inflamed with the most inveterate hatred against his own relations; or by him whose life was such, that he never knew what gain was but from the product of his own labours. By him, who, of all dealers in the trade of blood, was the most audacious; or by him who was so little accustomed to the Forum and trials, that he dreads not only the benches of a court, but the very town. In short, ye Judges, what I think most to this point is, you are to consider whether it is most likely that an enemy or a son would be guilty of this murder.

The Series.

THERE is a species of sentences, which forms one of the greatest beauties of composition, and which, if well pronounced, is among the most striking graces of delivery: that is, where a number of particular members follow in a series, and form something like a gradation or climax. If we consider the nature of such a sentence, it will, in some measure, direct us to a just pronunciation of it. It is a whole composed of many particulars, arranged in such order as to show each part distinctly, and, at the same time, its relation to the whole. In order to mark these particulars distinctly, they must not be suffered to blend with each other; and at the same time to show that they have a common relation to the whole sentence, they must not be pronounced entirely different. In short, the similitude and diversity in the pronunciation should be an exact picture of the similitude and diversity in the composition. For as a climax in writing ought to rise in force as it proceeds, so the voice, in pronouncing it, ought gradually to increase its force upon every subsequent member. Here is the diversity; but, as the members have a similar form, and stand equally related to the object

1

of the sentence, they ought to have a similar inflexion of the voice. Here is the uniformity: for it is this inflexion or slide of the voice that classes speaking sounds more specifically than any other distinction. But as these particulars, when they form a climax, are really emphatical, and require the falling slide, so every series of particulars, whether they really increase in force or not, may, for the sake of gratifying the ear, and giving an importance to the subject, adopt the falling inflexion likewise. This, however, must be understood only as a general rule.

These observations premised, we may proceed to distinguish the series into two kinds: that, where the series begins the sentence, but does not either end it, or form complete sense; which we may call the commencing series: and that, where the series either ends the sentence, or forms complete sense; which we may call the concluding series. For the pronunciation of these different sentences, we may lay down this general rule.

In a Commencing series, pronounce every particular with the falling inflexion but the last; and in a Concluding series, let every member have the falling inflexion except the last but one; and this ought to have the falling inflexion likewise, if it be of sufficient length to admit of a pause with a rising inflexion before the end.

In order to convey as clear an idea as possible of the pronunciation of this Figure, a Plate is annexed, delineating the inflexions in Mr. Addison's beautiful description of Milton's Figure of Death. See page 115.

Commencing Series.

To advise the ignorant, relieve the needy, comfort the afflicted, are duties that fall in our way, almost every day of our lives. Spectator, No 93.

In our country, a man seldom sets up for a poet without attacking the reputation of all his brothers in the art. The ignorance of the moderns, the scribblers of the age, the decay of poetry, are the topics of detraction, with which he makes his entrance into the world. Ibid. N° 253.

The miser is more industrious than the saint. The pains of getting, the fear of losing, and the inability of enjoying his wealth, have been the mark of satire in all ages.

Ibid. N° 624.

When ambition pulls one way, interest another, inclination a thìrd, and perhaps reason contrary to áll, a man is likely to pass his time but ill, who has so many different parties to please.

Ibid. N° 162.

As the genius of Milton was wonderfully turned to the sublime, his subject is the noblest that could have entered into the thoughts of man: every thing that is truly great and astonishing has a place in it: the whole system of the intellectual world, the chaos and the creation, heaven, earth, and héll, enter into the constitution of his poem. Ibid. N° 315.

Labour or exercise ferments the humours, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundances, and helps nature in those secret distribútions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigour, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. Ibid. N° 115.

Were the books of our best authors to be retailed to the public, and every page submitted to the taste of forty or fifty thousand readers, I am afraid we should complain of many flat exprèssions, trivial observations, beaten tòpics, and common thoughts, which go off very well in the lump.

Ibid. N° 124.

To preserve in Macbeth a just consistency of character, to make that character naturally susceptible of those desires that