430. STYLE. The character of a person's style of reading and speaking depends upon his moral perceptions of the ends, causes, and effects of the composition: thus, STILE may be considered the man himself, and, as every one sees and feels, with regard to everything, according to the state or condition of his mind, and as there are and can be no two persons alike; each individual will have a manner and style peculiar to himself; tho in the main, that of two persons of equal education and intelligence, may be in a great degree similar. Maxims. 1. It does not become a law-maker, to become a law-breaker. 2. Friendship is stronger than kindred. 3. Idleness is the sepulchre of a liv. ug man. 4. An orator, without judgment, is like a horse without a bridle. 5. He that knows when to speak, knows when to be silent. 6. The truest end of life-is to know the life that never ends. 7. 8. Impose Wine has drowned more than the sea. not on others a burthen which you cannot bear yourself. 9. He overcomes a stout enemy, that overcomes his own anger. 10. Study mankind as well as books. Anecdote. Note of Interrogation (?). Mr. Pope, the poet, who was small and deman, who was very inquisitive, and asked a good many impertinent questions, inquired of him if he knew what an interrogation point was? "Yes sir," said he, “it is a little crooked thing, like yourself, that asks questions." 431. RULES FOR THE'. When ques-formed, sneering at the ignorance of a young tions are answered by yes or no, they generally require the'. Exs. Are you well? Is he gone? Have you got your hat? Do you say yes? Can he accommodate me? Will you call and see me? But when the questions are emphatic, or amount to an affirmative, the 'is used. Are you well? As much as to say: tell me whether you are well. Is he gone? Have you done it? All given in an authoritative manner. Hath he said it, and shall he not do it? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? Is he a man, that he should repènt? 432. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. Is the casket more valuable than the jewel? 2. Will not the safety of the community be endangered, by permitting the murderer to live? 3. Are theatres-beneficial to mankind? 4. Did Napolean do more hurt than good to the world? 5. Were the Texans right-in rebelling against Mexico? 6. Ought the license system to be abolished? 7. Is animal magnetism true? 8. Who was the greatest monster-Nero, or Catiline? 9. Should we act from policy, or from principle? 10. Is not the improvement of the mind, of the first importance? Ideas, acquired by taste-are compound and relative. If a man had never experienced any change, in the sensation produced by external things, on the organs of taste, that which he now calls sweet, (if it had been the quality, subjected to the sense,) would have conveyed to the mind no possible idea; but, alternating with the quality we call bitter, contrariety-produces the first impression, and he learns to distinguish the qualities by names, The sensation—awakened by Madeira wine, must be very acute, to enable a man to discriminate, accurately, without a very careful comparison. Let a particular kind of Madeira wine remain a few years on the lees of many other kinds, and who would detect the compound flavor, but the contriver? Varieties. 1. Inspire a child with right feelings, and they will govern his actions: hence, the truth of the old adage, Example is better than precept. 2. The great difficulty Nature. Man is radiant with expressions. is, that we give rules, instead of inspiring Every feature, limb, muscle and vein, may sentiments; it is in vain to lead the undertell something of the energy within. The standing with rules, if the affections are not brow, smooth or contracted,―the eye, placid, right. 3. Benjamin West states, that his modilated, tearful, flashing,—the lip, calm, quiv- ther kissed him, eagerly, when he showed her ering, smiling, curled,—the whole counten- the likeness he had sketched of his baby sisance, serene, distorted, pale, flushed, the ter; and, he adds,—that kiss made me a hand, with its thousand motions, the chest, painter. 4. Lay by all scraps of material still or heaving, the attitude, relaxed or firm, things, as well as of knowledge, and they cowering or lofty,-in short, the visible char-will certainly come in use within seven years. acteristics of the whole external man,—are 5. Gain all the information you can, learn all NATURE'S HAND-WRITING; and the tones and qualities of the voice, soft, low, quiet, broken, agitated, shrill, grave, boisterous,-are her ORAL LANGUAGE: let the student copy and learn. Nature is the goddess, and art and science her ministers. Since trifles-make the sum of human things, that comes in your way, without being intru- A wise man poor, 433. STYLE. The numerous examples Maxims. 1. Punctuality begets confidence, given throughout this work, afford the neces- and is the sure road to honor and respect. 2. A sary means for illustrating all the principles picture is a poem, without words. 3. Sensible men of elocution: let the taste, and judgment, as show their sense, by saying much in few words. well as the abilities of the student-be test- 4. He, who thinks to cheat another, cheats himed by a proper selection and application of self. 5. Pride is easily seen in others; but we them. He must not expect too much from rarely see it in ourselves. 6. Wealth is not his others, nor take it unkindly, when thrown who gets it, but his who enjoys it. 7. A bad book upon his own resources: the best way to increase our strength, is to have it often tested. All who become orators, must make them-10. He, who serves God, has the best master in selves orators. 434. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. If we do well, shall we not be accepted? 2. Which is more useful, fire, or water? 3. Ought circumstantial evidence to be admitted in crim inal cases? 4. Can we be too zealous in rightly promoting a good cause? 5. Which is worse, a bad education, or no education? 6. Are not bigotry and intolerance-as destructive to morality, as they are to common sense? 7. Are we not apt to be proud of that which is not our own 2 8. Ought there not to be duties on imported goods, to encourage domestic manufactures? 9. Is slavery right? 10. Have steamboats been the cause of more good than evil? is one of the worst of thieves. 8. Toleration 9. Too much prosperity makes most men fools. should spring from charity, not from indifference. the world. 11. One love drives another out. 12. Health is better than wealth. Influence. Few are aware of the full ex tent of meaning contained in this word. If we can measure the kind and quantity of influence, that every variety of heat and cold has on the world of matter; if we can tell the influence, that one individual has on another, one society on another, and one na tion on another, both for time and eternity; if we can estimate the influence, that spirthe human race, collectively, and separately; itual beings have on one another, and on also the influence of the Great Spirit on all his associates and also their influence on others, through all coming time, as well as in the eternal world, and you will perceive something of the importance of ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well; of living and practicing what is good and true, and thereby being saved from all that is evil and false. creation, then, we are able to see and realize the mighty meaning of this important word. 435. IGNORANCE AND ERROR. It is al- Contemplate and weigh the influence, that most as difficult to make one unlearn his er- different kinds of food and drink have on the rors, as to acquire knowledge. Mal-inforhuman system, by being appropriated to its mation is more hopeless than non-informa- innumerable parts; the influence on body tion; for error is always more busy than ig- and mind of keeping and violating the laws norance. Ignorance-is a blank sheet, on of life, by thinking, feeling, and acting; the which we may urite; but error-is a scrib-influence, which a good or bad person has on bled one, from which we must first erase. Ignorance-is contented to stand still, with her back to the truth; but error-is more presumptuous, and proceeds in the same direction Ignorance has no light, but error follows a false one. The consequence is, that error, when she retraces her footsteps, has farther to go, before she can arrive at the truth, than ignorance. Anecdote. Virtue before Riches. The-lowing, which he religiously observed; "Six mistocles-had a daughter, to whom two men were wishing to make love; one-was very rich, but a simpleton, and the other-poor, but a very wise man: the father preferred the latter, saying, "I would rather have a man without riches, than riches without a man." The primal duties-shine aloft, like stars; The charities, that soothe, and heal, and bless, Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers; The generous inclination, the just rule, Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts. No mystery is here; no special boon Varieties. 1. Lord Coke-wrote the fol hours to sleep, to law's great study six, Four Wm. Jones, a wiser economist of the fleeting spend in prayer, the rest to nature fix." 2. hours of life, amended the sentiment thus; Seven hours to law, to soothing slumbers "seven, Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven. 3. The truly beautiful and sublime are to be found within the regions of nature and probability: the false sublime sets to itself no bounds: it deals in thunders, earthquakes, tempests, and whirlwinds. 4. Is it any pain for a bird to fly, a fish to swim, or a boy to play? 5. Confound not vociferation with emphatic expression; for a whisper may be as discriminating as the loudest tones. 6. Speech-is the gift of God. 7. Order--is the same in the world, in man, and in the church; man-is an epitome of all the prin ciples of order. For high, and not for low; for proudly graced, Our wishes lengthen-as our sun declines. 436. STYLE, &c. To accomplish your object, study the true meaning and character of the subject, so as to express the whole, in such a way as to be perfectly understood and felt thus, you will transport your hearers to the scene you describe, and your earnest ness raise them on the tiptoe of expectation, and your just arguments sweep everything before them like a MOUNTAIN torrent: to ex cite, to agitate, and delight, are among the most powerful arts of persuasion: but the impressions must be enforced on the mind by a command of all the sensibilities and sympathies of the soul. That your course may be ever upward and onward, remember, none but a GOOD man can be a perfect orator; un corrupted and incorruptible integrity is one of the most powerful engines of persuasion. Maxims. 1. Revenge, however sweet, is dearly bought. 2. Life is half spent, before we know what it is to live. 3. The world is a workshop, and the wise only know how to use its tools. 4. A man is valued, as he makes himself valuable. 5. Heaven is not to be had, merely by wishing for it. 6. As often as we do good, we sacrifice. 7. Be careful to keep your word, even in the most trifling fer. 9. Honest men are easily bound; but you can matter. 8. Hearts may agree, tho' heads may dif never bind a knave. 10. Experience keeps a dear school; but fools will learn in no other. Anecdote. Curious Patriotism. Some years ago, one of the convicts at Botany Bay, wrote a FARCE, which was acted with much applause in some of the theatres. Barring ton, the notorious pick-pocket, wrote the prologue; which ended with these lines: True patriots we; for, be it understood, 437. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. Is any We left our country--for our country's good. government-as important as the principles Ignorance-Willfulness. The ignorit should protect and extend? 2. Should we ant-oppose without discrimination. Harremain passive, when our country, or politi-vey, for asserting the circulation of the blood, cal rights are invaded? 3. Are banks beneficial? 4. Have the crusaders been the cause of more evil than good? 5. Was the war waged against the Seminoles of Florida, just? 6. Which is the more important acquisition, wealth, or knowledge? 7. Is there any neutral ground between good and evil, truth and falsehood? 8. Which should we fear most, the commission of a crime, or the fear of punishment? 9. By binding the understanding, and forcing the judgment, can we mend the heart? 10. When proud people meet together, are they not always unhappy? 11. Is not common sense a very rare and valuable article? 12. What is the use of a body, without a soul? 438. MANNER AND MATTER. The secret of success in Music, as well as in Elocution, is, to adapt the manner perfectly to the matter: if the subject be simple, such must be the manner: if it be gay and lively, or solemn and dignified, such, or such must be the manner in addition to which, the performer must forget himself, or rather lose himself in the subject, body and soul, and show his regard to his audience, by devoting himself to the subject and hence he must never try to show himself off: but hide behind the thought and feeling, and depend upon them to produce the effect: if there is any affectation, the hold on the heart is in that proportion relinquished. Oh, when shall we take our appropriate place and regard USE as the grand object! But sure-to foreign climes-we need not range, But spare, O Time! whate'er of mental grace, Of candor, love, or sympathy divine; Whate'er of fancy's ray, or friendship's flame is mine. was styled a vagabond, a quack; and persecuted, through life, by the medical profession.. In the time of Francis I., Ambrose Pare-introduced the ligament, to staunch the blood of an amputated limb, instead of boiling hot pitch, in which the bleeding stump had formerly been dipped; and he was persecuted, with the most relentless rancour, by the Faculty, who ridiculed the idea-of risking a man's life upon a thread, when boiling pitch had stood the test for centuries. Medicines have been proscribed as poison, and then prescribed in great quantities; the proscriptions and prescriptions being both adopted with equal ignorance and credulity. There is no hope for man, but a thorough and correct education in the school of truth and goodness. Varieties. 1. Does the nature of things depend on the matter, of which they are formed; or on the laws of constitution, by which matter is arranged? 2. Is not vegetable matter formed from oxygen and hydrogen; and animal matter from these two and carbon? But what are their constituent parts? Were their essences created, or are they eternal? 3. What large portions of the world there are of which we know compara. tively nothing! and although we are familiar with our bodies, externally, yet how little of their internals do even the best physiologists know? 4. How much is really known of the nature of mind? and yet there is presumption enough in some, to decide at once, upon all the phenomena of the mind, and prescribe its limits. 5. Thus, man clothes himself with his fanciful knowledge, and plays such insane tricks before the world, as make the angels weep. The fisher-is out on the sunny sea, And the reindeer-bounds o'er the pasture free; And the pine-has a fringe of a softer green, And the moss-looks bright, where my foot hath been. contentment, and rests, or moves forever with its original 2. A drop of wisdom is worth a tun of riches. 3. Whatever does not stand with credit, will not stand long. 4. Business must be attended to, at the expense of every thing else of less importance. 5. Our states of mind differ as much as our spirits and temper. 6. Death-cannot kill what never dies,-mutual love. 7. If you will les. 8. Open rebuke is better than secret love. 9. not hear reason, she will rap you over your knuckGood counsel is thrown away on the arrogant and self-conceited. 10. He, who resolves to amend, has God, and all good beings on his side. 439. EFFECTIVE STYLE. The more your Maxims. 1. Happiness is the shadow of reading and speaking partake of the freedom and ease of common discourse, (provided you sustain the object and life of the composition) the more just, natural, and effective will be your style of delivery: hence the necessity of studying nature, of avoiding all affectation, and of never attempting that in public, which is beyond your ability. Some mar, or spoil what they are going to say, by making so much ado over it, thinking they must do some great thing; when it isal most as simple as-wash and be clean: whatever is not natural is not agreeable or persuasive. 440. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 1. Were any beings ever created angels? 2. Is it right ever to do wrong? 3. Why was a revelation necessary? 4. May we not protect our person and character from assault? 5. Does civilization increase happiness? 6. Which excites more curiosity, the works of nature, or the works of art? 7. Ought a witness to be questioned with regard to his religious opinions, or belief? 8. Was the general bankrupt law a benefit to the country? 9. Why are we disposed to laugh, even when our best friend falls down? 10. Which is the greatest, faith, hope, or charity? 11. Should controversy interrupt our friendship and esteem for each other? 12. Have christians any right to persecute each other for their opinions? Anecdote. Vanity Reproved. "I am very thankful, that my mouth has been opened to preach without any learning," said an illiterate preacher, in speaking against educating ministers, to preach the gospel. A gentleman present replied, "Sir, a similar event took place in Baalam's time." Education-should give us command of every faculty of body, and mind—call out all our powers of observation and reflection, change the creatures of impulse, prejudice and passion, to thinking, reasoning, and loving beings; lead to objects of pursuits, and habits of conduct, favorable to the happiness of every individual, and to the whole world, and multiply all the means of enjoyment, and diminish every temptation to vice and sensuality; and true education will do all this. Varieties. 1. What is moral virtue? 2. 441. It is much to be regretted, that our teachers are so illy qualified to instruct their pupils even in the first rudiments of reading: and they are all so much inclined to fall into bad habits, and the imitation of faulty speak ers, that it requires constant watchfulness to keep clear of the influences of a wrong bias, and false, and merely arbitrary rules. We never can succeed in this important art, until we take elementary instruction out of the hands of ignoramuses, and insist upon hav-pose good ones. ing persons fully competent to take charge of the cause. Away then with the idea, that any one can teach reading and speaking, merely because they can call the letters, and speak the words so as to be understood. Operating Circumstances. We are too apt, in estimating a law, passed at a remote period, to combine in our consideration, all the subsequent events, which have had an influence upon instead of conforming ourselves, as we ought, to the circumstances, existing at the time of its passage. it i So live, that, when thy summons comes-to join To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take The greatest danger to public liberty, is from Why have those banished and forbidden legs 442. ELOQUENCE. What were all the Maxims. 1. Old age and faded flowers, no attributes of man, his personal accomplish-remedies can revive. 2. Something should be ments, and his boasted reason, without the learned every time a book is opened. 3. A truly faculty of SPEECH? To excel in its use is great man never puts away the simplicity of the the highest of human arts. It enables man child. 4. The gem cannot be polished without to govern whole nations, and to enchant, friction, nor man-perfected, without adversity. 5. while he governs. The aristocracy of Elo- The full stomach cannot realize the evils of hunquence is supreme, and, in a free country, ger. 6. When thought is agitated, truth rises. 7. can never be subdued. It is the pride of A child requires books, as much as the merchant peace, and the glory of war: it rides upon does goods. 8. Learn by the vices of others, how the zephyr's wings, or thunders in the storm. detestable your own are. 9. Judge not of men or But there is in eloquence, in painting, the things, at first sight. 10. Reprove thy friend pri life of the canvas, which breathes, moves, vately, and commend him publicly. speaks, and is full of action: so is there in the dance, the poetry and music of motion, the eloquence of action; whose power consists in the wonderful adaptation of the graces of the body to the harmonies of mind. There is eloquence in every object of taste, both in art and nature; in sculpture, gardening, architecture, poetry and music; all of which come within the scope and plan of the orator, that he may comprehend that intellectual relation, that secret clause in the liberal professions, which, connecting one with another, combines the influence of all. Virtue, alone, ennobles human kind, Anecdote. Sharp Reply. Two country attorneys overtaking a wagoner, with two span of horses, and, thinking to be witty at his expense, asked him, "How it happened, that his forward horses were so fat, and the rear ones so lean?" The wagoner, knowing them, answered, "That his fore span were lawyers, and the other-clients." Selfishness-seems to be the complex of all vices. The love of self, when predominant, excludes all goodness, and perverts all truth. It is the great enemy of individuals, societies, and communities. It is the cause of all irritation, the source of all evil. Peowait.ple, who are always thinking of themselves, have no time to be concerned about others; their own pleasure or profit, is the pivot, on which everything turns. They cannot even conceive of disinterestedness, and will laugh to scorn all, who appear to love others, as well as themselves. Selfishness-is the very essence of the first original sin, and it must be corrected, or we are lost. And power-should on her glorious footsteps Wisdom-finds tongues-in trees; books-in runing streams; sermons-in stones, and GOOD-in wverything. [too. You pride you-on your golden hue; "Tis good, and lovely, to be kind; A little learning—is a dangerous thing; Ah me! the laureled wreath, that murder wears, em. As there is a great variety of affections, and states of affection in the human mind, so there is a great variety of tunes, through the medium of which these affections, and states of affection are manifested. There are three grand divisions of music, which, for the sake of distinction, may be denominated the upper, or that which relates to the Supreme Being; the middle, or that relating to created, rational beings, or social music; and the lower, or what appertains to that part of creation below man-called descriptive music. Ambition-is like love,-impatient- Varieties. 1. The wind, the falling of water, humming of bees, a sweet voice reading monotonously, tend to produce sleep; this is not so much the case with musical tones. 2. The trilling and quivering of the voice, which please so much, correspond to the glittering of light: as the moonbeams playing on the waves. 3. Falling from a discord to a concord, which produces so much sweetness in music, correspond to the affections, when brought out of a state of dislike; and also with the taste; which is soon cloyed with what is sweet alone. 4. Music has great effect on mind and body, making us warlike or the reverse, soft and effeminate, grave and light, gentle, kind and pitiful, &c., according to its nature, and performance; the reason is, because hearing is more closely associated with feeling or spirits, than the other senses. Observe the effect of Yankee Doodle, God save the King, Marseilles Hymn, &c. 5. When music speaks to the affection, affection obeys; as when nature speaks, nature replies. Let gratitude-in acts of goodness flow; |