6. Canst thou draw out leviathana with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put a hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish-spears?

7. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lion? Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee! or abide by thy crib? Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder like him?

SECTION IV.

RULE 4. When negation is opposed to affirmation, the former has the rising, and the latter, the falling inflection, in whatever order they occur.

EXAMPLES.

1. It is not my design to blame the army, but the gèneral. 2. I did not come to práise Cæsar, but to bùry him!

3. His plans were well devised, but not well éxecuted.

4. We may give advice, but we cannot give cónduct.

5. We should not adopt a mechánical variety in reading, but a natural one.

6. Our heavenly Benefactor claims, not the homage of our líps, but of our hèarts.

7. It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to règulate them.

8. This is the main point; not univérsal progress, but hùman progress; not progress, éverywhere, but progress, somewhere.

a Leviathan, an aquatic animal, mentioned in Job. It is uncertain whether the crocodile, whale, or some huge aquatic serpent is intended.

QUESTION. What is the rule when negation is opposed to affirmation? Give an example.

EXCEPTION. When the negative clause is attended with strong emphasis, it usually requires the falling inflection, and the affirmative. the rising.

EXAMPLES.

1. You shall not depart, but your brother may.

2. Openly, you dare nòt reproach that man; but secretly, you slánder him.

3. Such conduct would not be excusable in youth; much less, in old áge.

REMARK. It is maintained by some elocutionists, and, perhaps, with a degree of plausibility, that when negation is opposed to affirmation, the negative clause takes the slight circumflex, instead of the rising inflection, as required by the rule; and also, in all examples in which comparison or condition is expressed, and the falling inflection is required on one of the clauses, that the slight circumflex, instead of the rising inflection, should be used on the contrasted word in the other, in whatever order the inflections may occur: thus, It was not his business to teach moral, but nàtural philosophy. The General was noted more for ràshness than courage. If the population of this country were to remain stationary, no great effort, would be necessary, to supply each family with the Bible.

It may be well for the pupil to practice reading examples like these, whenever they may occur in the following pages; first, with the rising inflection, and then, with the slight circumflex, or vice versa, in order to train his ear to distinguish their difference, and to determine which reading will best express the meaning of the sentence; but great care will be necessary not to mistake one inflection for the other.

EXERCISE.

1. Be gràve, but not fórmal; be resèrved, but not sóur; be bòld, but not rásh; be hùmble, but not sérvile; be pàtient,

QUESTIONS. What is the exception to this rule? Give an example. What is said in the remark under this rule ?

but not insénsible; be cònstant, but not obstinate; be chèerful, but not light; be familiar, but not too íntimate; exercise great caution in the choice of your assòciates, but do not reject those who are worthy.

2. Think not the influence of devotion is confined to the retirement of the closet, and the assemblies of the saínts; imagine not, that, unconnected with the duties of life, it is suited only to those, whose feelings, perhaps, you deride as romantic and vísionary; but rather consider it the guardian of innocence; the instrument of virtue; the mean by which every good affection may be improved.

3. Virtue is of intrinsic value and good desèrt; not the creature of will, but necessary and immutable; not lócal, or témporary, but of equal extènt and antiquity with the divine mind; not a mode of sensation, but everlasting truth; not dependent on power, but the guide of all power.

4. These things I say, now, not to insult one that is fállen, but to render more secure those who stand; not to irritate the hearts of the wounded, but to preserve those who are not wounded, in sound health; not to submerge him who is tossed on the billows, but to instruct those sailing before a propitious breèze, that they may not be plunged beneath the waves.

5. In the spring-time, your fields shall grow green, but they shall not gladden your eye; your flocks shall sport thereon, but it shall bring no delight to you; the brier and the thorn shall flourish around your hedge, because your hand is not there to prune; your children shall prattle around the lonely fireside, but it shall bring no joy to your bosom; the sun shall rise in its wonted splendor, and go down with all its gorgeous beauty, but the cold walls of a prison shall bound your vision, confine your hopes, and prolong your woes.

6. Xerxes,a in projecting the conquest of Greece, did not evince wisdom, but rashness. His army did not pass the Bosphorus bin boats, but on a bridge. His expedition did not fail for want of men, but the lack of discipline. The Greeks were not as numerous as the Persians, but they were braver. Xerxes did not anticipate the defeat of his army, but was compelled to witness their overthrow. He did not expect to be driven from the Grecian coast, as a mere fugitive, but to return to his capital, as a proud conqueror- -not deserted by his friends, but surrounded by captives in chains.

SECTION V.

RULE 5. When words or clauses are contrasted, they take opposite inflections; the first member usually requires the rising inflection, and the latter, the falling. This order, however, is sometimes reversed.

EXAMPLES.

1. Love and hatred, hópe and fèar, jóy and grièf.

2. Labor brings pleasure, but idleness, pain.

3. Charms strike the síght, but merit wins the sòul.

4. Gentleness often disarms the fíerce, and melts the stubborn. 5. Envy shoots at others, but wounds herself.

6. Youth indulges in hópe, but old age, in remèmbrance.

7. He, who thinks to deceive Gód, deceives himself.

8. Pride is easily seen in others, but we rarely see it in ourselves.

a Xerxes, king of Persia, 485, B. C., famous for his attempt to conquer Greece. He was murdered, in his bed, in the twenty-first year of his reign. b Bosphorus, the strait which leads from the Black sea into the sea of Marmora.

QUESTIONS. What is the rule when words or clauses are contrasted? Give an example. When words and clauses are compared, how should they be read? Give examples.

NOTE. Words and clauses, when compared with each other, also require opposite inflections.

EXAMPLES.

1. Words are like leaves, and déeds like frùit.

2. We should estimate men more by their heàrts, than by their heads.

3. We should be governed more by reason and reflèction, than by feéling and impulse.

EXERCISE I.

1. A wise son maketh a glad fáther; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish; but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

2. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hánd; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in súmmer, is a wise son; but he that sleepeth in hàrvest, is a son that causeth shame.

3. Blessings are upon the head of the júst; but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall ròt.

4. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown; but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth, is heaviness.

5. A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil; but the fool rageth, and is confident. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness; but the righteous hath hope in his death. Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.