And he, amidst his frolic play, As if he would the charming air repay, COLLINS. XII. ENUMERATION, OR AMPLIFICATION. Enumeration is that figure which numbers up the perfections or defects of persons or things, or which brings under one head the several parts of an argument, and, like the concentration of artillery in battle, when brought to act upon any given point, bears down all before it. This figure admits of various modes of delivery, agreeably to the nature of the subjects which may be enumerated, but monotone is recurred to oftener than any other mode. Examples. "Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around THOMSON'S SEASONS. "O now forever, Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content! Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war! TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO. "Is it come to this? shall an inferior magistrate, a governor, who holds his whole power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight of Italy, bind, scourge, torture with fire and red hot plates of iron, and at last, put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen? Shall neither the cries of innocence expiring in ago ny, nor the tears of pitying spectators, nor the majesty of the Roman Commonwealth, nor the fear of the justice of his country, restrain the licentious and wanton cruelty of a monster, who, in confidence of his riches, strikes at the root of liberty and sets mankind at defiance ?" CICERO AGAINST VERRES. I cannot name this gentleman, without remarking, that his labors, and writings, have done much to open the eyes and the hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe-not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosities of modern art; not to collect medals, or collate manuscripts; but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into the infection of hospitals; to survey the mansions of sorrow and of pain, and to take the guage and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt; to remember the forgotten; to attend to the neglected; to visit the forsaken; and to compare, and collate, the distresses of all men in all countries." BURKE'S EULOGIUM ON HOWARD. Extract from a Sermon of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, M. A. on the happiness attendant on the paths of religion. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." PROV. iii. 17. . "Among the internal demonstrations of the truth of christianity, the excellence of the appropriate lessons respectively addressed in the sacred writings to different descriptions of men, holds a distinguished place. To the wicked the scripture speaks the language of indig. nation, tempered with offers of mercy. To the penitent it promises forgiveness. The righteous it animates with triumphant hope. To the ignorant it holds forth instruction; to the unwary, caution; to the presumptuous, humility; to the feeble-minded, support; to the wavering, perseverance; to the dispirited, encouragement; to the afflicted, consolation. Who but that power who discerns every va riety of the human disposition; every winding of the human heart; could have been the author of a religion thus provided with a remedy for every corruption; a defence under every weakness ?" Extract from pleadings of Sir George McKenzie against a woman accused of the murder of her child. 66 Gentlemen, if one man had any how slain another, if an adversary had killed his opposer, or a woman occasioned the death of her enemy, even these criminals would have been capitally punished by the Cornelian law; but, if this guiltless infant, who could make no enemy, had been murdered by its own nurse, what punishment would not then the mother have demanded? with what cries and exclama tions would she have stunned our ears? What shall we say then, when a woman, guilty of homicide, a mother, of the murder of her innocent child, hath comprised all those misdeeds in one single crime. a crime, in its own nature detestable; in a woman prodigious; in. mother, incredible; and perpetrated against one whose age called fo compassion, whose near relation claimed affection, and whose inno cence deserved the highest favour?” XIII. PAUSES. The number, names, and utility of the pauses used in reading and speaking, must be too well known to need description here. Perhaps it may not be superfluous to make two or three remarks; first, that the interrogatory point has two inflections, the rising and the falling The rising, when the question is formed without an interrogative word at its commencement, the falling, when an interrogative word commences it. Example of the first. one. "Suppose a person generally well informed, can he say that his education is perfect, if, when asked to read or recite, he feel inadequate?" Of the last. "Who is here so base, that would be a bondman? Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman? Who is here so vile, that would not love his country ?" When the two parts of a question are connected by the conjunction or, the first has the rising and the last the falling inflection. Example: "Who was the greater man, Cæsar or Alexander?" The same rule exists when an affirmative and a negauve are opposed to each other. Example. "He deserves censure, not eulogy." Breaks are pauses which cut a subject short before the meaning is fully developed. They generally occur when extreme grief or violent rage agitates the human breast. Example. "Darkness and demons! Saddle my horses; call my train together: TRAGEDY OF LEAR. The period should be marked by a depression of voice, sufficient to denote the completion of the sense, but great care must be taken not to lower the tone to such a degree as to endanger the loss of the last word of the line, or sentence: a fault frequently observable, even in some eminent public speakers. XIV. IRONY. Irony is a rhetorical figure, which gives a meaning contrary to the words expressed, and is productive of very great effect, if not too frequently used. Irony admits of various modes of delivery agreeing with the subjects which may occur, but monotone is most used. Irony often excites our laughter, and sometimes our contempt and disgust. The three first examples which follow make us smile, the last elicits our disgust. Examples. "What drugs, what charms, what conjuration, and what mighty magic-." OTHELLO. "Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last MERCHANT OF VENICE. Charming house, and charming lady of the house, ha! ha! ha!" JEALOUS WIFE. "No wars have ravaged these lands, and depopulated these villages-no civil discord has been felt, no disputed succession, no religious rage-no cruel enemy-no affliction of Providence, which, while it scourged for a moment, cut off the sources of resuscitation-no voracious and poisoning monsters-no; all this has been accomplished by the friendship, generosity and kindness of the English nation." SHERIDAN AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. XV. ALLITERATION. Alliteration is a figure which occurs when several words, commencing with the same letter, immediately follow each other. If too often used it will pall; but if seldom resorted to, it will give a pleasing variety to the subject into which it is introduced. This figure is read or spoken in monotone, climax, anti-climax, and parenthesis. Examples. The sun, the soil, but not the slave the same." "He rush'd into the field, and foremost fighting fell." Ibid. "The humanity, harmony, and happiness DWYER. "Mind, manners, magnanimity, mercy, Ibid. "Man is *obnoxious to pain, penury, and pestilence."-Ibid * This word is often improperly used both in speaking and writing for noxious. |