LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. .^^ >^^^' j^M^ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. V LESSONS ELOCUTION, INCLUDING YocAL AND Physical Culture. ADAPTED FOR THE USE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS. By C. dean, Teacher of Elocution. li^t BATTLE CREEK, MICH.: REVIfiW AND HERALD STEAM PRESS. 1882. Tfif" Copyrighted 1881, by C. DEAN. PREFA.CE. This work is prepared for the purpose of raising the standard of reading and speaking in the public and private schools. Elocution has been neglected more than any one branch of education. It has also been misunderstood as being a rare accomplishment that was not within the reach of every person. It is natural to express the thoughts and feelings by the voice. The theory of elocution teaches the proper use of the voice, the same as grammar teaches the proper arrangement of words. God has given us the "plastic material," with laws for its use. These laws should commence in the school-room. Every pupil should understand the ai-t of controlling his breath and vocal organs ; but the majority of teachers neglect this important branch of education, which is the cause of so many defective voices. Habit becomes so fixed in this defect that it constitutes second nature; "and close analysis becomes necessary that we may draw the line between our own nature and this accumulated or borrowed nature." The writer of this work does not claim any credit for anything of worth which it may contain. It is compiled from all the popular works on elocution, and arranged in a system to meet the wants of schools. C. J). TO TEAOHEES. Before every reading exercise the class should practice development of the chest, and control of the breath ; also exercise on the elementaiy sounds. Pupils should be required to deliver their words properly in speaking as well as in reading. Insist on every word being heard distinctly ; avoiding nasal tones caused by not raising the soft palate. Drill the class to read naturally, as if talking ; discouraging affectation and mannerism of any kind. For strength of voice, practice loud explosive ex- ercises; for distinct enunciation, the whisper; for smoothness, the median stress ; for flexibility, rapid movement. Ask the following questions before the selection is read : What is the style of this selection ? Is it pathetic, animated, declamatory or humorous? What tones and qualities of voice does it require? Does it contain personations, etc.? CONTENTS. LESSON I. Elocution Page 11 Analysis of words 11 Simple vocals 11 Compound vocals 12 Sub-vocals 12 Aspirates 12 Sounds not classified 12 LESSON II. Analysis of voice 13 Rules for tlie management of tlie breath 13 Muscular development of tbe chest 13 LESSON III. Chest expansion 14 Shoulder movements 15 Development of the lungs 15 Percussion of the chest 16 Percussion with arm movement 16 LESSON IV. Exercises in breathing 17 LESSON V. Exercises in breathing. — Continued 17 LESSON VI. Organs of the throat 18 LESSON VII. Tones 20 Exercises in vocal tones 21 (7) 8 CONTENTS. LESSON VIII. Exercises in consonants 23 LESSON IX. Vowels and consonants 24 LESSON X. Labials 25 Dentals 25 Palatals 25 Nasals 25 Aspirate 25 Linguals 25 LESSON XL Articulation 26 Aspirate consonants 26 Voice consonants 27 Difficult double and triple consonants 27 LESSON XII. Difficult combinations 27 LESSON XIII. Recreations in articulation 29 LESSON XIV. Vocal sounds 33 LESSON XV. Articles 35 Aspirate sounds in plurals 36 Unaccented vowels 36 Exercise in pronunciation 37 LESSON XVI. Vocal practice 38 Orotund voice 38 LESSON XVII. Quality of pure and orotund voice 40 Pitch 40 Gamut for varying the pitch of the speaking voice 40 Force , 42 Stress 42 CONTENTS. 9 LESSON XVIII. Radical stress 42 LESSON XIX. Medium stress 44 Vanishing stress 44 LESSON XX. Derivative forms of stress 45 Thorough stress 45 LESSON XXI. Compound stress 46 LESSON XXII. Movement 47 Quantity 48 LESSON XXIII. Inflections 49 Rising inflection 49 Falling inflection 50 Circumfles 60 LESSON XXIV. Pauses 52 Parenthesis 53 LESSON XXV. Emphasis 53 Cadence 54 LESSON XXVI. Impure tones 56 Aspirate 56 Guttural 56 Falsetto 57 LESSON XXVII. Position 57 Countenance 59 Gesture 59 Directions and abbreviations 60 Exercises 61 LESSON XXVIII. Exercises in gesture continued 62 10 LESSON XXIX. Expression 64 LESSON XXX. Transition 65 Examples in transition 66 Questions for examination 70 How to criticize elocution 73 Hamlet's instruction 74 SELECTIONS. The elocution of the pulpit 75 The cynic 77 Definition of eloquence 78 Socrates Snooks 79 Evening at the farm 80 Hamlet's soliloquy 82 A Legend of Bregenz 83 Char-co-o-al 86 Supposed speech of John Adams 88 Bugle song 90 Ignorance in our country a crime 91 Charge of the light brigade 93 Fourth of July oration 94 Examination of a witness 96 Industry and eloquence ^'^ The burning ship 99 The bells 101 Jimmy Butler and the owl 104 Clarence's dream 109 The charcoal man 110 The bells of Shandon 113 The cataract of Lodore 113 Nobody's child 114 APPENDIX. Words often mispronounced 117 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSOJSr I. Elocution is the science which teaches the proper delivery of 'words. ANALYSIS OF WORDS. Words are a combination of vocal sounds. Yocal sounds are represented by letters, and pro- duced by the organs of speech. The English language is represented by twenty- six letters, each letter having one or more sounds. The letters are divided into vowels and conso- nants. The sounds are divided into vocals, sub- vo- cals, and aspirates. Yowels represent vocal sounds. Consonants rep- resent sub- vocal sounds and aspirates. Yocals are unobstructed sounds. Sub-vocals are obstructed sounds, and aspirates are breath sounds. Yocal sounds are simple and compound. TABLE OF SIMPLE VOCALS. a as in arm, far, car. 1 as in it, ill, in. a ' ' all, or, law. " on, what. i ' ' dare, fare. 00 " ooze, do, rue. a ' ' at, can, lad. do " book, full, look. e ' eve, me, the. er* " her, urn, sir. g ' ' ell, end, met. ii " up, sup, cup. ♦This sound is also represented by or as in work, ar as in fear, re as in ore, and ear as in earn. (11) ■ 12 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Compound vocals are composed of two simple vowel sounds. TABLE OF COMPOUND VOCALS. a as in ale, ha s the soui d of a+e. i " ice, ii+i. " old. o-j-oo. Ol] L " out, now, a+oo. ■ oi " oil, joy, a+i- u " use, few. l-j-OO. TABLE OF SUB-VOCALS. b as in boy, ebb, bat. m as in man , me. d " did, dog, die. n " run. on, an. g " gag, go, wag. ng " sing ring. J " judge, joy, wedge. 1 lo, hill, will. V " valve, wave, vale. r " roar rear, row. th " thee, this, breathe. w " we. way, war. z " zeal, zone, rise. y yes. yet, year. zh " azure, measure. p as in pipe, cap. t " top, met. k " back, chasm, f " fife, laugh, ch " church, which. TABLE OF ASPIRATES. th as in thin, think. s " see, hiss, sh " she, wish, h " horse, home, wh " what, when. SOUNDS NOT CLASSIFIED. c sounds like s or k — , as in dice, can. X sounds like k-[-s or g-j-z, as in ox, locks, exact. qu sounds like k-J-w — , as in quart, quarter. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 13 LESSON II. ANALYSIS OF VOICE. The proper delivery of words depends on voice and expression. Yoice is produced by the vibration of the edges of the glottis, caused by the breath passing over the vocal cords, which are situated in the larynx, and through the cavities of the mouth and nose. Perfect control of the breath and vocal organs will produce a clear, full, and resonant voice. RULES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BREATH. Exile I. Always inhale through the nostrils. EuLE II. Take a deep inspiration, contracting the abdominal muscles. EuLE III. Keep the lungs well inflated while reading or speaking. MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHEST. Position, Fig. 1. Expand the chest and the upper part of the body as if defying a blow, and you have the active chest. Eelax the muscles and let the chest fall as if fatigued, and you have the passive chest. 14 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON III. I.— CHEST EXPANSION. Position — Elbows sharply bent and close to the side, fore- arm horizontal, fists clenched, ..::.v;;v;.-t;:,,.., f".-".. A palms upward. Take a deep ^S -.... inspiration. Hold the breath. 1. Extend the arms for- ward with force, relaxing the muscles and opening the hands, palms downward. 2. Bring the arms energet- ^^°- ^• ically back to their former position, expanding the chest as much as possible. 3. Expel the breath through the nostrils, take a fresh inspiration, and repeat from first movement. II.— SHOULDER MOVEMENTS. Position — Arms falling easily at the side. Take a full breath. 1. Bring the shoulders forward, contracting the chest. 2. Throw the shoulders back and down, expand- ing the chest. 3. Repeat these two movements with expiration and inspiration of the breath. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 15 ni.— SHOULDER MOVEMENTS,— ARMS BENT. Position — Clenched fists at the side of the shoulders, palms for- ward, fore- arms vertical. 1. Bring the open hands, palms inward, so as to nearly touch each other about three inches in front of the chin. 2. Throw the fore-arms back to the side last position, fists clenched, palms outward. 3. Kepeat with expiration and inspiration. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNGS. 1. Bring the tips of the fingers to the shoulders, inhaling the breath through the nostrils at the same time. 2. Strike downward and for- ward, clenching the fists with the palms front, and expelling the breath through the nostrils with the movement. In this movement keep the body steady Fig. 4. and let the expulsion be done by the abdominal muscles and diaphragm. 16 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. PERCUSSION OF THE CHEST. Place the hands on the chest with the fore-fingers just below the collar-bones ; fore- arms horizontal. Take a deep inspiration through the nostrils and hold the breath. 1. Strike on the chest rapid percussive blows with the hand from the wrist. Count four. 2. Give out the breath through the nostrils, in- haling deeply. Eepeat the first movement. N. B.— The blows should be light at first. When the practice is easy, they may be increased in force, but always free from violence. PERCUSSION WITH ARM MOVEMENTS. Position — Let the hands fall easily at the side ; take a full breath. 1. Swing the arms from the shoulder alternately, giving elas- tic but not heavy blows upon the chest, below the collar-bone. Give two blows with each hand. 2. Exhale and inhale the breath as in the preceding ex- ercises. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 17 LESSON IV. EXERCISES IN BREATHING. 1. Relax the muscles of the chest. Take a full breath, expandmg the chest to its fullest capacity. Exhale gradually. 2. Expand the sides while inhaling. Exhale gradually. 3. Inhale, expanding the entire waist as if trying to burst a belt. Expel the breath by contracting the whole waist. 4. Inhale, directing the will to the muscles of the back and expand them as much as possible. Expel, drawing these muscles inward. 5. Breathe deeply, forcing the abdominal muscles outward. Expel : the abdominal walls are drawn inward and flattened. 6. " Inhale slowly, exercising the will upon all parts of the body simultaneously. Exhale slowly. This is an intense form of what should be the natural habit of breathing." N. B. — Inhale and exhale through the nostrils. Commence gradually and discontinue if any sensa- tion of dizziness is experienced. Persons not accus- tomed to habits of full breathing will derive special advantages from these exercises. LESSON V. EXERCISES IN BREATHING.— CONTINUED. Stand perfectly erect, the weight of the body resting on one foot, the other in advance, the arms 18 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. akimbo, with fingers pressing on the abdominal mus- cles in front and the thumbs on the dorsal muscles each side of the spine, the chest fully expanded, the shoulders held backward and downward. Inhale slowly until the lungs are well expanded, retain the breath a moment, exhale slowly ; repeat six times in succession. Inhale quickly; exhale through the mouth slowly and quietly, as in natural breathing, retaining the active chest. Eepeat six times. Expand the lungs to their utmost capacity, ex- pel slowly through the open mouth, gently sounding the letter h; repeat six times. This exercise is called effusive breathing. Expand the lungs as before, expel with force as in a whispered cough ; repeat six times. This exer- cise is called expulsive breathing. Expand the lungs as usual, expel suddenly with great force as if whispering loudly " W^o" to a person in the distance ; repeat six times. This is called ex- plosive breathing. N. E. — Avoid irritating the throat. Whenever the exercise causes coughing, the effort is too violent. LESSON YI. ANALYSIS OF VOCAL ORGANS. Voice is produced by the vibration of the edges of the glottis^ caused by the breath passing through the larynx and t*he cavities of the mouth and nose. The glottis is the opening at the upper part of the larynx. The larynx is at the top of the windpipe, and is the organ of voice. It is susceptible of a multitude of changes, affecting the pitch, force, and quality of the voice. LE.SSONS IN ELOCUTION. 19 The passage between the larynx and moath is called the pharynx, and is susceptible of various de- grees of expansion and contraction. In front of the phaiynx is the mouth, which is thrown open by the movement of the lower jaw, and produces the full effect of a round, smooth, and agreeable tone. At the top of the pharynx, behind the soft palate, is the entrance to the nasal passages. When the soft palate is raised it prevents the breath from pass- iijg into the nose, and when it is depressed the breath flows through the nostrils as well as into the mouth. THE VOCAL ORGANS. Fig. 1. 1. 4. Larynx. Nasal Pas 7-7. age. Point of 2. Pharynx 5. Base of Tongue. Tongue. 8. 3. Uvula. 6. Top of Tongue Lips. 20 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Interior of the mouth when the tone is impure. Interior of the mouth when the tone is pure. LESvSON YII. TONES. Tones are pure or impure. Pure tone is that quality of voice in which all the breath is converted into a clear, round, smooth, and agreeable sound. It is free from nasal or impure quality. Impure tones are used in expressing malignant feelings, passions, personations, and mimicry. Pure tone is used more than any other quality of voice, and should be cultivated. The most severe and sustained exercise of the voice in pure tone, if pitched in the right key, will strengthen and invig- orate the lungs and throat and fortify the whole sys- tem against the invasion of disease. Commence with the sound of ah, as that is the most open sound. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 21 If ah is produced in a deep, full tone, the palate and the uvula will rise, while the tongue lies flat, and the top of the windpipe descends as in Fig. 9. If ah is produced in a nasal tone, the uvula will fall and appear to touch the tongue, as in Fig. 8. " To think a gape " will place the vocal organs in position for pure tones. EXERCISES IN VOCAL TONES. Active chest. — Inhale the breath so that the ab- domen is drawn inward and flattened. Keep the head erect but not stifl", and the chest and shoulders firm and steady. The efl:brt is made by the working of the muscles of the abdomen and the relaxation and contraction of the diaphragm.* 1. Sound a, a, o, oo, a, e, sending the voice out in a straight column, as follows : — Sound the vocals with one breath, as follows : — : a 1 z 00 ~ a i e 3. Sound the vocals with one breath, breaking the sound at the beginning; of each one : — *The diaphragm is the muscle separating the chest from the abdo- men, and by its muscular contraction and dilatation, assists inspiration and expiration. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Sound each vocal, commencing softly, advance to greater force, then soften down again at the end : — Somid each vocal explosive^, as follows : Sound each vocal in a powerful and distinct whis- per, as if calling to a person at a distance. Sound each vocal as if asking a question — Sound each vocal as if answering a question : Sound each vocal rapidly, as in laughing : — a .".*■..". <"wa -'">■'''.'■»-". 0-" JN'oTE. — The above vocal sounds are the sounds from which all other vocal sounds are derived. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 23 LESSON YIII. EXERCISES IN CONSONANTS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR FORMATION. In practicing across the page, the position of the mouth is similar for each letter. In practising verti- cally, the action begins with the lips and recedes toward the back of the mouth, passing from a whis- per to voice, as p to b. ASPIRATE. SUB- VOCAL. ^Tame. Sound. Name Sound. P as in pipe, cap. b as in boat, bat. wh why, when. W a wine, we. f fat, fife. V " vine, vat. th thin, pith. th a then, that. s sin, sis. z " zone, zoe. t top, too. d " dog, day. sh shad, sure. zh a azure, vision h hat, home. y u yet, yes. k kite, kine. g u g^g, go. ch chain, such. j a jump, joy. Name rn n 1 LIQUIDS. Liquids are sub-vocals that maj' be prolonged. Name. Sound. r as in rear, rank. as m Sound. man, mum. nun, name, lame, lull. ng smg, smgmg. " The correct sounding of consonants in words is necessary to perfect articulation, and is also indis- pensable to intelligent speech." 24 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON IX. VOWELS AND CONSONANTS. Correct pronunciation depends on giving the proper sound to the vowels; and distinct pronuncia- tion depends on giving the proper sound to the con- sonants. Practice the following words, giving the proper sounds to the vowels and consonants. Assume the proper position ; inhale through the nostrils ; open the mouth as wide as possible ; raise the palate ; the larynx and base of tongue depressed ; the lower jaAV dropped ; commence each word softly, advance to greater force and then soften down again at the end. EXERCISES. 1. Arm, balm, calm, palm, farm. 2. Awe, ball, call, pall, fall. 3. Ho, bow, flow, go, row, lo, no. 4. Coo, do, who, pool, rue. 5. Way, gay, main, pain, rain. 6. Eel, seal, feel, peel, reel. 7. Sound each word with one breath, pausing after each sound as follows : b-a-m. 8. Sound each word in a powerful and distinct whisper. 9. Pour them forth as if calling to a person afar off. 10. Inhale through the nostrils, expanding the lungs to the greatest capacity ; expel the breath by counting 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 25 LESSOR X. CONSONANTS ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE ACTION OE THE ORGANS OF SPEECH. LABIALS. Labials or lip sounds are made chiefly with the lips ; there is a firm compression of the lips to arrest the escape of the breath ; then the lips are suddenly separated, as follows : — p as in pipe. I b as in bab. I m as in mum. w '' woe. I V " vive. I f " fife. DENTALS. Dentals or teeth sounds are made by the tongue, , pressing on the teeth or the gums, as follows : — t as m tat. th " the. 8 " sis. d as in did. zh " azure. z " zuz. j " judge. th as in thin, sh " she. ch " etch. PALATALS. Palate sounds are made by the tongue pressing on the palate, as follows: — k as in kirk. | g as in gay. | y as in ye. NASALS. Nasals sounds are made by the tongue pressing against the gums above the upper front teeth, the sound passing through the nose, and the lips open. Ng is sounded by drawing back and elevating the tongue against the veil of the palate so that the sound becomes thoroughly nasal. n as in nun. | ng as in sing. | nk as in ink. 26 LESSONS IN liLOCUTION. ASPIRATE. Aspirate sounds are made by a simple effort of the breath as follows: — h as in ha. LINGUALS. Linguals depend on the action of the tongue, which is raised, the tip pressing gently against the roof of the mouth, touching the ridge of the upper front teeth. 1 as in lull. I r as in roar. LESSON XI. ARTICULATION. Articulation consists in giving every letter in a syllable or word its due proportion of sound, and in making a distinction between the syllables of which words are composed, according to the standard of pronunciation. Pronounce each of the following words. Do not fail to complete the sound of every consonant by restoring the vocal organs to their normal state: — 1. Slowly, taking breath between each word. 2. Rapidly and energetically. 3. In whispers. ASPIRATE CONSONANTS. Pity, pulp, peter, paper, fitter, falter, filter, laugh, rough, thin, tent, taller, elk, wash, post, posts, health, height, milk, nymph, strength, call'st, roll'st, heal'st, tost, trusts, straightest, sect, church, shrine, shrub. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 27 VOICE CONSONANTS. Blame, brave, bleed, blow, blest, bread, drain, barb, orb'd, distiirb'd, gorg'd, barr'd, bulbs, delve, barbarous, babe, eggs, stabb'd, builds, oruinea, groat, giddy, giggling, deadly, adjudged, fatigued, vulgar, vague. DIFFICULT DOUBLE AND TRIPLE CONSONANT ENDINGS. And, barb, wasp, alps, gulfed, tenths, lengths, ringst, depths, droopst, laughst, asps, helpst, twelfths, attemptst, thinkst, precincts, overwhelmst, sixths, tests, charmst, diggst, hundredst, beggdst, catch dst, actst, tasks. LESSON XII. DIFFICULT COMBINATIONS. 1. A big black bug bit a big black bear. 2. Bid you say a notion or an ocean ? 3. Bring me some ice, not some mice. 4. He crossed wastes and deserts and wept bit- terly. 5. Life's fitful fever over, he rests well. 6. Would that all difference of sects were at an end. 7. The old cold scold sold a school coal-scuttle. 8. Eight great gray geese grazing gaily into Greece. 9. The cat ran up the ladder with a lump of raw liver in her mouth. 10. Amos Ames, the amiable aeronaut, aided in an aerial enterprise at the age of eighty- eight. 28 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 11. Thou bridldt^t thy tongue, wreatb'dst thy lips with smiles, imprison'dst thy wrath, and truckl'dst to thine enemy's power. 12. Thou reason'dst falsely, harden'dst thine heart, smother' dst the light of thine understanding, heark- en'dst to the words of lying lips, and doom'dst thy- self to misery. 13. Thirty-three thousand and thirty -three thought- less youths thronged the thoroughfare and thought that they could thwart three thousand thieves by throwing thimbles at them. 14. His exclamation was, " chaste stars," not " chase tars." 15. Sheba Sherman Shelly sharpened his shears and sheared his sheep. 16. Benjamin Bramble Blimber, a blundering banker, borrowed the baker's birchen broom to brush the blinding cobwebs from his brain. 17. A gentle current rippled by. 18. Man wants but little here below, nor wants that little long. 19. Foreign travel enlarges and liberalizes the mind. 20. Do you like herbs in your broth? 21. The culprit was hurled from the Tarpian rock. 22. Perciva^'s acts and extracts. 23. He boasts^ he twists the texts to suit the several sects. 24. He sawed six sleek slim saplings. 25. Thou wreath'dst and niuzzledst the far-fetched ox. 26. Amidst the mists, he thrusts hie fists ao'ainst the posts. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 29 27. The ineligibility of the preliminaries is unpar- alleled. 28. The swan swum over the sea, well swum swan. 29. Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, in sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb. 30. Such individual irregularities are generally ir- remediable. 31. He acted contrary to the peremptory injunc- tions that were given. 32. Execrable Xantippe exhibited extraordinary and excessive irritability. 33. The rough and rugged rocks rear their hoary heads high on the heath. 34. We alienate many by requiting a few with su- pernumerary gratuities. 35. An inalienable eligibility of election, which was of an authority that could not be disputed, ren- dered the interposition of his friends altogether su- pererogatory. 36. Whelply Whewell White was a whimsical, whining, whispering, whittling whistler. LESSON XIII. RECREATIONS IN ARTICULATION. A day or two ago, during a lull in business, two little boot-blacks, one white and one black, were standing at the corners doing nothing, when the white boot-black agreed to black the black book- black's boots. The black boot-black was of course willing to have his boots blacked by his fellow boot- 30 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. black, and the boot-black who had agreed to black the black boot-black's boots went to work. When the boot-black had blacked one of the black boot-black's boots till it shone in a manner that Avould make any boot-black proud, this boot-black who had agreed to black the black boot-black's boots refused to black the other boot of the black boot-black until the black boot-black, who had con- sented to have the white boot-black black his boots, should add five cents to the amount the white boot- black had made blacking other men's boots. This the boot-black whose boot had been blacked refused to do, saying it was good enough for a black boot- black to have one boot blacked, and he didn't care whether the boot that the white boot-black hadn't blacked was blacked or not. This made the boot-black who had blacked the black boot-black's boot as angry as a boot-black often gets, and he vented his black wrath by spitting upon the blacked boot of the black boot-black. This roused the latent passions of the black boot- black, and he proceeded to boot the white boot-black with the boot which the white boot-black had blacked. A fight ensued, in which the white boot-black who had refused to black the unblacked boot of the black boot-black blacked the black boot-black's visionary organ, and in which the black boot-black wore all the blacking ofi:' his blacked boot in booting the white boot-black. Shrewd Simon Short sewed shoes. Seventeen summers' storms and sunshine saw Simon's small, shabby shop standing staunch, saw Simon's self-same sign still swinging, silently specifying: "Simon LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 31 Short, Smithfield's sole surviving shoemaker. Shoes sewed and soled superfinely." Simon's spry sedulous spouse, Sally Short, sewed shirts, stitched sheets, and stuifed sofas. Simon's six stout sturdy sons — Seth, Samuel, Stephen, Saul, Shadrach, and Silas, sold sundries. Sober Seth sold sugar, starch, spices ; Simple Sam sold saddles, stirrujjs. screws; sagacious Stephen sold silks, satins, sbawJs; skeptical Saul sold silver salvers, silver spoons; selfish Shadrach sold shoe strings, soaps, saws, skates; slack Silas sold Sally Short's stuft^'d solas. Some seven summers since, Simon's second son, Samuel, saw Sophia Sophronia Sj^riggs somewhere. Sweet, sensible, smart Sophia Sophronia Spriggs ! Sam soon showed strange symptoms. Sam seldom stayed at the store selling saddles, but sighed sorrowfully, sought Sophia Sophronia's society, sang several sere- nades slyl}'. Simon stormed, scolded severely, said Sam seemed so silly, singing such shameful, senseless " Strange Sam should slight such S2)lendid sum- mer sales," said Simon. " Strutting spendthrift! shat- ter-brained simpleton !" '' Softly, softly, sire," said Sally; "Sam's smitten — Sam's spied a sweetheart. " Sentimental schoolboy! " snarled Simon; " Smit- ten! Stop such stuff!" Simon sent Sally's snuff-box spinning, seized Sally's scissors, smashed Sally's spectacles, and scat- tered several spools. " Sneaking scoundrel ! Sam's shockhig silliness shall surcease ! " Scowling Simon stopped speaking, starting swiftly shopward. Sally sighed sadly. Summoning Sam she spoke sweet sympathy. 32 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. "Sam," said she, "sire seems singularly snappy: so, son, stop strolling, stop smoking segars, and spending specie superfluously ; stop sprucing so ; stop singing serenades, — stop short : sell saddles, son ; sell saddles sensibly ; see Sophia Sophronia Spriggs soon; she's sprightly, she's staple, so solicit and secure Sophia speedily, Sam." "So soon? so soon?" said Sam, standing stock' still. "So soon! surely," said Sally, smiling, "specially since sire shows such spirit." So Sam, somewhat scared, sauntered slowly, shak- ing stupendously. Sam soliloquizes: " Sophia Sophronia Spriggs Short — Sophia Soph- ronia Short, Samuel Short's spouse — sounds splendid! Suppose she should say — she sha'n't!" Soon Sam spied Sophia starching shirts and sing- ing softly. Seeing Sam, she stopped starching and sa- luted Sam smilingly. Sam stammered shockingly: " Sp-sp-splendid summer season, Sophia." " Somewhat sultry," suggested Sophia. " Sar-sartin, Sophia," said Sam. (Silence seven- teen seconds.) "Selling saddles still, Sam?" " Sar-sar-sartin," said Sam, starting suddenly. " Season's somewhat soporific," said Sam, stealthily staunching streaming sweat, shaking sensibly. " Sartin," said Sophia, smiling significantly. "Sip some sweet sherbet, Sam." (Silence sixty seconds.) " Sire shot sixty sheldrakes, Saturday," said Sophia. "Sixty? sho!" said Sam. (Silence seventy-seven seconds.) LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 33 " See sister Susan's sunflowers," said Sophia, so- ciably scattering such stiff silence. Sophia's sprightly sauciness stimuated Sam strangely : so Sam suddenly spoke sentimentally : " Sophia, Susan's sunflowers seem saying, ' Samuel Short and Sophia Sophronia Spriggs, stroll serenely ^and seek some sequestered spot, some sylvan shade. Some sparkling spring shall sing soul-soothing strains ; sweet songsters shall silence secret sighing ; super-angelic sylphs shall — '" Sophia snickered; so Sam stopped. '' Sophia," said Sam solemnly. " Sam," said Sophia. " Sophia, stop smiling. Sam Short's sincere. Sam's seeking some sweet spouse, Sophia. Speak, Sophia, speak! Such suspense speeds sorrow." " Seek sire, Sam, seek sire." So Sam sought sire Spriggs. Sire Spriggs said, " Sartin." Seven short sabbaths later saw Sophia Sophronia Spriggs the smilling spouse of Simon Short's son Samuel. LESSON XIY. VOCAL SOUNDS. The sound of it not followed by r is frequently 7nisp'07iounced, using the short sound. Examples — balm, calm, palm, psalm, calf, half, wrath, aunt, laugh, mustache. The sound of a as in ask, pass, dance, etc, is fre- 34 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. quentlj pronounced with the short sound of a as in at by many cultivated speakers, although eminent orthoepists give it the sound of a or an intermedi- ate sound between d and a. This sound occurs chiefly in words ending iwff^ft^ ss, sk, sp, nce^ nt^ st. EXAMPLES. aft bombast draft last after bask dance lance alas basket fast lass amass blanch graft mass aghast branch glass mask ask craft ghastly mast asp class grant pass advance contrast glance pant answer cast haft plaster ant casket hasp pastor 5hort 6 is often sounded like broad a as in wing : — EXxlMPLES. on dog log off often soft long prong song strong thong- gone Many of the the best speakers give a medium sound between o and a. Long ic is often incorrectly sounded, like do when preceded by d, g, j, 1, n, s, t, ch, th, wh, z. Examples, — dubious, duke, duet, due, June, juice, jubilee, lunacy, lute, lucid* luminous, new, nude, neu- ter, nuisance, suit, sue, suicide, tune, tube, Tuesday, chew, illume, institute, thews, whew. Long tJ represents the sound of oo after r and sh. Examples. — Eude, true, grew, shute, fruit. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 35 Long a as in fare should not be given the van- ishing element e, as in haven. It is frequently pro- nounced with short a, although not sanctioned by orthoepists. When or occurs in an accented syllable, followed by a vowel or by ?-, it has its regular short sound o. Examples. — Orange, torrid, foreign, coral, cor- ridor, coronet. Some orthoepists make a distinction in the sounds of ur^ as in urn^ er as in Ae?', ir as in first; also ear as in Jieard, or as in work, our as in scou7-ge, yr as in myrtle, ar as in liar, uer as in guerdon. Smart says, " Even in the refined classes of society in England, sur, dm% hurd, etc., are the current pro- nunciation of sir, dirt, bird; and indeed, in all very common words it would be somcAvhat affected to in- sist on the delicate shade of difference." Avoid giv- ing the sound of ii, as gu^rl for girl. LESSON XV. ARTICLES. The article a is always given its long sound when emphatic. When unemphatic it becomes obscure, ap- proaching the short vowel u. The article the, when emphatic, is pronounced with e long. When unemphatic before a vowel, the e has the sound of short i, and before a consonant the sound of short It. 36 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. The sound of s, when followed by long fi, or the pronoun you, is often incorrectly changed to sh. Examples. — We shall miss you. He will pass Utica. ASPIRATE SOUNDS IN PLURALS. The aspirate sound of th should be preserved in the plurals, as truths^ youths, breaths, icithes. The vocal sound th in the plurals, as baths, laths, paths^ moths, oaths, mouths, wreaths. In the adjective forms, as blithe, lithe, it is vocal ; also, in the verb forms, bathe, clothe^ sheathe, wreathe, etc. ' UNACCENTED VOWELS. Webster says : " When an unaccented syllable ends in a consonant, its vowel, if single, has in strict theory, its regular short or shut sound, though ut- tered somewhat more faintly, or with a less propor- tionate force than in an accented syllable, as-sign', co7^-duct', cori-flict', etc. In many words of this class, however, the vowel is apt to suffer a change of its distinctive quality, passing over into some sound of easier utterance." The sound of short ii being the easiest of utterance, is often called the natural vowel. This sound is fre- quently used by careless speakers thus: putdtuh for potato, enumy for enemy, u-iiidiih for window, will yilJi for will you, charidy for charity, etc. The following general principles indicate the tendencies of unaccented vowels. Long a and long e tend toward short i. Examples. — Sunday, village, before, society, etc. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 37 Italian a, intermediate a, long and short o tend toward short it. Examples. — Dollar, compass, particular, tobacco, potato, labor, orator. EXERCISES IN PRONUNCIATION. "An Indian, attracted by the aroma of the cof- fee and the broth arising from the bivouac, and mo- ving down the path, met a bombastic brave who was troubled with bronchitis. The Indian, being in dis- habille, was treated with disdain by this blackguard, who called him a dog and bade him with much ve- hemence and contumely to leave his domain, or he would demonstrate with his carbine the use of a cof- fin and a cemetery. The Indian calmly surveyed the dimensions of his European antagonist and op- ponent, and, being sagacious and robust, and having all the combativeness of a combatant, shot this ruffian in the abdomen with an arrow. " A young patriot with a black mustache, coming from the museum, laughingly said, 'Bravo; you should be nationally rewarded by receiving the right of franchise ; for I witnessed the altercation, and the evidence is irrefragable and indisputable that you have removed a nauseous reptile.'" 38 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON .X Y 1 . VOCAL PRACTICE. Practice the exercise as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, expelling the breath, uttering th^ sound Ho, in half whisper and half voice. Eepeat six times. Sound a twice in a whisper, and the third time in voice with one breath. ichisper whisper voice ah ah ah Eepeat six times. Practice the exercise as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, convert- ing breath into sound, uttering the exclamation ha each time. Avoid the violence which irritates the throat; do not send out breath mixed with voice, as in half whisper. OROTUND VOICE Is the s^mimetrical enlargement of 23ure voice, and is produced by a corresponding expansion of all the vocal organs. It is the grandest quality of the speak- ing voice. It is a full, clear, strong, smooth and ring- ing sound, rarely heard in ordinary speech except by careful cultivation. Dr. Eush describes the fine qualities of voice constituting the orotund in the following words : — It is used to express whatever is grand, vast, or sublime. By a fullness of voice is meant that grave or hol- low volume which approaches to hoarseness. By a freedom from nasal murmur and aspiration. By a satisfactory loudness and audibility. By a smoothness or freedom from all reedy or guttural harshness. LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. 39 Persons possessing the orotund voice appear to be laboring under a slight degree of hoarseness. It is more musical and flexible than the common voice, and depends on cultivation and management. More depends on cultivation than natural peculiarit}'. RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE OROTUND VOICE. 1. Take a deep breath, contracting the muscles of the abdomen. 2. Let the pharynx or back part of the mouth be well expanded. 3. The tongue depressed. 4. The uvula raised. 5. The larynx depressed. 6. The breath or voice directed in a vertical stream, with great boldness and firmness. EXAMPLES. 1. It took Eome three hundred years to die; and our death, if we perish^ will be as much more terrific as our intelligence and free institutions have given to us more bone and sinew and vitality. May God hide me from the day Avhen the dying agonies of my country shall begin! O, thou beloved land, bound together by the ties of brotherhood and common interest and perils, live forever — one and undivided. 2. O thou that rollest round as the shield of my fathers! Whence are thy beams, O sun! thy ever- lasting light? 3. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy, and in the greatness of thine ex- cellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up 40 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. against thee : thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble, and with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together: the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. LESSON XYII. QUALITY OF PURE AND OROTUND VOICE. Quality of voice depends oil), pitch, force^ stress and movement. PITCH. Pitch signifies the place in the musical scale on which the element, syllable, or word is sounded, or the pitch of the voice in reading or speaking. The speaking voice, in good elocution, seldom rises higher than a sixth above the lowest note of its compass. Pitch is produced by the elevation or depression of the larnyx, and by the increased or diminished size or capacity of the throat. Low or grave sounds appear to come from the chest, caused by the depres- sion of the larynx, and high or acute tones from the head, caused by the elevation of the larynx. Pitch is either very low, low, middle, high, or very high. Low pitch is adapted to solemn, sublime, and grand passages. Middle pitch is adapted to ordinary, unimpas- sioned conversation. High pitch is adapted to gay and joyous emo- tions, also for triumph and exultation, or for the ex- tremes of grief and alarm. i LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 41 GAMUT FOR VARYING THE PITCH OF THE SPEAKING VOICE. Arranged by Lewis. 10th. E-mi. John, get up, you lazy boy. Falsetto. 9th or 2d, full tone. D-re. In the lost battle borne down by the flying, Where mingles war's rattles with groans of the dying. High wailing tone like a chant. 8th(oct've), full tone. C— DO. Up, comrades 1 up I in Rokeby's halls Ne'er be it said our courage falls ! Very high, for joy or alarm. 7th pitch, semitone. B— si. Oh mercy ! dispel Yon sight, that it freezes my spirit to tell. High, for pa- thos. 6th pitch, full tone. K-la. To arms ! to arms 1 to arms I they cry. Grasp the shield, and draw the sword ; Lead us to Philippi's lord, Let us conquer him, or die. High tone. 5th pitch, full tone. G-sol. Come one — Come all I This rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I. Bold and domi- nant tone. 4th pitch, full tone. F-fa. Oh, how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors. Grave tone. 3d pitch, semitone. E-mi. 'Tis the eternal law that where guilt is. Sorrow shall answer it. Pathos and so- lemnity. 2d pitch, full tone. B—re. Oh look, my son, upon yon sign Of the Redeemer's grace Divine. Reverential so- lemnity. Ist pitch, full tone. C-DO. If this same were a churchyard where we stand, And thou possessed with a thous- and wrongs. Deepest tone of awe. 42 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. FORCE. Force relates to the loudness of the sound; the degrees of which may be described as subdued, moderate, energetic and vehement. ]N'oTE. — An improper and unscientific exercise of force often marks the delivery of public speakers, and has a tendency, more than any other cause, to injure the vocal organs, and often to ruin them for life ; but proper discipline and culture develop their power, and improve the general health. STRESS. Stress relates to the application of force to the different parts of the word or sound. Stress has three leading forms, viz, : — 1. Eadical. 2. Median. 3. Vanishing. LESSOT^ XYIII. RADICAL STRESS. Eadical stress is the application of force to the first part of the vocal soimd. It is sudden and quick. "The breath is held for a moment and then sent out suddenly with a clear, distinct, and cutting force." It is used to express intense feeling and emotion. " It is this which draws the cutting edge of words across the ear, and startles even stupor into attention ; this which lessens the fatigue of listening and outvoices the stir and rustle of an assembly." — Dr. Rush. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 43 •■The utter absence of radical stress bespeaks timidity and indecision, confusion of thought, and ieebleness of purpose. The right degree of this function indicates the manly, self-possessed speaker."' — Murdoch and Russell. Sound each vocal quick and loud six times: — a>> o> a> 00 > e> Give the following examples, with proper spirit. Bring out the emphatic words with intense force ; keep the voice within range, not too high. EXAMPLES. 1. Rise! father, rise! 'tis Rome demands your help ! 2. Out with you ! — and he went out. 3. Hold! hold for your lives! 4. Forward the Light Brig^fZe ! 5. To arms! to arms! to arms! they cry. 6. Down^ soothless insulter ! 7. Go from my sight ! I hate and I despise thee ! 8. Rouse JQ Romans ! rouse jq slaves! 9. He dares not touch a hair of Cataline ! 10. The/oe, they come! they come! 11. Hence! home! ye idle creatures ! get you home! 12. You blocks! you stones! you worse than sense- less things ! 13. Fret! 'till 3^our proud heart 6rea^s.^ 14. If it will feed nothing else^ it will feed my re- venge ! 15. Back to thy punishment, false fugitive ! 16. Lord Angus, thou hast lied! 44 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON XIX. MEDIAN STRESS. Median stress is the application of force to the middle of the vocal sound. Commence the sound in a very subdued tone ; gradually increase until the sound is full and deep, then gradually diminish in force to the close. It is used to express pathos, solemnity, reverence, sublimity, devotion, and grandeur. It should be applied in different degrees, according to the sen- timent. Median stress is one of the greatest beauties in reading, — although carried to excess, it becomes a fault, — and should be judiciously used. EXAMPLES. 1. a <> o <> a <> 00 <> e <> 2. Woe unto thee, Chorazin. Woe unto thee, Beth- saida. 3. Then age and want, oh ill matched pair, Show man was made to mourn. 4. Holl on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll. 5. Blow, bugle, bloiv; set the wild echoes fli/ing. 6. Oh the wild charge they made. VANISHING STRESS. Vanishing stress is the application of the voice to the last part of the vocal sound. It commences with a light and gentle sound, which gradually in- creases in volume, and suddenly terminates with a heavy and violent sound. It is one of the best exer- J LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 45 cises for strengthening the voice. It is used to ex- press determined purpose, earnest resolve, stern re- buke, astonishment, contempt, horror, revenge, and hate. EXAMPLES. 1. a < o < a < 0(3 < e < 2. I wont! I shall t! 3. ^houslavel thou wretch I thoM covmrd ! 4. Thou little valiant, great in villiany! 5. Thou ever strong upon the strongest side ; 6. Th.OM fortune' s champion! 7. / an liohmg palm? 8. You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, 9. Or by the gods this speech were else your last ! 10. I tell thee, thou art defied! 11. Hence! horrible shadow, hence! 12. I say you are not! 13. I hate him. LESSON XX. DERIVATIVE FORMS OF STRESS. 1. Thorough stress. 2. Compound stress. 3. Intermittent stress. THOROUGH STRESS. Thorough stress is the application of the force of the voice to the whole extent of the vowel sound. It is used in expressing joy, exultation, lofty com- mand, indignation, and bravado. 46 LESSONS IN ELOCUITON. EXAMPLES. 1. a [^ o 3z ^ izi ^^ zn ^ m 2. Fire! Fire! Fire! 3. Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan ! Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 4. Princes! potentates! warriors! The flowers of heaven Once yours, now lost ; Awahe! arise! or be forever fallen ! 5. Rejoice, ye men of Algiers, ring your hells ! King John, your king and England's, doth ap- pear, Open your gates and give the victor way ! (This is a vigorous shouting exercise. The chest must be expanded to its greatest capacity, the mouth well opened, using the utmost force without violence. It is invigorating and agreeable, and will give strength to the lungs and volume to the voice.) LESSON XXI. COMPOUND STRESS. Compound stress is the application of the force to the first and last parts of the sound. It is the union of the radical and vanishing stress on the same sound, and is used to express surprise, contempt and mockery, or sarcasm. EXAMPLES. 1. a >< 6 >< a >< 00 >< c >< 2. Gone to be r)iarried! Gone to swear a peace ! It is not so ; thou hast mis-spoke, mis-heard; LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 47 Be well advised ; tell o'er thy tale again, It cannot he; thou dost but say 'tis bo. 3. Banished from Rome. 4. Smile on^ my lords: / scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes, Strong provocations, bitter, burning wrongs, I have within my heart's hot cells shut up To leave you in your lazy dignities; But here I stand and scoff jom. ; here I fling Hatred and full defiance in your face. INTERMITTENT STRESS. Intermittent stress is a tremulous effort of the voice ; the force is broken, it is used to express feeble and broken utterance of age, sickness, and grief. EXAMPLES. 1. a ---'-'-' 0--'-'-'- a-'---'-'- 00 '''-'-'"- e '-'-'--'-- 2. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, Whose ti^emhling limhs have borne him to your door. 3. He's sinking/ he's sinking/ Oh, what shall I do? LESSON XXII. MOVEMENT. Movement of voice is the rate at which we speak. Words are uttered slowly, moderately, and rap- idly, according to the nature of the sentiment to be expressed. Slow movement is used to express reverence, sub- limity, amazement, awe and horror. 48 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Moderate movement is used in narrative, essays, and newspaper articles. Eapid movement is used to express joy, anger, or excitement. '^ Appropriate elocution accommodates the move- ment of voice to every mood of thought, from the slowest prolonged and lingering utterance of deep contemplation and profound awe, to the swift and rapid strains of lyric rapture and ecstasy. Utter- ance to be natural and effective must have the gen- uine expression of its appropriate movement. So- lemnity cannot exist to the ear without slowness — gayety without briskness of utterance, gravity with- out sedate style, nor imagination without a lively movement." The three principal faults in movement are, uni- form slowness or drawling, uniform rapidity, or uni- form moderate movement. '' Perfect command of every degree of move- ment is indispensable to the appropriate expression of the different forms of thought and emotion." QUANTITY. . Quantity is time upon words. It is prolonged or shortened according to the nature of the meaning of the word. The word long should receive more time than short, though the latter contains more letters. Words of dignity require long quantity. Words of impatience or sudden action require short quantity. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 49 LESSON XXIII. INFLECTIONS. 1 11 flections fire slides of the voice used in reading oi- speaking, to give better expression ; also to give emphasis. Inflections are rising and falling : both are united in the circumjiex. RISING INFLECTION. Eising inflection denotes uncertainty, interroga- tion, and incompleteness of idea. EXAMPLES. 1. Are you going home? 2. Shall I know your answer? 3. Hast thou ever known the feeling I have felt, when I have seen, Mid the tombs of aged heroes, Memories of what hath been — What it is to view the present In the light of by-gone days; From an eminence to ponder Human histories and ways? 4. Was it the chime of a tiny bell, That came so sweet to my dreaming ear. Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, That he winds on the beach so mellow and clear, When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep, 50 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. She dispensing her silvery light, And he his notes so silvery quite, While the boatman listens and ships his oar, To catch the music that comes from the shore? FALLING INFLECTION. Falling inflection denotes positiveness, confidence, and determination or completion of idea. EXAMPLES. 1. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. 2. Shakspeare was the greatest tragic writer. 3. The war must go on. 4. It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment, independ- ence now, and independence forever. 5. Art is never art till it is more than art. The finite exists only as to the body of the infinite. The man of genius must first know the infinite, unless he wishes to become, not a poet, but a maker of idols. EXAMPLES IN RISING AND FALLING INFLECTION. Tonch. — How old are you? Will. — Five and twenty, sir. Tonch. — A ripe age. Is thy name William? Will. — William, sir. Tonch. — A fair name. Wast born i' the forest, here? Will. — Ay, sir, I thank God. Tonch, — Thank God? a good answer. Art rich? LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 51 Will. — Faith, sir, so-so. Tonch. — So-so is good, very good; — very excellent good: and yet, it is not; it is but so-so. CIRCUMFLEX. The circnmflex is a combination of the rising and falling inflection on the same syllable or word. The falling circumflex terminates on the down- ward slide. The rising circumflex terminates on the upward slide. The circumflex inflections express irony, sarcasm, doubt, Tnockery, rej^roach, and wonder. EXAMPLES. 1. It is vastly easier for you, Mistress Dial, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me — it is vastly easier for you, I say, to ac cuse other people of laziness. 2. My father's trade! now really that's too bad. My father's trade ! why, blockhead, are you mad? My father, sir, did never stoop so low — He was a gentleman, I'd have you know. 3. The common error is, to resolve to act right after breakfast, or after dinner, or to-morrow morn- ing, or next time, but now, just now, this once, we must go on the same as ever. 4. Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what, There is always somewhere a weakest spot ; And that's the reason, beyond a doubt, A chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out. OZ LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON XXIY. PAUSES. There are two kinds of pauses in reading, — Grain- matical and Rhetorical. The grammatical pause is indicated by the marks of punctuation, as follows: The comma (,), semi- colon (;), colon (:), and period (.); also interrogation (?), exclamation (!), dash ( — ), parenthesis (), and quotation marks (" "). These are pauses which di- vide composition into sentences, and sentences into sections. These pauses are of great importance, as a disre- gard of them in reading will very frequently de- stroy the sense completely or change the meaning from what it should be. Rhetorical pause depends on the construction of the sentence, and is one of the chief means of dis- tinctness in the expression of thought. It consists in suspending the voice before or after the utterance of an important thought. The pause before the jmn- cijKil ivord excites curiosity and expectation ; the pause after the principal word carries the mind back to what has been said. " It should not be repeated too frequently; for as it excites strong emotions, and of course raises expectations ; if the importance of the matter be not fully answerable to such expectations it occasions disappointment and disgust." Sense and sentiment are the best guides in the use of the pause. PARENTHESIS. " A sentence or certain words inserted in a sen- tence, which interrupts the sense or natural connec- LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. 53 tion of words, but serves to explain or quality the sense of the principal sentence." Parenthesis should be read more ra])idly and in a more subdued tone, making a short pause before commencing, and resuming the former pitch and tone at the principal sentence. EXAMPLES. 1. Know then this truth, (enough for man to know,) Virtue alone is happiness below. 2. Oh, woman ! though only a part of man's rib, (If the story in Genesis don't tell a fib,) Should your naughty companion e'er quarre^ with you You are certain to prove the best man of the two. 3. I have seen charity (if charity it may be called,) insult with an air of pity. 4. Know ye not, brethren (for I speak unto them that know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ? 5. I am happy, said he (expressing himself with the warmest emotion), infinitely happy in seeing you return. LESSON XXV. EMPHASIS. Emphasis gives prominence to certain words and phrases, and maybe expressed by an increase of force or stress. " Emphasis is in speech, what coloring is in paint- 54 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. ing. It admits of all degrees, and must, to indicate a particular degree of distinction, be more or less intense, according to the ground word or current melody of the discourse." " No certain rules can be given to guide the stu- dent in the employment of emphasis. If the voice be clear, full, flexible, and under the control of the will, he will be able to express what he fully under- stands and strongly feels in an effective manner, without the aid of rules. The best advice to the student upon this point is to study his subject until he thoroughly understands it, and then practice upon until he can express it to his own satisfaction." EXAMPLES. "In Homer, we discern all Greek vivacity ; in Virgil all the Eoman stateliness. Homer's imagination is by much the most rich and copious) Virgil's the most chaste and correct. The strength of the former lies in his power of loarming the fancy] that of the latter in his power of touching the heart. Homer's style is more simple and animated] Virgil's more elegant and uniform. ^\l\ie first has on many occasions a sublimity to which the latter never attains; but the latter in re- turn never sinks below a certain degree of epic dignity which cannot so clearly be pronounced of the former." Cadence is the easy, natural falling of the voice at the end of a sentence, which indicates that the sense is complete. JSTo rules can be given by which to regulate the tone and movement of the voice in makino- the ca- LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 55 dence ; the reader must rely upon Lis own taste and judgment. EXERCISES. Count the following numbers, paying particular attention to the tone of the voice on the last number. 1. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, \4. ^5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,. Give the open vowel sounds in a clear, full tone, as follows: — 2. e, a, au,x o, e, i, oi,. i, oi, e, a, au, o. ou. ^u. Give a number of names in succession, as in call- ing the roll, as follows: — 3. Smith, Chambers, Butterfield, Edmunds, Mor- gan, Brown, Page, Jones, -B-^r^ Connect the last two names by and^ letting the voice rise a little on the last name but one, and fall, as on the previous examples, on the last one, as fol- lows: — 4. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Boston, NasbvU^®' ^^-,^1 ^^^^^ York. 56 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. LESSON XXYI. IMPURE TONES. Impure tones are aspirate, guttural and fahetto. ASPIRATE. Aspirate is the intense whisper with little or no vocality. It is used to express fear, secrec}', horror and aversion. EXAMPLES. 1. Hark ! what was that? Hark ! hark ! to the shout. 2. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy ! They are on the march along the bank of the river! We must retreat instantly or be cut off from our boats ! I see the head of their column already rising over the height! Our only safety is in the screen of the hedge. Keep close to it — be silent — and stoop as you run! For the boats! Forward. 3. Soldiers! You are now within a few steps of the enemy's outposts! Our scouts report them as slum- bering in parties around their watch-fires, and ut- terly unprepared for our approach. A swift and noiseless advance around that projecting rock, and we are upon them, — we capture them without the possibility of resistance ! One disorderly noise or motion may leave us at the mercy of their advanced guard. Let every man keep the strictest silence un- der pain of instant death. GUTTURAL. Guttural is a harsh throat tone. The sound is sent forth in a rough, discordant tone. It expresses hat- red, intense anger, loathing and contempt. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 57 The prominent characteristic of this tone is its harsh, discordant quality, produced by the compressed and partial closing of the throat above the glottis. It denotes all those states of mind classed under dislike and ill-humor. When carefully controlled, it is an element of great power, but the greatest care should be taken to use it in the right sentiment. EXAMPLES. 1. I loathe ye in my bosom, I scorn ye with my eye, And I'll taunt ye with ni}^ latest breath. And fight ye till I die. 2. Avaunt! and quit my sight. Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold, Thou hast no speculation in those eyes, Which thou dost glare with, 3. Hence horrible shadow. Unreal mockery, hence ! 4. I'll have my bond ; I idUI not hear thee speak. ril have my bond ; and therefore si^eah no more. I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool. To shake the head, relent, and sigh; and yield To Christian intercessors. Follow not; I'll have no more speaking, 7 loill have my bond. FALSETTO. ^' Falsetto voice is generally produced above the natural tone, and is used in imitation of high female voices, in the voices of children, and in affectation, etc." 58 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. EXAMPLES. 1. "Now, Socrates, dearest," Xantippe replied, I hate to hear every thing vulgarly my'd. Now whenever you speak of your chattels again, Say ottr cow-house, our barn-yard, our pig-pen." " By your leave, Mrs. Snooks, I say what I please. Of my houses, iny lands, my gardens, m?/ trees." " Say our,'' Xantippe exclaimed in a rage; "I won't, Mrs. Snooks, though you ask it an age." 2. Will the ISTew Year come to-night, mamma, I'm tired of waiting, so. My stocking hung by the chimney side, full three long days ago. I run to peep within the door by morning's early light, 'Tis empty still — Oh, say, mamma, will the New Year come to-night. 3. "Yes, it is worth talking of! But that's how you always try to put me down. You fly into a rage? and then, if I only try to speak, you won't hear me. That's how you men always will have all the talk to yourselves! A poor woman isn't allowed to get a word in." LESSON XYIl. POSITION. The position in speaking or reading should be natural, easy and graceful. The book should be held in the left hand. The i LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 59 eyes should not be fixed on the book, but as the reader takes in as many words as he can remember at a glance, he should look and read to the audience or teacher. COUNTENANCE. If the speaker or reader has an intelligent knowl- edge of his subject, his countenance will assume the proper expression. GESTURE. The arm should be free and unconstrained in ges- tures, the movement should be from the shoulder rather than the elbow. Elbow slightly curved. The hands in gesture should be used easily and gracefully. The hands may be sv/pine, prone, ve^^tical, p)ointing, and clenched. The su2nne hand lies open with the palm upward. The prone hand is opened with the palm down- ward. The vertical hand is opened with the palm out- ward from the speaker. The 2yointing hand, forefinger extended, is used in designating or pointing out a particular object. The clenched hand denotes intense action of the will or passions. Hand and arm gestm^es are made in four general directions — -front, oblique, lateral, and backward. Each is divided into horizontal, descending and ascending. Front gestures are used to illustrate that which is near to us. Oblique gestures are more general in their applica- tion, relating to things indefinitely. 60 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Lateral gestures denote expansion, extreme dis- tance, etc. Backward gestures denote tilings remote, obscure, or hidden. Horizontal gestures are used in general allusions, indicating equality. Descending gestures denote inferiority or inequal- ity, also expresses determination and purpose. Ascending gestures denote superiority, greatness, and lofty ideas. DIRECTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS. The dotted words indicate where the hand is to be raised in preparation. The gesture is made upon the words in capitals. The hand drops upon the italicized word or sylla- ble following the word in capitals. If italicized words precede the word in capitals, it indicates that the hand is to follow the line of gesture. E. H. S. Eight Hand Supine. E. H. P. Eight Hand Prone. E. H. V. Eight Hand Vertical. B. H. S. Both Hands Supine. B. H. P. Both Hands Prone. B.H.V. Both Hands Vertical. D.f. Descend- ing Front. A.f. Ascending Front. D.o. Descending Oblique. H. o. Horizontal Oblique. A. o. Ascending- Oblique. D. e. Descending Extended. H. e. Hori- zontal Extended. A. e. Ascending Extended. D. b. Descending Backward. H. b. Horizontal Back- ward. A. b. Ascending Backward. The following examples have appeared in several works on elocution — The New York Speaker, Bead- ing and Elocution, etc. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 61 EXERCISES. R. H. S. D.f. This sentiment I will maintain | witli tlir last breath of life. //./. I appeal | to you, sir, for your demion. A. f. \ appeal | to the great Searcher of hearts lor the truth of what I ut ter. D. 0. Of all mistakes | none are so fa tal as those those we incur through prejudice. H. 0. Truth, honor, | jus tice were his mo tives. A. 0. Fix your eye | on the prize of a truly Noble am hi tiow. D. e. Away — with an idea so absurd! H. e. The breeze of morning | wafted in cense on the air. A. e. In dreams thro' camp and court he bore | the trophies of a con queror. D. b. Away | with an idea so abhorrent to hu- manity ! //. 6. Search the records of the remotest an tiq uity for a ^«rallel to this. A. b. Then rang their proud hurrah! R. H. p. D.f. Put DOWN I the unworthy feeling I H.f Ee strain the unhallowed pro/?e?^sity. D. o. Let every one who would merit the Christian name | re press | such a feeling. 62 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. H. 0. I charge you as men and as Christians | to lay a re straint on all such clispo si tions ! A. 0. Ye gods | with hold your venge^ncel D. e. The hand of affection | shall smooth the turf for your last p^71ow ! H. e. The cloud of adver | sity threw its gloom over all his \ PROS pects. A. e. So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud that swathes | as with a purple shroud Benledi's distant hill. LESSON XXVIII. EXERCISES IN GESTURE.— CONTINUED. E,. H. V. H.f. Arise ! meet | and re pel your/oe.^ A.f. For BID it, Almighty God! U. o. He generously extended the arm of power | to ward off the hloio. A. 0. May Heaven a vert the calcw«-ity ! H. e. Out of my sight, | thou serpent ! H. h. Thou tempting fiend, a vaunt ! B. H. S. D.f. All personal feeling he deposited on the a^tar of his country's good. H.f. Listen, I implore you, to the voice o^rea son ! A.f. Hail! universal Zort/. D.o. Every personal advantage | he surRENdered to the common good. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 63 H. 0. Welcome! once more to your early Ao;/ie/ A. 0. Hail ! holy Light ! D. e. I utterly re nounce | all the supposed ad- vantages of such a station. //. e. They yet slept | in the wide a byss of pos- si h'd ity . A. G. Joy, jo}' I for ever. B. H. p. D.f. Lie light ly on him, earth — his step was light on thee. H.f. Now all the blessings of a glad father light on thee! A.f. Blessed be Thy name, O Lord Most High. D. 0. We are in Thy sight | but as the worms of the DUST ! H. 0. May the grace of God | abide tvith you for- EVER ! A. 0. And let the triple rainbow rest | oer all the mountain TOPS. D. e. Here let the tumults of passion | forever CEASE ! H. e. Spread vyide a round the heaven -breathing calm ! A. e. Heaven | opened wide her ever-during gates. B. H. V. H.f. Hence, hideous specter ! A. f. Avert, God.^ the frown of thy indignation ! 64 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. //. 0. Far from our Jtearts be so iiihiiinan a feeling. A. 0. Let me not | name it to yoii, ye chaste stars ! //. e. And if the night have gathered aught of evil or concealed, dis perse it. A. e. Melt and dis pel, ye specter doubts! LESSON XXIX. EXPRESSION. ExiwGssion is the art of adapting the voice, coun- tenance, and gestures to the nature of the sentiment. "As it is impossible to print a tear, a groan, a sneer, a laugh, or a look, so it is impossible to express all the meaning of an author unless, in the spirit of the sentiment, and from long practice, one is able to express that sentiment. The mere repetition of the words of Shakspeare would give little idea of the full meaning and power of those words. In this view, manner is quite as important as matter, for without it the choicest ideas, as represented by words, are life- less." Hence, expression in elocution is the appro- priate and harmonious application of all the princi- ples of voice culture. Quality, Pitch, Force, Stress, Movement, Empha- sis, Inflection, Pause, and Personation, are essential requirements to give expression and educate the taste and judgment. Special attention should be given to the change of voice in Personation, as it is of the greatest im- portance in public reading and declamation. The best guide for expression is to realize and LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 65 understand the passage to be read, and then give the a))propriate tones, which will require an intelligent analysis of the subject. We may, by the use of Pitch, Force, Stress, Movement, Emphasis, Inflection, Pause, and Persona- tion, give different meaning to our words or sentences, according to the application. Eead the sentence, " Many men are misled by fame," without emphasis, middle ;;i7cA. Emphasize one of the words and the sense will be different, as follows: — 1. Many men are misled by fame. 2. Many men are misled by fame. 3. Many men are misled by fame. 1. Many men are misled \)j fame. 5. Many men are misled by fame. (Low and soft.) 6. Many men are misled by fame. (Whisper.) 7. Many men are misled by fame. (Tre7nor.) " A good reader or speaker ought not only to be able to sound every word correctly, but should know always the exact meaning of what he reads, and feel the sentiment he utters, and also to know how to give the intended meaning and emotion when he knows them." LESSON XXX. TRANSITION. Transition in elocution is the power of giving proper variety to reading. Without it, reading is mo- notonous. There must be harmony between the voice and the sentiment. If the subject of descrip- 66 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. tion or the sentiment bo one of calmness and gentle- ness, the voice must be soft and gentle. If it be noisy or contentious, it becomes high and powerful. " Transition also refers to the changes in style, as from persuasive to declamatory; also to the expres- sion of passion or emotion, as from grief to joy, fear to courage, hope to despair." EXAMPLES, ADAPTED FROM MONROE's MANUAL. 1. Soft. Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; Loud. But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar. 2. Slow. When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line, too, labors : and the words move slow ; Quick. Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain. Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. 3. Aspirated. Hush ! hark ! did stealing steps go by ? Came not faint whispers near ? PuBB TONE. Nol — The wild wind hath many a sigh Amid the foliage sere. 4. Pure tone. A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when Music arose with its voluptuous swell. Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again. And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; — Aspirated. But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ! 5. Orotund. Her giant form O'er wrathful surge, through blackening storm, Majestically calm, would go, 'Mid the deep darkness, white as snow ! LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 67 Pure tone. But gentler now the email waves glide Like playful lambs o'er a mountain side, Orotund. So stately her bearing, so proud her array. The main she will traverse forever and aye. Many ports will exult at the gleam of her mast ! Aspirated. Hush ! hush ! thou vain dreamer ! this hour is her last. Gradually How soft the music of those village bells, SOFTER. Falling at intervals upon the ear In cadence sweet ! now dying all away, Gradu.ally Now pealing loud again, and louder still, LOLT)ER. Clear and sonorous as the gale comes on. 7. Middle pitch. From that chamber clothed in white, The bride came forth on her wedding night ; Low PITCH. There, in the silent room below, The dead lay in his shroud of snow. 8. Loud. Rise ! rise ! ye wild tempests, and cover his flight ! Subdued. 'Tis finished. Their thunders are hushed on the moors, Culloden is lost, and my country deplores. Loud. The double, double, double beat Of the thundering drum, Cries, Hark ! the foes come : Charge, charge I 'tis too late to retreat. Soft. The soft complaining flute. In dying notes discovers The woes of hapless lovers ; Whose dirge is whispered by the warbling lute. 10. Loud. The combat deepens. On, ye brave, Who rush to glory, or the grave ! Wave, Munich ! all thy banners wave, And charge with all thy chivalry ! 68 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Soft. Ah 1 few shall part where many meet ! The snow shall be their winding-sheet, And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. 11. Loud. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Or close the wall up with ou]^ English dead ! Moderate. In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, As modest stillness and humility ; Loud. But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage. Very loud. On^ on, you noblest English, Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof ! Fathers, that, like so many Alexanders, Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought. And sheathed their swords for lack of argument. Quick and I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game 's afoot; Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge, VERT LOUD. Cry, — Heaven for Harry ! England ! and St. George ! 12. Aspirated. Hark ! below the gates unbarring ! Tramp of men and quick commands ! Pure tone. "'Tis my lord come back from hunting." And the Duchess claps her hands. Soft. Slow and tired, came the hunters; Stopped in darkness in the court. Loud. "Ho, this way, ye laggard hunters! To the hall ! What sport, what sport? " Slow and Slow they entered with their Master; SOFT. In the hall they laid him down. Slightly On his coat were leaves and blood-stains, aspirated. On his brow an angry frown. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 69 13. Gkaduallt Ever, as they bore, more loud, LOUDER. And louder rang the pibroch proud. Gradually At first the sound, by distance tame, SOFTER. Mellowed, along the waters came ; And lingering long by cape and bay, Wailed every harsher note away; Loud. When bursting bolder on the ear. The clan's shrill gathering they could hear,- Those thrilling sounds, that call the might Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 14. Soft oro- Father of earth and heaven ! I call thy name ! tund. Round me the smoke and shout of battle roll ; ' My eyes are dazzled by the rustling flame; — Father, sustain an untried soldier's soul. Or life, or death, whatever be the goal That crowns or closes round the struggling hour, Thou knowest, if ever from my spirit stole One deeper prayer, 'twas that no cloud might lower On my young fame! — O hear! God of eternal power. Loud oko- Now for the fight, — now for the cannon peal, — TUND. Forward, — through blood and toil and cloud and fire! Glorious the shout, the shock, the crash of steel. The voUey's roll, the rocket's blasting spire; They shake, — like broken waves their squares retire, — On them, hussars! — Now give them rein and heel; Think of the orphaned child, the murdered sire: — Earth cries for blood, — in thunder on them wheel! This hour to Europe's fate shall set the triumph-seal ! 70 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What is elocution? What are words? How are vocal souuds represented? How are vocal sounds produced? How many letters in the English language? How many sounds have each letter? How are the letters divided ? How are the sounds divided? What are vowels? What are consonants? What are vocals? What are sub-vocals? What are aspirates? How many sounds has a? e? i? o? u? What is a compound vocal sound? Name them, and give the sounds of each one. How many sub-vocal sounds? Name them. How many aspirate sounds? What combination of sounds has q? x? How many sounds has c? Name them. What constitutes the pro^yer delivery of words? What is voice? What is expression? How is the voice cultivated? How should the breath be inhaled? Explain the active chest. Explain the passive chest? Explain how voice is produced. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 71 Where is the glottis? Where is the laniyx? what is its use? What is the pharynx? Ex23iain the position and use of the soft palate? What is pure tone? What is impure tone? AVhich quality of voice is more used ? W^hich is the most open vocal sound? What action of the luill places the vocal organs in position for pure tone? What is the diaphragm? What is articulation ? Explain the orotund voice? What are the rules to be obsei*ved? What does pitch signify? What compass should the speaking voice have? How is pitch produced? What does force relate to ? What are the degrees ? What is stress? How many forms has stress? What are they called? What is radical stress? What does it express? What is median stress? What does it express? What is vanishing stress? What does it express? What are the derivative forms of stress? What is thorough stress? AVhat is compound stress? What is intermittent stress? Explain the different movements of voice? 72 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Explain quantity ? What are inflections? Explain the rising inflection? Explain the falling inflection ? Explain the circumflex inflection? What are pauses? Explain the grammatical pause? Explain the rhetorical pau>^e ? Explain parenthesis ? Explain emphasis? Explain cadence? What are impure tones? Explain the aspirate tone? Explain the guttural tone? Explain the falsetto tone? What should be observed in position? Explain countenance in reading? Explain gesture? What is expression? What is transition ? W LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 73 HOW TO CRITICISE THE ELOCUTION OF A READER OR SPEAKER. 1. Is the breath under perfect control? 2. Is the voice clear, full, and resonant ? 3. Is the articulation distinct and correct, with- out being too precise ? 4. Is the mouth open enough to give full effect to the words, without mouthing ? 5. Is the voice modulated correctly to suit the sentiment ? 6. Is force used properly? 7. Is the movement too fast or too slow, or two uniform ? 8. Are inflections used properly? 9. In narrative, are looks, tone, and manner as if relating the experience of the speaker ? 10. In description, does the reader or speaker pro- ceed as if he had seen, heard, felt or known that which he describes ? 11. Does the style appear affected? 12. Are imitation and personation true to the character. 13. Are the expression of the face, the position and gestures suited to the subject and the occasion. 74 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION SELECTIONS. HAMLET'S mSTEUCTIOi^S. Speak the speech^ I pray jou, as I po^o-nounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue ; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, 1 had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus; but use all gently : for in the very torrent, tempest, and (as I may say) whirlwind of your passion, you" must acquire and beget a tem- perance that may give it smoothness. Oh ! it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious, periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings ; who for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise. I would have a fellow whipped for o'er- doing Termagant ; it out-herods Herod ; pray you avoid it. Be not too tame neither, but let your own discre- tion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature ; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first, and now, was, and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 75 tige and body ol' the time bis Ibrm and pressure. NoW; tbis overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskillful laugh, can not but make the judicious grieve ; the censure of the which one must, in your allowance, o'erweigh a whole theater of others. Oh there be players that I have seen play, — and heard others praise, and that highly, — not to speak it profanely, that, neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, or Turk, have so strutted and bellowed, that I have thought some of N^ature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abom- inably. — Sliahespeare . THE ELOCUTION OF THE PULPIT. I can not forbear regretting here, that a matter of such vast importance to preaching, as deliver}^, should be so generally neglected or misunderstood. A common apprehension prevails, indeed, that a strict regard to these rules would be deemed theatri- cal ; and the dread, perhaps, of incurring this imputa- tion is a restraint upon many. Bat is it not possible ' to obtain a just and expressive manner, perfectly consistent with the gravity of the pulpit, and yet quite distinct from the more passionate, strong, and diversified action of the theatre ? And is it not pos- sible to hit off this manner so easily and naturally, as to leave no room for just reflection? An affair this, it must be owned, of the utmost delicacy ; in which we shall probably often miscarry, and meet with abundance of censure at first. But, still, I imagine, that through the regulations of taste, the improve- 76 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. ments of experience, the corrections of friendship, the feelings of piety, and the gradual mellowings of time, such an elocution may be acquired, as is above de- lineated ; and such as, wlcen acquired, will make its way to the hearts of the hearers, through their ears and eyes, with a delight to both that is seldom felt ; while, contrary to what is now practiced, it will ap- pear to the former the very language of nature, and present to the latter the lively image of the 'preacher's soul. Were a taste for this kind of elocution to take place, it is dif&cult to say how much the preaching art would gain by it. Pronunciation would be stud- ied, an ear would be formed, the voice would be modulated, every feature of the face, every motion of the hands, every posture of the body, would be brought under right management. A graceful, and correct, and animated expression in all these would be ambitiously sought after; mutual criticisms and friendly hints would be universally acknowledged ; light and direction would be borrowed from ever}" quarter, and from every age. The best models of antiquity would in a particular manner be admired, surveyed, and imitated. The sing-song voice, and the see-saw gestures, if I may be allowed to use those expressions, would, of course, be exploded ; and, in time, nothing would be admitted, at least ap- proved, among performers, ' but what was decent, manly, and truly excellent in kind. Even the people themselves would contract, insensibly, a growing relish -for such a manner; and'those j^reachers would at last be in chief repute with all, who followed nature, overlooked themselves, appeared totally ab- sorbed in the subject, and spoke with real propriety and pathos, from the immediate impulse of truth and virtue. — J amies Fordyce. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 77 THE CYNIC. The Cynic is one who never sees a good qiiaUty ill a man, and never fails to see a had one. He is the human owl, vigilcint in darkness and hlhid to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The Cynic puts all human actions into only two classes — oj^enly bad, and secretly bad. All virtue, and generosity, and disinterestedness, are merely the api^earance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He holds that no man does a good thing except for profit. The efi'ect of his conversation upon your feelings is to chill and sear them ; to send you away sour and morose. His criticisms and innuendoes fall indiscrim- inately upon every lovely tiling^ like frost upon the flowers. If Mr. A is pronounced a religious man, he will reply: yes^ on Sundays. Mr. B has joined the church : certainly ; the elections are coming on. The minister of the gospel is called an example of dili- gence : it is his trade. Such a man is generous : oj other mens money. This man is obliging : to lull sus- picion and cheat you. That man is upright : because he is green. Thus his eye strains out every good quality, and takes in only the bad. To him religion is hypocrisy, honesty a preparation for fraud, virtue only a want of opportunity, and undeniable purity, asceticism. The livelong day he will coolly sit with sneering lip, transfixing every character that is presented. It is impossible to indulge in such habitual severity of opinion upon our fellow-men, without in- juring the tenderness and delicacy of our own feel- 78 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. ings. A man will be what his most cherished feel- ings are. If he encourages a noble generosity, every feeling will be enriched by it ; if he nurse bitter and envenomed thoughts, his own spirit will absorb the poison, and he will crawl among men as a burnished adder, whose life is mischief, and Avhose errand is death. He who hunts for flowers, will find flowers ; and he who loves weeds, may find weeds. Let it be remembered that no man, who is not himscJf mortally diseased, will have a relish for disease in others. Reject^ tJien, the morhid ambition of the Cynic, or cease to call yourself a man. — -H. TF. Beecher. DEFINITION OF ELOQUENCE. When public bodies are to be addressed on mo- mentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech, farther than it is connected with high intel- lectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce con- viction. True eloquence indeed does not consist in speech ; it cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they toil for it in vain : words and phrases my be marshaled in every way, but they can not compass it : it must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Aifected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, — all may aspire after it ; they can not reach it : it comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. — Webster. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 79 SOCEATES SNOOKS. [ Personation, male and female. Be careful to give the distinction of the male and female voice. High pitch, vehement force, for female; low pitch, vehement force, for male.] Mister Socrates Snooks, a lord of creation, The second time entered the marriage relation : Xantippe Caloric accepted his hand, And they thought him the happiest man in the land. But scarce had the honeymoon passed over his head, When, one morning, to Xantippe, Socrates said, " I think, for a man of my standing in life, This house is too small, as I now have a wife : So, as early as possible, carpenter Gary Shall be sent for to widen my house and my dairy." " Now, Socrates, dearest," (Xantippe replied,) "I hate to hear everything vulgarly my\l; Now, whenever you speak of your chattels again, Say, ow cow-house, our barnyard, oui' pig-pen." " By you leave, Mrs. Snooks, I will say what I please OY my houses, my lands, my gardens, my trees." " Say our^^' Xantippe exclaimed in a rage. " I won't, Mrs. Snooks, though 3'ou ask it an age ! " Oh, woman ! though only a part of man's rib, (If the story in Genesis do n't tell a fib,) Should your naughty companion e'er quarrel with you, You are certain to prove the best man of the two. In the following case this was certainly true ; For the lovety Xantippe just pulled off her shoe, And laying about her, all sides at random. The adage was verified — ^^Nil desperaridum'' 80 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Mister Socrates Snooks, after trying in vain, To ward off the blows that descended like rain, — Concluding that valor's best part was discretion, — Crept under the bed like a terrified Hessian : But the dauntless Xantippe, not one whit afraid. Converted the siege into a blockade. At last, after reasoning the thing in his pate, He concluded 't was useless to strive against fate ; And so, like a tortoise protruding his head. Said, "My dear, may we come out from under our bed?" " Hah ! hah ! " she exclaimed, " Mr. Socrates Snooks, I perceive you agree to my terms, by your looks : Now, Socrates, — hear me, — from this happy hour, If you'll only obey me, I'll never look sour." 'Tis said the next Sabbath, ere going to church, He chanced for a clean pair of trowsers to search : Having found them, he asked, with a few nervous twitches, " My dear, may we put on our new Sunday breeches ? " EVENING AT THE FAllM. Over the hill the farm-boy goes. His shadow lengthens along the land, A giant staff in a giant hand ; In the poplar tree above the spring. The katy-did begins to sing ; The early dews are falling ; — Into the stone-heap darts the mink ; The swallows skim the river's brink ; And home to the woodland fly the crows. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 81 When over the hill the farm-bo}^ .goes. Cheerily calling, " Co', boss ! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! co' ! " Farther, farther over the hill, Faintly calling, calling still, ^' Co', boss ! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! " Now to her task the milkmaid goes. The cattle come crowding through the gate, Looing, pushing, little and great ; About the trough, by the barn-yard pump, The frolicsome yearlings frisk and jump, While the pleasant dews are falling ; — The new milch heifer is quick and sh}^, But the old cow waits with tranquil eye, And the white stream into the bright pail flowS, When to her task the milkmaid goes. Soothingly calling, ''So, boss! so, boss! so! so! so!" The cheerful milkmaid takes her stool, And sits and milks in the twilight cool. Saying, "So ! so, boss ! so ! so ! " To supper at last the farmer goes. The apples are pared, the paper read. The stories are told, then all to bed. Without, the crickets' ceaseless song Makes shrill the silence all night long ; The heavy dews are falling. The housewife's hand has turned the lock ; Drowsily ticks the kitchen clock ; The household sinks to deep repose, 82 LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. But still^in sleep the farm- boy goes Singing, calling, "Co', boss! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! co'!" And oft the milkmaid in her dreams. Drums in the pail with the flashing streams, Murmuring, "So, boss ! so ! "' — J. T. Trowbridge. HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY. Hamlet : — To he, or not to be : that is the question : Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The stings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die, — to sleej), — No more ; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep! perchance to dream; — ay, there's the rub ; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give u^ pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life : For who would bear the whips and scoims of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's co7itumely, The jjangs of despised love, the law's delay. The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes. When he himself might his quietus make With a bare hodkin? who v^ovldi fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life. But, that the dread of something after death, LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 83 The undiscovered coiiiiUy I'rom whose bourne No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought ; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. — Shahespeare. A LEGEND OF BEEGENZ. Girt round with rugged mountains, the fair Lake Constance lies ; in her blue heart reflected shine back the starry skies ; and, watching each white cloudlet float silently and slow, you think a piece of heaven lies on our earth below ! Midnight is there ; and silence, enthroned in heaven, looks down upon her own calm mirror, upon a sleeping town : for Bregenz, that quaint city upon the Tyrol shore, has stood above Lake Constance a thousand years or nnore. Her battlements and tow- ers, from off their rocky steep, have cast their tremb- ling shadow for ages on the deep. Mountain, and lake, and valley, a sacred legend know, of how the town was saved, one night, three hundred years ago. Far from her home and kindred a Tyrol maid had fled, to serve in the Swiss valleys, and toil for daily bread ; and every year that fleeted so silently and fast, seemed to bear farther from her the mem- ory of the past. She served kind, gentle masters, 84 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. nor asked for rest or change ; her friends seemed no more new ones, their speech seemed no more strange; and when she led her cattle to pasture every day, she ceased to look and wonder on which side Bre- genz lay. She spoke no more of Bregenz, with long- ing and with tears ; her Tyrol home seemed faded in a deep mist of years. She heeded not the rumors of Austrian war and strife; each day she rose con- tented to the calm toils of life. Yet, when her mas- ter's children would clustering round her stand, she sang them ancient ballads of her own native land ; and when at morn and evening she knelt before God's throne, the accents of her childhood rose to her lips alone. And so she dwelt : the valley more peaceful year by year; when suddenly strange portents of some great deed seemed near. The golden corn was bend- ing upon its fragile stalk, while farmers, heedless of their fields, paced up and down in talk. The men seemed stern and altered, with looks cast on the ground ; with anxious faces, one by one, the women gathered round ; all talk of flax, or spinning, or work was put away ; the very children seemed afraid to go alone to play. One day, out in the meadow with strangers from the town, some secret plan discussing, the men walked up and down ; yet now and then seemed watching a strange, uncertain gleam, that looked like lances 'mid the trees that stood below the stream. At eve they all assembled, then care and doubt were fled ; with jovial laugh they feasted ; the board was nobly spread. The elder of the village rose up, his glass in hand, and cried, "We drink the downfall LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 85 of an accursed land ! The night is growing darker, ere one more day is floAvn, Bregenz, our foemen's stronghold, Bregenz shall be our own !'" The women shrank in terror (yet pride, too, had her part), but one poor Tyrol maiden felt death within her heart. Before her stood fair Bregenz ; once more her towers arose ; what were the friends beside her ? Only her country's foes ! The faces of her kinsfolk, the days of childhood flown, the echoes of her mountains, reclaimed her as their own. jSToth- ing she heard around her (though shouts rang forth again) ; gone were the green Swiss valleys, the pas- ture and the plain ; before her eyes one vision, and in her heart one cry, that said, "Go forth, save Bregenz, and then, if need be, die !" With trembling haste and breathless, with noise- less step, she sped ; horses and weary cattle Avere standing in the shed ; she loosed the strong, white charger, that fed from out her hand, she mounted, and she turned his head toward her native land. Out — out into the darkness — faster, and still more fast ; the smooth grass flies behind her, the chestnut wood is past ; she looks up ; clouds are heavy ; why is her steed so slow? — scarcely the wind beside them can pass them as they go. "Faster!" she cries, "Oh, faster!" Eleven the church-bells chime: "O Grod," she cries, "help Bre- genz, and bring me there in time ! " But louder than bells' ringing, or lowing of the kine, grows nearer in the midnight the rushing of the Ehine. Shall not the roaring waters their headlong gallop check? The steed draws back in terror, — she leans upon his neck to watch the flowing darkness ; the bank is 86 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. high and steep ; one pause — ho staggers forward, and phmges m the deep. She strives to pierce the blackness, and looser throws the rein ; her steed must breast the waters that dash above his mane. How gallantly, how nobly, he struggles through the foam, and see — in the far distance shine out the lights of home ! Up the steep bank he bears her, and now they rush again toward the heights of Bre- genz, that tower above the plain. They reach the gate of Bregenz just as the midnight rings, and out come serf and soldier to meet the news she brings. Bregenz is saved ! Ere daylight her battlements are manned ; defiance greets the army that marches on the land. And if to deeds heroic should endless fame be paid, Bregenz does well to honor the noble Tyrol maid. Three hundred years are vanished, and yet upon the hill an old stone gateway rises, to do her honor still. And there, Avhen Bregenz women sit spinning in the shade, they see in quaint, old carving the Charger and the Maid. And when, to guard old Bregenz, by gateway, street, and tower, the warder paces all night long and calls each passing hour : "nine," "ten," "eleven," he cries aloud, and then (O crown of Fame !) when midnight pauses in the skies, he calls the maiden's name. — Adelaide Procter. CHAK-CO-0-AL ! [Char-co-o-al! Char-co-o-al ! Scale: 1—3—1—5; 5—3—1—5.] The chimney soot was falling fast. As through the streets and alleys passed A man who sang, with noise and din. This word of singular meaning, Char-co-o-al ! LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 87 His face was grim, his DOse upturned. As if the very ground he spurned — And like a trumpet sound was heard. The accents of that awful word, Char-co-o-al ! In muddy streets he did descry The "moire antiques" held high and dry, With feet and ankles shown too well, And from his lips escaped a yell ! — Char-co-o-al ! "Don't go there ! " was the warning sound ; The pipes have all burst underground, Ttie raging torrent's deep and wide ; " But loud his trumpet voice replied, Char-co-o-al ! " Oh stop ! " good Biddy cried, " and lave A brimful peck upon this pave." A smile his inky face came o'er, And on he went with louder roar, Char-co-o-al ! "Beware of Main street crossing deep, Away from Walnut gutter keep ! " This was the sweeper's only greet, A voice replied far up the street, Char-co-o-al ! At set of sun, as homeward went, The joyous men of cent per cent, Counting the dollars in their till, A voice was heard, both loud and shrill, Char-co-o-al ! 88 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. A man upon the watchman's round, Half steeped in mud and ice was found, Shouting with voice, though not so strong, That awful word which heads my song, Char-co-o-al ! There in the gas-light, dim and gray. Dreaming unconsciously he lay, And from his nose, turned up still more. Came sounding like a thrilling snore — Char-co-o-al ! SUPPOSED SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS. The war must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. Why then, sir, do we not, as soon as possible, change this from a civil to a national war? And since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will create navies. The people, — the people, if we are true to them, will carry us and will carry themselves gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. I know the people of these colonies ; and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and can not be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the declara- LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 89 tion will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities^ held under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Eead this declaration at the head of the army; every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain it or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pul])it ; re- ligion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it or fall with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it there ; let them hear it, who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon ; let them see it, who saAv their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human aftairs ; but I see, I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die colonists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously, and on the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sac- nfice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country (or at least the hope of a country), and that a/ree country. But whatever may be our fate, — be assured, be assured, that this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood ; but it will stand, 90 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious^ an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return they will shed, tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, 1 am now ready here to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declara- tion. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying eentiment ; independence now ; and independence forever. — Webster. BUGLE SONG. [Dying, dying, dying, should be read with one breath, each word foAnter until almost inaudible.'] The splendor falls on castle walls. And snowy summits old in story The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow., hugle^ hloiv ; set the Avild echoes flying ; Bloiv, hugle ; answer, echoes, dying, dying., dying. O hark, O hear ! how thin and clear. And thinner, clearer, farther going ; O sweet and far, from cliff and scar. The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing ! Blow ; let us hear the purple glens replying ; Bloio, bugle ] answer, echoes, dying, dying ^ clying. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 91 O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on field, on hill, on river; Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow forever and forever. Blow, bugle, blow ; set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer dying, dying, dying. — Tennyson. IGJSrOEAA^CE m OUE COUNTEY A CEIME. In all the dungeons of the old Avorld, where the strong champions of freedom are now pining in cap- tivity beneath the remorseless power of the tyrant, the morning sun does not send a glimmering ray into their cells, nor does night draw a thicker vail of darkness between them and the world, but the lone prisoner lifts his iron-laden arms to Heaven in prayer, that we, the depositaries of freedom and of human hopes, may be faithful to our sacred trust ; while, on the other hand, the pensioned advocates of despot- ism stand, with listening ear, to catch* the first sound of lawless violence that is wafted from our shores, to note the first breach of faith or act of perfidy among us, and to convert them into arguments against lib- erty and the rights of man. There is not a shout sent up by an insane mob, on this side of the Atlantic, but it is echoed by a thousand presses, and by ten thousand tongues, along every mountain and valley on the other. There is not a conflagration kindled here by the ruthless hand of violence, but its flame glares over all Europe, from horizon to zenith. On each occur- rence of a flagitious scene, whether It be an act of 92 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. turbulence and devastation, or a deed of perfidy or breach of faith, monarchs point them out as fruits of the growth and omens of the fate of republics, and claim for themselves and their heirs a further extension of the lease of despotism. The experience of the ages that are past, the hopes of the ages that are yet to come, unite their voices in an appeal to us ; they implore us to think, more of the character of our people than of its num- bers ; to look upon our vast natural resources, not as tempters to ostentation and pride, but as a means to be converted, by the refining alchemy of education, into mental and spiritual treasures ; they supplicate us to seek for whatever complacency or self-satisfac- tion we are disposed to indulge, not in the extent of our territory, or in the products of our soil, but in the expansion and perpetuation of the same means of human happiness ; they beseech us to exchange the luxuries of sense for the joys of charity, and thus give to the world the example of a nation whose Avisdom increases with its prosperity, and whose vir- tues are equal to its power. For these ends they en- join upon us a more earnest, a more universal, a more religious devotion to our exertions and re- sources, to the culture of the youthful mind and heart of the nation. Their gathered voices assert the eternal truth, that, in a republic^ ignorance is a crime ; and that private immorality is not less an opprobrium, to the state than is guilt in the perpetra- tor. — H. Mann. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. CHAEGE OF THE LIGHT BEIGADB. Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of death Eode the six hundred. •' Forward the Light Brigade ! Charge for the guns," he said. Into the valley of death Eode the six hundred. " Forward the Light Brigade ! " Was there a man dismay'd? Not though the soldier knew Some one had bhc/ider'd; Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why. Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of death Eode the six hundred. CanTwn to right of them. Cannon to left of them, Cannon in fi^ont of them, Volley' d and thunderd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell Eode the six hundred. FlasJid all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, 94 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Charging an army, while All the world wonder' d : Plunged in the battery-smoke, Right through the line they broke ; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre-stroke Shattered and sunder' d^ Then they rode back, but not — Not the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley'' d and thunder d; Storm' d at with shot and shell. While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came through the jaws of death. Back from the mouth of hell, All that was left of them ; Left of six hundred. When can their glory /acZe.? Oh, the wild charge they made ! All the world wonder' d. Honor the charge they made ! Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred ! — Tennyson. FOURTH OF JULY ORATION. Fellow Citizens: — This is the ever adorable, commemorable, and patriotic Fourth of July. This am the day upon which the American Eagle first chawed up its iron cage, and, with a Yankee Doodle scream, pounced upon its affrighted tyrants and LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 95 tore up their despotic habliments into a thousand giblets. This, fellow citizens, am the Fourth of July, — a day worthy to be the first day of the year, and a day which will be emblazoned by our latest posper- ity, when all other days have sunk into oblivious non compos mentis. This, fellow citizens, am the day when our ancestral progenitors unanimously fought, bled and died, in orclip.' that we and our children's children might cut their own vine and fig tree without being molested or daring to make any one afraid. This am the Fourth of July, fellow citizens, and who is there that can sit supinely downward on this prognostic anniversary, and not revert their mental reminisences to the great epochs of the Eev- olution — to the blood bespangled plains of Bunker Hill, Monmouth, Yorktown, and follow the heroic heroes of those times through trackless snows, and blood-stained deserts, to the eternal mansions of free trade and sailor's rights ; and the adorable enjoy- ments of the privileges and prerogatives, which fall like heavenly dew upon every American citizen, from the forests of Maine to the everglades of Florida ; and from the fisheries of the Atlantic coast to the yellow banks of California, where the jingling of the golden boulders mixes up with the screams of the catamount, and the mountain goat leaps from rock to rock — and — and where — and — and — I thank you, fellow citizens, for your considerable attention. 96 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. EXAMINATION OF A WITNESS. Judge. What do you follow for a livelihood? Witness. Nothing in particular, your honor. J. You do not appear to have any property ; how do you get your bread? W. Sometimes, sur, I get it at Mr. O'Tool's, sometimes at Dennis McFarland's, and sometimes at the grocery round the corner. J. Stop, you don't understand me ; I mean, how do you support yourself? W. I support myself on a chair, in the day-time, and on a bed in the night-time, sur. J. *I don't sit here to be trifled with by such fel- lows as you ! Are you a mechanic ? W. No, sur, I am a Presbyterian. J. Come, sir, if you don't answer my question, I '11 have you taken care of. W. Troth, and if yer honor will do that same, I shall be dapely obliged to you, for the times are so hard that I can hardly take care of myself. J. I believe you are an idle vagabond. W. Yer honor is very slow of belief, or you. would have found that out some time ago. J. What do you know of the case before the court? W. Nothing at all, sur. J. Then why do you stand there ? W. Because I have no chair in which to sit down, sur. J. Go about your business. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 97 INDUSTEY AND ELOQUENCE. In the ancient republics of Greece and Eome, oratory was a necessary branch of the finished edu- cation. A much smaller proportion of the citizens were educated than among us ; but of these a much larger number became orators. No man could hope for distinction or influence, and yet slight this art. The commanders of their armies were orators as well as soldiers, and ruled as well by their rhetorical as by their military skill. There was no trusting with them as with us, to a natural facility, or the acquisi- tion of an accidental fluency by occasional practice. They served an apprenticeship to the art. They passed through a regular course of instruction in schools. They submitted to long and laborious dis- cipline. They exercised themselves frequently, both before equals and in the presence of teachers, who criticised, reproved, rebuked, excited emulation, and left nothing undone which art and perseverance could accomplish. The greatest orators of antiquity, so far from being favored by natural tendencies, except, indeed, in their high intellectual endowments, had to struggle against natural obstacles ; and, instead of growing up spontaneously to their unrivaled eminence, they forced themselves forward by the most discouraging, artificial process. Demosthenes combated an imj^ediment in speech and an ungainliness of gesture, which, at first, drove him from the forum in disgrace. Cicero failed, at first, through weakness of lungs and an excessive 7 98 LteSSONS IN ELOCITTTON. vehemence of manner, which wearied the hearers and defeated his own purpose. These defects were conquered by study and discipline. He exiled him- self from home, and, during his absence in various lands, passed not a day without a rhetorical exercise, seeking the masters who were most severe in criti- cism, as the surest means of leading him to the per- fection at which he aimed. Such, too, was the education of their other great men. They were all, according to their ability and station, orators ; orators, not by nature or accident, but by education^ formed in a strict process of rhe- torical training. The inference to be drawn from these observa- tions is, that if so many of those who received an accomplished education, became accomplished ora- tors, because to become so was one purpose of their study ; then, it is in the power of a much larger pro- portion among us to form ourselves into creditable and accurate speakers. The inference should not be denied until proved false by experiment. Let this art be made an object of attention ; let young men train themselves to it faithfully and long; and if any of competent talents and tolerable science be found, at last, incapable of expressing themselves in a continued and connected discourse, so as to answer the ends of public speaking, then, and not till then, let it be said, that a peculiar talent, or natural aptitude, is requisite, the want of which must render effort vain : then, and not till then, let us ac- quiesce in this indolent and timorous notion, which contradicts the whole testimony of antiquity and all the experience of the world. — Wirt. LESSONS TN ELOCUTION-. 99 THE BUENING SHIP. The storm o'er the ocean flew furious and fast, And the waves rose in foam at the voice of the blast, And heavily: labored the gale-beaten ship, Like a stout-hearted swimmer, the spray at his lip ; And dark was the sky o'er the mariners path. Save when the wild lightning illumined in wrath. A young mother knelt in the cabin below, And pressing her babe to her bosom of snow. She prayed to her God, 'mid the hurricane wild, "O Father, have mercy, look down on my child !' It passed, — the fierce whirlwind careered on its way. And the ship like an arrow divided the spray ; Her sails glimmered white in the beams of the moon, And the wind up aloft seemed to whistle a tune, — to whistle a tune. There was J03' in the ship as she furrowed the foam, For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home. The young mother pressed her .fond babe to her breast, And the husband sat cheerily down by her side. And looked with delight on the face of his bride, "Oh, happy," said he, "when our roaming is o'er. We '11 dwell in our cottage that stands by the shoi'e. Already in fancy its roof I descry, And the smoke of its hearth curling up to the sky ; Its garden so green, and its vine-covered wall ; The kind friends awaiting to welcome us all. And the children that sport by the old oaken tree." Ah gently the ship glided over the sea ! Hark ! what was that? Hark ! Hark to the shout ! 100 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. '^Fire!'' Then a tramp and a rout, and an upvoav of voices uprose on the air ; — And the mother knelt down, and the half-spoken prayer That she offered to God in her agony wild, Was, "Father, have mercy, look down on my child ! " She flew to her husband, she clung to his side. Oh ! there was her refuge whate'er might betide. " Fire / " " Fire / " It was raging above and below ; — And the cheeks of the sailors grew pale at the sight, And their eyes glistened wild in the glare of the light. 'T was vain o'er the ravage the waters to drip ; The pitiless flame was the lord of the ship. And the smoke in thick wreaths mounted higher and higher. "O Grod ! it is fearful to perish by fire." Alone with destruction, alone on the sea, "Great Father of mercy, our hope is in thee." Sad at heart, and resigned, yet undaunted and brave. They lowered the boat, a mere speck on the wave. First entered the mother, enfolding her child : It knew she caressed it, looked upward and smiled. Cold, cold was the night as they drifted away. And mistily dawned o'er the pathway the day : — And they prayed for the light, and at noontide about, The sun o'er the waters shone joyously out. ^- Ho ! a sail!''' ^^ Ho ! a sail!" cried the man at the lea, ^'- Ho ! a sail!" and they turned their glad eyes o'er the sea. " They see us, they see us, the signal is waved ! They bear down upon us, they bear down upon us : Huzza! we are saved!' LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 101 THE BELLS. SLEIGH BELLS. Hear the sledges with their bells, Silver hells ! What a world of merriment their melody forete^^s / How they tinhle^ tinJcle, tinkle, In the icy air of night, While the stars that oversprinkle, All the heavens seem to hvinkle With a crystaUme delight ; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Eunic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically we^fe From the hells, hells, hells. Bells, bells, bells. From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. WEDDING BELLS. Hear the wedding bells — Golden hells! AVhat a world of happiness their harmony /b?'e^eZ/s/ Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight ! From the molten golden notes, And all in tune. What a liquid ditty floats, To the turtle dove that listens, when she gloa,ts On the moon ! Oh, from out the sounding cells What a gush of euphony voluminously ivells ! How it sivells! How it dwells — 102 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. On the future 1 How it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the hells, hells, hells, Of the BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, Bells, bells, bells ! To the rhyming and the chiming of the hells. fire bells. Hear the loud alarum hells — Brazen hells, What a tale of terror now their turhulency tells ! In the startled ear of night, How they scream out their affright ! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire ! In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic ^re, Leaping, higher, higher, higher With a desperate desire ; And a resolute endeavour, Now, noio to sit or never By the side of the pale-faced moon ! Oh, the hells, hells, hells, What a tale their terror tells Of despair! How they clang and clash and roar, What a horror they ouipou/r On the bosom of the palpitating air ! Yet the ear it fully knows By the twanging And the clanging, LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 103 How the danger sinks and swells^ By the sinking or the swelling or the anger of the bells ; Of the hells— Of the bells^ bells^ bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells, In the clamor and the clangor of the bells ! funeral bells. Hear the tolling of the bells, Iron bells. What a world of solemn thought their monody com- pel ! In the silence of the night ; How we shiver with affright, At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people — ah, the people — They dwell up in the steeple, All alone ! And who tolling, tolling, tolling In that muffled monotone^ Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone. They are neither man nor woman — They are neither brute nor human — They are ghouls. And their king it is who tolls, And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls, A poean from the bells ! And his merry bosom swells 104 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. With the 'poe,an of the hells ! And he dances and he yells ; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Bunic rhyme, To the pcean of the hells — O^ihQ hells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Eunic rhyme, To the throhhing of the hells, Of the hells, hells, hells, To the sohhing of the hells, Keeping time, time, time. As he hnells, hnells, knells. In a happy Eunic rhyme, To the rolling of the hells — Of the hells, hells, hells — To the tolling of the hells, Of the hells, hells, hells, hells — To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. — Edgar A. Poe. JIMMY BUTLEE AND THE OWL. [An impersonation. "Who! Wliool Whoool" should be given with high pitch, descending slides, and tremulous stress on "Whoool"] 'Twas in the summer of '46 that I landed at Hamilton, fresh as a new pratie just dug from the "ould sod," and wid a light heart and a heavy bun- dle I sot off for the township of Buford, tiding a taste of a song, as merry a young fellow as iver took the road. Well I trudged on and on, past many a plisint place, pleasin' myself wid the thought that some day LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 105 I might have a place of my own, wid a world of chickens and ducks and pigs and childer about the door; and along in the afternoon of the sicond day I got to Buford village. A cousin of me mother's, one Dennis O'Dowd, lived about sivin miles from there, and I wanted to make his place that night ; so I inquired the way at the tavern, and was lucky to find a man who was goin' part of the way an' would show me the way to find Dennis. Sure he was very kind indade, an' when I got out of his wagon he pointed me through the wood and tould me to go straight south a mile an' a half, and the first house would be Dennis's. "An' you've no time to lose now," said he, "for the sun is low, and mind you don't get lost in the woods." "Is it lost now," said I, "that I'd be gittin, an' me uncle as great a navigator as iver steered a ship across the thrackless say ! 'Not a bit of it, though I 'm obleeged to ye for your kind advice, and thank yiz for the ride." An' wid that he drove off an' left me alone. I shouldered me bundle bravely, an' whistlin' a bit of time for company like, I pushed into the bush. Well, I went a long way over bogs, and turnin' round among the bush an' trees till I began to think I must be well nigh to Dennis's. But, bad cess to it ! all of a sudden I came out of the woods at the very identical spot where I started in, which I knew by an ould crotched tree that seemed to be standin' on its head and|kickin' up its heels to make divarsion of me. By this time it was growin' dark, and as there was no time to lose, I started in a second time, 106 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. determiued to keep straight south this time, and make no mistake. I got on bravely for awhile, but och hone ! och hone ! it got so dark I couldn't see the trees, and I bumped me nose and barked me shins, while the miskaties bit me hands and face to a blister; an' after tumblin' and stumblin' around till I was fairly bamboozled, I sat down on a log all of a trimble, to think that I was lost intirely, an' that maybe a lion or some other wild craythur would devour me before morning. Just then I heard somebody a long way oif say, " Whip poor Will ! Whip poor Will ! " "Bedad," sez I, "I'm glad it isn't Jamie that's got to take it, though it's more in sorrow than in anger they are doin' it, or why should they say 'poor Will?' an' sure they can 't be Injun, haythin, or naygur, for it 's plain English they're afther spakin'. Maybe they might help me out o' this," so I shouted at the top of my voice, "A lost man ! " Then I listened. Prisently an answer came. "Who? Whoo? Whooo?" "Jamie Butler, the waiver!" sez I, as loud as I could roar, an' snatchin' up me bundle an' stick, I started in the direction of the voice. Whin I thought 1 had got near the place, I stopped and shouted again, "A lost man ! " "Who ! Whoo ! Whooo ! " said a voice right over my head. "Sure," thinks I, "it's a mighty quare place for a man to be at this time of night ; maybe it 's some settler scrapin' sugar off a sugar-bush for the chil- dren's breakfast in the mornin'. But Avhere's Will and the rest of them?" All this went through me head like a flash, an' thin I answered his inquiiy. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 107 "Jamie Butler, the waiver," eez I; "and if it wouldn't inconvanience yer honor, would yez be kind enough to step down and show me the way to the house of Dennis O'Dowd?" "Who! Whoo! Whooo ! " sez he. "Dennis O'Dowd," sez I, civil enough, "and a dacent man he is, and first cousin to my own mother." " Who ! Whoo ! Whooo ! " sez he again. "Me mother!" sez I, "and as fine a woman as iver peeled a biled pratie wid her thumb nail, and her maiden name was Molly McFiggin." "Who! Whoo! Whooo!" " Paddy McFiggin ! bad luck to yer deaf old head, Paddy McFiggin, I say — do you hear that? An' he was the tallest man in all the county Tipperary, excipt Jim Doyle, the blacksmith." "Who! Whoo! Whooo!" "Jim Doyle, the blacksmith," sez I, "ye good for nothin' blaggurd naygur, and if yiz do n't come down and show me the way this min't, I'll climb up there and break every bone in your skin, ye spalpeen, so sure as me name is Jimmy Butler ! " "Who! Whoo! Whooo!" sez he, as impident as iver. I said never a word, but lavin' down me bundle, and takin' me stick in me teeth, I began to climb the tree. Whin I got among the branches I looked quietly around till I saw a pair of big eyes just for- ninst me. "Whist," sez I, "and I'll let him have a taste of an Irish stick," and wid that I let drive and lost me balance an' came tumblin' to the ground, nearly breakin' me neck wid the fall. When I came to mo 108 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. sinsis I had a very sore head wid a lump on it like a goose egg, and half of me Smiday coat-tail torn off intirely. I spoke to the chap in the tree, but could git niver an answer, at all, at all. Sure, thinks I, he must have gone home to rowl up his head, for by the poAvers I didn't throw me stick for nothin'. Well, by this time the moon was up and I could see a little, and I detarmined to make one more eifort to reach Dennis's. I wint on cautiously for awhile, an' thin I heard a bell. "Sure," sez I, "I'm comin' to a settlement now, for I hear the church bell." I kept on toward the sound till I came to an ould cow wid a bell on. She started to run, but I was too quick for her, and got her by the tail and hung on, thinkin' that maybe she would take me out of the woods. On we wint, like an ould country steeple-chase, till, sure enough, we came out to a clearin' and a house in sight wid a light in it. So, leavin' the ould cow puffin' and blowin' in a shed, I went to the house, and as luck would have it, whose should it be but Dennis's. He gave me a raal Irish welcome, and introduced me to his two daughters — as purty a pair of girls as iver ye clapped an eye on. Eut whin I told him me adventure in the woods, and about the fellow who made fun of me, they all laughed and roared, and Dennis said it was an owl. "An ould what?" sez I. "Why, an owl, a bird," sez he. "Do ye tell me now?" sez I, "Sure it's a quare country and a quare biird." And thin they all laughed again, till at last I LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 109 laughed myself, that hearty like, and dropped right into a chair between the two purty girls, and the oiild chap winked at me and roared again. Dennis is my father-in-law now, and he often yet delights to tell our children about their daddy's adventure with the owl. ¥ CLAEENCE'S DEE AM. Clarence. — My dream was lengthen'd after life ; Oh, then began the temjyest to vaj soul! I passed, methought, the melancholy flood With that grim ferryman, which 2)oets write of, Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. The first that there did greet my stranger soul Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick, Who cried, — " What scourge for perjury Can this dark monarchy afford /a^se Clarence?" And so he vanished ; then came wandering by A shadow like an angel, with bright hair Dabbled in blood ; and he shriek' d out aloud, "Clarence is come — false, fleeting, perjured Clarence, That stabb'd me, in the field by Tewkesbury. Seize on him. Furies ; take him into torments ! ''' With that, methought a legion of foul fiends Environ'd me, and hoided in mine ears Such hideous cries, that with the very noise I trembling wak'd, and for a season after Could not believe but that I was in hell ! Such terrible impression made my dream. Oh, Brackenbury, I have done those things That now give evidence against the soul^ 110 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. For Edward's sake ; and see how he requites me! Oh, God if my deep ^:>ra?/ers cannot appease Thee, But Thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds^ Yet execute Thy wrath on me alone ; Oh, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children! I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me ; My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. — Shakespeare. THE CHARCOAL MAX. [ Conversational, with calling voice varied in adaptation to the sense —loud or low, near or distant, as required.] Though rudely blows the wintry blast, And sifting snows fall white and fast, Mark Haley drives along the street, Perched high upon his wagon seat ; His sombre face the storm defies. And thus from morn till eve he cries — " Charco' I charco' ! " While echo faint and far replies — "Hark, 01 hark, 0!" "Charco' !" — "Hark, O !" — Such cheery sounds. Attend him on his daily rounds. The dust begrimes his ancient hat ; His coat is darker far than that ; 'Tis odd to see his sooty form All speckled with the feathery storm. Yet in his honest bosom lies No spot, nor speck — though still he cries, " Charco' ! charco' ! " And many a roguish lad replies — "Ark, ho ! ark, ho !" " Charco' ! " — " Ark, ho ! " — Such various sounds Announce Mark Haley's morning rounds. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. HI Thus all the cold and wintry day He labors much for little pay. Yet feels no less of happiness Than many a richer man. I guess. When through the shades of eve he spies The light of his own home, and cries — " Charco' ! charco' ! " And Martha from the door re])lies — '-Mark, ho! Mark, ho!" ' Charco ! ' — "Mark, ho ! " — Such joy abounds When he has closed his daily rounds. The hearth is warm, the fire is bright ; And while his hand, washed clean and white, Holds Martha's tender hand once more, His glowing face bends fondly o'er The crib wherein his darling lies. And in a coaxing tone he cries, "Charco' ! charco' !'" And baby with a laugh replies — "Ah, go ! ah, go !" ' Charco' ! " — "Ah, go ! " — while at the sounds The mother's heart with gladness bounds. Then honored be the charcoal man. Though dusky as an African. 'Tis not for you that chance to be A little better clad than he. His honest manhood to despise. Although from morn till eve he cries — " Charco' ! charco' ! " While mocking echo still replies — "Hark, O^! hark, O!" •' Charco' ! " — " Hark, O ! " — Long may the sounds Proclaim Mark Haley's daily rounds ! —J. T. Trowhridge. 112 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. THE BELLS OF SHAKDON. [The church of Shandon is built on the ruins of Shandon Castle, and is a prominent object to the traveler as he approaches the city of Cork from any direction. Father Prout, or the Rev. Francis Mahoney, which was his true name, was a native of Cork.] With deep affection and recollection, I often think of those Shandon bells. Whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood, Fling round my cradle their magic spell. On this I ponder where'er I wander. And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee. With thy bells of Shandon That sound so grand on The pleasant waters of the river Lee. I Ve heard bell's tolling " old Adrian's Mole in," Their thunder rolling from the Yatican, And cymbals glorious, swinging uproarious In the gorgeous turrets of Notre Dame : But thy sound was sweeter than the dome of Peter Flings o'er the Tiber, pealing solemnly. O ! the bells of Shandon Sound far more grand on The pleasant waters of the river Lee. There's a bell in Moscow, while on tower and kiosko In St. Sophia the Turkman gets. And loud in air calls men to prayer From the tapering summit of tall minarets. Such empty phantoms, I freely grant them ; But there's an anthem more dear to me, — 'Tis the bells of Shandon, That sound so grand on The pleasant waters of the river Lee. — Father Prout. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 113 THE CATAEACT OF LODOEE. [Rapid Movement.] How does the water Come down at Lodore ? From its sources which well In the tarn on the fell ; From its fountains In the mountains, Its rills and its gills ; Through moss and through brake It runs and it creeps, For a while, till it sleeps In its own little lake. And thence at departing, Awakening and starting. It runs through the reeds. And away it proceeds, Through meadow and glade, In sun and in shade, And through the wood-shelter, Among crags in its flurry, Helter-skelter, Hurry- skurry. Here it comes sparkling. And there it lies darkling ; JS'ow smoking and frothing, Its tumult and wrath in, Till in this rapid race, On which it is bent, It reaches the place Of its steep descent. 114 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. The cataract strong Then plumges along, Striking and raging, As if a war waging Its caverns and rocks among ; Spouting and frisking, Turning and twisting, Around and around With endless rebound : Smiting and fighting, A sight to delight in. Confounding, astounding, Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound. Eetreating and beating and meeting and sheeting, Delaying and straying and playing and spraying. Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing, And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming. And dashing and flashing and splashing^and clashing, And so never ending, but always descending. Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending. All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar : And this way, the water comes down at Lodore. NOBODY'S CHILD. [This should be rendered in the tender, pathetic voice of a child, and, when so given, it is exquisitely beautiful. The sad, touching voice should kindle with expectation at the close.] Alone in the dreary, pitiless street, With my torn old dress, and bare cold feet, All day have I wandered to and fro. Hungry and shivering, and no where to go : LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 115 The night's coming on in darkness and dread, And the chill sleet beating upon my bare head. Oh ! why does the wind blow upon me so wild? Is it because I am nobody's child? Just over the way there's a flood of light, And warmth, and beauty, and all things bright ; Beautiful children, in robes so fair, Are caroling songs in their rapture there. 1 wonder if they, in their blissful glee. Would pity a poor little beggar like me, Wandering alone in the merciless street, [Naked and shivering, and nothing to eat? Oh ! what shall I do when the night comes down In its terrible blackness all over the town? Shall I lay me down 'neath the angry sky. On the cold hard pavement, alone to die. When the beautiful children their prayers have said. And their mammas have tucked them up snugly in bed? For no dear mother on me ever smiled. Why is it, I wonder, I'm nobody's child? No father, no mother, no sister, not one In all the world loves me, e'en the little dogs run When I wander too near them ; 'tis wondrous to see How everything shrinks from a beggar like me ! Perhaps 'tis a dream ; but sometimes, when I lie Gazing far up in the dark blue sky. Watching for hours some large bright star, Ffancy the beautiful gates are ajar. 116 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. And a host of whitc-robod, nameless things, Come fluttering o'er me on gilded wings ; A hand that is strangely soft and fair Caresses gently my tangled hair, And a voice like the carol of some wild bird — The sweetest voice that was ever heard — Calls me many a dear, pet name. Till my heart and spirit are all aflame. They tell me of such unbounded love, And bid me come up to their home above ; And then with such pitiful, sad surprise, They look at me with their sweet tender eyes, And it seems to me, out of the dreary night I am going up to that world of light ; And away from the hunger and storm so wild 1 am sure I shall then be somebody's child. —Phila H. W LESSONS IN ELUCUTIUN. 117 APPENDIX. WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. A. abdomen, ab-do'men, not ab'do-men. abjectly, ab'ject-ll, not ab-ject'lT. abstractly, ab'strakt-li or ab-strakt'll, acclimate, ak-kli'mat, not ak'kli-mat. acorn, a'korn, not a'kurn. acoustics, a-kows'tiks, not a-kOGs'tiks. adverse, adVers. not ad -vers'. aggrandize, ag'gran-diz, not ag-gran'dlz. aliment, ari-ment, not ari-ment. allopathy, al-lop'a-thi, not al'lo-path-i. almond, a'mund, not al'mund. alpaca, al-pak'a, not al-a-pak'a. amatenr, am-a-tur' or am-a-tur', not am'a-toor. anchovy, an-choVi, not an'cho-vi nor an-ko'vT. antepenult, an-te-pe-nult', not an-te-pe'nult. apostle, a-pos'l, not a-pos'tl nor a-paws'l. Appalachian, ap-pa-la'chl-an, not ap-pa-la'ki-an nor ap-pa-lak'T-an. apparatus, ap-pa-ra'tus, not ap-pa-ra'tus. area, a're-a, not a-re'a. arid, Sr'id, ont ar'id nor a'rid. arquebuse, ar'kwe-btis, not ar'kwe-bus. 118 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. Asia, a'shi-a, not a'zha nor a'zhe-a. aspirant, as-plr'ant, not as'pi-rant. asymptote, as'imp-tot, not as-imp'tot, athenfeiim, ath-e-ne'um, not a-the'iie-um. attacked, at-takt', not at-tak'ted. audacious, aw-da'shus, not aw-dash'us ?ioraw-da'shus. aunt, ant, not ant. B. badinage, bad-I-nazh' or bad-1-nazh, not bad'in-aj. banana, ba-nana or ba-na'na. bastile, bas-tel' or bas'tel. bath, bath, not bath-. Beelzebub, be-el'ze-bub, not bePze-bub. begone, be-gon', not be-gawn'. belialf, be-haf , not be-haf. behemoth, be'he-moth, not be-he'moth. Belial, b^l'yal or be'li-al. bellows, bel'lus, not berioz. beneath, be-ne^7i', not be-neth'. benzine, ben'zin, commonly ben-zsn'. blackguard, blag'ard, 7iot bhik'gard. blatant, bla'tant, not blat'ant. blouse, blowz, not blows. bomb, bum, not bom. borealis, bo-re-alis, not bo-re-a'lis. bouquet, boo-ka' or booka, not bo-ka'. bramin, bra min, not bra'min. bravado, bra-va do, not bra-va'do. bromide, bro'mid, not bro'mld. bromine, bro'min, not bro'mln. bronchitis, bron-kl'tis, not bron-ke'tis. brothel, bro^A'el, not broth'el. brougham, broo'am or broom. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 119 C. caisson, kas'son or ka-soon'. Calliope, kall-li'o-pe, not kal-li-6'pe. canaille [Fr.], ka-nal' or ka-nail, not ka-nel'. cantata [Fr.], kan-tata or kan-ta ta. carbine, kar'bin, not kar'bin. caret, ka'ret, not kar'et. Caribbean, kar-Ib-be'an, not ka-rib'be-an. cassimere, kas'si-mer, not kaz-i-mer. Cassiopea, kas-si-o-pe'a, not kas-si-o'pe-a. casualty, kazh'u-al-ti, not kazh-u-al'i-ti. catch, kach, not kech. catechumen, kat-e-ku'men, not kat-e-chn'men. Caucasian, kaw-ka'shan, not kaw-kasli'an. cayenne, ka-en', not kl-en' nor ki-an'. cemetery, sem'e-tgr-i, not sem'e-tri. cerate, se'rat, not ser'at. cerements, ser'ments, not ser'e-ments. chaldron, chawl'drun or chal'droii. chalybeate, ka-lib'e-at, not cha-lib'e-at. cham, kam, not cham. chasten, chas'n, not chas'n. chastisement, chas'tiz-ment, not cbas-tiz'ment. chloride, klo'rld, not klo'rid. chlorine, klo'rm, not klo'rln. cinchona, sin-ko'na, not sin-cho'na. circuitious, sur-ku'it-us, not sur'kit-us. coadjutor, ko-ad-ju'tor, not ko-aj'u-tor. cockatrice, kok'a-trlce, not kok'a-tris. cotfee, kof'e, not kaw'fe. coffin, kof in, not kawf in. COlchicum, kol'ki-kum, or korchi-kum. comatose, ko'ma-tos or kom-a-tos'. 120 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. COmbatiye, kom'ba-tiv or kum'ba-tiv, not kom-bat'iv. COnilUUllist, kom'iiui-iiist, not kom-niu'nist. complaisance, kom-pla-zance' or kom'pLa-zance, not koni-pla'sance. complaisant, kom-pla-zant' or kom'pla-zant, not kom-pla'sant. comrade, kom'rad, not kora'rad nor kum'rad. concubinage, kon-ku'bi-naj, not kon'ku-bl-naj. confidant, kon-fi-dant', not kon'fi-dant. connoisseur, kon-nis-sur' or kon-nis-sur'. conversant, konVer-sant. not kon-ver'sant. coquetry, ko-ket'ri, not ko'ket-ri. corollary, kor'ol-la-ri, not ko-rolla-ri. corridor, kor'ri-dor, not kor'ri-dor. cotyledon, kot-i-led'on, not ko-ti-le'don. COtyledonous, kot-i-led'on-us or ko-ti-le'don-us. courier, koo'ri-er^ not kur'ri-er nor koo'rer. cuirass, kwe-ras' or kwe'ras. curator, ku-ra'tor, not ku'ra-tor. cushion, koosh'un, not kwish-im. Cyclopean, si-klo-pe'an, not si-kio'pe-an. D. deaf, dgf, not dsf. decade, dek ad, not dek-ad'. defalcate? de-fal'kat, not def'al-kat nor de fawl'kat. deficit, def'i-sit, not de-fis'it. depot, de-po' or da-po'. despicable, des'pi-ka-bl, not des-pik'a-bl. ditersis, dl-Sr'e-sis, not di-e-re'sis. didactic, di-dak'tik, not dl-dak'tik. diphtheria, dif-the'ri-a, not dip-the'ri-a. disfranchise, dis-fran'chtz, not dis-fran'chlz. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 121 dishevelled, di-shov'kl, not (lis-hcY'Id. divaricate, dl-vai-'i-kat, not di-vari-lvut. docile, dos'il, not do'sll. dog, dug, not dawg. donative, don'a-tiv, not don'a-tiv. dross, dros, not draws. ducat, duk'at, not dti'kat. B. e'er, ^r, not er. endive, en'div, not en'div. enervate, e-nerVat, not en'er-vat. enfranchise, en-fran'chiz, not eii-fran'chTz. ennui, an- we' or ong-we', not 611 1^' we. epicurean, ep-i-ku-re'an, not ep-l-ku're-aii. equipage, ek'wi-pej, not e-kwip'ej. ere, ar, not er. every, ev'er-i, not ev'rl. exacerbate, egz-as'erbat, not eks-a-ser'bat. extol, eks-tol', not eks-tol'. extra, eks'tra, not eks-tri. F. facade, fa-sad' or fa-sad'. falchion, fawrchun or fawl'shun, not farciimi. falcou, faw'kn, not fal'kn. faro, far'o, not far'o nor fa'ro. fecund, fek'und, not fe'kund. feotf, f Sf, not fe'of nor fef. finale, fe-na'le, not fi'nal. . finance, fi-nance', not fi'nance. financier, fin-an-ser', not fi-nan-ser^. flaccid, flak'sid, 7iot flas'id. flaunt, flant, ?to^ fiawnt. 122 LKSSONS IN ELOCUTION. Florentine, flor'cu-tln or flor'cn-tin, not flor'cii-ten. florist, flo'i'ist, not fiur'ist. forge, iorj, not fawrj. fragmentary, frao-'men-a-ri, not frag-ment'a-ii. franchise, fran'chiz, not fran'chlz. fraternize, fra-ter'nlz, not fra'ter-niz. fulcrum, fiircrum, not foorcrum. fulsome, ful'sum, not foorsum. furniture, fur'nit-yoor, colloquially^ fur'ni-choor. G. gape, gap or gap, not gap. gaunt, gant, not gawnt. ghoul, gool, not gowl. giaour, jowr, not joor. glacier, glas'i-er, not gla'ser. God, god, not gawd. granary, gran'a-rl, not gran'a-rl. gratis, gra'tis, not gra tis. grimy, grl'mi, not grim'i. grOat, grawt, not grot. guardian, gard'i-an, not gar-den' nor gar jan. guillotine, gil-o-ten', not gil'o-tin. H. halve, hav, not hav. harem, ha'rem, not har'em. Hebe, tie'be, not heb. height, bit, not bltb. hemistich, bem'i-stik, not bem'i-stich. hibernate, bi'ber-nat, not hi-ber'nat. hollyhock, bol'li-hock, not bol'li-hawk. horizon, bo-ri'zim, not hor'i-zn. horrid, bijr'id, not hawr'id. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 123 hospital, hos'pi-tal, r?o< os'pi-tal nor baws'pi-tl. hostage, bos'taj, not haws'taj. hostler, os'ler or hos'ler, not haws'lcr. In England os'ler only is approved. hurrah, hoor-ra , not hur-raw'. hussar, hobz-zar', not huz-zar'. huzza, bob-za , not buz-a. hydropathy, bi-drop'a-tbi, not bi'dro-patb-i. hyperbole, bi-per'bo-le, not bi'per-bol. impiously, im'pi-us-li, not im-pi'us-li. imprimatur, im-pri-ma'tur, not im-prl-ma'tur. iuchoate, ing'ko-at or in'ko-at. indigenous, in-dij'e-nus, not in-dig'e-nus. indocile, in-dos'il, not in-do'sil. inertia, in-er'sbi-a, not in-er'sha. inferrible, in-fer'n-bl, wo^ in-fer'ri-bl. inquiry, in-kwfri, not in'kwi-ri. in statu quo, in sta'tu kwo, not in stat'oo kwo. instinct, («f^*-)) in-stingkt', not in'stingkt. interlocutor, in-ter-lok'u-tur, not in-ter-lo-ku'tur. internecine, in-ter-ne'sln, not in-ter-ne'sin. inure, in-yoor, not in-obr'. irate, i-rat', not i'rat. iron, I'nrn, not frun. irrefragable, ir-ref ra-ga-bl, not ir-re-fra'ga-bl. irrevocable, ir-rev'o-ka-bl, not ir-re-vo'ka-bl. isolate, iz'o-lat or is'o-lat, not I'so-lat. isosceles, I-sos'se-lez, not 1-sos'lez. isothermal, I-so-tberm'al, not is'o-tberrn-al. Italian; i-tal'yan, not T-tal'yan. italic, i-tal'ik, not l-tal'ik. 124 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. J. jaundice, jiin'dis, not jawn'di8. jocose, jo-kos', not jok-os' nor jo-koz'. jowl, jol, not jowl. jugular, ju'gu-lar, not jug'u-lar. L. lang-syne, lang-sin', not lang-zm'. larum, Ur'um, not lar'um. larynx, lar'inks, not lar'inks nor la'rinks. latent, la'tent, not iS-t'ent. lath, lath, not lath. lathe, la^A;, not la^A. laugh, laf, not laf. laundry, lan'dri, not lawn'dri. lethargic, le-thar'jik, not leth'ar-jik. literati, lit-er-a'tl, not lit-er-a ti. lord, lord, not lawurd. M. maelstrom, mal' strum, not mal'strom. mamma, mam-ma', not mam'ma. manes, ma'nez, not maiiz. maniacal, ma-ni'a-kal, not ma'ni-ak-al. Mansard-roof, man'sard-roof, not man-sard'-rdof. matron, ma'tron, not mat'ron. mattress, mat'tres, not ma'tras. mausoleum, maw-so-le'um, not maw-so'le-um. mezzotint, med'zo-tint or met'zo-tint. molecular, mo-lek'u-lar, not mo'le-ku-lar. molecule, mol'e-kul, not morkul nor mo'le-kul. moss, moss, 710^ maws. mustache, mus-tash', not mus'tash nor mus-tash'. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 125 jsr. naiye, na'ev. not nav. nape, nap, not nap. o. OCtogeiiarj^, ok-loj'e-na-rl' or ok'to-je-iia-ri'. Odyssey, od'is-se, not 0-dis'i. offal, offal, not aw'fl. orailg-outailg, o-rang'-oo-tang', not o'raiig-ow'-tang. Orion, o-ri'un, not o'ri-un, orison, or'i-zun, not or'i-sun. oxide, oks'id, not oks'id. P. palaver, pa-lii'ver, not pa-lav'er, Palestine, pal'es-tm, not pares-lin. papa, pa-pa , not pa pa. paraffine, par'a-fin or par'af-fm, not par'af-fen. parent, par'ent, not pa rent nor par'ent. participle, par'ti-sip-1, not part'sip-1. patois, pat'waw, not pat'woi. Philistine, fl-lis'tin, not fills- tin. pianist, pi-a'nist, not pi-an'ist nxyr pe-an'ist nor pe' an-ist. plateau, pla-to', not plat-o'. plethora, pleth'o-ra, not ple-tho'ra. plethoric, ple-thorlk or pleth'o-rik. poignant, poin'ant, not poin'yant. precedence, pre-sed'ence, not pres'-e-dence. predecessor, pred-e-ses'sur, not pre'de-ses-sur nor pred'e-ses-sur. presbytery, prez'bl-ter-i, not pres-bit'cr-L probity, prob'i-tT, not pro'bi-ti. process, pros'esj not pro'ses. 126 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. project, (nou7i), proj'ekt, not pro'jckt. provost, prov'iist or pro-vo'. pyramidal, pi-ram'i-da], 7iot pir'a-mid-al. pyrites, pl-ri'tez, 7iot pir'i-tez. quadrupedal, kwad-roo'po-dal or kwad-roo-pe'dal. E. rapine, rap'in, not ra'pon. rationale, rash-i-o-na'le or ra-shi-o-na'lc. Kecliabite, re'kab-It, not re'kab-it. recitative, res-i-ta-tev, not re-slt'a-tiv. recognizance, re-kog'ni-zance or re-kon'i-zaiice. reconnoissance, rc-koD'nis-sance, not rc-kon-ioia' sance. refutable, re-fut'a-bl, 7iot ref u-ta-bl. respit(*d, res'pit-ed, not re-spTt'ed. retributive, re-trib'u-tiv, not ret'ri-bu-tiv nor rct-rl bii'liv. reveille, re-val'ya or re-val'. rhomb, romb, not rom. S. sacerdotal, sas-er-do'tal, not sa-ser-do'tal. sacrilege, sak'ri-lej, not sa'kri-lij. sagacious, sa-ga'shus, not sa-gash'us. salve, ssav, not sav. Samaritan, sa-mar'i-tan, not sa-ma'ri-tan. scabious, ska'bl-us, not skab'i-us. scaramouch, skar'a-moAvch. not skar'a-niooch. schism, sizm, 7iot siz'iim. scorbutic, skor-bu'tik, not skor-but'ik. scrofula, skrof n-la, not skrawf'u-la. LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 127 secretory, se-krct'o-ri or sc'krc-to-rT. seine, hcd, not san. senile, se'nll, not sc'nil. sequestration, sck-wes-tra'shim, not se'kwes-tra'- slmn. series, se'rl-ez or sc'rez. servile, ser'vil, not yer'vll. slia'n't, {shall not'), shiint, not f>hant. shew, sho, not shu. sibyl, sib'il, not si'bil. sinecure, si'ne-kur, not sin'e-kur. sinew, sin'u, not siii'oo. sirup, sir'iip, colloquially, snr'rup. slabber, slab'ber colloquially, slob'ber. sleek, slek, not slik. soft, soft, not sawft. splenetic, splen'e-tik, not sple-net'ik. stanch, stanch, not stanch nor stawnch. statics, stat'iks, not sta'tiks. statu quo [I^-]j sta'ta kwo, not stat'yoo kwo. strychnine, strik'nin, not strik'nin. subsidence, sub-sld'ence, not sub'si-dence. sulphuric, sul-fu'rik, not sulTur-ik. superficies, su-per-fish'i-ez or su-per-fish'ez. supple, sup'l, not soo'pl. surveillance, sur-val'yance, not soor-val-yauce'. T. talcose, tal-kos', not tal'kos nor tal-koz'. tapestry, tap'es-tri, not taps'tri. tapis, ta pis or ta-pe'. tartaric, tar-tar'ik, not tar-tar'ik. telegraphist, te-leg'ra-fist, not tere-graf-ist. 128 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. three-legged, thre-legd', Qwt thre-leg'ged. thyme, tlm, not thim. tiny, ti'ni, not te'ni nor tin-i. tongs, tongz, 7iot tawngz. tonsure, ton'shur, not ton'soor. transition, tran-sizh'un, not trans-ish'ui]. transparent, trans-par'ent, not trans-pa'rcnt. troche, tro'ke, not trok nor tro'che. truculent, trob'ku-lent, not triik'u-lent. turhine, tur'bin, not tur'bin. turquoise, tur-koiz or tur-kez'. tyrannic, tl-ran'nik, not ti-ran'nik. U. unguent, ung'gwent, not un'gwent. Y. valuable, val'u-a-bl, not varyu-bl. verdigris, ver'di-gres, not ver'di-gTis. vicar, vik'ar, not vi'kar. vindicative, vin'di-ka-tiv, not vin-dik'a-tiv. violoncello, ve-o-lon-cherio or ve-o-lon-sello. viscount, vl'kownt, not vis'kownt. vitriol, vit'ri-ul, not vit'rul. W. wan, w^n, not wan. withe, with, not with. won't, wont 7iot wunt. wrath, rath or rawth. wrong, rong, not rawDg. Z. zouave, zob-av' or zwiiv, not z6b-av'.