Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

6. Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious'? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies/?

EXCEPTION 1.-If the direct question is repeated, it takes the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. Nor. Did you secure the prize/?

Duch. Sir?

Nor. Did you secure the prize'?

2. Do you hear the rain, Mr. Caudle? I say, do you hear the rain'? EXCEPTION 2.-Strong emphasis changes the rising inflection of the direct question to the falling.

EXAMPLES.

1. Has the gentleman done? Has he completely done?

2. Did you ever see a more contemptible man? Did you ever see a more villainous' one?

NOTE.-Exclamatory words and phrases used interrogatively are frequently delivered according to this rule.

EXAMPLES.

1. Ha! sayest thou so?

2. Stew. Sure, sir, to put out the fire.

Mr. H. Fire'! what fire?

Stew. Oh, sir, your father's house is burned down!

Mr. H. My father's house burned down'! and how came it set on fire?

RULE II.-Indirect questions, or those that cannot be answered by yes or no, generally take the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. What's the mercy despots feel?

2. Where rests the sword? where sleep the brave1?

3. What hallows ground where heroes sleep'?

4. What has the gray-haired prisoner done?

5. But why do I talk of Death', that phantom of grisly bone'?

6. Where now is the splendid robe of the consulate` ? Where are the brilliant torches'? Where are the applauses and dances. the feasts and

entertainments? 'Where are the coronets and canopies? Where the huzzas of the city', the compliments of the circus', the flattering acclamations of the spectators'?

7. Who taught those orbs to move'? Who lit their ceaseless fire! Who guides the moon to run in silence through the skies'? Who bids that dawning sun in strength and beauty rise1?

EXCEPTION.-If the indirect question is asked to obtain a repetition of a previous remark or question, or if it is repeated to obtain a more distinct reply, it takes the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. Ste. I hope so, because I go along with her.

Jas. What did you say?

Ste. I hope so, because I go along with her.

2. Jos. What would you do with him, if any thing should happen to ne1?

Sau. What would I do with him/?

Jos. Yes; what would you do with him?

3. Mark. How long since you returned'? Alb. Two weeks.

Mark. How long since you returned'?

RULE III-A question consisting of two parts, connected by the disjunctive or, takes two inflections; the rising inflection on the first part, and the falling on the second.

EXAMPLES

1. Do you read for amusement', or for improvement`?

2. Did he acquire his wealth by honest industry', or by hazardous speculations'?

3 Art thou he that should come', or do we look for another?

4. Shall we call him a patriot', or shall we stigmatize him as a traitor ? 5. Shall we crown the author of these public calamities with garlands', or shall we wrest from him his ill-deserved authority?

6. Has God forsaken the works of his own hands', or does he always graciously preserve', and keep', and guide them?

7. Are the stars that gem the vault of the heavens above us mere decorations of the night', or are they suns and centers of planetary systems'?

8. Do you intend to thrust your hands into our hearts, and to pluck

out the deeply-rooted convictions which are there', or is it your design merely to stigmatize' us?

NOTE. When or is used conjunctively, both members take the rising inflection, if the question is direct, and both the falling, if the question is indirect.

EXAMPLES.

1. Will it be the next week', or the next year'?

2. Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust', or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death/?

3. Is it any thing in the earth or air that makes Scotland a richer country than Egypt', or Batavia, with its marshes, more prosperous than Sicily/?

4. Canst thou put a hook into the nose of leviathan', 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'?

5. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts', or who hath given understanding to the heart'?

RULE IV.-Answers to questions generally take the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. Are you going to the Rocky Mountains'? Yes'.

2. Is Alonzo, the Spanish prisoner, confined in this dungeon'? He is`. 3. Soldier, hast thou a wife'? I have'.

4. What can alone ennoble fight? 5. What sought they thus afar'? wealth of seas', the spoils of war'?

A noble cause'.

Bright jewels of the mine? The They sought a faith's pure shrine. 6. What would content you'? Talent' ? No. Enterprise'? No. Courage/? No. Reputation'? No. Virtue'? No. The men whom you would select should possess not one, but all of these.

The

7. Who is to judge concerning the frequency of these demands? ministry'. - Who is to judge whether the money is properly expended'? The Cabinet behind the throne.

8. Are you ignorant of many things which it highly concerns you to know? The gospel offers you instruction'. Have you deviated from the path of duty'? The gospel offers you forgiveness'. Do temptations urround you? The gospel offers you the aid of heaven. exposed to misery'? It consoles you'. Are you subject to death? It offers you immortality'.

Are you

EXCEPTION.-Answers to questions, when expressive of indifference, doubt, or indecision, generally take the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. Will you permit James to spend the afternoon with me? If he chooses'.

2. Does he faithfully discharge the duties of his office? For aught I know'.

3. Why, do you think you could shoot better? I don't know'; I could try/.

4. How many years did your friend spend in Europe? Five or six, I think'.

5. Come, you will engage in this enterprise with us, will you not? Perhaps so'; I will see.

RULE V.-If a sentence contains a negative member opposed to an affirmative, the former generally takes the rising and the latter the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. They are not fighting'; they are pausing'.

2. I came not to judge the world', but to save the world'.

3. I said an elder' soldier, not a better.

4. I come to bury' Cæsar, not to praise him.

5. We live in deeds', not years'; in thoughts', not breaths'.

6. Why, this is all hire and salary', not revenge'.

7. The Great Spirit had not written his laws for them on tables of stone', but he had traced them on the tables of their hearts'.

8. Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles', but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled'.

9. These things I say now not to insult one who is fallen', but to render more secure those who stand'; not to irritate the hearts of the wounded', but to preserve those who are in sound health'; not to submerge him who is tossed on the billows, but to instruct those sailing before a propitious breeze'.

EXCEPTION. When the negative member is more emphatic than the affirmative, it may receive the falling while the affirmative receives the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. We are surrounded by a multitude of temptations', yet not over whelmed'.

2. We may yield to persuasion', but we will not submit to force'. 3. The inhabitants may be destroyed', but they cannot be enslaved 4. We are perplexed', but not in despair'; persecuted', but not foraken'; cast down', but not destroyed'.

NOTE.-When a negative sentence stands alone, but plainly opposed to an unexpressed affirmative, it requires the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES.

1. The religion of the gospel is not a gloomy religion'.

2. It was not Cæsar who won the battle'.

3. It is not from words like these that I derive my reputation'.

4. It is not with finite beings like ourselves that we hold intercourse. 5. And what is our country? It is not the East, with her hills and her valleys, with her countless sails and the rocky ramparts of her shores'. RULE VI.-Contrasted words and phrases generally take opposite inflections.

EXAMPLES.

1. Yes, he is a miracle of genius', because he is a miracle of labor`. 2. Respectability and character abroad', security and confidence at home'.

3. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment', and Pope with perpetual delight'.

4. Which some suppose inferior,-as the sable is to ermine'; as smut', to flour; as coal', to alabaster'; as crows', to swans'; as soot', to driven snow'.

5. They poor', I rich'; they beg', I give'; they lack', I lend'; they pine', I live'.

6. And it shall be, as with the people', so with the priest'; as with the servant', so with his master'; as with the maid', so with her mistress'; as with the buyer', so with the seller'; as with the lender', so with the borrower'; as with the taker' of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

7. God hath a presence in the fold of the flower', the leaf of the tree' in the sun of noonday', the star of the night'; in the storm-cloud of darkness', the rainbow of light; in the waves of the ocean', the furrows of land'; in the mountain of granite, the atom of sand'.

« AnteriorContinuar »