actor Garrick pronounced the question thus:-"Did you speak to it?" while Kemble gave it the rendering-" Did you speak to it?" with a peculiar, tremulous expression on the word you, which it would be difficult to describe. But the two forms expressed different feelings, and both may have been equally true to nature; although both could not have expressed what Shakspeare intended. CHAPTER II.—INFLECTIONS. LESSON I.-Direct Questions.-Rising Inflection. 1. INFLECTIONS are turns or slides of the voice, that are applied to particular words in a sentence, rather than to the whole sentence. They are natural accompaniments of all reading, and are generally necessary, to exhibit the author's meaning; but sometimes they are merely ornamental. In the former case, the rules of their application are usually very definite; in the latter, their use must be left to the taste of the reader. 2. There are two principal slides of the voice, the upward and the downward. The former (') is called the rising inflection, the latter (') is called the downward inflection. Although the inflection, like emphasis, is on the accented syllable of the word to which it is applied, yet the indicative mark is often placed at the end of the word, for convenience. 3. [Rule I.] As a general rule, most direct questions— those that may be answered by yes or no-are good examples of the rising inflection, and their answers, of the falling inflection. This is very apparent in the following examples : : "Did you see William'? Yes'.-Did you ask him to come and see me'? No, I did not.-Do you think he will come'? Yes', I think he will'.-Are you going to town to-day'? No'. I intend to go to-morrow'." 4. a. "Shall we be stronger the next week', or the next year'? Will it be when we are totally disarmed', and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house' ?" b. "Will the Lord cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more'? Is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail for evermore'? Hath God forgotten to be gracious'? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies' ?". Psalm lxxvii. 7-9. C. "Are they Hebrews'? so am I'.—Are they Israelites'? so am I.—Are they the seed of Abraham'? so am I'.—Are they ministers of Christ'? I am more."-II. Cor. xi. 22–23. 5. The ghost scene in Hamlet, to which we have already referred, furnishes good illustrations of the rule:— Did you speak to it'? Then saw you not his face'? Pale'? My lord, I did. We do, my lord. My lord, from head to foot. A countenance more in sor- 6. "Is this a time to be gloomy and sad, When our mother Nature laughs around'? When even the deep-blue heavens look glad, And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?" 7. "To purchase heaven, has gold the power? In life, can love be bought with gold'? 8. When Macbeth inquires of the doctor how his patient, the conscience-troubled Lady Macbeth, is, and is answered that "she is troubled with thick-coming fancies," Macbeth adds, "Cure her of that: Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased'? Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow'; Raze out the written troubles of the brain, And with some sweet, oblivious antidote, Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff?" 9. There are some apparent, rather than real, exceptions to the rule of which we are treating. For example, when the direct question becomes an emphatic appeal, it loses its interrogatory character, while the interrogatory form remains. Thus : a. "Is he not a splendid` actor?" C. "Can such cruelties be tolerated`?" d. "Is this reason? Is it law? Is it humanity` ?" e. "Will you persist in your disobedience? Is it right? Is it just that you should do so?" 10. If the following direct question be asked in the ordinary manner, it will have the rising inflection at the close: "Mr. Webster, did you speak of the poor' on that occasion'?" But if the question is not understood, and is repeated with emphasis, the inflection will be changed,—thus : "I say, Mr. Webster, did you speak of the poor on that occasion?" 11. Also, when the answer to a direct question is given with seeming indifference, or an apparent reservation of something in the mind of the speaker that implies more than is said, such answer often takes the rising inflection. The principle of unfinished, or incomplete thought, here comes in, which will be referred to hereafter. There are some fine examples of this in the following selection. Observe how Othello's suspicions are awakened, and his jealousy aroused, first by the question of the villain Iago, and then by his replies. Tago. My noble lord'― Othello. What dost thou say', Iago'? Iago. Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, know of your love'? Oth. He did',a from first to last`: why dost thou ask`? Iago. But for a satisfaction of my thought': no further harm'. Oth. Why of thy thought, Iago'? Iago. I did not think he had been acquainted with it. Oth. O', yes; and went between us very oft. Iago. Indeed'?c Oth. Indeed! ay, indeed! Divinest thou aught in that'? Is he not honest'? Iago. Honest'd, my lord'? Oth. Ay, honest`. Tago. My lord', for aught I know. e Oth. What dost thou think? Iago. Think', my lord'? Oth. Think, my lord? By heaven, he echoes me, Too hideous to be shown.-Thou dost mean something: In my whole course of wooing, thou cry'dst, Indeed'? And didst contract and purse thy brow together, α Iago's question had excited a little surprise in Othello, and the latter, instead of returning a positive answer, with the falling inflection, says, "He did',"-implying, "What of it?" bb Here Iago, by not returning a positive answer, leaves it to be inferred by Othello that he withholds something which the latter ought to know. Here the character of the reply, whether it have the rising or the falling inflection, is calculated to arouse Othello's suspicions still more. def Iago continues his tantalizing answers, by which, as will be seen, he soon produces the desired effect upon the mind of Othello. As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain Show me thy thought.-Shakspeare's Othello, Act III. 12. We close this lesson with the remark, that, while a parenthesis is usually read in a lower tone of voice than the other parts of the sentence, the last word of the parenthesis should have the inflection that is given to the last word or words immediately preceding its commencement. Thus: a. "If there's a power above us' (and that there is, all Nature cries aloud through all her works'), he must delight in virtue." b. "Beneath a mountain's brow' (the most remote and inaccessible by shepherds trod'), in a deep cave' (dug by no mortal hand'), a hermit lived." LESSON II.-Indirect Questions.-Falling Inflection. 1. [Rule II.] Those questions called indirect-such as cannot be answered by yes or no-have the rising inflection on the interrogatory word or phrase, and the falling, generally, on the last emphatic word in the sentence, as in the following examples: 2. a. "When' did you see' him? Yesterday'.-At what time' will he come again'? To-morrow'." b. "Who' say the people that I am? They, answering, said, John the Baptist'; but some say Elias'; and others say that one of the old prophets is risen again." c. "What' is boasting, then? It is excluded.-Who first seduced' them to that foul revolt'? The infernal serpent." 3. a. "What, Tubero', did that naked sword' of yours mean', in the battle of Pharsalia'? At whose breast' was it aimed? What was the meaning of your arms', your spirit', your hands', your ardor of soul' ?"-Cicero. b. "Where, now', is the splendid robe of the consulate'? Where' are the brilliant torches'? Where' are the applauses |