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

EXERCISE.

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

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

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

man.

4. The object of my visit, said Mr. Wirt, is the hope of making some suggestion that may be sèrviceable; of calling

into action, some dormant ènergy; of pointing your attention to some attainable end of practical utility; of arousing your minds to high aspirations for excellence; and, with the hope of contributing, in some small degree, toward making you happier in yourselves, and more useful to your country.

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

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

SECTION XI.

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

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

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

EXCEPTION 2. When the language and sentiment is of a cheerful and sprightly character, or expressive of tender emotion, the commencing

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

series may be rendered more effective, in the judgment of some readers, by giving each member the rising suspensive inflection, according to Rule 6, page 95.

EXAMPLES.

Simple Commencing Series.

1. Dependence and obedience belong to youth.

2. The good and the wíse, at death leave their memory behind. 3. Our knowledge and our árts are the fruits of their tòil. 4. The yoùng, the healthy, and prósperous, should not presume on their advàntages.

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

Simple Concluding Series.

1. The constitution is strengthened by éxercise and tèmper

ance.

2. The spirit of true religion breathes géntleness and affability 3. Mankind are besieged by wàr, fámine, and pèstilence. 4. Industry is the law of our being; it is the demand of nature, of reason, and of God.

Compound Commencing Series.

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

2. What but this còmpact, what but this specific párt of it, can save us from rùin.

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

Compound Concluding Series.

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

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

3. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness;

God was manifest in the flèsh, justified in the spìrit, seen of àngels, preached unto the gèntiles, believed on in the world, received up into glòry.

Commencing and Concluding Series.

1. Ìdleness, dissipation, and více, are ruinous to health, prospérity, and happiness.

2. He who is self-existent, omniprèsent, omniscient, and omnipotent, is likewise infinitely hòly, and jíst, and good.

3. ve, to acquìre, and to enjoy the confidence of mankind, are the great objects of ambìtion, emulátion, and dèsire. 4. Such intercourse, maintained with a unifòrm, dìgnified, and conscientious regard to the interests of your pupils, will gain their confidence, secure their esteèm, command their respect, and insure commendable proficiency in their several stùdies.

EXERCISE.

1. The wind and rain are òver; calm is the noon of dày; the clouds are divided in heaven; and over the green hill, flies the inconstant sun.

2. What new importance, then, does not the achievement acquire to our minds, when we consider that it was the deed of our fathers; that this grand undertaking was accomplished on the spot where we dwell; that the mighty region they explored is dur native land; that the unrivaled enterprise they displayed is not merely a fact proposed to our admirátion, but is the source of our being; that their cruel hárdships are the spring of our prosperity; their amazing sufferings, the seed from which our happiness has sprung; that their weary bánishment gave us a home; that, to their separation from every thing which is dear and pleasant in life, we owe all the comforts, the blessings, the privileges, which make our lot the envy of mankind!

3. There is something inexpressibly beautiful in the early development of the youth of genius. Its lonely musings; its shrinking from the boisterous crowd of young cotemporaries; the contemplative cast of mind; the early indication of a refined taste; its quickness of perception, apparently intuitive; the rapidity with which difficulties are surmounted; the outstripping of boyish competitors; the proud consciousness of superiórity, and the supremacy of mind over

måtter.

4. There yet hangs in the inner chamber of my soul, a fadeless picture of the whole landscape. The mountains are as blue, the valleys as soft and dreamy, the river as clear, the cascades as lively, the cottages as white, the hills as green, and the ravines as romantic, as when they all stood within the circle of my visual horizon.

5. How sweetly the old Scotch preacher dwells upon the good Shepherd; how tenderly he depicts the security of the good man; - his reverend look, the tremulous tones of his voice, his Scottish accent, his Scottish phrases, his Scripture quotations, and his oriental cast of mind.

6. These old preachers are like old wine. Their freedom from early ambition, their deep experience of things, their profound acquaintance with the human heart, their evident nearness to heaven, their natural simplicity and authority, invest their preaching with peculiar interest. Other things being equal, old preachers, old physicians, old friends, and old places, possess qualities peculiar to themselves.

7. Mirabeau a had the eye of an eagle, the heart of a lion, the energy of a whirlwind, the voice of thunder, an eloquence that stirred men's souls, commanded the assent of his friends, and terrified his adversaries.

a Mirabeau, a Fres ch count, distinguished for his influence in the French revolution in 1790.