three dots, (...); and a pause still longer, by four, (....).

When justly made, rhetorical pauses tend greatly to heighten the effect of a passage. They may, in general, be better regu'lated by good taste, than by any set of rules.

Example." Alexander wept." "The great and invincible Alexander.. wept at the fate of Darius.”

Remark. No grammatical pause is allowable between a nominative and its verb, unless they are separated by an intervening adjunct of considerable length or importance. Hence, in the sentence, "Alexander wept," no pause is required be tween the nominative and the verb; but,

RULE I.

When the nominative has an adjunct prefixed, and the verb, an adjunct affixed, a pause is necessary between them; as, "The great and invincible Alexander . . wept at the fate of Darius."

Remark.—If the unpractised student be made to understand, that, in this last example, the phrases in Italicks, constitute the adjuncts, he will readily perceive the importance and the application of the Rule.

EXERCISES.

Masterly excellence.. is the fruit of genius. . combined with great industry.

But small the bliss.. that sense alone bestows,
And sensual bliss. . is all that nation knows.

Whilst some affect the sun, and some, the shade,
Some.. flee the city, some, the hermitage,
I paint the gloomy horrours of the tomb,

The appointed place of rendezvous, where all
These travellers. .: meet.

The design and application of the ordinary points or stops, are too well known to require, in this place, any particular notice or discussion.* It may be proper to remark, however, that no one who applies these points with discrimination and judgment, ever considers any one of them as a sign for pausing through a given or determinate length of time; but they are

• For a brief, and, at the same time, comprehensive and practical, system of Punc mation, the reader is respectfully referred to the author's "English Grammar in fainil. iar Lectures," page 209, and onward.

regarded as relative symbols for pausing, or, in other words, as signs employed to denote, not only the place for pausing, but, also, the relative time between one pause and another. Hence, the proper length of every pause, depends entirely on the structure of the passage, and the nature of the sentiments, enunciated. Wherever the composition and the sentiments admit of a rapid or an accelerated movement of the voice, the pauses, in general, should be shorter than in those instances which a slower movement is required.

Example. The lawyer, the stranger, and the lady, all became friendly, social, and witty over their wine.

Remark. It must be obvious to every one, that the appropriate pauses in this example, are much shorter than would be allowable in the following

Examples.-Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia.

Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear.

A good, a great, a brilliant man, may fall a victim to power; but truth, and reason, and liberty, must fall with him.

She sobbed, and sighed, and turned her weeping eye
To th' lorn, lost, lonely object of her love.

It should, therefore, be borne in mind, that the arbitrary marks or signs called points, are not to be considered as indicative of the precise nature and length of the respective pauses which a good elocution demands; but these, as has been already remarked, are to be regulated by the nature and character of the sentiments uttered.

Grammatical pauses have respect to the utterance of language in such a manner as merely to make the meaning intelligible; but rhetorical pauses contemplate something more: when happily and skilfully applied, their effect is to heighten the beauty and meaning, and increase the force, of the sentiments delivered.

Rhetorical pauses may be still farther indicated by

RULE II.

A nominative noun, when unaccompanied by an adjunct, generally requires a slight pause between it and its verb; as, "Religion.. claims the first place in our hearts: reason.. has an equal demand on our heads."

EXAMPLES.

Industry.. is the guardian of innocence.

Prosperity.. gains friends, and adversity. . tries them.

America.. is full of youthful promise; Europe. . is rich in the accumulated treasures of age: her very ruins.. tell the history of times gone by, and every mouldering stone. . is a chronicle.

Secrecy.. has been well termed . . the soul of all great designs.

Courage.. is incompatible with the fear of death; but every
villain.. fears death: therefore, no villain.. can be brave.
Some.. place the bliss in action, some, in ease;
Those..call it pleasure, and contentment, these.
Beauty, thou pretty plaything! dear deceit !

The grave.. discredits thee: thy charms. . expunged,
Thy roses.. faded, and thy lilies.. soiled,

What hast thou more to boast of?

Remarks. In those places distinguished by the dots, in the foregoing examples, it would be improper to insert any one of the points of punctuation; yet nothing can be more evident to a chaste ear, than that a short pause in each of these places, tends to present the meaning in a clearer and more striking point of view than it would be without such rhetorical pause.

In the following sentence from Pope, it will be perceived that no grammatical pause is required immediately after the word "is," yet, in order to bring out the meaning at the close with full energy and effect, a good reader would not fail to take advantage of the rhetorical pause, by throwing it in between the words "is," and "his."

Example. On whatever side we contemplate Homer, what principally strikes us, is . . . his wonderful in-VEN-tion.

The pause here described, as well as those indicated by the dots in the following examples, are usually denominated EMPHATICK PAUSES.

EMPHATICK PAUSE.

An EMPHATICK PAUSE is a rhetorical pause, occurring either immediately before, or after, some striking thought is uttered, to which thought the speaker wishes to direct the special attention of his hearers.

EXAMPLES.

But in Rome, the same vices, the same loss of learning, vir

tue, and love of country, succeeded as in Greece: her generals and soldiers fought, her senators and magistrates made and enacted laws, for . . soR-did considerations; and Rome, from a republick, became an empire, relinquished her literary eminence, her virtue, and her liberty, declined . . . and FELL.

And, where the future mars or makes,
The soul shall glance o'er all to be,
While sun is quenched, or system breaks,
FIXED... in its own eternity.

Remarks. In this last example, the effect will be increased by dropping the voice after the word "fixed" to an under-key. The effect is, also, sometimes wonderfully heightened by changing the key-note on the emphatick word itself, and, more especially, by protracting the sounds of the tonick elements.

The happy application of rhetorical pauses, requires the exercise of no small degree of judgment and good taste; and when thus applied, they prove faithful and powerful auxiliaries in good delivery. No one of common discrimination, can but perceive, for example, the happy effect of the rhetorical pauses, as indicated by the dots, in the following examples, although an ordinary reader would pronounce them without any such pauses. Examples.

No useless coffin.. enclosed his breast,

Nor in sheet, nor in shroud, we bound him;
But he lay... like a warriour taking his rest...
With his martial cloak around him.

We carved not a line, we raised not a stone,
But.. left him alone... with his glory.

The foregoing illustrations are designed merely to awaken an interest in the mind of the learner, and to direct his attention to this important subject—a subject in which he may find ample scope for the advantageous exercise of his oratorical powers

POETRY AND VERSIFICATION.

POETRY is the language of passion, or of enlivened imagination.

VERSIFICATION, in English, is the harmonious arrangement of a particular number and variety of accented and unaccented syllables, according to particular laws.

RHYME is the correspondence of the sound of

the last syllable in one line, to the sound of the last syllable in another: as.

There sea-born gales their gelid wings expand
To winnow fragrance round the smiling land.

BLANK VERSE consists in poetical thoughts expressed in regular numbers, but without the correspondence of sound at the end of the lines which constitutes rhyme; as,

The waters slept: night's silvery veil hung low
On Jordan's bosom, and the eddies curled
Their glassy rings beneath it, like the still,
Unbroken beating of the sleeper's pulse.

POETICAL FEET consist in a particular arrangeinent and connexion of a number of accented and unaccented syllables. They are called feet, because it is by their aid that the voice, as it were, steps along through the verse in a measured

pace.

All poetick feet consist either of two, or of three, syllables; and are reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables each, and four of three, as follows:

A Trochee has the first syllable accented, and the last unaccented; as, Hateful, pélting:

An Iambus has the first syllable unaccented, and the last accented; as, Bětray, consist:

The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke děcây,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;

Thy realm för evěr lasts, thy ōwn Messiah reigns.

A Dactyle has the first syllable accented, and the last two unaccented; as, Labourer, póssible:

From the low pleasures of this fallen nature.

An Anapast has the first two syllables unaccented, and the last accented; as, Contravéne, acquiésce:

At the close of the day when the hamlet is still,
And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove,