OBSERVATION 1.-When a circumstance (XII, p. 14) follows the interrogative, in close connection with it, the slide is continued to the end of the circumstance; as, 666 'Am I my brother's keeper?' said the unhappy man'." NOTE. This is because the circumstance takes its coloring from what precedes. OBSERVATION 2.—When the interrogative is unusually long, the rising slide is confined to the beginning and the end of the sentence, the intermediate part being delivered in a level tone; as, "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" ?) OBSERVATION 3.-When a sentence consists of several interrogations, more or less closely bound together, the parts should be delivered successively with the rising slide, each part a little higher than that which precedes it; as, "Was it not, evidently, that he might communicate happiness? and does not this design appear conspicuous on the open face of nature?" NOTE.-The reader must judge whether the series consists of independent interrogatives, or constitutes a single sentence in several parts. Ordinary punctuation is not an unerring guide. There are several exceptions to the rule. Thus, the definite interrogative may take a downward inflection (See CHAP. IV) when repeated: a. For more distinct understanding; as, "Did you see him there'?' 'Sir'?' 'Did you see him there'?'” b. As a rejoinder to an evasive reply; as, "Wilt thou be lord of all the world'? What sayst thou'?*Wilt thou be lord of the whole world'? That's twice.' c. For greater emphasis; as, "Will you deny it'? *For explanation of this reversal of the slide of an indefinite interrogative, see Chap. IV, exceptions to the rule, c. p. 43. Here we have an implied repetition; as though the question had been asked before, with the appropriate falling inflection. Will you deny it'?' said he, repeating the question in a louder and more emphatic tone." This includes also a peculiar case presented by declarations put for emphasis in interrogative form; as, "Didn't we have a good time'?" Again, the falling slide is used with a definite interrogative : When it is the last of a series of interrogatives, with or without intermediate answers; as, "Is he honest'? Is he faithful'? Is he capable'?" NOTE. Such a series involves the idea of climax. Finally, the falling slide is used with a definite interrogative: When the latter is stated or quoted; as, "The question is, will you go?" "He asked me, 'Shall you go to-day'?'" NOTE. For the rising slide with compellatives, see OBSERVATION, p. 18; with indefinite interrogatives, see e, p. 18, OBSERVATION 1, p. 19, and exceptions to the rule, p. 42. EXAMPLES FOR PRACTICE IN THE USE OF THE RISING SLIDE. Definite Interrogatives with Rising Slide. Did Paul make a worse preacher for being brought up at the feet of Gamaliel? Has any one called on you this morning, to invite you to the musical entertainment at the Odeon? Did not even-handed justice, ere long, commend the poisoned chalice to their own lips? Are the palaces of kings to be regarded with more interest than the humbler roofs that shelter millions of human beings? Is the celestial fire which glowed in their hearts for ever quenched, and nought but ashes left to mingle with the earth, and be blown around the world? Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Is it not remarkable that the same temper of weather which raises this general warmth of animals should cover the trees with leaves, and the fields with grass, for their security and concealment, and produce such infinite swarms of insects for the support and sustenance of their respective broods? Are all the feelings of ancestry, posterity, and fellowcitizenship; all the charm, veneration, and love bound up in the name of country; the delight, the enthusiasm with which we seek out, after the lapse of generations and ages, the traces of our fathers' bravery and wisdom, -are these all a legal fiction? Does prodigal Autumn to our age deny The plenty that once swelled beneath his sober eye? Dids't thou not hear the pother o'er thy head, And shook the Pyramids with fear and wonder Will a man play tricks, will he indulge A silly, fond conceit of his fair form And just proportion, fashionable mien, And pretty face, in presence of his God? Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn The just decrees of God, pronounced and sworn, With regal sceptre, every soul in heaven Shall bend the knee, and, in that honor due, Definite Interrogatives with Circumstance Included in the Rising Slide. Do you dread death in my company? he cried to the anxious sailors, when the ice on the coast of Holland had almost crushed the boat that was bearing him to the shore. Do you know Mr. Brown? said Arthur to his friend one morning at breakfast. Will you lend me a thousand francs? said he, suddenly turning to the sculptor. Isn't your brother riding that horse a little rashly? Reginald said to John Fletcher in the hunting field one day. Definite Interrogatives, the Length of which Modifies the Rising Slide. Is it then possible that we can be indifferent, that we can delay preparation for another state, that we can hesitate to embrace the proffers of grace, when death is an event that may occur at any moment, when it may occur now while I am speaking from this sacred desk? Can we believe a thinking being that is in a perpetual progress of improvement, and travelling on from perfection to perfection, after just having looked abroad into the works of his Creator, and made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, must perish at his first setting out, and in the very beginning of his inquiries? Should we not think it yery unreasonable, if he should, in this case, persist in discrediting the testimony even of a single man whose veracity he had no reason to suspect; and, much more, if he should persist in opposition to the concurrent and continually increasing testimony of numbers? Is it possible, that from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so much of admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, a growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a promise, yet to be fulfilled, so glorious? Is it because the natural resistance of things, and the various mutations of time, hinder our government, or any scheme of government, from being any more than a sort of approximation to the right, is it therefore that the colonies are to recede from it infinitely? With the eye of the enthusiast do you often gaze at the triumphs of the arts, and will you do nothing to rescue their choicest relics from worse than vandal barbarism? Could thirst of vengeance and desire of fame Infused by his own forming smile at first, Say, shall they feel the vessel reel, When to the battery's deadly peal Is aught so fair As virtuous friendship; as the honored roof |