pose, while with equal zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest and alliance, as Byzantium, Abydus, and Euboéa ? Was he not to cut off the best, and most important resources of our enemies, and to supply those in which our country was deféctive?-And all this you gained by my counsels, and my administration.

EXERCISES ON MODULATION.

24] Page 118.

Compass of voice.

To assist in cultivating the bottom of the voice, I have selected examples of sublime or solemn description, which admit of but little inflection ; and some which contain the figure of simile. Where the mark for low note is inserted, the reader will take pains to keep down his voice, and to preserve it in nearly the grave monotone.

1. (.) He bowed the heavens also, and came down ; and darkness was under his feet.—And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly : yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.He made darkness bis secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.-At the brightness that was before bim bis thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.-The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice ; hailstones and coals of fire.

2. (.) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man, coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.- And he shall send his angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

3. (.) And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were

moved out of their places. 2 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief

captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 3 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:-For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand ?

4 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 5 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 6 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works.

4. 'Tis listening Fear and dumb Amazement all : When to the startled eye, the sudden glance Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud :

And following slower, in explosion fast,
5 The Thunder raises his tremendous voice.

At first heard solemn o'er the verge of heaven,
The tempest growls ; (.)but as it nearer comes,
And rolls its awful burthen on the wind ;

The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more 10 The noise astounds : till over head a sheet

Of livid flame discloses wide ; then shuts
And opens wider; shuts and opens, still
Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze.

Follows the loosened aggravated roar,
15 Enlarging, deep’ning, mingling, peal on peal

Crush'd horrible, convulsing heaven and earth.

5. 'Twas then great Marlb'rough's mighty soul was

prov'd,
That in the shock of charging hosts unmov'd,
Amidst confusion, horror, and despair,
Examin'd all the dreadful scenes of war ;
In peaceful thought the field of death survey'd,
To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid;
Inspir’d repuls’d battalions to engage,
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage.
(.) So when an angel, by divide command,
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
(Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past,)
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And pleas'd th’ Almighty's orders to perform,
Rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm.

6. Rous'd from his trance, he mounts with eyes

aghast,
When o'er the ship, in undulation vast,
A giant surge down rushes from on high,
And fore and aft dissever'd ruins lie;
(.) As when, Britannia's empire to maintain,
Great Hawke descends in thunder on the main,
Around the brazen voice of battle roars,
And fatal lightnings blast the hostile shores;
Beneath the storm their shatter'd navies groan,
The trembling deep recoils from zone to zone;
Thus the torn vessel felt the enormous stroke,
The beams beneath the thund'ring deluge broke.

7. To whom in brief thus Abdiel stern reply'd.
Reign thou in Hell, thy kingdom; let me serve
In Heav'n God ever blest and his divine
Behests obey, worthiest to be obey’d;
Yet chains in Hell, not realms expect : meanwhile
From me, (return'd as erst thou saidst from flight,)
This greeting on thy impious crest receive.

5

() So say'ing, a noble stroke he lifted high, Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell 10 On the proud crest of Satan, that no sight,

Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield,
Such ruin intercept; ten paces huge
He back recoild ; the tenth on bended knee
His

massy spear upstay'd; as if on earth
15 Winds under ground, or waters forcing way,

Sidelong had push'd a mountain from his seat,
Half sunk with all his pines.-

Now storming fury rose,
And clamour such as heard in Heav'n till now
20 Was never; arms on armour clashing, bray'd

Horrible discord, and the madding wheels
Of brazen chariots rag'd; dire was the noise
Of conflict; over head the dismal hiss

Of fiery darts in flaming vollies flew,
25 And flying, vaulted either host with fire.

So under fiery cope together rush'd
Both battles main, with ruimous assault
And inextinguishable rage; all Heaven

Resounded, and had Earth been then, all Earth 30 Had to her centre shook.

-Long time in .even scale-
The battle hung; till Satan, who that day
Prodigious pow'r had shown, and met in arms

No equal, ranging through the dire attack 35 Of fighting Seraphim confus’d, at length

Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and fell’d
Squadrons at once; with huge two-handed sway,
Brandish'd aloft, the horrid edge came down

Wide wasting ; such destruction to withstand 70 He hasted, and oppos’d the rocky orb

Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield,
A vast circumference. At his approach
The great Archangel from his warlike toil
Surceas'd, and glad, as hoping here to end

40 Intestine war in Heav'n, th' arch-foe subdu’d.

Now wav'd their fiery swords, and in the air
Made horrid circles; two broad suns their shields
Blaz’d opposite, while expectation stood

In horror; from each hand with speed retired,
50 Where erst was thickest fight, the angelic throng,

And left large fields, unsafe within the wind
Of such commotion ; such as, to set forth
Great things by small, if nature's concord broke,

Among the constellations war were sprung, 55 Two planets rushing from aspect malign

Of fiercest opposition in mid-sky
Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.

Milton. The following examples are selected as a specimen of those passages, which are most favourable to the cultivation of a top to the voice. In pronouncing these, the reader should aim to get up his voice to the highest note on which he can articulate with freedom and distinctness. See remarks page 120. If the student wishes for more examples of this kind, he is referred to EXERCISES [5].

8. Has a wise and good God furnished us with desires which have no correspondent objects, and raised expectations in our breasts, with no other view but to disappoínt them ?-Are we to be for ever in search of happiness, without arríving at it, either in this world or the next?--Are we formed with a passionate longing for immortality, and yet destined to perish after this short period of existence ?--Are we prompted to the noblest actions, and supported through life, under the severest hardships and most delicate temptations, by the hopes of a reward which is visionary and chimérical, by the expectation of praises, of which it is utterly impossible for us ever to have the least knowledge or enjoyment ?

9. (0)"Whence and what art thou, execrable shape,
That dar’st, though grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates ? through them I mean to pass,