if it can be done. To begin, then: I have found several examples of indirect questions which I can not reconcile with Rule Third. Thus, in the following:

Question. Will he go'?

Ans. I think it doubtful'.

Question. Why not'?

The last question here is indirect; that is, it can not be answered by yes or no, and yet it is evident to me that it takes the rising inflection. I do not see that either the Rule', or the Note', provides for a case of this kind. Can you explain it'?

Bernardo. I think you yourself will discover, by a little reflection, that the example does not, in reality, violate the Rule. You will observe that the answer, "Why not?" is not a completed sentence. What would the

answer be if completed'?

Crito. Indeed, I did not think of that; but I can explain it now. The complete answer is, "Why will he not' go`?" which has the falling inflection. Bernardo. Yes, you have given the correct explanation-partially so, at least. In nearly all cases the falling inflection begins at a point higher than the key-note; and in this case it strikes the word "not" on a high key, preparatory to its downward slide. As soon as the voice strikes it, however, it begins to fall; and, if I were to be critically correct, I should perhaps say this very word "not" is pronounced with the falling inflection. I admit that it appears to have the rising slide. In the word "doubtful'," in the same example, we find a parallel case, for the first syllable of it is struck on a high key, and might, with the same propriety as in the case of the word "not," have received the rising inflection.

Crito. But I have still another kind of indirect question, which I think can not be explained in this way. It is the following, which I recently heard an eloquent divine read, giving the rising inflection to all the questions:

How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed'? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard' ? and how shall they hear without a preacher'? and how shall they preach except they be sent'?

Now, although these questions may be read with the falling slide, yet it seems very evident that they may also be read with the rising, with equal propriety.

Bernardo. And yet I think it may be maintained, with very good reason, that all these questions, even as you have read them, take the falling slide in the closing syllable, the voice merely striking the closing words at a high pitch, and then immediately falling. The word "preacher" is pronounced, in the example given, in a manner very different from what it is in the following example, "Is he a preacher' ?" As the latter is plainly the rising inflection, it may well be doubted if the former is.

Crito. I perceive a difference; and yet I think most persons would consider that the examples given have the rising inflection. The voice certainly rises very high to strike the closing words; and its downward slide, if there be any, is scarcely perceptible.

Bernardo. If we should admit that these questions may be pronounced with the rising inflection as well as with the falling, then I should say that the precise meaning, or the force of the expression, can not be the same in both cases; and this brings us back to one of the principles which we established in our first evening's conversation-that, "if two persons have the same understanding of a passage, both ought to read it in the same manner."

Crito. But I do not see that this principle furnishes any reason for a de

parture from the Rule, that an indirect question requires the falling inflection. Are not the examples which I gave indirect questions' ?

Bernardo. They are, assuredly; but they can scarcely be said to be complete questions any more than the other examples which puzzled you. Let me change the form a little, and complete the question in each case, and I think you will admit that each still takes the falling inflection at the close, even if you think it does not now.

How shall they call on him if they have not believed' what is said concerning him`? and how shall they believe in him if they have not heard of him`? and how shall they hear without a preacher' be sent to them`? and how shall they preach except they be sent' for that purpose'?

Crito. The words "believe," "heard," "preacher," and "sent," which ended the several questions in the first form of expression, you' have made emphatic'.'

Bernardo. They were also made emphatic before; and that is the principal reason why the divine, whom you heard read them, struck them on so high a key as to give them the appearance of taking the rising inflection. He supposed that the Apostle Paul, in these remarks, wished to give the greatest force and prominence to the ideas embraced in these particular words; and as these words were contained in the class of indirect questions, which naturally end with the falling inflection, it was only by striking them on a very high key that the object could be accomplished. Having in mind this view of the apostle's meaning, nature directed him how to express it. Another divine, not taking the same view of the passage, would read these questions, as I have usually heard them read, with the falling inflection very apparent. You will please remember that the Third Rule says, "Indirect questions generally require the falling inflection."

Crito. And, as you have explained the examples which I produced, I see that even they, the strongest cases which I could find, can scarcely be called exceptions to the Rule.

Bernardo. And, what is of still greater interest and importance, these examples are additional testimony in confirmation of the principle that, when different readings are given to a passage, and both are considered correct, they always arise from somewhat different views in the minds of the readers. Are there any other points which you would like to take up at this time'?

Crito. Since our last conversation I have found several cases in which the rising inflection is found at the close of a sentence not a question, and I find nothing by which to explain this apparent opposition to Rule Fourth. I will read the examples:

1. Then said Agrippa unto Festus', This man might have been set at liberty` if he had not appealed unto Cæsar'.

2. Ingratitude is, therefore, a species of injustice', said Socrates. I should think so',

answered Leander'.

3. Whence arises the misery of this present world'? It is not owing to our cloudy atmosphere', our changing seasons', our inclement skies'. It is not owing to the debility of our bodies, or to the unequal distribution of the gifts of fortune'. It is owing to our corrupt hearts, our sinful natures`.

4. If we have no regard for religion in youth', we ought to have some regard for it in age'.

5. If we have no regard for our own character', we ought to have some regard for the character of others.'

1 Here the rising slide is given to the closing word, in accordance with the Note to Rule IV. So, also, if Crito had said, "You have made emphatic'; but I did not'." Probably the true principle which controls the inflection here is that embraced in Rule IX. B

Bernardo. For a solution of these difficulties, I must refer you, in the first place, to what is said of the pause of suspension under Rule Second.

Crito. I confess that I am still in the dark, as I do not see wherein this rule applies to the examples which I have given.

Bernardo. Perhaps it would have been well if the following had been inserted as a Note explanatory of Rule Second: Sentences which are inverted · in form, often bring the pause of suspension, and consequently the rising inflection, at the close, thus forming an apparent, but not real, exception to the rule. Now let us change some of these examples back to their more simple forms: 1. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, If this man had not appealed unto Cæsar' he might have been set at liberty'.

2. Ingratitude is therefore a species of injustice', said Socrates. Leander answered', I

should think so'.

3. Whence arises the misery of this present world? It is not owing to our cloudy atmosphere', our changing seasons', our inclement skies'; but it is owing to our corrupt hearts', our sinful natures'.

Although the last two examples which you gave may also be changed so as to bring the falling inflection at the close, yet, without this, they may be explained as having much the character of sentences of gentle appeal, reproof, or expostulation, which take the rising inflection in accordance with Rule IX., and with what is said of both negative and affirmative sentences under the Note to Rule VI. I will give you one or two examples, quite similar to those mentioned by you, but in which the tone of "gentle entreaty or expostulation" is a little more apparent:

6. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs'. 7. But she said, Truth', Lord': yet the dogs' eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table'.-Matt., xv., 26–27.

If you will examine closely you will find that several of the examples given, especially those numbered 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, are examples in which negation is opposed to affirmation; and you must bear in mind that, although the speaker may not express the affirmative part of the sentence, yet, if he has it in his mind, he will give to the negative part the rising inflection, in accordance with Rule VI. Thus, if I speak the negative sentence, "I did not say he was a good citizen'," and give it the rising inflection, I thereby show that I have also an affirmative declaration in my mind.

Crito. I must confess that the difficulties which troubled me have been more easily removed than I anticipated. I am beginning to think there is more science and true philosophy in the art of reading than is usually conceded.

Bernardo. You will find this philosophy more and more apparent the farther you proceed. The inflections which we give to speech depend wholly upon the sentiments which we wish to express. Being designed as the exponents of thought, they are not arbitrary or optional, but have their basis in the nature of speech itself. Words are but arbitrary signs of thought; but inflections, especially where they are at all marked, are natural signs, and are therefore the same in all languages. But I have not time to dwell upon this subject here, although it is one that has been wonderfully overlooked by our best elocutionists. In our next conversation I trust we shall be able to enter upon an examination of principles that are somewhat in advance of the Elementary Rules that we have thus far been considering.

FOURTH EVENING.

ANALYSIS.-The "Elements of Elocution" treat chiefly of the pronunciation of words rather than of sentences. The various modulations of the voice that are required for whole sentences. Principles rather than rules are required to guide us. How we naturally express a contrast. "Discretion and cunning," an example from Addison. Where the speaker puts a question, and then answers it himself. Example from Cicero. Questions that take a declarative form. Emphatic repetition of a word or thought. Examples. The introduction of a simile or comparison in poetry. Addison's description of Mariborough. The principle that governs the reading of a simile. A simile from Milton. The reading of sublime, grand, and magnificent descriptions. Extract from Pope.

Crito. I have been reflecting that thus far, in our conversations, we have been considering chiefly the pronunciation of separate words and syllables, and that the twelve Rules which are given in the "Elements of Elocution" treat almost wholly of words, separately considered, rather than of sentences and entire discourses. Are there no principles of Elocution which apply especially to the different forms of expression', and different kinds of writing'?

Bernardo. There are, most assuredly; and your question very appropriately calls up the very subject to which I alluded at the close of our last conversation. Different modulations of the voice, separate from the inflections, accent, and emphasis that are given to single words, are required to express different sentiments, emotions, and passions. Thus, in reading, sometimes a high pitch of voice, and sometimes a low pitch is required for whole sentences; and, according to the sentiment and the circumstances of the occasion, the voice must have all varieties of tone or expression, and range through all degrees of high and low, loud and soft, forcible and feeble, quick, moderate, and slow, just as we hear it in natural and free conversation.

Crito. But so many rules are here required to be known that it would seem impossible to learn all the rules for correct reading that might be given.

Bernardo. It is not so much particular rules as correct general principles that we require to guide us. Moreover, we are already acquainted with these general principles, for we make use of them daily in our ordinary conversation; and what we especially need is to notice how we naturally express our own sentiments, and then to apply the principle when we read the similar sentiments of others. Thus-for a simple illustration-in briefly describing two persons or objects by contrast or contraries (a figure of speech called antithesis), we naturally express the first clause of the contrast in a little higher tone of voice than we apply to the latter, with a prolonged pause between them, as in one of the examples under Rule VI. : "Homer was the greater genius'-Virgil the better artist'." You will also observe that "rhetorical pause of suspension" after the words Homer and Virgil, to which we have before alluded.

Crito. It occurs to me that a fine example for the exemplification of this principle is furnished by Addison, in a number of the Spectator, in the contrast which is drawn between Discretion' and Cunning'. It is very evident that throughout this extract the word cunning is to be pronounced on a lower pitch than discretion, and that it receives the falling inflection on its first syllable, while it has a very slight rising inflection at its close. It is an extract worthy of being remembered', also', for the moral which it con

veys.

DISCRETION AND CUNNING.

At the same time that I think discretion' the most useful talent that a man can be master of', I look upon cunning to be the accomplishment of little, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out the noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable methods of obtaining them: cùnning has only private selfish aims, and sticks at nothing that may make them succeed. Discretion has large and extended views', and, like a well-formed eye, commands a whole horizon: cùnning is a kind of short-sightedness', that discovers the minutest objects that are near at hand, but is not able to discern things at a distance. Discretion', the more it is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it: cùnning', when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable of bringing about even those events which he might have done if he had passed only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of reason', and a guide to us in all the duties of life: cùnning is a kind of instinct', that only looks out after our immediate interest and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good understanding: cùnning is often to be met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them: in short', cùnning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men, in the same manner that vivacity is often mistaken for wit', and gravity for wisdom. Bernardo. The extract which you have given furnishes a fine illustration of the principle referred to, and some good examples of the rhetorical pause of suspension. A similar style of reading is required for passages in which the speaker puts a question, and then answers it himself. If you should ever hear a speaker asking questions, and then answering them himself, if you will notice, I think you will observe that he pronounces the question in a higher, a more open, and declarative tone; and the answer (after a long pause) in a lower, slower, and yet firmer and more emphatic one. Cicero, in his oration for Muræna, makes use of this figure when he says,

Join issue with me upon the crimes themselves. What is your charge', Cato'? What is to be tried? What do you offer evidence of? Do you impeach corruption'?-I do not defend it. Do you blame me for defending, by my pleading, what I punished by law'?I answer, that I punished corruption, and not innocence: as to corruption, if you please, I will go hand in hand with yourself in impeaching it.

Sometimes the question takes the declarative form, as in the following extract from Cicero's second oration against Antony. It is not difficult to see that, in the following passage, the answers are to be pronounced in a lower, louder, and more energetic tone than the question part, but with increasing force, to the last Antony.

As trees and plants necessarily arise from seeds, so are you, Antony, the seed of this most calamitous war. You mourn, O Romans! that three of your armies have been slaughtered; they were slaughtered by Antony: you lament the loss of your most illustrious citizens; they were torn from you by Antony: the authority of this order is deeply wounded'; it is wounded by Antony: in short, all the calamities we have ever since beheld (and what calamities have we not' beheld'?), if we reason rightly, have been entirely owing to An'tony. As Helen was of Troy, so the bane, the misery, the destruction of this state is An'tony.

Crito. As one figure of speech is very apt to suggest another, I am here reminded that the repetition of a word or thought is always pronounced somewhat emphatically; and, when it takes the pause of suspension after it, it usually has the rising inflection also.1 Thus:

Sir, I should be much surprised to hear that motion opposed by any member in this house. A motion' founded in justice', supported by precedent', and warranted by necessity'.

Bernardo. I will add to your illustration by quoting a passage from Cic1 It is laid down by Dr. Porter as a rule, that “Emphatic repetition requires the falling slide." He gives as example:

"You wrong me every way, you wrong' me Brutus."

I regard this, however, merely as a case of ordinary emphasis, having the usual falling inflection. Certainly the examples of repetition given above do not take the falling in flection.