise or fame of any kind with the 
same ardor that we fly those most cruel of afflictions, ignominy, con- 
tumely, and scorn V 

How can it enter into the thoughts of man, that the soul, which is 
capable of such immense perfections, and of receiving new improve- 
ments to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing almost as soon as it is 
created ? 

Where is the man who has not his wrong tendencies to lament ? 

Whence is it that veteran troops face an enemy with almost as little 
concern as they perform their exercise ? 

Which of those faculties or affections, which heaven can be supposed 
to gratify, have you cultivated and improved $ 

When was it that Rome attracted most strongly the admiration of 
mankind, and impressed the deepest sentiment of fear on the hearts of 
her enemies ? 

Why was not the whole year one continued scene of dull uniformity, 
or so irregular in its changes as utterly to baffle all the calculations, 
and arrangements, and pursuits of life ? 

Who can say for how many centuries, safe in their undiscovered 
fastnesses, they had decked their war-chiefs with the feathers of the 
eagle's tail and listened to the counsels of their beloved old men ? 

Why did they not, in the next breath, by way of crowning the climax 
of their vanity, bid the magnificent fire-ball to descend from its exalted 
and appropriate region, and perform its splendid tour along the surface 
of the earth ? 

What rank or condition of youth is there, that has not daily and 
hourly opportunities of laying in supplies of knowledge and virtue, that 
will in every station of life be equally serviceable and ornamental to 
themselves and beneficial to mankind ? 

Who can doubt, that in the sacred desk, or at the bar, the man who 
speaks well, will enjoy a larger share of reputation, and be more useful 
to his fellow-creatures than the divine or the lawyer of equal learning 
and integrity, but unblest with the talent of oratory ? 

To whom do we owe it, under an all-wise Providence, that this nation 
so miraculously born, is now contributing with such effect to the welfare 
of the human family, by aiding the march of mental and moral im- 
provement, and giving an example to the nations of what it is to be 
pious, intelligent and free ? 

Who will ever forget that in that eventful struggle which severed 
this mighty empire from the British crown, there was not heard through- 
out our continent in arms, a voice which spoke louder for the rights of 
America, than that of Burke or Chatham, within the walls of the Brit- 
ish Parliament, and at the foot of the British throne ? 

What time can suffice for the contemplation and worship of that 
glorious, immortal and eternal Being, among the works of whose stupen- 
dous creation those numberless luminaries which we may here behold 
spangling all the sky, though they should be suns lighting different 
systems of worlds, may possibly appear but as a few atoms, opposed to 
the whole earth which we inhabit ? 

How can we find that wisdom which shines through all his works, in 
the formation of man, without looking on this world as only a nursery 
for the next, and believing that the several generations of rational crea- 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 205 

tures, which rise up and disappear in such quick succession, are only 
to receive their first rudiments of existence here, and afterwards to be 
transplanted into a more friendly climate where they may spread and 
flourish to all eternity V 

What eye has been permitted to see, what ear to hear, what heart to 
conceive, those things which God has in preparation for such as love 
him? 

Who that has a memory to look back over the past, who that has a 
mind to comprehend all the present, who that has an imagination to 
embody the dim visions of the future, will despair ? 

Who does not feel, what reflecting American does not acknowledge, 
the incalculable advantages derived to this land out of the deep founda- 
tions of civil, intellectual and moral truth, from which we have drawn 
in England ? 

Who that has a heart to love his family, his state, the nation, the 
living or the unborn world, and who that has a soul that ascends in 
thought to the throne of God, the mansions of angels, and the habitations 
of the j list made perfect, will despair of the literature of his country ? 

Who can tell how much of his good or ill success in life, how much 
of the favor or disregard with which he himself has been treated, may 
have depended upon that skill or deficiency in grammar, of which, as 
often as he has either spoken or written, he must have afforded certain 
and constant evidence ? 

But what to them the sculptor's art, 
His funeral columns, wreaths and urns ? 

And what is faith, love, virtue, unessayed, 
Alone, without exterior help sustained ? 

Why stand we gazing on the sparkling brine 
With wonder, smit by its transparency, 
And all enraptured with its purity ? 

Where shall the lover rest, 

Whom the fates sever 
From his true maiden's breast, 

Parted forever? 

And who that walks, where men of ancient days 
Have wrought with godlike arm the deeds of praise, 
Feels not the spirit of the place control, 
Exalt and agitate his laboring soul ? 

Why 
Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect 
God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore 
Only among the crowd, and under roofs 
That our frail hands have raised ? 

How comes it that the wondrous essence, 

Which gave such vigor to those strong-nerved limbs, 

Has leapt of its enclosure, and compelled 



206 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

This noble workmanship of nature thus 
To sink into a cold, inactive clod ? 

Why wouldst thou, but for some felonious end, 
In thy dark lantern thus close up the stars 
That Nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps 
With everlasting oil, to give due light 
To the misled and lonely traveler $ 

Who that there 
Had seen those listening warrior-men, 
With their swords grasped, their eyes of flame 
Turned on their chief, could doubt the shame, 
The indignant shame with which they thrill 
To hear those shouts and yet stand still ? 

And who was she, in virgin prime, 

And May of womanhood, 
Whose roses here, unplucked by time, 

In shadowy tints have stood, 
While many a winter's withering blast 
Hath o'er the dark cold chamber past 
In which her once resplendent form 
Slumbered to dust beneath the storm ? 

2. Compact. 

Rule XIV. When both parts of a compact indefinite interrogative 
consist of a single member each, they are together delivered precisely 
like the close ; (see preceding Rule ;) but when either of them contains 
two or more members, the series in the first, is delivered like the series 
of the close, and the series in the second, like the series of a loose. (See 
Loose Sentence below.) 

Examples. 

Who would ever have mentioned it, had not Coelius impeached a 
certain person ? 

What can carry less the appearance of a design to fright, than a man 
entangled with a cloak, shut up in a chariot, and almost fettered by 
a wife? 

What could have been his motive for pursuing the conduct he did on 
that occasion, when his obligations to act differently were so numerous 
and solemn ? 

What is so calculated, under the blessing of divine grace, to impress 
them with the importance of prayer, as the being called at stated inter- 
vals to take part in our devout supplications to God ? 

Why should we suspend our resistance, why should we submit to 
an authority like this, if we have the right and superior force on our 
side? 

What are we to look for, when you shall be no longer hackneyed in 
the ways of men ; when interest shall have completed the obduration of 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 207 

your heart ; and when experience shall have improved you in all the 
arts of guile ? 

How can we but despair of ever witnessing on earth a pure and a 
holy generation, when even parents will utter their polluting levities in 
the hearing of their own children ; and vice and humor and gaiety, are 
all indiscriminately blended into our conversation ; and a loud laugh 
from the initiated and the uninitiated in profligacy, is ever ready to flat- 
ter and to regale the man who can thus prostitute his powers of enter- 
tainment ? 

Why recur to any presumption, for the purpose of bringing the ques- 
tion to a settlement, when, upon this very topic, we are favored with an 
authoritative message from God : when an actual embassy has come from 
him, and that on the express errand of reconciliation : when the records 
of this embassy have been collected into a volume within the reach of all 
who will stretch forth their hand to it : when the obvious expedient of 
consulting the record is before us ? * 

Who would not cherish dreams so sweet, 
Though grief and pain should come to-morrow *' 

What should hinder me to sell my skin, 
Dear as I could, if once my heart were in $ 

Why, 
Even for a moment, has our verse deplored 
Their wrongs, since they fulfilled their destiny \ 

Who could guess, 
If evermore should meet those mutual eyes, 
Since upon night so sweet, such awful morn should rise ? 

What better can we do, than to the place 
Repairing where he judged us, prostrate fall 
Before him reverent, and there confess 
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears 
Watering the ground, and with our sighs 
Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign 
Of sorrow unfeigned and humiliation ? 

So senseless who could be 
As long and perseveringly to mourn 
For any object of his love, removed 
From this unstable world, if he could fix 
A satisfying view upon that state 
Of pure, imperishable blessedness, 
Which reason promises, and Holy Writ 
Ensures to all believers ? 

What profits all that earth, 
Or heaven's blue vault, is suffered to put forth 
Of impulse or allurement, for the soul 
To quit the beaten track of life, and soar 
Far as she finds a yielding element 



208 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

In past or future, far as she can go 

Through time or space ; if neither in the one 

Nor in the other region, nor in aught 

That fancy dreaming o'er the map of things, 

Hath placed beyond these penetrable bounds, 

Words of assurance can be heard : if no where 

A habitation, for consummate good, 

Nor for progressive virtue, by the search 

Can be attained ; a better sanctuary 

From doubt and sorrow, than the senseless grave ? 

Note. Occasionally in sustained prose and poetry, but more frequently in dialogue and con- 
versation, nothing of the first part of the compact is expressed, except the interrogative pro- 
noun : e. g. 

What, if he should not come ? 

What, if instead of the few and trifling evils we now endure, we should 
experience disaster upon disaster until we lay prostrate in a scene of 
universal desolation ? 

What, when we fled amain, pursued and struck 
With heaven's afflicting thunder, and besought 
The deep to shelter us ? 

What, if the breath that kindled those grim fires, 
Awaked, should blow them into seven-fold rage, 
And plunge us in the flames ? 

3. Loose. 

Rule XV. The parts of a loose sentence considered relatively, 
should be successively delivered with the downward slide, beginning at 
a slightly lower tone of voice ; (see Plate, Fig. 13;) but separately and 
independently considered, according as they are simple or compound, 
close or compact, in conformity to rules already given. 

1. Perfect Loose. 
Examples. 

Of what use is salt, if it hath lost its savor ; or of what use is the 
sword-blade, if it doth not cut ? 

But what interest could he have in abusing- this man's character to 
me ; or why should I question his truth, when he assured me, that this 
man had never performed an act of charity in his life ? 

Why was the French revolution so bloody and destructive : why was 
our revolution of 1641 comparatively mild : why was our revolution of 
1688 milder still : why was the American revolution, considered as an 
internal movement, the mildest of all ? 

What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what 
communion hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath Christ 
with Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth wi- h an infidel ? and 
what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 209 

Who then will sustain the expense, if not the christian world ; and what 
portion of the christian world rather than the American churches ; and 
what district of these churches, rather than that in which we are assem- 
bled ; and what individuals rather than ourselves? 

Where is the very possibility of entering into these thoughts and res- 
olutions? What delight is there in expecting misery without end? 
What variety in finding one's self encompassed with impenetrable dark- 
ness ? or what consolation in despairing forever of a comforter ? 

How comes it that the grave should throw so impenetrable a shroud 
over the realities of eternity ? how comes it that heaven, and hell, and 
judgment should be treated as so many nonentities, and that there 
should be as little real and operative sympathy felt for the soul which 
lives forever, as for the body after it is dead, or for the dust into which 
it molders ? ^ 

How shall I attempt to follow them through the succession of great 
events which a rare and kind Providence crowded into their lives : how 
shall I attempt to count all the links of that bright chain, which binds 
the perilous hour of their first efforts for freedom, with the rich enjoy- 
ment of its consummation : how shall I attempt to enumerate the posts 
they filled and the trusts they discharged at home and abroad ? 

Who is it, that will best possess and most effectually exercise these 
more than magic powers ? who is it, that will most effectually stem the 
torrent of human passions, and calm the raging waves of human vice 
and folly ? who is it, that, with the voice of a Joshua, shall control the 
course of nature herself in the perverted heart, and arrest the lumi- 
naries of wisdom and virtue in their rapid revolutions round this little 
world of man ? 

But how shall we pursue this conspiracy into its other ramifications : 
how shall we be able to neutralize that insinuating poison which distils 
from the lips of grave and respectable citizens : how shall we be able 
to dissipate that gloss which is thrown by the smile of elders and supe- 
riors over the sins of forbidden indulgence : how can we disarm the 
bewitching sophistry which lies in all these evident tokens of compla- 
cency on the part of advanced and reputable men : how is it possible to 
trace the progress of the sore evil throughout all the business and inter- 
course of society : how can we stem the influence of evil communica- 
tions, when the friend and the patron, and the man who had cheered 
and signalized us by his polite invitations, turns his own family-table 
into a nursery of licentiousness : how can we but despair of ever wit- 
nessing on earth a pure and a holy generation, when even parents will 
utter their polluting levities in the hearing of their own children ; and 
vice and humor and gaiety, are all indiscriminately blended into one 
conversation ; and a broad laugh from the initiated and the uninitiated 
in profligacy, is ever ready to flatter and regale the man who can thus 
prostitute his powers of entertainment ? 

Who in such a night will dare 

To tempt the wilderness ; 
And who 'mid thunder peals can hear 

Our signal of distress ? 

Why is the crowd so great to-day ; 
And why do the people shout " huzzas : ; 

27 



210 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

And why is yonder felon given 
Alone to feed the birds of heaven V 

And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet • 
And when shall Zion's songs again seem sweet ; 
And Judah's melody once more rejoice 
The hearts that leaped before its heavenly voice ? 

Yet why should I mingle in fashion's full herd V 
Why crouch to her leaders, or cringe to her rules V 
Why bend to the proud, or applaud the absurd ? 
Why search for delight in the friendship of fools ? 

Where is that standard which Pelagio bore, 
When Cava's traitor-sire first called the band 
That dyed thy mountain-streams with Gothic gore : 
Where are those bloody banners which of yore 
Waved o'er thy sons victorious to the gale, 
And drove at last the spoilers to their shore V 

What can be worse 
Than to dwell here, driven out from bliss, condemned 
Tn this abhorred deep to utter woe ; 
Where pain of unextinguishable fire 
Must exercise us without hope of end : 
The vassals of his anger, when the scourge 
Inexorable, and the torturing hour 
Call us to penance ? 

Who but rather turns 
To heaven's broad fire his unconstrained view, 
Than to the glimmering of a waxen flame : 
Who that, from alpine heights, his laboring eye 
Shoots round the wide horizon, to survey 
Nilus or Ganges rolling his bright wave 

Through mountains, plains, through empires black with shade, 
And continents of sand, will turn his gaze 
To mark the windings of a scanty rill 
That murmurs at his feet ? 

2. Imperfect Loose. 

Examples. 

When saw we thee a hungered and fed thee ; or thirsty and gave 
thee drink ? 

By whom is this profusion praised, but by wretches who consider him 
as subservient to their purposes ; syrens that entice him to shipwreck ; 
and cyclops that are gaping to devour him ? 

What weightier recommendation to our assent can any doctrine have 
than that, as it tends to improve us in virtue, so the more virtuous we 
are, the more firmly we assent to it ; or, the better judges we are of 
truth, the fuller assurance we have of its truth ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 211 

To whom but to the Father of light, in whom there is no darkness 
at all, can we be indebted, that now, persons of the slenderest capacities 
may view those elevated and beneficial truths in the strongest point of 
light, which the finest spirits of the Gentile world could not before fully 
ascertain : that our meanest mechanics, with a moderate share of appli- 
cation, may have juster and fuller notions of God's attributes, of eternal 
happiness, of every duty respecting their Maker, mankind and them- 
selves, than the most distinguished scholars among the heathen could 
attain to, after a life laid out in painful researches ? 

To whom do we owe it, that in this favored land the gospel of the 
grace of God has best displayed its power to bless humanity, by uniting 
the anticipations of a better world with the highest interests and pursuits 
of this : by carrying its merciful influence into the very business and 
bosoms of men : by making the ignorant wise, and the miserable happy : 
by breaking the fetters of the slave, and teaching the babe and suckling 
those simple and sublime truths, which give to life its dignity and virtue, 
and fill immortality with hope V 

To whom do we owe it, that the pure and powerful light of the gospel 
is now shed abroad over these countries, and rapidly gaining upon the 
darkness of the western world ; that the importance of religion to the 
temporal welfare and to the permanence of wise institutions, is here 
beginning to be felt in its just measure ; that the influence of a divine 
revelation is not here, as in almost every other section of Christendom, 
wrested to purposes of worldly ambition ; that the holy Bible is not 
sealed from the eyes of those for whom it was intended ; and that the 
best charities and noblest powers of the soul are not degraded by the 
terrors of a dark and artful superstition ? 

What could tend more to perpetuate the memory of an event, than 
to deliver a whole people by public, glorious miracles, from intolerable 
slavery ; to publish a very extraordinary system of laws immediately 
from heaven ; to put this law in writing together with the covenant for 
obeying it ; to make the tenure of the estates depend on the original 
division of the land, to men who saw the miracles, and first took posses- 
sion, and on the proximity of relation by descent to them ; to appoint a 
return of lands every fiftieth year, which should give occasion to canvass 
those descents ; to order a Sabbath every seventh year for the land, the 
loss of which should be supplied by the preceding year's increase ; and 
to select a whole tribe, consisting of many thousands, to be the guar- 
dians, and, in some degree, the judges and executors of this law ? 

How shall I attempt to enumerate the posts they filled and the trusts 
they discharged at home and abroad, both in the councils of their native 
States and of the confederation, both before and after the adoption of the 
federal constitution ; the codes of law, and the systems of government 
they aided in organizing ; the foreign embassies they sustained ; the 
alliances with foreign states they contracted when America was weak ; 
the loans and subsidies they procured from foreign powers, when 
America was poor ; the treaties of peace and commerce, which they 
negotiated ; their participation in the federal government ; (Mr. Adams 
as the first Vice-President, Mr. Jefferson as the first Secretary of State ;) 
their mutual possession of the confidence of the only man, to whom 
his country accorded a higher place ; and their successive administra- 
tions in chief of the interests of this great Republic ? 



212 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

How acquire 
The inward principle that gives effect 
To outward argument : the passive will 
Meek to submit : the active energy, 
Strong and unbounded to embrace, and firm 
To keep and cherish ? 

Why should we thus, with an untoward mind, 

And in the weakness of humanity, 

From natural wisdom turn our hearts away ; 

To natural comfort shut our eyes and ears ; 

And, feeding on disquiet, thus disturb 

The calm of nature with our restless thoughts? 

Who shall be named, in the resplendent line 

Of sages, martyrs, confessors, the man 

Whom the best might of conscience, truth and hope, 

For one day's little compass, has preserved 

From painful and discreditable shocks 

Of contradiction : from some vague desire 

Culpably cherished, or corrupt relapse 

To some unsanctioned fear ? 

Why in age 
Do we revert so fondly to the walks 
Of childhood, but that there the soul discerns 
The dear memorial footsteps, unimpaired, 
Of her own native vigor : thence can hear 
Reverberations, and a choral song 
Commingling with the incense that ascends, 
Undaunted, toward the imperishable heavens, 
From her own lonely altar ? 

How, think you, would they tolerate this scheme 

Of fine propensities, that tends, if urged 

Far as it might be urged, to sow afresh 

The weeds of Roman phantasy, in vain 

Uprooted ; to reconsecrate our wells 

To good Saint Fillan, and to fair Saint Anne ; 

And, from long banishment, recall Saint Giles 

To watch again with tutelary care 

O'er stately Edinborough, throned on crags ? 

Miscellaneous Examples of Indefinite Interrogatives. 

What are we to do, if the government and the whole community is 
of the same description ? 

What safety have any of us in our persons, what security for our 
rights, if the law shall be set aside ? 

By what means is tyranny, by what means are the excesses of arbi- 
trary government most likely to be produced ? 

Where, then, were these guardians of the constitution, these vigilant 
sentinels of our rights and liberties, when this law was passed ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 213 

On what ground, then, dare you speak lightly of the law, or move 
that, in a criminal trial, judges should advance one step beyond what 
it permits them to go ? 

Where, then, is the justification of the attempt to produce a war of 
commercial regulations with Great Britain : passing over greater objec- 
tions to the policy observed toward us by other nations ? 

In what school did the worthies of our land, the Washingtons, Hen- 
rys, Hancocks, Franklins, Rutledges of America, learn those principles 
of civil liberty, which were so nobly asserted by their wisdom and valor ? 

How is it that tyranny has thus triumphed : that the hopes with 
which we greeted the French Revolution, have been crushed : that a 
usurper plucked up the last roots of the tree of liberty, and planted des- 
potism in its place ? 

By what title do you, Naso, sit in that chair, and preside in this judg- 
ment : by what right, Attius, do you accuse, or I defend : whence all 
the solemnity and pomp of judges, and clerks, and officers, of which 
this house is full $ 

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consid- 
erest not the beam in thine own eye ; or how wilt thou say to thy 
brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam 
is in thine own eye ? 

Why should not divine faithfulness, supposing the truth of this absurd 
reasoning, transcend our poor understandings as much as divine good- 
ness and justice ; and why may not God, consistently with this attri- 
bute, crush every hope which his word has raised ? 

What are we to think of those gentlemen, who, not only with proper 
and decent, but with laudable motives, so long, so perseveringly, so per- 
tinaciously opposed that voice of the people, which had repeatedly, and 
for many years declared itself against them, through the organ of their 
representatives i 1 

What place would be drearier than the future mansions of Christ, to 
one who should want sympathy with their inhabitants : who could not 
understand their language : who would feel himself a foreigner there : 
who would be taught, by the joys which he could not partake, his own 
loneliness and desolation ? 

Now what must we expect, when Christians of all capacities and dis- 
positions, the ignorant, prejudiced and self-conceited, imagine it their 
duty to prescribe opinions to Christendom, and to open or shut the door 
of the church according to the decision which their neighbors may 
form on some of the most perplexing points of theology ? 

What, then, must be my feelings, what ought to be the feelings of a 
man cherishing such sentiments, when he sees an act contemplated, 
which lays ruin at the root of all these hopes : when he sees a principle 
of action about to be usurped, before the operation of which, the bands 
of this constitution are no more than flax before the fire, or stubble be- 
fore the whirlwind ? 

Where were the ten thousand brisk boys of Shaftesbury, the mem- 
bers of ignoramus juries, the wearers of Polish medals, when the time 
of retribution came : when laws were strained, and juries packed, to 
destroy the leaders of the Whigs : when charters were invaded : when 
Jeffries and Kirke were making Somersetshire, what Lauderdale and 
Graham had made Scotland S 



214 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Why has every State acknowledged the contrary ; why were depu- 
ties from all the States sent to the Convention ; why have complaints of 
national and individual distresses been echoed and re-echoed throughout 
the continent; why has our general government been so shamefully 
disgraced, and our constitution violated ; wherefore have our laws been 
made to authorize a change ; and wherefore are we now assembled here ? 

Why should I mention the impressment of our seamen : depredation 
on every branch of our commerce, including the direct export trade, 
and made under laws which professedly undertake to regulate our trade 
with other nations : negotiation resorted to time after time, till it is be- 
come hopeless : the restrictive system persisted in to avoid war, and in 
the vain expectation of returning justice ? 

What member of this house can say, with certainty, that he has, on 
all occasions, construed the constitution correctly ; and who among us 
would be satisfied to stake all his hopes and prospects on the issue of 
an investigation, which, disregarding all respect for the purity of the 
motive, should seek only to discover an inadvertent error, resulting 
from a defect of judgment in the attainment of objects identified with 
the best interests of the nation ? 

What mystic spell is that which so blinds us to the suffering of our 
brethren, which deafens to our ear the voice of bleeding humanity, 
when it is aggravated by the shriek of dying thousands : which makes 
the very magnitude of the slaughter throw a softening disguise over its 
cruelties, and its horrors : which causes us to eye with indifference the 
field that is crowded with the most revolting abominations, and arrests 
that sigh, which each individual would singly have drawn from us, by 
the report of the many who have fallen and breathed their last in agony 
along with him ? 

From what source does the gentleman derive the principle that a 
right, inherent in the nature of man, which he inhales with his first 
breath, which grows with his growth and strengthens with his strength, 
which has the fiat of God for its sanction, and is incorporated in the 
code of all the nations of the earth, becomes extinct with regard to 
those who, from motives of policy or humanity, may forbear to exercise 
it for any number of years : that a common law is thereby entailed on 
the American people to the latest generations, by which they are re- 
quired to bend beneath the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savage, 
and submit to every cruelty and enormity without the privilege of retal- 
iating on the enemy the wrongs and injuries we have suffered by his 
wanton transgressions of the rules of civilized warfare $ 

Who would be doomed to gaze upon 
A sky without a cloud or sun ? 

Why fly to folly, why to frenzy fly 

For rescue from the blessings we possess V 

Where, where for shelter shall the guilty fly, 
When consternation turns the good man pale S 

Why in this thorny wilderness so long, 

Since there's no promised land's ambrosial bower ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 215 

Wherefore dost thou urge the name of hands, 

To bid iEneas tell the tale twice o'er 

How Troy was burnt, and he made miserable $ 

Wherefore rejoice : what conquest brings he home : 

What tributaries follow him to Rome, 

To grace in captive bonds his chariot- wheels ? 

What hero like the man who stands himself: 
Who dares to meet his naked heart alone : 
Who hears intrepid the full charge it brings ; 
Resolved to silence future murmurs there ? 

Who 
Shall shake these solid mountains, this firm earth 
And bid those clouds and waters take a shape 
Distinct from that which we and all our sires 
Have seen them wear on their eternal way ? 

What need we any spur but our own cause 
To prick us to redress ; what other bond, 
Than secret Romans that have spoke the word, 
And will not palter ; and what other oath, 
Than honesty to honesty engaged 
That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? 

Who proclaims to me 
That there were crimes made venial by the occasion ; 
That passion was our nature ; that the goods 
Of Heaven waited on the goods of fortune : 
Who showed me his humanity secured 
By his nerves only : who deprived me of 
All power to vindicate myself and race 
In open day ? 

Why did Wolsey, near the steps of fate, 

On weak foundations raise the enormous weight ? 

Why but to sink beneath misfortune's blow 

With louder ruins to the gulphs below ? 

What gave great Villiers to the assassin's knife. 

And fixed disease on Harley's closing life ; 

What murdered Wentworth ; and what exiled Hyde, 

By kings protected and to kings allied ? 

3. INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. 

Rule XVI. The indirect interrogative, if of a close or compact con- 
struction, is delivered with the upper emphatic sweep to the emphatic 
word and the lower from it : if of a perfect or imperfect loose construc- 
tion, each part is delivered in the same manner. (See Plate, Figure 
14 : a, I.) 

In a series of indirect, the last, and sometimes all but the first, are delivered like a declar- 
ative : ending with partial and perfect close. (See ibid, c.) 



21G THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

1 . Examples of the first kind. 

He went to Europe after you saw him on that occasion f 
He admitted the validity of the deed, when you produced it f 

Ros. Patience once more, whiles our compact is urged. 
You say, if I bring in your Rosalind 
You will bestow her on Orlando heref [To the Duke.] 

Duke S. That would I, had I kingdoms to give with her. 

Ros. And you say you will have her, when I bring herf [To 
Orlando.] 

Orl. That would I, were I of all kingdoms, king. 

Ros. You say you '11 marry me, if I be willing f [To Phebe.] 

Phe. That would I, should I die the hour after. 

Ros. But if you do refuse to marry me 

You '11 give yourself to this most faithful shepherd here f 

Phe. So is the bargain. 

Ros. You say, that you '11 have Phebe, if she will f [To Silvius.] 

Sil. Though to have her and death were both one thing. 

Hard state of things, that one may believe one's fears ; but cannot 
rely upon one's hopes f 

2. Examples of the second kind. 

[And there came a leper and worshipped him : saying,] Lord if thou 
wilt, thou canst make me clean f [And Jesus put forth his hand and 
touched him: saying, I will: be thou clean.*] 

[And the younger said unto his father,] Father, give me the portion 
of goods that falleth to me f [And he divided unto them his living.*] 

3. Examples of the third kind. 

[So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou me more "than these ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord :] 
thou knowest that I love thee f [He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 
He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
thou me ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord :] Thou knowest that I love 
thee f [He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the 
third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved 
because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me ; and he said 
unto him] Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee f 
[Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.*] 

[And she said, Truth, Lord :] Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which 
fall from their master's table f 

4. THE DOUBLE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE. 

Rule XVII. As a whole, this sentence should be delivered with the 

* To read the parts of these sentences, not included in brackets, as many do, with the perfect close, 
is to give them an air of impertinence, or impudence : an air entirely remote from the supplication 
and humble assurance which they are designed to express. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 217 

upward slide to the disjunctive or, and with the downward slide from it: 
as the parts may be either simple or compound, and if compound, close, 
compact or loose or semi-interrogative, their delivery, independently 
considered, must be modified accordingly. (See Plate, Fig. 5.) 

Examples. 

To be, or not to be 9 

Was it fancy or was it fact 9 

Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another 9 

Are the stars that gem the vault of the heavens above us, mere deco- 
rations of the night, or suns and centres of planetary systems 9 

Is talent or genius confined to the rich and powerful ; or is it conferred 
indiscriminately by a benevolent Deity on poor and rich, and weak and 
powerful 9 

Do you question me as an honest man should do for my simple, true 
judgment ? or would you have me speak after my custom, as being a 
professed tyrant of the sex 9 

Is there nothing that whispers to that right honorable gentleman, that 
the crisis is too big, that the times are too gigantic, to be ruled by the 
little hackneyed and every-day means of ordinary corruption ; or are 
we to believe, that he has within himself a conscious feeling, that dis- 
qualifies him from rebuking the ill-timed selfishness of his new allies 9 

Did those great Italian masters begin and proceed in their art with- 
out choice of method, and always draw with the same ease and freedom ; 
or did they observe some method : beginning with simple and elementary 
parts, an eye, a nose, a finger, which they drew with great pains and 
care ; often drawing the same thing in order to draw it correctly ; and 
so proceeding with patience and industry, till after considerable length 
of time, they arrived at the masterly manner you speak of 9 

Is it the cold and languid speaker, whose words fall in such sluggish 
and drowsy motion from his lips, that they can promote nothing but the 
slumbers of his auditory, and minister opiates to the body, rather than 
stimulants to the mind ; is it the unlettered fanatic without method, 
without reason, with incoherent raving, and vociferous ignorance, cal- 
culated to fit his hearers, not for the kingdom of heaven, but for a 
hospital of lunatics ; is it even the learned, ingenious and pious minister 
of Christ, who, by neglect or contempt of the oratorical art, has con- 
tracted a whining, monotonous sing-song of delivery to exercise the 
patience of his flock, at the expense of other christian graces ? or is the 
genuine orator of heaven, with a heart sincere, upright and fervent : 
a mind stored with that universal knowledge, required as the foundation 
of the art : with a genius for the invention, a skill for the disposition, and 
a voice for the elocution of every argument to convince and every sen- 
timent to persuade 9 

Will you believe that the pure system of christian faith which 
appeared eighteen hundred years ago, in one of the obscurest regions of 
the Roman empire, at the moment of the highest mental cultivation and 
of the lowest moral degeneracy ; which superseded at once all the 
curious fabrics of pagan philosophy ; which spread almost instantane- 
ously through the civilized world in opposition to the prejudices, the 
pride, and the persecution of the times ; which has already had the 

28 



218 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

most beneficial influence on society, and been the source of almost all 
the melioration of the human character ; and which is now the chief 
support of the harmony, the domestic happiness, the moral and the intel- 
lectual improvement of the best part of the world ; — will you believe, 
I say, that this system originated in the unaided reflections of twelve 
Jewish fishermen on the sea of Galilee, with the son of a carpenter at 
their head ? or will you admit a supposition which solves all the won- 
ders of this case : which accounts at once for the perfection of the system, 
and the miracle of its propagation : that Jesus was, what he professed 
to be, the prophet of God ; and that his apostles were, as they declared, 
empowered to perform the miracles which subdued the incredulity of 
the world 8 

Was it a wailing bird of the gloom, 

Which shrieks on the house of woe all night ; 

Or a shivering fiend that flew to a tomb 8 

Are thy wild children like thyself arrayed, 
Strong in immortal and unchecked delight 

Which cannot fade ; 

Or, to mankind allied : 
Toiling with woe, and passion's fiery sting, 
Like thine own home, where storms or peace preside, 

As the winds bring 8 

Does beauty ever deign to dwell, where health, 
And active use are strangers ; is her charm 
Confessed in aught, whose most peculiar ends 
Are lame and fruitless ; or did nature mean 
This pleasing call the herald of a lie, 
To hide the shame of discord and disease, 
And catch with fair hypocrisy the heart 
Of idle faith 8 

Wilt thou fly 
With laughing Autumn to the Atlantic isles, 
And range with him the Hesperian fields, and see 
Where'er his fingers touch the fruitful grain, 
The branches shoot with gold ; where'er his step 
Marks the glad soil, the tender clusters grow 
With purple ripeness, and invest each hill 
As with the blushes of the evening sky ; 
Or wilt thou rather stoop thy vagrant plume, 
Where, gliding through his daughter's honored shades, 
The smooth Peneus from his glassy flood 
Reflects purpureal Tempe's pleasant scene 8 

V. THE SEMI-INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE. 

Rule XVIII. As the declarative or declarative exclamatory part of 
this sentence, together with the interrogative, may form either a close, 
compact or loose sentence, it must, of course, terminate with the bend 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 219 

or partial close : the interrogative part must be delivered like the species 
to which it belongs. 

The only exception to the first part of the rule, of which I am at present aware, is a variety of 
the single compact without correlative words, arid having its first part imperative ; beginning, 
for example, with the word " suppose." In this case the compact delivery is exchanged for the 
loose ; that is, the declarative or declarative exclamatory part ends with partial close, instead of 
the bend, its appropriate termination. 

Examples. 

Some have sneeringly asked, Are the Americans too poor to pay a 
few pounds on stamped paper ? 

But the gentleman inquires, why he was made the object of such a 
reply : why he was singled out ? 

And first I ask, what is that country : what is this golden prize for 
which we are to contend? 

Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, 
or unto all 9 

Friends of learning ! would you do homage at the shrine of literature : 
would you visit her clearest founts ? 

And some of the Pharisees, who were with him, heard these words, 
and said unto him, Are we blind also 1 

Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him 
aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me ? 

I am sensible you will be ready to say, What is all this to the pur- 
pose? 

Knowing this first : that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, 
walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his 
coming ? 

He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love 
God whom he hath not seen ? 

He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? he that formed the eye, 
shall he not see ? he that chastiseth the heathen, shall he not correct ? 
he that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know ? 

Thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou 
that preachest, a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest 
a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? thou 
that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? thou that makest thy 
boast of the law, through breaking the law, dishonorest thou God ? 

Though his wealth was that of the Lydian king in the plenitude of 
his prosperity and glory, yet was he happy ? 

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much 
more shall they call them of his household V 

But because the North joins hands with the South, shall the iniquity go 
unpunished or unrebuked : has God's throne fallen before Mammon's ? 

Sir, when these sentiments shall become prevalent, What, think you, 
will become of that system : how long will it last after the payment of 
duties shall come to be considered a badge of servitude ? 

When the African was first brought to these shores, would he have 
violated a solemn obligation by slipping his chain, and flying back to 
his native home : would he not have been bound to seize the precious 
opportunity of escape ? 

If the visit were often repeated, if the disappointment you received 



220 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

from this cause were frequent or perpetual, if you saAv a systematic 
design of thwarting you by these galling and numerous interruptions, 
would you not cordially hate the visitor, and give the most substantial 
evidence of your hatred, too, by shunning or shutting him out? 

If the word spoken by angels, was steadfast, and every transgression 
and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we 
escape if we neglect so great salvation ; which at the first began to be 
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed by those that heard him : God 
also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and divers 
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ? 

If the widows and orphans, which this wasting evil has created, and 
is yearly multiplying, might all stand before you, could you witness 
their tears : listen to their details of anguish ? should they point to the 
murderers of their fathers, their husbands and their children, and lift 
up their voice and implore your aid to arrest an evil which has made 
them desolate, could you disregard their cry ? had you beheld a dying 
father conveyed bleeding and agonizing to his distracted family, had 
you heard their piercing shrieks, and witnessed their frantic agony, 
would you reward the savage man who had plunged them in distress ? 
had the duelist destroyed your neighbor, had your own father been 
killed by the man who solicits your suffrage, had your son been brought 
to your door, pale in death, and weltering in blood, laid low by his hand, 
would you think the crime a small one ? 

And while they are dropping round us like the leaves of autumn and 
scarce a week passes that does not call away some member of the vet- 
eran ranks, already so sadly thinned, shall we make no effort to hand 
down the traditions of their day to our children : to pass the torch of 
liberty which we received in all the splendor of its first enkindling, 
bright and flaming to those who stand next us in the line ; so that when 
we shall come to be gathered to the dust where our fathers are laid, we 
may say to our sons and grandsons, If we did not amass, we have not 
squandered your inheritance of glory ? 

You were pleased with the lonely visitants, that brought beauty on 
their wings and melody in their throats ; but could you insure the con- 
tinuance of this agreeable entertainment ? 

They could not behold the workings of the heart, the quivering lips, 
the trickling tears, the loud yet tremulous joys of the millions whom 
the vote of this night would forever save from the cruelty of corrupted 
power ; but was not the true enjoyment of their benevolence increased 
by the blessing being conferred unseen ? 

It is easy for us to maintain her doctrine, at this late day, when there 
is but one party on the subject, an immense people ; but what tribute 
shall we bestow, what sacred pean shall we raise over the tombs of 
those who dared, in the face of unrivalled power, and within reach of 
majesty, to blow the blast of freedom throughout a subject continent V 

We read how many days they could support the fatigues of a march ; 
how early they rose ; how late they watched ; how many hours they 
spent in the field, in the cabinet, in the court, in the study ; how many 
secretaries they kept employed ; in short, how hard they worked ; but 
who ever heard of its being said of a man in commendation that he could 
sleep fifteen hours out of the twenty-four ; that he could eat six meals 
a day ; and that he never got tired of his easy-chair ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED, 221 

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of 
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness : looking 
for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heav- 
ens being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat ? 

Seeing then that the soul has many different faculties, or in other 
words, many different ways of acting ; that it can be intensely pleased, 
or made happy by all these different faculties, or ways of acting ; that it 
may be endowed with several latent faculties, which it is not at present 
in a condition to exert; that we cannot believe the soul is endowed 
with any faculty which is of no use to it ; that whenever any one of 
these faculties is transcendently pleased, the soul is in a state of happi- 
ness ; and in the last place, considering that the happiness of another 
world is to be the happiness of the whole man ; who can question but 
that there is an infinite variety in these pleasures we are speaking of; 
and that the fulness of joy will be made up of all those pleasures which 
the nature of the soul is capable of receiving ? 

Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating 
havoc of one quarter of the globe ; too high minded to endure the degra- 
dations of the others ; possessing a chosen country, with room enough 
for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation ; enter- 
taining a due sense of our equal rights to the use of our own facul- 
ties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence 
from our fellow citizens, resulting, not from birth, but our own actions, 
and their sense of them ; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, 
indeed, and practised in various forms, yet all of them inculcating hon- 
esty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man ; acknowledging 
and adoring an overruling Providence, w T hich, by all its dispensations, 
proves that it delights in the happiness of man here, and in his greater 
happiness hereafter ; — with all these blessings, what more is necessary 
to make us a happy and prosperous people ? 

Brutes in our end and expectations, how can we be otherwise in our 
pursuits ? 

Convince them of this, and will they not shudder at the thought of 
subverting their political constitution : of suffering it to degenerate into 
aristocracy or monarchy ? 

Let the understanding remain uninformed till half the age of man is 
past, and what improvement is the best then likely to make ; and how 
irksome would it seem to be put upon any ? 

We find a Solomon discovering his error, acknowledging that he had 
erred, and bearing testimony to religion and virtue as alone productive 
of true happiness, indeed ; but where are we to look for another among 
the votaries of sensuality, thus affected : thus changed ? 

Suppose that out of compliment to the mockers of missionary zeal, 
we relinquished its highest, and, indeed, its identifying object ; suppose 
we confined our efforts exclusively to civilization, and consented to send 
the plow and the loom instead of the cross ; and admitting that upon 
this reduced scale of operation, we were as successful as could be 
desired, till we had even raised the man of the woods into the man of 
the city, and elevated the savage into the sage ; what, I ask, have we 
effected, viewing man, as with the New Testament in our hands, we 
must view him, in the whole range of his existence ? 



222 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Suppose you have a very valuable horse, gentle under the treatment 
of others, but ungovernable when you attempt to use him ; would you 
not endeavor, by all means, to conciliate his affections, and to treat him 
in a way most likely to render him tractable ? or, if you have a dog, 
highly prized for his fidelity, watchfulness and care of your flocks ; who 
is fond of your shepherds and playful with them, and yet snarls when- 
ever you come in his way ; would you attempt to cure his faults by 
angry looks or words, or by any other marks of resentment ? 

It was his deliberate conviction, that there was not a virtuous man 
throughout the union, who would now think it criminal to smuggle into 
the country every article consumed in it ; and why V 

England is at peace with France and Spain ; but does she suppress 
the names of Trafalgar and the Nile : does she overthrow the towers of 
Blenheim castle, eternal monuments of the disasters of France : does 
she tear down from the rafters of her chapels, where they have for ages 
waved in triumph, consecrated to the God of battles, the banners of 
Cressy and Agincourt ? No ; she is wiser : wiser did I say ? 

The baptism of John : was it from heaven, or of men 8 

Then said Jesus unto them, I also will ask you one thing : Is it law- 
ful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil 9. to save life or to destroy it ? 

But to add reason to precedent, and to view this art in its use as 
well as its dignity : will it not be allowed of some importance, when it 
is considered, that eloquence is one of the most considerable auxiliaries 
of truth ? 

And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that 
thou art true, and carest for no man ; for thou regardest not the person 
of men, but teachest the way of God in truth : Is it lawful to give trib- 
ute unto Caesar, or not ? shall we give, or shall we not give ? 

We therefore confirm whatever, upon a single but unquestionable evi- 
dence, has been produced from this house ; and shall we think of ratifying 
the acts of Caesar, yet abolish his laws : those laws which he himself, 
in our sight, repeated, pronounced, enacted : laws which he valued him- 
self upon passing : laws in which he thought the system of our govern- 
ment was comprehended : laws which concern our provinces and our 
trials ? 

The imaginations of those whom I have the honor to address, will be 
able to heighten this contrast, by a hundred traits on either side, for 
which I have not time ; but even as I have presented it, will it be 
deemed extravagant, if I say, that there is a greater difference between 
the educated child of civilized life and the New Zealand savage, than 
between the New Zealand savage and the ourang-outang ? 

He took that number merely to avoid a contradiction that might divert 
the current of debate into an improper channel : for he was credibly 
informed the army did not amount to one half the number he had stated ; 
but taking it at three thousand, on what principle could ministers even 
justify confining the operations of this active and spirited general by so 
scanty a force ? 

He did not mean absolutely to say, that so many were actually in 
the service ; perhaps not a tenth part of them could be produced ; but 
the account of them was to be seen on the table ; and what language 
could properly describe the fraudulent conduct of ministers in imposing 
so grievous a burden on the people without necessity ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 223 

He would take, however, if they pleased, the other alternative : he 
would suppose every man, charged in the estimate, really employed ; 
and that it was necessary to keep eighty thousand on the defensive, that 
three thousand might be brought into the field : need there any thing 
else be urged to prove the ruinous tendency of the American war ? 

O ! say : what mystic spell is that, which deafens to our ear the voice 
of bleeding humanity, when it is aggravated by the shriek of dying 
thousands : which makes the very magnitude of the slaughter throw a 
softening disguise over its cruelties and horrors : which causes the eye 
to survey with indifference, the field that is crowded with the most revolt- 
ing abominations, and arrests that sigh, which each individual would 
singly have drawn from us, by the reports of the many who have fallen, 
and breathed their last agony along with him ? 

Ungrateful sinners ! whence this scorn 
Of God's long suffering grace ? 

They leave their crimes for history to scan 
And ask, with busy scorn, Was this the man ? 

Tree ! why hast thou doffed thy mantle of green 
For the gorgeous garb of an Indian queen $ 

Once upon a raw and gusty day, 
The troubled Tiber chafing with its shores, 
Caesar says to me, Darest thou, Cassius, now 
Leap in with me into this angry flood, 
And swim to yonder point ? 

But if the wanderer his mistake discern, 
Judge his own ways, and sigh for a return, 
Bewildered once, must he bewail his loss 
Forever and forever ? 

If human kindness meets return, 

And owns the grateful tie ; 
If tender thoughts within us burn 

To feel a friend is nigh ; 
Oh ! shall not warmer accents tell 

The gratitude we owe 
To Him, who died our fears to quell : 

Our more than orphan's woe ? 

While o'er our guilty land, O Lord ! 
We view the terrors of the sword ; 
O ! whither shall the helpless fly : 
To whom, but thee, direct their cry ? 

When Heaven's aerial bow 
Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below, 
Why to yon mountain turns the musing eye, 
Whose sun-bright summit mingles with the sky : 
Why do those cliffs of shadowy tint appear 
More sweet than all the varied landscape near ? 



224 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

When summoned from the world and thee 
I lay my head beneath the willow tree, 
Wilt thou, sweet mourner, at my stone appear 
And soothe my parted spirit lingering near : 
Oh ! wilt thou come at evening hour to shed 
The tears of memory o'er my narrow bed ; 
With aching temples on thy hand reclined, 
Muse on the last farewell, I leave behind ; 
Breathe a deep sigh to winds that murmur low 
And think on all my love and all my woe ? 

When slowly from the plains and nether woods, 

With all their winding streams and hamlets brown, 

Updrawn, the morning vapor lifts its veil, 

And through its fleecy folds, with softened rays, 

Like a still infant smiling in his tears, 

Looks through the early sun ; when from afar 

The gleaming lake betrays its wide expanse, 

And lightly curling on the dewy air, 

The cottage smoke doth wind its path to heaven ; 

When heaven's soft breath plays on the woodman's brow, 

And every hare-bell and wild tangled flower 

Smells sweetly from its cage of checkered dew ; 

Ay, and when huntsmen wind the merry horn, 

And from its covert starts the fearful prey ; 

Who, warmed with youth's blood in his swelling veins, 

Would, like a lifeless clod, outstretched lie : 

Shut up from all the fair creation offers ? 

Hard lot of man, to toil for the reward 
Of virtue, and yet lose; wherefore hard V 

'T is she ; but why that bleeding bosom gored : 
Why dimly gleams the visionary sword V 

Still in thought as free as ever, 
What are England's rights, I ask, 
Me from my delights to sever : 
Me to torture : me to task V 

The Nymph must lose her female friend, 

If more admired than she ; 
But where will fierce contention end 

If flowers can disagree ? 

Ye call these red-browed brethren 

The insects of an hour, 
Crushed like the noteless worm amidst 

The regions of their power ; 
Ye drive them from their father's lands ; 

Ye break of faith the seal ; 
But can ye from the court of heaven 

Exclude their last appeal ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 225 

Ye see their unresisting tribes, 

With toilsome step and slow, 
On through the trackless desert pass, 

A caravan of woe ; 
Think ye the Eternal's ear is deaf; 

His sleepless eye is dim : 
Think ye the soul's blood may not cry 

From that far land to him ? 

So shalt thou rest ; and what if thou shalt fall 
Unheeded by the living ; and no friend 
Take note of thy departure ? 

He clothes the lilly ; feeds the dove ; 
The meanest insect feels his care ; 
And shall not man confess his love : 
Man, his offspring, and his heir 1 

The earth grew silent when thy voice departed : 
The home too lonely whence thy step had fled : 
What then was left for her the faithful-hearted ? 

Gold many hunted ; sweat and bled for gold ; 
Waked all the night, and labored all the day ; 
And what was this allurement, dost thou ask ? 

And say : without our hopes, without our fears, 
Without the home that plighted love endears, 
Without the smile from partial beauty won, 
Oh ! what were man ? 

I ask you once again : 
How comes it that the wondrous essence 
Which gave such vigor to those strong-nerved limbs, 
Has leaped from its enclosure, and compelled 
This noble workmanship of nature thus 
To sink into a cold, inactive clod ? 

Unto the men, who see not as we see, 

Futurity was thought in ancient times, 

To be laid open ; and they prophesied ; 

And know we not that from the blind have flowed 

The highest, holiest raptures of the lyre, 

And wisdom married to immortal verse ? 

High matter thou enjoinest, O prince of men ! 
Sad task and hard ; for how shall I relate 
To human sense the invisible exploits 
Of warring spirits : how, without remorse, 
The ruin of so many, glorious once, 
And perfect while they stood : how last unfold 
The secrets of another world, perhaps 
Not lawful to reveal $ 

29 



226 THE BEND, SWEErS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Miscellaneous Examples of Compound Interrogative Sentences. 

For what purpose did the infinite Creator give existence to this ma- 
jestic monument of his almighty power: for what purpose did he create 
the earth and the heavens, with all their unnumbered hosts S. 

Was it not evidently that he might communicate happiness ; and does 
not this design appear conspicuous on the open face of nature ? 

What is the plain and unequivocal indication of all those marks of 
infinite wisdom, and skilful contrivance in the general dispositions and 
in all parts of surrounding nature ? 

Is it not, that the Creator of all things is infinitely good ? 

Is there not a display of infinite goodness in the regular and harmo- 
nious disposition of the heavenly orbs ? 

Instead of this beautiful order, why was there not the most horrible 
confusion ? instead of benignant harmony of the spheres, why was there 
not a perpetual jar, and the most disastrous concussion ? 

Is there not a display of infinite goodness in the grandeur and beauty 
of the creation, so favorably adapted to elevate, to inspire with admira- 
tion and fill with the purest pleasure, the devout and contemplative 
mind? 

Why was not the whole creation so formed as only to excite amaze- 
ment, terror and despair V 

Is there not a display of infinite goodness in the beautiful scenery of 
our globe, so agreeably diversified with continents and seas, islands and 
lakes, mountains and plains, hills and valleys, adapted to various benefi- 
cial purposes, and abounding with productions, in endless variety, for 
the convenience, the support and happiness of its diversified inhabitants ? 

Why was not the whole earth like the burning sands of Lybia, or the 
rugged and frozen mountains of Zernbla : why was it not one wide and 
dreary waste, producing only briers and thorns and poisonous and 
bitter'fruits ? 

Is there not a display of infinite goodness in the grateful vicissitudes 
of the seasons : each bearing upon its bosom its peculiar delights ; the 
spring arrayed in the most beautiful verdure and decorated with flow- 
ers; the summer abounding with the most delightful prospects, and 
teeming with luxuriance ; autumn loaded with golden harvests, and the 
richest variety of fruits ; and even winter, supplying in social enjoy- 
ments, and in the noble pleasures of study and contemplation, what it 
lacks in external charms ? 

Why was not the whole year one continued scene of dull uniformity, 
or so irregular in its changes, as utterly to baffle all the calculations, 
and arrangements and pursuits of life ; or why was not every sight a 
spectacle of horror : every sound a shriek of distress : every sweet a 
most pungent bitter : every gale a blast of pestilence ? 

Is it not because the Creator and Preserver of the world is a being of 
infinite goodness ? 

Is it wise or prudent, then, sir, in preparing to breast the storm, if it 
must come, to talk to this nation of its incompetency to repel European 
aggression ; to lower its spirit ; to weaken its moral energy ; and to 
qualify it for easy conquest and base submission ? 

If there be any reality in the dangers which are supposed to encom- 
pass us, should we not animate the people and adjure them to believe. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 227 

as I do, that our resources are ample ; and that we can bring into the 
field a million of freemen ready to exhaust their last drop of blood, and 
to spend their last cent in defence of the country, its liberty, and its 
institutions ? 

Those who murdered Banquo: what did they win by it?* Sub- 
stantial good? permanent power? or disappointment rather, and sore 
mortification : dust and ashes : the common fate of vaulting ambition, 
overleaping itself? Did not even-handed justice, ere long, commend 
the poisoned chalice to their own lips ? did they not soon find that for 
another they had "filed their mind;" that their ambition, though appa- 
rently for the moment sucessful, had but put a barren sceptre in their 
grasp ; aye, sir, 

A barren sceptre in their gripe, 
Thence to be wrenched by an unlineai hand : 
No son of theirs succeeding ? 

If we wished to find an example of a community as favored as any 
on earth with a salubrious climate ; a soil possessed of precisely that 
degree of fertility which is most likely to create a thrifty husbandry ; 
advantages for all the great branches of industry, commerce, agricul- 
ture, the fisheries, manufactures, and the mechanic arts ; free institu- 
tions of government ; establishments for education, charity, and moral 
improvement ; a sound public sentiment ; a widely diffused love of 
order; a glorious tradition of ancestral renown; a pervading moral 
sense ; and an hereditary respect for religion : if we wish to find a land 
where a man could desire to live, to educate and establish his children, 
to grow old and die ; where could Ave look, where could we wander, 
beyond the limits of our own ancient and venerable state ? 

Is it any proof of greatness, to be able, at the age of seventy-three, to 
take the lead in a successful and bloodless revolution : to change the 
dynasty : to organize, exercise and abdicate a military command of 
three and a half millions of men : to take up, to perform and lay down 
the most momentous, delicate and perilous duties, without passion, with- 
out hurry, and without selfishness ? is it great, to disregard the bribes 
of titles, office, money : to live, to labor and suffer for great public ends 
alone : to adhere to principles under all circumstances : to stand before 
Europe and America conspicuous, for sixty years, in the most respon- 
sible stations, the acknowledged admiration of all good men ? 

Is this the time, it may be asked, to complain of obstacles to the 
extinction of war, when peace has been given to the nations, and we are 
assembled to celebrate its triumphs? 

Upon him, even upon him, graceful and engaging as he may be by 
the lustre of his many accomplishments, the saying of the Bible does 
not fail of being realized : that the heart of man is deceitful above all 
things and desperately wicked : who can know it ? 

The disciples of John could not have such a clear view of the ground 
of acceptance before God, as an enlightened disciple of the Apostles, yet 
the want of this clear view did not prevent them from being right sub- 
jects for John's preparatory instructions ; and what were those instruc- 
tions ? Soldiers were called on to give up their violence, and publicans 

* Here and in a few other instances I have connected sentences in their nature distinct, and to be 
treated as independent. In every case of this kind, the interrogation point is followed by a capital 
letter. 



228 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

their exactions, and rich men the confinement of their own wealth to 
their own' gratification ; and will any man hesitate for a moment to decide 
whether those who followed them, were in the likeliest state for receiving 
light and improvement from the subsequent teachings of the Saviour? 

The reforming publicans and harlots of John, were in a state of 
greater readiness to receive this truth, than either the Pharisees, or 
those publicans and harlots, who, unmindful of John, still persisted in 
their iniquities ; and who will be in greater readiness to receive this 
truth in the present day ? Will it be the obstinate and determinate 
doers of all that is sinful, and that too in the face of a call, that they 
should do works meet for repentance ? or will it be those, who, under 
the influence of this call, do, what the disciples of John did before them : 
turn them from the evil of their manifest iniquities, and so give proof of 
their earnestness in the way of salvation 9 

If it was in behalf of a careless world that the costly apparatus of 
redemption was reared ; if it was in the full front and audacity of their 
most determined rebellion, that God laid the plan of reconciliation ; if 
it was for the sake of men sunk in the very depths of ungodliness that 
he constructed his overtures of peace, and sent forth his Son with them 
amongst our loathsome and polluted dwelling-places ; if to get at his 
strayed children, he had thus to find his way through all those elements 
of impiety and ungodliness which are most abhorrent to the sanctity of 
his nature ; think you, my brethren, think you, that the God, who 
made such an advancing movement towards the men whose faces were 
utterly away from him, is a God who will turn his own face away from 
the man who is moving toward him and earnestly seeking after him, if 
haply he may find him ? 

When one hears of negroes, who, upon the death of their masters, or 
upon changing their service, hang themselves upon the next tree, as it 
frequently happens in our American plantations, says Mr. Addison, 
who can forbear admiring their fidelity, though it expresses itself in so 
dreadful a manner ; what might not that savage greatness of soul, which 
appears in these wretches on many occasions, be raised to, were it 
properly directed ; and what color of excuse can there be for the con- 
tempt with which we treat this part of our species : that we should not 
put them upon the common footing of humanity : that we should only 
set an insignificant fine upon the man who murders them : nay, that we 
should as much as in us lies, cut them off from the prospect of happi- 
ness in another world, as well as in this, and deny them that which we 
look upon as the proper means of attaining it ? 

Is there all day long, a felt solemnity on your spirits, because of God, 
which follows you whithersoever you go, and causes you to walk with 
him in the world ; are you familiarized to the habit of submitting your 
will to his will ; have you ever for an hour together, looked upon your- 
selves in the light of being the servants of another and have accordingly 
run and labored as at the bidding of another ? or, utter strangers to this, 
do you walk in the counsels of your own hearts ? 

And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes con- 
cerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see ? A reed 
shaken by the wind ? But what went ye out to see ? A man clothed 
in soft raiment ? They that wear soft raiment, are in king's houses ; 
but what went ye out to see ? A prophet ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 229 

Where is the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputer, of this 
world ? 

Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault ; for who hath 
resisted his will ? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against 
God ? Shall the thing formed, say unto him that formed it, why hast 
thou made me thus ? hath not the potter power over the clay, of the 
same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor ? 
What, if God, willing to show his wrath and make his power known, 
endured with much long-suffering: the vessels of wrath fitted for destruc- 
tion ; and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the 
vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory ; even whom 
he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles V 

At which time would Mr. Southey pronounce the constitution more 
secure ? In 1639, when Laud presented this report to Charles ; or now, 
when thousands of meetings openly collect millions of dissenters : when 
designs against the tithes are openly avowed : when books attacking 
not only the establishment, but the first principles of Christianity, are 
openly sold in the streets 9 

Where were these guardians of the constitution, these vigilant senti- 
nels of our rights and liberties, when this law was passed ? Were they 
asleep upon their post ? Where was the gentleman from New-York, 
who has on this debate, made such a noble stand in favor of the consti- 
tution : where was the Ajax Telamon of his party ; or, to use his own 
more correct expression, the faction to which he belongs : where was 
the hero with his seven-fold shield, not of bull's hide, but of brass, pre- 
pared to prevent or to punish this Trojan rape, which he now sees 
meditated upon the constitution of his country by a wicked faction : 
where was Hercules, that he did not crush this den of robbers that broke 
into the sanctuary of the constitution ? Was he forgetful of his duty ; 
were his nerves unstrung ; or was he the very leader of the band that 
broke down these constitutional ramparts ? 

Had a stranger at this time gone into the province of Oude, ignorant 
of what had happened since the death of Sujah Dowla, that man, who, 
with a savage heart, had still great lines of character, and who, with 
all his ferocity in war, had still, with a cultivating hand, preserved to 
his country the riches which it derived from benignant skies, and a pro- 
lific soil ; if this stranger, ignorant of all that had happened in the short 
interval, and observing the wide and general devastation, and all the 
horrors of the scene, of plains unclothed and brown, of vegetables burnt 
up and extinguished, of villages depopulated and in ruin, of temples 
unroofed and perishing, of reservoirs broken down and dry, he would 
naturally inquire, What war has thus laid waste the fertile fields of this 
once beautiful and opulent country ? what evil dissensions have hap- 
pened, thus to tear asunder and separate the happy societies that once 
possessed those villages ? what disputed succession, what religious rage, 
has, with unholy violence, demolished those temples, and disturbed fer- 
vent but unobtrusive piety in the exercise of its duties ? what merciless 
enemy has thus spread the horrors of fire and sword ? what severe visi- 
tation of Providence has dried up the fountain, and taken from the face 
of the earth every vestige of verdure V or rather, what monsters have 
stalked over the country, tainting and poisoning, with pestiferous breath, 
what the voracious appetite could not devour V 



230 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Know you not 
The fire, that mounts the liquor till run o'er, 
In seeming to augment it, wastes it ? 

A living power 
Is virtue ; or no better than a name 
Fleeting as health or beauty, and unsound 8 

Can I forget, canst thou forget,' 
When playing with thy golden hair, 
How quick thy fluttering heart did move ? 

What shall the man deserve of human kind, 
Whose happy skill and industry combined 
Shall prove, what argument could never yet, 
The Bible an imposture and a cheat? 

Can you question that the soul 
Inherits an allegiance, not by choice 
To be cast off upon an oath proposed 
By each new upstart notion ? 

But where is now the goodly audit ale : 
The purse-proud tenant never known to fail : 
The farm which never yet was left on hand : 
The marsh reclaimed to most improving land : 
The impatient hope of the expiring lease, 
The doubling rental ? 

Could thine art 
Make them indeed immortal, and impart 
The purity of heaven to earthly joys ; 
Expel the venom and not blunt the dart, 
The dull satiety which all destroys ; 
And root from out the soul the deadly weed that cloys ? 

For who could sink and settle to that point 
Of selfishness, so senseless who could be, 
So long and perseveringly to mourn 
For any object of his love, removed 
From this unstable world, if he could fix 
A satisfying view upon the state 
Of pure, imperishable blessedness, 
Which reason promises, and Holy Writ 
Ensures to all believers $ 

Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt. 
Since riches point to misery and contempt ? 

But why so short is love's delightful hour : 
Why fades the dew on beauty's sweetest flower : 
Why can no hymned charm of music heal 
The sleepless woes impassioned spirits feel ? 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 231 

You are excused, 
But will you be more justified ? 

You come to take your stand here, and behold 
The Lady Anne pass from her coronation £ 

If in that frame no deathless spirit dwell, 

If that faint murmur be the last farewell, 

If faith unite the faithful but to part, 

Why is this memory sacred to the heart : 

Why does the brother of my childhood seem 

Restored awhile in every pleasing dream : 

Why do I joy the lovely spot to view, 

Where artless friendship blessed when life was new ? 

Oh God ! when thou 
Dost scare the world with tempests, set on fire 
The heavens with falling thunderbolts, or fill, 
With all the waters of the firmament, 
The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods, 
And drowns the villages ; when, at his call, 
Uprises the great deep and throws himself 
Upon the continent, and overwhelms 
Its cities ; who forgets not at the sight 
Of these tremendous tokens of thy power, 
His pride, and lays his strifes and follies by ? 

' T is strange the miser should his cares employ, 
To gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy ; 
Is it less strange the prodigal should waste 
His wealth to purchase what he ne'er can taste ? 

Breezes of the South ! 
Who tossed the golden and the flame-like flowers, 
And pass the prairie-hawk that, poised on high, 
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not, ye have played 
Among the palms of Mexico, and vines 
Of Texas, and have crisped the limpid brooks 
That from the fountains of Sonora glide 
Into the calm Pacific ; have ye fanned 
A nobler or a lovlier scene than this ? 

Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain, 

Nor when their mellow fruit the orchards cast, 

Nor when the mellow woods shake down the ripened mast ; 

Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled, 

His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky, 

In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled, 

Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie, 

And leaves the smile of his departure spread 

O'er the warm colored heaven, and ruddy mountain head ; 

Why weep ye then for him, who having won 

The bounds of man's appointed years, at last, 



2'J'i THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labors done, 

Serenely to his final rest has passed, 

While the soft memory of his virtues, yet 

Lingers like twilight hues, when the bright sun is set ? 

Whence is man ; 
Why formed at all ; and wherefore as he is : 
Where must he find his maker : with what rites 
Adore him? Will he hear, accept and bless ; 
Or does he sit regardless of his works 9 
Has man within him an immortal seed ; 
Or does the tomb take all § If he survive 
His ashes, where V and in what weal or woe ? 

Thou smilest f These comparisons seem high 
To those who scan all things with dazzled eye, 
Linked with the unknown name of one whose doom 
Has nought to do with glory, or with Rome, 
With Chili, Hellas, or with Araby — * 
Thou smilest f [Smile : 'tis better thus than sigh.] 

A nobleman sleeps here to night : see that 

All is in order in the damask chamber ; 

Keep up the stove ; I will myself to the cellar ; 

And Madame Idenstein 

Shall furnish forth the bed-apparel ; for 

So say the truth, they are marvellous scant of this 

Within the palace precincts, since his highness 

Left it some dozen years ago ; and then 

His excellency will sup doubtless f 

Shall thy good uncle and thy brother Lucius, 
And thou, and I, sit round about some fountain, 
Looking all downwards, to behold our cheeks 
How they are stained, like meadows yet not dry, 
With miry slime left on them by a flood ; 
And in the fountain shall we gaze so long, 
Till the fresh taste be taken from that clearness 
And make a brine pit- with our bitter tears ; 
Or shall we cut away our hands like thine ; 
Or shall we bite our tongues, and in dumb shows 
Pass the remainder of our hateful days 9 

CLASS III. COMPOUND EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 
/ 

Compound exclamatory sentences, like simple, being nothing more than declarative and inter- 
rogative sentences, employed as exclamations, I shall lay down one general rule for the delivery 
of them all ; and I shall adduce no greater number of examples than may be necessary to show 
usage and afford practice. 

It should be observed that the exclamation point, like the interrogation, is not always put at 
the end of the sentence only, but frequently at the end of the parts ; and in loose sentences 
very frequently. It should be observed farther, that the whole of a sentence is not always 
exclamatory, even where it is not fragmentary, nor semi-exclamatory. The first part, and often 

" This sentence thus abruptly broken off, is a single compact declarative with the first part only 
expressed. The correlative words are, indeed— but. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES ArPLlED. 233 

an imperfect portion of the first part, is pointed, and should be treated as exclamatory, while the 
remainder is simply declarative or interrogative ; and not seldom an exclamation point is found 
at the end of a sentence, when only the last part, and perhaps a few words of the last part, have 
an exclamatory character. I may add that occasionally a sentence is pointed as an exclamation, 
when it is difficult to perceive why: the degree of emotion expressed, being scarcely sufficient 
to justify it. Frequent examples of such sentences will be found in the following pages. 1 
adduce them, however, as I found them. — Of the occasional aberrations noticed above, I have 
thought it unnecessary to give illustration : confining myself to entire sentences, pointed and 
treated as exclamatory. 

General Rule XIX. Exclamatory compound sentences are deliv- 
ered like the corresponding declarative and interrogative compound sen- 
tences from which they are derived, with an additional expression of 
emotion. 

1 . DECLARATIVE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 
1. CLOSE DECLABATIVE. 

Examples. 

The death of Socrates, peaceably philosophising with his friends', is 
the most pleasant that could be desired ! 

Impart to them, in addition to their hereditary valor', that confidence 
of success which springs from thy presence ! 

Meek champions of truth' ! no stain of private interest or of innocent 
blood is on the spotless garment of your renown ! 

The winds which sweep along the fields, once blooming with groves 
sacred to the Muses', and over the ruins of temples erected for the arts 
and sciences', bear on their wings the sighs of expiring widows ! 

Do not, I implore you, chieftains, countrymen, do not, I implore you, 
renew the foul barbarities, your insatiate avarice has inflicted on this 
wretched, unoffending race ! 

I curse the bond of blood by which you are united ! May fell divis- 
ion, infamy and rout, defeat your projects, and rebuke your hopes ! On 
you and on your children be the peril of the innocent blood which shall 
be shed this day ! 

I remember to have seen, not long since, a charge to the grand jury, 
by a very eminent English judge, in which the practice of boxing is 
commended, and the fear is expressed that popular education has been 
pushed too far ! 

I do not go too far in saying, that there have been cases of recap- 
tured Africans, brought within the jurisdiction of the United States, 
who, for aught they gained by their liberation, might as well have 
remained in the hands of the slave-trader ! 

May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of 
the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last 
shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common 
undistinguished ruin ! 

In the structure of their characters, in the course of their action, in 
the striking coincidences which marked their high career, in the lives 
and in the deaths of the illustrious men, whose virtues and services we 
have met to commemorate, and in that voice of admiration and grati- 
tude which has since burst, with one accord, from the twelve millions 
of freemen who people these States, there is a moral sublimity which 
overwhelms the mind, and hushes all its powers into silent amazement ! 

30 



234 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

A battle-field, 
In stillness left when slaughter is no more, 
With this compared, is a strange spectacle ! 

Alas ! such wisdom bids a creature fly, 
Whose very sorrow is, that time hath shorn 
His natural wings ! 

Bring with thee 
The headlong atheist, who laughs at heaven, 
And impiously ascribes events to chance, 
To help to solve this wonderful enigma ! 

The scared owl, on pinions gray, 
Breaks from the rustling boughs, 
And down the lone vale sails away 
To more profound repose ! 

The very angels quit 
Their mansions, unsusceptible of change, 
Amid your pleasant bowers to sit, 
And through your sweet vicissitudes to range ! 

A single step, that freed me from the skirts 
Of the blind vapor, opened to my view 
Glory beyond all glory ever seen 
By waking sense, or by the dreaming soul ! 

Thy life I would gladly sustain, 

Till summer comes up from the south, and with crowds 

Of thy brethren, a march thou shouldst sound through the clouds, 

And back to the forests again ! 

Fragmentary Close. 

[We have not such another man to die — ] Washington and Hamil- 
ton in five years ! 

Absurd and futile attempt ! [As well might you quench the stars.] 
[He launches forth upon the unknown deep, to discover a new world, 
under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella.] The patronage of 
Ferdinand and Isabella ! [Let us dwell for a moment on the auspices 
under which our country was brought to light.] The patronage of 
Ferdinand and Isabella ! 

The. [Reads.] A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, 

And his love Thisbe : very tragical mirth.] 
Merry and tragical! tedious and brief v ! 
That is, hot ice, and wondrous strange snow. 

Shy lock. My own flesh and blood to rebel ! 

Par. [Good, very good : it is so then. Good, very good : let it be 
concealed awhile.] 

Ber. Undone, and forfeited to ceres forever ! 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 235 

That a king's children should be so conveyed, 
So slackly guarded, and the search so slow 
That could not trace them'!* 

Ah ! that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, 
And with a visor hide deep vice'! 

2, COMPACT DECLARATIVE. 

1, Single Compact. 
Examples, 

If you see my limbs convulsed 7 , my teeth clenched', my hair brist- 
ling', and the cold dews trembling on my brow', then seize me x ! rouse 
me x ! snatch me from my bed ! 

Oh God'! if thou art still the widow's husband, and the father of the 
fatherless', if in the fullness of thy goodness there be mercies in store 
for miserable mortals', pity, O pity this afflicted mother, and grant that 
her hapless orphans may find a friend, a benefactor, a father in thee ! 

When oblivion shall have swept away thrones, kingdoms and princi- 
palities ; when every vestige of human greatness, and grandeur and 
glory shall have mingled into dust, and the last period of time have be- 
come extinct ; eternity itself shall catch the glowing theme, and dwell 
with increasing rapture on his name ! 

When I shall be found, sir, in my place here in the senate, or else- 
where, to sneer at public merit, because it happened to spring up be- 
yond my own State and neighborhood; when I refuse, for any such 
cause, or for any cause, the homage due to American talent, to elevated 
patriotism, to sincere devotion to liberty and the country ; or if I see an 
uncommon endowment of heaven ; if I see extraordinary capacity and 
virtue in any son of the South ; and if moved by local prejudice, or 
gangrened by State jealousy, I get up here to abate the tithe of a hair 
from his just character and just fame, may my tongue cleave to the 
roof of my mouth ! 

Illustrious as are your merits, yet far, Oh ! very far, distant be the 
day when any inscription shall bear your name, or any tongue pro- 
nounce its eulogy ! 

Happy, happy were it for us, did nature constantly appear to us as 
it really is, animated and enlivened by its glorious Author ! 

O, Hamilton ! great would be the relief of my mind, were I permit- 
ted to exchange the arduous duty of attempting to portray the varied 
excellence of thy character, for the privilege of venting the deep and 
unavailing sorrow which swells my bosom, at the remembrance of the 
gentleness of thy nature, thy splendid talents and placid virtues ! 

You have vanquished him in the field ; strive now to rival him in the 
arts of peace ! 

In his hurried march, time has but looked at their imagined immor- 
tality; and all its varieties, from the palace to the tomb, have, with 
their ruins, erased the very impression of his footsteps ! 

*This and the following example are fragmentary varieties of common occurrence. The 
conclusion of the sentence is understood: e. g. "That a king's children," &c. &c. is unac- 
countable ; or, is an extraordinary circumstance. Breaking off, as it does, at imperfect sense 3 
the sentence necessarily terminates with the bend. 



230 THE BEND, SWETTS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Talk to them of Naples, of Spain or of South America ; they stand 
forth zealots for the doctrine of divine right ; which has now come back 
to us, like a thief from transportation, under the alias of legitimacy ! 

We charge him (Charles I.) with having broken his coronation oath ; 
and we are told that he kept his marriage vow ! We accuse him of 
having given up his people to the merciless inflictions of the most hot- 
headed and hard-hearted of prelates ; and the defence is, that he took 
his little son on his knee and kissed him ! We censure him for having 
violated the articles of the petition of right, after having, for good and 
valuable considerations, promised to observe them ; and we are informed 
that he was accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning ! 

Recounting the dark catalogue of abuses which they had suffered, 
and appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of 
their intentions ; in the name and by the authority of the people, the 
only fountain of legitimate power, they shook off forever their allegt 
ance to the British crown, and pronounced the united colonies an inde- 
pendent Nation ! 

Flung into life in the midst of a revolution that quickened every 
energy of a people who acknowledge no superior, he commenced his 
course, a stranger by birth, and a scholar by charity ! 

When thy surges no longer shall roll', 
And that firmament's length is drawn back like a scroll', 
Then, then shall the spirit, that sighs by thee now, 
Be more mighty, more lasting, more chainless than thou 1 

Though boundless snows the withered heath deform', 
And the dim sun scarce wanders through the storm'; 
Yet shall the smile of social love repay, 
With mental light, the melancholy day! 

Though glory spread thy name from pole to pole, 
Though thou art merciful and brave and just ; 
Philip, reflect, thou art posting to the goal, 
Where mortals mix in undistinguished dust ! 

O would the scandal vanish with my life, 
Then happy were to me ensuing death ! 

O impotent estate of human life, 
Where hope and fear maintain eternal strife : 
Where fleeting joy does lasting doubt inspire, 
And most we question what we most admire ! 

Oh ! if servility, with supple knees, 
Whose trade it is to smile, to crouch, to please ; 
If smooth dissimulation, skilled to grace 
A devil's purpose, with an angel's face ; 
If smiling peeresses, and simpering peers, 
Encompassing his throne a few short years ; 
If the gilt carriage and the pampered steed, 
That wants no driving, and disdains the lead ; 
If guards, mechanically formed in ranks, 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES ArPLIED. 237 

Playing, at beat of drum, their martial pranks, 
Shouldering and standing, as if struck to stone, 
While condescending majesty looks on ; 
If monarchy consists in such base things, 
Sighing, I say again, I pity kings ! 

O, had the gods done so, I had not now 
Worthily termed them merciless to us ! 

Fragmentary Single Compact Sentences 

Examples. 

Bootless speed', 
When cowardice pursues and valor flies t 

Might I be 
As speechless, deaf and dead as he'! 

Gods'! if he do not die 

But for one moment, one, till I eclipse 

Conception with the scorn of those calm lips'! 

[Cat. Yet who has stirred ? Aurelius, you paint the air 

With passion's pencil.] 
Aur. Were my will a sword'! 

[Cass. Will you dine with me to-morrow ?] 

Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner be 
worth the eating 7 ! 

Would it might please your grace 
On our entreaties to amend your fault'! 

Were I a thunderbolt'! 

2. Double Compact. 

Examples. 

I know not what course others may take', but, as for me, give me 
liberty or give me death ! 

They are not fighting'; do not disturb them'; they are merely paus- 
ing ! This man is not expiring with agony'; that man is not dead'; he 
is only pausing ! They are not angry with one another'; they have 
now no cause for quarrel'; but their country thinks there should be a 
pause ! 

He is not content to triumph over the Gauls, the Egyptians and Phar- 
naces'; he must triumph over his own countrymen ! 

He is not content to cause the statue of Scipio and Petrius to be car- 
ried before him'; he must be graced by that of Cato ! He is not content 
with the simple effigy of Cato'; he must exhibit that of his suicide ! He 
is not satisfied to insult the Romans with triumphing over the death of 
liberty'; they must gaze upon the representation of her expiring agonies, 
and mark the writhings of her last fatal struggle ! 



238 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

They did not know that the angel of the Lord would go forth with 
them, and smite the invaders of their sanctuary ; they did not know 
that generation after generation, would, on this day, rise up and call 
them blessed : that their names would be handed down, from father to 
son, the penman's theme, and the poet's inspiration ; challenging, through 
countless years, the jubilant praises of an emancipated people, and the 
plaudits of an admiring world ; no, they knew only, that the arm, 
which should protect, was oppressing them, and they shook it off: that 
the chalice presented to their lips was a poisonous one, and they dashed 
it away ! 

The wonder is not that two men have died on the same day, but that 
two such men, after having performed so many, and such splendid ser- 
vices in the cause of liberty, after the multitude of other coincidences 
which seem to have linked their destinies together, after having lived so 
long together, the objects of their country's joint veneration, after having 
been spared to witness the great triumph of their toils at home, and 
looked together from Pisgah's top on the sublime effect of that grand 
impulse which they had given to the same glorious cause throughout 
the world, should on this fiftieth anniversary of the day on which they 
had ushered that cause into the light, be both caught up to heaven, 
together, in the midst of their raptures ! 

Nay, sneak not off thus cowardly ; poor souls 

Ye are as destitute of information 

As is the lifeless subject of my thoughts ! 

I have no mother, for she died, 

When I was very young ; 
But her memory still around my heart, 

Like morning mists, has hung ! 

Oh mother, mother ! do not jest 

On such a theme as this ; 
Though I was but a little child, 

Bitterly I cried, 
And clung to thee in agony, 

When my poor father died ! 

But triumph not, ye peace-enamored few'; 
Fire, nature, genius, never dwelt with you'; 
For you no fancy consecrates the scene, 
Where rapture uttered vows, and wept between'; 
'T is yours, unmoved to sever and to meet : 
No pledge is sacred, and no home is sweet ! 

3. Loose Sentences. 
1. Perfect Loose. 

If any', speak x ; for him have I offended! 

Time nies v : words are unavailing v : the chieftains declare for instant 
battle ! 

Too late have I come to the knowledge of thee x : too late have I begun 
to love thee ! 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 239 

Men have been frightened into intellectual dwarfs x ; and the beasts of 
the field and the forests have not attained more than half their ordinary 
growth ! 

It seems, gentlemen, this is an age of reason^: the time and the person 
are at last arrived, that are to dissipate the errors that have overspread 
the past generations of ignorance ! 

Not one shall survive to be enslaved ; for ere the tri-colored flag 
shall wave over our prostrate republic, the bones of four millions of 
Americans shall whiten the shores of their country ! 

And may the disciples of Washington then see, as we now see, the 
flag of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol ; and then, as now, 
may the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more 
lovely, than this our own country ! 

In caves and forests will I hide myself; with tigers and with savage 
beasts will I commune ; and when, at length, we meet again before the 
blessed tribunal of that Deity whose mild doctrines, and whose mercies, 
ye have this day renounced, then shall ye feel the agony and grief of 
soul, which now tear the bosom of your weak accuser ! 

The substantial clothing of our industrious classes, is now the growth 
of the American soil, and the texture of the American loom ; the music 
of the water-wheel is heard on the banks of our thousand rural streams ; 
and enterprise and skill, with wealth, refinement and prosperity in their 
train, have studded the sea-shore with populous cities, are making their 
great progress of improvement through the interior, and sowing towns 
and villages, as it were, broadcast through the country ! 

May the fires of their genius and courage animate and sustain us in 
our contest, and bring it to a like glorious result : may it be carried on 
with singleness to the objects, that alone summoned us to it as a great 
and imperious duty, irksome, yet necessary : may there be a willing, a 
joyful immolation of all selfish passions on the altar of a common coun- 
try : may the hearts of our combatants be bold, and, under a propitious 
heaven, their swords flash victory : may a speedy peace bless us, and 
the passions of war go off; leaving in their place a stronger love of 
country and of each other ! 

The pilgrim who reaches this valley of tears, 
Would fain hurry by v ; and, with trembling and fears, 
He is launched on the wreck-covered river ! 

Strike till the last armed foe expires^: 
Strike for your altars and your fires x : 
Strike for the green graves of your sires x : 
God and your native land ! 

All search was vain, and years had passed v : that child was ne'er forgot? 
When once a daring hunter climbed unto a lofty spof: 
From thence, upon a rugged crag the chamois never reached, 
He saw an infant's fleshless bones the elements had bleached ! 

There then she had found a grave : 
Within that chest had she concealed herself, 
Fluttering with joy, the happiest of the happy ; 
When a spring lock that lay in ambush there, 
Fastened her down forever ! 



240 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life : 
Last eve, in beauty's circle proudly gay : 
The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife : 
The morn, the marshalling in arms : the day, 
Battle's magnificently stern array ! 

From pavement rough, or frozen ground 
The engine's rattling wheels resound ; 

And soon before his eyes, 
The lurid flames, with horrid glare, 

Mingled with murky vapors, rise 
In wreathy folds upon the air, 

And veil the frowning skies ! 

2. Imperfect Loose. 
Examples. 

To sum up all in one word, it is our country': our dear native land ! 

This, be it remembered, has been the fruit of intellectual exertion': the 
triumph of mind ! 

It is the best classic the world has ever seen v : the noblest that has 
ever honored and dignified the language of mortals ! 

He aspired to be the highest*: above the people': above the authori- 
ties': above the laws': above his country ! 

It was the spirit of liberty which still abides on the earth, and has its 
home in the bosom of the brave': which but yesterday in beautiful 
France, restored the violated charter': which even now burns brightly 
on the towers of Belgium, and has rescued Poland from the tyrant's 
grasp'; making their sons, aye, and their daughters too, the wonder and 
the admiration of the world', the pride and glory of the human race ! 

It is this, which consecrating the humble circle of the hearth, will at 
times extend itself to the circumference of the horizon : which nerves 
the arm of the patriot to save his country : which lights the lamp of the 
philosopher to amend man : which will yet invigorate the martyr to 
merit immortality : which, when the world's agony is passed, and the 
glory of another is dawning, will prompt the prophet, even in his char- 
iot of fire, and in his vision of heaven, to bequeath to mankind the 
mantle of his memory ! 

Yet bloody was the deed and rashly done, 
That slew my Absalom : my son : my son ! 

Adieu the silent look : the streaming eye : 

The murmured plaint : the deep heart-rending sigh ! 

In that lone land of deep despair, 
No Sabbath's heavenly light shall rise ; 
No God regard your bitter prayer ; 
Nor Saviour call you to the skies ! 

And in the waveless mirror of his mind, 
He views the fleet years of pleasure left behind; 
Since Anna's empire o'er his heart began : 
Since first he called her his before the holy man f 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 241 

II. INTERROGATIVE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 
1. DEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1 Close Definite, 
Examples. 

What ! did he apprehend dangerous consequences from the delibera- 
tions of the grave elders of the kirk ! 

Was it a wonder then that T siezed my prejudices, and with a blush 
burned them on the altar of my country ! 

Would you really burn the gospel and erase the statutes for the 
dreadful equivalent of the crucifix and the guillotine ! 

Shall it be said, that we will not sacrifice one prejudice on the altar 
of the union for its preservation, when they offered up thousands to 
rear it! 

Is there nothing that whispers to that right honorable gentleman, that 
the crisis is too big, that the times are too gigantic to be ruled by the 
little hackneyed and every-day means of ordinary corruption ! 

How ! Will you suffer your glory to be thus sullied, in the face of 
the whole world, and have it said, that a nation, who first dedicated a 
temple in their city to Clemency, had not found any in yours ! 

Shall an inferior magistrate, a governor who holds his power of the 
Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight of Italy, bind, scourge, 
torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and at last put to the infa- 
mous death of the cross, a Roman citizen ! 

What ! Is the legislature, is the rule and government in this country 
reduced to this state, that it shall find no protection in the administra- 
tion of the law of the country against persons associating and affiliating 
for the purpose which they declare here ! 

Gracious God ! Shall the horrors which surround the informer, the 
ferocity of his countenance and the terrors of his voice, cast such a 
wide and appalling influence that none dare approach and save the vic- 
tim which he marks for ignominy and death ! 

Is it possible that any man can seriously believe the paralyzing five 
millions of such a people as I have been describing, can be a benefit to 
the empire ! Is there any man who deserves the name, not of a states- 
man, but a rational being, who can think it politic to rob such a mul- 
titude of all the energies of an honorable ambition ! 

Shall neither the cries of innocence expiring in agony, nor the tears 
of pitying spectators, nor the majesty of the Roman commonwealth, 
nor the fear of the justice of his country, restrain the licentious and 
wanton cruelty of a monster, who, in confidence of his riches, strikes 
at the root of liberty, and sets mankind at defiance ! 

Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, 
That sucks the nurse asleep ! 

Is it heaven's will 
To try the dust it kindles for a day 
With infinite agony ! 

31 



242 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

See ye not yonder how the locusts swarm, 
To drink the fountains of your honor up 
And leave your hills a desert ! 

Fragmentary Definite Close. 

Examples. 

What ! The gentleman from Massachusetts, who assisted by his vote 
to raise the army of twenty-five thousand, alarmed at the danger of our 
liberties from this very army ! 

What ! the opposition who in 1798 and 1799, could raise an useless 
army to fight an enemy three thousand miles distant from us, alarmed 
at the existence of one raised for the attack of the adjoining provinces 
of the enemy ! 

What ! to resign again 
That freedom for whose sake our souls have now 
Engraved themselves in blood ! 

2. Compact Definite. 

The examples under this head, are single compact only. I have not been able to find a double 
compact. I am inclined to believe that the structure of the double compact in its pure state is 
incompatible with interrogative use.* 

Examples. 

Gracious God ! Is a tyranny of this kind to be borne w 7 ith, where 
law is said to exist ! 

Would it not be advisable rather to attend to this declared object of 
the war now, than wait until after the Canadian scheme is effected ! 

What ! might Rome then have been taken, if these men who were 
at our gates had not wanted courage for the attempt ! Rome taken, 
whilst I was consul ! 

What ! my lords, not cultivate barren land, not encourage the man- 
ufactories of your country, not relieve the poor of your flock, if the 
church is to be at any expense thereby ! 

Will you sink from manhood, and its nobleness and high estimation, 
will you tarnish the lustre of a character already established, will you 
hazard your fortune, will you close up the avenues of the future, which 
now invites you smilingly to enter, and reap and enjoy, when at best 

you can gain nothing but revenge, and may miss even that ! 

» 

*Since writing the text I have met with two which I here subjoin. The first will be found again 
under the head of perfect loose, and the second under the miscellaneous head. 

"Am I to find them, not in the pursuit of useful science, not in the encouragement of arts and 
agriculture, not in the relief of an impoverished tenantry, not in the proud march of an unsuccess- 
ful, but not less sacred patriotism, not in the bright page of warlike immortality, dashing its iron 
crown from guilty greatness, or feeding freedom's laurel with the blood of the despot; but am I to 
find them amid drunken panders and corrupted slaves, debauching the innocence of village-life, and 
even amid the stews of the tavern, collecting or creating the materials of the brothel ! " 

" What ! Must I not only reveal this guilt, must I not only expose this perfidy, must I not only 
brand the infidelity of a wife and a mother; but must I, amidst the agonies of outraged nature, 
make the brother proof of the sister's prostitution ! " 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. '243 

3. LOOSE DEFINITE. 

1. Perfect Loose. 
Examples. 

Was it not enough that sorrow robed the happy home in mourning : 
was it not enough that disappointment preyed on its loveliest prospects : 
was it not enough that its little inmates cried in vain for bread, and heard 
no answer but the poor father's sigh, and drank no sustenance, but the 
wretched mother's tears : was this a time for passion, conscienceless, 
licentious passion, with its eye of lust, its heart of stone, its hand of 
rapine, to rush into the mournful sanctuary of misfortune, casting crime 
into the cup of woe, and rob the parents of their wealth, their child, 
and rob the child of her only charm, her innocence ! 

Oh ! Does not the God, who is said to be love, shed over this attri- 
bute of his, its finest illustration, when, while he sits in the highest 
heaven, and pours out his fulness on the whole subordinate domain of 
nature, and of providence, he bows a pitying regard on the very hum- 
blest of his children, and sends his reviving spirit into every heart, and 
cheers by his presence every home, and provides for the wants of every 
family, and watches over every sick-bed, and listens to the complaint 
of every sufferer ; and while, by his wondrous mind, the weight of uni- 
versal government is borne, oh ! is it not more wondrous and more 
excellent still, that he feels for every sorrow, and has an ear open to 
every prayer ! 

What ! (I exclaimed, as no doubt you are all ready to exclaim,) can 
this be possible ! is it thus that I am to find the educated youth of Ire- 
land occupied ! is this the employment of the miserable aristocracy that 
yet lingers in this devoted country : am I to find them, not in the pur- 
suits of useful science, not in the encouragement of arts and agriculture, 
not in the relief of an impoverished tenantry, not in the proud march of 
an unsuccessful but not less sacred patriotism, not in the bright page of 
warlike immortality, dashing its iron crown from guilty greatness, or 
feeding freedom's laurel with the blood of the despot ; but am I to find 
them, amid drunken panders, and corrupted slaves, debauching the 
innocence of village-life, and even amid the stews of the tavern, collec- 
ting or creating the materials of the brothel ! 

What ! were you snarling all before I came, 
Ready to catch each other by the throat ; 
And turn you all your hatred now on me ! 

2. Imperfect Loose. 
Examples. 

What ! to attribute the sacred sanctions of God and nature to the 
massacre of the Indian's scalping knife : to the cannibal savage, tortur- 
ing, murdering, roasting and eating, literally, my lords, eating the 
mangled victims of his barbarous battles ! 

[Shall I call you soldiers ?] Soldiers ! who have dared to besiege the 
son of your emperor: who have made him a prisoner in his own 



244 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

entrenchments ! [Can I call you citizens ?] Citizens ! who have tram- 
pled under your feet the authority of the senate : who have violated the 
most awful sanctions; even those which hostile states have ever held 
in respect, the rights of ambassadors and the laws of nations ! 

Look upon my boy as though I guessed it : 
Guessed the trial thou wouldst have me make : 
Guessed it instinctively ! 

What ! I that killed the husband, and his father, 

To take her in her heart's extremest hate : 

With curses in her mouth : tears in her eyes : 

The bleeding witness of her hatred by : 

With God, her conscience, and these bars against me ! 

Is there not a sound, 
As of some watchword, that recalls at night 
All that gave light and wonder to the day, 
In these soft words that breathe of loveliness, 
And summon to the spirit scenes that rose 
Rich on the raptured vision, as the eye 
Hung like a tranced thing above the page 
That Genius had made golden with its glow : 
The page of noble story ; of high towers 
And castled halls, envistaed like the line 
Of heroes and great hearts, that centuries 
Had led before their hearths in dim array : 
Of lake and lawn, and grey and cloudy tree, 
That rocked with bannered foliage to the storm 
Above the walls it shadowed, and whose leaves, 
Rustling in gathered music to the winds, 
Seemed voiced as with the sound of many seas ! 

2. INDEFINITE INTERROGATIVE. 

1. Close Indefinite. 
Examples. 

Where is the man, where is the philosopher, who could so live, suffer 
and die, without weakness and without ostentation ! 

What numberless errors and frauds have crept in among the poor 
deluded people, under cover of the church and the pretended infallibility 
of the Pope ! 

Who would not prefer this living tomb in the hearts of his country- 
men, to the proudest mausoleum that the genius of sculpture could erect ! 

What ought to be our emotions, as we meet on this anniversary on 
the spot where the first successful foundations of the great American 
republic were laid ! 

What a well-spring of gratitude to God, of love to man, of self- 
enjoyment, do such persons shut up with impious hands against them- 
selves and all whom they influence ! 

How often do we see, in our public gazettes, a pompous display of 
honors to the memory of some veteran patriot, who has been suffered 
to linger out his latter days in unregarded penury f 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 245 

How mistaken were all the amatory poets, from Anacreon downward, 
who preferred the bloom of the rose and the thrill of the nightingale to 
the saffron hide and dulcet treble of sixty-three ! 

How next to impossible does it seem for them to regulate their 
thoughts, words and deeds, and all the influences they are perpetually 
exerting over others, by the purifying love and self-sacrificing humility 
of the gospel ! 

Who would not exchange the misgivings and the gloom, that over- 
hang this skeptical creed, for the inflexible faith, the ardent hope, the 
holy rejoicing of him who doubts not for a moment the future reign of 
universal peace ! 

Who could have suspected that, under the very roof of virtue, in the 
presence of a venerable and respected matron, and of that innocent 
family, whom she had reared up in the sunshine of her example, the 
most abandoned could have plotted his iniquities ! 

What a cheering pledge does it give of the stability of our institu- 
tions, that while abroad, the benighted multitude are prostrating them- 
selves before the idols which their own hands have fashioned into kings, 
here, in this land of the free, our people are every where starting up, 
with one impulse, to follow with their acclamations the ascending spir- 
its of the great fathers of the Republic ! 

How like a mountain devil in the heart 
Rules the unreined ambition ! 

What numbers here through odd ambition strive 
To seem the most transported things alive ! 

O what passions then, 
What melting sentiments of kindly care 
On the new parents seize ! 

Ah ! what avails the lengthening mead 
By nature's kindest bounty spread 
Along the vale of flowers ! 

How shall I then attempt to sing of Him, 
Who, light himself, in uncreated light 
Invested deep, dwells awfully retired 
From mortal eye, or angel's purer ken ! 

2. Compact Indefinite.* 
Examples. 

How different would have been our lot this day, both as men and cit- 
izens, had the Revolution failed of success ! 

O ! how many favorite schemes of enjoyment would the thought of 
Him and his will put to flight, if faithfully admitted to the inner cham- 
bers of the mind ! 

How wretched is the situation of thy creatures, when they desert 
Thee, the fountain of life, violate the laws of thy government, and wil- 
fully pursue their own destruction ! 

* The single only is given, for the reason assigned under definite compact, 



246 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

What, what are the hours of a splendid wretch like this, compared 
with those that shed their poppies and their roses upon the pillows of 
our peaceful and virtuous patriots ! 

What a dead thing is a clock, with its ponderous embowelments of 
lead and brass, its pert or solemn dullness of communication, compared 
with the simple altar-like structure, and silent heart-language of the 
old dial ! 

How misapprehended have been the claims of youth, if years and 
wrinkles can thus despoil their conquest, and depopulate the navy of its 
prowess, and beguile the bar of its eloquence ! 

What were the selfish and petty strides of an Alexander, to conquer 
a little section of a savage world, compared with this generous, this 
magnificent advance towards the emancipation of the entire world ! 

What pride did you not feel in that soil, when you lately welcomed 
the nation's guest, the venerable champion of America, to the spot 
where the first note of struggling freedom was uttered, which sounded 
across the Atlantic, and drew him from all the delights of life to enlist 
in our cause ! 

How well would it have been, had he but retraced the fountain of 
that document : had he recalled to mind the virtues it rewarded ; the 
pure train of honors it associated ; the line of spotless ancestry it distin- 
guished ; the high ambition its bequests inspired ; the moral imitation it 
imperatively commanded ! 

How could it be otherwise, when, for ages upon ages, invention has 
fatigued itself with expedients for imitation : when, as I have read with 
horror, in the progress of my legal studies, the homicide of a mere Irish- 
man was considered justifiable ; and when, though his ignorance was 
the origin of all his crimes, his education was prohibited by act of par- 
liament ! 

Oh ! how happy had it been when he arrived at the bank of the river 
with the ill-fated fugitive, ere yet he had committed her to that boat of 
which, like the fabled barque of Styx, the exile was eternal, how happy 
at that moment, so teeming with misery and with shame, if you, my 
lord, had met him, and could have accosted him in the character of that 
good genius which had abandoned him ! 

What an accession of glory and magnificence does Dr. Herschell 
superadd to it, when, instead of supposing all those suns fixed, and the 
motion confined to their respective planets, he loosens those multitudi- 
nous suns themselves from their stations, sets them all into motion with 
their splendid retinue of planets and satellites, and imagines them, thus 
attended, to perform a stupendous revolution, system above system, 
around some grander, unknown centre, somewhere in the boundless 
abyss of space ! and when, carrying on the process, you suppose even 
that centre itself not stationary, but also counterpoised by other masses 
in the immensity of spaces, with which, attended by their accumulated 
trains of 

Planets, suns, and adamantine spheres 
Wheeling unshaken through the void immense, 

it maintains harmonious concert, surrounding, in its vast career, some 
other centre still more remote and stupendous, which in its turn — ? 



Why do you repeat 
My words, as if you feared to trust your own ! 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 247 

How would those rescued thousands bless thy name, 
Should'st thou betray us ! 

How quickly nature falls into revolt, 
When gold becomes her object ! 

Oh how comely it is, and how reviving 
To the spirits of just men, long oppressed, 
When God into the hands of their deliverer 
Puts invincible might 
To quell the mighty of the earth ! 

But oh ! how altered was its sprightlier tone, 
When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue, 
Her bow across her shoulder flung, 
Her buskins gemmed with morning dew, 
Blew an inspiring air, that dell and thicket rung ! 

3. Loose Indefinite. 

1. Perfect Loose. 

Examples. 

What noble institutions : what a comprehensive policy : what wise 
equalization of every political advantage ! 

What prepossession, what blindness, must it be to compare the son of 
Sophronius with the son of Mary ! what an immeasurable distance be- 
tween them ! 

How insensible have christians and the christian ministry been to the 
inestimable value of the peace principle : how little have they realized 
its truth, power, beauty ! 

Who can deny that the existence of such a country presents a subject 
for human congratulation : who can deny that its gigantic advancement 
offers a field for the most rational conjecture ! 

What sweetness, what purity, in his manners! what an affecting 
gracefulness in his instructions ! what sublimity in his maxims ! what 
profound wisdom in his discourses ! what presence of mind, what sagacity 
and propriety in his answers ! how great the command over his passions ! 

Who shall say for what purpose a mysterious Providence may not 
have designed her : who shall say that when in its follies and its crimes, 
the old world may have interred all the pride of its power, and all the 
pomp of its civilization, human nature may not find its destined renova- 
tion in the new ! 

Why is it that to man have been given passions which he cannot 
tame, and which sink him below the brute ; and why is it that a few 
ambitious men are permitted by the great Ruler, in the selfish pursuit 
of their own aggrandizement, to scatter in ruin, desolation and death, 
whole kingdoms ! 

How many darling habits would be abandoned, if the whole man 
were brought under the dominion of this imperious visitor ; and how 
many affections would be torn away from the objects on which they are 
now fastened, if God were at all times attended to and regarded with 
that affection which he at all times demands of us ! 



248 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

How hard is it to convince christians of these things! how hard is it 
to bring them to act on the broad, simple, uncompromising precepts of 
the gospel ! how next to impossible does it seem for them to regulate 
their thoughts, words and deeds, and all the influences they are perpet- 
ually exerting over others, by the purifying and self-sacrificing humility 
of the gospel ! 

What, though in our history, I read of no patriarchs and prophets 
and divine legislators ; of no pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night ; 
not of the terrors of Sinai, or the vision of Pisgah ; not of the chariot of 
fire and the mantle of power ; nor yet of the fiery tempest of Sodom or 
the severed waves of Jordan ! what, though in the records of his deal- 
ings with us, I read not that he stood and measured the earth ; that he 
beheld and drove asunder the nations; that the mountains saw him and 
trembled ; that the deep lifted up his hands on high ; that the sun and 
moon stood still in their habitations ! what, though in the history of the 
founders of our institutions, I read not of cloven tongues like as of fire ; 
nor of the earthquake at midnight that burst the prison-gates ; not of 
the trance of Peter, nor the vision of Cornelius, nor the mid-day glory 
that struck Paul with blindness!* 

How beautiful is all this visible world : 
How beautiful in its action and itself! 

How still he is now ! how fiery hot ! how cold ! 
How terrible ! how lifeless ! 

How fair its lawns and sheltering woods appear : 
How sweet its streamlet murmurs in mine ear ! 

How ghastly the visage of death doth appear ; 

How frightful the thought of the shroud and the bier ; 

And the blood-crested worm how vile ! 

How friendly the hand that faith is now lending : 
How benignant her look o'er the pillow while bending : 
How sweet, how assuring, her smile ! 

What affections the violet awakes ! 
What loved little islands, twice seen in their lakes, 

Can the wild water-lilly restore ! 
What landscapes I read in the primrose's looks ! 
And what pictures of pebbled and minnowy brooks, 

In the vetches that tangled their shore ? 

2. Imperfect Loose. 

Examples. 

Where, in the compass of human literature, can the fancy be so 
elevated by sublime description : can the heart be so warmed by simple, 
unaffected tenderness ! 

* Each of the three parts of this long perfect loose indefinite, it may be well to say, is a compact 
sentence having only the first word (what) of the first part expressed; {sec Compound Compact 
Indefinite Interrogative Sentences, Note ; ) and having an imperfect loose construction in the second 
part. The correlative words, I need scarcely add, are yet — though. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 249 

What a pity that their journey should, not be further continued to- 
gether : that as they had been lovely in their lives, so in their deaths 
they might not be divided ! 

What a pity that the object of that guilty confidence had not some- 
thing of humanity : that as a female, she did not feel for the character 
of her sex : that as a mother she did not mourn over the sorrows of a 
helpless family ! 

How peculiarly and imperiously incumbent, then, is it on us this 
day, in this place, and in this assembly, to speak together concerning 
the glory of our ancestors ; to analyze that glory ; and to inquire what 
it is to deserve, and what it is to disgrace those ancestors ! 

But how much nobler will be our sovereign's boast in having it to 
say that he found law dear, and left it cheap : found it a sealed book, 
and left it a living letter : found it a patrimony of the rich ; left it the 
inheritance of the poor: found it the two-edged sword of craft and 
oppression ; left it the staff of honesty, and the shield of innocence ! 

What a proud testimony does it bear to the character of our nation, 
that it is able to make a proper estimate of services like these : that 
while in other countries, the senseless mob fall down in stupid admira- 
tion, before the bloody wheels of the conqueror, even the conqueror by 
accident, in this, our people rise, with one accord, to pay their homage 
to intellect and virtue ! 

Oh ! how recreating is it to feel that occasions may rise in which the 
soul of man may resume her pretensions: in which she hears the voice 
of nature whispering to her, " I have made man erect that he may look 
up to heaven ": in which even I can look up with calm security to the 
court, and down with the most profound contempt on the reptile I mean 
to tread upon ! 

3. INDIRECT INTERROGATIVE. 

Examples. 

Surely, they were indignant at this treatment : surely, the air rings 
with reproaches upon a man who has thus made them stake their repu- 
tation upon a falsehood ; and then gives them little less than the lie 
direct to their assertions ! [No, sir ; nothing of all this is heard from 
our cabinet.] 

Surely, a people with whom we were connected by so many natural 
and adventitious ties, had some claim upon our humanity : surely, if 
our duty required that they and theirs should be sacrificed to our inter- 
ests, or our passions, some regret mingled in the execution of the pur- 
pose ! We postponed the decree of ruin until the last moment : we 
hesitated, we delayed, until longer delay was dangerous ! [Alas ! sir, 
there was nothing of this kind.] 

I see no swords and bucklers on these floors ! 

Sure they lie, 
Who say thou cam'st a secret spy ! 

[Heaven ! are thy thunders idle ? and thou earth, 
That yet endurest his tread,] thou wilt not part 
Beneath him, and deep hide his infamy ! 

32 



250 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Oh ! the count 
Is pleasant then ; and thou wouldst fain forget 
A humble villager, who only boasts 
The treasure of the heart ! 

III. COMPELLATIVE EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES. 

1. Examples at the beginning. 

Friends, Romans, countrymen'! lend me your ears. 

Men ! brethren ! and fathers'! hear ye my defence which I now make 
unto you ! 

Friends, countrymen, and lovers'! hear me for my cause, and be silent 
that you may hear. 

Truth'! friendship'! my country'! sacred objects', sentiments dear to 
my heart', accept my last sacrifice. 

Oh thou disconsolate widow'! robbed, so cruelly robbed, and in so 
short a time, both of a husband and a son'! what must be the pleni- 
tude of thy sufferings ! 

Friends ! fellow-citizens ! and countrymen ! who have honored me 
with your presence and attention on this occasion, I thank you : I thank 
you from my heart. 

Ye, who have hearts of pity ! ye, who have experienced the anguish 
of dissolving friendship ! who have wept and still weep over the mold- 
ering ruins of departed kindred ! — ye can enter into the reflection. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest 
them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not ! 

Oh Luxury'! thou curst by Heaven's decree, 
How ill exchanged are things like these for thee ! 

My mother earth ! 
And thou, fresh breaking day ! and you, ye mountains ! 
Why are ye beautiful ? 

Fair star of evening ! splendor of the west ! 
Star of my country ! on the horizon's brink 
Thou hangest. 

Most potent, grave and reverend seigniors ! 
My very noble and approved good masters ! 
That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter, 
Is most true. 

O day the fairest sure that ever rose ! 

Period and end of anxious Emma's w r oes ! 

Sire of her joy, and source of her delight ! 

O, winged with pleasure, take thy happy flight, 

And give each future morn a tincture of thy white. 

Ye well arrayed ! ye lillies of our land ! 
Ye lillies male ! who neither toil nor spin, 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 251 

(As sister lillies might,) if not so wise 
As Solomon, more sumptuous to the sight ! 
Ye delicate ! whom nothing can support, 
Yourselves most insupportable ! for whom 
The winter rose must blow, the sun put on 
A brighter beam in Leo, silky-soft 
Favonius breathe still softer, or be chid, 
And other worlds send odors, sauce and song, 
And robes, and notions, framed in foreign looms ! 

ye Lorenzos of our age ! who deem 
One moment unamused a misery 

Not made for feeble man, who call aloud 
For every bauble driveled o'er by sense, 
For rattles and conceits of every cast, 
For change of follies and relays of joy, 
To drag your patient through the tedious length 
Of a short winter's day ! — say, sages ! say 
Wit's oracles ! Say, dreamers of gay dreams ! 
How will you weather an eternal night, 
Where such expedients fail $ 

2. Examples in the middle. 

And he said, Men! brethren! and fathers'! hearken. 

But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said 
unto them, Ye men of Judea'! and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem'! be 
this known unto you. 

1 love thee, mournful, sober-suited night ! 
When the faint moon, yet lingering in her wane, 
And veiled in clouds, with pale uncertain light 
Hangs o'er the waters of the restless main. 

3. Examples at the end. 

By the end is here meant, it will be borne in mind, the end of perfect sense : marked indif- 
ferently by partial or perfect close : the end also of interrogatives and interrogative exclamations, 
and of their parts, if loose. 

Now that you are gone, who will take your place, servant of God, 
and friend of man ? 

Is this your triumph, this your proud applause, 
Children of truth, and champions of her cause ? 

Behold, you powers ! 
To whom you have entrusted human kind ! 
See Europe, Afric, Asia, put in balance, 
And all weighed down by one light, worthless woman ! 

And say, Supernal powers ! who deeply scan 
Heaven's dark decrees, unfathomed yet by man ! 
When shall the world call down to cleanse her shame 
That embryo spirit, yet without a name : 



252 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

That friend of nature, whose avenging hands 
Shall burst the Lybian's adamantine bands V 

How could ye do this, ye slaves and miserable panders of tyranny S 

On, ye brave, 
Who rush to glory and the grave ! 

Then melt, ye elements ! that formed in vain 
This troubled pulse and visionary brain ! 
Fade, ye wild flowers ! memorials of my doom ! 
And sink, ye stars! that light me to the tomb ! 

In all the preceding examples of compellatives at the end, except the last three, they terminate 
with their appropriate ending, the bend : in the last three, they yield to the overpowering force 
of the downward slide and the imperative mood. 

< 

IV. SEMI-EXCLAMATORY. 

Examples. 

So thought Palmyra^: where is she ! 

They will cry in the last accents of despair', oh ! for a Washington, 
an Adams, a Jefferson ! * 

Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century from the birth of Wash- 
ington^ and what a century it has been ! 

At the end of the very next century, if she proceeds as she seems to 
promise', what a wondrous spectacle may she not exhibit ! 

When Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said', How hardly 
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! 

And when he came to himself, he said', How many hired servants of 
my father have enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chil- 
dren', how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him ! 

Praise and thanksgiving are the most delightful business of heaven v ; 
and God grant that they may be our greatest delight, our most frequent 
employment, on earth ! 

O Jerusalem', Jerusalem', thou that killest the prophets and stonest 
them that are sent unto thee', how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not ! f 

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over 
the gate, and wepf; and as he went up, thus he said : O my son Absa- 
lom', my son', my son Absalom'/ would to God I had died for thee, O 
Absalom, my son, my son ! 

When the sun rises or sets in the heavens, when autumn pours forth 
its fruits, or when winter returns in its awful forms, happy were it for 
us, did we view the Creator and Preserver of all, continually manifest- 
ing himself in his various works ! 

* 7. e. Oh what would we not give for a Washington, &c. 

1 This sentence is not, strictly speaking, semi-exclamatory, but wholly : yet the appellative portion 
being virtually declarative, I include this and other cases of the same kind, under the semi-exclama- 
tory head. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. ' 253 

When a government forbids its citizens, under pain of death, to 
receive any pension or largess from the hands of foreigners, how gentle 
and easy is that law to those, who, for the sake of their fatherland and 
liberty, would of their own accord, abstain from so unworthy an act ! 
but on the contrary, how harsh and oppressive does it appear to those 
who care for nothing but their selfish gains ! 

If for the prosperity of our worldly attempts, for avoiding dangers 
that threaten us with pain and damage, for defeating the adversaries of 
our secular quiet, we make our song of victory, how much more for the 
happy progress of our spiritual affairs, for escaping those dreadful 
hazards of utter ruin and endless torture, for vanquishing sin and hell, 
those irreconcilable enemies to our everlasting peace, are we obliged to 
utter triumphant anthems of joy and thankfulness ! 

Yes, beauty dwells in all our paths, but sorrow too is there : 
How oft some cloud within us dims the bright, still summer air, 
When we carry our sick hearts abroad amidst the joyous things, 
That through the leafy places glance on many-colored wings ! 

Auspicious Hope ! in thy sweet garden grow 

Wreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe : 

Won by their sweets, in nature's languid hour, 

The way-worn pilgrim seeks thy summer bower : 

There, as the wild bee murmurs on the wing, 

What peaceful dreams, thy handmaid spirits bring ! 

What viewless forms the iEolian organs play 

And sweep the furrowed lines of anxious thought away ! 

Look then abroad through nature to the range 
Of planets, suns and adamantine spheres, 
Wheeling unshaken through the void immense, 
And speak, O man ! does this capacious scene 
With half that kindling majesty dilate 
Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose 
Refulgent from the stroke of Caesar's fate 
Amid the crowd of patriots, and his arm 
Aloft extending, like eternal Jove 
When guilt brings down the thunder, called aloud 
On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel, 
And bade the father of his country, hail ! 
For lo ! the tyrant prostrate on the dust, 
And Rome again is free ! 

Land of our fathers ! though 't is ours to roam 
A land upon whose bosom thou might'st lie, 
Like infant on its mother's ; though 't is ours 
To gaze upon a nobler heritage 
Than thou couldst e'er unshadow to thy sons ; 
Though ours to linger upon fount and sky, 
Wilder, and peopled with great spirits who 
Walk with a deeper majesty than thine ; 
Yet, as our fatherland, oh who shall tell 
The lone mysterious energy which calls 



254 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Upon our sinking spirits to walk forth 
Amid thy wood and mount, where every hill 
Is eloquent with beauty, and the tale 
And song of centuries, the cloudless years 
When fairies walked thy valleys, and the turf 
Rung to their tiny footsteps, and quick flowers 
Sprang with the lifting grass on which they trode : 
When all the landscape murmured to its rills, 
And Joy with Hope slept in its leafy bowers ! 

Miscellaneous Examples of Exclamatory Sentences. 

Blush, then, ministers and warriors of imperial France, who have 
deluded your nation by pretensions to a disinterested regard for its lib- 
erties and rights ! disgorge the riches extorted from your fellow-citizens, 
and the spoils amassed from confiscation and blood ! restore to impover- 
ished nations the price paid by them for the privilege of slavery, and 
now appropriated to the refinements of luxury and corruption ! ap- 
proach the tomb of Hamilton, and compare the insignificance of your 
gorgeous palaces with the awful majesty of this tenement of clay ! 

If charters are not deemed sacred, how miserably precarious is every 
thing founded upon them ! 

But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of that dismal 
night, when in such quick succession we felt the extremes of grief, 
astonishment and rage : when heaven in anger, for a dreadful moment, 
suffered hell to take the reins : when Satan with his chosen band opened 
the sluices of New England's blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land 
with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons ! 

May that magnificence of spirit, which scorns the low pursuits of 
malice, may that generous compassion, which often preserves from ruin 
even a guilty villain, forever actuate the noble bosoms of Americans ! 

Tell me, ye bloody butchers ! ye villains high and low ! ye wretches 
who contrived, as well as ye who executed the inhuman deed ! do you 
not feel the goads and stings of conscious guilt pierce through your 
savage bosoms ! 

Unhappy Monk ! cut off, in the gay morn of manhood, from all the 
joys which sweeten life : doomed to drag on a pitiful existence, without 
even a hope to taste the pleasures of returning health ! 

Ye dark, designing knaves ! ye murderers ! parricides ! how dare 
you tread upon the earth, which has drank in the blood of slaughtered 
innocents, shed by your hands : how dare you breathe that air which 
wafted to the ear of heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to 
your accursed ambition ! But if the laboring earth doth not expand 
her jaws, if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister 
of death, yet hear it and tremble ! The eye of heaven penetrates the 
darkest chambers of the soul : traces the leading clue through all the 
labyrinths which your industrious folly has devised ; and you, however 
you may have screened yourselves from human eyes, must be arraigned, 
must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have 
procured, at the tremendous bar of God ! 

May this Almighty Being graciously preside in all our councils : may 
he direct us to such measures as he himself shall approve, and be 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 255 

pleased to bless : may we ever be a people favored of God : may our 
land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of the oppressed, 
a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last shock of time shall 
bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished ruin ! 

The voice of your father's blood cries to you from the ground, My 
sons, scorn to be slaves ! In vain we met the frowns of tyrants ; in vain 
we crossed the boisterous ocean, found a new world, and prepared it for 
the happy residence of liberty ; in vain we toiled ; in vain we fought ; 
we bled in vain ; if you, our offspring, want valor to repel the assaults 
of her invaders ! 

Say, fellow-citizens ! what dreadful thought now swells your heaving 
bosoms ! You fly to arms : sharp indignation flashes from each eye : 
revenge gnashes her iron teeth : death grins a hideous smile, secure to 
drench his greedy jaws in human gore : whilst hovering furies darken 
all the air ! 

For what task more delightful than to contemplate the successful 
struggles of virtue : to see it, at one moment, panting under the grasp 
of oppression, and rising in the next with renewed strength, as if, like 
the giant son of earth, she had acquired vigor from the fall : to see hope 
and disappointment, plenty and want, defeats and victories, following 
each other in rapid succession, and contributing, like light and shade, 
to the embellishment of the piece! — What more soothing to the soft 
and delicate feelings of humanity, than to wander, with folded arms 
and slow and pensive step, amidst the graves of departed heroes, to 
indulge the mingled emotions of grief and admiration : at one moment, 
giving way to private sorrow, and lamenting the loss of a friend, a rela- 
tion, a brother ; in the next, glowing with patriot warmth, gazing with 
ardor on their wounds, and invoking their spirits, while we ask Heaven 
to inspire us with equal fortitude ! 

Strange, unaccountable paradox ! How much more rational would 
it be to argue that the natural enemy of the privileges of freemen is he 
who is robbed of them himself! 

How many opportunities do foreign attachments afford, to tamper with 
domestic factions : to practice the arts of seduction : to mislead public 
opinion : to influence or awe the public councils ! 

How novel, how grand the spectacle ! 

Commencing his administration, what heart is not charmed with the 
recollection of the pure and wise principles announced by himself as 
the basis of his political life ! 

No matter how we may have graduated in the scale of nations ; no 
matter with what wreath we may have been adorned, or what blessings 
we may have been denied ; no matter what may have been our feuds, 
our follies or our misfortunes ; it has at least been universally conce- 
ded, that our hearths were the home of the domestic virtues ; and that 
love, honor and conjugal fidelity, were the dear and indisputable deities 
of our household ! 

It is without remedy : it is without antidote : it is without evasion ! 

Under such a visitation, how dreadful would be the destiny of the 
virtuous and the good, if the providence of our constitution had not given 
you the power, as, I trust, you will have the principle, to bruise the 
head of the serpent and crumble the altar of its idolatry ! 

But I do ask you, of what materials must the man be composed, who 



256 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

could thus debase the national liberality ! What ! was the recompense 
of that lofty heroism which has almost appropriated to the British navy 
the monopoly of maritime renown, was that grateful offering which a 
weeping country pours into the lap of its patriot's widow, and into the 
cradle of its warrior's orphans, was that generous consolation with 
which a nation's gratitude cheers the last moments of her dying hero, 
by the portraiture of his children sustained and ennobled by the legacy 
of his achievements, to be thus deliberately perverted into the bribe of a 
base, reluctant, unnatural prostitution ! Oh ! I know of nothing to 
parallel the self-abasement of such a deed, except the audacity that 
requires an honorable jury to abet it! 

Gracious God ! is it not enough to turn mercy herself into an execu- 
tioner ! You convict for murder ; here is the hand that murdered 
innocence : you convict for treason ; here is the vilest disloyalty to 
friendship : you convict for robbery ; here is one who plundered virtue 
of her dearest jewel, and dissolved it even in the bowl of that hospitality 
held out to him ! 

What ! must I not only reveal this guilt, must I not only expose this 
perfidy, must I not only brand the infidelity of a wife and a mother ; 
but must I, amidst the agonies of outraged nature, make the brother 
proof of the sister's prostitution ! 

Happy was it for Ireland that she had recovered her rights by victory, 
not stained by blood : not a victory bathed in the tears of a mother, a 
sister, or a wife : not a victory hanging over the grave of a Warren or 
a Montgomery, and uncertain whether to triumph in what she had 
gained, or to mourn over what she had lost ! 

Must we then realize that Hamilton is no more : must the sod, not 
yet cemented on the tomb of Washington, still moist with our tears, be 
so soon disturbed to admit the beloved companion of Washington ; the 
partner of his dangers ; the object of his confidence ; the disciple who 
leaned upon his bosom ! Insatiable Death ! will not the heroes and 
statesmen whom mad ambition has sent from the crimsoned fields of 
Europe suffice to people thy dreary dominions ! 

And in our infant country, how small was the remnant of our revolu- 
tionary heroes which had been spared from thy fatal grasp ! Could not 
our Warren, our Montgomery, our Mercer, our Greene, our Washing- 
ton appease thy vengeance for a few short years ; shall none of our 
early patriots be permitted to behold the perfection of their own work in 
the stability of our government and the maturity of our institutions ; or* 
hast thou predetermined, dread King of Terrors ! to blast the world's best 
hope, and, by depriving us of all the conductors of our glorious Revolu- 
tion, compel us to bury our liberties in their tombs ! O Hamilton ! 
great would be the relief of my mind, were I permitted to exchange the 
arduous duty of attempting to portray the varied excellence of thy char- 
acter, for the privilege of venting the deep and unavailing sorrow 
which swells my bosom at the remembrance of the gentleness of thy 
nature : of thy splendid talents and placid virtues ! 

I tremble to think that I am called to attack, from this place, a crime, 
the very idea of which almost freezes one with horror : a crime, too, 

* Or disjunctive. This is the only instance oi' double interrogative exclamation with which I 
have met ; and I have met with this too late for insertion in its proper place. It is delivered, I need 
scarcely say, like a double interrogative sentence. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 257 

which exists among the polite and polished orders of society ; and which 
is accompanied with every aggravation : committed with cool delibera- 
tion, and openly in the face of day ! 

And was there, O my God ! no other sacrifice valuable enough : 
would the cry of no other blood reach the place of retribution and wake 
justice, dozing over her awful seat ! 

Had it not had its advocates, had not a strange preponderance of 
opinion been in favor of it, never, O lamented Hamilton! hadst thou 
thus fallen, in the midst of thy days, and before thou hadst reached the 
zenith of thy glory ! 

O that I possessed the talent of eulogy, and that I might be permitted 
to indulge the tenderness of friendship, in paying the last tribute to his 
memory ! O that I were capable of placing this great man before you.* 

Approach, and behold, while I lift from his sepulchre its covering ! 
Ye admirers of his greatness ! ye emulous of his talents and his fame ! 
approach and behold him now ! How pale ! : how silent ! No martial 
bands admire the adroitness of his movements ; no fascinated throng 
weep, and melt, and tremble at his eloquence! Amazing change ! a 
shroud, a coffin, a narrow subterraneous dwelling — this is all that now 
remains of Hamilton ! 

Where would be the spirit, where the courage of their slain fathers ? 
Snatched and gone from ignoble sons ! What should we answer to the 
children we leave behind ; who will take their praise or their reproach, 
from the conduct of their sires, and those sires republicans ; who, reject- 
ing from the train of their succession the perishing honors of a ribbon 
or a badge, are more nobly inspired to transmit the unfading distinctions 
that spring from the resolute discharge of all the patriot's high duties ! 

Impious as well as insulting ! The leopard cannot change his spots 
or the Ethiopian his skin, but we, we, are to put off our bodies and 
become unlike ourselves as the price of our safety ! 

When it happens that some of them are surrendered up, on exami- 
nation and allowance of the proofs, it is not unusual to advert to it as 
an indication of British justice and generosity ! The very act, which, 
to an abstract judgment, should be taken as stamping a seal upon the 
outrage by the acknowledgment it implies from themselves of the atro- 
city, is converted into the medium of homage and praise ! Inverted 
patriotism : drooping, downcast honor ! to derive a pleasurable sensa- 
tion from the insulting confession of a crime ! 

They did not know that the angel of the Lord would go forth with 
them, and smite the invaders of their sanctuary : they did not know that 
generation after generation, would, on this day, rise up and call them 
blessed ; that the sleeping quarry would leap forth to pay them voiceless 
homage ; that their names would be handed down, from father to son, 
the penman's theme and the poet's inspiration : challenging, through 
countless years the jubilant praises of an emancipated people, and the 
plaudits of an admiring world ! No ! they knew, only, that the arm 
which should protect, was oppressing them ; and they shook it off: that 
the chalice presented to their lips was a poisoned one ; and they dash- 
ed it away ! 

Sole survivor of an assembly of as great men as the world has wit- 

* Each of these exclamations is the first part of a single compact, beginning with if: the 
second part beginning with then being understood. If it was so that. &c, then, fyc. 

33 



258 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

nessed, in a transaction, one of the most important that history records ; 
what thoughts, what interesting reflections must fill his elevated and 
devout soul ! If he dwell on the past, how touching its recollections : 
if he survey the present, how happy ; how joyous ; how full of the 
fruition of that hope, which his ardent patriotism indulged : if he glance 
at the future, how does the prospect of his country's advancement almost 
bewilder his weakened conception ! Fortunate, distinguished patriot ! 
interesting relic of the past ! 

Alas ! those attic days are gone : that sparkling eye is quenched : 
that voice of pure and delicate affection, which ran with such brilliancy 
and effect through the whole compass of colloquial music, now bright 
with wit, now melting in tenderness, is hushed forever in the grave ! 

Thus lived and thus died our sainted Patriots ! May their spirits still 
continue to hover over their countrymen, inspire their councils, and 
guide them in the same virtuous and noble path ; and may that God, 
in whose hands are the issues of all things, confirm and perpetuate, to 
us, the inestimable boon which through their agency, he has bestowed, 
and make our Columbia, the bright example for all the struggling sons 
of liberty around the globe ! 

Great Heaven ! how frail thy creature man is made : 
How by himself insensibly betrayed ! 

How blest the solitary's lot ; 
Who all-forgetting, all-forgot, 

Within his humble cell, 
The cavern wild with tangling roots, 
Sits o'er his newly-gathered fruits, 

Beside his crystal well ! 

Our portion is not large, indeed, 
But then how little do we need ! 

Famine, plague, war, and an unnumbered throng 
Of guilt-avenging ills, to man belong : 
What black, what ceaseless cares besiege our state : 
What strokes we feel from fancy and from fate ! 

O happy plains, remote from war's alarms, 
And all the ravages of hostile arms ; 
And happy shepherds, who, secure from fear, 
On open downs preserve your fleecy care ; 
Whose spacious barns groan with increasing store, 
And whirling flails disjoint the creaking floor ! 

How I dreamt 
Of things impossible ; 
Of joys perpetual in perpetual change ; 
Of stable pleasures on the tossing wave ; 
Eternal sunshine in the storms of life : 
How richly were my noontide trances hung 
With gorgeous tapestries of pictured joys ; 
Joy behind joy, in endless perspective ! 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 259 

Life ! Ask my life ! confess ! record myself 

A villain for the privilege to breathe, 

And carry up and down this cursed city, 

A discontented and repining spirit, 

Burdensome to itself, a few years longer, 

To lose it, may be at last, in a lewd quarrel 

For some new friend, treacherous and false as thou art ! 

No. 

Oh Heaven ! that one might read the book of fate, 

And see the revolution of the times 

Make mountains level and the continent, 

Weary of solid firmness, melt itself 

Into the sea ; and, other times, to see 

The beachy girdle of the ocean 

Too wide for Neptune's hips : how chances mock, 

And changes fill the cup of alteration 

With divers liquors ! 

Ha! again. 
Said he, young Harry Percy's spur was cold : 
Of hotspur, coldspur : that rebellion 
Had met ill luck ! 

Now bind my brows with iron ; and approach 
The raggedest hour that time and spite dare bring, 
To frown upon the enraged Northumberland ; 
Let heaven kiss earth ; now let not nature's hand 
Keep the wild flood confined ; let order die ; 
And let this world no longer be a stage, 
To feed contention in a lingering act, 
But let one spirit of the first born Cain 
Reign in all bosoms ; that, each heart being set 
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end, 
And darkness be the burier of the dead ! 

Oh, yet, for God's sake, go not to these wars ! 
[The time was, father, that you broke your word, 
When you were more endeared to it than now.] 

What ! is my lord of Winchester installed, 
And called unto a cardinal's degree ! 

She is beholden to thee, gentle youth ! 
Alas ! poor lady ! desolate and left ! 

Ha ! majesty ! how high thy glory towers 
When the rich blood of kings is set on fire ! 

What ! the kind Ismena 
That nursed me : watched my sickness ! 

What ! love my foe : 
Love one descended from a race of tyrants, 
Whose blood yet reeks on my avenging sword ! 



200 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

Hippolitus ! * 
Am I alive or dead ! Is this Elysium ! 
'T is he ! ' tis all Hippolitus ! 

Why look you so upon me ? 
I am but sorry, not afeared ! delayed, 
But nothing altered ! 

' Would thou hadst less deserved ; 
That the proportion both of thanks and payment 
Might have been mine ! 

THE MIXED SENTENCE, CIRCUMSTANCE AND PARENTHESIS. 

I. THE MIXED SENTENCE. 

Rule XX. The mixed sentence is delivered in conformity to the 
rules which govern the delivery of the particular sentences of which it 
is composed. 

As the student, is now supposed to be fully acquainted with every sentence in the English 
language, with its peculiar structure and the law of its delivery, and consequently with all the 
elements which, in combination, form the mixed sentence, I will not trouble him in this place 
with examples, but simply refer him to the Classification, where a sufficient number for illus- 
tration and practice will be found. 

II. THE CIRCUMSTANCE. 

Rule XXI. At the beginning and in the middle of declarative, or 
declarative exclamatory sentences without partial close, and of the parts 
of sentences ending with partial close, the circumstance always termi- 
nates with the bend ; and at the end of such sentences and parts of sen- 
tences, it terminates with partial or perfect close. At the beginning, in 
the middle, and at the end of interrogative or interrogative exclama- 
tory sentences, it conforms to the slide. 

A particular species of circumstance, of which "said he," "cried James," "answered Cor- 
nelius," &c, though not forming a part of the question which precedes them, and usually having 
the interrogative or exclamatory point between them and the question, is nevertheless delivered 
with a continuation of the same slide. For examples of this and of other circumstances, for 
illustration and practice, I refer the student, as above, to the Classification. 

III. THE PARENTHESIS. 

Rule XXII. If the parenthesis follows a part of a sentence making 
imperfect sense, it terminates with the bend : if it follows partial or per- 
fect close, that is to say, if it is placed between parts of a sentence 
making perfect sense, or between two sentences, it ends with the partial 
or perfect close. 

* This is not compilative, but a simple declarative exclamation ; and should therefore be deliv • 
ered with perfect close. 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 261 

With regard to declarative parenthetical sentences, this rule, I believe, holds universally 
true :* interrogatives modify it somewhat. After imperfect sense, the rising slide being nearly 
allied to the bend, and having but a slight tendency to break the connection, is pretty fully 
developed ; but the falling slide, like the inferior sweep of emphasis, must return to the level of 
the sentence, or it will sever the connection altogether, like partial or perfect close, to which it is 
nearly related. After perfect sense, or partial and perfect close, the slides are unchecked. 

Apart from the termination, the parenthesis should be delivered according to the nature of the 
sentence of which it consists. 

To distinguish the parenthesis from the including sentence, it should, in general, be read with 
less force, or a lower tone of voice. I say in general, because the reverse of this is sometimes 
necessary ; as when the parenthesis consists of a rapid and vehement question, or startling excla- 
mation. The main thing is, to mark the parenthesis as such ; and as doing this gracefully is a 
necessary qualification of the good reader or speaker, I subjoin copious examples for practice ; 
including those already adduced in the classification 

Examples. 

We hold, you know, (and rightly too,) that all government is, or 
ought to be made and managed for the benefit of the people. 

And there will I nourish thee, (for yet there are five years of fam- 
ine,) lest thou and thy household, and all that thou hast come to poverty. 

He had not been there, (as I was informed by those who lived in his 
neighborhood, and who were acquainted with him,) since the year 1796. 

Should liberty continue to be abused in this country, as it has been 
for some time past, (and though demagogues may not admit, yet sensi- 
ble and observing men will not deny that it has been,) the people will 
seek relief in despotism or in emigration. 

The power of such characters in nature, says Mr. Whately, (from 
whom I am happy to borrow the following observations, not only from 
the beauty of their expression, but from their singular coincidence in 
the illustration of the fact I have been endeavoring to establish,) the 
power of such characters is not confined to the ideas which the objects 
themselves immediately suggest. 

No such claimant being found, (I mean none who knew the contents ; 
for many declared that they expected just such a packet, and believed 
it to be their property,) Mr. Blenner very coolly resolved to appply the 
money to his own use. 

I had often heard of my friend S — 's charming place, his excellent 
house, his every thing, in short, that great wealth (for he is a man of 
very large estate,) could bestow, and taste, (for every body talked of 
his and Mrs. L — 's taste,) could adorn. I pictured his groves, his 
lawns, and his waterfalls, with somewhat of that enthusiasm for coun- 
try scenery which you seem to feel ; and I thought of his daughters, 
(two elegant girls, whom I had just seen for a few moments in the way 
from New York,) as the wood-nymphs of the scene. 

On the other hand, by what I had almost called an accidental circum- 
stance, but one which ought rather to be considered as a leading inci- 
dent in the great train of events connected with the establishment of 
constitutional freedom in this country, it came to pass, that nearly all 
the colonies (founded as they were on the charters granted to corporate 
institutions in England, which had for their object the pursuit of the 
branches of trade pertinent to a new plantation,) adopted a regular 
representative system. 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which 
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our 

* Except in cases in which writers have violated propriety in composition. 



262 THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 

hands have handled of the word of life ; (for the life was manifested, 
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal 
life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that 
which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may 
have fellowship with us. 

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how 
that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ? 

Is it, (permit me to ask,) because this affords no immediate profit, 
that you refuse to pursue it ? 

Could he possibly have committed this crime, (I am sure he could 
not,) which, as all will acknowledge, is at variance with the character 
he has borne, and the whole tenor of his life ? 

And what now, (I ask you,) is to save us from the abuse of all this 
power ? What is to prevent our free democracy (especially when our 
country becomes crowded with people, as it will be by and by, even 
though our woods and prairies, and our cities are choked with men, 
almost stifling each other with their hot breath,) from following its natu- 
ral bent, and launching us all, or those who come after us, in a wild and 
lawless anarchy? 

She had managed this matter so well, (oh ! she was the most artful 
of women !) that my father's heart was gone before I suspected it was 
in danger. 

It was represented by an analogy, (oh ! how inadequate !) which was 
borrowed from the religion of paganism. 

Shall we continue (alas ! that I should be constrained to ask the ques- 
tion !) in a course so dangerous to health, so enfeebling to mind, so 
destructive to character ? 

I wished (why should I deny it?) that it had been my case instead 
of my sister's. 

Him I am to leave here, being first cleansed of the deep dye with 
which, by my art, (and what art is it I am not familiar with ?) I have 
stained his skin to the darkest hue of the African. 

Sir, to borrow the words of one of your own poets, whose academic 
sojourn was in the next college to that in which we are now assembled, 
(and in what language, but that of Milton, can I hope to do justice to Ba- 
con and Newton ?) if their star should ever for a period go down, it 
must be to rise again with new splendor. 

Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without 
violence ; (for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned ;) 
and when they had brought them, they set them before the council. 

Let the bishop be one that ruleth well his own house : having his 
children in subjection : (for if a man know not how to rule his own 
house, how shall he take care of the Church of God ?) not a novice, lest 
being lifted up with pride, he fall into condemnation of the devil. 

I will therefore chastise him and release him. (For of necessity, he 
must release one of them at the feast.) And they cried out all at once : 
saying, Away with this man and release unto us Barabbas ; (who for a 
certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 
Brethren ! be ye followers together of me, and mark them which 
walk so, as ye have us for an example. (For many walk, of whom I 
have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the 
enemies of the cross of Christ ; whose end is destruction ; whose god is 



THE BEND, SWEEPS, SLIDES AND CLOSES APPLIED. 263 

their belly ; and whose glory is in their shame : who mind earthly 
things.) For our conversation is in heaven. 

God hath a special indignation against pride above all other sins ; and 
he will cross our endeavors, not because they are evil, (what hurt could 
there be in laying one brick upon another; or in rearing a Babel more 
than any other edifice ?) but because this business is proudly under- 
taken. 

Let me earnestly impress it on every one who wishes to be saved, 
(and if we do not, why approach the sanctuary of God : why hear the 
words of this book : why lift up a prayer to the throne of heaven in the 
name of the great Redeemer?) if you wish to be saved, go not into such 
society ; or if you enter it unawares, remain not in it. 



CHAPTER VII. 



EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR SENTENCES IN 
CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 

Throughout the portion of this work on which we are now about to 
enter, the student is left almost wholly to his own resources. In the 
first three exercises, to which I have appended copious notes, I have, in 
part, indicated the method of procedure in analyzing the remainder; at 
the end of which I have here and there only made a remark, where the 
punctuation, construction or delivery, (principally the construction,) 
seemed to be less obvious, or more difficult than usual. 

It will be observed, that in my notes to the first three exercises, I have 
confined myself almost exclusively to three or four topics;- and of these 
I have spoken in a very general way. Many more questions might 
have been asked, and many more answers might have been given, 
relative to these, leading to a more minute application of principles and 
rules, stated and illustrated on preceding pages ; while others not noticed 
at all, or but incidentally, might have been brought distinctly in view ; 
as, for example, articulation, accent, and much under the head of mod- 
ulation : key, force and rate. But what I have omitted, I suppose will 
be supplied by the student himself, or his intelligent instructor : leaving 
nothing, in short, hitherto advanced, unapplied to the exercises which 
follow. 



SEC I. HAMLET S INSTRUCTION TO THE PLAYERS. 

1 Speak the speech, I pray you', as I pronounced it to you v : trip- 
pingly on the tongue v ; but if you mouth it, as many of our players 

2 do 7 , I had as lief the town-cn'er spake my lines. Nor do not saw 
the air too much with your hand thus, but use all gently^; for in the 
very torrent, tempest, and, (as I may say,) whirlwind of your pas- 
sion', you must acquire, and beget a temperance, that may give it 

3 smoothness^. O, it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious 
periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split 
the ears of the groundlings N ; who, for the most part, are capable of 

4 nothing but inexplicable dumb shows, and noise. I would have 
such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termaganf: it out-herods 

5 6 Herod. Pray you, avoid it. Be not too tame neither', but let 
7 your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word' ; 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 265 

the word to the action*: with this special observance*: that you 
overstep not the the modesty of nature*; for anything so over-done is 
from the purpose of playing* ; whose end, both at the first, and now, 
was, and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature*: to show 
virtue her own feature*; scorn her own image*; and the very age 

8 and body of the time', his form, and pressure. Now this, overdone, 
or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but 
make the judicious grieve*; the censure of which one, must, in your 

9 allowance, o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. O, there be players, 
that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly, (not 
to speak it profanely,) that, neither having the accent of christians, 
nor the gait of christian, pagan, or man, have so strutted and bel- 
lowed, that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made 
men, and not made them well*: they imitated humanity so abomina- 
My. 

HAMLET'S INSTRUCTION TO THE PLAYERS, RHETORICALLY PARSED, 
1st Sentence, 

Question 1 . What is the nature of this sentence ? Answer. It is a 
compound declarative perfect loose sentence with two parts. 

Q. 2. What do you mean by a compound sentence? A. A sen- 
tence having two or more subjects, and finite verbs, expressed or under- 
stood. (See Class if, p. 50.) 

Q. 3. What, by a declarative sentence? A. A sentence which 
states or declares something in some one of the various relations of time, 
&c. (See Classif, ibid.) 

Q. 4. What, by a loose sentence? A. A sentence which consists 
of parts making perfect sense, and connected, not as members of the 
same regimen, or of the same proposition, but of a different regimen, 
and of distinct though related propositions, by conjunctions, adverbs or 
relative pronouns expressed or understood. (See Classif, p. 63.) 

Q. 5. What, by a perfect loose? A. A sentence which has the 
construction of all its parts complete. (See Classif, ibid.) 

Q. 6. You say this perfect loose sentence consists of two parts : 
what is the nature of the sentence in the first part? A. It is a com- 
pound declarative imperfect loose, with two sub-parts : the first ending 
with you, and the second with tongue. 

Q.l. What do you mean by an imperfect loose? A. A loose 
sentence which has its first part complete, but the succeeding part or 
parts fragmentary : requiring a portion of the first part (understood) to 
complete their construction. (See Classif, as above.) 

Q.8. What is the nature of the sub-parts ? A. The first ending 
with you, is a declarative single compact of the second form. 

Q. 9. What do you mean by a compact sentence? * A. A sen- 
tence always consisting of two parts : each of which begins with a word 
which relates to another word at the beginning of the other. (See 
Classif, p. 62.) 

Q. 10. What, by the second form? A. Compact sentences have 
these correlative words, sometimes, both expressed ; sometimes, only one 
of them ; and sometimes both are understood. If both are expressed 

34 



266 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

the compact belongs to the first form : if only one, to the second : if 
neither is expressed, to the third. (See Classif., as above.) 

Q. 11. What is the nature of the second sub-part ? A. It is a 
simple declarative sentence : having the clause, speak the speech, under- 
stood before trippingly. 

Q. 12. What is a simple sentence ? A. A sentence having but 
one subject and one finite verb. (See Classif., p. 50.) 

Q. 13. We have now analyzed one of the parts of the perfect loose 
sentence ; what is the nature of the second ? A. It is a mixed sen- 
tence. 

Q. 14. What do you mean by a mixed sentence ? A. A sentence 
consisting of two or more sentences of the same kind, or of different 
kinds combined. (See Classif'., p. 82.) 

Q. 15. Are the sentences combined here of the same, or different 
species? A. Of the same: both being single compacts of the second 
form : the greater comprehending, having the relative words if — then, 
and the less comprehended, the relative words so — as. 

Q. 16. What is the proper punctuation between the principal parts 
of this sentence ; that is, before but? A. The semicolon ; because the 
connective but is expressed. (See Punctuation, p. 30. ) 

Q. 17. What is the proper punctuation between the sub-parts of the 
first principal part ; that is, before trippingly ? A. The colon ; be- 
cause the connective, namely or that is, is understood. 

Q. 18. In the first sub-part you have the clause, I pray you : what 
is the rhetorical name of it? A. A circumstance. 

Q. 19. What is the nature of a circumstance ? A. It is a part of 
a sentence necessary to the sense, but not the construction. (See 
Classif., Circumstance, p. 83 .) 

Q. 20. Is it necessary to the sense in this place ? A. Yes ; for if 
it were not inserted, the request of Hamlet, would be a command. 

Q. 21. How is a circumstance always punctuated? A. At the 
beginning of perfect sense it is always followed, in the middle, preceded 
and followed, and at the end preceded, by a comma : at the end, it is 
of course followed by one of the pauses of perfect sense, (See Classif, 
as above. J 

Q. 22. What is the proper punctuation of the second principal part ? 
A. As it makes imperfect sense until completed, the comma only can 
be inserted, as in the text, between the parts of the less and greater 
compacts, (See Punctuation, p. 27, and Classif., p. 62. ) 

Q. 23. What is meant by the general delivery of a sentence? A. 
Its delivery apart from the consideration of emphasis ; that is, its char- 
acteristic delivery. 

Q. 24. What is the general delivery of the whole perfect loose sen- 
tence ? A. (See Rule IX. J 

Q. 25. What, of the first part, or imperfect loose sentence ? A. 
(See ibid.) 

Q. 26. What, of the second part, or mixed sentence? A. (See 
Rule XX. J 

Q. 27. What, of the circumstance in the first part ? A. (See 
Rule XXL J 

Q. 28. Can you tell me which are the emphatic words? A. Pro- 
nounced, moutli, many, town-cn'er. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 267 

Q. 29. What is the effect of emphasis on each? A. On pro- 
nounced and town-crier, being in the same short division of sense with 
close, the lower sweep is converted into the falling slide to close : (See 
Emph., Sec. II, 2, 5 :) on month and many, emphasis has a full devel- 
opment of both sweeps : there being ample room for it between these 
words and the pause on either hand. (See Emph., Sec. II, \.) 

30. Now deliver the sentence. 

2d Sentence.. 

Q. 1. What kind of sentence is this? A. Before I answer this 
question, I must make an observation or two on the use of nor and for 
in this place. 

Nor is used here precisely as if preceded by another negative member 
of the same sentence, beginning with neither or not : as if, instead of the 
sentence already analyzed, the author had written as follows : " Neither 
speak the speech differently from the manner in which I pronounced it, 
nor saw the air too much with your hand thus ; but/' &c, or as fol- 
lows : " Do not speak the speech differently from the manner I pro- 
nounced it, nor saw the air with your hand thus ; but," &c. 

Should we adopt the first construction, the whole sentence will be a 
compound declarative perfect loose, consisting of three parts : the first 
terminating with thus, and comprising a single compact with neither — 
nor, for correlative words ; the second, a simple declarative ; and the 
third a compound declarative close. Should we adopt the second con- 
struction, the whole sentence will be a double compact with the first 
and third propositions expressed : the first or negative proposition com- 
prising two members, and the third, forming a perfect loose, consisting 
of two parts. 

_The word for is here used as the equivalent of and. In its proper 
force, it should introduce a reason for something o-oino- before ; but this 
is not the case : it simply repeats the preceding sentiment in another 
form. The propriety of substituting and, will readily be perceived by 
employing it. I should add, perhaps, that if for was here used in its 
proper sense, that is, as the equivalent of because, the whole sentence 
would be a double compact with three of its propositions expressed : the 
first, third and fourth ; that is, the negative with two members, the 
affirmative opposed to the negative, and the reason for this affirmative. 

On the whole, of the two methods of construction noticed above, I 
prefer the second ; namely, that which makes the whole sentence a 
declarative double compact with the first and third proposition expressed. 

Q 2. What is a double compact sentence ? A. It is a sentence 
consisting of two single compacts : each having the correlative words 
therefore — because or for, and the two together comprising four propo- 
sitions: the first, a negative, the second, an affirmative or negative 
assigning a reason for the preceding negative, the third, an affirmative 
opposed to the first, and the fourth, an affirmative or negative assigning 
a reason for the third. (See Classif pp. 62, 65.) 

Q 3. You have said the third proposition, in the present instance, 
beginning with but, contains a perfect loose sentence in two parts : what 
is the nature of the sentence in each part V A. The first, ending with 
gently, is a simple declarative sentence: (see Sentence 1st, 11, 12 and 
Reference :) the second is a compound declarative close. 



268 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Q. 4. Will you define a close sentence ? A% It is one which has 
its members so closely connected, as to reject every pause except the 
comma. (See Classify p. 60.) 

Q. 5. What unusual appendage has this sentence S A. It includes 
a parenthesis ; by which is meant a sentence or part of a sentence, 
included in another sentence or part of a sentence, and neither neces- 
sary to the sense nor construction. (See Classify p. 84,) 

Q, 6. What is the proper punctuation between the first and third 
proposition, of the double compact; that is, between thus and but? A. 
The comma. (See Classify p, 63.) 

Q. 7. What, between the parts of the third ; that is, between gently and 
for? A. The semicolon. (See Sentence 1, 16.) 

Q. 8. What should be the punctuation of the parenthesis ? A. The 
parenthesis must always have the same pause after it, as before it. As 
it is inserted here after imperfect sense, the comma, if any, should be 
inserted before and therefore after it. I say if any, because strictly 
speaking none should be inserted ; for if the parenthesis were absent, 
and and whirlwind could not be separated by any pause. (See Classif., 
page 84,) 

Q. 9. What is the general delivery of a double compact ? A. The 
first proposition or part, if consisting of a single member, is delivered 
with the waving slide ; that is, the slide formed by the sweeps of empha- 
sis more or less fully developed : if comprising two or more members, 
each of these should be delivered in the same manner except the last ; 
which may either be delivered in the same manner or with partial 
close, (See Rule VIII.) In the present instance, we have this choice ; 
for the effect of nor (see above) is precisely the same as if the member 
implied by it was really expressed. 

The succeeding propositions or parts of a double compact are deliv- 
ered relatively like parts of a perfect loose sentence. (See 1st Sentence, 
24, and Rule IX.) 

Q.. 10, What are the emphatic words ? A. Thus, gently, whirl- 
wind, temperance and smoothness. 

Q. 11. Is emphasis on each of these words of the same kind ? A. 
No : that on whirlwind is deferred emphasis. 

Q. 12. What do you mean by deferred emphasis ? A. In theory 
torrent, tempest and whirlwind are equally emphatic ; but in practice, 
the emphasis is deferred to the last, to avoid the recurrence of similar 
sounds. (See Emph., Sec. I, 3.) 

Q. 13. What is the effect of emphasis on each ? A. If the nega- 
tive proposition should be delivered with the waving slide, the emphasis 
on thus will have its lower sweep limited to the word : if it terminates 
with partial close, the emphasis will coincide with it. (See Emph., Sec. I, 
3, 4.) On gently and smoothness, emphasis coincides with partial and 
perfect close : on temperance, the lower sweep is confined to the word : 
(see Emph., Sec. II, 2 :) on whirlwind a full development of the sweeps. 
(See Emph., Sec. I, I.) 

14. Deliver the sentence. 

3d Sentence. 

Q. 1. What kind of sentence is this ? A. A compound declarative 
perfect loose with two parts. (See 1st Sentence, 1—5.) 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 200 

Q. 2. What is the sentence in the first of these parts $ A. A com- 
pound declarative close, {see 2nd Sentence, 4,) preceded by the variable 
exclamation O ; which is here a mere key-note to what follows. (See 
Ch. VI, Simple Spontaneous Exclamations, 2, 5.) 

Q. 3. What, in the second part? A. Also a compound declara- 
tive close: it includes a circumstance ; namely, Jw the most part. (See 
Sent. 1st, 18—21.) 

Q. 4. What is the proper punctuation between the parts ? A. The 
semicolon; for the connective who is expressed. (See Sent. 1st, 16.) 

Q. 5. What is the proper punctuation of the parts separately con- 
sidered ? A. The comma should be inserted between its principal 
members. (See Sent. 2nd, 4.) 

Q. 6. What is the general delivery of the whole? A. (See Sent. 
1st, 24.) 

Q. 7. What of each part ? (See Rule VI.) 

Q. 8. Which are the emphatic words ? A. Soul, rags, groundlings, 
most, and noise. Rags and noise, deferred emphasis. (See 2nd Sen- 
tence, 12.) 

Q. 9. What, is the effect in each case ? A. On soul and rags, cir- 
cumflex : on most, full development : on groundlings and noise, it coin- 
cides with partial close. (See Sent. 1st, 29, 2nd, 13.) 

10. Deliver the sentence. 

4th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What is the name of this sentence? A. It is a compound 
declarative perfect loose with two parts like the preceding sentence ; 
which see. 

Q. 2. What, of the parts? A. They are both simple declarative 
sentences. (See Sent. 2nd, 3.) 

Q. 3. What pause should separate them? A. A colon. (See 
Classification, Loose Sentence; and Punctuation, Colon.) 

Q. 4. What is the general delivery of the whole sentence ? A. 
(See Sent. M, 6.) 

Q. 5. Are there any emphatic words ? A. Yes: Termagant and 
Herod ; on both of which emphasis coincides with close. 

6. Deliver the sentence. 

5th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What is the nature of this sentence ? A. A compound declar- 
ative close: including the circumstance, "Pray you." (See Sent. 1st, 
18—21 : see also Sent. 3d, 2.) 

Q. 2. What is the general delivery of a close sentence ? A. (See 
Rule VI.) 

Q. 3. What are the emphatic words ? A. Pray and avoid. 

Q. 4. What is the effect? A. The emphasis on pray, has the 
upper sweep cut off in consequence of falling on the first word in the 
sentence ; (see Emph., Sec. II, 2 ;) and on avoid, it has the lower 
sweep converted into the falling slide. (See Emphasis, Sec. II, 5.) 

5. Deliver it. 

6th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What name do you give this sentence? A. Tt is a double 



270 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, 0!B 

compact, with the 1st and 3d proposition expressed. (See Sent. 2nd, 2.) 

Q. 2. How should it be punctuated ? A. With a comma between 
the parts. (See 2nd Sent., 6\) 

Q. 3. What is the general delivery S A. See 2nd Sent., 9, and 
also Rule VIII.) 

Q. 4. What are the emphatic words V A. Tame and tutor. 

Q. 5. The effect ? A. On tome, full development : on tutor, empha- 
sis coincides with perfect close. 

6. Deliver it. 

7th Sentence. 

Q. 1. WhatV A. A compound declarative perfect loose in five 
parts : ending respectively with the words, action, observance, nature, 
playing, and pressure . 

Q. 2. What is the sentence in the first part? A. A declarative 
single compact of the third form : the correlative words understood, 
so — as. (See Class., Sing. Comp., 3d form.) 

Q. 3. In the second part ? A. Simple declarative with the clause 
" but do it," going before, understood, (See Sent. 1st, 11, 12, and Ref- 
erence.) 

Q. 4. In third part ? A. Simple declarative as in preceding. 

Q. 5. In fourth part ? A. Simple declarative, as before. 

Q. 6. In the fifth ? A. Compound declarative imperfect loose. 
(See 1st Sent., 6, 7.) 

Q. 7. Having how many parts ; and what is the nature of these 
parts ? A. It comprises two parts : the first, including the circum- 
stance " as J t were," being a compound declarative close, and the second, 
either close or imperfect loose, as it may be treated. I treat it as imper- 
fect loose. 

Q. 8. What pauses should be inserted between the principal parts ? 
A. A colon between the first and second, that is, between action and 
with, because the connective but is understood : (see Punct., Colon :) a 
colon between second and third, because the connective namely is under- 
stood : a semicolon between third and fourth, and fourth and fifth, 
because the connectives for and whose are expressed. (See Punct., 
Semicolon, and also Classif, Loose Sent.) 

Q. 9. How should the sub-parts of the last principal part be sepa- 
rated ? A. By a colon ; for and, the connective before to show, is under- 
stood ; and the sequent semicolons are employed between the subordi- 
nate sub-parts, because and is expressed. 

Q. 10. What is the general delivery of the entire sentence? A. 
(See Sent. 3d, 6.) 

Q. 11. What are the emphatic words ? A. Word, action, observ- 
ance, nature, overdone, playing, nature, feature, image, body, pressure : 
on body and pressure, the emphasis is deferred. 

Q. 12. What is the effect in each case ? A. On action, observance, 
nature, playing, nature, feature, image, and pressure, the emphasis coin- 
cides with partial or perfect close : on word and overdone, it produces 
the circumflex : on overstep and body, it is attended by a full develop- 
ment of the sweeps. 
. Q. 13. Deliver the sentence. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 2"i 1 

8th Sentence. 

Q, 1. This sentence : what? A. A compound declarative perfect 
loose with two parts, properly separated by the semicolon : the relative 
which being expressed. 

Q. 2. Tn each part, what? A. In the first, a compound declar- 
ative mixed sentence : having two compacts interwoven. The greater 
has the correlative words if — then, both understood : the less, though — 
yet; the first of which is expressed. (For the 'punctuation- see Compact 
Sentence.) In the second, we have a simple declarative sentence, 
including a circumstance: in you?- allowance. 

Q. 3. What are the emphatic words 1 A. Laugh, judicious, grieve, 
one, others. 

Q. 4. What is the nature of the emphasis on laugh and grieve, one 
and others ? A. It is antithetic. (See for a full explanation of this. 
Emphasis, Sec. I, 2.) In theory, unskillful and judicious are also under 
antithetic emphasis ; but to avoid harshness, it is better to defer the em- 
phasis to the last word. 

Q 5. What is the effect ? A. On laugh, one, and judicious, it pro- 
duces circumflex : on grieve and others, it coincides with partial and 
perfect close. 

6. Deliver it. 

9th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What is it? A. Comp. decl. perfect loose, in two parts: the 
1st, containing a simple decl. parenthesis and a single compact circum- 
stance of the first form, neither — nor, the correlative words, is a mixed 
sentence : combining close declarative at the beginning, with a single 
compact at the end, having the correlative words so — that : the sec- 
ond is a simple declarative. 

Q. 2. What, the emphatic words; and what effect? A. Highly, 
profanely, christian and man with circumflex : journeyman with full 
development : well and abominably, with partial and perfect close. 

3. Deliver the sentence. 



SEC II. HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY. 

1 To be, or not to be ? That is the question^: 
Whether ? t is nobler in the mind, to suffer 

2 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune', 
Or take up arms against a sea of troubles, 

3 And, by opposing, end them. To die — to sleep. 
No more ? and, by a sleep, to say w^e end 

4 The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks 

5 That flesh is heir to ? ; T is a consummation 

6 Devoutly to be wished. To die — to sleep": 

To sleep ! perchance to dreant! Ay\- there's the rub : 

7 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil'. 
Must give us pause. There "s the respect 

That makes calamity of so long life ; 



272 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, 
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, 
The insolence of office, and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes, 
When he himself might his quietus make 

8 With a bare bodkin ? who would fardels bear, 
To groan and sweat under a weary life ; 
But that dread of something after death, 
That undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
No traveler returns, puzzles the will, 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have, 
Than fly to others that we know not of? 
Thus conscience does make cowards of us dtfc; 
x\nd thus the native hue of resolution 

9 Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; 
And enterprises of great pith and moment, 
With this regard, their currents turn awry, 
And lose the name of action, 

hamlet's soliloquy rhetorically parsed. 

1st Sentence. 

Q. 1. What kind of sentence is this? A. A double interrogative 
sentence. 

Q. 2. What is a double interrogative ? A. It is a single compact 
declarative, employed interrogatively: having whether — or, for correl- 
ative words. When so employed, the first of the correlative words 
(whether,) is almost uniformly suppressed. (See Classification, Sec. II, 
Class II, Preliminary Remarks.) 

Q. 3. Is the sentence complete, or fragmentary 9 A. Fragment- 
ary : if completed, it would read thus : " Am I to be after death, or am 
I not to be ?" The construction of the second part of a double interrog- 
ative is scarcely ever complete. (See 'preceding Reference.) 

Q. 4. What is the proper punctuation between the parts? A. 
That of the compact sentence, the comma ; or, in cases of allowable 
deviation, the semicolon. (See Punct., Dev. 1.) 

Q. 5. Is not the interrogation often inserted between the parts? A. 
Yes; but then it represents one or the other of these pauses. (See 
Punct., Sec. II, 1.) 

Q. 6. What is the general delivery? A. The first part is deliv- 
ered with the rising slide to the disjunctive or, and the second part, with 
the falling slide from it. (See Pule XVII.) 

Q. 7. What are the emphatic words in this sentence? A. Be 
and not. 

Q. 8. What the effect of emphasis on these words ? A. The only 
effect on he, is to produce a dip or indentation in the rising slide : (see 
Emph., Sec. II, 7. 10:) on not, it defers the falling slide until that word 
is reached ; and it is reached by a level delivery, or by an upper sweep. 
(See Emph., Sec. II, 8, 10.) 

9. Deliver the sentence. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 273 

2d Sentence. 

Q. 1. What sentence is this ? A. A compound declarative perfect 
loose, with two parts : the first, a simple declarative, and the second, 
including a circumstance, a single compact of the first form : correlative 
words wliether — or. (See Hamlet's Soliloquy, 8th Sent.) If the con- 
struction of this sentence was complete, it would have three parts : it 
being necessary to supply a third, to make out the connection of thought, 
thus : " That is the question ;" which is equivalent to another ; namely, 
" Whether 't is nobler in the mind to suffer," &c. &c. 

Q. 2. What should be the punctuation of the sentence as it stands ? 
A. A colon should separate the two parts ; for an entire part and two 
connectives are understood. (See Punct, Colon, and Loose Sent., Clas- 
sification.) 

Q. 3. What pause should be inserted between the parts of the com- 
pact in the second part ? A. A comma ; for the first part makes im- 
perfect sense. (See Punct., Comma, and Classification, Compact Sent.) 

Q. 4. What is the general law for the delivery of a perfect loose ? 
A. (See Rule IX.) 

Q. 5. What are the emphatic words? A. Question, suffer, arms, 
and end. 

Q. 6. What the effect of emphasis on each? A. Emphasis on 
question, coincides with partial close : on suffer and arms, it produces 
full development : on end, in consequence of the proximity of this word 
to close, it has its lower sweep converted into the falling slide. 

7. Deliver the sentence. 

3d Sentence. 

Q. 1. What? A. A simple declarative, with the finite verb, is, 
understood. 

Q. 2. Why is the rhetorical pause inserted after die? A. Because 
the verb is omitted ; and more especially because the sentence is thereby 
broken. (See Punct. Rhet. P.) 

Q. 3, What is the general delivery of a simple declarative ? A. 
(See Rule I.) 

Q. 4. What is the emphatic word?, A. Sleep; and emphasis on 
it coincides with perfect close. 

5. Deliver the sentence. 

4th Sentence. 

Q. 1- How do you name this sentence ? A. It is a fragmentary 
compound perfect loose definite interrogative, consisting of twa parts, 
properly separated by the semicolon ; which is here represented by the 
rising slide : by the semicolon, because the connective and is expressed. 
(See Punctuation, Semicolon, and Classification, Loose Sentence.) 

Q. 2. What do you mean by a definite interrogative? A. (See 
Classification, Class II, Sec. II, Loose Def. Int.) 

Q. 3. You say fragmentary : in what respect ? A. No more, is an 
abbreviation of "Is to die no more than to sleep ?" 

Q. 4. What is the nature of this first part of the perfect loose ? 
A. It is a single compact of the first form, with the correlative words 
brought together in the middle. (See Classification, Compound Sent., 
Sing. Comp.) 

35 



274 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Q. 5. What is the nature of the sentence in the second part? A. 
A compound close interrogative. It includes the circumstance "by a 
sleep." (See Classification.) 

Q. 6. What is the general law for the delivery of a loose definite 
interrogative? A. (See Rule XII.) 

Q. 7. What are the emphatic words? A. More, by, and heir. 

Q. 8. What the effect in each case? A. A mere dip or indenta- 
tion in the rising slide. (See Emph., Sec. II, 7.) 

9. Deliver the sentence. 

5th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What kind of sentence is this? A. It is a simple declara- 
tive, with emphasis on the last word coinciding with perfect close. 
(See Sentence 3d.) 

Q. 2. Will you deliver the sentence ? 

6th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What sentence is this? A. A fragmentary compound decl. 
exclam. perfect loose sentence. Written out fully, it would appear 
thus : " To die is to sleep ; but if to die is to sleep ! then, perchance it 
is also to dream !" It comprises, it will be observed, two parts : the 
first, a simple declarative, (see sentence 3d,) and the second, a single 
compact. 

Q. 2. But why do you treat the second part as compact ? A. Be- 
cause Hamlet is reasoning : he reasons logically ; and the compact sen- 
tence is necessary to his logic. He had already reached the conclusion 
that death is a sleep, and had said that if by sleep, we could understand 
an end of all the evil to which flesh is heir, it is a consummation devoutly 
to be wished ; but that the sleep of death should be taken in this sense, 
is not so clear to his mind. He therefore repeats his previous conclu- 
sion as a new premise ; and the logical inference at once strikes him ; 
namely, that if to die is to sleep, then, like sleep, death also may have 
its dreams. 

By many the repetition " To sleep \" is treated as a definite interrog- 
ative exclamation. Dr. Porter (see Analysis of Rhetorical Delivery,) 
treats it as such. But this is to make Hamlet ask a question which he 
had already satisfactorily answered ; for he had already decided that 
death is a sleep ; and it remained to determine only, whether death is not 
something more than sleep. To this, "To sleep!" employed as a ques- 
tion, is not relevant. To treat it as such, is therefore not admissible. 

Should it be suggested, that if " To sleep !" is not equivalent to "Is 
to die to sleep V it may be, nevertheless, to " Is to die no more than to 
sleep V 3 my reply is, that this is to make Hamlet ask the same question 
twice over ; for this is precisely the question in verse 4th ; and without, 
irresistible reasons for it, its repetition is therefore not to be supposed : 
especially when such a repetition is manifestly incompatible with that 
strictly logical and philosophical character which Shakspeare has 
ascribed to the speaker. 

Q. 3. What pause should separate the simple declarative part from 
the single compact ? A. A colon ; because the connective but is 
understood. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 275 

Q. 4. What pause does the exclamation point after sleep, and also 
the excl. point after dreams, represent? A. After sleep, that is, be- 
tween parts of the compact, it represents the semicolon ; for both the 
correlative words are understood. (See Punct., Comma, III.) 
At the end of the sentence, it represents the period. 

Q. 5. What is the general law of delivery for the entire loose sen- 
tence ? A. (See Rule IX.) 

Q. 6. Does the fragmentary character of the single compact in the 
second part, in any way modify its delivery? A. No. The frag- 
ments should be delivered precisely as if the sentences were complete. 
(See Rule VII, Gen. Note, I.) 

Q. 7. What are the emphatic words ? A. Sleep, sleep and dreams. 

Q. 8. What is the effect of emphasis in each instance ? A. Empha- 
sis on sleep, at the end of the simple declarative, coincides with partial 
close ; on sleep, at the end of the first part of the single compact, it 
produces circumflex ; and on dreams it coincides with perfect close. 
The exclamatory character of the sentence must not be overlooked. 
This gives breadth and intensity to the emphasis. 

9. Deliver the sentence. 

7th Sentence. 

Q. 1. Of what kind is it? A. Ay being the representative of the 
preceding last part of the single compact, " It is perchance to dream," 
(see Classif., Simple Declar. Sentences,) it may form either a distinct 
part of the whole sentence, or the first part of a single compact, of 
which " There's the rub " shall form the second ; that is, as if written 
thus: " Ay s ; and there's the rufr;" or thus : "Ay', and there's the 
rufy." Or which is the same thing, either thus, " It is perchance to 
dream\ and there 's the rub\" or thus : " Is it perchance to dream', and 
there 's the rub\" If treated in the latter way, that is, as part of a sin- 
gle compact of the third form, the correlative words to be supplied are 
so — as, thus: "as it is perchance to dream', so there's the rub y . In 
this case ay, being by supposition the last word of the first part, immedi- 
ately preceding an intermediate pause and under emphasis, will be deliv- 
ered with circumflex ; and the pause between it and the second part, 
should be a semicolon ; because the correlative words are both understood. 

I prefer, however, to treat it as forming by itself a distinct part of the 
entire sentence ; and the entire sentence, consequently, as a declarative 
perfect loose in three parts : the first part comprising ay, a simple 
declarative sentence, the second, ending with rub, another simple declar- 
ative, and the third with pause ; which is a mixed sentence. I prefer 
this, because the delivery of ay under emphasis in combination with 
partial close, it seems to me, is more in consonance with the gravity of 
the train of thought, than its combination with the bend, producing cir- 
cumflex. The latter demands a tone of surprise, irony or exultation ; 
and either of these is irrelevant. 

Q. 2. You say the third part is a mixed sentence: (see Classif., 
Mixed Sentences :) what combination does it contain ? A. A com- 
bination of simple declarative and single compact : the latter having 
the correlative words then — when, the last of which only is expressed, 
forms the subject, or nominative case, of the former. " In that sleep of 
death" is a circumstance. (See Classif., Circumstance.) 



276 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Q. 3. What is the general delivery of the whole perfect loose? A. 
(See Rule IX.) 

Q. 4. What are the emphatic words ? and the effect of emphasis on 
them ? A. Ay, rub, what and pause. Emphasis on ay, rub and pause 
coincides with partial and perfect close : (see Emph., Sec. II, 4 :) on 
what it has a very full development of the sweeps. (See ibid. Sec. II, I.) 

5. Deliver the sentence. 

8th Sentence. 

Q. 1. What is the proper name of this sentence ? A. It is a semi- 
interrogative sentence ; that is, a sentence in part declarative or exclam- 
atory, and in part interrogative. (See Classif., definitions and examples.) 

Q. 2. What is the sentence in the declarative portion? A. Com- 
pound close. 

Q. 3. In the interrogative portion ? A. Indefinite imperfect loose. 

Q. 4. What do you mean by indefinite? A. (See Classification, 
Class IL 2.) 

Q. 5. Why do you say imperfect loose ? A. Because for must be 
supplied before the second part. (See definition of Imperfect Loose in 
Classif.) 

Q. 6. Of how many parts does the interrogative portion consist? 
A. Two parts. 

Q. 7. What is the nature of the sentence in the first ? A. It is a 
compound compact indefinite of the second form : having the correla- 
tive words when — then, reversed. 

Q. 8. What is the second part ? A. A compound perfect loose 
with two parts : the first ending with life, and the second with the end 
of the sentence : the former being a compound close, and the latter a 
mixed sentence ; combining a compound close in the beginning, with 
a single compact at the end. 

Q. 9. What is the nature of connection between the declarative and 
interrogative portions of the semi-interrogative ? A. Loose ; that is 
to say, the two together form a perfect loose sentence. (See Classif, 
Semi-interrog. for similar examples.) 

Q. 10. What is the general delivery of a semi-interrogative ? A. 
(See Rule XVIII, also Rule XV, and XIII, and especially the subjoined 
remark on the modification of the last Rule, by length of sentence.) 

Q. 11. What are the emphatic words in the declarative portion? 
A. There 's, calamity, life. 

Q. 12. The effect on each? A. On there , s, full development; on 
calamity, the lower sweep is confined to the word: a pause being 
possible after it: (See Punct., Comma II, 5:) and on life, the empha- 
sis coincides with partial close. 

Q. 13. What are the emphatic words in the first part of the inter- 
rogative portion ? A. Who, time, wrong, continually, love, delay, office, 
unworthy, bodkin. 

Q. 14. The effect? A. These emphatic words collectively con- 
vert the uninterrupted falling slide into an interrupted descent through 
a succession of levels : each of them having the same effect on so much 
of the sentence as lies between it and the preceding emphatic word ; 
that is to say, it defers the falling slide on that portion of the sentence 
until the epmhasis is reached ; when the voice descends to a lower point, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 277 

and proceeds in the same manner until the next emphasis is reached ; 
and thus to the end. (See Emph., Sec. II, 8.) 

Q. 15. What are the emphatic words in the second part? A. Far- 
dels, life, have, others and of. 

Q. 16. What is the effect ? A. The same as in the preceding part ; 
except that the last member of the sentence being compact, and the 
emphasis on have, others, and of, antithetic, it becomes necessary to mark 
these circumstances by delivering have, immediately preceding the inter- 
mediate pause, with circumflex, and others, not so situated, with a full 
development of the emphatic sweeps. 

17. Deliver the entire semi-interrogative. 

9th Sentence. 

Q. 1. Describe this sentence. A. It is a compound declarative 
perfect loose, with three parts : the first, ending with all, and the second 
with thought, are simple declaratives ; and the third, is a compound 
close. The parts are properly separated by the semicolon, because the 
connective and is in both instances expressed. (For the general delivery 
see Rule IX.) The emphatic words are all, thought, and action, coinciding 
with partial and perfect close, moment having circumflex, and this, full 
development of the emphatic sweeps. Thus, in both instances, and 
with this regard, are circumstances. 

Q. 2. Will you deliver the sentence ? 



SEC III. THE SPEECH OF BRUTUS. 
1 

Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! hear me for my cause', and be 
silent that you may heai A : believe me for mine honor', and have respect 

2 to mine honor, that you may believe^: censure me in your wisdom', and 
awake your senses, that you may the better judge s . 

3 If there be any in this assembly', any dear friend of Casals', to 
him, I say, that Brutus' s love to Caesar', was no less than Aw\ If, then, 

4 that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar', this is my answer^: 
not that I loved Caesar less', but t that I loved Rome more"". Had you 

5 rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, 

6 to live all freemen ? As Caesar loved me', I weep for him v : as he was 
1 fortunate', I rejoice at it : as he was valiant', I honor him ; but as he 

8 was ambitious', I slew him\ There is tears for his love', joy for his for- 

9 tune', honor for his valor', and death for his ambition\ Who *s here so 

11 base, that would be a bondman^. If any', speak; for him have I offen- 

12 ded. Who 's here so rude, that would not be a Roman ? 10 If any', 
14 speak; for him have I offended. Who 's here so vile, that will not love 

his country^. If any', speak"; for him have I offended\ 13 I pause for 

17 a reply. 15 None! — Then none have I offended. 16 I have done 

no more to Casar', than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his 
death is enrolled in the capital^: his glory not extenuated, wherein he 

18 was worthy', nor his offences enforced for which he suffered death s . 
Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony^; who, though he had 

19 no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying": a place in 
the commonwealth? ; as which of you shall not? — With this I depart: 



278 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

that, as I slew my host lover for the good of Rome', I have the same 
dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my deaih>. 

THE SPEECH OF BRUTUS RHETORICALLY PARSED. 
1st Sentence. 

The exclamatory part of this sentence is compound compellative ; 
(See Classification;) and what follows is compound declarative perfect 
loose in three parts, properly separated by the colon. (See Punct, 
Colon, and Classif, Perfect Loose. J The parts may be treated either 
as single compacts of the third form, with when — then, or as — so, for 
correlative words ; or as close declaratives. I prefer the latter. For 
the general delivery, see Rule IX. The emphatic words are those 
marked as such. On cause, honor, wisdom, senses, the lower sweep, 
confined to the word : on may, it converts the lower sweep into falling 
slide : on believe and judge, it coincides with partial and perfect close. 

2d Sentence. 

A compound declarative single compact of the second form. For the 
punctuation, see Punct, Comma, III, and Classif., Sing. Compact : for 
the general delivery, see Rule VII. The emphatic words are Casals, 
him, Brutus'* s, and his. On the first two, the lower sweep is confined to 
the word ; on the third, full development ; and on the last, coincides with 
perfect close. 

3d Sentence. 

A compound declarative perfect loose, in two parts, properly separa- 
ted by the colon, because namely is understood. (See Punct, Colon.) 
In the first part we have a single compact of the second form, if — then, 
correlative words, and in the second part, the same with correlative 
words indeed — out. For the punctuation, see 2d Sentence. For general 
delivery, see Rule IX. The emphatic words are against, answer, not, 
less, more. On against and not, emphasis produces full development : 
on answer and more, it coincides with partial and perfect close : on less, 
it is exhausted on the word. 

4th Sentence. 

A compound definite interrogative single compact, of the first form : 
correlative words rather — than. For the general delivery, see Rule 
XL The emphasis on living, slaves, dead, freemen, antithetic. For its 
effect, see Emph., See. II, 7. 

5th Sentence. 

A perfect loose declarative, in four parts ; each of which is a single 
compact of the first form : the correlative words so — as, it will be 
observed, are here equivalent to because — therefore. A colon, the 
proper punctuation between the first and second, and the second and 
third part, because the connective is understood : a semicolon between 
the third and fourth, because the connective is expressed. Full devel- 
opment of emphasis on loved; lower sweep exhausted on fortunate, vol- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 279 

iant and ambitions, and on weep, rejoice, honor and slew, converted into 
the falling slide. 

6th Sentence. 

Either a single compact of the third form, with and substituted for the 
last of the correlative words as — so, (as there is tears, &c, so death, 
&c.,) or a close declarative. Punctuation and general delivery the same 
on either hypothesis. Emphasis on all the words marked as emphatic, 
produces full development. 

7th Sentence. 

A compound indefinite interrogative close. Emphasis on who and 
londman. Who being the first word of the sentence, the slide, of course, 
is here not deferred at all. (See Emph., Sec. II, 8.) 

8th Sentence. 

A compound decl. perfect loose, in two parts : the first a single com- 
pact : the second, a simple declarative. A semicolon between the parts, 
because for, the connective, is expressed. Emphasis on speak and 
offended coincides with partial and perfect close : on him, the lower 
sweep is exhausted on the word ; for a pause is possible after it in con- 
sequence of the inversion of the sentence. (See Punct., Comma, II, 4.) 

9th Sentence. 

A compound indefinite interrogative close. ( See 7th Sentence.) Em- 
phasis on rude and Roman. The former is in antithesis with base in 
the preceding question. For the effect, see Emph., Sect. II, 8. 

10th Sentence. (See Qth.) 
11th Sentence. (See 9th.) 
12th Sentence. (Sth and 10th.) 

13th Sentence. 

A simple declarative sentence. For general delivery, see Rule I. 
Emphasis on reply, and coincides with perfect close. 

14th Sentence. 

This is a fragmentary simple definite interrogative exclamation. For 
the general delivery, see Rule II. It receives emphasis as if the sen- 
tence was complete. (See Emph., Sec. II, 7. ) 

15th Sentence. 

A simple declarative. Emphasis on none contradictory, and convert- 
ing the lower sweep into falling slide. 

16th Sentence. 

A compound declarative single compact of the first form : correlative 
words more — than. Emphasis on Ccesar and Brutus antithetic : ex- 
hausting the lower sweep on the former, and coinciding on the latter 
with perfect close. 



280 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

17th Sentence. 

A compound declarative perfect loose, in two parts : the first, a simple 
declarative, and the second, a double compact with the first proposition 
only, having two members, expressed. ( See Classif, Seel. II, Class I, 
Double Compact, definition and examples, 3. J For the general deliv- 
ery, see Rule IX. For the proper pauses, see Punct., Comma, and 
Classif. as above. Emphatic words, capital, extenuated, enforced, death. 
Emphasis on capital and death coincides with partial and perfect close : 
{see Emph., Sect. II, 4 :) on extenuated, it produces full development : 
(see Emph., Sect. II, 1 :) on enforced, the lower sweep confined to the 
word ; because a pause may be made after it, for the reason that the 
sentence may be transposed at that point. (See Punctuation, Comma, 
II, &•) 

18th Sentence. 

A semi-interrogative. The declarative portion is perfect loose, in 
two parts : properly separated by the semicolon, because who, the con- 
nective, is expressed. Emphasis on Antony, death, dying, commonwealth. 
On all of them except death, it coincides with partial close : on death the 
lower sweep is exhausted on the word. 

The interrogative portion is a simple indefinite interrogative, with 
emphasis on which and not. 

19th Sentence. 

A compound declarative perfect loose in two parts, separated by the 
colon, because namely is understood. The first part, a simple declara- 
tive ; the second, a mixed sentence combining two compacts. Emphasis 
on depart and death coincides with partial and perfect close : on lover 
it produces full development : on myself, the lower sweep limited to the 
word. 



SEC IV. THE INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC OPINION. 

1 Sir ! this reasoning mistakes the age. The time has been, indeed, 

2 when fleets, and armies, and subsidies, were the principal reliances, 
even in the best cause ; but, happily for mankind, there has come a 
great change in this respect. Moral causes come into consideration, in 

3 proportion as the progress of knowledge is advanced ; and the public 
opinion of the civilized world is rapidly gaining an ascendency over 
mere brutal force. It is already able to oppose the most formidable 

4 obstruction to the progress of injustice and oppression; and, as it grows 
more intelligent and more intense, it will be more and more formidable. 

5 It may be silenced by military power, but it cannot be conquered. It is 

6 elastic, irrepressible, and invulnerable to the weapons of ordinary war- 
fare. It is that impassible, unextinguishable enemy of mere violence 

7 and arbitrary rule, which, like Milton's angels, 

Vital in every part, 

Cannot, but by annihilating, die. 

8 Until this be propitiated or satisfied, it is in vain for power to talk 

9 either of triumphs or repose. No matter what fields are desolated, what 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 281 

fortresses surrendered, what armies subdued, or what provinces over- 
run ;* there is an enemy that still exists to check the glory of these 
triumphs. It follows the conqueror back to the very scenes of his ova- 
tions ; it calls upon him to take notice that Europe, though silent, is yet 

10 indignant : it shows him that the scepter of his victory is a barren scep- 
ter ; that it shall confer neither joy nor honor ; but shall molder to 
dry ashes in his grasp. In the midst of his exultation, it pierces his ear 
\\ ith the cry of injured justice : it denounces against him the indigna- 

.1 1 tion of an enlightened and civilized age : it turns to bitterness the cup 
of his rejoicing, and wounds him with the sting which belongs to the 
consciousness of having outraged the opinion of mankind. Webster. 

Soiteiice Alii. — This may be treated either as a compound declarative compact of the third 
form, correlative words as — so, or a compound declarative perfect loose in two parts. Sen- 
tence 6th. — Emphasis on invulnerable deferred. Sentence Itli. — The same on unextingiLish- 
able. Sentence 10th. — A compound declarative perfect loose, in three parts : being imperfect 
loose in the third. 



SEC. V. THE BLIND PEEACHEK. 

One Sunday, as I traveled through the county of Orange, my eye 

1 was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a ruinous, old wooden 
house, in the forest, not far from the road-side. Having frequently seen 

2 such objects before, in traveling through these States, I had no difficulty 
in understanding that this was a place of religious worship. Devotion 
alone should have stopped me, to join in the duties of the congregation, 

3 but, I must confess, that curiosity to hear the preacher of such a wil- 
derness, was not the least of my motives. 

4 On entering the house, I was struck with his preternatural appear- 
ance. He was a tall and very spare old man : his head, which was 

5 covered with a white linen cap, his shrivelled hands, and his voice, 
were all shaken under the influence of a palsy ; and a few moments 
ascertained to me, that he was perfectly blind. The first emotions 

6 which touched my breast, were those of mingled pity and veneration ; 

7 but ah ! how soon were all my feelings changed ! It was a day of the 
administration of the sacrament ; and his subject, of course, was the 

8 passion of our Saviour. I had heard the subject handled a thousand 
times ; I had thought it exhausted long ago. Little did I suppose, that 

9 in the wild woods of America, I was to meet with a man whose elo- 
quence would give to this topic, a new and more sublime pathos than I 
had ever before witnessed. 

As he descended from the pulpit to distribute the mystic symbol, there 

10 was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in his air and manner, 
which made my blood run cold, and my whole frame shiver. He then 

11 drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour: his trial before Pilate ; 
his ascent up Calvary ; his crucifixion ; and his death. I knew the 

12 whole history, but never, until then, had I heard the circumstances so 

13 selected : so arranged : so colored ! It was all new ; and I seemed to 
have heard it for the first time in my life. His enunciation was so 

14 deliberate, that his voice trembled on every syllable ; and every heart 
in the assembly trembled in unison. 

* I have omitted a few lines here ; but die connection is perfect. 

36 



282 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

15 His peculiar phrases had that force of description, that the original 
scene appeared to be, at that moment, acting before our eyes. We saw 
the feces of the Jews ; (the staring, frightful distortions of malice and 

16 rage ;) we saw the buffet ; — my soul kindled with a flame of indigna- 
tion ; and my hands were involuntarily and convulsively clinched. 
But when he came to touch the patience, the forgiving meekness of our 
Saviour ; when he drew to the life, his blessed eyes streaming in tears 
to heaven, his voice breathing to God a soft and gentle prayer of par- 

17 don on his enemies, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do ; the voice of the preacher, which had all along faltered, grew fainter 
and fainter, until his utterance being entirely obstructed by the force of 
his feelings, he raised his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst into a loud 
and irrepressible flood of grief. The effect was inconceivable: the 

18 whole house resounded with the mingled groans, and sobs, and shrieks 
of the congregation. 

19 It was some time before the tumult had subsided so far, as to permit 
him to proceed. Indeed, judging by the fallacious standard of my own 
weakness, I began to be very uneasy for the situation of the preacher ; 

20 for I could not conceive, how he would be able to let his audience down 
from the height to which he had wound them, without impairing the 
solemnity and dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking them by the 

21 abruptness of the fall. But the descent was as beautiful and sublime, 
as the elevation had been rapid and enthusiastic. 

The first sentence which broke the awful silence, was a quotation 

22 from Rousseau : " Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ — 

23 like a God !" — Never before did I completely understand what Demos- 
thenes meant by laying such stress on delivery. Wirt. 

Sentence 2d. — A compound declarative single compact, third form, correlative words 
because — therefore. — Sentence 3d. — A compound declarative single compact, second form, or 
perfect loose in two parts. Sentence 6th. — Semi-exclamatory, with the declarative portion com- 
pound close, and the exclamatory, simple indefinite interrogative exclamatory, preceded by a 
spontaneous exclamation. Sentence 12th. — A compound declarative single compact of the 
second form, with imperfect loose construction in the second part. 

Sentence 16th. — A declarative single compact, third form, correlative words when — then. 
The dash inserted because the sentence is broken by the suppression of and ; (see Punct. Ill, 
Rhet. Pause ;) and the semicolon before it, because both correlative words are suppressed. (See 
Punct., Comma, III.) For the punctuation of the parenthesis, see Classification, Parenthesis. 
The second part of the compact may be treated either as a single compact, third form, with cor- 
relative words as — so, or a perfect loose. 

Sentence 22d. — A compound declarative perfect loose exclamation in two parts : the first, 
compound declarative close, and the second, compound declarative single compact, second form. 
Rhetorical pause before and after like a God. (See Punctuation, III, Rhetorical Pause.) A 
colon between the parts, because namely, the connective, is understood. 

Sentence 23d. — Emphasis on before produces circumflex, because that word is a circum- 
stance, (see Classif, Circumstance,) andjhas a pause understood before and after it. (See Punc- 
tuation, Comma, II.) 



SEC VI. WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE. 

What constitutes a State ? 
Not high-raised battlements or labored mound, 

Thick wall or moated gate ; 
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned : 

Not bays and broad-arm ports, 
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride : 

Not starred and spangled courts. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 283 

Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride ; 
No ; men : high-minded men : 

2 With powers, as far above dull brutes endued 

In forest, brake, or den, 
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude : 

Men, who their duties know, 
But know their rights ; and, knowing, dare maintain : 

Prevent the long-aimed blow, 
And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain. 

These constitute a state ; 

3 And sovereign law, that state's collected will, 

O'er thrones and globes elate 
Sits empress : crowning good : repressing ill. 
Smit by her sacred frown, 

4 The fiend discretion* like a vapor sinks ; 

And e'en the all-dazzling crown 
Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks. 

5 Such was this heaven-loved isle : 
Than Lesbos fairer, and the Cretan shore ! 

6 No more shall freedom smile ? 

Shall Britons languish and be men no more ? 
Since all must life resign, 

7 Those sweet rewards which decorate the brave 

'T is folly to decline, 
And steal inglorious to the silent grave. 

Sir William Jones. 

Sentence 1st. — A compound declarative double compact, with first and third proposition : the 
first having five members ; and the second being perfect loose in four fragmentary parts ; of 
which the fourth contains an imperfect loose. No, the fifth member of the first part, is the equiva- 
lent of the other four. (See Rule VIII, 3, Classification, Double Compact, General Note, and 
Sing. Declarative, yes, no.) 

Sentence Ath — A compound declarative single compact, third form : correlative words when 
— then. 

Sentence 7th. — A compound declarative single compact, second form : correlative words 
since — therefore. 



SEC. VII. IMPORTANT RESULTS FROM THE SUFFERINGS OF THE PILGRIMS. 

From the dark portals of the star-chamber, and in the stern text of 

1 the acts of uniformity, the pilgrims received a commission more efficient 
than any that ever bore the royal seal. Their banishment to Holland 
was fortunate : the decline of their little company in the strange land 

2 was fortunate : the difficulties which they experienced in getting the 
royal consent to banish themselves to this wilderness were fortunate : 
all the tears and heart-breakings of that memorable parting at Delft- 
haven, had the happiest influence on the rising destinies of New England. 
These rough touches of fortune brushed off the light, uncertain, selfish 
spirits: they made it a grave, solemn, self-denying expedition, and 

3 required of those who engaged in it to be so too : they cast a broad 
shadow of thought and seriousness over the cause ; and if this sometimes 

'Discretionary, arbitrary power. 



284 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

deepened into melancholy and bitterness, can we find no apology for 
such a human weakness? 

4 Their trials of wandering and exile, of the ocean, the winter, the 
wilderness and the savage foe, were the final assurances of success. 

5 It was these that put far away from our father's cause, all patrician 
softness : all hereditary claims to pre-eminence. No effeminate nobility 
crowded into the dark: and austere ranks of the pilgrims ; no Carr nor 
Villiers would lead on the ill-provided band of the despised Puritans; 
no well-endowed clergy were on the alert to quit their cathedrals, and 

6 set up a pompous hierarchy in the frozen wilderness ; no craving gov- 
ernors were anxious to be sent over to our cheerless El Dorados of ice 
and of snow ; no ; they could not say they had encouraged, patronized, 
or helped the pilgrims ; their own cares, their own labors, their own 
councils, their own blood contrived all, achieved all, bore all, sealed all. 
They could not afterwards fairly pretend to reap where they had not 
strewn ; and as our fathers reared this broad and solid fabric with pains 

7 and watchfulness, unaided, barely tolerated, it did not fall when the 
favor, which had always been withholden, was changed into wrath : 
when the arm which had never supported, was raised to destroy. 

Methinks I see it now : that one solitary, adventurous vessel, the 

8 Mayflower of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future 

9 state, and bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a 
thousand misgivings, the uncertain, tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, 

10 and weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but 
brings them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, 
scantily supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation in their 

11 ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route; and 
now driven in fury, before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy 
waves. The awful voice of the storm howls through the rigging : the 
laboring masts seem straining from their base : the dismal sound of the 

12 pumps is heard : the ship leaps, as it were, madly from billow to billow : 
the ocean breaks and settles with ingulfing floods over the floating 
deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight, against the staggered 
vessel. I see them, escaped from these perils, pursuing their all but 
desperate undertaking, and landed at last, after a five months' passage, 

1 3 on the ice-clad rocks of Plymouth : weak and weary from the voyage, 
poorly armed, scantily provisioned ; depending on the charity of their 
ship-master for a draught of beer on board ; drinking nothing but water 
on shore : without shelter : without means : surrounded by hostile tribes. 

14 Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any principle of 
human probability, what shall be the fate of this handful of adventurers. 
Tell me, man of military science ! in how many months were they all 

15 swept off by the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early limits 
of New England ? Tell me, politician ! how long did the shadow of a 

16 colony, on which your conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish 
on the distant coast ? Student of history ! compare for me the baffled 

17 projects, the deserted settlements, the abandoned adventures of other 
times, and find the parallel of this. Was it the winter's storm, beating 
upon the houseless heads of women and children, was it hard labor and 

18 spare meals, was it disease, was it the tomahawk, was it the deep mal- 
ady of a blighted hope, a ruined enterprise and a broken heart, aching 
in its last moments at the recollection of the loved and left, beyond the 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 285 

sea', was it some, or all of these united, that hurried this forsaken com- 
pany to their melancholy fate ? And is it possible that neither of these 
causes, that not all combined, were able to blast this bud of hope ? is it 
19 possible, that from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy, not so 
much of admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, 
a growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, 
a promise, yet to be fulfilled, so glorious ? Everett. 

Sentence 6th. — A compound declarative double compact, with the first proposition, consisting 
of a series of members, and the third, comprising a compound declarative perfect loose. No is 
here somewhat singular in having its equivalent in the member which follows, while it is itself 
the equivalent of all that precede. (See Classif., Double Compact, 7, General Note, and 
Rule VIII, 3.) Sentence 13th. — The third member should be treated as a single compact, 
third form, and of course delivered with the bend at board. Sentences 15th, 16th. — Semi- 
interrogative. The two parts of each relatively form a loose sentence. Sentence ISth. — 
Observe the delivery of the successive members in the first part of this interrogative. (See Rule 
X.) 



SEC. VIII. THE NATURE OF TRUE ELOQUENCE. 

When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, 

1 when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing 
is valuable in speech farther, than it is connected with high intellectual 

2 and moral endowments. Clearness, force and earnestness, are the 
qualities which produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not 

3 consist in speech ; it cannot be brought from far : labor and learning 
may toil for it, but they will toil for it in vain : words and phrases may 

4 be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must 
exist in the man; in the subject; and in the occasion. Affected pas- 

5 sion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after 
it ; they cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the out- 

6 breaking of a fountain from the earth or the bursting forth of volcanic 
fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in 

7 the schools, the costly ornaments, and studied contrivances of speech, 
shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their 
wives, their children and their country, hang on the decision of the 

8 hour. Then, words have lost their power ; rhetoric is vain ; and all 

9 elaborate oratory contemptible. Even genius itself, then, feels rebuked 

10 and subdued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then, patriotism 
is eloquent : then, self-devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, out- 
running the deductions of logic ; the high purpose ; the firm resolve ; 

1 1 the dauntless spirit, speaking from the tongue, beaming from the eye, 
informing every feature, urging the whole man onward, right onward 
to his object ; — this, this is eloquence ; or rather it is something greater 
and higher than all eloquence : it is action : noble, sublime, god-like 
action. Webster. 

Sentence 1st. — This is a mixed sentence, containing two compacts. Sentence 3d. — A 
perfect loose in three parts : the first is a double compact with the negative or first proposition, 
having two members, only, expressed : the second and third both single compacts of the second 
form, with the same correlative words. Sentence 4th. — It may be treated either as a close, or 
imperfect loose. I prefer the latter treatment. It is punctuated accordingly. Sentence 1 lth. 
— A perfect loose sentence, as a whole, containing three parts : the first close, the second single 
compact, and the third imperfect loose. The rhetorical pause is inserted in the first part because 
the sentence is there broken, or its construction changed ; which is the same. The proper 



286 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OK 

delivery of this sentence depends much upon laying strong circumflex i mphasis on this, //</••>, 
and rather, followed by a smooth ascending movement to all, which should be strongly empha- 
sized and the lower sweep converted into falling slide to close. 



SEC. IX. THE FALL OF THE OPPRESSOR A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION TO 

GOOD MEN. 

Oh ! how comely it is, and how reviving 
To the spirits of just men, long oppressed, 
When God, into the hands of their deliverer 
Puts invincible might, 

1 To quell the mighty of the earth : the oppressor : 
The brute and boisterous force of violent men, 
Hardy and industrious to support 

Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue 

The righteous, and all such as honor truth ! 

He all their ammunition 

And feats of war defeats : 

With plain heroic magnitude of mind, 

And celestial vigor armed, 

2 Their armories and magazines contemns : 
Renders them useless ; while 

With winged expedition, 

Swift as the lightning glance, he executes 

His errand on the wicked ; who, surprised, 

Lose their defence, distracted and amazed. Milton. 

Sentence 1st. — An indefinite interrogative single compact : correlative words then — when. 
The second part is imperfect loose, with three sub-parts ; the last, of which contains a compact 
conclusion: correlative words, indeed — but. 



SEC X. THE MORAL STATE OF A MAN BETWEEN THE CONCEPTION, AND 
THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing, 

And the first motion, all the interim is 

Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : 

The genius and the mortal instruments, 

Are then in council ; and the state of man, 

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 

The nature of an insurrection. Shakespeare. 



SEC. XI. INGRATITUDE THE CAUSE OF DISCONTENT. 

I had now brought my state of life to be much more comfortable in 

1 itself than it was at first ; and much easier to my mind, as well as to 
my body. I frequently sat down to meat with thankfulness, and admired 

2 the hand of God's providence, which had thus spread my table in the 
wilderness. I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condi- 
tion, and less upon the dark side ; and to consider what I enjoyed, rather 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 287 

3 than what I wanted ; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, 
that I cannot express them ; and which I take notice of here, to put 
those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot comfortably enjoy 
what God has given them, because they see and covet something that 

4 he has not given them. All our discontents about what we want, ap- 
peared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have. 

Defoe. 



SEC XII. IN WHAT PHILOSOPHY CONSISTS. 

Philosophy consists not 
In airy schemes, or idle speculations ; 

1 But the rule and conduct of all social life 
Is her great province. Not in lone cells 
Obscure she lurks, but holds her heavenly light 

2 To senates and to kings, to guide their counsels, 
And teach them to reform and bless mankind. 
All policy but hers, is false and rotten : 

3 All valor not conducted by her precepts, 
Is a destroying fury sent from hell, 

To plague unhappy man, and ruin nations. Thomson, 



SEC XIII. AN EPIGRAM ON BAD SINGERS. 

Swans sing before they die : 'twere no bad thing, 

Should certain persons die before they sing. Dodd. 



SEC XIV. A FATHER S ADVICE TO HIS SON. 

1 " Philosophy, Daniel, is of two kinds : that which relates to conduct, 
and that which relates to knowledge. The first teaches us to value all 

2 things at their real worth : to be contented with little : modest in pros- 

3 perity : patient in trouble : equal-minded at all times. It teaches us 

4 our duty to our neighbor, and ourselves. It is that wisdom of which 

5 king Solomon speaks in our rhyme-book. Reach me the volume." 

6 Then turning to the passage in his favorite Du Bartas, he read these 
lines : 

7 She is God's own mirror : she's a light whose glance 
Springs from the lightning of his countenance. 
She's mildest heaven's most sacred influence : 

8 Never decays her beauties' excellence, 
Aye* like herself; and she doth always trace 
Not only the same path, but the same pace. 

9 Without her, honor, health and wealth, would prove 
Three poisons to me. Wisdom from above 

10 Is the only moderatrix, spring and guide, 
Organ and honor, of all gifts beside. 

*Ever. 



288 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

11 lie read this with a solemnity that gave weight to every word. Then 
closing the book, after a short pause, lie proceeded in a lower tone : 

"The philosophers of whom you have read in the dictionary, pos- 

12 sessed this wisdom only in part, because they were heathens ; and there- 
fore could see no further than the light of mere reason could show the 
way. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and they had 

13 not that to begin with : so the thoughts which ought to have made them 
humble, produced pride ; and so their wisdom proved but folly. The 

14 humblest Christian who learns his duty and performs it as well as he 

15 can, is wiser than they. He does nothing to be seen of men ; and that 
was their motive for most of their actions. 

16 "Now for the philosophy which relates to knowledge. Knowledge is 
a brave thing; (I am a plain, ignorant, untaught man, and know my 
ignorance ;.) but it is a brave thing when we look around us in this won- 
derful world, to understand something of what we see : to know some- 
thing of the earth on which we move, the air which we breathe, and 

17 the elements whereof we are made : to comprehend the motions of the 
moon and stars, and measure the distances between them, and compute 
times and seasons : to observe the laws which sustain the universe, by 
keeping all things in their courses : to search into the mysteries of 
nature, and discover the hidden virtue of plants and stones, and read 
the signs and tokens which are shown us, and make out the meaning of 
hidden things, and apply all this to the benefit of our fellow-creatures. 

18 " Wisdom and knowledge, Daniel, make the difference between man 
and man ; and that between man and beast is hardly greater. 

19 " These things do not always go together. There may be wisdom 

20 without knowledge, and there may be knowledge without wisdom. A 

21 man without knowledge, if he walk, humbly with his God, and live in 
chanty with his neighbors, may be wise unto salvation. A man with- 

22 out wisdom may not find his knowledge avail him quite so well ; but it 
is he who possesses both that is the true philosopher. The more he 
knows, the more he is desirous of knowing ; and yet the farther he 

23 advances in knowledge, the better he understands how little he can 
attain, and the more deeply he feels that God alone can satisfy the 

24 infinite desires of an immortal soul. To understand this, is the height 
and perfection of philosophy." 

Then opening the Bible which lay before him, he read these verses ' 
from the Proverbs : 

" My son, if thou wilt receive my words, so that thou incline thine 
ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart unto understanding; yea, if 
thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding ; 
if thou seekest after her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid trea- 

25 sures ; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the 
knowledge of God ; for the Lord giveth wisdom : out of his mouth Com- 
eth knowledge and understanding : he layeth up sound wisdom for the 
righteous : he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly : he keepeth the 
paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints: then shalt 
thou understand righteousness, judgment and equity ; yea, every good 
path. 

"When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant 

26 unto thy soul ; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep 
thee, to deliver thee from the way of evil." 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 289 

27 "Daniel, my son," after a pause he pursued, "thou art a diligent 

28 and good lad. God hath given thee a tender and dutiful heart ; keep 
it so, and it will be a wise one ; for thou hast the beginning of wisdom. 

29 1 wish thee to pursue knowledge, because in pursuing it, happiness will 
be found in the way. If I have said any thing now which is above thy 

30 years, it will come to mind in after time, when I am gone, perhaps, but 

31 when thou may est profit by it. God bless thee, my child !" 

32 He stretched out his right hand at these words, and laid it gently 
upon the boy's head. What he said was not forgotten ; and throughout 

33 life, the son never thought of that blessing without feeling that it had 
taken effect. Southey. 

Sentence 13th. — The first part of this sentence is a comp. decl. single compact of the third 
form: correlative words, though — yet. Sent. 20th. — The same, with correl. words, as — so. 
Sentence 23d. — The parts of this sentence the same, with correlative words, when — then. 
Sentence 28th. — The second part of this, the same, with correlative words, if — then. Sen- 
tence 30th. — A mixed sentence. 



SEC. XV. SYMPATHY WITH FRANCE AND BONAPARTE IMPUTED TO THE 
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 

Were ever a body of men so abandoned in the hour of need, as the 

1 American cabinet, in this instance, by Bonaparte 1 was ever any body 

2 of men so cruelly wounded in the house of their friend ? This, this 

3 was " the unkindest cut of all." But how was it received by the 
American cabinet? Surely they were indignant at this treatment? 

4 surely the air rings with reproaches upon a man, who has thus made 
them stake their reputation upon a falsehood, and theri gives little less 
than the lie direct to their assertion 1 No, sir, nothing of all this is 

5 heard from our cabinet ; there is a philosophic tameness that would be 
remarkable, if it were not, in all cases affecting Bonaparte, character- 
istic. All the Executive of the United States has found it in his heart 

6 to say in relation to this last decree of Bonaparte, which contradicts his 
previous allegations and asseverations is, that " this proceeding is ren- 
dered, by the time and manner of it, liable to objections !" Quincy. 

Sentence 4th. — A compound indirect interrogative perfect loose, in two parts : the first simple 
indirect, and the second compact single, third form : when — then, correlative words. Sentence 
5th. — A compound declarative double compact. No is followed by its equivalent, The first 
and third propositions only are expressed. 



SEC. XVI. A VEHEMENT ATTACK ON THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAW. 

But, as if this were not enough, the unfortunate victims of this law are 

1 told, in the next place, that, if they can convince the President that his 
suspicions are unfounded, he may, if he pleases, give them a license to 
stay. But how can they remove his suspicions, when they know not 

2 on what act they were founded ? how take proof to convince him, when 

3 he is not bound to furnish that on which he proceeds ? Miserable 
mockery of justice ! Appoint an arbitrary judge, armed with legislative, 

4 and executive powers added to his own ; let him condemn the unheard, 

37 



290 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

the unaccused object of his suspicions; and then, to cover the injustice 
of the scene, gravely tell him, " You ought not to complain ; you need 
only disprove facts you never heard ; remove suspicions that have 
never been communicated to you; it will be easy to convince your 
judge, whom you shall not approach, that he is tyrannical and unjust ; 
and when you have done this, we give him the power, he had before, 
to pardon you, if he pleases!" Edw. Livingston. 

Sentence 4th. — As a whole, a mixed sentence : a compound declarative single compact, third 
form: correlative words, when — then, in the portion preceding the quotation: then begins 
another single compact with correlative words, therefore — because; which introduces a third, 
with correlative words, as — so: the whole linked thus: "when you appoint — then gravely 
tell him, therefore you ought not, because, as you need — so it will be easy," &c. The second 
part of this last compact is perfect loose, and concludes with a single compact : correlative words, 
when — then. 



SEC. XVII. A LEGITIMATE BRITISH INFLUENCE. 

In what school did the worthies of our land, the Washingtons, Hen- 

1 rys, Hancocks, Franklins, Rutledges of America learn those principles 
of civil liberty, which were so nobly asserted by their wisdom and 
valor? American resistance to British usurpation has not been more 

2 warmly cherished by these great men and their compatriots, not more 
by Washington, Hancock and Henry, than by Chatham and his illus- 

3 trious associates in the British parliament. It ought to be remembered, 
too, that the heart of the English people was with us. It was a selfish 

4 and corrupt ministry, and their servile tools, to whom we were not 
more opposed than they were. I trust that none such may ever exist 

5 among us ; for tools will never be wanting to subserve the purposes, 
however ruinous or wicked, of kings and ministers of state. I acknowl- 
edge the influence of a Shakespeare and a Milton upon my imagination : 

6 of a Locke upon my understanding : of a Sidney upon my political 
principles : of a Chatham upon qualities, which, would to God, I pos- 
sessed in common with that illustrious man ! of a Tillotson, a Sherlock, 

7 and a Porteus, upon my religion. This is a British influence I can 
never shake off. Randolph. 



SEC XVIII. THE STATES A BARRIER TO CONSOLIDATION. 

1 There are certain social principles in human nature, from which we 
may draw the most solid conclusions, with respect to the conduct of 

2 individuals and communities. We love our families more than our 
neighbors: we love our neighbors more than our countrymen in general, 
The human affections, like the solar heat, lose their intensity, as they 

3 depart from the centre, and become languid, in proportion to the expan- 
sion of the circle, on which they act. On these principles, the attach- 

4 ment of the individual will be first and forever secured by the state 
governments : they will be a mutual protection and support. 

Hamilton. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 291 

SEC. XIX. DESCRIPTION OF A SUN-SET. 

The sun was now resting his huge disk upon the edge of the level 

1 ocean, and gilded the accumulation of clouds through which he had 
travelled the livelong day ; and which now assembled on all sides, like 
misfortunes and disasters around a sinking empire and falling monarch. 
Still, however, his dying splendor gave a sombre magnificence to the 

2 massive congregation oi vapors : forming out of their unsubstantial 
gloom, the show of pyramids and towers ; some touched with gold, some 
with purple, some with a hue of deep and dark red. The distant sea, 

3 stretched beneath this varied and gorgeous canopy, lay almost porten- 
tously still : reflecting back the dazzling and level beams of the de- 
scending luminary, and the splendid coloring of the clouds amidst 
which he was setting. Nearer to the beach, the tide rippled onward in 

4 waves of sparkling silver, that imperceptibly, yet rapidly, gained upon 
the sand. 

With a mind employed in admiration of the romantic scene, or per- 

5 haps on some more agitating topic, Miss Wardour advanced in silence by 
her father's side ; whose recently offended dignity did not stoop to open 
any conversation. Following the windings of the beach, they passed one 

6 projecting point or headland of rock after another, and now found them- 
selves under a huge and continued extent of the precipices by which 
that iron-bound coast is in most places defended. Long projecting reefs 

7 of rock, extending under water, and only evincing their existence by 
here and there a peak entirely bare, or by the breakers which foamed 
over those that were partially covered, rendered Knockwinnock bay 
dreaded by pilots and ship-masters. The crags which rose between 

8 the beach and the mainland, to the height of two or three hundred feet, 
afforded in their crevices shelter for unnumbered sea-fowl, in situations 
seemingly secured by their dizzy height from the rapacity of man. 
Many of these wild tribes, with the instinct which- sends them to seek 

9 the land before a storm arises, were now winging toward their nests 
with the shrill and dissonant clang which announces disquietude and 
fear. 

The disk of the sun became almost totally obscured ere he had alto- 

10 gether sunk below the horizon ; and an early and lurid shade of dark- 
ness blotted the serene twilight of evening. The wind began next to 

1 1 arise ; but its wild and moaning sound was heard for some time, and 
its effects became visible on the bosom of the sea, before the gale was 
felt on shore. The mass of waters, now dark and threatening, began 

12 to lift itself in larger ridges, and sink in deeper furrows : forming waves 
that rose high in foam upon the breakers, or burst upon the beach with 
a sound resembling distant thunder. 

13 Appalled by this sudden change of weather, Miss Wardour drew 
close to her father, and held his arm fast. " I wish," at length she 

14 said, but almost in a whisper, as if ashamed to express her increasing 
apprehension, " I wish we had kept the road we intended, or waited at 
Monkbarns for the carriage." Sir Walter Scott. 

Sentence 2d. — The last part may be treated either as a single compact, third form, or a perfect 
loose. I prefer the former, with the correlative words, as — so, thus: ''as with gold, with 
purple, so with dark red." A similar construction is, "Either John did it-, William did it, or 
James did it." Sentence lith. — I wish we had either kept, or had waited. 



292 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. xx. beauty: a FRAIL POSSESSION 

Beauty is but a vain, a fleeting good : 
A shining gloss, that fadeth suddenly : 

1 A flower that dies, when almost in the bud : 
A brittle glass that breaketh presently : 

A fleeting good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, 
Lost, faded, broken, dead, within an hour. 

As goods, when lost, we know, are seldom found • 
As fading gloss no rubbing can excite : 

2 As flowers, when dead, are trampled on the ground ; 
As broken glass no cement can unite ; 

So beauty, blemished once, is ever lost, 

In spite of physic, painting, pains and cost. Shakspeare. 



SEC XXI. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GOODNESS AND HAPPINESS. 

1 To be good, is to be happy : angels 

Are happier than men, because they 're better. 
Guilt is the source of sorrow : 't is the fiend, 
The avenging fiend, that follows us behind 

2 With whips and stings : the blest know none of this, 
But rest in everlasting peace of mind, 

And find the height of all their heaven is goodness. 

Rowe. 



SEC XXII. THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 

1 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 

2 brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt 

3 ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother 

4 shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise 
again in the resurrection of the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the 

5 resurrection and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never 

6 die. Believest thou this 1 7 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord : I believe 
that thou art the Christ, the son of God, who should come into the world. 

8 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sis- 

9 ter secretly : saying, The Master has come, and calleth for thee. As 
soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now 

10 Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where 
Martha met him. 

The Jews, then, who were with her in the house, and comforted her, 

11 when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed 
her : saying, She goeth unto the grave, to weep there. 

12 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell 
down at his feet : saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 

13 brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 293 

Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was 

14 troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him ! They say unto him, 

15 Lord, come and see. Jesus wept . 16 Then said the Jews, Behold 

how he loved him ! And some of them said, could not this man who 

ITopeneth the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should 

18 not have died ? Jesus, therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the 

19 grave. It was a cave ; and a stone lay upon it. 20 Jesus said, Take ye 
away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto 

21 him, Lord, by this time he stinketh ; for he hath been dead four days. 

22 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, 
thou shouldst see the glory of God ? 

23 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was 

24 laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee 
that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou nearest me always ; 

25 but because of the people who stand by, I said it, that they may believe 
that thou hast sent me. When he had thus spoken, he cried with a 

26 loud voice, Lazarus, come forth ! and he that was dead came forth, 
bound hand and foot with grave-clothes ; and his face was bound about 

27 with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 

Sentence 2d. — The first part of a declarative compact ; i. e. fragmentary compact : correlative 
words, therefore — because. The second part beginning with because, assigning a reason for 
her thus knowing, is understood. Of course, this sentence concludes with the bend. (Sec 
Chapt. VI., Fragmentary Compact.) 

Sentence 4th. — Just like the preceding, with the reason for knowing understood. 

Sentence 1th. — Yea in this sentence terminates the first part of the perfect loose with partial 
close ; and if Lord did not follow, this would be apparent ; but Lord being an appellative the 
appropriate ending of which is the bend, (see Chapt. VI,) has the effect to subvert the previous 
close. 



SEC XXIIL THE INFLUENCE OF ELEGANT LITERATURE. 

There also are the eloquence, the literature, the poetry of all times 
and tongues : those glorious efforts of genius that rule, with a never 

1 dying sway, over our sympathies and affections : commanding our 
smiles and tears ; kindling the imagination ; warming the heart ; fill- 
ing the fancy with beauty ; and awing the soul with the sublime, the 
terrible, the powerful, the infinite. 

Ye grand inventions of ancient bards ! ye gay creations of modern 

2 fancy ! ye bright visions ! ye fervid and impassioned thoughts ! serve ye 
all for no better purpose than the pastime of an idle hour ? 

3 Ah ! not so : not so. It is yours to stir to the bottom the dull and 
stagnant soul : ye can carry man out of himself and make him feel his 

4 kindred with his whole race : ye can teach him to look beyond exter- 
nal and physical nature for enjoyment and for power; ye rouse him 
from the deep lethargy of sense, raise him above " the worthless thing 
we are," and reveal to him his capacity for purer purposes, and a nobler 
state of being. Verplanck. 

Sentence 2d. — Semi-interrogative : first part compound compellative exclamatory ; and the 
second, compound definite compact. The two parts relatively form a close sentence. The excla- 
mation points represent commas. Sentence 3d. — A compound declarative perfect loose, prece- 
ded by the spontaneous exclamation ah ! which is here merely the key-note of the sentence. 



294 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. XXIV. THE POOR WIDOW. 

And lie looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the 
treasury ; and he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two 
mites ; and he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow 
hath cast in more than they all ; for all these have of their abundance 
cast in unto the offerings of God ; but she of her penury hath cast in 
all the living that she had. 



SEC XXV. THE VALUE OF PUBLIC FAITH. 

1 To expatiate on the value of public faith may pass with some men 
for declamation : to such men I have nothing to say. To others, I will 
urge, can any circumstance mark upon a people more turpitude and 

2 debasement ? can any thing tend more to make men think themselves 
mean ; or to degrade to a lower point their estimation of virtue, and 
their standard of action ? 

It would not merely demoralize mankind ; it tends to break all the 

3 ligaments of society ; to dissolve that mysterious charm which attracts 
individuals to the nation ; and to inspire in its stead a repulsive sense of 
shame and disgust. 

4 What is patriotism ? Is it a narrow afTection for the spot where a 

5 man was born ? are the very clods where we tread entitled to this ardent 
preference because they are greener ? No, sir, this is not the charac- 

6ter of the virtue, and it soars higher for its object: it is an extended 
self-love : mingling with all the enjoyments of life, and twisting itself 

7 with the minutest filaments of the heart. It is thus we obey the laws 
of society, because they are the laws of virtue. In their authority we 

8 see, not the array of force and terror, but the venerable image of our 

9 country's honor. Every good citizen makes that honor his own ; and 
cherishes it, not only as precious, but as sacred. He is willing to risk 
his life in its defence, and is conscious that he gains protection while he 
gives it ; for what rights of a citizen will be deemed inviolable when a 

10 state renounces the principles that constitute their security ? Or, if his 
life should not be invaded, what would its enjoyments be in a country, 

11 odious in the eye of strangers and dishonored in his own? Could he 
look with affection and veneration to such a country as his parent ? 

12 The sense of having one would die within him : he would blush for his 

13 patriotism, if he retained any ; and justly ; for it would be a vice. He 
would be a banished man in his native land. Ames. 

Sentence 6th. — No is followed by its equivalent : and, after virtue, is clearly used instead of 
for. The whole sentence is then a compound double compact, with the first, second and third 
propositions or parts expressed. The connective between the second and third part understood ; 
and the third part a perfect loose declarative. 

Sentence 10th. — Contrast between the first part of the semi-interrogative and the first part of 
the preceding ; which requires for the former a delivery with partial close. (See Rule VII } 2.) 



SEC. XXVI. A MORAL CHANGE ALLEGORICALLY DESCRIBED. 

1 I was a stricken deer, that left the herd 

Long since. With many an arrow deep infixed 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 295 

2 My panting side was charged, when I withdrew 
To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. 

3 There was I found by one who had himself 

4 Been hurt by the archers. In his side he bore, 
And in his hands and feet, the cruel scars. 

5 With gentle force soliciting the darts, 

He drew them forth, and healed and bade me live. Cowper. 

Sentence 4th. — In his side, and in his hands and feet, he bore the cruel scars. 
Sentence 5th. — Declarative single compact, third form : correlative words when — then, 



SEC. XXVII. THE INFLUENCE OF POPULAR APPLAUSE. 

1 O Popular Applause ! what heart of man 

Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms ? 
The wisest and the best feel urgent need 
Of all their caution in thy gentlest gales, 

2 But swelled into a gust, who then, alas ! 
With all his canvass set,' and inexpert, 

And therefore heedless, can withstand thy power ? 
Praise from the rivelled lips of toothless, bald 
Decrepitude, and in the looks of lean 
And craving Poverty, and in the bow 
Respectful of the smutched artificer, 
Is oft too welcome, and may disturb 

3 The bias of the purpose ; how much more, 
, Poured forth by beauty splendid and polite, 

In language soft as adoration breathes ! 

4 Ah ! spare your idol : think him human still. Cowper. 

Sentence 2d. — A semi-interrogative, with a declarative single compact in the first part and 
an indefinite interrogative close in the second : the connection between the two, close. 

Sentence 3d. — Also semi-interrogative : close declarative in the first part, and single com- 
pact indefinite interrogative exclamatory, third form, in the second : then — when, correlative words. 



SEC. XXVIII. EVILS OF THE OLD CONFEDERATION. 

1 Need I call to your remembrance the contrasted scenes of which we 
have been witnesses ? On the glorious conclusion of our conflict with 

2 Britain, what high expectations were formed concerning us, by others ! 

3 what high expectations did we form concerning ourselves ! Have those 
expectations been realized ? 4 No. 5 What has been the cause ? 6 Did 

7 our citizens lose their perseverance and magnanimity ? No. Did they 

8 become insensible of resentment and indignation at any high-handed 

9 attempt that might have been made to injure or enslave them ? No. 
10 What then has been the cause ? 11 The truth is, we dreaded danger only 

on one side : this we manfully repelled. But on another side, danger, 
12 not less formidable, but more insidious, stole in upon us; and our 

unsuspicious tempers were not sufficiently attentive either to its approach 
13 or to its operations, Those, whom foreign strength could not overpower, 

have well nigh become the victims of internal anarchy. 



296 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

14 If we become a little more particular, we shall find that the forego- 
ing representation is by no means exaggerated. When we had baffled 

15 all the menaces of foreign power, we neglected to establish among our- 
selves a government that could insure domestic vigor and stability. 

16 What was the consequence ? The commencement of peace was the 

17 commencement of every disgrace and distress that could befall a people 
in a peaceful state. Devoid of national power, we could not prohibit 

18 the extravagance of our importations, nor could we derive a revenue 

19 from their excess. Devoid of national importance, we could not pro- 
cure for our exports a tolerable sale at foreign markets. Devoid of 

20 national credit, we saw our securities melt in the hands of the holders, 
like snow before the sun. Devoid of national dignity, we could not, in 

21 some instances, perform our treaties on our part ; and, in other instan- 
ces, we could neither obtain nor compel the performance of them on the 

22 part of others. Devoid of national energy, we could not carry into 
execution our own resolutions, decisions, or laws. 

23 Shall I become more particular still ? The tedious detail would dis- 

Wilson. 

Sentences <lth, 1th, 9th. — No may be treated either - as a simple cleci. sentence, or a com- 
pound decl. double compact, with the third proposition understood, thus : No, but the reverse. 
If treated as a simp, decl., it will be delivered with perfect close ; but if as a double compact, 
with circumflex, just as if the third proposition was expressed. 

Sentences 19 - 22. — Each of these is a single compact of the third form. 



SEC. XXIX. FORTITUDE UNDER REVERSES, A SOURCE OF GREATNESS 
AND POWER. 

When was it that Rome attracted most strongly the admiration of 

1 mankind, and impressed the deepest sentiment of fear on the hearts of 
her enemies ? It was, when seventy thousand of her sons lay bleeding 

2 at Cannse* and Hannibal, victorious over three Roman armies and 
twenty nations, was thundering at her gates. It was then that the 
young and heroic Scipio, having sworn on his sword in the presence 

3 of the fathers of the country, not to despair of the Republic, marched 
forth at the head of a people, firmly resolved to conquer, or die ; and 

4 that resolution insured them the victory. When did Athens appear the 
greatest and the most formidable ? It was when, giving up their houses 

5 and possessions to the flames of the enemy, and having transferred their 
wives, their children, their aged parents, and the symbols of their reli- 
gion on board of their fleet, they resolved to consider themselves as the 

6 republic, and their ships as their country. It was then they struck that 
terrible blow, under which the greatness of Persia sunk, and expired. 

Harper. 

Sentence 2d. — Either a mixed sentence, combining two single compacts, the less, the second 
form ending with Cannag, and having correlative words then — when; and the greater, third 
form comprising the whole sentence, correl. words as — so ; or comp. decl. loose: hence it will 
be delivered either with partial close or bend at Cannse. 

Sentence 3d and hth. — Observe the long circumstances in these sentences. — Contradictory 
emph. on then. Sentence 6th. — (See Emph., II, 6.) 






SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 207 

SEC. XXX. THE LOVE OF NATURE. 

1 The love of Nature, and the scenes she draws, 

Is Nature's dictate. Strange ! there should be found 
Who, self-imprisoned in their proud saloons, 
llenounce the odors of the open field 
For the unscented fictions of the loom ; 

2 Who, satisfied with only pencilled scenes, 
Prefer to the performance of a God 

The inferior wonders of an artist's hand ! 

Lovely, indeed, the mimic works of art, 

But Nature's works far lovelier. Cowper. 

Sentence 2d. — A comp. dccl. single compaet of the third form : correlative words, therefore — 
because; the first part fragmentary : it is being suppressed before strange, and that after it. 
Therefore it is strange that, &c. — because lovery indeed, &c. The second part is compact, of 
the first form, and has the correlative words indeed — but, instead of though — yet, which 
would be more accurate. The exclamation point after strange, represents the comma: after 
hand, the semicolon. 



SEC. XXXI. PERSEVERANCE AND IMPORTUNITY IN PRAYER COMMENDED. 

And he spake a parable unto them, to this end : that men ought always 

1 to pray, and not to faint: saying, There was in a city a judge, who 
feared not God, neither regarded man ; and there was a widow in that 
city ; and she came unto him : saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 

And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, 

2 Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet, because this widow troub- 
leth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary 
me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith ; and shall. 

3 not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though 
1 he bear long with them ? I tell you he will avenge them speedily. 

Sentence 2d. — A mixed sent.., combining two compacts. Sentence 3d. — Semi-interrog, 
close decl. in the first part : compact definite in the second : loose connection between them : sep- 
arated by a semicolon, because connective and is expressed. 



SEC. XXXII. THE ADVANTAGES OF A THOROUGH EDUCATION. 

In those strangely beautiful eastern tales that fascinate our childhood, 
and rarely lose their charm in our riper years, you all recollect how 
the gorgeous imagination of the oriental authors delights to luxuriate 
upon the story of some young and bold adventurer, who wanders alone 

1 through the deep caverns of the earth, and there sees around him piles 
of golden ingots and coin, and massive plate and burnished armor, and 
hillocks of pearls and rubies and sapphires and emeralds and diamonds, 
of all of which the mystic talisman he unconsciously bears in his bosom, 
has made him the lord ? 

To the young student of our own times and country, the discipline of 

2 a thorough education is that talisman ; though of far more potent com- 

3 mand than the one of oriental fable. Thus armed, he may climb the 

4 Muse's mount, or penetrate the deepest retreats of science. There he 



20H 



EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OIL 



will find hoards more precious than countless gold, or priceless gems. 
He has but to desire them intensely, and they become his own; for 
there are to be found the Genii of arts, able to change the face of 

5 nature and subdue the very elements : there dwell those pure and bright 
intelligences that sway the heart of man, and mold to their own pleasure 
the opinions and passions of nations. Mighty and proud spirits are 
they ; who will not be commanded by wealth or power, but they bow 

6 themselves down before the daring and persevering student : voluntarily 
confessing themselves to be "the slaves of the lamp, and of him, who is 
its master." m Verplanck. 

Sentence 1. — A magnificent comp. close indirect interrogative, of the first kind, which will 
demand of the student much practice, perhaps, in order that he may acquire a correct delivery 
of its waving slide. (See Classif., Rule XVI, and Plate, Fig. 2, f.) 

Sentence 6th. — Emph. on power deferred, and circumflex at the end of a waving slide, with 
which the first part of a double compact is always delivered. (See Rule VIII.) 



SEC. XXXIII. NO SORROWS ENTIRELY WITHOUT ALLEVIATION. 

When mankind appear to be plunged in the very waters of bitterness, 

1 without hope or consolation, they are not, after all, so wretched as might 

2 be imagined by the young and inexperienced. Melancholy, grief, nay, 
even despair can find a strange pleasure in unlimited self-indulgence* 
The good being who gives the wound, seems to have provided to soften 
its pangs, by ordaining that the very grief, which dwells in the inner- 

3 most heart, should be mixed with some rare ingredients that sweeten or 
alleviate the bitter draught : in his extremest justice, he seems to remem- 
ber mercy ; and while he strikes, he spares. Amid clouds and dark- 
ness, there is still an unextinguished light : in storms and tempests, there 

4 floats a saving plank : in the deepest woe, there is a sad luxury in giv- 
ing way without restraint to tears : in calling to mind, again and again, 
the lost object of our affections, summing up the extent of our irretriev- 
able loss, and pouring into our own wounds the balm of our own pity. 

5 Happiness consists in a quiet series of almost imperceptible enjoy- 
ments, that make little impression on the memory. Every free breath 
we draw, is an enjoyment : every thing beautiful in nature or art, is a 
source of enjoyment : memory, hope, fancy, every faculty of the intel- 

6 lect of man, is a source of enjoyment : the flowers, the fruits, the birds, 
the woods, the waters, the course, the vicissitudes, and the vast phenom- 
ena of nature, created, regulated, and preserved by the mighty hand of 
an Omnipotent Being, — all are legitimate and reasonable sources of 
enjoyment, within the reach of every rational being. Paulding. 

Sentence 2d. — Nay in this sentence is the first part of a single compact. Its equivalent 
given, the sentence would read thus: "Melancholy, grief, not only melancholy or grief, but 
even despair can," &c. Correlative Avcrds, indeed — but. 



SEC. XXXIV. MINGLED EMOTIONS. 

Summer's dun cloud, that, slowly rising, holds 
The sweeping tempest in its rising folds ; 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. *299 

Though o'er the ridges of its thundering breast, 

The King of Terrors lifts his lightning crest, 

Pleased we behold, when those dark folds we find, 

Fringed with the golden light that glows behind. Pierpont. 

This is an inverted mixed sentence. " Then, yet pleased we behold Summer's," &c. 
- " though o'er," &c. — "when those," &c. &c. 



SEC. XXXV. HOW WE SHOULD LIVE. 

So live, that when thy summons comes to join 

The innumerable caravan, that moves 

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death ; 

Thou go not like the quarry slave at night, 

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. Bryant. 

A mixed sentence, combining two single and one double compact. " So live, that when thy 
summons, &c. — then thou go not, &c. — but, &c." 



SEC. XXXVI. FAME, FOUNDED ON LASTING RESULTS, ALONE DURABLE. 

Great actions and striking occurrences, having excited a temporary 

1 admiration, often pass away and are forgotten, because they leave no 
lasting results affecting the prosperity and happiness of communities. 

2 Such is frequently the fortune of the most brilliant military achieve- 
ments. Of the ten thousand battles which have been fought, of all the 
fields fertilized with carnage, of the banners which have been bathed in 

3 blood, of the warriors who have hoped that they had risen from the field 
of conquest, to a glory as bright and as durable as the stars, how few 
that continue long, to interest mankind ! The victory of yesterday is 
reversed by the victory of to-day ; the star of military glory, rising like 

4 a meteor, like a meteor has fallen ; disgrace and disaster hang on the 
heels of conquest and renown ; victor and vanquished presently pass 
away into oblivion ; and the world goes on in its course with the loss 
only of so many lives and so much treasure. Webster. 

Sentence 1st. — " Tlxerefore great actions, &c. — when having, &c. — then often, &c. — 
because. &c." 



SEC. XXXVII. WAR, CRIME AND TYRANNY AT VARIANCE WITH NATURE, 

Man ! can thy doom no brighter soul allow ? 
1 Still must thou live a blot on Nature's brow % 
Shall War's polluted banner ne'er be furled ? 
Shall crimes and tyrants cease but with the world ? 



300 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

2 What ! are thy triumphs, sacred Truth, belied ? 

3 Why then hath Plato lived, or Sidney died ? Campbell. 



SEC. XXXVIII. GOD ONLY CAN FILL AND SATISFY OUR AFFECTIONS. 

The motives which are most commonly urged for cherishing supreme 

1 affection towards God, are drawn from our frailty and weakness ; and 
from our need of more than human succor in the trials of life and in 

2 the pains of death. But religion has a still higher claim. 3 It answers 
to the deepest want of human nature. We refer to our want of some 
being or beings, to whom we may give our hearts ; whom we may love 

4 more than ourselves ; for whom we may live and be ready to die ; and 
whose character responds to that idea of perfection, which, however dim 

5 and undefined, is an essential element of every human soul. We can- 
not be happy beyond our love. At the same time, love may prove our 
chief woe, if bestowed unwisely, disproportionately, and on unworthy 
objects ; if confined to beings of imperfect virtue, with whose feelings 

6 we eannot always innocently sympathize : whose interests we cannot 
always righteously promote: who narrow us to themselves, instead of 
breathing universal charity ; who are frail, mutable, exposed to suffer- 
ing, pain and death ? To secure a growing happiness and a spotless 
virtue, we need for the heart a being worthy of its whole treasure of 
love ; to whom we may consecrate our whole existence ; in approach- 
ing whom, we enter an atmosphere of purity and brightness ; in sym- 

7 pathizing with whom, we cherish only noble sentiments ; in devoting 
ourselves to whom, we espouse great and enduring interests ; in whose 
character we find the spring of an ever-enlarging philanthropy ; and 
by attachment to whom, all our other attachments are hallowed, pro- 
tected, and supplied with tender and sublime consolations under bereave- 

8 ments and blighted hope. Sunk a being is God. Clianning. 

Sentence 6th. — This sentence may be treated either as an imperfect loose declarative or an 
imperfect loose indirect interrogative. I prefer the latter treatment, and have pointed the sen- 
tence accordingly. 



SEC. XXXIX. CONTENTMENT IN VIEW OF AGE. 

True, time will seam and blanch my brow ; 

Well ; I shall sit with aged men ; 

And my good glass will tell me how 

A grizzly beard becomes me then. Bryant. 

"It is true, indeed, that time, &c. — but therefore well, because. (See Classif., Simple 
Decl., Remarks on Well.) The semicolon is inserted after brow and well, because the correl- 
ative words are suppressed, (See Punct., Comma, III.) 



SEC XL. AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVILS OF THE PRESS-GANG. 

Would the learned gentleman not let one father, one husband, one 
1 brother, one child escape, in this general scene of oppression and injus- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 301 

lice ! Mcthinks I hear the heart-fell shrieks of the miserable wife this 
instant piercing my ears, and entreating, in accents of rage and despair, 

2 the midnight ruffian not to drag from her side her tender and affection- 
ate husband : the father of her children and her only support ! I think 
I hear the aged and helpless parent, in accents of sinking woe, misery 
and distress, bewailing the loss of his dutiful and beloved son ! I con- 

3 fess I am filled with horror at the various ills and miseries this instant 
inflicting in every part of these kingdoms, contrary to every principle 
of law, justice and humanity ! Sir George Saville. 

Observe that all the sentences in this piece are exclamatory, and as such, to be delivered with 
emotion. 



SEC XLI. INCIDENTS OF THE SEA. 

1 To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is 
an excellent preparative. From the moment you lose sight of the land 

2 you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the opposite shore, and 
are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world. 

3 I have said that at sea all is vacancy. 4 I should correct the expres- 
sion. To one given up to day-dreaming, and fond of losing himself in 

5 reveries, a sea voyage is full of subjects of meditation ; but then they 
are the wonders of the deep and the air, and rather tend to abstract the 
mind from worldly themes. 

I delighted to loll over the quarter railing, or climb to the main-top, 
on a calm day, and muse for hours together on the tranquil bosom of a 

6 summer sea ; or to gaze upon the piles of golden clouds, just peering 
above the horizon, and fancy them some fairy realms, and people them 
with a creation of my own ; or to watch the gentle, undulating billows, 
rolling their silver volumes, as if to die away on those happy shores. 
There was a delicious sensation of mingled security and awe, with 
which I looked down from my giddy height on the monsters of the deep 

7 at their uncouth gambols : shoals of porpoises tumbling about the bow 
of the ship, the grampus slowly heaving his huge form above the sur- 
face, or the ravenous shark darting, like a spectre, through the blue 
waters. My imagination would conjure up all that I had heard or read 
of the watery world beneath me ; of the finny herds that roam in the 

8 fathomless valleys ; of shapeless monsters that lurk among the very 
foundations of the earth ; and those wild phantasms that swell the tales 
of fishermen and sailors. 

9 Sometimes a distant sail, gliding along the edge of the ocean, would 
be another theme of idle speculation. How interesting this fragment of 
a world hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence ! what a glo- 
rious monument of human invention, that has thus triumphed over wind 
and wave ; has brought the ends of the earth in communion ; has 

10 established an interchange of blessings: pouring into the sterile regions 
of the north all the luxuries of the south : diffusing the light of knowl- 
edge and the charities of cultivated life ; and has thus bound together 
those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature 
seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier ! 

11 We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. 



302 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OE 

12 At sea, every thing that breaks the monotony of the surrounding expanse 
attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have 

13 been completely wrecked ; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs 
by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to this spar, to pre- 

14 vent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by 
which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evi- 

15 dently drifted about for many months : clusters of shell-fish had fastened 

16 about it ; and long sea- weeds flaunted at its sides. But where, thought 
I, is the crew 1 Their struggle has long been over : they have gone 

17 down amidst the roar of the tempest : their bones lie whitening in the 

18 caverns of the deep. Silence, oblivion, like the waves, have closed 
over them; and no one can tell the story of their end. What sighs 
have been wafted after that ship ! what prayers have been offered up at 

19 the deserted fireside of home ! how often have the maiden, the wife, and 
the mother, pored over the daily news, to catch some casual intelligence 
of this rover of the deep ! how has expectation darkened into anxiety ; 

20 anxiety into dread ; and dread into despair ! Alas ! not one memento 

21 shall return for love to cherish. All that shall ever be known is, that 
she sailed from port, and was never heard of more. Irving. 

Sentence 5th. — The second part of this loose sentence should be treated as a single compact 
of the third form ; correlative words, as — so. Sentence 6th. — An imperfect loose declarative. 
Sentence lQth. — It may be treated as perfect loose or single compact of the third form : correl- 
ative words, because — therefore. The latter treatment is preferable, because a perfect loose 
precedes with a succession of three closes. Sentence Idth. — A perfect loose indefinite inter- 
rogative exclamatory sentence in four parts : the fourth part imperfect loose. (See Rule XV y 



and Plate 



rciamatory : 
, Fig. l£) 



SEC XLII. THE DEATH OF HAMILTON. 



1 " How are the mighty fallen !" 2 And, regardless as we are of vul- 
gar deaths, shall not the fall of the mighty affect us ? 

3 A short time since, and he, who is the occasion of our sorrows, was 

4 the ornament of his countiy . He stood on an eminence, and glory cov- 

5 ered him. From that eminence he has fallen : suddenly, forever, fallen. 

6 His intercourse with the living world is now ended ; and those who 
would hereafter find him, must seek him in the grave. There, cold 
and lifeless, is the heart which just now was the seat of friendship ; there, 

7 dim and sightless is the eye, whose radiant and enlivening orb beamed 
with intelligence • and there, closed forever, are those lips, on whose per- 
suasive accents we have so often, and so lately, hung with transport ! 
From the darkness which rests upon his tomb, there proceeds, methinks, 

8 a light in which it is clearly seen, that those gaudy objects, which men 

9 pursue, are only phantoms. In this light, how dimly shines the splen- 
dor of victory : how humble appears the majesty of grandeur ! The 

10 bubble, which seemed to have so much solidity, has burst; and we 
again see, that all below the sun is vanity. 

True the funeral eulogy has been pronounced, the sad and solemn 
procession has moved, the badge of mourning has already been decreed, 

11 and presently the sculptured marble will lift up its front, proud to per- 
petuate the name of Hamilton, and rehearse to the passing traveler his 
virtues ; (just tributes of respect, and to the living useful ;) but to him, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 303 

12 moldering in his narrow and humble habitation, what are they ? How 
vain ! how unavailing ! 

13 Approach, and behold, while I lift from his sepulchre its covering ! 

14 Ye admirers of his greatness ! ye emulous of his talents and his fame, 

15 approach and behold him now. How pale ! how silent ! 16 No martial 
bands admire the adroitness of his movements ; no fascinating throng 

17 weep, and melt, and tremble at his eloquence ! Amazing change ! A 

18 shroud ! a coffin ! a narrow, subterraneous cabin ! — this is all that now 

19 remains of Hamilton! and is this all that remains of Hamilton? Dur- 
ing a life so transitory, what lasting monument, then, can our fondest 
hopes erect ! 

20 My brethren ! we stand on the borders of an awful gulf, which is 
swallowing up all things human ; and is there, amidst this universal 

21 wreck, nothing stable, nothing abiding, nothing immortal, on which poor, 

22 frail, dying man can fasten 1 Ask the hero, ask the statesman, whose 
wisdom you have been accustomed to revere, and he will tell you. He 
will tell you, did I say ? He has already told you, from his death-bed ; 
and his illumined spirit, still whispers from the heavens, with well 

23 known eloquence, the solemn admonition : " Mortals hastening to the 
tomb, and once the companions of my pilgrimage, take warning and 
avoid my errors ; cultivate the virtues I have recommended ; choose the 
Saviour I have chosen ; live disinterestedly ; live for immortality ; and 
would you rescue any thing from final dissolution, lay it up in God." 

President Nott. 

Sentence 2d. — A semi-interrogative : the parts connected compactly : though — yet, the cor- 
relative words. 

Sentence 3d. — A single compact, third form. " Wlien a short time since was, then." 
Sentence 11th. — A single compact, second form, correlative words, indeed — but, in the first 
part ; in the second, simple indefinite interrogative : the whole a semi-interrogative : the parts 
connected closely. Sentence ISth. — A double compact exclamatory with the first proposition, 
comprising two members, only expressed. Sentence 17th. — A fragmentary simple declarative 
exclamatory. Sentence lQih. — A broken close declarative exclamatory. Sentence, 21st. — A 
compound declarative single compact, third form :■ correlative words, if — then. 



SEC. XLIII. THE POWER OF VERSE TO PERPETUATE, 

J T is not a pyramid of marble stone, 

Though high as our ambition ; 

'T is not a tomb cut out in brass, which can 

Give life to the ashes of a man ; 

But verses only : they shall fresh appear 

Whilst there are men to read or hear. 

When time shall make the lasting brass decay, 

And eat the pyramid away ; 

Turning that monument wherein men trust 

Their names, to what it keeps, poor dust ; 

Then shall the epitaph remain, and be 

New graven in eternity. Cowley, 



304 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. XLIV. THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 

1 Two men went up in the temple to pray : the one, a pharisee, and 
the other, a publican. The pharisee stood and prayed thus with him- 

2 self: God, 1 thank thee that I am not as other men are : extortioners ; 

3 unjust ; adulterers ; or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week : 
I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar of!', 

4 would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his 
breast : saying, God be merciful to me a sinner ! 

1 tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the 
5 other; for every one that exalteth himself, shall be abased; and he 
that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. 



SEC XLV. THE EXISTENCE OF SLAVERY INCONSISTENT WITH OUR 
PRINCIPLES AND INSTITUTIONS. 

Sir, let gentlemen put it home to themselves, that after Providence 
has crowned our exertions, in the cause of general freedom, with suc- 
cess, and led us on to independence, through a myriad of clangers, and 

1 in defiance of obstacles crowding thick upon each other, we should not 
so soon forget the principles upon which we fled to arms, and lose all 
sense of that interposition of Heaven, by which alone we could have 
been saved from the grasp of arbitrary power. We may talk of liberty 
in our public councils, and fancy that we feel reverence for her die- 

2 tates ; we may declaim with all the vehemence of animated rhetoric, 
against oppression, and flatter ourselves that w T e detest the ugly monster ; 
but so long as we continue to cherish the poisonous weed of partial 
slavery among us, the world will doubt our sincerity. In the name of 
heaven, with what face can we call ourselves the friends of equal free- 
dom, and the inherent rights of our species, when we wantonly pass 

3 laws inimical to each : when we reject every opportunity of destroy- 
ing, by silent, imperceptible degrees, the horrid fabric of individual 
bondage, reared by the mercenary hands of those from whom the sacred 
flame of liberty received no devotion ? 

4 Sir, it is pitiable, to reflect, to what wild inconsistencies, to what oppo- 
site extremes we are hurried, by the frailty of our nature. Long have I 
been convinced, that no generous sentiment of which the human heart 
is capable, no elevated passion of the soul that dignifies mankind, can 

5 obtain a uniform and perfect dominion : to-day we may be aroused as 
one man, by a wonderful and unaccountable sympathy, against the 
lawless invader of the rights of his fellow-creatures ; to-morrow we may 
be guilty of the same oppression which we reprobated and resisted in 
another. Is it, Mr. Speaker, because the complexion of these devoted 
victims is not quite so delicate as ours ; is it because their untutored 
minds, (humbled and debased by the hereditary yoke,) appear less active 

6 and capacious than our own ? or, is it because we have been so habit- 
uated to their situation, as to become callous to the horrors of it, that 
we are determined, whether politic or not, to keep them, till time shall 

7 be no more, on a level with the brutes ? For " nothing," says Montes- 
quieu, " so much assimilates a man to a bruie, as living among freemen-- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 305 

himself a slave." Call not Maryland a land of liberty ; do not pretend, 
that she has chosen this country as an asylum, that she has erected her 
8 temple and consecrated her shrine, when here, also, her unhallowed 
enemy holds his hellish pandemonium, and our rulers offer sacrifices 
at his polluted altar ; the lilly and the bramble may grow in social prox- 
imity, but liberty and slavery delight in separation. Pinkney. 

Sentence 6th. — A double interrogative with two members in the first part. Sentence 1th. — 
" So much, &c. — as then living, &c. — while or when himself is a slave." 

Sentence Qtli. — A compound declarative loose perfect. In the first part, a double compact, 
with the first proposition only expressed : having two members. The second part is a single 
compact, second form: correlative words, indeed — but. 



SEC XLVI. THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 

The breaking waves dashed high 

On a stern and rock-bound coast ; 
And the woods, against a stormy sky, 

Their giant branches tost ; 

1 And the heavy night hung dark 

The hills and waters o'er ; 
When a band of exiles moored their bark, 

On the wild New-England shore. 
Not as the conqueror comes, 

They, the true-hearted came ; 
Not with the roll of the stirring drums, 

And the trumpet that sings of fame ; 

2 Not as the flying come, 

In silence and in fear ; 
They shook the depths of the desert's gloom, 
With their hymns of lofty cheer. 

3 Amidst the storm they sang ; 

And the stars heard and the sea ! 
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang 
To the anthem of the free ! 

4 The ocean-eagle soared 

From his nest by the white wave's foam ; 
And the rocking pine of the forest roared : — 

This was their welcome home ! Remans. 



SEC. XLVII. INFLUENCE OF WAR ON OUR PEOFLE AND INSTITUTIONS. 

It is the inevitable consequence of war in free countries, that the 

1 power which wields the force, will rise above the power that expresses 
the will of the people. The state governments will also receive a severe 

2 shock : those stately pillars which support the magnificent dome of our 
national government, will totter under the increased weight of the super- 
incumbent pressure. Nor will the waste of morals, the spirit of cupidity, 

3 the thirst of blood, and the general profligacy of manners, which will 
follow the introduction of this measure, be viewed by the great body of 

39 



306 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

our citizens, without the most fearful anxiety, and the most heartfelt 
deprecation. And if there are any persons in this country, (and I 
should regret if there are any such in this house,) who think that a 
public debt is a public blessing, and that heavy taxation is expedient in 
order to produce industry; who believe that large standing armies are 
essential to maintain the energy, and that extensive patronage is indis- 
pensable to support the dignity of government ; who suppose that frequent 
wars are necessary to animate the human character, and to call into 
4 action the dormant energies of our nature ; who have been expelled 
from authority and power by the indignant voice of an offended country ; 
and who repine and suffer at the great and unexampled prosperity 
which this country is rapidly attaining under other and better auspices ; 
— such men, whoever they are, and wherever they be, will rally round 
the proposition now before us, and will extol it to the heavens, as a 
model of the most profound policy, and as the offspring of the most 
exalted energy. Be Witt Clinton. 



SEC XLVIII. AN APPEAL TO THE BAD PASSIONS REPREHENSIBLE. 

Mr. President, the opposition to this discriminating amendment to the 

1 constitution, is condensed into a single stratagem; namely, an effort to 
excite the passion of jealousy in various forms. Endeavors have been 
made to excite geographical jealousies; a jealousy of the smaller 

2 against the larger states; a jealousy in the people against the idea of 
amending the constitution ; and even a jealousy against individual 
members of this house. Sir, is this passion a good medium through 

3 which to discern truth ; or is it a mirror calculated to reflect error ? 
will it enlighten ; or deceive ? is it planted in good ; or in evil : in vir- 

4 tuous or in vicious principles 1 Wherefore, then, do gentlemen endeavor 
to blow it up ? Is it because they distrust the strength of their argu- 
ments, that they resort to this furious and erring passion ? is it because 

5 they know, that 

" Trifles light as air. 
Are to the jealous, confirmation strong 
As proofs of Holy Writ"? 

So far as these efforts have been directed towards a geographical 
demarcation of the interests of this Union into North and South, in order 

6 to excite a jealousy of one division against another, and so far as they 
have been used to create suspicions of individuals, they have been 
either so feeble, inapplicable, or frivolous, as to bear but lightly upon the 
question, and to merit but little attention. But the attempt to array 
states against states, because they differ in size, and to prejudice the 

7 people against the idea of amending their constitution, bear a more for- 
midable aspect and ought to be repelled, because they are founded on 
principles the most mischievous and inimical to the constitution ; and 
could they be successful, are replete with great mischiefs. 

John Taylor. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 307 

SEC. XLIX. THE WRONGS OF AMERICA. 

After the most valuable right of legislation was infringed ; when the 
powers, assumed by your parliament, in which we are not represented, 
and, from our local and other circumstances, cannot properly be repre- 
sented, rendered our property precarious ; after being denied that mode 
of trial, to which we have been long indebted for the safety of our per- 
sons, and the preservation of our liberties ; after being, in many instan- 
ces, divested of those laws which were transmitted to us by our common 
ancestors, and subjected to an arbitrary code, compiled under the aus- 
pices of Roman tyrants ; after those charters, which encouraged our 
predecessors to brave death and danger in every shape, on unknown 
seas, in deserts unexplored, amidst barbarous and inhospitable nations, 
were annulled ; when, without the form of trial, without a public accu- 
sation, whole colonies were condemned, their trade destroyed, their 
inhabitants impoverished; when soldiers were encouraged to imbrue 
their hands in the blood of Americans by offers of impunity ; when new 
modes of trial were instituted for the ruin of the accused, where the 
charge carried with it the horrors of conviction ; when a despotic gov- 
ernment was established in a neighboring province, and its limits 
extended to every point of our frontiers ; we little imagined that any- 
thing could be added to this black catalogue of unprovoked injuries : but 
we have unhappily been deceived ; and the late measures of the British 
ministry fully convince us, that their object is the reduction of these 
colonies to slavery and ruin. Richard Henry Lee. 



SEC L. A TWO-FOLD PEACE. 

1 There is a two- fold peace. 2 The first is negative. 3 It is relief from 
disquiet and corroding care : it is repose after conflict and storms. But 

4 there is another and a higher peace, to which this is but the prelude : 
"a peace of God which passeth understanding;" and properly called 

5 " the kingdom of God within us." This state is anything but negative. 
It is the highest and most strenuous action of the soul ; but an entirely 

6 harmonious action, in which all our powers and affections are blended 
in a beautiful proportion, and sustain and perfect one another. It is 

7 more than silence after storms ; it is as the concord of all melodious 
sounds. Has the reader never known a season, when, in the fullest 
flow of thought and feeling, in. the universal action of the soul, an 

8 inward calm, profound as midnight silence, yet bright as the still sum- 
mer noon, full of joy, but unbroken by one throb of tumultuous passion, 
has breathed through his spirit, and given him a glimpse and presage 

9 of the serenity of a happier world 1 Of this character is the peace of 
religion. It is a conscious harmony with God and the creation : an 
alliance of love with all beings : a sympathy with all that is pure and 

10 happy : a surrender of every separate will and interest : a participation 
of the spirit and life of the universe : an entire concord of purpose with 
its Infinite Original. This is peace, and the true happiness of man; 

11 and we think that human nature has never lost sight of this its great 

12 end. It has always sighed for a repose, in which energy of thought 



308 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

and will might be tempered with an all-pervading tranquillity. We 
13 seem to discover aspirations after this good, a dim consciousness of it, 
in all ages of the world. We think we see it in those systems of Ori- 
14ental and Grecian philosophy, which proposed as the consummation of 
present virtue a release from all disquiet, and an intimate union and 
harmony with the divine mind. We even think, that we trace this 
consciousness, this aspiration, in the works of ancient art which time has 

15 spared us ; in which the sculptor, aiming to embody his deepest thoughts 
of human perfection, has joined with the fullness of life and strength, a 
repose, which breathes into the spectator an admiration as calm as it is 

16 exalted. Man, we believe, never loses the sentiment of his true good. 
There are yearnings, sighings, which he does not himself comprehend ; 
which break forth alike in his prosperous and adverse seasons ; which 

17 betray a deep, indestructible faith in a good he has not found ; and 
which, in proportion as they grow distinct, rise to God, and concentrate 
the soul on him, as at once his life and rest : the fountain at once of 
energy and repose. Charming. 



SEC. LI. TRUST IN GOD COMMENDED AND ENJOINED. 

1 No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and 
love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. 

2 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. 

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye 

3 shall eat or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall 

4 put on. Is not the life more than meat; and the body more than rai- 

5 ment 1 Behold the fowls of the air ; for they sow not, neither do they 
reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them ? 

6 Are ye not much better than they ? 7 Which of you, by taking thought, 

8 can add one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought for 
raiment ? Consider the lillies of the field, how they grow : they toil not, 

9 neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all 
his glory was not arrayed like one of these 1 Wherefore, if God so 

10 clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into 
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? 
Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall 
we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed ; for after all these things 

1 1 do the Gentiles seek ; and your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
need of these things ; but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take, 

12 therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought 

13 for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Sentence 3d. — This sentence should have been connected by punctuation with the fourth : 
forming a semi-interrogative, with a double compact construction between the parts : the declar- 
ative containing the first, and the definite interrogative, the second proposition. Sentence 5th 
and 9th. — These should, in my opinion, be treated as semi-interrogatives : the interrogative, in 
both £ases, indirect. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 309 

SEC. LII. IMMORTALITY. 

O, listen, man! 

1 A voice within us speaks the startling word : 

' Man, thou shalt never die !' Celestial voices 
Hymn it round our souls : according harps, 

2 By angel fingers touched, when the mild stars 
Of morning sang together, sound forth still 
The song of our great immortality ! 

Thick, clustering orbs, and this our fair domain, 

3 The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas, 

Join in this solemn, universal sono;. Dana. 



SEC. LIII. VIRTUE AND PIETY ARE CONFORMITY TO NATURE. 

1 I find myself existing upon a little spot, surrounded every way by 

2 an immense unknown expansion. Where am I ? what sort of place 
do I inhabit 1 Is it exactly accommodated, in every instance, to my 

3 convenience ? is there no excess of cold, none of heat, to offend me ? 
am I never annoyed by animals either of my own kind, or a different ? 
is every thing subservient to me, as though I had ordered all myself? 

4 No ; nothing like it : the farthest from it possible. 5 The world appears 

6 not then originally made for the private convenience of me alone ? It 
does not. 

7 But is it not possible so to accommodate it, by my own particular indus- 

8 try 1 If to accommodate man and beast, heaven and earth, if this be 

9 beyond me, it is not possible. What consequence then follows ? Can 

10 there be any other than this : if I seek an interest of my own detached 
from that of others, I seek an interest which is chimerical, and can 

11 have no existence ? How then must I determine ? 12 Have I no inter- 

13 est at all % If I have not, I am a fool for staying here : 't is a smoky 

14 house ; and the sooner out of it the better. But why no interest 1 Can 

15 I be contented with none, but one separate and detached ? is a social 
interest joined with others such an absurdity as not to be admitted ? 

16 The bee, the beaver, and the tribes of herding animals, are enough to 

17 convince me that the thing is, somewhere at least, possible. How then 
am I assured, that it is not equally true of man ! 18 Admit it, and 
what follows ? If so, then honor and justice are my interest : then the 

19 whole train of moral virtues are my interest; without some portion of 
which, not even thieves can maintain society. 

20 But farther still : I stop not here ; I pursue this social interest, as far 
as I can trace my several relations. I pass from my own flock, my own 

21 neighborhood, my own nation, to the whole race of mankind, as dis- 
persed throughout the earth. Am I not related to them all by the 

22 mutual aids of commerce : by the general intercourse of arts and letters : 
by that common nature, of which we all participate 1 

23 Again : I must have food and clothing. 24 Without a proper genial 
warmth, I must instantly perish. Am I not related in this view to the 
very earth itself: to the distant sun from whose beams I derive vigor : 

25 to that stupendous course and order of the infinite host of heaven, by 

26 which the times and seasons ever uniformly pass on ? Were this order 



310 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

once confounded, I could not probably survive a moment : so absolutely 
do I depend on this common welfare. 

27 What then have I to do but to enlarge virtue into piety ? Not only 
honor and justice, and what I owe to man is my interest, but gratitude 

28 also ; acquiescence ; resignation ; adoration ; and all r owe to this 
great polity, and its greater Governor, our common parent. 

But if all these moral and divine habits be my interest, I need not, 

29 surely, seek for a better ; I have an interest compatible with the spot on 
which I live : I have an interest which may exist, without altering the 
plan of Providence ; without mending or marring the general order of 
events. I can hear whatever happens with manlike magnanimity ; can 

30 be contented and fully happy in the good which I possess ; and can pass 
through this turbid, this fickle, this fleeting period, without bewailings, 
or envyings, or murmurings or complaints. Harris. 



SEC LIV. THE EMPLOYMENT OF INFORMERS DESTRUCTIVE TO 
PRIVATE HAPPINESS. 

1 A mercenary informer knows no distinction. Under such a system, 
the obnoxious people are slaves, not only to the government, but they 

2 live at the mercy of every individual ; they are at once the slaves of 
the whole community, and of every part of it : and the worst and most 
unmerciful men are those on whose goodness they must depend. 

3 In this situation men not only shrink from the frowns of a stern 
magistrate, but they are obliged to fly from their very species. The 

4 seeds of destruction are sown in civil intercourse : in social habitudes. 

5 The blood of wholesome kindred is infected. 6 Their tables and beds 
are surrounded with snares. All the means given by Providence to 

7 make life safe and comfortable, are perverted into instruments of terror 
and torment. This species of universal subserviency, that makes the 
very servant, who waits behind your chair, the arbiter of your life and 
fortune, has such a tendency to degrade and abase mankind, and to 

8 deprive them of that assured and liberal state of mind, which alone 
can make us what we ought to be, that I vow to God I would sooner 
bring myself to put a man to immediate death for opinions I dislike, 
and so to get rid of the man and his opinions at once, than to fret him 
with a feverish being, tainted with the jail-distemper of a contagious 
servitude : to keep him above ground, an animated mass of putrefac- 
tion ; corrupted himself, and corrupting all about him. Burke. 



SEC LV. THE SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE. 

Thy spirit, Independence, let me share. 

Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye, 

Thy steps I'll follow with my bosom bare ; 

Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky. Smollei. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 311 

SEC. LVI. THE SURVIVORS OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 

1 Venerable men ! you have come down to us from a former genera- 

2 tion. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might 
behold this joyous day. You are now, where you stood, fifty years 

3 ago, this very hour, with your brothers, and your neighbors, shoulder 

4 to shoulder, in the strife of your country. But, alas ! you are 

not. all here ! time and the sword have thinned your ranks. Prescott, 
Putnam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! our eyes seek for you 

5 in vain amidst this broken band ; you are gathered to your fathers, and 
live only to your country in her grateful remembrance, and your own 
bright example. But let us not too much grieve that you have met the 

6 common fate of men ; you lived, at least, long enough to know that 
your work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived 

7 to see your country's independence established, and to sheathe your 

8 swords from war. On the light of liberty you saw arise the light of 
Peace, like 

Another morn, 
Risen on mid-noon ; 

and the sky on which you closed your eyes, was cloudless. But — ah ! 
— him ! the first great martyr in this great cause ! him ! the premature 
victim of his own self-devoted heart ! him ! the head of our civil coun- 

9 cils, and the destined leader of our military bands ; whom nothing 
brought hither, but the unquenchable fire of his own spirit : him ! cut 
off by Providence, in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick 
gloom : falling, ere he saw the star of his country rise : pouring out his 
generous blood, like water, before he knew whether it would fertilize a 
land of freedom, or of bondage ! how shall I struggle with the emo- 

10 tions that stifle the utterance of thy name ! — Our poor work may perish, 
but thine shall endure ! This monument may molder away ; the solid 

11 ground it rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea; but thy 
memory shall not fail ! Wheresoever among men, a heart shall be 

12 found, that beats to the transports of patriotism and liberty, its aspira- 
tions shall be to claim kindred with thy spirit. Webster. 

Sentence 5th. — A single compact, third form, preceded by a compound compellative exclam- 
atory : correlative words, therefore — because. Sentence 6th. — A double compact, with the first 
and second proposition expressed, and the correlative words both understood. Sentence 9th. — 
Ah! here answering the purpose of key note. (See Chap. VI, Spontaneous Exclama- 
tions, p. 129.) Him ! the last word of a clause of the perfect loose indefinite interrogative excl. 
which follows. " What shall I say of him ! who was the great, &c." This contains two parts : 
the first imperfect loose, and the second, close. The succeeding three are single compact declar- 
ative exclamations : the first two having indeed — but, as correlative words, and the last, where- 
soever — there. 



SEC. LVII. TRUTH INVINCIBLE IF LEFT TO GRAPPLE WITH 
FALSEHOOD ON EQUAL TERMS. 

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, 

1 so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, 
to doubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple ; who ever 

2 knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter 1 who knows 
not that Truth is strong, next to the Almighty 1 She needs no policies, 



312 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

3 nor stratagems, nor licensings, to make her victorious ; those are the 
shifts and defences that error uses against her power. Give her but 
room, and do not bind her when she sleeps; for then she speaks not 

4 true, but then rather she turns herself into all shapes, except her own, 
and perhaps tunes her voice according to the time, until she be adjured 
into her own likeness. Milton. 



SEC LVIII. THE RESULTS OF FREE DISCUSSION. 

When the cheerfulness of the people is so sprightly up, as that it hath 
not only wherewithal to guard well its own freedom and safety, but to 
spare and to bestow upon the solidest and sublimest points of contro- 

1 versy, and new invention ; it betokens us not degenerated, nor droop- 
ing to a fatal decay, but casting off the old and wrinkled skin of cor- 
ruption, to outlive these pangs, and wax young again : entering the glo- 
rious ways of truth and virtue ; destined to become great and honorable 
in these latter ages. Methinks I see, in my mind, a noble and puissant 
nation rousing herself, like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her 
invincible locks : methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty 

2 youth, and kindling her endazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam ; 
purging and unsealing her long-abused sight, at the fountain itself of 
heavenly radiance ; while the whole noise of timorous flocking birds, 
with those also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she 
means, and would prognosticate a year of sects and schisms. 

Milton. 



SEC. LIX. FAME RATHER SOUGHT THAN ENJOYED. 

1 Fame is the shade of immortality, 

2 And in itself, a shadow. Soon as caught, 

Contemned : it shrinks to nothing in the grasp. Young. 



SEC. LX. DURATION AND CONTINUANCE OF ESTEEM, A TEST OF 
LITERARY EXCELLENCE. 

1 Antiquity, like every other quality that attracts the notice of mankind, 
has undoubtedly votaries that reverence it, not from reason, but from 
prejudice. Some seem to admire indiscriminately whatever has been 
long preserved, without considering that time has sometimes co-operated 

2 with chance ; all, perhaps, are more willing to honor past than present 
excellence ; and the mind contemplates genius through the shades of 
age, as the eye surveys the sun through an artificial opacity. The 

3 great contention of criticism is to find the faults of the moderns, and the 
beauties of the ancients. While an author is yet living, we estimate 

4 his powers by his worst performance ; and when he is dead, we rate 
them by his best. 

To works, however, of which the excellence is not absolute and def- 
inite, but gradual and comparative, to works not raised upon principles 

5 demonstrative and scientific, but appealing wholly to observation and 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 313 

experience, no other test can be applied than length of duration and 
continuance of esteem. What mankind have long possessed, they have 
(i often examined and compared ; and if they persist to value the posses- 
sion, it is because frequent comparisons have confirmed opinion in its 
favor. As among the works of nature, no man can properly call a 
river deep, or a mountain high, without the knowledge of many moun- 

7 tains and many rivers ; so in the productions of genius, nothing can be 
styled excellent, until it has been compared with other works of the 
same kind. Demonstration immediately displays its power, and has 
nothing to hope or fear from the flux of years ; but works tentative and 

8 experimental must be estimated by their proportion to the general and 
collective ability of man, as it is discovered in a long succession of 
endeavors. Of the first building that was raised, it might be with cer- 

9 tainty determined that it was round or square; but whether it was spa- 
cious or lofty, must have been referred to time. The Pythagorean 
scale of numbers was at once discovered to be perfect ; but the poems 

10 of Homer we yet know not to transcend the common limits of intelli- 
gence, but by remarking, that nation after nation and century after 
century, has been able to do little more than transpose his incidents, 
new name his characters, and paraphrase his sentiments. 

The reverence due to writings that have long; subsisted, arises, there- 
fore, not from any credulous confidence in the superior wisdom of past 

i 1 ages, or gloomy persuasion of the degeneracy of mankind, but is the 
consequence of acknowledged and indubitable positions : that what has 
been longest known has been most considered ; and what is most con- 
sidered, is best understood. Dr. Johnson. 



SEC. LXI. THE DEATH OF LE FEVRE. 

My uncle Toby went to his bureau, put his purse into his breeches 

1 pocket, and, having ordered the corporal to go early in the morning for 
a physician, he went to bed and fell asleep. 

2 The sun looked bright the morning after, to every eye in the village 
but Le Fevre's and his afflicted son's. The hand of death pressed 
heavy upon his eye-lids ; and hardly could the wheel at the cistern turn 
round its circle, when my uncle Toby, who had rose up an hour before 
his wonted time, entered the lieutenant's room, and without preface or 
apology, sat himself down upon the chair at the bedside, and, indepen- 

3 dently of all modes and customs, opened the curtain, in the manner an 
old friend and brother officer would have done it, and asked him how 
he did, how he had rested in the night, what was his complaint, where 
was his pain, and what he could do to help him ; and without giving 
him time to answer any one of the inquiries, he went on and told him of 
the little plan, which he had been concerting with the corporal, the 
night before, for him. 

You shall go home directly, Le Fevre, said my uncle Toby, to my 

4 house ; and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter ; and we'll 
have an apothecary ; and the corporal shall be your nurse ; and I'll be 
your servant, Le Fevre. 

There was a frankness in my uncle Toby, not the effect of famil- 
iarity, but the cause of it, which let you at once into his soul, and 

40 



314 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

showed you the goodness of his nature : to this, there was something in 

5 his looks, and voice and manner, superadded, which eternally beckoned 
to the unfortunate to come and take shelter under him ; so that before 
my uncle Toby had half finished the kind offers he was making to the 
father, had the son insensibly pressed up close to his knees, and had 
taken hold of the breast of his coat, and was pulling it towards him. 
— The blood and spirits of Le Fevre, which were waxing cold and 
slow within him, and were retreating to their last citadel, the heart, ral- 

6 lied back ; the film forsook his eyes for a moment ; he looked up wist- 
fully in my uncle Toby's face, then cast a look upon his boy ; and that 
ligament, fine as it was, was never broken. 

Nature instantly ebbed again : the film returned to its place : the 

7 pulse fluttered, stopped, went on, throbbed, stopped again, moved, stop- 

8 ped, — shall I go on? No. Sterne. 

Sentence 1st. — Compound decl. close. He in the last member superfluous and ungram- 
matical. Sentence 3d. — The second part of this perfect loose sent, has a sing, compact, second 
form, in the second part, ending with imperfect loose construction. The proper punctuation 
between these imperf. parts would be semicolon ; but the principal parts being separated by semi- 
colon, these sub-parts must, according to rule, (see Deviations, II,) take the comma. Sentence 
6th. — The third part of this loose sentence, sing, compact, third form. 



SEC. LXII. THE MARTYRS. 

1 What heard I then ? 2 A ringing shriek of pain, 
Such as forever haunts the tortured ear 1 

3 I heard a sweet and solemn-breathing strain, 
Piercing the flames, untremulous and clear ! 

4 The rich, triumphal tones ! — I knew them well, 
As they came floating with a breezy swell ! 
Man's voice was there : a clarion voice to cheer 

5 In the mid-battle : ay, to turn the flying : 

Woman's : that might have sung of heaven beside the dying ! 

It was a fearful, yet a glorious thing, 

6 To hear that hymn of martyrdom, and know 
That its glad stream of melody could spring 
Up from' the unsounded gulfs of human woe ! 

7 Alvar ! Theresa ! what is deep ? what strong ? 

8 God's breath within the soul ! It filled that song 

9 From your victorious voices ! — but the glow 
On the hot and lurid air increased : 

Faint grew the sounds : more faint : I listened : they had ceased ! 

10 And thou indeed hadst perished, my soul's friend ! 
Ill might form other ties, but thou alone 

Couldst with a glance the veil of dimness rend. 

By other years o'er boyhood's memory thrown ! 

Others might aid me forward ; thou and I 

Had mingled the fresh thoughts that early die : 

12 Once flowering, never more ! — And thou wert gone ! 

13 Who could give back my youth, my spirit free ; 
Or be in aught again what thou hadst been to me ? 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 315 

14 And yet I wept thee not, thou true and brave ! 

I could not weep ! there gathered round thy name 

15 Too deep a passion ! Thou denied a grave ! 
Thou, with the blight flung on thy soldier's fame ! 

16 Had I not known thy heart from childhood's time 1 
Thy heart of hearts ? and couldst thou die for crime I 

17 No ! had all earth decreed that death of shame, 
I would have set, against all earth's decree, 

The inalienable trust of my firm soul in thee ! Hemans. 

Sentence 3d. — "No, but," or "I heard not a singing," &c. — "but" understood before the 
first word of this sentence. Sentence 4th. — This sentence has its intended construction 
ehanged at tones, and hence the rhetorical pause. The exclamation point represents the comma. 
Sentence 6th. — This may be treated as a single compact decl. excl., correlative words, though 
— yet, or a single compact indirect interrogative excl., of the third kind. If the former, deliv- 
ered according to Rule VII : if the latter, according to Rule XVI. Sentence 1th. — A comp. 
indef. perf. loose interrog., preceded by a compound compellative. Sentence 9th. — The dash 
between the first and second part of this loose sentence, indicates a change of sentiment. Sen- 
tence llth. — A compound perf. loose decl. excl., in two parts: a compact in each. Sentence 
14th. — A single compact, third form: correlative words, therefore — because. 



SEC. LXIII. THE EFFECTS OF AN EXAGGERATED ESTIMATE OF MANKIND. 

As the admirer of painting is most offended with the scrawls of a 
dauber, as the enthusiast in music is most hurt with the discords of an 
ill-played instrument ; so the lover of mankind, as his own sense of vir- 
tue has painted them, when he comes abroad into life, and sees what 
they really are, feels the disappointment in the severest manner ; and 
he will often indulge in satire beyond the limits of discretion, while 
indifference or selfishness will be contented to take men as it finds them, 
and never allow itself to be disquieted with the soreness of disappointed 
benevolence, or the warmth of indignant virtue.- Mackenzie. 



SEC. LXIV. THE VALUE OF A GOOD BOOK. 

As good almost kill a man as kill a book : who kills a man, kills a 

1 reasonable creature : God's image ; but he who destroys a good book, 
kills reason itself: kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye. 
Many a man lives a burden to the earth ; but a good book is the pre- 

2 cious life-blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured up on pur- 
pose to a life beyond life. It is true, no age can restore a life, whereof 

3 perhaps there is no great loss ; and revolutions of ages do not oft recover 
the loss of a rejected truth, for the want of which, whole nations fare 
the worse. We should be wary, therefore, what persecutions we raise 
against the living labors of public men : how we spill that seasoned life 

4 of man, preserved and stored up in books ; since we see a kind of hom- 
icide may be thus committed ; sometimes a martyrdom ; and, if it extend 
to the whole impression, a kind of massacre, whereof the execution ends 
not in the slaying of an elemental life, but strikes at that ethereal and 
sift essence, the breath of reason itself: slays an immortality rather 
than a life. Milton. 



31G EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. LXV. THE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD MANNERS. 

To correct such gross vices as lead us to commit a real injury to 

1 others, is the part of morals, and the object of the most ordinary educa- 

2 tion. Where that is not attended to, in some degree, no human society 
can subsist. But in order to render conversation and the intercourse of 

3 minds more easy and agreeable, good manners have been invented ; 
and these have carried the matter somewhat farther. Wherever nature 
has given the mind a propensity to any vice, or to any passion disa- 

4 greeable to others, refined breeding has taught men to throw the bias 
on the opposite side ; and to preserve, in all their behavior, the appear- 
ance of sentiments contrary to those which they naturally incline to. 
Thus, as we are naturally proud and selfish, and apt to assume the pre- 

5 ference above others, a polite man is taught to behave with deference 
towards those with whom he converses ; and to yield the superiority to 
them in all the common incidents of society. In like manner, wherever 

6 a person's situation may naturally beget any disagreeable suspicion in 
him, 't is the part of good manners to prevent it, by a studied display of 
sentiments directly contrary to those of which he is apt to be jealous. 
Thus, old men know their infirmities, and naturally dread contempt 

7 from youth : hence, well-educated youth redouble their instances of 
respect and deference to their elders. Strangers and foreigners are 

8 without protection : hence, in all polite countries, they receive the high- 
est civilities, and are entitled to the first place in every company. A 
man is lord in his own family ; and his guests are, in a manner, sub- 

9 ject to his authority : hence-, he is always the lowest person in the com- 
pany ; attentive to the wants of every one, and giving himself all the 
trouble, in order to please, which may not betray too visible an affecta- 
tion, or impose too much constraint on his guests. 

10 Gallantry is nothing but an instance of the same generous and refined 
attention. As nature has given man the superiority above woman, by 
endowing him with greater strength both of mind and body, 't is his 

1 1 part to alleviate that superiority, as much as possible, by the generosity 
of his behavior, and by a studied deference and complaisance for all her 
inclinations and opinions. Barbarous nations display this superiority 

12 by reducing their females to the most abject slavery : by confining 
them : by beating them : by selling them : by killing them. But the 

13 male sex among a polite people, discover their authority in a more gen- 
erous, though not in a less evident manner : by civility ; by respect ; 
by complaisance ; and, in a word, by gallantry. 

In good company, you need not ask who is the master of the feast ; 

14 the man who sits in the lowest place, and who is always industrious in 
helping every one, is most certainly the person. W"e must either con- 

15 demn all such instances of generosity, as foppish and affected, or admit 

16 of gallantry among the rest. The ancient Muscovites wedded their 
wives with a whip instead of a wedding-ring. The same people, in 

1 ' their houses, took always the precedency above foreigners : even foreign 

18 ambassadors. These two instances of their generosity and politeness 

are much of a piece. Hume. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 317 

SEC. LXVI. VIRTUE CAN NEVER BE DISGRACED. 

1 Such is the frame and temper of our minds, that nothing strikes us 
with greater admiration than a man intrepid in the midst of misfortunes. 
Of all ignominies, an ignominious death must be allowed to be the 

2 greatest ; and yet where is the blasphemer who will presume to defame 
the death of Socrates ! This saint entered the prison with the same 

;3 countenance with which he reduced thirty tyrants ; and he took off 
ignominy from the place ; for how could it be deemed a prison when 
Socrates was there ? Aristides was led to execution in the same city : 

4 all those who met the sad procession, cast their eyes to the ground, and 
with throbbing hearts bewailed, not the innocent man, but Justice her- 
self, who was in him condemned. Yet there was a wretch found, (for 

5 monsters are sometimes produced in contradiction to the ordinary rules 
of nature,) who spit in his face as he passed along. Aristides wiped 

6 his cheek, smiled, turned to the magistrate, and said, " Admonish this 
man not to be so nasty for the future." 

7 Ignominy then can take no hold on virtue, for virtue is in every con- 
dition the same, and challenges the same respect. We applaud the 

8 world, when she prospers j and when she falls into adversity, we applaud 

9 her. Like the temples of the gods, she is venerable even in her ruins. 

Bolinghroke. 

Sentence 1st. — A mixed sentence. Sentence 2d and 3d. — The one a semi-interrog. excl., 
the other, a semi-interrogative. Sentence 8th. — Single declarative compact, as a whole, third 
form, and single declarative compacts, second form, in each of the parts : therefore a mixed 
sentence. 



SEC. LXVII. THE FITNESS OF CHRISTIANITY TO ANY STAGE OF SOCIETY. 

1 I will make but one remark on this religion which strikes my own 
mind very forcibly. Since* its introduction, human nature has made 
great progress, and society experienced great changes ; and in this 

2 advanced condition of the world, Christianity, instead of losing its appli- 
cation and importance, is found to be more and more congenial and 
adapted to man's nature and wants. Men have outgrown the other 
institutions of that period when Christianity appeared, its philosophy, 

3 its modes of warfare, its policy, its public and private economy ; but 
Christianity has never shrunk as intellect opened, but has always kept 
in advance of men's faculties, and unfolded nobler views in proportion 

4 as they have ascended. The highest powers and affections, which our 
nature has developed, find more than adequate objects in this religion. 
Christianity is indeed peculiarly fitted to the more improved stages of 

5 society ; to the more delicate sensibilities of refined minds ; and espe- 
cially to that dissatisfaction with the present state, which always grows 
with the growth of our moral powers and affections. As men advance 

6 in civilization, they become susceptible of mental sufferings, to which 
ruder ages are strangers ; and these Christianity is fitted to assuage. 
Imagination and intellect become more restless ; and Christianity brings 

7 them tranquillity by the eternal and magnificent truths, the solemn and 
unbounded prospects, which it unfolds. This fitness of our religion to 



318 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

8 more advanced stages of society than that in which it was introduced, 
to wants of human nature, not then developed, seems to me very stri- 
king. The religion bears the marks of having come from a being who 

9 perfectly understood the human mind, and had power to provide for its 

10 progress. This feature of Christianity is of the nature of prophecy. 
It was an anticipation of future and distant ages ; and when we con- 

11 sider among whom our religion sprung, where, but in God, can we find 
an explanation of this peculiarity ? Charming. 

Sentence 3d. — This sentence is a mixed sentence : as a whole, single compact declarative, 
second form : correlative words, indeed — but: in the second part, single compact of the same 
form and with the same correlative words. Strictly speaking, then, the principal and subordi- 
nate eompact should be delivered in the same manner ; but as this would produce the repetition 
of similar movements, one or the other may be treated as a loose ; that is, partial close substituted 
at economy or opened for the bend, as the taste of the reader may prefer. 



SEC. LXVIII. THE CONSOLATION OF VIRTUE IN AFFLICTION. 

Cyriac, this three years day, these eyes, though clear 
To outward view, of blemish or of spot, 

1 Bereft of light their seeing have forgot ; 
Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear 

Of sun, or moon, or star, (throughout the year,) 
Or man, or woman. Yet I argue not 

2 Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot 
Of heart or hope ; but still bear up and steer 

3 Right onward. What supports me, dost thou ask ? 
The conscience, friend, to have lost them overplied 

4 In liberty's defence: my noble task, 

Of which all Europe rings from side to side. 

5 This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask, 
Content though blind, had I no better guide. Milton. 

Sentence 2d. — Not equivalent to neither: whole sentence perfect loose. Sentence 3d. — 
A definite close interrogative. Sentence 4th. — Single compact declarative, third form ; correl- 
ative words, yet — though: "content though blind, a circumstance. 



SEC. LXIX. THE PROPER LIMITS OF BENEVOLENCE. 

1 Kind and amiable people ! your benevolence is most lovely in its 
display, but oh ! it is perishable in its consequences. Does it never 
occur to you that in a few years this favorite will die ; and that he will 

2 go to the place where neither cold nor hunger will reach him ; but that 
a mighty interest remains, of which both of us may know the certainty, 
though neither you nor I can calculate the extent ? Your benevolence 

3 is too short : it does not shoot far enough ahead : it is like regaling a 
child with a sweetmeat or a toy, and then abandoning the happy unre- 
flecting infant to exposure. You make the poor old man happy with 

4 your crumbs and your fragments, but he is an infant on the mighty 
range of duration ; and will you leave the soul, which has the infinity 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 319 

to go through, to its chance ? How comes it that the grave should 
throw so impenetrable a shroud over the realities of eternity ? how 

5 comes it that heaven, and hell, and judgment, should be treated as so 
many non-entities ; and that there should be as little real and operative 
sympathy felt for the soul which lives forever, as for the body after it 
is dead, or for the dust into which it molders ? Eternity is longer than 
time ; the arithmetic, my brethren, is all one side upon this question ; 

6 and the wisdom which calculates, and guides itself by calculation, 
gives its weighty and respectable support to what may be called the 
benevolence of faith. Chalmers. 

Sentence 2d. — A badly constructed sentence : but being a bad substitute for and, and giving 
the sentence the appearance of a perfect loose, when it really is an imperfect loose definite inter- 
rogative, and should be delivered as such. 



SEC. LXX. THE DEATH OF ALTAMONT. 

1 The sad evening before the death of this noble youth I was with him. 

2 No one was there, but his physician, and an intimate friend whom he 

3 loved and whom he had ruined. At my coming in, he said, You and 

4 the physician are come too late. I have neither life, nor hope. 5 You 
both aim at miracles : you would raise the dead. 

6 Heaven, I said, is merciful — 

7 Or I could not have been thus guilty. 8 What has it done to bless 
9 and to save me ! I have been too strong for Omnipotence ! 10 1 

plucked down ruin ! 

11 I said, the blessed Redeemer — 

12 Hold ! hold ! you wound me ! 13 This is the rock on which I split : 
I denied his name. 

Refusing to hear any thing from me, or take any thing from the phy- 

14 sician, he lay silent, as far as sudden darts of pain would permit, till 

15 the clock struck. Then with vehemence — Oh, time! time! it is fit 

16 thou shouldst thus strike thy murderer to the heart. How art thou fled 

17 forever ! A month ! 18 Oh for a single week ! 19 I ask not for years, 
though an age were too little for the much I have to do. 

20 On my saying, we could not do too much : that heaven was a blessed 
place — 

21 So much the worse. 22 'T is lost ! 't is lost ! — 23 Heaven is to me, 
the severest part of hell ! 

24 Soon after I proposed prayer. 

25 Pray you that can. 26 I never prayed. 27 I cannot pray, nor 
28 need I. Is not heaven on my side already ? 29 It closes with my 

conscience : its severest strokes but second my own. 

His friend being much touched, even to tears, at this, (who could 
30 forbear ? I could not,) with a most affectionate look, he said, keep 

those tears for thyself. 31 I have undone thee. — 32 Dost weep for 
33 me 1 That 's cruel. 34 What can pain me more ? 

35 Here his friend, too much affected, would have left him. 

36 No ; stay. 37 Thou still mayest hope, therefore hear me. 38 How 
madly have I talked ! how madly hast thou listened and believed ! But 

39 look on my present state, as a full answer to thee and to myself. This 



3&£ EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

40 body is all weakness and pain, but my soul, as if strung up by torment 
to greater strength and spirit, is full powerful to reason : full mighty to 
suffer. And that which thus triumphs within the jaws of mortality, is 

41 doubtless immortal ; and as for a Deity, nothing less than an Almighty 
could indict what I feel. 

I was about to congratulate this passive, involuntary confessor, on 

42 his asserting the two prime articles of his creed, extorted by the rack 
of nature, when he thus very passionately : No ; no ! let me speak on ; 
I have not long to speak. — My much injured friend ! my soul as my 

43 body, lies in ruins ; in scattered fragments of thought : remorse for the 

44 past, throws my thoughts on the future. Worse dread of the future, 

45 strikes it back on the past. I turn, and turn, and find no ray. Didst 

46 thou feel half the mountain that is on me, thou wouldst struggle with 
the martyr for his stake, and bless heaven for the flame : that is not an 
everlasting flame : that is not an unquenchable fire. 

47 How were we struck ! 48 Yet, soon after, still more. With what an 
eye of distraction, what a face of despair, he cried out, My principles 

49 have poisoned my friend : my extravagance has beggared my boy : my 

50 unkindness has murdered my wife ! — And is there another hell % Oh ! 

51 thou blasphemed, yet most indulgent, Lord God ! hell itself is a refuge, 
if it hide me from thy frown ! 

52 Soon after his understanding failed. His terrified imagination uttered 

53 horrors not to be repeated, or ever forgot ; and ere the sun rose, the 
gay, young, noble, ingenious, accomplished, and most wretched Alta- 
mont expired. Young. 

Sentence 6th, 7th. — They make together a single compact, of the second form. 

Sentence 17 th, ISth. — Fragmentary simple indefinite interrogative exclamatory. "What 
would I not give for," or " how I wish for," understood before each. Sentence 36th. — Double 
compact declarative : correlative words, indeed — but. " Go not indeed, but stay." Sentence 
37th. — Single compact declarative, second form: correlative words, because — therefore. 
Sentence 42d. — " No, no, but let, &c. ;" that is, "do not interrupt me, do not interrupt me, 
but, &c." The sentence is broken off at speak, but the continuation, "for or because my 
moments are numbered," is obvious. Sentence 51 st. — The compound compehative here has, 
it will be observed, a single compact construction, "though tliou blasphemed, yet most, &c. :" 
the sentence which follows is a single compact of the second form. 



SEC. LXXI. THE ADAPTATION OF THE GOSPEL TO THE WANTS OF 
THE UNHAPPY. 

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord 

1 of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the 

2 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, 
Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight. — 

All things are delivered unto me of my Father ; and no man know- 

3 eth the Son but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, save 

4 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me ; (for I am meek and lowly 

5 of heart ;) and ye shall find rest unto your souls ; for my yoke is easy 
and my burden is light. 

Sentence 2d. — " Therefore let it be even so, because, &c. Sentence 4th, 5th. — Both oi 
tbeni declarative single compacts of the third form. tl If ye come, &c. then I will, &c." — 
" If ye take, &c., then ye shall, &c." 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 321 

SEC. LXXII. DISSATISFACTION WITH THE ARRANGEMENTS OF 
PROVIDENCE REBUKED. 

1 What would this man ? Now upward will he soar, 

2 And little less than angel, would he more : 

Now looking downwards, just as grieved appears, 
To want the strength of bulls : the fur of bears. 

3 Say : what their use, had he the powers of all ? 
Nature to these, without profusion kind, 

The proper organs, proper powers assigned : 

4 Each seeming want, compensated of course : 
Here with degrees of swiftness, there with force : 
All in exact proportion to their state : 

Nothing to add, and nothing to abate. 

5 Each beast, each insect, happy in its own, 
Is heaven unkind to man, and man alone ? 
Shall he alone whom rational we call, 

Be pleased with nothing, if not blessed with all ? 

This bliss of man, (could pride that blessing find,) 

6 Is not to act or think beyond mankind ; 
No powers of body or of soul to share, 
But what his nature and his state can bear. 

7 Why has not man a microscopic eye ? 

8 For this plain reason : man is not a fly. 
Say : what the use, were finer optics given, 
To inspect a mite, not comprehend the heaven ? 

9 Or touch, if tremblingly alive all o'er, 
To smart and agonize at every pore ? 

Or quick effluvia darting through the brain, 

Die of a rose in aromatic pain ? 

If nature thundered in his opening ears, 

10 And stunned him with the music of the spheres, 
How would he wish that heaven had left him still 
The whispering zephyr and the purling rill ! 

11 Who finds not Providence all good and wise, 

Alike in what it gives, and what denies ? Pope. 

Sentence 6th. — A declarative double compact with the first and second proposition onlvj 
expressed. " The bliss of man is not, &c, but it is no powers, &c." Sentence 9th. — A seirii- 
inteiTogative, consisting of a simple declarative, and a compound indefinite imperfect loose inter- 
rogative. Each of the parts of the interrogative, single compact. Sentence 10th. — A semi- 
exclamation. The connection of the parts compact. 



SEC. LXXIII. THE CRUELTY OF THE INFIDEL. 

There are in most societies, a set of self-important young men, who 

1 borrow consequence from singularity, and take precedency in wisdom 

2 from the unfeeling use of the ludicrous. This is, at best, a shallow 
quality; in objects of eternal moment, it is poisonous to society. I will 

3 not now, nor could you then, stand forth armed at all points to repel the 
attacks which they may make on the great principles of your belief, 
but let one suggestion suffice, exclusive of all internal evidence, or 

41 



322 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

4 extrinsic proof of revelation. He who would undermine those founda- 
tions upon which the fabric of our future hope is reared, seeks to beat 
down that column which supports the feebleness of humanity. Let 

5 him but think for a moment, and his heart will arrest the cruelty of his 
purpose : would he pluck its little treasure from the bosom of poverty ? 
would he wrest its crutch from the hand of age, and remove from the 
eye of affliction the only solace of its woe ? The way we tread is 

6 rugged at best : we tread it, however, lighter by the prospect of that 
better country to which we trust it will lead. Tell us not that it will 
end in the gulf of eternal dissolution, or break off in some wild, which 

7 fancy may fill up as she pleases, but reason is unable to delineate ; 
quench not that beam which, amidst the night of this evil world has 
cheered the despondency of ill-requited worth, and illumined the dark- 
ness of suffering virtue. Mackenzie. 

Sentence 5th. — "If he will let, &c., then his heart," &c. Sentence 7th. — A double com- 
pact declarative, with the first proposition only, containing two members, expressed. 



SEC. LXXIV. BOLDNESS AND PERSEVERANCE IN THE CAUSE OF 
JUSTICE ONLY, COMMENDABLE. 

Dare nobly then ; but, conscious of your trust, 

1 As ever warm and bold, be ever just ; 

Nor court applause in these degenerate days : 
The villain's censure is extorted praise. 

2 But chief, be steady in a noble end, 

And show mankind that truth has yet a friend. 

3 5 T is mean for empty praise of wit to write, 
As foplings grin to show their teeth are white ; 
To brand a doubtful folly with a smile, 

Or madly blaze unknown defects, is vile : 

5 T is doubly vile, when, but to prove your art, 

You fix an arrow in a blameless heart. Pope. 

Sentence 3d — If " 't is mean for empty praise, &c., then 't is doubly mean, &c." 



SEC LXXV. THE SUFFERINGS OF THE HUGUENOTS. 

1 At length, the edict of Nantz was formally revoked. Calvinists might 
no longer preach in churches, or in the ruins of churches ; all public 
worship was forbidden them ; and the chancellor Le Tellier could shout 

2 aloud, Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : even the 
eloquent Bossuet, in false rhetoric that reflects disgrace on his under- 
standing and heart, could declare the total overthrow of heresy ; while 
Louis XIV, believed his glory perfected by an absolute union of all 
dissenters with the Roman Church. 

3 But the extremity of danger inspired even the wavering with courage. 
What though they were exposed, without defence, to the fury of an 

4 unbridled soldiery, whom hatred of heretics had steeled against human- 
ity ? Property was exposed to plunder : religious books were burned : 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 323 

5 children torn from their parents: faithful ministers, who would not 
abandon their flocks, broken on the wheel. Men were dragged to the 

6 altars, to be tortured into a denial of the faith of their fathers ; and a 
relapse was punished with extreme rigor. The approach of death 

7 removes the fear of persecution : bigotry invented a new terror : the 
bodies of those who died rejecting the sacraments, were thrown out to 

8 wolves and dogs. The mean-spirited, who changed their religion, were 
endowed with the entire property of their family. The dying father 

9 was made to choose between wronging his conscience by apostacy, and 
beggaring his offspring by fidelity. All children were ordered to be 

10 taken away from protestant parents; but that law it was impossible to 
enforce: nature will assert her rights. It became a study to invent 

1 1 torments, dolorous, but not mortal : to inflict all the pain the human 
body could endure, and not die. What need of recounting the horrid 

12 enormities committed by troops whose commanders had been ordered 
" to use the utmost rigor towards those who will not adopt the creed of 
the king ? to push to an extremity the vain-glorious fools, who delay 
their conversion to the last ?" What need of describing the stripes, the 

13 roastings by slow fires, the plunging into wells, the gashes from knives, 
the wounds from red-hot pincers, and all the cruelties employed by men 

14 who were only forbidden not to ravish nor to kill ? The loss of lives 

15 cannot be computed. How many thousands of men, how many thou- 
sands of children and women, perished in the attempt to escape, who 

16 can tell ? An historian has asserted, that ten thousand perished at the 
stake, or on the gibbet and the wheel. 

17 But the efforts of tyranny were powerless. Truth enjoys serenely 

18 her own immortality ; and opinion, which always yields to a clear con- 
viction, laughs violence to scorn. The unparalleled persecution of vast 

19 masses of men for their religious creed, occasioned but a new display of 
the power of humanity : the Calvinists preserved their faith over the 
ashes of their churches, and the bodies of their murdered ministers. 
The power of a brutal soldiery was defied by whole companies of faith- 
ful men, that still assembled to sing their psalms ; and from the country 

20 and the city, from the comfortable homes of wealthy merchants, from 
the abodes of a humbler peasantry, from the workshops of artisans, 
hundreds of thousands of men rose up, as with one heart, to bear testi- 
mony to the indefeasible, irresistible right to freedom of mind. 

Bancroft. 

Sentence 3d. — " What yet did it avail, though," &c. 



SEC. LXXVI. A WALK IN THE CITY. 

Mrs. Scot. 

1 Kitty, my things : I'll soon have done : 
It's time enough, you know, at one. 

2 Why, girl ! see how the creature stands ! 
Some water here to wash my hands. 

3 Be quick : — why, sure the gipsey sleeps !- 

4 Look how the drawling daudle creeps. 



324 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

5 That basin there : why don't you pour ? 

6 Go on, I say : — stop ! stop ! no more. — 

7 Lud ! I could beat the hussy down : 
She's poured it all upon my gown. 

8 Bring me my ruffles : (can'st mind ?) . 
And pin my handkerchief behind. 

9 Sure thou hast awkwardness enough ? 

10 Go, fetch my gloves, and fan, and muff. 

11 Well, (Heaven be praised!) this work is done 
I'm ready now, my dear ; let's run. 

12 Girl, put that bottle on the shelf, 
And bring me back the key yourself. 

Mrs. Brown. 

13 That clouded silk becomes you much ? 

14 1 wonder how you meet with such ; 
But you 've a charming taste in dress ? 

15 What might it cost you, madam ? 

Mrs. Scot. 

16 Guess. 

Mrs. Brown. 

17 Oh ! that's impossible, for I 

Am in the world the worst to buy. 

Mrs. Scot. 

18 I never love to bargain hard ; — 
Five shillings, as I think, the yard. 

19 I was afraid it should be gone: — 
J T was what I 'd set my heart upon. 



Mrs. Brown. 

20 Indeed, you bargained with success ; 
For it 's a most delightful dress. 

21 Besides, it fits you to a hair; 

And then 't is sloped with such an air. 

Mrs. Scot. 

22 1 'm glad you think so : — Kitty, here : 
Bring me my cardinal, my dear. 

23 Jacky, my love, — nay, don't you cry — 

24 Take you abroad ! 25 Indeed not I, 
For all the bugaboos to fright ye — 

26 Besides, the naughty horse will bite ye. 

27 With such a mob about the street, 
(Bless me !) they ? 11 tread you under feet. 

28 Whine as you please ; I '11 have no blame ; 
You 'd better blubber than be lame. — 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 325 

Kitty, I say, here : take the boy, 

29 And fetch him down the last new toy : 
Make him as merry as you can. — 

30 There : go to Kitty : there 's a man. 

31 Call in the dog, and shut the door. 

32 Now ma'm 

Mrs. Brown. 

33 Well then, for once, I'll lead the way. 

Mrs. Scot. 

34 Law ! what an uproar ! what a throng ! 

35 How shall we do to get along 1 

36 What will become of us ? — Look here : 
Here's all the king's horse-guards, my dear, 

37 Let us cross over : — haste : — be quick. 

38 Pray, sir, take care : jomy horse will kick. 

39 He '11 kill his rider ; he's so wild. — 

40 I'm glad I did not bring the child — 

Mrs. Brown. 

41 Don't be afraid, my dear : come on : 
Why, don't you see the guards are gone ? 

Mrs. Scot. 

Well, I begin to draw my breath ; 

42 But I was almost scared to death ; 
For where a horse rears up and capers, 
It always puts me in the vapors. 

43 For as I live — (nay, don't you laugh,) 
I'd rather see a toad by half: 

They kick and prance, and look so bold, 
It makes my very blood run cold. 

44 But let's go forward : come : be quick : 

The crowd again grows vastly thick. Lloyd. 

Sentence 1st. — "Bring my things." Sentence 2d. — "Why do you delay, girl." (See 
Classification, Simp. Indef. Interrogative.) Sentence 3d. — " Why is this?" " Sure," &c. : 
the last part a simp, indirect interrog. excl. Sentence 10th. — I have punctuated this as a 
close : it may be a simple decl., thus : "Go to fetch," &c, but I think " Go and fetch," is bet- 
ter. Sentence 11th. — A single compact, second form: correlative words, therefore — because. 
Sent. ISth. — The first a fragmentary double compact, with the first proposition only expressed. 
Supply "I gave," before the second part. Sentence 21st. — "Besides," in this place, and in 
Sentence 26th, may be treated either as the fragment of a circumstance, " besides being a most 
delightful dress," "besides being frightened by the bugaboos," or as the fragmentary end of 
the first part of a perfect loose sentence, thus : " Let me say besides : it fits you to a hair," &c. 
Treated in the first way, it will be delivered with the bend : in the second, with partial close. 
Sentence 23d. — Nay, with its equivalent, here forms the first part of a fragment, double com- 
pact : the other parts suppressed. Sentence 2Sth. — The same as Sent. 23d. Sentence 28th. 
— "Therefore whine, &c, because, tlierefore, I'll have, &c, because you'd better," &c. Sen- 
tence 33d. — " As it is well, so then, for* once, I'll," &c. Sent. 39th. — " Tlierefore, He'll, 
&c, because he's," &c. Sentence 41st. — "Why not come on ? Don't you," &c. Sentence 
42d. — " As it is so far well, I begin," &c. Sentence 43d. — Nay and its equivalent, the first 
part of a double compact. 



320 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. LXXVII. NEW YORK AS IT WAS. 

Having completed his discovery, Hudson descended the stream to 
which time has given his name ; and on the fourth of October, he set 

1 sail for Europe : leaving once more to its solitude the land, that his 
imagination, anticipating the future, described as the most beautiful in 
the world. 

Sombre forests shed a melancholy grandeur over the useless magnifi- 

2 cence of nature, and hid in their deep shades the soil which the sun had 
never warmed. No axe had levelled the giant progeny of the crowded 

3 groves, in which the fantastic forms of withered limbs, that had been 
blasted and riven by lightning, contrasted strangely with the verdant 
freshness of a younger growth of branches. The wanton grape-vine, 

4 seeming by its own power to have sprung from the earth, and to have 
fastened its leafy coils on the top of the tallest forest-tree, swung in the 
air with every breeze, like the loosened shrouds of a ship. Trees 
might every where be seen breaking from their root in the marshy 

5 soil, and threatening to fall with the first rude gust ; while the ground 
was strown with the ruins of former forests, over which a profusion of 
wild flowers wasted their freshness in mockery of the gloom. Reptiles 

6 sported in the stagnant pools, or crawled unharmed, over piles of mold- 
ering trees. The spotted deer couched among the thickets ; but not to 

7 hide, for there was no pursuer ; and there were none but wild animals 
to crop the uncut herbage of the productive prairies. Silence reigned : 

8 broken, it may have been, by the flight of land-birds, or the flapping of 
water-fowl, and rendered more dismal by the howl of beasts of prey. 
The streams, not yet limited to a channel, spread over sand-bars, tufted 

9 with copses of willow, or waded through wastes of reeds, or slowly but 
surely undermined the groups of sycamores that grew by their side. 
The smaller brooks spread out into sedgy swamps, that were overhung 

10 by clouds of mosquitoes : masses of decaying vegetation fed the exhala- 
tions with the seeds of pestilence, and made the balmy air of the sum- 

11 mer's evening as deadly as it was grateful. Vegetable life and death 

12 were mingled hideously together. The horrors of corruption frowned 
on the fruitless fertility of uncultivated nature. 

And man, the occupant of the soil, was wild as the savage scene : in 
harmony with the rude nature by which he was surrounded : a vagrant 
over the continent, in constant warfare with his fellow-man : the bark 
of the birch, his canoe : strings of shells, his ornaments, his record, and 
his coin : the roots of the forest, among his resources for food : his 
knowledge in architecture, surpassed both in strength and durability by 
13 the skill of the beaver: bended saplings, the beams of his house: the 
branches and rind of trees, its roof: drifts of forest-leaves, his couch : mats 
of bulrushes, his protection against the winter's cold : his religion, the 
adoration of nature : his morals, the promptings of undisciplined instinct : 
disputing with the wolves and bears the lordship of the soil, and dividing 
with the squirrel, the wild fruits with which the universal woodlands 
abounded. Bancroft. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 327 

SEC. LXXVIII. A POLITICAL PAUSE. 

1 "But we must pause !" says the honorable gentleman. What ! must 

2 the bowels of Great Britain be torn out, her best blood spilt, her treasure 
wasted, that you may make an experiment 1 Put yourselves, oh ! that 

3 you would put yourselves, on the field of battle, and learn to judge of 
the sort of horrors that you excite. In former wars, a man might, at 
least, have some feeling, some interest, that served to balance in his 

4 mind the impressions which a scene of carnage and of death must inflict ; 
but if a man were present now at the field of slaughter, and were to 
inquire for what they were fighting, " Fighting !" would be the answer ; 
" they are not fighting ; they are pausing." Why is that man expiring ? 

5 why is that other writhing with agony ? what means this implacable 
fury ? The answer must be, " You are quite wrong, sir : you deceive 

6 yourself: they are not fighting ; do not disturb them ; they are merely 

7 pausing ! This man is not expiring with agony ; that man is not dead ; 
he is only pausing ! Lord help you, sir : they are not angry with one 

8 another ; they have now no cause of quarrel, but their country thinks 
that there should be a pause ! All that you see, sir, is nothing like 

9 fighting ; there is no harm, nor cruelty, nor bloodshed in it, whatever ; it 
is nothing more than a political pause ! It is merely to try an experiment, 

10 to see whether Bonaparte will not behave himself better than heretofore ; 
and in the meantime we have agreed to a pause, in pure friendship !" 

11 And is this the way, sir, that you are to show yourselves the advo- 
cates of order ? You take up a system calculated to uncivilize the 
world, to destroy order, to trample on religion, to stifle in the heart, not 

12 merely the generosity of noble sentiment, but the affections of social life ; 
and in the prosecution of this system, you spread terror and devastation 
all around you. Fox. 

The double compacts in this piece deserve particular attention. The twelfth sentence is a 
single compact declarative, third form. 



SEC. LXXIX. NEW YORK AS IT IS. 

1 The region which Hudson had discovered, possessed on the sea-board 
a harbor unrivalled in its advantages. Having near its eastern bound- 
ary a river that admits the tide far into the interior ; extending to the 
chain of the great lakes, which have their springs in the heart of the 
continent ; containing within its limits the sources of large rivers that 
flow to the Gulf of Mexico, and to the Bays of Chesapeake and of Del- 

2 aware ; inviting to extensive internal intercourse by natural channels, 
of which, long before Hudson anchored off Sandy Hook, even the war- 
riors of the Five Nations availed themselves in their excursions to 
Quebec, to the Ohio, or the Susquehannah ; with just sufficient difficul- 
ties to irritate, and not enough to dishearten ; New York united most 
fertile lands with the highest adaptation to foreign and domestic com- 
merce. 

The manner in which civilized man can develop the resources of a 

3 wild country, is contained in its physical character ; and the results 
which have been effected, are analogous to their causes ; and how 



328 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

changed is the scene from that on which Hudson gazed ! The earth 
glows with the colors of civilization ; the banks of the stream are 
enamelled with the richest grasses ; woodlands and cultivated fields are 

4 harmoniously blended ; the birds of spring find their delight in orchards 
and trim gardens, variegated with choicest plants from every temperate 
zone ; while the brilliant flowers of the tropics bloom from the windows 
of the green-house and the saloon. The yeoman, living like a good 

5 neighbor near the field he cultivates, glories in the fruitfulness of the 
valleys, and counts, with honest exultation, the flocks and herds that 
browse in safety on the hills. The thorn has given way to the rose- 

6 bush; the cultivated vine clambers over rocks where the brood of ser- 
pents used to nestle ; while industry smiles at the changes she has 
wrought, and inhales the bland air which now has health on its wings. 

7 And man is still in harmony with nature, which he has subdued, 
cultivated and adorned. For him the rivers that flow to remotest climes, 
mingle their waters : for him the lakes gain new outlets to the ocean : 
for him the arch spans the flood ; and science spreads iron pathways to 

$ the recent wilderness : for him the hills yield up the shining marble 
and the enduring granite : for him the forests of the interior come down 
in immense rafts : for him the marts of the city gather the produce of 
every clime ; and libraries collect the works of genius of every language 
and every age. The passions of society are chastened into purity ; 
9 manners are made benevolent by civilization ; and the virtue of the 
country is the guardian of its peace. Science investigates the powers 

10 of every plant and mineral, to find medicines for disease: schools of 
surgery rival the establishments of the old world. An active daily 
press, vigilant from party interests, free to dissoluteness, watches the 
progress of society, and communicates every fact that can interest 
humanity : the genius of letters begins to unfold his powers in the warm 

11 sunshine of public favor; and while idle curiosity may take its walk in 
shady avenues by the ocean side, commerce pushes its wharves into 
the sea, blocks up the wide rivers with its fleets, and, sending its ships, 
the pride of naval architecture, to every clime, defies the wind, outrides 
every tempest, and invades every zone. Bancroft. 



SEC. LXXX. THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING TOO FOND OF GLORY. 

Permit me to inform you, my friends, what are the inevitable conse- 
quences of being too fond of glory : taxes upon every article which 
enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under foot ; taxes 
upon every thing which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell or taste ; 
taxes upon warmth, light and locomotion; taxes on every thing on 
earth, and in the waters under the earth; on every thing that comes 
1 from abroad, or is grown at home : taxes on the raw material ; taxes 
on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man ; taxes 
on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug that restores 
him to health ; on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope 
which hangs the criminal ; on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's 
spice ; on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribbons of the bride ; at 
bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 329 

The school-boy whips his taxed top ; the beardless youth manages 
his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road ; and the dying 
Englishman, pouring his medicine which has paid seven per cent., into 

2 a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent., flings himself back upon his 
chintz bed which has paid twenty-two per cent., makes his will on an 
eight pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has 
paid a license of an hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to 

3 death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten 
per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying 

4 him in the chancel ; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed 
marble; and he is then gathered to his fathers — to be taxed no more. 

Edinburgh Review. 

Sentence 1st. — The second part of this sentence is changed from an imperfect loose to a close 
declarative, with a series of members, by a simple transfer of a few words, which in their natu- 
ral order would stand at the beginning, to the end. For the punctuation, see Punctuation, 
Deviation I. 



SEC. LXXXI. SPEECH OF PATRICK HENRY IN FAVOR OF DECLARING? 
WAR AGAINST ENGLAND. 

Mr. President, no man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, 
as well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just 
addressed the House, but different men often see the same subject in 

1 different lights ; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespect- 
ful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character 
very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and 

2 without reserve. This is no time for ceremony } the question before the 
House, is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, 1 
consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery ; and 

3 in proportion to the magnitude of the subject, ought to be the freedom of 
the debate : it is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, 
and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our coun- 
try. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of 

4 giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards 
my country, and of an act of disloyalty towards the Majesty of heaven ; 
which I revere above all earthly kings. 

5 Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope, 

6 We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the 
song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part 

7 of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty ? 
are we disposed to be of the number of those who having eyes, see 
not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern 
their temporal salvation ? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it 

8 may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth : to know the worst, 
and to provide for it. 

9 I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that lamp is 
experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the 

10 past ; and, judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in 
the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those 
hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves 

42 



330 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

and the House. Trust it not, sir ; it will prove a snare to your feet : 

11 suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss; ask yourselves how 
this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike prep- 
arations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and 

12 armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? have we shown 
ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win 

13 back our love ? Let us not be deceived, sir. 14 These are the imple- 
ments of war and subjugation : the last arguments to which kings resort. 

151 ask, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force 
us to submission ? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for 

16 it ? has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call 

17 for all this accumulation of navies and armies ? No, sir : she has none ; 
they are meant for us : they can be meant for no other. They are sent 

18 over to bind and rivet upon us those chains, which the British ministry 

19 have been so long forging ; and what have we to oppose to them ? Shall 

20 we try argument ? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. 
2 L Have we any thing new to offer upon the subject ? Nothing ; we have 

22 held the subject up in every light of which it is capable, but it has been 

23 all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? 

24 What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted ? 

25 Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have 
done every thing that could be done, to avert the storm that is now com- 

26 ing on : we have petitioned : we have remonstrated : we have sup- 
plicated : we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have 
implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry 
and parliament. Our petitions have been slighted ; our remonstrances 

27 have produced additional violence and insult ; our supplications have 
been disregarded ; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the 

28 foot of the throne ! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the 

29 fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room 
for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those 
inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if 

30 we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have 
been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to 
abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we 

31 must fight ! I repeat it, sir : we must fight ! 32 An appeal to arms 
and to the God of hosts is all that is left us ! 

33 They tell us, sir, that we are weak : unable to cope with so formida- 
ble an adversary ; but when shall we be stronger ? Will it be the next 
week, or the next year ? will it be when we are totally disarmed ; and 

34 when a British guard shall be stationed in every house ? shall we gather 
strength by irresolution and inaction ? shall we acquire the means of 
effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the 
delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand 
and foot ? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those 

35 means which the God of nature hath placed in our power ; three mil- 
lions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country 
as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our ene- 
my can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles 

36 alone : there is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations ; 

37 and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The bat- 
tle is not to the strong alone ; it is the vigilant : the active : the brave. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 331 

38 Besides, sir, we have no election. 39 If we were base enough to desire 

40 it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but 

41 in submission or slavery ! Our chains are forged ! their clanking may 

42 be heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable, and let it 
come ! I repeat it, sir : let it come ! 

43 It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. 44 Gentlemen may cry, 
peace, peace, but there is no peace ; the war is actually begun ! The 

45 next gale, that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash 

46 of resounding arms ! Our brethren are already in the field ! why stand 

47 we here idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish ? what would they 

48 have ? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price 

49 of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what 

50 course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me — 
death. Henry. 



SEC LXXXII. THE STRATAGEM OF A THIEF. 

In Broad-street buildings on a winter's night, 
Snug by his parlor fire, a gouty wight 

Sat all alone : with one hand rubbing 
His feet, rolled up in fleecy hose ; 
With t' other he 'd beneath his nose 

The Public Leger ; in whose columns grubbing, 
He noted all the sales of hops, 
Ships, shops, and slops, 
Gum, galls, and groceries, ginger, gin, 
Tar, tallow, turmeric, turpentine, and tin ; 
When, lo ! a decent personage in black, 
Entered and most politely said, 

" Your footman, sir, has gone his nightly track 
To the king's head, 
And left your door ajar ; which I 
Observed in passing by, 

And thought it neighborly to give you notice." 
" Ten thousand thanks : how very few get. 
In time of danger, 

Such kind attention from a stranger ! 
Assuredly that fellow's throat is 
Doomed to a final drop at Newgate ? 
He knows, too, (the unconscious elf,) 
That there 's no soul at home except myself." 
" Indeed ! replied the stranger, (looking grave,) 
Then he 's a double knave : 
He knows that rogues and thieves by scores 
Nightly beset unguarded doors ; 
And see how easily might one 
Of these domestic foes, 
Even beneath your very nose, 
Perform his knavish tricks : 

Enter your room, as I have done, 



EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Blow out your candles thus, — and thus, - 
Pocket your silver candlestick, 

And walk off — thus." 
So said, so done : he made no more remark, 
6 Nor waited for replies, 

But marched off with his prize : 
Leaving the gouty merchant in the dark. 



SEC LXXXIII. THE DESIGN OF LAW. 

Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, 
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned ; from which some hav- 

1 ing swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling : desiring to be 
teachers of the law : understanding neither what they say, nor whereof 
they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it law- 
fully : knowing this : that the law is not made for a righteous man, but 
for the lawless and disobedient ; for the ungodly and sinners ; for unholy 
and profane ; for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers ; for 

2 manslayers ; for whoremongers ; for them that defile themselves with 
mankind ; for men-stealers ; for liars ; for perjured persons ; and, if 
there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to 
the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust, 
[for that.] 



.SEC. LXXXIV. SORROW FOR THE DEAD. 

1 Sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be 
divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal: every other affliction 

2 to forget ; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open : this 
affliction we cherish and brood over in solitude. Where is the mother 
that would willingly forget the infant that perished like a blossom from 
her arms, though every recollection is a pang ? where is the child that 
would willingly forget the most tender of parents, though to remember 

3 be but to lament ? who, even in the hour of agony, would forget the 
friend over whom he mourns ? who, even when the tomb is closing upon 
the remains of her he most loved, and he feels his heart, as it were, 
crushed in the closing of its portal, would accept consolation that was 

4 to be bought by forgetfulness 1 No ; the love which survives the tomb 
is one of the noblest attributes of the soul. If it has its woes, it has 
likewise its delights ; and when the overwhelming burst of grief is 

5 calmed into the gentle tear of recollection, when the sudden anguish 
and the convulsive agony over the present ruins of all that we most 
loved, is softened away into pensive meditation on all that it was in the 
days of its loveliness, who would root out such a sorrow from the heart ? 
Though it may sometimes throw a passing cloud even over the bright 

6 hour of gaiety, or spread a deeper sadness over the hour of gloom, yet 
who would exchange it even for the song of pleasure, or the burst of 
revelry ? No ; there is a voice from the tomb sweeter than song : there 

7 is a recollection of the dead to which we turn even from the charms of 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 333 

8 the living. Oh, the grave ! the grave ! 9 It buries every error : covers 

10 every defect : extinguishes every resentment. From its peaceful bosom 
spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. Who can look 

11 down upon the grave even of an enemy, and not feel a compunctious 
throb, that ever he should have warred with the poor handful of earth 
that lies moldering before him ! 

12 But the grave of those we loved — what a place for meditation! 
There it is that we call up in long review the whole history of virtue and 
gentleness, and the thousand endearments lavished upon us almost 
unheeded in the daily intercourse of intimacy : there it is that we dwell 
upon the tenderness, the solemn, awful tenderness of the parting scene : 

13 the bed of death, with all its stifled griefs: its noiseless attendance: its 
mute, watchful assiduities : the last testimonies of expiring love : the 
feeble, fluttering, thrilling, (Oh ! how thrilling !) pressure of the hand : 
the last fond look of the glazing eye, turning upon us even from the 
threshold of existence : the faint, faltering accents struggling in death 
to give one more assurance of affection ! 

14 Aye, go to the grave of buried love, and meditate ! There settle the 

15 account with thy conscience for every past benefit unrequited, every 
past endearment unregarded, of that being, who can never, never, never 
return to be soothed by thy contrition ! 

If thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul, or a 
furrow to the silvered brow of an affectionate parent ; if thou art a hus- 
band, and hast ever caused the fond bosom that ventured its whole 
happiness in thy arms, to doubt one moment of thy kindness or thy 
truth ; if thou art a friend, and hast ever wronged, in thought, word, or 
deed, the spirit that generously confided in thee ; if thou art a lover, 

16 and hast ever given one unmerited pang to that true heart that now lies 
cold and still beneath thy feet ; then be sure that every unkind look, 
every ungracious word, every ungentle action, will come thronging 
back upon thy memory, and knocking dolefully at thy soul : then be 
sure that thou wilt lie down sorrowing and repentant on the grave, and 
utter the unheard groan, and pour the unavailing tear: more deep, 
more bitter, because unheard and unavailing. 

Then weave thy chaplet of flowers, and strew the beauties of nature 
about the grave, console thy broken spirit, if thou canst, with these 

17 tender, yet futile tributes of regret, but take warning by the bitterness 
of this thy contrite affliction over the dead, and be more faithful and 
affectionate in the discharge of thy duties to the living. 



Sentence Qth. — Compound fragmentary perf. loose indef. interrog. exclam. : Oh ! what a 
place is the grave ! what a place is the grave ! 



SEC. LXXXV. THE SOLILOQUY OF PETER QUINCE. 

Hey, ho ! — Peter Quince ! Flute, the bellows-mender ! Snout, the 
tinker ! Starveling ! — On my life ! stolen hence, and left me asleep ! 
— I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream — past the wit 
of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass, if he go about to 
expound this dream. Methought I was — there is no man can tell 
what. Methought I was, and methought I had, — but man is but a 



334 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

patched fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of 
man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not 
able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my 
dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream : 
it shall be called Bottom's dream ; because it hath no bottom ; and I 
will sing it in the latter end of a play, before the 'duke. 

Shakspeare. 



SEC. LXXXVI. AN AUTUMNAL PICTURE. 

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day ; the sky w&s clear and 

1 serene ; and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always 
associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their 

2 sober brown and yellow ; while some trees of the tenderer kind had 
been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dies of orange, purple and scar- 
let. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance 

3 high in the air ; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves 
of beech and hickory nuts ; and the pensive whistle of the quail, at 
intervals from the neighboring stubble field. 

4 The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fulness 

5 of their revelry, they fluttered, chirping and frolicking, from bush to 
bush, and tree to tree : capricious from the very profusion and variety 
around them. There was the honest cock-robin, (the favorite game of 
stripling sportsmen,) with his querulous note ; and the twittering black- 
birds, flying in sable clouds ; and the golden-winged wood-pecker, with 
his crimson crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage ; and 

6 the cedar-bird, with its red tipt wings and yellow tipt tail, and its little 
monteiro cap of feathers ; and the blue-jay, (that noisy coxcomb,) in his 
gay light blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and chattering, 
nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good terms 
with every songster of the grove. 

As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every 

7 symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treas- 
ures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples : some 

8 hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees ; some gathered into bas- 
kets and barrels for the market ; others heaped up in rich piles for the 
cider press. Further on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its 
golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the prom- 
ise of cakes and hasty pudding, and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath 

9 them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample 
prospects of the most luxurious pies ; and anon he passed the fragrant 
buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the bee-hive ; and as he beheld 
them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slap-jacks, well 
buttered, and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dim- 
pled hand of Katrina Van Tassel. 

Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and " sugared sup- 

10 positions," he journeyed along the sides of a range of hills which Look 

11 out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson. The sun 
gradually wheeled his broad disk down in the west. The wide bosom 
of the Tappaan Zee lay motionless and glassy, excepting that here and 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 335 

12 there a gentle undulation, waved and prolonged the blue shadow of the 
distant mountain : a few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a 
breath of air to move them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, 

13 changing gradually into a pure apple green, and from that into a deep 
blue of the mid-heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests 

14 of the precipices that overhung some parts of the river: giving greater 
depth to the dark grey and purple of their rocky sides. A sloop was 
loitering in the distance, dropping slowly down with the tide : her sail 

15 hanging uselessly against the mast; and, as the reflection of the sky 
gleamed along the still water, it seemed as if the vessel was suspended 
in the air. Irving. 

This piece is somewhat remarkable for the frequent use of the participle, alike in a close, 
compact, and loose connection. For examples of the first, (see Sentence yth and 13th : of the 
second, Sentence V2th: of the third, Sentence 14th and 15th.) The last reference, however, 
does not include "dropping'"' which is connected closely with "loitering" by and understood. 
Care should be taken to make the delivery correspond with the construction. 



SEC. LXXXVII. IMAGINATION THE RULING FACULTY OF THE 
LUNATIC, THE LOVER, AND THE POET. 

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet 

Are of imagination all compact.* 

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold : 

That is the madman : the lover, all as frantic, 

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt : 

The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, 

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ; 

And, as imagination bodies forth 

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen 

Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing 

A local habitation and a name. Shakspeare. 



SEC. LXXXVIII. 

1 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a 
certain man, named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines 

2 for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen ; whom he called, 
together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know 
that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear, that 
not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath 

3 persuaded, and turned away much people : saying that they be no gods, 
which are made with hands ; so that not only this our craft is in danger 
to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana 
should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all 
Asia and the world worshippeth. 

And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and 

cried out : saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! and the whole 

4 city was filled with confusion; and having caught Gaius and Aris- 

* I. e. composed. 



336 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS. OR 

tarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed 

5 with one accord into the theatre. And when Paul would have entered 
in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the 

6 chief of Asia, who were his friends, sent unto him : desiring him that 
he would not adventure himself into the theatre. Some therefore cried 

7 one thing, and some another ; for the assembly was confused, and the 
more part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they 
drew Alexander out of the multitude : the Jews putting him forward ; 

8 and Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made his 
defence unto the people ; but when they knew that he was a Jew, all 
with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana 
of the Ephesians ! And when the town clerk had appeased the people, 

9 he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not, how 
that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess 

10 Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing, then, 
that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to 

11 do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, who are 
neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 

12 Wherefore, if Demetrius, and the craftsmen who are with him, have a 
matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let 
them implead one another. But if ye inquire any thing concerning 

13 other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly ; for we are 
in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar : there being no 

14 cause whereby we may give account of this day's concourse. And 
when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. 

Sentence 1th. — A decl. perfect loose, in two parts : having a single compact, third form, in 
each part. " As some, &c, so some ; for as the assembly was confused, so the more part knew 
not," &c. 

Sentence 10th. — "When seeing, then ye ought, &c," or, "because seeing, therefore ye 
ought," &c. 

Sentence Ylth. — "Both the law is open, and there are deputies," or, " not only is the law 
open, but there are deputies." 



SEC. LXXXIX. MEN, NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE. 

1 Oh how hast thou with jealousy infected 

2 The sweetness of affiance ! Show men dutiful ? 

3 Why, so didst thou. 4 Or seem they grave and learned ? 
5 Why, so didst thou. 6 Come they of noble family ? 

7 Why, so didst thou. 8 Seem they religious ? 

9 Why, so didst thou. Shakspeare. 

The last of these definite questions, be it recollected, should be delivered with the falling 
slide, (see Rule II, Except. 2,) modified of course by emphasis on religious. The answers 
should be treated as simple indirect questions, and the last of the series take the falling slide 
instead of the waving. 



SEC. XC PAUL COMPARING HIMSELF WITH OTHER TEACHERS. 

1 Are they Hebrews? 2 So am I. 3 Are they Israelites ? 4 So am I. 
5 Are they the seed of Abraham ? 6 So am I. 7 Are they minis- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 337 

8 ters of Christ ? I am more : in labors more abundant : in stripes 
above measure : in prisons more frequent : in deaths oft. Of the Jews 
five times received I forty stripes save one : thrice was I beaten with 
rods : once was I stoned : thrice I suffered shipwreck : a night and a 

9 day have 1 been in the deep : in journeyings often : in perils of waters : 
in perils of robbers : in perils by mine own countrymen : in perils by 
the heathen : in perils in the city : in perils in the wilderness : in perils 
in the sea : in perils among false brethren : in weariness and painful- 
ness : in watchings often : in hunger and thirst : in fastings often : in 
cold and nakedness. 

10 Besides those things there are without, that which cometh upon me 
daily : the care of all the churches. 

Sentences 1 — 8 inclusive. — The last of the series of questions, as in the preceding piece, 
should be delivered with the falling slide, and the last answer should change the waving into 
the falling slide. 

The usual delivery of these two pieces deprives them of half their beauty. 



SEC. XCI. THE DESIGNS OF C^SAR INFERRED FROM THE CHARACTER 
OF HIS ASSOCIATES. 

Were your country, Mr. President, in a state of anarchy, were it dis- 
tracted by the struggles of rival parties, drawn out, every now and then, 

1 in array against one another, and were you, sir, to attempt a reforma- 
tion of manners, what qualifications would you require in the men whom 

2 you would associate with you in such an undertaking ? What would 

3 content you ? Talent ? 4 No ! 5 Enterprise ? 6 No ! 7 Courage ? 
8 No ! 9 Reputation ? 10 No ! 11 Virtue ? 12 No ! 13 The men 

whom you would select, should possess not one, but all of these ; nor 
yet, should that content you ; they must be proved men : tested men : 
men, that had, again and again, passed through the ordeal of human 
temptation without a scar : without a blemish : without a speck. You 

14 would not select the public fire-brand ; you would not seek your sec- 
onds in the tavern or in the brothel ; you would not inquire out the 
man, who was oppressed with debts, contracted by licentiousness, 

15 debauchery, every species of profligacy. Who, sir, I ask, were Caesar's 
seconds in his undertaking ? Crebonius Curio : one of the most vicious 
and debauched young men in Rome : a creature of Pompey's : bought 
off by the illustrious Caesar ! Marcus Antonius : a creature of that 

16 creature's : a young man, so addicted to every kind of dissipation, that 
he had been driven from the paternal roof: the friend and coadjutor of 
that Clodius, who violated the mysteries of the Bona Dea, and drove into 
exile the man that had been called the Father of his country ! Paulus 
iEmilius : a patrician : a consul : a friend of Pompey's : bought off by 

17 the great Caesar with a bribe of fifteen hundred talents ! Such, sir, 

18 were the abettors of Caesar. What, then, what was Caesar's object 1 

19 Do we select extortioners to enforce the laws of equity? do we make 
choice of profligates to guard the morals of society ? do we depute athe- 

20 ists to preside over the rites of religion ? What, I say, was Caesar's 

21 object ? I will not press the answer ; I need not press the answer ; 
the premises of my argument render it unnecessary. The achievement 

43 



338 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

of great objects does not belong to the vile ; or of virtuous ones, to the 

22 vicious ; or of religious ones, to the profane : Csesar did not associate 
such characters with him for the good of his country ; his object was, 
the gratification of his own ambition : the attainment of supreme power: 
no matter by what means accomplished ; no matter by what consequen- 
ces attended. Fie aspired to be the highest : above the people ! above 

23 the authorities ! above the laws ! above his country ! and in that seat of 
eminence he was content to sit, though, from the centre to the far hori- 
zon of his power, his eyes could contemplate nothing but the ruin and 
desolation by which he had reached it ! Knowles. 

Sentence 1st. — A semi-interrogative, with a compact construction of the third form. The 
interrogative portion is indefinite close. Sentenced — 10. — No is here, in every instance, the 
first part of a double compact. It should be delivered, therefore, with circumflex. There are 
other double compacts in this piece which require particular attention. 



SEC XCII. THE DESIGNS OF C^SAR INFERRED FROM HIS TRIUMPHS. 

To form a just estimate of Csesar's aims, look to his triumphs after 

1 the surrender of Utica : Utica, more honored in being the grave of Cato, 
than Rome in having been the cradle of Csesar ! You will read, that 

2 Csesar triumphed four times : first, for his victory over the Gauls : sec- 
ondly, over Egypt: thirdly, over Pharnaces: lastly, over Juba, the 

3 friend of Cato. His first, second, and third triumphs were, we are told, 
magnificent. Before him, marched the princes and noble foreigners of 

4 the countries he had conquered ; his soldiers, crowned with laurels, fol- 

5 lowed him ; and the whole city attended with acclamations. This was 

6 well ! the conqueror should be honored. His fourth triumph approaches : 
as magnificent as his former ones. It does not want its royal captives, 
its soldiers crowned with laurels, or its flushed conqueror to grace it ; 

7 nor is it less honored by the multitude of its spectators ; but they send 
up no shout of exultation ; they heave loud sighs : their cheeks are 
frequently wiped : their eyes are fixed upon one object that engrosses 
all their senses ; their thoughts ; their affections : it is the statue of 
Cato ! carried before the victor's chariot ! It represents him rending 

8 open his wound, and tearing out his bowels, as he did in Utica, when 
Roman liberty was no more. Now ask, if Csesar's aim was the wel- 

9 fare of his country ! now doubt, if he was a man governed by a selfish 
ambition ! now question, whether he usurped, for the mere sake of 
usurping ! He is not content to triumph over the Gauls, the Egyptians, 
and Pharnaces • he must triumph over his own countrymen ! he is not 
content to cause the statue of Scipio and Petrius to be carried before 

10 him ; he must be graced by that of Cato ! he is not content with the 
simple effigy of Cato ; he must exhibit that of his suicide ! he is not 
satisfied to insult the Romans with triumphing over the death of liberty ; 
they must gaze upon the representation of her expiring agonies, and 
mark the writhings of her last — fatal struggle ! Knowles. 

The double compacts in this, as in the preceding piece, should receive close attention. The 
beauty of the delivery depends much upon them. 



sentences in continuous discourse. 339 

sec. xciii. Abraham's intercession for sodom. 

1 And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the right- 
eous with the wicked ? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within 

2 the citv ; wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty 
righteous that are therein ? That be far from thee to do after this 

3 manner : to slay the righteous with the wicked ; and that the righteous 

4 should be as the wicked, that be far from thee. Shall not the Judge of all 

5 the earth do right ? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty right- 
eous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 

6 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now : I have taken upon 
me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. Peradventure 

7 there shall lack five of the fifty righteous ; wilt thou destroy all the 

8 city for lack of five ? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will 
not destroy it. 

9 And he spake unto him yet again and said, Peradventure there shall 

10 be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. 

11 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will 

12 speak : peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I 
will not do it, if I find thirty there. 

13 And he said, Behold now : I have taken upon me to speak unto the 
14 Lord: peradventure there shall twenty be found there. And he said, 

I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. 

15 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but 

16 this once : peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will 
not destroy it for ten's sake. And the Lord went his way, as soon as 

17 he had left communing with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto 
his own place. 

Sentence 1st. — Semi-interrogative, with close construction. 

Sentence 2d. — Peradventure is here the equivalent of if: the semi- interrogative therefore 
has a compact construction. Sentence 3d. — An indirect interrog. compound perf. loose : first 
part imperf. loose. 

Sentence 1th. — The first part of this sentence, being used in contrast with second sentence, 
ends with partial close. (See Rule VII, 1.) 



SEC. XCIV. 3IUSIC AND LOVE. 

If music be the food of love, play on : 

1 Give me excess of it ; that, surfeiting, 
The appetite may sicken, and so die. 
That strain again : it had a dying fall : 

2 O, it came o'er my ear, like the sweet south, 
That breathes upon a bank of violets : 

3 Stealing and giving odor. — Enough : no more ; 

'T is not so sweet now as it was before. — Shakspeare. 

Sentence 3d. — No more, and what follows, form the first and second part of a double compact; 
but it is to be observed that the second part, is in turn the first part of another, of which the 
other parts are suppressed. '•' Play no more, for therefore it is not, &c." The delivery should 
correspond. 



340 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. XCV. THE APPROACH TO PALMYRA. 

1 Upon this boundless desert we now soon entered. 2 The scene which 
it presented was more dismal than I can describe. A red moving sand, 
or hard and baked by the heat of a sun such as Rome never knows ; 
low gray rocks just rising here and there above the level of the plain, with 
now and then the dead and glittering trunk of a vast cedar, whose roots 
seemed as if they had outlasted centuries ; the bones of camels and 

3 elephants, scattered on either hand, dazzling the sight by reason of their 
excessive whiteness; at a distance, occasionally an Arab of the desert, 
for a moment surveying our long line, and then darting off to his fast- 
nesses ; — these were the objects which, with scarce any variation, met 
our eyes during the four wearisome days, that we dragged ourselves 
over this wild and inhospitable region. A little after the noon of the 
fourth day, as we started on our way, having refreshed ourselves and 
our exhausted animals at a spring which here poured out its warm, but 

4 still grateful waters to the traveler, my ears received the agreeable 
news that toward the east there could now be discerned the dark line 
which indicated our approach to the verdant tract that encompasses the 
great city. Our own excited spirits were quickly imparted to our beasts ; 

5 and a more rapid movement soon revealed into distinctness, the high 
land and waving groves of palm trees which mark the site of Palmyra. 
It was several miles before we reached the city, that we suddenly found 

6 ourselves, landing, as it were, from a sea upon an island or continent, 
in a rich and thickly peopled country. The roads indicated an approach 

7 to a great capital, in the number of those who thronged them : meeting 
and passing us, overtaking or crossing our path. Elephants, camels, 

8 and the dromedary, which I had before seen only in the amphitheatres, 
I here beheld as the native inhabitants of the soil. Frequent villas of 

9 the rich and luxurious Palmyrenes, to which they retreat from the 
greater heats of the city, now threw a lovely charm over the scene. 

10 Nothing can exceed the splendor of these sumptuous palaces. 11 Italy 
itself has nothing which surpasses them. The new and brilliant cos- 

12 tumes of the persons whom we met, together with the rich housings of 
the animals they rode, seemed greatly to add to all this beauty. I was 
still entranced, as it were, by the objects around me, and buried in 

13 reflection, when I was roused by the shout of those who led the caravan, 
and who had attained the summit of a little rising ground : saying, 
Palmyra ! Palmyra ! I urged forward my steed ; and, in a moment, 

14 the most wonderful prospect I ever beheld, (no, I cannot except even 
Rome,) burst upon my sight. Flanked by hills of considerable eleva- 

15 tion on the east, the city filled the whole plain below as far as the eye 

16 could reach, both toward the north and toward the south. This immense 

17 plain was all one vast and boundless city. It seemed, to me, to be 

18 larger than Rome. Yet I knew very well that it could not be ; — that 
it was not. And it was some time before I understood the truecharac- 

19 ter of the scene before me, so as to separate the city from the country, 
and the country from the city ; which here wonderfully interpenetrate 
each other, and so confound and deceive the observer. Ware. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 341 

SEC. XCVI. SOLILOQUY OF PAROLLES. 

1 Ten o'clock : within these three hours 't will be time enough to go 

2 home ? What shall I say I have done ? It must be a very plausive 

3 invention that carries it ; they begin to smoke me ; and disgraces have, 
of late, knocked too often at my door. I find my tongue is too fool- 

4 hardy ; but my heart hath the fear of Mars before it, and of his crea- 
tures : not daring the reports of my tongue. What should move me to 

5 undertake the recovery : being not ignorant of the impossibility, and 

6 knowing I had no such purpose ? I must give myself some hurts, and 

7 say I got them in exploit. Yet slight ones will not carry it ; they will 
say, Came you off with so little? and great ones I dare not give. 

8 Wherefore ? 9 What 's the instance ? Tongue, I must put you into a 

10 butter- woman's mouth and buy another of Bajazet's mute, if you prattle 
me in these perils ? — I would the cutting of my garments would serve 
the turn ; or the breaking of my Spanish sword ; or the shaving of my 

1 1 beard ; and to say, it was in stratagem ; or to drown my clothes, and 
say, I was stripped ; though I swore I leaped from the window of the 

12 citadel, thirty fathom. I would I had any drum of the enemy's ; I 
would swear I recovered it. Shakspeare. 

Sentence 3d. — 'A declar. single compact, third form: a perf. loose declar. in the second part. 
" Therefore it must, &c, because they begin, &c." Sentence 1th. — " Yet therefore slight, 
&c.,for or because they will, &c." Sentence 11th. — "Yet I would, &c, though I swore, 
&c." 



SEC. XCVII. THE JEWS DEFENCE. 

1 Salar. But tell us : do you hear whether Antonio have had any loss 
at sea or no ? 

2 Shy. There I have another bad match. A bankrupt, a prodigal, 

3 who dares scarce show his head on the Rialto : a beggar, that used to 
come so smug upon the mart ! — Let him look to his bond : he was wont 

4 to call me usurer ; let him look to his bond : he was wont to lend money 
for a christian courtesy ; let him look to his bond. 

5 Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh ; 
what 's that good for ? 

6 Shy. To bait fish withal : if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my 
revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me of half a million ; 

7 laughed at my losses ; mocked my gains ; scorned my nation ; thwarted 
my bargains ; cooled my friends ; heated my enemies ; and what 's his 

8 reason ? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes ? hath not a Jew hands, 
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions ? is he not fed with the 

9 same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, 
healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and 
summer, as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed ? if you 

10 tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you poison us, do we not die ? and if you 

11 wrong us, shall we not revenge 1 If we are like you in the rest, we 

12 will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his 

13 humility ? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his 

15 sufferance be by Christian example ? Why, revenge. The villainy 

16 you teach me, I will execute ; and it shall go hard, but I will better the 
instruction. Shakspeare. 



342 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Sentence 4th. — Since he was wont, therefore." Sentence 5th. — "Why do you say so? 
If lie forfeit, then, therefore, &c, because what's that good for?" 



SEC. XCVIII. A SISTER S INTERCESSION. 

1 Isdb. To-morrow ! 2 O, that 's sudden ! 3 Spare him ! spare him ! 

4 He J s not prepared for death ! Even for our kitchens, 

5 We kill the fowls of season ; shall we serve Heaven, 
With less respect than we do minister 

6 To our gross selves ? Good, good my lord, bethink you : 
Who is it that hath died for this offence ? — 

7 There 's many have committed it ? 

Ang. The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept : 

8 Those many had not dared to do that evil, 
If the first man that did the edict infringe, 

Had answered for his deed. Shakspeare. 

Sentence 1st. — Fragment, simp. def. interrog. excl. Sentence 5th. — " If even, then shall 
we, &c." Sentence 7th. — A compound close indirect interrogative. Sentence 8th. — " Yet the 
law, though it, &c." "Then those, if the, &c." 



SEC. XCIX. THE INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCE ON OUR JUDGMENTS. 

The crow does sing as sweetly as the lark, 
When neither is attended ; and, I think, 

1 The nightingale, if she should sing by day, 
When every goose is cackling, would be thought, 
No better a musician than the wren. 

2 How many things by season seasoned are 

To their right praise, and true perfection ! Shakspeare. 



SEC. C. THE PERILS OF THE DESERT. 

1 Not a cloud was to be seen in all the compass of the heavens, yet the 
winds raged. The blueness of the sky was gone ; and the whole 

2 inflamed dome above us was rather of the color of molten brass : the 
sun being but its brightest and hottest spot. At a distance, we saw 

3 clouds of sand whirled aloft, and driven fiercely over the boundless 
plain ; any one of which, it seemed to us, if it should cross our path, 

4 would bury us under its moving mass. We pressed on, trembling and 

5 silent through apprehension. The blood in my veins seemed hotter than 

6 the sand, or the sun that beat upon my face. Roman, thou canst form 

7 no conception of the horrors of that day. But for my faith, I should 

8 have utterly failed. What couldst thou have done 1 nay, or the chris- 
9tianProbus? But I will not taunt thee; I will rather hope. — The 

10 wind became more and more violent : the sand was driven before it like 
chaff. Sometimes the tempest immediately around us would abate, but 

11 it only served to fill us with new apprehensions, by revealing to us the 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 343 

tossings of this great deep in the distance. At one of these moments, 
as I was taking occasion to speak a word of comfort to the half dead 

12 mother, and cherish the little one whom I bore, a sound as of the roar 
of ocean caught my ear; (more awful than aught I had yet heard;) 
and at the same time a shriek and a shout from Hadad : " God of Israel, 

13 save us ! The sand ! the sand !" 

I looked in the direction of the sound ; and there in the south it looked, 

14 (Oh God ! how terrible to behold !) as if the whole plain were risen up, 
and were about to fall upon us. 

" 'T is vain to fly !" I cried aloud to Hadad, who was urging his 

15 animal to its utmost speed ; " let us perish together : besides, observe 
the heaviest and thickest of the cloud is in advance of us." 

The mother of the child cried out, as Hadad insanely hastened on, 

16 for her offspring ; to whom I answered: "Trust the young Ismael to 
me : fear me not ; cling to the dromedary." 

Hardly were the words spoken, when the whirlwind struck us. We 

17 were dashed to the earth, as we had been weeds. 19 My senses were, 

18 for a time, lost in the confusion of the scene. I only knew that I had 

20 been torn from my dromedary, borne along, and buried by the sand ; 
and that the young child was still in my arms. In the first moment of 

21 consciousness, I found myself struggling to free myself from the sand 
which was heaped around and over me. In this, after a time, I suc- 

22 ceeded ; and in restoring to animation the poor child : choked and 

23 blinded, yet, (wonderful indeed,) not dead. I then looked around for 
Hadad and the woman, but they were no where to be seen. 24 I shouted 
aloud, but there was no answer. The sand had now fallen ; the wind 

25 had died away ; and no sound met my ear, but the distant rumbling of 
the retreating storm. Ware. 



SEC CI. RUTH AND NAOMI. 

And now it came to pass in the days, when the judges ruled, that 

1 there was a famine in the land ; and a certain man of Bethlehem- 
Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab : he, and his wife and her 
two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech ; and the name of 

2 his wife, Naomi ; and the name of his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion : 

3 Ephrathites of Bethlehem- Judah. And they came into the country of 
Moab, and continued there. 

4 And Elimelech, Naomi's husband died ; and she was left, and her 
two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab : the name 

5 of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth ; and they 
dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also : 

6 both of them ; and the woman was left of her two sons and her hus- 
band. 

Then she arose, with her daughters-in-law, that she might return 

7 from the country of Moab ; for she had heard in the country of Moab, 
how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Where- 

8 fore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daugh- 
ters-in-law with her ; and they went on the way to return unto the land 
of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go : return 

9 each to her mother's house : the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have 



844 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

10 dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may 

11 find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband. Then she kissed 

12 them ; and they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto her, 

13 Surely, we will return with thee unto thy people ? And Naomi said, 

14 Turn again, my daughters, why will ye go with me ? Are there yet 
any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands ? Turn 

15 again, my daughters ; go your way ; for I am too old to have an hus- 
band. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband to- 

16 night, and should also bear sons, would ye tarry for them till they were 
grown ? would ye stay for them from having husbands ? Nay, my 

17 daughters ; for it grieveth me much, for your sake, that the hand of the 

18 Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice and wept 
again ; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law ; but Ruth clave unto her. 

19 And she said, Behold : thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, 
and unto her gods : return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, 

20 Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee, for 
whither thou goest, I will go ; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge : 
thy people shall be my people ; and thy God, my God. Where thou 

21 diest, will I die ; and there will I be buried : the Lord do so to me, and 
more also, if aught but death part thee and me. 

22 When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then 

23 she left speaking unto her. So they two went, until they came to Beth- 
lehem-Judah. 



SEC. CII. A POLITICAL JUPITER USURPING THE POWERS OF THE 
WHOLE PANTHEON. 

Sir, according to the system of the mythology of the Greeks and 
Romans, the different portions of the universe, and the various depart- 

1 ments of human affairs, were assigned to different divinities : each 
acting in his appropriate sphere, and upon his separate responsibility to 
the decrees of fate ; which constituted the fundamental law of the 
system. 

Jupiter reigned in Olympus ; Neptune, over the Ocean ; Pluto, in 

2 the regions below ; Apollo presided over the arts ; Mars, over the 
affairs of war ; and Minerva, over those of council. 

But, sir, the Jupiter of this new system of political idolatry, not satis- 
fied with holding the exclusive dominion of Olympus, darts from his 
empyrean height, like a baleful comet dashing wildly through the heav- 
enly spheres, invades the provinces, and usurps the powers of all the 

3 other gods ; snatches from Apollo, his arrows ; from Neptune, his 
trident ; from Mars, his lance ; from Minerva, her impenetrable aegis ; 
from Pluto, his consuming fires ; from the Furies, their scourge ; and 
from the Fates, their shears ; and thus, holding in his hands the issues 
of life and death, and, brandishing the armor of the whole pantheon, he 
proudly challenges, (what none dare refuse,) the passive obedience and 
trembling homage of all the minor divinities : 

Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod : 
The stamp of fate : the sanction of a god ! 

McDuffie. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 345 

SEC. CIII. WE SHOULD GLORY IN A CRUCIFIED REDEEMER. 

Jesus ! and shall it ever be, 

1 A mortal man ashamed of thee ! 
Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise I 
Whose glories shine through endless days ! 

2 Ashamed of Jesus ! Sooner far 

3 Let evening blush to own a star : 
He sheds the beams of light divine 
O'er this benighted soul of mine. 

4 Ashamed of Jesus ! Just as soon 

5 Let midnight be ashamed of noon : 
'T is midnight with my soul, till He, 
Bright morning star, bid darkness flee. 

6 Ashamed of Jesus ! that dear friend, 
On whom my hopes of heaven depend ! 

7 No ! when I blush, be this my shame, 
That I no more revere his name. 

8 Ashamed of Jesus ! Yes I may, 
When I've no guilt to wash away : 
No tear to wipe : no good to crave : 

9 No fear to quell : no soul to save : 

'Till then, (nor is my boasting vain,) 
'Till then I boast a Saviour slain ! 
And oh, may this my glory be : 
That Christ is not ashamed of me ! 

Sentence 1st. — An imperfect loose definite interrogative exclamatory. Sentence Qth. — 
This being the last of a series, may take, with great effect, the falling slide, modified by 
emphasis. 



SEC. CIV. THE CONSEQUENCES OF ENGLISH FRIENDSHIP, GENEROSITY 
AND KINDNESS IN INDIA. 

Had a stranger at this time gone into the province of Oude, ignorant 
of what had happened since the death of Sujah Dowla ; (that man, who, 
with a savage heart, had still great lines of character ; and who, with 
all his ferocity in war, had still, with a cultivating hand, preserved to 
his country the riches which it derived from benignant skies and a pro- 
line soil ;) if this stranger, ignorant of all that had happened in the 
short interval, and observing the wide and general devastation, and all 
the horrors of the scene, of plains unclothed and brown, of vegetables 
burnt up and extinguished, of villages depopulated and in ruins, of 
temples unroofed and perishing, of reservoirs broken down and dry ; 
1 he would naturally inquire, what war has thus laid waste the fertile 
fields of this once beautiful and opulent country? What civil dissen- 
sions have happened, thus to tear asunder and separate the happy soci- 
eties that once possessed those villages ? what dissipated succession, 

44 



346 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

what religious rage, has, with unholy violence, demolished those tem- 
ples, and disturbed fervent but unobtruding piety in the exercise of its 
duties ? what merciless enemy has thus spread the horrors of fire and 
sword ? what severe visitation of Providence has dried up the fountain, 
and taken from the face of the earth every vestige of verdure ? or rather, 
what monsters have stalked over the country, tainting and poisoning, 
with pestiferous breath, what the voracious appetite could not devour ? 

2 To such questions, what must be the answer ? No wars have rav- 
aged these lands and depopulated these villages ; no civil discords have 
been felt ; no disputed succession ; no religious rage ; no merciless 

3 enemy ; no affliction of Providence, which, while it scourged for the 
moment, cut off the sources of resuscitation ; no voracious and poison- 
ing monsters ; no ; all this has been accomplished by the friendship, 
generosity, and kindness of the English nation : they have embraced 
us with their protecting arms, and lo ! these are the fruits of their alli- 

4 ance. What ! Then shall we be told, that under such circumstances, 
the exasperated feelings of a whole people, thus goaded and spurred on to 
clamor and resistance, were excited by the poor and feeble influence 
of the Begums ! when we hear the description of the paroxysm, fever 
and delirium, into which despair had thrown the natives ; when on the 

5 banks of the polluted Ganges, panting for death, they tore more widely 
open the lips of their gaping wounds, to accelerate their dissolution, 
and, while their blood was issuing, presented their ghastly eyes to 
heaven, breathing their last and fervent prayer, that the dry earth 
might not be suffered to drink their blood, but that it might rise up to 
the throne of God, and rouse the eternal Providence to avenge the 
wrongs of their country ! Will it be said that this was brought about 

6 by the incantations of these Begums in their Zenana ? or that they 
could inspire this enthusiasm and this despair into the breasts of a peo- 
ple who felt no grievance, and had suffered no torture ? 

7 W^hat motive, then, could have such influence in their bosoms? 

8 What motive ! That which nature, the common parent, plants in the 
bosom of man ; and which, though it may be less active in the Indian 
than in the Englishman, is still congenial with and makes part of his 
being : that feeling, which tells him, that man was never made to be the 
property of man, but that when through pride and insolence of power, 
one human creature dares to tyrannize over another, it is a power 
usurped ; and resistance is a duty : that feeling, which tells him that 

9 all power is delegated for the good, not for the injury of the people ; 
and that when it is converted from the original purpose, the compact is 
broken ; and the right is to be resumed : that principle, which tells him, 
that resistance to power usurped is not merely a duty which he owes to 
himself and to his neighbor, but a duty which he owes to his God, in 
asserting and maintaining the rank which he gave him in the crea- 
tion i to that common God, who, where he gives the form of man, 
whatever may be the complexion, gives also the feelings and the rights 
of man : that principle, which neither the rudeness of ignorance can 
stifle, nor the enervation of refinement extinguish : that principle, which 
makes it base for a man to suffer when he ought to act ; which tending 
to preserve to the species the original designations of Providence, spurns 
at the arrogant distinctions of man, and vindicates the independence of 
.bis race, Sheridan. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 347 

This piece contains fine specimens of several species of sentences: of the semi-interrogative 
in sentence first; of the double compact declarative in sentence third; of the compound com- 
pact definite interrogative exclamatory, first form, in sentence fifth ; and of fragmentary imperfect 
loose declarative in sentence ninth. "It was that which, &c." What! sentence fourth, and 
What motive ! sentence eight, are delivered with rising slide. {See Classification, Class Til, 
Indefi. Interrog., and Rule III, Exception.) 



SEC. CV. ANECDOTES. 

Diogenes, being asked, the biting of what beast was the most danger- 
ous, answered thus : " If you mean wild beasts, it is the slanderer's : if 
tame ones, the flatterer's." 

Antimachus, the poet, reading his verses, was deserted by all his 
hearers, except Plato ; to whom he said, I shall proceed nevertheless : 
Plato is himself an audience. 

1 When Lord Carlisle, Mr. Eden, and Gov. Johnstone, came to this coun- 
try in the year 1778, as commissioners to accommodate the differences 
between Great Britain and the United States, they employed an Amer- 
ican lady to make secret overtures to several of the leading members of 
Congress. To Gen. Reed, she was authorized to promise the sum of 

2 ten thousand pounds sterling, and the best office in this country in his 
majesty's gift, on condition of his exerting his talent and influence in 

3 bringing about a reconciliation between the contending parties. His 
reply to this proposition is, perhaps, equal to any thing on record. 

4 " Madam," said he, " I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the 
king of England is not rich enough to buy me." 



SEC CVI. THE POWER OF MUSIC. 

When whispering streams do softly steal, 

With creeping passion, through the heart ; 
And when at every touch, we feel 
Our pulses beat and bear a part ; 
When threads can make 
A heart-string quake ; 
Philosophy 
Can scarce deny, 
The soul can melt in harmony. 

O lull me ! lull me ! charming air ! 

My sense is rocked with wonders sweet : 
Like snow on wool, thy fallings are : 
Soft like a spirit's, are thy feet. 
Grief who need fear, 
That hath an ear ? 
Down let him lie, 
I And, slumbering, die, 

And change his soul for harmony. 



348 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CVII. FEW AND MANY STRIPES. 

1 What will be the answer of the Judge to the poor Indian, none can 
say. That he was sadly mistaken in the means of salvation, and that 
what he had done could never purchase him everlasting life, is beyond 

2 a doubt ; but yet the Judge may say, " Come unto me, thou heavy-laden, 
and I will give thee the rest which thou couldst not purchase for thy- 

3 self." But, to the Christian, " Thou, who hadst my easy yoke, and my 

4 light burden ; thou for whom all was already purchased, " Thank 

God ! it is not yet pronounced: — " begone ! and fly for thy life !" 

Wolfe. 



SEC CVIII. PART OF THE DEFENCE OF PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 

1 " Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence, which I make now 
unto you." And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue 
they kept the more silence ; and he saith, " I am verily a man who am 
a Jew : born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city, at 
the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the 

2 law of the fathers, and was zealous towards God, as ye all are, this day. 
And I persecuted this way unto the death : binding and delivering 
into prison both men and women ; as also the high priest doth bear me 
witness ; and all the estate of the elders ; from whom also I received 
letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them who 
were there, bound unto Jerusalem to be punished." 

( ' And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come 

3 nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a 
great light round about me ; and I fell unto the ground, and heard a 

4 voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I 

5 answered, Who art thou, Lord ? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of 
Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw, 

6 indeed, the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him 

7 that spake unto me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord 1 8 And the 
Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus ; and there it shall 
be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And 

9 when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand 
of them that were with me, I came to Damascus." 



SEC CIX. THE CHRISTIAN ON HIS WAY TO HEAVEN WOULD HAVE 
COMPANY. 

Suppose it were suddenly revealed to any one among you, that he, 
and he alone of all that walk upon the face of this earth, was destined 
1 to receive the benefit of his Redeemer's atonement ; and that the rest 
of mankind was lost ; and lost to all eternity : it is hard to say what 
would be the first sensation excited in that man's mind by the intelli- 
gence. It is -indeed probable it would be joy : to think that all his fears 
respecting his eternal destiny were now no more, that all the forebodings 
of the mind, and misgivings of the heart, all the solemn stir which we 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 349 

feel rising within us whenever we look forward to a dark futurity ; to 
feel that all these had now subsided forever ; to know that he shall 
stand in the everlasting sunshine of the love of God ! — it is perhaps 
impossible that all this should not call forth an immediate feeling of 

2 delight ; but, if you wish the sensation to continue, you must go to the 
wilderness ; you must beware how you come within sight of a human 
being, or within sound of a human voice ; you must recollect that you 
are now alone upon the earth ; or, if you want society, you had better 
look for it among the beasts of the field than among the ruined species 
to which you belong ; unless, indeed, the Almighty, in pity to your des- 
olation, should send his angels before the appointed time, that you might 
learn to forget in their society the outcast objects of your former sym- 
pathies. But to go abroad into human society ; to walk amongst beings 
who are now no longer your fellow-creatures ; to feel the charity of 
your common nature rising in your heart, and to have to crush it within 
you like a sin ; to reach forth your hand to perform one of the common 
kindnesses of humanity, and to find it withered by the recollection, that 
however you may mitigate a present pang, the everlasting pang is irre- 

3 versible ; to turn away in despair from these children whom you have 
now come to bless and save ; — (we hope and trust both here and for- 
ever ; — ) perhaps it would be too much for you : at all events, it would be 
hard to state a degree of exertion within the utmost range of human 
energy, or a degree of pain within the farthest limits of human endurance, 
to which you would not submit, that jou. might have one companion on 
your lonely way from this world to the mansions of happiness. 

But suppose, at that moment, that the angel, who brought the first 
intelligence, returns to tell you that there are beings upon this earth 
that may yet be saved : that he was before mistaken : no matter how ; 
perhaps he was your guardian angel, and darted from the throne of 
grace with the intelligence of your salvation without waiting to hear 

4 the fate of the rest of mankind : no matter how, but he comes to tell you 
that there are beings upon the earth, who are within the reach of your 
Redeemer's love, and of your own : that some of them are now before 
you ; and their everlasting destiny is placed in your hands : then what 

5 would first occur to your mind ? Privations % dangers ? difficulties ? 

6 No ; but you would say, Lord, what shall I do ? Shall I traverse earth. 

7 and sea, through misery and torment, that of those thou hast given me 
I may not lose one 1 Wolfe. 



SEC CX. PLEASANTRY NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH RELIGION. 

1 Farthermore, the warrantableness of this practice in some cases may 
be inferred from a parity of reason in this manner. If it be lawful, (as 
by the best authorities it plainly doth appear to be,) in using rhetorical 

2 schemes, poetical strains, involutions of sense in allegories, fables, par- 
ables and riddles, to discoast from the plain and simple way of speech, 
why may not facetiousness, issuing from the same principles, directed 
to the same ends, serving to like purposes, be likewise used blamelessly ? 
If those exorbitances of speech may be accommodated to instil good 
doctrine into the head, to excite good passions in the heart, to illustrate 



350 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

and adorn the truth, in a delightful and taking way ; (and facetious 

3 discourse is sometimes notoriously conducible to the same ends;) why, 
they being retained, should it be rejected : especially considering how 
difficult often it may be, to distinguish those forms of discourse from 
this ; or exactly to define the limits which sever rhetoric and raillery ? 
Some elegant figures and tropes of rhetoric, (biting sarcasms, sly ironies, 
strong metaphors, lofty hyperboles, paronomasias, oxymorons, and the 
like, frequently used by the best speakers, and not seldom even by the 
sacred writers,) do lie very near upon the confines of jocularity, and are 

4 not easily difFerenced from those sallies of wit, wherein the lepid way doth 
consist ; so that, were this wholly culpable, it would be matter of scru- 
ple, whether one hath committed a fault or no, when he meant only to 
play the orator or the poet ; and hard surely it would be to find a judge 
who could precisely set out the difference between a jest and a flourish. 

I shall only add, that of old even the sagest and gravest persons, 

5 (persons of most rigid and severe virtue,) did much affect this kind of 
discourse and apply it to noble purposes. The great introducer of 
moral wisdom among the Pagans did practise it so much, (by it repress- 

6 ing the windy pride and fallacious vanity of sophisters in his time,) that 
he thereby got the name of the droll ; and the rest of those who pursued 
his design, do by numberless stories and apophthegms recorded of them, 
appear well skilled, and much delighted in this way. Many great 
princes, (as Augustus Csesar for one, many of whose jests are extant in 
Macrobius,) many grave statesmen, (as Cicero particularly, who com- 

7 posed several books of jests,) many famous captains, (as Fabius, M. 
Cato the censor, Scipio Africanus, Epaminondas, Themistocles, Phocion, 
and many others, whose witty sayings, together with their martial 
exploits, are recorded by historians,) have pleased themselves herein, 
and made it a condiment of their mighty businesses. Barrows. 

In this and the succeeding four pieces, attention should be given to the proper punctuation 
and delivery of the parenthesis. 



SEC. CXI. HARSH NAMES GENERALLY UNJUST. 

The reason of things also doth help to explain these words, and to 
show why they are prohibited : because these harsh terms are needless; 
mild words serving as well to express the same things : because they 
are commonly unjust ; loading men with greater defect or blame than 
they can be proved to deserve, or their actions do import : (for every 
man that speaketh falsehood, is not therefore a liar: every man that 
erreth, is not thence a fool : every man that doeth amiss, is not conse- 
quently dishonest or wicked : the secret intentions and the habitual dis- 
positions of men not being always to be collected from their outward 
actions :) because they are uncharitable ; signifying that we entertain 
the worst opinions of men, and make the worst construction of their 
doings, and are disposed to show them no favqr or kindness : because 
also they produce mischievous effects ; such as spring from the worst 
passions raised by them. Barrows. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. - 351 

SEC. CXII. PROFANITY. 

Another grand offence against piety, is, rash and vain swearing in 
common discourse : an offence which now strangely reigns and rages 

1 in the world : passing about in a specious garb, and under glorious 
titles, as a genteel and graceful quality; a mark of fine breeding, and 
a point of gallantry. Who, forsooth, now, is the brave spark and com- 
plete gentleman, but he that hath the skill and confidence (O heavens ! 
how mean a skill ! how mad a confidence !) to lard every sentence with 

2 an oath or a curse : making bold at every turn to salute God : fetching 
him down from heaven to avouch any idle prattle, to second any giddy 
passion, to concern himself in any trivial affair, of his : yea, calling 
and challenging the Almighty to damn and destroy him I Barrows. 



SEC. CXIII. DIVERSITY OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME END. 

1 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of 

2 the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended upon high, 
he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he 

3 ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts 

4 of the earth ? He that descended is the same also that ascended up 
far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave 
some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, 

5 pastors and teachers : for the perfecting of the saints ; for the work of 
the ministry ; for the edifying of the body of Christ ; till we all come 
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto 
a perfect man : unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 



SEC. CXIV. TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS ADVANTAGES. 

1 There is no respect of persons with God. As many as have sinned 
without law, shall also perish without law ; and as many as have sinned 
in the law, shall be judged by the law, (for not the hearers of the lav/ 
are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified ; for 
when the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature the things con- 

2 tained in the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves; 
who show the work of the law written in their hearts : their consciences 
also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing or 
else excusing one another,) in the day, when God shall judge the secrets 
of men, by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel. 



SEC. CXV. LIFE MAY BE COMPARED TO A RIVER. 

The life of every individual may be compared to a river, rising in 
1 obscurity, increasing by the accession of tributary streams, and, after 
flowing through a longer or shorter distance, losing itself in some com- 
mon receptacle. The lives of individuals also, like the course of riv- 



352 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

2 ers, may be more or less extensive, but will all vanish and disappear in 
the gulf of eternity. While a stream is confined within its banks, it 

3 fertilizes, enriches, and improves the country through which it passes ; 
but if it deserts its channel, it becomes injurious and destructive : a 
sort of public nuisance ; and, by stagnating in lakes and marshes, its 
exhalations diffuse pestilence and disease around. Some glide away in 
obscurity and insignificance, while others become accelerated, traverse 

4 continents, give names to countries, and assign the boundaries of em- 
pires : some are tranquil and gentle in their course, while others, rushing 
in torrents, dashing over precipices, and tumbling in waterfalls, become 
objects of terror and dismay. But however diversified their character 

5 or their direction, all agree in having their course short, limited and 
determined : soon they fall into one capacious receptacle : their waters 
eventually mix in the waves of the ocean. Thus human characters, 

6 however various, have one common destiny : their course of action may 
be greatly diversified, but they all lose themselves in the ocean of 
eternity. Robert Hall. 



SEC CXVI. SOLEMN IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY A CONTEMPLATION 
OF THE HEAVENS. 

Who does not feel an aggrandizement of thought and of faculty, 
when he looks abroad over the amplitudes of creation : when placed on 
a telescopic eminence, his aided eye can find a pathway to innumerable 

1 worlds : when that wondrous field, over which there had hung for many 
ages the mantle of so deep an obscurity, is laid open to him ; and instead 
of a dreary and unpeopled solitude, he can see over the whole face of it, 
such an extended garniture of rich and goodly habitations ! Even the 
atheist, who tells us that the universe is self-existent and indestructible, 
even he, who, instead of seeing the traces of a manifold wisdom in its 

2 manifold varieties, sees nothing in them all but the exquisite structures 
and the lofty dimensions of materialism, even he, who would despoil 
creation of its God, cannot look upon its golden suns, and their accom- 
panying systems, without the solemn impression of a magnificence that 
fixes and overpowers him. Chalmers. 



SEC CXVII. THE GREATEST CHARACTERS MAY DERIVE THEIR CHIEF 
LUSTRE FROM A SINGLE UNOSTENTATIOUS ACT. 

A king might have the whole of his reign crowded with the enter- 
prises of glory ; and by the might of his arms and the wisdom of his 
counsels, might win the first reputation among the potentates of the 
world, and be idolized throughout all his provinces, for the wealth and 
the security that he had spread around them : and still it is conceiva- 
ble, that by the act of a single day in behalf of a single family ; by 
some soothing visitation of tenderness to a poor and solitary cottage ; 
by some deed of compassion, which conferred enlargement and relief 
on one despairing sufferer ; by some graceful movement of sensibility 
at a tale of wretchedness ; by some noble effort of self-denial, in virtue 



■a 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 353 

of which he subdued his every purpose of revenge, and spread the man- 
tle of a generous oblivion over the fault of the man who had insulted 
and aggrieved him ; above all, by an exercise of pardon so skillfully 
administered, as that instead of bringing him down to a state of defence- 
lessness against the provocation of future injuries, it threw a deeper 
sacredness over him, and stamped a more inviolable dignity than ever 
on his person and character : — why, my brethren, on the strength of 
one such performance done in a single hour, and reaching no farther in 
its immediate effects than to one house, or to one individual, it is a pos- 
sible thing, that the highest monarch on earth might draw such a lustre 
around him as would eclipse the renown of all his public achievements ; 
and that such a display of magnanimity, or of worth, beaming from the 
secrecy of his familiar moments, might waken a more cordial venera- 
tion in every bosom, than all the splendor of his conspicuous history ; 
aye, and that it might pass down to posterity as a more enduring monu- 
ment of greatness, and raise him further by its moral elevation above 
the level of ordinary praise ; and when he passes in review before the 
men of distant ages, may this deed of modest, gentle, unobtrusive vir- 
tue be at all times appealed to, as the most sublime and touching memo- 
rial of his name. Chalmers. 

This long sentence is a compound decl. single compact of the third form. " If or though a 
king might, &c., yet still," &c. The second part is close through a succession of similar mem- 
bers, until the word character is reached ; when the construction is suddenly changed, and a 
perf. loose declarative succeeds. Why, at the point of rupture, is equivalent to, " Why pursue 
the enumeration?" Aye, at the beginning of the third part of the loose, is equivalent to the 
preceding parts, and forms a close connection with what follows. The delivery at why, should 
rise in elevation, earnestness and force. 



SEC. CXVIII. THE BIBLE. 

1 There is a classic, the best the world has ever seen : the noblest that 
has ever honored and dignified the language of mortals. If we look 
into its antiquity, we discover a title to our veneration, unrivaled in the 
history of literature ; if we have respect to its evidences, they are found 
in the testimony of miracle and prophecy : in the ministry of man, of 
nature, and of angels : yea, even of "God manifest in the flesh:" of 
"God blessed forever;" if we consider its authenticity, no other pages 
have survived the lapse of time, that can be compared with it ; if we 
examine its authority, (for it speaks as never man spake,) we discover, 
that it came from heaven, in vision and prophecy, under the sanction of 
Him, who is the Creator of all things, and the giver of every good and 
perfect gift ; if we reflect on its truths, they are lovely and spotless, 
sublime and holy, as God himself: unchangeable as his nature, dura- 
ble as his righteous dominion, and versatile as the moral condition of 
mankind ; if we regard the value of its treasures, we must estimate 
them, not like the relics of classic antiquity, by the perishable glory 

2 and beauty, virtue and happiness of this world, but by the enduring 
and supreme felicity of an eternal kingdom ; if we inquire, who are 
the men that have recorded its truths, vindicated its rights, and illus- 
trated the excellence of its scheme, from the depth of ages, and from 
the living world, from the populous continent, and the isles of the sea, 
comes forth the answer : the patriarch and the prophet : the evangelist 

45 



354 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

and the martyr ; if we look abroad through the world of men, the vic- 
tims of folly or vice, the prey of cruelty or injustice, and inquire what 
are its benefits, even in this temporal state, the great and the humble, 
the rich and the poor, the powerful. and the weak, the learned and the 
ignorant, reply, as with one voice, that humility and resignation, purity, 
order and peace, faith, hope and charity, are its blessings upon earth ; 
and if, raising our eyes from time to eternity, from the world of mortals 
to the world of just men made perfect, from the visible creation, mar- 
vellous, beautiful and glorious as it is, to the invisible creation of angels 
and seraphs, from the footstool of God to the throne of God himself, we 
ask, what are the blessings that flow from this single volume, let the 
question be answered by the pen of the evangelist, the harp of the pro- 
phet, and the records of the book of life. 
3 Such is the best of classics the world has ever admired ; such the 
noblest that man has ever adopted as a guide. Grimke. 

Sentence 2d. — When a loose sentence is as long as this, the gradual descent of the voice, 
(required by the rule,) from the beginning to the end, will rather be perceptible between the 
extreme parts, than between any two in connexion. 



SEC. CXIX. THE DESIGN OF THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

Our object is not to recover the holy sepulchre from the possession of 
heretics, but to make known the death of Him that descended to it ; to 
wrest the keys of empire from the King of Terrors : the weapons of our 
warfare are not carnal, as the sword, the spear and the battle-axe, but 
spiritual ; as the doctrines of the gospel, exhibited in the sermons of our 
missionaries : the line of our march will not be marked by ensanguined 
fields, and the reign of desolation, but by the comforts of civilization 
and the blessings of Christianity ; we shall not be followed in our career 
by the groans of dying warriors, and the shrieks of bereaved widows, 
but the songs of redeemed sinners, and the shouts of enraptured angels ; 
while our trophies will consist, not of bits of the cross or shreds of the 
virgin's robe, but in the rejected idols of Pomare ; with the regenerated 
souls of those who once adored him. James. 

In the preceding piece, the second sentence is a decl. perfect loose, having a single compact 
in each part. This also is a perfect loose, but the parts consist of double compacts. 



SEC. CXX. WISDOM : IN WHAT IT CONSISTS. 

Wisdom consists not in fair professions and glorious pretences, but in 
real practice ; not in a pertinacious adherence to any sect or party, but 
in a sincere love of goodness and dislike of naughtiness, wherever dis- 
covering itself: not in vain ostentations and flourishes of outward per- 
formance, but in an inward good complexion of mind ; exerting itself 
in works of true devotion and charity : not in a nice orthodoxy or poli- 
tic subjection of our judgments to the peremptory dictates of men, but 
in a sincere love of truth ; in a hearty approbation of, and compliance 
with, the doctrines fundamentally good and necessary to be believed : 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 355 

not ill harsh censuring and virulently inveighing against others, but in 
carefully amending our ways : not in a peevish crossness and obstinate 
repugnance to received laws and customs, but in a quiet and peaceable 
submission to the express laws of God, and the lawful commands of 
men : not in a furious zeal for or against trivial circumstances, but in 
conscientiously practising the substantial parts of religion : not in a fre- 
quent talking or contentious disputing about it, but in a ready observ- 
ance of the unquestionable rules and precepts of it ; in a word, in 
nothing else but doing what becomes our relation with God. 

Barrows. 

This is an imperfect loose sentence, consisting of double compact parts. 



SEC. CXXI. THE SOLILOQUY OF KING RICHARD III. 

1 Give me another horse : — bind up my wounds : — 
Have mercy, Jesus : — soft: I did but dream ? — 

2 O, coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! — 

3 The lights burn blue. — 4 It is now dead midnight. — 

5 What do I fear ? 6 Myself? 7 There ; s none else by ? 

8 Richard loves Richard ; that is, I am I. 

9 Is there a murderer here ? 10 No : yes ; I am. 

11 Then fly. 12 What ? 13 From myself? 14 Great reason ; why ? 
15 Lest I revenge. 16 What? 17 Myself on myself? 
18 I love myself? 19 Wherefore? 20 For any good 
That I myself have done unto myself ? 

21 O, no, alas ! I rather hate myself. 

For hateful deeds committed by myself. 

22 I am a villain : yet I lie ; I am not. 

Fool, of thyself speak w r ell : — fool, do not flatter : — 

23 My conscience hath a thousand several tongues ; 
And every tongue brings in a several tale ; 
And every tale condemns me for a villain. 
Perjury, perjury, in the highest degree, 

24 Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree, 

T hrong to the bar, crying all, Guilty ! guilty ! 

25 I shall despair. — There is no creature loves me, 

26 And, if I die, no soul will pity me : 

Nay : wherefore should they ; since that I myself 
Find in myself no pity to myself? — 
Methought the souls of all that I had murdered 

27 Came to my tent, and every one did threat 

To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard. Shakspeare. 

Sentence 1st. — A semi-interrogative, with a loose construction: the interrogative portion, 
indirect, of the third kind. Sentence 1th. — An indirect simple interrogative of the third kind. 
Sentence 10th. — "Therefore yes, for I am. 55 Sentence 12th. — i: Fly from -what?" Sen- 
tence 13th. — " Shall I fly from myself?" Sentence 14th. — "I have great reason, indeed, to 
fly from myself, but why?" Sentence 16th. — "Revenge what?" Sentence 18th. — An 
indirect interrogative. — Sentence 19th. — "Wherefore do I love myself? " Sentence 20th. — 
"Do I love myself for any good, &c. 1" A close definite interrog. Sentence 21st. — "O, 
therefore, no, for alas! I rather, &c" Sentence 22d. — "Therefore I lie, for I am not." 
Sentence 26th. — Si As there is no creature, &c., so if I die, &c. ;" and "as they will not, so 
wherefore should they." Sentence 27th. — " As the souls of all, &c., so eveiy one." 



356 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

sec. cxxn. Webster's reply to hayne. 

1 This interrogatory of the honorable member was only introductory to 
another. He proceeded to ask me, whether I had turned upon him in 

2 this debate, from the consciousness that I should find an overmatch, if I 
ventured on a contest with his friend from Missouri. If the honorable 
member, from modesty, had chosen thus to defer to his friend, and to 

3 pay him a compliment, without intentional disparagement to others, it 
would have been quite according to the friendly courtesies of debate, 
and not at all ungrateful to my own feelings. I am not one of those, 

4 who esteem any tribute of regard, whether light and occasional, or more 
serious and deliberate, which may be bestowed upon others, as so much 

5 unjustly withholden from themselves. But the tone and manner of the 
gentleman's question, forbid me that I thus interpret it. I am not 
at liberty to consider it as nothing more than a civility to his friend ; 

6 it had an air of taunt and disparagement, a little of the loftiness of 
asserted superiority, which does not allow me to pass it over without 
notice. It was put as a question for me to answer, (and so put, as if it 

7 were difficult for me to answer,) whether 1 deemed the member from 
Missouri an overmatch for myself, in debate here. It seems to me, that 

8 this is extraordinary language, and an extraordinary tone, for the dis- 

9 cussion of this body ? Matches and overmatches ! Those terms are 

10 more applicable elsewhere than here, and fitter for other assemblies 

11 than this? The gentleman seems to forget where and what we are. 

12 This is a senate: a senate of equals; of men of individual honor and 

13 personal character, and of absolute independence. We know no mas- 
14ters : we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual consult- 
ation arid discussion ; not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I 

15 offer myself as a match for no man : I throw the challenge of debate at 
no man's feet. But, then, since the honorable member has put the 
question, in a manner that calls for an answer, I will give him an 
answer ; and I tell him, that holding myself to be the humblest of the 

16 members here, I yet know nothing in the arm of his friend from Missouri, 
either alone, or when aided by the arm of his friend from South Carolina, 
that need deter even me from espousing whatever opinions I may choose 
to espouse, from debating whatever I may choose to debate, or from 
speaking whatever I may see fit to say, on the floor of the senate. 

Webster. 

Sentence Sth. — A compound close indirect interrogative. Sentence 9th. — Compound close 
definite interrogative. Sentence 10th. — Compound imperf. loose indirect interrogative. Sen- 
tence 14th — A double compact decl., with the parts transposed. 



SEC. CXXIII. MEXICO AS FIRST SEEN BY THE SPANIARDS. 

The troops, refreshed by a night's rest, succeeded, early on the foh 

1 lowing day, in gaining the crest of the sierra of Ahualco ; which 
stretches like a curtain between the two great mountains on the north 
and south. Their progress was now comparatively easy ; and they 

2 marched forward with a buoyant step, as they felt they were treading 
the soil of Montezuma. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 357 

They had not advanced far, when, turning an angle of the sierra, 

3 they suddenly came on a view which more than compensated the toils 
of the preceding day. It was that of the valley of Mexico ; (or Tenoch- 
titlan, as more commonly called by the natives ;) which, with its pictu- 

4 resque assemblage of water, woodland, and cultivated plains, its shining 
cities, and shadowy hills, was spread out like some gay and gorgeous 
panorama before them. In the highly rarefied atmosphere of these 

5 upper regions, even remote objects have a brilliancy of coloring and a 
distinctness of outline which seems to annihilate distance. Stretching 
far away at their feet, were seen noble forests of oak, sycamore and 

6 cedar ; and beyond, yellow fields of maize, and the towering maguey, 
intermingled with orchards and blooming gardens ; for flowers, in such 
demand for their religious festivals, were even more abundant in this 
populous valley than in other parts of Anahuac. In the centre of the 
great basin were beheld the lakes : occupying then a much larger por- 
tion of its surface than at present ; their borders thickly studded with 

7 towns and hamlets ; and, in the midst, like some Indian empress with 
her coronal of pearls, the fair city of Mexico, Avith her white towers and 
pyramidal temples, reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters : 
the far-famed ' Venice of the Aztecs. 5 High above all, arose the royal 

8 hill of Chapoltepec, (the residence of the Mexican monarchs,) crowned 
with the same grove of gigantic cypresses, which at this day fling their 
broad shadows over the land. In the distance, beyond the blue waters 
of the lake, and nearly screened by the intervening foliage, was seen, 

9 (a shining speck,) the rival capital Tezcuco ; and, still further on, the 
dark belt of porphyry, girdling the valley around, like a rich setting 
which nature had devised for the fairest of her jewels. 

Such was the beautiful vision which broke on the eyes of the con- 
querors ; and even now, when so sad a change has come over the scene ; 
when the stately forests have been laid low, and the soil, unsheltered 
from the fierce radiance of a tropical sun, is in many places abandoned 
to sterility ; when the waters have retired, leaving a broad and ghastly 

10 margin, white with the incrustation of salts, while the cities and hamlets 
on their borders have moldered into ruins ; — even now that desolation 
broods over the landscape, so indestructible are the lines of beauty which 
nature has traced on its features, that no traveler, however cold, can 
gaze on them with any other emotions, than those of astonishment and 
rapture. What, then, must have been the emotions of the Spaniards, 

11 when, after working their toilsome way into the upper air, the cloudy 
tabernacle parted before their eyes, and they beheld these fair scenes 
in all their pristine magnificence and beauty ! It was like the spectacle 

12 which greeted the eyes of Moses from the summit of Pisgah ; and, in 
the warm glow of their feelings, they cried out, l It is the promised 
land ! ' Prescott. 



SEC. CXXIV. THE EFFECTS OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through 

1 our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this 

grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And 



358 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

not only so, but we glory in tribulation, also : knowing that tribulation 
worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; and experience, hope ; 
and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad 

2 in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us ; for when we 
were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly ; 
for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a 
good man some would even dare to die ; but God commendeth his love 
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much 
more, then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from 

3 wrath through him ; for if, when we were enemies we were reconciled 
to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall 
be saved by his life. 

4 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ ; by whom we have now received the atonement. 



SEC CXXV. INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY. 

Behold the child among his new born blisses : 
A six years' darling of a pigmy size ! 
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies : 
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses, 
With light upon him from his father's eyes ? 
See, at his feet, some little plan or chart : 
Some fragment from his dream of human life, 
Shaped by himself with newly-learned art ! 

A wedding or a festival ; 

A mourning or a funeral ; 
And this hath now his heart ; 

And unto this he frames his song : 
Then will he fit his tongue 
To dialogues of business, love or strife ; 

But it will not be long, 

Ere this be thrown aside ; 

And with new joy and pride 
The little actor cons another part : 
Filling from time to time his " humorous stage," 
With all the persons down to palsied age, 
That life brings with her in her equipage : 

As if his whole vocation 

Were endless imitation. 

Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie 

Thy soul's immensity ; 
Thou best Philosopher, who yet dost keep 
Thy heritage ; thou eye among the blind, 
That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep, 
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind ; 

Mighty Prophet ! Seer blest ! 

On whom those truths do rest, 
Which we are toiling all our lives to find, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 359 

2 In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave ; 
Thou, over whom thy immortality 
Broods like the day, a master o'er a slave, 
A presence which is not to be put by ; 
Thou little child, yet glorious in the might 

Of heaven-born freedom on thy Being's height ; 
Why, with such earnest pains dost thou provoke 
The years to bring the inevitable yoke : 
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife ? 
Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, 

3 And custom lie upon thee with a weight, 
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life. 

O joy ! that in our embers, 

4 Is something that doth live : 
That nature yet remembers 
What was so fugitive ! 

The thought of our past years in me doth breed 
Perpetual benediction : not indeed 
For that, which is most worthy to be blest, 
Delight and liberty, the simple creed 

5 Of childhood, whether busy or at rest, 

With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast y 
Not for these I raise 
The song of thanks and praise ; 

But for those obstinate questionings 

Of sense and outward things : 

Fallings from us : vanishings : 

Blank misgivings of a creature 
Moving about in worlds not realized : 
High instincts before which our mortal nature 
Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised : 

But for those first affections, 

Those shadowy recollections, 

Which, be they what they may, 
Are yet the fountain light of all our day ; 
Are yet a master light of all our seeing ; 
Uphold us ; cherish ; and have power to make 
Our noisy years seem moments in the being 
Of the eternal silence : truths that wake, 

To perish never ; 
Which neither listlessness nor mad endeavor^ 

Nor man, nor boy, 
Nor all that is at enmity with joy, 
Can utterly abolish or destroy ! 
Thence, in a season of calm weather 

Though inland far we be, 
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea, 

6 Which brought us hither : 

Can in a moment travel thither, 
And see the children sport upon the shore, 
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. Wordsworth. 



360 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Sentence 2d. — A Bemi-interrogative, with a compound compellative of great length in the 
first part, and an imperfect loose indefinite interrogative, in the second. Sentence 4th. — "O 
there is cause for joy in the fact, that," &c. Sentence 5th. — A compound perfect loose declarative 
exclamatory, with a simple declarative in the first part, and a compound declarative double coin- 
pact in the second : the last, having the first proposition with two members, and the third, also 
with two members, expressed. The members of the third are, separately considered, imperfect 
loose sentences : together, they form a perfect loose. 



SEC. CXXVI. CHRISTIANITY ADVANCING. 

1 The assumption that our cause is declining is utterly gratuitous. We 
think it not difficult to prove that the distinctive principles, we so much 

2 venerate, never swayed so powerful an influence over the destinies of 
the human race, as at this very moment. Point us to those nations of 

3 the earth to whom moral and intellectual cultivation, inexhaustible 
resources, progress in arts, sagacity in council, have assigned the high- 
est rank in political importance, and you point us to nations, whose 
religious opinions are most closely allied to those we cherish. Besides, 

4 when was there a period, since the days of the Apostles, in which so 
many converts have been made to these principles as have been made, 
both from Christian and Pagan nations, within the last five and twenty 
years ? Never did the people of the saints of the Most High look so 

5 much like going forth in serious earnest, to take possession of the king- 
dom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, as at this very day. 

But suppose the cause did seem declining : we should see no reason 

6 to relax our exertions, for Jesus Christ has said, Preach the gospel to 
every creature ; and appearances, whether prosperous or adverse, alter 
not the obligation to obey a positive command of God. 

7 Again, suppose all that is affirmed were true. If it must be, let it 
be : let the dark cloud of infidelity overspread Europe, cross the ocean, 

8 and cover our beloved land : let nation after nation swerve from the 
faith : let iniquity abound and the love of many wax cold, even until 
there is on the face of this earth but one pure church of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ : all we ask, is, that we may be members of that 

9 one church. God grant that we may throw ourselves into this Ther- 
mopylae of the moral universe ! 

But even then, we should have no fear that the church of God would 

10 be exterminated ; we would call to remembrance the years of the right 
hand of the Most High : we would recollect there was once a time, when 
the whole church of Christ, not only could be, but actually was gath- 
ered with one accord in one place. It was then that that place was 

11 shaken, as with a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with 

12 the Holy Ghost. That same day, three thousand were added unto the 
Lord. Soon, we hear, they have filled Jerusalem with their doctrine : 
the Church has commenced her march : Samaria has with one accord 

13 believed the gospel : Antioch has become obedient to the faith : the 
name of Christ has been proclaimed throughout Asia Minor : the tem- 
ples of the gods, as though smitten by an invisible hand, are deserted : 
the citizens of Ephesus cry out in despair, Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians : licentious Corinth is purified by the preaching of Christ crucified. 

14 Persecution puts forth her arm to arrest the spreading superstition, but 
the progress of the faith cannot be stayed. The church of God ad van- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 361 

ces unhurt amidst rocks and dungeons, persecutions and death : she has 
15 entered Italy, and appears before the walls of the eternal city: idolatry 
falls prostrate at her approach : her ensign floats in triumph over the 
Capitol : she has placed upon her brow the diadem of the Caesars. 

Way land. 

Sentence 3d. — A compound declarative single compact, third form. Sentence 10th. — Double 
compact, with the first and second proposition expressed. Sentence llth. — Single compact 
third form. Sentence 13th — A perfect loose declarative in eight parts. 



SEC. CXXVII. THE BIBLE THE SAFEGUARD OF OUR INSTITUTIONS. 

It has been well said by a great politician of another country, (by 
Edmund Burke,) that " religion is the basis of civil society," and espe- 
cially, he might have added, of a free state ; and it has been said by a 
greater than he, (by our own Washington,) that " of all the dispositions 
and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are 

1 indispensable supports ;" and without pursuing the idea through all its 
illustrations, (for which I have not time,) what, I would ask, without 
their genial influences, what is to moderate and chasten that pride of 
self-government, that lust of power, which is generated and inflamed by 
all our institutions ? what is to prevent our liberty, great as it is, from 
lapsing into licentiousness? We hold, you know, (and rightly too,) 
that all government is, or ought to be, made and managed for the 
benefit of the people ; and we say that, " we, the people, 5 ' are the sove- 

2 reigns of the country : the fountains of law and honor ; and we appoint 
our rulers for servants, to follow our instructions, and obey our will in 
all things ; and we maintain, (or many do,) that " we, the people," can 
do no wrong ; and that our voice is the voice of God. Here, you see, 
is absolute power ; and it is the nature of absolute power, we know, to 
corrupt and inflate its holders ; and that, whether they be many or few ; 
and what now, I ask you, is to save us from the abuse of all this power ? 

3 what is to prevent our free democracy, (especially when our country 
becomes crowded with people, (as it will be by and by,) even through 
our woods and prairies, and our cities are choked with men, almost 
stifling each other with their hot breath,) what is to prevent our free 
democracy from following its natural bent, and launching us all-, or 
those who come after us, into a wild and lawless anarchy ? 

I know that we plume ourselves, (and with some reason too,) upon 
that principle of our government, (almost unknown to the ancients,) 

4 which we are pleased to call our invention, our discovery, though we 
might more truly and modestly term it our felicity : growing out of our 
situation and circumstances : our elective franchise ; and this, we think, 
is to save us from their fate. But what, I would ask our politicians, is 
to save our elective franchise itself? what is to make it worth having ? 
what is to make us choose wise and honest men to make our laws ? 
what is to execute them after they are made ? what is to save us, the 

5 people, from the ambition and treachery of our own elected servants ? 
what is to keep our servants from becoming our masters ? and -what is 
to save us from ourselves : from our passions and vices : the only for- 
midable enemies of republics : the only ones, at least, that we canj or 
ought to dread? Qur general intelligence and virtue; the general 

46 



362 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

6 intelligence and virtue of all classes of our people, with the blessing of 
Almighty God upon us ; and nothing else. But this intelligence and 

7 virtue are to be shed abroad, in a great measure, by the Bible ; and by 
the Bible alone. It is quite clear, at least, I think, that they can never 

8 be diffused, to any proper or sufficient extent, through the mass of the 
people, without a free and generous circulation of this book ; and all 
experience, I think, ancient and modern, confirms my sentiment. You 
remember Athens ? (she was the eye of Greece : the eye of all the 

9 earth;) and you remember how she rose, and flourished in arts and 
arms, and diffused herself abroad, till she became the light and beauty 

10 of the world 1 But now, alas ! how changed ! 12 She sits among her 
fallen columns, and her broken shrines, accusing fate : and why 1 

12 Her oracle is dumb, but I will answer for her: it is because she had 
no Bible. True, she was religious enough and overmuch in her own 
way and style, for she had always, you know, a large stock of gods and 
goddesses (such as they were) on hand, to suit the taste of every body ; 
and she manufactured them at home, and imported them from abroad ; 

13 and she commanded her philosophers to extol them, and condemned the 
books of her atheist scribbler to the flames ; and she built temples for 
them, and raised statues to them, as fine, and fair, and fashionable, as 
the genius of sculptor could make them ; and she had an altar for every 
one of them that she knew or had ever heard of, or dreamed about ; and 
one more ; and it was inscribed, " To the Unknown God." But there 

14 it was : with all her wisdom she knew not God ; for she had no Bible, 

15 bringing life and immortality to light, to reveal him to her. In vain, 
therefore, did she guard that statue of Minerva in her temple. She 

16 had no Bible to diffuse the knowledge of God, and intelligence and vir- 
tue along with it, among her people. She had no Bible, and she fell ; 

17 and what now, I ask you, is to save our city, our republic, from the 

18 same fate ? That Bible which she wanted, but which, I thank God, we 
have. Yes, the Bible, the Bible is our true palladium : sent down to 

19 us from Heaven to preserve our freedom; and we will guard it with 
holy care ; for we know that whilst we keep it, our city cannot be 
taken : our country will be safe. Yes, and I cannot help imagining at 

20 this moment, (remembering whose words I have been extending,) with 
what joy that great and good man, whom we fondly and truly call, " the 
father of our country," would have hailed the day of this society. O ! 
if he could have seen its light rising upon our land, with what zeal 
would he have come forward, from the shade of his retirement, to enrol 
himself among its members and friends ! with what patriotic pride, with 

21 what christian ardor he would have embraced our cause ; and, like the 
good old prophet in the temple, when he held up the young Desire of 
Nations in his arms, he would have exclaimed, " Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace according to thy word ; for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared for all people : a light to 
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel ! " Alas ! he 
" died without the sight ;" but, from heaven, where he lives, on this 
auspicious anniversary of our society, with the associated spirits of our 

22 venerable Boudinot, and Clarkson, he looks down upon our institution 
with a smile of complacency, because he sees in all our toils new 
pledges for the peace, and safety, and freedom of his still beloved coun- 
try. Maxwell, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 363 

Sentence 1st. — The comma after society, is the substitute of a semicolon. See Punctuation, 
Deviation II.) Sentence 4th. — This sentence and the fifth are strictly parts of one and the 
same; that is to say, together they should form a semi-interrog. with a single compact construc- 
tion : havin? the correlative words, indeed — but; but the construction being changed at fran- 
chise, the declarative portion is separated from its connection. Up to franchise, however, the 
fourth should be delivered as if the interrogative portion of the compact followed directly after. 
Sentence 9th. — A perf. loose indirect interrogative. 



SEC. CXXVIII. THE OBLIGATION OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION FOR PARENTS. 

1 The obligation of respect and affection for parents, never ceases, but 
rather increases with advancing age. As the child grows older, he 
becomes capable of more disinterested affection, and the manifestation 

2 of more delicate respect ; and, as the parent grows older, he feels more 
sensibly the need of attention ; and his happiness is more decidedly 
dependent upon it. As we increase in years, it should, therefore, be 
our more assiduous endeavor to make a suitable return to our parents 

3 for their kindness, bestowed upon us in infancy and youth, and to man- 
ifest our repentance for those acts of thoughtlessness and waywardness, 
which formerly may have grieved them, by unremitting attention, and 
delicate and heart-felt affection. 

That a peculiar insensibility exists to the obligations of the parental 

4 and filial relation, is, I fear, too evident to need any extended illustra- 
tion. The notion that a family is a society, and that a society must be 

5 governed, and that the right and duty of governing this society, rest 
with the parent, seems to be rapidly vanishing from the minds of men. 
In the place of it, it seems to be the prevalent opinion, that children 

6 may grow up as they please ; and that the exertion of parental restraint, 
is an infringement upon the personal liberty of the child. But all this 

7 will not abrogate the law of God ; nor will it avert the punishments 
which he has connected, indissolubly, with disobedience. The parent 

8 who neglects his duty to his children, is sowing thickly, for himself and 
for them, the seeds of his future misery. He w T ho is suffering the evil 

9 dispositions of his children to grow up uncorrected, will find that he is 
cherishing a viper by which he himself will first be stung. That 
parent, who is accustoming his children to habits of thoughtless caprice 
and reckless expenditure, and who stupidly smiles at the ebullitions of 

10 youthful passion, and the indulgence in fashionable vice, as indications 
of manly spirit, needs no prophet to foretell, that, unless the dissolute- 
ness of his family leave him early childless, his gray hairs will be 
brought down with sorrow to the grave. Wayland. 



SEC CXX1X. DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. 

Johnson grown old, Johnson in the fullness of his fame, and in the 

1 enjoyment of a competent fortune, is better known to us, than any other 
man in history. Every thing about him, his coat, his wig, h!s figure, 
his face, his scrofula, his St. Vitus's dance, his rolling walk, his blinking 
eye, the outward signs which too clearly marked his approbation of his 

2 dinner, his insatiable appetite for fish-sauce and veal-pie with plums, 
his inextinguishable thirst for tea, his trick of touching the posts as he 
walked, his mysterious practice of treasuring up scraps of orange-peel, 



364 



EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 



his morning slumbers, his midnight disputations, his contortions, his 
mutterings, his gruntings ; his vigorous, acute and ready eloquence, his 
sarcastic wit, his vehemence, his insolence, his fits of tempestuous rage, 
his queer inmates, (old Mr. Levett and blind Mrs. Williams, the cat 
Hodge, and the negro Frank,) all are as familiar to us as the objects 
by which we have been surrounded from childhood. Macauley. 



SEC CXXX. HAMPDEN. 

The celebrated puritan leader (Hampden) is an almost solitary 

1 instance of a great man who neither sought nor shunned greatness : 
who found glory only, because glory lay in the plain path of duty. 
During more than forty years, he was known to his country neighbors 
as a gentleman of cultivated mind, of high principles, of polished 

2 address, happy in his family, and active in the discharge of local duties : 
to political men, as an honest, industrious, and sensible member of Par- 
liament, not eager to display his talents, staunch to his party, and atten- 

3 tive to the interests of his constituents. A great and terrible crisis 
came. A direct attack was made, by an arbitrary government, on a 

4 sacred right of Englishmen : on a right which was the chief security 

5 of all their other rights. The nation looked round for a defender. 

6 Calmly and unostentatiously the plain Buckinghamshire Esquire 
placed himself at the head of his countrymen, and right before the face 

7 and across the path, of tyranny. The times grew darker and more 
troubled. Public service, perilous, arduous, delicate, was required ; 

8 and to every service, the intellect and the courage of this wonderful 
man were found fully equal. He became a debater of the first order : 

9 a most dexterous manager of the House of Commons : a negotiator : 

10 a soldier. He governed a fierce and turbulent assembly, abounding in 
able men, as easily as he had governed his family. He showed himself 

11 as competent to direct a campaign, as to conduct the business of the 
petty sessions. We can scarcely express the admiration which we feel 

12 for a mind so great, and, at the same time, so healthful and so well 
proportioned : so willingly contracting itself to the humblest duties ; so 
easily expanding itself to the highest : so contented in repose ; so pow- 
erful in action. Almost every part of this virtuous and blameless life, 

1 3 which is not hidden from us in modest privacy, is a precious and 
splendid portion of our national history. Macauley. 

Sentence 12th. — Though so great, yet at the same time, &c. — though 60 willingly, yet 
so easily, &c. — though so contented, yet so powerful, &c. 



SEC. CXXXI. A MAN WHO KNEW MANY THINGS, BUT NOTHING OP LAW. 

Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch, 

Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth, 

Between two blades, which bears the better temper, 

Between two horses, which doth bear him best, 

Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye, 

1 have, perhaps, some shallow spirit of judgment ; 

But in these nice, sharp quillets of the law, 

Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw. Sliakspeare, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 365 



SEC. CXXXII. WILLIAM PITT. 



1 Yet with all his faults and affectations, Pitt had, in a very extraordi- 
nary degree, many of the elements of greatness. He had splendid 

2 talents, strong passions, quick sensibility, and vehement enthusiasm for 

3 the grand and the beautiful. There was something about him that 
ennobled tergiversation itself. He often went wrong, very wrong, but 

4 to quote the language of Wordsworth, 

He still retained, 
'Mid such abasement, what he had received 
From nature : an intense and glowing mind. 

In an age of law and dirty prostitution, in the age of Doddington and 
Sandys, it was something to have a man who might, perhaps, under 

5 some strong excitement, have been tempted to ruin his countiy, but who 
never would have stooped to pilfer from her : a man whose errors arose, 
not from a sordid desire of gain, but from a fierce thirst for power, for 
glory, and for vengeance. History owes to him this attestation : that, at 
a time when any thing short of direct embezzlement of the public 
money was considered as quite fair in public men, he showed the most 
scrupulous disinterestedness ; that at a time, when it seemed to be gen- 
erally taken for granted, that government could be upheld only by the 
basest and most immoral arts, he appealed to the better and nobler 
parts of human nature : that he made a brave and splendid attempt to 

-6 do, by means of public opinion, what no other statesman of his day 
thought it possible to do, except by means of corruption ; that he looked 
for support, not like the Pelhams, to a strong aristocratical connection, 
not, like Bute, to the personal favor of the sovereign, but to the middle 
class of Englishmen ; that he inspired that class with a firm confidence 
in his integrity and ability ; that backed by them, he forced an unwil- 
ling court and an unwilling oligarchy to admit him to an ample share 
of power ; and that he used that power in such a manner, as clearly 
proved that he had sought it, not for the sake of profit or patronage, but 
from a wish to establish for himself a great and durable reputation by 
means of eminent services rendered to the state. Macauley. 

Sentence 6th. — A fine -example of imperfect loose declarative. 



SEC. CXXXIII. "THE LIFE OF JOHNSON" AND ITS AUTHOR, BOSWELL. 

1 The life of Johnson is assuredly a great, a very great work. Homer 

2 is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakspeare is not more 
decidedly the first of dramatists, Demosthenes is not more decidedly 

3 the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers. He has no 

4 second. He has distanced all his competitors so decidedly, that it is 

5 not worth while to place them. Eclipse is first, and the rest, nowhere. 

6 We are not sure that there is in the whole history of the human intel- 
lect so strange a phenomenon as this book. Many of the greatest men 

7 that ever lived have written biography ; Boswell was one of the smallest 
men that ever lived, and he has beaten them all. He was, if we are to 

8 give any credit to his own account, or to the united testimony of all 
who knew him, a man of the meanest and feeblest intellect. Johnson 



366 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

9 described him as a fellow who had missed his only chance of immor- 
tality, by not having been alive when the Dunciad was written. 

10 Beauclerk used his name as a proverbial expression for a bore. He 

11 was the laughing stock of the whole of that brilliant society which has 
owed to him the greater part of its fame. He was always laying him- 

12 self at the feet of some eminent man, and begging to be spit upon, and 
trampled upon. He was always earning some ridiculous nickname, 

13 and then "bending it as a crown unto him," not merely in metaphor, 

14 but literally. He exhibited himself, at the Shakspeare jubilee, to all 
the crowd which filled Stratford-on-Avon, with a placard around his 
hat, bearing the inscription of Corsica Boswell. In his tour, he pro- 

15 claimed to all the world, that at Edinburgh, he was known by the 
appellation of Paoli Boswell. Servile and impertinent, shallow and 
pedantic, a bigot and a sot, bloated with family pride, and eternally 
blustering about the dignity of a born gentleman, yet stooping to be a 
talebearer, an eaves-dropper, a common butt in the taverns of London ; 

16 so curious to know every body who was talked about, that, tory and 
high churchman as he was, he manceuvered, we have been told, for an 
introduction to Tom Paine ; so vain of the most childish distinctions, 
that, when he had been to court, he drove to the office where his book 
was being printed, without changing his clothes, and summoned all the 
printer's devils to admire his new ruffle and sword ; — such was this 
man ; and such he was content and proud to be. Every thing which 

17 another man would have hidden, every thing, the publication of which 
would have made another man hang himself, was matter of gay and 
clamorous exultation to his weak and diseased mind. What silly 
things, he said ; what bitter retorts he provoked ; how, at one place, he 
was troubled with evil presentiments which came to nothing ; how, at 
another place, on waking from a drunken doze, he read the prayer 
book, and took a hair of the dog that had bitten him ; how he went to 
see men hanged, and came away maudlin ; how he added five hundred 
pounds to the fortune of one of his babies, because she was not fright- 
ened at Johnson's ugly face ; how he was frightened out of his wits at 

18 sea, and how the sailors quieted him as they would have quieted a 
child ; how tipsy he was at Lady Cork's one evening, and how much 
his merriment annoyed the ladies; how impertinent he was to the 
Duchess of Argyle, and with what stately contempt she put down his 
impertinence ; how colonel Macleod sneered to his face at his impudent 
obtrusiveness ; how his father and the very wife of his bosom laughed 
and fretted at his fooleries ; — all these things he proclaimed to all the 
world, as if they had been subjects for pride and ostentatious rejoicing. 
All the caprices of his temper, all the illusions of his vanity, all his 
hypochondria whimsies, all his castles in the air, he displayed with a 

19 cool self-complacency, a perfect unconsciousness that he was making a 
fool of himself, to which it is impossible to find a parallel in the whole 

20 history of mankind. He has used many people ill, but assuredly he 
has used nobody so ill as himself. 

21 That such a man should have written one of the best books in the 
world, is strange enough. Macaulay. 

Sentence 1st. — This may be treated either as a simple declarative, or a simple indirect inter- 
rogative of the third kind. Sentence 5th. — "As eclipse, so the rest." Sentence 16th. — 
Though servile, yet impertinent, though shallow, yet, &c. An unusual sentence, and requires 
attention to the delivery. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 367 

SEC. CXXXIV. DEATH OF THE FRIEND OF THE GOOD. 

1 I will teach the world 

2 To thank thee. Who are thine accusers ? 3 Who ? 

4 The living ! they who never felt thy power, 
And know thee not ! The curses of the wretch 

5 Whose crimes are rife, his sufferings, when thy hand 
Is on him, and the hour he dreads is come, 

Are writ among thy praises. But the good : 

6 Does he, whom thy kind hand dismissed to peace, 
Upbraid the gentle violence that took off 

His fetters, and unbound his prison cell ? Bryant. 

Sentence 3d. — Who should be delivered with the rising slide. (See Rule III, Exception,) 
Sentence 4th. — A compound loose definite interrogative. Sentence 6th. — A semi- interroga- 
tive, with a perfect loose construction of the parts. 



SEC. CXXXV. THE EXCESSES OF REVOLUTIONS PRODUCED BY 
PREVIOUS OPPRESSION. 

If it were possible that a people, brought up under an intolerant and 

1 arbitrary system, could subvert that system without acts of cruelty and 
folly, half the objections to despotic power would be removed. We 

2 should, in that case, be compelled to acknowledge, that it at least pro- 
duces no pernicious effects on the intellectual and moral character of a 
people. We deplore the outrages which accompany revolutions, but 

3 the more violent the outrages, the more assured we feel that a revolu- 
tion was necessary. The violence of these outrages will always be 

4 proportioned to the ferocity and ignorance of the people ; and the ferocity 
and ignorance of the people will be proportioned to the oppression and 

5 degradation under which they have been accustomed to live. Thus it 

6 was in our civil war. The rulers in the church and state reaped only 
that which they had sown. They had prohibited free discussion : they 

7 had done their best to keep the people unacquainted with their duties 
and their rights : the retribution was just and natural. If they suffered 

8 from popular ignorance, it was because they had themselves taken away 
the key of knowledge : if they were assailed with blind fury, it was 
because they had exacted an equally blind submission. 

9 It is the character of such revolutions, that we always see the worst 

10 of them at first. Till men have been for some time free, they know 

11 not how to use their freedom. The natives of wine countries are always 
sober : in climates where wine is a rarity, intemperance abounds. A 

12 newly liberated people may be compared to a northern army, encamped 
on the Rhine or the Xeres. It is said, that when soldiers, in such a sit- 

13 uation, first find themselves able to indulge without restraint in such a 
rare and expensive luxury, nothing is to be seen but intoxication. Soon, 

14 however, plenty teaches discretion ; and, after wine has been for a few 
months their daily fare, they become more temperate than they had been 

15 in their own country. In the same manner, the final and permanent 
fruits of liberty are wisdom, moderation, and mercy. Its immediate 

16 effects are often atrocious crimes, conflicting errors, skepticism on points 



368 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

17 the most clear, dogmatism on points the most mysterious. It is just at 
this crisis, that its enemies love to exhibit it. They pull down the scaf- 

18 folding from the half-finished edifice ; they point to the flying dust, the 
falling bricks, the comfortless rooms, the frightful irregularity of the 
whole appearance ; and then ask in scorn, where the promised splendor 

19 and comfort is to be found. If such miserable sophisms were to pre- 
vail, there would never be a good house, or a good government in 
the world. 

Ariosto tells a pretty story of a fairy, who, by some mysterious law 

20 of her nature, was condemned to appear, at certain seasons, in the form 
of a foul and poisonous snake. Those who injured her, during the 
period of her disguise, were forever excluded from participation in the 
blessings which she bestowed ; but to those who, in spite of her loath- 

21 some aspect, pitied and protected her, she afterwards revealed herself 
in the beautiful and celestial form which was natural to her, accompa- 
nied their steps, granted all their wishes, filled their houses with wealth, 

22 made them happy in love, and victorious in war. Such a spirit is lib- 

23 erty. At times she takes the form of a hateful reptile. She grovels : 
she hisses : she stings : but woe to those, who, in disgust, shall venture 

24 to crush her ! and happy are those, who, having dared to receive her 
in her degraded and frightful shape, shall at length be rewarded by her 
in the time of her beauty and her glory ! 

25 There is only one cure for the evils which newly-acquired freedom 
produces ; and that cure is freedom ! When a prisoner leaves his cell, 

26 he cannot bear the light of day : he is unable to discriminate colors, or 
recognize faces ; but the remedy is not to remand him into his dun- 
geon, but to accustom him to the rays of the sun. The blaze of truth 

27 and liberty may at first dazzle and bewilder nations which have become 
half blind in the house of bondage, but let them gaze on, and they will 
soon be able to bear it. In a few years men learn to reason; the 

28 extreme violence of opinion subsides • hostile theories correct each 
other ; the scattered elements of truth cease to conflict and begin to 
coalesce ; and at length a system of justice and order is educed out of 
the chaos. 

Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a 

29 self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free, till they are fit 

30 to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, 
who resolved not to go into the water till he had learnt to swim ! If 

31 men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, 
they may indeed wait forever. Macauley. 



SEC. CXXXVI. THE ADVOCATES OF CHARLES I. PROPERLY CHASTISED. 

The advocates of Charles, like the advocates of other malefactors, 
against whom overwhelming evidence is produced, generally decline all 

1 controversy about the facts, and content themselves with calling testi- 
mony to character. He had so many private virtues ! and had James 
II. no private virtues 1 was even Oliver Cromwell, his bitterest enemies 

2 themselves being judges, destitute of private virtues ? And what, after 

3 all, are the virtues ascribed to Charles ? A religious zeal, not more 

4 sincere than that of his son, and fully as weak and narrow-minded, and 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 369 

a few of the ordinary household decencies, which half the tomb-stones 

5 in England claim for those who lie beneath them. A good father ! a 

6 good husband ! Ample apologies, indeed, for fifteen years of persecu- 
tion, tyranny, and falsehood ! 

7 We charge him with having broken his coronation-oath, and we are 
told that he kept his marriage-vow ! We accuse him of having given 

8 up his people to the merciless inflictions of the most hot-headed and 
hard-hearted of prelates, and the defence is, that he took his little son 
on his knee and kissed him ! We censure him for having violated the 

9 articles of the Petition of Right, after having, for good and valuable 
considerations, promised to observe them, and we are informed that he 
was accustomed to hear prayers at six o'clock in the morning ! It is to 

10 such considerations as these, together with his vandyke dress, his hand- 
some face, and his peaked beard, that he owes, we verily believe, most 
of his popularity with the present generation. 

For ourselves, we own that we do not understand the common phrase, 

11 'a good man, but a bad king;' we can as easily conceive a good man 
and an unnatural father ; or a good man and a treacherous friend. We 
cannot, in estimating the character of an individual, leave out of our 

12 consideration his conduct in the most important of all human relations ; 
and if, in that relation, we find him to have been selfish, cruel, and 
deceitful, we shall take the liberty to call him a bad man, in spite of 
all his temperance at table, and all his regularity at chapel. 

Macaulay. 

Sentence 2d. — A semi-interrog., with a perf. loose def. interrog. in one part, and a fragmen- 
tary compound close decl. excl. in the other. The complement of the latter supplied, it would 
probably read thus: "It is said that he had," &c. Sentences 7th, 8th and 9th, are respec- 
tively single compact declar. exclam., of the third form. "If we charge, &c, then, ,! &c. 
"If we accuse, &c, then the defence," &c. "If we censure, &c, then we are informed," 
&c. Sentence llth. — A double compact decl., with the first and second proposition expressed : 
i. e., the negative and the reason for it. 



SEC. CXXXVII. THE INFLUENCE OF TIME IN MODERATING GRIEF. 

The great philosopher Citophilus, was one day in company with a 

1 female friend, who was in the utmost affliction ; and who had very good 

2 reason to be so. 'Madam,' said he to her, 'the queen of England, the 
daughter of our great Henry, was as unfortunate as you. She was 

3 almost drowned in crossing our narrow channel ; and she saw her royal 
4 husband perish on the scaffold.' 'I am very sorry for her,' said the 

lady ; and she began to weep her own misfortunes. 

5 ' But,' said Citophilus, ' think of Mary Stuart. She loved very hon- 

6 orably, a most noble musician, who sung the finest tenor in the world. 
Her husband killed her musician before her very eyes ; and afterwards 

7 her good friend, and good relation queen Elizabeth, who first kept her 
'in prison eighteen years, contrived to have her beheaded on a scaffold, 

8 covered with the finest black.' 'That was very cruel/ answered the 
lady ; and she sunk back into her melancholy as before. 

9 'You have, perhaps, heard of the beautiful Joan of Naples,' said the 
10 comforter. 'She was seized, you know, and strangled.' 'I have a 

confused remembrance of it,' said the lady. 

47 



370 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

'I must tell you, after supper,' added the other, 'the adventures of a 

12 queen, who was dethroned in my own time ; and who died in a desert 

13 island.' 'I know the whole story,' she replied. 

14 ' Well, then, how can you think of being so miserable, when so many 

15 queens and great ladies have been miserable before you ! Think of 
Hecuba ! think of Niobe ! < Ah !' said the lady, 'if I had lived in their 

16 time, or in the time of those beautiful princesses of whom you speak ; 
and if, to comfort them, you had told them my griefs ; do you think 
they would have listened to you V 

17 The next day, the philosopher lost his only son, and was at the point 

18 of death with affliction. The lady got a list made out, of all the kings 
who had lost their children, and carried it to the philosopher. He read 

19 it, found the list to be very accurate, and — did not weep the less. 

20 Three months afterwards, they met again j and they were quite aston- 
ished, at meeting, to find themselves so gay. They resolved immedi- 

21 ately to erect a beautiful statue to Time, and ordered this inscription to 
be put upon it : To the Comforter. Voltaire. 



SEC CXXXVIII. RIENZI S ADDRESS TO THE ROMANS. 

1 I come not here to talk ; you know too well 

2 The story of our thraldom. We are slaves ! 
The bright sun rises to his course, and lights 
A race of slaves ! he sets, and his last beam 
Falls on a slave ! not such, as swept along 
By the full tide of power, the conqueror led 

3 To crimson glory and undying fame, 

But base, ignoble slaves : slaves to a horde 
Of petty tyrants : feudal despots : lords, 
Rich in some dozen paltry villages : 
Strong in some hundred spearmen : only great 
In that strange spell — a name. 

Each hour, dark fraud, 

4 Or open rapine, or protected murder, 
Cry out against them. But this very day, 

An honest man, my neighbor, (there he stands,) 
Was struck, struck like a dog, by one who wore 

5 The badge of Ursini, because, forsooth, 
He tossed not high his ready cap in air, 
Nor lifted up his voice in servile shouts, 

At sight of that great ruffian ! Be we men, 

6 And suffer such dishonor : men, and wash not 
The stain away in blood ? 

7 Such shames are common : 

I have known deeper wrongs. I, that speak to ye, 
I had a brother once, (a gracious boy,) 

8 Full of gentleness, of calmest hope, 

Of sweet and quiet joy : there was the look 
Of heaven upon his face, which limners give 

9 To the beloved disciple ! How I loved 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 371 

10 That' gracious boy ! Younger by fifteen years, 
Brother at once and son ! He left my side, 

11 A summer bloom on his fair cheek, a smile 
Parting his innocent lips : in one short hour, 
The pretty, harmless boy was slain ! I saw 

12 The corse, the manged corse, and then I cried 
For vengeance ! 

13 Rouse ye, Romans! rouse ye, slaves! 

14 Have ye brave sons ? 15 Look, in the next fierce brawl, 

16 To see them die. Have ye fair daughters ? Look 

17 To see them live, torn from your arms, distained, 
Dishonored ; and, if ye dare call for justice, 

Be answered by the lash. 

Yet this is Rome, 

18 That sat on her seven hills, and, from her throne 

19 Of beauty, ruled the world ! Yet we are Romans ! 

20 Why, in that elder day, to be a Roman, 
Was greater than a king ! And once again, 

21 (Hear me, ye walls, that echoed to the tread 
Of either Brutus !) once again, I swear 

The eternal city shall, be free. Miss Mitford. 

Sentence 10th. — " As he was younger, so he was brother, &c." Sentence 12th. — " When 
I saw, then I cried, &c." Sentences lQth, 19th. — These may be respectively read either as 
compound close and simple decl. exclamations, or as compound close and simple indirect inter- 
rogatives. I prefer the former reading, inasmuch as it forms a better connection with what 
follows. 



SEC CXXXIX. IF GOD BE FOR YOU, FEAR NOTHING. 

1 What shall we then say to these things ? 2 If God be for us, who 

3 can be against us ? He that spared not his own son, — how ! shall he 

4 not with him, also freely give us all things ! Who shall lay any thing 

5 to the charge of God's elect ? God that justifieth ! 6 Who is he that 

7 condemneth ? Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is 
even at the right hand of God : who also maketh intercession for us ! 

8 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Tribulation, or dis- 

9 tress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is 
written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long : we are accounted 
as sheep for the slaughter ! Nay, in all these things we are more than 
conquerors, through him that loved us ; for I am persuaded that neither 

10 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. 

Sentence 3d. — This sentence began with the design of being a comp. close declarative ; but 
the author at son breaks that construction and converts the remainder into a definite interrog. 
excl. Sentences 5th, 7th, 9th, are fragmentary definite interrog. excl. Sentence 10th. — Nay 
is here equivalent to "these shall not separate us, &c." : making it, with the continuation, the 
first and second proposition of a double compact declarative. 



372 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CXL. WHEN WE MAY REJOICE IN THE POSSESSION OF ELOQUENCE. 

When the orator is employed in some great cause that is worthy of 
his eloquence ; asserting, against the proud and the powerful, the right 
of some humble sufferer, who has nothing to vindicate his right but 
justice and the eloquence of his protector ; or rousing a senate, too apt, 
perhaps, to think only of the privileges of a few, or of the interests, or 
supposed interests, of one people, to the consideration of the great rights 
of mankind, of every color and country ; forcing, as it were, upon their 
eyes atrocities which they had, perhaps, at a distance, long sanctioned 
.or permitted; and absolving, or at least finishing, by the virtuous 
triumph of a single hour, the guilt of many centuries ; — in such cases, 

1 indeed, if the orator, while the happiness and misery, the virtue and 
vice, the glory and infamy, of nations are depending on his voice, can 
think within himself of the power which he is exercising, he would be 
unworthy at once of the cause which he pleads, and of the eloquence 
with which he may .be pleading it ; but when the victory is won, when 
all the advantages which are to flow from it, have been felt with delight, 
we may then allow some feeling of gratification to arise in the mind, 
even of the most virtuous, at the thought of that energy w T hich was so 
successfully exercised : before which every heart, that did not gladly 
yield to its influence, shrunk as from something dreadful and irresistible, 
that had swept away all subterfuges of hypocrisy, and left nothing 
behind but conviction, and joy, and dismay. There are causes in which, 

2 not to rejoice in the possession of eloquence, would be almost to be 
indifferent to the blessings to which it may lead. The patriot, whom 
the corrupt tremble to see arise, may well feel a grateful satisfaction in 
the mighty power which heaven has delegated to him, when he thinks 

3 that he has used it only for purposes which heaven approves : for the 
freedom, and peace, and prosperity of his own land, and for all that 
happiness which the land, that is dearest to him, can diffuse to every 
nation that is within the sphere of its influence or example. 

Br. Thomas Brown. 

Sentence 1st. — The change of construction, indicated by the dash, consists in the substitution 
of in such cases, for the correlative then. 

Sentence 2d. — "Not to rejoice, &c," the nominative case of the verb would be, is the first 
preposition of a double compact of which the third is understood ; viz., "but to be indifferent 
about it, would be, &c." 



SEC. CXLI. THE CHILD AND THE MAN. 

When we compare the listless inactivity of the infant, slumbering 
from the moment at which he takes his milky food to the moment at 
which he awakes to require it again, with the restless energies of that 
mighty being which he is to become, in his maturer years, pouring 
1 truth after truth in rapid and dazzling profusion upon the world, or 
grasping in his single hand the destinies of empires, how few are the 
circumstances of resemblance which we can trace ! of all that intelli- 
gence which is afterwards to be displayed, how little more is seen, than 
what serves to give feeble motion to the mere machinery of life ! 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 373 

What prophetic eye can venture to look beyond the period of distinct 
utterance, and discern that variety of character by which even boyhood 
is marked, far less the intellectual and moral growth of the years that 
follow ; the genius, before whose quick glance, the errors and prejudi- 
ces, which all the ages and nations of mankind have received as truths, 
are to disappear ; the political wisdom, with which, in his calm and 

2 silent meditations, he is to afford more security to his country than 
could be given to it by a thousand armies, and which, with a single 
thought, is to spread protection and happiness to the most distant lands ; 
or that ferocious ambition, with which, in unfortunate circumstances of 
power, he is perhaps to burst the whole frame of civil society, and to 
stamp, through every age, the deep and dark impression of his existence, 
in the same manner as he leaves on the earth which he has desolated, 

3 the track of his sanguinary footsteps ? The cradle has its equality, 
almost as the grave. Talents, imbecilities, virtues, vices, slumber in it, 
undistinguished ; and it is well that it is so, since to those who are most 

4 interested in the preservation of a life that w r ould be helpless but for their 
aid, it leaves those delightful illusions which more than repay their 
anxieties and fatigue, and allows them to hope, for a single being, every 
thing which it is possible for the race of man to become. If clearer 
presages of the future mind were then discoverable, how large a portion 
of human happiness would be destroyed by this single circumstance ! 

5 what pleasure could the mother feel, in her most delightful of offices, if 
she knew that she was nursing into strength, powers which were to be 
exerted for the misery of that great or narrow circle, in which they 
were to move ; and which to her were to be a source, not of blessing, 
but of grief and shame and despair ! Dr. Thomas Brown. 



SEC CXLII. THE FOLLY OF REGRETTING THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 
PLEASANTLY EXPOSED. 

" Tell me," says Micromegas, an inhabitant of one of the planets of 

1 the Dog Star, to the secretary of the Academy of Sciences in the planet 
Saturn, at which he had recently arrived in a journey through the 
heavens : " tell me : how many senses have the men on your globe ?" — 

2 " We have seventy -two senses," answered the academician ; and we 

3 are, every day, complaining of the smallness of the number. Our 
imagination goes far beyond our wants. What are seventy-two senses I 

4 and how pitiful a boundary, even for beings with such limited percep- 
tions, to be cooped up within our ring, and our five moons ! In spite of 
our curiosity, and in spite of as many passions as can result from six 

5 dozen senses, we find our hours hanging very heavily on our hands ; 
and we can always find time enough for yawning." — " I can very well 
believe it," says Micromegas, " for, in our globe, we have very near 

6 one thousand senses, and yet, with all these, we feel a sort of listless 
inquietude, and vague desire, which are forever telling us that we 
are nothing ; and that there are beings infinitely nearer perfection. I 

7 have traveled a good deal in the unir/erse, I have seen many classes of 
mortals far beneath us, and many as much superior, but I have never 
had the good fortune to find any, who had not always more desires than 



374 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

real necessities to occpuy their life. — And, pray, how long may you 

8 Saturnians live with your few senses V continued the Sirian. — " Ah ! 

9 but a very short time, indeed !" said the little man of Saturn, with a 
sigh. — It is the same with us," said the traveler: "we are forever 

10 complaining of the shortness of life : it must be an universal law of 

11 nature." — '" Alas !" said the Saturnian, "we live only five hundred 

12 great revolutions of the sun.* You see well, that this is to die almost 

13 the moment one is born. Our existence is a point: our duration, an 
instant : our globe, an atom. Scarcely have we begun to pick up a little 

14 knowledge, when death rushes in upon us, before we can have acquired 
any thing like experience. As for me, I cannot venture even to think 
of any project, for I feel myself but like a drop of water in the ocean ; 

15 and, especially, now, when I look to you and to myself, I really feel 
quite ashamed of the ridiculous appearance which I make in the uni- 
verse." — "If I did not know that you are a philosopher," replied Mic- 

16 romegas, " I should be afraid of distressing you, when I tell you, that 
our life is seven hundred times longer than yours ; but what is even 

17 that ? When we come to the last moment, to have lived a single day, 
and to have lived a whole eternity, amount to the very same thing. I 

18 have been in countries where they live a thousand times longer than 
with us, and yet I have always found them murmuring, just as we do 

19 ourselves. — But you have seventy-two senses, and they must have told 

20 you something about your globe. How many propeties has matter with 

21 you ?" — " If you mean essential properties,," said the Saturnian, " with- 
out which our globe could not subsist, we count three hundred : exten- 
sion, impenetrability, mobility, gravitation, divisibility, and so forth V s — 
" That small number," replied the gigantic traveler, may be sufficient 

22 for the views which the Creator must have had with respect to your 

23 narrow habitation. Your globe is little : its inhabitants are so too : you 

24 have few senses : your matter has few qualities. In all this Providence 
has suited you most happily to each other. 

25 The academician was more and more astonished with every thing 
which the traveler told him. At length, after communicating to each 

26 other a little of what they knew, and a great deal of what they knew 
not, and reasoning as well and as ill, as philosophers usually do, they 
resolved to set out together, on a little tour of the universe. 

Voltaire. 

Sentence 1st. — This sentence is an example of how slight a change in the arrangement of 
words is necessary to produce a different sentence. If the have in the interrogative portion 
stood after men, it would be a compound close declarative ; but with have where it is, the sen- 
tence is semi-interrogative, with a loose connection. The long circumstance at the beginning 
should end therefore with partial close. (See Chapt. VI, Circumstance.) Observe all the cir- 
cumstances of the same kind, in this exercise. 



SEC. CXLIII. HORATIO ANNOUNCES TO HAMLET THE APPEARANCE OF 

his father's GHOST. 

1 Hor. Hail to your lordship ! 

2 Ham. I am glad to see you well : 
Horatio, or I do forget myself. 

That is, about fifteen thousand of our years. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 375 

3 Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. 

4 Ham. Sir, my good friend : I '11 change that name with you ; 
And what make you from Wittengburg, Horatio 1 

5 Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. 
Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so, 

6 Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, 
To make it truster of your own report 
Against yourself: I know you are no truant. — 

7 But what is your affair in Elsinore ? 

8 We '11 teach you to drink deep ere you depart. 

9 Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. 

10 Ham. I pray you, do not mock me, fellow student : 
I think it was to see my mother's wedding. 

11 Hor. Indeed, it followed hard upon. 

12 Ham. Thrift : thrift, Horatio : the funeral baked meats 
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 

13 'Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven, 
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio ! 

14 My father, — methinks I see rny father — 

15 Hor. Oh where, 
My lord ? 

16 Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 

17 Hor. I saw him once ; he was a goodly king. 

18 Ham. He was a man : take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again. 

19 Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. 

20 Ham. Saw who ? 

21 Hor. My lord, the king your father. 

22 Ham. The king, my father ? 
Hor. Season your admiration for a while 

23 With an attentive ear, till I may deliver, 
Upon the witness of these gentlemen, 
The marvel to you. 

24 Ham. For God's love, let me hear. 

Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, 
Marcellus and Benardo, on their watch, 
In the dead waste and middle of the night, 

25 Been thus encountered : a figure like your father, 
Armed at all points, exactly, cap-a x -pie', 
Appears before them, and, with solemn march, 
Goes slow and stately by them. Thrice he walked, 

26 By their oppressed and fear-surprised eyes, 
Within his truncheon's length, whilst they, distilled 
Almost to jelly with the act of fear, 

Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me, 
In dreadful secrecy, impart they did ; 

27 And I, with them, the third night kept the watch ; 
W^here, as they had delivered, both in time 
Form of the thing, each word made true and good, 

28 The apparition comes. I knew your father ; 
These hands are not more like. 

29 Ham. But where was this ? 



376 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

30 Hor. My lord, upon the platform where we watched. 

31 Ham. Did you not speak to it ? 

32 Hor. My lord, I did. 
But answer made it none : yet once, methought, 
It lifted up its head, and did address 

33 Itself to motion, like as it would speak, 

But, even then, the morning cock crew loud ; 
And, at the sound, it shrunk in haste away, 
And vanished from our sight. 

34 Ham. 'T is very strange. 
Hor. As I do live, my honored lord, 't is true ; 

35 And we did think it writ down in our duty, 
To let you know of it. 

36 Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me. — 

37 Hold you the watch to-night ? 

38 Hor. We do, my lord. 

39 Ham. Armed, say you 1 

40 Hor. Armed, my lord. 

41 Ham. From top to toe ? 

42 Hor. My lord, from head to foot. 

43 Ham. Then saw you not 
His face ? 

44 Hor. O yes, my lord : he wore his beaver up. 

45 Ham. What ? looked he frowningly ? 

46 Hor. A countenance more 
In sorrow than in anger. 

47 Ham. Pale, or red ? 

48 Hor. Nay, very pale. 

49 Ham. And fixed his eyes upon you % 

50 Hor. Most constantly. 

51 Ham. I would I had been there. 

52 Hor. It would have much amazed you. 

53 Ham. Very like : 
Very like : — staid it long ? 

54 Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred. 

55 Ham. His beard was grizzled ? 56 No ? 

57 Hor. It was as I have seen it in his life : 
A sable silvered. 

58 Ham. I will watch to-night : 
Perchance 't will walk again. 

59 Hor. 1 warrant you it will. 
Ham. If it assume my noble father's person, 

60 I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape, 
And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 
If you have hitherto concealed this sight, 

61 Let it be tenable in your silence still ; 
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, — 
Give it an understanding, but no tongue : 

62 I will requite your loves. So fare you well. 

63 Upon the platform 'twixt eleven and twelve, 

I'll visit you. Shakspeare, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 377 

Sentence 2d. — "Either it is Horatio, or," &,c. Sentence 3d. — "As the same, so your," 
&c. Sentence 4th. — "Sir! you are my good friend." Sentence 6th. — A double compact 
decl., with the first and second proposition. Sentence Sth. — The fragment of a single compact 
doclarative : the second part understood ; viz., "for or because drinking deep is the order of 
the day here ; the common practice." If the reader can turn to the place in Hamlet, and read 
Johnson's note on this sentence, he will perceive why this is said. Sentence 11th. — "It fol- 
lowed hard upon," or, " that it followed hard upon, I must admit." Upon, therefore, takes the 
bend. Sentence 13th. — Or is here a substitute for than. " Would I had rather, &c, than," 
&c. Sentence 17th. — "I saw him only once, indeed, but I then thought he was a goodly 
king, if ever one was." Such I suppose to be the connection of ideas, here evidently but par- 
tially expressed. Sentence 18th. — "I shall not," &c, the first proposition of a double comp. : 
all the others suppressed. Sentence 20th. — Who for whom. Sentence 28th. — " As I knew, 
so." Sentence 34th. — Indirect interrogative, simple. Sentence 35th. — "Yes, but as," &c. 
Sentences 43d, 49th, 55th, are indirect interrogatives. Sentence 46th. — Either a fragmentary 
mixed sentence, "He bore a countenance that was more," &c, ending with perfect close, or 
the fragmentary mixed first part of a single compact, ending with bend : the reason for the 
assertion, or the part beginning with because, being understood. 



SEC. CXLIV. THE SUPERIOR. WORLDLY ADVANTAGES OF ILLITERATE 
MEN, NO GROUND FOR COMPLAINT. 

We should consider this world as a great mart of commerce, where 

1 fortune exposes to our view various commodities : riches ; ease ; tran- 

2 quility ; fame ; integrity ; knowledge. Every thing is marked at a 

3 settled price. Our time, our labor, our ingenuity, are so much ready 
money, which we are to lay out to the best advantage. Examine, com- 

4 pare, choose, reject, but stand to your own judgment, and do not, like 
children, when you have purchased one thing, repine that you do not 
possess another which you did not purchase. Such is the force of well- 

5 regulated industry, that a steady and vigorous exertion of our faculties, 
directed to one end, will generally insure success. Would you, for in- 

6 stance, be rich ? do you think that single point worth the sacrifice of 

7 every thing else ? You may then be rich. Thousands have become so 
§ from the lowest beginnings, by toil, and patient diligence, and attention 

to the minutest articles of expense and profit ; but you must give up 
the pleasures of leisure, of a vacant mind, of a free unsuspicious tem- 
9 per. If you preserve your integrity, it must be a coarse-spun and vul- 
gar honesty. Those high and lofty notions of morals, which you brought 

10 with you from the schools, must be considerably lowered, and mixed 
with the baser alloy of a jealous and worldly-minded prudence. You 

11 must learn to do hard, if not unjust, things ; and for the nice embarrass- 
ments of a delicate and ingenuous spirit, it is necessary for you to get 
rid of them as fast as possible. You must shut your heart against the 

12 Muses, and be content to feed your understanding with plain household 
truths. In short, you must not attempt to enlarge your ideas, or polish 

13 your taste, or refine your sentiments, but must keep on in one beaten 
14 track, without turning aside either to the right or to the left. — "But I 

15 cannot submit to drudgery like this; I feel a spirit above it." — 5 T is 
well : be above it then : only do not repine that you are not rich." 

16 Is knowledge the pearl of price ? That too may be purchased by 

17 steady application, and long solitary hours of study and reflection. 

18 Bestow these, and you shall be wise. — "But," says the man of letters, 
" what a hardship is it, that many an illiterate fellow, who cannot con- 

19strue the motto of the arms on his coach, shall raise fortune and make 
a figure, while I have little more than the common conveniences of life !" 

. 48 



378 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

— Was it in order to raise a fortune that you consumed the sprightly 

20 hours of youth in study and retirement ? was it to be rich that you grew 
pale over the midnight lamp, and distilled the sweetness from the Greek 

21 and Roman spring ? You have then mistaken your path, and ill- 

22 employed your industry. — " What reward have I then for all my 

23 labors?" — What reward! A large comprehensive soul, well purged 
from vulgar fears, and perturbations and prejudices : able to compre- 

24 hend and interpret the works of man and of God ; a rich, flourishing, 
cultivated mind, pregnant with inexhaustible stores of entertainment 
and reflection ; a perpetual spring of fresh ideas ; and the conscious 

25 dignity of superior intelligence. Good heaven ! and what reward can 
you ask beside ? — 

" But is it not some reproach upon the economy of Providence, that 

26 such a one, who is a mean, dirty fellow, should have amassed wealth 

27 enough to buy half a nation ?" — Not in the least. 28 He made himself 
a mean, dirty fellow for that very end. He has paid his health, his con- 

29 science, his liberty for it ; and will you envy him his bargain ? will 
you hang your head and blush in his presence because he outshines you 
in equipage and show ? Lift up your brow with a noble confidence, 

30 and say to yourself, I have not these things, it is true, but it is because I 
have not sought, because I have not desired them : it is because I pos- 
sess something better : I have chosen my lot : I am content, and sat- 
isfied. 

You are a modest man ; you love quiet and independence, and have 

31 a delicacy and reserve in your temper, which render it impossible for 
you to elbow your way in the world, and be the herald of your own 
merits. Be content then with a modest retirement ; with the esteem of 

32 your intimate friends ; with the praises of a blameless heart, and a del- 
icate, ingenuous spirit ; but resign the splendid distinctions of the world 
to those who can better scramble for them. 

The man whose tender sensibility of conscience, and strict regard to 

33 the rules of morality make him scrupulous and fearful of offending, is 
often heard to complain of the disadvantages he lies under in every 
path of honor and profit. — " Could I but get over some nice points, and 

34 conform to the practice and opinion of those about me, I might stand as 
fair a chance as others for dignities and preferment." — And why can 
you not ? what hinders you from discarding this troublesome scrupu- 

35 losity of yours, which stands so grievously in your way ? If it be a 
small thing to enjoy a healthful mind, sound at the very core, that does 

36 not shrink from the keenest inspection ; unsullied whiteness and sim- 
plicity of manners ; a genuine integrity, 

Pure in the last recesses of the mind ; 

if you think these advantages an inadequate recompense for what you 
resign ; dismiss your scruples this instant, and be a slave-merchant, a 
parasite, or — what you please. Mrs. Barbauld. 

Sentence \4tlt. — "But therefore I cannot, because I feel, 55 &c. 



sentences in continuous discourse. 379 

sec. cxlv. Washington's opinion of lafayette. 

Perhaps one of the highest encomiums ever pronounced on a man in 
public life, is that of a historian, eminent for his profound acquaintance 

1 with mankind, who, in painting a great character by a single line, says 
that he was just equai to all the duties of the highest offices which he 
attained and never above them. There are in some men qualities 

2 which dazzle and consume to little or no valuable purpose : they seldom 
belong to the great benefactors of mankind : they were not the qualities 
of Washington and Lafayette. The testimonials offered by the Ameri- 
can commander to his young friend, after a probation of several months, 

3 and after the severe test of the disastrous day of the Brandywine, was 
precisely adapted to the man in whose favor it was given, and to the 
object which it was to accomplish. What earnestness of purpose ! 

4 what sincerity of conviction ! what energetic simplicity of expression ! 
what thorough delineation of character ! The merits of Lafayette, to 
the eye of Washington, are the candor and generosity of his disposi- 
tion ; the indefatigable industry of application which, in the course of a 

5 few months, has already given him the mastery of a foreign language ; 
good sense ; discretion of manners ; an attribute not only unusual in 
early years, but doubly rare in alliance with that enthusiasm, so sig- 
nally marked by his self-devotion to the American cause ; and, to crown 
all the rest, the bravery and military ardor so brilliantly manifested at 

6 the Brandywine. Here is no random praise ; no unmeaning panegyric. 
This cluster of qualities, all plain and simple, but seldom found in union 
together, so generally incompatible with one another, — these are the 
properties eminently trustworthy, in the judgment of Washington ; and 

7 these are the properties which his discernment has found in Lafayette ; 
and which urged him thus earnestly to advise the gratification of his 
wish, by the assignment of a command equal to the rank which had 
been granted to his zeal and his illustrious name. /. Q. Adams. 

Sent, 6th. — A double compact, with the first part only, containing two members, expressed. 



SEC. CXLVI. THE SPIDER. 

Spider ! thou need'st not run in fear about 

To shun my curious eyes ; 
I won't humanely crush thy bowels out, 

Lest thou shouldst eat the flies ; 
Nor will I roast thee with a damned delight 
Thy strange instinctive fortitude to see ; 
For there is one who might 
One day roast me. 

Thou art welcome to a rhymer sore-perplexed, 

The subject of his verse : 
There is many a one who, on a better text, 

Perhaps might comment worse. 
Then shrink not, old Free-Mason, from my view, 
But quietly like me spin out the line : 
Do thou thy work pursue 
As I will mine. 



3B0 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Weaver of snares, thou emblemest the ways 
4 Of Satan, sire of lies : 

Hell's huge black spider : for mankind he lays 

His toils, as thou for flies. 
When Betty's busy eye runs round the room, 
Woe to that nice geometry, if seen ! 
But where is he whose broom 
The earth shall clean ? 

Spider ! of old thy flimsy webs were thought, 

(And 't was a likeness true,) 
To emblem laws in which the weak are caught, 

6 But which the strong break through ; 
And if a victim in thy toils is ta'en, 

Like some poor client, is that wretched fly : 
I '11 warrant- thee, thou 'It drain 
His life-blood dry. 

7 And is not thy weak work like human schemes, 

And care on earth employed ? 
Such are young hope's and love's delightful dreams : 
So easily destroyed ! 

8 So does the statesman, whilst the Avengers sleep, 

Self-deemed secure, his wiles in secret lay : 
Soon shall destruction sweep 
His work away. 

Thou busy laborer, one resemblance more 
<9 May yet the verse prolong ; 

For, Spidex*, thou art like the poet poor, 
Whom thou hast helped in song. 
Both busily our needful food to win, 
10 We work, as Nature taught, with ceaseless pains : 
Thy bowels thou dost spin ; 

I spin my brains. Souihey. 

Sentence 1st. — A decl. perf. loose with a double compact in each of its two parts, comprising 
the first and second proposition. Sentence 2d. — " Perplexed for the subject, &c." Sentence 
10th. — "As both of us are busily engaged, &c, so we both, &c." "As thy bowels thou, 
so I." 



SEC CXLVII. CAUTION SHOULD GUIDE POLITICAL INNOVATION. 

To avoid therefore the evils of inconsistency and versatility, ten 
thousand times worse than those of obstinacy and blindest prejudice, we 
have consecrated the state, that no man should approach to look into 
1 its defects or corruptions, but with due caution : that he should never 
dream of beginning its reformation by its subversion : that he should 
approach to the faults of the state, as to the wounds of a father, with 
pious awe and trembling solicitude. By this wise prejudice, we are 
taught to look with horror on those children of their country, who are 
prompt rashly to hack that aged parent in pieces, and put him into the 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 381 

kettle of magicians, in hopes that by their poisonous weeds, and wild 
incantations, they may regenerate the paternal constitution, and reno- 
vate their father's life. Burke. 



SEC. CXLVIII. THE DIFFICULTY OF APPLYING GENERAL RULES TO 
PARTICULAR CASES IN MORALS. 

The general rules of almost all the virtues, the general rules which 
determine what are the offices of prudence, of charity, of generosity, of 

1 gratitude, of friendship, are in many respects loose and inaccurate, 
admit of many exceptions, and require so many modifications, that it is 
scarce possible to regulate our conduct entirely by a regard to them. 
The common proverbial maxims of prudence, being founded in universal 

2 experience, are perhaps the best general rules which can be given 

3 about it. To affect, however, a very strict and literal adherence to 
them, would be the most absurd and ridiculous pedantry. Of all the 

4 virtues I have just now mentioned, gratitude is that, perhaps, of which 
the rules are the most precise, and admit of the fewest exceptions. 
That as soon as we can, we should make a return of equal, and, if 

5 possible, of superior value to the services we have received, would seem 
to be a pretty plain rule, and one which admitted of scarce any excep- 
tions. If your benefactor attended you in your sickness, ought you to 

6 attend him in his ? or can you fulfill the obligation of gratitude, by 

7 making a return of a different kind ? If you ought to attend him, how 

8 long ought you to attend him ? The same time which he attended 

9 you ? or longer ? and how much longer ? If your friend lent you money 

10 in your distress, ought you to lend him money in his? How much 

1 1 ought you to lend him ? when ought you to lend him ? Now 1 or to- 
morrow ? or next month ? and for how long a time ? It is evident that 

12 no general rule can be laid down, by which a precise answer can, in 
all cases, be given to any of these cases. The difference between his 
character and yours, between his circumstances and yours, may be 
such, that you may be perfectly grateful, and justly refuse to lend him 

13 a half-penny ; and on the contrary, you may be willing to lend, or even 
to give him ten times the sum which he lent you, and yet justly be 
accused of the blackest ingratitude, and of not having fulfilled the hun- 
dredth part of the obligation you lie under. As the duties of gratitude, 

14 however, are, perhaps, the most sacred of all those which the beneficent 
virtues prescribe to us ; so the general rules which determine them, are, 
as 1 said before, the most accurate. Adam Smith. 



SEC. CXLIX. ANGER INCOMPATIBLE WITH A SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 

Prayer is an action of likeness to the Holy Ghost, the spirit of gentle- 
ness and dove-like simplicity ; an imitation of the Holy Jesus, whose 
spirit is meek up to the greatness of the biggest example ; and a con- 
formity to God, whose anger is always just, and marches slowly, and 
is without transportation, and often hindered, and never hasty, and is 
full of mercy : prayer is the peace of our spirit ; the stillness of our 



382 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

1 thoughts ; the evenness of recollection ; the seat of meditation ; the rest 
of our cares ; and the calm of our tempest : prayer is the issue of a 
quiet mind ; of untroubled thoughts : it is the daughter of charity and 
the sister of meekness ; and he that prays to God with an angry, that 
is, with a troubled and discomposed spirit, is like him that retires into a 
battle to meditate, and sets up his closet in the outquarters of an army, 
and chooses a frontier garrison to be wise in. Anger is a perfect alien- 

2 ation of the mind from prayer, and therefore is contrary to that atten- 
tion, which presents our prayers in a right line to God. For so have I 
seen a lark rising from his bed of grass, and soaring upwards, singing 
as he rose, and hoping to get to heaven, and climb above the clouds ; 
but the poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern 
wind, and his motion made irregular and inconstant : descending more 

3 at every breath of the tempest than it could recover by the libration and 
weighing of his wings ; till the little creature was forced to sit down, 
and pant, and stay till the storm was over ; and then it made a pros- 
perous flight, and did rise and sing as if it had learned music and 
motion from an angel, as he passed sometimes through the air about his 

4 ministries here below. So is the prayer of a good man. When his 
affairs have required business, and his business was matter of discipline, 
and his discipline was to pass upon a sinning person, or had a design of 
charity, his duty met with the infirmities of a man ; and anger was its 
instrument ; and the instrument became stronger than the prime agent, 
and raised a tempest, and over- ruled the man ; and then his prayer 

5 was broken ; and his thoughts were troubled ; and his words went up 
towards a cloud ; and his thoughts pulled them back again, and made 
them without intention ; and the good man sighs for his infirmity, but 
must be content to lose his prayer ; and he must recover it, when his 
anger is removed, and his spirit is becalmed : made even as the brow of 
Jesus, and smooth like the heart of God ; and then it ascends to heaven 
upon the wings of the holy dove, and dwells with God, till it returns 
like the useful bee, loaden with a blessing and the dew of heaven. 

Jeremy Taylor. 

SEC CL. SATIRICAL PICTURES NOT INJURIOUS TO MORALS. 

In that inimitable print of Hogarth, (the Election Entertainment, 
which, in my judgment as far exceeds the more known and cele- 
brated March to Finchley, as the best comedy exceeds the best farce 
that was ever written,) let a person look till he be saturated, and 
when he is done wondering at the inventiveness of genius which could 
bring so many characters (more than thirty distinct classes of face) 
into a room, and set them down at table together, or otherwise dis- 
pose them about in so natural a manner, engage them in so many 
easy sets and occupations, yet all partaking of the spirit of the occa- 
sion which brought them together, so that we feel that nothing but an 
election time could have assembled them; having no central figure 
or principal group, (for the hero of the piece, the candidate, is properly 
set aside in the levelling indistinction of the day, one must look for him 
to find him,) nothing, to detain the eye from passing from part to part, 
where every part is alike instinct with life : (for here are no furniture 
faces, no figures brought in to fill up the scene, like stage-chorusses, but 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 383 

all dramatis personse :) when he shall have done wondering at all these 
faces so strongly charactered, yet finished with the accuracy of the 

1 finest miniatures : when he shall have done admiring the numberless 
appendages of the scene ; those gratuitous doles which rich genius flings 
into the heap, when it has already done enough; the overmeasure 
which it delights in giving, as if it felt its stores were exhaustless ; the 
dumb rhetoric of the scenery ; (for tables, and chairs, and joint-stools 
in Hogarth are living and significant things ;) the witticisms that are 
expressed by words ; (all artists but Hogarth have failed when they 
have endeavored to combine two mediums of expression, and have intro- 
duced words into their pictures ;) and the unwritten numberless little 
allusive pleasantries that are scattered about ; the work that is going 
on in the scene, and beyond it, as is made visible to the " eye of the 
mind/' by the mob which chokes up the doorway, and the sword that 
has forced an entrance before its master : when he shall have suffi- 
ciently admired this wealth of genius, let him fairly say what is the 
result left on his mind. Is it an impression of the vileness and worth - 

2 lessness of his species J or is it not the general feeling which remains, 
after the individual faces have ceased to act sensibly on his mind, a 

3 kindly one in favor of the species 1 Was not the general air of the scenes 
wholesome 1 did it do the heart hurt to be among it ? Something of a riot- 
ous spirit, to be sure, is there ; some worldly-mindedness in some of the 
faces ; a Doddingtonian smoothness which does not promise any super- 
fluous degree of sincerity in the fine gentleman who has been the occa- 

4 sion of calling so much good company together ; but is not the general 
cast of expression, in the faces, of the good sort ? do they not seem cut 
of the good old rock, substantial English honesty ? would one fear treach- 
ery among characters of their expression 1 or shall we call their honest 
mirth and seldom-returning relaxation by the hard names of vice and prof- 
ligacy ? That poor country fellow that is grasping his staff, (which, 
from that difficulty of feeling themselves at home which poor men 
experience at a feast, he has never parted with since he came into the 
room,) and is enjoying, with a relish that seems to fit all the capacities 

5 of his soul, the slender joke which that facetious wag, his neighbor, is 
practising upon the gouty gentleman, whose eyes, the effort to suppress 
pain has made as round as rings; — does it shock the "dignity of 
human nature" to look at that man, and to sympathise with him in the 
seldom-heard joke which has unbent his care-worn, hard-working vis- 
age, and drawn iron smiles from it ? or with that full-hearted cobbler, 
who is honoring with the grasp of an honest fist the unused palm of 
that annoyed patrician, who, in the licence of the time, has seated next 
him ? Lamb. 

This piece is a study by itself. In the^rs^ sentence we have a long, rough, and somewhat 
irregular, though manly single compact declarative : in the second, a double interrogative : in 
the third, a compound perfect loose definite interrogative : in the fourth, a semi-inten-ogative 
with a compact construction, correlative words, indeed — but: the interrogative portion is double 
inteiTogative : in the fifth, another semi-inten-ogative with a close, though broken construction i 
having an imperfect loose definite in the interrogative part. 



384 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CLI. MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 

It is not the incense, or the offering that is acceptable to God, but the 

1 purity and devotion of the worshipper : neither is the bare will, without 
action, sufficient ; that is, where we have the means of acting ; for, in 
that case, it signifies as little to wish well, without well-doing, as to do 
good without willing it. — 

2 My inclination bids me oblige one man ; I am bound in duty and 
justice to serve another : here it is a charity ; there it is pity ; and else- 

3 where, perhaps, encouragement. There are some that want, to whom 
4 1 would not give, because, if I did, they would want still. To one man 

I would barely offer a benefit ; but I would press it upon another. — 

5 It is one thing to know how to give, and another thing not to know 

6 how to keep. I will no more undo a man with his will, than forbear 
saving him against it . — 

The three hundred Fabii were never said to be conquered, but slain ; 

7 nor Regulus to be overcome, though he was taken prisoner by the Car- 
thagenians. — 

8 There was more that the one scorned to take, than that the other had 
to give ; and it is a greater generosity for a beggar to refuse money, 
than for a prince to bestow it. — 

9 Archelaus, a king of Macedon. invited Socrates to his palace ; but 
he excused himself as unwilling to receive greater benefits than he was 

10 able to requite. This perhaps was not pride in Socrates, but craft. — 

Plato thanked Socrates for what he had learned of him ; and why 

1 1 might not Socrates as well thank Plato for that which he had taught 
him. — 

There is a curable ingratitude and an incurable : there is a slothful, 

12 a neglectful, a proud, a dissembling, a disclaiming, a heedless, a for- 
getful, and a malicious ingratitude ; and the application must be suited 
to the matter we have to work upon. — 

13 It is a just ground of satisfaction to see a friend pleased, but it is 
much more to make him so. — 

14 Philosophy gives us peace, by fearing nothing, and riches by coveting 

15 nothing. — There is no condition of life that excludes a wise man from 
discharging his duty. If his fortune be good, he tempers, if bad, he 

16 masters, it: if he has an estate, he will exercise his virtue in plenty : if 
none, in poverty : if he cannot do it in his country, he will do it in ban- 
ishment : if he has no command, he will do the office of a common 
soldier. — 

17 It is not the matter, but the virtue that makes the action good or ill ; 
and he that is led in triumph may be yet greater than his conqueror. — 

18 What does it concern us, which was the elder of the two, Homer or 
Hesiod ? or which was the taller, Helen or Hecuba 1 We take a great 
deal of pains to trace Ulysses in his wanderings, but were it not time 

19 as well spent to look to ourselves that we may not wander at all ? are 
not ourselves tossed with tempestuous passions ; and both assaulted by 
terrible monsters on the one hand, and tempted by syrens on the other ? 

20 Teach me my duty to my country : to my father : to my wife : to all 

21 mankind. What is it to me whether Penelope was honest or not? 

22 Teach me to know how to be so myself, and to live according to that 

23 knowledge. What am I the better for putting so many parts together 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 385 

24 of music and raising a harmony out of so many different tones ? Teach 
me to tune my affections, and to hold constant to myself. Geometry 

25 teaches me the art of measuring acres ; teach me to measure my appe- 
tites, and to know when I have enough : teach me to divide with my 
brother, and to rejoice in the prosperity of my neighbor. You teach 

26 nie how I may hold my own and keep my estate, but I would rather 
learn how I may lose it all, and yet be contented. — 

Were I not a madman to sit wrangling about words, and putting of 

27 nice and impertinent questions, when the enemy has already made the 
breach, the town fired over my head, and the mine ready to play that 

28 shall blow me up in the air ? Were this a time for fooleries ? Let me 

29 rather fortify myself against death and inevitable necessities : let me 
understand that the good of life does not consist in the length or space, 
but in the use of it. When I go to sleep, w T ho knows whether ever I 

30 shall wake again ? and when I wake, whether I shall ever sleep again ? 
when I go abroad, whether ever I shall come home again ? and when I 
return, whether ever I shall go abroad again ? It is not at sea only 

31 that life and death are within a few inches of one another, but they 
are as near every where else too : only we do not take so much notice 

32 of it. What have we to do with frivolous and captious questions and 

33 impertinent niceties ? Let us rather study how to deliver ourselves 
from sadness, fear, and the burden of all our secret lusts. — Our duty is 

34 rather the cure of the mind, than the delight of it ; but we have only 
the words of wisdom without the works, and turn philosophy into a 
pleasure, that was given for a remedy. — 

If I do not live as I preach, take notice that I do not speak of myself, 

35 but of virtue ; nor am I so much offended with other men's vices, as 

36 with my own. All this was objected to Plato : Epicurus : Zeno ; nor 
is any virtue so sacred as to escape malevolence. The Cynic, Deme- 
trius, was a great instance of severity and mortification ; and one that 

37 imposed upon himself, neither to possess any thing, nor so much as to 
ask it ; and yet he had this scorn put upon him, that his profession was 

38 poverty, not virtue. Plato is blamed for asking money: Aristotle, for 
receiving it : Democritus, for neglecting it : Epicurus, for consuming it. 

Sir Roger IS Estrange. 

This exercise is designed mainly to draw attention particularly to emphasis ; and if it indu- 
ces the student to review carefully the entire chapter on that subject, he will find his advantage 
in it. 



SEC. CLU. A CAUSE WHICH IS NO CAUSE ; OR BAD REASONING 
ILLUSTRATED. 

1 But see and beware of covetousness ; for covetousness is the cause of 

2 rebellion. Well now, if covetousness be the cause of rebellion, then 
preaching against covetousness is not the cause of rebellion. Some 
say, that the preaching now-a-days is the cause of all sedition and 

3 rebellion ; for since this new preaching hath come in, there hath been 
much sedition ; and therefore it must needs be, that the preaching is 
the cause of rebellion here in England. Forsooth, our preaching is the 

4 cause of rebellion much like as Christ was the cause of the destruction 
of Jerusalem. " If I had not come," saith Christ, " and spoken to them, 

49 



CSC EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

5 they should have no sin :" so we preachers have come and spoken unto 
you. We have drawn our swords of God's word, and stricken at the 

6 roots of all evil, to have them cut down ; and if ye will not amend, 
what can we do more ? 

An-i n reaching is the cause of sedition here in England, much like 
us ; as the cause of trouble in Israel ; for he was a preacher 

there. He told the people of all degrees, their faults ; and so they 

8 swinched, and kicked at him, and accused him to Ahab the king, that 
he was a seditious fellow, and a troublous preacher, and made much 
uproar in the realm. So the king sent for him ; and he was brought 

9 to Ahab the king, who said unto him, " Art thou he that troubleth all 

10 Israel ? " — And Elias answered and said, " Nay, thou and thy father's 
house are they that trouble all Israel." Elias had preached God's 

11 word: he had plainly told the people of their evil doings: he had 
showed them God's threateningSc In God's behalf, I speak : there is 
neither king nor emperor, be they never in so great estate, but they are 

12 subject to God's word ; and therefore he was not afraid to say to Ahab, 
" It is thou, and thy father's house, that causeth all the trouble in 
Israel." Was not this presumptuously spoken to a king ? was not this 

13 a seditious fellow ? was not this fellow's preaching the cause of all the 
trouble in Israel ? was he not worthy to be cast in bocardo or little ease ? 
No, but he had obeyed God's sword, which is his word, and done nothing 
else that was evil ; but they could not abide it : he never disobeyed 
Ahab's sword, which was the regal power, but Ahab disobeyed his 

14 sword, which was the word of God ; and therefore, by the punishment 
of God, much trouble arose in the realm for the sins of Ahab, and the 
people ; but God's preacher, God's prophet, was not the cause of the 
trouble. 

15 Then it is not the preachers that trouble England. 16 But here is now 
an argument to prove the matter against the preachers. There was 

17 preaching against covetousness, all the last year in lent, and, the next 
summer, followed rebellion : therefore, preaching against covetousness, 
was the cause of the rebellion : a goodly argument ! But now I remem- 

18ber an argument of Mr. Moore's, which he bringeth in a book that he 
made against Bilney ; and here, by the way, I will tell you a merry 
toy. Mr. Moore was once sent in commission into Kent, to help to try 

19 out, (if it might be,) what was the cause of Goodwin Sands, and the 
shelf that stopped up Sandwich haven. 

Thither cometh Mr. Moore, and calleth the country afore him : such 

20 as were thought to be men of experience ; and men that could, of like- 
lihood, best certify him of that matter, concerning the stopping of Sand- 
wich haven. Among others, came in before him an old man, with a 

21 white head ; and one that was thought to be little less than an hundred 
years old. When Mr. Moore saw this aged man, he thought it expedi- 

22 ent to hear him say his mind in this matter ; for being so old a man it 
was likely that he knew most of any man in that presence and company. 
So Mr. Moore called this old man unto him, and said, " Father," said 
he, " tell me, if you can, what is the cause of this great arising of the 
sands and shelves here about this haven ; the which stop it up that no 

23 ships can arrive here : ye are the eldest man that I can espie in all this 
company; so that, if any man can tell any cause of it, ye of likelihood 
can say most in it ; or, at leastwise, more than any other man here assem- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 387 

bled." — "Yea, forsooth, good master," quoth this old man, "for I am 

24 well nigh an hundred years old ; and no man here in this company any 
thing near unto mine age." — "Well then," quoth Mr. Moore, "how 

25 say you in this matter 1 what think ye to be the cause of these shelves 
and flatts that stop up Sandwich haven ? " — " Forsooth say ye," quoth 
he, " I am an old man : I think that Tenterton steeple is the cause of 
Goodwin Sands ; for I am an old man," quoth he ; " and I may remem- 

26 ber the building of Tenterton steeple, and I may remember when there 
was no steeple at all there ; and before that Tenterton steeple was in 
building, there was no manner of speaking of any flatts or sands that 
stopped the haven ; and, therefore, I think that Tenterton steeple is the 
cause of the destroying and decay of Sandwich haven." And even so 

27 to my purpose is preaching of God's word the cause of rebellion, as 
Tenterton steeple was the cause that Sandwich haven is decayed. 

Bishop Latimer. 



SEC. CLIII. A PART OF EMMETT S DEFENCE. 

1 I am charged with being an emissary of France ! 2 An emissary of 
3 France ! And for w r hat end ? 4 It is alleged that I wished to sell the 

5 independence of my country ! And for what end ? Was this the 

6 object of my ambition 1 and is this the mode by wiiich a tribunal of 
justice reconciles contradictions 1 No, I am no emissary ; and my 

7 ambition was to hold a place among the deliverers of my country : not 

8 in power, nor in profit, but in the glory of the achievement ! Sell my 

9 country's independence to France ! And for what ? 10 Was it for a 

11 change of masters ? No, but for ambition! O, my country, was it 
personal ambition that could influence me ? had it been the soul of my 

12 actions, could I not by my education and fortune, by the rank and con- 
sideration of my family, have placed myself amcng the proudest of my 

13 oppressors ? My country was my idol : to it I sacrificed every selfish, 
every endearing sentiment; and for it I now offer up my life. 

14 O God! — No, my lord; I acted as an Irishman, determined on de- 
livering my country from the yoke of a foreign and unrelenting tyranny ; 

15 and from the more galling yoke of a domestic faction, which is its joint 
partner and perpetrator in the parricide, for the ignominy of existing 
with an exterior of splendor and of conscious depravity. It was the 

16 wish of my heart to extricate my country from this doubly riveted 
despotism : I wished to place her independence beyond the reach of any 
power on earth : I wished to exalt her to that proud station in the world. 

Emmeti. 

{Sentence 2d.. — A fragmentary simple decl. exclam., like the preceding, but delivered with 
increased surprise and contempt. Sentence Sth. — A simple def. interrog. exclam. Sentence 
14th. — This begins with a compellative as if a prayer was intended, but breaks off, and proceeds 
with a double compact. 



SEC. CLIV. THE FORTITUDE OF WOMEN UNDER REVERSES OF FORTUNE. 

1 I have often had occasion to remark the fortitude with which women 
sustain the most overwhelming reverses of fortune. Those disasters 



388 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

which break down the spirit of a man, and prostrate him in the dust, 

2 seem to call forth all the energies of the softer sex, and give such intre- 
pidity and elevation to their character, that at times it approaches to 
sublimity. Nothing can be more touching than to behold a soft and 
tender female, who had been all weakness and dependence, and alive to 

3 every trivial roughness, while treading the prosperous paths of life, 
suddenly rising in mental force to be the comforter and supporter of her 
husband under misfortune, and abiding, with unshrinking firmness, the 
most bitter blasts of adversity. As the vine which has long twined its 
graceful foliage about the oak, and been lifted by it into sunshine, will, 
when the hardy plant is rifted by the thunderbolt, cling round it with 
its caressing tendrils, and bind up its shattered boughs ; so is it beauti- 

4 fully ordered by Providence, that woman, who is the mere dependant 
and ornament of man in his happier hours, should be his stay and solace 
when smitten with sudden calamity : winding herself into the rugged 
recesses of his nature, tenderly supporting the drooping head, and bind- 
ing up the broken heart. Irving. 



SEC CLV. DEATH RIGHTLY REGARDED, NOT AN OBJECT OF DREAD. 

To be delivered from trouble; to be relieved from power; to see 
oppression humbled ; to be freed from care and pain, from sickness and 

1 distress ; to lie down as in a bed of security, in a long oblivion of our 
woes ; to sleep in peace, without the fear of interruption ; — how pleasing 
is the prospect ! how full of consolation ! The ocean may roll its waves, 
the warring winds may join their forces, the thunders may shake the 

2 skies, and the lightnings pass swiftly from cloud to cloud ; but not the 
forces of the elements combined, not the sound of thunders, nor of many 
seas, though they united in one peal and directed to one point, can 

3 shake the security of the tomb. The dead hear nothing of the tumult ; 
they sleep soundly: they rest from their calamities upon beds of peace. 

4 Conducted to silent mansions, they cannot be troubled by the rudest 
assaults, nor awakened by the loudest clamor. The unfortunate, the 

5 oppressed, the broken-hearted, with those that have languished on beds 
of sickness, rest here together : they have forgot their distresses : every 
sorrow is hushed, and every pang extinguished. Mackenzie. 



SEC CLVI. A RULING POWER WITHIN US EVIDENT, BUT ITS NATURE 
UNKNOWN. 

1 There are many things which we know to be, and yet we know 

2 nothing at all of what they are. Is it not the mind that moves us, and 

3 restrains us ? But what that ruling power is, we do no more under- 
stand, than we know where it is. One will have it to be a spirit ; 

^another will have it to be a divine power ; some only a subtle air; 

others an incorporeal being ; and some again will have it to be only 
5 blood and heat. Nay, so far is the mind from a perfect understanding 

of other things, that it is still in search of itself. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE, 389 

SEC. CLVII. SHACABAC. 

1 I have now to tell you the story of my sixth brother : called Shaca- 
bac, with the hare-lips. At first he was industrious enough to improve 

2 the hundred drachms of silver which fell to his share, and went on very 
well ; but a reverse of fortune brought him to beg his bread ; which he 

3 did with a great deal of dexterity. He studied chiefly to get into great 
men's houses, by means of their servants and officers, that he might 
have access to their masters, and obtain their charity. One day, as he 

4 passed by a magnificent house, whose high gate showed him a very 
spacious court, where there was a multitude of servants, he went to one 

5 of them, and asked to whom that house belonged. " Good man," replied 
the servant, " whence do you come, that you ask me such a question ? 

6 Does not all that you see, make you understand that it is the palace of 
a Barmecide ?" My brother, who very well knew the liberality and 

7 generosity of the Barmecides, addressed himself to one of his porters, 
(for he had more than one,) and prayed him to give him an alms. " Go 

8 in," said he, (nobody hinders you,) " and address yourself to the mas- 
ter of the house : he will send you back satisfied." 

My brother, who expected no such civility, thanked the porters, and 

9 with their permission, entered the palace ; which was so large that it 
took him a considerable time to reach the Barmecide's apartment. At 
last he came to a fine square building of an excellent architecture, and 

10 entered by a porch, through which he saw one of the finest gardens, 
with gravel walks of several colors, extremely pleasing to the eye : the 
lower apartments round this square were most of them open : they were 
shut only with great curtains to keep out the sun ; which were opened 
again, when the heat was over, to let in the fresh air. 

11 Such an agreeable place would have struck my brother with admira- 
tion, even if his mind had been more at ease than it was. He went on 
till he came into a hall, richly furnished and adorned with painting of 

12 gold and azure foliage, where he saw a venerable man, with a long 
white beard, sitting at the upper end on a sofa ; whence he concluded 
him to be the master of the house ; and in fact it was the Barmecide 
himself; who said to my brother in a very civil manner, that he was 
welcome, and asked what he wanted. " My lord," answered my bro- 

13 ther, in a begging tone, "I am a poor man, who stands in need of the 

14 help of such rich and generous persons as yourself." He could not 
have addressed himself to a fitter person than this lord, who had a thou- 
sand good qualities. 

The Barmecide seemed astonished at my brother's answer ; and put- 

15 ting both his hands to his stomach, as if he would rend his clothes for 
grief, " Is it possible," cried he, " that I am at Bagdad, and that such 

16 a man as you is so poor as you say 1 This is what must never be." 

17 My brother, fancying that he was going to give him some singular mark 
of his bounty, blessed him a thousand times, and wished him all sorts 

18 of happiness. "It shall not be said," replied the Barmecide, "that I 

19 will abandon you, nor will I have you leave me." — "Sir," replied my 

20 brother, " I swear to you I have not eaten one bit to-day." — " Is that 

21 true," replied the Barmecide, " that you are fasting till now ? Alas, 
poor man ! he is ready to die of hunger. Ho ! boy," cried he, with a 

22 loud voice, " bring a basin and water presently, that we may wash our 



390 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

hands." Though no boy appeared, and my brother saw neither water 

23 nor basin, the Barmecide fell to rubbing his hands, as if one had poured 
water upon them, and bid my brother come and wash with him. Schac- 
abac judged by that, that the Barmecide lord loved to be merry ; and 

24 he himself understanding raillery, and knowing that the poor must be 
complaisant to the rich, if they would have any thing from them, came 
forward, and did as he was bid. 

25 " Come on," said the Barmecide : " bring us something to eat, and 
do not let us stay for it." When he had said so, though nothing was 
brought, he began to cut, as if something had been brought him upon a 

26 plate, and putting his hand to his mouth, began to chew, and said to my 
brother, " Come, friend : eat as freely as if you were at home : come : 
eat : you said you were like to die of hunger, and you eat as if you 
had no stomach." — " Pardon me, my lord," said Shacabac, who per- 

27 fectly imitated what he did : " you see I lose no time, and that I play 

28 my part well enough." — " How like you this bread ?" said the Barme- 
29cide. "Do not you find it very good?" — "O! my lord," said my 

30 brother, who saw neither bread nor meat, " I never ate any thing so 
white and so fine." — "Eat your fill," said the Barmecide: "I assure 

31 you, the woman who bakes me this good bread, cost me five hundred 
pieces of gold to purchase her." 

The Barmecide, after having boasted so much of his bread, which 

32 my brother ate only in idea, cried, "Boy, bring us another dish ;" and 
though no boy appeared, "Come, my good friend," said he to my bro- 

33 ther : " taste this new dish, and tell me if you ever ate better mutton 
and barley-broth than this." — "It is admirably good," replied my bro- 
ther, "and therefore you see I eat heartily." — "You oblige me 

34 highly," replied the Barmecide : " I conjure you then, by the satisfac- 
tion I have to see you eat so heartily, that you eat all up, since you like 
it so well." A little while after he called for a goose, and sweet-sauce, 

35 made up of vinegar, honey, dried raisins, gray peas and dry figs ; which 
were brought just in the same manner as the other was. " The goose 

36 is very fat," said the Barmecide : " eat only a leg and a wing : we 
must save our stomachs, for we have abundance of other dishes to come." 

37 He actually called for several other dishes, of which my brother, who 
was ready to die of hunger, pretended to eat ; but what he boasted of 
more than all the rest, was a lamb, fed with pistachio nuts, which he 
ordered to be brought up in the same manner that the rest were. "And 

38 here is a dish," said the Barmecide, " that you will see at nobody's 
table but my own : I would have you eat your belly-full of it." Hav- 

39 ing spoken thus, he stretched out his hand as if he had a piece of lamb 
in it, and putting it to my brother's mouth, " There," said he ; " swal- 
low that, and you will judge whether I had not reason to boast of this 

40 dish." My brother thrust out his head, opened his mouth, and made as 

41 if he took the piece of lamb, and eat it with extreme pleasure. " I 

42 knew you would like it," said the Barmecide. — " There is nothing in 
the world finer," replied my brother : " Your table is most delicious." — 

43 "Come: bring the ragout presently: — I fancy you will like that as 

44 well as you did the lamb. — Well, how do you relish it ?" said the Bar- 
mecide. — " O ! it is wonderful," replied Shacabac, " for here we taste 

45 all at once, amber, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, pepper, and the most odorif- 
erous herbs ; and all these delicacies are so well mixed, that one does 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 391 

46 not prevent our tasting the other. How pleasant!" — 47 "Honor this 

48 ragout," said the Barmecide, "by eating heartily of it. — Ho! boy," 

49 cried he, " bring us a new ragout." — "No, my lord, if it please you," 
replied my brother, " for indeed I can eat no more." 

50 "Come: take away then," said the Barmecide, "and bring the 
fruit." He staid a moment, as if it were to give time for his servants 

51 to carry away ; after which, he said to my brother, " Taste these 
almonds: they are good and fresh gathered.''" Both of them made as 

52 if they had peeled the almonds, and eaten them: after this, the Barme- 
cide invited my brother to eat something else. " Look you," said he : 

53 " there are all sorts of fruits, cakes, dry sweetmeats, and conserves : 
take what you like : then stretching out his hand, as if he had reached 
my brother something, " Look ye," said he : 4i there is a lozenge, very 

54 good for digestion." Shacabac made as if he ate it, and said, "My 
lord, there is no want of musk here ?" — " These lozenges," said the 

55 Barmecide, " are made at my own house ; where there is nothing want- 
ing to make every thing good." He still bid my brother eat, and said 

56 to him, "Methinks you do not eat as if you had been so hungry, as 
you said when you came in?" — "My lord," replied Shacabac, whose 

57 jaws ached with moving and having nothing to eat, "I assure you I 
am so full that I cannot eat one bit more."" 

58 " Well then, friend," replied the Barmecide, " we must drink now, 
after we have eaten so well?" — " You may drink wine, my lord," 

59 replied my brother, " but I will drink none, if you please, because I am 

60 forbidden it." — "You. are too scrupulous," replied the Barmecide: 
" do as I do." — " I will drink then out of complaisance," said Shacabac, 

61 " for I see you will have nothing wanting to make your treat complete ; 
but since 1 am not accustomed to drink wine, I am afraid I shall com- 
mit some error in point of good breeding, and contrary to the respect 
that is due to you ; and therefore, I pray you, once more, to excuse me 
from drinking any wine: I will be content with water." — "No; no," 

62 said the Barmecide ; "'you shall drink wine;" and at the same time, 
he commanded some to be brought, in the same manner as the meat 
and fruit had been brought before. He made as if he poured out wine, 

63 and drank first himself, and then, pouring out for my brother, presented 
him the glass : " Drink my health," said he, " and let us know if you 
think this wine good." My brother made as if he took the glass, and 

64 looked, if the color was good, and put it to his nose to try if it had a 
good flavor : then he made a low bow to the Barmecide, to signify that 
he took the liberty to drink his health ; and lastly, he appeared to drink 
with all the signs of a man that drinks with pleasure. — "My lord," 

65 said he, " this is very excellent wine, but I think it is not strong 

66 enough." — "'If you would have stronger," said the Barmecide, "you 
6T need only speak, for I have several sorts in my cellar. — Try how you 

like this." Upon which he made as if he poured out another glass to 
6S himself, and then to my brother ; and he did this so often, that Shaca- 
bac, feigning to be intoxicated with the wine, and acting a drunken 
man, lifted up his hand, and gave the Barmecide such a box on the ear, 
as made him fall down. He was going to give him another blow ; but 

69 the Barmecide, holding up his hand to ward it off, cried out, " are you 
mad ?" Then my brother, making as if he had come to himself again, 

70 said, " My lord, you have been so good as to admit your slave into your 



392 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

house, and give him a great treat : you should have been satisfied with 
making me eat, and not have obliged me to drink wine, for I told you 

71 before hand, that it might occasion me to fail in my respect to you. I 
am very sorry for it, and beg you a thousand pardons." 

72 Scarce had he finished these words, when the Barmecide, instead of 

73 being in a passion, fell a laughing with all his might. " It is a long 
time," said he, " that I have been seeking a man of your character." 

The Barmecide caressed Shacabac mightily, and told him, " I not only 
forgive the blow you have given me, but I desire henceforward we 

74 should be friends ; and that you take my house for your home : you 
have had the complaisance to accommodate yourself to my humor, and 
the patience to keep up the jest to the last : we will now eat in good 
earnest." When he had finished these words, he clapped his hands, 

75 and commanded his servants, who then appeared, to cover the table ; 
which was speedily done ; and my brother was treated with all those 
dishes in reality, which he ate of before in fancy. 

Arabian Nights' Entertainment. 



SEC. CLV1II. MAN MADE FOR LABOR. 

1 Man is, by nature, an active being. 2 He is made to labor. 3 His 
whole organization, mental and physical, is that of a hard-working 

4 being. Of his mental powers we have no conception, but as certain 

5 capacities of intellectual action. His corporeal faculties are contrived 
for the same end, with astonishing variety of adaptation. Who can 

6 look only at the muscles of the hand, and doubt that man was made to 
work ? who can be conscious of judgment, memory, and reflection, 
and doubt that man was made to act ? He requires rest, but it is in 

7 order to invigorate him for new efforts : Jo recruit his exhausted pow- 
ers ; and, as if to show him, by the very nature of rest, that it is means, 
not end, that form of rest, which is most essential and most grateful, 
sleep, is attended with the temporary suspension of the conscious and 

8 active powers : an image of death. Nature is so ordered, as both to 

9 require and encourage man to work. He is created with wants, which 

10 cannot be satisfied without labor. The plant springs up and grows on 
the spot, where the seed was cast by accident. It is fed by the moist- 

1 1 ure, which saturates the earth, or is held suspended in the air ; and it 
brings with it a sufficient covering to protect its delicate internal struc- 
ture. It toils not, neither doth it spin, for clothing or food. But man 

12 is so created, that let his wants be as simple as they will, he must labor 
to supply them. Everett. 



SEC CIX. WEEHAWKEN. 

Weehawken ! in thy mountain scenery yet, 
All we adore of Nature, in her wild 

And frolic hour of infancy, is met ; 

And never has a summer's morning smiled 

Upon a lovelier scene, than the full eye 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 393 

Of the enthusiast revels on, when high 
Amidst thy forest solitudes, he climbs 

O'er crags that proudly tower above the deep, 
And knows that sense of danger, which sublimes 

The breathless moment ; when his daring step 
Is on the verge of the cliff, and he can hear 

The low dash of the wave with startled ear, 
Like the death-music of his coming doom, 

And clings to the green turf with desperate force, 
As the heart clings to life ; and when resume 

The currents in his veins their wonted course, 
And there lingers a deep feeling, like the moan 

Of wearied ocean, when the storm is gone. 

In such an hour, he turns, and on his view, 

Ocean, and earth, and heaven, burst before him ; 

Clouds slumbering at his feet, and the clear blue 
Of summer's sky, in beauty bending o'er him ; 

The city bright below ; and far away, 

Sparkling in golden light, his own romantic bay. 

Tall spire and glittering roof, and battlement, 

And banners floating in the sunny air, 
And white sails o'er the calm blue waters bent, 

Green isle, and circling shore, are blended there, 
In wild reality. When life is old, 

And many a scene forgot, the heart will hold 
Its memory of this ; nor lives there one, 

Whose infant breath was drawn, or boyhood days 
Of happiness were passed beneath that sun, 

That in his manhood prime can calmly gaze 
Upon that bay, or on that mountain stand, 

Nor feel the prouder of his native land. Halleck. 



SEC CLX. WHY GREECE AND IONIA RELAPSED INTO BARBARISM. 

Does any one suppose, that if knowledge among the Greeks, instead 
of being confined to the cities, and, in them, to a few professional soph- 
ists, and rich slave-holders, had pervaded the entire population in that 
and the neighboring countries, as it is made to do in modern times, by 
the press ; if, instead of their anomalous, ill-balanced, tumultuary 

1 republics, and petty military tyrannies, they had been united in a well- 
digested system of representative government, or even constitutional 
monarchy ; (they and the states around them, Persia, Macedonia and 
Rome;) and if to all these principles of political stability, they had, 
instead of their corrupting and degrading superstitions, been blessed 
with the light of a pure and spiritual faith ; — does any one suppose 
that Greece and Ionia, under circumstances like these, would have 

2 relapsed into barbarism ? Impossible. Everett. 

50 



394 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CLXI. CASSIO HAS LOST HIS REPUTATION, AND WISHES TO REGAIN IT. 

1 Iago. What ! be you hurt, Lieutenant ? 

2 Cass. Past all surgery. 

3 Iago. Marry, Heaven forbid ! 

4 Cass. Reputation ! reputation ! reputation ! Oh I have lost my rep- 

5 utation ! I have lost the immortal part of myself; and what remains is 

6 bestial. My reputation ! Iago, my reputation 

7 Iago. As I am an honest man, I thought you had received some 
bodily wound : there is more sense in that, than in reputation. Repu- 

8 tation is an idle and most false imposition : oft got without merit, and 

9 lost without deserving. What, man ! 10 There are ways to recover 
the general again ; sue to him, and he is yours. 

11 Cass. I will rather sue to be despised — 12 Drunk ! and squabble ! 
swagger ! swear ! and discourse fustian with one's own shadow ! Oh 

13 thou invincible spirit of wine ! if thou hast no name to be known by, let 
us call thee, Devil. 

14 Iago. What was he that you followed with your sword ! what had 
he done to you 1 

15 Cass. I know not. 

16 Iago. Is it possible ? 

17 Cass. I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly : a quar- 

18 rel, but nothing wherefore. Oh, that men should put an enemy in 
their mouths to steal away their brains ! that we should with joy, pleas- 
ance, revel, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts ! 

19 Iago. Why, but you are now well enough; how came you thus 
recovered ? 

20 Cass. It has pleased the devil Drunkenness to give place to the devil 
Wrath : one imperfection shows me another, make me frankly despise 
myself. 

21 Iago. Come : you are too severe a moraler. As the time, place, 

22 and the condition of this country stands, I could heartily wish this had 
not befallen ; but since it is as it is, mend it for your own good. 

23 Cass. I will ask him for my place again ; he shall tell me I am a 

24 drunkard ! Had I as many mouths as Hydra, such an answer would 

25 stop them all. To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and pres- 

26 ently a beast ! — Every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient 
is a devil. 

Iago. Come : come : good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be 

27 well used : exclaim no more against it ; — and, good Lieutenant, I think 
you think I love you ? 

28 Cass. I have well approved it, sir : — I drunk ! 

29 Iago. You, or any man living, may be drunk some time, man ? 

30 I tell you what you shall do. Our general's wife is now the gen- 

31 eral ; confess yourself freely to her : importune her help to put you 
in your place again. She is of so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a dis- 

32 position, she holds it a vice in her goodness, not to do more than she is 
requested. This broken joint between you and her husband entreat 

33 her to splinter ; and, my fortunes against any lay worth naming, this 
crack of your love shall grow stronger than it was before. 

34 Cass. You advise me well. 

35 Iago, I protest, in the sincerity of love and honest kindness. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 395 

36 Cass. I think it freely ; and betimes in the morning, I will beseech 
the virtuous Desdemona to undertake for me. 

37 Iago. You are in the right. 33 Good night, Lieutenant : 1 must 
to watch. 

39 Cass. Good night, honest Iago. 



SEC. CLXII. S03IE MUST BE GREATER, RICHER, WISER ; BUT THEREFORE 
NOT NECESSARILY HAPPIER THAN OTHERS. 

Order is heaven's first law ; and, this confessed, 

Some are and must be greater than the rest ; 

More rich ; more wise ; but who infers from hence 

Th^t such are happier, shocks all common sense. Pope. 



SEC. CLXIII. MEYEBBEEB. 

1 And now I had a vision, sweeter than I could possibly have con- 

2 ceived. I slept. How long I had slept, I am ignorant ; but suddenly, 
in the midst of my first slumber, (a repose I had been anticipating for 

3 twenty days.) while I was still gently rocked by that delightful motion 
of the post-chaise, which follows the traveler even to his couch. I heard. 
or thought I heard, the most touching and refined melodies. It was 

4 indeed exquisite harmony ; and 1 can speak upon this subject as a con- 
noisseur, for every great idea which has proceeded from the head and 
heart of talented musicians, I possess in my head and heart. Music 

5 has been the great study, or, what amounts to the same thing, the great 
passion, of my life. Beethoven and Mozart, Haydn and Gluck, Weber 

6 and Nicolo, Paesiello and Rossini. — I am well acquainted with them 
all. Nevertheless. I was now listening to marvellous harmony : and 

7 strange to say. it was quite new to me : the hand that played this invis- 
ible piano, (if it was a piano.) had a firm, bold touch, with an admirable 

8 mixture of judgment and passion. At first, it was a timid and myste- 
rious sound, but it soon became clear, grand, and natural. I did not 

9 even try to ascertain whether I was awake, or whether I was indulged 
with a dream : I listened, and admired, and very soon I wept. What 

10 a vast number of ideas in this extraordinary performance ! how full of 
genius were those sounds! The man went from one passion to another, 

11 from grief to joy, from a curse to a prayer, from hate to love, and still 
continued, without taking breath ; without stopping : he played in the 
true style of genius ! 

12 What a man ! Thoughtful even in his transports, spirited even in 

13 his stillness, he carried to the greatest extent, the expression of Christian 
charity, and the phrenzy of vengeance. I knew nothing of this lament- 

14 able history, of which the principal details were passing confusedly 
before me, but I had heard enough to understand, that it was full of 

15 catastrophes. What was his end ; his plan; his dream? to what ven- 
16geance was he advancing ? I could not tell. He was not bewildered 
17 by the expression of so many grand thoughts, nor by the chaos into 

which, he could, with one word, throw light. On the contrary, he 



396 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

18 sported with the disorder : he blended and confounded, at pleasure, all 
the elements of this imposing work. Alas ! without suspecting it, I was 

19 present at the completion of one of those immortal things, which men 

20 call master-pieces. I was dumb ; confounded ; delighted : I held my 
breath, and said to that sweet sleep I had so much desired, "Begone ! " 

21 But sleep rested upon my eye-lids to listen. 

22 The invisible genius stopped. You would have said, to hear him so 

23 abruptly quit this nocturnal drama, that the passionate inspiration he 
had been obeying, had suddenly left him. The man was evidently 

24 possessed with some great idea, which he had difficulty in thoroughly 
realizing ; but he was one of those persons, who are not easily discour- 

25 aged. I heard him walk his room with measured steps : then he threw 

26 himself into a chair, as if he would sleep for an hour. Vain effort ! 
there is no sleep for the work of a thought, which is not yet complete. 
He returned then to his labor ; but this time with an energy which had 

27 in it something of despair ; and what a scene, or rather, what a drama, 
did he portray that night ! what a touching sympathy, what terror, 
and what love, were expressed by these sweet notes ! Cries of grief 

28 came from his soul, but they were so sad, so tender, so terrible, that he 

29 himself felt the sob to which he gave utterance. What rapture, what 

30 transport, and what depth in this passion ! Pure and melancholy voices 

31 ascended from the abyss. You could hear the sounds of the condemned 

32 from this open pit. There were a thousand terrors clashing with a 

33 thousand hopes ! I was bewildered by it, and cried out for mercy and 
help ! But at last all ceased ; all became calm ; all died away ; and 

34 sleep again took possession of me ; or rather, my dream continued ; and 
I dreamed of you, ye harps! spoken of in Scripture; hung upon the 
willows of the Euphrates ! 

35 The next morning, when my host came to my room, to ask if I 

36 wanted anything, my first word was, " Who is it then ?" I was pale, 
bewildered, transported : I frightened the man. " Ah ! sir," cried he, 

37 clasping his hands, " I see how it is : they have given you the room 

38 next to Meyerbeer ! " And it was really he : it was Meyerbeer ! It 

39 was the inspired author of " Robert the Devil :" the celebrated poet of 
the Huguenots : Meyerbeer, the king of modern art : the man who has 

40 made even Rossini draw back : the triumphant Meyerbeer ! And do 
you know what music it was, that I had heard during the night ? It 

41 was the already burning sketch, the first cries, the sudden griefs, the 
passions of that new drama, called " The Prophet ;" which no one has 
yet heard except myself, in my sleeping-room of the Hotel. Janin. 



SEC. CLXIV,. A STORY LOSES NOTHING IN ITS PROGRESS. 

Two honest tradesmen meeting in the strand, 

1 One took the other briskly by the hand : 

" Hark ye," said he : " 't is an odd story this, 

2 About the crows ! " — "I don't know what it is," 

3 Replied his friend. — " No ! 4 I 'm surprised at that ; 
Where I come from, it is the common chat. 

5 But you shall hear : an odd affair, indeed ! 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 397 

And that it happened, they are all agreed. 
(Not to detain you from a thing so strange,) 

6 A gentleman, that lives not far from 'Change, 
This week, in short, (as all the alley knows,) 
Taking a puke, has thrown up three black crows." 

7 " Impossible ! " — 8 " Nay, but it 's really true ; 
I had it from good hands, and so may you." — 

9 " From whose, I pray ? " — 10 So having named the man, 
Straight to inquire his curious comrade ran. 

11 " Sir, did you tell — 1 " relating the affair. — 
" Yes, sir : I did ; and if it 's worth your care, 

12 Ask Mr. Such-a-one : he told it me ; 

But, by the by, 't was two black crows, not three." 

13 Resolved to trace so wondrous an event, 
Whip to the third, the virtuoso went. 

14 " Sir " — and so forth. — " Why, yes : the thing is fact, 
Though, in regard to number, not exact : 

15 It was not two black crows ; J t was only one : 
The truth of that, you may depend upon : 
The gentleman himself told me the case." — 

16 " Where may I find him ? " — 17 " Why, — in such a place." 

18 Away he goes ; and, having found him out, — 
" Sir, be so good as to resolve a doubt." 

19 Then to his last informant he referred, 

And begged to know, if true what he had heard. 

20 " Did you, sir, throw up a black crow ? " — 21 " Not I ! " — 

22 " Bless me ! how people propagate a lie ! 

23 Black crows have been thrown up, three, two, and one, 
And here I find, at last, all comes to none ! 

24 Did you say nothing of a crow at all ? " — 

25 " Crow 1 — crow .? — 26 Perhaps I might, now I recall 

27 The matter over." — "And pray, sir: what was it?" — 
" Why, I was horrid sick, and, at the last, 

28 I did throw up, (and told my neighbor so,) 

Something that was as black, sir, as a crow." Byrom. 

Sentence 1st. — "When two, &c, then one, &c." The entire sentence semi-interrogative : 
concluding with a simp, indir. interrog. excl. Sentence 3d. — No is a comp. close def. interrog. 
excl. "Do you say you don't, &c. !" Sentence 4th. — Therefore I'm surprised, &c, for 
where, &c." Sentence 5th. — And used for but. Sentence 11th. — The circumstance "rela- 
ting, &c," obeys the law of the preceding slide. Sentence 12th. — The last part of this, is an 

inverted double compact. Sentence 14th. — Fragmentary. " Sir, did you say that threw 

up, &c." (See Conventional Emphasis.) Sentence2bth. — A loose def. interrog. Sentence 
26th. — The first part of sing, compact disjoined by the question which follows from the second 
part in Sentence 28th; which see. "Therefore I might, &c, because I was horrid, &c." 



SEC. CLXV. THE DECALOGUE. 

And God spake all these words : saying, I am the Lord thy God, 
1 who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt ; out of the house of 
bondage. 



398 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

2 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make 
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 

3 under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve 
them ; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God: visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of 
them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that 
love me and keep my commandments. 

4 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the 
Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain. 

5 Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou 
labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the 
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work : thou, nor thy son, nor 

6 thy daughter : thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, 
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ; for in six days the Lord 
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the 
seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath, and hallowed it. 

7 Honor thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long upon 
the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

8 Thou shalt not kill. 9 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 10 Thou 

11 shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house : thou shalt not covet thy 

12 neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, 
nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. 



SEC CLXVI. THE IMPORTANCE OF ACTION IN ORATORY. 

The ancient rhetoricians understood by Action, which they so strongly 

1 insisted on, not gesture only, but the whole business of pleading a cause ; 
that is, elocution and gesture united, as they appeared in the court, the 
senate, or the forum, in the actual delivery of an oration. 

Action, in this comprehensive sense, deserved the high esteem of 

2 Demosthenes ; who, according to a well known story of Cicero and 
Quintillian, being asked what was the first, second, and third requisite 
of oratory, replied, "Action: action: action;" and here action is synony- 
mous with what we call delivery. 

But many among the modern speakers seem to think that action is 

3 nearly synonymous with activity; and that it means, in its rhetorical 
use, the contortions of the arms, hands, legs, eyes, and various features 

4 of the face. They imagine that Demosthenes understood by action, 
gesture only. 

5 An idea thus erroneous, but supported by misunderstanding the prince 
of orators, has led many into a mode of delivery truly ridiculous. They 
were determined to display a sufficient quantity of this prime requisite, 

6 and have, in consequence, exhibited the action, or rather agility, of a 
harlequin, when they intended to represent, in their own persons, Cicero 
and Demosthenes revived. They have made even the pulpit resemble 

7 the stage of the mountebank ; where a jack-pudding entertains with 
his action, the gaping multitude. It is recorded of a divine, who did 

8 not confine his action to the pulpit, that he adorned the following pas- 
sage in the Psalms with peculiar vivacity of gesture. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 399 

9 " The singers go before : the minstrels follow after : in the midst are 
the damsels playing with the timbrels." 

At the words, ' the singers go before/ he reached out both his arms 
at full length before him ; ' the minstrels follow after,' he represented 

10 with his finger pointing over his left shoulder ; and when he came to 
' in the midst are the damsels playing with the timbrels,' he illustrated 
the passage by playing on the Prayer Book with the fingers of both his 
hands, just as if he had been touching the keys of a harps-chord. 

Gesture in oratory is intended to express the passions and emotions of 

1 1 the mind according to the impulse of nature, and not to display the 
speaker's ability in the art of mimicry and pantomime. The imitation 
of the idea in the mind, by the attitude of the body, should not be very 

12 close ; because such an imitation is a desertion of the orator's part for 
the actor's, and turns the attention of the hearer from the subject mat- 
ter to the agility and mimetic talents of a stage performer. If the imi- 

13tation is really good, the spectator is struck and pleased with it, but at 
the same time loses the proper effect of the speech : if, on the other 
hand, it is awkward, he laughs, and despises the wretched attempt at 

14 an unattained excellence. Gesture is therefore to be ventured on with 
great caution, and conducted with nice judgment. It may destroy the 

15 effect of a fine composition, and render an orator, who may be, in other 
qualifications, respectable, an object of contempt and derision. 

Vicesimus Knox. 



SEC CLXVII. HARVARD COLLEGE AND THE OHIO. 

Within a short distance of this city (Boston,) stands an Institution of 

1 learning, which was one of the earliest cares of the early forefathers of 
the country : the conscientious Puritans. Favored child of an age of 
trial and struggle, carefully nursed, through a period of hardship and 
anxiety, endowed, at that time, by the oblations of men like Harvard, 
sustained, from its first foundation, by the paternal arm of the Common- 
wealth, by a constant succession of munificent bequests, and by the 
prayers of all good men, the University at Cambridge now invites our 
homage, as the most ancient, the most interesting, and the most impor- 
tant seat of learning in the land : possessing the oldest and most valua- 
ble library ; one of the largest museums of mineralogy and natural his- 

2 tory ; a School of Law, which annually receives into its bosom more 
than one hundred and fifty sons, from all parts of the Union, where 
they listen to instruction, from Professors whose names have become the 
most valuable possessions of the land ;* a School of Divinity, the nurse 
of true learning and piety; one of the largest and most flourishing 
schools of medicine in the country ; besides these, a general body of 
teachers, twenty-one in number, many of whose names help to keep 
the name of the country respectable in every part of the globe, where 
science, learning, and taste are cherished : the whole, presided over at 
this moment, by a gentleman early distinguished in public life, by his 
unconquerable energies, and his masculine eloquence ; at a later period, 

* Mr. Justice Story, whose various juridical writings have caused him to be hailed, in foreign 
lands, among the first jurists of the age, and Professor Greenleaf, whose classic work on the 
Law of Evidence has already become an authority on both sides of the Atlantic. 



400 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

by the unsurpassed ability with which he administered the affairs of our 
city ; now, in a green old age, full of years and honors, preparing to 
lay down his present high trust.* Such is Harvard University ; and 

3 as one of the humblest of her children, happy in the recollection of a 
youth nurtured in her classic retreats, I cannot allude to her without an 
expression of filial affection and respect. 

It appears, from the last report of the Treasurer, - )* that the whole 

4 available property of the University, the various accumulations of more 
than two centuries of generosity, amounts to $703,175. 

There now swings idly at her moorings in this harbor, a ship of the 
line, the Ohio, carrying ninety guns ; finished, as late as 1836, for 
$547,888 ; repaired, only two years afterwards, in 1838, for $223,012 ; 

5 with an armament, which has cost $53,945 : making an amount of 
$834,845, J as the actual cost, at this moment, of that single ship : more 
than $100,000 beyond all the available accumulations of the richest 
and most ancient seat of learning in the land ! Choose ye, my fellow- 

6 citizens of a Christian State, between the two caskets : that wherein is 
the loveliness of knowledge and truth, or that which contains the car- 
rion of death. 

7 Let us pursue the comparison still further. The account of the 

8 expenditures of the University, during the last year, for the general 
purposes of the College, the instruction of the Under-graduates, and for 
the Schools of Law and Divinity, amounts to $45,949. The cost of the 

9 Ohio, for one year in service, in salaries, wages and provisions, is 
$220,000 : being $175,000 more than the annual expenditures of the 
University ; more than four times as much. In other words, for the 

10 annual sum that is lavished on one ship of the line, four institutions, like 
Harvard University, might be sustained throughout the country ! 

11 Still further let us pursue the comparison. The pay of the Captain 

12 of a ship like the Ohio, is $4,500, when in service : $3,500, when on 
leave of absence, or off duty. The salary of the President of Harvard 

13 University is $2,205 : without leave of absence, and never being off 
duty! 

If the large endowments of Harvard University are dwarfed by a 

14 comparison with the expense of a single ship of the line, how much 
more must it be so with those of other institutions of learning and bene- 
ficence, less favored by the bounty of many generations. The average 
cost of a sloop of war is $315,000 : more, probably, than all the endow- 

15 ments of those twin stars of learning, in the western part of Massachu- 
setts, the colleges at Williamstown and Amherst, and of that single star 
in the east, the guide to many ingenuous youths, the Seminary of An- 

16 dover. The yearly cost of a sloop of war in service, is above $50,000 : 
more than the annual expenditures of these three institutions combined. 

I might press the comparison with other institutions of beneficence : 
with the annual expenditures of the Blind ; that noble and successful 

17 charity, which has shed true lustre upon our commonwealth : amount- 
ing to $12,000 ; and the annual expenditures for the insane of the 

* Hon. Josiah Q,uincy. 

t Hon. S. A. Eliot's Report in 1844. 

I Document No. 132, House of Representatives, 3d session, 27th Congress. Reference is 
here made to the Ohio, because she happens to be in our waters. The expense of the Delaware 
in 1842 had been $1,051,000. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 401 

commonwealth : another charity dear to humanity, amounting to $27,- 
844. 

Take all the institutions of learning and beneficence, the precious 
jewels, of the Commonwealth, the schools, colleges, hospitals and asy 

18 lums ; and the sums by which they have been purchased and preserved 
are trivial and beggarly, compared with the treasures squandered, within 
the borders of Massachusetts, in vain preparations for war. There is 
the Navy Yard at Charlestown ; with its stores on hand, all costing 
$4,741,000 ; the fortifications in the harbors of Massachusetts; in which 
have been sunk already incalculable sums, and in which it is now pro- 
posed to sink $3,853,000 more :* besides, the arsenal at Springfield ; 
containing, in 1842, 175,118 muskets, valued at $2,999,998 ;f and 

19 which is fed by an annual appropriation of about $200,000 ; but whose 
highest value will ever be, in the judgment of all lovers of truth, that it 
inspired a poem, which, in its influence, shall be mightier than a battle, 
and shall endure when arsenals and fortifications have crumbled to the 

earth 4 — 

It appears that the average expenditures of the Federal Government 
for the six years ending with 1840, exclusive of payments on account 

20 of debt, were $26,474,892 : of this sum, the average appropriation each 
year, for military and naval purposes, amounted to $21,328,903: being 
eighty per cent, of the whole amount! Yes, of all the income which 

21 was received by the Federal Government, eighty cents in every dollar 
was applied in this useless way. The remaining twenty cents sufficed 
to maintain the Government, the administration of justice, our relations 

22 with Foreign Nations, the light-houses which shed their cheerful sig- 
nals over the rough waves which beat upon our long and indented coast, 
from the Bay of Fundy to the mouth of the Mississippi. Let us 

23 observe the relative expenditures of the United States, in the scale of 
the nations, for military preparations, in time of peace, exclusive of 

24 payments on account of the debts. These expenditures are in propor- 
tion to the whole expenditure of Government, 

25 In Austria, as thirty -three per cent : 
In France, as thirty-eight per cent : 
In Prussia, as forty-four per cent : 

In Great Britain, as seventy-four per cent: 

26 In the United States, as eighty per cent!'§ To these superflu- 
ous expenditures of the Federal Government, are to be added the still 

* Document Report of Secretary of War, No. 2. Senate, 27th Congress, 2d session ; where 
it is proposed to invest in a system of land defences, $51,677,929. 

tExec. Documents of 1842-3, Vol. I, No. 3. 

t From Mr. Longfellow's "Arsenal at Springfield," I extract two stanzas, which, in poet- 
ical expression, are the least attractive of any in the poem, but which commend themselves by 
their intrinsic truth and moral force : 

" Were half the power that fills the world with terror, 
Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts, 
Given to redeem the human mind from error, 
There were no need of arsenals and forts. 

The warrior's name would be a name abhorred ! 

And every nation that should lift again 
Its hand against its brother, on its forehead 

Would wear forevermore the curse of Cain !" 

§ I have verified these results by the tables of expenditures of these different nations, but I 
do little more than follow Mr. Jay, who has illustrated this important point with his accustomed 
accuracy. — Address, p. 30. 

51 



402 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

larger and equally superfluous expenses of the militia throughout the 
country ; which have been placed at $50,000,000 a year I* 

By a tablef of the expenditures of the United States, exclusive of 
payments on account of the public debt, it appears that, in the fifty- 
three years from the formation of our present Government, in 1789, 

27 down to 1843, there have ibeen $246,620,055 spent for civil purposes : 
comprehending the expenses of the Executive, the Legislative, the Judi- 
ciary, the Post Office, Light-Houses, and intercourse with Foreign 
Governments. During this same period, there have been $368,526,594, 
devoted to the Military Establishment, and $170,437,684 to the Naval 

28 Establishment : the two forming an aggregate of $538,964,278. Deduct- 

29 ing from this sum the appropriations during three years of war, and 
we shall find that more than Four Hundred Millions were absorbed by 
vain preparations in time of peace for war. Add to this amount a mod- 
erate sum for the expenses of the militia during the same period, 
(which a candid and able writer places at present at $50,000,000 a year : 
for the past years we may take an average of $25,000,000,) and we 
shall have the enormous sum of $1,335,000,000 to be added to the 

30 $400,000,000 : the whole amounting to Seventeen Hundred and Thirty- 
jive Millions of Dollars : a sum, beyond the conception of human faculties, 

sunk under the sanction of the Government of the United States in mere 
peaceful preparations for war : more than seven times as much as was 
dedicated by the Government, during the same period, to all other pur- 
poses whatsoever. 



SEC CLXVIII. THE ELOQUENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 

John Marshal], the Chief Justice of the United States, is, in his per- 
son, tall, meagre, emaciated : his muscles relaxed, and his joints so 

1 loosely connected, as not only to disqualify him, apparently, for any 
vigorous exertion of body, but to destroy every thing like elegance and 
harmony in his air and movements. Indeed, in his whole appearance 
and demeanor ; dress, attitudes, gesture ; sitting, standing or walking ; 

2 he is as far removed from the idolized graces of Lord Chesterfield, as 
any other gentleman on earth. To continue the portrait : his head and 
face are small in proportion to his height ; his complexion, swarthy ; the 
muscles of his face, being relaxed, give him the appearance of a man 

3 of fifty years of age ; nor can he be much younger ; his countenance 
has a faithful expression of great good humor and hilarity ; while his 
black eyes, that unerring index, possess an irradiating spirit which pro- 
claims the imperial powers of the mind enthroned within. 

This extraordinary man, without the aid of fancy, without the advan- 
tages of person, voice, attitude, gesture, or any of the ornaments of the 
orator, deserves to be considered as one of the most eloquent men in the 

4 world, if eloquence may be said to consist in the power of seizing the 
attention with irresistible force, and never permitting it to elude the 
grasp, until the hearer has received the conviction which the speaker 
intends. 

* Jay's Peace and War, p. 13, 

t American Almanac for 1845, p. 143. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 403 

5 As to his person, it has already been described. His voice is dry and 
hard : his attitude, in his most effective orations, was often extremely 
awkward ; as it was not unusual for him to stand with his left foot in 

6 advance, while all his gesture proceeded from his right arm, and con- 
sisted merely in a vehement, perpendicular swing of it, from about the 
elevation of his head, to the bar, behind which he was accustomed to 
stand. 

7 As to fancy, if she hold a seat in his mind at all, which I very much 
doubt, his gigantic genius tramples, with' disdain, on all her flower- 
decked plats and blooming parterres. How, then, you will ask, with a 
look of incredulous curiosity, how is it possible, that such a man can 

8 hold the attention of an audience enchained, through a speech of even 

9 ordinary length 1 I will tell you. He possesses one original and almost 
supernatural faculty : the faculty of developing a subject by a single 

10 glance of his mind, and detecting, at once, the very point on which 
every controversy depends. No matter what the question ; though ten 

11 times more knotty than "the gnarled oak," the lightning of heaven is 
not more rapid, nor more resistless, than his astonishing penetration. 

12 Nor does the exercise of it seem to cost him an effort ; on the contrary, 
it is as easy as vision. I am persuaded that his eyes do not fly over a 

13 landscape, and take in its various objects with more promptitude and 
facility, than his mind embraces and analyzes the most complex subject. 
Possessing, while at the bar, this intellectual elevation, which enabled 

14 him to look down and comprehend the whole ground at once, he deter- 
mined immediately, and without difficulty, on which side the question 
might be most advantageously approached and assailed. In a bad 
cause, his art consisted in laying his premises so remotely from the 
point directly in debate, or else in terms so general and so specious, 

15 that the hearer, seeing no consequence which could be drawn from 
them, was just as willing to admit them as not ; but his premises once 
admitted, the demonstration, however distant, followed as certainly, as 
cogently, as inevitably, as any demonstration in Euclid. 

All his eloquence consists in the apparently deep self-conviction and 
emphatic earnestness of his manner, the correspondent simplicity and 

16 energy of his style, the close and logical connection of his thoughts, and 
the easy gradations by which he opens his lights on the attentive minds 
of his hearers. 

17 The audience are never permitted to pause for a moment. There is 
no stopping to weave garlands of flowers, to hang festoons, around a 
favorite argument ; on the contrary, every sentence is progressive : 
every idea sheds new light on the subject : the listener is kept perpetu- 

18 ally in that sweetly pleasurable vibration, with which the mind of man 
always receives new truths : the subject opens gradually on the view, 
until, rising in high relief, in alf its native colors and proportions, the 
argument is consummated, by the conviction of the delighted hearer. 

Wirt. 

Sentence llth. — Tlierefore no matter, &c, for though ten, &c, yet the lightning, &c> 



404 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CLXIX. RETALIATION AS A PRINCIPLE OF CONDUCTING WAR 
WITH INDIANS DEPRECATED. 

1 I have said, that you have no right to practise, under color of retali- 
ation, enormities on the Indians. 1 will advance in support of this pcsi- 

2 tion, as applicable to all law, the principle, that whatever has been the 
custom, from the commencement of a subject, whatever has been the 
uniform usage coeval and co-existent with the subject to which it relates, 
becomes its fixed law. Such was the foundation of all common law ; 

3 and such, I believe, was the pricipal foundation of all public, or inter- 
national law. If, then, it can be shown that from the first settlement of 
the colonies, on this part of the American continent, to the present 

4 time, we have constantly abstained from retaliating upon the Indians 
the excesses, practised by them toward us ; we are morally bound by 
this invariable usage, and cannot lawfully change it without the most 
cogent reasons. So far as my knowledge extends, from the first settle- 

5 ment at Plymouth or at Jamestown, it has not been our practice to 
destroy Indian captives, combatants or non-combatants. I know of but 
one deviation from the code which regulates the warfare between civil- 

6 ized communities ; and that is the destruction of Indian towns ; which 
is supposed to be authorised upon the ground that we cannot bring the 
war to a termination without destroying the means which nourish it. 

7 With this single exception, the other principles of the laws of civillized 
nations are extended to them, and are thus made>law with regard to them. 
When did this humane custom, by which, in consideration of their 

8 ignorance, and our enlightened condition, the rigors of war were miti- 
gated, begin ? At a time, when we were weak, and they were com- 
paratively strong : when they were the lords of the soil, and we were 

9 seeking, from the vices, from the corruptions, from the religious intol- 
erance, and from the oppressions of Europe, to gain an asylum among 
them. And when is it proposed to change this custom, to substitute for 

10 it the bloody maxims of barbarous ages, and to interpolate the Indian 
public law with revolting cruelties ? At a time, when we are powerful 
and they are weak : at a time when, to use a figure drawn from their 
own sublime eloquence, the poor children of the forest have been driven 

11 by the great wave which has flowed in from the Atlantic Ocean almost 
to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and, overwhelming them in its 
terrible progress, has left no other remains of hundreds of tribes now 
extinct, than those which indicate the remote existence of their former 
companion, the Mammoth of the new world ! Yes, it is at this auspi- 
cious period of our country, when we hold a proud and lofty station 
among the first nations of the world, that we are called upon to sanction 
a departure from the established laws and usages which have regulated 

12 our Indian hostilities ; and does the honorable gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts expect, in this august body, this enlightened assembly of chris- 
tians and Americans, by glowing appeals to our passions, to make us 
forget our principles, our religion, our clemency, and our humanity ? 

13 Why is it that we have not practised, toward the Indian tribes, the right 
of retaliation, now for the first time, asserted in regard to them ? 
Because it is a principle, proclaimed by reason, and enforced by every 

14 respectable writer on the law of nations, that retaliation is only justifiable 

15 as calculated to produce effect in the war. Vengeance is a new motive 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 405 

for resorting to it. If retaliation will produce no effect on the enemy, 

16 we are bound to abstain from it by every consideration of humanity 

17 and justice. Will it, then, produce effect on the Indian tribes ? No ; 

18 they care not about the execution of those of their warriors who are 
taken captive. These are considered as disgraced by the very circum- 

19 stance of their captivity ; and it is often mercy to the unhappy captive, 
to deprive him of his existence. The poet evinced a profound knowl- 
edge of the Indian character, when he put into the mouth of the son of 
a distinguished chief, about to be led to the stake and tortured by his 

20 victorious enemy, the words, 

Begin, ye tormentors ! your threats are in vain : 
The son of Alknomak will never complain. 

Retaliation of Indian excesses, not producing then any effect in pre- 

21 venting their repetition, is condemned both by reason and the principles 
upon which alone, in any case, it can be justified. On this branch of 

22 the subject, much more might be said, but, as he should possibly again 
allude to it, he would pass from it, for the present, to another topic. 

Clay. 



SEC. CLXX. LEGAL NOTICES. 

Default in the condition of a mortgage having occurred, by which 

1 the power to sell has become operative, notice is hereby given that the 
said mortgage will be foreclosed by a sale of the mortgaged premises, 
or some part of them, at the Central Hotel in the city of Utica, on the 
18th day of October next, at 9 o'clock A. M. The said mortgage was 
executed by Samuel Williams, mortgagor, to James Bidwell, mortga- 

2 gee : it bears date November 6th, 1840, and is recorded in Oneida 
County Clerk's Office, in Book No. 41 of mortgages, pages 407, and 
408. The amount claimed to be due thereon at the time of the first 
publication of this notice, is one thousand one hundred sixty four dol- 
lars ; and the mortgaged premises are described in the said mortgage 
substantially as follows ; namely, all that piece or parcel of land in 
W^hitestown, county of Oneida, in the state of New York, lately known 
as the Hill Orchard Lot of the late William G. Tracy : it being a part 
of lot No. 5, in the Sadaqueda patent, lying on the westerly side of the 
highway leading from the jail in the village of Whitesboro to the village 

3 of Clinton, and bounded as follows : beginning at the southwest corner 
of a lot of land formerly owned by Elizur Moseley, now deceased, and 
known as the Moseley Lot, and running thence south fifty-three degrees 
west, along said highway, nine chains and forty-five links, to the farm 
formerly owned by John Young, now deceased, and known as the 
Young Farm : thence north thirty-seven degrees west, along the line of 
said Young Farm, to the land now or lately known as the Carpenter 
Lot, and understood to have been owned by Mrs. Lucy Carpenter : 
thence north, fifty-three degrees east, nine chains forty-five links, to the 
aforesaid Moseley lot : thence south, thirty-seven degrees east, along the 
line of said Moseley lot, to the place of beginning : containing thirteen 
acres and a half acre of land : being the same premises which were 



406 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

conveyed to the late William G. Tracy by Sally Ballard, by deed, 
dated the eighth day of April, eighteen hundred and nineteen, and 
recorded in Oneida County Clerk's Office, the 18th day of July, 18*28, 
in Book Q. Q. of deeds, page 333, and sometimes known as the Bal- 

4 lard Lot. Dated Utica, July 24, 1845. 

JAMES BIDWELL, Mortgagee. 
W. & C. Tracy, Attorneys. 

5 Mortgage Sale. Mortgagors, Amos Ives, Anna his wife and Enos 
Ives ; Mortgagee, Philo Gridley ; Mortgage, dated April 1st, 1843-, to 
secure the payment of §2027 48, with interest : recorded as against 

6 Amos and Enos Ives, in the Clerk's Office of Oneida county on the 16th 
day of May, 1843, in Book No. 52 of Mortgages, at pages 88, 89 and 
90 : recorded as against Anna, wife of Amos aforesaid, in the Clerk's 
office aforesaid, on the 7th day of June, 1845, at 2 o'clock, P. M. 
Amount, claimed to be due at the time of the first publication of this 

7 notice, $2,027 48, and the interest thereon from the date of said mort- 
gage. This mortgage is, however, a collateral security to another 
mortgage, dated October 30th, 1841, by said Amos and Anna Ives, to 

8E. and A. L. Collins, and now held by said Gridley; on which is due. 
$4699 52, and annual interest from April 1st, 1842 • so that the sum, 
really to be raised on this mortgage, will be the amount of deficiency 
upon the sale of the premises mortgaged to said E. and A. L. Collins. 
Premises as described in said mortgage : " All those certain pieces of 
land, lying in New Hartford, Oneida county, and being parts of lot No. 
34, in the 7th Grand Division of Cox's Patent : the first of said pieces, 

9 containing about ninety acres, more or less, and bounded north by lands 
formerly owned by Oliver Collins, and now by Amos Ives ; on the east 
by lands of E. B. Sherman, and also by lands of Abel Wilcox and 
Timothy Wilcox ; on the south by the great western turnpike ; and on 
the west by land of Salmon Lusk. And the other piece, containing 
about thirty-five acres, is bounded on the north by lands owned by 

10 Thomas Palmer, and by the Clinton road ; east by lands of Lewis 
Sherrill, and south by Lewis Sherrill, and west by lands of Thomas 
Palmer." By virtue of a power of sale, contained in said mortgage, the 

11 subscriber will sell the two aforesaid mortgaged parcels of land, sepa- 
rately, on the 5th day of September next, at 2 o'clock P. M., at the 
Hotel now kept by N. Porter, in the town and village of New Hartford. 

12 Dated June 9th, 1845. P. GRIDLEY, Mortgagee. 

J. G. Coye, Att'y. 

Sentences 4th, 5th and 8th. — Fragmentary simple declaratives. "This is a notice of a 
mortgage sale." " This notice is dated, &c, &c." The subscribers' names are similar sen- 
tences; except "W. & C. Tracy, attorneys :" which is a fragmentary compound. 



SEC. CLXXI. WE SHOULD HOPE AND TRUST, NOTWITHSTANDING THE 
INSCRUTABLE MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 

Strange, that the wind should be left so free 
To play with the flower, or tear a tree ; 
To range or ramble where'er it will, 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 407 

And, as it lists, to be fierce or still ; 
Above and around to breathe of life, 
Or to mingle the earth and sky in strife ; 

1 Gently to whisper, with morning light, 
Or to growl like a fettered fiend at night ; 
Or to love, and cherish, and bless to-day, 
What to-morrow it ruthlessly rends away ! 
Strange, that the sun should call into birth, 
All the fair flowers and fruits of earth, 
Then bid them perish and see them die, 
While they cheer the soul and gladden the eye ! 
At morn, its child is the pride of spring ; 

2 At night, a shrivelled and loathsome thing ! 
To-day, there is hope and life in its breath ; 
To-morrow it shrinks to a useless death ! 
Strange, doth it seem, that the sun should joy 
To give life, alone, that it may destroy ! 
Strange, that the ocean should come and go, 
With its daily and nightly ebb and flow ; 
Should bear on its placid breast at morn 

The bark that, ere night, will be tempest-torn ; 
Or cherish it all the way it must roam, 

3 To leave it a wreck within sight of home ; 
To smile, as the mariner's toils are o'er, 
Then wash the dead to the cottage door ; 
And gently ripple along the strand, 

To watch the widow behold him land ! 

But stranger than all that man should die, 

When his plans are formed, and his hopes are high. 

He walks forth a lord of the earth to-day, 

And to-morrow beholds him a part of its clay ; 

4 He is born in sorrow, and cradled in pain ; 
And from youth to age, it is labor in vain ; 
And all that seventy years can show, 

Is that wealth is trouble, and wisdom woe : 
That he travels a path of care and strife, 
Who drinks of the poisoned cup of life ! 
Alas ! if we murmur at things like these, 
That reflection tells us are wise decrees ; 
That the wind is not ever a gentle breath ; 
That the sun is often the bearer of death ; 

5 That the ocean- wave is not always still ; 
That life is checkered with good and ill ; 

If we know 't is well, that such change should be, 
What do we learn from the things we see ? 

6 That an erring and siuning child of dust, 

Should not wonder, nor murmur, but hope and trust. 

Of this exercise, sentence first and third are parts of a single compact, interrupted by the inser- 
tion of sentence second. The correlative words are, indeed — but. "Strange indeed, but 
stranger than all, &c." 



408 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CLXXII. ABUSE OF LANGUAGE. 

Whoever has paid attention to the manners of the day, must have 

1 perceived a remarkable innovation in the use of moral terms ; in which 
we have receded more and more from the spirit of Christianity. Of 

2 this, the term employed to denote a lofty sentiment of personal superior- 

3 ity, supplies an obvious instance. In the current language of the times, 
pride is scarcely ever used but in a favorable sense. It will, perhaps, 
be thought the mere change of a term is of little consequence ; but be 

4 it remembered, that any remarkable innovation in the use of moral 
terms, betrays a proportionable change in the ideas and feelings they 
are intended to denote. As pride has been transferred from the list of 
vices to that of virtues, so humility, as a natural consequence, has been 
excluded, and is rarely suffered to enter the praise of a character, we 

5 wish to commend ; although it was a leading feature in that of the 
Saviour of the world, and is still the leading characteristic of his reli- 
gion ; while there is no vice, on the contrary, against which the denun- 
ciations are so frequent as pride. Our conduct, in this instance, is 
certainly rather extraordinary, both in what we have embraced, and in 

6 what we have rejected ; and it will surely be confessed, we are some- 
what unfortunate in having selected that vice, as the particular object 
of approbation, which God has already selected as the especial mark at 
which he aims the thunderbolts of his vengeance. Robert HalL 



SEC. CLXXIII. THE MULTIPLICATION OF STATES NO CAUSE OF ALARM. 

The superficial observer, not merely abroad, but at home, may regard 
the multiplication of States, with their different local interests, as an 
alarming source of dissension, threatening eventual destruction to the 
Republic : but had the sagacity of the most profound politician been 
exercised, to contrive a mode in which the continent of North America 
should become one -broad theatre, for the exercise of the rights, and the 

1 enjoyments and perpetuation of the privileges of republican government 
and rational liberty, it may well be doubted, whether any other so effec- 
tual, so prompt, and at the same time so simple, could have been devised 
by him, as the creation of a number of separate States, successively 
formed, as a population, becoming dense in the older settlements, had 
poured itself into the newer fields of adventure and promise : united by 
a confederacy in the pursuit of all objects of common and general inter- 
est ; and separate, independent, and sovereign, as to all individual con- 
cern. It is thus that our Union is extending itself: not as a mere 

2 matter of political arrangement, still less by compulsion and power, but 
by the choice and act of the individual citizen. 

3 What have we seen in all the newly settled portions of the Union ? 

4 The hardy and enterprising youth finds society in the older settlements 
comparatively filled up. His portion or the old family farm is too nar- 
row to satisfy his wants or his desires, and he goes forth, with the pater- 

5 nal blessing, and generally with little else, to take up his share of the 
rich heritage, which the God of nature has spread before him in this 
western world. He quits the land of his fathers, the scenes of his early 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 409 

days, with tender regret glistening in his eye, though hope mantles on 
his cheek. He does not, as he departs, shake off the dust of the vene- 

7 rated soil from his feet, but he goes on the bank of some distant river, 
to perpetuate the remembrance of the home of his childhood. He piously 
bestows the name of the spot where he was born, on the spot to which 
he has wandered ; and while he is laboring with difficulties, struggling 

8 with privations, languishing perhaps under the diseases incident to the 
new settlement and the freshly opened soil, he remembers the neighbor- 
hood whence he sprung : the spring that gushed from the rock by his 
father's door, where he was wont to bathe his heated forehead, after the 
toil of his youthful sports : the village school-house : the rural church : 
the graves of his father and his mother. In a few years, a new com- 
munity has been formed ■; the forest has disappeared, beneath the sturdy 

9 arm of the emigrant ; his children have grown up : the hardy offspring 
of the new clime ; and the rising settlement is already linked in all its 
partialities and associations with that from which its fathers and found- 
ers had wandered. Such, for the most part, is the manner in which the 

10 new States have been built up; and in this way a foundation is laid, 
by nature herself, for peace, cordiality and brotherly feeling, between 
the ancient and recent settlements of the country. 

It is, however, the necessary course of things, that as the newly set- 
tled portion of the country is organized into States, possessing each the 

11 local feeling and local interests of political communities, some preju- 
dices, like the domestic dissensions of tjie members of the same family, 
should spring up among them, or between them and the older States. 
These may owe their origin to the more exclusive settlement of some 
of the new States, from some of the old ones respectively, to supposed 
inconsistency of the interests of different sections of the country, to the 

12 diversity of manners incident to the peculiarity of geographical and 
social position and the leading pursuits of life, or to the conflict of party 
politics ; which are of necessity, in a free country, capricious, and as 
violent as they are uncertain. From these and other causes, on which 
I need not dwell, and without any impeachment of the prosperous ope- 

13 ration of our system, prejudices may arise between the different sections 
of the country, calculated to disturb that harmony, for which a deep 
foundation is laid in nature ; and which it is all-important to preserve, 
and if possible to increase. To remove these prejudices, to establish 
kind feelings, to promote good will between the different members of the 

14 political family, appears to me, without exception, the most important 
object at which a patriotic citizen, in any portion of the country, can 
aim. Our union is our strength, and our weakness too : our strength, 

15 so long as it exists unimpaired and cherished ; our weakness, whenever 
discord shall expose a vulnerable point to hostile art or power. Even 

16 the separate prosperity of the States, (supposing they could prosper sep- 
arately, which they cannot,) is not enough : I had almost said, is to be 
deprecated. They ought, for their perfect safety, to owe their prosper- 

17ity, in some degree, to each other: to mutual dependence: to common 
interest and the common feeling derived from it, or strengthened by it. 

Everett. 

Sentence hth. — A declarative single compact, third form. 

Sentence 12th. — This may be delivered either as a compound declarative close, or imperfect 

' 52 



410 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

loose. I have punctuated it as a close ; but I am not sure, that the loose delivery is not the best ; 
especially in view of the fact that the preceding sentence requires the close delivery. 
Sentence 15th. — "Our strength, indeed, &c. — but our weakness," &c. 



SEC. CLXXIV. THE DESIGN OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT IN ACCORDANCE 
'WITH THE PRINCIPLES AND PUREST FEELINGS OF OUR NATURE. 

1 Such a spot is the field of battle on Bunker-Hill, already rescued 
from impending desecration. It is now proposed to enclose this memo- 
rable spot ; to restore it, as near as possible, to its condition on the 17th 
of June, 1775, so that all who shall make their pilgrimage to it, may be 

2 able to retrace, as on a map, each incident of the eventful day ; to 
plant around its borders a few trees from our native forests ; and to 
complete the erection of the monumental shaft already begun, simple 
in its taste, grand in its dimensions and height, and of a solidity of struc- 
ture, which shall defy the power of time. 

And now, I appeal to you, Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens, that 

3 such a work, on such a spot, is in accordance with the principles and 

4 purest feelings of our nature. It speaks to the heart. The American, 

5 who can gaze on it with indifference, does not deserve the name of 
American. I would say of such a one, if one could be found so cold 

6 and heartless, in the language of the great genius of the age, of a fan- 
cied being of kindred apathy, 

Breathes there a man of soul so dead ? 

7 If such there breathe, go, mark him well : 
For him, no minstrel raptures swell. 
Proud though his title, high his fame, 
Boundless his wealth, as wish could claim ; 
In spite of title, power, and pelf, 

8 The wretch, concentered all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 

To the vile earth, from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. 

9 I think I can bring this to a practical issue in every man's mind. Is 
there any one who hears me, and will figure to himself the aspect of 
the work, as it will appear when completed : who will place himself, 
in imagination, on the summit of the beautiful hill where the battle was 
fought; look out upon the prospect of unsurpassed loveliness, that 
spreads before him, by land and by sea ; the united features of town 
and country ; the long rows of buildings and streets in the city, rising 
one above another, upon the sides of her triple hills ; the surrounding 
sweep of country, checkered with villages ; on one side, the towers of 
city churches, on the other the long succession of rural spires ; the riv- 
ers that flow on either side to the sea ; the broad expanse of the harbor 
and bay, spotted with verdant islands, with a hundred ships, dancing 
in every direction over the waves ; the vessels of war, keeping guard 
10 with their sleeping thunders, at the foot of the hill ; and on its top, 
w;thin the shade of venerable trees, over the ashes of the great and good, 



SENTENCES EN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 411 

the noble obelisk, rising to the heavens and crowning the magnificent 
scene ; — is there any one who will look at this picture, with his mind's 
eye, and not be willing to contribute, in proportion to his means, to do 
the little which remains to be done, to realize it ? Everett. 

Sentence2d. — After 1775. a semicolon -would be the proper punctuation, but the principal 
divisions requiring the semicolon, a comma, according to the rule of Deviations, No. II (which 
see.) must be inserted. 



SEC. CLXXV. THE BEAUTIES OF STANDARD AUTHORS NOT ALWAYS 
OBVIOUS AT FIRST. 

1 The hidden beauties of standard authors, break upon the mind by 

2 surprise. It is like discovering a hidden spring in an old jewel. You 
take up the book in an idle moment, as you have done a thousand times 

3 before, perhaps wondering, as you turn over the leaves, what the world 
finds in it to admire, when suddenly, as you read, your fingers press 
close upon the covers, your frame thrills, and the passage you have 
chanced upon chains you like a spell : it is so vividly true and beauti- 

4 ful. Milton's Comus flashed upon me in this way. I never could read 

5 the " Rape of the Lock" till a friend quoted some passages from it dur- 
ing a walk. 

I know no more exquisite sensation than this warming of the heart to 
an old author ; and it seems to me, that the most delicious portion of 

6 intellectual existence, is the brief period in which, one by one, the great 
minds of old are admitted with all their time-mellowed worth to the 
affections. With what delight I read, for the first time, the " kind- 

7 hearted plays 5 '" of Beaumont and Fletcher! how I doated on Burton! 
what treasures to me were the "Fairy Queen" and the Lvrics of 
Milton ! Willis. 



SEC CLXXVI. EQUALITY OF HU3IAN CONDITION. 

1 " Believe me, Prince, there was not one who did not dread the mo- 
ment when solitude should deliver him to the tyranny of reflection.'"'" 

" This," said the Prince, " may be true of others, since it is true of 

2 me ; yet, whatever be the general infelicity of man, one condition is 
happier than another ; and wisdom, surely, directs us to take the least 
evil in the choice of life ? " 

" The causes of good and evil,'*'" answered Imlac, " are so various and 
uncertain, so often entangled with each other, so diversified by various 

3 relations, and so much subject to accidents which cannot be foreseen, 
that he who would fix his condition upon incontestable reasons of prefer- 
ence, must live and die inquiring and deliberating.'"'" 

" But surely," said Rasselas, "the wise men to whom we listen with 

4 reverence and wonder, chose that mode of life for themselves, which 
they thought most likely to make them happy?" 

5 " Very few,"' said the poet, " live by choice. Every man is placed 
in the present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, 

6 and with which he did not always willingly co-operate ; and therefore 
you will rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbor 
better than his own." Br. Johnson. 



412 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

[sec. CLXXVII. THE RUINED ARCHANGEL. 

Fie above the rest 
In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
Stood like a tower : his form had yet not lost 
All her original brightness, nor appeared 
Less than an arch-angel ruined, and the excess 
Of glory obscured ; as when the sun new-risen 
Looks through the horizontal misty air, 
Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon, 
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds 
On half the nations, and with fear of change 
Perplexes monarchs : darkened so, yet shone 
Above them all, the arch-angel. Milton. 



SEC CLXXVIII. THE ONLY SUFFICIENT CAUSE OF WAR. 

1 What are sufficient causes of war, let no man say, let no legislator say, 
until the question of war is directly and inevitably before him. Jurists 
may be permitted with comparative safety to pile tome upon tome of 
interminable disquisition, upon the motives, reasons and causes of just 
and unjust war ; metaphysicians may be suffered with impunity to spin 
the thread of their speculations until it is attenuated to a cobweb ; but 

2 for a body created for the government of a great nation, and for the 
adjustment and protection of its infinitely diversified interests, it is worse 
than folly to speculate upon the causes of war, until the great question 
shall be presented for immediate action : until they shall hold the united 
question of cause, motive, and present expediency, in the very palms of 

3 their hands. War is a tremendous evil. Come when it will, unless it 
shall come in the necessary defence of our national security, or of that 

4 honor under whose protection national security reposes, it will come 
too soon : too soon for our national prosperity : too soon for our individual 
happiness : too soon for the frugal, industrious and virtuous habits of 
our citizens : too soon, perhaps, for our most precious institutions. The 
man, who, for any cause, save the sacred cause of public security, 
which makes all wars defensive, the man who for any cause but this, 

5 shall promote or compel this final and terrible resort, assumes a respon- 
sibility second to none, (nay, transcendently deeper and higher than 
any,) which man can assume before his fellow-men, or in the presence 
of God, his creator. Birney. 

Sentence 2d. — The two members in the first part of this sentence, which I need scarcely 
say is a single compact, should be delivered with very large emphatic sweeps, if both are deliv- 
ered in the same manner ; or the first should be so delivered, if the second is made to end with 
partial close. 



SEC. CLXXIX. SATAN'S FAREWELL AND SALUTATION. 

Farewell ! happy fields f 
Where joy forever dwells ! — Hail ! horrors ! — Hail ! 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 413 

Infernal world ! — and thou profoundest hell 

Receive thy new possessor : one who brings 

A mind not to be changed by place or time. 

The mind is its own place ; and of itself 

Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. Milton. 



SEC. CLXXX. WHAT IS GOOD ? 

1 But I am met with the objection, What good will the monument do ? 

I beg leave, sir, to exercise my birth-right as a Yankee, and answer 

2 this question, by asking two or three more; to which I believe it will 

3 be quite as difficult to furnish a satisfactory reply. I am asked, What 

4 good will the monument do ? And, I ask, What good does anything 

5 do ? What is good ? 6 Does anything do any good 1 The persons who 
suggest this objection, of course, think that there are some projects and 

7 undertakings, that do good ; and I should therefore like to have the idea 
of good, explained, and analysed, and run out to its elements. When 
this is done, if I do not demonstrate, in about two minutes, that the 

8 monument does the same kind of good that anything else does, I will 
consent that the huge blocks of granite, already laid, should be reduced 
to gravel, and carted off to fill up the mill-pond ; for that I suppose is 

9 one of the good things. Does a rail-road or a canal do good ? 10 An- 
il swer: Yes; — and how? — It facilitates intercourse, opens markets, 

and increases the wealth of the country ; — but what is this good for ? 

12 — Why, individuals prosper and get rich; — and what good does that 

13 do ? Is mere wealth, as an ultimate end ; gold and silver, without an 
inquiry as to their use ; — are these a good ? Certainly not ? I should 

14 insult this audience by attempting to prove that a rich man, as such, is 

15 neither better nor happier, than a poor one ? — But as men grow rich, 
they live better. — Is there any good in this, stopping here ? is mere 

16 animal life, feeding, working and sleeping like an ox, entitled to be 

17 called good ? Certainly not 1 — But these improvements increase the 

18 population ; — and what good does that do ? where is the good in count- 
ing twelve millions, instead of six, of mere feeding, working, sleeping 
animals ? There is then no good in the mere animal life, except that 
it is the physical basis of that higher moral existence, which resides in 

19 the soul; the heart; the mind; the conscience: in good principles; 
good feelings ; and the good actions, (and the more disinterested, the 
more entitled to be called good,) which flow from them. Now, sir, I 
say, that generous and patriotic sentiments, (sentiments, which prepare 

20 us to serve our country, to live for our country, to die for our country,) 
feelings like those, which carried Prescott, and Warren, and Putnam to 
the battle-field, are good : good, humanly speaking, of the highest order. 
It is good to have them : good to encourage them : good to honor them : 

21 good to commemorate them ; and whatever tends to cherish, animate 
and strengthen such feelings, does as much right down practical good, 

22 as filling low grounds and building rail-roads. This is my demonstra- 

23 tion. I wish, sir, not to be misunderstood. I admit the connection 
between enterprises, which promote the physical prosperity of the coun- 
try, and its intellectual and moral improvement, but I maintain, that it 



414 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

24 is only this connection that gives these enterprises all their value ; and 
that the same connection gives a like value to every thing else, which 
through the channel of the senses, the taste, or the imagination, warms 
and elevates the heart. Everett. 

Sentence 14th. — A loose indirect interrogative. Care should be taken in its delivery. 



SEC CLXXXI. A WINTER-SCENE. 

1 Perhaps there is nothing so peculiar in American meteorology, as the 
phenomenon which I alone, probably, of all the imprisoned inhabitants 

2 of Skaneateles, attributed to a kind and "special Providence." Sum- 
mer had come back, like Napoleon from Elba, and astonished usurping 

3 Winter in the plenitude of apparent possession and security. No cloud 

4 foreboded the change, as no alarm preceded the apparition of the "child 
of destiny."' We awoke on a February morning, with the snow lying 
chin-deep on the earth, and it was June ! The air was soft and warm : 

5 the sky was clear and of the milky-cerulean of chrysoprase : the south 
wind (the same, save his unperfumed wings, who had crept off like a 
satiated lover in October) stole back suddenly from the tropics, and 
found his flowery mistress asleep, and insensible to his kisses, beneath 
her snowy mantle. The sunset warmed back from its wintry purple 

6 to the golden tints of heat ; the stars burnt with a less vitreous sparkle ; 
the meteors slid once more lambently down the sky ; and the house- 
dove sat on the eaves, washing her breast in the snow water, and 
thinking, (like a neglected wife, at a capricious return of her truant's 

7 tenderness,) that the sunshine would last forever 1 

The air was now full of music. The water trickled away under the 

8 snow ; and, as you looked around and saw no change or motion in the 
white carpet of the earth, it seemed as if a myriad of small bells were 
ringing under ground : fairies, perhaps, started in mid-revel with the 
false alarm of summer, and hurrying about with their silver anklets, to 
wake up the slumbering flowers. The mountain torrents were loosed, 
and rushed down upon the valleys like the children of the mist ; and the 

9 hoarse war-cry, swelling and falling upon the wind, maintained its 
perpetual undertone like an accompaniment of bassoons ; and occasion- 
ally, in a sudden lull of the breeze, you would hear the click of the 
undermined snow-drifts dropping upon the earth, as if the choristers of 
Spring were beating time to the reviving anthem of nature. 

The snow sunk, perhaps, a foot in a day ; but it was only perceptible 

10 to the eye where you could measure its wet mark against a tree from 
which it had fallen away, or by the rock from which the dissolving bank 
shrunk and separated, as if rocks and snow were as heartless as our- 
selves, and threw off their friends, too, in their extremity ! The low- 

11 lying lake, meantime, surrounded by melting mountains, received the 
abandoned waters upon its frozen bosom, and spreading them into a 
placid and shallow lagoon, separated by a crystal plane from its own 
lower depths, gave them the repose denied in the more elevated sphere 
in which lay their birthright. And thus, (oh, how full is nature of 

12 these gentle moralities !) and thus sometimes do the lowly, whose 
bosom, like the frozen lake, is at first cold and unsympathetic to the 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 415 

rich and noble, still receive them in adversity ; and, when neighborhood 
and dependence have convinced them that they are made of the same 
common element, as the lake melts its dividing and icy plane, and min- 
gles the strange waters with its own, do they dissolve the unnatural bar- 
rier of prejudice, and take the humbled wanderer to their bosom ! * * 

13 It was a night of extraordinary beauty. The full moon was high in 
the heavens at midnight ; and there had been a slight shower soon after 

14 sunset, which, with the clearing up wind, had frozen thinly into a most 
fragile rime, and glazed every thing open to the sky with transparent 
crystal. The distant forest looked serried with metallic trees, daz- 
zlingly and unspeakably gorgeous; and, as the night wind stirred 
through them, and shook their crystal points in the moonlight, the aggre- 

15 gated stars of heaven springing from their Maker's hand to the spheres 
of their destiny, or the march of the host of the archangel Michael, with 
their irradiate spear-points glittering in the air, or the diamond beds of 
central earth thrust up to the sun in some throe of the universe, would, 
each and all, have been well bodied forth by such similitude. Willis. 



SEC. CLXXXII. DISHONORABLE MEANS TO SUCCESS, NEVER TO BE EMPLOYED. 

1 Free. How now, Jenkinson ? 2 Things go on prosperously, I hope ? 

3 Jen. Sir, I am concerned — or, indeed, sorry — that is to say, I 
wish I could have the satisfaction to say that they do. 

4 - Free. What say you ? 5 Sorry and satisfied 1 6 You are a smooth 

7 spoken man, Mr. Jenkinson ; but tell me the worst at once. I thought 
1 had been pretty sure of it, as the poll stood this morning ? 

8 Jen. It would have given me great pleasure, sir, to have confirmed 
that opinion ; but unfortunately for you, and unpleasantly for myself — 

9 Free. Tut; tut! 10 Speak faster, man ! 11 What is it? 

Jen. An old gentleman from Ensford, who formerly received favors 
from Mrs. Baltimore's father, has come many a mile across the coun- 

12 try, out of pure good will, to vote for him, with ten or twelve distant 
voters at his heels ; and this, I am free to confess, is a thing that was 
never taken into our calculation. 

13 Free. That was very wrong, though ; we should have taken every 

14 thing into our calculation. Shall I lose it, think you ? 151 would rather 
lose ten thousand pounds. 

16 Jen. A smaller sum than that, I am almost sure — that is to say, 
I think I may have the boldness to promise, would secure it to you. 

17 Free. How so ? 

18 Jen. Mr. Baltimore, you know, has many unpleasant claims 
upon him. 

19 Free. Debts, you mean ; but what of that ? 

Jen. Only that I can venture to assure you, many of his creditors 

20 would have the greatest pleasure in life in obliging me ; and when you 
have bought up their claims, it will be a very simple matter just to 
have him laid fast for a little while. The disgrace of that situation will 

21 effectually prevent the last days of the poll from preponderating in his 

22 favor. It is the easiest thing in the world. 

23 Free. Is that your scheme ? 24 O fie : fie ! 25 The rudest tongued 



410 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

26 lout in the parish would have blushed to propose it. Let me lose it 

27 then ! To be a member of Parliament, and not an honest man ! 28 O 
fie : lie : fie ! Joanna Baillie. 

Attention should be given in the delivery of this piece to the spontaneous exclams., and the 
indirect interrogatives. Sentence 4th is an example of the inversion of an indefinite interrog. 
slide. (See Rule HI.) Sentence 13th. — Yet that, &c, though he had received favors, &c. 



SEC. CLXXXIII. THE MURDERER S HOPE OF IMPUNITY, VAIN. 

1 The deed was executed with a degree of self-possession and steadi- 

2 ness, equal to the wickedness with which it was planned. The circum- 
stances, now clearly in evidence, spread out the whole scene before us. 

3 Deep sleep had fallen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his 

4 roof. A healthful old man, to whom sleep was sweet, — the first sound 
slumbers of the night held him in their soft but strong embrace. The 

5 assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an unoccu- 
pied apartment. With noiseless foot, he paces the lonely hall, half 

6 lighted by the moon : he winds up the ascent of the stairs, and reaches 
the door of the chamber. Of this, he moves the lock, by soft and con- 

7 tinued pressure, till it turns on its hinges ; and he enters, and beholds 

8 his victim before him. The room was uncommonly open to the admis- 
sion of light. The face of the innocent sleeper was turned from the 

9 murderer; and the beams of the moon, resting on the gray locks of his 
aged temple, showed him where to strike. The fatal blow is given ! 

10 and the victim passes, without a struggle or a motion, from the repose 
of sleep to the repose of death ! It is the assassin's purpose to make 

11 sure work; and he yet plies the dagger, though it was obvious that 
life had been destroyed by the blow of the bludgeon. He even raises the 

12 aged arm, that he may not fail in his aim at the heart, and replaces it 
again over the wounds of the poniard ! To finish the picture, he 

13 explores the wrist for the pulse ! he feels it, and ascertains that it beats 
14 no longer! it is accomplished: the deed is done. He retreats, retraces 

his steps to the window, passes out through it as he came in, and escapes. 

15 He has done the murder : no eye has seen him ; no ear has heard him: 
the secret is his own, and he is safe ! 

16 Ah ! gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. 17 Such a secret can 

18 be safe nowhere. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor cor- 
ner, where the guilty can bestow it, and say it is safe. Not to speak 

19 of that eye which glances through all disguises, and beholds every 
thing, as in the splendor of noon ; such secrets of guilt are never safe 

20 from detection, even by man. True it is, generally speaking, that 
" murder will out." True it is, that Providence hath so ordained, and 
doth so govern things, that those who break the great law of heaven, by 

21 shedding man's blood, seldom succeed in avoiding discovery : especially, 
in a case exciting so much attention as this, discovery must, and will 
come, sooner or later. A thousand eyes turn at once to explore every 
man, every thing, every circumstance, connected with the time and 

22 place : a thousand ears catch every whisper : a thousand excited minds 
intensely dwell on the scene ; shedding all their light, and ready to kin- 

23 die the slightest circumstance into a blaze of discovery. Meantime, 
the guilty soul cannot keep its own secret. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 417 

It is false to itself; or rather it feels an irresistible impulse of con- 

24 science to be true to itself: it labors under its guilty possession, and 

knows not what to do with it. The human heart was not made for the 

25 residence of such an inhabitant ; it finds itself preyed on by a torment, 
which it dares not acknowledge to God or man. A vulture is devour- 

26 ing it, and it asks no sympathy or assistance, either from heaven or 
earth. The secret which the murderer possesses, soon comes to possess 

27 him ; and, like the evil spirits of which we read, it overcomes him, and 

28 leads him whithersoever it will. He feels it beating at his heart, rising 
to his throat, and demanding disclosure. He thinks the whole world 

29 sees it in his face, reads it in his eyes, and almost hears its workings in 

30 the very silence of his thoughts. It has become his master. 31 It betrays 
his discretion : it breaks down his courage: it conquers his prudence. 
When suspicions, from without, begin to embarrass him, anctTThe net of 

32 circumstances to entangle him, the fatal secret struggles with still 
greater violence to burst forth. It must be confessed : it will be con- 

33 fessed : there is no refuge from confession but suicide ; and suicide is 
confession. ********* 

34 This testimony of Mr. Coleman is represented as new matter ; and 

35 therefore an attempt has been made to excite a prejudice against it. It 

36 is not so. How little is there in it, after all, that did not appear from 

37 other sources ! It is mainly confirmatory. Compare what you learn 
from this confession, with what you before knew, 

As to its being proposed by Joseph : was not that true ? 

38 As to Richard's being alone, &c. in the house : was not that true ? 
As to the dagger : was not that true ? 

As to the time of the murder : was not that true ? 
As to his being out that night : was not that true ? 
As to his returning afterward : was not that true ? 
As to the club : was not that true 1 

39 So this information confirms what was known before ; and fully con- 
firms it. Webster. 



SEC. CLXXXIV. THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET. 

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
When fond recollection presents them to view ! 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood, 
And every loved spot which my infancy knew : 

1 The wide-spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it ; 
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell ; 

The cot of my father ; the dairy-house nigh it ; 
And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well I 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well ! 

That moss-covered vessel, I hail as a treasure ; 

2 For often, at noon, when returned from the field, 
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure : 
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. 

3 How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing ! 

53 



418 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Arid quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell : 

4 Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing, 
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well : 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-covered bucket, arose from the well. 

5 How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it, 
As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips ! 

6 Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, 
Though rilled with the nectar that Jupiter sips. 

And now, far removed from the loved situation, 
The tear of regret will intrusively swell, 

7 As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, 

And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well : 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss covered bucket, which hangs in the well. 

Woodworth. 

Sentence 1st. — The exclamation point at the end of the eighth line, represents the colon* 
The sentence is an imperfect loose indefinite interrogative exclamation. 



SEC. CLXXXV. OUR WISHES HELP TO DECEIVE US. 

1 Baltimore. What were you laughing at ? 

Peter. Only, sir, at Squire Freeman, (he : he : he !) who was riding 

2 up the back lane, a little while ago, on his new crop-eared hunter, as 
fast as he could canter, with all the skirts of his coat flapping about him, 
for all the world like a clucking hen upon a sow's back — He : he : he ! — 

3 Bait. Thou art pleasant, Peter ; and what then 1 

Pet. When just turning the corner, your honor, as it might be so, 

4 my mother's brown calf (bless its snout ! I shall love it for it, as long as 
I live) set its face through the hedge, and said " Mow !" 

5 Bait. And he fell : did he ? 

6 Pet. O Lord, yes, your honor ! into a good soft bed of all the rotten 
garbage of the village. 

7 Bait. And you saw this : did you ? 

8 Pet. O yes, your honor ! as plain as the nose on my face. 

9 Bait. Ha : ha : ha : ha : ha ! and you really saw it 1 

10 David. [Aside,) I wonder my master can demean himself so as to 
listen to that knave's tales : I'm sure he was proud enough once. 

11 Bait. {Still laughing.) You really saw it ? 

12 Pet. Ay, your honor ! and many more than me saw it. 

13 Bait. And there were a number of people to look at him too ? 

14 Pet. Oh ! your honor ! all the rag-tag of the parish were grinning 
at him. 

15 Bait. Ha : ha : ha : ha : ha ! this is excellent ! ha : ha : ha ! 

16 He would shake himself but ruefully before them ? (Still laughing vio- 
lently.) 

17 Pet. Ay, sir : he shook the wet straws and the withered turnip-tops 

18 from his back. It would have done your heart good to have seen him. 

19 Dav. Nay, you know well enough, you do, that there is nothing but 
a bank of dry sand in that corner. (Indignantly to Peter.) 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 419 

20 Bait. (Impatiently to David.) Poo! silly fellow! it is the dirtiest 

21 nook in the village. — And he rose and shook himself: ha: ha: ha! 

22 I did not know that thou wert such a humorous fellow Peter : here is 
money for thee to drink the brown calf's health. 

23 Pet. Ay, your honor ! for certain he shall have a noggen. 

24 Dav. (Aside.) To think now that he should demean himself so! 

Joanna Baillie. 

Sentence 21th. — Fragmentary declarative close exclamatory sentence, with something like ■ 
"is painful" understood at the end. 



SEC. CLXXXVI. CONSTANTINOPLE. 

But oh ! how fairer than Venice in her waters, than Florence and 

1 Rome in their hills and habitations, than all the cities of the world in 
that which is most their pride and glory, is this fairest metropolis of the 
Mahomets ! With its two hundred mosques, each with a golden sheaf 
of minarets laying their pointed fingers against the stars, and encircled 
with the fretted galleries of the callers to prayer, like the hand of a 
cardinal with its costly ring ; with its seraglio gardens washed on one 
side by the sea, and on the other by the gentle stream that glides out of 
the " Valley of Sweet Waters :" men-of-war on one side, flaunting their 
red pennants over the nightingale's nest which sings for the delight of 

2 a princess, the swift caique on the other gliding in protected waters, 
where the same imprisoned fair one might fling into it a flower ; (so 
slender is the dividing cape that shuts in the bay ; ) with its Bosphorus, 
the most richly-gemmed river within the span of the sun, extending with 
its fringe of palaces and castles from sea to sea, and reflecting in its 
glassy eddies a pomp and sumptuousness of costume and architecture, 
which exceeds even your boyish dreams of Bagdad and the Caliphs ; — 
Constantinople, I say with its turbaned and bright-garmented popu- 
lation : its swarming sea and rivers ; its columns, and aqueducts, and 
strange ships of the East ; its impenetrable seraglio, and its close-shut- 
tered harems ; its bezestein, and its Hippodrome ; — Constantinople lay 
before me ! If the star I had worshipped had descended to my hand out 
of the sky ; if my unapproachable and yearning dream of woman's 
beauty had been bodied forth warm and real ; if the missing star in the 

3 heel of Serpentarius, and the lost sister of the Pleiades had waltzed 
back together to their places ; if poets were once more prophets, not 
felons, and books were read for the good that is in them, not for the 
evil ; if Love and Truth had been seen again, or any impossible and 
improbable thing had come to pass ; I should not have felt more thril- 
lingly than now, the emotions of surprise and wonder ! Willis. 

Sentence 2d, is a remarkable instance of inversion. It is a compound declarative close. The 
punctuation should be studied. 



SEC. CLXXXVII. THE BATTLE OF HOHENLINDEN. 

On Linden when the sun was low, 
1 All bloodless lay the untrodden snow ; 



420 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

And dark as winter was the flow 

Of Iser rolling rapidly. 
But Linden saw another sight, 

2 When the drum beat at dead of night : 
Commanding fires of death to light 

The darkness of her scenery. 
By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, 

3 Each horseman drew his battle blade ; 
And furious every charger neighed 

To join the dreadful revelry. 
Then shook the hills with thunder riven ! 

4 Then rushed the steed to battle driven ! 
And louder than the bolts of heaven, 

Far flashed the red artillery ! 
And redder yet those fires shall glow, 

5 On Linden's hills of blood-stained snow ; 
And darker yet shall be the flow 

Of Iser rolling rapidly. 
'T is morn, but scarce yon lurid sun 

6 Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun 
Where furious Frank, and fiery Hun, 

Shout midst their sulphurous canopy. 

7 The combat deepens. On ! ye brave, 

8 Who rush to g}ory, or the grave ! 
Wave, Munich ! all thy banners wave ! 

And charge with all thy chivalry ! 
Ah ! few shall part where many meet ! 

9 The snow shall be their winding sheet ; 
And every turf beneath ther feet 

Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. Campbell. 



SEC. CLXXXVIII. TERRIBLE OVERTHROW OF PERSECUTORS. 

It was now the Sabbath-day ; and a small congregation of about a 

1 hundred souls had met, for divine service, in a place of worship more 
magnificent than any temple that human hands had ever built to the 

2 Deity. Here, too, were three children about to be baptized. The 
congregation had not assembled to the toll of the bell, but each heart 

3 knew the hour and observed it ; for there are a hundred sun-dials 
among the hills, woods, moors and fields, and the shepherd and the 
peasant see the hours passing by them in sunshine and shadow. 

4 The church in which they were assembled, was hewn, by God's 
hand, out of the eternal rocks. A river rolled its way through a mighty 

5 chasm of cliffs, several hundred feet high, of which the one side pre- 
sented enormous masses, and the other corresponding recesses, as if the 
great stone girdle had been rent by a convulsion. The channel was 
overspread with prodigious fragments of rock, or large loose stones : 

6 some of them smooth and bare ; others containing soil and verdure in 
their rents and fissures, and here and there crowned with shrubs and 

7 trees. The eye could at once command a long stretching vista, seem- 
ingly closed and shut up at both extremities by the coalescing cliffs. 






SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 421 

This majestic reach of river contained pools, streams, rushing shelves 

8 and waterfalls innumerable ; and when the water was low, which it 
now was in the common drought, it was easy to walk up this scene 
with the calm blue sky overhead : an utter and sublime solitude. On 

9 looking up, the soul was bowed down by the feeling of that prodigious 
height of unscalable and often overhanging cliff. Between the channel 

10 and the summit of the far-extended precipices, were perpetually flying 
rooks and wood-pigeons, and now and then a hawk : filling the profound 
abyss with their wild cawing, deep murmur, or shrilly shriek. Some- 

11 times a heron would stand erect and still on some little stone island, or 
rise up, like a white cloud, along the black walls of the chasm, and 

12 disappear. Winged creatures alone could inhabit this region. 13 The 
fox and wild-cat chose more accessible haunts. Yet here came the 
persecuted Christians and worshipped God, whose hand hung over their 

14 heads those magnificent pillars and arches, scooped out those galleries 
from the solid rock, and laid at their feet the calm water in its transpa- 
rent beauty, in which they could see themselves sitting in reflected 
groups, with their bible in their hands. 

Here, upon a semi-circular ledge of rocks, over a narrow chasm of 
which the tiny stream played in a murmuring waterfall, and divided 

15 the congregation into two equal parts, sat about a hundred persons : all 
devoutly listening to their minister, who stood before them on what 
might well be called a small natural pulpit of stone. Up to it, there led 

16 a short flight of steps ; and over it waved the canopy of a tall and 
graceful birch-tree. This pulpit stood on the middle of the channel, 

17 directly facing the congregation, and separated from them by the clear 
deep sparkling pool, into which the scarcely heard water poured over 
the blackened rock. The water, as it left the pool, separated into two 

18 streams, and flowed on each side of that altar : thus, placing it in an 
island, whose large mossy stones were richly embowered under the 
golden blossoms and green tresses of the broom. Divine service was 
closed ; and a row of maidens, all clothed in purest white, came gliding 

19 off from the congregation, and crossing the stream on some stepping- 
stones, arranged themselves, at the foot of the pulpit, with the infants 
about to be baptized. The fathers of the infants, just as if they had 

20 been in their own kirk, had been sitting there during worship, and now 
stood up before the minister. The baptismal water, taken from that 

21 pellucid pool, was lying consecrated in a small hollow of one of the 
upright stones that formed one side or pillar of the pulpit ; and the 
holy rite proceeded. Some of the younger ones in that semicircle kept 
gazing down into the pool, in which the whole scene was reflected, and 

22 now and then, in spite of the grave looks, and admonishing whispers of 
their elders, letting a pebble fall into the water, that they might judge 
of its depth from the length of time that elapsed, before the clear air- 

23 bells lay sparkling on the agitated surface. The rite was over, and the 
religious service of the day closed by a psalm. The mighty rocks 

24 hemmed in the sound, and sent it in a more compacted volume, clear, 
sweet and strong up to heaven. When the psalm ceased, an echo, like 

25 a spirit's voice, was heard dying away high up among the magnificent 
architecture of the cliffs; and once more might be noticed, in the 
silence, the reviving voice of the waterfall. 

Just then a large stone fell from the top of the cliff into the pool : a 



422 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

26 loud voice was heard, and a plaid hung over on the point of a shep- 

27 herd's staff. Their watchful sentinel had descried danger ; and this 

28 was his warning. Forthwith the congregation rose. There were 

29 paths, dangerous to unpractised feet, along the ledges of the rocks, 
leading up to several caves and places of concealment. The more 
active and young assisted the elder : more especially the old pastor, 

30 and the women ; and many minutes had not elapsed, till not a living 
creature was visible in the channel of the stream, but all of them 
hidden, or nearly so, in the clefts and caverns. 

31 The shepherd who had given the alarm had lain down again in his 
plaid, instantly, on the green sward upon the summit of these precipices. 
A party of soldiers w*ere immediately upon him, and demanded what 

23 signals he had been making ; and to whom ; when one of them, looking 
over the cliff, exclaimed, " See ! see ! Humphrey : we have caught the 

33 whole Tabernacle of the Lord in a net at last. There they are prais- 

34 ing God among the stones of the river Mouss. These are the Cartland 

35 craigs. By my soul's salvation, a noble cathedral ! — 36 Fling the 

37 lying sentinel over the cliffs. — Here is a canting covenanter for you, 

38 deceiving honest people on the very Sabbath day. Over with him : 
over with him ; out of the gallery into the pit." But the shepherd 

39 had vanished like a shadow ; and, mixing with the tall green broom 
and brushes, he was making his unseen way towards a wood. " Satan 

40 has saved his servant ; — but come, my lads : follow me : I know the 
way down into the bed of the stream, and the steps up to Wallace's 

41 cave. They are called the ' Kittle Nine Stanes.' 42 The hunt is up : 

43 we '11 be all in at the death. Halloo, my boys : halloo ! " 

The soldiers dashed down a less precipitous part of the wooded banks, 

44 a little below the ' craigs,' and hurried up the channel ; but when they 
reached the altar, where the old gray-haired minister had been stand- 
ing, and the rocks that had been covered with people, all was silent and 
solitary : not a creature to be seen. "Here is a Bible dropped by some 

45 of them," cried a soldier ; and with his foot he spun it away into the 

46 pool. "A bonnet: a bonnet," cried another: — "now for the pretty 
sanctified face that rolled its demure eyes below it." But, after a few 
jests and oaths, the soldiers stood still : eyeing, with a kind of mysteri- 

47 ous dread, the black and silent face of the rock that hemmed them in, 
and hearing only the small voice of the stream that sent a profound 

48 stillness through the heart of that majestic solitude. "Curse these cow- 
ardly covenanters : what if they tumble down upon our heads pieces of 

49 rock from their hiding-place ? Advance ? or retreat ?" 50 There was 
no reply ; for a slight fear was upon every man. Musket or bayonet 
could be of little use to men obliged to clamber up rocks, along slender 
paths, leading they knew not where ; and they were aware, that armed 

51 men, now-a-days, worshipped God : men of iron hearts ; who fear not 
the glitter of the soldier's arms ; neither barrel nor bayonet : men of 
long stride, firm step, and broad breasts ; who, on the open field, would 
have overthrown the marshaled line, and gone first and foremost, if a 
city had to be taken by storm. 

As the soldiers were standing together irresolute, a noise came upon 

52 their ears like distant thunder, but even more appalling ; and a slight 
current of air, as if propelled by it, passed whispering along the sweet- 
briers, and the broom, and the tresses of the birch trees. It came deep- 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 423 

53 ening, and rolling, and roaring on ; and the very Cartland craigs shook 
to their foundation, as if in an earthquake. 

54 " The Lord have mercy upon us : what is this ?" And down fell 

55 many of the miserable wretches on their knees, and some on their faces, 
on the sharp-pointed rocks. Now it was like the sound of many myri- 

56 ads of chariots rolling on their iron axles down the stony channel of 
the torrent. The old gray-haired minister issued from the mouth of 

57 Wallace's cave, and said, with a loud voice, " The Lord God Omnipo- 

58 tent reigneth." A water-spout had burst up among the moorlands, and 
the river, in its power, was at hand. There it came, tumbling along 

59 into that long reach of cliffs, and in a moment filled it with one mass of 

60 waves. Huge, agitated clouds of foam rode on the surface of a blood- 

61 red torrent. An army must have been swept by that flood. The sol- 
diers perished in a moment ; but high up in the cliffs, above the sweep 

62 of destruction, were the Covenanters, (men, women, and children,) utter- 
ing prayers to God, unheard by themselves, in that raging thunder. 

Professor Wilson. 



SEC. CLXXXIX. THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 

1 Vital spark of heavenly flame ! 
Quit, oh quit, this mortal frame ! 

2 Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying ; — 
Oh the pain, the bliss, of dying ! 

3 Cease, fond Nature ! cease thy strife. 
And let me languish into life. 

4 Hark ! 5 They whisper : angels say, 
Sister spirit, come away. 

What is this absorbs me quite : 

6 Steals my senses : shuts my sight : 
Drowns my spirits : draws my breath ? 

7 Tell me, my soul ! can this be Death ? 
The world recedes : it disappears : 

8 Heaven opens on my eyes : my ears 
With sounds seraphic ring : 

Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! 

9 O Grave ! where is thy victory ? 

O Death ! where is thy sting 1 Pope. 

There is great danger, in the delivery of this piece, of falling into a whining, canting, mea- 
sured manner. Read it, if possible, as you would read prose. 



SEC. CXC. A CURTAIN LECTURE OF MRS. CAUDLE. 

1 Bah ! that J s the third umbrella gone since Christmas. 2 What 
3 were you to do ! Why, let him go home in the rain, to be sure. 4l'm 

5 very certain there was nothing about him that could spoil. — Take 

6 cold, indeed ! He does'nt look like one of the sort to take cold. 7 Be- 

8 sides, he'd have better taken cold than taken our umbrella. — Do you 

9 hear the rain, Mr. Caudle ? I say, do you hear the rain ? 10 And as 



424 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

11 1 'm alive, if it is'nt St. Swithin's day! Do you hear it against the 

12 windows ? Nonsense : you don't impose upon me ; you can't be asleep 

13 with such a shower as that ! Do you hear it, I say ? 14 Oh ! you do 

15 hear it! — Well, that 's a pretty flood, I think, to last for six weeks; 

16 and no stirring all the time out of the house. Pooh ! don't think me a 

17 fool, Mr. Caudle ; don't insult me ; he return the umbrella ! Any body 

18 would think you were born yesterday. As if any body ever did return 

19 an umbrella ! There : do you hear it ? 20 Worse and worse. 21 Cats 
and dogs, and for six weeks : always six weeks ; and no umbrella ! 

22 I should like to know how the children are to go to school to-morrow. 

23 They shan't go through such weather; I am determined. No; they 

24 shall stop at home and never learn anything, (the blessed creatures !) 
sooner than go and get wet ! And when they grow up, I wonder who 

25 they'll have to thank for knowing nothing : who, indeed, but their 

26 father. People who can't feel for their own children ought never to be 
fathers. 

27 But I know why you lent the umbrella : oh ! yes, I know very well. 

28 I was going out to tea at dear mother's to-morrow : you knew that, and 

29 you did it on purpose. Don't tell me ; you hate me to go there, and 

30 take every mean advantage to hinder me. But don't you think it, Mr. 
Caudle ; no, sir ; if it comes down in buckets full, I '11 go all the more. 

31 No ; and I won't have a cab ! 32 Where do you think the money 's to 
33 come from ? You 've got nice high notions at that club of yours ? 34 A 

35 cab, indeed ! Cost me sixteen-pence, at least : sixteen-pence ! two-and 

36 eight-pence ; for there 's back again. Cabs, indeed ! I should like to 

37 know who 's to pay for 'em ; for I 'm sure you can't, if you go on as 
you do, throwing away your property, and beggaring your children, 
buying umbrellas ! 

38 Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle ? 39 I say, do you hear it ? 

40 But I don't care — I '11 go to mother's to-morrow — 1 will ; and what's 
more I '11 walk every step of the way ; and you know that will give 

41 me my death. Don't call me a foolish woman ; it 's you that 's the 
foolish man. You know I can't wear clogs; and with no umbrella, the 

42 wet's sure to give me a cold : it always does : but what do you care 

43 for that ? Nothing at all. 44 I may be laid up for what, you care, as I 

45 dare say I shall ; and a pretty doctor's bill there '11 be. I hope there 

46 will. It will teach you to lend your umbrellas again. 47 I should'nt 
wonder if I caught my death : yes, and that 's what you lent the 

48 umbrella for. Of course ! 

49 Nice clothes I get, too, trapesing through weather like this. 50 My 

51 gown and bonnet will be spoiled quite. Need'nt I wear 'em then ? 

52 Indeed, Mr. Caudle, I shall wear 'em. 53 No, sir ; I 'm not going out a 
dowdy to please you or any body else. Gracious knows ! it is'nt often 

54 that I step over the threshhold ; — indeed, I might as well be a slave at 
once : better, I should say ; but when I do go out, Mr. Caudle, I choose 

55 to go as a lady. Oh! that rain — if it isn't enough to break in the 
windows. 

56 Ugh ! I look forward with dread for to-morrow ! 57 How I am to go 

58 to mother's, I 'm sure I can't tell, but if I die, I '11 do it. — No, sir ; I 
won't borrow an umbrella : no ; and you shan't buy one. ( With great 

59 emphasis.) Mr. Caudle, if you bring home another umbrella, I'll throw 
it in the street. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 4*25 

60 Ha ! And it was only last week I had a new nozzle put to that 

61 umbrella. I 'm sure if I 'd have known as much as I do now, it might 

62 have gone without one. Paying for new nozzles for other people to 

63 laugh at you ! Oh ! it 's all very well for you ; you can go to sleep. 

64 You Ve no thought of your poor patient wife, and your own dear child- 
ren ; you think of nothing but lending umbrellas ! 

65 Men, indeed ! — call themselves lords of the creation! pretty lords, 
when they can't even take care of an umbrella ! 

I know that walk to-morrow will be the death of me, but that 's what 

66 you want : then you may go to your club, and do as you like ; and 
then nicely my poor dear children will be used; but then, sir, then 

67 you "11 be happy. Oh ! don't tell me ! I know you will : else you 'd 
never have lent the umbrella ! 

68 You have to go on Thursday about that summons ; and, of course, 

69 you can't go. No, indeed : you don't go without the umbrella. You 

70 may lose the debt for what I care — it won't be so much as spoiling 
your clothes — better lose it; people deserve to lose debts who lend 
umbrellas ! 

71 And I should like to know how I 'm to go to mother's without the 

72 umbrella. Oh ! don't tell me that I said I ivould go ; that's nothing to 
do with it : nothing at all. She '11 think I 'm neglecting her ; and the 

O CO? 

73 little money we 're to have, we shan't have at all : — because we 've no 
umbrella. 

The children, too ! — (dear things! — ) they'll be sopping wet; for 

74 they shan't stay at home ; they shan't lose their learning ; it 's all their 

75 father will leave them, I 'm sure. — But they shall go to school. Don't 
tell me they should'nt ; (you are so aggravating, Caudle, you J d spoil 

76 the temper of an angel;) they shall go to school : mark that; and if 
they get their deaths of cold, it 's not my fault ; I did'nt lend the um- 
brella. 

" Here," says Caudle, in his manuscript, " I fell asleep and dreamed 

77 that the sky was turned into green calico, with whalebone ribs : that, in 
fact, the whole world revolved under a tremendous umbrella !" 

Sentence 2d. — Mr. Caudle is supposed to hare asked here, "What he should have done." 
Mrs. C. repeats his words as if she had not heard distinctly ; and of course her question takes 
the rising slide. (See Rule III., Excep.) Sentence oth. — The first part of a decl. double 
compact: the second part understood : " but the reverse." Sentence 1th. — The first part of a 
single compact, itself compact. Therefore — because, the correlative words. "Because we 
shall want it ourselves" is probably the reason in the mind of the speaker. Sentence 12th. — 
"Therefore you don't, because therefore you cant [; because it makes too much noise."] 
Sentence loth. — "As it is well that you hear, so that ; s a pretty flood. &c." Sentence 16th. 
— Mr. C. is supposed to have said the umbrella would be returned. A double compact declar. 
excl. : thus made out. ' ; Don't think me fool enough to believe it; don't insult my understand- 
ing by calling on me to believe it ; for he will never return the umbrella." The second propo- 
sition is virtually negative, though it has an affirmative form. Sentence 21st. — "It rains 
cais and dogs, and so it will rain for six weeks;" that is, "as it rains, so it will rain. &c. :; 
Sentence 23d. — A double compact, with the first and second proposition expressed: "They 
shall not, &c, for on that, I'm determined." Sentence 24th. — They shall not, &c., but they 
shall, &c. Sentence 2oth. — Who ungrammatically used for whom. Compound decl. imperf. 
loose. Sentence 29th. — Very much abbreviated. " Don't tell me that, for it is not true : you 
hate, &c." Sentence 30th. — "But don't you think it; no, sir; for if it, &c." Sentence 
31st. — " -\ ot only so, indeed, but I won't have a cab ! Sentence 33d. — An indirect interrog- 
ative, first kind. Sentence 31th. — Indirect semi-interrogative exclam. Sentence 40th. — 
Extremely abbreviated and fragmentary again. " But yet Tdon't care ; [if it does rain :] yet I 
will go, &c.. [if it does rain :] yet I will, [if it does rain ; &c."] Sentence 41st. — " Therefore 
don't, because it 's you, &c." Sentence 42d. — The first part of this semi-interrog. is a frag- 
ment, double compact, with the first proposition only expressed : the second, or the reason for 
the first being understood. Sentence 12d. — " Therefore don't, for that 's ; &c." 

54 



426 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

SEC. CXCI. A HANDBILL DISTRIBUTED THROUGH BOSTON ON MONDAY, 



Friends, Countrymen, and Citizens, 

1 Have you read and weighed his Majesty's speech ? the address of 

2 the Lords and Commons of Great Britain ? I fear we have got into 
the wrong box ! Therefore let us not any longer be led by frenzy, but 
seize upon and deliver up to justice, at once, those who have seduced 
us from our duty and happiness ! or, depend upon it, they will leave 

3 us in the lurch ! nay, I am assured, some of them, who had property, 
have already mortgaged all their substance for fear of confiscation ; but 
that shall not save their necks, for I am one of forty misled people, who 
will watch their motions, and not suffer them to escape the punishment 
due to the disturbers of our repose. Remember the fate of Wat Tyler; 

4 and think how vain it is for Jack, Sam, or Will, to war against Great 

5 Britain, now she is in earnest ! It is greatly inferior to the giants 

6 waging war against Olympus ! These had strength ; but what have 
we ? Our leaders are desperate bankrupts ! our country is without 

7 money, stores or necessaries of war ! without one place of refuge or 
defence ! If we were called together, we should be a confused herd, 

8 without any disposition to obedience : without a General of ability to 
direct and guide us ; and our numbers would be our destruction ! 

9 Never did a people rebel with so little reason : therefore our conduct 
cannot be justified before God ! Never did so weak a people dare to 

10 contend with so powerful a state : therefore it cannot be justified by 
prudence. It is all the consequence of the arts of crafty knaves, over 

11 weak minds and wild enthusiasts, who, if we continue to follow, will 
lead us to inevitable ruin. 

Rouse, rouse, ye Massacliusetians, while it be yet time ! ask pardon 
12 of God! submit to our King and Parliament, whom you have wickedly 

13 and grievously offended. Eyes had we, but saw not, neither have we 
heard with our ears. Let not our posterity curse us for having wan- 

14 tonly lost the estates that should have been theirs, or for entailing misery 
upon them, by implicitly adhering to the promises of a few desperadoes. 

15 Let us seize our seducers, make peace with our mother country, and 

16 save ourselves and children. Amen ! 

A Yeoman of Suffolk County. 
Boston, Sabbath Eve, Feb. 5th, 1775. 



SEC CXCII. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

1 Time, which dims and closes the career of mortals, but freshens and 
brightens the prospects of our country. She is and will continue pros- 
perous and glorious, the home of industry, genius, and enterprise, the 

2 hope of the patriot, the pole-star of freedom to other nations, and the 
pride and idol of her own children ; though, as already represented, 
"neither faultless nor perfect. In ascending, therefore, to the summit of 

3 her destiny, she will still require minds to invent and direct, and hands 
to execute, under the spirit of improvement. Such will be the condi- 

4 tion of things for ages to come ; until anticipation and hope shall be 
consummated in reality. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 427 

5 What a field of action, usefulness, and renown does this open to the 

6 youthful, the gifted, and the aspiring ! Confidently and safely may the 
records of time be challenged for its parallel. Contrasted with the bril- 

7 liancy of the present period in this respect, every epoch in history fades 
into dimness. All Christendom is awakened, and more or less in motion 

8 to amend its condition : England and the United States being far in the 
lead. In a special manner, how surpassingly radiant, rich and inviting 

9 is the field that is offered to the sons of the west ! and how pressing and 
full of promise is the call to them to enter and cultivate it in a manner 
and degree worthy alike of it and themselves ! Even now is the invo- 

10 cation resounding in the midst of us : not in faint echoes around these 
walls, but in a louder note, pealing through the aisles of a more mag- 
nificent temple. It is the voice of the genius of the Mississippi Valley; 
and it should pierce every ear and awaken every slumberer in this spa- 
ll cious domain, from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains; and from 
the inland seas on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico on our southern bor- 
ders. Has Nature labored in this glorious valley on a scale of unri- 
valed grandeur and beauty ? has she spread over it a soil of matchless 
fertility, and enriched and adorned it with plains and forests and prai- 

12 ries, lakes, rivers and mineral treasures, such as she has bestowed on no 
other region ? has she also given it a fair and sunny climate, productive 
of all that delights the senses ? and does she fan it with breezes scatter- 

o 

ing from their wings the elements of health 1 Has Nature done this 
for the Western Valley ? and do not her sons recognize in such boun- 
ties, a summons, not to be resisted, to aspire to a proud and praiseworthy 
competition with her % has she made such a display of her energies and 

13 resources? and will not they, at least, so far follow her example, as to 
turn to advantage, by applying, to the best and noblest purposes, the 
boons she has so munificently placed at their disposal ? shall it ever be 
proclaimed of this paradise of the New World, as it has already been 
of that of the Old, 

" Hills, plains and vales in glorious pomp appear : 
Man is the only growth that dwindles here?" 

shall the muse of some future Goldsmith, as he travels through the 
west, find cause to "damn" her sons "to everlasting fame," by such a 

14 record of their degeneracy ? To all this, the Spirit of Freedom replies 
in an emphatic denial ; nor will Heaven withhold her signet from the 

15 prediction. If the world's great masters have dwindled, the fault is not 
in Nature ; the evil is attributable to another source. The physical 

16 climate of Italy is as favorable to human greatness now as it was in the 
days of the Scipios and the Gracchi, the Pompeys and the Caesars. It 

17 is the poison breathed into her moral atmosphere, by corrupt and tyran- 
nical prelates and princes, that has shed a blight on her children. 

But, by the cup of degradation, from which other nations have been 

18 compelled, by the crosier and the sceptre, to drink so deeply, your lips 

19 have never been defiled. From that pollution you have been protected 
by the wisdom and heroism of your sires and countrymen. They 

20 dashed the humiliating draught from the hand that would have presen- 
ted it, and shattered, at the same blow, the ensigns of tyranny. The 

21 consequence to you is freedom and its immunities, while other nations 
are still galled by the yoke, and some of them crushed by the foot of 
the despot. — 



428 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

In conclusion, then, permit me, as in their name, to invoke you, by 
your sense of individual duty, and your regard for the public welfare ; 
by the high gifts bestowed on you by the heroes and sages who achieved 
our Independence, and framed the charter that now protects us ; by the 
bravery, toils and hardihood of your fathers, displayed in their long 
and perilous pilgrimage from the east ; by their subsequent industry 
and enterprise, in defiance of want and merciless warfare, in changing 
a wilderness into cultivated fields, that you might succeed to your pres- 
ent fair and flourishing inheritance ; by the rich and beneficent provis- 
22 ions they have made for the protection of your persons and the cultiva- 
, tion of your minds ; by your filial piety toward them and their memo- 
ries, and your patriotic attachment to the glory of your country ; by 
your solicitude to enjoy the full approbation of your own consciences, 
to be esteemed by your contemporaries, and honored by posterity ; by 
your regard, in all things, for the past, the present and the future, and 
by whatever else, occurring tG yourselves, that may more powerfully 
move you ; — by these weighty and solemn considerations united ; let 
me entreat you to enrol yourselves under the banner of the Spirit of 
Improvement, and so conduct yourselves in its service, as to attain to 
distinction and usefulness in your day, and transmit your names to 
future times as benefactors of your race. Caldwell. 



SEC CXCIII. THE SHIPWRECK. 

At half-past eight o'clock, hen-coops, spars, 

And all things, for a chance, had been cast loose, 
That still could keep afloat the struggling tars ; 

For yet they strove, although of no great use. 
There was no light in heaven but a few stars : 

The boats put off, o'ercrowded with their crews : 
She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port, 

And going down head-foremost — sunk, in short- 
Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell ; 

Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave ; 
Then some leaped overboard, with dreadful yell, 

As eager to anticipate their grave ; 
And the sea yawned round her like a hell ; 

And down she sucked with her the whirling wave, 
Like one who grapples with his enemy, 

And strives to strangle him before he die. 

And first a universal shriek there rushed, 

Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash 
Of echoing thunder ; and then all was hushed, 

Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash 
Of billows ; but at intervals there gushed, 

Accompanied with a convulsive splash, 
A solitary shriek : the bubbling cry 

Of some strong swimmer in his agony. Byron. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 429 

SEC. CXCIV. THE PLANETS AND FIXED STARS. 

The planets are all attached to the sun ; and, in circling around him, 

1 they do homage to that influence which binds them to perpetual attend- 

2 ance on this great luminary. But the other stars do not own his domin- 
ion : they do not circle around him. To all common observation, they 

3 remain immovable ; and each, like the independent sovereign of his own 

• territory, appears to occupy the same inflexible position in the regions of 

4 immensity. What can we make of them ? 5 Shall we take our adven- 

6 turous flight to explore these dark and untraveled dominions ? What 
mean these innumerable fires lighted up in distant parts of the universe ? 
Are they only made to shed a feeble glimmering over this little spot in 

7 the kingdom of nature ? or do they serve a purpose worthier of them- 
selves : to light up other worlds, and give animation to other systems ? 

Chalmers. 



SEC. CXCV. BURNING OF THE FAME AND ESCAPE OF THE PASSENGERS. 

We embarked on the 2d inst. and sailed at daylight for England, 

1 from the East Indies, with every prospect of a quick and prosperous 
passage. The ship was every thing we could wish ; and, having closed 

2 my charge here, much to my satisfaction, it was one of the happiest 

3 days of my life. We were, perhaps, too happy ; for in the evening 
came a sad reverse. Sophia had just gone to bed, and I had thrown olf 

4 half my clothes, when a cry of Fire ! — Fire ! — roused us from our 
calm content ; and in five minutes the whole ship was in flames ! I ran 

5 to examine whence the flames principally issued, and found that the 

6 fire had its origin immediately under our cabin. — Down with the boats ! 
7 — Where is Sophia? — 8 Here. — 9 The .children ? — 10 Here. — 

11 A rope to the side ! — 12 Lower Lady Raffles. — 13 Give her to me, says 
14 one. — I '11 take her, says the captain. — 15 Throw the gun-powder over- 

16 board. — It cannot be got at : it is in the magazine, close to the fire. — 

17 Stand clear of the powder. 18 Scuttle the water-cask. — 19 Water! 
20 water! — Where's Sir Stamford? 21 Come into the boat: Nilson ! 
22 Nilson ! come into the boat. — Push off! push off! 23 Stand clear of the 

after part of the ship. 

24 All this passed much quicker than I can write it. We pushed off; 

25 and as we did so, the flames burst out of our cabin windows, and the. 
whole after part of the ship was in flames; 



SEC CXCVI. TOM FLINTER AND HIS MAN. 

1 I have been reading Judge Barrington's Sketches. 2 It is the most 
3 pleasant book about Ireland I ever read. I was especially amused by 
the following 

DIALOGUE BETWEEN TOM FLINTER AND HIS MAN. 

4 Tom Flinter. Dick! said he. 

5 Dick. What? said he. 



430 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

Tom Flinter. Fetch me my hat, says he ; 
For I will go, says he, 

6 To Timahoe, says he, 
To the fair, says he, 

And buy all that 's there, says he. 
Dick. Pay what you owe, says he, 

And then you may go, says he, 

7 To Timahoe, says he, 
To the fair, says he, 

And buy all that 's there, says he. 

8 Tom Flinter. Well, by this and by that, says he, 

Dick ! hang up my hat, says he. 

Coleridge. 



SEC CXCVII. THE DYING ALCHEMIST. 

The night wind with a desolate moan swept by ; 
And the old shutters of the turret swung 
Screaming upon their hinges ; and the moon, 
As the torn edges of the cloud flew past, 
Struggled aslant the stained and broken panes 
So dimly, that the watchful eye of death 
Scarcely was conscious when it went and came. — 
The fire beneath his crucible was low, 
Yet still it burned ; and ever as his thoughts 
Grew insupportable, he raised himself 
Upon his wasted arm, and stirred the coals 
With difficult energy ; and when the rod 
Fell from his nerveless fingers, and his eye 
Felt faint within its socket, he shrunk back 
Upon his pallet, and with unclosed lips 
Muttered a curse on death ! The silent room 
From its dim corners mockingly gave back 
His rattlinsr breath ; the humming; in the fire 
Had the distinctness of a knell ; and when 
Duly the antique horologe beat one. 
He drew a phial from beneath his head, 
And drank; and instantly his lips compressed; 
And with a shudder in his skeleton frame, 
He rose with supernatural strength, and sat 
Upright, and communed with himself. 

I did not think to die 
Till I had finished what I had to do : 
I thought to pierce the eternal secret through 

With this my mortal eye : 
I felt — Oh God ! it seemeth even now, 
4 This cannot be the death-dew on my brow, 

And yet it is — I feel 
Of this dull sickness at my heart afraid ; 
And in my eyes the death-sparks flash and fade ; 




SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 431 

And something seems to steal 
Over my bosom like a frozen hand : 
Binding its pulses with an icy band. 
5 And this is death ! 6 But why 

7 Feel I this wild recoil ? It cannot be 
The immortal spirit shuddereth to be free ! 

8 Would it not leap to fly, 

Like a chained eaglet at its parent's call ? 

9 I fear, I fear that this poor life is all ! 

Yet thus to pass away ! 
To live but for a hope that mocks at last ! 
To agonize, to strive, to watch, to fast, 

10 To waste the light of day, 

Night's better beauty, feeling, fancy, thought, 
All that we have and are, for this ! for nought ! — 
Grant me another year, 

11 God of my spirit ! but a day, to win 
Something to satisfy this thirst within ! 

12 1 would know something here ! 

13 Break for me but one seal that is unbroken ! 
Speak for me but one word that is unspoken ! 

Vain ! vain ! my brain is turning 

14 With a swift dizziness ; and my heart grows sick ; 
And these hot temple-throbs come fast and thick ; 

And I am freezing : burning : 

15 Dying ! Oh God ! if I might only live ! — 

16 My phial : — ha ! it thrills me : I revive. 

17 Ay, were not man to die 

He were too glorious for this narrow sphere ! 
Had he but time to brood on knowledge here, 

18 Could he but train his eye, 

Might he but wait the mystic word and hour, 
Only his Maker would transcend his power ! 

Earth has no mineral strange, 
The illimitable air no hidden wings, 

19 Water no quality in its covert springs, 

And fire no power to change, 
Seasons no mystery, and stars no spell, 
Which the unwasting soul might not compel. 

Oh, but for time to track 
The upper stars into the pathless sky : 
To see the invisible spirits, eye to eye : 

To hurl the lightning back : 
To tread unhurt the sea's dim-lighted halls : 

20 To chase Day's chariot to the horizon- walls : 

And more : much more : (for now 
The life-sealed fountains of my nature move :) 
To nurse and purify this human love : 

To clear the god-like brow 
Of weakness and mistrust, and bow it down 
Worthy and beautiful, to the much-loved one. 

This were indeed to feel 



432 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

21 The soul-thirst slaken at the living stream : 
To live : — Oh God ! that life is but a dream ! 

And death — Aha ! I reel — 

22 Dim — dim — I faint — darkness comes o'er my eye : — 
Cover me ! save me ! — God of heaven ! I die ! 

23 'T was morning ; and the old man lay alone. 
No friend had closed his eyelids ; and his lips, 

24 Open and ashy pale, the expression wore 

Of his death-struggle. His long silvery hair 
Lay on his hollow temples thin and wild ; 

25 His frame was wasted, and his features wan 
And haggard as with want ; and in his palm 
His nails were driven deep, as if the throe 
Of the last agony had wrung him sore. 

The storm was raging still ; the shutters swung 
Screaming as harshly in the fitful wind ; 

26 And all without went on, (as aye it will, 
Sunshine or tempest,) reckless that a heart a 
Is breaking, or has broken in its change. J 

The fire beneath the crucible was out; 
The vessels of his mystic art lay round, 

27 Useless and cold as the ambitious hand 

That fashioned them ; and the small silver rod, 
Familiar to his touch for three-score years, 
Lay on the alembic's rim, as if it still 
Might vex the elements at its master's will. 

And thus had passed from its unequal frame 

28 A soul of fire : a sun-bent eagle stricken 
From his high soaring down : an instrument 
Broken with its own compass. Oh how poor 
Seems the rich gift of genius, when it lies, 

29 Like the adventurous bird that hath out-flown 
His strength upon the sea, ambition-wrecked : 
A thing, the thrush might pity, as she sits 

Brooding in quiet on her lonely nest ! . Willis. 

Sentence 10th. — A fragmentary comp. close decl. exclam. The conclusion is wanting : "is 
a disappointment indeed" or something similar. Sentence 11th. — An indirect interrog. excl. 
close, of the second kind. Sentence 13th. — This is perf. loose indirect interrog. excl., of the 
second kind. Sentence 15th. — A fragment, single compact, first part: terminates of course 
with the bend. Sentence 16th. — Ha! takes here the rising slide. (See Ch. VI., Sec. I., 
Class HI., iv. 2.) Sentence 23d. — A fragment, close decl. excl. : the end wanting. Sen- 
tence 24th. — Aha! serious surprise or the surprise of fear. The rising slide is modified 
accordingly. 



SEC. CXCVIII. SOME OF THE OBSTACLES TO THE INTELLECTUAL 
IMPROVEMENT OF FEMALES. 

Had experiments ever been made to test the relative mental powers 
1 and capabilities of the two sexes, and had the female mind been found 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 433 

inferior in any respect, man would then have had some cause to boast 
his superiority, and to apply to woman the humiliating designation of 
"the weaker sex." But such an experiment could be fairly made only 

2 by rearing both in the same manner : affording to them the same instruc- 
tion, and holding out to them the same inducements to improvement. 

If it were possible to deprive males, from their youth up, of the stim- 
ulus which is afforded by the prospect of obtaining lucrative professions, 
and places of trust, honor, or profit : to divest their minds of all the 
excitement and ambition which are inspired by the anticipation of lit- 
erary fame, or military, or civil renown : to make them believe that 
they are intellectually feeble ; that they are subordinate and dependent 

3 beings, who are not to exercise any power, or influence whatever, in 
the disposition of human affairs ; and that, on entering into the married 
state, even their legal existence is to be merged, and all control over 
their persons and property extinguished : and if, with all this, an absurd 
and injurious physical education, destructive to health, should be com- 
bined, and an entire neglect of a proper moral and intellectual one: 
what, it may be emphatically asked, would be the probable conse- 
quence ? Would men rise under such a pressure, and exhibit strength 

4 of mind and energy of character ? would they, through such shades, 
obstructions and obloquy, grope their way to literary and scientific emi- 

5 nence ? Far from it. The great mass of males, under such circum- 

6 stances, would hardly possess enough of intellect to sigh and to vegetate 
over a sentimental novel. 

7 And yet all these impediments, and many more, have, for ages, been 
thrown into the path of females. The laws, institutions, habits, man- 
ners and customs of society, which have been ordained by men, have 

8 withheld from the other sex that culture, and those inducements, the 
combined influence of which, alone, can kindle into useful and noble 

9 emulation, the latent powers of man. To the great mass of females of 
all former times, no higher distinction has been offered, than (in the lan- 
guage of Shakspeare,) 

"To suckle fools and chronicle small beer." 

Samuel Young. 



SEC CXCIX. LEATHER-STOCKING ON THE PRAIRIE. 

" You seem to have but little plunder, stranger, for one who is far 

1 abroad ? " bluntly interrupted the emigrant, as if he had a reason for 

2 wishing to change the conversation. "I hope you ar' better off for 
skins ? " 

3 "I make but little use of either," the trapper quietly replied. "At 

4 my time of life, food and clothing be all that is needed ; and I have little 
occasion for what you call plunder, unless it may be, now and then, to 
barter for a horn of powder or a bar of lead." 

" You ar' not, then, of these parts, by natur', friend ! " the emigrant 

5 continued, having in his mind the exception which the other had taken 
to the very equivocal word, which he himself, according to the customs 
of the country, had used for "baggage" or "effects." 

6 "I was born on the sea-shore, though most of my life has been passed 
in the woods." 

55 



434 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

7 The whole party now looked up at him, as men are apt to turn their 
eyes on some unexpected object of general interest. One or two of the 
young men repeated the words "sea-shore;" and the woman tendered 

8 him one of those civilities, with which, uncouth as they were, she was 
little accustomed to grace her hospitality, as if in deference to the trav- 
eled dignity of her guest. After a long, and, seemingly, a meditating 

9 silence, the emigrant, who had, however, seen no apparent necessity to 
suspend the functions of his powers of mastication, resumed the dis- 
course. 

10 "It is a long road, as I have heard, from the waters of the west to 
the shores of the main sea ? " 

11 " It is a weary path, indeed, friend ; and much have I seen, and 
something have I suffered, in journeying over it." 

12 " A man would see a good deal of hard travel in going its length ! " 
" Seventy and five years have I been upon the road, and there are 

13 not half that number of leagues in the whole distance, after you leave 
the Hudson, on which I have not tasted venison of my own killing. 

14 But this is vain boasting ! of what use are former deeds, when time 
draws to an end ! " 

" I once met a man, that had boated on the river he names," observed 
one of the sons, speaking in a low tone of voice, like one who distrusted 

15 his knowledge, and deemed it prudent to assume a becoming diffidence 
in the presence of a man who had seen so much : "from his tell, it must 
be a considerable stream, and deep enough for a keel, from top to bot- 
tom." 

" It is a wide and deep water-course ; and many sightly towns, are 

16 there growing on its banks," returned the trapper ; " and yet it is but 
a brook, to the waters of the endless river ! " 

" I call nothing a stream, that a man can travel round," exclaimed 

17 the ill-looking associate of the emigrant ; " a real river must be crossed ; 
not headed, like a bear in a country hunt." 

" Have you been far towards the sun-down, friend ? " again inter- 

18 rupted the emigrant, as if he desired to keep his rough companion, as 

19 much as possible, out of the discourse. "I find it is a wide tract of 
clearing, this, into which I have fallen." 

20 " You may travel weeks, and you will see it the same. I often think 

21 the Lord has placed this barren belt of prairie, behind the states, to 
warn men to what their folly may yet bring the land ! Ay ! weeks if 

22 not months, may you journey in these open fields, in which there is 
neither dwelling nor habitation for man or beast. Even the savage 

23 animals travel miles on miles to seek their dens ; and yet the wind 
seldom blows from the east, but I conceit the sounds of axes, and the 
crash of falling trees are in my ears." 

As the old man spoke with the seriousness and dignity that age 

24 seldom fails to communicate, even to less striking sentiments, his audi- 
tors were deeply attentive, and as silent as the grave. Indeed, the 

25 trapper was left to renew the dialogue, himself; which he soon did by 
asking a question, in the indirect manner so much in use by the border 
inhabitants. 

41 You found it no easy matter to ford the water-courses, and make 
6 your way so deep into the prairies, friend, with teams of horses, and 
herds of horned beasts ? " 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOUESE. 435 

"I kept the left bank of the main river/*' the emigrant replied, "until 
I found the stream leading too much to the north ; when we rafted our- 
selves across, without any great suffering. The woman lost a fleece or 
two from the next year's shearing, and the girls have one cow less to 
their dairy. Since then, we have done bravely, by bridging a creek, 

13 every day or two.'"' 

" It is likely you will continue west, until you come to land more 

14 suitable for a settlement ? " 

" Until I see reason to stop, or to turn ag'in," the emigrant bluntly 
answered ; rising at the same time, and cuttins: short the dialogue, by 
an air of dissatisfaction, no less than by the suddenness of the movement. 
His example was followed by the trapper, as well as the rest of the 

15 party ; and then, without much deference to the presence of their guest, 
the travelers proceeded to make their dispositions to pass the night. 

Cooper. 



SEC CC A 31 AN OF BUSINESS ON A QUESTION OF TASTE. 

1 During the last five or six years, Lyons has maintained a gallant 
struggle against the commercial spirit, in order to obtain a literature. 
Truly, T admired the wondrous constancy of the young artists that have 
devoted their lives to this overwhelming work : thev are miners tracing 

2 a thread of gold through a mass of granite : every blow they strike 
scarcely removes a particle of the rock they attack, and yet, thanks to 
their persevering toil, the new literature has acquired, at Lyons, the 
right of citizenship : which it begins to enjoy. One anecdote out of a 

3 thousand will show the influence that commercial prejudice exercises 
over the Lyonnese merchants in matters of art. 

The drama of Antony was acted before a numerous audience, and, as 

4 has sometimes happened to that piece, in the midst of a very violent 

5 opposition. A merchant and his daughter were in a front-box. and near 
him, one of the enterprising authors I have mentioned. The father at 
first took a lively interest in the drama : but after the scene between 

6 Antony and the mistress of the inn, his enthusiasm manifestly cooled : 
his daughter, on the contrary, had from that moment felt an increasing 
emotion, which in the last act burst in a passion of tears. When the 
curtain fell, the father, who had exhibited visible signs of impatience 

7 during the last two acts, perceiving his daughter's tears, said. "Bless 
me ! what a stupid girl you must be to allow yourself to be affected by 
such utter nonsense." 

8 " Ah, papa, it is not my fault," replied the poor girl, quite confused ; 
" forgive me, I know that it is very ridiculous." 

'•' Ridiculous ! yes, ridiculous is the proper phrase ; for my part, I 

9 cannot comprehend how any one could be interested by such monstrous 
improbabilities." 

10 " Good heavens, papa ! it is just because I find it so perfectly true." 

11 " True, child ! can you have paid any attention to the plot ?" 

12 " I have not lost a single incident." 

13 u Well, in the third act Antony buys a post-chaise : is it not so*?'"' 

14 "Yes: I remember it." 

15 " And pays ready money down on the nail." 



436 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

16 "I remember it very well." 

17 " Well, he never took a receipt for it." Alex. Dumas. 



SEC. CCI. A LETTER OF DR. FRANKLIN. 

1 Easton, Saturday Morning, Nov. 13, 1756. 
My Dear Child, 

I wrote to you a few days since, by a special messenger, and inclosed 

2 letters for all our wives and sweethearts : expecting to hear from you 
by his return, and to have the northern newspapers and English letters, 
per the packet ; but he is just now returned without a scrap for poor 

3 us. So I had a good mind not to write to you by this opportunity ; but 
I never can be ill-natured enough, even when there is the most occasion. 
The messenger, says he left the letters at your house, and saw you 
afterwards at Mr. Dentic's, and told you when he would go, and that 

4 he lodged at Honey's, next door to you, and yet you did not write ; so 
let Goody Smith, give one more just judgment, and say what should 

5 be done to you : I think I wont tell you, that we are well, nor that we 
expect to return about the middle of the week, nor will send you a word 

6 of news : that's poz. My duty to mother, love to the children, and to 
Miss Betsey and Gracey, &c. &c. 

I am 

7 ( Your loving husband, 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

8 P. S. I have scratched out the loving words, being writ in haste by 
mistake, when I forgot I was angry. 



SEC CCII. THE HUMMING BIRD. 

I wish it were in my power at this moment to impart to you, kind 
reader, the pleasure which I have felt whilst watching the movements 
and viewing the manifestation of feelings displayed by a single pair of 
these most favorite little creatures, (humming-birds,) when engaged in 
the demonstration of their love to each other : how the male swells his 
plumage and throat, and, dancing on the wing, whirls around the 
delicate female ; how quickly he dives towards a flower, and returns 

1 with a loaded bill, which he offers to her to whom alone he feels desi- 
rous of being united ; how full of ecstacy he seems to be, when his 
caresses are kindly received ; how his little wings fan her, as they 
fan the flowers, and he transfers to her bill the insect and the honey 
which he has procured with a view to please her ; how these attentions 
are received with apparent satisfaction; how, soon after, the blissful 
compact is sealed ; how, then, the courage and care of the male are 
redoubled ; how he even dares to give chase to the tyrant fly-catcher : 
hurries the blue-bird and the martin to their boxes ; and how, on sound- 
ing pinions, he joyously returns to the side of his lovely mate. Reader, 
all these proofs of the sincerity, fidelity and courage, with which the 

2 male assures his mate of the care he will take of her while sitting on 
her nest, may be seen, and have been seen ; but cannot be portrayed 
or described. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 437 

Could you, kind reader, cast a momentary glance on the nest of the 
Humming-bird, and see, as I have seen, the newly-hatched pair of 
young, (little larger than humble-bees,) naked, blind, and so feeble as 
scarcely to be able to raise their little bills to receive food from the 

3 parents ; and could you see those parents, full of anxiety and fear, pass- 
ing and repassing within a few inches of your face, alighting on a twig 
not more than a yard from your body, waiting the result of your unwel- 
come visit in a state of the utmost despair; you could not fail to be 
impressed with the deepest pangs which parental affection feels on the 
unexpected death of a cherished child. Then how pleasing is it, on 

4 your leaving the spot, to see the returning hope of the parents, when, 
after examining the nest, they find their nurslings untouched ! You 

5 might then judge how pleasing it is to a mother of another kind, to hear 
the physician who has attended her sick child assure her that the crisis 
is over, and that her babe is saved. These are the scenes best fitted to 

6 enable us to partake of sorrow and joy, and to determine every one who 
views them to make it his study to contribute to the happiness of others, 
and to refrain from wantonly or maliciously giving them pain. 

Audubon. 



SEC CCIII. A LETTER OF DR. FRANKLIN. 

New York, April 19, 1757. 

Dear Sister, 

1 I wrote a few lines to you yesterday, but omitted to answer yours, 
relating to sister Dowse. As having their own way, is one of the great- 

2 est comforts of life, to old people, 1 think their friends should endeavor 
to accommodate them in that, as well as in any thing else. When they 

3 have long lived in a house, it becomes natural to them : they are almost 
as closely connected with it, as the tortoise with his shell : they die, if 

4 you tear them out of it. Old folks and old trees, if you remove them, 
*t is ten to one that you kill them ; so let our good old sister be no more 
importuned on that head : we are growing old fast ourselves, and shall 
expect the same kind of indulgences : if we give them, we shall have a 

5 right to receive them in our turn. 

And as to her few fine things, I think she is in the right not to sell 
them ; and for the reason she gives : that they will fetch but little : when 
that little is spent, they would be of no farther use to her ; but perhaps 
the expectation of possessing them at her death, may make that person 

6 tender and careful of her, and helpful to her, to the amount of ten times 
their value. If so, they are put to the best use they possibly can be. 

I hope you visit sister as often as your affairs will permit, and afford 

7 her what assistance and comfort you can in her present situation. Old 

8 age, infirmities, and poverty, joined, are afflictions enough. The neglect 

9 and slights of friends and near relations should never be added : people 
in her circumstances are apt to suspect this sometimes without cause : 
appearances should therefore be attended to in our conduct towards them 

10 as well as relatives. I write by this post to cousin William, to con- 
tinue his care ; which I doubt not he will do. 

We expect to sail in about a week ; so that I can hardly hear from 

1 1 you again on this side the water ; but let me have a line from you now 
and then, while I am in London : I expect to stay there at least a 



438 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, OR 

twelvemonth. Direct your letters to be left for me at the Pennsylvania 

12 Coffee-house, in Birchin lane, London. 

My love to all : from, dear sister, 

13 Your affectionate brother, 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



SEC CCIV. PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTION PASSED AT A MEETING OF FREE- 
HOLDERS AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON, ON FRIDAY, 
DEC. 30, 1774. 

Whereas the town of Boston has unfortunately become the most stri- 
king monument of Ministerial tyranny and barbarity, as particularly 
exhibited in the sudden shutting up this port, thereby cruelly depriving 
the inhabitants of this metropolis of the means they have hitherto used 
to support their families ; and whereas our brethren in the other colo- 
nies, well knowing that we are suffering in the common cause of 
America, and of mankind, have, from a general, generous and brotherly 
disposition, contributed largely towards our support in this time of our 
distress, without which many worthy and virtuous citizens must have 
been in imminent danger of perishing with cold and hunger; and 
whereas the honorable members of the Continental Congress have kindly 
recommended us to our sister colonies as worthy of further support from 
them, while the iron hand of unremitted oppression lies heavy upon us ; 
therefore, voted, that this town, truly sensible of the generous assistance 
they have received from their sympathizing brethren, return them their 
warmest and most sincere thanks for the same, and pray that God, 
whose beneficence they so gloriously imitate, may bestow on them the 
blessing he has promised to all those who feed the hungry and clothe 
the naked ; and the thanks of this town are accordingly hereby given 
to our benefactors afore-mentioned, and to the honorable the members 
of the Congress for their benevolence towards us, expressed as aforesaid ; 
which support, if continued, cannot fail of animating us to remain stead- 
fast in the defence of the rights of America. 



SEC CCV. RAIN IN SUMMER. 

How beautiful is the rain ! 

After the dust and heat, 

In the broad and fiery street, 

In the narrow lane, 

How beautiful is the rain ! 

How it clatters upon the roofs, 

Like the tramp of hoofs ! 

How it gushes and struggles out 

From the throat of the overflowing spout ! 

Across the window-pane, 

It pours and pours ; 

And swift and wide, 

With a muddy tide. 



SENTENCES IN CONTINUOUS DISCOURSE. 439 

Like a river, down the gutter roars 
The rain : the welcome rain ! 

The sick man, from his chamber, looks 
At the twisted brooks ; 
He can feel the cool 

5 Breath of each little pool : 
His fevered brain 
Grows calm again ; 

And he breathes a blessing on the rain. 

From the neighboring school, 
Come the boys, 

With more than their wonted noise 
And commotion ; 

6 And down the wet streets 
Sail their mimic fleets, 
Till the treacherous pool 
Engulfs them in its whirling 
And turbulent ocean. 

In the country on every side, 
Where, far and wide, 

7 Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide, 
Stretches the plain, 

To the dry grass and the drier grain, 
How welcome is the rain ! 

In the furrowed land 

The toilsome and patient oxen stand : 

Lifting the yoke-encumbered head, 

8 With their dilated nostrils spread, 
They silently inhale 

The clover-scented gale, 

And the vapors that arise 

From the well watered and smoking soil. 

For this rest in the furrow after toil, 

9 Their large and lustrous eyes 
Seem to thank the Lord, 
More than man's spoken word. 

Near" at hand, 

From under the sheltering trees, 

The farmer sees 

10 His pastures and his fields of grain, 
As they bend their tops 

To the numberless beating drops 
Of the incessant rain. 
He counts it as no sin^ 

11 That he sees therein 

Only his own thrift and gain. 

These, and far more than these, 
The Poet sees ! 



440 EXERCISES ON PARAGRAPHS, &C. 

He can behold 

12 Aquarius old 

Walking the fenceless fields of air, 
And from each ample fold 
Of the clouds about him rolled, 
Scattering every where 
The showery rain, 
As the farmer scatters his grain- 
He can behold 
Things manifold 

That have not yet been wholly told : 
Have not been wholly sung nor said ; 
For his thought, which never stops, 

13 Follows the water drops 
Down to the graves of the dead, 

Down through chasms and gulfs profound, 
To the dreary fountain-head 
Of lakes and rivers under ground, 
And sees them, when the rain is done, 
On the bridge of colors seven, 
Climbing up once more to heaven, 
Opposite the setting sun. 

Thus the seer 

With vision clear, 

Sees forms appear and disappear 

In the perpetual round of strange 

Mysterious change 

14 From birth to death, from death to birth ; 
From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth ; 
Till glimpses more sublime 

Of things unseen before 

Unto his wondering eyes reveal 

The universe, as an immeasurable wheel 

Turning for evermore 

In the rapid and rushing river of Time. 

Longfellow. 



SEC CCVI. CONCLUSION. 

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, pray- 

1 ing in the Holy Ghost, 

Keep yourselves in the love of God : looking for the mercy of our 
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 

And of some have compassion : making a difference ; 

2 And others save with fear ; pulling them out of the fire : hating even 
the garment spotted by the flesh. 

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present 

3 you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, — 

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion 

4 and power, both now and ever. Amen* 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER FIRST. 

PAGE. 

Pronunciation, 9 

Sec. I. Articulation, 9 

Vowels, 10 

Diphthong, 16 

Consonants, 19 

Sec. II Accent, , ..23 

1. Articulatory, 23 

2. Discriminative, 24 

3. Rhetorical, 25 

CHAPTER SECOND. 

Punctuation,... 26 

Sec. I. Pauses of sense, 26 

1. Comma, 27 

2. Semicolon, 30 

3. Colon, 32 

4. Period, 34 

5. Double period, 35 

Sec. II. Pauses denoting the nature of the 

sentence, 39 

1. Interrogation, 39 

2. Exclamation, 40 

Sec. HI. The pause of unusual construction, 

&c., 41 

CHAPTER THIRD. 
Modulation, 44 

1. Key, 44 

2. Vocal evolutions or variations, 45 

1. Sweeps, 45 

2. Bend, 46 

3. Slides, 46 

4. Closes, 47 

3. Force, ,...47 

4. Rate, 49 

CHAPTER FOURTH. 
Classification and description op sen- 
tences, 50 

Sec. I. Simple sentences : punctuation, 51 

Class I. Declarative, 51 

Class II. Interrogative, 56 

1. Definite, 56 

2. Indefinite, 56 

3. Indirect, 57 

Class III. Exclamatory, 58 

1. Declarative, 58 

2. Interrogative, 58 

3. Compellative, 60 

4. Spontaneous, 60 

Sec. II. Compound sentences : described and 

punctuated, 60 

Class I. Declarative, 64 

Class II. Interrogative, 68 

1. Definite, ..69 

2. Indefinite, 71 

3. Indirect, 72 

4. Double, 73 

5. Semi-interrogative, 73 

Class III. Exclamatory, 73 

1. Declarative, 74 

2. Interrogative, 77 

3. Compellative, 80 

4. Semi-exclamatory, 81 

Mixed sentence, circumstance, parenthesis, 82 

CHAPTER FIFTH. 

Emphasis, 87 

Sec. I. Nature of emphasis in general, 87 

I. Common emphasis, 87 

II. Antithetic emphasis, 9] 



page. 

III. Deferred emphasis, 9y 

IV. Conventional emphasis, 94 

Sec. II. Vocal effect of emphasis, 94 

CHAPTER SIXTH. 

The vocal evolutions or variations ap- 
plied : general observations, 101 

Rule I. for the delivery of simple declara- 
tive sentences, 102 

H. for the delivery of simple definite 
interrogative, 105 

III. for the delivery of simple indefinite 

interrogative. ...109 

IV. for the delivery of simple indirect 

interrogative, 112 

V. for the delivery of simple exclama- 
tory, 116 

VI. for the delivery of compound decla- 
rative close sentences, 137 

Vn. for the delivery of compound decla- 
rative single compact sentences, . 144 
VIII. for the delivery of compound decla- 
rative double compact sentences, 168 
IX. for the delivery of compound decla- 
rative loose sentences, 175 

X. for the delivery of compound inter- 

rogative definite close, 191 

XI. for the delivery of compound inter- 

rogative definite compact, 193 

Xn. for the delivery of compound inter- 
rogative definite loose, 196 

XIII. for the delivery of compound inter- 

rogative indefinite close, 203 

XIV. for the delivery of compound inter- 

rogative indefinite compact, 206 

XV. for the delivery of compound inter- 
rogative indefinite loose, 208 

XVI. for the delivery of compound inter- 
rogative indirect, 215 

XVII. for the delivery of compound inter- 
rogative double, 216 

XVIII. for the delivery of compound semi- 
interrogative, 218 

XIX. for the delivery of compound excla- 
matory, 233 

XX. for the delivery of the mixed sen- 
tence 260 

XXI. for the delivery of the circumstance, 260 
XXII. for the delivery of the parenthesis, .260 

CHAPTER SEVENTH. 

Exercises on paragraphs, or sentences 

in continuous discourse, 264 

An epigram on bad singers, 287 

A father's advice to his son, 287 

A vehement attack on the alien and sedition 

law, 289 

Alegitimate British influence, 290 

A moral change allegorically described, 294 

An exhibition of the evils of the press-gang,. . .300 
An appeal to the bad passions reprehensible,. 306 

A two-fold peace, 307 

A walk in the city, 323 

A political pause, 327 

An autumnal picture, 334 

Abraham's intercession for Sodom, 339 

A sister's intercession, 342 

A political Jupiter usurping the powers of the 

whole Pantheon,. 344 

Anecdotes, 347 

A man who knew many things, but nothing of 

law, 304 



442 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Anger incompatible with a spirit of prayer, . . .381 
A rause which is no cause ; or bad reasoning 

illustrated, 385 

A part of Emmetl's defence, 387 

A ruling power within us evident, but its na- 
ture unknown, 388 

A story loses nothing in its progress, 396 

Abuse of language, 408 

A winter scene, 414 

A curtain lecture of Mrs. Caudle, 423 

A handbill distributed through Boston, on Mon- 
day, Feb. 6, 1775, 426 

A man of business on a question of taste, 435 

Beauty : a frail possession, 292 

Boldness and perseverance in the cause of jus- 
tice only, commendable, 322 

Beauties of standard authors not always obvi- 
ous at first 411 

Battle of Hohenlinden, 419 

Burning of the Fame, and escape of the passen- 
gers, 429 

Contentment in view of age, 300 

Consequences of English friendship, generosi- 
ty and kindness in India, , 345 

Christianity advancing, 360 

Caution should guide political innovation,. . . ,380 
Cassio has lost his reputation, and wishes to re- 
gain it,..., 394 

Constantinople, 419 

Conclusion, 440 

Description of a sunset, 291 

Duration and continuance of esteem a test of 

literary excellence, 312 

Death of Altamont, 319 

Dissatisfaction with the arrangements of Pro- 
vidence rebuked, 321 

Diversity of gifts, but the same end, 351 

Design of the missionary enterprise, 354 

Dr. SamuelJohnson, 363 

Death of the friend of the good, 367 

Difficulty of applying general rules to cases in 

morals, 38] 

Death rightly regarded, not an object of dread, 388 
Dishonorable means to success never to be 

used, 415 

Evils of the old confederation, 295 

Effects of justification by faith, 357 

Eloquence of Chief Justice Marshall, 402 

Equality of human condition, 411 

Fortitude under reverses a source of greatness 

and power, 296 

Fame, founded on lasting results, alone dura- 
ble, 299 

Fame, rather sought than enjoyed, 312 

Few and many stripes, .' 348 

Folly of regretting the brevity of life, pleasant- 
ly exposed, 373 

Fortitude of women under reverses of fortune, 387 
God only can satisfy and fill our affections,. . .300 

Hamlet's instruction to the players, 264 

Hamlet's instruction to the players rhetorical- 
ly parsed, 265 

Hamlet's soliloquy, 271 

" " rhetorically parsed, 272 

How we shouldlive, 299 

Harsh names generally unjust, 350 

Hampden, 364 

Horatio announces to Hamlet the appearance 

of his father's ghost, 374 

Harvard College and the Ohio, 399 

Humming-bird, 436 

Important results from the sufferings of the 

pilgrims, 283 

Ingratitude, the cause of dis'conte'nt,!. .*.*. .*.!.* 286 

In what philosophy consists 287 

Incidents of the sea, .' 301 

Influence of war on our people and institutions, 305 

Immortality, 309 

Imagination the ruling faculty of the lunatic, 

the lover, and the poet, 335 

Intimations of immortality, 358 

Influence of time in moderating grief, 369 

If God be for you, fear nothing, 371 

Importance of action in oratory, 398 



PAGE. 

Life maybe compared to a river, ,T>1 

Legal notices, 405 

Leather-Stocking on the Prairie 433 

Letter of Dr. Franklin, 436 

" " 437 

Mingled emotions, 298 

Men, not always what they seem to be, 330 

Music and love, 339 

Mexico as first seen by the Spaniards, 356 

Miscellaneous extracts, 384 

Man made for labor, 392 

Meyerbeer, ',395 

Mississippi valley 420 

No sorrows entirely without alleviation, 298 

New- York as it was, 320 

New- York as it is, 327 

Obligation of respect and affection for parents, 263 

Our wishes help to deceive us, 418 

Perseverance and importunity in prayer com- 
mended, 297 

Paul comparing himself with other teachers,. 336 

Perils of the desert, 342 

Power of music, 347 

Part of the defence of Paul at Jerusalem, 348 

Pleasantry not incompatible with religion,. . . .349 

Profanity, 351 

Preamble and resolution passed at a meeting 
of freeholders and other inhabitants of the 
town of Boston, on Friday, Dec. 30, 1774,. . .433 

Ruth and Naomi, 343 

Rienzi's address to the Romans. 370 

Retaliation as a principle of conducting war 

with Indians deprecated, 404 

Rain in summer, 438 

Speech of Patrick Henry m favor of declaring 

war against England, , 329- 

Sorrow for the dead, 332 

Soliloquy of Peter Quince, 333 

Soliloquy of Parolles, 341 

Solemn impressions produced by a contempla- 
tion of the heavens, 352 

Soliloquy of King Richard III, 355 

Satirical pictures not injurious to morals,. . . .382 

Shacabac, 389 

Some must be greater, richer, wiser ; but there- 
fore not necessarily happier than others, ... 395 

Satan's farewell and salutation, 412 

Some of the obstacles to the intellectual im- 
provement of females,. . . , 432 

The Speech of Brutus, 277 

" " " rhetorically parsed,.... 278 

The influence of public opinion, .280 

The blind preacher, 281 

The nature of true eloquence, 285 

The fall of the oppressor, a source of consola- 
tion too good men, 286 

The moral state of a man between the concep- 
tion and the commission of a crime, 2S6 

The states a barrier to consolidation, 290 

The connection between goodness and happi- 
ness, 292 

The resurrection of Lazarus 292 

The influence of elegant literature, 293 

The poor widow, 294 

The value of public faith, 294 

The influence of popular applause, 295 

The love of nature, 297 

The advantages of a thorough education,. . . . .297 

The death ofHamilton, 302 

The power of verse to perpetuate, 303 

The pharisee and the publican, 304 

The existence of slavery inconsistent with our 

principles and institutions, 304 

The landing of the pilgrims, 305 

The wrongs of America, 307 

Trust in God commended and enjoined, 303 

The employment of informers destructive to 

private happiness, 310 

The spirit of independence, 310 

The survivors of the battle of Bunker Hill 311 

Truth invincible if left to grapple with false- 
hood on equal terms, 311 

The results of free discussion, 312 

The death of Lefevre, 313 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



443 



PAGE. 

The Martyrs, 314 

The effects of an exaggerated estimate of man- 
kind, 315 

The value of a good book, 315 

The Philosophy of good manners, 316 

The fitness of Christianity to any stage of so- 
ciety, 317 

The consolation of virtue in affliction, 318 

The proper limits of benevolence, 318 

The adaptation of the Gospel to the wants of 

the unhapppy, 320 

The cruelty of the infidel 321 

The sufferings of the Huguenots, 322 

The consequences of being too fond of glory,. 328 

The stratagem of a thief, , 331 

The design of 1 aw, 332 

The effects of Paul's preaching at Ephesus,..335 
The designs of Caesar inferred from the cha- 
racter of his associates, 337 

The designs of Caesar inferred from his tri- 
umphs, 338 

The approach of Palmyra, .340 

The Jew's defence, 341 

The influence of circumstance on our judg- 
ment, 342 

The Christian on his way to heaven would 

have company, 348 

To every man according to his advantages,. . .351 
The greatest characters may derive their chief 
lustre from a single unostentatious act,. . , .352 

The Bible, 353 

The Bible, the safeguard of our institutions,.. 361 
' The Life of Johnson,' and its author, Boswell, 365 
The excesses of revolutions produced by pre- 
vious oppression, 367 

The advocates of Charles I, properly chastised, 368 



PAGE. 

The child and the man, 372 

The superior worldly advantages of illiterate 

men, no ground for complaint, 377 

The spider, 379 

The decaloHuc, ■ 397 

The multiplication of States no cause of alarm, 408 
The design of the Bunker Hill monument in 
accordance with the principles and purest 

feelings of our nature, 410 

The ruined arch-angel, 412 

The only sufficient cause of war, 412 

The murderer's hope of impunity, vain, 416 

The old oaken bucket, 417 

Terrible overthrow of persecutors, 420 

The dying Christian, 423 

The shipwreck, 428 

Tom Flinter and his man, 429 

The dying alchemist, 430 

Virtue and piety are conformity to nature,. .. 309 

Virtue can never be disgraced, 317 

What constitutes a state, 282 

War, crime and tyranny at variance with na- 
ture, 299 

We should glory in a crucified Redeemer,. . . .345 

Wisdom : in what it consists, 354 

W T ebster's reply to Hayne, 356 

William Pitt, 365 

When we may rejoice in the possession of elo- 
quence, 372 

Washington's opinion of Lafayette, 379 

Weehawken, 392 

Why Greece and Ionia relapsed into barba- 
rism, 393 

We should hope and trust, notwithstanding 

the inscurtable mysteries of Providence,. . . .406 
What is good. 413 






u