A. Great. Often an orator would be publicly applauded for the perfection of his periods.

Q. What attention has it received among the Moderns?

A. But little. Their taste is different, and their language is not so susceptible of the graces and powers of melody; yet it should not be wholly neglected.*

Q. On what does the music of a sentence chiefly depend?

A. On the proper distribution of its several members, and on the close or cadence of the whole.

Q. How many degrees of sound are there adapted to the sense?

A. Two. First, the current of sound, adapted to the tenour of a discourse; next, a particular resemblance between some object, and the sounds that are employed in describing it.t

* The following is a very harmonious sentence from Milton: "We shall conduct you to a hill-side, laborious indeed at the first ascent; but else, so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospects and melodious sounds, on every side, that the harp of Orpheus was not more charming."

+ The contrast between the opening of the gates of hell and heaven, in Paradise Lost, displays to great advantage the poet's art :

"On a sudden, open fly,

With impetuous recoil, and jarring sound,
Th' infernal doors; and, on their hinges, grate.
Harsh thunder.".

Q. How many classes of objects may the sounds of words represent?

A. Three. Other sounds, as the noise of waters and roaring of winds ;-motion; and the emotions and passions of the mind.

ORIGIN AND NATURE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

Q. What is figurative language?

A. Language prompted either by the imagination or the passions.

Q Are figures the mere product of study?

A. No. The most illiterate speak in figures as often as the most learned.

Q. Why have rhetoricians devoted much attention to them?

A. Because, in them consists much of the beauty and force of language.

Q. Into how many classes are Figures di.vided?

A. Two. Figures of Words, and Figures of Thought.

Q. What are Figures of Words called?
A. Tropes.

"Heaven open'd wide

Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound,
On golden hinges turning.".

Q. In what do these consist?

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A. In words being employed to signify something different from their original meaning. Thus, Light ariseth to the upright in darkness. Here light and darkness are put for comfort and adversity.

Q. In what do Figures of Thought consist? A. In the turn of the Thought;-the words used retaining their proper and literal meaning, as in exclamations, apostrophes, and comparisons.

Q. What is the origin of Figures of Speech? A. The barrenness of Language, but chiefly the influence which imagination possesses over our speech.

Q. What is the use of Tropes or Figures? A. They enrich language; bestow dignity and grace upon style ;* give us the enjoyment of two objects presented together without confusion; and furnish a much more striking view of the

*To say, that the sun rises,' is trite and common; but it becomes a magnificent image when expressed as Mr. Thomson has done :

"But yonder comes the powerful king of day, Rejoicing in the east."

To say, that all men are subject alike to death,' presents only a vulgar idea; but it rises and fills the imagination, when painted thus by Horace :

"Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede, pauperum tabernas Regumque turres."

"With equal pace, impartial fate,

Knocks at the palace, as the cottage gate."

principal object than we could have if it were expressed in simple terms.

Q. To what Tropes is given the name of Metonymy?

A. To those founded on the several relations of cause and effect, container and contained, sign and thing signified as when the shade is used for the tree; the cup, for the liquor; the sceptre, for authority.

Q. What is a Metalepsis ?

A. A Trope founded on the relation of antecedent and consequent; as in the Roman phrase of "Fuit," or "Vixit," expressing that one is dead.

Q. What is a Synecdoche ?

A. When the whole is put for a part, or a part for the whole; a genus for a species, or a species for a genus; as, sail for ships; waves for the sea.

METAPHOR.

Q. On what is Metaphor founded?

A. On the resemblance which one object bears to another. It is a comparison in an abridged form. "A Minister upholds the. state, like a pillar;" is a comparison. Minister is the Pillar of the state ;" is a metaphor.

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·A

Q. Does this figure come near to Painting?
A. Yes. Its peculiar effect is to make intel-

lectual ideas visible to the eye, by giving them colour, substance, and sensible qualities.

Q. What is the first rule to be observed in the conduct of Metaphors ?

A. They should be suited to the nature of the subject of which we treat; neither too many, nor too gay, nor too elevated for it.* Q. What is the second rule?

A. Beware of such allusions as raise in the mind disagreeable, mean, vulgar ideas. Q. What is the third rule ?

A. The resemblance which is the foundation of the Metaphor, should be clear and perspicuous; not far-fetched, nor difficult of discovery.

Q. What is the fourth?

A. Never mix metaphorical and plain language together; never construct a period so that part of it must be understood metaphorically, and part, literally.

Q. What is the fifth?

A. Never make two Metaphors meet on one object; as, "to take arms against a sea of

trouble."

Q. What is the sixth ?

A. Avoid crowding Metaphors together on the same subject.

*This rule should be particularly attended to by young writers, who are apt to be carried away by an admiration of what is showy and florid, whether in its place or not. A great secret in composition is to know when to be simple.