11. Malicious envy rode Upon a ravenous wolf, and still did chaw All in a kirtle of discolourd say He clothed was ypaynted full of eies, And in his bosom secretly there lay An hateful snake, the which his taile uptyes In many folds, and mortall sting implyes.-Spenser. 12. In mortals, there is a care for trifles which proceeds from love and conscience, and is most base. And so, also, there is a gravity proceeding from thought, which is most noble; and a gravity proceeding from dulness and mere incapability of enjoyment, which is most base.-Ruskin. 13. You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! (Five different figures, two of which are Climax and Hyperbole.) 14. The accomplished orator treads the stage and holds in his hand the audience, hour after hour, descanting on the nation's fate, the nation's duty. Men look up and say how easy it is, that it is very wonderful, and how fortunate it is to be born with such a power. But behind every little point of accomplishment there is a great beam of endeavor and toil that reaches back from the man's manhood, to his earliest youth.-Theodore Parker. 15. The Soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, As they draw near their eternal home. Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view 16. They fall away like the flower on which the sun looks in his strength, when the mildew has passed over it, and its head is heavy with the drops of the night.-Ossian. 17. 'The soul of man is like the rolling world, 18. I have seen men who, at the marriage altar, thought they were annexing something more valuable than Cuba, who found out afterward that they had got only an album, Godey's Magazine, and a medicine chest.-Talmage. 19. So far her voice flow'd on, like timorous brook That, lingering along a pebbled coast, Doth fear to meet the sea.-Keats. 20. Who saw the narrow sunbeam that came out of the South and smote upon their summits until they melted and mouldered away in a dust of blue rain? Who saw the dance of the dead clouds when the sunlight left them last night, and the west wind blew them before it like withered leaves?-Ruskin. 21. On parent knees a naked, new-born child, Weeping thou sat'st, while all around thee smiled; So live, that sinking in the last long sleep, Thou then may'st smile, while all around thee weep. 22. Consult the following passages: Isa. v, 1–7; 2 Sam. xii, 1–4; Judges ix, 7-15. 23. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?-St. Paul. 24. Once on a time all the members of the body revolted against the Belly, because it received everything and contributed nothing. So the Hand said it would no longer carry food to the Mouth; the Mouth said it would no longer receive it; and the Teeth said they would no longer chew it. They all declared they would no longer slave as they had done for the lazy and ungrateful Belly. So they rose in insurrection; but, lo! while the rebellious members sought to punish the Belly, they languished and punished themselves.— Menenius Agrippa. In shape and gesture, proudly eminent Stood like a tower: his form had not yet lost 1 Said to have been related to the people, who were in rebellion against the Patricians. All her original brightness, nor appear'd Shorn of his beams; or from behind the moon On half the nations, and with fear of change 26. What kind of stone has been most sought for? The philosopher's stone. Has it ever been found? Yes; frequently. Where? In a hat. From what does it proceed? Quartz. Where does granite lie? In beds. What is a stratum? A layer of anything. Can you mention any? Yes; a hen. Mention another. A ship; she lays to (too). What is a flint? A miser's heart. Can you break it? Yes. How? Open his chest. 27. The circumstances now clearly in evidence spread out the whole scene before us. Deep sleep had fallen on the destined victim, and all beneath his roof. A healthful old man, to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound slumbers of the night held him in their strong embrace. The assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an unoccupied apartment. With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall . . . he winds up the ascent of the stairs and reaches the door of the chamber. Of this he moves the lock by soft, continued pressure, till it turns on its hinges without noise, and he enters and beholds his victim before him. . . The deed is done. He retreats, retraces his steps to the window, passes out through it as he came in, and escapes.-Webster. 28. 29. Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene And silent waters heaven is seen; Their lashes are the herbs that look On their young figures in the brook.—Bryant. Take those lips away Which so sweetly were foresworn; And those eyes- the break of day — Lights that do mislead the morn.-Shakespeare. 30. It is therefore death alone that can suddenly make man to know himself. He tells the proud and insolent that they are but objects, and humbles them at the instant, makes them cry, complain, and repent, yea, even to hate their forepassed happiness. He takes the account of the rich, and proves him a beggar, a naked beggar, which hath interest in nothing but in the gravel that fills his mouth. He holds a glass before the eyes of the most beautiful, and makes them see therein their deformity and rottenness, and they acknowledge it. O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and despised; thou hast drawn together all the farstretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, hic jacet!—Sir Walter Raleigh. 31. Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf, So vile a thing as Cæsar! But, O grief! Where hast thou led me?-Shakespeare. 32. As the vine which has long twined its graceful foliage about the oak, and been lifted by it into sunshine, will, when the hardy plant is rifted by the thunderbolt, cling round with its caressing tendrils, and bind up its shattered boughs; so it is beautifully ordained by Providence that woman, who is the dependent and ornament of man in his happier hours, should be his stay and solace when smitten with sudden calamity; winding herself into the rugged recesses of his nature, tenderly supporting the drooping head, and binding up the broken heart.-Irving. CHAPTER IV. METHODS OF EXPRESSION-PERSPICUITY. All that trains the mind to severe thinking, and the heart to right feeling, prepares the way for perspicuous utterance.-DR. BASCOM. PERS ERSPICUITY, from the Latin perspicio, means, etymologically, capable of being seen through. Rhetorically, it is the use of such words, phrases, and sentences, as will convey our ideas to others clearly and readily. It will appear at once that this is the principal quality of expression. Language that is not intelligible, or not easily so, fails, proportionately, of the end for which language is employed. So far as the attention is absorbed by the medium of communication, so far is it withdrawn from the thought communicated. To be compelled to follow a writer with care, to pause, and to re-read, in order to comprehend his meaning, is to ordinary minds displeasing. 'Discourse,' says Quintilian, 'ought always to be obvious, so that the sense shall enter the mind as sunlight the eyes, even though they are not directed upwards to the source.' We should take pains not only that the meaning may be understood, but that it must be understood. It is equally evident that perspicuity is relative rather than absolute. It is determined, not so much by the nature of subjects treated, as by the power of persons addressed. What is clear to one individual or class, may be obscure to another. The mental capacity of those to be instructed, pleased, or persuaded, must furnish the guide and law of composition. Upon the immature and illiter |