Mr. H. And why were they overworked, pray?

Stew. To carry water, sir.

Mr. H. To carry water! And what were they carrying water for?

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

Mr. H. Fire! What fire?

Stew. Oh, sir, your father's house is burned down to the ground.

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

Stew. I think, sir, it must have been the torches.

Mr. H. Torches! What torches?

Stew. At your mother's funeral.

Mr. H. My mother dead!

Look upon my boy as though I guessed it;
Guessed the trial thou would'st have me make;
Guessed it instinctively!

Indefinite Interrogative.

How wretched the condition of that infatuated man!

How different would our lot have been this day, both as men and citizens, had the Revolution failed of success?

How precious must that liberty be, which could prompt a great people to suffer their native prince to wander in exile; which could move them to resist every attempt to replace him on the throne!

What landscapes I read in the primrose's looks,
And what pictures of pebbled and minnowy brooks,
In the vetches that tangled their shore!

Who ever thought,

In such a homely piece of stuff, to see
The mighty senate's tool!

But oh! how altered was its sprightlier tone,
When Cheerfulness, a nymph of healthiest hue,
Her bow across her shoulder flung,

Her buskins gemmed with morning dew,

Blew an inspiring air, that dell and thicket rung!

What affections the violet awakes!

What loved little islands, twice seen in their lakes,
Can the wild water-lily restore!

Indirect Interrogative.

Surely they were indignant at this treatment: surely the air rings with reproaches upon a man who has thus made them stake their reputation upon a falsehood, and then gives them little less than the lie direct to their assertions!

You would not have me make a trial of my skill upon my child!

Sure they lie

That say thou cam'st a secret spy!

Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame,
And hang a calf skin on those recreant limbs!
We undertook to mediate for the queen.
To mediate for the queen ?-You undertook?—
Wherein concerned it you?

CHAPTER VII.

COMBINED INFLECTIONS-THE WAVE OF EMPHASIS.

Emphasis is an inflection used in the delivery of a word or words, to discriminate the idea it contains from all related ideas, expressed or understood.

NOTE.-Just as when walking on a plain, if you come to a hill, it arrests your attention, so when the voice is lifted on an emphatic word, attention is called to the latter.

To illustrate: "The animal you see is a horse." In this sentence, horse is emphasized to exclude the idea of any other animal; that is, it is not a cow or a dog. "It is a bay horse;" that is, it is not a black or a gray horse, etc.

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NOTE. To tell whether to discriminate or not the pupil may ask questions. This will generally show whether a simple statement is required in answer or an affirmative against a negative (expressed or implied); as, "Is that Mr. Smith ?" "Yes, it is Mr. Smith" (simple statement). "Is that Mr. Smith?" 'No, it is Mr. Brown" (discrimination). Mere enumeration requires no emphasis; as, “Do you see anything over there?" "Yes, I see a horse, a carriage, a dog, etc." But, "Do you see that woodpile?" "No, it isn't a woodpile, it is a haystack."

As already implied, this discrimination is sometimes openly expressed, in which case the relation is sufficiently plain; for example, "He is the propitiation for our sins; not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." "You were paid to fight against Alexander, not to rail at him."

But the same affirmation, as against an implied negative, may be detected in every case of emphasis. For instance, "Hence! (not linger here) home! (not loiter about the streets) you idle creatures! Get you home!" "Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar's." (Not somebody's else.) Petruchio. "I say it is the moon that shines so bright." (Not the

sun.) Katharine. I know it is the sun that shines so bright." (Not the moon.)

OBSERVATION 1.—The enforcing function of emphasis is less important than the discriminating function. The latter is essential. There can be no true emphasis without it. Hence emphasis is here treated as inflection, not stress. Stress, that is to say, mere force of utterance, is not true emphasis,-a principle, the disregard of which on the stage, the platform, and the pulpit, has given rise to the prevalent vice of yelling and mouthing false inflections and substituting indiscriminate noise for the intelligent and delicate distinctions which could be conveyed by genuine emphasis. The best cure, or beginning of cure, for such abuse is the view here taken of the emphatic waves of inflection. Stress and retarded rate are not essential to emphasis, though they naturally accompany it. The discriminating office is in the emphatic wave exclusively; which, indeed, itself implies an increase of stress and a retardation of time, both intensified by the instinctive desire of the speaker to distinguish by every means the important word. The inquirer may easily assure himself by experiment that a word can be emphasized by inflection without increase of stress, while no access of force can emphasize, in the absence of the discriminating inflection.

OBSERVATION 2.-The emphatic word may be louder, may be slower than the rest of the sentence, but this is not essential. That which makes the emphasis is (critically, technically speaking) inflection.

OBSERVATION 3.-Pupils are often puzzled by feeling that the voice goes up even when the rule is to turn down. This is because the voice does go up (if the inflection is given correctly) before it turns down.

The waving inflection of emphasis culminates on a syllable of the emphatic word, and is limited in extent to the division of sense to which that word belongs. In character it is like the waving slide; but its office is different.

Emphasis thus falling on a syllable may change the seat of accent; as, "I did not ascend, I descended." But this is only when a syllable is to be discriminated. Ordinarily the emphasis culminates on the normally accented syllable of the emphatic word.

As it is the office of emphasis to discriminate the idea contained in a certain word from all other ideas related to it, it follows that this discrimination, once made, need not (as a general rule) be repeated. The succeeding sentence or clause presents an advanced thought, which, in its turn, needs discrimination; and we are led to the principle, that the emphasis must fall upon the word that contains the new idea: hence;

Emphasis must not be repeated on the same word or idea occurring in the same connection.

To illustrate in the sentence, "The Queen of the South came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here,”—it would be a fault to emphasize the word "Solomon a second time: in the last clause a new idea is introduced in the word "greater," which takes the emphasis.

To this rule there are several exceptions. Thus :(1) When the emphatic word is repeated, for the purpose of making it more emphatic, the emphasis is repeated, but generally distinguished by a higher or lower emphatic wave; as, "They tell us to be moderate; but they, THEY are to revel in profusion." "Arm! ARM! it is it is the cannon's opening roar!"

(2) Sometimes emphasis is repeated for the purpose of increasing its force by mere reiteration; as, "I should say sincerity, a deep, great, genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic of all men any way heroic."

NOTE.-a. Stating a thing over again in exactly the same tone and pitch, stamps it on the mind. When the same wave is repeated with exactly the same vocal effect, it implies in the speaker calm power, perfect self-control. But if a mother should say to her boy, "Now if you do that again I shall whip you!" then on a still higher emphatic wave," Mind, I shall whip you!" this would show excitement, passion, but not real power.