d pitch
and force being given to 'concubines.'

In the third verse, 'Then they brought the golden vessels,' etc., should
be read as a matter of course, and not as if it were necessary to invite
the attention of the hearer to the fact that the command of the king was
obeyed. The latter mode of reading would be wholly gratuitous (as it
should be assumed that the command of the king was obeyed), and would
waste attention; 'and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his
concubines' should be again thrown back, and, the voice should descend
somewhat forcibly upon 'drank,' thus marking distinctly the sacrilege.

In the fourth verse, 'They drank wine,' being a mere repetition, should
say itself (the mind of the reader not coming down upon it, but keeping
along on the upper plane of expression), and the voice should come out
strongly upon 'and praised the gods of gold'; but it should be reduced,
and somewhat accelerated, upon, 'and of silver, of brass, of iron, of
wood, and of stone.' Their idolatry having been sufficiently brought out
through 'and praised the gods of gold,' it would waste attention to
bring forward also the several other materials of which their gods were
composed. These should be expressed, as it were, by the way. The mind of
the reader is done with the fact of idolatry.

In the fifth verse, 'In the same hour, came forth fingers ... and
wrote,' should be brought fully to the front, an increase of time being
given to 'In the same hour,' to mark distinctly the fact that divine
vengeance followed close upon the sacrilege of drinking from the sacred
vessels of the temple, which was aggravated by their idolatry (the words
'hour,' 'fingers,' and 'wrote,' receiving each the falling inflection);
but 'of a man's hand' should be slighted, the voice being kept up on
'hand,' it being assumed that the fingers were, of course, those of a
man's hand, or, at least, of a human hand. The place just _where_ the
writing was done, 'over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the
wall of the king's palace,' being of no special importance, under the
circumstances, should be slighted. To bring it to the front would cause
an entirely unnecessary expenditure of attention on the part of the
hearer. It should be left to its own intrinsic value, without any
enforcement from the voice; 'and the king saw' comes to the front, the
voice falling upon 'saw,' and drifting down over 'the part of the hand
that wrote.'

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