little, he had need have a present wit; if he confer little, he had need have a good memory; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning to seem to know what he doth not."- Bacon.

In the following extract, strong emphasis must be placed upon the word ("suppose ") which determines the suppositive or conditional character of the sentences, so as to maintain the thread of the argument unbroken. It may be left to the reader to distinguish the most important words on which the argument depends. In the closing sentences the importance of "is it improbable," and the two similar constructions, is manifest.

"Suppose, then, the world we live in to have had a Creator; suppose it to appear, from the predominant aim and tendency of the provisions and contrivances observable in the universe, that the Deity, when He formed it, consulted for the happiness of His sensitive creation; suppose the disposition which dictated this counsel to continue; suppose a part of the creation to have received faculties from their Maker, by which they are capable of rendering a moral obedience to His will, and of voluntarily pursuing any end for which He has designed them; suppose the Creator to intend for these, His rational and accountable agents, a second state of existence, in which their situation will be regulated by their behaviour in the first state, by which supposition (and by no other) the objection to the Divine government in not putting a difference between the good and the bad, and the inconsistency of this confusion with the care and benevolence discoverable in the works of the Deity, are done away. Suppose it to be of the utmost importance to the subjects of this dispensation to know what is intended for them; that is, suppose the knowledge of it to be highly conducive to the happiness of the species, a purpose which so many provisions of nature are calculated to promote. Suppose, nevertheless, almost the whole race, either by the imperfection of their faculties, the misfortune of their situation, or by the loss of some prior revelation, to want this knowledge, and not to be likely, without the aid of a new revelation, to attain it:

under these circumstances, is it improbable that a revelation should be made? is it incredible that God should interpose for such a purpose? Suppose Him to design for mankind a future state, is it unlikely that He should acquaint them with it?"-Paley.

The following lines may be read for their general weight of emphasis:

SATAN'S SOLILOQUY.

"Me miserable! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
And in the lowest deep a lower deep
Still threatening to devour me, opens wide,
To which the Hell I suffer, seems a Heaven.
Oh, then, at last relent; is there no place
Left for repentance, none for pardon left?
None left but by submission, and that word
Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame
Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced
With other promises and other vaunts
Than to submit, boasting I could subdue
Th' Omnipotent. Ah me! they little know
How dearly I abide that boast so vain,
Under what torments inwardly I groan,
While they adore me on the throne of Hell.
With diadem and sceptre high advanced
The lower still I fall, only supreme

In misery; such joy ambition finds.

But say I could repent and could obtain

By act of grace my former state; how soon

Would height recall high thoughts, how soon unsay
What feigned submission swore! Ease would recant
Vows made in pain as violent and void.

For never can true reconcilement grow

Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep;

Which would but lead me to a worse relapse
And heavier fall. So should I purchase dear
Short intermission bought with double smart.
This knows my Punisher; therefore as far
From granting He as I from begging peace.
All hope excluded thus, behold instead
Of us, outcast, exiled, His new delight,
Mankind created, and for him this world.
So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear.
Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost;
Evil be thou my good; by thee at least
Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold,

By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign;

As man ere long and this new world shall know."--Milton.

In the following lines, "why," making sentence interrogative, as well as pointing the raillery, should be emphasized. The "why" questions inflected downward, and those

beginning "will" upward

:

"Why so pale and wan, fond lover?

Prithee, why so pale?

Will, when looking well can't move her,

Looking ill prevail?

Prithee, why so pale?

Why so dull and mute, young sinner?

Prithee, why so mute?

Will, when speaking well can't win her

Saying nothing do't?

Prithee, why so mute?"- Suckling.

PAUSE, OR RHETORICAL PUNCTUATION.

It is very important to keep the lungs well filled. Pauses must be made at frequent intervals, and breath taken easily

and quietly, partly through the nostrils. Inspiration should be easy, full, and frequent, and in rhetorical speaking the whole of the breath issuing from the mouth should be utilized in the formation of words. Expiration should be slower than inspiration. Clerical sore throat arises from strongly exerting the voice without frequent pausing for breath. This inconvenience is especially felt by clergymen, who read so much in one tone of voice. Nothing is more exhausting to a speaker, more painful to an audience, and more detrimental to effective oratory, than speaking until all the breath is gone, and then stopping to gasp for more. Indeed, pauses must be made more frequently than even the grammatical punctuation would allow. The distance between two commas is often too great for the voice to travel over without stopping, and it is therefore necessary to adopt some plan of pausing without obscuring the sense. Besides pausing at commas, &c., a system of rhetorical punctuation should be applied. A sentence may be divided into several clusters of words, the distinction between which may be marked by a pause, thus allowing an opportunity of taking breath. The sentence below illustrates this. It will be observed that each cluster is composed of the substantive and of the verb that governs or the adjective that qualifies it, together with the auxiliary words necessary for grammatical completeness. In a series of adjectives a pause may be made after each, except the one that immediately precedes the substantive. The rule that words are often made emphatic by a pause after them may also be borne in mind.

"Reason-guides a man-to an entire conviction-of the historical proofs of the Christian religion."

H

It will be evident that if pauses are made differently from those marked in the foregoing sentence, the sense will be broken up. This system of pauses does not interfere with the coherence, or break the continuous "run" of the sentence, but conduces to the clear expression of the meaning, and adds very much to the ease and pleasure of both speaker and audience.

The following sentences could only be clearly and effectively read with frequent pauses. An idea of the way in which they should be read will be obtained by pausing and taking breath after the following words in the first :— persons, sensible, effect, poetry, feelings, know, refer, causes, thing, clearly, proceeded, trace, stream, hearts, fountains, gathered, &c. These pauses are quite consistent with perfect continuity of expression, while they induce a deliberation which is essential to effective speaking.

"Many persons are very sensible of the effect of fine poetry upon their feelings, who do not well know how to refer these feelings to their causes; and it is always a delightful thing to be made to see clearly the sources from which our delight has proceeded, and to trace the mingled stream that has flowed upon our hearts to the remoter fountains from which it has been gathered; and when this is done with warmth as well as precision, and embodied in an eloquent description of the beauty which is explained, it forms one of the most attractive, and not the least instructive, of literary exercises. In all works of merit, however, and especially in all works of original genius, there are a thousand retiring and less obtrusive graces, which escape hasty and superficial observers, and only give out their beauties to fond and patient contemplation; a thousand slight and harmonizing touches, the merit and the effect of which are equally imperceptible to vulgar eyes; and a thousand indications of the continual presence of that poetical spirit which can only be recognized by those who are,