constitution asserts. Can he behold the spider's net, or the silk-worm's web, the bee's closets, or the ant's granaries, without acknowledging a higher being than a creature, who hath planted that genius in them? Job xxxix. Psalms civ., 24. All the stars in heaven and the dust on earth, oppose the Atheist.

II. The power of conscience is an argument to convince us of this truth. "Every one that findeth me shall slay me," Genesis iv., 14, was the language of Cain; and similar apprehensions are frequent in those who feel the fury of an enraged conscience. The psalmist tells us concerning those who say in their heart"There is no God", that "they are in fear where no fear is." Psalms liii., 5. Their guilty minds invent terrors, and thereby confess a Deity, while they deny it, that there is a sovereign Being who will punish. Pashur, who wickedly insulted the prophet Jeremiah, had this for his reward, "that his name should be Magor-missabib," i. e., "fear round about". Jeremiah xx., 3, 4. When Belshazzar saw the handwriting, "his countenance was changed," Daniel v., 6. The apostle who tells us that there is a "law written in the hearts of men", adds, their "consciences also bear witness." Romans ii., 15.

III. Universal consent is another argument. The notion of a God is found among all nations, however barbarous; it is the language of every country and region; the most abominable idolatry argues a Deity.

IV. Extraordinary judgments. When a just revenge follows abominable crimes, especially when the judgment is suited to the sin; when the sin is made legible by the inflicted judgment. "The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth." Psalms ix., 16. Herod Agrippa received the flattering applause of the people, and thought himself a God; but was, by the judgment inflicted upon him, forced to confess another. Acts xii., 21-23; Judges i., 6, 7; Acts v., 1-10.

V. Accomplishment of prophecies. To foretell things that are future, as if they already existed or had existed long ago, must be the result of a mind infinitely intelligent. "Show the things that are to come hereafter." Isaiah xli., 23. "I am God, declaring the end from the beginning." Isaiah xlvi., 9, 10. Cyrus was prophesied of, Isaiah xliv., 28, and xlv., 1, long before he was born; Alexander's sight of Daniel's prophecy concerning his victories, moved him to spare Jerusalem. The four monarchies were plainly deciphered in Daniel, before the fourth rose up. That power which foretells things beyond the wit of man, and orders causes to bring about those predictions, must be infinite and omniscient. What folly, then, for any to shut their eyes, and stop their ears; to attribute those things to blind chance, which nothing less than an infinitely wise and powerful Being could effect!

Peroration, or Conclusion.

I. If God can be seen in creation, study the creatures; the creatures are the heralds of God's glory. "The glory of the Lord shall endure." Psalms civ., 31. The world is a sacred temple; man is introduced to contemplate it. Grace does not destroy nature, nor does the book of redemption blot out the book of creation. II. If it be a folly to deny or doubt the being of God, is it not a folly also not to worship God when we acknowledge his existence? "To fear God, and keep his commandments, is the whole duty of man." We are not reasonable if we are not religious. Romans xii., 1.

III. If it be a folly to deny the existence of God, will it not be our wisdom, since we acknowledge his being, often to think of him? It is said of the fool only, "God is not in all his thoughts." Psalms x., 4.

IV. If we believe the being of God, let us abhor practical atheism. Men's practices are the best indexes to their principles. "Let your light shine before men." Matthew v., 16.

§ 474. STRICTLY speaking, those compositions only fall under the head of poetry, into which the language of the imagination largely enters; which abound in metaphors, similes, personifications, and other rhetorical figures. Such writings, even if they have the form of prose, must be regarded as poems; while, on the other hand, prosaic matter, even if put into the form in which poetry generally appears, is still nothing more than prose. The distinction between prose and poetry, therefore, has reference to the matter of which they are respectively composed.

Poetry being the language of imagination and passion, we naturally expect to find in it more figures than in prose. These, having been already fully treated, need no further consideration here. As regards its form, poetry is generally characterized by deviations from the natural

§ 474. What compositions fall under the head of poetry? To what does the distinction between prose and poetry refer? What do we naturally expect to

order and mode of expression, which are known as poetical licenses. Examples of some of these follow :

I. Violent inversions.

"Now storming fury rose,

And clamor such as heard in Heaven till now
Was never."

II. Violent ellipses.

"While all those souls [that] have ever felt the force

Of those enchanting passions, to my lyre

Should throng attentive."

III. The use of peculiar words, idioms, phrases, &c., not generally bound in prose; as, morn, eve, o'er, sheen, passing rich.

IV. Connecting an adjective with a different substantive from that which it really qualifies; as in the following lines, in which wide is joined to nature instead of bounds :

"Through wide nature's bounds

Expatiate with glad step."

V. Using a noun and a pronoun standing for it [in violation of a syntactical rule] as subjects or objects of the same verb; as,

"The boy-oh! where was he?"

VI. The use of or for either, and nor for neither.

"Whate'er thy name, or Muse or Grace."

"Nor earth nor Heaven shall hear his prayer."

VII. The introduction of an adverb between to, the sign of the infinitive, and the verb with which it is connected; as,

"To slowly trace the forest's shady scene."

VIII. Making intransitive verbs transitive; as,

"Still, in harmonious intercourse, they lived
The rural day, and talked the flowing heart."

IX. The use of foreign idioms; as,

"To some she gave

To search the story of eternal thought."

475. Verse is the form in which poetry generally appears. It consists of language arranged into metrical lines, called verses, of a length and rhythm determined by rules

find in poetry? What is meant by poetical licenses? Enumerate the poetical licenses mentioned in the text, and give an example of each.

§ 475. What is verse? Of what does it generally consist? What is the differ

which usage has sanctioned. The distinction between prose and verse is, therefore, a matter of form.

Verse is merely the dress which poetry generally assumes. The two are entirely independent of each other: all poetry is not verse, as we see in the case of Fénelon's Telemachus and Ossian's Poems; nor, on the other hand, is all verse by any means poetry, as nine tenths of the fugitive pieces given to the world under the latter name abundantly show.

Versification is the art of making verses.

A Verse, as we have seen, is a metrical line of a length and rhythm determined by rules which usage has sanctioned. A Hemistich is half of a verse.

Rhyme is a similarity of sound in syllables which begin differently but end alike. It is exemplified at the close of the following lines:-

"Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul;

Reason's comparing balance rules the whole."

A Distich, or Couplet, consists of two verses rhyming together; the lines just given are an example.

A Triplet consists of three verses rhyming together; as,

"Souls that can scarce ferment their mass of clay,—

So drossy, so divisible, are they,

As would but serve pure bodies for allay."

A Stanza [often incorrectly called a verse] is a regular division of a poem, consisting of two or more lines, or verses. Stanzas are of every conceivable variety, their formation being regulated by the taste of the poet alone. The stanzas of the same poem, however, should be uniform.

§ 476. Syllables occurring in verse are distinguished as long and short, according to the time occupied in uttering them. A long syllable is equivalent to two short ones.

ence between verse and poetry? What is versification? What is a verse? What is a hemistich? What is rhyme? What is a distich? What is a triplet? What is a stanza? What is it often incorrectly called? By what is the formation of the stanza regulated? What is said of the stanzas of the same poem?

§ 476. How are syllables occurring in verse distinguished? On what is this distinction founded? How is the quantity of a syllable indicated? In words of

When it is desired to indicate the quantity, the macron [-] is placed over a long syllable, and the breve [~] over a short one; as, the măn.

In words of more than one syllable, accent, whether primary or secondary, constitutes length; syllables that are unaccented are short. In the case of monosyllables, nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and interjections, are for the most part long; articles are always short; prepositions and conjunctions are generally short; pronouns are long when emphasized,-when not, short. This will appear from the following

lines:

The goddess heard, and bade the Muses raise
The golden trumpět of ĕtērnal praise:

From pōle to pōle the winds diffuse the sound,
That fills the circuit of the world around.

In Latin and Greek, each syllable has a definite quantity, without reference to accent. This is not the case in English. Our vowel sounds have nothing to do with the length or shortness of syllables. Fat, in which a has its flat or short sound, is as likely to be accented, and therefore long, in poetry, as fate, in which the sound of the vowel is generally called long.

§ 477. A Foot is a division of a verse, consisting of two or three syllables.

The dissyllabic feet are four in number, as follows:

The trisyllabic feet are eight in number, as follows:

Of these twelve feet, the iambus, the trochee, the anapest, and the dactyl, are oftenest used; and are capable,

more than one syllable, which syllables are long, and which short? In the case of monosyllables, which of the parts of speech are generally long, and which are short? What is the case in Latin and Greek, with respect to the quantity of syllables? What relation subsists in English between the quantity of syllables and the sound of the vowels they contain? Illustrate this.

§ 477. What is a foot? How many dissyllabic feet are there? Enumerate them, state of what syllables they are respectively composed, and give an example of each. How many trisyllabic feet are there? Enumerate them, state of what syllables they are composed, and give an example of each. Of these twelve