2. Lo! from the regions of the North, (hq) 3. (18) 4. The reddening storm of battle pours; Fastens on the Olynthian towers. "Where rests the sword?—where sleep the brave? Awake! Cecropia's ally save From the fury of the blast; Burst the storm on Phocis' walls; The jarring States, obsequious now, 5. Borne by the tide of words along, (hlq) (p) 6. "To arms! to arms! to arms!" they cry, "Grasp the shield and draw the sword, Lead us to Philippi's lord, Let us conquer him or die!" Ah, Eloquence! thou wast undone; And blotted out the stars of heaven. 7. When Liberty from Greece withdrew, To where the Tiber pours his urn, 8. Now, shining forth, thou mad'st compliant Sinking fast in Slavery's arms! intervening phrase, before an adjective when it follows its noun, where there is an ellipsis, and before and after an important word or clause of a sentence. EXAMPLES. Industry | is the guardian of innocence. Prosperity gains friends; adversity | tries them. The great, invincible Alexander | wept at the fate of Darius. Precipitation | ruins the best contrived plans, patience | ripens the most difficult. Talents without application | are no security for progress in learning. Wealth with a benevolent disposition | renders the possessor a blessing to the world. Hers was a soul | replete with every noble quality. Add to your faith | virtue; and to virtue | knowledge; and to knowledge | temperance; and to temperance | patience. Is not the mystery comprehended in one word | sympathy? I have but one lamp, by which my feet are guided, and that | is the lamp of experience. EXERCISES ON MODULATION. Exercise 1.-To Illustrate Transition, Page 60. 1. HEARD ye those loud contending waves, And bid the raging tumult cease? 2. Lo! from the regions of the North, (hq) 3. (18) 4. The reddening storm of battle pours; Fastens on the Olynthian towers. "Where rests the sword?—where sleep the brave? Awake! Cecropia's ally save From the fury of the blast; Burst the storm on Phocis' walls; The jarring States, obsequious now, 5. Borne by the tide of words along, (hlq) "To arms! to arms! to arms!" they cry, "Grasp the shield and draw the sword, Lead us to Philippi's lord, Let us conquer him (p) 6. or die!" Ah, Eloquence! thou wast undone; And blotted out the stars of heaven. 7. When Liberty from Greece withdrew, And o'er the Adriatic flew, his urn, To where the Tiber pours 8. Now, shining forth, thou mad'st compliant Sinking fast in Slavery's arms! 9. I see thee stand by Freedom's fane, Giving vast conceptions birth; 10. First-born of Liberty divine! 11. Rise, kindling with the orient beam; Unfold the garments roll'd in blood! And point the way to heaven-to God. Exercise 2.-To Illustrate Rhetorical Pause, page 63. 1. THE business of training our youth in elocution | must be commenced in childhood. The first school | is the nursery. There, at least, may be formed a distinct articulation, which is the first requisite for good speaking. How rarely is it found in perfection among our orators! Words, says one, referring to articulation, should "be delivered out from the lips, as beautiful coins, newly issued from the mint; deeply and accurately impressed, perfectly finished, neatly struck by the proper organs, distinct, in due succession, and of due weight." 2. How rarely do we hear a speaker, whose tongue, teeth | and lips do their office so perfectly | as, in any wise, to answer to this beautiful description! And the common faults in articulation, it should be remembered, take their rise | from the very nursery. But let us refer to other particulars. 3. Grace in eloquence | in the pulpit, at the bar, cannot be separated from grace | in the ordinary manners, in private life, in the social circle, in the family. It cannot well be su perinduced upon all the other acquisitions of youth, any more than that nameless, but invaluable quality, called | good breeding. You may, therefore, begin the work of forming the orator with your child; not merely by teaching him to declaim, but, what is of much more consequence, by observing and correcting his daily manners, motions and attitudes. 4. We go, next, to the schools for children. It ought to be a leading object, in these schools, to teach the art of reading. It ought to occupy three-fold more time than it does. The teachers of these schools | should labor to improve themselves. They should feel, that to them, for a time, are committed the future orators of the land. 5. We had rather have a child, even of the other sex, return to us from school a first-rate reader, than a first-rate performer on the piano-forte. We should feel that we had a far better pledge for the intelligence and talent of our child. The accomplishment, in its perfection, would give more pleasure. The voice of song is not sweeter than the voice of eloquence; and there may be eloquent readers, as well as eloquent speakers. 6. We speak of perfection in this art; and it is something, we must say in defence of our preference, which we have never yet seen. Let the same pains be devoted to reading, as are required to form an accomplished performer on an instrument; let us have, as the ancients had, the formers of the voice, the music-masters of the reading voice; let us see years devoted to this accomplishment, and then we should be prepared to stand the comparison. 7. It is indeed a most intellectual accomplishment. So is music too in its perfection. We do by no means undervalue this noble and most delightful art; to which Socrates applied himself, even in his old age. But one recommendation of the art of reading is, that it requires a constant exercise of mind. It demands continual and close reflection and thought, and the finest discrimination of thought. It involves, in its perfection, the whole art of criticism on language. A man may possess a fine genius, without being a perfect reader; but he cannot be a perfect reader without genius. |