2. It was not an eclipse that caused the darkness at the crucifixion of our Lord'; for the sun and moon were not relatively in a position to produce an eclipse'.

3. They are not fighting': do not disturb them: this man is not expiring with agony': that man is not dead': they are only pausing'.

4. My Lord, we could not have had such designs'.

5. It is not sufficient that you wish to be useful; you must nurse those wishes into action.

6. It is not for your silver bright',

But for your winsome lady.

7. You are not left alone to climb the steep ascent': God is with you, who never suffers the spirit that rests on him to fail.

EXCEPTION 1.-Emphasis may reverse this rule.

EXAMPLE.

We repeat it, we do not desire to produce discord; we do not` wish to kindle the flames of a civil war.

EXCEPTION 2.-General propositions usually have the falling inflection.

EXAMPLE.

God is not the author of sin'. Thou shalt not kill'.

RULE VI.-When a sentence closes with the falling inflection, the rising inflection, for the sake of harmony, often precedes it.

EXAMPLES.

1. He fought the Scythian in his cave', and the unconquered Arab fled before him.

2. Be perfect', be of good comfort, be of one mind', live in peace'.

3. They have forgotten their distresses'; every sorrow is hushed'; and every pang extinguished'.

EXCEPTION.-Emphasis may reverse this rule.

EXAMPLES.

1. Eloquence is action'; noble', sublime', godlike action.

2. If you care not for your life', respect your honor.

RULE VII.-Interrogative sentences and members of

sentences which can be answered by yes or no, generally require the rising inflection.

REMARK.-Such sentences most commonly commence with verbs.

EXAMPLES.

1. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation'?

2. Do we mean to submit' ?

3. Does the gentleman suppose it is in his power', to exhibit in Carolina a name so bright' as to produce envy' in my bosom?

4. If it be admitted, that strict integrity is not the shortest way to success, is it not the surest', the happiest', the best'?

5. Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens, To wash this crimson hand as white as snow?

EXCEPTION.-Emphasis may reverse this rule.

EXAMPLES.

1. Can you be so blind to your interest? Will you rush headlong to destruction?

2. I ask again, is there no hope of reconciliation? abandon all our fond anticipations?

3. Will you deny it? Will you deny` it?

4. Am I Dromio'? Am I your man'? Am I myself\?

Must wo

RULE VIII.—Interrogative exclamations, and words repeated as a kind of echo to the thought, require the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. Where grows', where grows it not?

2. What'! Might Rome have been taken'? Rome taken when

I was consul'?

3. Banished from Rome'! Tried and convicted traitor'!

4. Prince Henry. What's the matter?

Falstaff What's the matter? Here be four of us have taken

a thousand pounds this morning.

Prince H. Where is it, Jack, where is it?

Fal. Where is it? Taken from us, it is.

5. Ha! laughest thou Lochiel, my vision to scorn?

6. And this fellow calls himself a painter. A painter'! He is not fit to daub the sign of a paltry ale-house.

7. And this man is called a statesman. A statesman'? Why, he never invented a decent humbug.

8. Six moons are his, by Herschel shown;

Herschel', of modern times the boast.

9. I can not say, sir, which of these motives influence the advocates of the bill before us; a bill', in which such cruelties are proposed as are yet unknown among the most savage nations.

10. The man who was not only pardoned, but distinguished by you with the highest honors, is charged with an intention to kill you in your own house: an intention', of which, unless you imagine that he is utterly deprived of reason, you can not suspect him.

RISING AND FALLING INFLECTIONS.

RULE IX.-Words and members of a sentence expressing antithesis or contrast require opposite inflections.

EXAMPLES.

1. It is sown in corruption'; it is raised in incorruption'. 2. It is sown a natural' body; it is raised a spiritual' body. 3. By honor and dishonor'; by evil' report and good' report; as deceivers and yet true'.

4. What they know by reading', I know by experience'.

5. I could honor thy courage', but I detest thy crimes.

6. They slight my mean birth'; I despise their mean characters`. 7. It is easier to forgive the weak', who have injured us', than the powerful' whom we have injured.

8. When we fail, our pride supports' us; when we succeed, it betrays us.

9. Homer was the greater genius', Virgil the better artist'. 10. The style of Dryden is capricious and varied'; that of Pope is cautious and uniform'. Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind'; Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is sometimes vehement and rapid'; Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities, varied by exuberant vegetation'; Pope's is a velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe and leveled by the roller'.

11. If the flights of Dryden are higher', Pope continues longer on the wing. If the blaze of Dryden's fire is brighter', the heat of Pope's is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses' expectation, and Pope never falls below it.

REMARK 1.-Words and members connected by or used disjunctively, generally express contrast or antithesis, and always receive opposite inflections.

EXAMPLES.

1. Shall we advance', or retreat`?

2. Do you seek wealth', or power?

3. Is the great chain upheld by God', or thee?

4. Does he speak rationally', or irrationally`?

5. Is the book yours', or mine`?

6. Shall we return to our allegiance while we may do so with safety and honor', or shall we wait until the ax of the executioner is at our throats?

7. Shall we crown' the author of these public calamities with garlands', or shall we wrest' from him his ill-deserved authority`?

REMARK 2.—When the antithesis is between affirmation and negation, the latter usually has the rising inflection, according to Rule V.

EXAMPLES.

1. You were paid to fight against Philip, not to rail at him. 2. I said rationally`, not irrationally'.

3. I did not say rationally', but irrationally.

4. I said an elder soldier, not a better'.

5. I did not say a better soldier, but an elder'.

6. Let us retract while we can', not when we must'.

REMARK 3.-The more emphatic member generally receives the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. A countenance more in sorrow', than anger.

2. A countenance less in anger', than sorrow'.

3. He deserved punishment', rather than pity'.

4. You should show your courage by deeds', rather than by words'.

5. If we can not remove pain, we may alleviate it.

OF SERIES.

A SERIES is a number of particulars consisting of words or clauses, immediately following one another in the same grammatical construction.

A series is simple, when it consists of words.

EXAMPLE.-Faith, hope, love, joy, are the fruits of the spirit.

A series is compound, when it consists of clauses.

EXAMPLE.

So many human frailties, so many secret sins, so many offenses of ignorance, so many unguarded words, are connected with man's best estate, &c.

A commencing series is one which commences a sentence or clause.

EXAMPLE.—Faith, hope, love, joy, are the fruits of the spirit.

A concluding series is one which concludes a sentence or a clause.

EXAMPLE.—The fruits of the spirit are faith, hope, love, and joy. RULE X.-All the members of a commencing series usually require the falling inflection, except the last, which receives the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. War', famine' pestilence', storm', and fire', besiege mankind. 2. Harsh', oppressive', unjust', and uncalled' for measures, will always be resisted by a free people.

3. The knowledge, the power, the wisdom, the goodness' of God, must all be unbounded.

4. The poor', the aged', the sick' and the wounded', were left to perish.

5. To advise the ignorant', to relieve the needy`, and to comfort the afflicted', are duties that fall in our way, almost every day of our lives.

6. No state chicanery', no narrow system of vicious politics, no idle contest for ministerial victories', sank him to the vulgar level of the great.

7. For solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity', and wisdom of conclusion', no nation or body of men can compare with the Congress at Philadelphia.

8. The wise and the foolish', the virtuous and the evil', the learned and the ignorant', the temperate and the profligate', must often be blended together.