FIGURE X.—EROTESIS.
"He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?"—Psalms, xciv, 10. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."—Jeremiah, xiii, 23.
FIGURE XI.—ECPHONESIS.
"O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them!"—Jeremiah, ix, 1.
FIGURE XII.—ANTITHESIS.
"On this side, modesty is engaged; on that, impudence: on this, chastity; on that, lewdness: on this, integrity; on that, fraud: on this, piety; on that, profaneness: on this, constancy; on that, fickleness: on this, honour; on that, baseness: on this, moderation; on that, unbridled passion."—Cicero.
"She, from the rending earth, and bursting skies,
Saw gods descend, and fiends infernal rise;
Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest abodes;
Fear made her devils, and weak hope her gods."—Pope.
LESSON X.—FIGURES OF RHETORIC.
FIGURE XIII.—CLIMAX.
"Virtuous actions are necessarily approved by the awakened conscience; and when they are approved, they are commended to practice; and when they are practised, they become easy; and when they become easy, they afford pleasure; and when they afford pleasure, they are done frequently; and when they are done frequently, they are confirmed by habit: and confirmed habit is a kind of second nature."—Inst., p. 246.
"Weep all of every name: begin the wo,
Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds;
And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills;
And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales;
And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks;
And sorrwing brooks, weep to the weeping stream;
And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep;
And let the instrument take up the song,
Responsive to the voice—harmonious wo!"—Pollok, B. vi, l. 115.
FIGURE XIV.—IRONY.
"And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, 'Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in [on] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!' "—1 Kings, xviii, 27.
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my breach of promise."—Numbers, xiv, 34.
"Some lead a life unblamable and just,
Their own dear virtue their unshaken trust;
They never sin—or if (as all offend)
Some trivial slips their daily walk attend,
The poor are near at hand, the charge is small,
A slight gratuity atones for all."—Cowper.
FIGURE XV.—APOPHASIS, OR PARALIPSIS.
I say nothing of the notorious profligacy of his character; nothing of the reckless extravagance with which he has wasted an ample fortune; nothing of the disgusting intemperance which has sometimes caused him to reel in our streets;—but I aver that he has not been faithful to our interests,—has not exhibited either probity or ability in the important office which he holds.
