McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader Part 6

REMARK l.--Words and members connected by or used disjunctively, generally express contrast or ant.i.thesis, and always receive opposite inflection.

EXAMPLES. (27)

1. Shall we advance', or retreat'?

2. Do you seek wealth', or power'?

3. Is the great chain upheld by G.o.d', or thee'?

4. Shall we return to our allegiance while we may do so with safety and honor', or shall we wait until the ax of the executioner is at our throats'?

5. Shall we crown' the author of these public calamities with garlands', or shall we wrest' from him his ill-deserved authority' ?

REMARK 2.--When the ant.i.thesis is between affirmation and negation, the latter usually has the rising inflection, according to Rule V.

EXAMPLES. (27)

1. You were paid to fight' against Philip, not to rail' at him.

2. I said rationally', not irrationally'.

3. I did not say rationally', but irrationally'.

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

5. Let us retract while we can', not when we must'.

REMARK 3.--The more emphatic member generally receives the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES. (27)

1. A countenance more in sorrow', than anger'.

2. A countenance less in anger', than sorrow'.

3. You should show your courage by deeds', rather than by words.

4. If we can not remove' pain, we may alleviate' it.

OF SERIES. (28)

A series is a number of particulars immediately following one another in the same grammatical construction.

A commencing series is one which commences a sentence or clause.

EXAMPLE. (28)

Faith, hope, love, joy, are the fruits of the spirit.

A concluding series is one which concludes a sentence or a clause.

EXAMPLE. (28)

The fruits of the spirit are faith, hope, love, and joy.

RULE IX.--All the members of a commencing series, when not emphatic, usually require the rising inflection.

EXAMPLES. (28)

1. War', famine', pestilence', storm', and fire' besiege mankind.

2. The knowledge', the power', the wisdom', the goodness' of G.o.d, must all be unbounded.

3. To advise the ignorant', to relieve the needy', and to comfort the afflicted' are the duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives.

4. No state chicanery', no narrow system of vicious politics', no idle contest for ministerial victories', sank him to the vulgar level of the great.

5. For solidity of reasoning', force of sagacity', and wisdom of conclusion', no nation or body of men can compare with the Congress at Philadelphia.

6. The wise and the foolish', the virtuous and the evil', the learned and the ignorant', the temperate and the profligate', must often be blended together.

7. Absalom's beauty', Jonathan's love', David's valor', Solomon's wisdom', the patience of Job, the prudence of Augustus', and the eloquence of Cicero' are found in perfection in the Creator.

REMARK.--Some elocutionists prefer to give the falling inflection to the last member of a commencing series.

Exception.--In a commencing series, forming a climax, the last term usually requires the falling inflection.

EXAMPLES. (29)

1. Days', months', years', and ages', shall circle away, And still the vast waters above thee shall roll.

2. Property', character', reputation', everything', was sacrificed.

3. Toils', sufferings', wounds', and death' was the price of our liberty.

RULE X.--All the members of a concluding series, when not at all emphatic, usually require the falling inflection.