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rushed in the list where rank, and wealth, and genius' had arrayed' themselves, and competition fled' from him, as from the glance of destiny.

3. He knew no motive' but interest'; acknowledged no criterion' but success'; he worshiped no God' but ambition', and with an eastern devotion', he knelt at the shrine of his idolatry'. Subsidiary to this, there was no creed' that he did not profess', there was no opinion' that he did not promulgate': in the hope of a dynasty', he upheld the crescent'; for the sake of a divorce', he bowed before the cross'; the orphan of St. Louis', he became the adopted child of the republic'; and with a parricidal ingratitude, on the ruins both of the throne and the tribune', he reared the throne of his despotism. A professed catholic', he imprisoned the Pope'; a pretended patriot', he impoverished the country'; and in the name of Brutus', he grappled without remorse', and wore without shame', the diadem of the Cesars.

4. The whole continent trembled at beholding the audacity of his designs', and the miracle of their execution. Skepticism bowed to the prodigies of his performance'; romance assumed the air of history'; nor was there aught too incredible for belief', or too fanciful for expectation, when the world saw a subaltern of Corsica' waving his imperial flag over her most ancient capitals. All the visions of antiquity became common-place in his contemplation': kings were his people'; nations were his out-posts'; and he disposed of courts', and crowns', and camps', and churches', and cabinets', as if they were the titular dignitaries of the chessboard"! Amid all these changes', he stood immutable as adamant. It mattered little whether in the field', or in the drawing-room'; with the mob', or the levee'; wearing the jacobin bonnet', or the iron crown'; banishing a Braganza', or espousing a Hapsburg'; dictating peace on a raft to the czar of Russia', or contemplating defeat at the gallows of Leipsig'; he was still the same military despot'.

5. In this wonderful combination, his affectations of literature must not be omitted. The jailer of the press', he affected the patronage of letters'; the proscriber of books', he encouraged philosophy'; the persecutor of authors', and the murderer of printers', he yet pretended to the protection of learning'; the assassin of Palm', the silencer of De Stäel', and the denouncer of Kotzebue'; he was the friend of David', the benefactor of De Lille', and sent his academic prize to the philosopher of England'.

6. Such a medley of contradictions', and, at the same time, such an individual consistency', were never united in the same character'. A royalist'; a republican' and an emperor'; a Mohammedan'; a catholic and a patron of the synagogue'; a subaltern and a sove

L

he

was,

eign'; a traitor and a tyrant; a christian and an infidel; through all his vicissitudes, the same stern, impatient, inflexible original'; the same mysterious, incomprehensible self'; the man without a model', and without a shadow'

PHILLIPS.

LESSON XXI.t/

ODE TO AN INFANT SON.

The following lesson presents an example, in which the matter included in parenthesis, is disconnected with the main subject, and is, therefore, subject to the general principles of inflection.

1.

2.

3.

4.

THOU happy, happy elf'!

(But, stop, first let me kiss away that tear`,)
Thou tiny image of myself'!

(My love, he's poking peas into his ear`,)
Thou merry, laughing sprite',

With spirits, feather light,

Untouched by sorrow, and unsoiled by sin';

(My dear, the child is swallowing a pin!)

Thou little tricksy Puck"!

With antic toys so funnily bestruck,

Light as the singing bird that wings the air,-
(The door! the door! he 'll tumble down the stair`!)
Thou darling of thy sire'!

(Why, Jane, he'll set his pin-afore` afire!)

Thou imp of mirth and joy'!

In love's dear chain so bright a link,

Thou idol of thy parents';-(Hang` the boy!
There goes my ink.)

Thou cherub, but of earth';

Fit play-fellow for fairies, by moonlight pale,
In harmless sport and mirth',-

(That dog will bite` him, if he pulls his tail'!)
Thou human humming-bee', extracting honey
From every blossom in the world that blows,
Singing in youth's Elysium ever sunny',-
(Another tumble'! That's his precious nose!)
Thy father's pride and hope'!

(He'll break the mirror with that skipping rope!)

With pure heart newly stampt from nature's mint,

(Where did he learn that squint?)

Thou young domestic dove'!

(He'll have that jug off with another shove',)

Dear nursling of the hymeneal nest!

(Are these torn clothes his best?)

Little epitome of man!

(He'll climb upon the table, that's his plan,)

Touched with the beauteous tints of dawning life',(He's got a knife!)

5. Thou enviable being'!

6.

No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing,
Play on, play on`,

My elfin John'!

Toss the light ball, bestride` the stick,—

(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!)
With fancies buoyant as the thistle down,
Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk',
With many a lamb-like frisk!

(He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown!)

Thou pretty opening rose'!

(Go to your mother, child', and wipe your nose!)
Balmy and breathing music like the south',
(He really brings my heart into my mouth!)
Bold as the hawk`, yet gentle as the dove';
(I'll tell you what`, my love',

I can not write, unless he 's sent above`.)

HOOD.

LESSON XXII.

HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY.

To be, or not to be? That is the question.
Whether 't is nobler in the mind, to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune',
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And, by opposing, end them? To die`; to sleep';
Nô more: and, by a sleep', to say we end

The heart-ache', and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; 't is a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die`; to sleep`;

To sleep! perchance to drêam-Ay`, there's the rub`;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come',
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil',

Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit, of the unworthy takes';
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin'? Who would fardels bear,
To groan and sweat under a weary life',
But that the dread of something after death,
That undiscovered country', from whose bourne

No traveler returns', puzzles the will;
And makes us rather bear the ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all`;
And thus the native hue of resolution'
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry',
And lose the name of action.

SHAKSPEARE.

EXERCISES ON EMPHASIS.

Some lessons will now be given, exemplifying, in addition to the inflections, the principles of emphasis, as follows, viz.

1. Absolute emphasis, or where a word is emphasized on account of its own independent importance.

2. Relative emphasis, or where ideas are contrasted with each other; which contrast may be expressed or implied.

3. The emphatic phrase, or where several words are emphasized in

succession.

4. Emphasis and accent, or where emphasis changes the accent. 5. Emphasis and inflection, or where the inflection is changed by emphasis.

6. Emphatic pause, or the pause before or after an emphatic word or phrase.

NOTE. The emphatic words are denoted, as usual, by italics, or capitals; and the emphatic pause, by a dash, thus, (—).

LESSON XXIII. 23

SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION.

1. MR. PRESIDENT.-It is natural for man' to indulge in the illusions of hope'. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth', and listen to the song of that siren' till she transforms us into beasts'. Is this'-the part of wise men', engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty'! Are we disposed to be of the number of those', who, having eyes',-see' not, and having cars', -hear' not the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation"? For my-part', whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole' truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

2. I have but one lamp, by which my feet are guided; and that — is — the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging

of the future', but by the past'; and, judging by the past', I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years', to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house'? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received"? Trust it not, sir: it will prove a snare' to your feet'. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss'. Ask yourselves, how this gracious reception of our petition, comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land'. Are fleets'—and armies'-necessary to a work of love' and reconciliation'? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force-must be called in to win back our love'? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war' and subjugation'; the last arguments to which kings resort.

3. I ask, gentlemen', what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us into submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible-motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy'-in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies'? No', sir, she has none'. They are meant for us': they can' be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet' upon us those chains, which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir', we have been trying' that, for the last―ten-years. Have we any thing new' to offer upon the subject? Nothing'. We have held the subject up in every light in which it was capable'; but it has been all in vain'.

4. Shall we resort to entreaty' and humble supplication'? What terms' shall we find, which have not been already exhausted'? Let us not, I beseech you, deceive ourselves longer. Sir', we have done every' thing that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated'; we have SUPPLICATED'; we have PROSTRATED' ourselves at the foot of the throne, and implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament. Our petitions' have been slighted'; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult'; our supplications have been disregarded'; and we have been spurned, with contempt', from the foot of the throne.

5. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free'; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon' the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon; until the glorious object of our contest

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