_Ji 
 
ELEMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 ELOCUTION 
 
J. Nichols and Son, Parliament Street, 
 
ELEMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 ELOCUTION: 
 
 IN WHICH THE 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF READING AND SPEAKING 
 
 ARE INVESTIGATED; 
 
 AND SUCH 
 
 PAUSES, EMPHASIS, AND INFLEXIONS OF VOICE, AS ARE SUITABLE TO EVERY 
 VARIETY OF SENTENCE, ARE DISTINCTLY POINTED OUT AND EXPLAINED ; 
 
 WITH DIRECTIONS FOR 
 
 STRENGTHENING AND MODULATING THE VOICE, 
 
 SO AS TO RENDER IT VARIED, FORCIBLE, AND HARMONIOUS : 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF THE PASSIONS; 
 
 SHOWING HOW THEY EFFECT THE 
 
 COUNTENANCE, TONE OF VOICE, AND GESTURE OF THE BODY, 
 
 EXEMPLIFIED 
 
 by a copious Selection of the most striking Passages of 
 
 SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY COPPER-PLATES, EXPLAINING THE NATURE 
 OF ACCENT, EMPHASIS, INFLEXION, AND CADENCE. 
 
 THE SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 BY JOHN WALKER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE CRITICAL PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY, &C. 
 
 Est quodam prcdire tenus. — Hor. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND 
 GREEN; BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY; BAYNES AND SON; SIMPKIN 
 AND MARSHALL; G. B. WHITTAKER ; AND J. BAKER. 
 
 1825. 
 
To 
 
 DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, 
 
 IN 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE ASSISTANCE 
 
 GAINED FROM HIS LABOURS, 
 
 THE PLEASURE AND IMPROVEMENT 
 
 DERIVED FROM HIS CONVERSATION, 
 AND 
 
 THE OBLIGATION 
 
 CONFERRED BY HIS FRIENDSHIP AND ATTENTION, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING TREATISE 
 
 IS 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 jH AVING had the honour, a few years ago, to give 
 public lectures on English Pronunciation at the Uni- 
 sity of Oxford, I was some time afterwards invited 
 by several of the Heads of Houses to give private 
 lectures on the Art of Reading, in their respective 
 Colleges. So flattering an invitation made me ex- 
 tremely anxious to preserve the favourable impression 
 I had made, and this put me upon throwing the 
 instruction I had to convey into something that had 
 the appearance of a system. Those only who are 
 thoroughly acquainted with the subject, can con- 
 ceive the labour and perplexity in which this task 
 engaged me : it was not a florid harangue on the 
 advantages of good reading that was expected from 
 me, but some plain practical rules in a scholastic and 
 methodical form, that would convey real and useful 
 instruction. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 This led me to a distinction of the voice, which, 
 though often mentioned by musicians, has been but 
 little noticed by teachers of reading* ; which is that 
 distinction of the voice into the upward and down- 
 ward slide, into which all speaking sounds may be 
 
 * In the first edition of this work, I expressed myself with a scru- 
 pulous caution, respecting this distinction of voice $ because, in a 
 grammar, written a century ago by Charles Butler, of Magdalen Col- 
 lege, Oxford, I found & direction for reading the question beginning 
 with the verb, not only in a higher tone, but with a different turn 
 of the voice from the other question ; and in a grammar by Mr. 
 Perry, of Scotland, about thirty years ago, I found the same dis- 
 tinction of voice in the same case : and, except in these two authors, 
 I never met with this distinction in reading till the last edition of 
 Enfield's Speaker ; where, in Rule VII. of the Essay on Elocution, 
 instead of the old direction, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Ca- 
 dence, I found, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Inflexion; and 
 though in the whole Rule there was not a single word about in- 
 flexion of the voice, in the new one I found the inflexions of the 
 voice divided into two kinds ; the one conveying the idea of conti- 
 nuation, the other of completion : the former of which is called the 
 suspending, the latter the closing pause :— though, in a few lines 
 after, we find what is called the closing pause, is often applicable to 
 members, when the sense, is suspended. In these new directions, 
 too, I found the question distinguished into two kinds, and the sus- 
 pending and the closing pause applied respectively to each. I could 
 not help congratulating myself, that a doctrine I had published so 
 many years before, began to be adopted by so judicious a writer as 
 Mr. Enfield. But when I found it had not only been adopted, but 
 acknowledged, by Mr. Murray, the author of the best Grammar and 
 Selection of Lessons for reading in the English Language, I found 
 myself fully compensated for the misfortune of not being noticed 
 by the author of the Speaker. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 resolved : the moment I admitted this distinction, I 
 found I had possession of the quality of the voice I 
 wanted ; for thoLgh these slides or inflexions were 
 indefinite as to their quantity or duration, they were 
 still essentially distinct, and were never convertible 
 into each other ; whereas all the other distinctions 
 were relative ; and what was high and loud in one 
 case, might be soft and low in another. Accordingly 
 I found, upon pursuing this distinction, that, provided 
 the proper slide was preserved on that word which 
 the sense and harmony required, the other distinc- 
 tions of the voice were more easily attained : and if 
 they were not, the pronunciation was infinitely less 
 injured, than if every other distinction of the voice 
 had been preserved, and this single one neglected. 
 Here then commenced my system ; infinite were the 
 difficulties and obscurities that impeded my progress 
 at first; but perseverance, and, perhaps, enthusiasm, 
 at last brought it to a period. 
 
 Without any breach of modesty, it may be asserted, 
 that the general idea is new, curious, and important : 
 and without any false humility, I am ready to allow, 
 that the manner of treating it has too many faults 
 and imperfections. Besides those incorrectnesses 
 which are inseparable from the novelty and diffi- 
 culty of the subject, it partakes of that haste, that 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 interruption, and want of finishing, which must ne- 
 cessarily arise from a constant and laborious attend- 
 ance on pupils ; for, though nothing but long prac- 
 tice in actual teaching could have enabled me to 
 construct such a system, it required the leisure and 
 liberty of independence to produce it to the best 
 advantage. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 WHEN the first edition of this work was published, I con- 
 sidered the human voice as divisible into two inflexions 
 only. Some time after, upon re-considering the subject more 
 maturely, I found there were certain turns of voice which 
 I could not distinctly class with either of these two inflex- 
 ions. This discovery mortified me exceedingly. I feared 
 my whole labour was lost, and that I had been fatiguing 
 myself with a distinction which existed no where but in my 
 imagination. None but those who had been system-makers, 
 can judge of the regret and disappointment which this ap- 
 prehension occasioned. It did not, however, continue long. 
 The same trial of the voice which assured me of the two 
 opposite inflexions, the rising and falling, soon convinced 
 me that those inflexions which I could not reduce to either 
 of these two, were neither more nor less than two combina- 
 tions of them i and that they were real circumflexes^ the one 
 beginning with the rising inflexion, and ending with the 
 falling upon the same syllable ; and the other beginning 
 with the falling, and ending with the rising on the same 
 syllable. This relieved me from my anxiety ; and I 
 considered the discovery of so much importance, that 
 I immediately published a small pamphlet, called The 
 Melody of Speaking Delineated, in which I explained 
 it as well as I was able by writing, but referred the 
 
Xll 
 
 reader to, some passages where he could scarcely fail to 
 adopt it upon certain words, and perceive the justness of 
 the distinction. I was confirmed in my opinion by reflect- 
 ing that a priori, and independently on actual practice, these 
 modifications of the human voice must necessarily exist. 
 First, if there was no turn or inflexion of the voice, it must 
 continue in a monotone. Secondly, if the voice was in- 
 flected, it must be either upwards or downwards, and so 
 produce either the rising or falling inflexion, Thirdly, if 
 these two were united on the same syllable, it could only 
 be by beginning with the rising, and ending with the falling 
 inflexion, or vice versa; as any other mixture of these op- 
 posite inflexions was impossible. A thorough conviction 
 of the truth of this distinction, gave me a confidence which 
 nothing could shake. I exemplified it, viva voce, to many 
 of my critical friends, who uniformly agreed with me : and 
 this enabled me to conceive and demonstrate the Greek and 
 Latin circumflex (so often mentioned, and so totally unin- 
 telligible to the moderns), but occasioned not a little sur- 
 prise (since it is as easy to conceive that the voice may fall 
 and rise upon the same syllable, as that it may rise and 
 fall) why the ancients had the latter circumflex, and not 
 the former. Some probable conjectures respecting this 
 point, as well as the nature of the accent, antient and mo- 
 dern, may be seen at the end of a work lately published, 
 called, A Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and 
 Latin proper Names. 
 
xm 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FIRST PART. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction, Elocution defined I 
 
 General Idea of the common Doctrine of Punctuation 4 
 
 Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical' Punctuation 9 
 
 Inconsistencies of the common Doctrine of Punctuation 10, 11, 12 
 
 Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation 16 
 
 Practical System of Rhetorical Punctuation 23 
 
 Introduction to the Theory of the Inflexions of the Voice 53 
 
 Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice 55 
 
 Another Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice. ... 62 
 
 Utility of the Inflexions of the Voice 72 
 
 Practical System of the Inflexions of the Voice 75 
 
 Pronunciation of a Compact Sentence < 76 
 
 Inverted Period SI 
 
 Pronunciation of a Loose Sentence 82 
 
 the Antithetic Member 89 
 
 the Penultimate Member : 90 
 
 the Series 95 
 
 the Simple Series 98 
 
 the Compound Series 103 
 
 the Series of Serieses. . 1 10 
 
 the Final Pause, or Period 117 
 
 the Interrogation 121 
 
 the Exclamation 142 
 
 the Parenthesis 147 
 
XIV 
 
 SECOND PART. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Accent 16*0 
 
 Accent defined and explained 164 
 
 English, Scotch, and Irish Accent, how they differ 165 
 
 Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis 166 
 
 Theory of Emphatic Inflexion 179 
 
 Practical System of Emphasis 190 
 
 Single Emphasis 191 
 
 Double Emphasis 200 
 
 Treble Emphasis 202 
 
 General Emphasis. . . . , 208 
 
 Intermediate or Elliptical Member. . , 212 
 
 Harmonic Inflexion • • .... 219 
 
 Harmony of Prose 226 
 
 Harmony of Prosaic Inflexion 231 
 
 Rules for reading Verse 238 
 
 Modulation and Management of the Voice 255 
 
 Gesture 277 
 
 The Passions , 283 
 
 Tranquillity, Cheerfulness 293 
 
 Mirth 294 
 
 Raillery 295 
 
 Sneer, Joy .' 296 
 
 Delight 298 
 
 Love 299 
 
 Pity : 301 
 
 Hope 303 
 
 Hatred, Aversion 304 
 
 Anger, Rage, Fury 306 
 
 Revenge, Reproach 308 
 
 Fear and Terror 310 
 
 Sorrow . . . ; 312 
 
 Remorse 316 
 
XV 
 
 Page. 
 
 Despair 317 
 
 Surprise, Wonder, Amazement, Admiration 319 
 
 Pride 321 
 
 Confidence, Courage, Boasting 322 
 
 Perplexity, Irresolution, Anxiety 324 
 
 Vexation, Peevishness 326 
 
 Envy and Malice. 327 
 
 Suspicion, Jealousy 328 
 
 Modesty, Submission 331 
 
 Shame and Gravity 332 
 
 Inquiry and Attention 333 
 
 Teaching or Instructing 334 
 
 Arguing , 335 
 
 Admonition 336 
 
 Authority and Commanding 33S 
 
 Forbidding and Affirming 339 
 
 Denying and Differing 340 
 
 Agreeing and Judging 341 
 
 Reproving 342 
 
 Acquitting and Condemning 343 
 
 Pardoning and Dismissing 344 
 
 Refusing 345 
 
 Giving, Granting 346 
 
 Gratitude and Curiosity 347 
 
 Promising and Veneration 348 
 
 Respect, Desire, and Commendation 349 
 
 Exhorting 350 
 
 Complaining and Fatigue 351 
 
 Sickness 352 
 
PREMONITION 
 
 THE READER 
 
 IT may not, perhaps, be improper to inform the 
 reader, that if he wishes fully to understand the fol- 
 lowing work, he must first apply himself closely to 
 the acquiring of a just idea of the two radical distinc- 
 tions of the voice into the rising and falling inflexion, 
 as explained, Part I. p. 66 and 68 ; and Part II. 
 p. 162. If, however, after all his labour, the author 
 should not have been able to convey an idea of these 
 two distinctions of voice upon paper, he flatters him- 
 self, that those parts of the work, which do not depend 
 upon these distinctions, are sufficiently new and useful 
 to reward the time and pains of a perusal. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ^LOCUTION, in the modern sense of the word, 
 seems to signify that pronunciation which is given to 
 words when they are arranged into sentences, and 
 form discourse. 
 
 Pronunciation, in its largest sense, may signify the 
 utterance of words, either taken separately, or in 
 connexion with each other; but the pronunciation 
 of words, connected into a sentence, seems very pro- 
 
 s perly specified by Elocution. 
 
 Elocution, therefore, according to this definition 
 of it, may have elements or principles distinct from 
 those of pronunciation in its most limited sense ; 
 and we may consider the elements of elocution, not 
 as those principles which constitute the utterance of 
 single words, but as those which form the just enun- 
 ciation of words in dependence on each other for 
 sense s at this point the present work commences. 
 The delivery of words formed into sentences, and 
 these sentences formed into discourse, is the object 
 of it ; and as reading is a correct and beautiful pic- 
 ture of speaking ; speaking, it is presumed, cannot 
 be more successfully taught, than by referring us to 
 such rules as instruct us in the art of reading. 
 
 The art of reading is that system of rules which 
 teaches us to pronounce written composition with 
 
 justness, energy, variety, and ease. Ag reea hly to 
 this definition, reading may be considered as that 
 species of delivery, which not only expresses the 
 
 B 
 
2 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 sense of an author, so as barely to be understood ; 
 but which, at the same time, gives it all that force, 
 beauty, and variety, of which it is susceptible : the 
 first of these considerations belongs to grammar, and 
 the last to rhetoric. 
 
 The sense of an author being the first object of 
 reading, it will be necessary to inquire into those di- 
 visions and subdivisions of a sentence which are em- 
 ployed to fix and ascertain its meaning : this leads to 
 a consideration of the doctrine of punctuation. 
 
 Punctuation may be considered in two different 
 lights : first, as it clears and preserves the sense of a 
 sentence, by combining those words together which 
 are united in sense, and separating those that are dis- 
 tinct ; and secondly, as it directs to such pauses, 
 elevations, and depressions of the voice, as not only 
 mark the sense of the sentence more precisely, but 
 give it a variety and beauty which recommend it to 
 the ear ; for in speaking, as in other arts, the useful 
 and the agreeable are almost always found to coin- 
 cide ; and every real embellishment promotes and 
 perfects the principal design. 
 
 In order, therefore, to have as clear an idea of 
 punctuation as possible, it will be necessary to con- 
 sider it as related to grammar and rhetoric distinctly. 
 It will not be easy to say any thing new on punctu- 
 ation, as it relates to grammar ; but it will not be 
 difficult to show, what perplexity it is involved in 
 when reduced to enunciation ; and how necessary it 
 is to understand distinctly the rhetorical as well as 
 grammatical division of a sentence, if we would wish 
 to arrive at precision and accuracy in reading and 
 speaking : this will so evidently appear in the course 
 of this essay, as to make it needless to insist farther 
 on it here ; and^as the basis of rhetoric and oratory is 
 grammar, it will be absolutely necessary to consider 
 punctuation as it delates precisely to the sense, before 
 it is viewed as it relates to the force, beauty, and 
 harmony of language. 
 
ELOCUTION. 3 
 
 But the business of this essay is not so much to 
 construct a new system of punctuation as to endea- 
 vour to make the best use of that which is already 
 established ;. an attempt to reduce the whole doctrine 
 of rhetorical punctuation to a few plain, simple prin- 
 ples, which may enable the reader, in some mea- 
 sure, to point for himself: for this purpose, it will, in 
 the first place, be necessary to exhibit a general idea 
 of the punctuation in use, that we may be better en- 
 abled to see how far it will assist us in the practice of 
 pronunciation, and where we must have recourse to 
 principles more permanent and systematical. 
 
 * 2 
 
4 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 A general Idea of the common Doctrine of 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Some grammarians define punctuation to be the 
 art of making in writing the several pauses, or rests, 
 between sentences and the parts of sentences, accord- 
 ing to their proper quantity or proportion, as they 
 are expressed in a just and accurate pronunciation. 
 Others, as Sir James Burrow and Dr. Bowles, besides 
 considering the points as marks of rest and pauses, 
 suppose them to be hints for a different modulation of 
 voice, «or rules for regulating the accent of the voice 
 in reading ; but whether this modulation of the voice 
 relates to all the points, or to the interrogation, ex- 
 clamation, and parenthesis only, we are not informed. 
 Grammarians are pretty generally agreed in distin- 
 guishing the pauses into 
 
 The period "J 
 
 The colon I marked thug 
 
 1 he semicolon f 
 
 The comma j 
 and those pauses, which are accompanied with an 
 alteration in the tone of the voice, into 
 
 The interrogation "} C ? 
 
 The exclamation > marked thus < ! 
 
 The parenthesis J L () 
 
 The period is supposed to be a pause double the time 
 of the colon ; the colon, double the semicolon ; and 
 the semicolon, double that of the comma, or smallest 
 pause : the interrogation and exclamation points are 
 said to be indefinite as to their quantity of time, and 
 to mark an elevation of voice ; and the parenthesis, 
 to mark a moderate depression of the voice, with a 
 pause greater than a comma. 
 
 A simple sentence, that is, a sentence having but 
 one subject, or nominative, and one finite verb, ad- 
 mits of no pause. Thus in the following sentence : 
 
ELOCUTION. 5 
 
 The passion for praise produces excellent effects in 
 women of sense. The passion for praise is the subject, 
 or nominative case to the verb produces; and excellent 
 effects in women of sense, is the object or accusative 
 case, with its concomitant circumstances or adjuncts 
 of specification, as Dr. Lowth very properly terms 
 them, " and this sentence," says the learned bishop, 
 " admits of no paiise between any of its parts ; but 
 when a new verb is added to the sentence, as in the 
 following: The passion for praise, which is so very 
 vehement in the fair sex, produces excellent effects 
 in women of sense. Here a new verb is introduced, 
 accompanied with adjuncts of its own, and the sub- 
 ject is repeated by the relative pronoun which : it 
 now becomes a compounded sentence, made up of 
 two simple sentences, one of which is inserted in the 
 middle of the other ; it must, therefore, be distin- 
 guished into its component parts by a point placed 
 on each side of the additional sentence. 
 
 In every sentence, therefore, as many subjects, or 
 as many finite verbs, as there are, either expressed or 
 implied, so many distinctions there may be : as, My 
 hopes, fears, joys, pains, all centre in you. The case 
 is the same when several adjuncts affect the subject of 
 the verb : as, A good, wise, learned man is an orna- 
 ment to the commonwealth ; or, when several adverbs, 
 or adverbial circumstances, affect the verb : as, He 
 behaved himself modestly, prudently, virtuously. For 
 as many such adjuncts as there are, so many several 
 members does the sentence contain ; and these are to 
 be distinguished from each other, as much as several 
 subjects or finite verbs. The reason of this is, that as 
 many subjects, finite verbs, or adjuncts as there are 
 in a sentence, so many distinct sentences are actually 
 implied ; as the first example is equivalent to, My 
 hopes all centre in you, my fears all centre in you, 
 &c. The second example is equivalent to, A good 
 man is an ornament to the commonwealth , a wise man 
 is an ornament to the commonwealth, Sec. The third 
 
6 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 example is equivalent to, He hehaved himself modestly, 
 he behaved himself prudently, &c. ; and these implied 
 sentences are all to be distinguished by a comma. 
 
 The exception to this rule is, where thesesubjects or 
 adjuncts are united by a conjunction : as The imagi- 
 nation and the judgment do not always agree ; and 
 A man never becomes learned without studying con- 
 stantly and methodically. In these cases the commas 
 between the subjects and adjuncts are omitted. 
 
 There are some other kinds of sentences, which, 
 though seemingly simple, are nevertheless of the com- 
 pound kind, and really contain several subjects, verbs, 
 or adjuncts. Thus in the sentences containing what 
 is called the ablative absolute : as Physicians, the 
 disease once discovered, think the cure ha If wrought ; 
 where the words disease once discovered, are equiva- 
 lent to, when the cause of disease is discovered. — So 
 in those sentences where nouns are added by apposi- 
 tion : as, The Scots, a hardy people, endured it all. 
 So also in those where the vocative cases occur : as, 
 This my friend you must allow me. The first of these 
 examples is equivalent to, The Scots endured it all, 
 and The Scots, who are a hardy people, endured it 
 all : and the last to, This you must allow me, and this 
 my friend must allow me. 
 
 When a sentence can be divided into two or more 
 members, which members are again divisible into 
 members more simple, the former are to be separated 
 by a semicolon. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 But as this passion for admiration, when it works according to 
 reason, improves the beautiful part of our species in every thing 
 that is laudable j so nothing is more destructive to them, when it 
 is governed by vanity and folly. 
 
 When a sentence can be divided into two parts, 
 each of which parts are again divisible by semicolons, 
 the former are to be separated by a colon. 
 
ELOCUTION. 7 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
 the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
 tance gone over. 
 
 Here the two members, being both simple, are only 
 separated by a comma. 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
 it moving -, so our advances in learning, as they consist of such 
 minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 
 
 Here the sentence being divided into two equal 
 parts, and those compounded, since they include 
 others, we separate the former by a semicolon, and 
 the latter by commas. 
 
 As we perceived the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
 not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has grown, 
 though nobody ever saw it grow 1 so the advances we make in 
 knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceiv- 
 able by the distance. 
 
 Here the advancement in knowledge is compared 
 to the motion of a shadow, and the growth of grass : 
 which comparison divides the sentences into two prin- 
 cipal parts : but since what is said of the movement 
 of the shadow, and of the growth of grass, likewise 
 contains two simple members, they are to be separated 
 by a semicolon : consequently, a higher pointing is 
 required, to separate them from the other part of the 
 sentence, which they are opposed to : and this is a 
 colon. 
 
 When a member of a sentence forms complete 
 sense, and does not excite expectation of what fol- 
 lows ; though it consist but of a simple member, it' 
 may be marked with a colon. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 The discourse consisted of two parts : in the first was shewn the 
 necessity of fighting j in the second, the advantages that would 
 arise from it. 
 
 The Augustan age was so eminent for good poets, that they have 
 served as models to all others: yet it did not produce any good 
 tragic poets. 
 
& ELEMENTS OF 
 
 When a sentence is so far perfectly finished, as not 
 to be connected in construction with the following 
 sentence, it is marked with a period. 
 
 This is the most concise and comprehensive view 
 I could possibly collect from the several authors who 
 have written on this subject. But it may be observed, 
 that these rules, though sufficient to prevent confusion 
 in writing, are very inadequate to the purposes of just 
 and accurate pronouncing ; as it is certain that a just, 
 a forcible, and easy pronunciation, will oblige a judi- 
 cious reader to pause much more frequently, than the 
 most correct and accurate writers or printers give him 
 leave : but I must again observe, that when I contend 
 for the propriety, and even necessity, of pausing, 
 where we find no points in writing or printing, I do 
 not mean to disturb the present practice of punctua- 
 tion : I wish only to afford such aids to pronuncia- 
 tion as are actually made use of by the best readers 
 and speakers, and such as we must use in reading 
 and speaking in public, if we would wish to pronounce 
 with justness, energy, and ease. 
 
ELOCUTION. 9 
 
 An Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Dr. Lowth has, with great plainness and precision, 
 drawn the line which bounds the use of the comma 
 upon paper, by telling us, that every simple sentence, 
 or that sentence which has but one subject and one 
 finite verb, cannot have any of its adjuncts, or imper- 
 fect phrases, separated by a point. This he illustrates 
 by a sentence, where the subject and the verb are 
 accompanied by as many adjuncts as they commonly 
 are, but no provision is made for such phrases as ex- 
 tend to twice the length, and yet continue perfectly 
 simple. — The passion for praise produces excellent 
 effects in women of sense, — is a sentence of so mode- 
 rate a size, as may be pronounced even with solemnity 
 and energy, by most people, without once taking 
 breath ; but if we amplify these adjuncts that accom- 
 pany the nominative case and the verb in such a 
 manner as is frequently to be met with, at least in 
 incorrect composition, we shall find it impossible to 
 pronounce the sentence with force and ease, without 
 some interval for respiration ; — for instance, if we 
 had the following sentence to read — A violent passion 
 for universal admiration produces the most ridiculous 
 circumstances in the general behaviour of women of 
 the most excellent understandings. — If, I say, we 
 had this sentence to read, how could we possibly pro- 
 nounce it with force and ease, without once fetching 
 breath ? — and yet, according to the strictest laws of 
 grammar, no pause is to be admitted ; for this latter 
 sentence, though almost three times as long, is as 
 perfectly simple as the former. 
 
 The necessity of taking breath, in some of these 
 longer simple sentences, has obliged the most accurate 
 and metaphysical inquirers into punctuation to admit 
 of the most vague and indeterminate rules. — The 
 
10 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 most subtle among the French writers* on this sub- 
 ject, after giving a thousand fine-spun reasons for 
 placing the points with justness and precision, admits 
 of placing a comma in a simple sentence — " Quand 
 " les prepositions sont trop longues pour itre dnoncees 
 " de suite avec aisance." And one of our best Eng- 
 lish critics tells us, that the difference between the 
 colon and semicolon has a dependance on some- 
 thing that influences all the points, and sways the 
 whole doctrine of punctuation, which is, the length 
 and shortness of the members and periods ; for when 
 the phrases are long, he says, we point higher than 
 when they are short. 
 
 This confession is a sure proof, that the rules of 
 these grammarians did not reach all cases ; and that, 
 in speaking, they often found themselves obliged to 
 pause where they did not dare to insert a pause in 
 writing, for fear of breaking the grammatical con- 
 nexion of the words : a fear, as will be seen hereafter, 
 which arose from a superficial knowledge of the prin- 
 ciples of rhetorical pronunciation. 
 
 But as a proof that the shortest sentences are not 
 always to be pronounced so as to preserve a perfect 
 equality of time between every word, and conse- 
 quently that some words admit of longer intervals 
 than others; we need only pronounce a short simple 
 sentence in the different ways we did the long one. 
 
 Thus if w r e say — The passion for praise, produces 
 excellent effects, in women of sense. — Here, I say, if 
 we make a short pause at praise, and effects, we do 
 not perceive the least impropriety ; but if we repeat 
 the same sentence, and make the same pauses at pro- 
 duces, and in, we shall soon discover an essential 
 difference. — For example : The passion for praise 
 produces, excellent effects in, women of' sense. — Here, 
 by using the same pause between different words, the 
 sense is materially affected ; which evidently shows 
 how necessary it is to good reading and speaking, to 
 * Beauzee Grammaire Generate, 
 
ELOCUTION. 1 1 
 
 pause only between such words as admit of being 
 separated ; and that it is not so much the number as 
 the position of the pauses that affects the sense of a 
 sentence. 
 
 And here a question naturally arises, since it is of 
 so much consequence to the sense of a sentence where 
 we admit a pause, what are the parts of speech which 
 allow a pause between them, and what are those 
 which do not ? To which it may be answered, that 
 the comma, or, what is equivalent to it in reading, 
 a short pause, may be so frequently admitted between 
 words in a grammatical connexion, that it will be 
 much easier to say where it cannot intervene, than 
 where it can. — The only words which seem too inti- 
 mately connected to admit a pause, are — the article 
 and the substantive, the substantive and the adjective 
 in their natural order, and the preposition and the 
 noun it governs ; every other combination of words, 
 when forming simple sentences of considerable length, 
 seems divisible if occasion require. That a substan- 
 tive in the nominative case may be separated from the 
 verb it governs, will be readily admitted, if we con- 
 sider with how many adjuncts, or modifying words, it 
 may be connected ; and, consequently, how difficult 
 it will be tp carry the voice on to the verb with force, 
 and to continue this force till the objective case with 
 all its adjuncts and concomitants are pronounced : 
 this will appear evidently from the amplified sentence 
 already produced ; which, though not a very com- 
 mon, is a very possible example ; and rules founded 
 on the reason of a thing, must either suit all cases or 
 none. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, may be the integrity of gram- 
 matical connexion to the eye, certain it is that the 
 ear perceives neither obstruction nor obscurity in a 
 pause between the nominative case and the verb, 
 when the nominative is composed of such words 
 as are less separable. Nay, we find the substantive 
 verb, by the most scrupulous grammarians, constantly 
 
12 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 separated from its preceding noun by a comma, when- 
 ever the noun is joined to any considerable number 
 of less separable words. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those rela- 
 tions, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases. 
 
 Dr. Lowth"s Grammar. 
 
 A colon, or member, is a chief constructive part, or greater divi- 
 sion of a sentence. Ibid. 
 
 The very notion of any duration's being past, implies that it was 
 once present ; for the idea of being once present, is actually included 
 in the idea of its being past. Spectator, No. 590. 
 
 This punctuation of the substantive verb runs 
 through our whole typography, and sufficiently shows 
 the division which the ear invariably makes, when 
 delivery requires a distinct and forcible pronuncia- 
 tion ; for not the smallest reason can be given, that 
 this verb should be separated from its noun, that will 
 not be equally applicable to every other verb in the 
 language. s 
 
 The general reluctance, however, at admitting a 
 pause to the eye, between the nominative case and 
 the verb, is not without a foundation in reason. The 
 pauses of distinction between the parts of a complex 
 nominative case, seem specifically different from the 
 pause between the nominative case and the verb ; 
 that the same pause, therefore, to the eye should be 
 used between both, seems repugnant to a feeling of 
 the different kind of connexion that subsists between 
 parts which are but occasionally united, and those 
 which are necessarily united ; thus in the following 
 sentence : Riches, pleasure and health, become evils 
 to the generality of mankind. 
 
 There are few readers who would not make a 
 longer pause between the nominative health and the 
 verb become, than between inches and pleasure, or 
 pleasure and health ; and yet there are few writers, or 
 printers, who would not insert a pause after the first 
 two words, and omit it after the third. This general 
 
ELOCUTION. 13 
 
 practice can arise from nothing but the perception 
 of the difference there is between those parts that 
 compose the nominative plural, and those parts which 
 compose the nominative and the verb ; and rather 
 than confound this difference, we choose to omit the 
 pause in writing, though we use it in speaking : till, 
 therefore, we have a point, which, like one of the He- 
 brew points, at the same time that it marks a distinc- 
 tion between parts, marks a necessary connexion be- 
 tween them also, we must be contented to let this 
 useful and distinguishing pause in reading and speak- 
 ing go unmarked in writing and printing. 
 
 If we inquire into the difference between the parts 
 of the nominative, and the nominative itself as part 
 of the sentence, we shall find that the former are only 
 parts of a part, and that the latter is a part of a whole ; 
 or, in other words, the former are parts of a superior 
 part, and the latter is the superior part itself; which 
 part, as it consists of several parts, must, in order to 
 show that these parts form only one part, be termi- 
 nated by a pause, longer than what is given to the 
 parts of which it is composed ; but as such a pause 
 can be only marked by a semicolon, and as a semi- 
 colon is often a mark of disjunction, it would be highly 
 improper to place it between words so intimately con- 
 nected as the nominative and the verb ; for as these 
 words, except sometimes on account of emphasis, 
 admit of no separation by a pause, when the nomi- 
 native does not consist of parts, so, unless we had a 
 pause, which would show this union of each part 
 with the other, without a disunion of the whole num- 
 ber of parts from what follows, we had better, perhaps, 
 let this chasm in punctuation stand unfilled. Where 
 the parts are evidently distinct, as in sentences con- 
 structed on conjunctions, however short the parts 
 may be, there seems no impropriety in placing a 
 long pause : thus in the proverbial sentence, As the 
 day lengthens the cold strengthens : we may place a 
 comma, and even a semicolon, at lengthens, without 
 
14 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 appearing to injure the sense \ bat if we were to 
 place the same points between the nominative and 
 the verb in the following sentence, The lengthening 
 day is followed by the strengthening cold ; we should 
 feel an impropriety at placing even a comma at day, 
 though we should not perceive the least at actually 
 pausing as long between the parts of this, as between 
 those of the former sentence. The only method, 
 therefore, of marking this necessary pause to the ear, 
 without hurting the connexion between these parts of 
 a sentence to the eye, would be to adopt the hyphen ; 
 this always shows a necessary connexion of sense, 
 and at the same time a clear distinction of parts dif- 
 ferent from the distinction and connexion exhibited 
 by the comma ; and this seems the point wanting 
 to render our punctuation much more definite and 
 complete. 
 
 A want of this distinctive, and at the same time 
 connective mark, has made many writers, particu- 
 larly those who have expressed themselves with more 
 than common delicacy and precision, adopt a dash 
 between parts intimately connected, to show the 
 sense is to be continued, and the pause lengthened at 
 the same time. Sterne is the most remarkable for 
 the use of this dash : and it must be owmed that in 
 him it often conveys infinite meaning : but where 
 used too often, as in those swarms of modern writers 
 of novels, who affect to write like Sterne ; or where 
 used improperly, and when the common points would 
 give more precision to the sense, as we sometimes find 
 even in Sterne himself ; in this case, I say, it may be 
 reckoned among one of the greatest abuses of modern 
 orthography. 
 
 Sterne's dashing may be called a species of rhetori- 
 cal punctuation, but the dash may and ought to be 
 used grammatically, when there is such an order of 
 the words as to induce the reader to run the sense of 
 one member into another, from which it ought to be 
 separated. 
 
ELOCUTION. 15 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 After the Prince of Orange had got possession of the government 
 of England— Scotland and Ireland remained still to be settled. 
 
 Macphersoris History of England. 
 
 The punctuation of the eye, and that of the ear, 
 being thus at variance, and the latter being the prin- 
 cipal object of this essay, it may not be useless to 
 attempt to give a general idea of the principles of that 
 punctuation which really exists in correct and elegant 
 speaking, but which has hitherto been left entirely 
 to the taste and judgment of the reader. 
 
16 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation, 
 
 It may be observed, that pausing is regulated by 
 two circumstances; one is, conveying ideas distinctly, 
 by separating such as are distinct, and uniting such 
 as are associated ; the other is, forming the words 
 that convey these ideas into such classes, or portions, 
 as may be forcibly and easily pronounced ; for this 
 reason, when the words, from their signification, re- 
 quire to be distinctly pointed out, that is, to convey 
 objects distinguished from each other, however fre- 
 quent and numerous the pauses may be, they are 
 necessary ; but if words connected in sense continue 
 to a greater extent than can be easily pronounced 
 together, and at the same time have no such distinct 
 parts as immediately suggest where we ought to pause, 
 the only rule that can be given is, not to separate 
 such words as are more united than those that we 
 do not separate. 
 
 But it may be demanded, how shall we know the 
 several degrees of union between words so as to 
 enable us to divide them properly ? To this it may 
 be answered, that all words may be distinguished 
 into those that modify, and those that are modified :* 
 the words that are modified are the nominative, and 
 the verb it governs ; every other word may be said 
 to be a modifier of these words : the noun and verb 
 being thus distinguished from every other, may be 
 one reason, that, when modified, they so readily 
 admit a pause between them ; because words that 
 are separately modified may be presumed to be more 
 separable from each other than the words that modify 
 and the words modified. The modifying words are 
 themselves modified by other words, and thus be- 
 come divisible into superior and subordinate classes, 
 
 * Buffier Grammaire, p. 60. 
 

 ELOCUTION. 17 
 
 each class beingcomposedof wordsmore united among 
 themselves than the several classes are with each other. 
 Thus in the sentence, The passion for praise produces 
 excellent effects in women of sense — the noun passion, 
 and the verb produces, with their several adjuncts* 
 form the two principal portions, or classes, of words in 
 this sentence ; and between these classes a pause is 
 more readily admitted than between any other words: 
 if the latter class may be thought too long to be pro- 
 nounced without a pause, we may more easily place 
 one at effects than between any other words ; because 
 though produces is modified by every one of the suc- 
 ceeding words, taken all together, yet it is more im- 
 mediately modified by excellent effects, as this portion 
 is also modified by in women of sense; all the words of 
 which phrase are more immediately modified by the 
 succeeding words than the preceding phrase, produces 
 excellent effects, is by them. 
 
 But what, it may be said, is the principle of unity, 
 among these classes ; and by what marks are we to 
 judge that words belong rather to one class than to 
 another ? To this it may be answered, that the mo- 
 difying and the modified words form the first or larger 
 classes ; and the words that modify these modifying 
 words, and the modifying words themselves, which 
 are necessarily more united with each other than with 
 those they modify, form the smaller classes of words. 
 Upon these principles we may divide the sentence last 
 quoted; and upon the same principles we may ac- 
 count for the division of the following.— A violent and 
 ungovernable passion for praise the most universal 
 and unlimited, produces often the most ridiculous 
 consequences in women of the most exalted under- 
 standings,— When I say, a violent and ungovernable 
 passion, I may pause at violent to distinguish it from 
 ungovernable^ but not at ungovernable, because it im- 
 mediately modifies passfori; but when I say, for praise, 
 the most universal and unlimited, I must pause at 
 passion, to show the greater connexion between the 
 
 c 
 
18 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 words praise and universal and unlimited than be- 
 tween these and passion; the latter class thus secured, 
 by a pause, from mixing with the former, it is subject 
 to such division as its structure requires: the substan- 
 tive praise, coming before the modifying words, is 
 separated from them by a pause, not because such a 
 pause is necessary the better to understand the con- 
 nexion between them ; for had the modifying word 
 been single, it would nut have admitted a pause : but 
 because the two modifying words, universal and unli* 
 mi ted, form a class by themselves, sufficiently united 
 to the word praise to detach it from passion , and suf- 
 ficiently distinct from it to be separated by a comma, 
 But it may be asked, why does not the same classifi- 
 cation take place in the former part of this sentence, 
 with respect to the two adjectives, violent and ungo- 
 vernable, and the substantive passion ? It may be an- 
 swered, that a pause of distinction is admitted at 
 violent ; but if we were to pause at ungovernable, the 
 two modifying words would seem to form a class, 
 before the word modified by them is expressed or 
 understood ; whereas, in the succeeding part of the 
 sentence, the word praise is understood, and the mo- 
 difying words, universal and unlimited^ are necessa- 
 rily referred to it. 
 
 If it be demanded, why, in the former sentence, A 
 violent and ungovernable passion for praise produces, 
 &c. we cannot pause both at passsion and praise ? 
 it may be answered, that as the words for praise 
 modify passion, they have the nature of an adjective, 
 and therefore should coalesce with the word passion^ 
 which they modify; unless another word, more united 
 to them than they are to passion, could be added, 
 to make them form a distinct class; for, in this 
 case they would be as easily separable as two adjec- 
 tives after a substantive. Thus in the phrase, Avio- 
 lent and ungovernable passion for praise and adula- 
 tion, &c. : here we find praise and adulation form a 
 class of words sufficiently united to be pronounced 
 
ELOCUTION. 19 
 
 separately from passioMi if either the necessity of 
 taking breath, or a distinctness of pronunciation, re- 
 quire it ; for as pausing ought to answer one of these 
 purposes, where neither of them are answered, the 
 pause must be improper. Thus in the following sen- 
 tence : A violent and ungovernable passion fur praise 
 produces, &c. if we pause at passion, and then at 
 praise, we shall pause without any necessity ; for as 
 we must pause at praise, and the words for praise 
 being neither associated with, nor distinguished from, 
 any succeeding words, they ought to be united with 
 those that precede, as both of them form a member 
 sufficiently short to be pronounced with ease ; but if 
 distinctness had made it necessary to pause at praise, 
 then, notwithstanding the shortness of the phrase, it 
 would have formed a distinct member, and have rea- 
 dily admitted a pause. Thus in the sentence, A violent 
 and ungovernable passion, for praise, rather than 
 improvement in virtue, produces often the most ri- 
 diculous circumstances, &c. : here the word praise, 
 being emphatically distinguished from improvement 
 in virtue, demands a pause after it ; and as this word, 
 and its opposite, form a class, more united together 
 than both are with the word passion, a pause is ne- 
 cessary to show they belong to distinct classes ; the 
 pause between the opposing words showing their dis- 
 tinction, and the pause before and after them showing 
 their union. 
 
 But it may be asked, how can we suppose words 
 opposed to each other, and requiring a pause to show 
 that opposition, can be more united with each other 
 than they are with the preceding words they modify? 
 It may be answered, that the modifying word, when 
 unaccompanied by adjuncts, and the word modified, 
 form but one class, and do not admit of a pause, 
 either when the modifying word precedes or succeeds 
 the word modified.— Thus in the phrases, It was 
 from a prepense malice that he committed the ac- 
 tion ; and, It was from a malice prepense _thaf. he 
 
 c2 
 
20 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 committed the action: In these phrases I say, the 
 substantive malice, and the adjective prepense, are 
 equally inseparable by a pause ; but in the following 
 phrases : 
 
 It was from a preconceived and prepense malice that 
 he committed the action; and It teas from a malice, 
 preconceived, and prepense, that he committed the ac- 
 tion. In the former of these phrases the modifying 
 words do not form a distinct class from the word mo- 
 dified ; anil in the latter they do, and, therefore, admit 
 of a pause after the word malice, which can arise from 
 nothing else but this: in one case, the modifying 
 words, preceding the word modified, can signify 
 nothing without being joined to it ; and in the other, 
 the modified word, preceding those that modify, does 
 signify something independent on them ; and this in- 
 dependent signification admits those words that equally 
 depend on it, to form a distinct, though not an inde- 
 pendent class, by permitting a pause. Hence arises this 
 general rule — The word modified, and the words mo- 
 difying^ form hut one class with relation to the rest 
 of the words of the sentence ; but if the modifying 
 words precede the wofd modified, the modifying words 
 are distinguished from each other by a pause, but not 
 from the word modified ; and if the modifying words 
 succeed the ivord. modified, they are not only distin- 
 guished from each other, but from the word which they 
 modify; that is, they form distinct classes respecting 
 each other, and one whole class respecting the rest of 
 the words in the sentence. 
 
 Thus have we endeavoured to trace out the reason 
 for pausing differently ..in phrases differently con- 
 structed, though perfectly similar in meaning. In 
 this inquiry, the ingenious researches of Lord Kaims 
 upon this subject have been of great use. His idea 
 of the connexion between the adjective and the sub- 
 stantive in their natural order, and the separation 
 they admit of when inverted, is the principal clue 
 to the difficulties that have been proposed : his as- 
 
ELOCUTION. ^1 
 
 sertion, however, that the adjective and substan- 
 tive in an inverted order admit of a pause, is true 
 only when the adjective is single ; for thousands of 
 instances might be produced, where a pause is no 
 more admissible between a substantive and an ad- 
 jective in their inverted than in their natural order. 
 For example, in the following lines from the Rape of 
 the Lock : 
 
 Of these the chief the care of natrons own, 
 And guard vvitlvarms divine the British throne. 
 
 Though the melody of the verse inclines us strongly 
 to pause at arms, yet the adjective divine, imme- 
 diately succeeding, forbids it. Nay, if the line Lord 
 Kaims produces to prove we may pause between 
 the adjective and the substantive in an inverted 
 order — 
 
 For thee the fates, severely kind, ordain — 
 
 If this line, I say, had been constructed in this 
 manner, 
 
 For thee the fates severe, have this ordained, 
 
 it is evident no pause could be admitted between the 
 substantive fates and the adjective severe, though 
 they are here in their inverted order ; it is not then 
 merely the adjective being placed after the substan- 
 tive which makes it separable from it, but the ad- 
 jective being joined by other words, which, when 
 the substantive is understood, are more immediately 
 connected with each other than with the substantive 
 itself. • 
 
 If these observations have any solidity, we may 
 perceive how few are the grammatical connexions 
 which absolutely refuse a suspension of pronunciation, 
 for the sake of breathing, where precision or energy 
 require it : it is certainly to be presumed, that the 
 breath of every person is nearly proportioned to the 
 forcible pronunciation of so many words together as 
 are necessary to preserve the sense unbroken ; the 
 contrary, however, would often be the case, if the 
 
%2 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 integrity of the sense depended on the common rules 
 for placing the comma. Let those, however, who 
 can pronounce a long sentence easily and forcibly, 
 provided they preserve the pauses necessary to the 
 sense, take breath as seldom as they please. I have 
 rather consulted the infirmities than the perfections 
 of my fellow creatures ; by endeavouring to point 
 out those resources which are necessary to the weak, 
 without imposing them as rules upon the strong ; — 
 Clausulas e?iim, says Cicero, atque interpuncta ver- 
 borum animce inter cliisio atque angustke spiriMs ad- 
 tulerunt. De Orat. Lib. iii. 
 
 But from studying the human voice, and not re- 
 lying implicitly on the assertions of the ancients, we 
 perceive the weakness of that common observation, 
 that long sentences require a greater quantity of 
 breath, and a much more forcible exertion in the 
 lungs, than such sentences as are short. The folly 
 of this opinion must evidently appear to those who 
 have taken notice how often we may pause in a long 
 sentence ; and it will be shown hereafter, that the 
 sense of a sentence depends much less on the pause 
 than on the inflexion of voice we adopt ; and that, 
 provided we pause in the proper place, and preserve 
 the proper tone and inflexion of the voice, the sense 
 runs no risk on account of the multiplicity or dura- 
 tion of the pauses. 
 
 To reduce what has been said into something like 
 a system, we shall endeavour to bring together sen- 
 tences in every variety of construction, and mark, as 
 carefully as possible, such pauses as are necessary to 
 pronounce them with clearness, force, and variety. 
 
ELOCUTION. 23 
 
 A Practical System of Rhetorical Punctuation. 
 
 Before we give such directions for pausing, 6v 
 dividing a sentence, as will, in some measure, enable 
 us to avoid the errors of common punctuation, and to 
 point for ourselves, it will be necessary to inquire into 
 the nature of a sentence, and to distinguish it into its 
 different kinds : for this purpose, I shall make use of 
 the words of a very ingenious author,* who has lately 
 written on the Philosophy of Rhetoric : ' Complex 
 ' sentences,' says this author, c are of two kinds ; first, 
 c they are either periods, or sentences of a looser com- 
 * position, for which the language doth not furnish us 
 -f with a particular name. 
 
 ' A period is a complex sentence, wherein the mean- 
 ' ing remains suspended, till the whole is finished : 
 6 the connexion, consequently, is so close between 
 ' the beginning and the end, as to give rise to the 
 6 name period, which signifies circuit ; the following 
 6 is such a sentence :' 
 
 " Corruption could not spread with so much sue- 
 " cess, though reduced into system, and though some 
 " ministers, with equal impudence and folly, avowed 
 "it, by themselves and their advocates, to be the 
 " principal expedient by which they governed, if a 
 <f long and almost unobserved progression of causes 
 " and effects did not prepare the conjecture." 
 
 Bolingbrokes Spirit of Patriotism. 
 
 * The criterion of a period is this : If you stop any 
 f where before the end, the preceding words will not 
 c form a sentence, and therefore cannot convey any 
 4 determined sense. 
 
 ' This is plainly the case with the above example : 
 < the first verb being could, and not can ; the poten- 
 
 * .Campbell's. Philos. of Rhetoric, vol. ii. p. 339. 
 
24 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 4 tial, and not the indicative mood, shows, that the 
 c sentence is hypothetical, and requires to its com- 
 4 pletion, some clause beginning with if, unless, or 
 4 some other conditional particle ; and after you are 
 
 * come to the conjunction, you find no part where 
 c you can stop before the end. An example of a com- 
 1 plex sentence that is not a period, I shall produce 
 c from the same performance:' 
 
 " One party had given their whole attention, dur- 
 " ing several years, to the project of enrich in them- 
 " selves, and impoverishing the rest, of the nation ; 
 44 and by these and other means, of establishing their 
 44 dominion under the government, and with the fa- 
 " vour of a family who were foreigners ; and there- 
 44 fore might believe that they were established on the 
 44 throne, by the good will and strength of this party* 
 44 alone." 
 
 4 The criterion of such loose sentences is as follows: 
 4 there will always be found in them one place at least 
 4 before the end, at which if you make a stop, the 
 
 * construction of the preceding part will render it a 
 4 complete sentence ; thus, in the example now given, 
 4 whether you stop at the word themselves, at nation; 
 4 at dominion, at government, or at foreigners, all 
 4 which words are marked in the quotation in Italics, 
 
 * you will find you have read a perfect sentence.' 
 
 This distinction of a sentence into a period or com- 
 pact sentence, and a loose sentence, does not seem to 
 satisfy this ingenious critic ; and he produces an ex- 
 ample of a sentence of an intermediate sort, that is 
 neither an entirely loose sentence, nor a perfect 
 period : this example, too, is taken from Lord Boling- 
 brok a, where, speaking of the Eucharist, he says: 
 " The other institution has been so disguised by or- 
 t; nament, and so much directed in your church, at 
 4< least to a different purpose from commemoration, 
 44 that if the disciples were to assemble at Easter in 
 ' k the chapel of his holiness, Peter would know his 
 14 successor as little as Christ would acknowledge his 
 
ELOCUTION, 25 
 
 " vicar ; and the rest would be unable to guess what 
 " the ceremony represented or intended." Though 
 this sentence forms perfect sense at vicar, the critic 
 affirms, that * the succeeding members are so closely 
 4 connected with the preceding, that they altogether 
 * may be considered as a period, or compact sentence.' 
 
 Here we find the former distinction destroyed, and 
 we are again to seek for such a definition of a sentence 
 as will assure us what is a period or compact sentence, 
 and what is a loose sentence ; or, in other words, what 
 members are necessarily, and what are not necessarily 
 connected. In the first place we may observe, that 
 it is not the perfect sense, formed by the preceding 
 members, that determines a sentence to be loose : be- 
 cause succeeding members may be so necessarily con- 
 nected with those that precede, notwithstanding the 
 preceding members form perfect sense, that both to- 
 gether may form one period, Mr. Addison affords 
 us an instance of this in the Spectator, No.86: " Every 
 " one that speaks and reasons, is a grammarian and a 
 " logician, though he may be utterly unacquainted 
 " with the rules of grammar or logic as they are de- 
 " livered in books and systems." 
 
 If we finish this sentence at logician, we shall find 
 the sense perfect ; and yet nothing can be more evi- 
 dent than that both the member which contains this 
 word, and that which follows, are inseparably con- 
 nected. It is not, therefore, the perfect sense "which 
 a member may form, that necessarily detaches it from 
 the rest ; if, upon perusing the latter part of the sen- 
 tence, we find it evidently contained in the idea of 
 the former, they must both be inseparably connected : 
 the whole sentence, therefore, must be understood 
 before we can pronounce upon the connexion consist- 
 ing between its parts. 
 
 But it may be demanded, what is the criterion of 
 this connexion ; and how shall we know, with cer- 
 tainty, whether the idea of the latter member is neces- 
 sarily contained in the former ? To this it may be an- 
 
26 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 swered, if the latter member modifies the former, or 
 places it in a point of view different from what it ap- 
 pears in alone, we may pronounce the members ne- 
 cessarily connected, and the sentence to be compact 
 and periodic. In the last instance, the first member, 
 Every one that speaks and reasons, is a grammarian 
 and a logician, does not intend to affirm a fact which 
 might be understood as descriptive of the state of 
 man, either with or without the attainments of gram^ 
 mar and logic ; but it refers precisely to that state 
 which has no such attainments, and thus is modified 
 by the last member, though he may be utterly unac- 
 quainted with the rules of grammar, or logic, as they 
 are delivered in books and systems. The modification, 
 therefore, of the former member by the latter, is the 
 criterion of such connexion as forms a period or com- 
 pact sentence. 
 
 It is on this principle that all sentences founded 
 on an hypothesis, a condition, a concession, or ex- 
 ception, may be esteemed compact sentences or pe- 
 riods ; for in these sentences we shall find one part of 
 the sentence modified by the other ; and it may be 
 affirmed of all other sentences, that whenever the con- 
 junctions that connect their members together modify 
 these members, the sentences they compose are pe- 
 riodic; and that whenever the conjunctions only 
 explain or add to the meaning of the members to 
 which they are subjoined, the sentences which these 
 members compose are loose sentences. It will be 
 necessary to explain this observation by examples. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 A man should endeavour to make the sphere of his innoeent 
 pleasures as wide as possible, that he may retire into them with 
 safety, and find in them such a satisfaction as a wise man would not 
 blush to take. Of this nature are those of the imagination, wliich do 
 not require such a bent of thought as is necessary to our more se- 
 rious employments, nor at the same time suffer the mind to sink into 
 that negligence and remissness, which are apt to accompany our 
 more sensual delights. — Spectator, No. 411. 
 
ELOCUTION. 8t 
 
 In the first of these sentences we find the conjunc- 
 tion that modifies or restrains the meaning of the pre- 
 ceding member ; for it is not asserted in general, and 
 without limitation, that a man should make the sphere 
 of his innocent pleasures as wide as possible, but that 
 he should do so for the purpose of retiring into him- 
 self: these two members, therefore, are necessarily 
 connected, and might have formed a period or com- 
 pact sentence, had they not been followed by the 
 last member ; but as that only adds to the sense of 
 the preceding members, and does not qualify them, 
 the whole assemblage of members, taken together, 
 form but one loose sentence. 
 
 The last member of the last sen terfce is necessarily 
 connected with what precedes, because it modifies or 
 restrains the meaning of it ; for it is not meant, that 
 the pleasures of the imagination do not suffer the mind 
 to sink into negligence and remissness in general, but 
 into that particular negligence and remissness which 
 is apt to accompany our more sensual delights. The 
 first member of this sentence affords an opportunity 
 of explaining this by its opposite ; for here it is not 
 meant, that those pleasures of the imagination only 
 are of this innocent nature which do not require such 
 a bent of thought as is necessary to our more serious 
 employments, but that of this nature are the pleasures 
 of the imagination in general ; and it is by asking the 
 question whether a preceding member affirms any 
 thing in general, or only affirms something as limited 
 or qualified by what follows, that we shall discover 
 whether these members are either immediately or re- 
 motely connected, and, consequently, whether they 
 form a loose or a compact sentence : as the former 
 member, therefore, of the last sentence, is not neces- 
 sarily connected with those that succeed, the sentence 
 may be pronounced to be a loose sentence. 
 
 If these observations have any solidity, we have at 
 last arrived at the true distinction between a period 
 
28 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 and a loose sentence ; which is, that a period is an 
 assemblage of such words or members , as do not form 
 sense independent on each other; or if they do, the 
 former modify the latter, or inversely; and that a loose 
 sentence is an assemblage of such words or members as 
 do form sense, independent. on those that follow, and 
 at the same time are not modified by them : A period 
 or compact sentence, therefore, is divisible into two 
 kinds ; the first, where the former words and mem- 
 bers depend for sense on the latter, as in the sentence, 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial- 
 plate, so the advances we make in learning are only 
 perceived by the distance gone over. Which tor distinc- 
 tion's sake we may call a correct period. The second kind 
 of period, or compact sentence, is that where, though 
 the first part forms sense icithout the latter, it is ne- 
 vertheless modified by it ; as in the sentence, There are 
 several arts which all men are in some measure mas- 
 ters of, without being at the pains of learning them. 
 Which we may call an inverted period. The loose 
 sentence has its first members forming sense, without 
 being modified by the latter; as in the sentence, Per- 
 sons of good taste expect to be pleased at the same 
 time they are informed ; and think that, the best 
 sense always deserves the best language. In which 
 example, we find the latter member adding something 
 to the former, but not modifying or altering it. 
 
 It will readily occur to the critical reader, that, in 
 this definition of a period, I have departed widely 
 from the doctrine of the ancients, who consider it as 
 an assemblage of members, and not of words only ; 
 but as such a reader will know the difficulty of giving 
 a precise idea of a period, according to the opinion of 
 the ancients, and what diversity and uncertainty there 
 is about it among the moderns : he will the more easily 
 excuse my hazarding a definition of my own. My 
 principal object has been, to give such a definition 
 as would be clear, precise, and useful ; such a one 
 
ELOCUTION. %$ 
 
 as would best answer the purposes of pronunciation* 
 by exactly drawing the line between the connexion 
 and disjunctions of words, without making use of 
 such indefinite terms as the more or less intimate 
 connexion of the parts, or the concurrence of the 
 parts to the plenitude of a total sense. 
 
 Sentences thus defined and distinguished into their 
 several kinds, we shall be better enabled to give such 
 rules for dividing them by pauses, as will reduce 
 punctuation to some rational and steady principles. 
 Previously, however, to these rules, it will be neces- 
 sary to observe, that as the times of the pauses are 
 exceedingly indefinite, the fewer distinctions we make 
 between them, the less we shall embarrass the reader : 
 the common estimate of the times of the comma, the 
 semicolon, the colon, and the period, in the geome- 
 trical proportions of 1, 2, 4, 8, pleases us, from its 
 analogy with the times of the semibrief, minim, 
 crotchet, and quaver in music ; but every one will 
 confess at first sight, that as these distinctions in read- 
 ing are arbitrary, they are useless ; every one feels a 
 difference between a greater and a smaller pause, but 
 few can conceive degrees of these ; I shall beg leave, 
 therefore, to reduce the number of pauses to three ; 
 namely, the smaller pause, answering to the comma ; 
 the greater pause answering to the semicolon and 
 colon ; and the greatest pause answering to the pe- 
 riod. The ancients knew nothing of the semicolon ; 
 and if we consider practice and real utility, I believe 
 it will be found, that the three distinctions of the 
 ancients answer every useful purpose in writing and 
 reading. 
 
 The smaller pause, the greater pause, and the 
 greatest pause, are the distinctions, therefore, I shall 
 beg leave to adopt in the rules given for dividing a 
 sentence ; and as the division of a sentence depends 
 necessarily on its structure, and the greater or less 
 connexion of its parts, it will be proper to begin 
 
30 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 with the direct period ; that is, where no sense is 
 formed till the sentence is concluded. 
 
 Rule I. Every direct period consists of two prin- 
 cipal constructive parts, between which parts the 
 greater pause must be inserted ; when these parts 
 commence with conjunctions that correspond with 
 each other, they are sufficiently distinguishable; as 
 in the following sentence : 
 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
 the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
 tance gone over. 
 
 Here we may observe, that the first constructive 
 part begins witkos, and the second with so ; the ex- 
 pectation is excited by the first, and answered by the 
 latter : at that point, therefore, where the expectation 
 begins to be answered, and the sense begins to form, 
 the principal pause is to be used ; and, by these 
 means, the two contrasted and corresponding parts 
 are distinctly viewed by the mind. 
 
 A period may be direct, and its parts as necessarily 
 connected, where only the first conjunction is ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
 and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this parti- 
 cular. Spectator. 
 
 Here the word -so is understood before I am, and 
 the long pause as much required as if so had been ex- 
 pressed ; since it is here the sentence naturally divides 
 into two correspondent and dependent parts. 
 
 That point, therefore, where the expectation begins 
 to be answered, or where one part of the sentence 
 begins to modify the other, is the point which we 
 must be the most careful to mark ; as it is here the 
 sentence naturally divides itself into its principal 
 constructive parts. 
 
ELOCUTION. 31 
 
 Rule II. Every inverted period consists of two 
 principal constructive parts, between which parts the 
 greater pause may be inserted ; these parts divide at 
 that point, where the latter part of the sentence begins^ 
 to modify the former ; in periods of this kind, the 
 latter conjunction only is expressed, as in the example: 
 Every one that speaks and reasons is a grammarian, 
 and a logician, though he maybe utterly unacquainted 
 with the rules of grammar, or logic, as they are de- 
 livered in books and systems. If we invert this period, 
 we shall find it susceptible of the two correspondent 
 conjunctions though and yet; as, Though utterly un- 
 acquainted with the rules of grammar, or logic, a& 
 delivered in books and systems, yet every man who 
 speaks and reasons is a grammarian and logician. 
 This inversion of the order of a sentence, is, perhaps, 
 the best criterion of the connexion of its parts ; and 
 proves that the former, though forming complete 
 sense by itself, is modified by the latter. -^-Thus in the 
 phrases, Christ died for him, because he died for all — s 
 Many things are believed, though they exceed the 
 capacity of our wits. Hooker. 
 
 In these phrases, if we do but transpose the noun 
 and pronoun, and invert the order, the sentences will 
 be perfectly the same in.sense, and the connexion will 
 be more apparent; as, Because Christ died for all, he 
 died for him. — Though many things exceed the capa- 
 city of our wits, they are believed. 
 
 Rule III. Every loose sentence must consist of a 
 period, either direct or inverted, and an additional 
 member which does not modify it; and, consequently, 
 this species of sentence requires a pause between the 
 principal constructive parts of the period, and be- 
 tween the period and the additional member. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
 are informed j and think that the best sense always deserves the best 
 language. 
 
32 - ELEMENTS OF 
 
 In this sentence an inverted period is constructed at 
 the word informed; which requires a pause at pleased, 
 because here the former part of the sentence is modi- 
 fied by the latter ; and a pause is required at informed, 
 because here another member commences. Let us 
 take another example : 
 
 The soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss 
 and sedentary nature ; slow in its resolves, and languishing in its 
 executions. Spectator, No. 255. 
 
 Here a direct period is formed at nature ; the 
 principal constructive parts of this period separate at 
 passions ; and here must be the larger pause: the 
 succeeding members are only additional, and require 
 a larger pause between them and the period they be- 
 long to, and a smaller pause between each other at 
 Resolves* 
 
 Having thus given an idea of the principal pause 
 in a sentence, it will be necessary to say something of 
 the subordinate pauses, which may all be compre- 
 hended under what is called the short pause. 
 
 And, first it may be observed, that by the U>ng 
 pause, is not meant a pause of any determinate length, 
 but the longest pause in the sentence. Thus the 
 pause between the nominative and the verb in the 
 following sentence : 
 
 The great and invincible Alexander, wept for the fate of Datius. 
 
 The pause here, I say, may be called the long pause, 
 though not half so long as the pause between the 
 two principal constructive parts in the following 
 sentence : 
 
 If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and the courts of 
 justice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort \ 
 Aulus Caecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus 
 jEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when 
 assaulted by him. 
 
 Here the pause between the words resort, and 
 Aulus Ccecina, may be called the long pause, not so 
 much from its duration, as from its being the principal 
 
ELOCUTION. S3 
 
 pause in the sentence : the long pause, therefore, 
 
 must always be understood relatively to the smaller 
 
 pauses ; and it may pass for a good general rule, that 
 
 the principal pause is longer or shorter, according to 
 
 the simplicity or complexity of the sentence : thus, 
 
 in the three following sentences, we find the two 
 
 principal constructive parts separated by a pause in 
 
 exact proportion to the simplicity or complexity of 
 
 the members : 
 
 i 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
 the advances we make in knowledge are only perceiA able by the dis- 
 tance gone over. * 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not. perceive 
 it moving ; so oar advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
 steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 
 
 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 
 nobody ever saw it grow, so the advances we make in knowledge, as 
 they consist of such minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 
 
 In the first sentence the two principal constructive 
 parts are separated by a comma at dial-plate; in the 
 second, by a semicolon at moving ; and in the third, 
 by a colon at grow : if, for the purposes of force, 
 variety, or ease (each of which causes will be some- 
 times sufficient reason for a pause, where there is 
 none in the sense)— if, for any of these purposes, I 
 say, it were necessary to pause in the first member of 
 the first sentence, no words seem so readily to admit 
 a pause between them as shadow and moving, as here 
 the object is distinguished from the circumstance at- 
 tending it ; and if a pause were necessary in the last 
 member, the two principal parts here seem to be the 
 nominative phrase ending at knowledge, and the verb 
 with its adjuncts beginning at are. The second sen- 
 tence seems to have all the pauses it will admit of; 
 but the third might, for some of the above-mentioned 
 reasons, have a pause at shadow, and, for reasons that 
 will be given hereafter, ought always to have a pause 
 
 D 
 
34 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 at grown ; and as the last member is intersected by 
 an incidental member between the nominative and 
 the verb, it ought to have two subordinate pauses, 
 one at knowledge and the other at steps, before the 
 final pause at distance. 
 
 Thus when the sentence is divided into its princi- 
 pal parts by the long pause, these parts, if complex, 
 are again divisible into subordinate parts by a short 
 pause ; and these, if necessary, are again divisible into 
 more subordinate parts by a still shorter pause, till 
 at last we arrive at those words which admit of no 
 pause; as the article and the substantive, the sub- 
 stantive and adjective in their natural order, or, if 
 unattended by adjuncts, in any order ; and the pre- 
 positions and the words they govern. These words 
 may be considered as principles, in their nature not 
 divisible; if, without necessity, we pause between 
 other words, the pronunciation will be only languid 
 and embarrassed : but between these, a pause is not 
 only embarrassing, but unsuitable and repugnant to 
 the sense. 
 
 The subordinate parts of sentences are easily dis- 
 tinguished in such sentences as consist of parts cor- 
 responding to parts, as in the following example : 
 
 If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of justice, 
 as insolence does in the country and places of less resort ; Aulus 
 Caecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus ^Ebutius 
 in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when assaulted by him. 
 
 Here the whole sentence readily divides into two 
 principal constructive parts at resort ; the first part 
 as readily divides into two subordinate parts at jus- 
 tice ; and the last, into two other subordinate parts 
 at cause ; and these are all the pauses necessary : 
 but if, either from the necessity of drawing breath, 
 or of more strongly enforcing every part of this sen- 
 tence, we were to admit of more pauses than those, it 
 cannot be denied, that for this purpose, some places 
 more readily admit of a pause than others : if, for in- 
 
ELOCUTION. m 
 
 stance, the first subordinate part were to admit of two 
 pauses, they could no where be so suitably placed as 
 at impudence and Jorum ; if the next might be over- 
 pointed in the same manner, the points would be less 
 unsuitable at does and country than at any other 
 words ; in the same manner, a pause might be more 
 tolerable at Ccecina and Mbutius, and at before and 
 insolence, than in amy other of the subordinate parts 
 of the latter division of this sentence. 
 
 The parts of loose sentences which admit of the 
 short pause, must be determined by the same princi- 
 ples. If this instance has been properly defined, it is 
 a sentence consisting of a clause containing perfect 
 sense, followed by an additional clause which does 
 not modify it. Thus in the following example: 
 
 Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost, than 
 what they possess j and to turn their eyes on those who are richer 
 than themselves, rather than on those who are under greater diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Here a perfect sentence is formed at possess, and 
 here must be the longest pause, as it intervenes be- 
 tween two parts nearly independent: the principal 
 pause in the first member of this sentence, which may 
 be called a subordinate pause respecting the whole 
 sentence, is at lost, and that of the last member at 
 themselves ; if, for the sake of precision, other and 
 shorter pauses were admitted, it should seem most 
 suitable to admit them at men and consider in the 
 first member, at eyes and those in the first part of the 
 second member, and at those in the last. In these 
 observations, however, it must be carefully under- 
 stood, that this multiplicity of shorter pauses are not 
 recommended as necessary or proper, but only as 
 possible, and to be admitted occasionally : and, to 
 draw the line as much as possible between what is 
 necessary and unnecessary, we shall endeavour to 
 bring together such particular cases as demand the 
 
 d 2 
 
36 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 short pause, and those where it cannot be omitted 
 without hurting either the sense or the delivery. 
 
 Rule IV. When a nominative consists of more than 
 one word, it is necessary to pause after it. 
 
 When a nominative and a verb come in a sentence 
 unattended by adjuncts, no pause is necessary, either 
 for the ear or understanding : thus in the following 
 sentence — Alexander wept : no pause intervenes be- 
 tween these words, because they convey only two 
 ideas, which are apprehended the moment they are 
 pronounced ; but if these words are amplified by ad- 
 juncts of specification, as in the following sentence — 
 The great and invincible Alexander, wept for the fate 
 of Darius : here a pause is necessary between these 
 w r ords, not only that the organs may pronounce the 
 whole with more ease, but that the complex nomina- 
 tive and verb may, by being separately and distinctly 
 exhibited, be more readily and distinctly conceived. 
 
 This rule is so far from being unnecessary when we 
 are obliged to pause after the verb, that it then be- 
 comes more essential. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 This account of party patches will, I am afraid, appear improbable 
 to those who live at a distance from the fashionable world. 
 
 Addison's Sped. No. 81. 
 
 If in this sentence we only pause at will, as marked 
 by the printer, we shall find the verb swallowed up, 
 as it were, by the nominative case, and confounded 
 with it ; but if we make a short pause both before 
 and after it, we shall find every part of the sentence 
 obvious and distinct. 
 
 That the nominative is more separable from the 
 verb than the verb from the objective case, is plain 
 from the propriety of pausing at self- love, and not at 
 forsook, in the following example : 
 
 Self-love forsook the path it first pursu'd, 
 And found the private in the public good. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Man. 
 
ELOCUTION. 37 
 
 The same may be observed of the first line of the fol- 
 lowing couplet : 
 
 Earth smiles around with boundless bounty blest, 
 
 And heaven beholds its image in his breast. Ibid. 
 
 Here though the melody invites to a pause at beholds, 
 propriety requires it at heaven. 
 
 Rule V. Whatever member intervenes between 
 the nominative ease and the verb, is of the nature of a 
 parenthesis, and must be separated from both of them 
 by a short pause. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 I am told that many virtuous matrons, who formerly have been 
 taught to believe that this artificial spotting of a face was unlawful, 
 are now reconciled, by a zeal for their cause, to what they could not 
 be prompted by a concern for their beauty. Addison's Sped. No. 81. 
 
 The member intervening between the nominative 
 matrons and the verb are, may be considered as inci- 
 dental, and must therefore be separated from both. 
 
 When the Romans and Sabines were at war, and just upon the 
 point of giving battle, the women, who were allied to both of them, 
 interposed with so many tears and entreaties, that they prevented 
 the mutual slaughter which threatened both parties, and- united 
 them together in a firm and lasting peace. Addison, Ibid. 
 
 Here the member intervening between the nomi- 
 native case women, and the verb interposed, must be 
 separated from both by a short pause. 
 
 Rule VI. Whatever member intervenes between 
 the verb and the accusative case, is of the nature of a 
 parenthesis, and must be separated from both by a 
 short pause. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 I knew a gentleman who possessed the faculty of distinguishing fla- 
 vours in so great a perfection, that, after having tasted ten different 
 kinds of tea, he would distinguish, without seeing the colour of it, 
 the particular sort which was offered him. Addison's Sped, No. 409. 
 
38 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 The member intervening between the verb distin- 
 guish and the accusative the particular sort, must be 
 separated from them by a short pause. 
 
 A man of a fine taste in writing will discern, after the same man- 
 ner, not only the general beauties and imperfections of an author, 
 but discover the several ways of thinking and expressing himself, 
 which diversify him from all other authors. Addison, Ibid. 
 
 The member intervening between the verb discern 
 and the accusative not only the general beauties, must 
 be separated from both by a short pause. 
 
 Rule VII. When two verbs come together, and the 
 latter is in the infinitive mood, if any words come 
 between, they must be separated from the latter verb 
 by a pause. 
 
 ■ 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Now, because our inward passions and inclinations can never 
 make themselves visible, it is impossible for a jealous man to be 
 thoroughly cured of his suspicions. Spectator, No. 170. 
 
 In this example, the verbal phrases, it is impossible 
 and to be thoroughly cured, have the words for a jea- 
 lous man coming between them, which must there- 
 fore be separated from the latter by a comma, or 
 short pause. 
 
 Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
 
 The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune $ 
 
 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 
 
 And by opposing end them ? Shakspeare. 
 
 If it were necessary for breathing to pause any 
 where in this passage, we should find a pause much 
 more admissible at mind than in any other part, as 
 here a clause intervenes between the verbs is and 
 suffer ; and two verbs seem more separable than a 
 verb and its objective case. 
 
ELOCUTION. 39 
 
 But when the substantive verb to be is followed by 
 a verb in the infinitive mood, which may serve as a 
 nominative case to it, and the phrases before and 
 after the verb may be transposed, then the pause falls 
 between the verbs. 
 
 EXAMPLES. • 
 
 The practice among the Turks is, to destroy, or imprison for life, 
 any presumptive heir to the throne. 
 
 Here the pause falls between is and to destroy. 
 
 Their first step was, to possess themselves of Caesar's papers and 
 money, and next to convene the senate. Goldsmith's Roman History. 
 
 Here we must pause between was and to possess. 
 
 Never had this august assembly been convened upon so delicate 
 an occasion, as it was, to determine whether Caesar had been a legal 
 magistrate or a tyrannical usurper. Ibid. 
 
 Here the pause comes between was and to de- 
 termine. 
 
 Rule VIII. If there are several subjects belonging 
 in the same manner to one verb, or several words be- 
 longing in the same manner to one subject, the sub- 
 jects and verbs are still to be accounted equal in 
 number ; for every verb must have its subject, and 
 every subject its verb ; and every one of the subjects, 
 or verbs, should have its point of distinction and a 
 short pause. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Riches, pleasure, and health, become evils to those who do not 
 know how to use them. 
 
 Here the subjects riches, pleasure, and health, be- 
 long each of them to the verb become ; as Riches 
 become an evil, pleasure becomes an evil, and health 
 becomes an evil, &c. Each of these, therefore, must 
 be separated by a short pause ; and all of them, form- 
 ing only one compound nominative case, must, ac- 
 cording to Rule IV. be separated by a short pause 
 from the verb. This last pause must be the more 
 
40 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 particularly attended to, as we scarcely ever see it 
 marked in printing. One of the best French* gram- 
 marians, however, has decided, that this pause is not 
 only as necessary here as between the other parts, 
 but more so ; " because," says he, " if the pause be 
 omitted between the last nominative and the verb, it 
 might appear that the verb were more closely united 
 to this than any of the rest, contrary to the truth of 
 the case." 
 
 I am perfectly of opinion with this ingenious gram- 
 marian, with respect to the propriety of placing a 
 pause in speaking, if not in writing, between the last 
 noun and the verb, but for very different reasons : if 
 we ought to insert a pause here, to show that the con- 
 nexion between the last noun and the verb is no 
 greater than between the verb and the preceding 
 nouns, no good reason can be given why we should 
 not place a pause between the last adjective and the 
 substantive in this sentence : 
 
 A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
 ceed in life. 
 
 The word behaviour, in this sentence, is not more 
 intimately connected in signification with supple, than 
 with polite and active ; and yet no punctuist would 
 insert a pause between the two former, to show that 
 the three properties polite, active, and supple, were 
 equally connected with the common word behaviour. 
 Whence then arises the propriety of placing a pause 
 between the word health and become in the former in- 
 stance ? Evidently from hence : the nominative con- 
 sists of three particulars, which, though distinguished 
 from each other by pauses, form but one nominative 
 plural, and are more connected with each other than 
 with the verb they govern ; their connexion, there- 
 fore, with each other, as forming one distinct part, 
 and not their belonging equally to the verb, is the 
 reason that a pause is proper. If shewing the eon- 
 
 * Beauzee Grammaire .Generate, torn. ii. p. 583. 
 
ELOCUTION. 41 
 
 nexion of dependent words to be equal, were the 
 reason for placing a pause, we ought to place a pause 
 between the pronoun and the first verb in the follow- 
 ing example : 
 
 He went into the cavern, found the instruments, hewed down the 
 trees, and in one day put the vessels in a condition for sailing. 
 
 Telemachus. 
 
 Here every member depends equally on the pro- 
 noun he, and yet it would be contrary to the best 
 practice to insert a pause between this word and the 
 verb went. But if the common nominative consisted 
 of more than one word, a pause would not only be 
 allowable, but proper, as in the following example : 
 
 The active and indefatigable Telemachus, went into the cavern, 
 found the instruments, hewed down the trees, and in one day put 
 the vessels in a condition for sailing. 
 
 It is, therefore, because the nominative forms a 
 class of words more intimately connected with each 
 other than all are with the verb, that makes this part 
 of speech separable by a pause in the latter example, 
 and not in the former.* 
 
 Rule IX. If there are several adjectives belonging 
 in the same manner to one substantive, or several 
 substantives belonging in the same manner to one 
 adjective, the adjective and substantives are still to 
 be accounted equal in number ; for every substantive 
 must have its adjective, and every adjective its sub- 
 stantive, and every adjective coming after its sub- 
 stantive, and every adjective coming before the sub- 
 stantive except the last, must be separated by a short 
 pause. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
 ceed in life. 
 
 * Why a pause is used in speaking where a comma might be 
 improper in writing, see p. 13 ; and why a pause may be admitted, 
 buth in writing and speaking, between the substantive and adjective, 
 when several adjectives follow the substantive, and not when J:he 
 adjectives precede the substantive, may be seen at large, p. 21. 
 
« ELEMENTS OF 
 
 In this example, behaviour, as was observed in the 
 foregoing rule, is understood to belong equally to 
 polite and active, as to supple, and, consequently, 
 every adjective has its correspondent substantive ; 
 and as the adjectives come before the substantive, 
 every one but that which immediately precedes its 
 substantive is separated by a pause. The punctua- 
 tion is different in the following sentence : 
 
 A behaviour, active, supple, and polite, is necessary to succeed 
 in life. 
 
 In this example, as the substantive precedes the 
 adjectives, every adjective is separated from the sub- 
 stantive by a pause : for the reason of this, see p. 19. 
 
 Rule X. If there are several adverbs belonging in 
 the same manner to one verb, or several verbs be- 
 longing in the same manner to one adverb, the verbs 
 and adverbs are still to be accounted equal in num- 
 ber : and if the adverbs come after the verb, they are 
 each of them to be separated by a pause ; but if the 
 adverbs come before the verb, a pause must separate 
 each of them from the verb but the last. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 To love, wisely, rationally, and prudently, is, in the opinion of 
 lovers, not to love at all. 
 
 Wisely, rationally, and prudently to love, is, in the opinion of 
 lovers, not to love at all. 
 
 In the first example, the verb and adverb are sepa- 
 rated by a pause, for the same reason that the ad- 
 jective was separated from its substantive in the same 
 situation in the preceding rule -.that is, the verb to love 
 excites an idea which the mind may contemplate for 
 a moment separately from the adverb which modifies 
 it ; and as this adverb is accompanied by others, 
 they form a class more united by similitude with each 
 other than with the verb they modify ; and distin- 
 
ELOCUTION. 43 
 
 guishiug the word to which they all relate by a 
 pause, makes an equal relation to each more distinct 
 and apparent. The reason why this separation does 
 not take place in the last example, is, that though 
 modifying words may be distinguished from each 
 other, they cannot be separated, even in idea, from 
 the words they modify, because they give the mind 
 no object to rest on ; and so intimately are they 
 always connected, that though the modified word 
 comes first, and by this means affords the mind a 
 momentary pause, yet no pause is admitted between 
 the modified and the modifying word, unless the latter 
 is accompanied by other modifying words, which 
 then form a class apart, and require separation both 
 from each other and the word they modify. 
 Thus in the following examples : 
 
 To eat, drink, and sleep moderately, is greatly conducive to health. 
 Moderately to eat, drink, and sleep, is greatly conducive to health. 
 
 We find the adverb moderately, in the first example, 
 coming after the verb sleep, and unaccompanied by 
 any other words, is not separated from the verb by a 
 pause, any more than when it precedes the verb, as 
 in the last example : but every critical ear will admit 
 of a pause between the verb and adverb in the fol- 
 lowing lines of Othello in Shakspeare : 
 
 Then must you speak 
 Of one, that loved, not wisely but too well. Shakspeare. 
 
 Because in this passage the words, not wisely but too 
 well, form a distinct class, and cannot be distinctly 
 apprehended but by being separated from the verb 
 they modify. 
 
 But when the adverb precedes the verb it is then in 
 the same case as the adjective before the substan- 
 
44 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 tive ; it is impossible to divide it from the verb by a 
 pause : 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 This ring he holds, 
 In most rich choice, yet in his idle fire, 
 To buy his will it would not seem too dear, 
 Howe'er repented of. Ibid. 
 
 In this example, the adverb howe'er must neces- 
 sarily be classed with the verb it precedes, and, con- 
 sequently, a pause must be placed at dear. 
 
 To trace the ways 
 Of highest agents, deem'd however wise. Milton. 
 
 Here the word however modifies the adjective wise, 
 and therefore is more closely united with it than with 
 the verb deemd : and if this union be not intimated 
 by a short pause at deenid, the sense will be a little 
 ambiguous ; as we shall not know whether these 
 agents are extremely or only moderately wise. But 
 when this word is used conjunctively, that is, when 
 we may supply its place by substituting nevertheless, 
 notwithstanding, yet, or still, a pause ought always 
 to follow it. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 In your excuse your love does little say, 
 
 You might howe'er, have took a fairer way. Dryden. 
 
 Here the word howe'er is used conjunctively, and a 
 pause after it is highly necessary. 
 
 I do not build my reasoning wholly on the case of persecution ; 
 however, I do not exclude it. Alter bury. 
 
 A pause in this sentence at however, manifestly fixes 
 and regulates the sense of it. 
 
 Rule XI. Whatever words are put into the case 
 absolute, commonly called the ablative absolute, must 
 be separated from the rest by a short pause. 
 
ELOCUTION. 45 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 If a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt or die, the 
 owner thereof not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 
 
 Old Testament. 
 
 Here the owner thereof not being with it, is the phrase 
 called the ablative absolute ; and this, like a paren- 
 thesis, must be separated from the rest of the sentence 
 by a short pause on each side. 
 
 God, from the mount of Sinai, whose grey top 
 Shall tremble, he descending, will himself 
 In thunder, lightnings, and loud trumpet's sound 
 Ordain them laws. Milton. 
 
 Here, he descending, neither governs nor is governed 
 by any other part of the sentence ; and is said to be 
 in the ablative absolute, and this independence must 
 be marked by a short pause before and after the 
 clause. 
 
 Rule XII. Nouns in apposition, or words in the 
 same case, where the latter is only explanatory of 
 the former, have a short pause between them, either 
 if both these nouns consist of many terms, or the 
 latter only. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 When first thy sire, to send on earth 
 
 Virtue, his darling child, design'd ; 
 
 To thee he gave the heav'nly birth, 
 
 And bade thee form her infant mind. Gray. 
 
 Here the word Virtue, and the following member, 
 may be said to be in apposition, and must be divided 
 by a short pause. 
 
 If the two nouns are single, no pause is admitted; 
 as, Paul the apostle ; King George : but if the latter 
 consists of many terms, a short pause is necessary ; 
 as, Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles; George, Icing of 
 Great Britain, France, and Ireland. 
 
 The reason of this seems to be the same with that 
 which permits us to pause between a substantive and 
 
46 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 adjective in an inverted order, when the latter has 
 adjuncts that form a class ; for when nouns are in 
 apposition, the latter, by qualifying the former, has 
 the nature of an adjective, and is therefore subject to 
 the same laws of punctuation. 
 
 Rule XIII. Who, which, when in the nominative 
 case, and the pronoun that, when used for who, or 
 which, require a short pause before them. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 A man can never be obliged to submit to any power, unless he ean 
 be satisfied, who is the person, who has a right to exercise it. Locke. 
 
 To which, their want of judging abilities, add also their want of 
 opportunity to apply such a serious consideration as may let them 
 into the true goodness and evil of things which are qualities, which 
 seldom display themselves to the first view. South. 
 
 You'll rue the time, 
 
 That clogs me with this answer. Shakspeare. 
 
 Nothing they but dust can show, 
 
 Or bones that hasten to be so. Cowley, 
 
 Saints, that taught, and led the way to heav'n. TickeL 
 
 Rule XIV. When that is used as a casual con- 
 junction, it ought always to be preceded by a short 
 pause. 
 
 examples'. 
 
 It is not, that I love you less 
 
 Than when before your feet I lay, 
 
 But to prevent the sad increase 
 
 Of hopeless love, I keep away. Waller. 
 
 Forgive me, that I thus your patience wrong. Cowley. 
 
 The custom and familiarity of these tongues do sometimes so far 
 influence the expressions in these epistles, that one may observe the 
 force of the Hebrew conjugations. Locke. 
 
 There is the greater necessity for attending to this 
 rule, as we so frequently find it neglected in printing : 
 
ELOCUTION. 47 
 
 for fear of crowding the line with points, and appear- 
 ing to clog the sense to the eye, the ear is often de- 
 frauded of her unquestionable rights. I shall give 
 two instances among a thousand that might be 
 brought to show where this is the case. 
 
 I must therefore desire the reader to remember that, by the plea- 
 sures of the imagination, I mean only such pleasures as arise origi- 
 nally from sight. Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 It is true, the higher nature still advances, and by that means, pre- 
 serves his distance and superiority in the scale of being 5 but he 
 knows that, how high soever the station is of which he stands pos- 
 sessed at present, the inferior nature will at length mount up to it, 
 and shine forth in the same degree of glory. Spectator, No. 111. 
 
 In these examples, we find the incidental member 
 succeeding the conjunction that is separated from it 
 by a pause ; but the pause which ought to precede 
 this conjunction is omitted : this punctuation runs 
 through our whole orthography, and is the more 
 culpable, as the insertion of the pause after that, 
 where it is less wanted than before, is more apt to 
 mislead the reader than if he saw no pause at all. 
 
 Rule XV. Prepositions and conjunctions are more 
 united with the words they precede than with those 
 they follow ; and, consequently, if it be necessary to 
 pause, the preposition and conjunction ought to be 
 classed with the succeeding words, and not with the 
 preceding. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 A violent passion, for universal admiration, produces the most 
 ridiculous circumstances, in the general behaviour, of women of the 
 most excellent understandings. 
 
 As it has been formerly remarked (p. 19), we may 
 pause four times in this sentence, if necessary, with- 
 out in the least hurting the sense : that is, at passion, 
 admiration, circumstances, and behaviour ; but if, in- 
 stead of pausing at these words, we w^ere to pause at 
 
48 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the words for, produces, in, and of, which are the 
 words immediately succeeding, we shall soon per- 
 ceive to which words the propositions naturally 
 belong. 
 
 Homer and Hesiod intimate to us how this art should be applied, 
 when they represent the muses as surrounding Jupiter, and warbling" 
 hymns about his throne. 
 
 In this example, the adverb as, and the co- 
 pulative and, in the last clause, must necessarily be 
 classed with the succeeding, and not the preceding 
 words. 
 
 I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 
 
 Old Testament. 
 
 Here the conjunction except, naturally associates 
 with the latter part of the sentence, and requires a 
 short pause before it. 
 
 This let him know, 
 Lest wilfully transgressing, he pretend 
 Surprisal. Milton. 
 
 In this example, the conjunction lest is very pro- 
 perly separated from the preceding words by a short 
 pause at know, and as the parenthetic words wilfully 
 transgressing come between the conjunction, and 
 the pronoun to which it belongs, the conjunction has 
 very properly a pause both before and after it. 
 
 People expect in a small essay, that a point of humour should be 
 worked up, in all its parts, and a subject touched upon, in its most 
 essential articles, without the repetitions, tautologies, and enlarge- 
 ments, that are indulged to longer labours. Spect. No. 124. 
 
 In this sentence the preposition up is separated from 
 in, because it enters into the composition of the verb 
 work, as to ivork up forms one complex verb ; the 
 same may be observed of the proposition upon, in the 
 next clause of the sentence. An exception to this 
 will be found in the following rule. 
 
ELOCUTION. 49 
 
 Rule XVI. When words are placed either in 
 opposition to, or in apposition with each other, the 
 words so placed require to be distinguished by a 
 pause. 
 
 This is a rule of very great extent, and will be 
 more fully treated under the article Emphasis : it 
 will be proper, however, to give a general idea of it 
 in this place, as pause and force are very different 
 things, and ought therefore to be treated separately 
 and distinctly. 
 
 EXAMPLE. i 
 
 The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
 not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the under- 
 standing. Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 In this example we shall find all writers and print- 
 ers agree in placing but one pause between the four 
 contrasted parts, and this point is at sense ; here, it 
 must be owned, is the principal pause : but it must 
 likewise be acknowledged by every judicious ear, 
 that a short pause at gross, and another at refined, 
 convey more forcibly and distinctly every part of 
 the sentence. 
 
 Some place the bliss in action, some in ease j 
 Those call it pleasure, and contentment these. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Man. 
 
 In this couplet we never see a pause after the two 
 words some in the first line, nor after the words those 
 and contentment in the second ; and yet nothing can 
 be more evident than that a short pause after these 
 words tends greatly to place the sense in a clear and 
 distinct point of view. 
 
 In the same manner, when one object is succes- 
 sively contrasted with another, though these objects 
 form the nominative case to the verb, and consist but 
 of a single word, it is necessary to pause after each, 
 in order to shew the contrast more distinctly. 
 
50 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 At the same time that I think discretion the most yseful talent a 
 man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplish- 
 ment of little, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out the 
 noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable 
 methods of obtaining them : Cunning has only private selfish aims, 
 and sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion 
 has large and extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, commands 
 the whole horizon : Cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, thatdis- 
 covers^he minutest objects that are near at hand, but is not able to 
 discern things at a distance. Discretion, the more it is discovered, 
 gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it : Cunning, 
 when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable 
 of bringing about even those events which he might have done, had 
 he passed only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of 
 reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life ; Cunning is a 
 kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interest and 
 welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good 
 understandings : Cunning is often to be met with in brutes them- 
 selves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them : 
 in short, cunning is only the mimic of Discretion, and may pass 
 upon weak men, in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken 
 for wit, and gravity for wisdom. Addison's Spectator, No. SSS. 
 
 In this passage, much of the force and precision of 
 the contrast between discretion and cunning would 
 be lost without a sensible pause after each. 
 
 The necessity of distinguishing opposite or con- 
 trasted parts in a sentence, will sometimes oblige us 
 to separate words that are most intimately united. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 To suppose the zodiac and planets to be efficient of, and antece- 
 dent to themselves, would be absurd. Bentley. 
 
 He the prepositions of and to are in opposition to 
 each other, and both connected intimately with the 
 word themselves ; but this connexion does not pre- 
 clude the necessity of a pause after each, to show 
 their distinct and specific relation to their governing 
 words, and their equal relation to the common word 
 themselves. Indeed, the words of and to, in this sen- 
 tence, are emphatical, for that exactness and pre- 
 cision which the argument seems to require. 
 
ELOCUTION. 31 
 
 It is objected by readers of history, that the battles in those nar- 
 rations are scarce ever to be understood* This misfortune is to be 
 ascribed to the ignorance of historians, in the method of drawing 
 up, changing the forms of battalia, and the enemy retreating from, 
 as well as approaching to the charge. 
 
 Spectator, No. 428. 
 
 The pretexts were, his having invaded and overcome many states 
 that were in alliance with, and under the protection of Rome. 
 
 Goldsmith's Rom. Hist, 
 
 Though a pause seems admissible both ai'terfrom 
 and to in this sentence, yet the opposition between 
 these prepositions seems as much marked by empha- 
 sis as by rest : and in examples of this kind it seems 
 necessary to pause a smaller time after the last pre- 
 position than after the first. 
 
 To sum up the whole in a few words, as those 
 classes of words which admit of no separation are 
 very small and very few, if we do but take the oppor- 
 tunity of pausing where the sense will permit, we 
 shall never be obliged to break in upon the sense 
 when we find ourselves under the necessity of paus- 
 ing ; but if we overshoot ourselves by pronouncing 
 more in a breath than is necessary, and neglecting 
 those intervals where we may pause conveniently, we 
 shall often find ourselves obliged to pause where the 
 sense is not separable, and, consequently, to weaken 
 and obscure the composition. This observation, for 
 the sake of the memory, may be conveniently com- 
 prised in the following verses : 
 
 In pausing, ever let this rule take place, 
 Never to separate words in any case 
 That are less separable than those you join : 
 And, which imports the same, not to combine 
 Such words together, as do not relate 
 So closely as the words you separate. 
 
 The interrogation, exclamation, and parenthesis, 
 seem rather to be whole sentences than members of 
 a sentence ; and as they are distinguished from others, 
 
 e2 
 
52 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 more by a peculiar inflexion of voice than by paus- 
 ing, they naturally belong to that part of this essay 
 which treats of those inflexions of voice which are 
 annexed to sentences, and parts of sentences, accord- 
 ing to their different structure and signification. 
 
 Thus have I attempted, with a trembling hand, to 
 hint a few more rules for pausing than have been 
 hitherto generally adopted ; and though but little is 
 accomplished, I flatter myself enough is done to show 
 how much farther we might go in this subject, if we 
 would apply ourselves to it systematically, and leave 
 less to the taste and understanding of the reader. 
 
 I doubt not that many will be displeased at the 
 number of pauses I have added to those already in 
 use ; but I can with confidence aftirm, that not half 
 the pauses are found in printing which are observed in 
 the pronunciation of a good reader or speaker ; and 
 that, if we would read or speak well, we must pause, 
 upon an average, at every fifth or sixth word. It 
 must also be observed, that public reading, or speak- 
 ing, requires pausing much oftener than reading and 
 conversing in private ; as the parts of a picture which 
 is to be viewed at a distance, must be more distinctly 
 and strongly marked, than those of an object which 
 are nearer to the eye, and understood at the first in- 
 spection. 
 
ELOCUTION. 53 
 
 Introduction to the Theory of the Inflexions of the 
 
 Voice. 
 
 Besides the pauses, which indicate a greater or less 
 separation of the parts of a sentence and a conclusion 
 of the whole, there are certain inflexions of voice, 
 accompanying these pauses, which are as necessary 
 to the sense of the sentence as the pauses themselves; 
 for, however exactly we may pause between those 
 parts which are separable, if we do not pause with 
 such an inflexion of voice as is suited to the sense, 
 the composition we read will not only want its true 
 meaning, but will have a meaning very different from 
 that intended by the writer. How desirable, there- 
 fore, must any method be, that can convey to us that 
 inflexion of voice which, is best suited to the sense of 
 an author ! but this will at first sight be pronounced 
 impossible. What ! it will be said, will any one pre- 
 tend to convey to us, upon paper, all that force, 
 beauty, variety, and harmony, which a good reader 
 throws into composition, when he enters into the 
 spirit of his author, and displays every part of it to 
 advantage ? No, it may be answered, this is not 
 attempted : but, because all this cannot be done, is 
 it impossible to do any part of it ? Because the exact 
 time of pausing is not always denoted by the points 
 in use, is it useless to have any marks of pausing at 
 all ? Because the precise degree of emphatic force is 
 not conveyed by printing some words in a different 
 character, cannot we sometimes assist the reader in 
 apprehending the force or feebleness of pronunciation, 
 by printing the emphatical words in Italics ? The 
 practice of this in books of instruction sufficiently 
 shows it is not entirely useless ; and, if executed with 
 more judgment, there is little doubt of its being ren- 
 dered still more useful. 
 
54 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 The truth is, something relative to the pronuncia- 
 tion can be conveyed by written marks, and some- 
 thing cannot. The pauses between sentences, and 
 members of sentences, may be conveyed ; the accent 
 on any particular syllable of a word may be conveyed; 
 the emphasis on any particular word in a sentence 
 may be conveyed ; and it is presumed it will be de- 
 monstrated in the course of this work, that a certain 
 inflexion of voice, which shows the import of the 
 pauses, forms the harmony of a cadence, distinguishes 
 emphasis into its different kinds, and gives each kind 
 its specific and determinate meaning, may be as clearly 
 conveyed upon paper, as either the pause, the accent, 
 or the emphatic word : — here then is one step far- 
 ther in the art of reading, than any author has hitherto 
 ventured to go ; and that this new step is not entirely 
 visionary and impracticable, will more clearly appear 
 by considering the nature of speaking sounds* 
 
ELOCUTION 55 
 
 Of the two simple Inflexions of the Voice. 
 
 All vocal sounds may be divided into two kinds, 
 namely, speaking sounds, and musical sounds. Mu- 
 sical sounds are such as continue a given time on the 
 precise point of the musical scale, and leap, as it were, 
 from one note to another; while speaking sounds, 
 instead of dwelling on the note they begin with, 
 slide * either upwards, or downwards, to the neigh- 
 bouring notes, without any perceptible rest on any: 
 so that speaking and musical sounds are essentially 
 distinct ; the former being constantly in motion from 
 the moment they commence ; the latter being at rest 
 for some given time in one precise note. 
 
 The continual motion of speaking sounds makes it 
 almost as impossible for the ear to mark their several 
 differences, as it would be for the eye to define an 
 object that is swiftly passing before it, and continu- 
 ally vanishing away : the difficulty of arresting speak- 
 ing sounds for examination, has made almost all 
 authors suppose it impossible to give any such dis- 
 tinct account of them, as to be of use in speaking and 
 reading ; and indeed, the vast variety of tone which 
 a good reader or speaker throws into delivery, and of 
 which it is impossible to convey any idea but by imi- 
 tation, has led us easily to suppose that nothing at 
 all of this variety can be defined and reduced to rule : 
 but when we consider, that whether words are pro- 
 nounced in a high or low, in a loud or a soft tone : 
 whether they are pronounced swiftly or slowly, for- 
 cibly or feebly, with the tone of the passion, or with- 
 out it; they must necessarily be pronounced either 
 sliding upwards or downwards, or else go into a mo- 
 notone or song ; when we consider this, I say, we shall 
 find, that the primary division of speaking sounds is 
 
 * Smith's Harmonics; p. 3. Note (c). 
 
56 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 into the upward and the downward slide of the voice ; 
 and that whatever other diversity of time, tone, or 
 force, is added to speaking, it must necessarily be 
 conveyed by these two slides. 
 
 These two slides, or inflexions of voice, therefore, 
 are the axis, as it were, on which the force, variety, 
 and harmony of speaking turns. They may be con- 
 sidered as the great outlines of pronunciation ; and 
 if these outlines can be tolerably conveyed to a 
 reader, they must be of nearly the same use to him, 
 as the rough draught of a picture is to a pupil in 
 painting. This then we shall attempt to accomplish, 
 by reducing some of the most familiar phrases in the 
 language, and pointing out the inflexions, which 
 every ear, however unpractised, will naturally adopt 
 in pronouncing them. These phrases, which are in 
 every body's mouth, will become a kind of data, or 
 principles, to which the reader must constantly be 
 referred, when he is at a loss for the precise sound 
 that is understood by these different inflexions ; and 
 these familiar sounds, it is presumed, will sufficiently 
 instruct him. 
 
 Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice, 
 
 It must first be premised, that by the rising or fall- 
 ing inflexion, is not meant the pitch of voice in which 
 the whole word is pronounced, or that loudness or 
 softness which may accompany any pitch ; but that 
 upward or downward slide which the voice makes 
 when the pronunciation of a word is finishing ; and 
 which may, therefore, not improperly be called the 
 rising and falling inflexion. 
 
 So important is a just mixture of these two inflex- 
 ions, that the moment they are neglected, our pro- 
 nunciation becomes forceless and monotonous : if the 
 sense of a sentence require the voice to adopt the 
 rising inflexion, on any particular word either in the 
 middle, or at the end of a phrase, variety and harmony 
 
ELOCUTION. 57 
 
 demand the faliing inflexion on one of the preceding 
 words; and on the other hand, if emphasis, harmony, 
 or a completion of sense, require the falling inflexion 
 on any word, the word immediately preceding, almost 
 always demands the rising inflexion ; so that these 
 inflexions of voice are in an order nearly alternate. 
 
 This is very observable in reading a sentence, when 
 we have mistaken the connexion between the mem- 
 bers, either by supposing the sense is to be continued 
 when it finishes, or supposing it finished when it is 
 really to be continued : for in either of these cases, 
 before we have pronounced the last word, we find it 
 necessary to return pretty far back to some of the 
 preceding words, in order to give them such inflex- 
 ions as are suitable to those which the sense requires 
 on the succeeding words. Thus, in pronouncing the 
 speech of Portius in Cato, which is generally mis- 
 pointed, as in the following example : 
 
 Remember what our father oft has told us, 
 The ways of Heav'n are dark and intricate, 
 Puzzled in mazes and perplexd in errors 5 
 Our understanding traces them in vain, 
 Lost and bewilder'd in the fruitless search : 
 Nor sees with how much art the windings run, 
 Nor where the regular confusion ends. 
 
 If, I say, from not having considered this passage, 
 we run the second line into the third, by suspending 
 the voice at intricate in the rising inflexion, and drop- 
 ping it at errors in the falling, we find a very impro- 
 per meaning conveyed; and if, on recovering our- 
 selves from this improper pronunciation, we take 
 notice of the different manner in which we pronounce 
 the second and third lines, we shall find, that not 
 only the last word of these lines, but that every word 
 alters its inflexion ; for, when we perceive, that by 
 mistaking the pause, we have misconceived the sense, 
 we find it necessary to begin the line again, and 
 
58 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 pronounce every word differently, in order to make 
 it harmonious. 
 
 But though these two inflexions of voice run 
 through almost every word of which a sentence is 
 composed, they are no where so perceptible as at a 
 long pause, or where the sense of the word requires 
 an emphasis ; especially if the word end with a long- 
 open vowel : in this case, if we do but attend nicely 
 to that turn of the voice which finishes this empha- 
 tical word, or that member of a sentence where we 
 pause, we shall soon perceive the different inflexion 
 with which these words are pronounced. 
 
 In order to make this different inflection of voice 
 more easily apprehended, it may not, perhaps, be 
 useless to attend to the following directions. Let us 
 suppose we are to pronounce the following sentence: 
 
 Does Caesar deserve fame or blame? 
 
 This sentence, it is presumed, will, at first sight, be 
 pronounced with the proper inflexion of voice, by 
 every one that can barely read ; and if the reader will 
 but narrowly watch the sounds of the wovdisfame and 
 blame, he will have an example of the two inflexions 
 here spoken of: fame will have the rising, and blame 
 the falling inflexion : but, to make this distinction 
 still clearer, if, instead of pronouncing the vtoY&fame 
 slightly, he does but give it a strong emphatic force, 
 and let it drawl off the tongue for some time before 
 the sound finishes, he will find it slide upwards, and 
 end in a rising tone : if he makes the same experi- 
 ment on the word blame, he will find the sound slide 
 downwards, and end in a falling tone : and this drawl- 
 ing pronunciation, though it lengthens the sounds 
 beyond their proper duration, does not alter them 
 essentially ; the same inflexions are preserved as in 
 the common pronunciation ; and the distinction is 
 as real in one mode of pronouncing as in the other, 
 though not so perceptible. 
 
ELOCUTION. $9 
 
 Every pause, of whatever kind, must necessarily 
 adopt one of these two inflexions, or continue in a 
 monotone : thus, when we ask a question without the 
 interrogative words, we naturally adopt the rising 
 inflexion on the last word ; as, 
 
 Can Caesar deserve blame ? Impossible ! 
 
 Here blame, the last word of the question, has the 
 rising inflexion, contrary to the inflexion on that 
 word in the former instance ; and impossible, with 
 the note of admiration, the falling ; the comma, or 
 that suspension of voice generally annexed to it, 
 which marks a continuation of the sense, is most 
 frequently accompanied by the rising reflexion, as in 
 the following sentence : 
 
 If Ceesar deserves blame, he ought to have no falne. 
 
 Here we find the word blame, marked with a comma, 
 has exactly the same inflexion of voice as the same 
 word in the interrogative sentence immediately pre- 
 ceding ; the only difference is, that the rising inflex- 
 ion slides higher at the interrogation than at the 
 comma, especially if it be pronounced with emphasis. 
 The three other points, namely, the semicolon, 
 colon, and period, adopt either the rising or falling 
 inflexion as the sense or harmony requires, though in 
 different degrees of elevation and depression. But 
 these different degrees of rising or falling on the slide 
 which ends the word, are by no means so essential as 
 the kind of slide we adopt. Thus in the following 
 sentences : 
 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
 the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
 tance gone over. 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
 it moving; so our advances in learning; consisting of insensible 
 steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 
 
60 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
 not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has grown, 
 though nobody ever saw it grow : so the advances we make in 
 knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceiv- 
 able by the distance. 
 
 Here, I say, the words dial-plate, moving, and grow, 
 marked with the comma, semicolon, and colon, must 
 necessarily end with the upward slide; and provided 
 this slide be adopted, it is not of any very great con- 
 sequence to the sense whether the slide be raised 
 much or little ; but if the downward slide be given 
 to any of these words, though in the smallest degree, 
 the sense will be materially affected. 
 
 The same points, when the sentence is differently 
 constructed, adopt the other inflexion. 
 
 Thus the inflexion of voice which is adopted in a 
 series of emphatic particulars, for the sake of force 
 and precision, though these particulars are marked 
 by commas only, is the falling inflexion : we have 
 an example of this in the true pronunciation of the 
 following sentence : 
 
 I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
 from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 
 
 That this is the proper inflexion on each of these 
 particulars, will more evidently appear by repeating 
 them with the opposite inflexion of voice, or that sus- 
 pension usually given to the comma : 
 
 I tell youthough you, though all the world, though an angel 
 from heaven were to affirm the truth of it I could not believe it. 
 
 In pronouncing this sentence, therefore, in order to 
 give force and precision to every portion, the falling 
 inflexion ought to be adopted on you, world, and 
 heaven ; and for the sake of conveying what is meant 
 by this inflexion, we may call each of these words 
 emphatical, and print them in Italics ; not that all 
 emphasis necessary adopts the falling inflexion, but 
 
ELOCUTION. 61 
 
 because this inflexion is generally annexed to empha- 
 sis, for want of a just idea of the distinction of in- 
 flexion here laid down : 
 
 I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
 From heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 
 
 The falling inflexion annexed to members of sen- 
 tences generally marked with the semicolon and 
 colon, may be seen in the following example : 
 
 Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
 are informed ; and think that the best sense always deserves the best 
 language : but still the chief regard is to be had to perspicuity. 
 
 In this example, the word informed is marked with 
 the semicolon, and the word language with the colon; 
 and from the sense and structure of the sentence, both 
 require the falling inflexion, contrary to that annexed 
 to the same points in the preceding sentences. The 
 period in each sentence has the falling inflexion, and 
 in the last sentence is pronounced in a lower tone of 
 voice than the same inflexion on the colon and semi- 
 colon. 
 
 Thus we see, that whatever variety of another kind, 
 such as loudness or softness, highness or lowness, 
 swiftness or slowness, or whatever other variety we 
 may accompany the points with, they must necessa- 
 rily adopt either the rising or falling inflexion, or be 
 pronounced in a monotone. These reflexions, there- 
 fore, which are the most marking differences in read- 
 ing and speaking, perhaps are not improperly pitched 
 upon to serve as guides to an accurate pronunciation ; 
 but as so much depends upon a just notion of this 
 real though delicate distinction, if the reader is not 
 yet made sufficiently acquainted with it he will not 
 think it superfluous to peruse the following attempt 
 to render it still clearer. 
 
02 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Another Method of explaining the Inflexions of the 
 
 Voice. 
 
 Every sentence consisting of an affirmation and 
 negation directly opposed to each other, has an ap- 
 propriated pronunciation, which, in earnest speaking, 
 every ear adopts without any premeditation. Thus 
 in the following sentence : 
 
 Caesar does not deserve fame, but blame. 
 
 Here the word fame has the rising, and blame the 
 falling inflexion ; and we find all sentences construct- 
 ed in the same manner have, like this, the rising in- 
 flexion on the negative, and the falling inflexion on 
 the affirmative number. The word blame, therefore, 
 in this sentence, has not the falling inflexion on it 
 because it is the last word, but because affirmation, 
 opposed to negation, naturally adopts this inflexion. 
 
 Thus far choice has been made of words different 
 in sense, though similar in sound, that the sentence 
 might appear to carry some meaning with it, and the 
 reader be led to annex those inflexions to the words 
 which the sense seemed to demand ; but, perhaps, 
 the shortest method of conveying the nature of these 
 inflexions, would be to take the same word, and 
 place it in the interrogative and declarative sentences, 
 in opposition to itself: thus it is certain, that every 
 speaker upon pronouncing the following phrases, 
 would give the first/awie in each line the rising, and 
 the \&§tfame in each line, the falling inflexion : 
 
 Does he say fame, or fame ? 
 He does not say fame, but fame. 
 
 But here an ear which cannot discern the true differ- 
 ence of sound in these words, will be apt to suppose 
 
ELOCUTION. 63 
 
 that what difference there is, arises from the last fame 
 being pronounced in a lower tone than the first ; but 
 this, it may be observed, makes no essential differ- 
 ence : let us pronounce the last word in as high a key 
 as we please, provided we preserve the proper inflex- 
 ion, the contrast to the former word will appear ; as a 
 proof of this, let us pronounce the last word of the last 
 phrase with a strong emphasis, and we shall find, that 
 though it is in a higher key than the first word fame, 
 the voice slides in a contrary direction. Accordingly 
 we find, that if we lay the strong emphasis upon the 
 Hirst fame in the following sentence, the last fame will 
 take the rising inflexion : 
 
 He says fame, and not fame. 
 
 So that the inflexions on the first and last fame in 
 this sentence, are in an opposite order to the same 
 inflexions on the same words in the two former 
 phrases. 
 
 But, perhaps, by this time, the reader's ear is puz- 
 zled with the sounds of single words, and it may not 
 be amiss to try it with the same inflexions, terminat- 
 ing members of sentences : this, perhaps, will not 
 only convey the nature of these two inflexions better 
 than by sounding them upon single words, but give 
 us, at the same time, a better idea of their import- 
 ance and utility, And, first, let the reader try over 
 the following passage of Mr. Addison in the Spec- 
 tator, by reading it so as to place the rising inflexion, 
 or that inflexion commonly marked by a comma, on 
 every particular of the series : 
 
 The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, and 
 full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death, the regal crown upon 
 his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
 in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 
 
64 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Then let him practise it over by reading it so as to 
 place the falling inflexion, or that inflexion com- 
 monly marked by a colon, on every particular of the 
 series but the last : to which let him give the rising 
 inflexion, marked by the comma. 
 
 The descriptive part of the allegory is likewise very strong, and 
 full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death, the regal crown upon 
 his head, his menace of Satan : his advancing to the combat : the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
 in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 
 
 This last manner of reading this passage is un- 
 questionably the true one, as it throws a kind of 
 emphasis on each member, which forms a beautiful 
 climax, entirely lost in the common mode of pro- 
 nouncing them : and, to omit no method that may 
 tend to convey an idea of this difference of inflexion, 
 let us suppose these words to be all emphatical, and, 
 as such, according to the common method they may 
 be printed in Italics ; this is not an accurate idea of 
 emphasis, as will be shown hereafter, but it is the 
 common one, and, as such, may serve to show the 
 difference between pronouncing the first example 
 and the second. 
 
 The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, and 
 full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death : the regal crown upon 
 his head : his menace of Satan : his advancing to the combat : the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
 in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 
 
 If the reader, from this description of the in- 
 flexions of the voice, can so far understand them 
 as to be sensible of the great difference there is 
 between suspending the voice at every comma 
 in the first example, and giving it a forcible 
 downward direction at every colon in the two 
 last examples, it is presumed, he will sufficiently 
 
ELOCUTION. 65 
 
 conceive, that this distinction of the two leading in- 
 flexions of the voice may be applied to the most use- 
 ful purposes in the art of reading. But in order to 
 give a still clearer idea, if possible, of these two 
 different inflections, we shall subjoin a sort of scale 
 or diagram, with an explanation of each example 
 annexed. 
 
6G ELEMENTS (J«F 
 
 Explanation of Plate 1. 
 
 No, I. Did he do it voluntarily or involuntarily ? 
 
 In the pronunciation of these words, we find every 
 syllable in the word voluntarily rises except the first, 
 vol ; and every syllable in the word involuntarily falls 
 but the first, in. A slow drawling pronunciation of 
 these words will evidently show that this is the case. 
 These different slides of the voice are named from 
 the direction they take in the conclusion of a word, 
 as that is the most apparent, especially if there are 
 several syllables after the accented syllable, or if 
 the word.be but of one syllable, and terminate in a 
 vowel or a liquid : for, in this case, the sound lasts 
 some time after the word is articulated. Thus 
 voluntarily may be said to have the rising, and in- 
 voluntarily the falling inflexion ; and we must care- 
 fully guard against mistaking the low tone at the 
 beginning of the rising inflexion for the falling in- 
 flexion, and the high tone at the beginning of the 
 falling inflexion for the rising inflexion, as they are 
 not denominated rising or falling from the high or 
 low tone in which they are pronounced, but from the 
 upward or downward slide in which they terminate, 
 whether pronounced in a high or a low key. 
 
 In this representation we see something of that 
 wave-like rising and falling of the voice, which con- 
 stitutes the variety and harmony of speech. It will 
 not be easy at first to conceive this correspondence 
 between the eye and the ear, especially if we do not 
 dwell distinctly on the words we repeat ; but I flatter 
 myself a little custom will soon render it clear, at 
 least w r ith respect to the words that are accented or 
 emphatical; for it is to be observed, that in this 
 scheme every word, whether accented or not, is ar- 
 ranged under that line of sound to which it belongs: 
 
ELOCUTION. 67 
 
 though the unaccented words are generally pro- 
 nounced so feebly, as to render it often very difficult 
 to say to which class they belong ; that is, whether 
 to the rising or falling inflexion ; but when the ac- 
 cented or emphatic words have their proper inflex- 
 ion, the subordinate words can scarcely be in an im- 
 proper one ; and this makes the difficulty of ascer- 
 taining their true inflexion of less consequence. The 
 accented or emphatic words, therefore, are those only 
 which we need at present attend to ; and those in 
 good speaking and reading, we shall find constantly 
 adopting such an inflexion as is suitable to the sense 
 and harmony of the sentence. 
 
 The sentence, N° I. and anv other sentence con- 
 structed in exactly the same manner, must necessarily 
 adopt the rising inflexion on the first member, and 
 the falling on the last ; that is, the rising inflexion on 
 voluntary, and the falling on involuntary ; and this 
 pronunciation is so appropriated to this species of 
 sentence, that the dullest and most unpractised ear 
 would, without the least reflection, adopt it. The 
 same may be said of the sentence, N° II. which every 
 ear would agree in pronouncing with the same in- 
 flexions in a contrary order ; that is, the falling 
 inflexion on voluntarily, and the rising on involun- 
 tarily. 
 
 N° III. and IV. show, that the same words take 
 different inflexions in correspondence with the sense 
 and structure of the sentence ; for as the word con- 
 stitution, in N°JV. only ends a member of the sen- 
 tence, and leaves the sense unfinished, it necessarily 
 adopts the suspending or rising inflexion ; and har- 
 mony requires that the preceding words should be so 
 arranged, as to form the greatest harmony and va- 
 riety, which is done by giving every one of the words 
 an inflexion, different from what it has in N° III. 
 where constitution ends the sentence. 
 
 But when we say a word is to have the rising in- 
 flexion, it is not meant that this word is to be pro- 
 
68 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 nounced in a higher tone than other words, but that 
 the latter part of the word is to have a higher tone 
 than the former part ; the same may be observed, 
 mutatis mutandis, of the falling inflexion ; and this 
 difference of tone between the- former and latter part 
 of a word (especially if the word be a monosyllable), 
 is so difficult to analyse, that though we can perceive 
 a difference upon the whole, we cannot easily mark 
 where it lies. 
 
 But if we form a series of words, beginning with 
 long polysyllables and proceeding to monosyllables, 
 and carefully preserve the same inflexion on each 
 sentence, we shall plainly perceive the diversity of 
 inflexion in the short as well as in the long words. 
 This will appear by pronouncing the different series 
 in the plate annexed. 
 
 Explanation of Plate II. 
 
 In this table we find the rising and falling inflexions 
 very distinguishable in the long words, and grow 
 more and more imperceptible in the short ones ; they 
 are, however, no less real in one, than in the other ; 
 as a good ear will easily perceive, by beginning at 
 the long words, and repeating down to the short ones. 
 From N° I. to N° IX. the contrasted words are rising 
 at the comma, and falling at the note of interroga- 
 tion ; and from N° X. to XVIII. they are falling at 
 the comma, and rising at the period. 
 
 Lest an inaccurate ear should be led to suppose, 
 that the different signification of the opposing words 
 is the reason of their sounding differently, we have 
 given some phrases composed of the same words, 
 which are nevertheless pronounced with exactly the 
 same difference of inflexion as the others. Thus the 
 words conscience, N° IV. are pronounced with the 
 same difference of inflexion as the preceding phrases; 
 that is, the first conscience has the rising, and the last. 
 
XIX Did he act -justly 
 
 XX I know not whether he acted Justly orurt/ustly , 
 but hxt acted contrary to law . 
 
 XXI If he acted contrary to law, he could not have 
 acted justly , hut unjustly . 
 
ELOCUTION. 69 
 
 the falling inflexion : the following words, unjustly, 
 pride, mind, all, and lad, have the same diversity of 
 pronunciation ; and the diversity in these, as in the 
 rest, is in an inverted order in the opposite column. 
 
 If we consider these slides or inflexions with respect 
 to quantity ; that is, how long the upward inflexion 
 continues to rise from the point where it begins, and 
 how long the downward inflexion falls from its com- 
 mencing point; we shall find that as this difference 
 is not easily ascertained, so, in an outline of this 
 kind, it is of no great consequence : the rising or 
 falling of the slide, in a greater or less degree, does 
 not essentially affect the sense or harmony of a sen- 
 tence : whde adopting one slide for the other, will 
 often destroy both. See p. 59. 
 
 Thus in the interrogative sentence, N° XIX. 
 Did he act justly ? the voice ought to adopt the rising 
 inflexion, and continue the upward slide on the word 
 justly, somewhat longer and higher than if it had been 
 a mere comma ; and yet, if we mark the rising in- 
 flexion on the word justly in the sentence, N° XX. 
 the difference of the slides on these tw T o words in these 
 different sentences is not very considerable. 
 
 If we consider the sentence, N° XXI. as con- 
 cluding a subject or a considerable branch of it, the 
 voice will gradually slide into a lower tone towards 
 the end, and the word unjustly will be pronounced in 
 a lower tone of voice than in the sentence, N° V. ; 
 but the downward slide in both will be nearly of the 
 same duration and extent: for, as we have before 
 observed, as the different key in which we sing or 
 play a tune, makes no difference in the length or 
 shortness of the notes ; so the different pitch of voice 
 in which we speak or read, has no relation to the 
 height or lowness of the slide or inflexion with which 
 we terminate our words. 
 
 It will be necessary for the pupil to practise over 
 these series of words, and to form sentences of his 
 own, for the purpose of using the ear to distinguish 
 
70 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the inflexions. In order to this, he must dwell longer 
 on the words at which he pauses, and on those which 
 have emphasis, than is proper when he is reading or 
 speaking in common, that the ear may be better en- 
 abled to catch the inflexion : it may be remarked too, 
 that the more colloquial and familiar the language, 
 provided it is earnest and emphatical, the more per- 
 ceptible the inflexions are : and the more elevated and 
 poetical, the less so. The plaintive tone, so essential 
 to the delivery of elegiac composition, greatly di- 
 minishes the slides, and reduces them almost to 
 monotones ; nay, a perfect monotone, without any 
 inflexion at all, is sometimes very judiciously intro- 
 duced in reading verse. Thus in the sublime de- 
 scription of the richness of Satan's throne, in the 
 beginning of the second book of Paradise Lost : 
 
 High on a throne of royal state which far 
 Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 
 Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 
 Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
 Satan exalted sat. — 
 
 In this passage, 1 say, ev^ery word of the third and 
 fourth line, but pearl and gold, may be pronounced in 
 a monotone ; and this monotone will greatly add to 
 the dignity and grandeur of the object described. 
 
 As poetry, therefore, when properly read, will 
 often greatly diminish, and sometimes even entirely 
 sink the inflexions into a monotone ; emphatic sen- 
 tences in prose will be best for the learner to 
 practise upon, in order to acquire an idea of the 
 difference of inflexion ; constantly observing to pro- 
 long and drawl out the pronunciation of the word, the 
 inflexion of which he wants to discover. 
 
 Perhaps the best method of knowing whether we 
 make use of the inflexion we intend, is to form it 
 into a question with the disjunctive or, and to repeat 
 it in the same manner as the interrogative sentences, 
 Plate II. 
 
ELOCUTION. 71 
 
 Thus in the following sentence : 
 
 A contented mind, and a good conscience, will make a man 
 happy in all conditions. 
 
 In order to pronounce this sentence to the best 
 advantage, it will be necessary to lay the falling in- 
 flexion on the word mind, the rising on conscience, 
 and the falling on all; if I would know the falling 
 inflexion I am to lay on mind, let me form the word 
 into this question, Is it mind, or mind? and the pro- 
 nunciation of the last mind, as in N° VII. will be that 
 which I must adopt in the sentence ; if I want to 
 know the- rising inflexion on conscience, I must 
 say, Is it conscience, or conscience ? and the first pro- 
 nunciation of the word, as in N° IV. is that which I 
 must adopt : the falling inflexion on all will be deter- 
 mined by saying, Is it all, or all ? and the last all has 
 the inflexion sought for. 
 
 In the same manner, if, in the following couplet of 
 Pope, 
 
 What the weak head with strongest bias rules 
 Is pride : the never-failing vice of fools. 
 
 If in this couplet, I say, we are directed to lay the 
 falling inflexion on pride, we need only form the 
 word into this question — Is it pride, or pride ? and 
 the last being the falling inflexion, is that which we 
 ought to adopt in reading the couplet. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be altogether useless to 
 observe, that these angular lines may be considered 
 as a kind of bars in the music of speaking : each of 
 them contains a certain portion of either the rising or 
 falling inflexion ; but though every word in each line 
 is pronounced with the same inflexion, they are not 
 all pronounced with the same force; no line can have 
 more than one accented or emphatic syllable in it, 
 
7^ ELEMENTS OF 
 
 and the rest, though preserving the same inflexion, 
 abate of the force of sound. 
 
 With respect to the relative force of these unem- 
 phatic words, see Introduction to the Theory of Em- 
 phasis. 
 
 Utility of a Knowledge of the Inflexions of the 
 Voice. 
 
 But it will be demanded : suppose we could con- 
 ceive the nature of these inflexions ever so clearly, 
 of what use will it be ? I answer, that as the sense 
 and harmony of a sentence depend so much on the 
 proper application of these inflexions, it will be of 
 infinite use to an indifferent reader to know how a 
 good reader applies them. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be objected, that an attention to 
 these inflexions, marked upon paper, will be apt to 
 embarrass the mind of the reader, which should be 
 wholly employed on the sense of the writer. To 
 this objection it may be answered, that the very 
 same argument will lie against the use of pauses in 
 printing; and the ancient Greek method of writing 
 without any intervals between words, will, according 
 to this reasoning, be by far the most eligible. The 
 truth is, every thing new embarrasses ; and if 
 we have already acquired an art in an imperfect 
 way, the means of facilitating a more perfect ac- 
 quisition of it, will at first retard our progress : if 
 a child has once learned to read tolerably, without 
 having the words divided into syllables, such a divi- 
 sion will appear new and embarrassing to him : and 
 though syllabication is so confessedly useful tolearners, 
 those who can once read without it, would be rather 
 puzzled than assisted by it. To those, therefore, 
 who already read well, this system of inflexions 
 is not addressed. What help do they stand in 
 need of who are sufficiently perfect ? It is to the 
 
ELOCUTION. 73 
 
 learner only, and he who is in doubt about the best 
 method of reading a passage, that this assistance is 
 recommended ; and it mav be with confidence as- 
 serted, that if such a one will but bestow half the 
 time to acquire a knowledge of these inflexions that 
 is usually spent in learning the gamut, he will have 
 no reason to repent his labour. 
 
 A want of instructing youth early in the know- 
 ledge of inflexions, is the great occasion of embarrass- 
 ment in teaching them to read. We can tell them 
 they are too high or too low, too loud or too soft, too 
 forcible or too feeble, and that they either pause, or 
 continue the voice in the wrong place : but we have 
 no way of conveying to them their error, if they make 
 use of a wrong inflexion ; though this may actually 
 be the case, where they are without fault in every 
 other particular : that is, there may be a wrong slide 
 of the voice upon a particular word, though it is 
 neither pronounced too high nor too low, too loud nor 
 too soft, too forcibly nor too feebly, nor with any im- 
 proper pause or continuation of voice. Let us sup- 
 pose, for example, a youth little instructed in reading 
 were to pronounce the following sentence : 
 
 If we have no regard to our own character, we ought to have 
 some regard to the character of others. 
 
 There is the greatest probability, I say, that such a 
 reader would pronounce the first emphatic word own 
 with the rising, and the last emphatic word others 
 with the falling inflexion, which by no means brings 
 out the sense of the sentence to the best advantage. 
 To tell him he must lay more stress upon the word 
 own, will by no means set him right, unless the kind 
 of stress is conveyed; for he may increase the stress 
 upon both the emphatic words, without removing 
 the impropriety. In the same manner, if in reading 
 the following passage : 
 
 Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord ! for in thy 
 sight shall no man living be justified. 
 
74* ELEMENTS OF 
 
 If, in pronouncing this passage, I say, the reader 
 neglects placing an emphasis on the last thy, it will 
 be in vain to tell him he ought to lay a stress on that 
 word, unless- we direct him to the kind of stress ; for 
 though, in the former instance, the emphasis w r ith the 
 falling inflexion was the true emphasis on own, the 
 same emphasis on thy, in the latter instance, would 
 utterly destroy the meaning : it is evident, therefore, 
 if once a youth were taught to distinguish accurately 
 the rising and falling inflection, how easily and me- 
 thodically instruction in reading might be conveyed. 
 
 At this point the present treatise might finish ; 
 and, it is presumed, not without having added some- 
 thing to the art of reading. A method which con- 
 veys to us some of the essential turns of a voice in a 
 good reader or speaker, cannot be without its advan- 
 tages. But something farther is proposed. An 
 attempt will be made to point out several of those 
 varieties in the sense and structure of a sentence 
 which severally demand a particular application of 
 these inflexions ; from a variety of these examples, 
 general rules will be drawn, and the whole doctrine 
 of inflexions will be reduced into something like a 
 system. A first essay on an untreated subject can 
 scarcely be exempt from a multitude of inaccuracies; 
 and obscurity is the natural attendant on novelty ; 
 but if any advantages, however small, are the result 
 of this novelty, the candid and judicious reader, who 
 understands the difficulty of the undertaking, will not 
 think even these small advantages entirely unworthy 
 of his attention. 
 
ELOCUTION. 79 
 
 Practical System of the Inflexions of the Voice. 
 
 Words adopt particular inflexions, either according 
 to the particular signification they bear, or as they 
 are either differently arranged or connected with other 
 words. The first application of inflexion relates to 
 emphasis, which will be considered at large in its 
 proper place : the last relates to that application of 
 inflexion, which arises from the division of a sentence 
 into its component parts ; and this is the object of 
 punctuation. Punctuation, or the division of a sen- 
 tence, has been already treated in the former part of 
 this work: we now proceed to apply the doctrine of 
 inflexion to that of punctuation, by showing what 
 turns or slides of voice are most suitable to the several 
 distinctions, rests,, and pauses of a sentence. But 
 before any rules for applying the inflexions are laid 
 down, perhaps it will be necessary again to take no- 
 tice, that though there are but two simple or radi- 
 cally different inflexions, the rising and falling, yet 
 the latter is divisible into two kinds of very different 
 and even opposite import. The falling inflexion 
 without a fall of the voice, or, in other words, that 
 inflexion of voice which consists of a downward 
 slide, in a high and forcible tone, may either be 
 applied to that part of a sentence where a portion of 
 sense is formed, as at the word unjustly^ Plate II. 
 N° XX., or to that part where no sense is formed, as 
 at the word temperance, Plate I. N°. VI. ; but when 
 this downward slide is pronounced in a lower and 
 less forcible tone than the preceding words, it in- 
 dicates not only that the sense, but the sentence is 
 concluded. 
 
7^ ELEMENTS OF 
 
 It must be carefulty noted, therefore, that when- 
 ever the falling inflexion is said to be on a word, it is 
 not meant that this inflexion is to be pronounced in 
 a low and feeble tone, unless the sentence is con- 
 cluded ; and that even a perfect sentence is not 
 always to be pronounced with this inflexion in a low 
 tone, will be shown hereafter under the article Final 
 Pause, or Period. 
 
 See a farther explanation of this definition, Plate 
 III. N» I. and IV. 
 
 The rising inflexion is denoted by the acute ac- 
 cent, thus ('). 
 
 The falling inflexion is denoted by the grave ac- 
 cent, thus ( v ) 
 
 COMPACT SENTENCE. 
 
 Direct Period. 
 
 Rule I. Every direct period, so constructed as to 
 have its two principal constructive parts connected 
 by correspondent conjunctions, requires the long 
 pause with the rising inflexion at the end of the first 
 principal constructive member. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
 the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
 tance gone over. 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
 it moving ; so our advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
 steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
 not perceive it moving ; and it appears that the grass has grown, 
 though nobody ever saw it grow; so the advances we make in know- 
 ledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceivable by 
 the distance. 
 
 Each of these three sentences consists of two prin- 
 cipal correspondent parts; the first commencing with 
 

 ELOCUTION. 77 
 
 as, and the last with so : as the first member of the 
 first sentence is simple, it is marked with a comma 
 only at dial-plate; as the second is compounded, it 
 is marked with the semicolon at moving ; and as the 
 last is decompounded, it is marked with a colon at 
 grow : this punctuation is according to the general 
 rules of pausing, and agreeable to good sense ; for it 
 is certainly proper that the time of the pause should 
 increase with the increase and complexity of the 
 members to which it is annexed, as more time is 
 required to comprehend a large and complicated 
 member than a short and simple one : but whatever 
 may be the time taken up in pausing at the different 
 points, the inflexion annexed to them must always 
 be the same ; that is 5 the comma, semicolon, and 
 colon, must invariably have the rising inflexion. See 
 p. 59. 
 
 The same may be observed of the following sen- 
 tences. See p. 30. 
 
 Although I fear it may be a shame to be dismayed at the entrance 
 of my discourse in defence of a most valiant man; and that it no 
 ways becomes me, while Milo is more concerned for the safety of 
 the state than for himself, not to show the same greatness of mind in 
 behalf of him : yet this new form of prosecution terrifies my eyes, 
 which, whatever way they turn, want the ancient custom of the 
 forum, and the former manner of trials. Cicero's Oration for Milo. 
 
 Although son Marcus, as you have now been a hearer of Cratip- 
 pus for a year, and this at Athens, you ought to abound in the pre- 
 cepts and doctrines of philosophy, by reason of the great character 
 both of your instructor and the city, one of which can furnish you 
 with knowledge, and the other with examples; yet, as I always to 
 my advantage joined the Latin tongue with the Greek, and I have 
 done it not only in oratory, but likewise in philosophy; I think you 
 ought to do the same, that you may be equally conversant in both 
 languages. Cicero's Offices, book 1. chap. i. 
 
 These sentences begin with the concessive con- 
 junction although, and have their correspondent 
 
78 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 conjunction yet; and these conjunctions form the 
 two principal constructive members. The words 
 him, and examples, therefore, at the end of the first 
 members must have the rising inflexion, and here 
 must be the long pause. 
 
 Rule II. Every direct period, consisting of two 
 principal constructive parts, and having only the first 
 part commencing with a conjunction, requires the 
 rising inflexion and long pause at the end of this 
 part. See p. 31. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
 and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this par- 
 ticular. Spectator. 
 
 Here the sentence divides itself into two corre- 
 spondent parts at prejudice ; and as the word so is 
 understood before the words I am, they must be pre- 
 ceded by the long pause and rising inflexion. 
 
 If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
 tice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort j 
 Aulus Csecina would submit as much to the impudence <rf Sextus 
 iEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when 
 assaulted hy him. 
 
 If I have any genius, which I am sensible can be but very small ; 
 or any readiness of speaking, in which I do not deny but I have 
 been much conversant ; or any skill in oratory, from an acquaint- 
 ance with the best aits, to which 1 confess I have been always in- 
 clined : no one has a better right to demand of me the fruit of all 
 these things than this Aulus Licinius, Cicero's Oration for Archias. 
 
 If, after surveying the whole earth at once, and the several planets 
 that lie within its neighbourhood, we contemplate those wide fields 
 of ether, that reach in height as far as from Saturn to the fixed stars, 
 and run abroad, almost to an infinitude 5 our imagination finds its 
 capacity filled with so immense a prospect, and puts itself upon the 
 stretch to comprehend it. Addison's Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 In the first of these examples, the first part of the 
 sentence endes at resort, and the second begins at 
 

 ELOCUTION. 79 
 
 Aulas Ccecina : in the second instance, the first part 
 ends at inclined, and the second begins at no one ; 
 and in the third, the first part ends at infinitude, and 
 the second begins at our : between these words, 
 therefore, in each sentence, must be inserted the long 
 pause and rising inflexion. 
 
 All these sentences commence with a conjunction, 
 and may be said to have a correspondent conjunc- 
 tion commencing the second part of the sentence, 
 not expressed, but understood. In the first sentence 
 commencing with if, then is understood at the begin- 
 ning of the second part; the sense of this conjunc- 
 tive adverb then may be plainly perceived to exist by 
 inserting it in the sentence, and observing its suit- 
 ableness when expressed : 
 
 If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
 tice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort, then 
 Aulus Csecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus 
 iEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when as- 
 saulted by him. 
 
 The same insertion of the word then might be made 
 in the last two examples commencing with if, and 
 the same suitableness would appear ; for though cor- 
 rect and animated language tends to suppress as 
 much as possible the words that are so implied in the 
 sense as to make it unnecessary to express them, yet 
 if, when inserted, they are suitable to the sense, it is 
 ''a proof that the structure of the sentence is perfectly 
 the same, whether these superfluous words are ex- 
 pressed or not. 
 
 The exception to this rule is, when the emphati- 
 cal word in the conditional part of the sentence is 
 in direct opposition to another word in the con- 
 clusion, and a concession is implied in the for- 
 mer, in order to strengthen the argument in the 
 latter ; for in this case the middle of the sentence 
 has the falling, and the latter member the rising 
 inflexion. 
 
80 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 If we have no regard for religion in youth, we ought to have 
 some regard for it in old age. 
 
 If we have no regard for our 6wn character, we ought to have 
 some regard for the character of others. 
 
 In these examples, we find the words youth, and 
 own character, have the falling inflexion, and both 
 periods end with the rising inflexion ; but if these 
 sentences had been formed so as to make the latter 
 member a mere inference from, or consequence of 
 the former, the general rule would have taken place, 
 and the first emphatic word would have had the 
 rising, and the last the falling inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 If we have no regard for religion in yotith, we have seldom any 
 regard for it in age . 
 
 If we have no regard for our 6*wn character, it can scarcely be 
 expected that we could have any regard for the character of dthers. 
 
 Rule III. Direct periods which commence with 
 participles of the present and past tense, consist of 
 two parts ; between which must be inserted the long 
 pause and rising inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Having already shown how the fancy is affected by the works of 
 nature, and afterwards considered in general both the works of 
 nature and of art, how they mutually assist and complete each other, 
 in forming such scenes and prospects as are most likely to delight 
 the mind of the beholder ; I shall in this paper throw together some 
 reflections on that particular art, which has a more immediate ten- 
 dency than any other, to produce those primary pleasures of the 
 imagination, which have hitherto been the subject of this discourse. 
 
 Sped. No. 415. 
 
 The sense is suspended in this sentence, till the 
 word beholder, and here is to be placed the long 
 
ELOCUTION. 81 
 
 pause and rising inflexion ; in this place also, it is 
 evident, the word now might be inserted in perfect 
 conformity to the sense. 
 
 Exception. 
 
 When the last word of the first part of these sen- 
 tences requires the strong emphasis, the falling in- 
 flexion must be used instead of the rising. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Hannibal being frequently destitute of money and provisions, with 
 no recruits of strength in ease of ill fortune, and no encouragement 
 even when successful -, it is not to be wondered at that his affairs 
 began at length to decline. Goldsmith's Rom. Hist. vol. i. p. 278. 
 
 In this sentence, the phrase even when successful, 
 demands the strong emphasis, and must therefore 
 be pronounced with the falling inflexion: it may 
 be observed likewise, that these sentences are of 
 the nature of those constructed on conjunctions ; as 
 the last member of this would easily admit of then 
 at the beginning, to show a kind of condition in the 
 former, which corresponds with and modifies the 
 latter. 
 
 Inverted Period. 
 
 Rule I. Every period, where the first part forms 
 perfect sense by itself, but is modified or determined 
 in its signification by the latter, has the rising in- 
 flexion and long pause between these parts, as in the 
 direct period. See p. 30. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Gratian very often recommends the fine taste, as the utmost per- 
 fection of an accomplished man, 
 
 G 
 
82 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 In this sentence, the first member ending at taste 
 forms perfect sense, but is qualified by the last : 
 for Gratian is not said simply to recommend the 
 fine taste, but to recommend it in a certain way; 
 that is, as the utmost perfection of an accomplished 
 man. The same may be observed of the following 
 sentence : 
 
 Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
 are informed. 
 
 Here perfect sense is formed at pleased ; but it is not 
 meant that persons of good taste are pleased in gene- 
 ral, but with reference to the time they are informed : 
 the words taste and pleased, therefore, in these sen- 
 tences^ we must pronounce with the rising inflexion, 
 and accompany this inflexion with a pause. For the 
 same reasons, the same pause and inflexion must 
 precede the word though in the following examples : 
 
 I can desire to perceive those things that God has prepared for 
 those that love him, though they be such as eye hath not seen, 
 ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. 
 
 Locke. 
 
 The sound of love makes your soft heart afraid, 
 
 And guard itself, though but a child invade. Waller. 
 
 Loose Sentence. 
 
 A loose sentence has been shown to consist of a 
 period, either direct or inverted, and an additional 
 member which does not modify it ; or, in other 
 words, a loose sentence is a member containing 
 perfect sense by itself, followed by some other mem- 
 ber or members 3 which do not restrain or qualify 
 its signification. According to this definition, a 
 new sentence must have that member which forms 
 
ELOCUTION. 83 
 
 perfect sense detached from those that follow, by a 
 long pause and the falling inflexion. See p. 31. 
 
 As, in speaking, the ear seizes every occasion of 
 varying the tone of voice which the sense will per- 
 mit ; so, in reading, we ought as much as possible 
 to imitate the variety of speaking, by taking every 
 opportunity of altering the voice in correspondence 
 with the sense : the most general fault of printing, 
 is to mark those members of loose sentences, which 
 form perfect sense, with a comma, instead of a semi- 
 colon, or colon ; and a similar, as well as the most 
 common fault of readers, is to suspend the voice at 
 the end of these members, and so to run the sense 
 of one member into another: by this means, the 
 sense is obscured, and a monotony is produced, in- 
 stead of that distinctness and variety which arises 
 from pronouncing these members with such an 
 inflexion of voice as marks a certain portion of per- 
 fect sense, not immediately connected with what 
 follows ; for as a member of this kind does not 
 depend for its sense on the following member, it 
 ought to be pronounced in such a manner, as to 
 show its independence on the succeeding member, 
 and its dependence on the period, as forming but a 
 part of it. 
 
 In order to convey precisely the import of these 
 members, it is necessary to pronounce them with 
 the falling inflexion, without suffering the voice to 
 fall gradually as at a period ; by which means the 
 pause becomes different from the mere comma, 
 which suspends the voice, and marks immediate de- 
 pendence on what follows ; and from the period, 
 which marks not only an independence on what 
 follows, but an exclusion of whatever may follow, 
 and therefore drops the voice as,at a conclusion. As 
 this inflexion is produced by a certain portion of 
 perfect sense, which, in some degree, separates the 
 member it falls on from those that follow, it may not 
 improperly be called the disjunctive inflexion. An 
 
 g 2 
 
84 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 example will assist us in comprehending this import- 
 ant inflexion in reading : 
 
 All superiority and pre-eminence that one man can have over 
 another, may be reduced to the notion of quality ; which, considered 
 at large, is either that of fortune, body or mind : the first is that 
 which consists in birth, title, or riches ; and is the most foreign to 
 our natures, and what we can the least call our own, of any of the 
 three kinds of quality. Sped. No. 219. 
 
 In the first part of this sentence, the falling inflexion 
 takes place on the word quality ; for this member, 
 we find, contains perfect sense, and the succeeding 
 members are not necessarily connected with it : the 
 same inflexion takes place in the next member on the 
 word riches ; which, with respect to the sense of the 
 member it terminates, and its connexion with the 
 following members, is exactly under the same pre- 
 dicament as the former, though the one is marked 
 w T ith a comma, and the other with a semicolon, which 
 is the common punctuation in all the editions of the 
 Spectator : a very little reflexion, however, will show 
 us the necessity of adopting the same pause and in- 
 flexion on both the above mentioned words, as this 
 inflexion not only marks more precisely the com- 
 pleteness of sense in the members they terminate, but 
 gives a variety to the period, by making the first, 
 and the succeeding members, end in a different tone 
 of voice ; if we were to read all the members as if 
 marked with commas, that is, as if the sense of the 
 members were absolutely dependent on each other, 
 the necessity of attending to this inflexion of voice in 
 loose sentences would more evidently appear. This 
 division of a sentence is sometimes, and ought almost 
 always to be marked with a semicolon, as in the fol- 
 lowing sentence at the word possess : 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost than 
 what they possess; and to fix their eyes upon those who are richer 
 than themselves, rather than upon those who are under greater diffi- 
 culties. Spectator, No. 5f 4. 
 
ELOCUTION. 35 
 
 But though we sometimes find these independent 
 members or sentences pointed properly by the semi- 
 colon, we much oftener see them marked only by a 
 comma ; and thus they are necessarily confounded 
 with those members which are dependent on the suc- 
 ceeding member, where a comma is the proper punc- 
 tuation. An and, a which, a where, or any of the 
 connective words, commencing the succeeding mem- 
 ber, is a sufficient reason with most printers for point- 
 ing the preceding member with a comma, even where 
 these connective words do not qualify the preceding 
 member, and consequently do not join members 
 together as they are parts of each other, but as they 
 are parts of the period ; which is the case in the ex- 
 amples already produced. 
 
 The following examples afford a proof of the ne- 
 cessity of adopting the falling inflexion, in order to 
 separate the first member which contains perfect 
 sense, from those which follow, let the punctuation 
 be what it will. 
 
 The soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss 
 and sedentary nature, slow in its resolves, and languishing in its 
 executions. Spectator, No. 255. 
 
 b 
 
 The faculty (taste) must in some degree be born with us, and it 
 very often happens, that those who have other qualities.in perfection 
 are wholly void of this. Ibid. No. 409. 
 
 This therefore is a good office (the planting of trees) which is 
 suited to the meanest capacities, and which may be performed by 
 multitudes, who have not abilities to deserve well of their country, 
 and recommend themselves to their posterity by any other method. 
 
 Ibid. No. 583. 
 
 In these last examples we may observe, that the 
 first member, which is distinguished by a comma in 
 most editions of the Spectator, is exactly under the 
 same predicament with the member of the two former 
 examples, which is marked with a semicolon; and 
 
86 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 which is unquestionably the true method of pointing 
 them : for though, in the compact sentence, where 
 the sense is suspended till the whole is finished, the 
 semicolon and colon have the rising inflexion, as in 
 examples, p. 59 ; yet, in the loose sentence, these 
 points are generally accompanied by the falling in- 
 flexion, as in the last examples : and it must be in- 
 sisted on, that unless the line be drawn between such 
 members as contain perfect, and such as contain im- 
 perfect sense, the parts of a sentence cannot be pro- 
 nounced to the best advantage ; if by continuing the 
 voice exactly in the same suspense, one thought is 
 run into another which does not really belong to it, 
 the sense must be injured ; and though the mind is 
 often two well informed of the subject to be much at 
 a loss for the sense, let the punctuation be what it 
 will, yet it is impossible the sense of an author can 
 be readily perceived in its full beauty, when it is ob- 
 scured by an erroneous pronunciation of the sentence 
 which conveys it. 
 
 But though sense is often, harmony is much more 
 frequently concerned in proper use of this disjunc- 
 tive inflexion. The comma occurs so much oftener 
 than any other pause, that it is highly important to 
 harmonious delivery that it should not be introduced 
 oftener than is necessary ; every good reader, there- 
 fore, will take frequent opportunities of changing the 
 comma into the semicolon, as it is chiefly from not at- 
 tending to this distinction that the common punctua- 
 tion is so unfavourable to variety. And if the cor- 
 rectors of the press, w r ho are generally very intelligent 
 men, would but adopt this distinction of a period 
 into a compact and loose sentence, and in the latter 
 always place a semicolon, or colon, where the former 
 part of the sentence forms perfect sense, and is not 
 modified by the latter, it is inconceivable how many 
 errors in reading might be avoided : it must be owned, 
 indeed, that the difficulty of always precisely distin- 
 guishing between a member, which, by modifying the 
 
ELOCUTION. 87 
 
 preceding member, is necessarily connected with it, 
 and another, which only adds to what precedes, with- 
 out modifying the sense, is no small extenuation of this 
 common error of printers ; but it is presumed, that 
 our not being able to do it in difficult cases is no 
 reason we should neglect it in obvious ones, and these 
 are sufficiently numerous to be of the utmost import- 
 ance to our pronunciation. This will more evidently 
 appear by the following rules, on the use of the fall- 
 ing inflexion in the loose sentence. 
 
 Rule I. Every member of a sentence forming con- 
 sistent sense, and followed by two other members 
 which do not modify or restrain its signification, 
 admits of the falling inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 In short, to cut off all cavilling againt the ancients, and particu- 
 larly those of the warmer climates, who have most heat and life in 
 their imaginations, we are to consider that the rule of observing 
 what the French call the bienseance in an allusion, has been found 
 out of later years, and in the colder regions of the world ; where 
 we would make some amends for our want of force, and spirit, by a 
 scrupulous nicety and exactness in our compositions. 
 
 Spectator, No. 160. 
 
 In this example we see the falling inflexion at 
 world 'very properly marked with a semicolon, though 
 followed by the word ivhere, which seems so inti- 
 mately to connect them ; and which might be shown 
 in a thousand similar passages, to induce our printers 
 to mark these members with a comma only. 
 
 It is this that recommends variety, where the mind is every in- 
 stant called off to something new, and the attention not suffered to 
 dwell too long on any particular object. Ibid. No. 412. 
 
 For this reason, there is nothing more enlivens a prospect than 
 rivers, jet-d'eaus, and falls of water, where the scene is perpetually 
 shifting and entertaining the sight every moment with something 
 that is new. Ibid. No. 412. 
 
 In these instances, though the word water in the 
 last sentence, and the word variety in the preceding 
 
S8 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 example, are marked with a comma only, precision, 
 as well as harmony, require the falling inflexion ; the 
 first member is a kind of text to the w T hole sentence, 
 and is not so closely connected with the succeeding 
 members as these last are with each other ; an occa- 
 sional sense of the propriety of this distinction makes 
 our printers sometimes point the first member of a 
 similar sentence with the semicolon. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 At a little distance from my friend's house, among the ruins of an 
 old abbey, there is a long walk of aged elms j which are shot up so 
 very high, that when one passes under them, the rooks and crows 
 that rest upon the tops of them seem to be cawing in another 
 region. Spectator, No. 1 10. 
 
 Here the first member is very properly pointed 
 with a semicolon at elms, and the emphatic pause on 
 this word gives a precision and variety to the whole 
 sentence ; but as an instance how little the generality 
 of our punctuists are guided by the sense of the sen- 
 tence, we need only produce the period which imme- 
 diately follows : 
 
 I am very much delighted with this sort of noise, which I consider 
 as a kind of natural prayer to that Being, who supplies the wants of 
 his whole creation, and who, in the beautiful language of the Psalms, 
 feedeth the young ravens that call upon him. Ibid. 
 
 In these last two instances, the first part of each 
 sentence is connected with the succeeding member 
 by the relative which ; but as this word does not re- 
 strain, but only explain and extend the meaning of 
 the preceding member, the latter, like the former, 
 ought to be marked with the semicolon, and pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion. 
 
 Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore with some pre- 
 cepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he affirms, 
 that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
 ferent one who is master of this shall gain much greater applause. - 
 
 Ibid, No. 541. 
 
ELOCUTION. 89 
 
 In this instance we find the word action often 
 pointed with a comma only, though it is certain that 
 it ought to be pronounced with the falling inflexion ; 
 for as the succeeding word without does not modify 
 it, and as the next member necessarily requires the 
 rising inflexion at succeed, the falling inflexion on the 
 word action adds greatly to the precision and variety 
 of the whole sentence. 
 
 Antithetic Member. 
 
 When sentences have two parts corresponding 
 with each other, so as to form an antithesis, the 
 first part must always terminate with the rising in- 
 flexion. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as 
 though there should be no end to them. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of 
 sdnse, nor so refined as those of the understanding. Ibid. No. 41 1. 
 
 I imagined that I was admitted into a long spacious gallery, 
 which had one side covered with pieces, of all the famous painters 
 who are now living ; and the other with the greatest masters who 
 are dead. Ibid. No. 83, 
 
 The wicked may indeed taste a malignant kind of pleasure, in 
 those actions to which they are accustomed whilst in this life ; but 
 when they are removed from all those objects which are here apt to 
 gratify them, they will naturally become their own tormentors. 
 
 Ibid. No. 447. 
 
 In all these examples, the first part of every anti- 
 thesis might form a perfect sentence by itself; but 
 the mutual relation between the former and latter 
 part, forms as necessary a connexion, between them 
 as if the former part formed no sense by itself, and the 
 latter part modified and restrained the sense of the 
 
90 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 former % and therefore the word few, in the first ex- 
 ample, the word sense in the second, the word living 
 in the third, and the words this life in the fourth, 
 must necessarily adopt the rising inflexion. For the 
 same reason, the same inflexion must take place at 
 the word succeed in the following example : 
 
 Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore, with some pre- 
 cepts for pronunciation and action j without which part, he affirms, 
 that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
 ferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater applause. 
 
 Spectator, No. 541. 
 
 Penultimate Member. 
 
 An exception to the foregoing rules forms another 
 rule, which forbids us, without absolute necessity, to 
 adopt the falling inflexion on the last member but 
 one. This rule is founded on the natural perception* 
 of harmony in the ear, which has so much dislike to 
 a too great similitude of consecutive sounds as the 
 understanding has to a want of sufficient distinction 
 between members differently connected. When this 
 distinction, therefore, is sufficiently obvious, and no 
 improper connexion is formed by using the right in- 
 flexion, the ear always requires this inflexion on the 
 penultimate member ; for as the last member must 
 almost always be terminated by the falling inflexion at 
 the period, a falling inflexion immediately preceding 
 it in the penultimate member, would be too sudden a 
 repetition of nearly similar sounds : hence arises the 
 propriety of the following rules. 
 
 Rule I. Every member of a sentence immediately 
 preceding the last, requires the rising inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Aristotle tells us, that the world is a copy or transcript of those 
 ideas which were in the mind of the first Being ; and that those ideas 
 which are in the mind of man are a transcript of the world : to this 
 
ELOCUTION. 91 
 
 we may add, that words are the transcript of those ideas which are 
 in the mind of man, and that writing or printing are the transcript 
 of words. Spectator, No. ] 66. 
 
 In this example, if there were no connexion be- 
 tween the two last members from the antithesis 
 they contain, the rising inflexion would be necessary 
 at the end of the penultimate member, for the sake 
 of sound. 
 
 In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with . Pindar, is 
 like a sister among the Camisars, compared with Virgil's Sybil j 
 there is the distortion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing of 
 that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and makes 
 the sounds more than human. Ibid. No. 160. 
 
 The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they 
 are accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs to a 
 country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed of 
 them. Ibid. No. 93. 
 
 In the first of these examples the sentence might 
 have finished at itself, and in the last at life ; for the 
 succeeding members do not modify them, but, as 
 they are penultimate members, they necessarily re- 
 quire the rising inflexion. 
 
 He has annexed a secret pleasure to the idea of any thing that is 
 new or uncommon, that he might encourage us in the pursuit after 
 knowledge, and engage us to search into the wonders of his creation j 
 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 upon fresh discoveries. Ibid. No. 413. 
 
 In this example, we see that it is not the perfect 
 sense of a member which alone qualifies it for the fall- 
 ing inflexion ; it must be followed by one member at 
 least, which does not admit this pause ; otherwise it 
 is transferred from the first to the succeeding member, 
 which is the case in this example. The first com- 
 pound member forms perfect sense at the word know- 
 ledge, and the succeeding member is not necessarily 
 connected with it : but as this member forms perfect 
 sense likewise, and is followed by one, which cannot 
 
92 ELEMENTS OP 
 
 be united with it by the comma or rising inflexion ; 
 therefore, to avoid the ill effect of two successive 
 pauses exactly the same, the falling inflexion must be 
 placed on the word creation. 
 
 Rule II. As a farther illustration of this, we may 
 observe, that when the first member forms perfect 
 sense, and is followed by two members necessarily 
 connected, the falling inflexion must be placed on 
 the first. 
 
 It shall ever be my study to make discoveries of this nature in hu- 
 man life, and to settle the proper distinctions between the virtues and 
 perfections of mankind, and those false colours and resemblances of 
 them that shine alike in the eyes of the vulgar. Addison. 
 
 In this example, we may observe that the falling 
 inflexion might have been placed on the second 
 member, if the second and third members had not 
 been necessarily connected by an antithesis ; which 
 show that the falling inflexion requires the member 
 it is placed on, not only to have perfect sense inde- 
 pendent on the succeeding member, but at the same 
 time requires the succeeding member to be dependent 
 on a third. 
 
 Exceptions. 
 
 Emphasis, w T hich controls every other rule in read- 
 ing, forms an exception to this ; which is, that 
 where an emphatic word is in the first member of a 
 sentence, and the last has no emphatical word, this 
 penultimate member then terminates with the falling 
 inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the plea- 
 sures of the imagination, I meant only such pleasures as arise ori- 
 ginally from sight : and that I divide these pleasures in two kinds. 
 
 Spectator, No. 411. 
 
ELOCUTION. 93 
 
 In this sentence the word sight is emphatical, and 
 therefore, though in the penultimate member, must 
 not have the rising, but the falling inflexion, as this is 
 the inflexion best suited to the sense of the emphatic 
 phrase. See article Emphasis. 
 
 The person he chanced to see was, to all appearance, an old sordid 
 blind man ; but 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. 
 
 Spectator, No. 464. 
 
 In this sentence the words God of Riches, as op- 
 posed to the words old sordid blind man, are empha- 
 tical, and, therefore, though in the penultimate mem- 
 ber, require the falling inflexion. The same may be 
 observed of the word most in the following sentence: 
 
 If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which, I think, never 
 happened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. 
 
 In this sentence we And the connexion interrupted, 
 and the cadence injured, by giving the falling in- 
 flexion to the word most ; but if we were to give this 
 word the rising inflexion for the sake of preserving 
 the cadence and connexion, we should lose so much 
 force as would render this pronunciation less eligible 
 upon the whole. The author, therefore, is answerable 
 for this incompatibility of the strongest sense with the 
 best sound, and the reader is reduced to choose the 
 lesser evil. 
 
 Thesame variancebetween emphasis and connexion 
 may be observed in the following sentence : 
 
 Religious hope does not only bear up the mind under her suffer- 
 ings, but makes her rej6ice in them, as they may be the means of 
 procuring her the great and ultimate end of all her hope. 
 
 Spectator, No. 471. 
 
 Here we see the word rejoice, in opposition, hear 
 up the mind, require, from its being emphatical, the 
 falling inflexion ; and yet, from its being modified by 
 what follows, it ought "to have the rising. 
 
94< ELEMENTS OF 
 
 As a corollary to the former rules, it follows, that if 
 a loose sentence, having one member forming perfect 
 sense, and not modified by what follows, is succeeded 
 by another member, which forms perfect sense like- 
 wise, unmodified by succeeding members ; that as 
 often as members of this kind occur, without finishing 
 the sentence, they ought to be marked with semi- 
 colons, or colons, and pronounced, like a series, with 
 the falling inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 This persuasion of the truth of the Gospel, without the evidence 
 which accompanies it, would not have been so firm and so durable; 
 it would not have acquired new force with age ; it would not have 
 resisted the torrent of time, and have passed from age to age to our 
 own days. 
 
 In this example a perfect sentence might be formed 
 at durable ; and as it is not modified by what fol- 
 lows, it ought to have the falling inflexion : a perfect 
 sentence might also be formed at age ; which, being 
 under the same predicament as the former member, 
 requires the falling inflexion likewise : a sentence in 
 the same manner might be formed at time ; but as 
 this is the penultimate member, it must necessarily 
 adopt the rising inflexion, according to the rule laid 
 down in the preceding article. 
 
 It may be necessary to observe, that when these 
 members of sentences marked with a semicolon, or 
 colon, follow each other in a series, though they must 
 all have the falling inflexion, this inflexion must be 
 pronounced in a higher tone of voice on the second 
 than on the first, and on the third than on the second ; 
 to prevent the monotony which would otherwise ne- 
 cessarily be the consequence : a series of colons, there- 
 fore, must be considered as a compound series, and 
 pronounced according to the rules laid down for the 
 pronunciation of that species of sentence which will 
 be the subject of the next article. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Natural reason inclines men to mutual converse and society : it 
 implants in them a strong affection for those who spring from them : 
 
ELOCUTION. 95 
 
 it excites them to form communities, and join in public assemblies : 
 and, for these ends, to endeavour to procure both the necessaries 
 and conveniencies of life. Cicero. 
 
 In this sentence the falling inflexion in the com- 
 mon level of the voice is placed on the word society ; 
 the same inflexion, with a little more force, and in a 
 somewhat higher tone of voice, takes place on the 
 words spring from them ; and the word assemblies 
 has the same inflexion a little increased in force and 
 height ; this gradual increase of force and height on 
 the first three members, gives variety and harmony to 
 the declension of voice on the next member, which 
 forms the period. 
 
 Series. 
 
 As variety is necessary in the delivery of almost 
 every separate portion of a sentence, it must be much 
 more so where the sentence is so constructed that per- 
 fectly similar portions succeed each other to a con- 
 siderable number. If the ear is displeased at the simi- 
 lar endings of two or three members, which, though 
 unlike in other respects, are necessarily connected in 
 sense, how intolerable must it be to hear along detail 
 of perfectly similar members, pronounced with ex- 
 actly the same tone of voice ! The instinctive taste 
 for harmony in the most undisciplined ear would be 
 disgusted with such a monotony : and we find few 
 readers, even among those who are incapable of diver- 
 sifying any other species of sentence, that do not en- 
 deavour to throw some variety into an enumeration 
 of many similar particulars. An attempt to point out 
 the most harmonious and emphatic variety, and to 
 reduce it to such rules as may help to guide us in the 
 most frequent and obvious instances, is one of the 
 principal objects of the present essay. 
 
 Nothing, however, can be more various than the 
 pronunciation of a series : almost every different num- 
 ber of particulars requires a different method of vary- 
 ing them : and even those of precisely the same num- 
 ber of particulars, admit of a different mode of pronun- 
 
9& ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ciation, as the series is either commencing or conclud- 
 ing, simple or compound ; single or double, or treble, 
 with many other varieties too complex to be easily 
 determined : but as enumerating several particulars 
 of a similar kind, in such a manner as to convey them 
 more forcibly to the mind, and at the same time to 
 render them agreeable to the ear ; as this, I say, is 
 one of the most striking beauties in reading, it will be 
 necessary to give as clear an idea as possible of that 
 tone and inflexion of voice which seems so peculiarly 
 adapted to this species of sentence. 
 
 In the first place, then, we may observe, that when- 
 ever we enumerate particulars with emphasis, or more 
 than ordinary precision, we are apt to give some of 
 the first, at least, such a tone as marks not only a dis- 
 tinct enumeration but a complete one ; that is, the 
 voice falls into such a tone as shows each particular 
 article of enumeration to be completed, but not the 
 whole number ; or, in other words, it is exactly that 
 tone of voice we use, when, in collecting several par- 
 ticulars into one aggregate, we distinguish with more 
 than ordinary precision, each particular from the 
 other. In the pronunciation of sentences of this kind, 
 the similar members would naturally adopt the falling 
 inflexion ; or that inflexion we use on the words vo- 
 luntarily, determinately, knowingly, &c. N° X. XI. 
 XII. XIII. &c. of the scale of sounds, plate II. 
 p. 68 ; which inflexion not only distinguishes and 
 enforces each particular taken separately, but pre- 
 serves the idea of a collective whole. 
 
 But the nature as well as use of this inflexion will, 
 perhaps, be better understood by recurring to a for- 
 mer example : 
 
 I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
 from heaven were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 
 
 If, instead of adopting the falling inflexion upon you, 
 world, and heaven, we suspend the voice upon these 
 words, as we do upon the words voluntarily, determi- 
 nately, knowingly, &c. N° I. II. III. he. or the words 
 
ELOCUTION. 97 
 
 involuntarily, indeterminable, unknowingly, N° X. 
 XL XII. &c. Plate II. we shall soon perceive the pro- 
 priety of using the inflexion we are here describing, 
 that is, the same inflexion with which we pronounce the 
 words involuntarily, indeterminately, unknowingly^ 
 &c. N° I. II. III. &c. or the words voluntarily, deter- 
 minately, knowingly, N° X. XI. XII. &c. Plate II. 
 And first let us try this passage with the rising in- 
 flexion on each particular. 
 
 I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
 from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 
 
 How tame and insipid is this asseveration, in com- 
 parison with the following manner of delivering it ! 
 that is, each particular having the falling inflexion. 
 
 I tell you, though yfcu, though all the world, though an angel 
 from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 
 
 The necessity of adopting this inflexion in the series 
 will be still more apparent, by repeating another pas- 
 sage both with and without it. — And first let us try 
 the example, by pronouncing it with the voice sus- 
 pended on every member, as the commas seem to indi- 
 cate; that is, with the rising inflexion, as on the words 
 voluntarily, determinately, knowingly, &c. N° I. II. 
 III. &c.*or the words involuntarily, indeterminately, 
 unknowingly, N° X. XI. XII. &c. Plate II. 
 
 The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
 full of sublime ideas 5 — the figure of death, the regal crown upon 
 his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
 in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 
 
 Now let us pronounce each particular of this series 
 but the last with the falling inflexion, that is, with the 
 same inflexion as on the words involuntarily, indeter- 
 minately, unknowingly, &c. or the words voluntarily, 
 determinately, knowingly, &c. N° X. XI. XII. &c. 
 Plate II. p. 68. 
 
 The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
 full of sublime ideas; the figure of death, the regal crown upon 
 
 H 
 
98 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the cbmhat, the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over in 
 silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. (See p. 1-20.) 
 
 The difference of these two methods of pronounc- 
 ing this sentence is so obvious as to leave no doubt to 
 which we shall give the preference ; but it may not 
 be improper to remark, that in a series of this kind, 
 unless the language be very emphatical, it is necessary 
 to give the last article of the series the rising inflexion, 
 a? this is the point where the sense begins to form ; 
 and this point, if emphasis forbid not, always requires 
 the suspension of voice marked by the rising inflexion. 
 See Compact Sentence, p. 76 and 80. 
 
 Thus having given a general idea of this very im- 
 portant figure in reading, it will be necessary to enter 
 upon that system of rules, which is calculated to direct 
 and ascertain the pronunciation of it ; but as every 
 series requires different inflexions, as it either com- 
 mences or concludes a sentence, it maybe necessary 
 to observe, that by the name of a commencing series 
 is meant that which begins a sentence, but does not 
 conclude it ; and that by the name of a concluding 
 series is meant that which ends the sentence, whether 
 it begin it or not. As a difference of inflexion also 
 takes place upon the several members of a series, as 
 these members consist of one single word, or more 
 words, it will not, perhaps, be improper to call the 
 series whose members consist of single words, a simple 
 series ; and those whose members consist of two or 
 more words, a compound series. In order, therefore, 
 to convey the rules that relate to this curious and in- 
 tricate part of reading, it will be necessary to begin 
 with the most simple combination of words, though 
 not properly a series. 
 
 Simple Series. 
 
 Rule I. When two members, consisting of single 
 words, commence a sentence, the first must have the 
 falling, and the last the rising inflexion. 
 
ELOCUTION. 99 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 The difference of tone which distinguishes the 
 commencing words of this sentence will be much 
 more perceptible, if we do but consult explication of 
 Plate L p. 66. 
 
 Rule II. When two members, consisting of single 
 words, conclude a sentence, as the last must naturally 
 have the falling inflexion, the last but one assumes 
 the rising inflexion. 
 
 The constitution is strengthened by exercise and temperance. 
 
 This rule is the converse of the former. It must, 
 however, be observed, that sentences of this kind, 
 which can scarcely be called a series of particulars, 
 may, when commencing, assume a different order of 
 inflexions on the first words, when the succeeding 
 clause does not conclude the sentence. This may be 
 illustrated by consulting Plate I. N° III. and IV. ; 
 where we see exercise and temperance, when the next 
 clause concludes the sentence, as in N° III. adopt one 
 order of inflexions ; and the same worms, when the 
 next clause does not conclude, as in N° IV. adopt a 
 quite opposite order. Not that this order in N° IV. 
 is absolutely necessary, as that in N° III. ; but it may 
 always be adopted when we wish to be more harmo- 
 nious and emphatical. 
 
 Rule III. When three members of a sentence, 
 consisting of single words, succeed each other in a 
 commencing series, the two last are to be pronounced 
 as in Rule I. and the first with the falling inflexion, 
 in a somewhat lower tone than the second. 
 
 EXAMPLES, 
 
 Manufactures, trade, and agriculture, naturally employ more than 
 nineteen parts of the species in twenty. Spectator, No. 115. 
 
 A man that has a taste for music, painting, or architecture, is 
 like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have 
 no relish of those arts. Ibid. No. 93. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 • ELEMENTS OF 
 
 In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with Pindar, is 
 like a sister among the Camisars, compared with Virgil's Sibyl j there 
 is the distbrtion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing of that 
 divine impulse, which raises the mind above itself, and makes the 
 sounds more than human. Spectator, No. 160. 
 
 Rule IV. When three members of a sentence, 
 consisting of single words, succeed each other in a 
 concluding series, the two last are to' be pronounced 
 as in Rule II. and the first with the rising inflexion 
 in a little higher tone than the second. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 A modern Pindaric writer compared with Pindar, is like a sister 
 among the Camisars compared with Virgil's Sibyl ; the one gives 
 that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and makes 
 the sounds more than human, while the other abounds with nothing 
 but distortion, grimace, and outward figure. 
 
 It may not be improper to observe, that although 
 the series of four, whether commencing or concluding, 
 must necessarily have the first and last words inflected 
 alike, and the two middle ones inflected alike, yet 
 that the series of three in a concluding member may, 
 when we are pronouncing with a degree of solemnity, 
 and wish to form a cadence ; in this case, I say, we 
 not only may, but must pronounce the first word with 
 the falling, the second with the rising, and the last 
 with the falling inflexion. 
 
 Rule V. When four members of a sentence, con- 
 sisting of single words, succeed each other in a com- 
 mencing series, and are the only series in the sentence, 
 they may be divided into two equal portions : the first 
 member of the first portion must be pronounced with 
 the rising, and the second with the falling inflexion, 
 as in Rule II. ; and the two members of the last por- 
 tion exactly the reverse, that is, according to Rule I. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Metals, minerals, plants, and meteors, contain a thousand curious 
 properties which are as engaging to the fancy as to the reason. 
 
 Spectator, No. 4<20. 
 
ELOCUTION. 101 
 
 Proofs of the immortality of the soul may justly be drawn from 
 the nature of the Supreme Being, whose justice, gobdness, wisdom, 
 and veracity, are all concerned in this great point. Sped. No. I'll* 
 
 The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they 
 are only accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs to 
 a country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed of 
 them. Ibid. No. 93. 
 
 Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, con- 
 sisting of single words, succeed each other in a con- 
 cluding series, a pause may, as in the former rule, 
 divide them into two equal portions : but they are to 
 be pronounced with exactly contrary inflexions : that 
 is, the first two must be pronounced according to 
 Rule I. and the two last according to Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 There is something very engaging to the fancy as well as to our 
 reason, in the treatise of metals, minerals, plants, and meteois. 
 
 Ibid. No. 4*20. 
 
 An instance of the variety of inflexion with which 
 a series of four particulars is pronounced, and of the 
 diversity of inflexion which the series requires, as it is 
 either commencing or concluding, will be greatly 
 illustrated by the following example : 
 
 He who resigns the world, has no temptation to tmvy, hatred, 
 malice, anger, but is in constant possession of a serene mind ; he 
 who follows the pleasures of it, which are in there very nature dis- 
 appointing, is in constant search of care, solicitude, remorse, and 
 confusion. Ibid. No. 282. 
 
 The first series in this sentence, being a commenc- 
 ing series, is pronounced as in Rule V. ; and the last, 
 as a concluding series, according to Rule VI. 
 
 These rules might be carried to a much greater 
 length ; but too nice an attention to them in a long 
 series, might not only be very difficult, but give an air 
 of stiffness to the pronunciation, which would not be 
 compensated by the propriety. It may be necessary, 
 however, to observe, that in a long enumeration of 
 particulars, it would not be improper to divide them 
 
102 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 into portions of three ; and if we are not reading ex- 
 tempore, as it may be called, this division of a series 
 into portions of three ought to commence from the 
 end of the series ; that if it is a commencing, we may 
 pronounce the last portion as in Rule III. ; and if it is 
 a concluding series, we may pronounce the last por- 
 tion according to the observation annexed to Rule IV. 
 
 Rule VII. When a simple series extends to a con- 
 siderable length, we may divide it into portions of 
 three, beginning from the last : if it be a commencing 
 series, pronounce the last three words according to 
 Rule III. ; and if it be a concluding series, pronounce 
 them according to the observation added to Rule IV. 
 
 Commencing Series. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Love, joy, peace ; long- suffering, gentleness, goodness ; faith, 
 meekness, temperance, are the fruits of the Spirit, and against such 
 there is no law. 
 
 Concluding Series. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace ; long suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness ; faith, meekness, temperance : — Against such 
 there is no law. Galatians, chap. v. 
 
 Commencing Series. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Metaphors, senigmas, mottoes, parables; fables, dreams, visions; 
 dramatic writings, burlesque, and all the methods of allusion, are 
 comprehended in Mr. Locke's definition of wit, and Mr. Addison's 
 short explanation of it. 
 
 Concluding Series. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Mr. Locke's definition of wit, with this short explication, com- 
 prehends most of the species of wit ; as metaphors, aenigmas, 
 mottoes, parables ; fables, dreams, visions ; dramatic writings, bur- 
 lesque, and all the methods of allusion. Spectator, No. 62. 
 
ELOCUTION. 303 
 
 If these observations should appear to have too 
 much refinement, and to bestow more labour on these 
 passages than is rewarded by the variety produced ; 
 it must be remembered, that in forming a system, and 
 pushing its principles to the remotest consequences,— ^ 
 for the sake of showing the extent of these governing 
 principles, and giving an air of completeness and uni- 
 versality to the system adopted, it is often necessary 
 to attend to particulars more curious than useful ; ii\ 
 however, we consider, that pronouncing these pas- 
 sages in a perfect monotone would be extremely dis- 
 gusting, and that some general idea of the variety 
 they are capable of, may at least give the ear ii hint 
 of a better pronunciation, it will not be thought 
 useless that so much pains has been bestowed on this 
 species of sentence. This consideration may encou- 
 rage us to push our inquiries still farther into this 
 laborious part of the subject ; as those readers w T ho are 
 disgusted at it, may easily omit the perusal, and pass 
 on to something more easy and agreeable. 
 
 Compound Series. 
 Preliminary Observations, 
 
 When the members of a series consist of several 
 words, or comprehend several distinct members of 
 sentences, they are under somewhat different laws 
 from those consisting of single words. In a single 
 series the ear is chiefly consulted, and the inflexions 
 of voice are so arranged as to produce the greatest 
 variety ; but in a compound series the understanding 
 takes the lead : For as a number of similar members 
 of sentences in succession forms a sort of climax in 
 the sense, this climax can be no way pronounced so 
 forcibly as by adopting the same inflexion which is 
 used for the strong emphasis ; for, by this means, 
 the sense is not only placed in a more distinct point 
 
104 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 of view, but the voice enabled to rise gradually upon 
 every particular, and thus add force to an agreeable 
 variety. 
 
 In pronouncing the compound series, the same rule 
 may be given as in the simple series : Where the 
 compound series commences, the falling inflexion 
 takes place on every member but the last ; and when 
 the series concludes, it may take place on every mem- 
 ber except the last but one. It must be carefully 
 noted, likewise, that the second member ought to be 
 pronounced a little higher, and more forcibly than the 
 first, the third than the second, and so on ; for which 
 purpose, if the members are numerous, it is evidently 
 necessary to pronounce the first member in so low a 
 tone as to admit of rising gradually on the same in- 
 flexion to the last. 
 
 Rule I. When two commencing members of a 
 sentence, each of which consists of more than a 
 single word, are in succession, the first member must 
 terminate with the falling, and the last with the rising 
 inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Moderate exercise, and habitual temperance, strengthen the 
 constitution. 
 
 In this example, we find the first member, ending 
 at exercise, pronounced with the falling, and the 
 second, at temperance, pronounced with the rising 
 inflexion. 
 
 Rule II. When two successive members, each of 
 which consists of more than a single word, conclude 
 a sentence, the first member is to be pronounced with 
 the rising, and the last with the falling inflexion, or 
 rather with the falling inflexion in a lower tone o! 
 voice called the concluding inflexion. See Plate I. 
 N° III. and IV. p. 67. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Nothing tends more powerfully to strengthen the constitution 
 than moderate exercise and habitual temperance. 
 
ELOCUTION. 105 
 
 In this example, the first member, at exercise, is 
 pronounced with the rising inflexion, and the last, at 
 temperance, with the concluding or falling inflexion, 
 without force, and in a lower tone of voice than the 
 preceding words. 
 
 Rule III. When three members of a sentence, each 
 of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
 a commencing series, the first member must be pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion, the second with 
 the same inflexion, somewhat higher and more for- 
 cible, and the third with the rising inflexion, as in the 
 last member, Rule I. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 To advise the Ignorant, relieve the needy, comfort the afflicted, 
 are duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives. 
 
 Sped. No. 93. 
 
 In our country, a man seldom sets up for a poet, without attack- 
 ing the reputation of all his brothers in the art. The ignorance 
 of the moderns, the scribblers of the age, the decay of poetry, are 
 the topics of detraction, with which he makes his entrance into the 
 world. Ibid. No. 253. 
 
 As the genius of Milton was wonderfully turned to the sublime, 
 his subject is the noblest that could have entered into the thoughts 
 of man ; every thing that is truly great and astonishing has a place 
 in it ; the whole system of the intellectual world, the chaos and the 
 creation, heaven, earth, and hell, enter into the constitution of his 
 poem. Ibid. No. 315. 
 
 Rule IV. When three members of a sentence, each 
 of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
 a concluding series, the falling inflexion can only fall 
 on the first member, and the two last are pronounced 
 exactly like the two concluding members, Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 It was necessary for the world, that arts should be invented and 
 improved, books written and transmitted to posterity, nations con- 
 quered and civilised. Spectator, No. 355. 
 
 All other arts of perpetuating our ideas, except writing or print- 
 ing, continue but a short time : Statues can last but a few thousands 
 of years, edifices fewer, and colours still fewer than edifices. 
 
 Ibid. No. 166. 
 
106 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Our lives, says Seneca, are spent either in doing nothing at all, 
 or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we 
 ought to do. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 If a man would know whether he is possessed of a taste for fine 
 writing, I would have him read over the celebrated works of anti- 
 quity, and be very careful to observe whether he tastes the distin- 
 guishing perfections, or, if I may be allowed to call them so, the 
 specific qualities of the author he peruses ; whether he is particu- 
 larly pleased with Livy for his manner of telling astbry j with Sal- 
 lust, for his entering into those internal principles of action which 
 arise from the characters and manners of the persons he describes ; 
 or with Tacitus, for his displaying those outward motives of safety 
 and interest, which gave birth to the whole series of transactions 
 which he relates. Ibid. No. 409. 
 
 It may here be necessary to observe, that if we 
 doubt of the inflexions that are to be given to a very 
 compound series, the best way to discover them will 
 be to reduce the series to a few words, and then the 
 proper inflexions will be very perceptible. Suppose, 
 for instance, we contract the series in the last exam- 
 ple to its radical words, which, for example's sake, 
 let us suppose to be these — whether he is pleased with 
 Livy for his story, Sallust for his characters, or 
 Tacitus for his motives ; we shall find, by this trial, 
 the same radical pronunciation proper both for the 
 original and the abridgement. 
 
 Rule V. When four members of a sentence, each 
 of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
 a commencing series, the first three are to be pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Labour or exercise ferments the humours, casts them into their 
 proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those 
 secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its 
 vigour, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. Spectator, No. 115. 
 
 Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, each 
 of which consists of more than a single word, follow 
 in a concluding series, the first two members only 
 can have the falling inflexion, and the two last are 
 
ELOCUTION. 107 
 
 to be pronounced like the two concluding members, 
 Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the pains which Cicero took in the education 
 of his son, history informs us, that young Marcus proved a mere 
 blockhead ; and that Nature (who, it seems, was even with the son 
 for her prodigality to the father) rendered him incapable of im- 
 proving by all the rules of eloquence, the precepts of philosophy, 
 his own endeavours, and the most refined conversation in 'Athens. 
 
 Spectator, No. 307. 
 
 Rule VII. When ^\e members of a sentence, each 
 of which contains more than a single word, follow 
 in a commencing series, the first four may be pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion ; each member 
 rising above the preceding one, and the last as in 
 Rule I. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
 full of sublime ideas. The figure of death, the regal crown upon 
 his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
 outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
 in silence, and extremely suitable to the king of terrors. 
 
 Spectator, No. 310. 
 
 Aristotle observes, that the fable of an epifc pOem should abound 
 in circumstances that are both credible and astonishing : Milton's 
 table is a master-piece of this nature $ as the war in heaven, the 
 condition of the fallen angels, the state of innocence, the tempta- 
 tion of the serpent, and the fall of man, though they are very asto- 
 nishing in themselves, are not only credible but actual points of 
 faith. Spectator, No. 315. 
 
 Rule VIII. When five members of a sentence, each 
 of which contains more than a single word, follow in 
 a concluding series, the first three may be pronounced 
 with the falling inflexion, and the two last with the 
 rising and falling inflexion, as in Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we 
 are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be at 
 age, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate, then 
 to arrive at honours, then to retire. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
108 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 There is no blessing of life comparable to the enjoyment of a 
 discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unloads the mind, clears 
 and improves the understanding, engenders thoughts and know- 
 ledge, animates virtue and good resolutions, to find employment 
 for the most vacant hours of life. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 The devout man does not only believe but feels there is a Deity; 
 he has actual sensations of him ; his experience concurs with his 
 reason, he sees more and more in all his intercourses with him, 
 and even in this life almost loses his faith in conviction. 
 
 Ibid. No. 465. 
 
 Rule IX. When six members of a sentence, each 
 of which contains more than a single word, follow in 
 a commencing series, the first five may be pronounced 
 with the falling inflexion, every member rising above 
 the preceding one, and the two last members as in 
 Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 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 honour 
 and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude; whose 
 brother, the earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law ; to whom he 
 had even 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 discontent or apprehension; that this 
 man should engage in a conspiracy against him he deemed absolutely 
 false and incredible. Humes Hist, of England, Vol. 1. p. 363. 
 
 I would fain ask one of those bigoted infidels, supposing all the 
 great points of atheism, as the casual or eternal formation of the 
 wbrld, the materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of the 
 soul, the fortuitous organization of the body, the motions and gra- 
 vitation of matter, with the like particulars, were laid together, and 
 formed into a kind of creed, according to the opinions of the most 
 celebrated atheists ; I say, supposing such a creed as this were form- 
 ed, and imposed upon any one people in the world, whether it would 
 not require an infinitely greater measure of faith than any set of 
 articles which they so violently oppose. Spectator, No. 168. 
 
 Under this rule may be placed that grand and ter- 
 rible adjuration of Macbeth : 
 
 I conjure you by that which you 'profess 
 (Howe'er you come to know it) answer me ; 
 Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
 Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 
 
ELOCUTION. 109 
 
 Confound and swallow navigation up ; 
 
 Though bladed corn be lodg'd and trees blown down; 
 
 Though castles topple on their warders' heads; 
 
 Though palaces and pyramids do slope 
 
 Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 
 
 Of nature's germins tumble altogether, 
 
 Ev'n till destruction sicken, answer me 
 
 To what I ask you -, 
 
 where by placing the falling inflexion, without drop- 
 ping the voice, on each particular, and giving this 
 inflexion a degree of emphasis, increasing from the 
 first member to the sixth, we shall find the whole 
 climax wonderfully enforced and diversified : this was 
 the method approved and practised by the inimitable 
 Mr. Garrick : and though it is possible that a very 
 good actor may vary in some particulars from this 
 rule, and yet pronounce the whole agreeably, it may 
 with confidence be asserted, that no actor can pro- 
 nounce this passage to so much advantage as by 
 adopting the inflexions laid down in this rule. 
 
 Rule X. When six members of a sentence, each 
 of which consists of more than a single word, succed 
 each other in a concluding series, the first four may 
 be pronounced with the falling inflexion, each mem- 
 ber ascending above the preceding ; and the two last, 
 as in Rule II. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 For if we interpret the Spectator's words in their literal meaning, 
 we must suppose that women of the first quality used to pass away 
 whole mornings at a puppet-show : that they attested their princi- 
 ples by patches; that an audience would sit out an evening to hear 
 a dramatic performance, written in a language which they did not 
 understand ; that chairs and flower-pots were introduced as actors 
 on the British stage; that a promiscuous assembly of men and 
 women were allowed to meet at midnight in masks within the verge 
 of the court, with many improbabilities of the like nature. 
 
 Spectator, No. 102. 
 
 Rule XI. When seven or more members of a sen- 
 tence, each of which consists of more than a single 
 w r ord, succeed each other in a commencing series, all 
 
110 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 but the last member may be pronounced with the 
 falling inflexion, each succeeding member rising 
 above that which precedes it, and the two last mem- 
 bers as in Rule I. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Nature has laid out all her art in beautifying the face : she has 
 touched it with vermilion ; planted in it a double row of ivory; 
 made it the seat of smiles and blushes ; lighted it up and enlivened 
 it with the brightness of the eyes ; hung it on each side with curious 
 organs of sense; given it airs and graces that cannot be described; 
 and surrounded it with such a flowing shade of hair, as sets all its 
 beauties in the most agreeable light. Spectator, No. 98. 
 
 Series of Serieses. 
 Preliminary Observation. 
 
 When the members of a series, either from their 
 similitude or contrariety to each other, fall into pairs 
 or triplets ; these pairs or triplets, considered as whole 
 members, are pronounced according to the rules re- 
 specting those members of a series that consist of 
 more than a single word ; but the parts of which 
 these members are composed, if consisting of single 
 words, are pronounced according to those rules 
 which relate to those members that consist of single 
 words, as far as their subordination to the whole 
 series of members will permit. Hence arises, 
 
 Rule I. When several members of a sentence con- 
 sisting of distinct portions of similar or opposite words 
 in a series, follow in succession, they must be pro- 
 nounced singly, according/to the number of members 
 in each portion, and together, according to the num- 
 ber of portions in the whole sentence, that the whole 
 may form one related compound series. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 The soul consists of many faculties, as the understanding and 
 the will, with all the senses both inward and butward ; or, to speak 
 
ELOCUTION 111 
 
 more philosophically, the soul can exert herself in many different 
 ways of action : she can understand, will, imagine, see, and hear ; 
 Idve and discourse ; and apply herself to many other like exercises 
 of different kinds and natures. Spectator, No. 600. 
 
 The first portion of this series of serieses, she can 
 understand, will, imagine, as it contains one complete 
 portion, may be considered as a concluding series; 
 and as it forms but one portion of a greater series, 
 it may be considered as a commencing one, and must 
 be pronounced in subserviency to it ; that is, the first 
 and second word must have the rising, and the last 
 the falling inflexion, but without dropping the voice. 
 The next portion must be pronounced in a similar 
 manner ; that is, the first word with the rising, and 
 the last with the falling inflexion, with the voice a 
 little higher and more forcible on the word hear than 
 on the word imagine : the next portion being the last 
 but one, alters its inflexions ; the first word having 
 the falling, and the last the rising inflexion, agreeably 
 to the rule laid down in the preliminary observation 
 to the Compound Series. 
 
 On the other hand, those evil spirits, who, by long custom, have 
 contracted in the body habits of lust and sensuality ; malice and 
 revenge ; an aversion to every thing that is good, just, and laudable, 
 are naturally seasoned, and prepared for pain and misery. 
 
 Spectator, No. 447- 
 
 As this is a commencing series of serieses, the last 
 member but one of the second series, may be pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion at revenge : and as 
 the last member has a series of three single words, 
 they come under Rule III. of the Simple Commenc- 
 ing Series. 
 
 The condition, speech, and behaviour of the dying parents ; with 
 the age, innocence, and distress of the children, are set forth in such 
 tender circumstances, that it is impossible for a reader of. common 
 humanity not to be affected with them. Spectator, No. 95. 
 
 These two serieses, containing three members each, 
 and not concluding the sentence, may be considered 
 
112 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 as a concluding and commencing series of three sin- 
 gle members each, and pronounced as in Rule III. of 
 the Simple Series. 
 
 His (Satan's) pride, envy, and revenge : bbstinacy, despair, and 
 impenitence, are all of them very artfully interwoven. 
 
 Spectator, No. 303. 
 
 Here are two distinct serieses of three members, 
 each of which must be pronounced exactly like the 
 last example, that is, like the concluding and com- 
 mencing series of three, Rule III. of the Simple Series. 
 
 The man who lives under an habitual sense of the divine presence, 
 keeps up a perpetual cheerfulness of temper, and enjoys every 
 moment the satisfaction of thinking himself in company with his 
 dearest and best of friends. He no sooner steps out of the world, 
 but his heart burns with devotion, swells with hope, and triumphs 
 in the consciousness of that presence which every where surrounds 
 him ; or on the contrary pours out its fears, its sbrrows, its appre- 
 hensions, to the great Supporter of its existence. Sped. No. 93. 
 
 This sentence may be considered as a sentence 
 consisting of two commencing serieses, both of which 
 may be pronounced according to Rule III. Compound 
 Series. 
 
 How many instances have we (in the fair sex) of chastity, fide- 
 lity, devotion ? JHow many ladies distinguish themselves by the 
 education of their children, care of their families, and love of their 
 htisbands : which are the great achievements of womankind ; as 
 the making of war, the carrying on of traffick, the administration 
 of jtistice, are those by which men grow famous aud get themselves 
 a name. Spectator, No. 73. 
 
 The several series in this passage maybe considered 
 as forming one complete observation ; the first is a 
 concluding series of three, and maybe pronounced as 
 the concluding series, Rule IV. in every member but 
 the last, which being the first step of the series of 
 serieses, instead of the concluding inflexion, adopts 
 the falling inflexion only. The next series may be 
 pronounced in the same manner as the former, with 
 
ELOCUTION. 113 
 
 this difference only, the last member, being the se- 
 cond step of the series of serieses, ought to have the 
 falling inflexion a little higher on husbands than it 
 was on devotion in the first series. The last series has 
 its three members pronounced exactly like the com- 
 mencing series, Rule III. ; and thus every series is 
 pronounced, both according to its own particular 
 analogy, and that of the three taken together. 
 
 3S. For I am persuaded, that neither de*ath, nor life; nor angels, 
 nor princip&lities, nor powers; nor things present, nor things to 
 come; 
 
 39. 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 
 L6rd. Romans, ch. viii, ver. 38, 39. 
 
 Upon the first view of this passage, we find it natu- 
 rally falls into certain distinct portions of similar or 
 opposite words. These portions seem to be five in 
 number; the first containing two members, death, 
 life; the second containing three members, angels, 
 principalities, powers; the third two, things present, 
 things to come; the fourth two, height, depth; the 
 fifth one, any other creature; these members, if pro- 
 nounced at random, and without relation to that 
 order in which they are placed by the sacred writer, 
 lose half their beauty and effect ; but if each member 
 is pronounced with an inflexion of voice that corre- 
 sponds to its situation in the sentence, the whole 
 series becomes the most striking and beautiful climax 
 imaginable. 
 
 In order, then, to pronounce this passage properly, 
 it is presumed that there ought to be a gradation of 
 force from the first portion to the last ; and that this 
 force may have the greater variety, each portion 
 ought to be accompanied with a gradation of voice 
 from low to high ; that each portion also should con- 
 tinue distinct, every portion but the last should be 
 pronounced as a simple concluding series, with the 
 falling inflexion on the last member, enforcing, and 
 not dropping the voice ; the last member, according 
 
U4 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 to the general rule, must have the rising inflexion ; 
 and in this manner of pronouncing it, the whole sen- 
 tence has its greatest possible force, beauty, and 
 variety. 
 
 From the examples which have been adduced, we 
 have seen in how many instances the force, variety, 
 and harmony of a sentence have been improved by a 
 proper use of the falling inflexion. The series in 
 particular is indebted to this inflexion for its greatest 
 force and beauty. But it is necessary to observe, 
 that this inflexion is not equally adapted to the pro- 
 nunciation of every series : where force, precision, or 
 distinction is necessary, this inflexion very happily 
 expresses the sense of the sentence, and forms an 
 agreeable climax of sound to the ear ; but where the 
 sense of the sentence does not require this force, pre- 
 cision, or distinction (which is but seldom the case), 
 where the sentence commences with a conditional or 
 suppositive conjunction, or where the language is 
 plaintive and poetical, the falling inflexion seems less 
 suitable than the rising: this will be better perceived 
 by a few examples. s 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 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 j 
 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 j that whenever 
 any one of these faculties is transcendently pleased, the soul is in a 
 State of happiness j and in the last place, considering that the happi- 
 ness of another world, is to be the happiness of the whole man j who 
 can question but that there is an infinite variety in those pleasures 
 we arespeaking of ; and that this fullness of joy will be made up of 
 all those pleasures, which the nature of the soul is capable of 
 receiving?' Sped. No. 600. 
 
 As the fourth member of this sentence, from its 
 very nature, requires the rising inflexion, and as the 
 whole series is constructed on ! the suppositive con- 
 junction seeing; every particular member of it seems 
 
ELOCUTION. U5 
 
 necessarily to require the rising inflexion ; for it may 
 be observed as a pretty general rule, that where a 
 conditional or a suppositive conjunction commences 
 the series, if there is nothing particularly emphatical 
 in it, the rising inflection on each particular of the 
 series is preferable to the falling, especially if the 
 language be plaintive and tender. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 When the gay and smiling aspect of things has begun to leave 
 the passages to a man's heart thus thoughtlessly unguarded j when 
 kind and caressing looks of every object without, that can natter his 
 senses, has conspired with the enemy within, to betray him and put 
 him off his defence ; when music likewise hath lent her aid, and 
 tried her power upon the passions ; when the voice of singing men, 
 and the voice of singing women, with the sound of the viol and the 
 lute, have 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 ! Sterne's Sermon on the House of Mourning, #c. 
 
 In this example, the plaintive tone which the whole 
 sentence requires, gives it an air of poetry, and makes 
 the falling inflexion too harsh to terminate the several 
 particulars ; for it may be observed in passing, that a 
 series of particulars are as seldom to be pronounced 
 with the falling inflexion in poetry, as they are for the 
 most part to be pronounced in prose. The reason 
 of this, perhaps, may be, that as poetry assumes so 
 often the ornamental and the plaintive, where a dis- 
 tinct and emphatic enumeration is not so much the 
 object as a noble or a tender one ; that expression 
 which gives the idea of force and familiarity is not 
 so suitable to poetry as to prose ; as a confirmation 
 of this we may observe, that when poetry becomes 
 either forceful or familiar, the falling inflexion is then 
 properly adopted in the pronunciation of the series. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains, 
 And mighty hearts are held in slender chains ; 
 
 I 2 
 
116 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 With hairy springes we the birds betray, 
 Slight lines of hair surprise the finny prey ; 
 Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, 
 And beauty draws us with a single hair. 
 
 Rape of the Lock, Canto ii. ver. 23. 
 
 Here the emphasis on each particular requires the 
 first and second to be pronounced with the falling in- 
 flexion, as in Rule VI. of the Compound Series. 
 
 But rhyming poetry so seldom admits of this inflex- 
 ion in the series, that the general rule is for a contrary 
 pronunciation. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 So when the faithful pencil has designed 
 • Some bright idea of the master's mind, 
 Where a new world leaps out at his command, 
 And ready nature waits upon his hand ; 
 When the ripe colours soften and unite, 
 And sweetly melt into just shade and light ; 
 When mellowing years their full perfection give, 
 And each bold figure just begins to live ; 
 The treacherous colours the fair art betray, 
 And all the bright creation fades away. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Crit. ver. 484. 
 
 In this example we find every particular, except 
 the last but one (where the sentence begins to grow 
 emphatical), adopt the rising inflexion as more agree- 
 able to the pathetic tenor of the passage than the 
 falling ; and it may be observed that there are few 
 passages of this sort in rhyming poetry, of the pathetic 
 or ornamental kind, which do not necessarily require 
 the same inflexion. 
 
 Thus no objection to the utility of these long 
 laboured rules has been dissembled. In subjects of 
 this nature something must always be left to the taste 
 and judgment of the reader; but the author flatters 
 himself, if any thing like a general rule is discovered 
 in a point supposed to be without all rule, that some- 
 thing at least is added to the common stock of know- 
 ledge, which may in practice be attended with 
 advantage. 
 
ELOCUTION. 117 
 
 What the Bishop of London says of improvements 
 in grammar, may, with the greatest propriety, be ap- 
 plied to this part of elocution. " A system of this 
 " kind," says this learned and ingenious writer, 
 " arising from the collection and arrangement of a 
 " multitude of minute particulars, which often elude 
 " the most careful search, and sometimes escape ob- 
 u servation when they are most obvious, must always 
 " stand in need of improvement : it is, indeed, the 
 " necessary condition of every work of human art or 
 " science, small as well as great, to advance towards 
 " perfection by slow degrees : by an approximation, 
 " which, though it may still carry it forward, yet will 
 " certainly never bring it to the point to which it 
 " tends." Dr. Lowth 's Preface to his Grammar. 
 
 The Final Pause or Period. 
 
 When a sentence is so far perfectly finished, as not 
 to be connected in construction with the following 
 sentence, it is marked with a period. This point is 
 in general so well understood, that few grammarians 
 have thought it necessary to give an express example 
 of it ; though there are none who have inquired into 
 punctuation who do not know, that in loose sentences 
 the period is frequently confounded with the colon. 
 But though the tone, with which we conclude a sen- 
 tence, is generally well understood, we cannot be too 
 careful in pronunciation to distinguish it as much as 
 possible from that member of a sentence which con- 
 tains perfect sense, and is not necessarily connected 
 with what follows. Such a member, which may not 
 be improperly called a sententiola, or little sentence, 
 requires the falling inflexion, but in a higher tone 
 than the preceding words ; as if we had only finished 
 
US ELEMENTS- bF 
 
 a part of what we had to say, while the period re- 
 quires the falling inflexion in a lower tone, as if we 
 had nothing more to add. But this final tone does 
 not only lower the last word ; it has the same influ- 
 ence on those which more immediately precede the 
 last ; so that the cadence is prepared by a gradual 
 fall upon the concluding words ; every word in the 
 latter part of a sentence sliding gently lower till the 
 voice drops upon the last. See this more clearly 
 explained, Plates I. and II. This will more evidently 
 appear upon repeating the following sentence : 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 As the word taste arises very often in conversation, I shall endea- 
 vour to give some accbunt of if, and to lay down rules how we may 
 know whether we are possessed of it, and how we may acquire that 
 line taste in wiiting which is so much talked of among the polite 
 vvbrld. Sped. No. 407- 
 
 We find perfect sense formed at the words account 
 of it, and possessed of it ; but as they do not conclude 
 the sentence, these words, if they adopt the falling 
 inflexion, must be pronounced in a higher tone than 
 the rest ; while in the last member, not only the word 
 world is pronounced lower than the rest, but the 
 whole member falls gradually into the cadence, which 
 is so much talked of among the polite world. And 
 here it will be absolutely necessary to observe, that 
 though the period generally requires the falling in- 
 flexion, every period does not necessarily adopt this 
 inflexion in the same tone of voice ; if sentences are 
 intimately connected in sense, though the gramma- 
 tical structure of each may be independent on the 
 other, they may not improperly be considered as so 
 many small sentences making one large one, and thus 
 requiring a pronunciation correspondent to their logi- 
 cal dependence on each other : hence it may be laid 
 down as a general rule ; that a series of periods in 
 regular succession are to be pronounced as every 
 
ELOCUTION. 119 
 
 other series : that is, if they follow each other regu- 
 larly as parts of the same observation, they are to be 
 pronounced as parts, and not as wholes. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Some men cannot discern between a noble and a mean action. 
 Others are apt to attribute them to some false end or intention, and 
 others purposely misrepresent or put a wrong interpretation on 
 them. Sped. No. 255. 
 \ 
 
 Though the first part of this passage is marked 
 with a period in all the editions of the Spectator I 
 have seen, nothing can "be plainer than that it ought 
 to be pronounced as the first member of the conclud- 
 ing series of three compound members. See article 
 Compound Series, Rule IV. 
 
 Thus although the whole of life is allowed by every one to be short, 
 the several divisions of it appear long and tedious. We are for 
 lengthening our spari in general, but would fain contract the parts 
 of which it is composed. The usurer would be very well satisfied to 
 have all the time annihilated, that lies between the present moment 
 and next quarter-day. The politician would be contented to lose 
 three years of his life, could he place things in the posture, which he 
 fancies they will stand in, after such a revolution of time. The lover 
 would be glad to strike out of his existence all the moments that 
 are to pass away before the happy meeting. Thus as fast as our 
 time runs, we should be very glad in most part of our lives, that it 
 ran much faster than it does. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 ! Though here are no less than six periods in this 
 passage, and every one of them requires the falling 
 inflection, yet everyone of them ought to be pro- 
 nounced in a somewhat different pitch of voice from 
 the other; and for this purpose they maybe con- 
 sidered as a concluding series of compound members; 
 the last period of which must conclude with a lower 
 tone of voice than the preceding, that there may be 
 a gradation. See Compound Series, Rule IV. *■ 
 
 To these observations, this maybe subjoined, that 
 the period, though generally, does not always. 
 
120 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 require the falling inflexion and a lower tone of voice. 
 The first and most general exception to the rule is 
 the following : 
 
 Exception /. 
 
 When a sentence concludes an antithesis, the first 
 branch of which requires the strong emphasis, and 
 therefore demands the falling inflexion ; the second 
 branch requires the weak emphasis, and rising in- 
 flexion ; and, consequently, if this latter branch of 
 the antithesis finish the sentence, it must finish with- 
 out dropping the voice, that the inflexions on the 
 opposite parts of the antithesis may be different. 
 See Emphasis. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 If we have no regard for our 5wn character, we ought to have 
 some regard for the character of dthers. 
 
 If content cannot remove the disquietudes of mankind, it will at 
 least alleviate them. 
 
 I would have your papers consist also of all things which may be 
 necessary or useful to any part of society 3 and the mechanic arts 
 should have their place as well as the liberal. Spectator^ No. 428. 
 
 In the first of these examples, a concession is made 
 in the strongest terms in the supposition, for the sake 
 of strengthening the assertion in the conclusion, and 
 therefore neither can be pronounced with due force 
 but by giving own the falling and others the rising 
 inflexion. There is almost the same necessity for the 
 same order of inflexions on remove and alleviatem the 
 second example ; and the third would be more forci- 
 bly pronounced with the falling inflexion on mechanic 
 arts, and the rising on liberal, unless it were to con- 
 clude a paragraph or branch of a subject ; for in this 
 case, if the sense does necessarily require the rising in- 
 
ELOCUTION. 
 
 121 
 
 flexion, the ear will always expect the falling. See 
 Penultimate Member. 
 
 To this exception may be added another, which 
 forms a rule of very great extent ; and that is, where 
 the last member of a sentence is a negative, in oppo- 
 sition to some affirmative, either expressed or under- 
 stood ; but this rule is so allied to emphasis, that the 
 reader is referred to that article, where he will find 
 it fully explained and illustrated. 
 
 Interrogation. 
 
 " But besides the points which mark the pauses in 
 (i discourse," says Dr. Lowth, " there are others 
 " which denote a different modulation of the voice in 
 " correspondence with the sense. The interrogation 
 " and exclamation points," says the learned bishop, 
 " are sufficiently explained by their names ; they are 
 " indeterminate as to their quantity or time, and may 
 « be equivalent in that respect to a semicolon, a 
 " colon, or a period, as the sense requires ; they 
 " mark an elevation of voice." This is, perhaps, as 
 just an account of these points as could have been 
 given in so few words : but, like every general rule 
 that has been hitherto given, leaves us in a thousand 
 difficulties when we would reduce it to practice. 
 Whatever may be the variety of time we annex to the 
 interrogation, certain it is, that there is no circum- 
 stances in reading or speaking which admits of a 
 greater variety of tone ; a question may imply so 
 many different degrees of doubt, and is liable to so 
 many alterations from a diversity of intention in the 
 speaker, that I shall at present content myself with 
 pointing out a few of the most obvious ; and endea- 
 vour to distinguish and reduce them to certain classes, 
 that they may be applied to particular examples, and 
 rendered useful. 
 
 The most obvious distinction between interrogative 
 and other sentences is, that as, in other sentences, the 
 
122 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 substantive or pronoun precedes the verb it governs, 
 in an interrogative sentence, the verb, either auxiliary 
 or principal, ought always to precede either the sub- 
 stantive or pronoun. Thus, when I speak declara- 
 tively, I say, I am going to college ; but when I speak 
 interrogatively, I say, Are you going to college? where 
 we may observe, that in the declarative and interro- 
 gative sentences, the pronoun and the verb hold dif- 
 ferent places. 
 
 This inversion of the common order of the words 
 in composition, is accompanied by a similar inversion 
 of the inflexion of voice in pronunciation : for as the 
 common order of inflexions in a declarative sentence, 
 is that of placing the rising inflexion towards the 
 middle, and the falling at the end, as in the first ex- 
 ample ; the interrogation inverts this order, and uses 
 the falling inflexion of voice in the middle of the sen- 
 tence, and the rising on the last word, as in the last 
 example : this peculiarity, however, does not extend 
 to every species of interrogation ; and interrogative 
 sentences are, in reality, so frequently to be pro- 
 nounced like declarative sentences, it is scarcely any 
 wonder that those who do not attend to the delicacies 
 of reading should never use the rising inflexion of 
 the voice on any question : but such force, spirit, and 
 variety is thrown into a discourse by such an altera- 
 tion of the voice as the question affords, that those 
 who have the least desire to read well, ought never to 
 neglect so favourable an opportunity ; a question ter- 
 minating with the rising inflexion of voice at once 
 breaks the chain of discourse, grown heavy by its 
 length, rouses the auditor from the languor of attend- 
 ing to a continued series of argument, and excites 
 fresh attention by the shortness, briskness, and novelty 
 of the address : and if the greatest masters of compo- 
 sition have thought it necessary to throw in questions 
 to enliven and enforce their harangues, those who 
 have the least taste for the delivery of them, find it as 
 
ELOCUTION. 123 
 
 necessary to attend to the peculiarity of voice this 
 figure requires when they read. 
 
 This inflexion of voice, however, which distin- 
 guishes the interrogation, seems entirely confined to 
 those questions which are formed without the interro- 
 gative pronouns or adverbs. When a question com- 
 mences with one of these, it has invariably the same 
 inflexion as the declarative sentence, unless we have 
 either not heard, or mistaken an answer just given us; 
 for in that case, the emphasis is placed upon the 
 interrogative word : and the voice elevated by the 
 rising inflexion on the end of the sentence. Thus, if 
 we say simply, When do you go to college ? the word 
 college has the falling inflexion, and the voice is no 
 more elevated than if, being acquainted with the 
 time, we should say, At that time IJind you go to col- 
 lege ; but if we have mistaken the -answer that has 
 been given us concerning the time, we say, Wh6n do 
 you go to college ? we lay a considerable stress upon 
 the word when, and suspend the voice with the rising 
 inflexion at the end of the sentence. 
 
 Again, if we ask a question without previous con- 
 versation, or reference to any thing that has passed, 
 if we do not use the interrogative words, we infallibly 
 use the rising inflexion, and elevate the voice on the 
 end of the question ; thus we meet, and say — Are you 
 going to college ? — if we have the least eagerness for 
 information, the voice is elevated and suspended with 
 the rising inflexion on the last word ; but if the per- 
 son we speak to, either does not hear, or else mistakes 
 what we say, so as to make it necessary to repeat the 
 question, we then adopt the falling inflexion on the 
 last word, and, giving it some degree of emphasis, 
 say, Are you going to college ? with the same inflexion 
 of voice, and in nearly the same tone, with which we 
 should say simply, You are now going to college ; with 
 this difference only, that in the latter case the voice 
 falls into a lower tone, and in the former seems to rest 
 in the tone of the sentence, somewhat louder, perhaps, 
 
124 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 but with exactly the same falling inflexion as the lat- 
 ter, and entirely different from that upward turn of 
 voice which distinguishes the first question. 
 
 Thus we find the immediate repetition of the same 
 question requires a different inflexion of voice accord- 
 ing to its form. When we ask a question commenc- 
 ing with an interrogative word, we use the falling 
 inflexion on the last word, as — When do you go to 
 college ? When, from a mistake of the answer about 
 the time, we repeat the question, we use the rising 
 inflexion of voice, and elevate it to the end, as — 
 JVhe'n do you go to college ? On the contrary, when 
 we first ask a question without the interrogative word, 
 we use the rising inflexion, and raise the voice on the 
 last word, as — Are you going to college ? and when 
 we repeat the question, we use the falling inflexion 
 of voice on the last word ; and though we may 
 pronounce the last word louder than the rest, we do 
 not use the rising inflexion as in the former case, but 
 the falling, as — / say, are you going to college ? 
 
 But such is the variety of this species of sentence, 
 that a question may be asked without either the inter- 
 rogative words, or an inversion of the arrangement, 
 or the rising inflexion of voice on the last word : for 
 instead of saying, Do you intend to read that booh ? 
 with the rising inflexion on the word book, we may, 
 with the same expectation of an answer, use the same 
 inflexion on the same word, and say, You intend to 
 read that booh ? — Both sentences will be equally in- 
 terrogatory, though the last seems distinguished from 
 the first, by implying less doubt of what we ask ; for 
 when we say, You intend to read that booh ? with the 
 rising inflexion on the word booh, we have not so 
 much doubt about the reading of it as when we say, 
 Do you intend to read that booh ? with the same in- 
 flexion on the same word ; and accordingly we find 
 the voice more elevated at the end of the question 
 where there is more doubt implied ; and where the 
 doubt is small, the voice is less elevated at the end ; 
 
ELOCUTION. 125 
 
 though, in both cases, the same kind of inflexion is 
 inviolably preserved ; for the question — You intend to 
 read that b6ok ? with the rising inflexion on the word 
 booh, is equivalent to the interrogative affirmation ; 
 I suppose you intend to read that bdoh ? both of which 
 we find naturally terminate in a suspension of voice, 
 as if an ellipsis had been made, and part of the ques- 
 tion omitted ; for these questions end in exactly the 
 same inflexion of voice which the same words would 
 have in the question at length — You intend to read 
 that bdoh, do you not ? — that is, in the suspension of 
 voice called the rising inflexion, similar to that 
 usually marked by the comma. Not but this very 
 phrase, You intend to read that booh, pronounced with 
 the falling inflexion on the last word like a declara- 
 tive sentence, might have the import of a question, if 
 attended with such circumstances as implied a doubt 
 in the speaker, and required an answer from the 
 hearer: though this mode of speaking would, per- 
 haps, imply the least degree of doubt possible, yet as 
 some degree of doubt might be implied, it must ne- 
 cessarily be classed with the interrogation. 
 
 Having premised these observations, it may be 
 necessary to take notice, that with respect to pronun- 
 ciation, all questions may be divided into two classes ; 
 namely, into such as are formed by the interrogative 
 pronouns or adverbs, and into such as are formed only 
 by an inversion of the common arrangement of the 
 words : the first with respect to inflexion of voice, 
 except in the cases already mentioned, may be con- 
 sidered as purely declarative ; and like declarative 
 sentences they require thefalling inflexion at the end: 
 and the last, with some few exceptions, require the 
 rising inflexion of voice on the last word ; and it is 
 this rising inflexion at the end which distinguishes 
 them from almost every other species of sentence. 
 Of both these in their order. 
 
126 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 The Question with the Interrogative Words. 
 
 o 
 
 Rule I. When an interrogative sentence commences 
 with any of the interrogative pronouns or adverbs, 
 with respect to inflexion, elevation, or depression 
 of voice, it is pronounced exactly like a declarative 
 sentence. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great and noble, who 
 only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world, he 
 is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever. 
 
 Spectator, No. 210. 
 
 As an illustration of the rule, we need only alter 
 two or three of the words to reduce it to a declarative 
 sentence ; and we shall find the inflexion, elevation, 
 and depression of voice upon every part of it the same. 
 
 He cannot exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble, because 
 he only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world, he 
 is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever. 
 
 Here we perceive, that the two sentences, though 
 one is an interrogation, and the other a declaration, 
 end both with the same inflexion of voice, and that 
 the falling inflexion ; but if we convert these words 
 into an interrogation, by leaving out the interrogative 
 word, we shall soon perceive the difference. 
 
 Can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble, who only 
 believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world he is to 
 sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever? 
 
 In pronouncing this sentence with propriety, we 
 find the voice slide upwards on the last words, con- 
 trary to the inflexion it takes in the two former 
 examples. — If grammarians, therefore, by the eleva- 
 
ELOCUTION. 127 
 
 vation of voice, which they attribute to the question, 
 mean the rising inflexion, their rule, with some few 
 exceptions, is true only of questions formed without 
 the interrogative words ; for the others, though they 
 may have a force and loudness on the last words, if 
 they happen to be emphatical, have no more of that 
 distinctive inflexion which is peculiar to the former 
 kind of interrogation, than if they were no questions 
 at all. Let us take another example : — fVhy should 
 not a female character be as ridiculous in a man, as a 
 male character in one of the female sex ? Here the 
 voice is no more elevated at the end than if I were to 
 say, A female character is just as ridiculous in a man 
 as a male character in one of the female sex ; but if I 
 say, Is not a female character as ridiculous in a man 
 as a male character in one of the fe'male sex ? — here 
 not only the emphasis, but the rising inflexion, is on 
 the last words; essentially different from the inflexion 
 on these words in the first question, Why should not a 
 female character be as ridiculous in a man, as a male 
 character in one ofthefemale sex ? We may presume, 
 therefore, that it is the emphasis, with which these 
 questions sometimes terminate, that has led the gene- 
 rality of grammarians to conclude, that all questions 
 terminate in an elevation of voice, and so to confound 
 that essential difference there is between a question 
 formed with and without the interrogative words. 
 
 Rule II. Interrogative sentences commencing with 
 interrogative words, and consisting, of members in a 
 series depending necessarily on each other for sense, 
 are to be pronounced as a series of members, of the 
 same kind in^a declarative sentence. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 From whence can he produce such cogent exhortations to the 
 practice of every virtue, such ardent excitements to piety and devo- 
 tion, and such assistance to attain them, as those which are to be 
 met with throughout every page of these inimitable writings ? 
 
 Jenyns's View of the Internal Evid. p. 41. 
 
128 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Where, amidst the dark clouds of pagan philosophy, can he show 
 us such a clear prospect of a future state, the immortality of the 
 sbul, the resurrection of the dead, and the general judgment, as in 
 St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians ? — Sped. 
 
 But to consider the Paradise Lost only as it regards our present 
 subject j what can be conceived greater than the battle of angels, 
 the majesty of Messiah, the stature and behaviour of Satan and his 
 peers ? what more beautiful than Pandemonium, Paradise, Heaven, 
 A'ngels, A'dam, and EVe ? what more strange than the creation of 
 the wbrld, the several metamorphoses of the fallen angels, and the 
 surprising adventures their leader meets with in his search after 
 paradise ? Ibid. No. 417. 
 
 In these sentences we find exactly the same pauses 
 and inflexions of voice take place as in the different 
 series of declarative sentences ; that is, the first 
 example is to be pronounced as in Rule III. of the 
 Compound Series, p. 105 ; the second as in Rule V. 
 p. 106 ; and the last example being a Series of Se- 
 rieses, must be pronounced according to the rules 
 laid down under that article, p. 110. 
 
 But the question which in reading and speaking 
 produces the greatest force and variety, is that which 
 is formed without the interrogative words. 
 
 The Question without the Interrogative Words. 
 
 Rule I. When interrogative sentences are formed 
 without the interrogative words, the last word must 
 have the rising inflexion. If there be an emphatical 
 word in the last member, followed by several words 
 depending on it, which conclude the sentence, both 
 the emphatical word and the concluding words are 
 to be pronounced with the rising inflexion : thus the 
 words making one, and cause of the shipwreck, in 
 the two following examples, have all the rising in- 
 flexion. 
 
ELOCUTION. 129 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Would it not employ a beau prettily enough if, instead of eter- 
 nally playing with his snuff-box, he spent some part of his time in 
 making one ? Spectator, No. 43. 
 
 If the owner of a vessel had fitted it out with every thing neces- 
 sary, and provided to the utmost of his power against the dangers 
 of the sea, and that a storm should afterwards arise and break the 
 masts, would any one in that case accuse him of being the cduse of 
 the shipwreck ? Demosthenes on the Crown. Rollin. 
 
 In these examples, we find, that, however variously 
 the voice may employ^ itself on the rest of the sen- 
 tence, the concluding words in the last member must 
 necessarily be suspended with the rising inflexion : 
 the only exception to this rule is, when these inter- 
 rogative sentences are connected by the disjunctive 
 or ; for in that case the sentence or sentences that 
 succeed the conjunction are pronounced as if they 
 were formed by the interrogative words, or were 
 merely declarative. 
 
 Rule II. When interrogative sentences connected 
 by the disjunctive or, succeed each other, the first 
 ends with the rising, and the rest with the falling in- 
 flexion. . 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Shall we in your person crdwn the author of the public calami- 
 ties, or shall we destroy him ? Machines on the Crown. Rollin, 
 
 Is the goodness, or wisdom of the divine Being, more manifested 
 in this his proceeding ? Spect. No. 519. 
 
 But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, and 
 this pretended revelation be all a fable, from believing it what harm 
 could ensue ? Would it render princes more tyrannical, or subjects 
 more ungovernable ? The rich more insolent, or the poor more dis- 
 orderly ? — Would it make worse parents, or children ; husbands or 
 wives ,- masters or servants j friends or neighbours ; or would ic not 
 make men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy in every 
 situation ? Jenyns's View of the Internal Evidence, p. 107. 
 
 K 
 
130 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 In the two former of these examples, we find the 
 disjunctive or necessarily direct the voice in the last 
 member of each to the falling inflexion ; and in the 
 third example, we have not only an instance of the 
 diversity of voice on the several questions according 
 to their form, but an illustration of the exception 
 formed by the conjunctive or ; for in the former part 
 of this passage, where it is used conjunctively, it does 
 not occasion any more alteration of the voice on the 
 word ensue than any other conjunctive word ; but 
 when used disjunctively, as in the last member of 
 the question commencing at — -or it would not make 
 men more virtuous, &c. — we find it very properly 
 change the tone of voice from the interrogative to 
 the declarative ; that is, from the rising to the falling 
 inflexion. 
 
 Rule III. Interrogative sentence, without interro- 
 gative words, when consisting of a variety of members 
 necessarily depending on each other for sense, admit 
 of every tone, pause, and inflexion of voice, common 
 to other sentences, provided the last member, on 
 which the whole question depends, has that peculiar 
 elevation and inflexion of voice which distinguishes 
 this species of interrogation. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 But can we believe a thinking being, that is in a perpetual progress 
 of improvements, and travelling on from perfection to perfection, 
 after having just looked abroad into the works of its Creator, and 
 made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, 
 must perish at her first setting 5ut, and in the very beginning of her 
 inquiries. Sped. No. 111. 
 
 In reading this passage we shall find, that placing 
 the falling inflexion without dropping the voice on 
 the words improvements and Creator, will not onry 
 prevent the monotony which is apt to arise from too 
 long a suspension of the voice, but enforce the sense 
 by enumerating, as it were, the several particulars of 
 which the question consists. 
 
E LOCUTION. 131 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Do you think that Themistocles, and the heroes who were killed 
 in the battles of Marathon and Platea ; do you think the very tombs 
 of your ancestors will not send forth groans, if you crown a man, 
 who, by his own confession, has been for ever conspiring with bar- 
 barians to ruin Greece ? /Eschines on the Crown. Rollin. 
 
 This passage will be rendered much more forcible 
 and harmonious, if, instead of suspending the voice 
 throughout, we make use of the falling inflexion, 
 without dropping the voice on the words Platea and 
 confession. 
 
 Rule TV. Interrogative sentences formed without 
 the interrogative words, and consisting of members in 
 a series, which form perfect sense as they proceed, 
 must have every member terminate with the inflexion 
 of voice peculiar to this species of interrogation. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 And with regard to the unhappy Lacedaemonians, what calamities 
 have not befallen them for taking only a small part of the spoils of 
 the temple ? they who formerly assumed a superiority over Greece, 
 are they not now going to send ambassadors to Alexander's cdurt, to 
 bear the name of hostages in his train, to become a spectacle of 
 misery, to bow the knee before the monarch, submit themselves and 
 their country to his mercy, and receive such laws as a c5nqueror — 
 a conqueror they attacked first, shall think fit to prescribe them ? 
 
 ^JEschines on the Croivn. Rollin. 
 
 It need scarcely be observed, that in order to pre- 
 vent the monotony to which this passage is very liable 
 in reading, we ought to begin the first question as 
 soft as possible, that the voice may pronounce them 
 all with an increasing force to the last. 
 
 But did you, O — (what title shall I give you !) did you betray the 
 least shadow of displeasure against me, when I broke the chords of 
 that harmony in your presence, and dispossessed the commonwealth 
 of the advantages of that confederacy, which you magnify so much 
 
132 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 with the loudest strains of your theatrical vdice ? did you ascend 
 the rdstrum ? did you denounce, or once explain those crimes, with 
 which you are ndw pleased to charge me ? 
 
 Demosthenes on the Crown. Rollin. 
 
 In this and the preceding sentence, we shall find 
 the ear relieved, and the sense greatly enforced, by 
 placing the falling inflexion with emphasis on a high 
 tone of voice on the words conqueror ', first \ and ex- 
 plain, according to Rule III. 
 
 Would an infinitely wise Being make such glorious beings for so 
 me*an a purpose ? can he delight in the production of such abdrtive 
 intelligence, such shdrt-lived reasonable beings ? would he give us 
 talents that are not to be exerted, capacities that are not to be 
 gratified ? Sped. No. 111. 
 
 In the reading of every series here produced, it will 
 be necessary to increase the force at the same time 
 that we preserve the rising inflexion on the last word 
 or member of every one. 
 
 One exception to this rule is, when a series of ques- 
 tions and answers follow each other : for in this case, 
 though the first is elevated as in other interrogations, 
 not commencing with interrogative words, the rest of 
 the questions assume the declarative tone, and fall 
 gradually into a period. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 As for the particular occasion of these (charity) schools, there can- 
 not any offer more worthy a generous mind. Would you do a hand- 
 some thing without return ? — do it for an infant that is not sensible 
 of the obligation ? Would you do it for the public good ? — do it for 
 one who will be an honest artificer ? Would you do it for the sake 
 of heaven ? — give it for one who shall be instructed in the worship 
 of Him for whose sake you gave it ? Spectator, No. 294. 
 
 In this exampje there is evidently an opposition in 
 the interrogations which is equivalent to the disjunc- 
 tive or ; and if the ellipsis were supplied, which this 
 opposition suggests, the sentence would run thus : 
 
ELOCUTION. 133 
 
 1} you will not do a handsome thing without return, 
 would you do it for the public good? and if not for the 
 public good, would you do it for the sake of' heaven? so 
 that this exception may be said to come under Rule 
 II. of this article. 
 
 This rule may throw a light upon a passage in 
 Shakspeare, very difficult to pronounce with variety, 
 if we terminate every question with the rising inflex- 
 ion, which, however, must necessarily be the case, as 
 the questions do not imply opposition to, or exclusion 
 of each other. The passage referred to is in Henry 
 V. where that monarch, after the discovery of the 
 conspiracy against him, thus expostulates with lord 
 Scroope, who was concerned in it : 
 
 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 : or are they spare in diet ; 
 Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger ; 
 Constant in spirit, not swerving with the bldod 
 Garnish'd and deek'd in modest compliment, 
 Not working with the eye without the ear, 
 And but in purged judgment trusting neither ? 
 Such and so finely boulted didst thdu seem. 
 
 In pronouncing this passage, it should seem most 
 eligible to use the rising inflexion at the end of the 
 several questions ; but alter the four first, the falling 
 inflexion seems very properly adopted on the word 
 diet, as this is the first branch of the last series of 
 questions ; and as this series continues for several 
 lines, provided the voice be but inflected upwards on 
 the last member at neither, the rest of the parts may 
 be pronounced as is most suitable to the sense and 
 harmony of the whole, according to Rule III. of this 
 article. 
 
 The necessity of attending to the distinction of in- 
 flexion, when things are distinguished and opposed to 
 
134 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 each other, will appear more clearly from the fol- 
 lowing passage : 
 
 See Falkland dies, the virtuous and the just ; 
 See god-like Turenne prostrate on the dust; 
 See Sydney bleeds amid the martial strife; 
 Was this their virtue or contempt of life? 
 
 Essay on Man, Ep. iv. v. 99. 
 
 If, in reading this passage, the voice were to adopt 
 the same inflexion both on virtue and on contempt of 
 life, and to end the last branch of the question as well 
 <as the first with the rising inflexion, the distinction, 
 so strongly marked by the sense, would be utterly 
 lost, whereas, if we end virtue with the rising, and 
 life with the falling inflexion, the distinction evidently 
 appears. But in the following passage from Shak- 
 speare we have an instance of the necessity of a con- 
 trary mode of pronunciation, arising from a similitude 
 of objects connected by the disjunctive or: 
 
 Is this the nature, 
 Which passion should not shake ? whose solid virtue, 
 The shot of accident, or dart of chance, 
 Could neither raze nor pierce ? Othello, 
 
 In this passage, the shot of accident, and the dart of 
 chance, being only different words for the same thing, 
 the word or conjoins them ; and to avoid any impli- 
 cation that they may mean different things, the same 
 inflexion of voice ought to be on them both, that is 
 the rising inflexion : but in the last member, where 
 the opposition is evident, both from the sense of the 
 words, and the disjunctive nor, the falling inflexion 
 ought to be laid on raze, and the rising on pierce. 
 
 For the same reason, in reading the following stanza 
 of Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard, it should 
 seem by much the most eligible method to suspend 
 the voice with the rising inflexion on the word death : 
 
ELOCUTION. 135 
 
 Canstory'd urn, or animated bust, 
 
 Back to its mansion call the fleeting bre"ath r 
 
 Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 
 Or flatt'ry sooth the dull cold ear of death ? 
 
 As the sense of the word ot\ that is, whether it 
 means conjunction or disjunction, is not always very 
 obvious, it may not be useless to propose the follow- 
 ing rule : if we are in doubt whether or is conjunc- 
 tive or disjunctive, let us make use of this paraphrase 
 if it is not so, is it so ? and if the sense will bear 
 this paraphrase, the or is disjunctive, and the subse- 
 quent question ought to have the falling inflexion: if 
 it will not bear it, the or is conjunctive, and the sub- 
 sequent question ought to have the rising inflexion. 
 Thus if we paraphrase the stanza just quoted, we 
 shall find the or conjunctive. If storied urn cannot 
 call back the fleeting breath, can animated bust call it 
 bach? If honour's voice cannot provoke the silent dust, 
 can flattery sooth the dull cold ear of death? 
 
 If this paraphrase does not seem suitable to the 
 general import of the sentence, it is because the ob- 
 jects are not put in opposition or contradistinction to 
 each other, and therefore that the or is conjunctive, 
 and, consequently, that the latter question requires 
 the rising inflexion as well as the former: but where 
 the or is disjunctive, we find this paraphrase very 
 suitable to the general import of the sentence : 
 
 But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, and 
 this pretended revelation be all a fable ; from believing it what harm 
 could ensue ? would it render princes more tyrannical, or subjects 
 more ungdvernable, the rich more insolent, or the poor more disor- 
 derly ? Would it make worse parents, or children, husbands, or 
 wives; masters, or servants, friends, or neighbours ? or would it not 
 make men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy in every 
 situation ? Jenyns. 
 
 If we try the paraphrase upon the former parts of 
 this sentence, we shall find it as repugnant to the 
 
136 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 sense as in the former example ; but if we apply it 
 to the last member, we shall find it perfectly accord 
 with the meaning of the author. Thus, if we say — 
 If it will not make worse parents or children, husbands 
 or wives, masters or servants, friends or neighbours ; 
 will it not make men more virtuous, and, consequently, 
 more happy in every situation ?— from whence we may 
 conclude that in the former part of this passage, the 
 or is conjunctive, and suspends the voice at the end 
 of every member, and that the last or is disjunctive, 
 and requires the sentence to end with the falling in- 
 flexion. 
 
 In passages of this kind, therefore, it seems quite 
 necessary to attend to the distinction of inflexion here 
 laid down : and it may be farther observed, that the 
 sense of a passage will always be more clearly under- 
 stood by attending to this distinction, though there 
 may not be always the same necessity for it. Thus 
 in the following passage : 
 
 One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those rela- 
 tions, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases, or the 
 different endings of the noun. 
 
 Here, though the word cases ends the penultimate 
 member, yet, as the last member must have the fall- 
 ing inflexion, the word cases must have the falling 
 likewise; for as here the word or is very different 
 from the or preceded by either in this sentence, All 
 languages express the relations of nouns either by pre- 
 positions or cases ; so it seems to intimate a different 
 pronunciation ; and as in the last example the words 
 prepositions and cases are opposed to each other, and 
 for that reason require different inflexions ; so, in the 
 former, a sameness of inflexion on both the parts con- 
 nected by or, seems better to preserve that sameness 
 of idea which each of these parts conveys. 
 
 These examples serve to discover a great and na- 
 tural source of that variety and precision which we 
 
ELOCUTION. 137 
 
 so much admire in good readers and speakers. So 
 many more instances might have been produced, 
 that these remarks might have justly formed a se- 
 parate article; but they seemed to belong more par- 
 ticularly to the interrogation, as here we view the 
 force of contrast in a stronger light; here we see, 
 that though the interrogation, without the interroga- 
 tive w T ords, necessarily requires the rising inflexion, 
 yet when one part of this interrogation is distinctly 
 opposed to, or contrasted with the other, these parts 
 require opposite inflexions of voice ; and it may, 
 without hesitation, be pronounced, that similar in- 
 flexions of voice upon similar members or members in 
 apposition, and opposite inflexions of voice upon oppo- 
 site words, or words opposed to, or contradistinguished 
 from each other in sense, are as congenial and essen- 
 tial to language as the marking of different things by 
 different words. 
 
 And here it were to be wished we could conclude 
 this article without a mention of those exceptions, 
 which are so apt to discourage inquirers into this 
 subject, and induce them to conclude that there is 
 nothing like rule or method in reading or speaking : 
 but it ought to be remembered, that though there are 
 numerous exceptions to almost every rule in gram- 
 mar, we do not from this conclude, that grammar 
 has no rules at all ; in subjects where custom has so 
 extensive an influence, and where nature seems to 
 vary expression for the sake of variety, if such rules 
 can be drawn put as have a great majority of in- 
 stances in their favour, we may certainly conclude 
 that this, as well as every other department of lan- 
 guage, is not without fixed and settled rules. 
 
 That rule which directs us to suspend the voice 
 with the rising inflexion at the end of a question 
 formed without the interrogative words, is, perhaps, 
 as general, and as well founded, as any rule in lan- 
 guage ; but the ear, which is disgusted at too long a 
 
138 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 suspension of voice, when the question is drawn out 
 to a considerable length, often for the sake of a better 
 sound, converts the interrogative into the declarative 
 tone, and concludes a question of this kind with the 
 falling inflexion: 
 
 Thus there are few readers who would not con- 
 clude the following question with the falling in- 
 flexion : 
 
 Do you think that Themistocles and the heroes who were killed in 
 the battles of Marathon and Platea, do you think the very tombs or' 
 your ancestors would not send forth groans, if you crown a man, 
 who, by his own confession, has been for ever conspiring with bar- 
 barians to ruin Greece ? 
 
 If this question were considered as entirely de- 
 tached from the rest of the subject, there is no doubt 
 but the ear is much more gratified by this, than by 
 an opposite pronunciation : but when we reflect, 
 that by this pronunciation, though the ear is grati- 
 fied, it is at the expense of that peculiar poignancy 
 which the rising inflexion gives to this species of in- 
 terrogation, we shall be less satisfied with the sacrifice 
 we make to sound ; for though sound has its rights 
 as well as sense, sense seems to have the first claim, 
 especially in prose, and more particularly in this case, 
 where the question loses all its force and vigour, un- 
 less pronounced with its specific inflexion : besides, 
 when we consider that in pronouncing a whole sub- 
 ject to the best advantage, perhaps it is not necessary 
 that every part should be so pronounced as to be by 
 itself most agreeable to the ear, we shall perceive that 
 it is possible some parts may be pronounced less har- 
 moniously as parts, which may contribute greatly to 
 the energy, variety, and even harmony of the whole ; 
 as less agreeable passages, and even discords in music, 
 are known to add greatly to the general beauty and 
 effect of a whole composition. 
 
ELOCUTION. 139 
 
 It must, however, be acknowledged, that some 
 questions are so immoderately long, and, losing sight 
 of the first object of interrogation, run into such a 
 variety of after-thoughts, that, preserving the idea 
 of the question all through, and ending it with the 
 rising inflexion, would not only be very difficult and 
 inharmonious, but in some measure prejudicial to 
 the force and energy of the sense : when this is the 
 case, changing the rising to the falling inflexion is 
 certainly proper : and what fault there is in the want 
 of correspondence between sense and sound, must be 
 placed to the account of the composition : a reader, 
 like a musical performer, perhaps, can cover a few 
 blemishes in his author, by the elegance and delicacy 
 of the tones he produces ; but all his art will not en- 
 able him to make bad composition read as well as 
 good ; or to make sense and sound accord in the 
 reading, when they are at variance in the composi- 
 tion. Thus in the following sentence : 
 
 The Brigantines, even under a female leader, had force enough to 
 burn the enemy's settlements, to storm their camps, and if success 
 had not introduced negligence and inactivity, would have been able 
 entirely to throw off the yoke : and shall not we, untouched, unsub- 
 dued, and struggling, not for the acquisition, but the continuance of 
 liberty, declare, at the very first onset, what kind of men Caledonia 
 has reserved for her defence ? 
 
 In reading this sentence, we find it difficult to give 
 it all its necessary force and harmony, and at the 
 same time pronounce the emphatical word Caledonia, 
 and the following words, with the rising inflexion, as 
 the nature of the question seems to demand ; on the 
 other hand, if we lay the emphasis with the falling 
 inflexion on the word Caledonia, the rising inflexion 
 on reserved, and the falling on defence, the cadence 
 will be harmoniously formed, and the sense will ap- 
 pear greatly enforced ; but as this sense is not the 
 precise and specific import of the interrogation, it 
 
140 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 must be left to the reader's judgment which mode of 
 pronunciation he will adopt. 
 
 And here it may be worth observing, that ques- 
 tions without the interrogative words, demanding the 
 rising inflexion of voice, are always unfavourable to 
 harmony when they end a branch of a subject com- 
 monly denoted by the paragraph : and that if the ge- 
 neral rule be violated, this position of the question 
 seems the best apology for it ; as concluding a ques- 
 tion of this kind with the rising inflexion seems to 
 leave a demand unanswered, and the branch of the 
 subject imperfect ; but if the question does not end 
 the paragraph, but is either directly answered by the 
 speaker, or followed by something so immediately 
 connected with it as to remove the suspense of wait- 
 ing for an answer ; if this is the case, I say, let the 
 train of questions be ever so numerous, it seems quite 
 necessary to conclude with the rising inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Consider, I beseech you, what was the part of a faithful citizen ? 
 of a prudent, an active, and an honest minister ? Was he not to 
 secure Euboea as our defence against all attacks by sea ? Was he 
 not to make Boeotia our barrier on the midland side ? The cities 
 bordering upon Peloponnesus our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he 
 not to attend with due precaution to the importation of corn, that 
 this trade might be protected through all its progress up to our own 
 harbours ? Was he not to cover those districts which we commanded 
 by seasonable detachments, as the Proconesus, the Chersonesus, and 
 Tenedos ? To exert himself in the assembly for this purpose ? While 
 with equal zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest and alli- 
 ance, as Byzantium, Abydus, and Euboea ? Was he not to cut off 
 the best, and most important resources of our enemies, and to sup- 
 ply those in which our country was defective ? — And all this you 
 gained by my counsels and my administration. 
 
 Leland's Demosthenes. 
 
 In pronouncing this passage, we And no method 
 so proper as that of annexing the rising inflexion to 
 every single question ; and as they are not final, but 
 are closed by a sentence with the falling inflexion, 
 
ELOCUTION. 141 
 
 the whole comes forcibly to the mind and agreeably 
 to the ear, instead of that hiatus, both in sense and 
 sound, with which the former sentence concludes 
 when we finish it with the rising inflexion. 
 
 It may be observed, likewise, that when questions 
 are succeeded by answers, it will be necessary to raise 
 the voice in the rising inflexion on the question, and 
 after a considerable pause to pronounce the answer in 
 a lower tone of voice, that they may be better distin- 
 guished from each other. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 My departure is objected to me, which charge I cannot answer 
 without commending myself. For what must I say ? That 1 fled 
 from a consciousness of guilt ? But what is charged upon me as a 
 crime, was so far from being a fault, that it is the most glorious 
 action since the memory of man. That I feared being called to an 
 account by the people ? That was never talked of ; and if it had 
 been done, I should have come off with double hbnour. That 1 
 wanted the support of good and honest m£n ? That is false. That 
 I was afraid of death ? That is a calumny. I must, therefore, say 
 what I would not, unless compelled to it, that I withdrew to preserve 
 the city. Cicero. 
 
 In pronouncing this passage, we shall find it ab- 
 solutely necessary, both for the vivacity of the ques- 
 tions, and to distinguish them from the answers, to 
 pronounce the former in a higher, and the latter in a 
 lower tone of voice, and to make a very long pause 
 after each question. 
 
 It seems necessary only to make one observation 
 more before we close this article ; and that is, that 
 as questions of this kind, which demand the rising 
 inflexion at the end, especially when they are drawn 
 out to any length, are apt to carry the voice into a 
 higher key than is either suitable or pleasant, too 
 much care cannot be taken to keep the voice down, 
 when we are pronouncing the former parts of a long 
 question, and the commencing question of a long 
 succession of questions ; for as the characteristic pro- 
 
142 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 nunciation of these questions is, to end with the rising 
 inflexion, provided we do but terminate with this, the 
 voice may creep on in a low and almost sameness of 
 tone till the end ; and then if the voice is not agree- 
 able in a high key, which is the case with the gene- 
 rality of voices, the last word of the whole may be 
 pronounced with the rising inflexion, in nearly the 
 same low key in which the voice commences. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be entirely useless to take no- 
 tice of a very common mistake of printers, which is 
 annexing the note of interrogation to such sentences 
 as are not really interrogative, and which include a 
 question only imperatively. Such are the following : 
 
 Presumptuous man ! the reason would'st thou find, 
 Why form'd so weak, so little, and so blind ? 
 First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, 
 Why form'd 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 ? 
 
 Popes Essay on Man, Ep. i. v. 35. 
 
 In this passage we find the first couplet very pro- 
 perly marked with the note of interrogation, and the 
 second couplet as properly left without it. But the 
 third couplet, which is no more a question than the 
 second, has a note of interrogation annexed to it ; 
 and the fourth, which is perfectly similar to the third, 
 is marked with a note of interrogation likewise. 
 
 Exclamation. 
 
 This note is appropriated by grammarians to in- 
 dicate that some passion or emotion is contained in 
 the words to which it is annexed ; and it may, there- 
 fore, be looked upon as essentially distinct from the 
 rest of the points ; the office of which is commonly 
 
ELOCUTION. 143 
 
 % 
 
 supposed to be that of fixing or determinating the 
 sense only. Whether a point that indicates passion or 
 emotion, without determining what emotion or pas- 
 sion is meant, or if we had points expressive of every 
 passion or emotion, whether this would, in common 
 usage, more assist or embarrass the elocution of the 
 reader, I shall not at present attempt to decide ; 
 but when this point is applied to sentences which, 
 from their form, might be supposed to be merely in- 
 terrogative, and yet really imply wonder, surprise, or 
 astonishment ; when this use, 1 say, is made of the 
 note of exclamation, it must be confessed to be of no 
 small importance in reading, and very justly to de- 
 serve a place in grammatical punctuation. 
 
 Thus the sentence, How mysterious are the ways of 
 Providence ! which naturally adopts the exclamation, 
 may, by a speaker who denies these mysteries, be- 
 come a question, by laying a stress on the word how, 
 and subjoining the note of interrogation ; as, How 
 mysterious are the ways of Providence ? Upon hear- 
 ing a piece of music, we may cry out with rapture, 
 What harmony is that ! or we may use the words to 
 inquire What harmony is that ? that is, what kind 
 of harmony. The very different import, then, of 
 these sentences, as they are differently pointed, suffi- 
 ciently show the utility of the note of exclamation. 
 
 So little, however, is this distinction attended to, 
 that we seldom see a sentence commencing with the 
 interrogative words marked with any thing but the 
 note of interrogation, however distant the meaning of 
 the sentence may be from doubt or inquiry. 
 
 Thus Mr. Addison, speaking of the necessity of 
 exercise, says — 
 
 The earth must be laboured before it gives its increase ; and when 
 it is forced into its several products, how many hands must they 
 pass through before they are fit for use ? Spectator, No. 115. 
 
 And this passage, in all the editions of the Spec- 
 tator I have seen, is marked with a note ofinterroga- 
 
144 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 tion. Another writer in the Spectator, speaking of 
 the grandeur and beauty of heaven, says — 
 
 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 ? Spectator, No. 580. 
 
 Instances of this mistake are innumerable ; and yet 
 it is as clear as any thing in language, that these pas- 
 sages ought not to be marked with the interrogation, 
 but with the exclamation point. — It may be urged, 
 indeed, in extenuation of this fault, that the note of 
 interrogation is not always very easy to be distin- 
 guished from the note of exclamation ; and when this 
 is the case, a mistake is not of any great importance 
 to the reader ; for we may be sure that question which 
 may be mistaken for an exclamation, whatever tone 
 or passion it may demand, can never require any in- 
 flexion of voice on the last word, but that which the 
 question itself requires, which is the falling inflexion. 
 — It will however, be necessary to take notice of an 
 exception to this rule, which is, when the exclama- 
 tion comes immediately after a question, and, as it 
 were, repeats it ; for, in this case, the repeated ques- 
 tion, which is really an exclamation, assumes the 
 rising inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Will you for ever, Athenians, do nothing but walk up and down 
 the city, asking one another, What news ? What n6ws ! Is there any 
 thing more new than to see a man of Macedonia become master of 
 the Athenians, and give laws to all Greece? 
 
 Demosthenes First Philippic, Rollin. 
 
 In this passage we find the first question including 
 the last, and, being formed without the interrogative 
 words, requires the rising inflexion ; and as the sen- 
 tence of admiration, What news ! immediately fol- 
 lows, it exactly imitates the object it ironically ad- 
 mires. This inflexion of the note of admiration is 
 not confined to the repetition of this inflexion in the 
 
ELOCUTION. 145 
 
 foregoing question ; for if a question is asked with 
 the interrogative words, and, consequently, with the 
 falling inflexion, if we immediately echo the question, 
 and turn it into an admiration, the voice necessarily 
 adopts the rising inflexion before described. Thus 
 when Pope inquires into the place where happiness 
 resides, he says — 
 
 Plant of celestial seed, if drop'd below, 
 Say in what mortal soil thou deign'st to grow : 
 Fair op'ning to some court's propitious shine, 
 Or deep with diamonds in the flaming mine? 
 Twin'd with the wreaths Parnassian laurels yield, 
 Or reap'd in iron harvests of the field ? 
 Where grdws ? where grows it nbt ? if vain our toil, 
 We ought to blame the culture, not the soil. 
 
 Pope's Essay on Man, b. iv. 
 
 Here the phrase, where grows, assumes the rising 
 inflexion, and ought to be marked with the note of 
 exclamation. 
 
 It may not be entirely useless to take notice of a 
 common error of grammarians ; which is, that both 
 this point and the interrogation require an elevation 
 of voice. The inflexion of voice proper to one 
 species of question, which, it is probable, gramma- 
 rians may have mistaken for an elevation of voice, it 
 is presumed has been fully explained under that 
 article : by the elevation of voice they attribute to 
 this point, it is not unlikely that they mean the pa- 
 thos or energy with which we usually express passion 
 or emotion ; but which is, by no means, inseparably 
 connected with elevation of voice : were we even to 
 suppose, that all passion or emotion necessarily as- 
 sumes a louder tone, it must still be acknowledged 
 this is very different from a higher tone of voice, and 
 therefore that the common rule is very fallacious 
 and inaccurate. 
 
 The truth is, the expression of passion or emotion 
 consists in giving a distinct and specific quality to 
 the sounds we use, rather than in increasing or dimi- 
 
 L 
 
146 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 msh ing their quantity, or in giving this quantity any 
 local direction upwards or downwards : understand- 
 ing the import of a sentence, and expressing that 
 sentence with passion and emotion, are things as dis- 
 tinct as the head and the heart : this point, therefore, 
 though useful to distinguish interrogation from emo- 
 tion, is as different from the rest of the points as 
 Grammar is from Rhetoric ; and whatever may be 
 the tone of voice proper to the note of exclamation, it 
 is certain the inflexions it requires are exactly the 
 same as the rest of the points ; that is, if the excla- 
 mation point is placed after a member that would 
 have the rising inflexion in another sentence, it ought 
 to have the rising in this ; if after a member that 
 would have the falling inflexion, the exclamation 
 ought to have the falling inflexion likewise ; or if ex- 
 clamation is mingled with a question, it requires the 
 same inflexion the question would require, unless, as 
 we have formerly observed, the question with the in- 
 terrogative words is an echo of another question of 
 the same kind, which, in this case, always requires 
 the rising inflexion : and this exception, it may be 
 observed, is perfectly agreeable to the general rule ; 
 for a repetition of a question of this kind alters its 
 form, and changes it in effect into a question without 
 the interrogative word; as the member, where grows, 
 in the last example, is equivalent to the sentence, Do 
 you ask where it grows ; an ellipsis in the words, not 
 altering in the least the import of the sentence. 
 
 An instance, that the exclamation may be mixed 
 with interrogations of both kinds, may be seen in the 
 following speech of Gracchus, quoted by Cicero, and 
 inserted in the Spectator, No. 541. 
 
 Whither shall I turn? Wretch that I dm! to what place shall 
 I betake myself ? Shall I go to the Capitol ? alas ! it is overflowed 
 with my brother's blood I or shall I retire to my h5use ? yet there I 
 behold my mother plunged in misery, weeping and despairing ! 
 
 Every distinct portion of this passage may be truly 
 said to be an exclamation \ and yet we find, in read- 
 
ELOCUTION. 147 
 
 ing it, though it can scarcely be pronounced with too 
 much emotion, the inflexions of voice are the same as 
 if pronounced without any emotion at all : that is, 
 the portion Whither shall I turn, terminates like a 
 question with the interrogative word, with the falling 
 inflexion. The member, Wretch that I am, like a 
 member forming incomplete sense, with the rising 
 inflexion; the question without the interrogative 
 Shall I go to the Capitol, with the rising inflexion ; 
 alas! it is overflowed with my brother's blood, with the 
 falling: the question commencing with the disjunc- 
 tive or, shall I retire to my house, with the falling 
 inflexion, but in a lower tone of voice. 
 
 Thus we see how vague and indefinite are the 
 general rules for reading this point, for want of dis- 
 tinguishing high and low tones of voice, from those 
 upward and downward slides, which may be in any 
 note of the voice, and which, from their radical dif- 
 ference, form the most marking differences in pro- 
 nunciation. 
 
 Parenthesis. 
 
 The parenthesis is defined by our excellent gram- 
 marian, Dr. Lowth, to be a member of a sentence in- 
 serted in the body of a sentence, which member is 
 neither necessary to the sense, nor at all affects the 
 construction. He observes, also, that in reading or 
 speaking, it ought to have a moderate depression of 
 the voice, and a pause greater than a comma. That 
 is, perhaps, as just a definition of the parenthesis as 
 could be given in so few words, and may serve to 
 regulate our opinion of it when the marks of it in 
 printing are either omitted or used improperly ; but 
 several other particulars respecting this grammatical 
 note may be remarked, which will tend greatly to 
 acquaint us with the true nature of it, and show us 
 how it may be pronounced to advantage. 
 
 l 2 
 
148 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 And first it may be observed, that the parenthesis 
 seems to have been much under-rated by the gene- 
 rality of writers on composition, who consider it 
 rather as a blemish than an advantage to style, and 
 have almost entirely prohibited the use of it. This, 
 however, cannot be done without arraigning the taste 
 of the best writers, both ancient and modern, who 
 frequently make use of this figure of grammar, and 
 often with great advantage : for though, when used 
 injudiciously, it interrupts the course of the thought, 
 and obscures the meaning ; yet sometimes it so hap- 
 pily conveys a sentiment or stroke of humour, as to 
 entitle it to no small merit among the grammatical 
 figures, and to rank it even with those of oratory and 
 eloquence. What, for example, can add greater 
 force to a pathetic sentiment than a thought rising 
 up from the fullness of the heart, as it were in the 
 middle of another sentence ? What can add greater 
 poignancy to a sally of wit, than conceiving it as 
 springing naturally from the luxuriancy of the sub- 
 ject without the least effort or premeditation of the 
 writer ? What can give such importance to a tran- 
 sient thought, as producing it in the negligence of an 
 intervening member ; and how much is composition 
 familiarised, and rendered natural and easy, by the 
 judicious introduction of these transient unpreme- 
 ditated thoughts ! This manner of conveying a 
 thought makes us esteem it the more in proportion as 
 the author seems to esteem it less ; and if, to this ad- 
 vantage of the parenthesis, we add that of the con- 
 ciseness of thought and variety of pronunciation, it 
 sometimes bestows on the style and cadence of a 
 sentence, we shall by no means think it a trifling or 
 insignificant part of composition. 
 
 But though the parenthesis has often an excellent 
 effect both in composition and delivery, yet, when it 
 is used too frequently, or extended to too great a 
 length, it embarrasses the reader, and obscures rather 
 than illustrates the meaning of the author ; for which 
 
ELOCUTION. 149 
 
 reason we find good writers constantly avoid a long 
 and complicated parenthesis. The best parenthesis, 
 therefore, is the shortest ; for as the main current of 
 the sentence is standing still while this intervening 
 member is pronounced, the thread of the discourse is 
 broken, and, if discontinued too long, is with difficulty 
 taken up again. 
 
 The real nature of the parenthesis once understood, 
 we are at no loss for the true manner of delivering it. 
 The tone of voice ought to be interupted, as it were, 
 by something unforeseen ; and, after a pause, the 
 parenthesis should be pronounced in a lower tone of 
 voice, at the end of which, after another pause, the 
 higher tone of voice, which w r as interrupted, should 
 be resumed, that the connexion between the former 
 and latter part of the interrupted sentence may be 
 restored. It may be observed too, that in order to 
 preserve the integrity of the principal members, the 
 parenthesis onght not only to be pronounced in a 
 lower tone, but a degree swifter than the rest of the 
 period, as this still better preserves the broken sense, 
 and distinguishes the explanation from the text. For 
 that this is always the case in conversation, we can 
 be under no doubt, when we consider, that whatever 
 is supposed to make our auditors wait, gives an im- 
 pulse to the tongue, in order to relieve them as soon 
 as possible from the suspense of an occasional and 
 unexpected interruption. 
 
 Rule I. The most general rule is, that the paren- 
 thesis always terminates with that pause and inflex- 
 ion of voice with which the interrupted part of the 
 sentence that precedes it is marked; for any closer 
 connexion between the parenthesis and the latter, 
 than between the parenthesis and the former part of 
 the sentence, would form a fresh member, com- 
 pounded of the parenthesis and the latter part, and 
 by this means leave the former imperfect. Accord- 
 ingly, when the member immediately preceding the 
 
150 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 parenthesis ends with imperfect sense, or a comma 
 and the rising inflexion (which is almost always the 
 case), the parenthesis ends with a comma, and the 
 rising inflexion likewise. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Know ye not, brethren (for J speak to them that know the law), 
 that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he Ifveth ? 
 
 Rom. vii. 1. 
 
 When it ends with perfect sense, generally marked 
 with a colon, and consequently requires the falling 
 inflexion of voice (which very seldom happens), the 
 parenthesis ends with a colon and falling inflexion 
 also. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them with- 
 out violence (for they feared the people, lest they should have been 
 stbned) : and when they had brought them, they set them before the 
 council.' Ads, v. 26. 27. 
 
 But before we proceed to give other examples, it 
 will be necessary to take notice, that though the 
 pause and inflexion, terminating the parenthesis and 
 the member that precedes it, may be said to be the 
 same, it must still be understood to mean the same 
 only as far as the difference of tone with which the 
 parenthesis is pronounced will permit ; for if the 
 parenthesis is to be pronounced in a low T er tone than 
 the principal sentence, which seems universally 
 allowed, the pause and inflexion of voice with which 
 the parenthesis ends, must necessarily be pronounced 
 lower than the same pauses and inflexions terminat- 
 ing the preceding member ; but as this is only like 
 reading the same sentence in a higher or lower, in a 
 louder or softer tone (in all which modes of pro- 
 nunciation the pauses and inflexions have an exact 
 proportion, and are called the same, though different 
 in some respects) ; so the higher and lower tone with 
 
ELOCUTION. 151 
 
 which the same pause and inflexion are pronounced 
 in and out of a parenthesis, may be so easily con- 
 ceived, thatj perhaps, this observation may, by most 
 readers, be thought superfluous. To resume there- 
 fore the rule : 
 
 A parenthesis must be pronounced in a lower tone 
 of voice, and conclude with the same pause and in- 
 flexion which terminate the member that imme- 
 diately precedes it. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this care of Cicero, history informs us, that 
 Marcus proved a mere blockhead; and that ndture (who, it seems, 
 v/as even with the son for her prodigality to the father) rendered 
 him incapable of improving, by all the rules of eloquence, the pre- 
 cepts of philbsophy, his own endeavours, and the most refined con- 
 versation in 'Athens. Spectator, No. 307. 
 
 Natural historians observe (for whilst I am in the Country I must 
 fetch my allusions from thence) that only male birds have voices ; 
 that their songs bes;in a little before breeding- time, and end 
 a little after. Ibid. No. 128. 
 
 Dr. Clark has observed, that Homer is more perspicuous than any 
 other author ; but if he is so (which yet may be questioned) the 
 perspicuity arises from his subject, and not from the language itself 
 in which he writes. Ward's Grammar, p. 292. 
 
 The many letters which come to me from persons of the best 
 sense in bdth sexes (for I may pronounce their characters from their 
 way of writing) do not a little encourage me in the prosecution of 
 this my undertaking. Sped. No. 124. 
 
 It is this sense which furnishes the imagination with its ideas : so 
 that by the pleasures of the imagination or fancy (which I shall use 
 promiscuously) I here mean such has arise from visible objects. 
 
 Ibid. No. 411. 
 
 In these examples, we find the parenthesis break 
 in upon the sense ; but as the interruption is short, 
 and is also distinguished from the body of the sen- 
 tence by a different tone of voice, as well as by 
 pauses, it does not in the least embarrass it. 
 
152 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 But when parentheses are long, which is some- 
 times the case in prose, and often in poetry, too 
 much care cannot be taken to read them in so dif- 
 ferent a tone of voice from the rest of the sentence, 
 as may keep them perfectly separate and distinct: this 
 is not only to be done by lowering the voice, and 
 pronouncing the parenthesis more rapidly, but by 
 giving a degree of monotone or sameness to the voice, 
 which will, perhaps, distinguish the parenthesis, and 
 keep it from mingling with what encloses it better 
 than any of the other peculiarities. Let us take a 
 few examples by way of praxis. 
 
 Since then every sort of good which is immediately of importance 
 to happiness, must be perceived by some immediate power or sense, 
 antecedent to any opinions or reasoning (for it is the business of 
 reason to compare the several sorts of good perceived by the several 
 senses, and to find out the proper means for obtaining them), we 
 must therefore carefully enquire into the several sublimer perceptive 
 powers or senses ; since it is by them we best discover what state or 
 course of life best answers the intention of God and nature, and 
 wherein true happiness consists. 
 
 Hutcheson's Moral Philosophy, book i. chap. i. seel. 5. 
 
 If sometimes on account of virtue we should be exposed to such 
 evils, which is sometimes the case (though men are much more fre- 
 quently involved by their vices in such evils, and that in a more 
 shameful base way), virtue can teach us to bear such evils with reso- 
 lution, or to conquer them. Ibid. chap. ii. sect. 11. 
 
 And although the diligent and active should not, without weighty 
 causes, be any way restrained by their just acquisitions - f (and, in- 
 deed the best sorts of democracy may allow them to acquire as much 
 as can be requisite for any elegance or pleasure of life that a wise 
 man could desire ;) yet we are never put in the balance with the 
 liberty or safety of a people, the gratifying the vain ambition, lux- 
 ury, or avarice of a few. Ibid, book iii. ch. vi. sect. 1. 
 
 For these reasons, the senate and people of 'Athens (with due 
 veneration to the gods and heroes, and guardians of the Athenian 
 city and territory, whose aid they now implore ; and with due atten- 
 tion to the virtue of their ancestors, to whom the general liberty of 
 Greece was ever dearer than the particular interest of their own 
 
ELOCUTION. 153 
 
 state) have resolved that a fleet of two hundred vessels shall be sent 
 to sea, the admiral to cruise within the straits of Thermopylae. 
 
 Leland's Demosthenes on the Crown, 
 
 As to my own abilities in speaking (for T shall admit this charge, 
 although experience hath convinced me, that what is called the 
 power of eloquence depends for the most part upon the hearers, and 
 that the characters of public speakers are determined by that degree 
 of favour which you vouchsafe to each); if long practice, I say, 
 hath given me any proficiency in speaking, you have ever found it 
 devoted to my country. Ibidem. 
 
 In these instances of the parenthesis it will be 
 found very difficult to keep the main thread of the 
 subject entire, unless we distinguish the intervening 
 member by a pause, a lower tone of voice, and a 
 somewhat swifter and less varied tone than what pre- 
 cedes and follows; and we must never forget, that 
 when the parenthesis is pronounced, the voice, after 
 a short pause, must recover the higher tone it fell 
 from, in order to preserve the connexion in the thought. 
 Without these precautions it w T ill often be impossible 
 to pronounce Milton so as to make him intelligible. 
 That sublime and excursive genius is, like Homer, 
 frequently, by the beauty of an intervening thought, 
 carried so far out of the direct line of his subject, as 
 to make it impossible for his reader to preserve the 
 direct line, but by distinguishing those thoughts that 
 vary from it by a different pronunciation. Let us ad- 
 duce a few examples for practice. 
 
 But what if he our conqueror (whom I now 
 Of force believe almighty, since no less 
 Than such could have o'erpower'd such force as 6urs) 
 Have left us this our spirit and strength entire 
 Strongly to suffer and support our pains? 
 
 Paradise Lost, I. i. v . 143. 
 
 His spear (to equal which the tallest pine 
 Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast 
 Of some great admiral, were but a wand) 
 He walk'd with to support uneasy steps 
 Over the burning marie. 
 
 Ibid. v. 292. 
 
154 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Know then, that after Lucifer from heav'n 
 (So call him brighter once amidst the host 
 Of angels than that star the stars among) 
 Fell with his flaming legions through the deep 
 Into his place, and the great Son return'd 
 Victorious with his saints, th' omnipotent 
 Eternal Father from his throne beheld 
 Their muitidude, and to his Son thus speak. 
 
 Ibid, book vii. v. 131. 
 
 Round he surveys (and well might where he stood 
 So high above the circling canopy 
 Of night's extended shade) from eastern point 
 Of Libra, to the fleecy star that bears 
 Andromeda far off Atlantic seas 
 Beyond the horizon. Ibid, book iii. v. 555. 
 
 They anon 
 With hundreds and with thousands trooping came 
 Attended : all access was thronged ; the gates 
 And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall 
 (Though like a cover'd field, where champions bold 
 Wont ride in arm'd, and at the soldan's chair 
 Defy'd the best of Panim chivalry 
 To mortal combat, or career with lance) 
 Thick swarm'd both on the ground, and in the air 
 Brush'd with the hiss of rustling wings. 
 
 Ibid, book i. v. 758. 
 
 Under this article, perhaps, may be arranged aside 
 speeches of dramatic works, and all the intervening 
 explanatory members in narrative writing: for both 
 these species of members, like the parenthesis, require 
 both a lower tone of voice, and a more rapid pronun- 
 ciation, than the rest of the composition. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be improper to observe, that 
 the small intervening members, says I, says he, con- 
 tinned they, &c. not only follow the inflexion, but the 
 tone of the member which precedes them : that is, 
 if the preceding member breaks off with the rising in- 
 flexion, theseintervening members are not pronounced 
 in a lower tone, like other parenthesis, but in a higher 
 and feebler tone of voice than the rest. 
 
ELOCUTION, W$ 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Thus then, said he, since you are so urgent, it is thus that I con- 
 ceive it. The sovereign good is that, the possession of which ren- 
 ders us happy. And how_, said I, do we possess it ? Is it sensual 
 or intellectual ? There you are entering, said he, upon the detail. 
 
 Harris* 
 
 The first intervening member said he, is pronounced 
 with the falling inflexion somewhat feebler than the 
 words thus then, which have the same inflexion : the 
 next intervening member, said I, has the falling in- 
 flexion, in a feebler tone than the word how, which 
 has the falling inflexion likewise ; but said he, in the 
 next sentence, has the rising inflexion like the pre- 
 ceding word entering, though in a feebler tone of 
 voice. The same may be observed of the interven- 
 ing member, says one of the frogs, in the following 
 example : 
 
 A company of waggish boys were watching of frogs at the side of 
 a pond, and still as any of them put up their heads, they would be 
 pelting them down again with stones : ct Children" (says one of the 
 frogs), " you never consider, that though this may be play to you, 
 " it is death to us." L Estrange, in Sped. No. 23. 
 
 But when the intervening member goes farther 
 than these simple phrases, they must always be pro- 
 nounced in a lower tone of voice, and terminate with 
 the rising inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 I had letters from him (here I felt in my pdckets) that exactly 
 spoke the Czar's character, which I knew perfectly well. 
 
 Spectator, No. 136. 
 
 Young master was alive last Whitsuntide, said the coachman. — 
 Whitsuntide ! alas ! cried Trim (extending his right arm, and falling 
 instantly into the same attitude in which he read the sermon) — 
 What is Whitsuntide, Jonathan (for that was the coachman's 
 n&me), or Shrovetide, or any tide or time past to this ? Are we not 
 here n6w, continued the Corporal (striking the end of his stick per- 
 
156 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 pendicularly upon the floor, so as to give an idea of health and sta~ 
 bility),and are we ndt (dropping his hat upon the grdund) gone 
 in a moment ? Sterne. 
 
 In these examples we perceive the parenthesis has 
 a pronunciation much more different from the text 
 than the small explanatory members, cried Trim, and 
 continued the corporal, which, though pronounced in 
 a different manner from the body of the sentence, 
 have not so marked a difference as the parenthesis. 
 
 Rule II. As the first general rule was, that the 
 parenthesis ought to terminate with the same pause 
 and inflexion of voice as the member that preceded it; 
 the next general rule is, that the parenthesis, like the 
 member immediately preceding it, almost always ter- 
 minates with the pause of the comma and the rising 
 inflexion : this has been abundantly exemplified in 
 the foregoing instances ; and it will now be neces- 
 sary to take notice of an exception to this rule, which 
 is, when the parenthesis terminates with an empha- 
 tical word which requires the falling inflexion ; for 
 in this case, emphasis requires, that the parenthesis 
 should terminate with the falling instead of the rising 
 inflexion. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Had 1, when speaking in the assembly, been absolute and inde- 
 pendent master of affairs, then your other speakers might call me to 
 account. But if ye were ever present, if ye were all in general in- 
 vited to propose your sentiments, if ye were all agreed that the 
 measures then suggested were realiy the best ; if you, ^schines, in 
 particular, were thus persuaded (and it was no partial affection for 
 me, that prompted you to give me up the hopes, the applause, the 
 honours, which attended that course I then advised, hut the supe- 
 rior force of truth, and your utter inability to point out, any more 
 eligible course), if this was the case, I say, is it not highly cruel and 
 unjust to arraign those measures now, when you could not then 
 propose any better ? Leland"s Demost. on the Crown. 
 
 Here the parenthesis finishing with two parts in 
 opposition to each other, and the first of them being 
 
ELOCUTION. 157 
 
 negative, and the last positive, the sense necessarily 
 requires that advised should terminate with the rising, 
 and eligible course with the falling inflexion ; but as 
 the member which immediately precedes the paren- 
 thesis is emphatical, and takes the falling inflexion, 
 likewise in this case the general rule is not broken. 
 
 Cicero, speaking of the duty of magistrates, says — 
 
 Care must be taken that it be not (as was often done by our an- 
 cestors, through the smallness of the treasury and continuance of 
 the wars) necessary to raise taxes ; and in order to prevent this, pro- 
 vision should be made against it long beforehand : but if the neces- 
 sity of this service should happen to any state (which 1 had rather 
 suppose of another than our own ; nor am I now discoursing of 
 our dvvn but of every state in general) methods must be used to 
 convince all persons (if they would be sectire) that they ought to 
 submit to necessity. Cicero's Offices, book ii. c. 21. 
 
 In this passage are no less than three parentheses ; 
 the first and last, according to the general rule, end 
 with the rising inflexion ; but the middle parenthetic 
 member ending with two emphatic objects, the last 
 of which requires the falling inflexion, the general 
 rule must be dispensed with. Why the negative 
 part of a sentence requires the rising, and positive 
 part the falling inflexion, see Theory of Emphatic 
 Inflexion. 
 
 Before we conclude this article, it may not be im- 
 proper to take notice of a very erroneous practice 
 among printers, which is, substituting commas in- 
 stead of the hooks which mark a parenthesis. Slight 
 as this fault may appear at first sight, we shall find 
 upon reflection, that it is productive of great incon- 
 veniences; for if the parenthesis ought to be read in 
 a lower tone of voice, and these hooks which enclose 
 it are a mark of this tone, how shall a reader be able 
 to understand this at sight, if the marks of the paren- 
 thesis are taken away, and commas inserted in their 
 stead? The difficulty of always deciding, what is a 
 parenthesis, and what is not, may, perhaps, be some 
 
158 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 excuse for confounding it with other intervening 
 members ; but the absolute necessity of reading a 
 real parenthesis with its proper tone of voice, makes 
 it of some importance to distinguish between this and 
 the incidental member which is often confounded 
 with it. The best rule, therefore, to distinguish the 
 member in question is, not merely to try if sense 
 remains when it is left out of the sentence, but to 
 see if the member so modifies the preceding member 
 as to change it from a general to a particular mean- 
 ing ; for if this be the case, the member, though inci- 
 dental, is absolutely necessary to the sense of the 
 whole sentence, and consequently cannot be a paren- 
 thesis. An example will assist us in understanding 
 this distinction, which is nearly the same as that 
 which has been taken notice of in the definition of a 
 sentence, p. 26\ » 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 My friend the divine, having been used with words of complais- 
 ance (which he thinks could be properly applied to no man living, 
 and I think could be only spoken of him, and that in his absence), 
 was so offended with the excessive way of speaking civilities among 
 us, that he made a discourse against it at the club. 
 
 The incidental member in this sentence, which, in 
 every edition of the Spectator I have seen, is marked 
 as a parenthesis, is certainly nothing more than an 
 incidental member modifying that which precedes, 
 and therefore ought to have no fall of the voice in 
 pronouncing it as the parenthesis requires ; for the 
 words of complaisance are not merely these words in 
 general, but such as he thought could be applied to 
 no one living, &c. ; and consequently this modifying 
 member ought not to be so detached from that which 
 it modifies, as to be pronounced in a lower tone of 
 voice, as this would in some measure injure the sense. 
 
 Thus have we gone through the several pauses and 
 distinctions of punctuation, and to these pauses and 
 distinctions have added such a slide or inflexion of 
 
ELOCUTION. 159 
 
 voice as is suited to express them with clearness, 
 strength and propriety. Our next attempt must be 
 to show what pronunciation is required by accent, 
 emphasis, variety, harmony, and passion: and this 
 must be the subject of the second part of this work. 
 
ELEMENTS 
 
 OP 
 
 ELOCUTION. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ACCENT. 
 
 i\S accent relates to the pronunciation of words 
 taken singly, it can have little to do in an essay on 
 the pronunciation of words in succession, as elocu- 
 tion, perhaps, may not improperly be called ; for as 
 words justly pronounced are merely the materials for 
 delivery, these must all be supposed to be in our own 
 possession before we can possibly begin to arrange 
 and display them to advantage. A person who pro- 
 nounces every word singly with the greatest purity, 
 may not be able to read well ; and another may con- 
 vey the sense of an author with great force and beauty, 
 who does not always either pronounce the words just- 
 ly, or place the accent on the proper syllable. The 
 only point, therefore, in which it will be necessary to 
 take notice of accent in reading, is that where the 
 emphasis requires a transposition of it : this happens 
 when two words which have a sameness in part of 
 their formation, are opposed to each other in sense. 
 Thus, if I pronounce the words justice and injustice 
 as single words, I naturally place the accent on 
 the penultimate syllable of both; but if I contrast 
 them, and say, Neither justice nor injustice have 
 any thing to do with the present question ; in this 
 sentence I naturally place the accent on the first 
 syllable of injustice, in order the more forcibly and 
 clearly to distinguish it from justice. This trans- 
 
ELOCUTION. 1 61 
 
 position of the accent, which is so evidently dictated 
 by the sense, extends itself to all words which have a 
 sameness of termination, though they may not be 
 directly opposite in sense ; thus, if I wanted more par- 
 ticularly to shew that I meant one requisite of dra- 
 matic story rather than another, I should say, In 
 this species of composition, plausibility is much more 
 essential than probability ; and in the pronunciation 
 of these words, I should infallibly transpose the accent 
 of both, from the third to the first syllables ; in order 
 to contrast those parts of the words which are distin- 
 guished from each other by the import of the sentence. 
 As an instance of the necessity of attending to this 
 emphatical accent, as it may be called, we need only 
 give a passage from the Spectator, N° 189 : 
 
 In this case I may use the saying of an eminent wit, who upon 
 some great men's pressing him to forgive his daughter who had mar- 
 ried against his consent, told them he could refuse nothing to their 
 instances, but that he would have them remember there was a differ- 
 ence between giving and/orgiving. 
 
 In this example we find the whole sense of the pas- 
 sage depends on placing the accent on the first syllable 
 of forgiving, in order to contrast it more strongly with 
 giving, to which it is opposed ; as without this trans- 
 position of accent, the opposition, on which the sen- 
 timent turns, would be lost. 
 
 Another instance will more fully illustrate the ne- 
 cessity of attending to this emphatical accent. 
 
 The prince for the public good ha3 a sovereign property in every 
 private person's estate ; and, consequently, his riches must increase 
 or decrease, in proportion to the number and riches of his subjects. 
 
 Spectator, No * 200. 
 
 The words increase and decrease have, in this exam- 
 ple, the accent on the first syllable of each, as it is 
 there the contrast in the sense lies. 
 
 What has already been said of accent, as it relates 
 to the art of reading, is, perhaps more than sufficient ; 
 but so much has been said about the nature of this 
 accent, both in the ancient and modern languages, 
 
 M 
 
162 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 that it may not be improper to offer a few thoughts 
 on the subject here. Almost all authors, ancient and 
 modern, assert, that the accented syllable is pro- 
 nounced in a higher tone than the rest ; but Mr. 
 Sheridan insists that it is not pronounced higher, but 
 louder only.* Whatever may have been the nature 
 of accent in the learned languages, certain it is, that 
 the accented syllable in our own is always louder than 
 the rest ; and if we attend ever so little to the two 
 kinds of inflexion with which every accented word in 
 a sentence is pronounced, we shall soon see that the 
 accented syllable is either higher or lower than the 
 rest, according to the inflexion which it adopts. 
 Thus in this sentence, Plate III. N° L-p. 164 : 
 
 Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward. 
 Here I say the last syllable ward has the falling in- 
 flexion ; and if we pronounce the word without em- 
 phasis, and merely as if we were concluding the sub- 
 ject, this syllable will be pronounced louder and lower 
 than the syllable immediately preceding ; but if we 
 give emphasis to this syllable, by opposing it to some- 
 thing else, we shall find it pronounced both higher and 
 louder than the preceding syllables. Thus in the fol- 
 lowing sentence, Plate III. N° II. 
 
 Most certainly virtue will meet with a reward, and not punishment. 
 
 Here the word reward has the same inflexion as in 
 the former instance, and the word punishment ends 
 with the rising inflexion ; but the syllable ward is 
 perceptibly higher as well as louder than the syllable 
 that precedes it. Again, if we give this word the 
 rising inflexion, we shall find, in this case, that with- 
 out emphasis the accented syllable ivard is pro- 
 nounced both louder and higher than the preceding 
 syllables. Thus N° III. 
 
 * See this erroneous opinion of Mr. Sheridan clearly refuted in 
 the Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity at 
 the end of the Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and Latin 
 Proper Names. 
 
ELOCUTION. 163 
 
 If virtue must have a rew&rd, it is our interest to be virtuous. 
 
 These observations compare the accented syllable 
 with the preceding syllables only : it will in the next 
 place be necessary to compare it with those that fol- 
 low: for which purpose, let us observe the pronunci- 
 ation of this sentence, N° IV. 
 
 We ought to avoid blame, though we cannot be perfect. 
 
 Here, I say, if we give the word perfect the falling 
 inflexion, and pronounce it with emphasis, we shall 
 find the first syllyable very perceptibly higher and 
 louder than the last ; on the contrary, if we give the 
 word perfect the rising inflexion, we shall find the 
 accented syllable louder than the last, though not so 
 high : for the last syllable perceptibly slides into a 
 higher tone. Thus N° V. : 
 
 If we wish to be perfect, we must imitate Christ. 
 
 These observations will, perhaps, be still better con- 
 ceived, by watching our pronunciation of a word 
 where the accent is nearly in the middle. Thus in 
 this passage of Shakspeare : 
 
 What earthly name to interrogatories, 
 
 Shall task the free breath of* a sacred king? King John. 
 
 In this passage, I say, the syllable rog has the rising 
 inflexion, and is pronounced perceptibly louder and 
 higher than the two first, and louder and lower than 
 the three last : but if we give this syllable the falling 
 inflexion, as in this sentence : 
 
 He is neither mov'd by entreaties nor interrogatories, 
 
 here, I say, the syllable rog, if pronounced with the 
 least degree of emphasis, is both louder and higher 
 than either the preceding or subseqnent syllables. 
 
 From these observations, this general conclusion 
 may be drawn ; Whatever inflexion be adopted, the 
 accented syllable is always louder than the rest ; but if 
 the accent be pronounced with the rising inflexion, the 
 
 m 2 
 
164 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 accented syllable is higher than the preceding, and lower 
 than the succeeding syllable ; and if the accent have the 
 Jailing inflexion, the accented syllable is pronounced 
 higher than any other syllable, either preceding or suc- 
 ceeding. The only exception to this is, the sentence, 
 N° I. where the accent is on the last syllable of a word 
 which has no emphasis, and is pronounced as forming 
 a cadence at the conclusion of a discourse. 
 
 Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward. 
 
 Here the last syllable, though pronounced louder 
 than the first, is evidently pronounced a degree lower. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be improper to take notice of 
 a common usage of the word accent, which, though 
 seemingly inaccurate, will befound, upon examination, 
 to be a just application of the word. It is the cus- 
 tom, not only of England, but of other parts of the 
 world which are seats of empire, to call those modes 
 of pronunciation used in parts distant from the capi- 
 tal, by the name of accents. Thus we say, a native 
 of Ireland speaks English with the Irish, and a 
 native of Scotland with the Scotch accent, though 
 both these speakers pronounce every word with the 
 accent on the very same syllable as the English. 
 Why then do we say, they speak with a different 
 accent ? One reason is, that speaking sounds have 
 never been sufficiently analysed to enable us to dis- 
 cover their component parts, which makes us take up 
 with indefinite and unspecific terms, instead of such 
 as are precise and appropriated to their object. This 
 has greatly obscured the notion of accent, and led 
 Mr. Sheridan to suppose, that accent in our language 
 is no more thon a force upon a certain syllable of a 
 word which distinguishes it from the rest : but that 
 accent has no reference to inflexions of voice, and 
 for that reason the word is used by us in the singular 
 number. Others * have imagined, that we have two 
 accents, the grave and acute ; but in the definition of 
 
 * Essay on the Harmony of Language, Robson, 1774. 
 
ELOCUTION. 165 
 
 these, they seem only to mean that the latter has a 
 greater degree of force than the former. Thus, for 
 want of the simple distinction of the rising and fall- 
 ing slide of the voice, with which every accented 
 syllable must necessarily be pronounced, the nature of 
 our own accent seems as obscure, and as little under- 
 stood, as that of the Greeks and Romans : audit is to 
 this obscurity we owe the supposed impropriety of 
 calling a dialect by the name of accent ; for though 
 there are other differences in the Scotch and Irish pro- 
 nunciation of English besides this, it is to the differ- 
 ence of accent that the chief diversity is owing : if we 
 understand accent only as force or stress, there is, in- 
 deed, the slightest difference imaginable j since in 
 both these kingdoms the stress is (to the exception of 
 very few words indeed) laid on the same syllable as in 
 England ; and, for this reason, the laws of poetry are 
 exactly the same in all ; but if we divide accent into 
 grave and acute, and call the acute, the stress with the 
 rising inflexion, and the grave, the stress with the fall- 
 ing inflexion, we shall then see the propriety of saying, 
 such a one speaks with the Irish or Scotch accent; for 
 though the Irish place the stress precisely on the same 
 syllable as the English, it is often with a different in- 
 flexion; and the same maybe said of the Scotch. Thus 
 the Scotch pronounce the far greater part of their 
 words with the acute accent, or rising inflexion, and 
 the Irish as constantly make use of the grave accent, 
 or falling inflexion, while the English observe pretty 
 nearly a due mixture of each. If we pronounce a sen- 
 tence in these three different modes, it may, perhaps, 
 suggest to the ear the truth of the foregoing observa- 
 tions. 
 
 , , Scotch. » 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, 
 
 N Irish. 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 v English. 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 If these observations are just, the Irish ought to ha- 
 
166 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 bituate themselves to a more frequent use of the 
 rising inflexion, and the Scotch to the falling, in or- 
 der to acquire what is not (from this view of the sub- 
 ject) improperly called the English accent. 
 
 But, besides these two simple accents, which, from 
 the rising and falling inflexion they adopt, may be 
 called the acute and the grave ; there are two other 
 accents compounded of these, which may be called 
 the rising and falling circumflexes. These are totally 
 unknown to the moderns : but are so inherent in the 
 nature of the human voice, and so demonstrable upon 
 experiment, as to defy contradiction. See Preface 
 to this work, in the Notes. 
 
 EMPHASIS. 
 Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis. 
 
 Emphasis, in the most usual sense of the word, is 
 that stress with which certain words are pronounced, 
 so as to be distinguished from the rest of the sentence. 
 
 Among the number of words we make use of in 
 discourse, there will always be some which are more 
 necessary to be understood than others : those things 
 with which we suppose our hearers to be pre-ac- 
 quainted, we express by such a subordination of stress 
 as is suitable to the small importance of things already 
 understood ; while those of which our hearers are 
 either not fully informed, or which they might pos- 
 sibly misconceive, are enforced with such an increase 
 of stress as makes it impossible for the hearer to over- 
 look or mistake them. Thus, as in a picture, the 
 more essential parts of a sentence are raised as it 
 were, from the level of speaking ; and the less neces- 
 sary are, by this means, sunk into a comparative 
 obscurity. 
 
 From this general idea of emphasis, it will readily 
 appear of how much consequence it is to readers 
 and speakers not to be mistaken in it ; the necessity 
 of distinguishing the emphatical words from the rest, 
 has made writers on this subject extremely solicitous 
 
ELOCUTION. 167 
 
 to give such rules for placing the emphasis, as may, 
 in some measure, facilitate this difficult part of elo- 
 cution : but few have gone farther than to tell us, that 
 we must place the emphasis on that word in reading, 
 which we should make emphatical in speaking ; and 
 though the importance of emphasis is insisted on with 
 the utmost force and elegance of language, no assist- 
 ance is given us to determine which is the emphatic 
 word where several appear equally emphatical, nor 
 have we any rule to distinguish between those words 
 which have a greater, and those which have a lesser 
 degree of stress ; the sense of the author is the sole 
 direction we are referred to, and all is left to the taste 
 and understanding of the reader. 
 
 One writer, indeed, the author of the Philosophical 
 Inquiry into the Delivery of written Language, has 
 given us a distinction of emphasis into two kinds, 
 which has thrown great light upon this obstruse sub- 
 ject. This gentleman distinguishes the stress into em- 
 phasis of force, and emphasis of sense. " Emphasis of 
 " force," he tells us, '• is that stress we lay on almost 
 ic every significant word ; emphasis of sense, is that 
 " stress we lay on one or two particular words, which 
 " distinguishes them from all the rest in the sentence." 
 " The former stress," he observes, " is variable, ac- 
 " cording to the conception and taste of the reader, 
 " and cannot be reduced to any certain rule :" " the 
 " latter ," he says, " is determined by the sense of the 
 " author, and is always fixed and invariable." This 
 distinction, it must be owned, is, in general, a very 
 just one ; and a want of attending to it, has occa- 
 sioned great confusion in this subject, even in our 
 best writers. They perceived, that beside those words 
 which were strongly emphatical, there were many 
 others that had a stress greatly superior to the parti- 
 cles and less significant words, and these they jumbled 
 together under the general term emphasis. Thus 
 when the emphatical words were to be marked by 
 being printed in a different character, we find in 
 
168 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 several of the modern productions on the art of read- 
 ing, that sometimes more than half of the words are 
 printed in Italics, and considered as equally empha- 
 tical. The wrong tendency of such a practice is suffi- 
 ciently obvious, but its origin was never pointed out 
 till the publication of the essay above mentioned. 
 This must be allowed to have thrown considerable 
 light on the subject ; and it is by the assistance which 
 this author has given, that I shall endeavour to push 
 my enquiries into emphasis, still farther than he has 
 done ; I shall not only establish the distinction he has 
 laid down, but attempt to draw the line between these 
 two kinds of emphasis, so as to mark more precisely 
 the boundaries of each. To this distinction of empha- 
 sis, I shall add another : I shall make a distinction of 
 each into two kinds, according to the inflexion of 
 voice they adopt; which, though of the utmost im- 
 portance in conveying a just idea of emphasis, has 
 never been noticed by any of our writers on the sub- 
 ject. This distinction of emphasis arises naturally 
 from the observations already laid down, on the rising 
 and falling inflexion ; we have seen the importance of 
 attending to these two inflexions in the several parts, 
 and at the end of a sentence ; and it is presumed, 
 the utility of attending to the same inflexions, when 
 applied to emphasis, will appear no less evident and 
 unquestionable. 
 
 But before we enter into this distinction of em- 
 phatic inflexion, it may not be improper to show more 
 precisely the distinction of emphasis, into that which 
 arises from the peculiar sense of one or two words in a 
 sentence, and that which arises from the greater im- 
 portance of the nouns, verbs, and other insignificant 
 words, than of connectives and particles. And, first, 
 let us examine some passages where only the latter 
 kind of emphasis is found ; this emphasis, if it may 
 be so called, takes place on almost every word in a 
 sentence 3 but the articles, prepositions, and smaller 
 parts of speech ; and by pronouncing these feebly, we 
 
ELOCUTION. 169 
 
 give a force to the other words, that is commonly, but 
 improperly, styled emphasis. 
 
 Thus, in pronouncing the following sentence in the 
 Spectator : 
 
 Gratian very often recommends the fine taste as the utmost per- 
 fection of an accomplished man. Spectator, No. 409. 
 
 We may perceive a very evident difference in the 
 force with which these words are pronounced : the 
 article the, the conjunction and particle as the, and 
 the preposition and article of an, are very distinguish- 
 able from the rest of the words by a less forcible pro- 
 nunciation ; and this less forcible pronunciation on 
 the smaller words, raises the others in some degree of 
 emphasis. If we pronounce the next sentence pro- 
 perly, we shall find several other words sink into an 
 obscurity of the same kind, and by their feebleness a 
 comparative degree of force thrown on the rest of the 
 words. 
 
 As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour 
 to give some account of it; and to lay down rules how we may 
 know whether we are possessed of it; and how we may acquire that 
 line taste in writing which is so much talked of among the polite 
 world. Ibid. 
 
 In this sentence we find the prepositions, conjunc- 
 tions, and pronoun it, pronounced with the same de- 
 gree of feebleness as in the last instance ; and besides 
 these we find the words, I shall, we may, we are, and 
 which is, pronounced much more feebly than the rest 
 of the words ; this can be owing to nothing but the 
 nature of the words themselves, which, though in- 
 dicating person, promise, power, and existence, exhibit 
 none of these particulars emphatically ; that is, these 
 words imply only such general circumstances as the 
 objects are commonly supposed to be accompanied 
 with, and therefore are anticipated or presupposed 
 by the hearer : for whatever the hearer is supposed to 
 be acquainted with, is not the object of communica- 
 tion : the person speaking is under no necessity of tell- 
 
170 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ing his auditors that he in particular shall do any thing, 
 unless he means to distinguish himself from some 
 other speaker ; for that he speaks, is very well under- 
 stood by every one who hears him : and for this rea- 
 son, whatever has been once mentioned, is generally 
 pronounced afterwards with less force than at first, 
 as supposed to be already sufficiently known. 
 
 As an instance of the variety which this emphasis 
 of force (as it is called) admits, it may not be impro- 
 per to mark the foregoing sentence two different ways; 
 first with such words in Italics as seem necessarily to 
 require a greater force than the particles ; and then 
 to add to these, such words as we may pronounce in 
 the same manner without altering the sense. 
 
 As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour to 
 give some account of it; and to lay down rules how we may know 
 whether we are possessed of it ; and how we may acquire that fine 
 taste in writing which is so much talked of among the polite world. 
 
 As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour to 
 give some account of it j and to lay down rules how we may know 
 whether we are possessed of it j and how we may acquire that fine 
 taste in writing so much talked of among the polite world. 
 
 It may, however, be observed, that though the 
 last manner of marking this sentence is more 
 emphatical, the first is the most easy and na- 
 tural. 
 
 I shall offer another instance to show the difference 
 in the stress we lay on different words in a sentence, 
 and then proceed to an examination of that stress 
 which may be properly styled emphatical. Thus if 
 we repeat the following sentence, 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 we find the particle and and the, pronounced much 
 more feebly than the other words : and yet these other 
 words cannot be properly called emphatical \ for the 
 
ELOCUTION. 171 
 
 stress that is laid on them is no more than what is 
 necessary to convey distinctly the meaning of each 
 word : but if a word which has emphasis of sense be 
 thrown into this sentence, we shall soon perceive a 
 striking difference between these words and the em- 
 phatical one ; thus, if we were to say, 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- 
 tution. 
 
 Here we shall find the word indifferent, pronounced 
 much more forcibly than the words exercise, temper- 
 ance, and strengthen, as these words are more forcibly 
 pronounced than the particles and and the, and even 
 than the word constitution : for as this word comes im- 
 mediately after the emphatic word indifferent, and is, 
 by the very import of the emphasis, in some measure 
 understood, it sinks into the same degree of obscurity 
 with the particles, and cannot be raised from this 
 obscurity without diminishing the force of the em- 
 phatic word itself. 
 
 If it should be asked what degree of force are we 
 to give to these obscure words, it may be answered, 
 just that force which we give to the unaccented 
 syllables of words ; so that two words, one accented 
 and the other not, are to the ear exactly like one 
 word ; thus the words even an indifferent constitution, 
 are sounded like a word of eleven syllables, with the 
 accent on the fifth. For a full explication of the 
 relative force of the words, see Rhetorical Grammar, 
 
 p. 97. 
 
 This brings us to a threefold distinction of words 
 with regard to the force with which they are pro- 
 nounced ; namely, the conjunctions, particles, and 
 words understood, which are obscurely and feebly 
 pronounced ; the substantives, verbs, and more sig- 
 nificant words, which are firmly and distinctly pro- 
 nounced ; and the emphatical word, which is forcibly 
 pronounced : it is the last of these only which can be 
 properly styled emphasis ; and it is to a discovery of 
 
17* ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the nature and cause of this emphasis, that all our 
 attention ought to be directed. 
 
 And first we may observe, that if these distinctions 
 are just, the common definition of emphasis is very 
 faulty. Emphasis is said to be a stress laid on one or 
 more words to distinguish them from others : but 
 this definition, as we have just seen, makes almost 
 every word in the sentence emphatical, and, at the 
 same time, confounds the distinction between words 
 which have force from a peculiarity of meaning, and 
 those which have force from having only a general 
 meaning, or more meaning than the particles. Here 
 then we must endeavour to investigate a juster defi- 
 nition : such a one as will enable us to distinguish 
 words which are really emphatical, from those which 
 are only pronounced with common force: for, as the 
 ingenious author above mentioned has observed, these 
 latter words may sometimes be forcibly, and some- 
 times feebly pronounced, without any importance to 
 the sense, as has been shown in the last example but 
 one ; but the former, that is, such word? as are truly 
 emphatical, must always have their just degree of 
 force and energy, or the sense will be manifestly 
 injured : this Emphasis of sense, therefore, ought to 
 be the first object of inquiry. 
 
 The principal circumstance that distinguishes em- 
 phatical words from others, seems to be a meaning 
 which points out, or distinguishes, something as dis- 
 tinct or opposite to some other thing. When this op- 
 position is expressed in words, it forms an antithesis, 
 the opposite parts of which are always emphatical. 
 Thus in the following couplet from Pope : 
 
 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 
 Appear in writing or in judging ill. 
 
 The words writing and judging are opposed to each 
 other, and are therefore the emphatical words : where 
 we may likewise observe, that the disjunctive or, by 
 which the antithesis is connected, means one of the 
 
ELOCUTION.' 173 
 
 things exclusively of the other. The same may be 
 observed in another couplet from the same author ; 
 where one branch of the antithesis is not expressed 
 but understood : 
 
 Get wealth and place, if possible with grace? 
 If not, by any means get wealth and place. 
 
 Here it appears evidently, that the words any means, 
 which are the most emphatical, are directly opposed 
 to the means understood by the word grace, and the 
 last line is perfectly equivalent to this : If not by these 
 means, by any other means get wealth and place. 
 
 In these instances the opposition suggested by the 
 emphatical word is evident at first sight ; in other 
 cases, perhaps, the antithesis is not quite so obvious % 
 but if an emphasis can be laid on any word, we may 
 be assured that word is an antithesis with some 
 meaning agreeable to the general sense of the pas- 
 sage. 
 
 To illustrate this, let us pronounce a line of Mar- 
 cus in Cato, where, expressing his indignation at the 
 behaviour of Caesar, he says, 
 
 I'm tortur'd ev'n to madness, when I think 
 Of the proud victor — 
 
 And we shall find the greatest stress fail naturally 
 on that word, which seems opposed to some common 
 or general meaning; for the young hero does not say, 
 in the common and unemphatic sense of the word 
 think, that he is tortured even to madness when he 
 thinks on Caesar ; but in the strong and emphatic 
 sense of this word, which implies, not only ivhen I 
 hear or discourse of him, but even when I think of him, 
 I am tortured even to madness. As the word think 
 therefore, arises above the common level of significa- 
 tion, it is pronounced above the common level of the 
 sound ; and as this signification is opposed to a sig- 
 
17^ ELEMENTS OF 
 
 nification less forcible, the word may be properly 
 said to be emphatical. 
 
 This more than ordinary meaning, or a meaning 
 opposed to some other meaning, seems to be the 
 principal source of emphasis ; for if, as in the last 
 instance, we find the words will bear this opposition 
 to their common signification, we may be sure they 
 are emphatical ; this will be still more evident from 
 another example : 
 
 By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
 a dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and land- 
 skips, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole com- 
 pass of nature. Spectator, No. 41 1 . 
 
 If we read this passage without that emphasis 
 which the word dungeon requires, we enervate the 
 meaning, and scarcely give the sense of the author ; 
 for the import plainly is, that a lively imagination, 
 not merely absent from beautiful scenes, but even in a 
 dungeon, can form scenes more beautiful than any in 
 nature. 
 
 This plenitude of meaning in a particular word, 
 is not always so prominent as to be discernable by a 
 common reader ; but wherever it really exists, the 
 general meaning of the author is greatly enforced by 
 emphatically pointing it out. Let us take an ex- 
 ample : 
 
 Steele begins one of his letters in the Spectator 
 with the following sentence : 
 
 I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several 
 speculations, that the art of painting is so little made use of, to the 
 improvement of our manners. Spectator, No. 2*26. 
 
 As in this sentence, which is the first in the essay 
 it is taken from, we find a new and important object 
 introduced : so, if we do not pronounce it with em- 
 phasis, it will not be sufficiently noticed. The word 
 painting, as it stands in this sentence, may very well 
 
ELOCUTION. 175 
 
 be supposed to be in contrast with other arts, which, 
 though often used for the improvement of manners, 
 are, perhaps, not so conducive to that end, as this 
 particular art : this antithesis is perfectly understood 
 if the word painting is made emphatical, but entirely 
 lost if it is pronounced feebly : nay, sliding it over 
 without emphasis, will suppose the hearer pre-ac- 
 quainted with the subject to be treated, contrary to 
 what is really the case : this will be still more appa- 
 rent by pronouncing it both ways ; first without the 
 proper stress on the word painting, and afterwards 
 with it, 
 
 I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several spe- 
 culations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the im- 
 provement of our manners. 
 
 I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several spe- 
 culations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the im- 
 provement of our manners. 
 
 In these instances we find every emphatical word 
 placed in opposition, as it were, to some meaning 
 which it seems to exclude. 
 
 Wherever the contrariety or opposition is expressed, 
 we are at no loss for the emphatical words ; the great- 
 est difficulty in reading, lies in a discovery of those 
 words which are in opposition to something not ex- 
 pressed but understood ; and the best method to find 
 the emphasis on these sentences, is to take the word 
 we suppose to be emphatical, and try whether it will 
 admit of those words being supplied which an empha- 
 sis on it would suggest : if, when these words are sup- 
 plied, we find them not only agreeable to the meaning 
 of the writer, but an improvement of his meaning, we 
 may pronounce the word emphatical ; but if these 
 words we supply, are not agreeable to the meaning of 
 the words expressed, or else give them an affected 
 and fanciful meaning, we ought by no means to lay 
 the emphasis upon them : let us take an example of 
 both these kind of emphasis. 
 
176 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Mr. Addison, in one of his Spectators, showing 
 the advantages of good taste, says — 
 
 A man of a polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures 
 that the vulgar are not capable of receiving ; he can converse with 
 a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. 
 
 Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 We shall find but few readers lay any considerable 
 stress upon the word picture, in this sentence ; but if 
 we examine it by the former rule, we shall find a 
 stress upon this word a considerable embellishment 
 to the thought ; for it hints to the mind that a polite 
 imagination does not only find pleasure in conversing 
 ivith those objects which give pleasure to all, but with 
 those which give pleasure to such only as can converse 
 with them; here then the emphasis on the word 
 picture, is not only -an advantage to the thought, but 
 in some measure necessary to it. This will appear 
 still more evidently by reading the passage both 
 ways, as in the last example. 
 
 But if emphasis does not improve, it always vitiates 
 the sense ; and, therefore, should be always avoided 
 where the use of it is not evident : this will appear 
 by placing an emphasis on a word in a sentence 
 which does not require it : 
 
 I have several letters by me from people of good sense, who 
 lament the depravity or poverty of taste the toWn has fallen into with 
 relation to plays and public spectacles. Spectator, No. 208. 
 
 Now, if we lay a considerable degree of emphasis 
 upon the words good sense, it will strongly suggest 
 that the people here mentioned are not common or 
 ordinary people, which though not opposite to the 
 meaning of the.writer, does not seem necessary either 
 to the completion or embellishment of it; for as par- 
 ticularly marking these people out as persons of good 
 sense, seems to obviate an objection that they might 
 possibly be fools, and as it would not be very wise to 
 suppose this objection, it would show as little wisdom 
 to endeavour to preclude it by a more than ordinary 
 
ELOCUTION. 177 
 
 stress ; the plain words of the author, therefore, 
 without any emphasis on them, sufficiently show his 
 meaning. 
 
 From these observations, the following definition of 
 emphasis seems naturally to arise : Emphasis, when 
 applied to particular words, is that stress we lay on 
 words which are in contradistinction to other words 
 either expressed or understood. And hence will follow 
 this general rule: Wherever there is contradistinction 
 in the sense of the words, there ought to he emphasis in 
 the pronunciation of them ; the converse of this being 
 equally true, Wherever we place emphasis, we suggest 
 the idea of contradistinction. 
 
 Emphasis thus investigated and defined, we may 
 observe, that all words are pronounced either with 
 emphatic force, accented force, or unaccented force ; 
 this last kind of force we may call by the name of 
 feebleness ; or, in other words, where the words are 
 in contradistinction to other words, or to some sense 
 implied, we may call them emphatic ; where they do 
 not denote contradistinction, and yet are more im- 
 portant than the particles, we may call them accented, 
 and the particles and lesser words we may call 
 unaccented or feeble ; for if we observe the pronun- 
 ciation of these latter words, we shall find they have 
 exactly the same feebleness as the unaccented sylla- 
 bles of a word whose accented syllable is pronounced 
 with some degree of force : w r e shall see likewise, that 
 an accented word, which has a degree of force, when 
 compared with unaccented words ; when it is joined 
 with an emphatic one, and pronounced immediately 
 before or after it, sinks into a feebleness equal to the 
 unaccented words ; and that the unaccented sylla- 
 bles, even of an emphatic word, are pronounced with 
 as much less force than the accented syllable, as the 
 unaccented syllables of an accented word, are less for- 
 cible than the accented syllable of an un emphatic 
 word. These observations are exemplified in the 
 pronunciation of the following sentences : 
 
 N 
 
178 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitution, 
 
 In the first of these sentences the particles awe? and 
 the are pronounced like unaccented syllables of tem- 
 perance and constitution : in the last sentence, the 
 word constitution is pronounced with the same feeble- 
 ness as the particles and and the ; and the last two 
 syllables of the emphatic word indifferent, are as 
 much below the second syllable in force, as the par- 
 ticles and unaccented syllables are below those which 
 have an accent. 
 
 By this threefold distinction we are enabled to 
 make very considerable advances in the methods of 
 conveying instruction in reading ; we can not only 
 mark the emphatic words as usual, but distinguish 
 them from the accented : these again may be distin- 
 guished from the unaccented, and by these means we 
 make a nearer approach to the sense of composition, 
 and to a method of conveying our delivery of it to 
 others. But a still greater advance remains to be 
 made by another distinction : a distinction, which, 
 to the former advantages of marking the different de- 
 grees of force on words, adds the still more striking 
 difference of inflexion of voice. This distinction, 
 though obvious and palpable, is perfectly new ; and 
 it is hoped has been so explained in the first part 
 of this work, as to be readily comprehended by the 
 reader; for when it is once comprehended we may 
 strongly presume that it cannot fail to add greatly 
 to instruction in speaking, as these two different in- 
 flexions of voice are the most marking and significant 
 distinctions of speech. 
 
 As a specimen of the utility of these distinctions 
 of emphasis and inflexion, we may observe, that a dif- 
 ference of character may express the different degrees 
 of force with which every word is pronounced, and a 
 different accent may show what inflexion each of these 
 forces must adopt. Thus in the following example : 
 
ELOCUTION. 179 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen even an INDIFFERENT 
 constitution. 
 
 Here we see a threefold distinction of force : the 
 word indifferent is emphatical, and has the greatest 
 stress ; the words exercise, temperance, and strengthen, 
 have a lesser degree of force ; and the words and, 
 even, an, and constitution, have a still smaller degree 
 of stress, and may be said to be absolutely feeble : and 
 these different forces are diversified by the difference 
 of inflexion, as marked in the example. But, although, 
 in certain critical cases, where the sense of an author 
 is difficult to point out, all these three distinctions 
 may greatly assist us in conveying the exact pronun- 
 ciation ; yet, in general, it will be quite sufficient to 
 mark the emphatic word with small Italics, and the 
 rest with Roman letters, without entering into the dis- 
 tinction of the feeble words from those that have a 
 secondary force ; which feeble words, if necessary to 
 be pointed out, may be denoted by the small Roman 
 letter, and their different inflexions by a different 
 accent. 
 
 Those who wish to see this notation more distinctly 
 delineated, may consult the Rhetorical Grammar ; 
 where, it is presumed, they will find the fullest satis- 
 faction respecting the relative force of unaccented 
 words. 
 
 Theory of Emphatic Inflexion. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and dis- 
 tinct idea of the two different kinds of emphasis, and 
 attempted to prove, that emphasis, properly so called, 
 always supposes contradistinction or antithesis, either 
 expressed or understood ; it will now be necessary to 
 show that every emphatic word, properly so called, 
 is as much distinguished by the inflexion it adopts, 
 as by the force with which it is pronounced. 
 
 We have seen already, that where there is no em- 
 phasis, the most significant words in a sentence adopt 
 a different inflexion of voice for the sake of variety 
 
 N<2 
 
180 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 and harmony : for, provided the sentence reads well, 
 it is of no consequence on which words the different 
 inflexions are placed. Thus in the following sentence : 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, 
 
 111 this sentence, I say, the words temperance and 
 strengthen, have the rising, and exercise and constitu- 
 tion the falling inflexion ; but if this sentence were 
 lengthened by the addition of another member, we 
 should find the inflexions shift their places. Thus in 
 the following sentence : 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution and sweeten 
 the enjoyments of life. 
 
 Here, I say, the words exercise and constitution have 
 the rising, and temperance and strengthen the falling 
 inflexion, as most agreeable to the harmony of the 
 whole sentence : but if a word really emphatical had 
 been in the first sentence, no additional member 
 would have obliged it to alter its inflexion. Thus in 
 the following sentence : 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitution. 
 
 Here the word indifferent, which is really empha- 
 tical, has the falling inflexion ; and this inflexion it 
 will still preserve, though we lengthen the sentence 
 in imitation of the former by an additional member. 
 For example : 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitu- 
 tion, and supply in sdme measure the imperfections of nature. 
 
 Here we find that, however the inflexion may 
 change place on the rest of the words, the word in- 
 different must always have the falling inflexion, or 
 the sense of the sentence will not be brought perfectly 
 out. In the same manner we may observe, that the 
 same word in another sentence, when it requires the 
 rising inflexion, cannot alter that inflexion to the fall- 
 
ELOCUTION. 181 
 
 in g, without injuring the sense. Thus in the follow- 
 ing sentence.: 
 
 He that has but an indifferent constitution ought to strengthen it 
 by exercise and temperance. 
 
 Here the word indifferent must necessarily have 
 the emphasis with the rising inflexion, whatever may 
 be the inflexion on the other words. 
 
 As a farther proof that emphatic words cannot 
 alter their inflexion, we need only attend to the pro- 
 nunciation of a line in Milton, where two emphatic 
 words are opposed to each other ; speaking of Nim- 
 rod, he says—; 
 
 Hunting (and men not blasts shall be his game). B. xii. v. 30. 
 
 In pronouncing this passage, we shall find every 
 reader Jay the falling inflexion on men, and the rising 
 on beasts, as giving them a contrary position, that is, 
 pronouncing men with the rising, and beasts with the 
 falling inflexion, w T ould soon convince us that the for- 
 mer arrangement is precisely what the sense demands. 
 
 From these observations this maxim arises, that as 
 the emphasis of a word depends on the sense of a sen- 
 tence, so the inflexion of voice which this emphatic 
 word adopts, depends on the sense likewise, and is 
 equally invariable : from whence it will evidently 
 follow, that where there are two emphatic words in 
 the same sentence, the sense alone can decide w T hich 
 is to have the rising, and which the falling inflexion 
 of voice. 
 
 It has been already proved, that emphasis always 
 implies antithesis ; and that where this antithesis is 
 agreeable to the sense of the author, the emphasis is 
 proper ; but that where there is no antithesis in the 
 thought, there ought to be none on the words ; be- 
 cause, whenever an emphasis is placed upon an im- 
 proper word, it will suggest an antithesis, which either 
 does not exist, or is not agreeable to the sense and 
 intention of the writer. Here some new light seems 
 to be thrown on the nature of emphasis, and a line 
 
182 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 _ 
 
 drawn to distinguish emphatic words from others ; but 
 still we are at a loss for the reason why one emphatic 
 word should adopt the rising inflexion, and another 
 the falling : from the foregoing examples, it appears, 
 that every emphatic word requires either the one or 
 the other of these inflexions, and that the meaning of 
 an author entirely depends on giving each emphatic 
 word its peculiar inflexion. It does not seem there- 
 fore entirely useless, so far to inquire into the nature, 
 or specific quality, if I may be allowed to call it so, of 
 these two emphatic inflexions, as to be able to decide 
 which we shall adopt where the sense of the author 
 does not immediately dictate. Thus in a former quo- 
 tation from Milton, when speaking ofNimrod,he says, 
 
 Hunting (and mm not beasts shall be his game); 
 
 Here I say, the ear and understanding are both im- 
 mediately satisfied upon pronouncing men with the 
 falling, and beasts with the rising inflexion : but in 
 another line of the same author, when speaking of* 
 Satan, he calls iiim, 
 
 The tempter ere the accuser of mankind $ 
 
 Here, I say, it is not quite so clear how we shall dis- 
 pose of these two inflexions on the two emphatic 
 words, tempter* and accuser ; and an inquiry into the 
 nature of these inflexions, so as to ^x the peculiar 
 import of each, may, perhaps, assist us in deciding 
 with precision in this and similar instances. 
 
 It has been observed, that emphasis is divisible into 
 two kinds, namely, into that where the antithesis is 
 expressed, and that where it is only implied ; or, in 
 other words, into that emphasis where there are two 
 or more emphatic words corresponding to each other, 
 and that where the emphatic word relates to some 
 other word, not expressed but understood ; an in- 
 stance of the first is this : 
 
 When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his 
 officer reprimanded him by saying, Sir, you were paid to fight against 
 Alexander, and not to rail at him. Spectator. 
 
ELOCUTION. 183 
 
 Here we find fight and rail are the two emphatic 
 words which correspond to each other, and that the 
 positive member which affirms something, adopts the 
 falling inflexion on fight, and the negative member, 
 which excludes something, has the rising inflexion on 
 rail. 
 
 An instance of the latter kind of emphasis is this : 
 
 By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
 a dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and land- 
 scapes, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole com- 
 pass of nature. Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 Here we find the word dungeon emphatical, but it 
 has not any correspondent word as the other sen- 
 tence. If we pronounce this emphatic word with the 
 falling inflexion, the correspondent words which be- 
 long to this emphasis may be imagined to be nearly 
 these, not merely absent from beautiful scenes ; which, 
 if added to the word dungeon, we should find perfectly 
 agreeable to the sense suggested by the emphasis on 
 that word ; if we draw out this latter sentence at 
 length, we shall find it consist of the same positive 
 and negative parts as the former, and that the positive 
 part assumes the falling, and the negative the rising 
 inflexion on both. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his 
 officer reprimanded him by saying, Sir, you were paid to fight Alex- 
 ander, and not rail at him. 
 
 By the faculty of a lively andpicturesque imagination, a man in 
 a dungeon, and not merely absent from beautiful scenes, is capable of 
 entertaining himself with scenes and landscapes, more beautiful than 
 any that can be found in the whole compass of nature. 
 
 Here then we are advanced one step towards a 
 knowledge of what inflexion of voice we ought to use 
 on one kind of emphasis ; for whenever the emphatic 
 word points out a particular sense in exclusion of some 
 other sense, this emphatical word adopts the falling in- 
 flexion; the wordfight, therefore, in the first, and dun- 
 
184 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 geon in the last example, must necessarily be pro- 
 nounced with the falling inflexion, as they tacitly 
 exclude rail, and mere absence from beautiful scenes, 
 which are in contradistinction to them. 
 
 Having thus discovered the specific import of one 
 emphatic inflexion, it will not be very difficult to trace 
 out the other; for as the import of these two inflexions 
 may be presumed to be different, we may by ana- 
 logy be led to conclude, that as the emphatic word 
 which excludes something in contradistinction to it, 
 demands the falling inflexion, the emphasis with the 
 rising inflexion is to be placed on those words, which, 
 though in contradistinction to something else, do not 
 absolutely exclude its existence. Let us try this by an 
 example. Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, expressing 
 his contempt for the opposition of Horatio, says, 
 
 By the joys 
 Which yet my soul has uncontrol'd pursu'd, 
 I would not turn aside from my least pleasure 
 Though all thy force were arm'd to bar my way. 
 
 Fair Penitent, Act ih 
 
 The word thy, in this passage, has the emphasis with 
 the rising inflexion ; which intimates, that however 
 Lothario might be restrained by the force of others, 
 Horatio's force, at least, was too insignificant to con- 
 trol him : and as a farther proof that this is the sense 
 suggested by the rising inflexion on the word thy, if 
 we do but alter the inflexion upon this word, by 
 giving it the emphasis with the falling inflexion, we 
 shall And, that instead of contempt and sneer, a com- 
 pliment will be paid to Horatio ; for it would imply 
 as much as if Lothario had said, / would not turn aside 
 from my least pleasure, not only though common force, 
 but even though thy force, great as it is, were armed 
 to bar my way : and that this cannot be the sense of 
 the passage is evident. 
 
 Here then we seem arrived at the true principle of 
 distinction in emphasis. All emphasis has an antithe- 
 
ELOCUTION. 185 
 
 sis either expressed or understood; if the emphasis ex- 
 cludes the antithesis, the emphatic word has the Jailing 
 inflexion; if the emphasis does not exclude the antithe- 
 sis, the emphatic word has the rising inflexion. The 
 grand distinction, therefore, between the two em- 
 phatic inflexions is this ; the falling inflexion affirms 
 something in the emphasis, and denies what is opposed 
 to it in the antithesis, while the emphasis with the ris- 
 ing inflexion affirms something in the emphasis, without 
 denying what is opposed to it in the antithesis : the 
 former, therefore, from its affirming and denying, 
 absolutely, may be called the strong emphasis ; and 
 the latter, from its affirming only, and not denying, 
 may be called the weak emphasis. As a farther 
 trial of the truth of these definitions, let us examine 
 them by a few additional examples. 
 
 When Richard the Third rejects the proposal of 
 the duke of Norfolk to pardon the rebels, he says, 
 
 Why that, indeed, was our sixth Harry's way, 
 Which made his reign one scene of rude commotion : 
 I'll be in men's despite a monarch : no, 
 Let kings that fear forgive j blows and revenge 
 For me. Richard III. Act v. 
 
 In this example, we find several words emphatical ; 
 but the words despite and fear particularly so : these 
 are always pronounced with the strong emphasis, 
 which always adopts the falling inflexion. In the 
 foregoing definition of this emphasis, it is said;, that 
 the falling inflexion affirms something in the empha- 
 sis, and denies what is opposed to it in the antithesis, 
 and we accordingly find, that something is affirmed of 
 the words despite and fear, and something is denied of 
 the antithetic objects suggested by these words, which 
 are favour and fearlessness; for the paraphrase of these 
 words, when thus emphatical, would he, I'll be, not 
 in mens favour , but in their despite, a monarch — and 
 let not me who am fear less, but kings that fear, forgive; 
 by which we perceive the justness of the definition ; 
 for what is affirmed of the emphatie object is denied 
 
186 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 of the antithetic object ; agreeably to the definition 
 of the strong emphasis, or the emphasis with the fall- 
 ing inflexion. Another example will serve farther to 
 illustrate the nature of this species of emphasis. 
 
 When Cato is encouraging his little senate to hold 
 out against Caesar to the last, he says, 
 
 Why should Rome fall a mbnient ere her time ? 
 
 The emphasis, with the falling inflexion on the 
 word moment, which is the inflexion it is always pro- 
 nounced with, suggests an antithesis opposed to a mo- 
 ment, which antithesis is a very short time ; and the 
 import of this emphasis at length, would be equivalent 
 to this : Why should Rome fall not only a little, but 
 even a moment before her time? By which paraphrase, 
 we see the definition of this emphasis again exempli- 
 fied; for something is affirmed of the emphatic ob- 
 ject, and something is denied of the antithetic object. 
 
 The import of the emphasis with the rising in- 
 flexion, may be exemplified by the following passage. 
 Horatio, in the Fair Penitent, taxing Lothario with 
 forgery, says, 
 
 'Twas base and poor, unworthy of a mdn, 
 To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, 
 And mark it with a noble lady's name. 
 
 The word man, in the first line of this example, is the 
 emphatic object, which must necessarily have the 
 rising inflexion ; because this inflexion intimates, that 
 something is affirmed of the emphatic, which is not 
 denied of the antithetic object : the antithetic object 
 to the word man, we may suppose to be some being 
 of a lower order ; and if this emphasis were para- 
 phrased, it would run thus: 'Twas base and poor, un- 
 worthy of a man, though not unworthy of a brute. And 
 thus we find, that in this emphasis, what is affirmed 
 of the emphatic object is not denied of the antithetic 
 object, agreeably to the definition laid down. 
 
 In the examples which have been hitherto pro- 
 duced, the emphasis has always clearly suggested the 
 
ELOCUTION. 187 
 
 antithesis ; and a paraphrase, formed by producing 
 both the emphatic and antithetic object, has readily 
 presented itself : but there are many instances, where 
 though the antithetic object is equally real, it is not 
 so easily made out. In order to facilitate this opera- 
 tion, it will be necessary to observe, that the human 
 feelings have recourse to the most minute distinctions 
 imaginable, for the sake of expressing those feelings 
 with precision and force. 
 
 Thus when Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, says to 
 Lucilla, 
 
 I see thou hast learn'd to rail. Fair Penitent, Act i. * 
 
 the emphasis with the rising inflexion on the word 
 rail, does not suggest any precise antithetic object in 
 opposition to it, but an indefinite something more 
 excellent than railing, as if he had said, / see thou 
 hast learn'd to rail, if thou hast not acquired any art 
 more excellent than railing : but whether she has any 
 such acquirement, he leaves her to judge. 
 
 In the same manner, when Jane Shore is protesting 
 her fidelity to Edward's issue, Gloster answers, 
 
 Tis well — we'll try" the temper of your heart. 
 
 Jane Shore, Act iv. 
 
 the emphasis with the falling inflexion on the word 
 try suggests an antithesis, which makes it necessary 
 to have recourse to the former speech : in this we 
 find Jane Shore give proof of her fidelity by protes- 
 tations \ but Gloster replies, 'Tis well, we'll try the 
 temper of your heart ; which is perfectly equivalent 
 to saying, We will not only prove your fidelity by 
 talking, but by trial; and as this amplifies and illus- 
 trates the sense of the passage, we may be sure the 
 emphasis is properly placed. 
 
 An instance of an antithesis, perhaps still less ob- 
 vious, we have in thefollowing line of Richard the 
 Third, where Prince Edward apologises for his bro- 
 ther's sarcastic ridicule on the duke of Glocester : 
 
188 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 I hope your grace knows how to Mar with him. 
 
 Richard III. Act in. 
 
 The bear, in this sentence, is the emphatical word, 
 and always pronounced with the rising inflexion; but 
 though we perceive, at first hearing, the propriety of 
 adopting this inflexion, we cannot so readily discover 
 the antithetic object intimated by it; it is not till we 
 consider the definition of the neuter verb to bear, that 
 we find out what is opposed to it ; the word bear, in 
 the passage alluded to, indicates supporting a degree 
 of displeasure, so as to seem pleased when we are not 
 really so ; the antithetic object, therefore, must be, 
 being really pleased, and the paraphrase intimated by 
 this emphasis will be this : / hope your grace knows 
 how to bear, or to seem pleased with him, though not 
 to be really pleased with him. 
 
 Sometimes the sense of a passage makes it difficult 
 to determine whether we must use the emphasis with 
 the rising or falling inflexion ; and in this case (though 
 it seldom happens) we may adopt either the one or 
 the other indifferently. Thus when Horatio, in the 
 Fair Penitent, tells Calista that he came to her as a 
 friend, she answers, 
 
 You are my husband's friend, the friend of Al'tamont ! 
 
 The words husband and Altamont, in this line, are em- 
 phatical ; if they are both pronounced with the falling 
 inflexion, it imports an absolute denial of the anti- 
 thetic object, which is the friendship of Horatio to her; 
 if we pronounce them with the rising inflexion, it only 
 insinuates that he is not her friend: and this latter em- 
 phasis seems the most suitable to the situation of Ca- 
 lista, as at that time she has not so far broke terms 
 with Horatio, as absolutely to deny that he is her 
 friend ; and, therefore, the inflexion which affirms 
 something in the emphasis, without denying the an- 
 tithesis, is the inflexion she ought to adopt. 
 
 Thus have I been led insensibly by my subject into 
 intricacies and distinctions, whither, perhaps, but few 
 
ELOCUTION. 189 
 
 of my readers will be able to follow me. I might, 
 indeed, have contented myself with less minuteness 
 and precision, but the speculation appeared too cu- 
 rious and useful to be slightly treated. If what has 
 been observed of these emphatic inflexions be true, 
 we may take occasion to contemplate how few are 
 the principles on which Divine Wisdom constructs 
 operations of the greatest extent and variety : and it 
 may be presumed, that by being acquainted with 
 these principles, we shall be better enabled to enter 
 into the views of Providence in the gift of speech, by 
 perfecting and regulating it according to these views. 
 By a knowledge of the principles of grammar, we 
 are enabled to express our thoughts with greater 
 force, precision, and perspicuity ; and it cannot be 
 doubted that a knowledge of the grammar of pro- 
 nunciation, if it may be called so, will powerfully 
 tend to the same useful purpose. 
 
190 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Practical System of Emphasis. 
 
 Having endeavoured to show the nature of em- 
 phasis, properly so called, and attempted to distin- 
 guish it into its several kinds, according to the in- 
 flexion of voice it adopts ; having made some effort to 
 ascertain the peculiar character of each emphatic 
 inflexion, and by this means afforded some assistance 
 to a discovery of the true emphasis in doubtful 
 cases ; it will be necessary, in the next place, to en- 
 deavour to reduce what has been said into a practical 
 system, and to extend the former observations on 
 emphatic inflexion to the pronunciation of every dif- 
 ferent species of emphasis. Hitherto we have treated 
 chiefly of that emphasis, which may be called single; 
 that is, either where the two emphatic words in 
 antithesis with each other are expressed ; or where 
 but one of them is expressed, and the antithesis to 
 it is implied or understood. But besides these, 
 there are instances where two emphatic words are 
 opposed to two others, and sometimes where three 
 emphatic words are opposed to three others in the 
 same sentence. Let us take a view of each of these 
 different kinds of emphasis in its order : 
 
 f Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- 
 1 tution. 
 
 2 You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail at him. 
 
 fThe pleasures of the imagination are not so grbss as those of 
 \ s£nse, nor so refined as those of the understanding. 
 
 f" He rais'd a mortal to the skies. 
 X She drew an angel down. 
 
 In the first example, we find the emphatic word 
 indifferent suggest an antithesis not expressed, namely, 
 
ELOCUTION. 191 
 
 not a good constitution ; this may be called the single 
 emphasis implied. 
 
 In the second example, the words fight and rail are 
 in antithesis with each other, and do not suggest any 
 other antithetic objects ; and this may be called the 
 single emphasis expressed. 
 
 In the next example, the emphatic words gross and 
 refined are opposed to each other, and contrasted with 
 sense and understanding ; and this mutual correspond- 
 ence and opposition of four parts to each other may 
 not improperly be termed the double emphasis. 
 
 When three antithetic objects are opposed to three, 
 as in N° 4, we may call the assemblage the treble 
 emphasis. 
 
 Single Emphasis implied and expressed. 
 
 In the single emphasis implied, we find the inflexions 
 are so strictly appropriated to the nature of the 
 emphasis, that using one instead of the other would 
 inevitably alter the sense : this has been abundantly 
 proved in the preceding chapter. The same may be 
 observed (as we shall see presently) of the single em- 
 phasis expressed; but this appropriation of inflexion to 
 sense does not seem to hold so strictly where the em- 
 phasis is double, or treble ; for here, as the antithetic 
 objects are almost always expressed, and there is 
 seldom any danger of a mistake in the sense, we shall 
 not wonder to find harmony claim her indisputable 
 rights in making this sense most agreeable to the ear. 
 
 But though the inflexions of the double and treble 
 emphasis frequently yield to the harmony of arrange- 
 ment, the single emphasis expressed requires its spe- 
 cific inflexion on each part; for in the second ex- 
 ample : ' 
 
 You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail at 
 him ; 
 
192 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 here, if we were to place the rising inflexion on Jight, 
 and the falling on rail, as the harmony of cadence 
 would intimate, we should soon find, that in the single 
 emphasis expressed, there is as strict an appropriation 
 of inflexion to the sense of the emphasis as when but 
 one part of the antithesis is expressed in the single 
 emphasis implied. As the inflexions in this species 
 of emphasis, therefore, are of much more importance, 
 and much more difficult to settle, than those of the 
 double and treble emphasis, it may not be improper, 
 before we enter on the latter, to extend our specula- 
 tions a little on the former. 
 
 Whatever may be the reason why the positive 
 member of a sentence should adopt the emphasis 
 with the falling inflexion, and the negative member 
 the rising ; certain it is, that this appropriation of 
 emphatic inflexion to a positive or negative signifi- 
 cation, runs through the whole system of pronuncia- 
 tion. Agreeably to this arrangement, we constantly 
 find good readers finish negative sentences with the 
 rising inflexion, where ordinary readers are sure to 
 use the falling inflexion, and to drop the voice ; and, 
 perhaps, this different pronunciation forms one of 
 the greatest differences between good and bad 
 readers : thus, in the following sentence from the 
 Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown translated by 
 Dr. Leland : 
 
 Observe, then, iEschines ; our ancestors acted thus in both these 
 instances ; not that they acted for their benefactors, not that they 
 saw no danger in these expeditions. Such considerations never 
 could induce them to abandon those who fled to their protection. 
 N6, from the nobler motives of glory and renown, they devoted their 
 services to the distressed. 
 
 There are few good readers who will not pro- 
 nounce the first two sentences of this passage so as 
 to terminate them with the rising inflexion : and 
 
ELOCUTION. 193 
 
 this manner of reading them we find agreeable to 
 the paraphrase suggested by the falling inflexion 
 adopted by the positive signification of the last sen- 
 tence ; by which means all the sentences of this pas- 
 sage form parts of one thought, and may be reduced 
 to the definition of the emphasis with the falling in- 
 flexion ; as, They acted from the nobler motives of 
 glory and renown, and. not inferior motives. 
 
 Wherever, therefore, a negative sentence, or mem- 
 ber of a sentence, is in opposition to a positive sen- 
 tence, or member of a sentence, we find it usually 
 adopt the rising inflexion : and often where there is 
 no correspondent positive member or sentence ex- 
 pressed, if the negative member or sentence would 
 admit of a positive, and that the sense of this positive 
 is agreeable to the general tenor of the composition ; 
 in this case, likewise, we find the negative member or 
 sentence adopt the rising inflexion. Thus, in the 
 same oration, Demosthenes, speaking of the public 
 works he had erected, says, 
 
 As to those public works, so much the object of your ridicule, 
 they, undoubtedly, demand a due share of honour and applause ; 
 but I rate them far beneath the great merit of my administration. 
 It is not with stories nor bricks that I' have fortified the city. It is 
 not from works like these that I' derive my reputation. Would you 
 know my' methods of fortifying ? Examine, and you will find them 
 in the arms, the towns, the territories, the harbours 1 have secured j 
 the navies, the troops, the armies I have raised. 
 
 The two middle negative sentences of this passage 
 have not any correspondent positive sentences pre- 
 ceding or following them ; but the rising inflexion on 
 these sentences suggests a meaning so compatible 
 with the mind of the speaker, that we cannot doubt 
 of its being the true one ; for it is equivalent to 
 saying, It is not with works like these that T have 
 fortified the city, hut with something much better. 
 This will receive a farther illustration from another 
 passage of the same orator. 
 
 For if you now pronounce, that, as my public conduct hath not 
 been right, Ctegiphon must stand condemned, it must be thought 
 
194 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 that yourselves had acted wrong, not that you owe your present 
 state to the caprice of fortune. But it cannot be. No, my coun- 
 trymen ! It cannot be you have acted wrong, in encountering 
 danger bravely, for the liberty and safety of all Greece. No ! by 
 those generous souls of ancient times, who were exposed at Mara- 
 thon ! By those who stood arrayed at Plataea ! By those who 
 encountered the Persian fleet at Salamis ! who fought at Artemi- 
 sium ! By all those illustrious sons of Athens, whose remains lie 
 deposited in the public monuments ! All of whom received the same 
 honourable interment from their country : Not those only who 
 prevailed, not those only who were victorious. And with reason. 
 What was the part of gallant men they all performed j their sucfeess 
 was such as the supreme director of the world dispensed to each. 
 
 The two last members of the first sentence we 
 find naturally adopt their specific inflexions ; that 
 is, the positive member, the falling on wrong, and 
 the negative the rising on fortune. The succeeding 
 sentence has a negation in it that suits the rising in-, 
 flexion much better than the falling, and therefore 
 Greece has very properly the rising inflexion ; and 
 the latter members, not those only who prevailed, not 
 those only who were victorious, will not admit of the 
 falling inflexion without an evident prejudice to the 
 sense. 
 
 Plausible, however, as this doctrine may appear, 
 it is not pretended that it is universally true. It is 
 certain, that a negative member of a sentence may 
 often have the falling, and a positive member the 
 rising inflexion : but it is as certain, that where the 
 sentence is so constructed as to require the rising in- 
 flexion on the negative, and the falling on the positive 
 part of the sentence, there is always both greater force 
 and harmony. 
 
 From these observations, therefore, we may con- 
 clude, that in a single emphasis where harmony is 
 not grossly violated, sense ought always to predomi- 
 nate : And hence will arise this general rule : When- 
 ever a sentence is composed of a positive and negative 
 part, if this positive and negative imports that some- 
 thing is affirmed of one of the things which is denied 
 
ELOCUTION. 195 
 
 of the other, the positive must have the falling, and 
 the negative the rising inflexion. 
 
 Small as the extent of this rule is, it appears to 
 throw a considerable light on the doctrine of em- 
 phasis ; and particularly where the sense of a passage 
 is not very obvious, and where harmony admits of a 
 diversity of inflexion. Let us endeavour to reduce 
 these speculations to practice. In a passage of Mil- 
 ton's Paradise Lost, the angel, speaking of Nina rod, 
 says, 
 
 Hunting (and men, not blasts, shall be his game.) 
 
 P. L. B. xii. 
 
 Every ear agrees to lay the emphasis with the fall- 
 ing inflexion on men, and the emphasis with the 
 rising inflexion on beasts, agreeably to the rule just 
 laid down ; but when, in the same author, we meet 
 with a description of Satan's coming down to be re- 
 venged on men in these words, — 
 
 For now 
 Satan, now first inflam'd with rage, came down ; 
 The tempter, ere the accuser of mankind, 
 To wreak on innocent frail man his loss 
 Of that first battle, and his flight to hell. 
 
 P. L. B. iv. 
 
 In the third line of this passage we find no such 
 certainty in adapting a different inflexion to the two 
 emphatic words tempter and accuser, as in the former 
 instance. 
 
 A little reflection, however, obliges us to give the 
 falling inflexion to tempter, and the rising to accuser 4 
 but the reason of this disposition does not readily 
 occur. A little farther reflexion will induce us to re- 
 solve this arrangement of inflexion into the foregoing 
 rule. For the word ere, signifying before, relates to 
 the word now, in the former line ; and the paraphrase 
 of this emphasis is, The tempter now, at this time, 
 not the accuser, as he was afterwards ; whereas a 
 transposition of emphatic inflexion, that is, the rising 
 
 o 2 
 
196 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 inflexion on tempter, and the falling on accuser, would 
 infallibly suggest this sense — The tempter, not only 
 before he was something more inimical than accuser, 
 but before he was even the accuser of mankind. This 
 paraphrase agrees so ill with the sense of the passage, 
 and the former so well, that we need not hesitate a 
 moment about the true emphasis. 
 
 The reason for placing the emphasis with the rising 
 inflexion on accuser, and that with the falling on 
 tempter, seems to arise from the same principle as 
 that of placing the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
 on the positive, and that with the rising inflexion on 
 the negative part of a sentence ; for the priority of one 
 thing to another is reducible to its being that thing at 
 that time, and not another thing ; and the preferable- 
 ness of one thing to another is equal to the choice 
 being fixed on one thing and not another. Thus the 
 following phrase : i( I would rather teach the art of 
 " poisoning than that of sophistry," may be reduced 
 to this : If I must teach one of these arts, I will teach 
 poisoning, and not sophistry. But if one of these 
 parts of the antithesis admits of emphasis, that is, if it 
 appears to be the intention of the speaker not to say 
 merely that one thing is prior or preferable to another, 
 but that one of these things in the strictest sense of 
 the word, and opposed to something of smaller im- 
 port, is prior or preferable to -another ; or, if one of 
 these things is said to be prior or preferable to another 
 thing, taken in its strictest sense, and opposedto some 
 other thiag of less importance ; in this case, I say, the 
 emphasis with the falling inflexion is on that part of 
 the antithesis which intimates something of more 
 importance than is simply expressed. Thus, in the 
 following sentence, 
 
 I would die sooner than mention it, 
 
 if we mean only to declare our choice between 
 dying and mentioning, the falling inflexion must be 
 placed on die, as this is the part of the sentence that 
 
ELOCUTION. 197 
 
 corresponds to the positive part of the declaration : 
 If we would express this choice with emphasis, so as 
 to show that we would not only undergo great diffi- 
 culties, but that we would even die sooner than men- 
 tion it, the same inflexion is preserved on the same 
 word, with a small addition of emphatic force : If it 
 were understood that we would die sooner than men- 
 tion it, but, for fear mention should be taken in too 
 large a sense, we wish to express a resolution of dying 
 before we would discover the smallest part of it ; in 
 this case, I say, we should lay the strong emphasis 
 and falling inflexion on mention, which would inti- 
 mate a new antithesis, and be equivalent to saying, 
 / would not only die before I would declare or relate it, 
 but even before I would mention it ; and here we And 
 the word die assume the weak emphasis and rising 
 inflexion, as the question in this case is not so much 
 about dying, as about the degree of mention we are 
 resolved not to make. 
 
 But if both parts of the comparison be understood, 
 and therefore to be taken simply and without em- 
 phasis, and it is the intention of the speaker to declare, 
 with emphasis, the priority or preferableness only ; in 
 this case, the comparative word has the strong em- 
 phasis and falling inflexion, and the word compared 
 has the weak emphasis and rising inflexion. Thus 
 Gay, in the fable of the Elephant and Bookseller, 
 makes the latter offer pay to the former for writing 
 satire ; and in order to show there is no necessity to 
 hire beasts to prey on men, while men, by envy, prey 
 on each other, says, 
 
 Envy's a sharper spur than pay. 
 
 Here the word sharper has the strong emphasis and 
 falling inflexion, as envy is not said, with emphasis, 
 to be a sharper spur than pay ; for envy is not here 
 opposed to any other disposition, or to a disposition 
 less malevolent ; nor is pay opposed to any other, or 
 
198 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 to a less reward : but the emphasis is confined to the 
 comparative word sharper ; as if he had said, Envy is 
 not only a spur equally sharp, but sharper than pay. 
 
 On these principles we may account for the em- 
 phasis which a good actor always places on the first 
 part of the antithesis in the following examples : 
 
 Ham. What ! look'd he frowningly ? 
 
 Hor. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Shaks. 
 
 It is a custom 
 More honoured in the breach than the observance. Ibid. 
 
 He is more knave than fool. Proverbial phrase. 
 
 Oh ! the blood mbre stirs, 
 To rouse a lion than to start a hare. 
 
 Shakes. Hen. IV. Part I. Act I. 
 
 This last example is the parallel of that from Gay ; 
 and it is presumed, that a judicious actor would lay 
 the great stress, that is, the emphasis with the falling 
 inflexion, on the word more, and give the words lion 
 and hare the weak emphasis and rising inflexion. For 
 Hotspur, in this passage, is talking of dangers, and is 
 not so much comparing them as the advantages that 
 arise from them ; and the paraphrase of this emphasis 
 would be, the resistance we make to great and small 
 danger is not equal; a great danger stirs the blood 
 much more than a small one. 
 
 This paraphrasing or drawing out the signification 
 of emphatic words seems the best guide where the 
 sense is not quite obvious, and will lead us to decide 
 in many doubtful cases, where nothing but the taste 
 of the reader is commonly appealed to. To illustrate 
 this still farther, let us examine a line in Otway's 
 Venice Preserved, where Pierre, expatiating on the 
 wretched state of Venice, says, 
 
 Justice is lame as well as blind among us. 
 
 The phrase, as well as, signifies nothing more than 
 parity /and is nearly similar in sense to the conjunc- 
 
ELOCUTION. 199 
 
 tion and ; if, therefore, we lay the falling inflexion on 
 blind, it would be equivalent to saying, Justice is not 
 only lame, but blind ; and this is a piece of informa- 
 tion we did not want : for justice is always supposed 
 to be blind. But the falling inflexion on lame, and 
 the rising on blind, is equivalent to saying, Justice is 
 not only blind, as she is every where else, but in Venice 
 she is lame as well as blind. And that this is the true 
 meaning of the passage, cannot be doubted, If the 
 poet had written the line in this manner, 
 
 Justice is as lame as she is blind among us : 
 
 the falling inflexion placed on blind, would imply, 
 that Justice is not only very lame, but even as lame as 
 she is blind. Thus we see the sense varies with the 
 different emphasis we adopt, and is never fully and 
 forcibly displayed without the kind of emphasis that 
 is peculiarly suited to it. 
 
 But it may be asked, since the sense must be fully 
 conceived before we can adopt the emphasis to the 
 words, of what use is it to ring all these changes upon 
 the different emphases, when, though we conceive 
 them ever so distinctly, they will only suggest one 
 particular sense, but will never tell us which we shall 
 adopt as most suitable to the meaning of the author ? 
 To this it may be answered, that whatever tends to 
 show the different import of each kind of emphasis, 
 enables us the better to judge of the suitableness or 
 unsuitableness of each emphasis to the sense. This 
 unfolding and displaying of what is suggested by each 
 emphasis is that assistance to the understanding which 
 spectacles are to the eye ; magnifying glasses are not 
 calculated for those whose powers of sight are so 
 strong and clear as to have no need of them, nor for 
 those who have no sight at all ; but for such as wish to 
 view objects distinctly, and with less labour than with- 
 out this assistance. Where the sense is clear, we need 
 no such assistance ; but where the sense is obscure 
 and dubious, it can scarcely be doubted that display- 
 
200 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ing and unfolding it by such paraphrases as are sug- 
 gested by the application of different kinds of em- 
 phasis, will tend greatly to take away the ambiguity, 
 will show which kind of emphasis is most suitable to 
 the sense, and enable us to pronounce with greater 
 confidence and security. 
 
 From what has been said of the nature of emphasis, 
 it will evidently follow, that pronunciation is a kind 
 of supplement to written language. As vivacity and 
 force depend greatly on brevity, and brevity border 
 naturally on obscurity ; in order to preserve the 
 meaning without losing the force, pronunciation in- 
 terposes, and, as it were, supplies the ellipsis in the 
 written words by a stress and inflexion of voice, 
 which imply what belongs to the sense, but which is 
 not sufficiently obvious without oral utterance. Hence 
 we may conclude, that language is never perfect till 
 it is delivered. A just pronunciation brings to view 
 its latent and elliptical senses, without clogging it with 
 repetitions which would retard its communication and 
 enfeeble its strength. Thus by pronouncing the fol- 
 lowing sentence, Exercise and temperance strengthen 
 an indifferent constitution : By pronouncing this sen- 
 tence, I say, with the following inflexion on the word 
 indifferent, I convey as much to the understanding as 
 if I had said, Exercise and temperance strengthen not 
 only a common constitution, but even an indifferent con- 
 stitution. And the inferiority of the latter sentence, 
 from its tautology and pleonastic tardiness, suffi- 
 ciently shows the necessity of a just pronunciation to 
 supply the ellipses of written language. 
 
 ^Double Emphasis. 
 
 The double emphasis, as we have already observed 
 in page 191, seems most frequently to be regulated 
 by the harmony of the sentence ; for as it is a general 
 rule., that the rising inflexion must take place in the 
 
ELOCUTION. 201 
 
 middle of such a sentence, the second branch of the 
 first member must necessarily have the rising inflex- 
 ion, and the rest of the branches must have such an 
 emphasis and inflexion as contribute most to the har- 
 mony of the period. With this general rule, that the 
 two parts of the antithesis have each of them the two 
 different inflexions, arranged in an opposite order; 
 that is, as two inflexions in the same member cannot 
 be alike, if the second branch of the first member has 
 the rising, the first branch must, of course, have the 
 falling inflexion : and as the last branch of the second 
 member forms the period, and therefore requires the 
 falling, the first branch of this member must necessa- 
 rily have the rising inflexion ; this is the arrange- 
 ment of inflexion which seems universally adopted 
 by the ear, as it will be found, upon experiment, no 
 other is so various and musical. An example will 
 soon convince us of this : 
 
 The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
 not so gross as those of s4nse, nor so refined as those of the under- 
 standing. Spectator, No. 411. 
 
 In this example, the ear perceives the necessity of 
 adopting the rising inflexion on the word sense ; and, 
 for the sake of variety, lays the falling inflexion on 
 gross ; and, by the same anticipation, perceiving the 
 period must have the falling inflexion on imagination, 
 adopts the rising inflexion on refined; by these means, 
 the greatest variety is obtained, and the sense invio- 
 lably preserved ; for if we were to repeat this passage 
 with contrary inflexions on the first member, we 
 should soon perceive the impropriety : 
 
 The pleasures of imagination, taken in their full extent, are not so 
 oss as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the understanding. 
 
 Here we perceive the whole sentence is monoton- 
 ous, by adopting the same inflexions in the same 
 order on the first and last members ; and the sense 
 
202 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 is manifestly injured by laying the strong emphasis 
 and falling inflexion in the middle of the sentence, 
 contrary to the general rule. 
 
 The nature of the double emphasis expressed, re- 
 specting the inflexion of voice which each antithetic 
 part adopts rather in compliance with the ear than 
 for the purpose of enforcing the sense, will be farther 
 illustrated by the treble emphasis. 
 
 Treble Emphasis. 
 
 The treble emphasis, where -all the parts are ex- 
 pressed, occurs but seldom ; and when it does, there 
 is seldom any difficulty in pronouncing it; for as each 
 part has its correspondent part expressed, there is 
 scarcely any necessity to enforce one more than the 
 other, and they easily fall into a just and harmonious 
 arrangement. Thus, in the following lines : 
 
 Ste in her girls again is courted; 
 r go a wdoing with my bbys : 
 
 every emphatical word adopts that inflexion which 
 the harmony of the verse would necessarily require, 
 if there were not an emphatical word in the whole 
 couplet. This arrangement of emphatic inflexions 
 almost always takes place when every part of the treble 
 emphasis is expressed ; but when the double emphasis 
 has two of its parts so emphatical as to imply two 
 antithetic objects not expressed, and so to form a 
 treble emphasis implied only ; in this case, I say, it 
 is not so easily determined how we are to place the 
 emphatic inflexions. Thus in the following passage 
 of Milton (Paradise Lost, Book I. v. 262), 
 
 To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
 Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven : 
 
 the words heaven and hell, in the last line, besides the 
 
ELOCUTION. 203 
 
 common antithesis which they form to each other, 
 seem to have each of them an antithetic object distinct 
 and separate, and so to form a treble emphasis instead 
 of a double one ; for the emphasis with the falling 
 inflexion on hell, seems to intimate, that to reign is so 
 desirable, that it is better to reign, not only where it 
 is attended with its usual cares, but even in hell, 
 where it is attended with torments ; and the same 
 emphatic inflexion on heaven implies, that servitude 
 is not only detestable where it has its usual inconve- 
 niences, but even in heaven, where it is attended with 
 pleasures. These paraphrases, implied by the em- 
 phasis with the falling inflexion, seem not only to 
 agree with the sense of the author, but necessarily 
 to belong to it: and yet so agreeable is a contrary 
 arrangement of inflexion to the ear, that we seldom 
 find this passage pronounced in this manner. 
 
 Let a whole assembly be desired to read these lines 
 in Milton, and a single person will scarcely be found 
 whose ear will not draw him into the common ar- 
 rangement of emphatic inflexion, though contrary to 
 the strongest sense of the passage : 
 
 To reign is worth ambition, though in hell 5 
 Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. 
 
 Most readers, I say, in repeating these lines, will 
 pronounce the last line as it is marked ; that is, they 
 will lay the falling inflexion on reign, and the rising 
 inflexion on hell, in order to diversify it from the two 
 concluding branches of the antithesis ; that is, the 
 line will be exactly the same with respect to inflexion 
 and emphasis, as the following : 
 
 Not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the 
 understanding. 
 
 But if we attend to the sense of Milton, we shall 
 find that the word hell, though in the middle of the 
 antithesis, seems necessarily to require the falling in- 
 
204 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 flexion ; for, as we have observed, Satan's ambition to 
 reign is so great, that he wishes to reign even in 
 hell; that is not where reigning has its usual cares 
 attending it, but even in hell, where it is accompanied 
 with torments suited to his superior wickedness. If we 
 wish to convey this sense strongly, which the words 
 of the author will certainly admit of, we must neces- 
 sarily place the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
 on the word hell, and neglect the music of the line, 
 which would require another arrangement : for if it 
 is an invariable maxim, that where force and harmony 
 are inconsistent, the preference must be given to the 
 former ; without all question, this passage ought to 
 be read, not as it commonly is, in this manner : 
 
 * To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
 Better to reign in hell than s&ve in Keavn. 
 
 But in this : 
 
 To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
 Better to reign in hell than se'rve in heav'n. 
 
 An emphasis of exactly the same kind is found in a 
 saying of Julius Caesar, who, when he was passing 
 through an obscure village in Gaul, made use of 
 these words : 
 
 I would rather be the first man in that village than the second in 
 Rome. 
 
 The general harmony of pronunciation invariably 
 inclines us, at the first reading of this passage, to 
 lay the emphasis with the falling inflexion on first ; 
 that with the rising on village ; the rising likewise 
 on second, and the falling on Rome ; but if we wish 
 
 * Mr. Garrick, upon being asked to read these lines, repeated 
 them at first in the former mode of placing the emphatic inflexions ; 
 but, upon re-considering them, approved of the latter. 
 
ELOCUTION. 205 
 
 strongly to enforce the sense of the words, we must 
 necessarily lay the rising inflexion on first, and the 
 falling on village, in the following manner : 
 
 I would rather be the first man in the tillage than the second in 
 Rbme. 
 
 For in this pronunciation we strongly enforce the 
 desire he had for superiority, by making him prefer 
 it not only in a common place, but even in that village, 
 to inferiority, even in Rome. If this latter mode of 
 reading this sentence seems too turgid and emphatic 
 for the historic style, what are we to think of that 
 general rule that seems universally to be acknow- 
 ledged by all readers ; namely, that the sense of an 
 author ought always to be enforced to the utmost, 
 let the harmony be what it will ? This maxim, 
 however, I take to be rashly adopted ; for, as we have 
 before observed, reading seems to be a compromise 
 between the rights of sense and sound. Obscurity is 
 the greatest possible defect in reading ; and no har- 
 mony whatever will make amends for it : but if the 
 sense of a passage be sufficiently clear, it seems no 
 infringement on the rights of the understanding to 
 give this sufficiently clear sense an harmonious utter- 
 ance. In this case, it is, perhaps, necessary to dis- 
 tinguish between clear sense and strong sense ; the 
 first is that which puts the author's meaning beyond 
 the possibility of mistake ; the latter, as it were, adds 
 something to it, and places the same in such a point 
 of view as to give it, though not a different, yet a 
 greater force than what the words immediately sug- 
 gest ; but if this additional force becomes harsh, 
 quaint, or affected, the ear claims her rights in favour 
 of harmony; and good taste will always admit her 
 claim, when the rights of the understanding are suf- 
 ficiently secured. 
 
 Thus in that noble sentiment of Cato : 
 
206 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty 
 Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. 
 
 To pronounce this passage witli the greatest force, 
 we ought to lay the emphasis with the falling inflex- 
 ion on eternity, as this would suggest a paraphrase 
 perfectly illustrative of the sense, which is, that a day 
 or an hour of virtuous liberty is not only worth more 
 than the longest finite duration in bondage, but even 
 a whole eternity. This pronunciation, however, would 
 necessarily give the rising inflexion to bondage, which 
 would conclude the passage so inharmoniously, that 
 the ear finds itself obliged to neglect this so forcible 
 expression, and content itself with placing the rising 
 inflexion on eternity, for the sake of the harmony of 
 the cadence : and as the plain import of the word 
 eternity is sufficiently strong and emphatical, sense is 
 no great loser by the sacrifice : if, however, the 
 thought could have been so disposed as to have made 
 a word, so susceptible of force as eternity, adopt the 
 falling' inflexion and conclude the line, the expres- 
 sion, it is presumed, would have been still stronger. 
 Let us suppose, for instance, the two last lines had 
 stood thus : 
 
 A day, an hour, in virtuous liberty 
 Outweighs, in bondage, an eternity : 
 
 I do not contend that this alteration is not greatly 
 inferior to the original in point of composition, 
 from the necessity of adopting words less suitable; 
 but, 1 think, I may appeal to the ear of every criti- 
 cal speaker for the superiority of the latter, with 
 rsspect to the force and harmony of pronunciation. 
 In the same manner it may be observed, that if the 
 words in Milton were transposed as in the following 
 line, 
 
 Better in hell to resign, than serve in heav'n, 
 
ELOCUTION. 207 
 
 the falling inflexion on hell, and the rising on reign, 
 would preserve both the force and harmony ; but 
 I am far from presuming to judge whether the line 
 would be better by this alteration. The same may 
 be observed of the transposition of the saying of 
 Caesar : 
 
 In tMt village I would rather be the first man, than the second in 
 Rome. 
 
 By this arrangement we see the strongly emphatic 
 words, which require the falling inflexion, are in the 
 beginning and end of the sentence, and the two em- 
 phatic words that require the rising inflexion, in the 
 middle ; and, consequently, the inflexions on the 
 two first and two last emphatic words are in a dif- 
 ferent order. 
 
 But if a treble emphasis implied will often, for 
 the sake of harmony, neglect such an emphasis as 
 produces the greatest force, there is a much greater 
 necessity for this sacrifice to sound where every part 
 of the treble emphasis is expressed. Thus, in the 
 following manner : 
 
 He* raised a mortal to the skies, 
 She drew an angel dbwn. 
 
 If, for the sake of showing that Timotheus did not 
 only raise a mortal very high, but even to the 
 skies ; if, I say, for the sake of intimating this 
 sense, we lay the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
 on skies, we shall ruin the harmony of the couplet : 
 The same may be observed if we lay the same em- 
 phasis on angel; for though this would intimate that 
 St. Cecilia did not draw down a common being, but 
 even an angel, yet this intimation would make no 
 amends for the quaintness and discord this inflexion 
 would occasion ; but if these lines had been so con- 
 structed as to admit of the emphasis with the falling 
 inflexion on these words, perhaps we should not 
 
208 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 have found either sense or harmony the worse for 
 it. 
 
 He to the sines a mdrtal raised, 
 An cingel she drew dbwn. 
 
 Thus we perceive there are some things clear and 
 decided, others ambiguous and indeterminate : the 
 best decision in the latter case is, to observe the pro- 
 nunciation of the best readers and speakers, and to 
 mark it by the inflexions which are here made use 
 of. A notation of this kind, will enable us to collect 
 examples of different modes of pronunciation, and 
 to form an opinion from examples of the best autho- 
 rity : by this means we shall be able to give some 
 stability to those sounds which have hitherto been 
 thought too fleeting and evanescent for retrospec- 
 tion. 
 
 General Emphasis. 
 
 Hitherto emphasis has been considered as appro- 
 priated to a particular word in a sentence, the pecu- 
 liar sense of which demanded an increase of force, 
 and an inflexion correspondent to that sense ; we shall 
 now endeavour to throw some light upon that em- 
 phatic force, which when the composition is very 
 animated, and approaches to a close, we often lay 
 upon several words in succession ; this successive 
 emphatic force does not, like the former, suggest any 
 particular meaning excluded by it, and therefore 
 may not improperly be called a general emphasis. 
 This emphasis is not so much regulated by the sense 
 of the author as by the taste and feelings of the 
 reader, and therefore does not admit of any certain 
 rule ; but as it is very strong and energetic when it is 
 happily applied, it may not be useless to endeavour 
 to give such rules as will naturally arise from a few 
 examples. 
 
ELOCUTION. £09 
 
 When Lucius in Cato seems to have exhausted 
 every topic in favour of giving up a hopeless war and 
 submitting to Caesar, he concludes with this empha- 
 tic period : 
 
 What men could do, 
 " Is done already : heaven and earth will witness, 
 If Rome must fall, that we are innocent. 
 
 The common manner of pronouncing this last line is 
 to lay an emphasis with the rising inflexion on the 
 word must, which is certainly a very just one, and 
 may be called the particular emphasis ; but if we 
 were to place an emphasis on each of the four words, 
 if Rome must fall ; that is, the emphasis with the 
 rising inflexion on if, that with the falling on Rome 
 and must, and the rising onfall ; if these emphases, I 
 say, are pronounced with a distinct pause after each, 
 it is inconceivable the force that will be given to 
 these few words. 
 
 In the same manner, when Demosthenes is de- 
 scribing the former helpless state of Athens, he says, 
 
 There was a time, then, my fellow-citizens, when the Lacaedemo- 
 mans were sovereign masters both by sea and land ; when their troops 
 and forts surrounded the entire circuit of Attica ; when they pos- 
 sessed Euboea, Tanagra, the whole Boeotian district, Megara, iEgina, 
 Cleone, and the other islands ; while this state had not one ship, tibt 
 title wall. 
 
 The general mode of pronouncing the last member 
 of this sentence is, to lay an emphasis on the last word, 
 wall : this is unquestionably proper ; but if we lay an 
 emphasis on the last three words, that is, the falling 
 on not, the rising on one, and the falling on wall, and 
 pause very distinctly between each, we shall be at no 
 loss to decide on the superiority of this general em- 
 phasis. We have another instance of the force of 
 this general emphasis, in the beautiful climax of 
 Zanga, in the tragedy of the Revenge : 
 
210 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 That's truly great ! what think you 'twas set up 
 
 The Greek and Roman name in such a lustre, 
 
 But doing right in stern despite of nature, 
 
 Shutting their ears to all her little cries, 
 
 When great august and godlike justice call'd. 
 
 At Aulis one pour'd out a daughter's life, 
 
 And gain'd more glory than by all his wars ; 
 
 Another slew a sister in just rage ; 
 
 A third, the theme of all succeeding times, 
 
 Gave to the cruel axe a darling son : 
 
 Nay more, for justice some devote themselves, 
 
 As he at Carthage an immortal name ! 
 
 Yet there is bne step ttft above their fable - 7 
 
 A wife, bride, mistress, unenjbyed, 
 
 Do that, and tread upon the Greek and Roman glory. 
 
 Act iv. Scene last. 
 
 In pronouncing this passage, we shall find the ge- 
 nerality of readers content themselves with laying an 
 emphasis upon the word one in the thirteenth line, 
 and pronounce the two succeeding words step and 
 left without any particular force ; but if we give em- 
 phatic force to each of these three words, and at the 
 same time pause considerably after every word, we 
 shall find the whole line glow with meaning and 
 energy : for though pronouncing the word one with 
 the emphasis and rising inflexion, and the succeeding 
 words step and left with the same inflexion, without 
 emphasis, would undoubtedly bring out the author's 
 sense ; yet pronouncing bne and step both with em- 
 phasis and the falling inflexion seems to snatch a 
 grace beyond the reach of art, and fall in with the 
 enthusiasm of the poet. The emphasis with the 
 falling inflexion and increasing force, on the four 
 successive words wife, bride, mistress, unenjbyed, in 
 the last line but one, crowns the whole climax with 
 suitable force and harmony. 
 
 But though general emphasis may, at first sight, 
 seem to be an exception to the general rule, yet, upon 
 a nearer inspection, it will be found strictly conform- 
 able to it. Emphasis has been defined to be another 
 
ELOCUTION. 211 
 
 word for opposition or contradistinction ; now where, 
 it may be asked, is the opposition or contradistinc- 
 tion to the words if and Rome and fall in the sentence, 
 
 Heav'n and earth will witness, 
 If Rome must fall, that we are innocent ! 
 
 It may be answered, that the mind, in endeavouring 
 to express things strongly, seems to have recourse to 
 a redundancy of sounds as well as of words ; the ad- 
 jetive own and the substantive self are superfluous 
 words, if we regard only their mere grammatical im- 
 port. For the sentences, this booh is mine, and / 
 wrote it, literally signify as much as this book is my 
 own, and / wrote it myself; but the latter sentences 
 may be said to be emphatical, and the former not. 
 To the same end our language has adopted an auxili- 
 ary verb, to express action or passion with empha- 
 sis, in a shorter way than perhaps in any other tongue. 
 Thus, when Othello says to Desdemona — 
 
 Perdition catch my soul but I do love thee — 
 
 it is equivalent to saying, / actually and really love 
 thee, — in contradistinction to the appearance of love, 
 which so often supplies the place of the reality : and 
 this seems to lead us to the latent antithesis of the 
 general emphasis, which is, the appearance, as dis- 
 tinguished from the reality or the similitude, from the 
 identity ; and therefore, though the words if, Rome, 
 and fall, taken separately, have no direct antithetic 
 ideas, yet, when united together by successive em- 
 phases, they imply a reality and identity of situation 
 in opposition to every possible contrary situation, 
 which contrary situation becomes the real antithetic 
 object of the emphatic words, and thus brings the 
 general emphasis under the same definition as par- 
 ticular emphasis, and shows that both are but other 
 words for opposition, contradistinction, or contrast. 
 
 p2 
 
212 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 From tins view of emphasis, we may perceive the 
 propriety of laying a stress upon some of the most 
 insignificant words when the language is impassioned, 
 in order to create a general force, which sufficiently 
 justifies the seeming impropriety. Thus, in the fol- 
 lowing sentence — The very man whom he had loaded 
 with favours was the first to accuse him — a stressjupon 
 the word man will give considerable force to the sen- 
 tence — the very man, &c. If to the stress on this word 
 we give one to the word very, the force will be con- 
 siderably increased — the very man, &c. But if to 
 these words we unite a stress on the word the, the 
 emphasis will then attain its utmost pitch, and be 
 emphatic, as it may be called, in the superlative de- 
 gree — the very man, &c. And this general emphasis, 
 it may be observed, has identity for its object, the 
 antithesis to which is appearance, similitude, or the 
 least possible diversity. 
 
 Intermediate or Elliptical Member. 
 
 It now remains to say something of an emphatic 
 circumstance, which, though not mentioned by any 
 of our writers on the subject, seems of the utmost im- 
 portance to an accurate idea of pronunciation. 
 
 It has been already observed, that emphatic force 
 is relative : it may be likewise observed, that it is not 
 relative only with respect to the inferior force which 
 is given to the unemphatic words ; it is relative, also, 
 with respect to the inflexion on those words that are 
 not emphatical ; that is, emphasis derives as much 
 force from pronouncing those words which are not 
 emphatical with a peculiar inflexion, as it does from 
 pronouncing the emphatic words themselves with a 
 suitable inflexion and greater force. Let us endeavour 
 to illustrate this by an example : 
 
 Must we, in your person, crown the author of the public calami- 
 ties, or must we destroy him ? JEschines against Demosthenes. 
 
ELOCUTION. 213 
 
 Here, I say, in order to preserve to the two empha- 
 tical words, crown and destroy, that force which the 
 contrast demands, we must necessarily pronounce the 
 intermediate member, the author of the public calami- 
 ties, with the rising inflexion, like crown, but in a 
 feebler, though higher tone of voice : this mode of 
 pronunciation places the opposite parts in full view, 
 which would be necessarily obscured, if the words 
 author of the public calamities had the same portion of 
 force and variety as the rest ; so that this member, 
 which may not improperly be called the elliptical 
 member, has exactly that inflexion and that feeble- 
 ness which it would have, if it had been repeated, at 
 the end of the sentence, in this manner : 
 
 Must we, in your person, crown the author of the public calami- 
 ties ? or must we destroy the author of the public calamities ? 
 
 This will be farther ill ustrated by another example : 
 
 It is not he who hath strengthened our fortifications, who hath 
 digged our intrenchments, who hath disturbed the tombs of our an- 
 cestors, that should demand the honours of a patriot minister, but 
 he who hath procured some intrinsic services to the state. 
 
 Here the intermediate member, that should demand 
 the honours of a patriot minister, which agrees both 
 with the positive and negative part of the sentence, 
 must be pronounced in subordination to the word an- 
 cestors ; that is, as this word has the emphasis with 
 the rising inflexion, according to the general rule, the 
 intermediate member must have the rising inflexion 
 likewise, in a higher and feebler tone of voice, and 
 without any peculiar force upon any of the words. 
 Another example will render this rule still clearer : 
 
 A good man will love himself too well to lose an estate by gaming, 
 and his neighbour too well to win one. 
 
 In this sentence, as in the two former, there are two 
 principal constructive parts ; and between these parts 
 there is a member which relates to both, and must be 
 pronounced in subordination to both, else the force of 
 
214 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 each will be lost. The member is, an estate by gam- 
 ing ; the first principal constructive part of this sen- 
 tence ends with the emphatic word lose ; and as its 
 connexion with the latter constructive part necessarily 
 requires that it should be pronounced with the rising 
 inflexion, every word of the intermediate member 
 which follows it must be pronounced with the rising 
 inflexion likewise ; for if an emphasis or variety of 
 inflexion be given to this member, it will infallibly 
 deprive the correspondent antithetic words, himself, 
 lose, neighbour, and win, of all their force and har- 
 mony. Every word of this middle member, therefore, 
 must be pronounced with the rising inflexion, in a 
 somewhat higher tone than the word lose, and nearly 
 approaching a monotone. On the contrary, if we 
 were to place this member at the end of the sentence, 
 in this manner, 
 
 A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neighbour 
 too well to win, an estate by gaming — 
 
 in this arrangement, in order to give force and variety 
 to the correspondent emphatic words, the same in- 
 flexions must take place as before ; that is, himself 
 must have the falling, lose the rising, neighbour the 
 rising, and wint\\Q falling inflexion : and to preserve 
 this order, which can alone give the sentence its due 
 precision, the last member, an estate by gaming, must 
 be pronounced with the same inflexion as the word 
 win, but in a lower tone of voice, and approaching to 
 a monotone ; for if any force or variety is given to 
 these words, it must necessarily be at the expense of 
 those that are alone entitled to it. The bad effect, 
 indeed, of pronouncing so many words at the end of a 
 sentence in so low and feeble a tone, is apt to invite 
 the ear to a different pronunciation at first ; but a mo- 
 ment's reflection on the sense will induce us rather to 
 dispense with a want of sound than of meaning. The 
 first of these forms of arranging the words is indispu- 
 tably the best; and writers would do well to make it 
 a rule in composition, never to finish a sentence with 
 
ELOCUTION. 215 
 
 a member that relates to each part of a preceding an- 
 tithesis ; a neglect of this rule occasions many uncouth 
 sentences even in our best authors. 
 
 Mr. Addison, speaking of the power of the imagi- 
 nation, says, 
 
 It would be in vain to inquire whether the power of imagining 
 things strongly proceeds from any greater perfection in the soul, or 
 from any nicer texture in the brain of one man than of another. 
 
 Spectator, No. 417. 
 
 In this sentence, in order to present each part of 
 the antithesis, soul and brain, clearly and precisely to 
 the mind, it will be necessary to confine the emphatic 
 force to these words alone ; and this can be done no 
 other way than by laying the rising inflexion on soul, 
 and the falling on brain, and pronouncing the last 
 member, of one man than of another, with the same 
 inflexion as brain, but in a lower and almost mono- 
 tonous tone of voice ; this will necessarily give an un- 
 couthness to the sound of the sentence, but is abso- 
 lutely necessary to give the sense of it strongly and 
 clearly. 
 
 It is true, that by this mode of pronunciation the 
 intermediate member is presented less clearly to the 
 mind ; but when we consider that the sense of it is 
 nearly anticipated by the comparative greater and 
 nicer, we shall, with less reluctance, give it up to the 
 principal emphatic words, soul and brain. 
 
 It must not be dissembled, however, that if this 
 intermediate member contains an emphatical word, 
 or extends to any length, it will be necessary to con- 
 sider it as an essential member of the sentence, and 
 to pronounce it with emphasis and variety. Thus, 
 if the sentence just quoted had been constructed in 
 this manner : 
 
 A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neighbour 
 too well to win, a very considerable sum by gaming. 
 
 If, in reading this sentence, we were to place the 
 emphasis with the rising inflexion on lose, and the 
 
21 6 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 falling on win, and were to pronounce the rest of the 
 sentence in a low monotonous tone of voice, in the 
 same manner as when it contained but half the num- 
 ber of syllables, we should be both obscure and dis- 
 cordant ; but as the last member is lengthened to 
 double the number of syllables, we find it may be so 
 pronounced as to form an harmonious cadence. 
 Another example will show the necessity of some- 
 times breaking the general rule. Mr. Addison, speak- 
 ing of the mutual polish and refinement which the in- 
 tercourse between the sexes gives each other, con- 
 cludes, 
 
 In a word : a man would not only be an unhappy, but a rude un- 
 finished creature, were he conversant with none but those of his own 
 make. Spectator, No. 433. 
 
 Here we find the intermediate member close the sen- 
 tence, and is of such a length as to forbid the feeble 
 monotone which is proper in other cases. It may 
 not, however, be useless to observe, that when these 
 intermediate members are so long, or of so much im- 
 portance as to demand an emphatical pronunciation, 
 the antithesis is in some measure obscured, and the 
 sentence is deprived of spirit and vivacity. 
 
 Before we conclude this article, we may observe, 
 that the emphasis on opposite parts, which obscures 
 the intermediate member, is calculated more for the 
 purposes of force than harmony, and therefore ought 
 to be observed with less rigour in verse than prose ; 
 but where the former is familiar, argumentative, and 
 strongly emphatical, it seems to require the obscure 
 pronunciation of the intermediate member no less 
 than the latter. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Tis hard to say if greater want of skill 
 Appear in writing or in judging ill : 
 But of the two less dangerous is th' offence, 
 To tire our patience than mislead our sense ; 
 Some few in that, but numbers err in this, 
 Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss j 
 A fool might once himself alone expose, 
 Now one in verse makes many more in prose. 
 
 Popes Essay on Crit, 
 
ELOCUTION. 217 
 
 In the first couplet of this passage, the word ill, which 
 agrees to both the emphatic words writing and judg- 
 ing, is pronounced feebly with the falling inflexion, 
 after a strong pronunciation of the same inflexion on 
 judging. In the next couplet, tire and patience, mis- 
 lead, and sense, form a double emphasis, and come 
 under the general rule ; but in the next couplet, the 
 words wrong and amiss, being only different expres- 
 sions for the same idea, are to be considered as an in- 
 termediate member to the two emphatic words cen- 
 sure and write, and pronounced feebly with the same 
 inflexions as the words they follow*. 
 
 From what has been said on this article, it appears 
 of how much importance to reading and speaking is a 
 judicious distribution of emphasis j and if what has 
 been observed be true, it is evident how useful, and 
 even necessary it must be, in teaching, to adopt some- 
 thing like the method of marking them here pointed 
 out. Methods of this kind are usually rejected, be- 
 cause at first they are found rather to embarrass than 
 assist the reader ; but this will be found to be the case 
 in every art where improvement arises chiefly from 
 habit : the principles of music would embarrass and 
 puzzle a performer who had learned only from the 
 ear, but nothing but a knowledge of these principles 
 
 * In the first edition of this work I had not sufficiently considered 
 the nature of unaccented words, and, therefore, gave them the very 
 vague and indefinite appellations I met with in other authors, 
 namely, obcsure and feeble ; a farther prosecution of the subject in 
 the Rhetorical Grammar enabled me to ascertain the real force of 
 these unaccented words, and to class them with the unaccented 
 syllables of accented words. Thus a clear and definite idea was 
 substituted for an indeterminate and obscure one : and I could, 
 with confidence, tell my pupil that the sentence, 
 
 " I do not, so much request, as demand your attention," 
 
 was pronounced like three words ; I do not, like a word of three 
 syllables, with the accent on the second ; so much request, like a 
 word of four syllables, with the accent on the last : and as demand 
 your attention, like a word of seven syllables, with the accent on the 
 third. See p. 178. 
 
218 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 could convey to them the difficult passages of a com- 
 poser, and enable him to acquire them without the 
 assistance of a teacher. Reading, indeed, may be 
 considered as a species of music; the organs of 
 utterance are the instruments, but the mind itself is 
 the performer ; and, therefore, to pursue the simili- 
 tude, though the mind may have a full conception 
 of the sense of an author, and be able to judge nicely 
 of the execution of others, yet if it has not imbibed 
 the habit of performing on its own instrument, no 
 expression will be produced. There is a certain 
 mechanical dexterity to be acquired before the beau- 
 tiful conceptions we possess can be communicated to 
 others. This mechanism is an essential part of all 
 the fine arts. Nothing but habitual practice will 
 give the musician his neatness of execution, the 
 painter his force of colouring, and even the poet the 
 happiest choice and arrangement of his words and 
 thoughts. How, then, can we expect that a lumi- 
 nous and elegant expression in reading and speaking 
 can be acquired without a similar attention to habi- 
 tual practice? This is the golden key to every 
 excellence, but can be purchased only by labour, 
 unremitting labour, aud perseverance. 
 
ELOCUTION. 219 
 
 Harmonic Inflexion. 
 
 Besides that variety which necessarily arises from 
 an attention to the foregoing rules, that is, from an- 
 nexing certain inflexions to sentences of a particular 
 import or structure, there is still another source of 
 variety, in those parts of a sentence where the sense 
 is not at all concerned, and where the variety is 
 merely to please the ear. It is certain, that if the 
 sense of a sentence be strongly conveyed, it will sel- 
 dom be inharmoniously pronounced ; but it is as cer- 
 tain, there are many members of sentences which 
 may be differently pronounced without affecting the 
 sense, but which cannot be differently pronounced 
 without greatly affecting their variety and harmony. 
 Thus in the following sentence : 
 
 As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial-plate, 
 but did not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has 
 grown, though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advances we make 
 in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only per- 
 ceivable by the distance. 
 
 In this sentence, provided we do not drop the voice 
 before the end, the sense of the sentence is not at all 
 concerned in any of the inflexions, except that on 
 groiv in the middle, which must necessarily be the 
 rising, and that on distance at the end, which must be 
 the falling inflexion: if these inflexions are preserved 
 on these words, the rest may take their chance, and 
 the sense will be scarcely affected ; but the dullest 
 ear must perceive an infinite advantage to the har- 
 mony in placing the falling inflexion on grown in the 
 first part of the sentence, and on knowledge in the 
 last : and so natural is this pronunciation, that there 
 are few readers so bad as not to place these inflexions 
 on these words without any other guide than the ear. 
 
 This part of pronunciation, therefore, though of 
 little importance to the sense, is of the utmost import- 
 
220 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ance to the harmony of a sentence. Every writer on 
 the subject has left it entirely to the ear; and, indeed, 
 so nice are the principles on which harmony and va- 
 riety in pronunciation depend, that it is no wonder 
 any analysis of it has been shifted off, and classed 
 among those things for which it is utterly impossible 
 to give rules. But, as we have often observed, though 
 the varieties of voice, in other respects, are almost 
 infinite, all these varieties are still reducible to two 
 radical and essential differences, the upward and 
 downward slide or inflexion ; and therefore, though 
 the high and low, the loud and soft, the quick and 
 slow, the forcible and feeble, admit of almost infinite 
 degrees, every one of these differences and degrees 
 must either adopt the rising or falling inflexion of 
 voice ; and these inflexions being more essential to 
 the sense and harmony than any, or all the other dif- 
 ferences, we have, in the distinction of the voice into 
 the rising and falling inflexion, a key to part of the 
 harmony and variety so much admired, and, it may be 
 added, a very essential part. If, therefore, no rules 
 could be given to the application of these inflexions 
 to the purposes of harmony and variety, the practica- 
 bility of marking upon paper those which are actually 
 made use of by good readers and speakers, would be 
 of the utmost importance to elocution ; but in this, as 
 well as in other cases, an attempt will be made to 
 mark out some rules, which, it is hoped, will not be 
 entirely useless. 
 
ELOCUTION. %%l 
 
 Preliminary Observations. 
 
 When similar members of sentences do not run into 
 such a series, as brings them into the enumerative 
 form ; the voice, both to relieve the ear, and impress 
 the sense, falls naturally into a succession of in- 
 flexions, which is something similar to that used in 
 the series, and at once gives force and variety : these 
 inflexions sometimes take place at the beginning of 
 a sentence, where the members are similar ; but most 
 commonly near the end, when the sentence is con- 
 cluding with several similar members, which, without 
 this inflexion on some particular words, would disgust 
 the ear by a succession of similar sounds. This in- 
 flexion, from the obvious use of it, we may call the 
 Harmonic Inflexion. 
 
 Difficult, and, perhaps, impossible as it is to de- 
 scribe sounds upon paper to those who are wholly 
 unacquainted with them, the task is not quite so 
 arduous when we address those who have a general 
 : dea of what we attempt to convey. If the nature of 
 the rising and falling inflexions has been sufficiently 
 "conceived, the use of them in this particular will be 
 easily pointed out. The harmonic inflexion then is, 
 using the rising and the falling inflexion of the voice 
 upon successive words, principally to please the ear, 
 and break a continued chain of similar pauses : for 
 the rising inflexion of the voice has nothing emphati- 
 cal in it, nor the falling any thing concluding. As 
 this latter inflexion, and the small pause that accom- 
 panies it, often takes place on words that are imme- 
 diately connected in sense with what follows, it seems 
 barely a resting place for the voice and ear, and such 
 an enforcing of the voice as naturally arises from a 
 more deliberate pronunciation of the words. That 
 
222 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the voice may be in the falling inflexion without 
 marking a conclusion in the sense, and even while it 
 excites expectation of something to follow, is evident 
 from the pronunciation of the first member of a series; 
 but this falling inflexion of the voice is essentially dif- 
 ferent from that which we commonly use when we 
 conclude a sentence ; for, in the former case, as has 
 been already observed, the voice is palpably raised 
 higher than on the preceding words, though ending 
 with the falling inflexion *; in the latter it falls gra- 
 dually lower on several of the preceding words, and 
 may properly be said to drop. An example will con- 
 tribute greatly to the comprehending of this marking 
 inflexion, so necessary to the variety and harmony 
 of a sentence. 
 
 We may observe, that any single circumstance of what we have 
 formerly seen, often raises up a whole scene of imagery, and awakens 
 numberless ideas that before slept in the imagination j such a par- 
 ticular smell or colour is able to fill the mind on a sudden with a 
 picture of the fields or gardens where we first met with it j and to 
 bring up into view, all the variety of images that once attended it. 
 
 Spectator, No. 417. 
 
 We may here observe, that the former part of this 
 passage has a succession of similar pauses till it comes 
 to the semicolon (which, from the complete sense it 
 forms, might as well have been marked by a colon), 
 and that the succeeding part of the sentence runs 
 exactly into the same succession of similar pauses : 
 which, if pronounced exactly alike, would offend the 
 ear by a monotony. A good reader, therefore, soli- 
 citous to avoid a sameness of sound, throws his voice 
 into the rising inflexion upon bring, and into the 
 falling upon view, by which means a variety is intro- 
 duced, and the period ends more harmoniously from 
 the preparation made for it by the harmonic in- 
 flexion. 
 
 * See Part I. pp. 74, 133. 
 
ELOCUTION. 223 
 
 Another instance where this inflexion may be re- 
 peated successively, is perhaps better calculated to 
 convey an idea of it. 
 
 We may learn from this observation which we have made on the 
 mind of man, to take particular care, when we have once settled in 
 a regular course of life, how we too frequently indulge ourselves in 
 any the most innocent diversions and entertainments ; since the 
 mind may insensibly fall off from the relish of virtuous actions, and 
 by degrees exchange th&t pleasure, which it takes in the performance 
 of its duty, for the delights of a much more inferior and unprofitable 
 nature. Spectator No. 447 . 
 
 In this example, we have the same succession of simi- 
 lar pauses as in the last ; and though the voice may 
 very properly fix itself in the falling inflexion on the 
 words entertainments, and by that means occasion 
 some variety, yet the subsequent part of the period 
 proceeds upon similar pauses as well as the former ; 
 and, therefore, the harmonic inflexion introduced 
 upon the words degrees and exchange, and upon that 
 and pleasure, that is, the rising inflexion upon de- 
 grees and that, and the falling inflexion upon ex- 
 change and pleasure ; by this means, I say, the mo- 
 notony will be broken, the thought enforced, and the 
 period rendered much more musical. 
 
 One example more, where this inflexion may be 
 oftener repeated, will still better enable us to show 
 the real nature and use of it. 
 
 I must confess I think it below reasonable creatures to be altoge- 
 ther conversant in such diversions as are merely innocent, and have 
 nothing else to recommend them but that there is no hurt in them. 
 Whether any kind of gaming has even this much to say for itself, I 
 shall not determine ; but I think it very wonderful to see persons of 
 the best sense passing away a ddzen hours together in shuffling and 
 dividing a pack of cards, with no other conversation but what is made 
 tip of a few game phrases, and no other ideas, but those of black and 
 red spots ranged together in different figures. Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 The necessity of introducing the harmonic inflexion 
 in the latter part of this sentence will better appear, 
 
224< ELEMENTS OF 
 
 by first reading it in the common manner, and after- 
 wards with the inflexion we have been describing ; 
 this will show the difficulty of avoiding a monotony 
 without adopting this inflexion, and the variety and 
 force it gives to the language and sentiment when it 
 is adopted. The words best and sense ; passing and 
 away ; dozen and together ; shuffling and dividing ; 
 other and conversation ; what and made up ; these 
 words, I say, will be very apt to drag, and produce a 
 sameness of sound if pronounced in the common way ; 
 but if the rising inflexion is used on the first, and the 
 falling on the last of every pair, the monotony will be 
 prevented, and a succession of sounds introduced, 
 very descriptive of the repetition conveyed by the 
 words. 
 
 But the great object of the harmonic inflexion is 
 forming the cadence ; here it is that harmony and 
 variety are more peculiarly necessary, as the ear is 
 more particularly affected by the close of a subject, or 
 any branch of a subject, than by any other part of 
 the composition. We have had frequent occasion to 
 observe, that though a series of sentences may all re- 
 quire to be pronounced with the falling inflexion ; 
 yet if they all belong to one subject, or one branch of 
 a subject, usually called a paragraph, that the last of 
 them only demands that depression of voice which 
 marks a conclusion : to which observation we may 
 add this general rule. 
 
 Rule I. When a series of similar sentences, or 
 members of sentences, form a branch of a subject or 
 paragraph ; the last sentence or member must fall 
 gradually into a lower tone, and adopt the harmonic 
 inflexion, on such words as form the most agreeable 
 cadence. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 One of the most eminent mathematicians of the age has assured 
 me, that the greatest pleasure he took in reading Virgil was in 
 
ELOCUTION. 2&5 
 
 examining /Eneas's voyage by the map ; as I question not but many 
 a modern compiler of history would be delighted with little more in 
 that dhine author than the bare matters of fact. 
 
 Spectator, No. 109. 
 
 Here we find placing the rising inflexion upon the 
 word little, and the falling upon more; and the falling 
 upon divine, and the rising upon author, gives both a 
 distinctness and harmony to the cadence. 
 
 Gratian very often recommends the fine taste as the utmost per- 
 fection of an accomplished man. As this word arises very often in 
 conversation, I shall endeavour to give some account of it ; and to 
 lay down rules how we may know whether we are possessed of it, 
 and hdw we may acquire that fine taste of writing which is so much 
 talked of among the polite world. Spectator, No. 109. 
 
 Placing the rising inflexion upon how, and the fall- 
 ing upon acquire; the falling inflexion upon fine, 
 and the rising upon writing, prevents a sameness 
 which would otherwise arise from the similitude of 
 the three members, and gives an agreeable close to 
 the sentence. 
 
 Since I have mentioned this unaccountable zeal which appears in 
 atheists and infidels, J must farther observe, that they are likewise in 
 a most particular manner possessed with the spirit of bigotry. They 
 are wadded to opinions full of contradiction and impossibility, and 
 at the same time look upon the smallest difficulty in an article of 
 faith as a sufficient reason for rejecting it. Spectator, No. 185. 
 
 As the rising inflexion on the word wedded, and 
 the falling on the word opinions, the falling on contra- 
 diction, and the rising on impossibility, prevents a 
 sameness in the first member of the last sentence, 
 arising from its similitude to the closing member of 
 the first ; so the rising inflexion upon the words 
 same and smallest, and the falling upon time and diffi- 
 culty and the falling upon article, and the rising 
 
 Q 
 
226 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 upon faith ; this arrangement of inflexions, I say, 
 on the latter part of the sentence, gives a force, har- 
 mony, and variety, to the cadence. 
 
 We may be sure the metaphorical word taste would not have been 
 so general in all tongues, had there not been a very great conformity 
 between that mental taste, which is the subject of this paper, and 
 that sensitive taste which gives us a relish of every different flavour 
 that affects the palate. Accordingly we find, there are as many de- 
 grees of refinement in the intellectual faculty, as in the sense which 
 is marked out by this common denomination. Spectator, No. 409. 
 
 If we do but place the rising inflexion on accord- 
 ingly, and the falling on find, the rising on many, 
 and the falling on refinement, in the last sentence, 
 we shall perceive a great variety, as well as harmony, 
 added to the whole passage. 
 
 Harmony of Prose. 
 
 The foregoing observations on the harmony of the 
 cadence, have, undoubtedly, suggested to the reader 
 that great object of ancient and modern composition, 
 the harmony of prose : this is a subject so intimately 
 connected with harmonious pronunciation, that it 
 seems necessary to investigate the principles of that 
 composition which is generally esteemed harmonious, 
 in order, if possible, to throw some light upon the 
 most accurate mode of delivering it. 
 
 The ancients thought harmonious prose to be only 
 a looser kind of numbers, and resolved many passages 
 of their most celebrated orations into such feet as 
 composed verse. In modern languages, where accent 
 seems to stand for the quantity of the ancients, we 
 find harmonious prose resolvable into an arrangement 
 of accented syllables, somewhat similar to that of 
 
ELOCUTION. 227 
 
 versification. The return of the accented syllable 
 at certain intervals, seems the common definition of 
 both. 
 
 In verse we find these intervals nearly equal ; and 
 it is this equality which forms the measure. Thus 
 in the following couplet : 
 
 Short is the date, alas ! of modern rhymes 5 
 
 And 'tis but just to let them live betimes. Pope. 
 
 An undisciplined reader, in pronouncing this sen- 
 tence, would be apt, from the greater smoothness of 
 the line, to lay the accent, or metrical emphasis, as 
 it may be called, on the word is in the first line ; but 
 as this would bring forward a word which, from its 
 nature, is always sufficiently understood, a good 
 reader will place the accent on short and date, and 
 sink the words is the into a comparative obscurity ; 
 and as this interval of two syllables happens at the 
 beginning of a line, it is so far from having a bad 
 effect on the ear, that it frequently relieves it from 
 the too great sameness to which rhyming verse is 
 always liable. 
 
 But if this inequality of interval is sometimes for 
 the sake of variety necessary in verse, it is not to be 
 wondered, that for a similar reason, we avoid as much 
 as possible too great a regularity of interval between 
 the accented syllables in prose. Loose and negligent, 
 however, as prose may appear, it is not entirely des- 
 titute of measure : for it may be with confidence 
 asserted, that, wherever a style is remarkably smooth 
 and flowing, it is owing in some measure to a regular 
 return of accented syllables. And though a strength 
 and seventy of style has in it something more excel- 
 lent than the soft and flowing, yet the latter holds 
 certainly a distinguished rank in composition. The 
 music of language never displeases us, but when sense 
 is sacrificed to sound ; when both are compatible, 
 we should deprive a thought of half its beauty, not to 
 
228 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 4 
 
 give it all the harmony of which language is suscepti- 
 ble. As all subjects are not masculine, sublime, and 
 strong ; all subjects do not require, and, indeed, are 
 not susceptible of a strength and severity of style. 
 Those, therefore, which are beautiful, didactic, and 
 persuasive, demand a smoothness, and elegance of 
 language ; which is not only agreeable, as it is suited 
 to the objects it conveys, but, like fine colours or 
 sounds, is in some measure pleasing for its own sake. 
 Accordingly, we find, that, though we cannot so easily 
 trace that accentual rhythmus which forms the har- 
 mony of the beginning and middle of a sentence, 
 yet the latter part, or what is commonly called the 
 cadence, consists (when harmoniously constructed) 
 of such an arrangement of accented words as ap- 
 proaches nearly to verse. Every ear wili immediately 
 find a ruggedness and want of harmony in the con- 
 clusion of the following sentence : 
 
 We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as though 
 there would be no end of them. Addison. 
 
 The reason of this harshness seems to be, that vast 
 chasms of unaccented words that extends from the 
 word acting to the word end. The ear, indeed, sen- 
 sible of the want of accent, lays a little stress upon 
 though ; but this does not quite remedy the evil : still 
 there are four words unaccented, and the sentence 
 remains harsh; but if we alter its structure, by 
 placing a word that admits of an accent in the middle 
 of these four words, we shall find harmony succeed 
 to harshness and inequality. 
 
 We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as though 
 there would never be an end of them. 
 
 The difference, therefore, can arise from nothing 
 but an equal and unmetrical arrangement of accent 
 
ELOCUTION. 229 
 
 in the former sentence, and a greater approach to 
 equal and metrical arrangement of accent in the 
 latter. 
 
 As a farther corroboration of the truth of this 
 opinion, let us take a sentence remarkable for its 
 harmony, and try whether it arises from the fore- 
 going principles. 
 
 We hear at this distance but a faint echo of that thunder in De- 
 mosthenes, which shook the throne of Macedon to its foundations j 
 and are sometimes at a loss for that conviction in the arguments of 
 Cicero, which balanced in the midst of convulsions the tottering 
 republic of Home. 
 
 In the latter part of this sentence, we find the 
 accented syllables at exactly equal intervals from the 
 word sometimes to the word midst ; that is, there are 
 three unaccented syllables between every accented 
 syllable : and from the word midst to the word Rome, 
 there is an exact equality of intervals ; that is, two 
 unaccented syllables, or, which is perfectly equiva- 
 lent, syllables pronounced in the time of two, to one 
 accented. 
 
 Now, if we change a few of the words of this sen- 
 tence to others of different length and accent, we 
 shall find the harmony of the sentence considerably 
 diminished, though the sense may be inviolably pre- 
 served. 
 
 We hear at this distance but a faint echo of that thunder in De- 
 mosthenes which shook the throne of Macedon to its foundations $ 
 and are sometimes at a loss for that force in the proofs of Cicero, 
 which balanced in the midst of anarchy the tottering state of Rome. 
 
 That full flow of prosaic harmony, so perceptible 
 in the former sentence, is greatly diminished in this; 
 and the reason seems plainly pointed out : for as the 
 harmony of verse is owing solely to an equal and 
 regular return of accent, the harmony of prose must 
 arise from the same source ; that is, as verse owes its 
 harmony entirely to a regular return of accent, prose 
 
230 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 can never be harmonious by a total want of it. The 
 sole difference between them seems to lie in the con- 
 stant, regular, and artificial arrangement of accent in 
 the one, and the unstudied, various, and even oppo- 
 site arrangement in the other. Verse, with some 
 few exceptions, proceeds in a regular alternation of 
 accent from one end of the poem to the other ; har- 
 monious prose, on the contrary, in some members, 
 adopts one species of arrangement, and in some 
 another ; but always so as to avoid such clusters of 
 accents in one place, and such a total absence of them 
 in another, as necessarily occasions a ruggedness and 
 difficulty of pronunciation. 
 
 At first sight, perhaps, we should be led to suppose, 
 that the intervals between the accents ought rather 
 to diminish than increase as they approach the end 
 of a sentence ; and yet, if* we consult the ear, we 
 shall find that intervals of two unaccented syllables 
 sound better even in the closing member of a sen- 
 tence, than intervals of one unaccented syllable only. 
 Let us take the following sentence as an example of 
 this : 
 
 Demetrius compares prosperity to the indulgence of a fond mother 
 to a child, which often proves his ruin; but the affection of the 
 Divine Being to that of a wise father, who would have his sons ex- 
 ercised in labour, disappointment, and pain, that they may gather 
 strength and fortitude. 
 
 Now, if, instead of the word strength, we substitute 
 experience, though the sense may be weakened, the 
 sound will, perhaps, be improved ; and if the ears of 
 others should agree with mine in this particular, 
 it may be laid down as a rule, that other circum- 
 stances being equal, the last members of sentences 
 ought rather to end in the dactylic than in the iambic 
 measure. In this appellation of the measures of prose, 
 I adopt the terms generally made use of, and parti- 
 cularly by Mason, in his Essay on Prosaic Numbers, 
 
ELOCUTION. 231 
 
 This gentleman deserves much praise for his attempt 
 to investigate the causes of prosaic harmony, but 
 appears to me to have an idea of English metre so 
 blended with that of the Latin and Greek, as to throw 
 error and confusion over his whole performance. For 
 what can we make of his placing two long quantities 
 over the two syllables of the words sentence and 
 spondee ? Each of these words can have but one 
 accent ; and it is accent, or emphasis, and these 
 only, and not any length or openness of the vowels, 
 that forms English metre, or that rythmus which is 
 analogous to it in prose. 
 
 Harmony of Prosaic Inflexions. 
 
 Hitherto I have only considered poetic and prosaic 
 harmony as arising from an harmonious and rhyth- 
 mical arrangement of accent ; and it is with some 
 diffidence I venture upon a farther .explication of this 
 subject upon principles which have never yet been 
 thought of; but I presume it will be found, upon 
 inquiry, that the various and harmonious arrange- 
 ment of the rising and falling inflexions of the voice, 
 is no less the cause of harmony, both in verse and 
 prose, than the metrical arrangement of accent and 
 emphasis. 
 
 The melody both of prose and verse seems to con- 
 sist as much in such an arrangement of emphatic 
 inflexion, as suits the sense, and is agreeable to the 
 ear, as it does in a rhythmical disposition of accented 
 and emphatic syllables. To illustrate this observation, 
 let us take an harmonious couplet in Pope's Prologue 
 to Cato : 
 
 A brave man struggling in the storms of fate, 
 And greatly falling with a falling state. 
 
23% ELEMENTS OF 
 
 The first line of this couplet ends with the rising 
 inflexion, to prevent the want of harmony there would 
 be in ending too successive lines with the same in- 
 flexion ; a sameness for which nothing but emphasis 
 will ever apologise. As this line ends with the rising 
 inflexion, the last word may not improperly be called 
 the rudder, which directs the inflexions on the pre- 
 ceding words ; for in order to prevent an exact 
 return of the same order of inflexion, it is not suffi- 
 cient that the different inflexions succeed each other 
 alternately ; this would be like the successive sounds 
 of the letters A, B ; A, B. To prevent a return of 
 sounds so little various, we find the ear generally 
 adopt a succession of inflexion, which interposes two 
 similar inflexions between two similar inflexions j 
 and this produces a variety similar to the series, 
 
 A, B, B, A ; or, B, A, A, B. 
 
 The first line, therefore, of this verse, necessarily 
 ending with the rising inflexion on the word fate, in 
 order to make the other words as various and harmo- 
 nious as possible, the falling inflexion is placed on 
 storms, the same inflexion on struggling, and the 
 rising inflexion on brave ; and this, in the first line, 
 forms the arrangement, rising, falling, falling, rising; 
 or 
 
 A, B, B, A. 
 
 The next line ending the sentence, necessarily 
 adopts the falling inflexion on the last word state, 
 and this directs the rising inflexion to be placed on 
 greatly, which produces this order, falling, rising, 
 rising, falling ; or B, A, A, B. This order of plac- 
 ing the inflexions is not invariably adopted, because 
 emphasis sets aside every other rule, and makes har- 
 mony subservient to sense ; but it may be asserted, 
 
ELOCUTIOxN. 233 
 
 that this order of arranging the inflexions is so gener- 
 ally adopted by the ear, that when emphasis does 
 not forbid, this is the arrangement into which the 
 voice naturally slides. It may likewise be observed, 
 that where emphasis coincides with this arrangement, 
 the verse is always the most harmonious, and the 
 sense in its most poetical dress. Nay, we shall find 
 harmonious prose, where emphasis does not interrupt 
 the natural current of inflexion, glide insensibly into 
 this rhythmical arrangement of inflexion. Let us 
 take an example : 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 
 
 Agreeably to the order we have just taken notice of, 
 we find this sentence adopt the falling inflexion on 
 exercise, the rising on temperance and strengthen, and 
 the falling on constitution ; but if we add another 
 member to this sentence, so connected with this as to 
 require the rising inflexion on constitution, we shall 
 find that the arrangement of inflexion is changed, 
 but the same order preserved. 
 
 Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution and sweeten 
 the enjdyments of life. 
 
 Here, I say, contrary to the former arrangement, we 
 find the rising inflexion on exercise, the falling on 
 temperance and strengthen, and the rising on constitu- 
 tion ; because here the sense remains suspended and 
 unfinished. See Plate I. N° IV. pp. 66, 67. A final 
 member succeeds, consisting of three accented words; 
 the two last of which must always be pronounced with 
 different inflexions ; that is, the penultimate with the 
 rising, and the ultimate with the falling inflexion ; 
 but the antepenultimate word sweeten, may adopt 
 either the rising or falling inflexion, as either will 
 diversify it sufficiently from the preceding and suc- 
 ceeding inflexions ; but the falling inflexion on this 
 word seems to be preferable, as the three words 
 sweeten, enjoyment, and life, form one distinct por- 
 
234 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 tion ; and this portion can be no way so variously 
 pronounced as by the falling inflexion on sweeten, the 
 rising on enjoyments, and the falling on life. 
 
 But whatever may be the order of arrangement in 
 the commencement and middle of a sentence, it is 
 certain, that if we mean to form an harmonious 
 cadence, one of these two arrangements of inflexion 
 ought to take place at the end of a sentence : that is, 
 if the last member consist of four accented words, 
 the same inflexions ought to take place at the end of 
 a sentence, as we find generally obtain in the last line 
 of a couplet in poetry ; or if the last member consist 
 of three accented words, such inflexions ought to be 
 adopted as will make a series of three inflexions most 
 various, which is, by giving the last word the falling, 
 the penultimate the rising, and the antepenultimate 
 either the rising or falling inflexion. See Simple 
 Series, Rule IV. p. 100. 
 
 An instance of the first arrangement is the follow- 
 ing sentence : 
 
 The immortality of the soul is the basis of morality, and the 
 source of all the pleasing hopes and secret joys, that can arise in the 
 heart of a reasonable creature. Sped. No. 111. 
 
 In the last member but one of this sentence, the 
 words pleasing and joys have the rising inflexion, and 
 hopes and secret the falling : and in the last member, 
 the words arise and creature have the falling, and 
 heart and reasonable the rising inflexion, which is 
 exactly the order of inflexion in the last couplet of 
 the trajedy of Cato : 
 
 Produces fraud and cruelty and strife, 
 And robs the guilty world of Cato's life ; 
 
 where produces and strife have the rising inflexion, 
 and fraud and cruelty the falling ; and guilty and life, 
 the falling, and world and Cato the rising inflexion. 
 
ELOCUTION. 235 
 
 An istance of the other arrangement we find in 
 this sentence : 
 
 Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore, with some pre- 
 cepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he affirms, 
 that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
 ferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater applause. 
 
 In order to pronounce this sentence with an harmo- 
 nious cadence, the word this must have the rising in- 
 flexion, as at the end of the first line of a couplet, and 
 the three last words, much greater applause, which 
 form the last member, must be pronounced very dis- 
 tinctly with the falling inflexion on the last, the rising 
 inflexion on greater, and the falling on much. 
 
 The rule, therefore, that arises from these observa- 
 tions i&, that when the last pause necessarily leaves 
 the last member of a sentence with four accented 
 words, as in the first example, they are pronounced 
 with the inflexions in the order falling, rising, rising, 
 falling; and when the pause leaves three accented 
 words in the last member, they are pronounced as in 
 the last example ; that is, either in the order, falling, 
 rising, falling ; or rising, rising, falling. 
 
 As a corroboration of these principles, we may ob- 
 serve that where the pause necessarily leaves but two 
 accented words in the last member, and that empha- 
 sis forbids the preceding member to be so pronounced 
 as to form the order of inflexions we have prescribed ; 
 when this is the case, I say, we shall find the period 
 end inharmoniously. Let us take an example : 
 
 If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which I think never hap- 
 pened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. Spectator. 
 
 Here the sense requires, that the emphasis with the 
 falling inflexion should be placed on the word most ; 
 after which must be a pause ; and as the final mem- 
 ber consists only of two accented words, appeal and 
 
236 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 me, no tolerable cadence can be formed;. for these 
 words, having necessarily the rising and falling inflex- 
 ion, are but a repetition of the same inflexions, in the 
 same order as on the words twice and most, which 
 forms as monotonous a conclusion as the series, 
 
 A, B ; A, B. 
 
 It seldom happens, however, that the sentence is so 
 constructed as to prevent the ear from falling into one 
 or other of the two before mentioned arrangements 
 of inflexion. For so agreeable to the ear is an harmo- 
 nious cadence, that for the sake of forming one, allow- 
 ances will be made for giving an emphatic accent 
 even to words not entitled to it from their sense. Let 
 us suppose the following sentence forming the con- 
 clusion of a discourse : 
 
 So that from what has been said, we may certainly conclude, that 
 as virtue is not always rewarded in the present life, it will be sure to 
 meet with the most ample and satisfactory reward in the life to come. 
 
 If this sentence is properly pronounced, there must 
 be a considerable pause at the word reward, in order 
 to pronounce the last member with a distinct and har- 
 monious fall ; but if we pause here, we shall find it 
 impossible to pronounce the last member harmoni- 
 ously without laying a stress on the word in ; and 
 though this word has no title either to accent or em- 
 phasis from the sense it conveys, yet the necessity of 
 concluding a discourse, or an}' capital branch of a 
 discourse, with an harmonious fall, will sufficiently 
 authorise a considerable stress and distinct inflexion 
 on that insignificant word. 
 
 A good ear, therefore, will sometimes lay a stress on 
 certain words, and sometimes omit it, for the sake of 
 an harmonious cadence. Thus in Sterne's Sermon 
 on the House of Mourning and the House of Feast- 
 ing, we meet with this passage : 
 
ELOCUTION. 237 
 
 From reflections of this serious cast, how insensibly do the 
 thoughts carry us farther ! and from considering what we are, what 
 kind of world we live in, and what evils befall us in it, how naturally 
 do they set us to look forwards at what possibly we shall be ! for 
 what kind of world we are intended — what evils may befall us there 
 — and what provision we may make against them here, whilst we 
 have time and opportunity. 
 
 In this passage we find the last member, whilst we 
 have time and opportunity, necessarily requires that 
 the word whilst should be pronounced with the de- 
 gree of force due to an accented word, or the cadence 
 would be faulty. But if this last member were con- 
 structed in this manner ; whilst we have time and op- 
 portrnity afforded us ; in this case, I say, we need 
 give no force to the word whilst, as there are three 
 accented words, time, opportunity, and ajfforded 9 
 which will be sufficient to form the cadence with- 
 out it. 
 
 These observations necessarily suggest the import- 
 ance of such a choice and arrangement of words as 
 fall in with the most harmonious pronunciation. 
 Pronunciation and composition mutually throw light 
 on each other ; they are counterparts of one great 
 operation of the human mind, namely, that of con- 
 veying the ideas and feelings of one man to another 
 with force, precision, and harmony. It will not be 
 very surprising, therefore, if the foregoing observa- 
 tions on pronunciation should have hinted a few rules 
 on the harmony of composition. We have seen, that 
 the harmony of every sentence depends more parti- 
 cularly on the construction of the latter part,* as 
 this forms what is commonly called the cadence. 
 This part of the sentence, therefore, should be more 
 particularly attended to, as it is that which crowns 
 the whole, and makes the most lasting impression on 
 the ear. 
 
 * Quint. L. IX. Cap. iv. 
 
238 
 
 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Rules for reading Verse. 
 
 Whatever difficulties we may find in reading prose, 
 they are greatly increased when the composition is 
 in verse ; and more particularly if the verse be rhyme. 
 The regularity of the feet, and the sameness of sound 
 in rhyming verse, strongly solicits the voice to a 
 sameness of tone ; and tone, unless directed by a 
 judicious ear, is apt to degenerate into a song, and a 
 song, of all others, the most disgusting to a person of 
 just taste. If, therefore, there are few who read prose 
 with propriety, there are still fewer who succeed in 
 verse ; they either want that equable and harmonious 
 flow of sound which distinguishes it from loose, un- 
 measured composition, or they have not a sufficient 
 delicacy of ear to keep the harmonious smoothness 
 of verse from sliding into a whining cant ; nay, so 
 agreeable is this cant to many readers, that a simple 
 and natural delivery of verse seems tame and insipid, 
 and much too familiar for the dignity of the lan- 
 guage. So pernicious are bad habits in every exer- 
 cise of the faculties, that they not only lead us to 
 false objects of beauty and propriety, but at last de- 
 prive us of the very power of perceiving the mistake. 
 For those, therefore, whose ears are not just, and who 
 are totally deficient in a true taste for the music of 
 poetry, the best method of avoiding this impropriety 
 is to read verse exactly as if it were prose ; for though 
 this may be said to be an error, it is certainly an error 
 on the safer side. 
 
 To say, however, as some do, that the pronuncia- 
 tion of verse is entirely destitute of song, and that it 
 is no more than a just pronunciation of prose, is as 
 distant from truth, as the whining cant we have been 
 speaking of, is from true poetic harmony. Poetry 
 
ELOCUTION. £39 
 
 without song is a body without a soul. The tune of 
 this song is, indeed, difficult to hit > but when once it 
 is hit, it is sure to give the most exquisite pleasure. 
 It excites in the hearer the most eager desire of imi- 
 tation ; and if this desire be not accompanied by a 
 just taste or good instruction, it generally substitutes 
 the turn ti, turn ti, as it is called, for simple, elegant, 
 poetic harmony. 
 
 It must, however, be confessed, that elegant readers 
 of verse often verge so nearly on what is called sing 
 song, without falling into it, that it is no wonder those 
 who attempt to imitate them, slide into that blemish 
 which borders so nearly on a beauty. And, indeed, 
 as an ingenious author observes, * " there is such an 
 "affinity between poetry and music, that they were 
 "in the earlier ages never separated; and though 
 " modern refinement has, in a great measure, de- 
 * c stroyed this union, yet, it is with some degree of 
 " difficulty, in rehearsing these divine compositions, 
 " that we forget the singing of the Muse." 
 
 The truth is, the pronunciation of verse is a species 
 of elocution very distinct fron the pronunciation of 
 prose: both of them have nature for their basis ; but 
 one is common, familiar, and practical nature; the 
 other beautiful, elevated, and ideal nature ; the latter 
 as different from the former as the elegant step of a 
 minuet is from the common motions in walking. Ac- 
 cordingly, we find, there are many who can read 
 prose well, who are entirely at a loss for the pronun- 
 ciation of verse : for these, then, we will endeavour to 
 lay down a few rules, which may serve to facilitate 
 the acquiring of so desirable an accomplishment. 
 
 But first it may be observed, that though all the 
 passions may be in a poetical dress, and that the 
 movement of the verse may be suited to all their dif- 
 ferent characters ; yet as verse is a species of music, 
 
 * Philosophical Essay on the Delivery of written Language. 
 
240 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 none of the passions appear to such advantage in 
 poetry as the benevolent ones ; for as melody is a 
 thing pleasing in itself, it must naturally unite with 
 those passions which are productive of pleasing sen- 
 sations ; in like manner as graceful action accords 
 w 7 ith a generous sentiment, or as a beautiful counte- 
 nance gives advantage to an amiable idea. Thus the 
 noble and generous passions are the constant topics 
 of ancient and modern poems ; and of these passions, 
 the pathetic seems the favourite and most endearing 
 theme. Those readers, therefore, who cannot assume 
 a plaintive tone of voice, w r ill never succeed in read- 
 ing poetry ; and those who have this power, will read 
 verse very agreeably, though almost every other re- 
 quisite for delivery be wanting. 
 
 It has been observed upon a former occasion, that 
 the different inflexions of the voice upon particular 
 words are not so perceptible in verse as prose ; and 
 that in the former, the voice sometimes- entirely sinks 
 the inflexion, and slides into a monotone. This pro- 
 pensity of the voice in reading verse, shows how nearly 
 poetry approaches to music ; as those notes properly 
 called musical, are really so many monotones, or notes 
 without slides, in different degrees of the musical 
 scale, and sometimes in the same degree. This ap- 
 proach to a monotone, especially in plaintive poetry, 
 makes it often difficult, and sometimes impossible to 
 distinguish whether the slides that accompany the 
 pauses and emphasis of verse are rising or falling: and 
 at those pauses where we can easily distinguish the 
 inflexions, we sometimes find them different from such 
 as we should adopt in reading the passage if it were 
 prose ; that is, we often find the rising inflexion at a 
 pause in verse, where, if it were prose, we should use 
 the falling: an instance is given of this at the end of 
 the series (p. 115) ; and to this many more might be 
 added. For as pronunciation has for its object the 
 strongest and clearest sense, united with the most 
 
ELOCUTION. 241 
 
 agreeable sound ; if, in order to be harmonious, we 
 must necessarily enfeeble or obscure the sense ; or if, 
 in order to be strong and clear, we find it necessary 
 to be harsh, the composition is certainly faulty ; and 
 all a reader can do in this case is, to make such a 
 compromise between sense and sound as will produce, 
 upon the whole, the best effect. It has been before 
 observed, that sometimes in prose, when the meaning 
 is sufficiently obvious, we may abate an enforcement 
 of sense for the sake of the sound ; and in poetry, 
 the sacrifice to sound is much more necessary ; that 
 is, if the sense be sufficiently clear ; for nothing can 
 offend against every species of pronunciation so much 
 as confusion or obscurity. 
 
 But though an elegant and harmonious pronun- 
 ciation of verse will sometimes oblige us to adopt dif- 
 ferent inflexions from those we should use in prosaic 
 pronunciation, it may still be laid down as a good 
 general rule, that verse requires the same inflexions 
 as prose, though less strongly marked, and more ap- 
 proaching to monotones. If, therefore, we are at a 
 loss for the true inflexion of voice on any word in 
 poetry, let us reduce it to earnest conversation, and 
 pronounce it in the most familiar and prosaic manner ; 
 and we shall for the most part fall into those very in- 
 flexions we ought to adopt in repeating verse : nay, 
 it is the preservation of these prosaic inflexions that 
 makes the poetic pronunciation natural ; and the 
 whining cant which is adopted by many affected 
 readers of poetry, owes, in a great measure its origin 
 to a neglect of this rule. Thus in the following 
 couplet : 
 
 Short is the date in which ill acts prevail, 
 
 But honesty's a rock will never fail. Steele. 
 
 If we pronounce the last word fail with the rising 
 inflexion, sliding upwards a little higher than usual, 
 we shall infallibly draw the couple into the whining 
 
242 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 one we are here speaking of ; # but if we pronounce 
 every part of the same sentence exactly in the same 
 manner, except the last word, and give this the falling 
 inflexion, we shall find a natural tone preserved, and 
 the whining cant entirely vanished. 
 
 This observation naturally leads to a rule which 
 may justly be looked on as the fundamental principle 
 of all poetic pronunciation ; which is, that wherever 
 a sentence, or member of a sentence, would necessarily 
 require the falling inflexion in prose, it ought always to 
 have the same inflexion in poetry ; for though, if we 
 were to read verse prosaically, we should often place 
 the falling inflexion where the style of verse would re- 
 quire the rising, yet in those parts, where a portion of 
 perfect sense or the conclusion of a sentence, necessarily 
 requires the falling inflexion, the same inflexion must 
 be adopted both in verse and prose. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
 Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe 
 With loss of Eden, till one greater man 
 Restore us, and regain the blissful seat ; 
 Sing heav'nly muse, that on the secret top 
 Of Oreb, or of Sinai didst inspire 
 That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, 
 In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 
 Rose out of chaos. Milton s Par ad. Lost, B.i.v.l. 
 
 Though we were to read this passage quite prosaic- 
 ally, it would not admit of the falling inflexion on 
 any of its pauses till the end, and here the voice ought 
 to assume the falling inflexion, and be in a lower tone 
 than any of the other pauses : but in the following 
 example : 
 
 High on a throne of royal state, which far 
 Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 
 
 * Conversing with Dr. Johnson upon this subject, he repeated 
 this couplet to me in the manner here described ; which he said was 
 the manner in which Savage always used to pronounce verse. 
 
ELOCUTION. 243 
 
 Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 
 Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
 Satan exalted sat. Ibid. B. ii. v. 1. 
 
 In reading this passage prosaically, we might place 
 the falling inflexion on Inde ; but the poetical pro- 
 nunciation of this passage would necessarily require 
 a suspension of voice with the rising inflexion on that 
 word. It may be observed, indeed, that it is in the 
 frequent use of the rising inflexion, where prose would 
 adopt the falling, that the song of poetry consists : 
 familiar, strong, argumentative subjects naturally 
 enforce the language with the falling inflexion, as this 
 is naturally expressive of activity, force, and precision; 
 but grand, beautiful, and plaintive subjects slide na- 
 turally into the rising inflexion, as this is expressive 
 of awe, admiration, and melancholy; where the mind 
 may be said to be passive : and it is this general tend- 
 ency of the plaintive tone to assume the rising in- 
 flexion, which inclines injudicious readers to adopt it 
 at those pauses where the falling inflexion is absolutely 
 necessary ; and for want of which the pronunciation 
 degenerates into the whine, so much and so justly 
 disliked ; for it is very remarkable, that if, where the 
 sense concludes, we are careful to preserve the falling 
 inflexion, and let the voice drop into the natural 
 talking tone, the voice may be suspended in the 
 rising inflexion on any other part of the verse, with 
 very little danger of falling into the chant of bad 
 readers. Thus in the following passage which opens 
 the tragedy of Cato : 
 
 The dawn is overcast, the morning low'rs, 
 And heavily in clouds brings on the day ; 
 The great, the important day, big with the fate 
 Of Cato and of Rome. 
 
 The grandeur of the objects and swell of language 
 in this description, naturally throw the voice into 
 those tones that express the awe and dignity which 
 these objects excite in the mind ; and these tones 
 
 r 2 
 
244< ELEMENTS OF 
 
 being inclined to the plaintive, naturally slide into 
 the rising inflexion on the pauses ; and this is 
 apt to draw the voice into a chant : but let the word 
 Rome have the falling inflexion and sink into a lower 
 key, in the natural talking tone, and the imperfec- 
 tions in pronouncing the former part will be in a 
 great measure covered ; on the contrary, though the 
 former part be pronounced ever so accurately, if the 
 word Rome has the rising inflexion, the whole will 
 appear to be unfinished, and have a disagreeable 
 whining tone. 
 
 This may suffice to show the necessity of attending 
 to the pronunciation of periods in verse, and of giving 
 them the same inflexion of voice they would require 
 in prose ; for it must be carefully noted, that though 
 we often end with the rising inflexion in verse, where 
 we should use the falling in prose, yet if in prose it is 
 necessary we should end with the rising inflexion, we 
 ought always to end with the same inflexion in verse ; 
 in this case, the rising inflexion at the end of a sen- 
 tence will not appear to have the whining tone. Thus, 
 where a question would require the rising inflexion 
 in prose, verse will necessarily require it to end 
 with the same inflexion : and in this case, the rising 
 inflexion will have no bad effect on the ear. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 What ! shall an African, shall Juba's heir 
 Reproach great Cato's son, and show the world 
 A virtue wanting in a Roman soul ! 
 
 Here, though everypause requires the rising inflexion, 
 and the period the same, yet as this period is an inter- 
 rogation requiring the rising inflexion, no whining 
 chant is the consequence, but the whole is natural. 
 
 From these observations, this general rule will 
 naturally arise ; that though, in verse, we frequently 
 suspend the voice by the rising inflexion, where, if the 
 composition were prose, ive should adopt the falling ; 
 
ELOCUTION. 245 
 
 yet wherever, in prose, the member or sentence, ivould 
 necessarily require the rising inflexion, this inflexion 
 must necessarily be adopted in verse. An instance of 
 all these causes maybe found in the following example 
 from Pope : 
 
 He who through vast immensity can pierce, 
 See worlds on worlds compose one universe ; 
 Observe how system into system runs, 
 What other planets circle other suns j 
 What vary'd being peoples ev'ry star, 
 May tell why Heav'n has made us as we are. 
 But of this frame, the bearings and the ties, 
 The strong connexions, nice dependencies, 
 Gradations just, has thy pervading soul 
 Look'd through ? or can a part contain the whole ? 
 
 Is the great chain that draws all to agree, 
 And draws supports, upheld by God, or thee ? 
 
 If this passage were prose, every line but the fifth 
 might end with the falling inflexion, like a commenc- 
 ing series of five members ; but the fifth, being that 
 where the two principle constructive parts unite, and 
 the sense begins to form, here, both in prose and verse, 
 must be the principal pause, and the rising inflexion.* 
 The two questions with which this sentence ends, 
 ought to have the rising inflexion also, as this is the 
 inflexion they would necessarily have in prose ; 
 though from injudiciously printing the last couplet so 
 as to form a fresh paragraph, the word whole is gene- 
 rally pronounced with the falling inflexion, in order 
 to avoid the bad effect of a question with the rising 
 inflexion at the end of a paragraph ; which would be 
 effectually prevented by uniting the last couplet to 
 the rest, so as to form one whole portion ; and which 
 was undoubtedly the intention of the poet. 
 
 Having premised these observations, we shall en- 
 deavour to throw together a few rules for the reading 
 of verse, which, by descending to particulars, it is 
 hoped will be more useful than those very general 
 
 * See Part I. p. 67,77- 
 
246 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ones which are commonly to be met with on this sub- 
 ject ; and which, though very ingenious, seem cal- 
 culated rather for the making of verses than the read- 
 ing of them. 
 
 Rule I. As the exact tone of the passion, or emotion, 
 which verse excites, is not at first easy to hit, it will 
 beproper always tobegin apoem in a simple and almost 
 prosaic style, and so proceed till we are warmed with 
 the subject, and feel the emotion we wish to express. 
 
 Thus in Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard, 
 if we cannot immediately strike into the solemn 
 style with which that poem begins, it will be bet- 
 ter to commence with an easier and less marking 
 tone ; and somewhat like the style of reading prose, 
 till the subject becomes a little familiar. There 
 are few poems which will not allow of this prosaic 
 commencement ; and where they do not, it is a much 
 less fault in reading to begin with too little empha- 
 sis, than either to strike into a wrong one, or to 
 execute the right emphasis awkwardly. Gray's 
 Elegy on the Extirpation of the Bards, is almost the 
 only one that does not admit of commencing mode- 
 ratelv. 
 
 Ruin seize thee, ruthless king ! 
 Contusion on thy banners wait ! Sec. 
 
 Rule II. In verse every syllable is to have the same 
 accent, and every word the same emphasis, as in 
 prose ; for though the rhythmical arrangement of the 
 accent and emphasis is the very definition of poetry, 
 yet, if this arrangement tends to give an emphasis to 
 words which would have none in prose, or an accent 
 to such syllables as have properly no accent, the 
 rhythm us, or music of the verse, must be entirely 
 neglected. Thus the article the ought never to have 
 a stress, though placed in that part of the verse 
 where the ear expects an accent. 
 
ELOCUTION. 247 
 
 Of all tlie causes which conspire to blind 
 Man's erring judgment and misguide the mind, 
 What the weak head with strongest bias rules, 
 Is pride ; the never-failing vice of fools. Pope. 
 
 An injudicious reader of verse would be very apt to 
 lay a stress upon the article the in the third line, but a 
 good reader would infallibly neglect the stress on this, 
 and transfer it to the words what and weak. Thus 
 also in the following example, no stress must be laid 
 on the word of, because we should not give it any in 
 prosaic pronunciation : 
 
 Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made 
 Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade. Ibid. 
 
 For the same reason the word as, either in the first 
 or second line of the following couplet, ought to have 
 no stress : 
 
 Eye nature's walk, shoot folly as it flies, 
 And catch the manners living as they rise. Ibid. 
 
 The last syllable of the word excellent, in the follow- 
 ing couplet, being the place of the stress, is very 
 apt to draw the organs to a wrong fpronunciation 
 of the word, in compliance with the rhythmus of the 
 verse : 
 
 Their praise is still the style is excellent : 
 The sense they humbly take upon content. Ibid. 
 
 But a stress upon the last syllable of this word must 
 be avoided upon pain of the greatest possible re- 
 proach to a good reader ; which is that of altering the 
 accent of a word, to indulge the ear in a childish 
 jingle^of syllables. The same may be observed of the 
 word eloquence and the particle the in the following 
 couplet : 
 
 False eloquence like the prismatic glass 
 Its gaudy colours spreads on ev'ry place. 
 
 Ibid, 
 
248 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 If in compliance with the rhythmus, or tune of the 
 verses, we were to lay a stress on the last syllable of 
 eloquence, and on the particle the in the first of these 
 verses, scarcely any thing can be conceived more 
 disgusting to a good judge of reading. 
 
 A bad fault opposite to this is very common among 
 bad readers ; and that is, hurrying over the two last 
 syllables of such words so as to reduce the pronuncia- 
 tion to prose : for it must be carefully noted, that the 
 beauty of reading verse depends exceedingly upon the 
 tune in which we pronounce it. The unaccented 
 syllables, though less forcible, ought to have the same 
 time as those that are accented ; a regular march, 
 an agreeable movement, ought to reign through 
 the whole. 
 
 This rule, however, with respect to the place 
 of the accent, admits of some few exceptions. Mil- 
 ton has sometimes placed words so unfavourably for 
 pronunciation in the common way, that the ear would 
 be more disgusted with the harshness of the verse, if 
 the right accent were preserved, than with a wrong 
 accent which preserves the harmony of the verse : 
 for it is not merely reducing a line to prose if the 
 sense requires it, which is a capital fault in reading 
 poetry, but reducing it to very harsh and disagreeable 
 prose. Thus the Angel, in Milton, reasoning with 
 Adam about the planets, says, 
 
 For such vast room in nature unpossessed 
 By living soul, desert and desolate 
 Only to shine yet scarcely to cdntribute 
 Each orb a glimpse of light, convey'd so far 
 Down to this habitable, which returns 
 Light back to them, is obvious to dispute. 
 
 Par ad. Lost, B. viii. v. 153, 
 
 The word contribute has properly the accent on the 
 second syllable; but the verse would Jbe so harsh 
 with this accent, that it is presumed a good reader 
 would, for the sake of sound, lay the principal 
 
ELOCUTION. 249 
 
 accent on the first syllable, and a subordinate stress 
 on the third. The same may be observed of the 
 word attribute^ in the following passage from the 
 same author : 
 
 The swiftness of those circles attribute, 
 Though numberless, to this Omnipotence, 
 That to corporeal substances could add 
 Speed almost spiritual. Farad. Lost, B. viii. 197 
 
 Where a word admits of some diversity in placing 
 the accent, it is scarcely necessary to observe/that 
 the verse ought in this case to decide. Thus in the 
 following passage : 
 
 Now gentle gales 
 Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense 
 Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
 Those balmy spoils. Ibid. B. iv. v. 156. 
 
 For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour 
 Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
 A violet in the youth and prime of nature, 
 Forward not permanent, though sweet not lasting, 
 The perfume of a minute. Shakspeare. 
 
 The word perfume in the passage from Milton ought 
 to be accented on the last syllable, and the same 
 word in Shakspeare on the first ,• for both these 
 modes of placing the accent are allowable in prose, 
 though the last seems the preferable ; as it is agree- 
 able to that analogy of dissyllable nouns and verbs 
 of the same form which requires the accent to be 
 on the first syllable of the noun, and on the last of 
 the verb. 
 
 ]>ut when the poet has with great judgment con- 
 trived that his numbers shall be harsh and grating, 
 in order to correspond to the ideas they suggest, the 
 common accentuation must be preserved. 
 
250 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 On a sudden open fly 
 With impetuous recoil and jarring- sound 
 Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate 
 Harsh thunder. Parad. Lost, B. ii. v. 879. 
 
 Here the harshness arising from the accent on the 
 second syllable of the word impetuous, finely expresses 
 the recoil and jarring sounds of the gates of hell. 
 
 Rule III. The vowel e, which is often cut off by 
 an apostrophe in the word the, and in syllables before 
 r, as dangerous, genrous, &c. ought to be preserved in 
 the pronunciation, because the syllable it forms is so 
 short as to admit of being sounded with the preceding 
 syllable, so as not to increase the number of syllables 
 to the ear, or at all hurt the harmony. 
 
 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 
 Appear in writing, or in judging ill 5 
 But of the two less dang'rous is the offence, 
 To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. Pope. 
 
 Him the Almighty power 
 Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky 
 With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
 To bottomless perdition, there to dwell 
 In adamantine chains, and penal fire, 
 Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. Milton. 
 
 In the example from Milton, we have an instance 
 that the particle the may either form a distinct syl- 
 lable in poetry or not ; in the first line it *must ne- 
 cessarily form a distinct syllable ; in the second and 
 last it may be so blended with the succeeding word 
 as to be pronounced without elision, and yet form 
 no distinct syllable. 
 
 Rule IV. Almost every verse admits of a pause 
 in or near the middle of the line, which is called the 
 caesura ; this must be carefully observed in reading- 
 verse, or much of the distinctness, and almost ad the 
 harmony, will be lost. • 
 
ELOCUTION. 251 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Nature to all things fix'd the limits fit, 
 
 And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit j 
 
 As on the land, while here the ocean gains, 
 
 In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains ; 
 
 Thus in the soul, while memory prevails, 
 
 The solid pow'r of understanding fails j 
 
 Where beams of warm imagination play 
 
 The memory's soft figures melt away. Pope. 
 
 These lines have seldom any points inserted in the 
 middle, even by the most scrupulous punctuist ; and 
 yet nothing can be more palpable to the ear, than 
 that a pause, in the first at things, in the second at 
 curb'd, in the third at land, in the fourth at parts, 
 and in the fifth at soul, is absolutely necessary to 
 the harmony of these lines ; and that the sixth, by 
 admitting no pause but at understanding, and the 
 seventh, none but at imagination, border very nearly 
 upon prose. The reason why these lines will not 
 admit of a pause any where but at these words will 
 be evident to those who have perused the former part 
 of this work on the division of a sentence (Part I. 
 page 16) ; and if the reader would see one of the 
 most curious pieces of analysis on this subject in any 
 language, let him peruse in Lord Kaims's Elements of 
 Criticism the chapter on Versification, where he will 
 find the subject of pausing, as it relates to verse, 
 discussed in the deepest, clearest, and most satisfac- 
 tory manner. It will be only necessary to observe, 
 in this place 5 that though the most harmonious place 
 for the capital pause is after the fourth syllable, it 
 may, for the sake of expressing the sense strongly 
 and suitably, and sometimes even for the sake of va- 
 riety, be placed at several other intervals. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 'Tis hard to say — if greater want of skill. 
 So when an angel — by divine command, 
 With rising tempest — shakes a guilty land. 
 Then from his clossng eyes— thy form shall part, 
 
252 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 And the last pang — shall tear thee from his heart. 
 Inspir'd repuls'd battalions — to engage, 
 And taught the doubtful battle — where to rage. 
 Know, then, thyself — presume not God to scan ; 
 The proper study of mankind is man. 
 
 But besides the capital pause, there are certain sub- 
 ordinate pauses, which, though not so essential as 
 the capital pause, yet according to some of our pro- 
 sodists, form some of the greatest delicacies in reading 
 verse, and are an inexhaustible source of variety and 
 harmony in the composition of poetic numbers. But 
 in the exemplifying of this demi-ccesura, or subordi- 
 nate pause, our prosodists either show the impropriety 
 of many of these pauses, or that they may be ac- 
 counted for upon a different principle. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Relent | less walls || whose darksome round | contains. 
 For her | white virgins || hyme | neals sing. 
 In these | deep solitudes || and awe | ful eels. 
 
 Nothing could be more puerile and destructive of 
 the sense than to make pauses as they are here marked 
 in the middle of the words relentless, hymeneal, and 
 awful, which are the instances Lord Kaims brings of 
 the use of this half pause. In the lines quoted by 
 Mr. Sheridan, as instances of the demi-csesura, we 
 find an emphatic opposition at every one ; and this 
 opposition always requires a pause, whether in prose 
 or verse. See Part I. p. 49- 
 
 Glows | while he reads || but trembles | as he writes. 
 Reason | the card || but passion | is the gale. 
 From men ] their cities [] and from | gods their fanes. 
 From storms j a shelter || and from heat | a shade. 
 
 So that, on the whole, notwithstanding the decided 
 manner in which these prosodists speak of the demi- 
 ccesura as necessary in verse, I am apt to conclude 
 that it often exists no where but in their own imagi- 
 
ELOCUTION. 253 
 
 nations. But the next Rule will lead us to the con- 
 sideration of a pause of much more importance, 
 which is a pause at the end of the line. 
 
 Rule V. At the end of every line in poetry must 
 be a pause proportioned to the intimate or remote 
 connection subsisting between the two lines. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan, in his Art of Reading, has insisted 
 largely on the necessity of making a pause at the end 
 of every line in poetry, whether the sense requires it 
 or not, which he says has hitherto escaped the obser- 
 vation of all writers on the subject; and, this he ob- 
 serves, is so necessary, that without it we change the 
 verse into prose. It is with diffidence I dissent from 
 such an authority, especially as I have heard it ap- 
 proved by persons of great judgment and taste.* I 
 must own, however, that the necessity of this pause, 
 where the sense does not require it, is not so evident 
 to me as to remove every doubt about it ; for, in the 
 first place, if the author has so united the preceding 
 and following lines in verse as to make them real 
 prose, why is a reader to do that which his author has 
 neglected to do ; and indeed seems to have forbidden 
 by the very nature of the composition ? In the next 
 place, this slight and almost insensible pause of sus- 
 pension does not seem to answer the end proposed by 
 it; which is, that of making the ear sensible of the 
 versification, or of the number of accentual impres- 
 sions in every line. For this final pause is often so 
 small, when compared with that which precedes or 
 follows it in the body of the line, and this latter and 
 larger pause is so often accompanied with an inflexion 
 of voice which marks the formation of perfect sense, 
 
 * I asked Dr. Lowth, Mr. Garriek, and Dr. Johnson, about the 
 propriety of this pause, and they all agreed with Mr. Sheridan. 
 Had I been less acquainted with the subject, and seen less of the falli- 
 bility of great names upon it, I should have yielded to this decision ; 
 but great names are nothing where the matter in question is open 
 to experiment j and to this experiment I appeal. 
 
254 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 that the boundaries of the verse become almost, if not 
 utterly imperceptible, and the composition, for a few 
 lines, falls into an harmonious kind of prose. For it is 
 evident that it is not a small pause at the end of a line 
 in verse, which makes it appear poetry to the ear, so 
 much as that adjustment of the accented syllables 
 which forms a regular return of stress, whether the line 
 be long or short. Accordingly, we find, that those 
 lines in blank verse, which have a long pause in the 
 middle from a conclusion of the sense, and a very 
 short one at the end, from the sense continuing, are, 
 in spite of all our address in reading, very prosaical. 
 This prosaic air in these lines may have a very good 
 effect in point of expression and variety, but if too fre- 
 quently repeated, will undoubtedly render the verse 
 almost imperceptible; for, as was before observed, the 
 ear will measure the lines by the greatest pauses, and 
 if these fall within, and not at the end of the line, the 
 versification will seem to be composed of unequal lines, 
 and will want that measure which the ear always 
 expects in verse, and never dispenses with, but when 
 sense, variety, or expression is promoted by it. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Deeds of eternal fame 
 Were done, but infinite j for wide was spread 
 That war, and various ; sometimes on firm ground 
 A standing fight j then soaring on main wing, 
 Tormented all the air ; all air seem'd then 
 Conflicting fire : long time in even scale 
 The battle hung Milton. 
 
 The pauses at the end of these lines are so small, 
 when compared with these in the body of the lines, 
 that an appeal may be made to every ear for the 
 truth of what has been just observed. This dispro- 
 portion in the pauses cannot, however, be said to re- 
 duce the composition to prose ; nay, even if we were 
 to use no pauses at all at the end of the lines, they 
 
ELOCUTION. 255 
 
 would not, on this account, entirely lose their poetic 
 character ; for, at worst, they might be called nume- 
 rous or harmonious prose ; and that the greatest part 
 of blank verse is neither more nor less than this, it 
 would' not be difficult to prove. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan defines numbers to be certain impres- 
 sions made on the ear at stated and regular distances; 
 and as he supposes verse would be no verse without a 
 pause at the end of each line, he must define verse 
 to be a certain number of impressions made on the 
 ear at stated and regular distances, terminated by a 
 pause, so as to make this number of impressions per- 
 ceptibly equal in every line. But if a pause comes 
 into the definition of verse because it serves to show 
 the equal number of impressions in every line, a 
 pause that is insufficient for this purpose is not, strictly 
 speaking, a poetical pause ; for if the pause classes 
 words into such portions as oblige the ear to perceive 
 the equality or inequality of these portions, the 
 longest pauses will be the boundaries of those portions 
 the ear will most readily perceive, and the short 
 pauses will, like the demi-caesura, appear either im- 
 perceptible or subservient only to the greater pause : 
 Thus the foregoing passage from Milton will, while 
 we are pronouncing it, address the ear in the same 
 manner it does the eye in the following arrange- 
 ment : 
 
 Deeds of eternal fame were done, but infinite : 
 For wide was spread that war and various ; 
 Sometimes on firm ground a standing fight ; 
 Then soaring on main wing, tormented all the air j 
 All air seem'd then conflicting fire : 
 Long time in even scale the battle hung. 
 
 This arrangement of the words, though exactly 
 classed into those portions in which they come to the 
 ear, seems to destroy the verse to the eye, and to re- 
 duce it into what may be called numerous prose : but 
 have we not reason to suspect that the e} 7 e puts a cheat 
 upon the ear, by making us imagine a pause to exist 
 
256 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 where there is only a vacancy to the eye ? Mr. She- 
 ridan has very properly accounted for the perception 
 of false quantity in Latin verse by this association of 
 visible and audible objects, and there seems an equal 
 reason to suspect the same fallacy here. 
 
 The best pronouncers of tragedy have never ob- 
 served this pause, and why it should be introduced 
 into other composition is not easily comprehended : 
 the numbers of the verse, the dignity of the lan- 
 guage, an inversion of the common order of the 
 words, sufficiently preserve it from falling into prose; 
 and if the name of verse only be wanting, the loss is 
 not very considerable. When the line is terminated 
 by a rhyme, the boundaries of the verse are very 
 discernable by the smallest pause ; though the most 
 harmonious rhyming verse must be acknowledged to 
 be that where the rhyme is accompanied by a consi- 
 derable pause in the sense ; but as too long a succes- 
 sion of these lines satiates the ear with too much 
 equality, we readily exchange sound for variety or 
 force of expression. Sometimes even the pauses before 
 and after a rhyme are so considerable, and that at the 
 end of the rhyme so small, that the boundaries of the 
 verse are lost in the rapidity of the expression. 
 
 Which, without passing through the judgment, gains 
 The heart, and all its end at once attains. Pope. 
 
 'Tis with our judgments as our watches ; none 
 Go just alike, yet each believes his own. Ibid. 
 
 In these lines I think it is evident, that if we make 
 a small pause of suspension, as Mr. Sheridan calls it, 
 at the end of the first verse, the pauses of sense at 
 judgment, and heart, and at watches and alike, are so 
 much more perceptible, that every trace of the length 
 of the verse is lost: the same may be observed of the 
 following lines of Milton : 
 
 Sing heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top 
 Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire 
 
ELOCUTION. 257 
 
 That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed 
 
 In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 
 
 Rose out of chaos : Or if Sion hill 
 
 Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook, that flow'd 
 
 Fast by the oracle of God ; I thence 
 
 Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song. 
 
 In the fifth, sixth, and seventh lines of this passage, 
 the pause in the sense falls so distinctly on the words 
 chaos, more, and God, that a slight pause at kill, 
 flowd, and thence, would not have the least power of 
 informing the ear of the end of the line, and of the 
 equality of the verse, and, therefore, for these pur- 
 poses would be entirely useless. For in all pronuncia- 
 tion, whether prosaic or poetic, at the beginning of 
 every fresh portion, the mind must necessarily have 
 the pause of the sense in view ; and this prospect of 
 the sense must regulate the voice for that portion, to 
 the entire neglect of any length in the verse, as an 
 -attention to this must necessarily interrupt that flow 
 or current in the pronunciation which the sense de- 
 mands. Thus the current of the voice is stopped at 
 chaos ; and the succeeding part of the verse, Or if 
 Sion hill, is so much detached from the preceding 
 part, that the ad measurement of the verse is destroyed 
 to the ear, and we might add a foot more to the latter 
 part of the verse without seeming at all to lengthen 
 it ; we might, for example, write the line in this 
 manner, 
 
 Rose out of Chaos ; or if Sion's verdant hill, 
 
 without any indication of false quantity to the ear, 
 though the eye scans it as too long by two syllables. 
 
 The affectation which most writers of blank verse 
 have of extending the sense beyond the line, whether 
 necessary or not, is followed by a similar affectation 
 in the printer, who will often omit placing a pause 
 at the end of a line of verse, where he, would have 
 inserted one in prose ; and this affectation is still car- 
 
 s 
 
258 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 ried farther by the reader, who will generally run the 
 sense of one line into another, where there is the least 
 opportunity of doing it, in order to show that he is 
 too sagacious to suppose there is any conclusion in 
 the sense because the line concludes. This affecta- 
 tion, I say, has possibly given rise to the opposite one 
 adopted by the learned ; namely, that of pausing 
 where the sense absolutely forbids a pause, and so by 
 shunning Scylla, to fall into Charybdis : this error is 
 excellently described by Pope : 
 
 The vulgar thus through imitation err, 
 As oft the learn'd by being singular ; 
 So much they hate the crowd, that if the throng 
 By chance go right, they purposely go wrong. 
 
 The truth is, the end of a line in verse naturally in- 
 clines us to pause; and the words that refuse a pause 
 so seldom occur at the end of a verse, that we often 
 pause between words in verse where we should not in 
 prose, but where a pause would by no means interfere 
 with the sense : this, it is presumed, has been fully 
 shown in a former part of this work; and, this per- 
 haps, may be the reason why a pause at the end of a 
 line in poetry is supposed to be in compliment to the 
 verse, when the very same pause in prose is allowable, 
 and, perhaps, eligible, but neglected as unnecessary: 
 however this be, certain it is, that if we pronounce 
 many lines in Milton, so as to make the equality of 
 impressions on the ear distinctly perceptible at the 
 end of every line ; if by making this pause, we make 
 the pauses that mark the sense less perceptible, we 
 exchange a solid advantage for a childish rhythm, 
 and, by endeavouring to preserve the name of verse, 
 lose ail its meaning and energy. 
 
 Rule VI. In order to form a cadence in a period 
 in rhyming verse, we must adopt the falling inflexion 
 with considerable force, in the caesura of the last line 
 but one. 
 
ELOCUTION. 259 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 One science only will one genius fit, 
 So vast is art, so narrow human wit -, 
 Not only bounded to peculiar arts, 
 But oft in those confin'd to single parts ; 
 Like kings we lose the conquests gain'd before, 
 By vain ambition still to make them more ; 
 Each might his several province || well command. 
 Would all but stoop to what they understand. 
 
 In repeating these lines, we shall find it necessary 
 to form the cadence by giving the falling inflexion 
 with a little more force than common to the word 
 province. The same may be observed of the word 
 prospect, in the last line but one of the following 
 page: 
 
 So pleas'd at first, the tow'ring Alps we try, 
 Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky 5 
 Th' eternal snows appear already past, 
 And the first clouds and mountains seem the last : 
 But those attain'd, we tremble to survey 
 The growing labours of the lengthen'd way ; 
 Th' increasing prospect || tires our wand'ring eyes, 
 Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise. 
 
 Rule VII. A simile in poetry ought always to be 
 read in a lower tone of voice than that part of the 
 passage which precedes it. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 'Twas then great Marlb'rough's mighty soul was prov'd, 
 That in the shock of charging hosts unmov'd, 
 Amidst confusion, horror, and despair, 
 Examin'd all the dreadful scenes of war. 
 In peaceful thought the field of death survey'd, 
 To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid j 
 Inspir'd repuls'd battalions to engage, 
 And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. 
 So when an angel, by divine command 
 With rising tempest shakes a guilty land 
 (Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past), 
 Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; 
 And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, 
 Rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm., Addison. 
 s2 
 
260 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Rule VIII. Where there is no pause in the sense 
 at the end of the verse, the last words must have ex- 
 actly the same inflexion it would have in prose. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 O'er their heads a crystal firmament, 
 Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure * 
 Amber, and colours of the show'ry arch. Milton. 
 
 In this example, the word pure must have the falling 
 inflexion, whether we make any pause at it or not, as 
 this is the inflexion the word would have if the sen- 
 tence were pronounced prosaically. For the same 
 reason the words retired and went, in the following 
 example, must be pronounced with the rising in- 
 flexion. 
 
 At his command th' uprooted hills retir'd 
 Each to his place ; they heard his voice and went 
 Obsequious ; heav'n his wonted face renewed, 
 And with fresh fiow'rets hill and valley smil'd. 
 
 Rule IX. Sublime, grand, and magnificent descrip- 
 tion in poetry, frequently requires a lower tone of 
 voice, and a sameness nearly approaching to a mo- 
 notone, to give it variety. 
 
 This rule will surprise many who have always been 
 taught to look upon a monotone or sameness of voice 
 as a deformity in reading. A deformity it certainly 
 is, when it arises either from a want of power to alter 
 the voice, or a want of judgment to introduce it pro- 
 perly; but I presume it may be with confidence 
 affirmed, that when it is introduced with propriety, it 
 is one of the greatest embellishments of poetic pro- 
 nunciation. Nay, a monotone connected with pre- 
 ceding and succeeding inflexions, is a real variety, 
 and is exactly similar to a succession of the same 
 identical notes in music ; which, considered apart, is 
 
 * This, it is presumed, is an instance, that a pause of suspension 
 may sometimes be improper at the end of a line. See pages 255, 256. 
 
ELOCUTION. 261 
 
 perfectly monotonous, but, taken with what goes 
 before and follows, is among the finest beauties of 
 composition. 
 
 The use of the monotone has already been exem- 
 plified, page 70, in the grand description of Satan's 
 throne, at the beginning of the Second Book of Para- 
 dise Lost, and may be farther illustrated by a passage 
 of the Allegro of the same poet. 
 
 Hence ! loath'd Melancholy, 
 
 Of Cerberus, and blackest Midnight born, 
 In Stygian cave forlorn, 
 
 'Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks, and sights unholy. 
 Find out some uncouth cell, 
 
 Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings, 
 And the night raven sings 5 
 
 There, under ebon shades and low-brow'd rocks, 
 As ragged as thy locks, 
 
 In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. 
 
 In repeating this passage, w T e shall find the dark- 
 ness and horror of the cell wonderfully augmented, 
 by pronouncing the eighth line, 
 
 There, under ebon shades, and low-brow'd rocks, 
 
 in a low monotone ; which monotone may not be 
 improperly signified, by the horizontal line generally 
 used to mark long quantity ; as this line is perfectly 
 descriptive of a sameness of tone 5 as the acute and 
 grave accent are of variety. 
 
262 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Modulation of the Voice. 
 
 After a perfect idea is attained of the pause, em- 
 phasis, and inflexion, with which we ought to pro- 
 nounce every word, sentence, interrogation, climax, 
 and different figure of speech, it will be absolutely 
 necessary to be acquainted with the power, variety, 
 and extent of the instrument, through which we con- 
 vey them to others ; for unless this instrument be in 
 a proper pitch, whatever we pronounce will be feeble 
 and unnatural ; as it is only in a certain pitch that 
 the voice can command the greatest variety of tones, 
 so as to utter them with energy and ease. 
 
 Every one has a certain pitch of voice, in which 
 he is most easy to himself, and most agreeable to 
 others ; this may be called the natural pitch : this is 
 the pitch in which we converse ; and this must be 
 the basis of every improvement we acquire from art 
 and exercise : for such is the force of exercise upon 
 the organs of speech, as well as every other in the hu- 
 man body, that constant practice will strengthen the 
 voice in any key we use it to, even though this hap- 
 pen not to be the most natural and easy at first. This 
 is abundantly proved by the strong vociferation which 
 the itinerant retailers in the streets acquire after a few 
 years' practice. Whatever key they happen to pitch 
 upon at first is generally preserved; and the voice in 
 that note becomes wonderfully strong and sonorous : 
 but as the Spectator humurously observes, their 
 articulation is generally so indistinct, that we under- 
 stand what they sell, not so much by the words as 
 the tune. 
 
 As constant exercise is of such importance to 
 strengthen the voice, care should be taken, that we 
 exercise it on that part where it has naturally the 
 greatest power and variety : this is the middle tone ; 
 
ELOCUTION. %6S 
 
 the tone we habitually make use of, when we converse 
 with, or speak to persons at a moderate distance ; for 
 if we call out to one who is so far off as to be almost 
 out of hearing, we naturally raise our voice to a higher 
 key, as well as swell it upon that key to a much 
 greater degree of loudness ; as, on the contrary, if we 
 wish to be heard only by a single person in company, 
 we naturally let fall our voice into a lower key, and 
 abate the force of it, so as to keep it from being heard 
 by any but the person we are speaking to. 
 
 In this situation nature dictates : but the situation 
 of the public speaker is a situation of art ; he not 
 only wishes to be heard, but to be heard with energy 
 and ease ; for this purpose, his voice must be power- 
 ful in that key which is easiest to him, in that which 
 he will most naturally fall into, and which he will 
 certainly have the most frequent occasion to use ; 
 and this is the middle tone. 
 
 But before we enter farther on this subject, it seems 
 absolutely necessary to obviate a very common mis- 
 take with respect to the voice, which may lead to an 
 incurable error ; and that is, the confounding of high 
 and low with loud and soft. These plain differences 
 are as often jumbled together as accent and quantity, 
 though to much worse purpose. Our mistaking of 
 accent for quantity when we converse about it, makes 
 not the least alteration in our speaking ; but if, when 
 we ought only to be louder, we raise our voice to a 
 higher key, our tones become shrill and feeble, and 
 frustrate the very intention of speaking. 
 
 Those who understand ever so little of music, know 
 that high and loud, and soft and low are by no means 
 necessarily connected j and that we may be very soft 
 in a high note, and very loud in a low one ; just as a 
 smart stroke on a bell may have exactly the same 
 note as a slight one, though it is considerably louder. 
 But to explain this difference to those who are unac- 
 quainted with music, we may say, that a high tone 
 is that we naturally assume when we wish to be heard 
 
264 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 at a distance, as the same degree of force is more 
 audible in a high, than in a low tone, from the acute- 
 ness of the former, and the gravity of the latter ; and 
 that a low tone is that we naturally assume when we 
 are speaking to a person at a small distance, and wish 
 not to be heard by others ; as a low tone with the 
 same force is less audible than a high one ; if, there- 
 fore, we raise our voice to the pitch we should natur- 
 ally use if we were calling to a person at a great dis- 
 tance, and at the same time exert so small a degree 
 of force as to be heard only by a person who is near 
 us, we shall have an example of a high note in a soft 
 tone ; and on the contrary, if we suppose ourselves 
 speaking to a person at a small distance, and wish to 
 be heard by those who are at a greater, in this situa- 
 tion we shall naturally sink the voice into a low note, 
 and throw just as much force or loudness into it as is 
 necessary to make it audible to the persons at a dis- 
 tance. This is exactly the manner which actors 
 speak the speeches that are spoken aside. The low 
 tone conveys the idea of speaking to a person near us, 
 and the loud tone enables us to convey this idea to a 
 distance. By this experiment we perceive, that high 
 and loud, and soft and low, though most frequently 
 associated, are essentially distinct from each other. 
 
 Such, however, is the nature of the human voice, 
 that to begin in the extremes of high and low are not 
 equally dangerous. The voice naturally slides into a 
 higher tone, when we want to speak louder, but not so 
 easily into a lower tone, when we would speak more 
 softly. Experience shows us, that we can raise our 
 voice at pleasure to any pitch it is capable of; but 
 the same experience tells us, that it requires infinite 
 art and practice to bring the voice to a lower key 
 when it is once raised too high. It ought, therefore, 
 to be a first principle with all public readers and 
 speakers, rather to begin under the common level of 
 their voice than above it. The attention of an audi- 
 tory at the commencement of a lecture or oration, 
 
ELOCUTION. 265 
 
 makes the softest accents of the speaker audible, at 
 the same time that it affords a happy occasion for 
 introducing a variety of voice, without which every 
 address must soon tire. A repetition of the same 
 subject a thousand times over, is not more tiresome 
 to the understanding, than a monotonous delivery of 
 the most varied subject to the ear. Poets, to produce 
 variety, alter the structure of their verse, and rather 
 hazard uncouthness and discord than sameness. Prose 
 writers change the style, turn, and structure of their 
 periods, and sometimes throw in exclamations, and 
 sometimes interrogations, to rouse and keep alive the 
 attention ; but all this art is entirely thrown away, if 
 the reader does not enter into the spirit of his author, 
 and by a similar kind of genius, render even variety 
 itself more various ; if he does not by an alteration 
 in his voice, manner, tone, gesture, loudness, soft- 
 ness, quickness, slowness, adopt every change of 
 which the subject is susceptible. 
 
 Every one, therefore, who would acquire variety 
 of tone in public reading or speaking, must avoid as 
 the greatest evil a loud and vociferous beginning ; 
 and for that purpose it would be prudent in a reader 
 or speaker to adapt his voice as if only to be heard 
 by the person who is nearest to him ; if his voice has 
 natural strength, and the subject any thing impas- 
 sioned in it, a higher and louder tone will insensibly 
 steal on him ; and his greatest address must be di- 
 rected to keeping it within bounds. For this pur- 
 pose it will be frequently necessary for him to recall 
 his voice, as it were, from the extremities of his audi- 
 tory, and direct it to those who are nearest to him. 
 This it will be proper to do almost at the beginning 
 of every paragraph in reading, and at the introduc- 
 tion of every part of the subject in discourse. No- 
 thing will so powerfully work on the voice, as sup- 
 posing ourselves conversing at different intervals with 
 different parts of the audience. 
 
 A celebrated writer on this subject directs a reader 
 
266 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 or speaker, upon his first addressing an auditory, to 
 fix his eyes upon that part of them from which he is 
 the farthest, and to pitch his voice so as to reach 
 them. This, I fear, would be attended with very ill 
 consequences if the assembly were very large ; as a 
 speaker would be strongly tempted to raise his voice, 
 as well as increase its force ; and by this means begin 
 in a key much too high for the generality of his audi- 
 tory, or for his own powders to continue it. The safest 
 rule, therefore, is certainly to begin, as it were, with 
 those of the assembly that are nearest to us ; and if 
 the voice be but articulate, however low the key may 
 be, it will still be audible ; and those who have a suf- 
 ficient strength of voice for a public auditory, find it 
 so much more difficult to bring down than raise the 
 pitch, that they will not wonder I employ my chief 
 care to guard against an error by far the most com- 
 mon, as well as the most dangerous. 
 
 Much, undoubtedly, will depend on the size and 
 structure of the place we speak in : some are so im- 
 mensely large, as many of our churches and cathe- 
 drals, that the voice is nearly as much dissipated as 
 in the open air, and often with the additional incon-, 
 venience of a thousand confused echos and re-echos. 
 Here a loud a vociferous speaker will render him- 
 self unintelligible in proportion to his exertion of 
 voice : as departing and commencing sounds will en- 
 counter each other, and defeat every intention of 
 distinctness and harmony. 
 
 Nothing but good articulation will make a speaker 
 audible in this situation, and a judicious attention to 
 that tone of voice which is most suitable to the size 
 and imperfections of the place. If the place we 
 speak in be but small, it will scarcely be necessary to 
 observe that the loudness of the voice should be in 
 proportion. Those who have not ears sufficiently de- 
 licate to discern the true quantity of sound necessary 
 to fill the place they speak in, ought to take every 
 possible method to acquire so essential a qualification. 
 
ELOCUTION. 267 
 
 A knowledge of music, many trials of different de- 
 grees of loudness, and the friendly criticism of good 
 judges, may do much towards acquiring this accom- 
 plishment ; and it must ever be remembered, that 
 high and low are essentially distinct from loud and 
 soft ; as we may with the utmost propriety be at the 
 highest note of our voice in the smallest room, pro- 
 vided we are not too loud, and use the lowest part of 
 our voice in the largest, provided we are not too soft 
 and indistinct to be heard. 
 
 In order to reduce the foregoing observations to 
 practice, it may not be unprofitable to attend to the 
 following rules. 
 
 Rule I. To gain a habit of lowering the voice, it 
 will be necessary to drop the voice to a lower key 
 upon the end of one sentence, and to commence the 
 next sentence in the same low key with which we 
 concluded the former ; for this purpose, it will be ne- 
 cessary to select sentences where this pronunciation 
 is eligible, and practise upon them. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all our senses. 
 It fills the mind with the largest variety of ideas, converses with its 
 objects at the greatest distance, and continues the longest in action 
 without being tired or satiated with its proper enjoyments. The 
 sense of feeling can indeed give us a notion of extension, shape, and 
 all other ideas that enter at the eye, except colours ; but at the same 
 time it is very much straitened and confined in its operations to the 
 number, bulk, and distance of its particular objects. Sped. No. 411. 
 
 I shall first consider those pleasures of the imagination which arise 
 from the actual view and survey of outward objects ; and these, I 
 think, ail proceed from the sight of what is great, uncommon, or 
 beautiful. There may, indeed, be something so terrible or offensive, 
 that the horror or loathsomeness of the object may overhear the plea- 
 sure which results from its greatness, novelty, or beauty ; but still 
 there will be such a mixture of delight in the very disgust it gives 
 us, as any of these three qualifications are most conspicuous and 
 prevailing. Sped. No. 412. 
 
268 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 The sense of feeling, in the first example, and there 
 may, indeed, in the second, may very properly com- 
 mence in a low tone of voice, as this tone is generally 
 suitable to the concession contained in each of the 
 sentences. 
 
 Similes in poetry form proper examples for gaining 
 a habit of lowering the voice. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 He above the rest, 
 In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
 Stood like a tow'r. His form had not yet lost 
 All its original brightness, nor appear'd 
 Less than archangel ruin'd and th' excess 
 Of glory obscur'd ; as when the sun new ris'n 
 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. Milton's Paradise Lost. 
 
 In this example are two similes in succession ; and 
 it may be observed, that in order to pronounce them 
 properly, the voice ought to be twice lowered ; that 
 is, on the first simile at as when the sun, and then at 
 or from behind the moon, which last simile must be in 
 a lower tone of voice than the former, and both nearly 
 in a monotone. 
 
 Rule II. This lowering of the voice will be greatly 
 facilitated if we begin the words we wish to lower the 
 voice upon, in a monotone, or sameness of sound, ap- 
 proaching to that produced by repeatedly striking the 
 same key of a harpsichord. Thus in the following 
 passage from Dr. Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination : 
 
 With what attractive charms this goodly frame 
 Of nature, touches the consenting hearts 
 Of mortal men ; and what the pleasing stores 
 Which beauteous imitation thence derives, 
 To deck the poet's or the painter's toil, 51 
 My verse unfolds. Attend, ye gentle pow'rs 
 Of musical delight ! and while I sing 
 
ELOCUTION. 269 
 
 Your gifts, your honours, dance around my strain. 
 
 Thou, smiling queen of every tuneful breast, 
 
 Indulgent Fancy j from the fruitful banks 
 
 Of Avon, whence thy rosy fingers cull 
 
 Fresh flow'rs and dews, to sprinkle on the turf 
 
 Where Shakspeare lies, be present ; and with thee 
 
 Let fiction come upon her vagrant wing, 
 
 Wafting ten thousand colours through the air j 
 
 And by the glances of her magic eye, 
 
 Combining each in endless fairy forms 
 
 Her wild creation. Goddess of the lyre, 
 
 Which rules the accents of the moving sphere, 
 
 Wilt thou, eternal Harmony, descend, 
 
 And join this festive train ? for with thee comes 
 
 The guide, the guardian of their lovely sports, 
 
 Majestic Truth ; and where Truth deigns to come 
 
 Her sister Liberty will not be far. 
 
 Be present all ye Genii, who conduct 
 
 The wond'ring footsteps of the youthful bard, 
 
 New to your springs and shades j who touch his ear 
 
 With finer sounds ; who heighten to his eye 
 
 The blooms of nature, and before him turn 
 
 The gayest, happiest, attitudes of things. 
 
 Pleasures of Imagination, Book I. 
 
 This exordium consists of an invocation of several 
 poetic powers, each of which ought to be addressed 
 in a manner somewhat different ; but none of them 
 admits of a difference sufficient to give a variety to a 
 long paragraph, except that of eternal Harmony : and 
 this from its nature requires a solemn monotone in a 
 much lower key than the rest : if therefore we pro- 
 nounce the words, 
 
 Goddess of the lyre, 
 Which rules the accents,of the moving sphere : 
 
 if, I say, we pronounce these words in a low mono- 
 tone, without any inflexion of voice on them ; we 
 shall throw a great variety into the whole invocation, 
 and give it at the same time that expression which 
 the importance of the subject demands. 
 
 Rule III. As few voices are perfect ; those which 
 have a good bottom often wanting a top, and in- 
 versely ; care should be taken to improve by practice 
 
270 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 that part of the voice which is most deficient ; for 
 instance ; if we want to gain a bottom, we ought to 
 practice speeches which require exertion, a little be- 
 low the common pitch; when we can do this with 
 ease, we may practise them on a little lower note, and 
 so on till we are as low as we desire ; for this purpose, 
 it will be necessary to repeat such passages as require 
 a full audible tone of voice in a low key : of this kind 
 is the speech of king John to Hubert, where he takes 
 him aside, and tempts him to undertake the death of 
 prince Arthur : 
 
 Come hither, Hubert. O, my gentle Hubert, 
 
 We owe thee much ; within this wall of flesh 
 
 There is a soul counts thee her creditor, 
 
 And with advantage means to pay thy love. « 
 
 And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath 
 
 Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. 
 
 Give me thy hand, I had a thing to say — 
 
 But I will fit it with some better time. 
 
 By heav'n, Huberr, I 'm almost asham'd 
 
 To say what good respect I have of thee. 
 
 Hub. I am much beholden to your majesty. 
 
 K. John. Good friend., thou hast no cause to say so yet, 
 But thou shalt have — and creep time ne'er so slow, 
 Yet it shall come for me to do thee good. 
 I had a thing to say, — but let it go ; 
 The sun is in the heav'n, and the proud day, 
 Attended with the pleasures of the world, 
 Is all too wanton and too full of gaudes 
 To give me audience. If the midnight bell 
 Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth 
 Sound one unto the drowsy race of night ; 
 If this same were a church-yard where we stand, 
 And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs j 
 Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes, 
 Hear we without thine ears, and make reply 
 Without a tongue, using conceit alone, 
 Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words, 
 Then in despite of broad-eyed watchful day 
 I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts : 
 But, ah ! I will not — yet I love thee well, 
 And by my troth, I think thou lov'dst me well. 
 
 Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake, 
 Though that my death were adjunct to my act, 
 By heav'n I 'd do 't, 
 
ELOCUTION. 271 
 
 K. John. Do I not know thou would'st ? 
 Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye 
 On that young boy : I'll tell thee what, my friend, 
 He is a very serpent in ray way, 
 And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread, 
 He lies before me. Do'st thou understand me ? 
 Thou art his keeper. 
 
 Hub. And I'll keep him so, 
 That he shall not offend your majesty. 
 
 K. John. Death. 
 
 Hub. My lord ? 
 
 K. John. A grave. 
 
 Hub. He shall not live. 
 
 K. John. Enough. 
 I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee j 
 Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee : 
 Remember. Shahspeare's King John, Act iii. Scene 5. 
 
 I have quoted so much of this fine passage, because 
 I think almost every part of it affords an opportunity 
 of practising to speak with force and energy upon a 
 lower tone of the voice ; for the whole scene may be 
 considered as only an earnest whisper ; but as this 
 whisper must be heard by a whole audience, it is ne- 
 cessary, while we lower the pitch, to add to the force 
 of the voice ; this, however, is no easy operation, and 
 none but good readers and consummate actors, can 
 do it perfectly. It is no very difficult matter to be 
 loud in a high tone of voice ; but to be loud and for- 
 cible in a low tone, requires great practice and ma- 
 nagement; this, however, may be facilitated by pro- 
 nouncing forcibly at first in a low monotone ; a mo- 
 notone, though in a low key, and without force, is 
 much more sonorous and audible than when the voice 
 slides up and down at almost every word, as it must 
 do to be various. This tone is adopted by actors 
 when they repeat passages aside. They are to give 
 the idea of speaking to themselves, in such a manner 
 as not to be heard by the person with them on the 
 stage, and yet must necessarily be heard by the whole 
 theatre. The monotone in a low key answers both 
 these purposes. It conveys the idea of being inau- 
 dible to the actors with them in the scene, by being 
 
272 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 in a lower tone than that used in the dialogue ; and 
 by being in a monotone becomes audible to the whole 
 house. The monotone, therefore, becomes an excellent 
 vehicle for such passages as require force and audi- 
 bility in a low tone, and in the hands of a judicious 
 reader or speaker is a perpetual source of variety. 
 
 Rule IV. When we would strengthen the voice in 
 a higher note, it will be necessary to practise such 
 passages as require a high tone of voice ; and if we 
 find the voice grow thin, or approach to a squeak 
 upon the high note, it will be proper to swell the 
 voice a little below this high note, and to give it force 
 and audibility by throwing it into a sameness of tone 
 approaching the monotone. A speech of Titus 
 Quintius to the Roman people, ironically encourag- 
 ing them to the greatest excesses^ is a good praxis for 
 the higher tone of voice. 
 
 When you are to contend with us, you can seize theAventile hill, 
 you can possess yourselves of the Mons Sacer, the enemy is at our 
 gates, the iEsquiline is near being taken, and nobody stirs to hinder 
 it. But against us you are valiant, against us you can arm with all 
 diligence. Come on, then, besiege the Senate-house, make a camp 
 of the forum, fill the jails with our chief nobles, and when you have 
 achieved these glorious exploits, then at the least, sally out at the 
 iEsquiline gate with the same fierce spirits against the enemy. Does 
 your resolution fail you for this ? Go then, and behold from our 
 walls, your lands ravaged, your houses plundered and in flames, the 
 whole country laid waste with fire and sword. Have you any thing 
 here to repair these damages ? Will the tribunes^ make up your 
 losses to you ? They will give you words as many as you please ; 
 bring impeachments in abundance against the prime men of the state ; 
 heap laws upon laws; assemblies you shall have without endj but 
 will any of you return the richer from these assemblies ? Extinguish, 
 O Romans ! these fatal divisions: generously break this cursed en- 
 chantment, which keeps you buried in a scandalous inaction. — Open 
 your eyes, and consider the management of those ambitious men, 
 who, to make themselves powerful in their party, study nothing but 
 how they may foment divisions in the commonwealth. 
 
 There are few voices so strong in the upper notes as 
 to be able to pronounce this speech with the spirit it 
 demands ; care must be taken therefore, particularly 
 in the ironical parts, to keep the voice from going too 
 
ELOCUTION. 273 
 
 high for which purpose it ought to approach to a 
 monotone in the high notes required upon the words — 
 against us you are valiant — against us you can arm 
 with all diligence — and particularly upon the questions 
 — Does your resolution fail you for this ? Have you 
 any thing here to repair these damages ? Will the 
 tribunes make up your losses to you ? And the same 
 conduct of the voice must be observed upon the four 
 succeeding ironical members. 
 
 But no exercise will be so proper to inure the voice 
 to high notes, as frequently to pronounce a succession 
 of questions, which require the rising inflexion of 
 voice at the end. Such is that instance of a succes- 
 sion of questions ending with the rising inflexion, in 
 the Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown. See 
 p. 140. 
 
 What was the part of a faithful citizen ? Of a prudent, an active 
 and honest minister ? Was he not to secure Eubcea, as our defence 
 against all attacks by sea ? Was he not to make Boeotia our bar- 
 rier on the midland side ? The cities bordering on Peloponnesus, 
 our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he not jto attend with due 
 precaution to the importation of corn, that this trade might be pro- 
 tected through all its progress up to our own harbours ? Was he 
 not to cover those districts, which we commanded by seasonable de- 
 tachments, as the Proconesus, the Chersonesus, and Tenedos ? To 
 exert himself in the assembly for this purpose ? While with equal 
 zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest and alliance, as 
 Byzantium, Abydus, and Eubcea ? Was he not to cut off the 
 best, and most important resources of our enemies, and to supply 
 those in which our country was defective ? — And all this you gained 
 by my counsels and my administration. 
 
 Lelands Demosthenes on the Crown, 
 
 It will naturally occur to every judicious reader, 
 that this series of questions ought to rise gradually 
 in force as they proceed, and therefore it will be ne- 
 cessary to keep the voice under at the beginning ; 
 to which this observation may be added, that as the 
 rising inflexion ought to be adopted on each ques- 
 tion, the voice will be very apt to get too high near 
 
 T 
 
274 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the end ; for which purpose it will be necessary to 
 swell the voice a little below its highest pitch ; and 
 if we cannot rise with ease and clearness on every 
 particular to the last, we ought to augment the force 
 on each, that the whole may form a species of 
 climax. 
 
 Rule V. When we would strengthen the voice in 
 the middle tone, it will be necessary to exercise the 
 voice on very passionate speeches by pronouncing 
 them in a loud tone, without suffering the voice to 
 rise with the force, but preserving all the energy and 
 loudness we are able, in the middle tone of voice. 
 
 The challenge of Macbeth to Banquo's ghost, is 
 a proper passage for this exercise of the middle tone 
 of voice. 
 
 What man dare I dare : 
 Approach thou, like the rugged Russian bear, 
 The arm'd rhinoceros or Hyrcanian tiger ; 
 Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
 Shall never tremble. Be alive again, 
 And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 
 If trembling I inhibit, then protest me 
 The baby of a girl. Hence horrible shadow ! 
 Unreal mock'ry, hence ! 
 
 Rule VI. When we have exerted the voice to the 
 highest pitch, it will be necessary to bring it down to 
 a lower, by beginning the succeeding sentence in a 
 lower tone of voice, if the nature of the sentence will 
 permit ; and if we are speaking extempore, it will be 
 proper to form the sentence in such manner as to 
 make it naturally require a lower tone. A good 
 praxis for recovering the voice when it is carried to 
 its utmost pitch is the furious resentment and indig- 
 nation of Posthumus against himself for giving credit 
 to the infidelity of Imogen. 
 
 Jachimo. This Posthumus — methinks I see him now — 
 
ELOCUTION. %75 
 
 Pvst. Aye, so thou dost, 
 Italian fiend ! ah me, most credulous fool, 
 Egregious murderer, thief, any thing, 
 That 's due to all the villains past, in being,, 
 To come — oh give me cord, or knife, or poison, 
 Some upright justicer ! Thou king, send out 
 For torturers injenious ; it is I 
 That all th' abhorred things o' th' earth amend 
 By being worse than they. I am Posthumous 
 That kill'd thy daughter - } villain-iike I lie, 
 That caus'd a lesser villain than myself, 
 A sacrilegious thief to do 't. The temple 
 Of virtue was she, yea, and she herself — 
 Spit and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set 
 The dogs o' th' street to bait me : every villain 
 Be call'd Posthumus Leonatus, and 
 Be villany less than 'twas. Oh ! Imogen, 
 My queen, my life, my wife ! Oh, Imogen, 
 Imogen ! Imogen ! 
 
 In this example we find the fury of the passion very 
 apt to carry the voice too high,, but the poet has 
 very judiciously thrown in breaks and alterations in 
 the passion, which give the speaker an opportunity of 
 lowering and altering his voice. Thus the voice is at 
 its highest pitch of rage at to come, when the break 
 and different shade of the same passion, at O give me 
 cord, &c. affords an opportunity for lowering the 
 voice by means of a mixture of entreaty. The 
 voice is at its utmost extent of height at MlVd thy 
 daughter ; as in this passage he declares openly his 
 guilt, in order to provoke his punishment ; but the 
 next clause, villain-like, I lie, gives a different shade 
 of force to the voice by a mixture of remorse. The 
 next sentence — - The temple of virtue, &c. has a regret 
 and tenderness in it that affords an alteration of voice ; 
 but as this alteration slides into extreme grief, in 
 which the voice is very apt to go too high, the next 
 sentence — Spit and throw stones, &c. — by the deep 
 hatred it falls into, gives the speaker an opportunity 
 of lowering and recovering the force of his voice, in 
 order to conclude with that force and tenderness 
 which the latter part of the speech necessarily 
 
 t2 
 
276 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 requires. Thus, by properly distinguishing the dif- 
 ferent shades and mixtures of the passions, we not 
 only produce variety, but afford the voice such 
 resources of energy, as can alone support it in the 
 pronunciation. 
 
 Rule VII. When we are speaking extempore, and 
 have carried the voice to its utmost extent in a high 
 key, in order to bring it down to a lower, we ought, 
 if possible, to adopt some passion which requires a 
 low key ; such as shame, hatred, admonition, &c. as 
 in the spirited speech of T. Quintius to the Roman 
 people quoted under Rule IV. 
 
 The same may be observed of the speech of the 
 angel in Milton to Satan. 
 
 Think we such toils, such cares disturb the peace 
 Of heav'rTs blest habitants ? — alike 1 scorn 
 Thy person, and imposture. „ Milton. 
 
 The former part of this speech raises the voice to 
 the highest pitch, and is finely relieved and con- 
 trasted by the low tone which scorn requires in the 
 conclusion, 
 
ELOCUTION, 277 
 
 Gesture. 
 
 Gesture considered as a just and elegant adapta- 
 tion of every part of the body to the nature and im- 
 port of the subject we are pronouncing, has always 
 been considered as one of the most essential parts of 
 oratory. Its power, as Cicero observes^ is much 
 greater than that of words. It is the language of 
 nature in the strictest sense, and makes its way to 
 the heart, without the utterance of a single sound. 
 Ancient and modern orators are full of the power of 
 action ; and action, as with the illustrious Grecian 
 orator, seems to form the beginning, the middle, and 
 end of oratory. 
 
 Such, however, is the force of custom, that though 
 we all confess the power and necessity of this branch 
 of public speaking, we find few, in our own country 
 at least, that are hardy enough to put it in practice. 
 The most accomplished speakers in the British senate 
 are very faulty in their use of action, and it is remark- 
 able that those who are excellent in every other part 
 of oratory are very deficient in this. The truth is, 
 though the reason of action in speaking is in the na- 
 ture of things, the difficulty of acquiring the other 
 requisites of an orator, and the still greater difficulty 
 of attaining excellence in action (which after all our 
 pains is less esteemed than excellences of another 
 kind) ; these, I say, seem to be the reasons why action 
 is so little cultivated among us : to this we may add, 
 that so different are national tastes in this particular, 
 that hardly any two people agree in the just propor- 
 tion of this so celebrated quality of an orator. Per- 
 haps the finished action of a Cicero or a Demosthenes 
 would scarcely be borne in our times, though accom- 
 
#7& ELEMENTS OF 
 
 panied with every other excellence. The Italians 
 and French, though generally esteemed better public 
 speakers than the English, appear to us to over- 
 charge their oratory with action ; and some of their 
 finest strokes of action would, perhaps, excite our 
 laughter. The oratory, therefore, of the Greeks and 
 Romans in this point, is as ill suited to a British audi- 
 tor, as the accent and quantity of the ancients is to 
 the English language. The common feelings of 
 nature, with the signs that express them, undergo a 
 kind of modification, which is suitable to the taste 
 and genius of every nation ; and it is this national 
 taste which must necessarily be the vehicle of every- 
 thing we convey agreeably to the public we belong 
 to. Whether the action of the ancients was exces- 
 sive, or whether that of the English be not too scanty, 
 is not the question : those who would succeed as 
 English orators must speak to English taste ; as a 
 general must learn the modern exercise of arms to 
 command modern armies, and not the discipline and 
 weapons of the ancients. 
 
 But though the oratory of the moderns does not 
 require all those various evolutions of gesture which 
 was almost indispensable in the ancients, yet a cer- 
 tain degree of it must necessarily enter into the com- 
 position of every good speaker and reader. To be 
 perfectly motionless while we are pronouncing words 
 which require force and energy, is not only depriving 
 them of their necessary support, but rendering them 
 unnatural and ridiculous. A very vehement address, 
 pronounced without any motion but that of the lips 
 and tongue, would be a burlesque upon the meaning, 
 and produce laughter j nay, so unnatural is this total 
 absence of gesticulation, that it is not very easy to 
 speak in this manner. 
 
 As some action, therefore, must necessarily accom- 
 pany our words, it is of the utmost consequence, that 
 this be such as is suitable and natural. No matter how 
 little, if it be but akin to the words and passion ; for 
 
ELOCUTION. %79 
 
 if foreign to them, it counteracts and destroys the 
 very intention of delivery. The voice and gesture 
 may be said to be tuned to each other : and if they 
 are in a different key, as it may be called, discord 
 must inevitably be the consequence. An awkward 
 action, and such as is unsuitable to the words and 
 passion, is the body out of tune, and gives the eye as 
 much pain as discord does the ear, 
 
 In order therefore to gain a just idea of suitable 
 action and expression, it will be necessary to observe 
 that every passion, emotion, and sentiment, has a par- 
 ticular attitude of the body, cast of the eye, and tone 
 of the voice, that particularly belongs to that passion, 
 emotion, or sentiment : these should be carefully 
 studied, and practised before a glass when we are 
 alone ; and before a few friends, whose candour and 
 judgment we can rely on. Some good piece of com- 
 position should then be selected, and every period or 
 sentence be marked with that passion, emotion, or 
 sentiment, indicated by the words, that the eye in 
 reading may be reminded of the passion or sentiment 
 to be assumed. These passions and emotions we 
 should express with the utmost force and energy we 
 are able, when we are alone, that we may wear our- 
 selves into the habits of assuming them easily in pub- 
 lic. This forcible practice in private, will have the 
 same effect on our public delivery, that dancing a 
 minuet has on our general air and deportment. What 
 Pope says of writing is perfectly applicable to action 
 in oratory. 
 
 True ease in action comes from art, not chance, 
 As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 
 
 To descend, however, to a few of those particulars, 
 to which it seems the most necessary to attend ; it 
 may not be improper to take notice, that in read- 
 ing much less action is required than in speaking. 
 When we read to a few persons only in private, it 
 
280 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 may not be useless to observe, that we should accuse 
 torn ourselves to read standing; that the book should 
 be held in the left hand ; that we should take our 
 eyes as often as possible from the book, and direct 
 them to those that hear us. The three or four last 
 words, at least of every paragraph, or branch of a 
 subject, should be pronounced with the eye pointed 
 to one of the auditors. When any thing sublime, 
 lofty, or heavenly, is expressed, the eye and the right 
 hand may be very properly elevated ;, and w T hen any 
 thing low, inferior, or grovelling is referred to, the 
 eye and hand may be directed downwards ; when 
 any thing distant or extensive is mentioned, the hand 
 may naturally describe the distance or extent ; and 
 when conscious virtue, or any heartfelt emotion, or 
 tender sentiment occurs, we may as naturally clap 
 the right hand on the breast exactly over her heart. 
 
 In speaking extempore, we should be sparing of 
 the use of the left hand, which may not ungracefully 
 hang down by the side, and be suffered to receive that 
 small degree of motion which will necessarily be com- 
 municated to it by the action of the right hand. The 
 right hand, when in action, ought to rise extending 
 from the side, that is, in a direction from left to right; 
 and then be propelled forwards, with the fingers 
 open, and easily and differently curved : the arm 
 should move chiefly from the elbow, the hand seldom 
 be raised higher than the shoulder, and when it has 
 described its object, or enforced its emphasis, ought 
 to drop lifeless down to the side, ready to commence 
 action afresh. The utmost care must be taken to 
 keep the elbow from inclining to the body, and to 
 let the arms, when not hanging at rest by the side, 
 approach to the action we call a-kimbow ; we must 
 be cautious too, in all action but such as describes 
 extent or circumference, to keep the hand, or lower 
 part of the arm, from cutting the perpendicular line 
 that divides the body into right and left ; but above 
 all, we must be careful to let the stroke of the hand 
 
JELOCUflON. 281 
 
 which marks force, or emphasis, keep exact time 
 with the force of pronunciation ; that is, the hand 
 must go down upon the emphatical word, and no 
 other: thus in the execration of Brutus, in Julius 
 Caesar: 
 
 When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous j 
 To lock such rascal-counters from his friends. 
 Be ready gods with all your thunderbolts — 
 Dash him in pieces. 
 
 Here the action of the arm which enforces the em- 
 phasis ought to be so directed, that the stroke of the 
 hand may be given exactly on the word dash ; this 
 will give a concomitant action to the organs of pro- 
 nunciation, and by this means the whole expression 
 will be greatly augmented. This action may be 
 called beating time to the emphasis, and is as neces- 
 sary in forcible and harmonious speaking, as the 
 agreement between the motion of the feet, and the 
 music in dancing.* 
 
 These are some of the simplest and most necessary 
 directions, and such as may be followed with the 
 greatest safety : observing the action of the best 
 readers and speakers may, with some cautions, be 
 recommended to youth; but cannot with the same 
 safety be proposed to those who, by long practice, 
 are confirmed in habits of their own ; it may, instead 
 of a modest and negative kind of awkwardness, which 
 is scarcely offensive, substitute a real and disgusting 
 kind of mimickry ; and this, by every person of the 
 least taste, will be looked upon as a bad exchange. 
 
 To the generality of readers and speakers, therefore., 
 it may be proposed to make use of no more action 
 than they can help. If they are really in earnest, as 
 
 * For a simple outline of action, as it may be called, it is presumed 
 the Elements of Gesture, prefixed to the Academic Speaker, wHl be 
 found highly useful ; as the directions there given are illustrated by 
 plates describing the several positions of the body, legs, arms, and 
 hands, in a graceful and forcible delivery. 
 
282 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 they ought to be, some gesticulation will naturally 
 break out ; and if it be kept within bounds, it will 
 always be tolerable. A man's own feelings will often 
 tell him how far he may venture with safety; for in 
 that situation which he finds the easiest to himself, 
 he will appear most agreeable to his auditory. Such a 
 sympathy do we find between speaker and hearer, 
 that the one cannot be in an awkward situation 
 without communicating a feeling of it to the other. 
 
 Thus have we endeavoured to delineate those out- 
 lines, which nothing but good sense and taste will fill 
 up. The more distinctly these lines are marked, the 
 easier will be the finishing; and if, instead of leaving 
 so much to taste, as is generally done, we were to 
 push as far as possible our inquiries into those princi- 
 ples of truth and beauty, in delivery, which are im- 
 mutable and eternal ; if, I say, we were to mark care- 
 fully the seemingly infinite variety of voice and 
 gesture in speaking and reading, and compare this 
 variety with the various senses and passions of which 
 they are expressive ; from the simplicity of nature in 
 her other operations, we have reason to hope, that they 
 might be so classed and arranged, as to be of much 
 easier attainment, and productive of much certainty 
 and improvement, in the very difficult acquisition of 
 a just and agreeable delivery. 
 
ELOCUTION. 283 
 
 The Passions. 
 
 It now remains to say something of those tones 
 which mark the passions and emotions of the speaker. 
 These are entirely independent on the modulation of 
 the voice, though often confounded with it : for mo- 
 dulation relates only to speaking either loudly or 
 softly, in a high or low key; while the tones of the 
 passions or emotions mean only that quality of sound 
 that indicates the feelings of the speaker, without 
 any reference to the pitch or loudness of his voice ; 
 and it is in being easily susceptible of every passion 
 and emotion that presents itself, and being able to 
 express them with that peculiar quality of sound 
 which belongs to them, that the great art of reading 
 and speaking consists. When we speak our own 
 words, and are really impassioned by the occasion of 
 speaking, the passion or emotion precedes the words, 
 and adopts such tones as are suitable to the passion 
 we feel ; but when we read or repeat from memory, 
 the passion is to be taken up as the words occur : 
 and in doing this well, the whole difficulty of reading 
 or repeating from memory lies. 
 
 But it will be demanded, how are we to acquire 
 that peculiar quality of sound that indicates the pas- 
 sion we wish to express ? The answer is easy : by 
 feeling the passion which expresses itself by that pe- 
 culiar quality of sound. But the question will return, 
 how are we to acquire a feeling of the passion ? The 
 answer to this question is rather discouraging, as it will 
 advise those who have not the power of impassioning 
 themselves upon reading or expressing some very pa- 
 thetic passage, to turn their studies to some other 
 
284 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 department of learning, where nature may have been 
 more favourable to their wishes. But is there no 
 method of assisting us in acquiring the tone of the 
 passion we want to express ; no method of exciting 
 the passion in ourselves when we wish to express it to 
 others ? The advice of Quintilian and Cicero on this 
 occasion, is, to represent to our imagination, in the 
 most lively manner possible, all the most striking cir- 
 cumstances of the transaction we describe, or of the 
 passion we wish to feel. " Thus," says (Quintilian, 
 " if I complain of the fate of a man who has been 
 " assassinated, may I not paint in my mind a lively 
 " picture of all that has probably happened on the 
 " occasion ? Shall not the assassin appear to rush 
 " forth suddenly from his lurking place ? Shall not 
 "the other appear seized with horrors? Shall he 
 " not cry out, beg his life, or fly to save it ? Shall 
 " not I see the assassin deal the deadly blow, and 
 " the defenceless wretch falling dead at his feet? 
 " Shall not I figure to my mind, and by a lively im- 
 " pression, the blood gushing from his wounds, his 
 " ghastly face, his groans, and the last gasp he 
 " fetches ?" 
 
 This must be allowed to be a very natural method 
 of exciting an emotion in the mind ; but still the woes 
 of others, whether real or fictitious, will often make 
 but a weak impression on our own mind, and will 
 fail of affecting uswith a sufficient force to excite the 
 same emotions in the minds of our hearers. In this 
 exigence, it may not, perhaps, be unprofitable, to call 
 to our assistance the device of the ancient Grecian 
 actor Polus ; who, when he had the part of Electra 
 to perform, and was to represent that princess weep- 
 ing over the ashes of her brother Orestes, ordered the 
 urn which contained the ashes of his dear and only 
 son to be brought upon the stage, and by this means . 
 excited in himself the pitch of grief with which he 
 wished to affect his audience. 
 
 Calling to mind, therefore, such passages of our 
 
ELOCUTION 285 
 
 own life as are similar to those we read or speak of, 
 will, if I am not mistaken, considerably assist us in 
 gaining that fervor and warmth of expression, which, 
 by a certain sympathy, is sure to affect those who 
 hear us. 
 
 But our natural feelings are not always to be com- 
 manded ; and, when they are, stand in need of the 
 regulation and embellishment of art ; it is the busi- 
 ness, therefore, of every reader and speaker in public, 
 to acquire such tones and gestures as nature gives to 
 the passions ; that he may be able to produce the sem- 
 blance of them when he is not actually impassioned. 
 The feelings of men, when unpremeditatedly impas- 
 sioned, will do wonders. We seldom hear a person 
 express love, rage, or pity, when these passions are 
 produced by a powerful object on the spot, without 
 feeling in ourselves the working of the passions thus 
 instantaneously produced. Here the reality of the 
 situation contributes greatly to our own feelings, as 
 well as to the feelings of the speaker. The speech of 
 a malefactor seldom fails to move us powerfully, how- 
 ever wretchedly delivered ; and a person really in 
 the agonies of passion moves us irresistibly. But 
 these are situations very different from the reader and 
 speaker in public. The reader has always a fictitious 
 or absent passion to exhibit ; and the public speaker 
 must always produce his passion at a certain time and 
 place, and in a certain order; and in this situation it 
 is generally supposed by our best critics, that an ex- 
 cess of feeling, such as we have when unpremeditat- 
 edly actuated by strong passions, would render us 
 incapable of expressing ourselves, so as properly to 
 affect others. I have myself seen Powel, in the cha- 
 racter of George Barnwell, so overwhelmed with 
 grief in that pathetic address, 
 
 Be warn'd, ye youths, who see my sad despair, &e. 
 
 as to be incapable of expressing himself in the most 
 pathetic manner to the audience. However this be. 
 
286 ELEMENTS OP 
 
 certain it is, we ought to study the effects and ap- 
 pearances of the passions, that we may be able to 
 exhibit them when we are not really impassioned : 
 and, when we are, to give passion its most agreeable 
 expression. Mr. Burke has a very ingenious thought 
 on this subject in his Origin of our Ideas of the Sub- 
 lime and Beautiful. He observes that there is such a 
 connexion between the internal feeling of a passion, 
 and the external expression of it, that we cannot put 
 ourselves in the posture or attitude of any passion, 
 without communicating a certain degree of the pas- 
 sion itself to the mind. The same may be observed 
 of the tone of voice which is peculiar to each passion: 
 each passion produces an agitation of the body, 
 which is accompanied by a correspondent agitation 
 of the mind : certain sounds naturally produce cer- 
 tain bodily agitations, similar to those produced by 
 the passions ; and hence music has power over the 
 mind, and can dispose it alternately to joy, or sor- 
 row : to pity, or revenge. When the voice, therefore, 
 assumes that tone which a musician would produce, 
 in order to express certain passions or sentiments in a 
 song, — the speaker, like a performer on a musical 
 instrument, is wrought upon by the sound he creates; 
 and, though active at the beginning, at length be- 
 comes passive, by the sound of his own voice on 
 himself. Hence jt is, that though we frequently 
 begin to read or speak, without feeling any of the 
 passion we wish to express, we often end in full 
 possession of it. This may serve to show the neces- 
 sity of studying and imitating those tones, looks, and 
 gestures, that accompany the passions, that we may 
 dispose ourselves to feel them mechanically, and im- 
 prove our expression of them when we feel them 
 spontaneously; for by the imitation of the passion, 
 we meet it, as it were, half way. 
 
 A passion well described disposes us to the feeling 
 of it, and greatly assists us in expressing it with force 
 and propriety ; this shows the necessity of a good 
 
ELOCUTION. 287 
 
 description of the passions, and how much the art of 
 speaking depends upon it. Those who feel the pas- 
 sions the most powerfully, and unite with this feeling 
 a power of describing their feelings, are those from 
 whom we may expect the best pictures of what 
 passes in the soul. For this reason, good poets are 
 generally the best painters of the passions ; and for 
 this reason too, we find the greatest orators have 
 been most conversant with the best poets ; for though 
 it is not the business of the poet, like that of the 
 philosopher, to enter into a logical definition of the 
 origin, extent, and various relations of the passion he 
 produces, he must, however, feel it strongly, and 
 express it exactly as we see it in nature, or it will fail 
 in its effect on the soul ; which, in this case, judges 
 by a sort of instinct. This, it is presumed, will be a 
 sufficient reason for drawing the examples that are 
 given of the passions chiefly from the poets ; and of 
 these, chiefly those in the dramatic line; as it is in 
 these that the passions are generally the most deli- 
 cately and forcibly touched. 
 
 Aaron Hill, in his Essay on the Art of Acting, has 
 made a bold attempt at such a description of the pas- 
 sions as may enable an actor to adopt them mecha- 
 nically, by showing, that all the passions require 
 either a braced or relaxed state of the sinews, and a 
 peculiar cast of the eye. This system he has sup- 
 ported with much ingenuity ; but it were to be 
 wished he had lived to give his original idea the 
 finishing he intended, and to have seen it combated 
 by opposite opinions, that he might have removed 
 several objections that lie against it, and render the 
 truth of it doubtful. It must be owned, however, 
 that this writer deserves great praise for the mere 
 attempt he has made to form a new system, which, 
 under some restrictions, may not be without its use, 
 It is certain, that all the passions, when violent, brace 
 the sinews ; grief, which, when moderate, may be 
 
288 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 said to melt or relax the frame, when accompanied 
 by anguish and bitter complainings, becomes active 
 and bracing.* Pity seems never to rise to a suffix 
 cient degree of sorrow to brace the sinews ; and 
 anger, even the slightest degree, seems to give a 
 kind of tension to the voice and limbs. Thus Shak- 
 speare, as quoted by this writer, has given us an 
 admirable picture of this passion in its violence, and 
 has made this violent tension of the sinews a con~ 
 siderable part of its composition : 
 
 Now imitate the action of the tiger ! 
 Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood ! 
 Lend fierce and dreadful aspect to the eye ; 
 Set the teeth close, and stretch the nostril wide ; 
 Hold hard the breath, and bend up ev'ry spirit 
 To its full height. — — 
 
 To this may be added that admirable picture of vio- 
 lent anger which Shakspeare puts in the mouth of 
 Suffolk, in the Second Part of Henry VI. 
 
 Would curses kill, as does the mandrake's groan, 
 I would invent as bitter searching terms, 
 As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, 
 Delivered strongly through my fixed teeth, 
 With full as many signs of deadly hate 
 As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave. 
 My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words, 
 Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint, 
 Mine hair be fixt an end like one distract, 
 Aye, ev'ry joint should seem to curse and ban : 
 And, even now my burden'd heart would break, 
 Should I not curse them. 
 
 * See Dr. Johnson's excellent remark upon the" speech of Lady 
 Constance in King John. Act iii. sc. 1 , 
 
ELOCUTiOxV, 289 
 
 Who can read these admirable descriptions of anger 
 without finding his whole frame braced, and his mind 
 strongly tinctured with the passion delineated ! How 
 much is it to be regretted that so great a master of 
 the passions as Shakspeare, has not left us a descrip- 
 tion similar to this of every emotion of the soul ! But 
 though he has not described every other passion like 
 this, he has placed them all in such marking points 
 of view, as enables us to see the workings of the hu- 
 man heart from his writings, in a clearer and more 
 affecting way than in any other of our poets ; and ? 
 perhaps, the best description that could be given us of 
 the passions in any language, may be extracted from 
 the epithets he has made use of. But to return to 
 the system : Hill defines scorn to be negligent anger, 
 and adds, " it is expressed by the languid muscles, 
 " with a smile upon the eye in the light species, or a 
 " frown to hit the serious." The reason he gives for 
 this expression is, " because scorn insinuates, by a 
 " voluntary slackness, or disarming of the nerves, a 
 '* known or a concluded absence of all power in the 
 " insulted object, even to make defence seem ne- 
 "cessary." This seems a very accurate picture of 
 the passion, and the slackness of the nerves appears 
 necessarily to enter into the proper method of ex- 
 pressing it. But what are we to think of his defini- 
 tion of joy ? i( Joy," says he, " is pride possessed of 
 " triumph." No author I have ever yet met with, 
 has supposed pride to be a necessary part of the 
 composition of joy; though a degree of joy may 
 form part of the composition of pride. Pity, he de- 
 fines to be active grief for another's afflictions ; but 
 this definition seems not to include the most lead- 
 ing trait of pity, which is, benevolence and love ; 
 and though pity is always accompanied with a 
 degree of sorrow which often excites us to assist 
 those we pity, yet pity is often bestowed on objects 
 we neither can nor endeavour to assist. The poets 
 have always strongly marked this alliance between 
 
 u 
 
290 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 pity and love, and with great propriety. When 
 Blandford tells Oroonoko he pities him, Oroonoko 
 answers, 
 
 Do pity me j 
 Pity 's akin to love, and every thought 
 Of that soft kind is welcome to my soul. 
 
 Oroonoko, Act ii. 
 
 And Dryden, in his Alexander's Feast, after describ- 
 ing the power of Timotheus in exciting his hero's 
 pity for the sad fate of Darius, says, 
 
 The mighty master smil'd to see, 
 That love was in the next degree ; 
 'Twas but a kindred sound to move, 
 For pity melts the soul to love. 
 
 And Julia, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, says of 
 Proteus, 
 
 Because he loves her he despises me ; 
 
 Because I love him, I must pity him. Act iv. 
 
 Poets, who, where the passions are concerned, are 
 generally the best philosophers, constantly describe 
 love and pity as melting the soul : but how does this 
 agree with the intense muscles with which Hill marks 
 the expression of both these passions ? And how, 
 according to this writer, can the muscles be intense 
 and the eye languid at the same time, as he has de- 
 scribed them in pity ; Or is it conceivable that the 
 eye can express an emotion directly contrary to the 
 feelings of the whole frame ? The distinction, there- 
 fore, of braced and unbraced muscles, upon which 
 his whole system turns, seems at best but a doubtful 
 hypothesis ; and much too hidden and uncertain for 
 the direction of so important a matter as the expres- 
 sion of the passions. 
 
 In the display of the passions which I have adopted, 
 nothing farther is intended, than such a description of 
 them as may serve to give an idea of their external 
 
ELOCUTION. 291 
 
 appearance, and such examples of their operations 
 on the soul as may tend to awaken an original feeling 
 of them in the breast of the reader. But it cannot 
 be too carefully noted, that, if possible, the expression 
 of every passion ought to commence within. The 
 imagination ought to be strongly impressed with the 
 idea of an object which naturally excites it, before 
 the body is brought to correspond to it by suitable 
 gesture. This order ought never to be reversed, ex- 
 cept when the mind is too cold and languid to imbibe 
 the passion first ; and in this case, an adaptation of 
 the body to an expression of the passion, will either 
 help to excite the passion we wish to feel, or in some 
 measure supply the absence of it. 
 
 The two circumstances that most strongly mark the 
 expression of passion, are the tone of the voice and 
 the external appearance of countenance and gesture ; 
 these we shall endeavour to describe, and to each 
 description subjoin an example for practice. 
 
 In the following explanation and description of 
 the passions, I have been greatly indebted to a very 
 ingenious performance called the Art of Speaking ; 
 this work, though not without its imperfections, is 
 on a plan the most useful that has hitherto been 
 adopted. The passions are first described, then pas- 
 sages are produced which contain the several pas- 
 sions, and these passions are marked in the margin, 
 as they promiscuously occur in the passage. This 
 plan I have adopted, and I hope not without some 
 degree of improvement. For after the description of 
 the several passions, in which I have frequently de- 
 parted widely from this author, I have subjoined 
 examples to each passion and emotion, which contain 
 scarcely any passion or emotion but that described ; 
 and by thus keeping one passion in view at a time, it 
 is presumed the pupil will more easily acquire the 
 imitation of it, than by passing suddenly to those 
 passages where they are scattered promiscuously in 
 small portions. But though this association of the 
 
 v c 2 
 
292 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 similar passions has certainly an advantage, the great- 
 est merit is do to the author above mentioned ; who, 
 by the division of a passage into its several passions* 
 and marking these passions as they occur, has done 
 real service to the art of speaking, and rendered his 
 book one of the most useful that has been hitherto 
 published. 
 
ELOCUTION. 293 
 
 THE PASSIONS. 
 
 The first picture of the passions (if it may be called 
 so) is 
 
 TRANQUILLITY. 
 
 Tranquillity appears by the composure of the coun- 
 tenance and general repose of the whole body, without 
 the exertion of any one muscle. The countenance 
 open, the forehead smooth, the eye-brows arched, the 
 mouth just not shut, and the eyes passing with an 
 easy motion from object to object, but not dwelling 
 long upon any one. To distinguish it, however, from 
 insensibility, it seems necessary to give it that cast of 
 happiness which borders on cheerfulness. 
 
 CHEERFULNESS. 
 
 When joy is settled into a habit, or flows from a 
 placid temper of mind, desiring to please and be pleas- 
 ed, it is called gaiety, good- humour, or cheerfulness. 
 
 Cheerfulness adds a smile to tranquillity, and opens 
 the mouth a little more. 
 
 Cheerfulness in Retirement. 
 
 Now my co-mates, and brother's in exile, 
 Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
 Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods 
 More free from peril than the envious court ? 
 Here feel we but the penalty of Adam 
 The season's difference j as the icy fang 
 And churlish chiding of the winter's wind, 
 Which, when it bites and blows upon my body 
 Ev'n till I shrink with cold, I smile and say, 
 This is no flattery j these are counsellors 
 That feelingly persuade me what I am. 
 Sweet are the uses of adversity 5 
 Which like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
 Wears yet a precious jewel in its head -, 
 
294 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 And this our life, exempt from public haunts, 
 Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. 
 
 Shakspeares As you Like It. 
 
 MIRTH. 
 
 When joy arises from ludicrous-and fugitive amuse- 
 ments in which others share with us, it is called mer- 
 riment, or mirth. 
 
 Mirth, or laughter, opens the mouth horizontally, 
 raises the cheeks high, lessens the aperture of the 
 eyes, and, when violent, shakes and convulses the 
 whole frame, fills the eyes with tears, and occasions 
 holding the sides from the pain the convulsive laugh- 
 ter gives them. 
 
 Invocation of the Goddess of Mirth. 
 
 But come, thou goddess, fair and free, 
 Jn heav'n yclep'd Euphrosyne, 
 And by men, heart-easing Mirth 5 
 Whom lovely Venus at a birth, 
 With two sister graces more, 
 To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore. 
 Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee 
 Mirth and youthful Jollity : 
 Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles ; 
 Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles ; 
 Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, 
 And love to live in dimples sleek : 
 Sport that wrinkled Care derides, 
 And Laughter holding both his sides : 
 Come and trip it as ye go, 
 On the light fantastic toe ; 
 And in thy right hand bring with thee 
 The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty. Milton's Comus. 
 
 Laughter on seeing a shrewd Buffoon. 
 
 A fool ! — a fool, I met a fool i' th' forest, 
 
 A motley fool } — a miserable varlet ! — 
 
 As I do live by food, I met a fool ; — 
 
 Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun, 
 
 And rail'd on lady Fortune in good terms 5 
 
ELOCUTION. 295 
 
 In good set terms, — and yet a motley fool ; 
 
 Good morrow, fool, quoth I ; No, sir, quoth he, 
 
 Call me not fool, till heav'n hath sent me fortune 5 
 
 And then he drew a diaHrom his poke, 
 
 And looking on it with lack-lustre eye, 
 
 Says very wisely, It is ten o'clock j 
 
 Thus may we see, quoth he, how the world wags j 
 
 'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine, 
 
 And after one hour more 'twill be eleven 5 
 
 And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe* 
 
 And then from hour to hour we rot and rot, 
 
 And thereby hangs a tale. When I did hear 
 
 The motley fool thus moral on the time, 
 
 My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, 
 
 That fools should be so deep contemplative : 
 
 And I did laugh sans intermission, 
 
 An hour by his dial. O noble fool I 
 
 A worthy fool ! Motley's the only wear. 
 
 Shakspeare's As You Like It. 
 
 RAILLERY. 
 
 Raillery without animosity puts on the aspect of 
 cheerfulness ; the countenance smiling, and the tone 
 of voice sprightly. 
 
 Rallying a Person for being Melancholy. 
 
 Let me play the fool 
 With mirth and laughter ; so let wrinkles come, 
 And let my liver rather heat with wine, 
 Than my heart, cool with mortifying groans. 
 Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, 
 Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ? 
 Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice 
 By being peevish ? I tell thee what, Anthonio 
 (1 love thee, and it is my love that speaks), 
 There are are a sort of men whose visages 
 Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, 
 And do a wilful stillness entertain, 
 With purpose to be drest in an opinion 
 Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, 
 As who should say, I am, sir Oracle, 
 And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark ! 
 I'll tell thee more of this another time j 
 But fish not with this melancholy bait 
 
296 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. 
 Come,-good Lorenzo, fare ye well a while, 
 I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 
 
 SNEER. 
 
 Sneer is ironical approbation ; where, with a voice 
 and countenance of mirth somewhat exaggerated, we 
 cast the severest censures ; it is hypocritical mirth v 
 and good humour, and differs from the real by the sly, 
 arch, satirical tone of voice, look, and gesture, that 
 accompany it. 
 
 Scoffing at supposed Cowardice. 
 
 Satan beheld their plight, 
 And to his mates thus in derision call'd : 
 O friends, why come not on those victors proud ? 
 Ere while they fierce were coming and when we, 
 To entertain them fair with open front 
 And breast (what could we more ?), propounded terms 
 Of composition, straight they chang'd their minds, 
 Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell, 
 As they would dance : yet for a dance they seem'd 
 Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps 
 For joy of offer'd peace j but I suppose, 
 If our proposals once again were heard, 
 We should compel them to a quick result. 
 
 Milton's Paradise Lost. 
 
 JOY. 
 
 A pleasing elation of mind, on the actual or assured 
 attainment of good, or deliverance from evil, is called 
 Joy. 
 
 Joy, when moderate, opens the countenance with 
 smiles, and throws, as it were, a sunshine of delecta- 
 tion over the whole frame : when it is sudden and 
 violent, it expresses itself by clapping the hands, rais- 
 ing the eyes towards heaven, and giving such a spring 
 to the body as to make it attempt to mount up as if 
 
s. 
 
 ELOCUTION. 297 
 
 it could fly : when joy is extreme, and goes into 
 transport, rapture, and ecstasy, it has a wildness of 
 look and gesture that borders on folly, madness, and 
 
 sorrow. 
 
 Joy expected. 
 
 Ah ! Juliet, if the measure of thy joy 
 Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more 
 To blazon it, than sweeten with thy breath 
 This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue 
 Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both 
 Receive in either by this dear encounter. 
 
 Shakspeare's Rom. and Jul. 
 
 Joy approaching to Transport. 
 
 Oh ! joy, thou welcome stranger, twice three years 
 
 I have not felt thy vital beam, but now 
 
 It warms my veins, and plays about my heart 5 
 
 A fiery instinct lifts me from the ground, 
 
 And I could mount. Dr. Young's Revenge. 
 
 Joy approaching to Folly. 
 
 Come, let us to the castle ; 
 
 News, friends ; our wars are done, the Turks are drown'd ; 
 
 How do our old acquaintance of this isle ? — 
 
 Honey, you shall be well desir'd in Cyprus j 
 
 I have found great love among them. O my sweet, 
 
 I prattle out of fashion, and I dote 
 
 in mine own comforts. ShaJcspeare's Othello, 
 
 Joy bordering on Sorrow. 
 
 O my soul's joy ! 
 If after every tempest comes such calms, 
 May the winds blow till they have waken'd death ! 
 And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas 
 Olympus high, and duck again as low 
 As hell 's from heav'n ! If it were now to die, 
 'Twere now to be most happy, for I fear 
 My soul hath her content so absolute, 
 That not another comfort like to this 
 Succeeds in unknown fate. Ibidem. 
 
 Joy, or Satisfaction inexpressible. 
 
 Imoinda, Oh ! this separation, 
 
 Has made you dearer if it can be so, 
 
298 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Than you were ever to me : you appear 
 Like a kind star to my benighted steps, 
 To guide me on my way to happiness -, 
 I cannot miss it now. Governor, friend, 
 You think me mad : but let me bless you all 
 Who any ways have been the instruments 
 Of finding her again. Jmoinda's found ! 
 And every thing that I would have in her. 
 I have a thousand things to ask of her, 
 And she has many more to know of me, 
 But you have made me happier, I confess, 
 Acknowledge it much happier, than I 
 Have words or power to tell you. Captain, you, 
 Ev'n you, who most have wrong'd me, I forgive : 
 I will not say you have betrayed me now, 
 I '11 think you but the minister of fate 
 To bring me to my lov'd Imoinda here. 
 Let the fools 
 
 Who follow fortune live upon her smiles, 
 All our prosperity is plac'd in love, 
 We have enough of that to make us happy ; 
 This little spot of earth you stand upon, 
 Is more to me than the extended plains 
 Of my great father's kingdom ; here I reign 
 In full delight, in joys to pow'r unknown, 
 Your love my empire, and your heart my throne. 
 
 Southerns Oroonoko. 
 
 DELIGHT. 
 
 Delight is a high degree of satisfaction, or rather is 
 joy moderated, and affording leizure to dwell on the 
 pleasing object ; the tones, looks, and gestures, are 
 the same as those of joy, but less forcible, and more 
 permanent. Thus we gaze upon a pleasing figure or 
 picture, listen to music, and are intent upon delight- 
 ful studies. 
 
 Delight on viewing a Statue. 
 
 Leon. See, my lord, 
 
 Would you not deem it breath'd, and that those veins 
 Did verily bear blood ? 
 
 Paul. My lord's almost so far transported that 
 He '11 think anon it lives. 
 
 Leon. O sweet Paulina, 
 
ELOCUTION. 299 
 
 Make me to think so twenty year9 together, 
 
 No settled senses of the world can match 
 
 The pleasure of that madness. Shaksp. Winter's Tale. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 Love is not ill defined by Aaron Hill, when he 
 calls it, desire kept temperate by reverence ; it is, he 
 says, a conscious and triumphant swell of hope, inti- 
 midated by respectful apprehension of offending, where 
 we long to seem agreeable : it is complaint made 
 amiable by gracefulness ; reproach endeared by ten- 
 derness ; and rapture awed by reverence ; the idea 
 then, says he, to be conceived by one who would ex- 
 press love elegantly, is that of joy combined with fear. 
 
 To this we may add Shakspeare's description of this 
 passion in As You Like It. 
 
 Phoebe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love. 
 
 Syl. It is to be all made of phantasy ; 
 All made of passion, and all made of wishes j 
 All adoration, duty, and observance -, 
 All humbleness, all patience, and impatience ; 
 All purity, all trial, all observance. As You Like It. 
 
 If these are just descriptions of love, how unlike toit 
 is that passion which so profanely assumes its name ! 
 
 Love gives a soft serenity to the countenance, a 
 languishing to the eyes, a sweetness to the voice, and 
 a tenderness to the whole frame ; when entreating, it 
 clasps the hands with intermingled fingers, to the 
 breast ; when declaring, the right hand, open, is pressed 
 with force upon the breast exactly over the heart ; it 
 makes its approaches with the utmost delicacy, and 
 is attended with trembling hesitation and confusion. 
 
 Love described. 
 
 Come hither, boy ; if ever thou shalt love, 
 In the sweet pangs of it remember me : 
 
300 . ELEMENTS OF 
 
 For such as I am, all true lovers are j 
 
 Unstaid and skittish in all motions else, 
 
 Save in the constant image of the creature 
 
 That is belov'd. Shakspeares Twelfth Night. 
 
 Description of languishing Love, 
 
 O fellow, come, the song we had last night ; — 
 Mark it, Cesario ; it is old and plain ; 
 The spinsters, and the knitters in the sun, 
 And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, 
 Do use to chaunt it ; it is silly sooth, 
 And dallies with the innocence of love 
 Like to old age. Ibid. 
 
 If music be the food of love, play on ; 
 Give me excess of it j that, surfeiting, 
 The appetite may sicken, and so die. — 
 That strain again \ — it had a dying fall ; 
 0, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, 
 That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
 Stealing and giving odour. — Enough, no more, 
 'Tis not so sweet now, as it was before. 
 
 spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou ! 
 That notwithstanding thy capacity 
 Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, 
 
 Of what validity and pitch soever, 
 
 But falls into abatement and low price, 
 
 Even in a minute \ so full of shapes is fancy, 
 
 That it alone is high fantastical. Ibid. 
 
 Delight in Love. 
 
 What you do 
 Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet, 
 
 1 'd have you do it ever : when you sing, 
 
 I 'd have you buy and sell so j so give alms, 
 
 Pray so ; and, for the ordering your affairs, 
 
 To sing them too : When you do dance, I wish you 
 
 A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do 
 
 Nothing but that ; move still, still so, 
 
 And own no other function : each your doing, 
 
 So singular in each particular, 
 
 Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds, 
 
 That all your acts are queens. Ibid. Winters Tale. 
 
 Protestations in Love. 
 
 O, hear me breathe my life 
 
 Before this ancient sir, who, it should seem, 
 
ELOCUTION. 301 
 
 Hath some time lov'd : I take thy hand; this hand, 
 As soft as dove's down, and as white as it j 
 Or Ethiopian's tooth, or the fann'd snow, 
 That 's bolted by the northern blasts twice o'er. 
 
 Shakspeare's Winter's Tale. 
 
 Love complaining. 
 
 Ay, Proteus, but that life is alter'd now ; 
 I have done penance for contemning love, 
 Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me, 
 With bitter fasts, with penitential groans, 
 With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs : ( r 
 
 For in revenge of my contempt of love, 
 Love hath chas'd sleep from my enthralled eyes, 
 And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow, 
 O gentle Proteus, love 's a mighty lord, 
 And hath so humbled me, as I confess 
 There is no woe to his correction ; 
 Nor to his service no such joy on earth ; 
 Now no discourse except it be of love ; 
 Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep, 
 Upon the very naked name of love. 
 
 Shakspeare's Two Gent, of Verona, 
 
 PITY. 
 
 Pity is benevolence to the afflicted. It is a mix- 
 ture of love for an object that suffers, and a grief that 
 we are not able to remove those sufferings. It shows 
 itself in a compassionate tenderness of voice ; a feel- 
 ing of pain in the countenance, and a gentle raising 
 and falling of the hands, and eyes, as if mourning 
 over the unhappy object. The mouth is open, the 
 eye-brows are drawn down, and the features con- 
 tracted or drawn together. See p. 289 and 290. 
 
 Pity in plaintive Narration. 
 
 As in a theatre the eyes of men, 
 After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 
 Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
 Thinking his prattle to be tedious. 
 Even as, or with much more contempt, men's eyes, 
 
302 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Did scowl on Richard 5 no man cry'd God save him ; 
 
 No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home : 
 
 But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ; 
 
 Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off— 
 
 His face still combating with tears and smiles, 
 
 The badges of his grief and patience, — 
 
 That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel'd 
 
 The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted, 
 
 And barbarism itself have pitied him. 
 
 But heav'n hath a hand in those events ; 
 
 To whose high will we bound our calm contents. 
 
 Shakspeares Richard II. 
 
 Pity for fallen Greatness. 
 
 Ah, Richard ! with eyes of heavy mind, 
 I see thy glory like a shooting star, 
 Fall to the base earth, from the firmament ! 
 Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west, 
 Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest j 
 Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes, 
 And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. Ibid. 
 
 Pity for a departed Friend. 
 
 Alas! poor Yorick ! I knew him, Horatio ; a fellow of infinite 
 jest, of most excellent fancy : he hath borne me on his back a thou- 
 sand times ; and now how abhorred in my imagination it is j my 
 gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that 1 have kissed 1 know not 
 how oft. Where be your gibes now ? Your gambols r Your songs ? 
 Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar ? 
 Not one now to mock your own grinning ? Quite chap-fallen ? Now 
 get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch 
 thick, to this favour she must come j make her laugh at that. 
 
 Ibid. Hamlet. 
 
 Pity for the Object beloved. 
 
 Poor lord ! is't I 
 That chase thee from thy country, and expose 
 Those tender limbs of thine to the event 
 Of the none-sparing war ? and is it I 
 That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou 
 Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark 
 Of smoky muskets ? O you leaden messengers, 
 That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
 Fly with false aim ; move the still-piercing air, 
 That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord ! 
 Whoever shoots at him, I set him there ; 
 
ELOCUTION. 303 
 
 Whoever charges on his forward breast. 
 
 I am the caitiff, that do hold him to it ; 
 
 And, though I kill him not, I am the cause 
 
 His death was so effected : better 'twere 
 
 I met the raven lion when he roar'd 
 
 With sharp constraint of hunger ; better 'twere 
 
 That all the miseries which nature owes, 
 
 Were mine at once : No, come thou home, Roussillon, 
 
 Whence honour but of danger wins a scar : 
 
 As oft it loses all ; I will be gone : 
 
 My being here it is, that holds thee hence ; 
 
 Shall I stay here to do 't ? no, no, although 
 
 The air of paradise did fan the house, 
 
 And angels offic'd all ! I will be gone. 
 
 Shakspeare's All's Well, fyc. 
 
 Pity for Youth overwatched. 
 
 Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 
 
 Bru. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again j 
 I shall not hold thee long : if I do live, 
 I will be good to thee. [Music, and a Song. 
 
 This is a sleepy tune j O murd'rous slumber ! 
 Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 
 That plays thee music } — Gentle knave, good night } 
 I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. 
 If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument j 
 I '11 take it from thee, and, good boy, good night. 
 
 Ibid. Julius* Caesar.. 
 
 HOPE. 
 
 Hope is a mixture of desire and joy, agitating the 
 mind, and anticipating its enjoyment. It erects and 
 brightens the countenance, spreads the arms with the 
 hands open, as to receive the object of its wishes : the 
 voice is plaintive, and inclining to eagerness ; the 
 breath drawn inwards more forcibly than usual, in 
 order to express our desires the more strongly, and 
 our earnest expectation of receiving the object of 
 them. 
 
 Collins, in his Ode on the Passions, gives us a 
 beautiful picture of Hope : 
 
304 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 But thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, 
 
 What was thy delighted measure ? 
 
 Still it whisper'd promis'd pleasure, 
 
 And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail -, 
 
 Still would her touch the scene prolong, 
 
 And from the rocks, the woods, the vale, 
 
 She call'd on echo still through all the song - } 
 
 And where her sweetest theme she chose 
 
 A soft responsive voice was heard at every close, 
 
 And Hope, enchanted, smil'd, and wav'd her golden hair, 
 
 Hope from approaching Nuptials. 
 
 Now, fair Hippolita, cur nuptial hour 
 Draws on apace 5 four happy days bring in 
 Another moon 5 but oh ! me thinks, how slow 
 This old moon wanes ! she lingers my desires, 
 Like to a step-dame, or a dowager 
 Long-withering out a young man's revenue. 
 
 Shakspeere's Midsum. Night. 
 
 Hope of 'good Tidings. 
 
 O Hope, sweet flatterer, whose delusive touch 
 Sheds on afflicted minds the balm of comfort, 
 Relieves the load of poverty ; sustains 
 The captive bending with the weight of bonds, 
 And smooths the pillow of disease and pain j 
 Send back th' exploring messenger with joy, 
 And let me hail thee from that friendly grove. 
 
 Glover s Boadicea. 
 
 HATRED, AVERSION. 
 
 When by frequent reflection on a disagreeable ob- 
 ject, our disapprobation of it is attended with a disin- 
 clination of mind towards it, it is called hatred. When 
 our hatred and disapprobation of any object are ac- 
 companied with a painful sensation upon the appre- 
 hension of its presence or approach, there follows an 
 inclination to avoid it., called aversion. 
 
 Hatred or aversion, draws back the body as to 
 avoid the hated object \ the hands at the same time 
 
ELOCUTION. 305 
 
 thrown out spread, as if to keep it off. The face is 
 turned away from that side towards which the hands 
 are thrown out ; the eyes looking angrily, and ob- 
 liquely, the same way the hands are directed ; the 
 eye-brows are contracted, the upper lip disdainfully 
 drawn up, and the teeth set: the pitch of the voice is 
 low, but loud and harsh ; the tone chiding, unequal, 
 surly, and vehement ; the sentences are short and 
 abrupt. 
 
 A description and example of this passion from 
 Shakspeare is given in the introduction to these ex- 
 amples, p. 288. To these we shall add a few others: 
 
 Hatred cursing the Object Hated. 
 
 Poison be their drink, 
 Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest meat they taste j 
 Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees, 
 Their sweetest prospects murd'ring basilisks, 
 Their softest touch as smart as lizards' stings, 
 Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss, 
 And boding screech-owls make the concert full ; 
 AH the foul terrors of dark-seated hell. Shaks. Hen. VI. 
 
 This seems imitated by Dr. Young. 
 
 Why get thee gone, horror and night go with thee. 
 Sisters of Acheron, go hand in hand, 
 Go dance about the bow'r and close them in ; 
 And tell them that I sent you to salute them. 
 Profane the ground, and for th' ambrosial rose 
 And breath of jessamin, let hemlock blacken, 
 And deadly-night-shade poison all the air : 
 For the sweet nightingale may ravens croak, 
 Toads pant, and adders rustle through the leaves : 
 May serpents, winding up the trees, let fall 
 Their hissing necks upon them from above, 
 And mingle kisses —such as I would give them. Revenge. 
 
 Hatred of a Rival in Glory. 
 
 He is my bane, I cannot bear him ; 
 One heaven and earth can never hold us both j 
 
306 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Still shall we hate, and with defiance deadly 
 Keep rage alive till one be lost for ever ; 
 As if two suns should meet in one meridian, 
 And strive in fiery combat for the passage. 
 
 Rowe's Tamerlane. 
 
 ANGER, RAGE, FURY. 
 
 When hatred and displeasure rise high on a sud- 
 den from an apprehension of injury received, and 
 perturbation of mind in consequence of it, it is called 
 anger ; and rising to a very high degree, and ex- 
 tinguishing humanity, becomes rage and fury. 
 
 Anger, when violent, expresses itself with rapidity, 
 noise, harshness, and sometimes with interruption 
 and hesitation, as if unable to utter itself with suf- 
 ficient force. It wrinkles the brows, enlarges and 
 heaves the nostrils, strains the muscles, clinches the 
 fist, stamps with the foot, and gives a violent agita- 
 tion to the whole body. The voice assumes the 
 highest tone it can adopt consistently with force and 
 loudness, though sometimes to express anger with 
 uncommon energy, the voice assumes a low and for- 
 cible tone. 
 
 Narrative in suppressed Anger. 
 
 My liege, I did deny no prisoners, 
 But I remember when the fight was done, 
 When 1 was dry with rage, and extreme toil, 
 Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, 
 Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd, 
 Fresh as a bridegroom : and his chin, new reap'd, 
 Show'd like a stubble land at harvest home : 
 He was perfumed like a milliner ; 
 And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held 
 A pouncet-box, which ever and anon, 
 He gave his nose, and took 't away again ; 
 Who, therewith angry when it next came there, 
 Took it in snuff— and still he smil'd and talk'd, 
 And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, 
 He call'd them — untaught knaves, unmannerly, 
 To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse 
 
ELOCUTION. 307 
 
 Betwixt the wind and his nobility. 
 
 With many holiday and lady terms, 
 
 He question'd me, among the rest demanded 
 
 My prisoners in your majesty's behalf. 
 
 I then all smarting in my wounds being cold, 
 
 To be so pestered with a popinjay, 
 
 Out of my grief and my impatience 
 
 Answered neglectingly, I know not what, 
 
 He should or he should not -, for he made me mad, 
 
 To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, 
 
 And talk so like a talking gentlewoman, 
 
 Of guns, and drums, and wounds (heav'n save the mark!), 
 
 And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth, 
 
 Was parmacity for an inward bruise ; ^» 
 
 And that it was great pity, so it was, 
 
 That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd 
 
 Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, 
 
 Which many a good tall fellow had destroy' d 
 
 So cowardly ; and but for these vile guns, 
 
 He would himself have been a soldier. 
 
 This bald, unjointed chat of his, my lord, 
 
 I answer'd indirectly as I said, 
 
 And I beseech you, let not his report, 
 
 Come current for an accusation, 
 
 Betwixt my love and your high majesty. 
 
 Shakspeare's Henry IV. First Part. 
 
 Scorn and violent dnger, reproving. 
 
 Tut! tut! 
 Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle, 
 I am no traitor's uncle ; and that word — grace 
 In an ungracious mouth is but profane ; 
 Why have those banished and forbidden legs 
 Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground ? 
 But more than why — Why have they dar'd to march 
 So many miles upon her peaceful bosom ; 
 Frighting her pale fac'd villages with war, 
 And ostentation of despised arms ? 
 Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence ? 
 Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind, 
 And in my loyal bosom lies his pow'r. 
 Were I but now the lord of such hot youth, 
 As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself 
 Rescu'd the Black Prince, that young Mars of men, 
 From forth the ranks of many thousand French ; 
 Oh, then, how quickly should this arm of mine, 
 Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee, 
 And minister correction to thy fault ! Skaksp. Rich. 11. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 REVENGE. 
 
 Revenge is a propensity and endeavour to injure 
 the offender, which is attended with triumph and 
 exultation when the injury is accomplished. It ex- 
 presses itself like malice, but more openly, loudly, 
 and triumphantly. 
 
 Determined Revenge. 
 
 I know not : if they speak but truth of her 
 These hands shall tear her ; if they wrong her honour 
 The proudest of them shall well hear of it. 
 Time hath not yet so dry'd this blood of mine, 
 Nor age so eat up my invention, 
 Nor fortune made such havoc of my means, 
 Nor my bad life 'reft me so much of friends, 
 But they shall find awak'd in such a kind, 
 Both strength of limb and policy of mind, 
 Ability of means, and choice of friends 
 To quit me of them thoroughly. Shaksp. Much Ado, 8$c. 
 
 Eager Revenge. 
 
 Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 
 And braggart with my tongue ! — But, gentle heaven, 
 Cut short all intermission : front to front, 
 Bring thou this fiend of Scotland, and myself; 
 Within my sword's length set him ; if he 'scape, 
 Heaven forgive him too ! Ibid. Macbeth. 
 
 Unrestrained Fury. 
 
 Alive ! in triumph ! and Mercutio slain ! 
 Away to heaven respective lenity, 
 And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now ! 
 Now Tybalt take the villain back again 
 That late thou gav'st me ; for Mercutio's soul 
 Is but a little way above our heads 
 Staying for thine to keep him company, 
 And thou or I, or both shall follow him. 
 
 Ibid. Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 REPROACH. 
 
 Reproach is settled anger, or hatred chastising the 
 object of dislike, by casting in his teeth the severest 
 
ELOCUTION. 309 
 
 censures upon his imperfections or misconduct ; the 
 brow is contracted, the lip turned up with scorn, the 
 head shaken, the voice low, as if abhorring, and the 
 whole body expressive of aversion. 
 
 Reproaching with Stupidity and Inconstancy. 
 
 Wherefore rejoice } What conquest brings 'he home ? 
 What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
 To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels ? 
 You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! 
 O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 
 Knew ye not Pompey ? Many a time and oft s 
 
 Have you clim'd up to walls and battlements, 
 To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops, 
 Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 
 The live-long day, with patient expectation 
 To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : 
 And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
 ^Have you not made an universal shout, 
 That Tyber trembled underneath his banks, 
 To hear the replication of your sounds, 
 Made in his concave shores ? 
 And do you now put on your best attire ? 
 And do you now cull out a holiday ? 
 And do you now strew flowers in his way, 
 That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? 
 Be gone 3 
 
 Run to your houses ; fall upon your knees, 
 Pray to the gods to intermit the plague, 
 That needs must light on this ingratitude. Shaksp. Jul. Cces 
 
 Reproaching with want of Friendship. 
 
 You have done that you should be sorry for. 
 There is n© terror, Cassius, in your threats \ 
 For I am arm'd so strong in honesty, 
 That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
 Which I respect not. I did send to you 
 For certain sums of gold, which you deny'd me j 
 For I can raise no money by vile means ; 
 No, Cassius, 1 had rather coin my heart, 
 And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 
 From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 
 By any indirection. I did send 
 To you for gold to pay my legions, 
 
610 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Which you deny'd me : was that done like Cassius ? 
 
 Should I have answer'd Caius Cassius so ? 
 
 When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 
 
 To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 
 
 Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, 
 
 Dash him to pieces. Shaksp. Jul. Cas. 
 
 Reproaching with want of Manliness. 
 
 O proper stuff ! 
 This is the very painting of your fears ; 
 This is the air-drawn dagger, which you said, 
 Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws and starts 
 (Impostors to true fear) would well become 
 A woman's story, at a winter's fire, 
 Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself ! 
 Why do you make such faces ? When all 's done, 
 You look but on a stool| Ibid. Macbeth. 
 
 Reproaching with want of Courage and Spirit. 
 
 Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward, 
 Thou little valiant, great in villainy ! 
 Thou ever strong upon the stronger side 
 Thou fortune's champion, thou dost never fight 
 But when her humorous ladyship is by 
 To teach thee safety ! thou art perjur'd too 
 And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou, 
 A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp and swear, 
 Upon my party ! Thou cold-blooded slave, 
 Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, 
 Been sworn my soldier? Bidding me depend 
 Upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength ? 
 And dost thou now fall over to my foes ? 
 Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame, 
 And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. 
 
 Ibid. King John. 
 
 I EAR AND TERROR. 
 
 Fear is a mixture of aversion and sorrow, discom- 
 posing and debilitating the mind upon the approach 
 or anticipation of evil. When this is attended with 
 surprise and much discomposure, it grows into terror 
 and consternation. 
 
 Fear, violent and sudden, opens wide the eyes and 
 mouth, shortens the nose, gives the countenance an 
 
ELOCUTION. 311 
 
 air of wildness, covers it with deadly paleness, draws 
 back the elbows parallel with the sides, lifts up the 
 open hands, with the ringers spread, to the height of 
 the breast at some distance before it, so as to shield 
 it from the dreadful object. One foot is drawn back 
 behind the other, so that the body seems shrinking 
 from the danger, and putting itself into a posture for 
 flight. The heart beats violently, the breath is quick 
 and short, and the whole body is thrown into a gene- 
 ral tremour. The voice is weak and trembling, the 
 sentences are short, and the meaning confused and 
 incoherent. 
 
 Terror before dreadful Actions described. 
 
 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. Shakspeares Jul. Cess. 
 
 Terror of Evening and Night described. 
 
 Light thickens 5 and the crow 
 Makes wing to the rooky wood $ 
 Good things of day begin to droop aud drowze ; 
 While night's black agents to their prey do rouze. 
 Thou marvell'st at my words : but hold thee still j 
 Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. 
 
 Ibid. Macbeth. 
 
 Fear from a dreadful Object. 
 
 * 
 
 Angels and ministers of grace defend us — 
 Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, 
 Bring with thee airs from heav'n, or blasts from hell, 
 Be thy intents wicked or charitable, 
 Thou com'st in such a questionable shape 
 That I will speak to thee. 
 Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, 
 You heavenly guard ! what would your gracious figure ? 
 
 Ibid. Hamlet . 
 
312 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Horror at a dreadful Apparition. 
 
 How ill this taper burns ! ha ! who comes here ? 
 I think it is the weakness of my eyes, 
 
 That shapes this monstrous apparition 
 
 It comes upon me — Art thou any thing? 
 
 Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 
 
 That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare, 
 
 Speak to me what thou art. Shakspeares Jul. Cces, 
 
 Terror from committing Murder. 
 
 Mac. 1 've done the deed — didst thou not hear a noise ? 
 
 Lady. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. 
 Did you not speak ? 
 
 Mac. When ? 
 
 Lady. Now. 
 
 Mac. As I descended ? 
 
 Lady. Ay. 
 
 Mac. Hark ! — who lies i' th' second chamber ? 
 
 Lady, Donalbain. 
 
 Mac. This is a sorry sight. 
 
 Lady. A foolish thought to say a sorry sight. 
 
 Mac. There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one cry'd 
 Murder ! 
 That they did wake each other ; I stood and heard them : 
 But they did say their pray'rs, and address'd them 
 Again to sleep. Ibid. Macbeth. 
 
 Fear of being discovered in Murder. 
 
 Alas, I am afraid they have awak'd, 
 And 'tis not done : th' attempt and not the deed 
 
 Confounds us Hark ! — I laid the daggers ready, 
 
 He could not miss them. Had he not resembled 
 
 My father as he slept, I had done it. Ibid. 
 
 SORROW. 
 
 Sorrow is a painful depression of spirit, upon the 
 deprivation of good, or arrival of evil ; when it is 
 silent and thoughtful, it is sadness ; when long in- 
 dulged, so as to prey upon and possess the mind, it 
 becomes habitual, and grows into melancholy \ when 
 tossed by hopes and fears, it is distraction ; when 
 these are swallowed up by it, it settles into despair. 
 
ELOCUTION. 31S 
 
 In moderate sorrow, the countenance is dejected, 
 the eyes are cast downward, the arms hang loose, 
 sometimes a little raised, suddenly to fall again ; the 
 hands open, the fingers spread, and the voice plain- 
 tive, frequently interrupted with sighs. But when 
 this passion is in excess, it distorts the countenance, 
 as if in agonies of pain ; it raises the voice to the 
 loudest complainings, and sometimes even to cries 
 and shrieks ; it wrings the hands, beats the head and 
 breast, tears the hair, and throws itself on the ground: 
 and, like other passions, in excess, seems to border 
 on phrensy. 
 
 Sadness. 
 
 Ant. In sooth, I know not why 1 am so sad. 
 It wearies me 5 you say it wearies you : 
 > But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
 What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, 
 I am to learn. 
 
 And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, 
 That I have much ado to know myself. 
 
 Gra. You look not well, signor Antonio ; 
 You have too much respect upon the world : 
 They lose it that do buy it with much care ; 
 Believe me, you are marvellously changed. 
 
 Ant. 1 hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; 
 A stage, where every one must play his part j 
 And mine T s a sad one. Shaksp. Mer. of Venice, 
 
 Deep Melancholy described. 
 
 She never told her love, 
 But let concealment, like a worm i' th' bud, 
 Feed on her damask cheek. She pin'd in thought, 
 And with a green and yellow melancholy 
 She sat like Patience on a monument 
 Smiling at grief. Ibid. Twelfth Night, 
 
 t Pensive foreboding* 
 
 My mother had a maid call'd Barbara, 
 She was in love ; and he she lov'd prov'd mad, 
 And did forsake her : she had a song of willow* 
 An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune, 
 
314 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 And she dy'd singing it : that song to night 
 
 Will not go from my mind, I have much to do 
 
 But to go hang my head all o' one side, 
 
 And sing it like poor Barbara. Shaksp. Othello. 
 
 Silent Grief. 
 
 Seems, madam I nay, it is : I know not seems, 
 ""Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 
 Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
 Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath j 
 No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 
 Nor the dejected 'haviour of the visage, 
 Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief 
 That can denote me truly : these indeed seem, 
 For they are actions that a man might play 3 
 But I have that within which passeth show, 
 These but the trappings and the suits of woe. Ibid. Hamlet. 
 
 Inward Sorrow. 
 
 Say that again. 
 The shadow of my sorrow ! Ha ! let's see : 
 'Tis very true, my grief lies all within j 
 And these external manners of lament 
 Are merely shadows to the unseen grief 
 That swells with silence in my tojtured soul ; 
 There lies the substance : and I thank thee, king, 
 For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st 
 Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way 
 How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon, 
 And then be gone, and trouble you no more. Ibid. Rich. II. 
 
 Sorrow forgetful of its Intentions. 
 
 Yet one word more 5 — grief boundeth where it falls, 
 Not with the empty hollowness, but weight; 
 I take my leave before I have began, 
 For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done, 
 Commend me to my brother, Edmund York, 
 Lo this is all : — nay yet depart not so ; 
 Though this be all, do not so quickly go, 
 I shall remember more. Bid him — Oh, what ? 
 With all good speed at Plashy visit me. 
 Alack, and what shall good old York there see, 
 But empty lodgings, and unfurnish'd walls, 
 Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones ? 
 And what hear there for welcome but my groans ? 
 
ELOCUTION. 315 
 
 Therefore commend me -, let him not come there 
 
 To seek out sorrow that dwells every where 5 
 
 Desolate, desolate, will I hence, and die j 
 
 The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. Shaks. Rich. 11. 
 
 Grief deploring Loss of Happiness. 
 
 I had been happy if the general camp, 
 Pioneers and all, had wrong'd my love, 
 So had I nothing known : O now for ever, 
 Farewell the tranquil mind : farewell content, 
 Farewell the plumed troop and the big war 
 That make ambition virtue ! O farewell, 
 Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, 
 The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, 
 The royal banner, and all quality, 
 Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! 
 Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone. Ibid. Othello. 
 
 Grief approaching to Madness. 
 
 Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not sorrow. 
 
 Const. Thou art unholy to belie me so j 
 I am not mad : this hair I tear is mine 3 
 My name is Constance ; I was Geffrey's wife 3 
 Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost : 
 I am not mad ; — I would to heaven I were ! 
 For then 'tis like I should forget myself j 
 Oh, if I could, what grief should I forget ! 
 Preach some philosophy to make me mad, 
 And, cardinal, thou shalt be canon iz'd ; 
 For, being not mad, but sensible of grief, 
 My reasonable part produces reason 
 How I may be delivered of these woes, 
 And teaches me to kill or hang myself : 
 If I were mad I should forget my son, 
 Or madly think a babe of clouts were he j 
 I am not mad ; too well, too well I feel 
 The different plague of each calamity, Ibid. King John. 
 
 Grief mixed with Pity assuming a Smile. 
 
 Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
 Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me 5 
 Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
 Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
 Stuffs out his vacant garments with hi3 form, 
 Then have I reason to be fond of grief. Ibid, 
 
3L6 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Grief approaching to Distraction. 
 
 Thou canst not speak of what thou dost not feel ; 
 
 Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, 
 
 An hour but married, Tybalt murder'd, 
 
 Doating like me, and like me banished, 
 
 Then might'st thou speak, then might'st thou tear thy hair, 
 
 And fall upon the ground as I do now, 
 
 Taking the measure of an unmade grave. 
 
 Shakspeares Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Grief choking Expression. 
 
 Macd. My children too ! 
 
 Rosse. Wife, children, servants, all that could be found ! 
 
 Macd. And I must be from thence ! my wife kill'd too ? 
 
 Rosse. I've said. 
 
 Mai. Be comforted. 
 Let 's make us med'cines of our great revenge, 
 To cure this deadly grief. 
 
 Macd. He has no children ; 
 What, all my pretty ones ? Did you say all ? 
 What, all ? 
 
 Mai. Endure it like a man. 
 
 Macd. I shall. 
 But I must also feel it as a man. 
 I cannot but remember such things were, 
 That were most precious to me : did heav'n look on, 
 And would not take their part ? sinful Macduff, 
 They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am ! 
 Not for their own demerits, but for mine 
 Fell slaughter en their souls : heaven rest them now. 
 
 Ibid. Macbeth. 
 
 REMORSE. 
 
 Remorse, or a painful remembrance of criminal 
 actions or pursuits, casts down the countenance, and 
 Clouds it with anxiety, hangs down the head, shakes 
 it with regret, just raises the eyes as if to look up, and 
 suddenly casts them down again with sighs; the right 
 hand sometimes beats the breast, and the whole body 
 writhes as with self-aversion. The voice has a harsh- 
 ness as in hatred, and inclines to a low and reproach- 
 ful tone. 
 
ELOCUTION. 317 
 
 Keen Remorse for Drunkenness. 
 
 I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly ; a quarrel, 
 nothing wherefore. O that men should put an enemy in their mouths 
 to steal away their brains ! that we should with joy, pleasure, revel, 
 and applause, transform ourselves into beasts ! I will ask him for my 
 place again ; he shall tell me I am a drunkard 5 had I as many 
 mouths as Hydra, such an answer would stop them all. To be now 
 a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast ! O strange ! 
 every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a devil ! 
 
 Shakspeare's Othello. 
 
 Remorse for Treachery and Ingratitude. 
 
 I am alone the villain of the earth -, 
 And feel I am so most. O Antony, 
 Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid 
 My better service, when my turpitude 
 Thou dost so crown with gold ! This blows my heart j 
 Tf swift thought break it not, a swifter mean 
 Shall out-strike thought ; but thought will do 't I feel — 
 I fight against thee ! — No : I will go seek 
 Some ditch wherein to die j the foulest best 
 Befits my latter part of life. Ibid. Ant. and Cleo. 
 
 Reproach and Remorse for Murder of an innocent Child. 
 
 Oh, when the last account 'twixt heav'n and earth 
 Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal 
 Witness against us to damnation ! 
 How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds 
 Makes deeds ill done ! Hadst thou not been by, 
 A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd, 
 Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame, 
 This murder had not come into my mind, 
 But taking note of thy abhorr'd aspect, 
 Finding thee fit for bloody villainy, 
 Apt, liable to be employ'd in danger, 
 I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death; 
 And thou to be endeared to a king, 
 Mad'st it no conscience to destroy a prince. Ibid. King John. 
 
 DESPAIR. 
 
 Despair, as in a condemned criminal, or one who 
 has lost all hope of salvation, bends the eye-brows 
 downwards, clouds the forehead, rolls the eyes fright- 
 
318 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 fully, opens the mouth horizon tally, bites the lips, 
 widens the nostrils, and gnashes the teeth. The arms 
 are sometimes bent at the elbows, the fists clenched 
 hard, the veins and muscles swelled, the skin livid, 
 the whole body strained and violently agitated ; while 
 groans of inward torture are more frequently uttered 
 than words. If any words, they are few, and ex- 
 pressed with a sullen eager bitterness, the tone of 
 the voice often loud and furious, and sometimes in 
 the same note for a considerable time* This state 
 of human nature is too frightful to dwell upon, and 
 almost improper for imitation ; for if death cannot 
 be counterfeited without too much shocking our 
 humanity ; despair, which exhibits a state ten thou- 
 sand times more terrible than death, ought to be 
 viewed with a kind of reverence to the great Author 
 of Nature, who seems sometimes to exhibit to us this 
 agony of mind as a warning to avoid that wickedness 
 which produces it. 
 
 Shakspeare has most exquisitely touched this fear- 
 ful situation of human nature, where he draws cardi- 
 nal Beaufort, after a wicked life, dying in despair, 
 and terrified with the murder of duke Humphrey, to 
 which he was accessary. 
 
 K. Hen. How fares my lord ? speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign. 
 
 Car. If thou be'st Death, I'll give thee England's treasure, 
 Enough to purchase such another island, 
 So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain. 
 
 K. Hen. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, 
 When Death's approach is seen so terrible ! 
 
 War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee, 
 
 Car. Bring me to my trial when you will, 
 Dy'd he not in his bed ? where should he die ? 
 Can I make men live, whether they will or no ? — 
 Oh ! torture me no more, I will confess. — 
 Alive again ? then shew me where he is, 
 I '11 give a thousand pounds to look upon him. — 
 He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them — 
 Comb down his hair j look ! look ! it stands upright, 
 Like lime-twigs to catch my winged soul ! 
 
ELOCUTION. 319 
 
 Give me some drink, and bid the apothecary 
 Bring the strong poison that I bought of him. 
 
 K. Hen. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens, 
 Look with gentle eye upon this wretch j 
 O beat away the busy meddling fiend 
 That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul, 
 And from his bosom purge this black despair ! 
 
 War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin. 
 
 Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. 
 
 K. Hen. Peace to his soul if God's good pleasure be ! 
 Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on heav'n's bliss, 
 Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope, — 
 He dies, and makes no sign : O God, fogive him. 
 
 Shakspeares 2nd Part, Hen, VI. 
 
 The bare situation of the characters, the pause 
 and the few plain words of King Henry, He dies, 
 and makes no sign! have more of the real sublime in 
 them than volumes of the laboured speech in most 
 of our modern tragedies, which, in the emphatical 
 language of Shakspeare, may be said to be " full of 
 sound and fury signifying nothing." 
 
 SURPRISE, WONDER, AMAZEMENT, 
 ADMIRATION. 
 
 An uncommon object produces wonder; if it ap- 
 pears suddenly, it begets surprise ; surprise continu- 
 ing becomes amazement; and if the object of wonder 
 comes gently to the mind, and arrests the attention 
 by its beauty or grandeur, it excites admiration, 
 which is a mixture of approbation and wonder ; so 
 true is that observation of Dr. Young in the tragedy 
 of the Revenge : 
 
 Late time shall wonder, that my joys shall raise, 
 For wonder is involuntary praise. 
 
 Wonder or amazement opens the eyes, and makes 
 them appear very prominent. It sometimes raises 
 them to the skies, but more frequently fixes them on 
 
320 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 the object; the mouth is open, and the hands are 
 held up nearly in the attitude of fear ; the voice is at 
 first low, but so emphatical, that every word is pro- 
 nounced slowly and with energy : when, by the dis- 
 covery of something excellent in the object of won- 
 der, the emotion may be called admiration, the eyes 
 are raised, the hands lifted up, or clapped together, 
 and the voice elated with expressions of rapture. 
 
 Surprise at unexpected Events. 
 
 Gone to be marry'd, gone to swear a peace ! 
 False blood to false blood join'd ! Gone to be friends ? 
 Shall Lewis have Blanch ? and Blanch those provinces? 
 It is not so : thou hast mispoke, misheard ! 
 Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again : 
 It cannot be : thou dost but say 'tis so. 
 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 his bounds ? 
 Be these sad sighs confirmers of thy words ? 
 Then speak again j not all thy former tale, 
 But this one word, whether thy tale be true. 
 
 Shakspeare 's King John. 
 
 Amazement at strange News, 
 
 Old men and beldames, in the streets, 
 Do prophesy upon it dangerously ; 
 Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths j 
 And when they talk of him they shake their heads, 
 And whisper one another in the ear ; 
 And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist 5 
 Whilst he that hears makes fearful action, 
 With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes. 
 I saw a smith stand with his hammer thus, 
 The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool, 
 With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news ; 
 Who, with his shears and measure in his hand, 
 Standing on slippers (which his nimble haste 
 Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet), 
 Told of a many thousand warlike French, 
 That were embattled and rank'd in Kent : 
 Another lean unwash'd artificer 
 Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. Ibid. 
 
ELOCUTION. 32! 
 
 Emphatic Climax of Astonishment. 
 
 Sir Richard, what think you ? Have you beheld, 
 Or, have you read, or heard ? or could you think ? 
 Or do you almost think, although you see, 
 That you do see ? Could thought, without this object, 
 Form such another ? This is the very top, 
 The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest 
 Of murder's arms ■ This is the bloodiest shame, 
 The wildest savag'ry, the vilest stroke, 
 That ever wall-ey'd Wrath, or starving Rage, 
 Presented to the tears of soft Remorse, 
 
 PRIDE. 
 
 When our esteem of ourselves, or opinion of our 
 own rank and merit, is so high as to lessen the re- 
 gard due to the rank and merit of others, it is called 
 pride. When it supposes others below our regard, 
 it is contempt, scorn, or disdain. 
 
 Pride assumes a lofty look, bordering upon the 
 aspect and attitude of anger. The eyes full open, 
 but with the eye-brows considerably drawn down, 
 the mouth pouting, mostly shut, and the lips con- 
 tracted. The words are uttered with a slow, stiff, 
 bombastic affectation of importance; the hands some- 
 times rest on the hips, with the elbows brought 
 forward in the position called a-kimbo ; the legs 
 at a distance from each other, the steps large and 
 stately. 
 
 Pride asserting Independence. 
 
 Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back j 
 I am too high born to be property'd ; 
 To be a secondary at control, 
 Or useful serving-man and instrument 
 To any sovereign state throughout the world. 
 Your breath first kindled the dead coal of war 
 Between this chastis'd kingdom and myself, 
 And brought in matter that should feed this fire 5 
 And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out 
 With that same weak wind which enkindled it. 
 You taught me how to know the face of right, 
 
 Y 
 
32% ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Acquainted me with interest to this land ; 
 Yea, thrust this enterprize into my heart j 
 And come ye now to tell me John hath made 
 His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me? 
 1, by the honour of my marriage bed, 
 After young Arthur, claim this land for mine; 
 And, now it is half conquered, must I back, 
 Because that John hath made his peace with Rome ? 
 Am I Rome's slave ? What penny hath Rome borne, 
 What men provided, what munition sent, 
 To underprop this action ? Is 't not I 
 That undergo this charge ? Who else but I, 
 And such as to my claim are liable, 
 Sweat in this business, and maintain this war ? 
 Have I not heard these islanders shout out 
 Vive le Roy ! as I have bank'd their towns ? 
 Have I not here the best cards for the game, 
 To win this easy match play'd for a crown ? 
 And shall I now give o'er the yielded set ? 
 No, no, my soul, it never shall be said. Shaks. K. John, 
 
 Pride bordering on Contempt. 
 
 Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see 
 Danger and disobedience in thine eye ; 
 O, sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory, 
 And majesty might never yet endure 
 The moody frontier of a servant brow. 
 You have good leave to leave us ; when we need 
 Your use and counsel, we shall send for you. 
 
 Shakspeare, Hen, IV. 
 
 CONFIDENCE, COURAGE, BOASTING. 
 
 Confidence is hope, elated by security of success 
 in obtaining its object; and courage is the con- 
 tempt of any unavoidable danger in the execution of 
 what is resolved upon : In both, the head is erect, 
 the breast projected, the countenance clear and open ; 
 the accents are strong, round, and not too rapid ; 
 the voice firm and even. Boasting exaggerates these 
 appearances by loudness, blustering, and what is 
 not unaptly called swaggering : The arms are placed 
 a-kimbo, the foot stamped on the ground, the head 
 
ELOCUTION. 3£S 
 
 drawn back with pride, the legs take large strides, 
 and the voice swells into bombast. 
 
 Confidence in one beloved. 
 
 Base men that use them to so base effect ! 
 But truer stars did govern Proteus' birth $ 
 His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles, 
 His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate, 
 His tears pure messengers sent from his heart, 
 His heart as far from fraud as heav'n from earth. 
 
 Shaks. Two Gent, of Ver. 
 
 Confidence of Success in Combat. 
 
 Boling. O let no noble eye profane a tear •> 
 For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear : 
 As confident as is the falcon's flight. — 
 Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. — 
 My loving lord, I take my leave of you j — 
 Of you, my noble cousin, lord Aumerle j — 
 Not sick, although I have to do with death ; 
 But lusty, young, and cheerly drawing breath. — 
 Lo ! as at English feasts, so I regreet 
 The daintiest last, to make the end more sweet. 
 Oh thou, the earthly author of my blood, 
 Whose useful spirit in me regenerate 
 Doth with a twofold vigour lift me up, 
 To reach at victory above my head, — 
 Add proof unto mine armour with thy prayers ; 
 That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat. 
 And furnish new the name of John of Gaunt, 
 Even in the lusty 'haviour of his son. Shaks. Rich. U. 
 
 Mowb. However heaven or fortune cast my lot, 
 There lives or dies true to King Richard's throne, 
 A loyal, just, and upright gentleman. 
 Never did captive with a freer heart 
 Cast off his chains of bondage, and embrace 
 His golden, uncontrol'd enfranchisement, 
 More than my dancing soul doth celebrate 
 This feast of battle with mine adversary. — 
 Most mighty liege, — and my companion peers, 
 Take from my mouth the wish of happy years : 
 As gentle, and as jocund, as to jest, 
 
 Go 1 to fight, — truth had a quiet breast. Ibid. 
 
 y2 
 
324 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Firm determined Resolution in Battle. 
 
 I am satisfy'd : 
 Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where 
 I will oppose his fate. Our force by land 
 Hath nobly held : our sever d navy, too, 
 Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like. 
 Where hast thou been, my heart ? Dost thou hear, lady ? 
 If from the field I should 'return once more, 
 To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood ; 
 I and my sword will earn my chronicle j 
 There is hope in it yet : 
 I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd, 
 And fight maliciously : for when mine hours 
 Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives 
 Of me for jests ; but now I '11 set my teeth, 
 And send to darkness all that stop me. Ibid. Ant. & Chop. 
 
 Boasting indignant Challenge. 
 
 Show me what thou 'It do ; 
 Woo't weep ? woo't fight? woo't fast ? woo't tear thyself? 
 Woo't drink up esil ; eat a crocodile ? 
 I '11 do 't — Do'st thou come here to whine, 
 To outface me with leaping in her grave ? 
 Be buried quick with her, and so will I : 
 And if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 
 Millions of acres on us ; till our ground, 
 Singeing its pate against the burning zone, 
 Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou 'It mouth, 
 I '11 rant as well as thou. Shaks. Hamlet. 
 
 PERPLEXITY, IRRESOLUTION, ANXIETY. 
 
 These emotions collect the body together as if for 
 thoughtful consideration ; the eye-brows are con- 
 tracted, the head hanging on the breast, the eyes 
 cast downwards, the mouth shut, the lips pursed to- 
 gether. Suddenly the whole body alters its aspect, 
 as having discovered something, then falls into con- 
 templation as before : the motions of the body are 
 restless and unequal, sometimes moving quick, and 
 sometimes slow ; the pauses in speaking are long, the 
 tone of the voce uneven, the sentences broken and 
 unfinished. 
 
ELOCUTION. 3%5 
 
 Perplexity from Temptation to Evil. 
 
 From thee j even from thy virtue, — 
 What 's this ? what 's this? is this her fault or mine ? 
 The tempter or the tempted, who sins most ? 
 Not she -, nor doth she tempt ; but it is I, 
 That, lying by the violet in the sun, 
 Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, 
 Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be, 
 That modesty may more betray our sense 
 Than woman's lightness ? Having waste ground enough, 
 Shall we desire to raise the sanctuary, 
 And pitch our evils there ? Oh fie, fie, fie ! 
 What dost thou ? or what art thou, Angelo ? 
 Dost thou desire her foully for those things 
 That make her good ? O let her brother live ; 
 Thieves for their robbery have authority, 
 When judges steal themselves. What ! do I love her, 
 That I desire to hear her speak again, 
 And feast upon her eyes ? What is 't I dream on ? 
 Oh cunning enemy, that to catch a saint 
 With saints do'st bait thy hook ! most dangerous 
 Is that temptation that doth goad us on 
 To sin in loving virtue. Shaks. Meas.for Meets, 
 
 Perplexity from unexpected Events. 
 
 Heaven for his mercy ! what a tide of woes 
 Comes rushing on this woeful land at once ! 
 I know not what to do : — I would to heav'n 
 (So my untruth hath not provok'd him to it) 
 The king had cut ofFmy head with my brother's.— 
 What, are there posts dispatch'd for Ireland ? 
 How shall we do for money for these wars ? — 
 Come, sister, — cousin, I would say ; pray pardon me. 
 Go, fellow, get thee home, provide some carts, 
 And bring away the armour that is there. — 
 Gentlemen, will you go to muster men ? If I know, 
 How, or which way, to order these affairs, 
 Thus disorderly thrust into my hands, 
 Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen : 
 The one 's my sovereign, whom both my oath 
 And duty bids defend $ the other again 
 Is my kinsman, whom the king has wrong'd 5 
 Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right. 
 Well, somewhat we must do — Come, cousin, I '11 
 Dispose of you : go muster up your men, 
 And meet me presently at Berkley : Gentlemen, 
 
326 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 I should to Plashy too : — 
 « But time will not permit : — All is uneven, 
 
 And every thing is left at six and seven. Shaks. Rich. II. 
 
 Perplexity, how to act on sudden Surprise. 
 
 Yes j — 'tis iEmilia : — by and by. — She 's dead. 
 'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death j 
 The noise was high. — Ha ! no more moving ? 
 Still as the grave. — Shall she come in, wer't good ? 
 I think she stirs again : — No. — What 's the best ? 
 If she come in she '11 sure speak to my wife. 
 
 Ibid, Othello. 
 
 VEXATION. 
 
 Vexation, besides expressing itself with the looks, 
 gestures, tone, and restlessness of perplexity, adds to 
 these, complaint, fretting, and remorse. 
 
 Vexation at neglecting one's Duty. 
 
 O what a rogue and peasant slave am 1 ! 
 Is it not monstrous, that this player here, 
 But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 
 Could force his soul so to his own conceit, 
 That from her working, all his visage warm'd, 
 Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, 
 A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 
 With forms to his conceit ! and all for nothing ° 3 
 For Hecuba ! 
 
 What 's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 
 That he should weep for her ? Ibid. Hamlet. 
 
 PEEVISHNESS. 
 
 Peevishness is an habitual proneness to anger on 
 every slight occasion, and may be called a lower 
 degree of anger : it expresses itself therefore, like 
 anger, but more moderately, with half sentences and 
 broken speeches uttered nastily. The upper lip is 
 disdainfully drawn up, and the eyes are cast obliquely 
 upon the object of displeasure. 
 
ELOCUTION. 327 
 
 Troi. What art thou angry, Pandarus ? What with me ! 
 
 Pan. Because she's akin to me , therefore, she's not so fair as 
 Helen ; an she were not kin to me, she would be as fair on Friday 
 as Helen is on Sunday, But what care I ? I care not an she were 
 a blackamoor, 'tis all one to me. 
 
 Troi. Say I she is not fair ? 
 
 Pan. I do not care whether you do or no. She's a fool to stay 
 behind her father : let her to the Greeks — and so I '11 tell her the 
 next time 1 see her — for my part, 1 11 meddle nor make no more 
 i'th' matter. 
 
 Troi. Pandarus — 
 
 Pan. Not I. 
 
 Troi. Pray you speak no more to me — I will leave all as I found 
 it — and there's an end. Shaks. Troil. and Cres. 
 
 ENVY. 
 
 Envy is a mixture of joy, sorrow, and hatred : it 
 is a sorrow arising from the happiness of others en- 
 joying a good which we desire, and think we deserve; 
 or a pleasure we receive upon their losing this good, 
 for which we hated them. It is nearly akin to 
 malice, but much more moderate in its tones and 
 gestures. 
 
 Aside the devil turn'd, 
 
 For envy j yet, with jealous leer malign, 
 
 Ey'd them askance, and to himself thus plain'd. 
 
 Sight hateful, sight tormenting ! thus these two, 
 Imparadis'd in one another's arms, 
 The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill 
 Of bliss on bliss : while I to hell am thrust, 
 Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire, 
 Among our other torments not the least 
 Still unfulfill'd with pain of longing pines. 
 
 Milton's Parad. Lost. Book iv. v. 502. 
 
 MALICE. 
 
 Malice is an habitual malevolence long conti- 
 nued, and watching occasion to exert itself on the 
 hated object. This hateful disposition sets the jaws 
 or gnashes the teeth, sends blasting flashes from the 
 
328 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 eyes, stretches the mouth horizontally, clinches 
 both the fists, and bends the elbows in a straining 
 manner to the body. The tone of voice and expres- 
 sion are much the same as in anger, but not so 
 loud. 
 
 How like a fawning publican he looks ! 
 
 I hate him, for he is a Christian ; 
 
 But more for that, in low simplicity, 
 
 He lends out money gratis, and brings down 
 
 The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 
 
 If I can catch him once upon the hip, 
 
 I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 
 
 He hates our sacred nation, and he rails 
 
 E'en there where merchants most do congregate, 
 
 On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 
 
 Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe 
 
 If I forgive him. Shaks. Mer. of Fen. 
 
 SUSPICION, JEALOUSY. 
 
 Fear of another's endeavouring to prevent our 
 attainment of the good desired, raises our suspicion ; 
 and suspicion of his having obtained, or of being 
 likely to obtain it, raises or constitutes jealousy. 
 Jealousy between the sexes is a ferment of love, 
 hatred, hope, fear, shame, anxiety, grief, pity, envy, 
 pride, rage, cruelty, vengeance, madness, and every 
 other tormenting passion which can agitate the 
 human mind. Therefore, to express jealousy well, 
 one ought to know how to represent justly all these 
 passions by turns, and often several of them together. 
 Jealousy shows itself by restlessness, peevishness, 
 thoughtfulness, anxiety, and absence of mind. Some- 
 times it bursts out into piteous complaint, and weep- 
 ing ; then a gleam of hope, that all is yet well, lights 
 up the countenance into a momentary smile. Imme- 
 diately the face, clouded with a general gloom, shows 
 the mind overcast again with horrid suspicions and 
 frightful imaginations. Thus the jealous man is a 
 prey to the most tormenting feelings, and is alter- 
 nately tantalised by hope, and plunged into despair. 
 
ELOCUTION. 329 
 
 Shakspeare, as if unable to express these feelings, 
 makes Othello cry out, 
 
 But oh ! what damned minutes tells he o'er, 
 Who doats yet doubts, suspects yet strongly loves ! 
 
 Surprise in Jealousy commencing, 
 
 Think, my lord !-~Oh heav'n, he echoes me! 
 As if there were some monster in his thought 
 Too hideous to be shown. — Thou dost mean something ; 
 1 heard they say but now — thou lik'dst not that, 
 When Cassio left my wife — What didst not like ? 
 And when I told thee he was of my counsel 
 In my whole course of wooing, thou cry'dst, indeed! 
 And didst contract and purse thy brow together, 
 As if thou hadst shut up within thy brain, 
 Some horrible conceit: if thou do'st love me, 
 Show me thy thought. Shales. Othello, 
 
 Suspicion and Jealousy commencing. 
 
 Leo. Too hot, too hot: 
 To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods, 
 I have a tremor cordis on me : — my heart dances ; 
 But not for joy, — not joy. — This entertainment 
 May a free face put on ; derive a liberty 
 From a heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, 
 And well become the agent : it may, I grant 5 
 But to be padling palms, and pincing fingers, 
 As now they are ; and making practis'd smiles, 
 As in a looking-glass ; and then to sigh as 'twere 
 The nort o'the deer ; oh that is entertainment 
 My bosom likes not, nor my brows 5 
 
 Mamilius 
 
 Art thou my boy? — Ibid. Winter s Tale, 
 
 Jealousy increasing. 
 
 Go to, go to. 
 How she holds up the neb, the bill to him, 
 And arms her with the boldness of a wife 
 To her allowing husband ! Gone already ; 
 Inch thick, knee deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one. — 
 Go, play, boy, play ; — thy mother plays, and I 
 Play to, but so disgrae'd a part, whose issue 
 Will hiss me to my grave : contempt and clamour 
 Will be my kneli.— Go, play, boy, play. — 
 
330 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 There have been, 
 
 Or I am much deceiv'd, cuckolds ere now ; 
 
 And many a man there is, even at this present, 
 
 Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm, 
 
 That little thinks she hath been false in his absence. 
 
 Sliaks. Winter's Tale. 
 
 Attempt to hide Jealousy. 
 
 Her. Are you mov'd, my lord ? 
 
 Leo. No, in good earnest. — 
 How sometimes nature will betray its folly, 
 Its tenderness ; and make itself a pastime 
 To harder bosoms ! Looking on the lines 
 Of my boy's face, methought, I did recoil 
 Twenty-three years ; and saw myself unbreeeh'd, 
 In my green velvet coat : my dagger muzzled, 
 Lest it should bite its master, and so prove, 
 As ornament oft does, too dangerous. — 
 How like, methought, I then was to this kernel, 
 This squash, this gentleman :— mine honest friend, 
 Will you take eggs for money ? Ibidem, 
 
 Jealousy confirmed. 
 
 Dost think I am so muddy, so unsettled, 
 To appoint myself in this vexation, sully 
 The purity and whiteness of my bed 
 Which to preserve is sleep ; which being spotted 
 Is goads, thorns, nettles, tails of wasps ? 
 Give scandal to the blood o' th' prince my son, 
 Who I do think is mine, and love as mine, 
 Without ripe moving to 't ? Would I do this ? 
 Could man so blench ? Ibidem. 
 
 Jealousy mixed with Grief. 
 
 How blest am I 
 In my just censure ! in my true opinion ! — 
 Alack for lesser knowledge ! — how accurs'd 
 In being so bless'd ! There may be in the cup 
 A spider steep'd, and may drink, depart, 
 And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge 
 Is not infected j but if one present 
 The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known 
 How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides, 
 With violent hefts. — 1 have drunk, and seen the spider! 
 
 Ibidem. 
 
ELOCUTION. 
 
 Jealousy mixed with Rage and Regret. 
 
 331 
 
 This fellow's of exceeding honesty, 
 And knows all qualities with a learned spirit 
 Of human dealings : if I do prove her haggard, 
 Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings, 
 I 'd whistle her off and let her down the wind 
 To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black, 
 And have not those soft parts of conversation 
 That chambers have, or for I am declin'd 
 Into the vale of years — yet that 's not much j — 
 She's gone, I am abus'd, and my relief 
 Must be — to loath her. Oh the curse of marriage, 
 That we can call these delicate creatures ours 
 And not their appetites ! Shaks. Othello. 
 
 MODESTY, SUBMISSION. 
 
 Modesty is a diffidence of ourselves, accompanied 
 with a delicacy in our sense of whatever is mean, 
 indecent, or dishonourable ; or a fear of doing these 
 things, or of having them imputed to us. Submission 
 is an humble sense of our inferiority, and a quiet sur- 
 render of our powers to a superior. Modesty bends 
 the body forward, has a placid, downcast counte- 
 nance, levels the eyes to the breast, if not to the 
 feet of the superior character: the voice is low, the 
 tone submissive, and the words few. Submission 
 adds to these a lower bending of the head, and a 
 spreading of the arms and hands downwards towards 
 the person we submit to. 
 
 Modesty on being appointed to a high station. 
 
 Now, good my lord, 
 Let there be some more test made of my metal, 
 Before so noble, and so great a figure, 
 Be stamp'd upon it. Shaks. Meas. for Meas. 
 
 Submission on Forgiveness of Crime. 
 
 O noble sir ! 
 Your over-kindness doth wring tears from me : 
 
33% ELEMENTS OF 
 
 I do embrace your offer ; and dispose 
 
 From henceforth of poor CI audio. Shahs. Much Ado, be. 
 
 SHAME. 
 
 Shame, or a sense of appearing to a disadvantage 
 before one's own fellow-creatures, turns away the 
 face from the beholders, covers it w T ith blushes, hangs 
 the head, casts down the eyes, draws down and con- 
 tracts the eye-brows. It either strikes the person 
 dumb, or, if he attempts to say any thing in his own 
 defence, causes his tongue to falter, confounds his 
 utterance, and puts him upon making a thousand 
 gestures and grimaces to keep himself in coun- 
 tenance ; all which only heighten his confusion and 
 embarrassment. 
 
 Shame at being convicted of a Crime. 
 
 Oh my dread lord — 
 I should be guiltier than my guiltiness, 
 To think 1 can be undiscernible, 
 When 1 perceive your grace, like power divine, 
 Hath look'd upon my passes ; then, good prince, 
 No longer session hold upon my shame, 
 But let my trial be mine own confession : 
 Immediate sentence then, and sequent death, 
 Is all the grace I beg. Ibid. Meas. for Meas. 
 
 GRAVITY. 
 
 Gravity or seriousness, as when the mind is fixed, 
 or deliberating on some important subject, smooths 
 the countenance, and gives it an air of melancholy ; 
 the eye-brows are lowered, the eyes cast downwards, 
 the mouth almost shut, and sometimes a little con- 
 tracted. The posture of the body and limbs is com- 
 posed, and without much motion ; the speech slow 
 and solemn, the tone without much variety. 
 
ELOCUTION. 333 
 
 Grave Deliberation on War and Peace. 
 
 Fathers, we once again are met in council -, 
 Caesar's approach has suraraon'd us together, 
 And Rome attends her fate from our resolves. 
 How shall we treat this bold aspiring man ? 
 Success still follows him, and backs his crimes. 
 Pharsalia gave him Rome : iEgypt has since 
 Receiv'd his yoke, and the whole Nile is Caesar's. 
 Why should I mention Juba's overthrow, 
 Or Scipio's death ? Numidia's burning sands 
 Still smoke with blood ; Tis time we should decree 
 What course to take ; our foe advances on us, 
 And envies us even Libya's sultry deserts. 
 Fathers, pronounce your thoughts j are they still fix'd 
 To hold it out, and fight it to the last ? 
 Or are your hearts subdu'd at length, and wrought, 
 By time and ill success, to a submission } 
 Sempronius, speak. Addison's Cato. 
 
 INQUIRY. 
 
 Inquiry Into some difficult subject, fixes the body 
 nearly in one posture, the head somewhat stooping, 
 the eyes poring, and the eye-brows contracted. 
 
 Inquiry mixed with Suspicion. 
 
 Pray you once more — 
 Is not your father grown incapable 
 Of reas'nable affairs ? is he not stupid 
 With age and altering rheums ? Can he speak, hear, 
 Know man from man, dispute his own estate ? 
 Lies he not bed-rid, and again does nothing 
 But what he did being childish ? Shaks. Winters Tale. 
 
 ATTENTION. 
 
 Attention to an esteemed or superior character has 
 nearly the same aspect as Inquiry, and requires 
 silence ; the eyes often cast down upon the ground ; 
 sometimes fixed upon the face of the speaker, but 
 not too familiarly. 
 
334 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 TEACHING OR INSTRUCTING. 
 
 Teaching, explaining, or inculcating, requires a 
 mild serene air, sometimes approaching to an autho- 
 ritative gravity ; the features and gesture altering 
 according to the age or dignity of the pupil, and 
 importance of the subject inculcated. To youth it 
 should be mild, open, serene, and condescending; to 
 equals and superiors, modest and diffident: but when 
 the subject is of great dignity or importance, the air 
 and manner of conveying the instruction ought to be 
 firm and emphatical, the eye steady and open, the 
 eye-brow a little drawn down over it, but not so much 
 as to look surly or dogmatical ; the pitch of voice 
 ought to be strong; steady, and clear, the articula- 
 tion distinct, the utterance slow, and the manner 
 approaching to confidence. 
 
 Instruction to modest Youth. 
 
 Pol. Wherefore, gentle maiden, 
 Do you neglect your gilly-tiowers and carnations ? 
 
 Per. 1 have heard it said, 
 There is an art which in their piedness shares 
 With great creating nature. 
 
 Pol. Say there be, 
 Yet nature is made better by no mean, 
 But nature makes that mean \ so over that art 
 Which you say adds to nature, is an art 
 Which nature makes j you see, sweet maid, we marry 
 A gentler scyon to the wildest stock ; 
 And make conceive a bark of baser kind 
 By bud of nobler race. This is an art 
 Which does mend nature, change it rather ; but 
 The art itself is nature- Shaks. Winters Tale. 
 
 Instruction to an Inferior. 
 
 Angelo — 
 There is a kind of character in thy life, 
 That, to the observer, doth thy history 
 Fully unfold : Thyself and thy belongings 
 Are not thine own so proper, as to waste 
 
ELOCUTION. 335 
 
 Thyself upon thy virtues, them on thee. 
 
 Heav'n doth with us, as we with torches do ; 
 
 Not light them for themselves : for if our virtues 
 
 Did not go forch of us, 'twere all as if 
 
 We had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd 
 
 But to fine issues : nature never lends 
 
 The smallest scruple of her excellence j 
 
 But Jike a thrifty goddess she determines 
 
 Herself the glory of a creditor, 
 
 Both thanks and use. But 1 do bend my speech 
 
 To one that can in my part me advertise. 
 
 Hold therefore, Angelo — 
 
 In our remove be thou at full ourself. 
 
 Mortality and mercy in Vienna 
 
 Live in thy tongue and heart : Old Escalus, 
 
 Though first in question, is thy secondary: 
 
 Take thy commission. Shaks. Meets, for Meas. 
 
 ARGUING. 
 
 Arguing requires a cool, sedate, attentive aspect, 
 and a clear, slow, and emphatical accent, with much 
 demonstration by the hand ; it assumes somewhat of 
 authority, as if fully convinced of the truth of what 
 it pleads for, and sometimes rises to great vehemence 
 and energy of assertion ; the voice clear, bold, dis- 
 tinct, and firm, as in confidence. 
 
 Reasoning with deference to others. 
 
 Ay, but yet 
 Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, 
 Than fall and bruise to death. Alas ! this gentleman 
 Whom I would save, had a most noble father ! 
 Let but your honour know, whom I believe 
 To be most strait in virtue, whether, ?.n 
 The working of your own affections, 
 Had time coher'd with place, or place with wishing, 
 Or that the resolute acting of your blood 
 Could have attain'd th' effect of your own purpose, 
 Whether you had not some time in your life 
 Err'd in this point you censure now in him, 
 And pull'd the law upon you. Ibid. 
 
336 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Reasoning warmly. 
 
 By my white beard, 
 You offer him, if this be so, a wrong, 
 Something unfilial : Reason, my son 
 Should choose himself a wife ; but as good reason, 
 The father (all whose joy is nothing else 
 But fair posterity) should hold some counsel 
 In such a business. Skaks. Winter* Tale. 
 
 Argument asserting right to Property. 
 
 As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Hereford > 
 But as I come, 1 come for Lancaster : 
 And, noble uncle, I beseech your grace, 
 Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye : 
 You are my father, for, methinks, in you 
 I see old Gaunt alive ; O, then, my father, 
 Will you permit that I should stand condemn'd 
 A wand'ring vagabond ; my rights and loyalties 
 Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away 
 To upstart unthrifts ? Wherefore was I born ? 
 If that my cousin king be king of England, 
 It must be granted, I am duke of Lancaster. 
 You have a son, Aumerle, my noble kinsman ; 
 Had you first dy'd, and he been thus trod down, 
 He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father, 
 To rouse his wrongs, and chase them to the bay. 
 I am deny'd t o sue my livery here, 
 And yet my letters-patents give me leave : 
 My father's goods ars all distrain'd and sold ; 
 And these, and all, are all amiss employ'd. 
 What would you have me do ? I am a subject. 
 And challenge law : Attorneys are deny'd me ; 
 And therefore personally lay my claim 
 To my inheritance of free descent. Ibid. Rich. II. 
 
 ADMONITION. 
 
 Admonition assumes a grave air, bordering on 
 seventy; the head is sometimes shaken at the person 
 we admonish, as if we felt for the miseries he was 
 likely to bring upon himself, the right hand is directed 
 to the person spoken to, and the fore-finger, project- 
 ed from the rest, seems to point out more particularly 
 
ELOCUTION. 337 
 
 the danger we give warning of; the voice assumes a 
 low tone, bordering on a monotone, with a mixture 
 of severity and sympathy, of pity and reproach. 
 
 Admonition to execute Laws strictly. 
 
 Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, 
 Another thing to fall. I not deny, 
 The jury passing on the prisoner's life, 
 May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two, 
 Guiltier than him they try j what 's open made 
 To justice, that it seizes on. What know 
 The laws, that thieves do pass on thieves ? 'tis pregnant, 
 The jewel that we find, we stoop and take 't, 
 Because we see it ; but what do we not see, 
 We tread upon, and never think of it. 
 You may not so extenuate his offence, 
 For I have had such faults j but rather tell me 
 When I, that censure him, do so offend j 
 Let mine own judgment pattern out my death, 
 And nothing come in partial. He must die. 
 
 Shakspeares Meets. for Meas, 
 
 Admonition to beware of Complaisance in Friendship. 
 
 Ever note, Lucilius, 
 When love begins to sicken and decay, 
 It useth an enforced ceremony. 
 There are no tricks in plain and simple faith : 
 But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
 Make gallant show, and promise of their mettle ; 
 But when they should endure the bloody spur, 
 They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 
 Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? Ibid. Julius Caesar. 
 
 Admonition to act justly. 
 
 Remember March, the ides of March remember ! 
 Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake ? 
 What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 
 And not for justice ? What ! shall one of us, 
 That struck the foremost man of all this world, 
 But for supporting robbers ; shall we now 
 Contaminate our fingers with base bribes j 
 And sell the mighty space of our large honours, 
 For so much trash as may.be grasped thus > — 
 z 
 
338 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
 
 Than such a Roman. Shaksp. Jul. Cas. 
 
 AUTHORITY. 
 
 Authority opens the countenance, but draws down 
 the eye-brows a little, so as to give the look an air of 
 gravity. 
 
 Authority forbidding Combatants to fight. 
 
 Let them lay by their helmets and their spears, 
 And both return back to their chairs again : — 
 Withdraw with us, and let the trumpets sound 
 While we return these dukes what we decree. 
 
 Draw near 
 
 And list what with our council we have done. 
 
 For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 
 
 With that dear blood which it hath fostered -, 
 
 And for our eyes doth hate the dire aspect 
 
 Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' swords ; 
 
 Therefore we banish you our territories : 
 
 You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of death, 
 
 Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields, 
 
 Shall not regreet our fair dominions, 
 
 But tread the stranger-paths of banishment. Ibid. Rich. II. 
 
 COMMANDING. 
 
 Commanding requires an air a little more peremp- 
 tory, with a look a little severe, or stern. The hand 
 is held out, and moved towards the person to whom 
 the order is given, with the palm upwards, and some- 
 times it is accompanied by a nod of the head to the 
 person commanded. If the command be absolute, 
 and to a person unwilling to obey, the right hand is 
 extended, and projected forcibly towards the person 
 commanded. 
 
 Commanding Combatants to fight. 
 
 We were not born to sue, but to command ; 
 Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 
 
ELOCUTION. S39 
 
 Be ready, as your lives shall answer it, 
 
 At Coventry, upon St. Lambert's day j 
 
 There shall your swords and lances arbitrate 
 
 The swelling difference of your settled hate. 
 
 Since we cannot atone you, you shall see 
 
 Justice decide the victor's chivalry. 
 
 Lord marshal, command our officers at arms 
 
 Be ready to direct these home-alarms. Shaksp. Rich, II. 
 
 FORBIDDING. 
 
 Forbidding draws the head backwards, and pushes 
 the arm and hand forwards, with the palm downwards, 
 as if going to lay it upon the person, and hold him 
 down immoveable, that he may not do what is for- 
 bidden him ; the countenance has the air of aversion, 
 the voice is harsh, and the manner peremptory. 
 
 Forbidding to break Orders. 
 
 On pain of death no person be so bold 
 Or daring-hardy as to touch the lists, 
 Except the marshal, and such officers 
 Appointed to direct these fair designs. Ibidem. 
 
 AFFIRMING. 
 
 Affirming, with a judicial oath, is expressed by 
 lifting the right hand and eyes towards heaven; or, if 
 conscience is appealed to, by laying the right hand 
 open upon the breast exactly upon the heart ; the 
 voice low and solemn, the words slow and deliberate; 
 but when the affirmation is mixed with rage or re- 
 sentment, the voice is more open and loud, the words 
 quicker, and the countenance has all the confidence 
 of strong and peremptory assertion. 
 
 Affirming an Accusation. 
 
 My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue j 
 Scorns to unsay what once it hath delivered : 
 In that dread time when Gloster's death was plot, 
 I heard you say, — " Is not my arm of length 
 z 2 
 
340 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 " That reacheth from the restful English court, 
 " As far as Calais, to my uncle's head ?" 
 Among much other talk, that very time 
 I heard you say, you rather had refuse 
 The offer of an hundred thousand crowns, 
 „ Than Bolingbroke return to England : 
 
 Adding withal, how blest this land would be, 
 In this your cousin's death. 
 If that thy valour stand on sympathies, 
 There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine. 
 I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, 
 That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death : 
 If thou deny'st it twenty times, thou liest ; 
 And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart, 
 Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. 
 
 Shaksp. Rich* II. 
 
 DENYING. 
 
 Denying what is affirmed is but an affirmation of 
 the contrary, and is expressed like affirmation. De- 
 nying a favour. See Refusing. 
 
 Denying an Accusation. 
 
 If I in act, consent, or sin of thought, 
 Be guilty of the stealing that sweet breath 
 Which was embounded in that beauteous clay, 
 Let hell want pains enough to torture me ! — 
 I left him well. Ibid. King John. 
 
 DIFFERING. 
 
 Differing in sentiment may be expressed nearly as 
 refusing. See Refusing. 
 
 Differing about the Conduct of a War. 
 
 Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 
 Of marching to Philippi presently ? 
 
 Cas. I do not think it good. 
 
 Bru. Your reason? 
 
 Cas. This it is : 
 'Tis better that the enemy seek us, 
 So shall we waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
 Doing himself offence ; whilst we, lying still, 
 Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 
 
ELOCUTION. 341 
 
 Bru. Good reasons must of force give place to better. 
 The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground, 
 Do stand but in a fore'd affection ; 
 For they have grudg'd us contribution. 
 The enemy marching along by them, 
 By them shall make a fuller number up, 
 Come on refresh'd, new added, and encouraged > 
 From -which advantage shall we cut him off, 
 If at Philippi we do face him there, 
 These people at our backs. 
 
 Cas. Hear me, good brother — 
 
 Bru. Under your pardon. — You must note beside, 
 That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
 Our legions are brimful], our cause is ripe ; 
 The enemy increaseth every day, 
 We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
 There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
 Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
 Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
 Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 
 On such a full sea are we now afloat j 
 And we must take the current when it serves, 
 Or lose our ventures. Shaksp. Jul. Cces. 
 
 AGREEING. 
 
 Agreeing in opinion, or being convinced, is ex- 
 pressed nearly as granting. See Granting. 
 
 Agreeing in an Enterprise. 
 
 Post. I embrace these conditions ; let us have articles betwixt us j 
 only thus far you shall answer: if you make your addresses to her, 
 and give me directly to understand you have prevailed, I am no far- 
 ther your enemy, she is not worth our debate. If she remain unse- 
 duced, you not making it appear otherwise] for your ill opinion, and 
 the assault you have made to her chastity, you shall answer me with 
 your sword. 
 
 Jac. Your hand, a covenant ; we will have these things set down 
 by lawful counsel, and straightway for Britain, lest the bargain 
 should catch cold and starve. I will fetch my gold, and have our 
 two wagers recorded. Ibid. Cymbeline. 
 
 JUDGING. 
 
 Judging demands a grave steady look, with deep 
 attention, the countenance altogether clear from any 
 
34£ ELEMENTS OF 
 
 appearance, either of disgust or favour. The pro- 
 nunciation slow, distinct, and emphatical, accompa- 
 nied with little action, and that very grave. 
 
 Judging according to strict Law. 
 
 Her. I beseech your grace that I may know 
 The worst that may befall me in this case, 
 If I refuse to wed Demetrius. 
 
 Thes. Either to die the death, or to abjure 
 For ever the society of men. 
 Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires ; 
 Know of your youth, examine well your blood, 
 Whether, not yielding to your father's choice, 
 You can endure the livery of a nun, 
 For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd, 
 To live a barren sister all your life, 
 Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon. 
 Thrice-blessed they that master so their blood, 
 To undergo such maiden pilgrimage ! 
 But earthlier-happy is the rose distill'd, 
 Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn. 
 Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness. 
 
 Her. So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, 
 Ere I will yield up my virginity 
 Unto his lordship, to whose unwish'd yoke 
 My soul consents not to give sovereignty. 
 
 Thes. Take time to pause, and by the next new moon, 
 (The sealing-day betwixt my love and me, 
 For everlasting bond of fellowship,) 
 Upon that day either prepare to die 
 For disobedience to your father's will, 
 Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would, 
 Or on Diana's altar to protest 
 For aye austerity and single life. 
 
 Shaks. Mids. Night's Dream 
 
 REPROVING. 
 
 Reproving puts on a stern aspect* roughens the 
 voice, and is accompanied with gestures not much 
 different from those of threatening, but not so lively. 
 It is like Reproach, but without the sourness and ill- 
 nature. See Reproach, 
 
ELOCUTION. 343 
 
 Reproving with Authority. 
 
 How comes it, Cassio, you are thus forgot, 
 That you unlace your reputation thus, 
 And spend your rich opinion for the name 
 Of a night-brawler? Give me answer to it ? Shaks. Othello. 
 
 ACQUITTING. 
 
 Acquitting is performed with a benevolent tranquil 
 countenance, and mild tone of voice ; the right hand 
 is open, and waved gently towards the person ac- 
 quitted, expressing dismission. See Dismissing. 
 
 CONDEMNING. 
 
 Condemning assumes a severe look, but sometimes 
 mixed with pity. The sentence is expressed either 
 with severity or pity, according to the guilt of the 
 person condemned. 
 
 Passing Sentence with Severity. 
 
 For this new marry'd man, approaching here, 
 Whose salt imagination yet hath wrong'd 
 Your well-defended honour 5 you must pardon him 
 For Mariana's sake j but as a judge, 
 Being doubly criminal, in violation 
 Of sacred chastity, and in promise-breach, 
 Thereon dependent for your brother's life, 
 The very mercy of the law cries out 
 Most audible, even from his proper tongue, 
 An Angelo for Claudio j death for death. 
 Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure ; 
 Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure. 
 Then, Angelo, thy faults are manifest ; 
 Which, tho' thou wouldst deny 'em, deny thee 'vantage. 
 We do condemn thee to the very block 
 Where Claudio stoop'd to death, and with like haste. 
 Away with him. Ibid. Meas. for Meas. 
 
3M ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Passing Sentence with Pity and Reluctance. 
 
 God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence : 
 You have conspir'd against our royal person, 
 Join'd with an enemy, and from his coffers 
 Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death ; 
 Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter, 
 His princes and his peers to servitude, 
 His subjects to oppression and contempt, 
 And his whole kingdom unto desolation. 
 Touching our person, seek we no revenge ; 
 But we our kingdom's safety must so tender, 
 Whose ruin you three sought, that to her laws 
 We do deliver you. Go therefore hence, 
 Poor miserable wretches, to your death ; 
 The taste whereof God of his mercy give 
 You patience to endure, and true repentance 
 Of all your dire offences. Bear them hence. Shaksp. Hen. V. 
 
 PARDONING. 
 
 Pardoning differs from acquitting in this : the latter 
 means clearing a person after trial of guilt ; whereas 
 the former supposes guilt, and signifies merely deliver- 
 ing the guilty person from punishment. Pardoning 
 requires some degree of severity of aspect and tone of 
 voice, because the pardoned person is not an object of 
 entire unmixed approbation. 
 
 Pardoning a cruel Prosecution. 
 
 That thou may'st see the difference of our spirits^ 
 I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it : 
 For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's; 
 The other half comes to the general state, 
 Which humbleness may drive into a fine. Ibid. Mer. of Ven. 
 
 DISMISSING. 
 
 Dismissing with approbation is done with a kind 
 aspect and tone of voice \ the right hand open, the 
 
ELOCUTION. 345 
 
 palm upwards, gently waved towards the person. 
 Dismissing with displeasure, besides the look and 
 tone of voice which suits displeasure, the hand is 
 hastily thrown out towards the person dismissed, the 
 back part of the hand towards him, and the counte- 
 nance at the same time turned away from him. 
 
 Dismissing with Complaisance. 
 
 Chat. Then take my king's defiance from my mouth* 
 The farthest limit of my embassy. 
 
 K. John. Bear mine to him, and so depart in peace : 
 Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France, 
 For ere thou can'st report I will be there, 
 The thunder of my cannon shall be heard ; 
 So hence [ Be thou the trumpet of our wrath, 
 And sullen presage of your own decay. — 
 An honourable conduct let him have ; 
 Pembroke, look to 't : — farewell, Chatillon. Shak. King John. 
 
 REFUSING. 
 
 Refusing, when accompanied with displeasure, is 
 done nearly in the same way as dismissing with dis- 
 pleasure. Without displeasure, it is done with a 
 visible reluctance, which occasions bringing out the 
 words slowly, with such a shake of the head and shrug 
 of the shoulders, and hesitation in the speech, as im- 
 plies perplexity between granting and refusing, as in 
 the following example : 
 
 Refusing to lend Money. 
 
 They answer in a joint and corporate voice, 
 That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot 
 Do what they would ; are sorry — you are honourable— 
 But yet they could have wish'd — they know not — 
 Something hath been amiss—a noble nature 
 May catch a wrench — wou'd all were well — 'tis pityj 
 And so intending other serious matters, 
 After distasteful looks, and these hard fractions 
 
346 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 With certain half-caps, and cold-moving nods, 
 
 They froze me into silence, Shakspeares Timon of Athens. 
 
 Refusing with Displeasure. 
 
 Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar, 
 Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 
 An humble heart. 
 
 C'ces. I must prevent thee, Cimber ; 
 These crouchings, and these lowly courtesies, 
 Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 
 And turn pre-ordi nance, and first decree, 
 Into the lane of children. Be not fond, 
 To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood, 
 That will be thaw'd from the true quality 
 With that which melteth fools ; 1 mean sweet words, 
 Low-crooked curt'sies, and base spaniel-fawning. 
 Thy brother by decree is banished ; 
 If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn for him, 
 I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 
 Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
 Will he be satisfied. Shakspeares Jul. Cccs. 
 
 GIVING, GRANTING, 
 
 When done with unreserved good-will, is accompanied 
 with a benevolent aspect, and tone of voice; the right 
 hand open with the palm upwards, extending towards 
 the person we favour, as if delivering to him what he 
 asks ; the head at the same time inclining forwards, as 
 indicating a benevolent disposition and entire consent. 
 
 Giving a Daughter in Marriage. 
 
 Pros. If I have too severely punish'd you, 
 Your compensation makes amends ; for I 
 Have given you here a thread of mine own life, 
 Or that for which I live, whom once again 
 I tender to thy hand : all thy vexations • 
 
 Were but my trials of thy love, and thou 
 Hast strangely stood the test. Here afore heav'n 
 I ratify this my rich gift : Ferdinand, 
 
ELOCUTION. 547 
 
 Do not smile at me that I boast her off; 
 For thou wilt find she will outstrip all praise, 
 And make it halt behind her. 
 
 Fer. 1 believe it 
 Against an oracle. 
 
 Pros. Then as my gift, and thine own acquisition 
 Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter. Shaks, Tempest. 
 
 GRATITUDE. 
 
 Gratitude puts on an aspect full. of complacency. 
 If the object of it be a character greatly superior, it 
 expresses much submission. The right hand open 
 with the fingers spread, and pressed upon the breast 
 just over the heart, expresses very properly a sincere 
 and hearty sensibility of obligation. 
 
 Gratitude for great Benefits. 
 
 O great Sciolto ! O my more than father ! 
 Let me not live, but at thy very name 
 My eager heart springs up and leaps with joy. 
 When I forget the vast, vast debt I owe thee — 
 (Forget — but 'tis impossible) then let rhe 
 Forget the use and privilege of reason, 
 Be banish'd from the commerce of mankind, 
 To wander in the desert among brutes, 
 To bear the various fury of the seasons, 
 The midnight cold, and noontide scorching heat, 
 To be the scorn of earth, and curse of heaven. 
 
 Rowe's Fair Penitent . 
 
 CURIOSITY. 
 
 Curiosity opens the eyes and mouth, lengthens the 
 neck, bends the body forwards, and fixes it in one 
 posture, nearly as in admiration. When it speaks, 
 the voice, tone, and gesture, nearly as Inquiry. See 
 Inquiry. 
 
34,8 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 Curiosity at first seeing a fine Object. 
 
 Pros. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, 
 And say what thou seest yond. 
 
 Mir. What is 't ? a spirit ? 
 Lo how it looks about ! believe me, sir, 
 It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit. 
 
 Pros. No, wench, it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses 
 As we have, such. 
 
 Mir, 1 might call him 
 A thing divine, for nothing natural 
 I ever saw so noble. Shaks. Tempest. 
 
 PROMISING. 
 
 Promising is expressed by benevolent looks, a soft 
 but earnest voice, and sometimes by inclining the 
 head and hands open, with the palms upwards, to- 
 wards the person to whom the promise is made. 
 Sincerity in promising is expressed by laying the 
 right hand gently on the left breast. 
 
 Promise of prosperous Events, 
 
 I '11 deliver all, 
 And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, 
 And sail so expeditious, it shall catch 
 Your royal fleet far off. Ibidem. 
 
 VENERATION 
 
 To parents, superiors, or persons of eminent virtue, 
 is an humble and respectful acknowledgement of 
 their excellence, and our own inferiority. The head 
 and body are inclined a little forward, and the hand, 
 with the palm downward, just raised as to meet 
 the inclination of the body, and then let fall again 
 with apparent timidity and diffidence ; the eye is 
 sometimes lifted up, and then immediately cast 
 downward, as if unworthy to behold the object 
 
ELOCUTION. 349 
 
 before it ; the eye-brows are drawn down ; the fea- 
 tures, and the whole body and limbs, are all com- 
 posed to the most profound gravity. When this 
 rises to adoration of the Almighty Creator and Di- 
 rector of all things, it is too sacred to be imitated, 
 and seems to demand that humble annihilation of 
 ourselves, which must ever be the consequence of 
 a just sense of the Divine Majesty, and our own 
 unworthiness. 
 
 RESPECT 
 
 Is but a less degree of Veneration, and is nearly allied 
 to Modesty. 
 
 DESIRE 
 
 Expresses itself by bending the body forwards, and 
 stretching the arms towards the object, as to grasp it. 
 The countenance smiling, but eager and wishful ; the 
 eyes wide open, and eye-brows raised ; the mouth 
 open ; the tone of voice suppliant, but lively and 
 cheerful, unless there be distress as well as desire ; the 
 expressions fluent and copious; if no words are used, 
 sighs instead of them; but this is chiefly in distress. 
 
 COMMENDATION. 
 
 Commendation is the expression of the appro- 
 bation we have for any object in which we find 
 any congruity to our ideas of excellence, natural or 
 moral, so as to communicate pleasure. As com- 
 mendation generally supposes superiority in the per- 
 son commending, it assumes the aspect of love (but 
 without desire and respect), and expresses itself in 
 a mild tone of voice, with a small degree of con- 
 
350 ELEMENTS. OF 
 
 fidence ; the arms are gently spread, the hands open, 
 with the palms upwards, directed towards the person 
 approved, and sometimes gently lifted up and down, 
 as if pronouncing his praise. 
 
 Commendation for obliging Behaviour. 
 
 You have done our pleasures very much grace, fair ladies; 
 Set a fair fashion on our entertainment, 
 Which was not half so beautiful and kind j 
 You've added worth unto't, and lively lustre, 
 And entertain'd me with mine own device : 
 I am to thank you for it. Shakspeare's Timon of Athens. 
 
 Commendation for Fidelity. 
 
 O good old man, how well in thee appears 
 The constant service of the antique world, 
 When service sweat for duty, not for meed ! 
 Thou art not for the fashion of these times, 
 Where none will sweat but for promotion j 
 And, having that, do cloak their service up, 
 Even with the having: It is not so with thee. 
 
 Ibid. As You Like It. 
 
 EXHORTING. 
 
 Exhorting or encouraging, is earnest persuasion, 
 attended with confidence of success. The voice has 
 the softness of love, intermixed with the firmness of 
 courage ; the arms are sometimes spread, with the 
 hands open, as entreating ; and sometimes the right 
 hand is lifted up, and struck rapidly down, as en- 
 forcing what we say. 
 
 Exhorting. 
 
 But wherefore do you droop ? Why look you sad ? 
 Be great in act, as you have been in thought j 
 Let not the world see fear and sad distrust 
 Govern the motion of a kingly eye : 
 Be stirring as the time ; be fire with fire ; 
 
ELOCUTION. 
 
 Threaten the threatener, and outface the brow 
 
 Of bragging horror : so shall inferior eyes, 
 
 That borrow their behaviours from the great, 
 
 Grow great by your example 5 and put on 
 
 The dauntless spirit of resolution j 
 
 Show boldness and aspiring confidence. 
 
 What, shall they seek the lion in his den, 
 
 And fright him there, and make him tremble there ! 
 
 Oh let it not be said ! — Forage, and run, 
 
 To meet displeasure farther from the doors, 
 
 And grapple with him ere he come so nigh. 
 
 Shakspeare's King John. 
 
 COMPLAINING. 
 
 Complaining, as when one is under violent bodily 
 pain, distorts the features, almost closes the eyes ; 
 sometimes rises them wistfully; opens the mouth, 
 gnashes the teeth, draws up the upper lip, draws 
 down the head upon the breast, and contracts the 
 whole body. The arms are violently bent at the 
 elbows, and the fists strongly clinched. The voice is 
 uttered in groans, lamentations, and sometimes vio- 
 lent screams. 
 
 Complaining of extreme Pain. 
 
 Search there ; nay, probe me j search my wounded reins — 
 Pull, draw it out — 
 
 Oh, I am shot ! A forked burning arrow 
 Sticks across my shoulders : the sad venom flies 
 Like lightning through my flesh, my blood, my marrow. 
 Ha ! what a change of torments I endure ! 
 A bolt of ice runs hissing through my bowels : 
 'Tis, sure, the arm of death ; give me a chair j 
 Cover me, for I freeze, and my teeth chatter, 
 And my knees knock together. Lee's Alexander. 
 
 FATIGUE. 
 
 Fatigue from hard labour gives a general languor 
 to the body; the countenance is dejected, the arms 
 hang listless; the body if not sitting or lying along, 
 
352 ELEMENTS OF 
 
 stoops, as in old age; the legs, if walking, are dragged 
 heavily along, and seem at every step to bend under 
 the weight of the body. The voice is weak, and 
 hardly articulate enough to be understood. 
 
 Fatigue from Travelling. 
 
 I see a man's life is a tedious one : 
 I 've tir'd myself, and for two nights together 
 Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick, 
 But that my resolution helps me. Milford, 
 When from the mountain top Pisanio showed thee, 
 Thou wast within a kem Oh me, I think 
 Foundations fly the wretched j such I mean 
 Where they should be relieved. Shakspeare*s Cymbeline. 
 
 Feebleness from Hunger. 
 
 Adam. Dear master, I can go no farther : Oh, I die for food ! here 
 lie I down and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind master. 
 
 Duke. Welcome: set down your venerable burden, 
 And let him feed. 
 
 Orla. I thank you most for him. 
 
 Adam. So had you need ; 
 I scarce can speak to thank you for myself. Ibid. As You Like It. 
 
 SICKNESS. 
 
 Sickness has infirmity or feebleness in every mo- 
 tion, and utterance; the eyes dim and almost closed, 
 the cheeks are pale and hollow, the jaw falls, the 
 head hangs down as if too heavy to be supported by 
 the neck ; the voice feeble, trembling, and plaintive, 
 the head shaking, and the whole body, as it were, 
 sinking under the weight that oppresses it. 
 
 Sicktiess approaching to Death. 
 
 And wherefore should this good news make me sick ? 
 I should rejoice now at this happy news, 
 
ELOCUTION. 358 
 
 And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy : — 
 
 me ! come near me, now I am much ill. 
 
 1 pray you take me up and bear me hence 
 Into some other chamber ; softly, pray — 
 
 Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends, 
 Unless some dull and favourable hand 
 Will whisper music to my weary spirit. 
 
 Shaksp. Henry IF. M Part. 
 
 Trifling as this selection of examples of the pas- 
 sions may appear, it is presumed it will be singularly 
 useful. The passions are everywhere to be found 
 in small portions, promiscuously mingled with each 
 other, but not so easily met with in examples of 
 length, and where one passion only operates at a 
 time : such a selection, however, seemed highly 
 proper to facilitate the study of the passions, as it is 
 evident that the expression of any passion may be 
 sooner gained by confining our practice for a con- 
 siderable time to one passion only, than by passing 
 abruptly from one to the other, as they promis- 
 cuously occur ; which is the case with the author to 
 whom I am so much indebted for the description 
 of the passions, and with those who have servilely 
 copied him. The instances of a single passion which 
 I have selected, may be augmented at pleasure ; and 
 when the pupil has acquired the expression of each 
 passion singly, I would earnestly recommend to him 
 to analyse his composition, and carefully to mark it 
 with the several passions, emotions, and sentiments 
 it contains, by which means he will distinguish and 
 separate what is often mixed and confounded, and 
 be prompted to force and variety at almost every 
 sentence, 
 
 I am well aware, that the passions are sometimes 
 so slightly touched, and often melt so insensibly into 
 each other, as to make it somewhat difficult precisely 
 to mark their boundaries ; but this is no argument 
 against our marking them where they are distinct 
 and obvious ; nor against our suggesting them to 
 
 2 a 
 
354 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 
 
 those who may not be quite so clear-sighted as our- 
 selves. Indeed, the objection to this practice seems 
 entirely founded on these two misconceptions : be- 
 cause we cannot perfectly delineate every shade of 
 sound or passion, we ought not to attempt any ap- 
 proaches to them ; and because good readers and 
 speakers have no need of these assistances, therefore, 
 they are useless to every one else. But this reasoning, 
 I am convinced, is so palpably wrong, as sufficiently 
 to establish the contrary opinion, without any other 
 argument in its favour. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 
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