DEFINITION. Cadence is the closing tone of a sen tence. Note. The etymology of this word has led to a false notion which is very current in regard to reading, that every sentence has a falling close. Hence the common direction, Let the voice fall at a period. This rule would be a just one for the reading of a single sentence which required the downward slide. It is quite the reverse, however, for a sentence which happens to terminate with the rising inflection; as may be perceived by the following example: "Lady, you utter madness and not sorrow." Nor will such a rule apply when one sentence is merely introductory to another, or when a negative sentence is followed by an affirmative one. For example: "Your enemies may be formidable by their numbers and their power. But He who is with you is mightier than they." "True politeness is not a mere compliance with arbitrary custom. It is the expression of a refined benevolence." The word cadence, as used by the ancient rhetoricians, was applied to the close of a 'period,' or sentence embracing a complete sentiment, with all its modifications. But in modern style, a sentence is often com-pleted in the compass of a few words; and the full stop is no security that a whole idea is expressed. The frequency of the period, or full stop, is a matter of taste and custom, and dependent on no uniform rule of thought or of language. Thus, at the time when the Spectator appeared, it was customary to write a succession of single sentences connected by a conjunction, as component parts merely of a long compound sentence, and to point them with a semicolon.* In "The strange and absurd variety that is so apparent in men's actions shows plainly they can never proceed immediately from reason; so pure a fountain emits no such troubled waters; they must necessarily arise from the passions, which are to the mind as the winds to a ship, they only can move it, and they too often destroy it; if fair and gentle, they guide it into the harbour; if contrary and furious, they overset it in the waves: in the same manner is the mind assisted or endangered by the passions; reason must then take the place of the pilot, and can never fail of securing her our own day, the tendency of custom is to use, in such cases, the full stop at each single sentence. But, in all cases, we must seek for a rule less fluctuating than that of fashion or temporary taste, to guide the voice in the expression of sentiment; and this we can find only in the meaning. The appropriate tone of thought and feeling, must be left to decide whether the voice shall fall or rise. Cadence, then, if we do use the word, should be understood, arbitrarily, to signify the closing tone of a sentence, as expressive of meaning preceding or following. The unmeaning and mechanical style of reading, which is too generally exemplified at school, and in professional performances, is chiefly characterized by a continually returning fall of voice at the end of every sentence, —so uniform that it might be used as a guide by which to count the exact number of sentences read. A whole paragraph is read as so many detached and independent sentences, forming distinct and unconnected propositions or maxims. Animated, natural, and appropriate reading, on the contrary, avoids this frequent fall, and keeps up that perpetual variety which the changes of sense require. This effect it produces by modifying the close of every sentence, according to its meaning in connexion with the rest. A reader who uses this style, gives every sentence as a dependent part of a connected whole, and thus gives unity and harmony to a train of thought. This effect he attains by disregarding the arbitrary rule for a fall of voice at every period, and seeking his guidance from the sense of what he utters, as he does in his habits of common conversation,-making no difference whatever in the two cases, but what arises, of necessity, from the more regular form of written sentences. RULE I. Every complete and independent sentence charge, if she be not wanting to herself; the strength of the passions will never be accepted as an excuse for complying with them; they were designed for subjection, and if a man suffers them to get the upper hand, he then betrays the liberty of his own soul."Spectator, No. 408. which does not terminate with a modifying clause, has the falling inflection. Note. The note to which the cadence falls, and the space through which it descends, are dependent on the emotion with which the sentiment should be uttered, or on the length and complication of the sentence. In strong emotion, the cadence is often both abrupt and low: thus, "Let us do, or die." In gentle emotion, the cadence is gradual and mod erate: "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank." In short sentences, in which emotion does not prevail, the fall is slight. "Human life is the journey of a day." In long sentences the fall is more obvious, and commences farther from the close. "As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did not perceive its moving; and it appears that the grass has grown, though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advanceś we make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance.' RULE II. Sentences which terminate with a modifying phrase, and all sentences which qualify or affect, in any way, a preceding sentence, or are introductory to other sentences, close with a tone adapted to the modification or connexion of meaning. "My sentence is for open war: of wiles (More unexpert) I boast not; them let those ERRORS. The common faults of cadence are, 1st, delaying the fall of voice till the last word of the sen * Farther examples may be found in the appropriate exercises on Inflection. tence, and dropping at once from, perhaps, a uniform and level tone preceding; 2d, falling very low in the closing phrase; 3d, falling at too early a point in the sentence; 4th, using a waving tone of voice, which makes a false emphasis near the close; 5th, a gradual gliding downward from the opening of the sentence; 6th, a gradual diminishing of the force of the voice, till it becomes nearly inaudible at the close; 7th, the disagreeable sameness produced by the repetition of any of these tones throughout a piece. The various faulty cadences which have been mentioned, including the last, might be expressed thus to the eye. 1st. The dropping of the voice upon the last word: "The sums he has, by arbitrary taxes and unheard of impositions, extorted from the industrious poor, are The most faithful allies of the not to be computed. commonwealth have been treated as enemies. Roman citizens have, like slaves, been put to death with tortures." This fault might be represented by a sort of diagram, thus:" 2d. A low fall on the closing phrase: "The sums he has, by arbitrary taxes and unheard of impositions, extorted from the industrious poor, are not to be computed. The most faithful allies of the commonwealth have } been treated as enemies. Roman citizens have been put to death This fault might be represented thus: like slaves." 3d. Falling at too early a point in the sentence: "The sums he has, by arbitrary taxes and unheard of impositions, extorted from the indústrious poòr, are not to be compùted. The most faithful alliés of the commonwealth have been treated as ènemies." Roman citizens have been put to death like slaves."* This cadence is not quite so uniform as either of the preceding, and cannot be so strictly copied to the eye -comparatively, however, it would run thus: 4th. False emphasis and undulation at the close of a sentence: "The sums he has, by arbitrary taxes and unheard of impositions, extorted from the industrious poor, are not to be computed. The most faithful allies of the commonwealth have been treated as enemies. Roman citizens have been put to death like slaves.” This fault might be represented thus: * This cadence is always accompanied by the inflection of 'em phatic phrase.' |