so little on _and_, so much on _spare_, that the disparity of accent is
very manifest.

Now, if in the place of _and_, there were some other word, a word not so
much accented as _spare_, but still more accented than _and_, this
disparity would be diminished, and the accents of the two words might be
said to be at _par_, or nearly so. As said before, the line was slightly
altered from Churchill, the real reading being

"Then r['e]st, my fri['e]nd, _spare, spare_ thy pr['e]cious br['e]ath."

In the true reading we actually find what had previously only been
supposed. In the words _spare, spare_, the accents are nearly at _par_.
Such the difference between accent at par and disparity of accent.

Good illustrations of the parity and disparity of accent may be drawn from
certain names of places. Let there be such a sentence as the following:
_the lime house near the bridge north of the new port_. Compare the parity
of accent on the pairs of words _lime_ and _house_, _bridge_ and _north_,
_new_ and _port_, with the disparity of accent in the compound words
_L['i]mehouse_, _Br['i]dgenorth_, and _N['e]wport_. The separate words
_beef steak_, where the accent is nearly at _par_, compared with the
compound word _swe['e]pstakes_, where there is a great disparity of accent,
are further illustrations of the same difference.

The difference between a compound word and a pair of words is further
illustrated by comparing such terms as the following:--_bl['a]ck b['i]rd_,
meaning a _bird that is black_, with _bl['a]ckbird_ = the Latin _merula_;
_bl['u]e b['e]ll_, meaning a _bell that is blue_, with _bl['u]ebell_, the
flower. Expressions like a _sh['a]rp edg['e]d instrument_, meaning _an
instrument that is sharp and has edges_, as opposed to _a sh['a]rp-edged
instrument_, meaning _an instrument with sharp edges_, further exemplify
this difference.

Subject to a few exceptions, it may be laid down, that, in the English
language, _there is no composition unless there is either a change of form
or a change of accent_.

s. 359. The reader is now informed, that unless he has taken an exception
to either a statement or an inference, he has either seen beyond what has
been already laid down by the author, or else has read him with
insufficient attention. This may be shown by drawing a distinction between
a compound form and a compound idea.

In the words _a red house_, each word preserves its natural and original
meaning, and the statem