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-if the bellying clouds were torn open by the mountain tops, and complete torrents of rain came rattling down. The lightning leaped from cloud to cloud, and streamed quivering against the rocks, splitting and rending the stoutest forest trees. The thunder burst in tremendous explosions; the peals were echoed from mountain to mountain; they crashed upon Dunderburg, and then rolled up the long defile of the highlands, each headland making a new echo, until old Bull Hill seemed to bellow back the storm.

Reverence and Awe

O thou Eternal One! whose presence bright
All space đoth occupy; all motion guide;
Unchanged through time's all devastating flight,
Thou only God! There is no God beside.
Being above all beings! Mighty One!
Whom none can comprehend, and none explore,
Who fillest existence with thyself alone;
Embracing all, supporting all, ruling o'er-
Being whom we call God.

And what am I, then?

Heaven's unnumbered host

Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed
In all the glory of sublimest thought,
Is but an atom in the balance weighed
Against thy greatness; is a cipher brought
Against infinity! What am I then? Naught!
Naught? But the effluence of thy light divine,
Pervading all worlds, hath reached my bosom too;
Yes, in my spirit doth thy spirit shine,

As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew.
Naught? But I live, and on hope's pinions fly,
Eager toward thy presence; for in thee

I live, and breathe, and dwell; aspiring high,
Even to the throne of thy divinity.

I am, O God, and surely thou must be.

RULE 5. The language of scorn, contempt, or threatened revenge, requires, in most instances, a deep and guttural voice, rather slow movement, forcible utterance, and very emphatic significancy of expression.

QUESTION.

EXAMPLES.

Scorn and Contempt.

I would that now

I could forget the wretch who stands before me;

What is Rule Fifth, or the rule for the language of scorn?

For he is like the accursed and crafty snake!

Hence from my sight! Thou Satan, get behind me!
Go from my sight! I hate and I despise thee!
These were thy pious hopes; and I, forsooth,
Was in thy hands a pipe to play upon;

And at thy music my poor soul to death
Should dance before thee!

Thou stand'st at length before me undisguised,
Of all earth's groveling crew the most accursed.
Thou worm! thou viper! to thy native earth
Return! Away! Thou art too base for man
To tread upon.
Thou scum! thou reptile!

Revenge.

If they wrong her honor,

The proudest of them shall well hear of it.
Time has not yet so dried this blood of mine,
Nor age so eat up my invention,

Nor fortune made such havoc of my means,
Nor my bad life 'reft me so much of friends,
But they shall find awaked in such a kind,
Both strength of limb and policy of mind,
Ability in means, and choice of friends,
To quit me of them thoroughly.

RULE 6. Language expressing joy, mirth, or other pleasurable emotions, should be read with a quick movement, on a key slightly elevated, and with a smooth and flowing voice.

EXAMPLES.

Joy.

Then is Orestes blest! My griefs are fled!
Fled like a dream! Methinks I tread in air!
Surprising happiness! unlooked for joy!
Never let love despair! The prize is mine!
Be smooth, ye seas! and, ye propitious winds,
Blow from th' Epirus to the Spartan coast!

And darkness and doubt are now flying away;
No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn;

QUESTIONS. What are the subjects of the Examples under Rule Fifth? What is Rule Sixth, or the rule for language of joy, &c.? What are the subjects of the Exam ples under this rule ?

So breaks on the traveler faint and astray,

The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn.
See truth, love and mercy, in triumph descending,
And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom!
On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending,
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.

Gayety.

I come! I come! - ye have called me long;
I come o'er the mountains with light and song.
Ye may trace my step o'er the wakening earth,
By winds which tell of the violet's birth,
By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass,
By the green leaves opening as I pass.

From the streams and founts I have loosed the chain;
They are sweeping on to the silvery main,
They are flashing down from the mountain brows,
They are flinging spray o'er the forest boughs,-
They are bursting fresh from their sparry caves,
And the earth resounds with the joy of waves!

NOTE. When excessive joy is accompanied by strong excitement, it should be read on an elevated key, and sometimes even on the shouting pitch.

EXAMPLE.

Excessive Joy.

Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again!

I hold to you the hands you first beheld,

To show they still are free. Methinks I hear
A spirit in your echoes answer me,

And bid your tenant welcome to his home
Again! O, sacred forms, how proud you look!
How high you lift your heads into the sky!
How huge you are! how mighty and how free!
Ye are the things that tower, that shine, whose smile
Makes glad, whose frown is terrible, whose forms,
Robed or unrobed, do all the impress wear
Of awe divine. Ye guards of liberty!
I'm with you once again! I call to you
With all my voice! I hold my hands to you
To show they still are free. I rush to you,
As though I could embrace you!

QUESTION. What is the Note under Rule Sixth ?

RULE 7. The expression of anger is lond, uigh, vehement, and rapid in movement, varying, however, according to the intensity of excitement.

EXAMPLE.

Must I endure all this?

All this? ay, more. Fret till your proud heart break;

Go, show your slaves how choleric you are,
And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge?
Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humor? By the gods,
You shall digest the venom of your spleen,

Though it do split you! for, from this day forth,
I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,
When you are waspish.

RULE 8. The language of authority, reproof, affirmation, denial, and defiance, generally requires a strong, full, energetic voice, deliberate utterance, and falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

Authority.

Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen!
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head;
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood;
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves.
A thousand hearts are great within my bosom;
Advance our standards, set upon our foes!
Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!
Upon them! Victory sits on our helms.

Authority and Defiance.

Whence and what art thou, execrable shape!
That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates? through them I mean to pass !
That be assured, without leave asked of thee.
Retire, or taste thy folly; and learn by proof,
Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of Heaven.

QUESTIONS. What is Rule Seventh? What is Rule Eighth? How should the Examples under this rule be read? What are the subjects of the examples under Rule Eighth ?

To whom the goblin full of wrath replied; —
Art thou that traitor angel? art thou he,

Who first broke peace in heaven, and faith, till then
Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms

Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons,
Conjured against the Highest, for which both thou
And they, outcast from God, are here condemned
To waste eternal days in woe and pain?
And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heaven,
Hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here and scorn,
Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more,
Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment,
False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings,
Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue

Thy ling ring, or with one stroke of this dart,
Strange horrors seize thee, and pangs unfelt before.

Transition.

TRANSITION means those sudden changes of the voice that are made in reading or speaking, prompted by the emotions which the sentiment of the language inspires.

The general principles upon which transition depends may be learned by carefully studying the rules given for expression.

In order to present these changes to the eye, the following characters will be used.

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These marks are in some instances used in combination; as, (s p) slow and plaintive.

EXAMPLES.

He scarce had ceased, when the superior fiend

Was moving toward the shore;

He called so loud that all the hollow deep

*How far the influence of these characters extends is left for the reader to determine.

QUESTIONS. What is Transition? How can the general principles of Transition be learned? Explain the characters used to mark the changes of voice in Transition. How shall the reader determine how far the influence of the rhetorical characters extends ?

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