inflection is used in the latter member of an antithesis* of equal force in its constituent parts; thus,

"In Homer, we admire the mán; in Virgil, the work."

"Are you toiling for fáme, or labouring to heap up a fortune?"

RISING INFLECTION.

RULE I. Forms of speech which excite expectation of farther expression,-whether they occur in the form of question, or of incomplete thought, and suspension of sense,-raise or suspend the voice by the rising inflection.

Note 1. The circumstance of incompleteness, or expectation, is the turning point on which depend all the rules for the rising inflection, as far as this slide is associated with meaning addressed to the understanding. Feeling and harmony are the governing principles embodied in all the other rules on this inflection. The extent of the slide, or, in other words, the interval which the rising inflection traverses, in these cases, is prescribed by the nature of the prevalent emotion, in each instance. But in the circumstances presumed in Rule I., the slide is more or less elevated, according to the degree of expectation excited by the phrase to which it is applied, or the length of the clause which it terminates, and consequently the length of time during which the attention is kept in suspense.

Hence, in marked suspension of sense, and in the vivid expectation consequent upon it, the inflection runs high,-usually traversing an 'octave' or a 'fifth; thus,

"Shall we then tamely yield, or bravely resist ?"

In the moderate suspension of connexion, on the contrary, the inflection is much reduced; seldom rising above a 'third;' sometimes limited to a single note, or even a semitone; and sometimes preserving a per

* The antithesis of unequal parts, occurs under Rule II. on the falling inflection.

fect monotone. The annexed example, read in the tone of solemn description, allows but a very slight interval to the rising slide on the word 'falls.'

"The dew of night falls, and the earth is refreshed."

In the following and similar examples, the inflection rises in proportion as the clause or clauses to which it belongs, are lengthened:

"As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so the advances we make in knowledge, are only perceived by the distance gone over."

"As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not percéive its moving; so our advances in learning, consisting of insensible steps, are only perceivable by the distance."

"As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial-plate, but did not perceive its moving; and it appears that the grass has grown, though nobody ever saw it grow so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist of so minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance.”

Note 2. Rule I. on the rising inflection applies in the tone of a question which requires an affirmative or a negative answer; in the tone of surprise, as it intimates suspense, and is usually expressed in the form of question; in respectful address, request, petition, or apostrophe; in the negative, or less forcible, part of an antithesis; in the expression of a condition, a supposition, or a concession; in the first part of a comparison, a contrast, of a correspondence; in the expression of connexion or continuance; in any phrase which is introductory to another, and leaves the sense of a passage incomplete.

Examples.

Questions admitting of an affirmative or a negative answer: "Will you obéy so atrocious a mandate?" Surprise: "Há! laughest thou, Lochiel, my vision to scórn?"

"What! surrender on terms so dishonourable ?" Address: "My lórd, I think I saw him yesternight."

"Can you, fellow-citizens, be misled by such arguments?"

Request: "Refuse not this last request of friendship!"

Petition: "Oh! gently on thy suppliant's head,

Dread goddess, lay thy chastening hand!" Apostrophe: O sacred Trúth, thy triumphs ceased awhile,'

Antithesis: "He came not with the aspect of véngeance but of mercy."

Condition or supposition: "If we attempt to number the stárs, we are presently bewildered and lost: if we attempt to compass the idea of etérnity, we are overwhelmed by the contemplation of a theme so vast."

Concession: "Science may raise you to éminence; but virtue alone can guide you to felicity."

Comparison, contrast, and correspondence: "As face answereth to face in water, so the heart of man to man."

Dryden is sometimes vehement and rápid: Pope is always smooth, uniform, and gentle."

Connexion and continuance: "He came unto his ówn, and his own received him not."

Introductory phrase: "In the midst of perpléxities, he was never discouraged."

Application of Rule I. to series of words and clauses. The last member of a commencing series is read with the rising inflection.

A commencing series is that in which the sense is merely commenced, or left incomplete, at every word or clause; the whole being introductory to a following phrase.

[Compare this with the definition of the concluding series, in the application of Rule IV. on the falling inflection.]

Examples. Vàlour, humànity, courtesy, jùstice, and honour, were the characteristics of chivalry."

"Personal coùrage, humane feèling, courteous de

pòrtment, a strict regard to jùstice, and a high sense of honour, were the characteristics of chivalry.*

Note 3. Exceptions to all the applications of Rule I. on the rising inflection, occur in cases of peculiar force or emphasis. In such instances, the falling inflection supersedes the rising; as the former is the invariable indication of energetic expression, and the rule of force displaces every other, in the utterance of thought.

Examples.

Earnest interrogation: "He now appears before a jury of his country for redress. Will you deny him this redress."

Interrogation of emphasis: "Do you think that your conditions will be accepted? Can you even imagine they will be listened to ?"

Peculiar distinction in contrast: "If we have no regard for our own character, we ought to have some regard for that of others."

Emphatic expression in condition and supposition: "If you did, I care not.'

Energetic expression, although marked by the forms of connexion and continuance of meaning:

"Such, where ye find, seize fast, and hither bring." Introductory and incomplete expression, when emphatic: "Destitute of every shadow of excuse, he shrunk abashed at the reproof." "Every day he lived, he would have repurchased the bounty of the

* The falling inflection seems, notwithstanding the incomplete sense of a commencing series, to belong appropriately to all the members but the last, on the principle of enumeration, which, from its approach to completeness at every stage, naturally inclines to the falling inflection, as we may ascertain by referring to the customary tope of serious and attentive counting or reckoning. This inflection, however, is of minor consequence, and, unless in emphatic language, may be superseded by the rising, without any other defect, than a comparative want of force and harmony. It is the closing inflection of the series which is essential to meaning, and indicates to the ear, whether the sense is complete or incomplete, and whether the series is a commencing or a concluding one. [See Concluding Remarks on Inflection.]

crown, and ten times mòre, if ten times more he had received."

The last member of a commencing series, if emphatic "His hopes, his happiness, his very life, hung upon the next word from those lips."

:

Expressions of surprise, when emphatic: "It does not seem possible, even after the testimony of our

senses.'

Forcible address: "Mr. Chairman, I call on your interference to put a stop to this uproar."

Request, petition, intreaty, apostrophe: "Be husband to me, Heavens!"

Note 4. The rising inflection gives place to the falling, in the tone of an interrogatory sentence which extends to unusual length, or concludes a long paragraph or an entire piece; thus,

"The Brigantines, even under a female leader, had force enough to burn the enemy's settlements, to storm their camps, and if success had not introduced negligence and inactivity, would have been able entirely to throw off the yoke; and shall not we, untouched, unsubdued, and struggling not for the acquisition, but the continuance of liberty, declare, at the very first onset, what kind of men Caledonia has reserved for her defence?"

RULE II. The tones of pathos,-of tenderness and of grief,-usually incline to the rising inflection.

For examples turn to Note 2d, Rule IV. on the falling inflection.

Exception. The exclamations of excessive grief take the appropriate falling inflection of force; thus, "Oh! my son Absalom! my sòn, my son Absalom!"

RULE III. Poetic and beautiful description,whether in the form of verse or of prose,—has the rising inflection.

For examples see as above, and add the following: "When the gay and smiling aspect of things, has