THE
SO UR CES AND ELEMENYTS
ITS POWER.
_ TEXT-BOOK FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, AND A BOOK FOR
EVERY PUBLIC SPEAKER, AND STUDENT OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
BY J. H. MVcILVAINE,
Professor of Belles Lettrea is Princeton College.
INEW YORK:
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG  &  CO.,
1876.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER AND COMPANY,
In the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
JOHN F. TROW & SON,
PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS,
205-213 East I2tk St.,
NEW YORK.




P  EPA CE.
TEE author of this work has been engaged in the practice
of public speaking, almost without interruption, for thirty
years; during the last ten of which, he has also been a systematic student and teacher of the art of elocution. When
he accepted the chair of Belles Lettres in Princeton College, in 1860, he received a special request from the Board
of Trustees to work up this much neglected department of
education, although it was not properly included in the duties of his professorship; and with this object in view, they
gave him a laborious and faithful assistant in Prof. S. G
Peabody. The notes and criticisms, which gradually accumulated upon his hands in successive courses of instruction
and training, are here offered to the public in a systematic
form, now that his work in the College is drawing to a close.
The attention of teachers and students of this art, is
requested, in appreciation of the following points. 1. Nearly
one half of the work consists in the exhibition of the intellectual, moral, esthetical and physical sources of power in delivery, which, it is believed, have never before been treated
of as included in the art of elo6ution. 2. The second part
contains several chapters on Phonology, in which, especially




iv                    PRPEFACE.
under the heads of articulation, accent and pronunciation,
new views are advanced, which it is hoped may have an
interest for phonologists, students of the English language,
and all who desire to pronounce it correctly, independently
of the relation of these chapters to the principal object of the
work. 3. The whole matter of the work has been carefully
analyzed or generalized under principal and subordinate
heads, in order to facilitate the comprehension of particulars,
and to aid the memory in recitation. This last point the
author regards as of such importance, that he has allowed the
beauty of a perfectly plain page to be sacrificed to the utility
of black letter and italics, for the purpose of distinguishing
these principal and subordinate heads.
It will be evident to all who may look into this work, that
it has cost a great deal of labor; so much, indeed, that the
author pities himself when he thinks of it, and cannot but
fear that it might have been more usefully employed. Yet
he cannot flatter himself that the work does not contain
many errors and defects. Such as it is, however, it is offered
to the public, not without the hope that the views presented
may continue to be useful to many who are engaged in the
study or practice of this beautiful and most useful of all arts
PamoEToN, Feb. 26, 1870.




CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
On",                                                 PAGUI
I.-The Importance of a Good Delivery.........   1
II.-Utility of the Study of Elocution..............  15
PART I.
I.-Preliminary  Observations,  and  Fundamental
Principles.................................  45
11.-Power in Thought.......................           50
III.-Feeling.....................................  58
IV. -Earnestness..................................  83
V.-The Mental State of Direct Address to the Audience....................................  93
VI. —Attention and Sympathy...................... 103
VII.-Mastery of the Subject-matter in Extempore Discourse..................................... 116
III. —Facility of Remembering in Memoriter Delivery 129
IX.-Familiarity with the Manuscript.............. 138
X.-Vitality, Favorable Moods, and Physical Regimen 153
X.L —Self-control................................  165




CONTENTS.
P ART II.
CHap.                                              PAGI
I.-Method of Treatment......................... 177
IL —The Vocal Organism in Relation to Vocal Culture 181
III.-Articulation................................. 199
IV.-Accentuation.............................. 227
V.-Pronunciation.................... 239
VI.-The Qualities of the Voice.................... 294
VIL-The Powers of the Voice..................... 308
VIII.-Pitch and Inflection.......................... 321
IX.-Time and Pause............ 3..... 346
X.-Force.......................... 3o... 360
XI. —Emphasis.........................., 368
TT-.. —Ges*ture       e.......e..... e..............384




INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER  I.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.
~ 1. The principal reason for discussing this subject is that
the importance of elocution is very imperfectly appreci.
ated, both by educators and public speakers.
IT would seem to be obvious of itself that they
whose business it is to speak in public, should spare
no pains in order to be able to speak well. As a
matter of fact, however, we often find it far otherwise.
For while good writers are not at all uncommon,
good speaking is notoriously a rare accomplishment.
The professions which depend most immediately
upon speaking, are crowded with failures; and of the
many young men of superior talents, and culture,
who thus fail, few seem to have any suspicion that
the chief, and often the sole cause, is their wretched
delivery. And whilst rhetoric is thoroughly taught,




*2               INTRODUCTION.
elocution has hardly any recognized place in our
systems and institutions of liberal education.
Hence it seems plain that this art is very im.
perfectly appreciated, not only by educators, but also by professional orators themselves. It is in
place, therefore, to offer here some considerations
which may serve to exhibit the importance of a
good delivery.
6 2. Oral speaking is essential to eloquence, and even to lan
guage itself.
1. That oral speaking is essential to language is prove I
by the authority of the greatest masters of linguistic
science.
The following quotation is from  Wilhelm  von
Humboldt, who has been called the father of Comparative Philology. "We must exclude everything
from the definition of language, but actual speaking..... The essence of language lies in the living utterance, in that which does not suffer itself to
be apprehended in the sundered elements of written
words..... It is only by the spoken word that
the speaker breathes his own life into the souls of
his hearers..... Written language is only an imperfect and mummy-like embalming, of which the
highest use is that it may serve as a means of reproducing the living utterance." In fact it was the
recognition of the trutn thus enunciated, which rescued the study of language from that inveterate
pedantry by which it had long been paralyzed, and
made it that living and progressive science which it
has now become.




IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.         3
2. That oral speaking is essential to eloqueznce is
proved from the etymology qf the word, from the fact
that the potwer of a word is inseparable from its sound,
and from  the fact that the masters of eloquence have
always been speakers.
(1.) The etymology of the word eloquence
is the same with that of elocution. Both of
these words alike have for their base or root the
idea of speaking. Further, they are compounded of e, from, and loquor, I speak; expressing the
notion of speaking firom something. From what
then does true eloquence speak? Doubtless the
conception which suggested this composition of
the word, was that eloquence speaks from the heart
of man. It is from the depths of the rational and
moral nature that the articulate human voice
streams forth; of which nature, therefore, it constitutes the most perfect, the noblest, that is to say,
the eloquent expression. Hence it is only in an inferior sense that unspoken words can be called eloquent.
(2.) The true power of a word is inseparable from
its sound. The articulation, tones, inflections, accent
and emphasis, as also in the play of the features, and
all the motions of the limbs and body, with which a
word is spoken, are essential elements of its expressiveness and power. They express modifications
and shades of thought, and ever-varying intensity
of emotion and passion, which written words do not
even suggest. They are, therefore, the flesh and




4                INTRODUCTION.
blood, the very life, of which written words are lit.
tle more than the bony skeleton.
(3.) The models of eloquence have always been
speakers. That the greatest masters of eloquence, in
all ages of the world, have been orators, requires no
proof. It needs only to run over their names. But
why should this be so, if oral speaking were not
essential to the blossom and golden fruit of true
eloquence?
~ 3. Delivery is to discourse what performance is to music.
This view of the importance of delivery in discourse, is confirmed by the close analogy that subsists between music and articulate speech. For
music is a language of tones addressed to the sensibilities, or emotional nature, whilst speech is a
language of tones and articulations addressed to the
intellect and the sensibilities; and both these forms
of language may be noted in written symbols, and
reproduced in vocal utterances. The analogy between them is therefore very close, and we shall find
it useful hereafter in many ways. But here what we
have to consider is that it holds good to exhibit the
importance of delivery in the three following particulars.
1. Both discourse and music produce their proper
effects by means of sound.
For as the most accomplished musician can
comprehend only a little of the sentiment and




IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.        5
force of a piece of music, and can derive but a feeble pleasure from barely running his eye over the
score; as it is only when he comes to render it with
his voice or instrument that its full and proper
effect can be produced upon himself or others; —
such, in great measure is the difference between
the power and effect of discourse as presented to
the eye, and that which it produces when addressed
to the ear.
2. Both discourse and music, when poor but well rendered, are better than when good and poorly renidered.
As a poor piece of music, well performed, produces a better effect than that which is ever so good
in itself, but ill-performed, so an inferior discourse,
well delivered, will cbmmonly be found to accomplish its object far better than a superior discourse
badly delivered.
3. Both discourse and music, when good but poorly
rendered, are powerless, or they defeat their own
aims.
As a good piece of music, badly performed, fails
of its proper effect, and either awakens no emotions
at all, or a wholly different class from those which
are intended, so the best discourse in the world,
being spoiled in the delivery, either falls powerless
and dead, or exerts an influence to defeat its own
aims. Such discourses in the pulpit often put their
hearers to sleep, when they are intended to excite
to watchfulness and prayer; they are heard with
weariness and pain, when they are intended to impart spiritual refreshment and joy; or aiming to




6                 INTRODUCTION.
awaken pity and love, they call forth only indignation and disgust. In these and other particulars
delivery is to discourse what performance is to
music.
~ 4. The opinions of the great orators and rhetoricians are
strongly in favor of the importance of a good delivery.
The most celebrated orators and rhetoricians, in
all ages of the world, have ascribed the very greatest
importance to a good delivery. The views of only
a few of them can be given here.
1. Massillon, court preacher to Louis XIV., and
one of the most eloquent men of his time, being
asked, which of his sermons he regarded as the best,
replied, "The one I remembered best-;" by which
he meant, of course, the one he had delivered best.
2. Quintilian also teaches us that " it is not of so
much importance what our thoughts are, as it is in
what manner they are delivered; since those whom
we address are moved only as they hear." We
need not subscribe to this statement in its utmost
force, yet the authority is a very high one.
3. Cicero, as standing in the very front rank, both
of rhetoricians and orators, is a still higher authority; and he expresses himself yet more strongly, if
possible, in the following words: " All the parts of
oratory succeed as they are delivered. Delivery, I
say, has the sole and supreme power in oratory
Without it a speaker of the greatest mental power
cannot be held in any esteem; while with this qualification, one of moderate abilities may surpass
those of the greatest talent."




INTRODUCTION.               7
4. Demosthenes, the highest of all authorities, expresses himself in the strongest words of all. Both
Cicero and Quintilian inform us that he, being
asked what was of the first importance in oratory,
replied, "Action;" being asked what was next in
importance, replied again, "Action;"  and being
asked what was of the third degree of importance,
he answered still, "Action."  Thus according to
Quintilian he continued to give the same answer as
often as he was questioned; "so that," in the
words of this author, " he may be thought to have
esteemed'action' not merely the principal, but
the only excellence." In order now to appreciate
the full force of this, it must be understood that
what the Greeks meant by action, was precisely that
which the Romans, and we after them, call delivery.
5. lschines,;-.e, the great rival, and barely
the inferior of Demosthenes, having read to his class
at Rhodes, where he taught eloquence, the Oration
on the Crown, which had procured his banishment
from  Athens, and the class expressing their unbounded admiration - exclaimed, " And what if
you had heard him deliver it himself!" thus, notwithstanding its unrivalled excellence as a rhetorical
composition, ascribing its irresistible power to the
delivery.
Such have been the views upon this point of all
the great rhetoricians and orators, with hardly an exception, whose opinions have been left on record;
and it would seem that, with such an array of authority against them, those who undervalue the imr




8      IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DEhIVERY.
portance of a good delivery are changeable with
little less than infatuation.
~ 5. The example of Socrates in that he wrote nothing, but
confined himself to oral discourse, shows his appreciation
of the power with which thought is clothed by delivery.
It may not be at once apparent how the example
of Socrates, who was not an orator in the common
acceptation of the word, can be adduced in illustration of the importance of good delivery. But we
must remember that he was eminently a talker, and
perhaps the greatest master of the art of discourse
in Athens, during the flourish and bloom of Athenian eloquence and culture. Also he was the most
successful educator, with a single exception, the
world has ever seen. He educated a greater number of world-renowned men than ever before or
since came forth from the school of any one teacher.
His success appears so wonderful to those who
have looked into it, that an eminent philosopher of
modern times, Condillac, himself a practical educator, hazards the assertion, that " since the time of
Socrates the secret of education has been lost."
Now that all-moulding influence which this man exerted, had for its sole instrumentality, oral speaking-he wrote nothing. All that we know of the
doctrines he inculcated, or of the methods he employed, is derived from the writings of his disciples;
among whom such men as Plato and Xenophon
could find no better way of commending their philosophical speculations to the world, than by profess.
ing to report the conversations of their great master




INTRODUCTION.               9
So deeply was he impressed with the conviction
that the great work which he had undertaken could
be accomplished by no instrumentality except oral
speaking, that he deliberately rejected every other.
For when asked why he did not write out his teachings in a permanent form, he is said to have replied:
"I would rather write upon the hearts of living
men, than upon the skins of dead sheep."  The significance of such words from such a man can hardly
be overestimated.
~ 6. The example of the Lord Jesus Christ, in that he also
wrote nothing, shows a similar appreciation of the superior power of oral discourse.
A similar but stronger argument may be drawn
from the example of a greater than Socrates, our
Lord Jesus Christ. He, being the incarnate Word
of God, was the only perfect master of human eloquence that ever lived-never man spake like this man.
He also was an educator, who sought to impress
himself upon his disciples, and to mould them into
his own likeness; and his success was such that they
all became celebrated throughout the world, and
their influence upon its history has been immeasurably greater than that of any other men the world has
ever seen. He also wrote nothing-he confined
himself to the sole instrument of oral speech. Now
when we consider how desirable it seems to us that
he should have written out in precise form, and in
minute detail, those divine truths by the faith of
which the world was to be regenerated and purified,
instead of leaving them to be reported from his lips




10      IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.
by those who heard him, we cannot fail to see thai
it must have been with deliberate design that he
confined himself to oral speech. He also evidently
would write his doctrines upon the hearts of living
men, rather than upon the skins of dead sheep.
From  this striking agreement between the two
greatest men (if it be lawful so to speak) and most
successful educators the world has ever known, and
whose vitalizing influence upon human nature has
been so much deeper and wider and more permanent than that of any others, it may perhaps be inferred that Condillac's lost secret of education is to
be found in that all-moulding persoaal influence of
the teacher, which can be exerted through no other
instrumentality but that of the truth orally delivered.
If this were so, it would teach us a lesson of transcendent value with respect to the importance of
such a delivery as shall be adequate to express, and
to impress upon others, the truth which we have to
communicate.
~ 7. The fact that the Lord ordained the oral preaching of
the gospel as the means of propagating the Christian relig.
ion, confirms the preceding interpretation of his example, and affords another argument for the importance of
delivery.
The foregoing interpretation of the example of
Christ is confirmed by the fact theat he expressly
ordained preaching as the great means and instru
mentality for the propagation of the gospel --
the Christian religion. For this also must have
been with deliberate design, in view of adequate




INTRODUCTION.              11
reasons. One of these, no doubt, was the great
number of persons who were then, and have been
in every subsequent age, unable to read. But this
could not have been the controlling reason. For if
so, the preaching of the gospel would be unnecessary to the learned, and might be superseded, in
their case, by the silent perusal of the written Word.
It is perfectly certain, however, from experience, that
in the case of the learned, the solitary reading of
the Scriptures, however important in itself, is no substitute for the oral preaching of the gospel. The
great reason, no doubt, was that Jesus, who knew
what was in man, was intimately acquainted with all
those latent sensibilities of the soul, which can be
reached and moved by nothing so powerfully as by
the voice of the living preacher, by the truth incarnate, as it were, and uttering itself in an oral form.
With divine wisdom he adapted the means of our
spiritual renovation to the principles of human nature.
For when the Word is thus preached by the voice
of a living man to a congregation of living men,
it produces an effect upon their souls which is
altogether peculiar. When, e. g. a Whitefield utters the words, 0 wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver mefrom the body of this death! they
have an intensity and power unknown to the
silent and solitary reader in his closet. Accordingly, as we know, some of the greatest successes
of the gospel were achieved before the New Testament was committed to writing, by the voice of the
living preacher alone.




12      IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.
This fact that the Lord, for such reasons, or.
dained the oral preaching of the gospel as the great
means of salvation, is perhaps the very strongest
argument that could be given for such a delivery
as shall be adequate to the truth. For the reasons
in view of which we are required to preach the gospel, evidently require that we should preach it as
well as possible; that is, in such oral forms as
shall not disguise, nor obscure, nor pervert, but
which shall be, in some measure at least, adequate
to the expression of its great, world-regenerating
ideas.
~ 8. Bad delivery is a main cause of inefficiency in the pulpit.
It is a complaint far more general than clergymen themselves are commonly aware, that their
ministrations are not clothed with that power which
the cause they advocate demands, but are, in
fact, characterized.by an unnatural feebleness. Some
there are who ascribe this to a lack of ability in
the ministry; others to a moral cause, namely, that
the preachers themselves have little heartfelt experience of the truth which they seek to impress
upon their congregations. But these, although the
most obvious suggestions, cannot always be the
true reasons. For not unfrequently able and godly
men are extremely feeble in the pulpit; whilst
others wield a far greater power, who yet are not
distinguished from their brethren either by talents
or piety. It is more rational, as well as more charitable, to account for the fact by that wretched elocution which is so common in the pulpit; and




IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD DELIVERY.      13
which, if it were not for the sacredness of its themes,
and the solemnities of Divine worship, would not
be tolerated by any audience in the world. For
it has been well observed by one of the most accomplished pulpit orators of our time, that " one
reason why preaching is so much less effective than
we should antecedently expect it to be, is that there
is less of it than we ordinarily suppose..... Much
of that which passes for preaching does not deserve the name. It may be called a poor kind of
singing, a tedious method of drawling, a soporific
way of reading; but it is not such living utterance
of thought as enkindles the eye, such gushing forth
of emotion as cannot but have the effect of eloquence..... All the dull, clumsy, turgid, weak, insipid, and in any way affected methods of delivery,
are to be subtracted from the sum total of what is
denominated preaching; and then, how small the
remainder!" There can be no doubt but that the
prevalence of such abortive attempts at delivery, is
a principal cause of that feebleness in the pulpit
which is so much complained of, and of that want
of interest in the preaching of the gospel which is
manifested by increasing numbers of intelligent,
and otherwise well disposed people, and which is
one of the most sorrowful facts of our time.
~ 9. Bad delivery is one of the most common causes of the
ministerial throat disease.
It would seem then,that he who imagines himself
to be preaching the gospel whilst he violates al



14              INTRODUCTION.
most every law of oral speech, deceives himself,
and commits no little sin-a sin which, like all
others, does not fail to punish itself. For those
wasting throat diseases, with which clergymen
are afflicted more than any other class of public
speakers, are often traceable physiologically to bad
management of the voice, to the violation of those
laws which nature has prescribed to articulate
speaking-laws which, like all others established
by the God of nature, can never be violated with
impunity. This view is confirmed by the fact, to
which many can bear witness, that no more effectual remedy for these diseases has been discovered,
than a thorough course of sound elocutionary training.




CHAPTER II.
UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.
~ 10. The principal objections to this stuady are, that
delivery cannot be taught, that the study of it does
harm rather than good, and that in order to be good
speakers all we have to do is to speak naturally.
IT is a question which has been much disputed
both in ancient and modern times, whether a good
delivery be a gift of nature, or an accomplishment
to be acquired by art. The number and respectability of those who have maintained the former
view, and the plausibility of some of their arguments, are such as to challenge our candid attention. The principal objections to this study, and
those which have the most weight with intelligent
persons, are the following.
1. Delivery cannot be taught because it is incapable
of analysis.
Those who make this objection assure us that
good speaking, or an eloquent delivery, is a result
so extremely complex, and one that is due to such
a multitude and variety of interworking causes, that




16             INTRODUCTION.
it must forever defy the most subtle and powerful
analysis, and defeat all attempts to reduce it to
the laws upon which it depends: consequently, that
it cannot be taught nor learned, and the study of it
can do no good, but must prove at best a waste of
time and labor.
2. The study of elocution cannot.fail to do harm.
There are those, however, who oppose this study
on the higher ground that it does harm. These
objectors tell us that, by directing the attention of
the student to the manner abstracted from the
matter of discourse, and by putting him under
training and practice according to fixed rules, it
cramps the natural freeddm of speaking, renders
the delivery cold, spiritless and artificial, and generates awkwardness, mannerism, affectation, and
almost every other vice of elocution. "Probably,"
says Archbisthop Whately, "not a single instance
could be found of any one who has attained, by the
study of any system of instruction that has hitherto
appeared, a really good delivery; but there are many
-probably as many as have fully tried the experiment —who by this means have been totally spoiled,
who have fallen irrecoverably into an affected style
of spoutiny, worse in all respects than their original
mode of delivery."
3. We must ignore all rules, forget that there is any
such thing as art, and speak naturally.
Those who make such objections tell us that this
is the one sole precept by the observance of which
it is possible to attain to good speaking. In confirmation of this, they point us to the natural grace




UTILY oF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   17
and propriety of common conversation, and to that
with which children express themselves; and they
call us to observe how all this is lost, giving place to
innumerable vices of elocution, as soon as the
speakers, whether children or grown persons, are
put under training.
~ 11. The influence of these objections has been very great,
and has led to the general neglect of this study; hence the
necesity of refuting them.
The foregoing objections to the study of elocution are extremely plausible; they are urged by very
high authorities in education; and they fall in with
our natural indolence. Hence they have exerted,
and do still exert a great influence, not only upon
the public mind, but also upon educators and
speakers themselves. Thus it is that systematic
study and methodical training in this art have so
generally fallen into neglect and disuse. For, as
already observed, it hardly enters as an appreciable
element into the prescribed course of a liberal education. The consequences of this, however, would
have been far worse than they are, if it had not
been for the zeal and labors of professed elocutionists, giving private lessons in our collegiate institutions, but who often have no regular connection
with the faculty. The want of elocutionary training is especially noticeable in the education of
clergymen, who are instructed to spare no pains in
mastering the nicest theological distinctions, until
they can split a theological hair into east, west,
north, and south parts-an accomplishment which,
however valuable for purposes of strife and debate




iS                INTRODUCTION.
can afford, it would seem, but little aid in proclaiming the great and simple facts and truths of the gospel-whilst yet they devote hardly any time or labor
to acquiring a good delivery, without which it is
impossible for them to preach with acceptability or
power. Hence the absolute necessity that we
should here undertake to refute these objections,
and to indicate the utility of elocutionary studies
and training.
~ 12. Elocution is an art, therefore it can be taught and
learned; that by which it is distinguished from other
arts, does not make it an exception; it is the art of speaking, the first elements of of which we learn in childhood
by imitation.
1. Elocution is an art because it confor ms to the dceinition of art.
The most general definition of art, is knowledge
applied to production. Elocution conforms to this
definition; for it applies the knowledge of vocal
sounds to the production of oral discourse. Now it
belongs to the very nature of an art that it does not
come of itself, but it must be taught and learned.
Hence it is never expected that any one should attain
proficiency in any other art, such as music or painting, war or surgery, ship-building or shoe-makliing,
without having studied and learned it. Nor can
any valid reason be assigned for making this art the
sole exception.
2. The fact that it is an art which all must exercise
does not make it an exception.
Speaking is distinguished from some other arts
by the fact that it is one which all persons must




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   19
exercise or practice, after some fashion, in all the
affairs of life; and hence all are endowed, in a
higher or lower degree, with the organs and faculty
of speech. But this does not make it an exception;
for herein it agrees with other arts, the art of thinking, e. g. which it is conceded may be taught, and
must be learned. Every objection from this source
against improvement of the organs and faculty of
speech by training and culture, is therefore equally
valid against the training and cultivation of the
organs and faculty of thought.
3. Thle art of speaking is essentially an imitative art,
the rudiments of which are actually taught and learned
in childhood.
It would seem to be impossible to deny that the
art of speaking can be taught and learned when
we consider the significance of the above statement.
For elocution is nothing else but the art of speaking
or talking, and our first studies and training in it
commence in childhood. The child learns to form
his first articulate sounds, and every step of his
subsequent progress is taken, by means of the
closest observation and imitation of that which he
hears from the lips of his mother or nurse; and he
continues to be an infant, that is, he remains dumb,
if he does not hear others speak. By repeated
efforts to imitate the sounds he hears, with many
failures, he slowly gains a partial control of the
organs of speech, until he learns to express himself
as they do who are his models and instructors,
copying all their faults as accurately as their excel



20               IMNRODUCTION.
lences. There is indeed a certain characteristic grace
in all the utterances of childhood, which will require
hereafter to be explained. But the point to be
emphasized here, is that all these are properly
and essentially elocutionary studies and exercises,
by which the child takes his first steps, and makes
his first progress, in the art of speaking. Why
should these exercises, or this progress, be arrested when he becomes a boy, or young man?
Under better instruction and better models than
have been afforded by his mother or nurse, or other
children with whom he has associated, why should
he not correct the -faults he has learned from them,
and continue to make progress until he attains to
the highest excellence in speaking?  For the process is the same; and that is no sound instruction
or training in elocution, which does not aim to develop in the student the same habits of close observation and vocal imitation by which he learned to
speak at first, and without which he would have remained forever dumb.
~ 13. The phenomena of delivery admit of adequate analysispresumed from its analogy to other arts, and proved from
the fact that they have been successfully analyzed-a
complete analysis not necessary.
1. It may be presumed that the phenomena of delivery
admit of analysi from the analogy of elocution to other
arts.
The phenomena of the most eloquent delivery
are hardly more complicated than those of poetry,
music, painting or sculpture; yet this objection is




UTIITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   21
not urged against instruction and training in these
arts. The music of a full orchestra, e. g. is a wonderfully complicated result; yet it admits of a perfect analysis, and even of exact notation, by the aid
of which it can be communicated through instruction, and reproduced in precisely the same form,
and with similar effects, at pleasure. Why should
it not be equally possible to analyze the phenomena
of delivery, and thereby to discover, so as accurately to describe and note what that is which makes
one man's speaking so much better than another's,
so that it may be recognized at sight, and reproduced at pleasure?
2. These phenomena have been succes.fully analyzed.
But we are not left to depend solely on the foregoing analogy. For that it is possible thus to analyze, describe, and classify the excellences as well
as the faults of elocution; to explain the different
varieties and shades of expression which give effect
not only to common discourse, but also to the most
impassioned eloquence-that it is possible to reduce
the qualities of good speaking to the principles and
laws upon which they depend, and to deduce from
these laws a body of rules for the purpose of instruction, training and practice in the art, precisely
as in the case of musical notation and exercisethis work has been actually accomplished in great
part by an American author, Dr. James Rush, in his
profound and original treatise on the human voice;
in which we have already a truly philosophical
foundation for the whole art of elocution.




22                INTRODUCTION.
3. A complete analysis is unnecessary.
But if it were true that such a minute and extended analysis as is required in music were impossible in elocution, it would not follow that this art
cannot be taught nor learned. For such an analysis is not even desirable, except perhaps for the
teacher, in whose hands even it is liable to very grave
abuse. A too minute analysis, and a great multiplication of rules, as we shall see hereafter, is a
very serious error in teaching elocution-an error
which is the principal source of those vices of delivery which are justly chargeable to study and training in this art. All that can be made profitable to
the practical student is a sound and broad analysis
of the Sources of power in delivery-which has never
b.efore been attempted in any work on elocutiontogether with an exhibition of the principal Elements
of power, that is, of the leading excellences to be
cultivated, in contrast with the most common and
glaring faults to be corrected. The attempt to go
beyond this into very minute details, which is a
general characteristic of previous works on this subject, cannot fail to be attended with many bad results.
~ 14. The inherent difficulties of this art, arising from thenumerous mental operations which must be carried on
simultaneously, and many of them as sub-processes, are
such that they cannot be overcome without study and
practice.
They who tell us that in order to speak well all
we have to do is to speak naturally, do indeed




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   23
characterize by this expression the highest possible attainment in elocution; but they ignore all
the facts of experience by assuming that to speak
naturally is just the easiest thing in the world
They might as well inform us that in order to become -great painters, or musicians, we have nothing
to do but to paint naturally, or sing naturally, or
play on the violin naturally. This precept, so flippantly given, leaves out of view all the difficulties
of the art; some of which are the following.
1. The number and variety of the mental operations
which must be carried on simztltaneously in all good
speaking,are very great.
(1.) Those of invention and style, or of memory, or
of reading. For according as we speak extempore,
or memoriter, or from manuscript, we have either
the processes of invention and style, with all the vast
multitude of subordinate operations which these
imply; or those of remembering what we have committed to memory; or those of taking in from the
manuscript through the eye, the thoughts which we
have to deliver to others.
(2.) We have to keep steadily in view the object
which we aim to accomplish in the minds of the
audience.
(3.) We must have a perception and feeling of
the meaning of each word in itself, and in all its
grammatical relations and connections, at the very
moment of speaking it.
(4.) We must ourselves be affected with the sentimont. For it is indispensable to success in oratory




24              INTRODUCTION.
that our own hearts should be deeply and keenly
affected with all the emotions and passions which
we seek to enkindle in the hearts of others.
(5.) We must hold the audience in our mental
grasp, in the full and strong consciousness that we
are speaking directly to their minds.
All these mental operations, which will require to
be fully unfolded hereafter in their relations to delivery, together with a multitude of others, must be
carried on simultaneously in all good speaking. Now
it is simply preposterous to assume that this can be
done by any one, without his ever having learned
to do it.
2. Many of these and other mental operations have
to be carried on almost unconsciously, and suppressed
entirely from the oral expression.
This is the great difficulty which must be overcome in order to speak well, compared with which
all others are as nothing. In order to understand
it we must glance here at what will require to be
more fully developed hereafter, namely, that all
speaking, whether good or bad, expresses the leading or predominant operations of the speaker's
mind: and if those operations predominate which
properly belong to the giving out or expression of
thought, the speaking can hardly fail to be good:
but if those which do not properly belong to such
expression are predominant, the speaking will express these, and cannot but prove an utter failure.
The following examples will illustrate this statement.




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   25
(1.) The operations of memory must be suppressed.
In speaking from memory, the whole intellectual process of remembering what is to be delivered must be kept from manifesting itself; no
sign of it can be allowed to appear in the vocal expression. Hence this laborious operation, togetlh6r with all the anxieties attending it, must
nexver become prominent in the consciousness of
the speaker; it must be carried on strictly as a subprocess: otherwise it will confuse those other mental operations which properly belong to the expression of thought, and either mar or destroy the
effect of the delivery.
(2.) The operations of invention and style must be
suppressed. In speaking extempore, all these laborious operations have to be carried on, for the most
part, unconsciously; otherwise the speaking will
express them, and little else.
(3.) The operations of reading must be suppressed.
The case is similar in speaking from manuscript.
All the mental operations of taking in the sense
through the eye, which are in fact the reverse of
those which belong to giving it out, must be carried
on unconsciously; for when they become the leading operations, the speaking expresses them, and
thus becomes the reverse of true expression.
Here now we have the great difficulty to be overcome. It is that of carrying on all such mental
operations strictly as sub-processes, and for the
most part unconsciously, in order that they may
not appear in the speaking; together with that of
keeping all the mental faculties intently engaged




26                INTRODUCTION.
in those operations which properly belong to the
expression of thought, and to the work of impressing it upon others. This is the grand obstacle to
excellence in speaking, which, if there were no
others, would make instruction, training and practice indispensable to success.
~ 15. The objection from the grace and propriety of children
is refuted by the considerations, that children do not
speak well in the sense required by this objection, that
they do not have to grapple with the difficalties of the
art, and that the grace which they do manifest passes
away with the simplicity of childhood.
Nothing has tended more to disguise and conceal
the preceding difficulties, and to cherish the idle
notion that it is the easiest thing in the world to
speak well, than the reference so frequently made
to the natural grace and propriety with which
children express themselves.  Hence it has been
rashly inferred, in the face of all experience, that
they would continue to do so if they were left to
themselves, and that all the awkwardness, mannerism, affectation, and other faults, which they
manifest as soon as they are put under methodical
training, are due to this cause. We are now prepared to appreciate the force of this objection.
1. Children do not speak well in the sense which
this objection requires.
There is, in deed, a natural grace and beauty in almost everything which children say and do; but
this appears, and is almost or quite as charming,
in their defects and errors, as it is when they act




U1 ILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   27
and speak correctly. Children speak as they hear;
and, as we have seen, they copy the faults of their
models as accurately as they do their excellences
Few of them are so fortunate as to have perfect
models in their nurses, or mothers, or other children
with whom they associate. Hence they commonly
articulate feebly and indistinctly. They make mistakes in pronunciation and emphasis. They err in
intonation and inflection, and in a thousand othei
particulars. These defects and errors in children's
speaking are commonly such that if they were
manifested in a public speaker, he could hardly be
understood, and certainly would not be listened to.
But because they are the mistakes of children,
whom we do not expect to speak otherwise, and are
accompanied by a certain infantine simplicity and
grace, they either pass unnoticed, or perhaps are
regarded as beauties.
2. Children do not have to grapple with the real
difflculties of the art.
This explains in part the fact, in so far as it is
one, that children do speak with a certain propriety and grace. For they do not have to express
any of those subtle, extended and involved processes of thought, which belong to public speaking;
nor do they encounter those difficulties of predominant and sub-processes, which have been described
(~14-1, 2). This is equally true of grown persons in
common conversation. In neither case do the
speakers have to carry on as sub-processes, so that
they shall not appear in the expression, any labori



23                INTRODUCTION.
Ous operations of invention and style, or of remembering, or of taking in the sense of a manuscript.
Hence it is comparatively easy for them to speal
without those peculiar faults which are so common
in oratory, But as soon as any of these difficulties
are encountered, whether in the exercises of the
class-room, or in the actual attempt of untrained or
inexperienced persons to address a public assembly,
all these faults immediately appear; nor can they
in most cases be corrected otherwise than by systematic instruction and practice.
3. The grace of childhood in speaking as in other
things naturally passes away.
The principal reason why children are graceful
in speaking, is one which shows us that this grace
cannot continue; that it is naturally evanescent.
For it is the same thing that makes them graceful
and charming in everything else, namely, their
simplicity, or innocence, that'sparkle of the purity
of man's first estate.' Their self-consciousness and
evil passions are yet undeveloped, and their life is
one of almost pure spontaneity.' The commandment has not yet come to them, and they are still
alive without the law; but the commandment will
come to them, and they will die under it.' The development of their self-consciousaess and corrupt
nature is inevitable; and as this takes place it
naturally manifests itself in constraint, awkwardness.
mannerism, affectation, and other faults, not only
in speaking, but also and equally in every other
department of their life and conduct. They lose




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   29
their simplicity, and the grace of it, in everything
else, as well as in speaking. In order to prevent as
much as possible these sad consequences of the common fall, to correct these natural departures from
rectitude and propriety, we put them under instruction in manners and morals, just as we do in speaking. Left to themselves, what would become of
their morals, or manners? As little can we expect
from them in speaking, apart from that instruction
and training which are as indispensable in the one
case as in the other.
~ 16. The objection drawn from natural eloquence is refuted
by the considerations, that men without education have
excelled in other arts, that in everything nature or
genius holds the first place, that the so-called natural
orators have risen to excellence by self-culture, and that
the possession of superior endowments is the strongest
reason for cultivating them.
1. Men without education have excelled in other vocations,
The preceding views do not require us to deny
the obvious fact that some men, without much previous study or preparation, have attained to great
excellence as public speakers. For this fact is no
argument against the utility of the study of elocution. Taken as such it proves too much. For in
every other sphere of life, or vocation, persons are
found who, without the advantages of a regular
education, and with little special training or practice, excel others who have been most highly educated, and most carefully prepared for their special
professions or pursuits. If this objection had any




30               INTRODUCTION.
force, it would be equally valid against all educa.
tion, and against all study and methodical training
for the professions, and other avocations and pursuits.
2. In everything nature or genius holds the first
place —2oeta nascitur.
This principle is freely conceded, and it is one
which is especially applicable to the liberal arts.
For this is the true understanding of the above
Latin proverb, which is of much wider import and
application than is indicated by its form. It is in
fact a highly condensed expression, involving that
figure of speech in which a part is put for the
whole. For here poet stands for artist. It signifies,
therefore, that in order to attain to excellence in
any liberal art, it is necessary to be born with a
certain genius or aptitude for it. This applies of
course to elocution. Hence the possession of such
extraordinary endowments would be a sufficient
explanation of that great power in delivery which
has been attained by some persons without much
previous study or preparation. For great genius
is a great thing. It gives its possessor many advantages over other men, and enables him, with comparatively little effort or labor, to achieve more than
they can by the utmost diligence, and most strenuous toil of a life-time. Such men may perhaps
dispense with rules and regular training; for it is
the high prerogative of genius to be a law to itself
and to give laws to other less gifted souls. But
all this surely is no argument against instruction




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   31
and training, even in such cases, much less in that
of those who are less bountifully endowed.
3. The so-called natural orators have risen to excellence by laborious self-culture-oratorfit.
We have in this proverb the same figure of
speech as before; for here orator also stands for
artist. Hence the words signify that the artist
becomes truly such, that is, he attains to the highest excellence, only through much study and culture.
This holds equally good in the case of the so-called
natural orators, who, as we know from their biographies, have always found much private study,
and laborious self-culture, indispensable to compensate for the deficiencies of their early education.
Of this we have many illustrious examples. Thus
Patrick Henry, one of the most eloquent of uneducated orators, whilst yet a country shop-keeper, is
known to have made, for several years, the art of
speaking his daily and systematic study and practice. Henry Clay also, whilst yet a youth employed
upon a farm, laboriously cultivated his great natural
gifts by committing to memory the finest passages
of eloquence, and speaking them in the open air to
imaginary audiences. To this practice he owed, in
part, no doubt, that great strength, and matchless
sweetness of voice, with which he charmed, for so
many years, the Senate of the United States.
Other distinguished examples might easilybe given;
and a similar explanation,probably,of almost all the
cases in which excellence in speaking has appeared
to be the result of the uncultivated gifts of nature.




32                INTRODUCTION.
4. The possession of superior endowments or aptSi
tudesfor acy pursuit,is the strongest reason for cultig
vating them.
It is,indeed, surprising that intelligent men can
be found, who are bold enough to advocate the notion that we ought to rely upon the gifts of nature
alone for excellence in the art of speaking, whilst
in every other pursuit of life the principle here
stated is universally conceded. When, e. g. a youth
manifests a strong natural bent, or genius, or aptitude for engineering or machinery, medicine or law,
this is never accepted as a reason why he should
rely upon his superior natural endowment; but it
is always regarded as a strong reason why he
should be put to the study and practice of that pursuit for which nature has best adapted his faculties
By this means we expect him to attain to excellence, and never without it. The argument surely
ought to be equally valid where there is a superior
genius for public speaking.
~ 17. The vices of elocution often ascribed to study and
training, are seldom legitimately due to this cause, but
mostly to the inherent difficulties of the art, to false systems of instruction, to the pendantry of the student, to
inadequate training, and are corrected by thorough
training.
1. The cases in which the study of elocution has a
bad effect are comparatively rare.
It may be conceded that there are some cases in
which this study seems to have a permanently
damaging effect upon the delivery; but these are




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   33
believed to be comparatively rare, and that it is
their rarity which makes them so conspicuous as
to give any plausibility to the objections which are
drawn from this source. For whatever Archbishop
Whately may have found to be true in England,
with respect to the numbers who were "utterly
spoiled," it is perfectly certain that in this country,
as a general thing, our poorest speakers are those
who have neglected, and our best speakers are
those who have most laboriously availed themselves
of the advantages of study, training and practice
in this art. The truth is that the faults which are
often ascribed to this, are mostly due to other
causes, the principal of which require to be here
enumerated and explained.
2. These vices are due chiefly to the inherent difficulties of the art.
Some of these difficulties have been already exhibited (~14-1, 2).  They are first encountered
when the student is put under training; and
hence it is erroneously inferred that the faults
which then manifest themselves, are due to the
training itself. But what proves that this is not
so, is that these faults are sure to appear, all the
same, in every unpracticed attempt to speak in
public, Let any one who has never tried it undertake to address a public assembly, and he will soon
discover how easy a thing it is to " speak naturally "
and without these faults-faults which are really
due to the inherent difficulties of the art. In order
to correct them we have to resort to the same




34              INTRODUCTION.
means which are found to be indispensable in all
other arts, namely, instruction, training and practice.
3. They arepartly due to false systems of instruction.
In elocution, as in all other arts, false systems and
wrong methods of instruction could not fail to come
into vogue, nor to work more or less mischief. Accordingly, in many of the books which treat of this
subject, and which are now before the public, there
is that very serious error which has been already
indicated (~ 13-3), and which consists in a wearisome minuteness of detail, and multiplication of
rules, to such an extent that it is hardly possible
they should be remembered, much less that they
should become inwrought into the mind of the student, so that the observance of them should not
even be a matter of consciousness. A single professor of commanding ability and high position, is
known to have exerted in his day a wide-spread
deleterious influence by means of such a depraved
system, which he elaborated and taught. He certainly did'spoil' a considerable number of very
promising young men. The peculiar manner of his
pupils made it easy to recognize them wherever
they were heard. But all this, it must be remembered, is no less true of the other arts, and even of
science and morals, than it is of elocution; and
if it were not, it could be no argument against
sound instruction, and right methods of training
and practice.




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   35
4. These faults are sometimes due to the incorrigitxe pendantry of the student.
Some men are born poets, others are born pedants. Now pedantry consists in doing everything
according to rule, irrespective of those innumerable
circumstances which modify the application of rules.
The genuine pedant can never forget his rules, even
for a moment, nor act from the dictates of common
sense, nor from the inspirations of genius. When
such a man comes to the study of elocution, the
rules of the art take full possession of his mind, to
the exclusion of the object of speaking, the matter
of discourse, and all those mental operations which
properly belong to the expression of thought; for
which he might have had some place in his mind if
he had never heard of the rules or precepts of the
art. To such a person the systematic study of this,
or Gf any other liberal art, can do little good. His
genius, if such it can be called, is wholly mechanical; and the less he knows of such matters the
better it will be for him. But all this again is evidently no argument against the study, by generous
young men, of this liberal and beautiful art of public
speaking.
I6 These faults are due in fine to inadequate training.
Lor such training not only leaves the natural
faults of speaking uncorrected, but it often aggravates them. This result is necessarily incident to
the incipient stages of the training period. But
this %lso is equally applicable to all other arts and




36                 INTRODUCTION.
pursuits. For whatever we are not accustomed to
do embarrasses us when we begin it. If we have
already made some irregular progress in the exercise of any art, systematic study and training, however indispensable to the perfect mastery of it, will,
at first, retard our progress. Thus, if a child has
learned to read in some imperfect way, without
dividing the words into syllables, such a division
will, at first, greatly embarrass him. Syllabication,
though confessedly useful to learners, will puzzle
rather than aid those who have learned to read
without it. In like manner, a person who has
learned to "sing by ear," when he first begins to
" sing by note," will not for awhile be able to sing
as well as before. For whilst the precepts and
rules of any art are new to the mind, and it requires
a self-conscious effort to put them in practice, of
course there can be no freedom nor power. But
this is no more than to say that whilst a child is
learning to read, it cannot read well —surely it
would be very wonderful if it could.
6. Thorough training corrects these faults —ars
est celare artem.
This is true in elocution, as in all other arts
Freedom and power, the highest blossoms and ripe
fruit of art, are not attained until the prescribed
rules, methods and processes are rendered perfectly
familiar, inwrought, so to speak, into the very structure of the mind, so that the observance of them is
no longer a matter of consciousness or constraint
Thus art becomes a second nature; or rather it




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   37
enables nature to manifest herself with her original
freedom, purity and power.  For evermore it is
the true aim and last attainment of art, to bring us
back to nature, from which we have wandered far
away through ignorance and sin. Artificialness is
the characteristic of defective art. Thus a person
of good natural ear and voice, who sings without
art, but with a certain grace and simplicity, and
gives to the listeners a certain degree of pleasure,
but who, when placed under instruction and training, begins to manifest awkwardness and constraint,
comes forth at last, when the work of art is perfected, with the freedom and power of a Jenny Lind,
to charm and bless the world. The tendency of
systematic and thorough study and training is to
the production of similar results in the wider and
nobler sphere of eloquence.
~ 18. Elocution has great educating power because it is a
liberal art, and because it brings the student into the
closest communion with great minds.
A positive argument of great force for the utility
of this study, is derived from its educating or
developing power. This is certainly as great as
that of any other branch of a liberal education.
Indeed, for the development of personal power,
elocution has the advantage, in certain respects,
over most other studies. This statement, although
contrary to the opinion of most educators, will be
confirmed by those who have had any experience
in teaching elocution, and who cannot fail to have




38               INTRODUCTION.
often observed a remarkable and rapid development in generous young men, when they apply
themselves to its exercises. This seems to be due
to the two following among other causes.
1. As a liberal art, it calls forth a nobler exercise oj
tle faculties than mere science.
Almost everything in the common curriculum of
a liberal education, except the arts of rhetoric and
elocution, belongs to science. Now science terminates in mere knowing, whilst art applies knowledge
to the production of what did not before exist;
that is to say, science is simply determinative,
whilst art is creative. Art therefore is the crown
of science, implying a nobler exercise of the faculties; for as faith without works is dead, so also is
knowledge. Hence the exercise of a liberal art
cannot fail to exert a stronger influence in the development of personal power, than any mere intellectual pursuit.
2. It brings the student into the closest communion
with great minds.
In this study the student is required to store his
memory with the finest passages of eloquence and
poetry; the influence of which in the culture of the
esthetic, moral, and other faculties, is necessarily
very great. But in order to render such passages
with their proper effect, he must study to enter into
their sentiments, to catch the spirit of their authors. By the strenuous exercise of his imagination, intellect and sensibilities, he must learn to
place himself in their circumstances, to possess




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.   39
himself of their thoughts, to appreciate the force ol
their arguments, and to fill himself with the magnanimity and sublimity and pathos of their sentiments;-in a word, he must learn to think as they
thought, and feel as they felt, at the very moment
when they charmed or fired the hearts of great
national assemblies, or poured forth those imperishable strains which forever enchant the world. This
is a fundamental principle in all sound elocutionary
instruction and training. The student can do nothing in this art, except in the degree in which he
learns to do this. In this way he comes into the
most intimate communion with the great minds of
the world; he is'made to drink into their spirit,'
he nourishes himself with their power, and grows
strong with their strength. There is no other
study or exercise which produces the same effect in
an equal degree. Even in the translation of the
finest passages of the ancient classics, the student
cannot so fully enter into the spirit of his author.
For if, in rendering a strain of eloquence from
Demosthenes or Cicero, he should come to feel as
the orator felt whilst delivering it, he would be
prompted to speak it as the orator spoke it, instead
of merely reading it; and the least approach to
such a delivery in the translations of the class
room, would assuredly bring down the house I




40              INTRODUCTION.
~ 19. The final argument for the utility of this study Is derived
from the example and authority of the great masters of
eloquence.
If all other arguments for the utility of the study
of elocution should fail, the example and authority
of the great masters and teachers of eloquence
ought alone to be conclusive.
1. In modern times we know that the most eloquent
speakers have commonly been the most diligent in
the study and practice of this art (~ 16-3).
2. The ancient teachers carried their pupils through
such a protracted and laborious course of exercises
in elocution as appears to us at this day almost
incredible (~ 97-3).
3. Demosthenes was a proverb for the rigor of his
elocutionary exercises. In order to strengthen his
naturally feeble voice and articulation, he accustomed himself to declaim with pebbles in his mouth,
whilst walking rapidly up hill, and on the sea-shore
to sound of the breaking waves. Thus he developed
that clearness of articulation, and strength of voice,
which enabled him to subdue into silence and awe
those tumultuous assemblies of the Athenian
democracy, where the noise and confusion were often
like that " on the lip of the many-sounding sea."
4. Cicero tells us that after he had commenced to
speak in public, he found his voice and delivery so
inadequate that he gave up his profession for a
time, left Rome, and spent several years abroad in
the study of elocution, under the greatest masters




UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF ELOCUTION.  41
of the art in Greece and Asia Minor. He returned
to Rome and resumed his profession, with a voice
which became proverbial for its sweetness, compass
and power, and with a delivery which charmed that
most eloquent age in the history of tlfe world. Now
such examples are an authority for which no counterpoise is possible. For these men must be presumed to have known what they were aboutwhether study and training in the art of which they
were the greatest masters, were profitable or not.
5. Conclusion of the argument in the words of Quintilian and Cicero.
Hence we may fitly conclude this whole argument in the modest words of the great Quintilian:
" Let those who think it is enough to be born, in
order to become great orators, enjoy their opinion;
but let them be indulgent at the same time to the
pains I take [to form the orator], who believe that
there can be no consummate excellence except where
nature is aided by art;" or in the yet more forcible
words of Cicero: "To say that there is no art in
the greatest things, when not even the least can be
done without art, appears to be the part of those
who speak inconsiderately, and who err in the
gravest matters."








PART I.
THE SOURCES OF POWER IN DELIVER Y.
I.-POWER IN THE THOUGHT.
1I.-FEELING.
Ill. —EARNESTNESS.
IV.-CONSCIOUSNESS O0 DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE AUDIENCE.
V.- ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.
VI.-MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.
VII.-FACILITY OF REMEMBERING.
JVIII.-FAMILIARITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.
IX.-VITALITY, FAVORABLE MOODS AND PHYSICAL 113GIMEN..- SELF-CONTROI.








PART I.
CHAPTER I
PREUMINARY  OBSERVATIONS AND FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLES.
~ 2., The object for which the sources of power are here inll.,luded in the art of elocution, is to counteract the ten-,ency to an artificial style of speaking, otherwise incident
to the study, and to stimulate, quicken and develop
the faculty of oral discourse.
TiH   works on this art which are now before
the public, confine themselves mostly or exclusively
to the treatment of the Elements of power in delivery. The tendency of this, to a certain extent, has
been to divorce the study, training and exercises
which Elocution prescribes, from the sentiments
which it is intended to express; in other words, to
sunder that organic and vital union, which subsists
between delivery and those intellectual, moral and
esthetic states and workings of the speaker's mind,
from which it derives its inspiration and its power.
The result of this has been such an artificial style
of speaking was to render colorable, though by no




46           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
means to justify, the objections against this art
which have been already discussed (~ 10). In order to
counteract this tendency, to obviate these objections,
and to stimulate, quicken and develop the faculty of
oral speaking, as well as for the sake of systematic
completeness in the treatment of the subject, it is
now proposed to consider, in some detail, the principal Sources of power in delivery.  From this exhibition it is hoped that their fundamental importance
will be made to appear, together with the grave
deficiencies of every system in which they are
omitted, or which fails to treat them in their vital
relations to elocutionary power.
~ 21. The most fundamental principle of the art of delivery is
that speaking normally consists of the expression of the
leading, or dominant states of the speaker's mind, to conlmunicate which to tle audienee is all that he can legiti.
mately aim or hope to do.
This principle is essential alike to the understanding of the subject, and to success in all the training, exercises and practice of the art. It has, indeed, the appearance of being very far from the
truth; yet, in the sense in which it is here intended,
with no reference, of course, to voluntary efforts at
the disguise or concealment of one's sentiments,
which efforts, however, are hardly ever more than
partially successful, it is unquestionable.
1. The connection between thought and language is so
vital that it is almost impossible to divorce them.
Such is the vital connection between the mental
states, on the one hand, and the organs of speech,




OBSERVATIONS AND PMNCIPIES.       47
tones, and all the vocal utterances, on the other,
that it is next to impossible, whatever be the lexicographical meaning of the words we employ, to
speak otherwise than as we really feel. For all the
outward signs, both of voice and gesture, which go
to constitute delivery, take their form and character
from the mental operations, both intellectual and
emotional, with which the speaker, at the moment of
speaking, is immediately and chiefly occupied. It
is only those operations which are secondary and
subordinate that can be suppressed from the expression. Those which predominate in, and govern
the consciousness, it is well nigh impossible to
suppress. These lie so near, and are so immnediately the causes of the oral and visible signs by
and through which we express ourselves, that
almost of necssity they come forth, and manifest
themselves in their true character.
2. Examples.
In illustration and confirmation of this principle
it may suffice to adduce the following examples.
(1.) The mental recognition of the emphatic meaning of a word, prompts to giving it vocal emphasis.
A speaker who thinks of the meaning, and feels the
power of an emphatic word, at the very moment of
speaking it, can hardly fail to emphasize it aright;
and if he does not think of its meaning, nor feel its
power, he certainly will not emphasize it at all.
(2.) Doubt or uncertainty expresses itself in rising
inflections. IIe whose mental state is characterized
by either of these words, will spontaneously express
it by a raised pitch, and upward inflections, on his




48           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
most significant words; whilst the feeling of cer.
tainty or confidence will affirm and manifest itself
by downward or falling inflections.
(3.) Earnestness will make the impression of earnestness. Whoever is in downright blood earnest, will
be sure to express it, and to impress it upon his audience; whereas he who only affects it, may rant and
rave, and " tear a passion to tatters," but he will not
succeed in expressing what he does not feel, but
only feigns.
~ 22. The leading mental states or operations in all good
speaking are the following: that of holding firmly in the
mental grasp the object which the speaker aims to accom.
plish in the minds of the audience; the desire to accom.
plish it; the consciousness of speaking directly to the
audience for this purpose; and the feeling of the power
of the thoughts and emotions which he aims to express.
The development and application of the principle
laid down above (~ 21), would require us to investigate and determine what these leading states or
operations of mind are, the expression of which
constitutes good delivery; in other words, which
belong essentially to the giving out or expression
of thought, and to impressing it upon other minds.
These, in their most general forms, we should find
to be as here enumerated, corresponding in part to
the Sources of power in delivery. They govern the
consciousness of the speaker, and consequently give
character and form both to the oral and visible
signs by which he expresses himself. In fact when
these mental states predominate in his consciouns




OBSERVATIONS AND PRINCIPLES.           49
ness they express themselves, and the expression of
them is the highest excellence of speaking.
~ 2'3 All other nentll1 o0perations which accompany speaking,
are paroperly snbproeesses, and require to be suppressed.
These are the exercise of memory, the work of
invention, arrangement and style, or reading from
the manuscript, the study of'the audience, the exercise of self-control, the feelings of timidity, anxiety
and fear, and similar exercises of the mind.  These,
in all good delivery, are carried on or operate, for
the most part, unconsciously, and are suppressed
from  the expression.  For whenever they are allowed to become predominant in the consciousness,
they displace or confuse those which properly belong' to the expression of thought, give character
and form to all the signs employed, and produce all
the vices of elocution. The delivery, in fact, consists of the expression of these properly sub-processes, but which have now become the leading or
governing states of the speaker's mind.
~ 24. The great problem of delivery is, how shall the speaker
think and feel, at the moment of speaking, just what lie
wishes to express.
From  the preceding views it is plain that the
great problem which elocution is required to solve,
but which has hitherto been excluded from the art,
is really a mental one, as here stated.  The solution
of tULs problem is the precise aim of the following
discassion of the Sources of power in delivery.




CHAPTER IL
POWER IN THE THOUGHT.
25. The tendency of power in the thought is to inspire the
delivery with power.
As in order to speak at all, it is necessary to have
something to say, so in order to speak well, it is
necessary to have something to say which is worthy
of being spoken. This statement, however, requires
to be qualified. For it is obvious that the delivery
may be much better than the matter of discourse;
just as a good discourse may be utterly spoiled in
the delivery. If this were not so, there could be no
place for Elocution, as a distinct art from Rhetoric.
All that is here meant is that the strong tendency
of power in the thought is to inspire the delivery
with power, and that the best possible elocution is
otherwise unattainable. In proof of this, it might
be sufficient to adduce the fact, well knownr to all
teachers and students of this art, that, for purposes
of practical training and exercise, we find a very
great advantage in the selection of the most eloquent passages from the orators and poets. But it
is desirable to unfold and confirm this principle by
other considerations.




POWER IN THE THOUGHT.            51
~ 26. There is a natural congruity between the thought an#
the expression of it.
This natural agreement, congruity, or consistencJ
between the character of the thought to be expressed, and the expression which appropriately be.
longs to it, is essential to the possibility of oral
speech. There is such a congruity also between
the thought and its rhetorical form, the unspoken
words, or diction; but it is much more striking between the thought and its vocalization, or delivery
by the voice. Hence animated thoughts agree with
an animated delivery; feeble and spiritless thoughts
agree with a feeble and spiritless delivery; and a
truly powerful delivery is inconsistent with thoughts
which have no power in themselves, But inconsistencies and incongruities are difficult to be realized
in one and the same act, such as that of public
speaking; whilst things which agree and are consistent with each other are comparatively easy to be realized. Hence good elocution, when we have good
thoughts to express, is comparatively an easy thing;
but it is extremely difficult when our thoughts are
poor and barren and feeble. This congruity, also,
between good thoughts and good speaking, materially aids the effect of both upon the audience.
~ 27. Thought exerts a powerful influence to determine its
own forms of expression.
1. Thought and expression mutually influence each
other-, bilt the in/luence of thought is predominant.




62         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
There is a vital connection between thought and
expression, both in its rhetorical and oral forms.
But especially does the thought to be expressed,
and the articulated and oral expression of it, constitute one organic whole; the different members of
which exert a moulding influence reciprocally
upon each other. But the influence of thought
upon expression is predominant, that of expression
upon thought, subordinate. For we do not speak
until we have some thought to express, which guides
us in the selection and oral formation of the words
which it requires. Thought is the spirit and life
of which expression is the organized body; and it
is ever the peculiar form of life which determines
the character of the organism in and through
which it shall be manifested. Human life does not
and cannot manifest itself in a brute form.
2. Examples.
The following examples may serve to exhibit this
vital connection between thought and expression,
and the manner in which that which is symbolized
determines the symbolization.
(1.) Dull, sluggish and confused thoughts naturally tend to express themselves in heavy, sluggish and confused elocution; whilst elevated, impassioned and powerful thoughts prompt and inspire an elevated, impassioned and powerful delivery.
(2.) Clear and articulate thinking naturally expresses itself in clear and articulate speaking;
whilst blurred and inarticulate thinking can hardly
express itself otherwise than in blurred and indis



POWER IN THE THOUGHT.            53
tinct articulation. In fact, the character of the
thinking,in this respect, exerts a marked influence
upon the physical organs of speech, upon their size,
shape and physiological conditions. For a more
full elucidation of this point, see under the head of
articulation, ~ 122-1.
~ 28. Power in the thought gives that rational confidence to
the speaker which is essential to power in delivery.
1. In order to deliver a discourse with power, the
speaker must believe that there is power in it.
The importance to the speaker of a rational confidence in himself, and in what he has to say, is
such that it might well be treated as an independent
and original source of power. Whoever has compared his own delivery when inspired with such
confidence, with what it becomes when he is conscious of having none but feeble thoughts to express,
will be at no loss to appreciate the truth and force
of this statement. Clergymen have abundant experience of it, in the fact that they find it almost
impossible to preach old sermons with anything
like the freshness and power of a first delivery.
This is especially the case when the preacher himself has made any considerable mental progress in
the meantime, unless the discourse has been care —
fully worked over, and brought up, in matter and
form, to his advanced stage of development and
culture.
(1.) Such confidence purifies and elevates the delivery, and communicates itself to the audience.




54          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
For when the speaker fully believes that his
thought is good, and ought to have weight with the
audience, this conviction releases him from the
anxiety and torment of fear lest he should fail, oI
make a fool of himself, and thus tends to purify his
elocution from the vices with which the expression
of these feelings must otherwise load and enfeeble
it. Unaffected therefore by this cause of embarrassment and distraction, he is free to throw all his
faculties and energies into the proper work of delivery; and he is inspired with courage and hope,
which naturally impart fullness and depth to his
tones, breadth and significance to his inflections.,
clearness to his articulation, propriety and force to
his emphasis, and dignity and grace to his gestures
and manner. This confidence also enables him to
expect, and by expecting to engage the attention and
sympathy of his audience, by which his elocution
is still further elevated and purified. Besides this,
his own appreciation of what he has to say tends to
communicate itself to them by all the secret channels of sympathy, so that they are insensibly led to
receive it with a like appreciation. But all this is
power in delivery.
(2.) The want of such confidence has the opposite influence. It renders it almost impossible for the audience to feel any confidence in what is said, even though
it be composed of the most eloquent sentiments
that oratory or poetry ever produced. For if the
speaker himself does not think it worthy of being
spoken, how can he deliver it so as to impress them




POWER IN THE THOUGHT.            55
with the feeling that it is worthy of being heard?
In spite of himself, in every tone and inflection of
his voice, in his articulation, emphasis and gesture,
he cannot fail to reveal, express, and impress upon
the audience, his own leading state of mind, which
in this case is that of condemnation of what he is
delivering; and thus he leads them to condemn it.
Add to this the torment of anxiety and fear, or
rather the conviction that he is making a fool of
himself; the consequent withdrawing of his faculties
from the proper work of delivery; and all the
vices of elocution which the inevitable expression of
such a state of mind implies, render it simply impossible to speak with any power. His conscious
feebleness of thought makes him feeble in delivery.
2. In order to feel such confidence the speaker must
have a discourse which is worthy qf it.
This is the sur.st way, although the statement
must not be understood to imply that none but
speakers of superior powers of thought can attain
to excellence in this art; nor that it will always succeed in producing the necessary confidence. For
there are two classes of persons to whom the rule
in its utmost rigor does not apply.
(1.) Those who are incapable of severe criticism upon their discourses may feel confidence
in them, though unworthy of it. A speaker
of inferior literary or rhetorical ability may feel
great confidence in an inferior discourse, and
consequently may deliver it so that it will pro



56            POWER IN THE THOUGHT.
duce an effect upon the audience far beyond its reai
merits. In such persons the critical faculties are
not commonly developed beyond those which are
employed in the actual production of their discourses; hence, although they are not able to origihate thoughts of any great power, yet, because they
are also incapable of any high degree of self-criti-,ism, they often feel a good degree of confidence in
what they have to say, and consequently are enabled
to deliver it with good effect. But even in such
cases;it is indispensable that the thought should be
as good as the speaker can make it; that he him-.
self should not be capable of criticising it too severe.
ly; otherwise, however poor it may be, it cannot fail
to be still further marred ir the delivery.
(2.) Those whose critical faculties are developed
in excess will hardly feel confidence, however excellent their discourses.  The peculiarity of such
persons is that their critical faculties are developed so far in advance of those upon which
execution or production depends, that they are
disgusted with everything they do; and the
more they labor upon their own thoughts, the
more they are discouraged. They are over educated, having had too much theoretical instruction
or study, and too little practice; so that their energy in production has become enfeebled or paralyzed.
They are found in every sphere of art and of life.
Of this class the character of Hamlet is an illustrious type, in which
The native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.




POWER IN THE THOUGHT.           57
(3.) The rule is of general application to all of
well-balanced minds.
With most of us,however, and with all of anything
like evenly balanced minds and culture, it will be
found that the only sure way to nourish and maintain a steady confidence in the matter of our discourses, such as is indispensable to the successful
delivery of them, is to make them as perfect as possible. In this way only is it possible to secure the
highest degree of power in delivery. Without this
no speaker, however gifted or accomplished in extempore discourse, ought ever to deliver himself on
any serious occasion, except from absolute necessity. The reasons for this which Elocution alone
supplies, to say nothing of Rhetoric, are altogether
insuperable.




CHAPTER III.
FEELING.
~ 29. The emotions and passions of the soul are the true in.
spiration of eloquence.
Si vis me flere, dolendum est
Primum ipse tibi.
THERE is no more fruitful source of power in delivery than the emotions and passions of the soul.
These are the true inspiration of eloquence itself,
as also of poetry, music, painting, sculpture, and all
the esthetic arts.  This fundamental principle has
been expressed, once for all time, in the well known
lines of Hora -, of which the following is a very inadequate translation.
Responsively the human features laugh
To those that laugh, and weep to those that weep.
Would'st make me weep? Then thou thyself must grieve,
Telephus, or Peleus; thy words of woe
Then touch my soul: but if thy mandates fail
In aught becoming thy true character,
I laugh, or sleep. Sad features speak sad thoughts;
The frown, of wrath; sweet smiles, of sport and joy;
A serious face bespeaks a serious mind.
For nature forms us first within to feel
The changeful lot of life-thrills with delight,
Impels to anger, weighs us down with grief,




FEELING.                    59
And chokes us with keen anguish-then declares,
With voice conformed, her great interpreter,
The changing passions of the fervid soul.
~ 30. The passions have their own peculiar language of my s.
tical signs.
In the preceding quotation from one of the greatest masters of art, we have set forth, not only the
indispensable necessity of feeling in order to power
in elocution, but also the great reason for this necessity; namely, because the passions have their
own peculiar language of mystical signs.
1. These signs consist of all the different qualities
of voice, changes of pitch, inflection, articulation, time,
force, and emphasis, together with all the infinitely various expressions qf the countenance, and all the positions and motions of the body.
In fact, each several passion, mode of feeling, and
state of mind, has its own peculiar dialect, so to
speak, of this symbolical language. For these signs,
whether addressed to the ear or the eye, are very
different, not only for the different passions, but also
for their ever-varying degrees of intensity, and for
all their modifications and blendings with each other; and they vary still further in persons of different temperaments, culture and circumstances.  This
language, therefore, constitutes a most copious, significant and expressive part of delivery. For it is
by means of it that the emotions and passions of
the soul communicate themselves from one person
to another, along with the intellectual operations,




60         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
indeed, but often independently, and without the ins
tervention of thought.
2. Examples.
The following examples, somewhat modified, are
taken from an anonymous work of the last century,
referred to by Walker in his Elocution, and following which he has given us between seventy and
eighty similar examples of this mystical language
of the passions. The signs here imperfectly indicated are only a few out of an almost infinite variety, by which these passions, in their innumerable
degrees and modifications and blendings with other
feelings, may be manifested.
(1.) The passion of anger expresses itself in some
persons by a flush, in others by a livid paleness of
the countenance. It wrinkles the forehead, and contracts the eyebrows. It flashes with a fierce light in
the eyes, expands the nostrils, gives rigidity to the
muscles, clinches the fists, stamps the foot, and violently agitates the whole body. Its words are sometimes rapid, noisy and harsh, with the voice pitched
high; sometimes the voice is on the lowest key, the
words slow, and the articulation much hardened.
Violent and vindictive passion will often force out
the breath, imperfectly vocalized, in a sharp hissing
sound. The first Napoleon, it is said, when very
angry, hissed out his words so as to be nearly unintelligible.
(2.) The passion of sorrow, when not excessive, renm
ders the countenance pale and dejected, with the eyes
cast down, and suffused with tears. The arms hang




FEELING.                 61
loosely at the sides, the hands are open, the fingers
spread, and all the muscles of the body are relaxed.
The voice is low and plaintive, the words slow, and
frequently interrupted with sobs and sighs. W~hen
the passion is violent, it distorts the countenance,
as if with pain, wrings the hands, beats the breast,
tears the hair, and sometimes throws the body at full
length on the ground; often it raises the voice in
loud complainings, even to shrieks and screams.
Overwhelming sorrow is still and silent: it suppresses the tears and the voice, and renders the
countenance dull and heavy, as if all the faculties
were stupefied.
(3.) The passion of love, in different degrees of timidity, expresses itself by approaching or shrinking
from its object. When in doubt of the reception it
shall meet with, its approaches are made with much
hesitation, confusion of manner, and sometimes trembling. Blushing and paleness succeed each other
in the countenance. The voice is low and soft and
tremulous. The articulation is broken and confused,
according to the strength of the passion, and the
lack of self-control. When declaring itself, or pleading with great importunity, it may easily bring the
lover to his knees. The eyes are now either turned
away, or fixed upon the object, and the speech is
either rapid and voluble, or confused and broken.
When secure of its object, it gives a smile to the
lips, a serene glow to the countenance which seems
to radiate light, a liquid brilliancy to the eyes, and
a tenderness of expression and grace to all the motions of the body.




62        THE SOURCES OF POWER.
~ 31. No art can teach this language without the feelings by
which it is inspired; yet the study of its signs is legiti.
mate and useful.
1. Feeling bears a relation to the knowledge of these
signs like that of the ear to sounds, and of the eye to
colors.
The preceding examples-a very few of the signs
by which two or three of the most common passions
are manifested-may serve to evince, not only that
there is such a language, but also that it is copious
and complicated beyond any possibility of analysis,
and almost of conception. For this reason among
others, it can never be taught or learned so that it
can be employed with its proper effect, except as it
is inspired by the passions themselves of which it
is the medium of expression. In a peculiar sense,
it is the language of nature, and nature only can
teach it. All that we can ever know of it, for practical use, by mere study, is little more than the deaf
can know of sounds, or the blind of light and colors.
2. The study of these signs, however, aids the speaker
fo express the passions which he actually feels.
The above statements are not intended to affirm
that the knowledge of these signs, in so far as this
may be acquired by observation, study and experience, has no legitimate place or use in elocution; or
that it cannot aid the speaker in expressing the
passions by which he is actually inspired. For it
is evident from the preceding examples, that, to a
certain extent, these signs are capable of being distinguished, described, classified, and referred to the




FEELING.                 63
different emotions and passions of which they are
the natural expression. Such a knowledge of them
is an important element of that aid in delivery
which art affords to nature; and hence it ought not
to be neglected by any who aspire to the highest
excellence and power. For when the speaker is
truly inspired by the feelings which he aims to express, and to excite in the audience, he will be greatly aided by a competent knowledge of this symbolical language. Feeling is thus rendered a more
abundant source of power. For as the speaker is
hims'elf excited by the tones of his own voice, so
this whole language of passion tends to excite in
his bosom, and to facilitate in expression, the passions he wishes to communicate. In a word, the
knowledge of these signs is of great value in that
sphere in which art comes in to aid, but does not
subvert or displace nature.
~ 32. Feeling is indispensable in impassioned, argumentative,
explanatory, and every species of discourse.
The actual delivery of thought, taken in the most
comprehensive sense of the word,as inclusive of all
the emotions and passions, implies that we are first
in possession of it ourselves; for a man cannot deliver to others what he does not himself possess.
Hence the feeling of the power of the thought,is indispensable to the delivery of it with power, in every
species of discourse.
1. Feeling is most indispensable in impassioned discouerse.
The preceding views with respect to the mystical




64         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
language of the passions, have their principal bearing, of course, upon the impassioned discourse of
excitation and persuasion. But the indispensable necessity of feeling in this, the highest sphere
of eloquence, may be still further evinced. For
how, it may asked, is it conceivable that a man
who does not love justice, and abhor crime, should
speak in defence of the one, or in condemnation of
the other, without such feigning as must betray
itself, and mock his attempts at power in delivery?
Is it possible that any one should give such true
and effective and powerful expression to the love of
the truth, the right, the beautiful, and the good, as to
excite these emotions in the hearts of others, when
he does not feel them himself? How can a man so
speak as to kindle up in others the love of God, and
of their neighbors, when he himself loves neither his
neighbor nor his God? All this evidently involves
a problem which no art can, or ought even to attempt
to solve. For no feigning can ever produce the effect of unfeigned emotion; and without feeling true
art itself is impossible.
2. i is also necessary in argumentative and explanatory discourse.
Feeling, taken in a somewhat wide sense, is also
necessary in both these species of discourse. For
it is indispensable that the speaker should be deeply sensible of the meaning and bearing of the
thoughts which he has to express, that he should
himself feel the force of the arguments which he
aims to enforce upon others, in order to deliver




FEELING.                  65
them with their proper effect. Both in argument
and explanation, he must grasp in his mind the
thought as a whole, and in its several parts, and
must be sensible of the meaning and force or
power of every important word, not only in itself, but also in its various relations and connections, at the very moment of speaking it. It would
be difficult to lay too much stress upon this point.
For it is here that men of great talents often miserably fail: that is, from the bare fact that they
have no feeling of the meaning and power of their
words, at the moment they are spoken. Hence
their feeble articulation, meaningless or false tones
and inflections, misplaced emphasis, and mechanical gestures.
3. In every species of discourse, the influence of the
appropriate feeling is to clothe the  delivery with
power.
It is impossible for a person of a dull, heavy, or
sluggish soul to speak well. The true orator is a
man of keen and deep sensibility; he is all alive,
even to his finger nails. It is this which gives him
that charming animation or vivacity, which enables
him always to command the attention and sympathy
of his audience, and which is almost irresistible.  It
is this which inspires the tones, inflections, articulation, emphasis and gesture, so that it seems to be
the feeling itself which speaks, rather than the man.
It flashes in the eye, it plays upon the countenance,
so that the features seem to talk as expressively as
the lips. It pours itself into the audience by the




66          THE SOURCES OF PoWER.
mysterious channels of sympathy, and kindles in
their hearts all the passions which glow in the speaker's own bosom.
~ J3. Play actors produce their great effects by genuine
feeling.
1. The successful tragedian is affected as the person
whomn hepersonates.
It may occur as an objection to these views, that
play actors produce the very greatest effects by their
fictitious representations.  But it is a mistake to
suppose that they produce them by simulated, of
feigned emotions; for the genuineness of stage feeling
does not admit of being questioned. The actor, in
in order to succeed in his art, must learn the secret
of opening the fountains of feeling in his own bosom
He must himself be moved as if he were in truth the
person whose character he personates; and in his
most successful efforts he sometimes loses, for the
time, his consciousness of his own proper identity.
His emotion becomes so profound and entrancing
that his distinct personality seems to be absorbed in
the character which he represents. This is the
great secret of the tragic art, which has given the
great tragedians their almost irresistible power over
the emotions and passions of the human soul.
2. Examples and authorities.
It would be easy to cite any number of examples
and authorities in support of this statement, if it
were necessary.




FEE.LNG.                    67
(1.) Walker gives among others the following: " I
have often seen Powell, in the character of George
Barnwell, so overwhelmed with grief in that pathetic
address,
Be warned, ye youths, who see my sad despair,
as to be incapable of expressing himself in the most
impressive manner." (For the necessity of self-control, see Chap. XI.)
(2.) Quintilian tell us: " I have often seen actors,
both in tragedy and comedy, when they laid aside
their masks, after going through some distressing
scene, quit the stage in tears."
(3.) Cicero also to the same effect, particularly
where, after having quoted a passage from the Telamon of Pacuvius, he adds: "Even the player who
pronounced these words every day, could not deliver
them effectively without a feeling of real grief."
3. In genuine feeling the players not unfrequently
shame the preachers.
For, as it has been often remarked, whilst the
former deliver fiction as if it were the truth, the
latter not unfrequently utter the most solemn and
glorious truth as if it were the merest fiction. Such
preachers, if this word be not abused, ought surely
to apply to themselves those terrible self-reproaches
of Hamlet, which afford us another striking evidence
of the genuineness of histrionic feeling.
O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,




68            THE SOURCES OF POWE&
Could force his soul so to his own conceit,
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit-and all for nothing?
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have?
Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peake,
Like John-a-dreams,unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing.
~ 34. The speaker should endeavor to excite in himself the
feeling which is requisite for speaking, for which there
are various and effective means.
It is evident from what has now been determined,
that great importance must attach to the question,
by what means can we command the requisite feeling on each occasion of speaking? That there are
such means has always been understood by the
play actors, and the knowledge and diligent use of
some of them go far to explain the great power of
the tragic art. But a large number of public speakers seem either to be ignorant that there are such
aids, or to despise them. It is doubtless one cause
of the feebleness of pulpit delivery, that so many
clergymen neglect the invaluable helps which art
supplies, in exciting their own hearts with the feeling of the truth which they seek to impress upon
others. This remark is not intended to apply to
all the aids mentioned below, some of which, in



FEELING.                   69
deed, are so general in their nature, and have so
much more exalted relations than any which they
bear to this subject, that it seems almost impropet
to bring them within the purview of this art.
~ 35. The first means of exciting the requisite feeling, is
careful meditation on the causes and reasons for feeling
which are offered by the occasion, object, and sentiments
of the discourse.
The first and most generally available means,
which our art teaches, of exciting in ourselves the
requisite feeling, is thorough meditation beforehand
upon the causes or reasons for feeling, which are
supplied by the occasion and circumstances, the object which we aim to,accomplish, and the sentiments
we have to deliver. Each of these seems to require
a separate consideration.
S 36. Meditation of the occasion and circumstances of speaking tends to excite the requisite feeling.
The circumstances in which we have occasion to
speak are often adapted to affect the heart of the
speaker with the deepest emotion. This influence
may be lost for want of due appreciation. Hence
it is necessary for him to grasp these circumstances
with his mind, and apply them to his own heart,
especially in those aspects in which they have
greatest adaptation to touch and excite the sensibilities of the soul. The following cases will explain
what is here intended.




70           THEa SOURCES OF POWER.
1. The occasion of speaking may be the untimelj
death of a great man.
Such a man may be cut off by assassination from
the highest official station, and the greatest moral
influence, for whose death a whole nation may be
filled with grief and indignation, and draped in
mourning. If now, in such a case as this, any want of
emotion were conceivable, what an overwhelming array of circumstances may the speaker cause to pass
before his mind to excite it! How can even a brief
meditation of these fail to awaken the deepest
emotion!
2. The speaker may be called to speak in the national
legislature upon a great subject.
As a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, he may have to
speak in the hearing of thirty or forty millions of
freemen, his fellow citizens, and of the whole civilized world, upon a question of peace or war, or
some other measure, which must affect for good or
evil the life of the nation, and the welfare of the
people, for generations and ages to come. Now, with
a due appreciation of the solemnity and responsibility of every word spoken in such circumstances
as these, there could be no want surely of that deep
and full emotion which inspires delivery with power.
3. He may be called to offer terms of forgiveness and
reconciliation to men for their sins, being clothed with
the character and responsibility of an ambassador o]
God to man.




FEELING.                  71
In this case the speaker's relations to God, and
his relations to his audience, together with their
character and circumstances, being grasped with
the mind, and duly appreciated, are adapted to excite the most powerful and tender emotions in his
own heart.  To say nothing of meditation upon
these circumstances beforehand, a few moments'
consideration after entering the pulpit, of the assembly before him, many of them in deep mourning, their hearts burdened with sorrow; the consideration of their secret griefs, their manifold
temptations, their dangers, fears and spiritual wants,
and especially their need of spiritual succors and
consolations-a few moments' consideration of such
circumstances as these will often flood the heart of
the Christian minister with such deep emotion, and
so fil his eyes with tears, that he must check himself by a strong effort of will, in order to be able to
speak at all.
~ 37. Meditation of the object of speaking tends to excite
the requisite feeling.
The object which the speaker aims to accomplish
in the minds of the audience, when thoroughly meditated and held before his own mind, will often be
found even more powerful to excite his emotional
nature, than the circumstances or occasion of speaking.
1. The object may be to impress upon the audience the
worth of American citizenship.
In this case the speaker should endeavor to pos



72          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
sess his own mind with the feeling of the innumerable blessings, social, civil and religious, which this
high privilege confers, and which renders it so exceedingly precious to all who enjoy it, and are able
to appreciate it. Also he should consider the long
and bloody struggles, the faith, constancy and selfsacrifice, by which our nationality was established,
and by which it has been maintained and preserved.
Such considerations will commonly enter into the topics of his discourse, but in order that his own feelings
may be duly affected by them, he ought thoroughly
to meditate upon them in special application to his
own case, until he feels for himself something of the
worth and preciousness of his own American citizenship.
2. Or it may be to viN souls to Ch irist.
In this case he should meditate much upon the
worth of a single soul, and its almost infinite capacities of happiness and misery. He should bethink
himself of some of the priceless blessings, both in this
life and in that which is to come, which Christ bestows upon allwho come unto him; and of the appalling guilt, and everlasting misery, with which men load
themselves by rejecting or neglecting the great salvation. Above all, he should thus endeavor to impress his own heart with the all-constraining love
which Jesus has manifested by giving his life on
the cross, a, ransom for our lost souls. And if, after
such a meditation, though brief, the speaker can
come before his audience, and behold a thousand, or
a hundred of such souls, waiting with respectful at



FEELING.                   73
tention, to hear what he has to say, and still be desti.
tute of feeling, let him dismiss the congregation, and
tell them that Le was never called to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to perishing sinners.
~ 38. Meditation of the sentiments we have to deliver tends
to excite the requlisite feeling.
1. This is the most effectual means.
The sentiments of a discourse, in order to be appropriate, must spring out of the occasion and the
object for which it is delivered. Hence meditation
of the sentinments includes, to a certain extent, that
(cf the occasion and object of speaking, and constitutes tile most effective means of exciting the requisite feeling. For in order that the thoughts or sentiments of a discourse should produce their proper
effect upon the speaker himself, thcy must be taken
up by his mind; his mind must be filled with them;
they must be brought into combination with each
other until they ferment, as it were, or effervesce, and
overflow; and this is effected chiefly by meditation.
2. This is the principal means of exciting the slpeaker's
feelings in the delivery of the sentiments of others, as
also in the exercises of elocutionary training, and in the
delivery of play actors.
The most important lesson which the student has
to learn, in delivering the sentiments of others, is to
fill his mind with them; to meditate upon them until he has made them thoroughly his own. For until
he has learned to do this, and has thereby fired his
own heart, he cannot speak; and when he has




74          THE SouRcEs  OF POWER.
learned this, he has already ceased to be a tyro, and
has begun to be a master in his art. The example
of play actors in this respect is worthy of attention.
For the amount of study, minute attention, and patient meditation, which they bestow upon their
authors, in order to possess themselves of every
shade of thought and sentiment, that they may render them to the audience with their true power, is
almost incredible. It is this habit of mind, with respect to the study of Shakspeare, of which Garrick
gives us a glimpse in the following couplet:'Tis my chief wish, my joy, my only plan,
To lose no drop of that immortal man.
3. T/e same meditation is necessary in the deliver,?
of our own sentiments.
We are tempted to think that we cannot help
feeling the power of our own thoughts, when we
come to deliver them, notwithstanding all experience
proves the contrary, and shows that we need to
possess our minds with them, and to apply them to
our own hearts, with as much assiduity and pains
taking meditation as if they were the sentiments of
others.
(1.) The advocate, e. g. is called to defend a
client from injustice and oppression. In this case
the topics entering into the defence, which are best
adapted to excite emotion-such as the state of
society which would result if such wrongs should go
unpunished, the insult offered to the majesty of the
law, and to all good citizens, and the pitiable condition to which the sufferer himself and his family




FEELING.                  75
have been reduced-such topics should be profoi idly meditated by the speaker, until the sentim4 nts
make their due impression upon his own heart, and
the fire of feeling is kindled up in his own bosom.
(2.) Or the preacher of the gospel is about to
deliver a discourse on the sacrifice of Christ, fol
the object of awakening trust and love in his audience. Here he ought to meditate beforehand on
the faithfulness -and love which Christ has manifested by the sacrifice of himself in our place; upon
his constancy to our cause in the face of all his
temptations to abandon it; and upon the elements
of trustworthiness and loveliness which are embodied in his person and character; until he has
thoroughly possessed himself of such causes or
reasons for emotion, in application to his own case,
and until the fountains of trust and love are opened
in his own soul. This will enable him to speak so
that none will criticise his want of feeling, or his
power in delivery.
~ 39. The second means of exciting the requisite feeling is
the cultivation of the sensibilities.
It has been already observed, as everywhere implied in the discussion of this source of power, that
a speaker, in order to be truly eloquent, must be a
man of sensibility. Hence the systematic cultivation of the emotional faculties of the soul, must be
regarded as an important means of being able to
command the requisite feeling for each occasion of
speaking.




76          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
1. The emotional nature is capable of se&h cultiva.
tion and development.
There is,indeed, a great difference between good
and able men, in this respect, as in all others, but
there are none in whom this class of faculties are
not capable of being quickened and purified. The
esthetic and moral affections-sensibility to beauty
physical, intellectual and moral; sympathy, compassion, hope and joy; the love of truth, duty and
justice-these, and all other right affections of the
soul, are as capable of culture and development as
the intellectual faculties.
2. The method of cultivating the sensibilities is by exercising them upon their appropriate objects.
All the sensibilities of the soul should be systematically exercised upon their appropriate objects;
the esthetic, in the contemplation and enjoyment of
beautiful objects: the moral, upon moral objects.
Sympathy and pity, e. g. should be exercised in
sympathizing with, and in relieving the wants and
sufferings of those who are in affliction and calamity; and so of all the others. Without such exercise, the sensibilities of the soul grow feeble,
especially as we advance in years, and our power to
call forth the requisite feeling, on our various
occasions of speaking, declines. This is one reason
why some speakers, whilst young and immature,
are much more effective than in later life. Instead
of gaining, they lose power from decline of their
susceptibility of emotion and passion.




FEELING.                  77
~ 40. The third means of exciting the requisite feeling is the
cultivation and exercise of the imagination.
1. The imagination is properly an original source
of power in delivery.
The imagination is characteristically the faculty
of art. It is this faculty, above every other, upon
which depend the arts of poetry, music, painting,
sculpture, architecture, acting, and, hardly in a less
degree, that of elocution. In this art it is of such
importance that it ought to be treated as an independent and original source of power. For the
sake of brevity, however, it is here taken as a principal means of exciting that feeling in the speaker
which is indispensable to excellence in delivery.
2. It is by the exercise Qf tlis faculty that the _play
actor is enabled to feel as the person whom he personales.
By the imagination only is the player enabled to
identify himself with his stage character, and thus
come to be affected with all the emotions and
passions which belong to that character. It is by
the same faculty, moreover, that he forms distinct,
vivid, and heart-moving conceptions and images of
all those causes, reasons and occasions for emotion,
which are supposed to operate in the case, or
which would affect his sensibilities if he were in
truth the living person whom he represents. Hence
he feels as the character whom he personates is
supposed to have felt, speaks as he spoke, and
acts as he acted. This is in part the explanation
of that marvellous power which the great tragedian




78          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
exercises, in exciting the emotions and passions of
the audience and spectators.
3. A similar exercise of the imagination is required in
the training exercises of elocution.
The teacher of this art will not have failed to observe that the difference between those who are quick,
and those who are slow to learn, turns as much upon
the degree in which this faculty is possessed or developed, as upon any other cause. For precisely as
in the case of the actor, it is by the exercise of the
imagination that the student is enabled to bring
himself under all those influences which inspired the
author of the passage which he attempts to reproduce. Thus he also becomes for the time, as it
were, the orator or author whose sentiments he is
delivering; and hence is enabled to feel as he felt,
and to speak as he spoke, or as the words were intended to be spoken.
4. The imagination is equally necessary to feeling, in
the practice of oratory.
For it is by this faculty that we form those distinct and vivid conceptions and images of the truth
which we have to deliver, and of the scenes and incidents which we have to describe or narrate, by
which our own hearts become affected with the very
same feelings *which we wish to excite in the audience. This it is also which teaches us to lay hold of
those individual and special traits, and " touches of
nature," which are most powerful to affect our own
feelings, and those of the audience. It enables us
also to enter into the sympathies of the audience,




FEELING.                  79
and to identify ourselves with those whose sorrows
we portray, so as to feel the same sorrow ourselves.
5. This whole view of the influence of the imragination
in exciting the speaker's feelings, is confirmed by
the highest authorities.
(1.) Cicero upon this point delivers himself as
follows: "There is such force, let me assure you,
in those thoughts and sentiments which you apply,
handle and discuss in speaking, that there is no occasion for simulation or deceit; for the very nature
of the language which is adapted to move the
passions of others, moves the orator himself in a
greater degree than any who listen to him.... I
never yet, I assure you, tried to excite sorrow, or
compassion.... when speaking before a court of
judicature, but I myself was affected with the very
same emotions that I wished to excite in the judges."
Elsewhere he gives us this precept, that " we must
represent to our imaginations, in the most lively
manner possible, all the most striking circumstances
of the transaction we describe, or of the passion we
wish to excite in ourselves."
(2.) Quintilian also teaches us that in order to
feel as we ought, and thus to exercise the power of
moving the feelings of the audience, we must form
such images and representations of absent objects,
that they shall seem to be present, and we shall seem
to see them with our eyes.
"A man of lively imagination," he says, " is one
who can vividly represent to himself things, voices,
actions, with the exactness of reality; and this faculty




80          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
we may readily acquire if we desire it. When, for example, the mind is unoccupied, and we are indulging
in chimerical hopes, and waking dreams, these
images beset us so closely that we seem to be not
thinking but acting, on a journey or a voyage, in a
battle, or haranguing an assembly, or disposing of
wealth which we do not possess. Shall we not then
turn this lawless power of our minds to advantage? When I make a complaint that a man has
been murdered, shall I not bring before my eyes
everything that is likely to have happened when the
murder was committed? Shall not the assassin suddenly rush forth? Shall not the victim tremble, cry
out, supplicate, or flee?  Shall I not behold the
murderer striking, the murdered falling? Shall not
the blood and paleness and expiring gasp of the
murdered man present themselves fully to my mental view?.... For thus our feelings will be moved
not less strongly than if we were actually present."
~ 41. The fourth and last means of exciting the requisite
feeling is the formation of a right moral character.
It has been much disputed, especially by Cicero
and Quintilian among the ancients, and by Theremin in modern times, whether, after all, eloquence
be not a virtue, rather than an art; that is, whether
any but a really good man can speak with the
greatest power. The true solution of this question
seems to be, that virtue is not in all cases essential
to eloquence, but that it is essential to the highest




FEELING.                 81
eloquence on moral and religious subjects and
occasions.
1. Virtue is not essential to all forms and degrees of
eloquence.
For it is undeniable that there are subjects and
occasions on which men of by no means the best
moral character may be, and have been truly eloquent. The power of oratory in the ancient heathen
republics is of itself abundant proof of this, which
is confirmed, moreover, by many examples in
modern times. For some of our great judicial and
forensic orators, both in Europe and this country,
have been men not of the strictest morality. A
similar remark might be made, perhaps with still
greater force, of some of the most eminent tragedians.
2. But virtue is essential to the highest eloquence on
moral and religious subjects and occasions.
The reason of this, -in so far as it pertains to
elocution, is that none but a man of high moral
character can feel, in view of this class of subjects,
as the speaker must feel in order to deliver himself
with the greatest power. For the aim of such discourses is to do good, to make men wiser and
better, to inform and convince them of moral truth,
to awaken and quicken their admiration and love of
whatsoever is morally admirable and lovely, and to
persuade them to act and live in a virtuous and holy
manner. The subjects or themes of discourse correspond to these objects or aims; and with both
these, doubtless, the character and heart of the




82          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
speaker must be in full sympathy, that is, he must
be a good man, in order to speak with the greatest
effect. H[ere eloquence is a spiritual power. It
was this chiefly which made the delivery of Whitefield and Sommerfield so irresistible.
3. The feeling which is requisite to the preachiny of
the gospel with power, is to be sought in prayer for the
izfluences of the Holy Spirit.
This it is, above everything else, which affects
our own hearts with the feeling of the truth which
we wish to impress upon others, and clothes our
preaching with spiritual power. For that Spirit
which gives divine efficacy to the preaching of the
gospel, dwells in the heart of the preacher. The
anointing of the heart makes the lips eloquent. The
baptism of the Spirit is the gift of tongues.




CHAPTER IV.
EARNESTNESS.
2. Earneststns is one of the principal sources of elo.
quence.
EARNESTNESS is equally essential to eloquence both
in its rhetorical, and in its oral or elocutionary forms.
It cannot always, indeed, make a man eloquent, for he
may lack other qualifications; but no man can be
truly eloquent without it. In its relation to rhetoric
it has often been treated of, though commonly in a
somewhat vague manner; but in order to appreciate
its importance in elocution it is necessary to form a
precise conception of its nature and mode of operation.
~ 43. Earnestness in speaking is a distinct conception of the
object aimed at in the minds of the audience,. and a strong
desire to accomplish it.
It will be seen from  this definition that earnest.
tiess is in part a feeling, and therefore included, to
that extent, in the preceding chapter. There are
however many reasons why it is indispensable to




84          TmHE SOURCES OF PowLa
treat it separately, as an independent and original
source of power in delivery. Among these are the
following.
1. Because of the general nature, and distinguished importance of the feeling which enters into
it, and which, perhaps, is more essential to good
speaking than any other.
2. Because it includes also an intellectual operation, namely, that of the distinct *conception of the
object which the speaker aims to accomplish in the
minds of his audience.
3. Because both this conception of the object, and
the desire to accomplish it, are among those leading
states of mind which ought always to govern the
consciousness of the speaker, and the expression of
which constitutes good delivery.
4. Because each of these elements of earnestness has its own separate relations to power in
elocution, in consequence of which each requires a
distinct exhibition in these relations.
~ 44. The distinct conception of the object to be accomplished
in the minds of the audience by speaking, is one of the
governing intellectual operations in all good delivery.
1. The object of speaking is either explanation, conviction, excitation, or persuctsion.
Rhetoric teaches us that the object of speaking
must always be conceived of under some one of
these four general forms. In all speaking, we aim
either to inform or instruct the audience,by explaining to their faculties of understanding some fact or




EARNESTNESS.                85
truth; or to convince their judgments by proving
some truth, or disproving some error; or to excite
their sensibilities; or to persuade them to some
action, purpose, or course of life. Most frequently,
however, the object of speaking appears under the
last of these forms, with the first three as means of
accomplishing it. Whatever the object be, it is llecessary to form a distinct conception of it before we
commence to speak, and to hold it firmly in the
grasp of the mind from the beginning to the end of
the discourse.
2. In all good delivery this conception governs the
-subordinate intellectual operations, as the conception of
right or justice in the mind of an honest man, governs
the other operatio,~s in driving a bargyain.
This conception of the object of speaking need
not, indeed, be always an immediate object of consciousness; the speaker need not be always actually thinking about it; but it must at all times underlie and support the other intellectual operations,
as the conception of honesty should underlie the operations of a business transaction. It must preside
over them all, and give them direction, as in the
case of the traveller, the conception of the place to
which he is going presides over, and gives direction
to all his steps. It constitutes the light, or medium
of vision, through which all subordinate objects are
made manifest to the speaker's mind. For in all
good delivery the speaker does not even think of
what he is saying, as having any character, form,
or meaning for its own sake, but simply as adapted




86           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
to effect the object at which he aims in the minds
of the audience.
2. This conception enables the speaker to suppress the
sub-processes.
This conception of the object, being thus held in
the grasp of the mind, throws all those intellectual
operations which are secondary and subordinate,
into the background, and enables the speaker to
suppress them, so that they shall not manifest themselves in the delivery (~~ 22-23.) Thus it subordinates all the processes of memory, and of reading,
and of invention and style; in this last case, whatever pertains to the extempore working out of the
matter and form of the discourse. Hence these
sub-processes have no effect in marring or enfeebling the delivery.
~ 45. The desire to accomplish the object is one of the governing exercises of the sensibility, quickening and regulating the whole mental action.
1. The influence of this desire is analogous to that Qf
the conception of the object, and it extends beyond this
analogy.
For it bears a relation to the other exercises of
the sensibility, similar to that which the conception
of the object bears to the other intellectual processes. This relation does not therefore require to
be again developed, because the analogy holds good
throughout, even to the fact that the desire need
not be at all times immediately prominent in the
consciousness, although in good speakers it is al



EARNESTNESS.                87
ways in full and controlling activity. But its influence extends beyond this analogy, in that it is
not limited to the other operations of the sensibility, but it affects also no less powerfully the intellectual faculties, and their operations.
2. It stimulates and quickens all the mental faculties
to their utmost capacity of energy and activity.
This desire to accomplish the object, when full
and strong, stimulates the intellect, so that it becomes capable of more rapid and effective thinking
than it is at other times. Its influence is equally
great upon all those feelings whose function it is
to co-operate in giving power to delivery. When,
e. g. a man's life, or reputation, or any other object
most dear to him, depends upon his convincing a
court of his innocence, the strength of his desire to
accomplish this object can hardly fail to energize
all his faculties, both intellectual and emotional,
to their utmost capacities.
3. It regulates the other feelings, the uncontrolled activity of which might otherwise mar the delivery.
Self-control will require to be treated hereafter as
an original source of power; here, therefore, it will
be sufficient to indicate the general relation of this
desire to the regulation of the emotional activity.
In the case above supposed, then, of a man pleading
for his life, the desire to.save it would prompt and
enable him to keep all his other feelings under
severe restraint, lest they should manifest themselves in such a way as to mar his delivery, and
defeat his object. In all other cases it is indispen



88           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
sable that this desire to accomplish the object of
speaking, should never cease to exert its influence
and control of the other feelings. For if any other
be allowed to get the better of this, and to manifest itself without control, it may easily produce an
effect upon the audience directly the opposite of
that which is desired.  Sorrow, e. y. manifesting
itself in copious tears, may choke the utterance,
and become extremely offensive, producing all the
effects of drivelling. Unrestrained passion of any
kind may lead to indistinctness of articulation, vociferation, and a thousand other faults, any one. of
which would go far to defeat the object of speaking.
Even when the desire to effect the object may seem
to give way for a moment to an outgushing of pity
or grief, or to a blast of indignation or scorn, it is
still necessary that it should not really cease to
control the other emotions and passions.
~ 46. Earnestness purges the delivery from the expression
of irrelevant thoughts and feelings, and gives to the signs
employed their characteristic excellence.
From the consideration of these two elements
which enter into earnestness in speaking, and of
their relations to the other mental operations and
exercises, we shall be the better able to appreciate
the influence of this source of power upon the delivery.
1. It purges the delivery from  the expression of
irrelevant thoughts and feelings.
This at least is always'its tendency. For wher




EARNESTNESS.                89
the intellect of the speaker is fully occupied with
the thought of his object, and his heart with the
desire of accomplishing it, this leaves no place for
any thoughts about himself, his tones, inflections,
articulation, emphasis, or gesture, nor for any
conceits or anxieties about his manner; consequently it purges, or tends to purge, his delivery
fraom  the vices of awkwardness, mannerism  and
affectation, in which such thoughts and feelings
never fail to express themselves. HIis mind, being
freed from such distracting and enfeebling occupations, naturally throws all its faculties and powers
into the proper work of delivery. It may be said.
therefore, that nothing purifies the mind and whole
manner of the speaker, like being in dead earnest.
2. It gives to the Signs employed, whether oral or
visible, their characteristic exceelence.
This again is its tendency. It gives simplicity
and directness to the whole manner, and adapts it
to effect the object in view. It clothes the gestures
with propriety and force. It imparts seriousness
and gravity to the features, depth and power of
expression to the eye. It gives fullness, strength
and depth to the voice, and a certain characteristic
quality, which makes it seem to come not so much
from the throat or lungs, as from the depths of the
heart-a quality which is sure to reach the hearts
of the audience. Also it brings to bear upon the
audience a steady and sustained mental pressure,
imparting a sostenuto character to the whole delivery, which is never intermitted even in the longest




90           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
pauses, and which is one of the most telling traits
of a strong delivery. In fine, it is the earnestness of
the speaker, which, in the words of our greatest
American orator, comes "beaming from the eye,
speaking on the tongue, informing every feature,
and urging the whole man onward, right onward to
his object."
~ 47. Particular occasions may inspire earnestness; but in
order to secure it in speaking upon great social, moral,
and religious subjects, it is necessary to be an earnest
man.
It can hardly be considered as belonging to elocution to treat of the means by which earnestness may
be acquired; and in so far as this might be proper,
it has been anticipated in the preceding discussions
of the means by which we may secure the requisite feeling for each occasion of speaking. Yet it
may be well to allude to one or two points here, in
order further to aid the student in availing himself
of this source of power in delivery.
1. There are particular occasions which will inspire
any man with earnestness.
Thus the advocate will naturally be in earnest in
defending his client when his professional reputation
depends upon his success, or when the case will pay
well, or when he desires to defeat and humble a professional rival. The politician also may be very earnest in speaking in order to secure the election of a
favorite candidate, by whom he hopes to be promoted to office, or from other merely selfish and parti.




EARNESTNESS.                91
san motives. In general, it is easy to be in earnest
in the pursuit of any object in which we feel ourselves to be deeply and personally interested.
2. -But a4n order to be in earnest in speaking upon.
great social, moral and religious subjects, it is necessary
to be an earnest man.
(1.) In the pulpit especially, where we address
frequently the same audience, upon great moral and
religious truths, all motives of a selfish or worldly
character will commonly fail to impart earnestness
to the delivery. Here it is indispensable that the
whole moral nature of the speaker should be habitually filled and inspired, not occasionally and in a
factitious manner excited, by the desire to accomplish the object for which he speaks. Here nothing
can supply, even for elocutionary purposes, the want
of a living faith, and a personal interest, in the
solemn and glorious truth we have to declare, or
the want of a deep and heart-piercing conviction
that the salvation of those to whom we speak depends
upon their believing it, or the want of an habitual
and all-constraining desire that they should believe
and be saved. This was the source of the eloquence
of the prophets and apostles, as it has been of all
other great and powerful preachers of the gospel.
(2.) In like manner, all the other great human interests, if we would promote them  by speaking,
must lie at all times very near our hearts. They
must be the objects for which we not only speak,
but constantly live. We must take serious views of
serious things; habitually exclude all low and




92          TmE SOURCES OF POWER.
grovelling and unworthy thoughts, and fill our souls
with pure, lofty and magnanimous sentiments; sentiments which are superior to all selfish considerations; sentiments above the fear of death, because
they belong to that in us wvhich is immortal. In a
word, we must be able to draw our inspiration from
the deep fountains of patriotism and philanthropy,
from the love of our country and our kind, from liberty, justice, truth and God. It is this which inspires delivery with power.
3. Ingenuous youth are naturally attracted to the
study Qf eloquence.
Hence that beautiful enthusiasm, which is so characteristic of ingenuous youth, naturally attracts them
to these studies, and prompts them to eloquence;
whilst that levity and mockery in presence of the
high aims and solemn responsibilities of life, in
which the foolish only indulge, are no less fatal to
their hopes of eloquence than of every other excellence.




CHAPTER V.
THE MENTAL STATE OF DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE
AUDIENCE.
~ 48. The perfection of oratory is the perfection of talking
to people.
Oratory is oral discourse addressed immediately
and directly to the minds of people who constitute
an audience. Hence it may be said that the beginning, middle and end of oratorical excellence is
nothing else but the perfection of talking to people.
The mutual relations between the mind of the speaker and those of the audience, are attention and sympathy on their part, and on his, that of speaking
directly to them. Both of these relations are among
the most fruitful sources of power in delivery. The
full and steady consciousness in the mind of the
speaker, of direct address to the minds of the audience before him, is the third, and in many respects
one of the most important of the four leading mental operations the expression of which constitutes
good delivery (~ 22.) In fact, it inspires elocution
with so many and such great excellences, whilst the
want of it, which is extremely prevalent, occasions




94          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
so many and such damaging faults, that it nmay
properly be called the first law of oratory.
~ 49. While speaking directly to the audience tie speak,
is engaged in his proper work, and consequently he is
enabled to do it well.
Spealing directly to the people before him is the
orator's proper work in delivery-his whole business
for the time. Hence it requires his undivided attention-the exercise of all his faculties and powers.
Whilst, therefore, he is thus engaged in his proper
work, whilst it constitutes the dominant operation
of his mind and consciousness, he is giving his attention to what he is about, he is minding his
present business. The natural consequence of this
is that he does his work well, just as in any other
case in which a person gives himself up to the work
which he has in hand. Conversely, when the
speaker loses his consciousness of direct address to
the people before him, his state of mind is that of
forgetting what he is about; he is not minding the
business he has in hand; he is occupied with something else, inconsistent, and often totally incompatible with the expression of what he has to deliver.
Hence it becomes impossible for him to do his work
well, just as in every other case in which a person
forgets what he is about, and allows his mind to
become otherwise occupied.




DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE AUDIENCE.    95
~ 50. Speaking directly to the audience brings the speaker
illto the true vital relations to them, by which he is enabled to grasp them with his nind, and exert a direct
mental influence upon them.
1. The vital relations of the speaker to his audience
are similar to those of the great musical artist.
These relations are of the utmost importance in
delivery, as also in music; and hence they will require to be more fully treated under the head of
attention and sympathy as a source of power. In
explanation of them, it may be proper to refer to a
conversation which occurred between the author
and Ole Bull, the Norwegian violinist. Speaking of
the effect of his " Mother's Prayer," which the evening before had melted the audience to tears, he
said: " Do you know that I do not produce these
effects by the mere sounds of my violin? I produce them by the direct action of my mind upon
the minds of the audience. I employ the tones of
the instrument simply for the purpose of opening
the channels through which I myself act upon their
hearts." This idea he then proceeded to unfold
in a profound, but somewhat mystical discourse
upon the mental sources of power in art.
2. In these relations the speaker grasps his audience
Uith his mind, and exerts that direct mental influence
upon them which is the magnetism of eloquence.
Speaking directly to the audience implies of
course a strong consciousness of their presence, and
of the thoughts or sentiments as addressed to them.
It implies, moreover, that the speaker thinks of them




96           THE SOURCES OF POWER.
as people, that is, as persons clothed with all the
attributes of human beings, in a word, as men and
women. He grasps them thus with his mind, and
holds them steadily in his mental grasp. This enables him to gain their attention and sympathy,
and to bring all his personal power, as a man, to
bear upon them, as men and women of like passions with himself. Thus he pours his thoughts
and feelings into them through the open, but ever
mysterious channels of the sympathetic affections.
This direct mental action of the speaker upon the
minds of the audience, is one of the great secrets
of a powerful delivery; it is the magnetism of eloquence.
3. The loss of the consciousness of speaking directly
to the audience breaks up these vital relations, paralyzes
the action of the speaker's mind upon the audience, and.renders it subject to the dominant influence of the subproces&es.
Whenever the mental act of speaking directly to
the audience ceases, or ceases to be one of the
dominant mental operations, the speaker no longer
recognizes the presence of the audiefice, or it becomes to him something dim, shadowy and ineffectual. He does not grasp them with his mind,
nor engage their attention. His thoughts are withdrawn from them, and leave their thoughts to wan
der from him, and from all that he pretends, but
u terly fails to say to them. The leading operations of his mind become those of invention and
style, or those of remembering, or those of taking
in the sense of his manuscript; or his mind be



DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE AUDIENCE.          97
comes chiefly occupiedwith otherirrelevant thoughts,
perhaps still more incompatible with true expression   Hence the delivery, if such it may be
called, being of necessity the expression of the mental operations in which he is immediately and
chiefly engaged (~ 21), becomes wholly false and
powerless.
6 51.. Speaking directly to the audience mloulds, adapts
and directs all the signs employed to their true object or
aim.
1. The signs employed in speaking  to others are
different.from those employed in solitary musing, or
when the consciouzsness of the presence of others is lost.
The same thoughts and feelings when expressed
in the presence of others, and directed to their
minds, commonly take somewhat different signs,
both oral and visible, from those which are natural
when one is speaking to himself. In some cases
this difference may appear to be very slight, but it
is not therefore insignificant. In others it is evident and palpable; as, e. g. in the greater degree
of loudness and  distinctness which is natural in
speaking to a large audience, compared with what
would be required in solitary musing.  In like manner, it will be found upon careful observation, that
the manifestations of love, anger, disgust, and all
other feelings, in the presence of others, and as
directed to their minds, cannot be confounded with
those which these passions sometimes seek in solitude for their own. relief, or when the consciousness
of the presence of the audience is lost.




98          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
2. The consciousness of speaking directly  to the
audience gives their true form and character to all the
signs,
Inasmuch as all speaking consists in the expression of the leading operations of the speaker's
mind (~ 21), it is evident that the mental action ol
speaking directly to the audience must always predominate in the consciousness of the speaker, in
order that the delivery should take on its true
character and form, and should keep true to its
object. It is this mental state which gives to all
the signs, both of voice and gesture, their last
modification and adaptation to the object which
they aim to effect. The mind of the speaker, e. g.,
being directed to his audience, his eye naturally
follows his mind-he looks at them; and not barely
as "a sea of faces," without distinction, but he
scans their individual countenances, notes their
several expressions, and thus becomes conscious of
the effect which he is producing upon them. All
the gestures are affected in a similar manner. Thus
also the voice, as we have seen, naturally becomes
sufficiently loud, and the articulation sufficiently
hard and firm, to ensure that the speaker shall be
heard and understood by the most distant person
to whom he is speaking. Similar modifications are
produced upon every sound, and every variation of
sound, which he utters. In fine, it is this consciousness of the presence of the audience, and of speaking directly tc them, for the accomplishment of
his object, which gives the last moulding touch to
all the signs. It is this which gives point and




DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE AUDIENCE.    99
direction to all those arrows of significant sound
and gesture, which every moment are launched, by
the force of his thoughts and passions, from  the
speaker's lips, eyes, countenance, and from all the
motions of his hands, arms and body, into the
minds and hearts of his audience, and which makes
them feel that they are the object of a wellmanned battery, playing upon them with no uncertain
aim.
~ 52. The loss of this consciousness of direct address loads
the delivery with vices, by rendering it the expression of
the sub-processes, by perverting all the signs, and by
enfeebling its rhetorical form.
1. It renders the speaking the expression of the subprocesses.
Whenever this consciousness of speaking directly
to the audience ceases to be a dominant operation
of the speaker's mind, it naturally gives place to
some of the sub-processes (~ 23). These now become the leading mental operations, and give shape
and form to all the signs; and the expression of
these sub-processes constitutes the delivery.  If
this leading operation be that of recalling, by a
labored effort, what the speaker has committed to
memory, his speaking becomes, as we shall see
more fully hereafter, nothing but a wretched performance upon this mental act of remembering,
without any true or vital relation to the communication to others of the thoughts or sentiments of
his speech. If it be that of extempore invention,




100        THE SOURCES OF POiER.
he stands musing before the audience, instead of
speaking to them; and if it be that of taking in
the sense of his manuscript through the eye, the
speaking truly expresses that, and nothing else.
In fine, if the leading mental exercise be that of
thinking about himself, his tones, inflections, articulations, emphasis, or gestures, or of seeking to
know what the people think of him, whether he is
succeeding or not, or of anxiety or fear lest he
should be making a failure-no matter what it is
which now constitutes the leading operation of his
mind, it must be this, and nothing else, which he
expresses and delivers to the audience.
2. It deforms and perverts all the signs.
The mind of the speaker being withdrawn from
the audience, his eye again follows his milld. It
ceases to take in the people before him; it becomes
either vacant, expressing abstraction from the business in hand, or it wanders listlessly over the audience, with a dim and confused glance which takes
note of nothing, or it is raised to theceiling, or confined to the manuscript, or closed. The voice no
longer adapts itrclf to the size of the audience  it
is either too low, or too loud; the movement, either
too fast or too slow; and those variations required
by the sentiment are no longer given. All the
sounds and gestures become equally inappropriate,
and foreign to the communication and impression
of the thoughts and feelings which the words are
intended to express.




DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE AUDIENCE.   101
3. It vitiates the delivery by enfeebling its rhetorical
forms.
The loss of this consciousness perverts those
forms in which the speaker seems to address the
audience most directly, into such feeble abstractions
as the phrase, " my hearers," in the place of strong
personal attributes, such as "my friends," "my
neighbors," " my brethren," " my countrymen," "my
fellow citizens." For "my hearers," though often
heard from the lips of good speakers, is essentially
vicious, because it does not spring out of the conception of the audience as composed of persons,
with all the passions of human beings, but regards
them as abstractions, clothed with the single function
of hearing. How wretchedly does it compare
with the "A vdpes'A~2rvxz oz, of Pericles and Demosthenes, and with the "A'ipes'aode,-po;, of St. Peter
and St. Paul! If the speech which Shakspeare
puts into the mouth of Brutus, on the death of
Cesar, began with "my hearers," instead of " Romans, countrymen, and lovers," not Roscius himself,
nor Garrick, nor Kemble could give it any power in
delivery.
~ 53. The way to maintain this consciousness of direct ad.
dress to the audience is to be in earnest.
The only influence which can enable the speaker
to maintain in constant activity the consciousness
that he is speaking directly to the audience, is the
full and clear conception of the object at which he




102          THE SOURCES OF POWEm.
aims, and the strong desire to accomplish it; that is,
to be in earnest. But this is itself so fruitful a source
of power, that it has already required to be treaPd
separately.




CHAPTER VI.
ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.
5 64. Attention and sympathy are so connected with each
other as to form one source of power in delivery.
SYMPATHY is here taken in its most comprehensive
sense, as inclusive of all the sympathetic relations
and influences between the audience and speaker,
and between the individuals of whom the audience
is composed. The attention of the audience is here
joined with sympathy, making one source of power
in delivery, for the reason that it is the necessary
condition apart from which the sympathetic affections cannot be excited in the interest, or in aid of
elocution. Each however has its separate relations
to elocutionarypower, which must not be overlooked.
~ 55. Eloquence is the joint product of the mental action of
the speaker and audience; the orator's sensibility to
the states of mind in the audience is very great.
1. The reciprocal influence of speaker and audience
is of great importance,  especially where the speaker
frequently addresses the same audience.
This reciprocal influence is productive of some of




104         THE SOURCEs OF POWER.
the most interesting and important results in elocaw.
tion. In fact it is such that good delivery, and even
eloquence itself, may properly be regarded as a
joint product of the mental operations of speaker
and audience.  It can hardly be over estimated
where the speaker is called frequently to address the same, or nearly the same audience, as
in the case of the pastor of a Christian congregation.
(1.) The influence of the speaker upon the audience is exemplified in the case of a pastor who is
dull and feeble in his delivery. For the tendency
of his spiritless harangues is to render the audience habitually inattentive, unsympathizing and
insensible. But if the pastor be an animated and
interesting speaker, the tendency of his ministrations will be to develop habits of attention and sympathy in his people, to sharpen their minds, and
quicken their sensibilities, and to render them more
and more appreciative of eloquence.
(2.) The influence of the audience upon the
speaker is such that an attentive and sympathizing
congregation can hardly fail to develop speaking
talents, and powers of eloquence, in their pastor,
of which in other circumstances he might never
have become conscious, nor given any manifestation;
whilst an inattentive, unsympathizing and stupid
people will exert a strong influence to dwarf the
faculties, and put out the intellectual light of their
minister, who might otherwise have attained to no
inconsiderable excellence as a pulpit orator.




ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.          10O
2. The sensibility of the true orator to the mental
state of the audience is very great.
In fact the degree of this sensibility is an infallible test of natural genius for public speaking. For
he who does not feel the need of the attention and
sympathy of his audience, who hardly knows whether he has it or not, and who can speak about as well
without it as with it-for there are such speakersthat man is incapable of eloquence, and ought to
dismiss all thoughts of becoming an orator. The
speaker who has any natural adaptation or genius for
this art, seems to reflect, as it were, all the states
and changes of mind and feeling which take place
in those to whom he is speaking. He seems to
know by instinct whether he is heard by the whole
audience, whether he has their attention, whether
they understand what he is saying, and whether
they are favorably or unfavorably affected by it; and
he feels as if it were almost impossible for him to
proceed in his discourse, until he has succeeded in
fixing their attention, and in gaining their sympathy.
3. In his most favorable moods this sensibility some.
times rises to an almost preternatural height.
In such mental states the speaker is affected by
every breath or current of thought and feeling in the
audience. He feels himself to be the object of a separate stream of mental influence from every person
in the audience, as if they were all so many galvanic batteries, with all the several wires of cornmunication centring in his own bosom. By suchli




106        THE SOURCES OF POWER.
mysterious cords of sympathetic communion, all
their states of mind, and changes of feeling, are
telegraphed to his mind. When he is in the full
tide of successful oratory, sweeping the whole audience along with him, as a river at flood, if then
he should happen to say anything which calls forth
opposition, or if unexpectedly there should be started some oblique or contrary current in their minds,
he becomes aware of it the moment he enters it,
even when he may be wholly unable to divine its
cause, or what he may have said to excite it. The
swimmer passing suddenly from a warm into a cold
current of water, cannot be more immediately sensible of the change.
~ 56. The quickening influence which the audience exerts
upon the faculties of the speaker, is one of the most fruitful sources of power in delivery.
1. Even opposition in the audience may aid the
speaker.
Such extreme sensibility as that which has just
been described, has indeed its disadvantages, but
its advantages greatly preponderate. A speaker
who lacks confidence may be overcome by an adverse state of mind in the audience, so that he cannot proceed. But its effects upon a strong speaker,
who is confident of his powers, is to excite and
nerve him to greater efforts to make head against
the opposition, and to overcome it. Thus the adverse influence is converted into a stimulus and
quickening of all his faculties and powers.




ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.            107
2. A favorable sentiment in the audience has a still
greater quickening influence.
When the impression which the speaker makes
is altogether favorable, as the audience becomes
more and more attentive, and more and more favorably excited, he draws from their states of mind,
every moment, new and stronger inspiration, and
ever-increasing power. The tension of thought in
the audience, and their excited feelings, poured in
upon him through the channels of sympathy, intensify the action of his own intellect, flood his
heart with emotion, and quicken, purify and elevate
every faculty of his mind and body. Sometimes this
influence will seem almost to lift him off his feet; he
will seem to tread on air. He now speaks in a kind
of ecstasy or rapture. However long he may be engaged, he is unconscious of fatigue or effort. All
seems to pass in a moment of time. The audience
also are unconscious of time, for this is eloquence.
~ 57. The attention and sympathy of the audience enable the
speaker to suppress the sub-processes, and to exert all
his faculties in the proper work of delivery.
These are the more special benefits which are derived from this source of power; not, however, that it
will yield them to every speaker, but such is its tendency.
1. An attentive and sympathizing audience relieves
the speaker from the consciousness of the sub-processes,
and enables him to suppress them.
This arises from the fact just exhibited, that the




108        THE SOURCES OF POWER.
influence of such an audience quickens and intensifies that whole mental action which is engaged in
the expression and communication of thought.
Under this influence, if the speaker uses his manuscript, he is unconscious of being dependent upon
it; he does not know that he turns the leaves, nor
even that he has it before him. Speaking from
memory, he is unconscious of the exercise of this
faculty; a flood of light seems to pour itself over
the whole discourse in his mind; so that by a single
mental act, he comprehends and sees it from beginning to end. Speaking extempore, he is unconscious of labor or effort in invention, arrangement, or verbal expression; his thoughts seem to
come by inspiration, to fall of themselves into the
most appropriate and lucid order; to choose their
own words, and to secure the most effective utterance.  Thus released from the consciousness of
these and other sub-processes, he instinctively suppresses all manifestation of them; they have no
tendency to appear in false intonation, misplaced
emphasis, nor in any other of those innumerable
vices, with which they are otherwise certain to
load and enfeeble the delivery.
2. The influence of such an audience enables the
speaker to exert all his faculties in the proper work of
delivery.
The whole tendency of such attention and sympathy, is to render all the other sources of power
available in the highest degree. For it establishes
and confirms in the mind of the speaker the con



ATTENTION kND SYMPATHY.        109
sciousness of speaking directly to the people before
him; it enables him to grasp and hold fast the
object which he aims to accomplish in their minds,
and intensifies his desire to accomplish it; it deepens his feeling of the power of the thoughts and
sentiments which he expresses; it fills his heart
with the emotions which he seeks to excite in the
audience; and it gives him confidence by assuring
him that he is not making a failure, but is achieving success.
3. It purgies the signs employed, and renders them
forcibly expressive.
As the effect of the speaking becomes more and
more apparent, in the increasing stillness and attention of the audience, this effect returns upon the
speaker himself, with a corresponding increase of
his power over the signs which he employs. His
efforts are intensified that he may not allow the
audience to lose a thought, nor the shade of a
thought, which he has to deliver. Thus his articulation is purified and strengthened; his voice increases in force, compass and flexibility; it becomes more full and deep and pure; greater breadth
and significance are given to his inflections; his
eye and countenance become more animated and
expressive. The position and motions of his body
become more graceful, appropriate and striking;
and the gestures made with his arms and hands
more free and forcible. A similar effect is produced upon all the sounds he utters, and upon all
his gestures




110         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
~ 58. The effect of the speaking is greatly increased by the
sympathy of the audience with each other.
1. The sympathy of the audience with each other i,
one of those influences which make oral superior to
written discourse.
The influence of such sympathy can hardly be
overestimated, although the manner in which it
produces its effects is very imperfectly understood.
Both thought and feeling are thus propagated
from mind to mind, and from heart to heart. This
fact goes far to explain the superiority of oral over
written discourse, that the highest form of eloquence
is embodied in oral speaking (~ 2 —1, 2), and that the
gospel must be proclaimed by the voice of the living preacher (~ 7).
2. It gives to discourse an effect beyond its inherent
merits.
Counting upon the influence of this sympathetic
action of the minds of the audience upon each
other, the speaker may expect, and thus become
enabled to produce vastly greater results than
were otherwise possible. His thoughts and sentiments, when he comes to deliver them, will naturally
have a far greater effect upon the audience than
could be anticipated from their intrinsic merit. In
fact that which in the study appears to be comparatively poor and feeble, is often thus found in
delivery to have the effect of eloquence.
3. The attention of the audience is indispensable to
this sympaihy.
In order to such results, it is necessary that the




ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.          111
attention of the audience should first be gained,
and concentrated upon the thoughts and sentiments of the speaker, as they are delivered. This
is indispensable to the free play, and greatest effect
of the sympathetic action.  For even  a single
person who is inattentive, or whose mind is otherwise occupied, not only fails to contribute his share
to the effect, but he presents an obstacle to the
propagation and flow of the common feeling, and
exerts a positive influence in crossing and confusing the mysterious currents of sympathy and
thought.
4. Concentration of the faculties of all intensffies the
result.
When the attention of the audience has been
gained, their sympathies with each other begin to
act; and then all their intellectual power, and all
their sensibilities are easily excited, by the mutual
action of their faculties upon each other. For when
the minds of a whole assembly are thus occupied
with one and the same thought, as this is expressed
by the speaker, that thought is perceived more
clearly, and felt more deeply, than it could ever be
by any individual alone; and when a common pas,
sion has been excited in a crowded audience, it
works more powerfully, and produces unspeakably greater effects, than in any other circumstances.
~ 59. The means of engaging attention and sympathy are
sentiments worthy of attention, a simple, earnest and




112          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
respectful manner and tones, the eye fixed upon the
audience, pauses and striking figures of speech.
1. All pains should be taken to engage the attention
and sympathy of the audience.
The importance of this source of power is evident
from what has been said; in fact it is such that the
speaker should neglect no lawful means to avail
himself of it. It would seem that a great many of
the eccentricities which appear in some popular
orators, both in their style and manner of delivery,
are to be understood as mere expedients to awaken
and fix attention.  Such eccentricities cannot be
justified, although they may be pardoned, because
there are perfectly legitimate means of securing this
indispensable result, which, rightly applied, can
hardly fail on any ordinary occasion.  They are
partly of a rhetorical character, and belong only in
part to elocution.
2. The speaker must have something to say which is
worthy of attention, and adapted to awaken sympathy.
This is the first and most important of such
means, one which will go far to secure the end;
whilst without this, everything else ought to fail, and
in the long run is pretty certain to do so. (See PART
I. Chap. II.)
3. His manner and tones must be simple, earnest and
respectful.
A simple, frank and artless manner, free from
pretentiousness and affectation, and one at the same




ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.        113
time earnest, respectful and affectionate, has great
power to engage attention, and awaken sympathy.
These are the principal elements of what is called
an engaying manner.  Nothing is more engaging
than childlike simplicity. An affected, pretentious,
or pompous manner forewarns the audience that
the speaker is a fool. Also the tones of the speaker's voice should express sincere respect for the
audience, an affectionate interest in them, and an
earnest desire for their attentive and favorable consideration of what he has to say-as if he felt, what
he ought always to feel, that it were almost impossible for him to proceed without it.
4. The speaker's eye should be fixed upon the audience.
It is indispensable that the speaker should not
allow his eye to become fixed upon his manuscript,
nor to wander around the walls, or up to the ceiling,
nor to express in any way abstraction from  the
business in hand. He must bring his eye to bear
steadily upon the people before him, scanning their
countenances individually, and noting every sign of
attention, or of the want of it. Where he perceives
inattention, or any lack of interest, he should keep
looking at the persons in whom it is manifested, and
seem to direct his words more particularly to them,
until he makes them feel that he is almost calling
them  by name. This however requires care ta
avoid giving offence. He must, indeed, be ever on
his guard, in such circumstances, against the temptation to manifest annoyance or irritation.




114         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
5. Pauses and striking figures of speech may be in.
troduced.
When the speaker finds it difficult to fix atten.
tion, he may resort to other expedients which, in
favorable circumstances, ought not to be necessary.
One of these is to pause in his exordium, and remain
silent for a moment, until his object is gained.
Another is to throw into his discourse a more than
common bold and striking rhetorical figure. Either
of these expedients will hardly ever fail to secure
immediate and fixed attention.
6. In difficult cases hle may exercise authority over tLC
audience, but with special care not to manifest irritation.
Whenever the audience proves refractory in an
extraordinary degree, which will sometimes be the
case, the orator must not yield to them, or he is
lost. He must try to rise with the difficulty, and
by his voice, countenance and manner, exert a
certain authority over them, for which his position
and relations to them afford him peculiar advantages. But here again he must be on his guard
against irritation.  For if he show temper, they
will not be slow to perceive that they have gained
the mastery; and having discovered his weak point,
they will not be tender of it. Therefore, with unruffled temper, and perfect good nature, by his eye,
countenance, tones and whole manner, he should
seem to say, My friends, I am here to speak to
you, and I am going to do it; you are here to
listen, and you have got to do it-the sooner you
begin, the better it will be for us both.




ATTENTION AND SYMPATHY.         115
7. Some such means as the preceding will commonly
prove etfectual.
By such means as these, unless there be some
extraordinary cause of opposition, the orator can
hardly fail to succeed in fixing the attention of his
audience, through which he may readily excite
their sympathies, and derive all the aids to delivery
which flow from this source of power.




CHAPTER VII.
MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT-MATTER IN EXTEMPORE DISCOURSE.
~ 60. Mastery of the subject is a source of power in every
species of delivery, but especially in extempore speaking.
IT is a fundamental principle, alike applicable to
every species of discourse, that we must have some
notion of what we are going to say, before we undertake to say it. Speaking, therefore, on any serious occasion, without preparation beforehand, except where it cannot be avoided, is a very foolish
thing, which no sensible man will ever allow himself
to do, except under dire necessity; nor then does he
ever expect to do justice, either to himself or his
subject, in rhetoric or elocution. But here this
source of power is to be treated in its special relations to extempore speaking, under which expression is included all forms of delivery, except
those in which the discourse is fully written out,
and spoken either from memory or manuscript.
In this case, the more full and complete our mastery of the subject-matter of discourse, the more
fruitful as a source of power in elocution does it
become.




MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.            117
~ 61. The necessity of full preparation beforehand is evinced
from the number, complexity and difficulty of the subprocesses, which must be carried on simultaneously in
strictly impromptu speaking.
1. The number and complexity of these processes iq
almost incredible.
When called suddenly to address an audience,
without any  previous preparation, the  speaker,
whilst rising slowly to his feet, must select his subject, and determine in his own mind the object
which he aims to effect.  These prerequisites will
commonly be suggested by the occasion, and hence
will demand but little reflection. At the saime
time, he must fix upon a topic for his introduction,
and construct his first sentence. Whilst delivering
this as slowly as possible, in order to gain time, he
must forecast, to some extent at least, his next sentence. Thus making his way slowly through his
introduction, he must be occupied also in shaping
his proposition, analyzing his subject, and arranging by co-ordination and subordination, the principal heads, and secondary topics of his whole discourse; and all this, with strict reference to the
object which he aims to accomplish. If he succeed
in doing this by the time he comes up to the enunciation of his proposition, he may feel himself comparatively safe for a good speech. During the
discussion, whilst delivering each sentence, he must
construct the next, and so with the successive paragraphs.  At the same time, lie must select his




118          THE SOURCES OF POWE.L
words, and must keep his mind running n ahead,
correcting defects in his analysis, perfet!ing the
arrangement of his topics, and forecasting his persoration. Simultaneously he must be wore or less
engaged in studying the audience, and in efforts
to fix their attention, and enlist their symlyathies.
Now to carry on all these processes at one and the
same time, even if there were nothing else to do,
would seem to be well-nigh impossible.:Yet such
is the prodigious activity of the mind, under the
stimulus and excitement of this kind of speaking,
that, wherever it is highly successful, they are all,
and many more, carried on as sub-process-s, for
the most part unconsciously, in strict subordination
to the principal or leading operations, which properly belong to the delivery or expression of the
thoughts and sentiments.
2. The dkifculty of carrying on all these sub-processes as such at the same time, necessitates preparation
beforehand, wherever this is possible, in order to relieve
the mind.
The preceding analysis exhibits the toil and
labor which a good speaker, in strictly impromptu
discourse, instinctively undergoes to possess himself, as much as possible, with the knowledge of
what he is to say, before he comes actually to say
it. But the difficulty of carrying on, as sub-processes, all these laborious operations of invention,
arrangement and style, and many others, and of
suppressing all manifestation of them, when the
whole burden of them is thrown upon the mind at




MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.          119
once, in the very moment of delivery, is very great.
In every such case, their strong tendency is to become predominant in the consciousness of the
speaker; to overshadow and dwarf all those operations which properly belong to delivery; and consequently to manifest or express themselves in all
the vices which enfeeble and cripple elocution.
None but the most practised and accomplished
rhetoricians and speakers, and these only in their
happiest moods and most favorable circumstances,
are able perfectly to overcome this difficulty, so as
to speak, on the spur of the moment, with all the
power of which they are capable.
~ 62. Greater or less preparation is required according to
circumstances, but as a general rule it should embrace
a complete analysis of the discourse.
The extent or thoroughness of the preparation
required for extempore speaking, is greater or less,
according as the mind of the speaker acts with
more or less precision and rapidity. Too minute
preparation resolves extempore into nmemoriter
speaking, and instead of relieving the mind from
the burden of sub-processes, only exchanges one
class of them for another. The principle which
will enable each one to decide this point for himself, turns upon the question, how far he can relieve himself from the labors of invention and style,
without loading his memory. As a general rule,
however, the speaker, whenever it is possible, ought
to prepare beforehand, either mentally, or with the
aid of the pen, a complete analysis of his discourse.




120          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
including the distinct statement of his proposition,
the arrangement by co-ordination of the general
heads, and by subordination of the secondary topics, together with a general statement of the thought
contained in each paragraph. Such an analysis,
which Rhetoric teaches us to prepare, may either
be carried in the memory without loading it, or it
may be committed to paper, and referred to while
speaking., without any serious disadvantage. With
a fine memory, the former method is to be preferred; with a poor memory, the latter. Thus the
speaker will be fully master of the subject-matter,
and of the general drift and arrangement of his
discourse beforehand.  The  detailed elaboratioi
of the thoughts, the construction of the sentences
in advance, and the selection of the words, should
be left to the inspiration of delivery; which, after
some facility has been gained by practice, will enable him to carry on these operations strictly as
sub-processes, unconsciously, and hence to suppress
all their manifestations.
~ 63. Such a mastery of the subject and discourse beforehand,
relieves the mind from the most burdensome of the subprocesses, and from anxiety, and enables the speaker to
employ his faculties in the proper work of delivery.
1. It relieves the mind from the most burdensome ojf
the processes of invention and arrangement.
These laborious intellectual operations, not being
thrown upon the mind at the moment of speaking,
cannot of course express themselves in the delivery;
which is thus purged at once from all its worst




MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.         121
faults, and most easily besetting sins. The speaker
is thus left free to throw all his faculties and powers
into those forms of activity which properly belong
to the expression of thought, and the expression of
which constitutes good delivery (~ 22)..
2. It 1delieves the mind from the paralyzing effects of
anxiety and dread of failure.
Being assured of his mastery of the subject, and,
in substance, of what he wishes to say, the speaker
is of course relieved from all distressing anxiety
upon that score, and is enabled to avail himself of
all the advantages which flow from a rational confidence (~ 28).  Otherwise this anxiety may, in
this method of speaking, easily amount to a paralyzing dread, and thus prove the most certain cause
of entire failure.  For such dread renders the
speaker insensible to the power of the thoughts he
wishes to express, and of the emotions which he
would excite; it draws off all his faculties from the
work of speaking directly to the audience; and it
may even frustrate his power of invention. Under its influence he will be conscious of hardly
anything but a desperate effort to find out what
to say, and of paralyzing fear lest he should fail
even in that. His delivery will consist of a painful
expression of this and other such feelings, with all
the vices of elocution therein implied. Even when
the case may not be so bad as this, it will always
approach it in the degree in which the processes of
invention, and the dread of failure, predominate in




122          TaE  SOURCES OF PovaER.
the consciousness over those mental operations
which properly belong to expression.
S 64. Such mastery of the subject and discourse enables the
speaker to manage his time, pauses, pitch, transitions
and force, in adaptation to his thoughts and sentiments,
and to forecast the structure of his sentences.
1. The right management qf these elements of expression is one qf the chief excellences of speaking.
The great power of elocution consists in the right
management of these pauses, and transitions from
one general or subordinate head to another; and in
the delivery of the several parts more or less rapidly, and with greater or less force or stress of
voice, with corresponding variations of pitch, according to the relative importance of each, and to the
requirements of the ever-varying sentiment. All
this depends obviously upon carrying in the mind
at least some general knowledge of the drift and
arrangement of the discourse, and of the character
of the sentiments to be expressed.
2. The want of this mastery of the subject occasions
the following damagingfaults.
Without such knowledge of the general character
of the discourse, the speaker is always liable to
make his pauses too long between sentiments
closely related, and too short between those more
remotely separated; also, to exert his voice unduly
on a subordinate passage, and hence to fail in
force and animation where these are most reqfired.
Not knowing beforehand where his special points




MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.           123
and telling passages are to come, he finds it almost
impossible to deliver them with that due mental reference to their relative importance, and with that significant emphasis, which is no less essential to their
proper effect, than the making of such points is to
rhetorical power. The common effect of this, especially when the speaker is at no loss for words,
is that he runs into a monotonous rant, rushing on
from one topic, or sentiment, or paragraph, to
another, without any of those significant pauses, and
returns to the key-note, or middle pitch of the
voice, and to the moderate or normal movement,
or degree of rapidity, which are indispensable to
mark the close of one topic or paragraph, and the
commencement of another, and to give effect to the
transitions of the thought.
3. SachLfaltts have the effect of a pointless discourse.
These vices of elocution are extremely common,
and no less fatal. For where the distinction of
ideas and sentiments is thus lost in one monotonous
stream of sound, the effect is similar to that which
is produced in rhetoric by a discourse without
points; that is, in which there is no distinction of
general or subordinate heads, or topics, or paragraphs. In such speaking nothing stands out from
the dead level; all is " flat," and soon becomes intolerably "stale and unprofitable " to the audience.
4. Such mastery of the subject enables the speaker to
forecast the structure of his sentences, with respect to,drearness, emphasis, and other elements of expression.
(1.) Forecasting the sentence is a sub-process,




124        TEE SOURCES O' POWER.
more or less essential to the principal elements of
expression. This forecasting of the structure of the
sentence is properly a sub-process, but one which can
hardly be carried on as such in extempore discourse,
when the burden of all the operations which enter
into it, is thrown upon the mind at the same time.
Preparation beforehand is indispensable to the best
success in it. Extempore speakers of the greatest
power are sometimes wonderfully perfect in it,
so that, whilst delivering one sentence, they are enabled to elaborate the next, in all its details. Others are less perfect; but probably it goes on in the
minds of all, to a greater degree than we are commonly aware. Something of it is certainly indispensable to anything like a sustained melody of
speech, to right emphasis, and to almost all the
other elements of expression.
(2.) The want of it renders the speaking confused,
and occasions false emphasis and intonation. For
when the speaker has no conception beforehand
of the structure of the sentence he is about to
deliver, he knows not with what pitch, tones, or
inflections to commence it, or to proceed with it, or
to close it; and he has nothing to guide him in
withholding or placing his emphasis. He can hardly fail, therefore, to deliver his sentences in a perplexed and unmelodious manner, and to beat the
air with uncertain and unmeaning sounds. When
the words upon which the emphasis ought to fall,
are not anticipated by the speaker, it is impossible
to deliver them with their due effect.




MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT.           125
(3.) A good speaker always foresees his emphatic
words. As the accomplished rider, in order to obtair
a better view of the wall or ditch before him, raises
himself in his stirrups, then settles himself again in
his saddle, reins in his horse, gathers the animal's
hind legs well under his body, and at the precise
moment lifts his head with the bridle, applies the
wnip or spur, and launches himself over the obstacle, amidst the cheers of his more timid companions
-so the accomplished speaker looks ahead for his
emphatic words, and, as he approaches them, draws
in his breath, and gathers up all his forces, and,
at the precise moment, flings himself upon them,
with all the impulse gained from the preceding
restraint.  A  single word, spoken with such emphasis,. will sometimes thrill a whole assembly.
But nothing of all this is possible, of course, when
the structure of the sentence is not foreseen, and
the emphatic words cannot be anticipated.
~ 65. Extempore speaking is more favorable than either of
the other methods, to animation or vivacity, to the exercise of the sensibilities, to attention and sympathy, and
to the consciousness of speaking directly to the audience.
It would seem that the vulgar prejudice, as it has
been regarded, against reading sermons, and in
favor of extempore preaching, is not altogether
a prejudice, but is founded on sound elocutionary reasons. For there can be little doubt that,
with such preparation as has been indicated, extempore speaking is more favorable and conducive to
good elocution, or power in delivery, than speaking




126          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
either from manuscript or from memory. For al
though the sub-processes, in this method, seem to
be more numerous and difficult than in either of
the others, yet they are found by experience to be
more manageable, and less damaging. The following are some of the particulars in which it is
more favorable to good delivery than either of the
other methods.
1. It is more conducive to animation or vivacity.
It has been well observed that "the least animated mode of delivering thought to others, is
reading from a book the composition of another;
the next in order is reading one's own composition;
the next is delivering one's own composition from
memory; and the most animated of all is the uttering of one's own -thoughts, as they rise fresh in his
mind."*
2. To the exercise of the sensibilities.
When a thought comes fresh into the mind, and
chooses, as it were, at the moment, its own words,
the meaning of these words is more present to the
mind of the speaker, and their power is more felt,
than when he recurs to them in the memory, or
upon manuscript. In the same way, all the emotions in extempore speaking are more fresh and
genial than when they are reproduced in the other
methods.  Hence "there is more natural warmth
in the declamation, more earnestness in the address,
* Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching, by Henry Ware, Jr., Professor of Pul.
pit Eloquence and Pastoral Care, in Harvard University; an admirable little
work, now out of print, but which ought to be republished.




IASTE1'Y OF THE SUBJECT.        127
greater animation in the manner, more of the lighting up of the soul in the countenance, and whole
mien, more freedom and meaning in the gesture.
The eye speaks, and the fingers speak, and when
the orator is so excited as to forget everything but
the matter on which his mind and feelings are
acting, the whole body is affected, and helps to
propagate his emotions to the audience."
3. To the attention and sympathy of the audience.
When the audience have the opportunity of
following the thoughts of the speaker, as they
germinate and spring up in his mind, and grow, and
put forth their branches, leaves, blossoms and fruit,
they feel an interest in the whole process,which they
cannot feel when they know that everything has
been " cut and dried " beforehand. And this interest
of the audience reacts, as we have seen, by sympathy, to quicken all his faculties, and clothe his
delivery with power.
4. To the conciousness of speaking directly to the
acdience.
When the thoughts of the speaker thus originate,
and take on their peculiar forms, in presence of the
audience, they naturally adapt themselves to the
varying moods and states of mind, and to the different degrees of excitement, manifested by the
audience, much more perfectly than is possible when
they have all been written out beforehand. Hence
the style in extempore speaking is commonly less
abstract and involved, more simple and direct, than
in other kinds. This directness of style nat —




128         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
urally prompts to directness of speaking. The
speaker more easily maintains himself in the conciousness of speaking directly to the people before
him, and secures all the benefits which flow from
this source of power in delivery.




CHAPTER VIII.
FACILITY OF REMEMBERING IN MEMORITER DELIVERI.!~ 66. A good memory is a source of power in all the methods
of delivery, but most of all in memoriter speaking.
FACILITY of recalling what has been committed
to memory, is necessary to the greatest power of
elocution, in all the different methods of delivery.
In the words of Quintilian, "' it is not without reason that the memory has been called, the treasury
of eloquence." But its most important relations,
of oourse, are those which it bears to memoriter
speaking, in which the whole discourse is delivered
in the very words in which it has been prepared beforehand. In this method of delivery, it is indispensable that the discourse be so perfectly committed that it can be remembered without conscious effort; that every word shall seem to come
of itself, in its proper place and connection. This
might seem to be sufficiently evident, if the want
of due attention to it were not extremely prevalent,
and the cause of failure to many. It is necessary,
therefore, to explain the influence of this source of
power by applying again, in a manner precisely
similar to that already employed in the case of extempore speaking, the fundamental principles of
this art, as laid down in ~~ 21-23.




130          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
~ 67. The sub-process of remembering and the fear of forgetting, in this method of speaking, when they predominate, render other sources of power unavailable, and the
speaking consists of the expression of these mental opera.
tions.
1. The predominance of these sub-processes is more
damaying to elocution than those of invention and style.
In this method of speaking the sub-processes,
properly so called, are simply those of remembering what has been committed to memory. But in
addition to these, which are extremely damaging
when they become predominant in the consciousness of the speaker, from the fact that his speech
has been imperfectly committed, he has to deal
with the far more deleterious influence of anxiety,
and dread of forgetting what he wishes to say.'These influences are similar in their effects upon
the mental state of the speaker, and upon his elocution, to those of invention and style, and of the
dread of failure in finding out what to say, in extempore speaking. Commonly, however, they are
much more enfeebling to the expression, for the
reason that these sub-processes are more incompatible with the proper work of delivery.
2. The predominance of these sub-processes in the
consciousness of the speaker, renders other sources o.f
power unavailable.
Evidently when the speech has been imperfectly
committed, or is remembered with difficulty, all the
faculties of the speaker must be withdrawn from
the proper work of delivery, that of speaking di
rectly to the audience, and concentrated upon the




FACILITY OF REMEMBERING.       131
mental toil of remembering what he has to say.
Consequently he loses sight of the audience, and
of the object which he aims to accomplish in their
minds, and the desire to accomplish it ceases to be
operative. He may have the best speech in the
world, the greatest power of thought, and the most
moving sentiments; but he cannot think of the
matter of his discourse, because he is wholly occupied with the forms and sounds of the words which
he is mentally struggling to lay hold of, and which
threaten every moment to escape from his grasp.
In this mental state the appropriate exercise of the
sensibilities is paralyzed. He cannot feel the power of his thoughts, nor of the emotions which he
wishes to communicate and excite in the audience,
nor make the least effort to engage their attention
or sympathy. He can exert no intellectual faculty
but the memory. He can feel nothing but a horror
of forgetting his speech, which enfeebles the memory itself, and often ensures the result which is
most feared;-by overstrained effort to pump up
the words into his mind, the pump itself often
breaks down.
3. It renders the speaking the expression of the mental operations of remembering, and of the dread of forgetting,
When the speech is imperfectly committed, or
remembered with difficulty, these are the mental
states which predominate in the consciousness of
the speaker, and which his speaking really expresses, with all the vices of elocution which this
implies.  The people before the speaker, being




132         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
pushed out of mind, are pushed out of sight. His
eye takes no note of their countenances, and cannot be employed in fixing their attention. It wan
ders around the room, or up to the ceiling, as if
looking for something that it cannot find, or it is
closed. In any case it loses all power of appropriate expression. Often it seems to be turned inwards, as if looking into the back of the head, in
search of the words which the speaker is laboring
to recall. In this case the countenance becomes
so ludicrous that it makes one think of the words
of a great comic writer, "Did you ever pick the
lock of a cupboard to steal a bottle of wine? and
did you ever think of the expression of your face
while you were doing it?" In like manner, all
the motions of the hands, arms and body, all the
tones, inflections, articulation and emphasis, take
on their peculiar forms, not from the mental operations which properly belong to speaking, but from
these sub-processes; which ought not to manifest
themselves at all, but which, being now the leading operations of the speaker's mind, it is impossible to suppress. All that he succeeds in expressing,
and impressing upon the audience, is the mental
toil of remembering words without meaning to himself, consequently without meaning to those who
hear him; together with his torment of anxiety, and
dread of forgetting what he wishes to say, and of
breaking down in his discourse. The vices of elocution which are inseparable from this cause, it is
not possible to enumerate, much less to describe




FACILITY OF REMEMBERRNG.           133
They are nearly all that are possible, and all in
their most aggravated forms.
4. It renders the training and practice of the art
often ineffectual and injurious.
Among the worst consequences of the predorminance of these mental states, is that it renders a
great deal of the training and practice of this art,
not only ineffectual for good, but often productive
of great harm. For where the teacher allows imperfectly committed exercises to be performed, all
these vices of elocution are cultivated, instead of
being corrected; and the faculty of speaking is
dwarfed, instead of being developed. Prompting
therefore ought never to be allowed. In all cases
where the speaker cannot do without it, it would be
far better not to speak at all. For this reason such
exercises should be very short. On many other accounts also, a short speech is much better for training purposes than a long one.
5 68. The influence of this source of power upon the speaker
and upon his delivery, is to render the other sources of
power available, and to render the speaking expressive of
those mental states which properly belong to delivery.
1. It renders the other sources of power available.
By perfect facility of remembering, the speaker is
relieved from all conscious effort of memory, and
from the dread of forgetting what he wishes to
say; and in this method of speaking, the processes
of invention and style have no place. Consequently
he is left free to throw all his faculties into the




134         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
proper work of delivery. He can grasp in his mill
the object which he aims to accomplish, and fee,
the desire of accomplishing it; he can hold himself
in the mental state of speaking directly to the audience, with this object in view; and he can be moved
himself with the power of the thoughts which he
has to express, and of the emotions and passions
which he wishes to excite. The natural flow of
his sensibilities is unobstructed, and his mind is
open to receive the whole volume of the sympathies of the audience, as it rolls in upon him. These,
and in fact all other sources of power which are not
inconsistent with this method of speaking, are thus
rendered fully available.
2. It renders the spcaking expressive of those mental
states which properly belong to delivery.
The mental operations of remembering, being
now carried on strictly as sub-processes, and so
confidently as to give relief from anxiety and fear,
have no tendency to manifest themselves in the
delivery, which thus purges itself from the vices
which they otherwise produce: whilst those operations which properly belong to the expression of
thought, being predominant in the consciousness of
the speaker, naturally express themselves; the
speaking consists in the expression of them, and
thus clothes itself with power. The speaker, having
no occasion to withdraw his eye from the audience,
even for a moment, can employ all its mysterious
power to fix their attention, and to engage their
sympathy.  All his gestures, tones, inflections,




FACILITY OF REMEMBERING.          135
articulation and emphasis, all the changes of force,
pitch and time, in a word, all the elements of expression are now  formed and governed by the
sentiments which he has to express. Having the
whole speech in his mind, he knows the relations
of the several heads, topics and paragraphs to
each other, and is thus enabled to graduate the
degrees of force, pitch and rapidity of movement
appropriately to every part; to return to the keynote and initial movement, as often as may be required, and to manage his pauses and transitions
so as to produce their true and proper effect. And
foreseeing the structure of every sentence, when
he begins to speak it, he finds it easy to distribute
his emphasis aright, and to deliver it in the most
effective manner.
~ 69. Memoriter speaking was the favorite method of the
ancient orators, but, with a common memory, it is not so
favorable to power in delivery as extempore discourse.
Apart from experience, it would seem that, with
due attention to its proper source of power, this
method of speaking ought to be the most favorable
of all to a good delivery. It is certain that it was
the favorite method of the ancient orators; and it
seems to have contributed much to their success in
that forensic and deliberative eloquence, in which
they have never been surpassed. But experience
does not prove that this is the best method, but
rather, except where the memory is naturally very
superior, or has been very highly cultivated, that




136        THE SOURCES OF POWER.
the sub-processes in this method are more unman
ageable, and more incompatible with expression,
than those of extempore speaking. Notwithstanding, its advantages are such that whoever aspires to
become an orator, will do well to make full proof
of his ability to follow it. If he should find his
talents ill-adapted to extempore discourse, and can,
by the most laborious culture, so develop and
strengthen his memory that it will sustain him in
this method, he will surely reap an abundant reward. It will be more likely to conduct such a man
to excellence than any other. But if, after full
proof of his memory, he should still find it inadequate, he can then apply himself to speaking from
manuscript, which yet remains to be considered.'~ 70. The memory is capable of great development by exercise, of which we have many striking examples.
There is no faculty of the mind more susceptible
of cultivation and improvement, and none which suffers more from neglect, than the memory. The ancient orators cultivated it to such a degree of excellence as is unknown, and almost inconceivable to us.
Mithridates, king of Pontus, Who held the Roman
conquests in check for thirty years, in the first century before the Christian era, could talk with the
people of twenty-seven nations under his government, in all their different languages. Quintilian
gives us a number of instances of prodigious memory. Cicero informs us that Crassus, to whom he
gives the palm of Roman eloquence, would some



FACIIT  OF REMEMBERING.        137
times dictate as many as six different parts of tho
same argument to six clerks at the same time, and
then go immediately into court, and deliver the
whole, without once looking at his papers. In the
attainment of such results, they seem to have relied
to some extent upon systems of artificial mnemonics,
based upon the principle of the association of ideas,
which, however, were not much approved of by some
of their best writers, and which do not seem to be
well adapted to our mental habits. No doubt, the
most effectual means of cultivating this faculty, is to
exercise it systematically in committing to memory
the finest passages of eloquence. In committing
our own discourses, we are greatly aided by such an
analysis and arrangement as exhibits the closest
logical connection between the thoughts.




CHAPTER IX.
FAAMIIARITY WITH THE MA]NUSCRIPT.
~ 71. The importance of this source of power arises from the
peculiar character of the sub-processes in speaking from
manuscript.
THIS source of power refers exclusively to the
method of speaking in which the speech is all written out beforehand, and read or spoken from the
manuscript, either held in the hand, or lying under
the eye of the speaker. Its importance arises frolu
the fact that this method of speaking is one in suchi
common use, especially among clergymen; and fromn
the peculiar character and damaging effect of the
sub-processes, whenever these become predominant
in the consciousness of the speaker. In order to
exhibit this latter point it will be necessary to
make a third application of the fundamental principles laid down in ~~ 21-23, precisely similar to
those which have been made in extempore and
memoriter speaking.
~ 72. The sub-processes in reading, and in speaking front
manuscript, are the reverse of expression.
Reading, and speaking from manuscript, are so
Dearly allied, and the sub-processes in the two cases




FAMTLIARITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.   139
differ so little, and the light they throw upon each
other is so important, that they require to be treated
together. For in both the sub-processes are those
of taking in the sense of the manuscript, or printed
page, through the eye; and these processes are the
reverse of those which belong to the giving out of
the sense by the voice, and to the impressing of the
thought and sentiment upon other minds. The
mental operations of giving out, and of taking in
the sense, are in the lughest degree incompatible
with each other. Certainly they cannot both go on
together as leading states of the same mind; one or
the other must fall into the rank of a sub-process.
At least three of those leading states or mental
operations, the expression of which constitutes good
delivery (~ 22), namely, (a) the consciousness of
speaking directly to the audience, (b) with the desire
of accomplishing a given object, (c) which object is
held firmly in the grasp of the mind, are diametrically opposed to the mental operations of taking in the
sense through the eye. This opposition and incompatibility between these two classes of mental operations, both of which have to be carried on simultaneously, exhibits the great difficulty to be overcome in speaking from manuscript.
~ 73. Reading, in which the sub-processes exercise a legiti.
mate influence, is a more subdued, and a more difficult
form of elocution than speaking.
1. The distinction between reading and speaking 1has
never been precisely determined.




140        TEE SOURCES OF POWER.
Gothe, somewhere in Wilhelm Mleister, has re.
marked that'the limits between reading and speak~
ing are very narrow,' but nowhere, it is believed,
has he attempted to define them. In practice the
two are often confounded. Speaking from manuscript commonly takes the form of a poor kind of
reading, whilst reading not unfrequently merges in
a wretched attempt at declamation. But the principles maintained in these Sources of Power, with
respect to leading mental operations and sub-processes, will enable us to determine this point, and
to understand precisely wherein these two forms of
elocution differ from each other.
2. Reading is a more subdued and quiet, speaking a
more/full and demonstrative form of elocution.
This difference will be evident at once to any one
who will compare the signs which each employs. For
in reading, the tones are naturally less full and strong,
the range of pitch and inflection is less extended,
there is less variation in time and force, the articulation is less hard and sharp, the emphasis is less decided, and the gesture, if any be allowed, is less
marked and striking, than in speaking. A reader
in whom this quiet and subdued manner is wanting,
who runs his reading into declamation, exhibits a
want of taste, culture and refinement; whilst a
speaker who simply reads his discourse, can exert
but little power to impress his sentiments, or to in
flame the audience with the emotions and passioald
which his words may be intended to express.




FAMILIARITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.   141
3. The reason of this difference is that in reading, thd
sub-p2roesses legitimately exercise a subduing influence,
whilst in speaking, they require to be wholly suppressed.
For it will be observed that in reading, we deliver
the sentiments professedly as taking them in through
the eye at the time, as gathering and reproducing
them from the written or printed page before us; but
in speaking, we deliver them as immediately our own,
as Svelling up from within our own minds. Consequently in the former case, the elocution is legitimately affected and modified by the mental operations of
taking in the sense, in which we are professedly engaged; whilst in the latter, no such influence or
effect can be allowed. Good reading requires that
these operations should not be wholly suppressed,
but should exert a certain modifying influence upon
the expression; whilst it is essential to good speaking that they should exert no influence upon the expression, but should be wholly suppressed. Now,
as we have seen, these mental operations of taking
in the sense through the eye, are precisely the reverse
of those which belong to giving it out, and impressing it upon others; consequently the influence of
these reverse mental operations legitimately affects
the elocution in reading, as a negative quantity affects a positive one; that is, it reduces it from a more
to a less full and demonstrative form of delivery. It
is under this subduing influence that, in good reading, the tones are less full, the inflections less extended, the articulation less sharp and hard, the
pitch, force and time less varied, the emphasis less




142          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
pronounced, and the gesture less abundant, than in
good speaking.
4. Good readiing is a more difficut form of docu.
tioz than good speaking.
We should anticipate that this would be the case
from the nature of the distinction between reading
and speaking; and this anticipation is confirmed by
all experience and observation. To read well aily
passage or author with which we are wholly unacquainted, is confessedly a very difficult thing. Hence
we find many good speakers, for one good reader.
The reason of this is the direct opposition and incompatibility between the mental operations of taking
in the sense, and those of giving it out, at the sanme
time. For although the former in reading do legitimately affect and modify the elocution, yet even in
this case, if they become predominant in the consciousness of the reader, so as to overshadow and enfeeble the latter, the elocution is necessarily marred,
or spoiled. The tendency to this is obviated, in
some degree, by the great familiarity we attain with
the forms, meanings and sounds of printed words,
and by the wondrous perspicuity of the printed page,
from which we are enabled to take in the sense, as
the eye passes over it, with but little conscious attention or effort. In this way, the leading mental operations in good reading, continue to be those of giving out, rather than those of taking in the sense. A
good reader, however, never undertakes to read in
public a passage with which he is wholly unacquainted, except from necessity; nor then does he




FAMITARITY WITH THE MA:iUSCRIPT.    143
ever expect to do justice to himself, or his author.
He always tries to familiarize his mind beforehand
with the sentiments and words, in order to relieve
himself as much as possible from the operations of
taking in the sense, that he may be enabled to carry
on these operations, in so far as they are indispensable, mostly as sub-processes, whilst his faculties are
chiefly employed in the proper work of expression.
74. The degree of familiarity with the marnseript should
be such as to enable the speaker to carry on all the operations of taking in the sense as sub-processes.
In order to speak well from manuscript, it i: indispensable that the mental operations of taking in the
sense through the eye, should be suppressed altogether.  Consequently much greater familiarity with
the manuscript is required in this method of speaking, than with the printed page or manuscript iln
reading. In fact it must be such as to enable th3
speaker to carry on all these operations strictly as
sub-processes, and for the most part unconsciously.
If they become at all prominent in the conseiousness, they cannot fail to manifest themselves in all the
vices of elocution, to which this method of speakidng
is liable. Hence the speaker should never fail to
make himself as familiar as possible, by previous
study, with the matter of his discourse., including its
structure, drift and general arrangement, so that the
relations of the several parts to each other, and to
the whole, may be carried in his mind. Also the
first words of each general head, topic, paragraph
and sentence, should be made so familiar in its rel~a.




144          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
tions to what follows, as to suggest its subject, object and principal thoughts.  By a single unconscious glance at the first words of any sentence, the
speaker should be able to possess himself of the
whole of it, as nearly as possible in the words in
which it is written. In the degree in which' the
speaker neglects this previous study, and his familiarity with his manuscript falls short of what is here
required, in any of these particulars, will his delivery be enfeebled.
g 75. The influence of such familiarity with the manuscript
enables the speaker to suppress the sub-processes, and to
avail himself of all the other sources of power.
This influence is similar to that of the last two
sources of power, in the methods of speaking to
which they respectively apply.
1. It enables the speaker to suppress tle sub-processes.
By an adequate familiarity with the manuscript,
and where a good degree of facility in this method
of speaking has been acquired, all the mental operations of taking in the sense through the eye, are so
reduced that they can be carried on strictly as subprocesses, of: which the speaker is no more conscious
than he is of standing on his feet, or changing his position, or of the motions of his lungs or diaphragm.
He does not know when he turns the leaves of his
manuscript, nor hardly that he has it before him.
JHis glances at it are so momentary that they scarcely make a deeper impression upon his mind than the
nictation of his eyelids. He is as unconscious of the




FAMLIARITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.   145
use he makes of it as the skillful writer is of the manner of holding his pen, or the accomplished musician
of fingering the keys of his instrument. Hence these
mental operations are all suppressed; they have little or no tendency to express themselves in marring the delivery.
2. It enables him to avail himself of the other sources
of power.
Being fully released from the embarrassment of
these sub-processes, the speaker is enabled to throw
all his faculties into the proper work of delivery.
There is nothing to hinder him from entering, in the
fullest manner, into the sentiments he has to express,
nor to impede the flow of the emotions which the
discourse, or the occasion, or the audience may be
adapted to inspire. With only a momentary and
unconscious reference to the manuscript, his eye and
countenance are sufficiently free to exert their mysterious powers upon the audience, and to secure
their attention and sympathy; whilst, in the full consciousness of speaking directly to them, he grasps
them with his mind, and holds them up to the object
which he aims to accomplish. Thus all the signs
which he employs, both of voice and gesture, naturally take on their true forms, and the speaking is
clothed with power.
~ 76. The neglect of this source of power renders all others
unavailable, and renders the speaking the reverse of
true expression.
The consequences of neglecting this source of power are similar, in most respects, to those which have




146         TEE SOURCES OF POWER.
been already exhibited, in the two preceding chapters; yet in one particular, at least, they are more
damaging to elocution than any others.
1. It renders all other sources of power unavailable.
For where the previous study of the manuscript
is neglected, the mental operations of taking in the
sense through the eye, necessarily become predominant in the consciousness of the speaker; in which
case, they either displace from the mind altogether,
or degrade to a subordinate character, all those operations which essentially belong to the giving out,
or expression of thought, and to impressing it upon
other minds. Having his faculties pre-occupied,
after a principal manner, with what ought to be
wholly an unconscious sub-process, the speaker is
unable to employ them in the proper work of delivery. Thus earnestness in speaking directly to the
audience, for the accomplishment of his object,
together with all the power which this gives to elocution, becomes impossible. The speaker cannot
hold before his mind the object of speaking, nor feel
the desire to accomplish it, nor be sensible of the
power of the thoughts which he has to express; nor
is his mind susceptible of sympathy with the audience, nor indeed of any other emotion which gives
power to delivery. For there is no proper exercise
of the emotional nature which corresponds to, or is
consistent with the intellectual operation of spelling
out the sense of a manuscript.
2. It renders the speaking the reverse of true expression.
(1.) This statement requires some qualification,




FAMILIARITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.   147
although its significance is not likely to be overestimated. For inasmuch as the mere utterance of the
voice, and the pronunciation of words, in whatever
manner, do necessarily imply something of the nature of speaking, these acts can never become in an
absolute-but they do become in a qualified sense
the reverse, or opposite of expression.
(2.) The reason is that the leading mental operations are the reverse of those. which belong to expression. We have seen that the mental operations of
taking in the sense through the eye, are the reverse of
those which belong to giving it out, and impressing it
upon other minds. Consequently, when the previous
study of the manuscript is neglected, and these reverse operations become predominant in the consciousness of the speaker-that is, when he is wholly
or chiefly occupied with the labor of transferring
the sense of the words from the manuscript to his
own mind-the speaking becomes chiefly expressive
of this leading mental state; and hence it not only
loses all proper adaptation to the communication of
thought and feeling to other minds, but it actually
consists, for the most part, of signs which are the
reverse of expression.
(3.) This reason applies to all the signs employed.
Hence all the phenomena of voice and gesture are
not merely subdued, as in reading, where these reverse processes, from the greater plainness of the
printed page, and other facilities, are still carried on
subordinately (~ 73-4), but they actually become, in
their characteristic elements, the reverse of all true
expression. The eye, of course, is withdrawn from




1-13       TiZE SOURCES or POWER.
the audience, and confined to the manuscript, which
signifies that the mind of the speaker is withdrawn
from them, and from the work of speaking to them,
and is otherwise employed. The. expression of the
countenance, when compared with the lighting up
and glow of the features in eloquent delivery, becomes so absurd that Hogarth has chosen it for the
subject of one of his masterly pictures, namely,
that of the preacher spelling out the sense of his
manuscript to a snoring congregation. In like manner, the motions of the hands, arms and body, all the
gestures, and all the tones, inflections, articulations,
and changes of time, pitch, force and movement, become, to a great degree, the reverse of those of an
overflowing mind and heart, pouring out its fullness
of thought and feeling, into the bosoms of an attentive and sympathizing audience.
(4.) The effect is like that of saying the Lord's
Prayer backwards.  Where these reverse processes thus become predominant in the consciousness of the speaker, their effect upon the speaking,
and upon the audience, is very much like that
of reading a passage of Shakspeare backwards;
and in the pulpit, it may be compared to that
of saying the Lord's Prayer backwards-a species of conjuring with sacred words, which, according to a popular superstition, has power to
raise the devil. It is mournful to think how much
of what is called preaching, is thus the reverse of all
true expression. And where the case is not actually
so bad as this, it is because these reverse processes
do not become so prominent as to supersede ail oth



FAMInTARTY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.    149
ers, but are themselves held in check and modified
by some remaining consciousness in the speaker,
that he is yet talking to people, to effect some object
in their minds.
~ 77. The chief temptation to neglect this source of power,
which requires to be guarded against, is the security
which the speaker derives from the manuscrkpt.
1. This temptation is very general and difficult to re.
sist.
The one great and sore temptation to neglect the
previous study of the manuscript, which many speakers find themselves unable to resist, and which sometimes overcomes probably the best,.arises from the
very thing which gives this method of speaking its
chief advantage, namely, that security which the
speaker feels, with respect to the matter of his discourse, that he shall be able to reproduce it in some
form, when he knows that he shall have it lying before him in manuscript, at the moment of delivery.
It is necessary to guard against this temptation with
the utmost vigilance, in order to avoid the most
shameful failure, and in order to speak, in this method of delivery, with anything worthy of the name of
power.
2. Moral motives to resist it ought to be sufficient with
clergymen.
With all ministers of the gospel who speak from
manuscript, the moral obligation which rests upon
them, to neglect nothing which can aid them in impressing upon the people the great and precious
truths which the Lord has put into their. mouths,




150        THE SOURCES OF POWER
ought of itself to be sufficient to enable them to resist this temptation. For where this obligation is
felt, and the importance of this source of power is
july appreciated, there is no difficulty. All that is
required is a little time and labor, which grows less
and less with every successive discourse. It would
be easy to name examples of those who seem never
to have neglected this source of power, and who
have derived from it a rich reward of elocutionary
power; so that from their delivery, one could hardly perceive that they had any manuscript before
them, otherwise than from seeing them turn the
leaves. But if the foregoing considerations should
have no influence to remedy the enormous evil which
arises from the prevalent neglect of this source of
power, the church and the cause of Christ must continue to suffer, until a generation arises who shall
have received from elocutionary training a better
appreciation of its importance, or who shall be more
faithful to their moral obligations.
~ 78. The comparative advantages of this method of speaking
are, that it relieves the mind from the laborious sub-pro.
cesses of both the others, and enables the speaker, with
due attention to its source of power, to employ all his
faculties in the proper work of delivery.
When the requisite degree of familiarity with the
manuscript is secured, this method of speaking is
nearly as favorable to power in delivery as either of
the others. Indeed there can be little doubt that,
for all who have not either the very highest endoweriets of memory, or at least a good faculty of ex



FAMnLRITY WITH THE MANUSCRIPT.   151
tempore speaking, it is the best of the three. Fol
it relieves the mind from all painful efforts of mem.
ory, and from the dread of forgetting, which are liable to prove so damaging in memoriter speaking;
and from the vast labor of invention, arrangement
and style, together with all the anxieties and fears
to which these give rise, and which load the mind
and delivery in extempore discourse. The perfect
security which the speaker feels, when he has all
that he wishes to say plainly written out before him,
enables him to throw all his faculties and powers
into the proper work of delivery. The sole difficulty which he has to overcome, is the necessity of
some slight reference to his manuscript, which, with
the requisite study of it beforehand, is, as we have
seen, hardly any impediment. Nor will such a use
of the manuscript give any offence to a moderately
intelligent audience, after they have become a little
accustomed to it. For when the speaker refers to
it unconsciously, the audience soon cease to notice
that he has any manuscript before him.
~ 79. A plain manuscript is of great importance in this
method of spearing.
In order to facilitate the free and unconscious use
of the manuscript, and to render this source of power available in the highest degree, it is evident that
the discourse should always be written on the best
of paper, and in the plainest chirography. For a
plain and pure and perspicuous manuscript, not only
facilitates greatly the mental operations of catching




152        THE SOURCES OF POWER.
the sense by a momentary and unconscious glance,
but also it encourages the esthetic feeling of the
speaker, and makes it easier for him to feel confidence in what he has to say, in a similar way,
though in a less degree, that beautiful paper and
print enhances the beauty of the thoughts which are
thus, as it were, appropriately dressed and adorned.
On the other hand, a blurred, or blotted, or confused
manuscript greatly increases the difficulty of these
mental operations; and when the speaker relies upon gathering the sense of such a manuscript at the
moment of delivery, he is liable to hesitate, and become puzzled, so that he must repeat the preceding
words before he can succeed in spelling out his own
meaning. What effect all this must have upon his
elocution, and upon the audience, is known to those
who have been bored by it, but which ii is much
easier to imagine than to describe. The only wonder is, that it does not have the effect ascribed to
saying the Lord's Prayer backwards. It is well
worth while therefore to rewrite a discourse, rather
than to deliver it from a poor manuscript. Many a
good sermon has been laboriously rewritten, chiefly
for the purpose of purifying and perfecting the
manuscript, in order to its more effective delivery.




CHAPTER X.
VIALITY, FAVORABLE MOODS, AND PHIYIAL REGIMEN.
~ 80. Favorable moods are of great importance in delivery.
ALL speakers have experience of favorable and unfavorable moods, which exert the greatest influence
upon their elocution. So great is this influence
that, after some experience, a good speaker would
rather appear before an audience in a favorable
mood with a feeble discourse, than in an unfavorable one with the best discourse he can possibly prepare. For in the former case, he is conscious of a
certain inward fullness, from which his thoughts and
feelings seem to overflow, like water from a full reservoir; in the latter, his mental and bodily action is
feeble and slow, accompanied with labor and fatigue;
in a favorable mood, he moves through his discourse
as a stately ship through the water, when her sails
are all filled with the favoring gale; in an unfavorable mood, he is like the same ship windbound, and
thumping upon the shoals.
~ 81. The favorable mood is chiefly dependent upon vitality.
It is therefore a question of very great importance,
how shall the speaker be enabled to command tha




154         THE SomRCES OF POWER.
favorable mood for each occasion of speaking? In
order to answer this question, it is necessary to state
that the favorable mood depends chiefly upon the
condition and action of the vital forces of the physical organism. There is, indeed, a vitality of the
intellect, of the sensibility, and of the will, as well as
of the physical organism, but these cannot be
regarded as independent of each other. For elocutionary purposes, they may all be conceived of as
different modes of action, or forms of manifestation,
of the one principle of life, health, strength and energy of body and mind. Now a full and healthy
action of the vital forces will comnmonly, with due
attention to regimen, enable the speaker to command the favorable mood for each occasion of speaking; whilst a defective, or exhausted, or obstructed
vitality, arising from -ill health, mental distress,
fatigue, loss of sleep, excess in eating or drinking,
or any other cause, will produce the unfavorable
mood, and unfit the speaker for his work, just as in
any other case which requires the most strenuous
exertion of all the faculties and powers of body and
mind.
~ 82. A full vitality imparts to the voice its most effective
qualities and powers, and a certain fullness and vivacity to
the speaking; the want of it enfeebles the delivery in a
corresponding manner.
A full and healthy action of the vital forces is
almost indispensable to these excellences of speaking, although it will not always secure them without
the proper regimen. Its natural tendency is to
these results.




VITALITY AND PHYSICAL REGMIEN.    155
1. It imparts to the voice its most effective qualities
and powers.
Strength, purity, depth, compass and flexibility of
voice are essential elements of power in delivery;
and these depend upon a fill and healthy vitality in
the speaker, more perhaps than upon anything else.
For although sometimes the most healthy and strong
men have very poor and feeble voices, on account
of abnormal defects in their vocal organism, and
sometimes very feeble men have fine voices, yet
there can be no doubt that a high degree of vitality
is favorable, and a low degree is unfavorable to
these qualities and powers of the voice, and to that
easy management of it, which are essential to enable the speaker to endure the labor of addressing
public assemblies without exhaustion or fatigue, and
consequent feebleness in delivery.
2. It naturally manifests itself in a certain fullness
of utterance and delivery.
This is a most excellent quality of elocution, in
which the speaker's resources of physical strength,
thought, feeling, voice, articulation, and all the elements of delivery, seem to be more than adequate
to the demand. This at least is the impression
which such fullness of utterance makes upon the audience. IIe seems to deliver himself without effort,
constraint, or fatigue; or rather, it is not he that
speaks; he opens his mouth, and it seems to speak
itself. His thoughts speak, his emotions and passions speak; his whole delivery seems to overflow
from. an inexhaustible fullness. His tones are full
and sonorous; his changes of pitch and inflection




156         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
are full; that is, they rise and fall to the full pitch
required by the sentiment; his articulation is full,
distinctly enunciating every sound, without being
labored, or overstrained; his emphasis is full, reaching the just measure of force and frequency; and
the modulation or melody of his speaking is full, and
satisfies the ear. In a word, fullness is the characteristic of the whole delivery.
3. It imparts animation or vivacity to the speaking,
for the want of which hardly any other quality can compensate.
(1.) Vivacity is a beauty of motion, and depends
upon vitality. As a beauty of motion it is allied to
grace. Vitality, acting as keenness and rapidity of
the intellectual operations, and as liveliness or
quickness of sensibility, naturally manifests itself in
those rapid, easy, sprightly, natural and expressive motions, in which vivacity consists. The motions in this case are those of the voice, in its
changes of quality, force, pitch, inflection, time,
emphasis and modulation; also those of the body,
in its changes of position or attitude; those of the
arms, hands and fingers, and of the features or
countenance, but especially of the eye, which, in
its amazingly quick, brilliant and varied expressions
of the soul, is the most perfect type of vivacity.
These are the motions in which animation in speaking consists, and by which a good speaker shows
himself to be alive all over, even to his finger nails,
and from which every part of his body seems to be
no less eloquent than his words.




VrrALITr  AND PHYSICAL REGIMEN.    157
(2.) Animation, therefore, is a quality of speaking
for the want of which hardly any other can conmpensate. For it is always interesting, and often
charming, being almost sure to engage the attention
and sympathy of the audience, and to bring out all
the elocutionary power which is to be derived from
that source; whilst a speaker without animation,
however otherwise respectable, can hardly fail to
put the audience to sleep.
4. The want of vitality enfeebles the w7hole delivery.
Where it is wanting, the speaker seems to be constantly overdrawing upon inadequate resources.
The delivery is empty and dry; it lacks continuity,
and sustained pressure upon the audience; it is
labored, heavy and mechanical. The tones ate dry
and hollow, or rough; the inflections are either unnaturally extended, or they fall short; the voice is
feeble, either too low, or strained to a high, shrill
pitch; the emphasis is either neglected or artificial,
and often misplaced; the articulation is either indistinct or overstrained; the general movement is
either too slow or unnaturally rapid. The whole
delivery is characterized by emptiness or hollowness,
often making the impression of a want of sincerity
and earnestness, and it renders the audience discontented and irritable. The speaking is consequently
powerless to effect its object.
~ 83. Vitality and the favorable mood are dependent upon
physical regimen, which varies for different speakers.
1. The importance of such regimen arises from its
influence upon the vitality.




158          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
A high degree of. vitality, and the favorable mood
for speaking, are no doubt dependent to a considerable extent upon moral, but far more upon physical
causes.  Hence the importance of some physical
regimen in preparation for each occasion of speaking. Some such preparation has been found indispensable by almost all great orators. It is impossible for any one who has never tried it, to be at all
aware how much aid it will afford in exciting the
requisite vitality, and in securing the favorable mood.
It is a pity, therefore, that so many speakers who
might otherwise excel, allow themselves to neglect
it; for in consequence of this neglect, they are seldom able to bring more than half of their actual
resources to the work of delivery.
2. Such regimen varies.for speakers of different temperaments and constitutions, so that only general rules
can be laid down.
Every speaker ought to make careful experiments
for himself, to determine what may be best in his
own case. There are, however, at least two general
rules, by the observance of which it will commonly
be found possible for healthy persons to command
the requisite amount of vital force, and the favorable
mood, for almost every foreseen occasion of speaking.
~ 84. The first general rule is that the speaker, in prepara.
tion for speaking, should eat less than usual, and the food
which is taken should be nourishing and easily digested.
1. The vital forces will not inspire the brain, and
grind in the stomach, at the same time.




VITALITY AND PHYSICAL REGIMoEN.    159
The vital forces are hardly ever sufficient to inspire the brain with that intense energy and activity
which public speaking demands, at the same time
that they are employed in digesting a stomach full
of food. Hence it is necessary to tax them  as
lightly as possible in the work of digestion, when
they are all required for the expression of thought.
2. Infeeble constitutions this rule sometimes requires
to be reversed.
It holds good  chiefly for healthy  speakers.
Where the general health is enfeebled, it may require to be reversed. It is related of the younger
Pitt, that in the later years of his life, when his
physical constitution was broken down, he always
found it necessary, before delivering one of his great
speeches in Parliament, to brace himself up with a
hearty meal, and at least a couple of bottles of wine.
Some of our greatest American orators also, as is
well known, have required to be very highly stimulated before speaking. But these are examples
fatal to imitate.
3. Thle food should be nourishing and easily digested.
Probably in most cases some food is necessary,
but it should always be taken in a highly concentrated form, such as the yolks of soft-boiled eggs,
so that as little in bulk and quantity as possible may
yield sufficient nourishment.
4. The best regimen for a healthly speaker is to abstain altogether from solid food.
Where the physical strength is abundantly ade.
quate, as it ought to be in all young and healthy




160         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
speakers, the best regimen, approved by a copious
experience, is total abstinence from solid food, and
a cup of tea or coffee taken immediately before
commencing to speak. This last particular may
seem to be a small matter, but the genial and inspiring influence of a cup of tea upon an empty
stomach, is much greater than one would suppose;
and, rightly considered, nothing is unimportant
which tends in the least to increase the speaker's
power before an audience. When the physical
strength is not fully adequate, some food should
always be taken, or the consequence may be a
greatly enfeebled vitality.
~ 85. The observance of this rule acts favorably upon the in.
tellect, sensibilities, and physical organs; the neglect of
it enfeebles all these.
1. Its beneficial effects are as follows.
These will be found, in a very short time, to be
such that the speaker will never willingly neglect his
regimen. For when the stomach is not overloaded
with food, the intellectual operations are more keen
and rapid, the sensibilities more easily excited, especially the affections are more tender and susceptible,
than at other times. Also there is- more room for the
play of the breath, and lower organs of the voice.
In fact the most marked effect of this regimen is upon
the voice, which is rendered more deep and full and
strong and flexible; so that in most cases its power
will be found to be more than doubled.




VITALITY AN] PHYSICAL REGTMEN.    161
2. The evil consequences of neglecting it are theJfllow.
ing.
These are far more damaging than any one would
believe who has never tried it. For it is almost impossible to speak well with one's belly full. It impledes the intellectual operations, dulls the sensibilities, clogs the affections, and thus renders the speaking dull and heavy and sluggish. It enfeebles the
voice, renders it inflexible and unmanageable, and
its deepest and richest tones unavailable. Often it
manifests itself in forms hardly to be distinguished
from total want of earnestness and unction. Accordingly we often find in the recorded experience
of clergymen, such language as the following:
"Yesterday, I preached twice to my beloved people; but oh! I was empty, empty-my wheels were
taken off, and I dragged heavily through both the
services." One can hardly read such a passage
without wishing for an opportunity to reply, Ah!
my friend, you were not empty, or it would have
been much better for you and your people; neither
were your wheels taken off —you were too full, you
were overloaded-that was your trouble.
~ 86. The second general rule is that the speaker, in prepara.
tion for speaking, should take plenty of rest, and exercise
in the open air.
1. Fatigue implies the destruction of life.
The physiological cause of fatigue, whether of
body or mind, is always the destruction of life in a
large number of the vital cells, of which the brain




162          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
and nervous tissues, and in fact the whole organism
of the body are composed. This destruction always
takes place from strenuous and prolonged effort,
whether of the intellect, sensibility, or will, or of the
muscles of the body. In mental activity especially,
and most of all, in that which is accompanied with
anxiety, or grief, or watchfulness, this destruction
of life, and consequent exhaustion of the vital forces,
is very rapid and prostrating. But howsoever it is
produced, it leaves the animal matter of which the
defunct life-cells are composed, in a decomposed
state, in which it is deposited in the blood, rendering this vital fluid thick, sluggish and pale.
2. In a state of exhaustion, therefore, it is impossible
to speak well.
For when the speaker comes to his work, having
his blood thus loaded with dead animal matter, all
his faculties of body and mind are necessarily
clogged and dull and sluggish. Evidently to speak
with feeling, animation, or any other element of
power, in such a physical and mental condition,
must be the next thing to impossible.
3. Hen.ce the necessity of rest and pure air.
For the blood in this corrupt state is poured into
the lungs, where the dead matter is absorbed by the
breath, and exhaled, or carried out of the system.
Hence the absolute necessity, previous to speaking,
of adequate rest, and of inhaling large draughts of
pure air, in order to purify the blood, and restore
its exhausted vitality. This implies, of course, that
every cause of fatigue should be avoided, and that




VITALITY AND PHYSICAL REGIMEN.    163
some time previous to each occasion of speaking
should be spent in the open air, which should also
be accompanied with more or less, but never fatiguing
exercise of the voice.
4. This rule is of special importance to clergymen.
The extensive and laborious intellectual and moral
preparations for speaking which are required of
clergymen, and which render their observance of
this rule somewhat difficult, render it also of far
greater importance for them than for other speakers.
Abundant experience proves its necessity, and that
it brings a rich reward of increased power in delivery. For the reason that clergymen are compelled
to speak twice or three times on Sunday, they ought
never to leave the study later than at noon on Saturday. The remainder of the day should be devoted
to rest, and gentle exercise in the open air, and the
night to sound and refreshing sleep. In like manner, the intervals between the Sunday services should
be devoted to rest. For by such adequate refreshment and renovation of the vital forces, the preacher
may make the latter services as animated and interesting as the former, which is the more desirable in
order to overcome the increasing temptation of
church-goers to stay at home in the afternoon.
5. The neglect of this rule by clergymen is both afolly
and a sin.
The habit in which so many clergymen indulge, of
sitting at the study table until late on Saturday evening, thus rendering the few hours of unrest which
follow, totally inadequate to restore their exhausted




164         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
vitality, cannot be too strongly condemned. No necessity of intellectual preparation, whether theological or rhetorical, can justify it; for thus a vast proportion of the fruits of such preparation is thrown
away, from inability to deliver with any power what
they have prepared. This habit is a sin, as well as
an inexcusable folly-in many cases the consequence
of previous sin and folly, namely that of neglecting
their study work on the earlier days of the weeksins and follies, which receive their just punishment
often in such feebleness of delivery as renders the
attempt at preaching the gospel on the part of those
who are guilty of them, a miserable failure; and
which not unfrequently result in the early ruin of
their health, and blasting of all their hopes of usefulness. For whatsoever is worthy of the name of
preaching requires the exercise of the whole vital
force of a sound and healthy man. To preach the
gospel takes all there is or can ever be in any man.




CHAPTER XI.
SELF-CONTROL.
~ 87. Self-control is essential to the consciousness and manlfestation of reserved force in speaking-'- the spirit of the
prophets must be subject unto the prophets.'
THIS divine precept teaches us that the prophets
were not allowed to lose the entire control of themselves, even in their inspired revelations, and ecstatic
visions. The orator also is a prophet in a true
though limited sense, and it is equally necessary
that his ardor and passion, however high they may
rise, should never be allowed to get the better of
reason and propriety.  He must never allow himself
to be transported wholly out of himself, but there
must always be a clear method in his prophetic raptures. It was said of Demosthenes, that even in his
most impassioned eloquence, he never was known to
lose control of himself; and this enabled him to
control and direct the storm which he raised, and on
which he rode. In like manner, all truly great
orators, in their noblest flights, whilst transporting
their audiences, keep the mastery of the situation by
remaining masters of themselves. Their speaking
is always characterized by a certain consciousness
and manifestation of reserved force, by temperance




166          THE SOURCES OF POWER.
and propriety or becomingness of utterance and
gesture, which are essential to genuine and sustained
power in delivery.
~ 88. The consciousness of reserved force enables the speaker
to feel secure; in its natural manifestations it awakens
the confidence of the audience, and the want of it en.
feebles delivery.
1. The consciousness of power is itself a source o
power.
This consciousness of reserved force applies to
thought, feeling and utterance. It is practically the
same thing as the consciousness of power. A very
large proportion of the power in delivery, which is
exerted by great orators, results simply and directly
from this consciousness of power, or from the sense
of security inseparable from it, which they have acquired by successful practice. Feeling that they
carry within them, while speaking, abundant resources of thought, emotion and utterance, which
are as yet untouched, they are enabled to exercise
that rational self-confidence which is essential to
the employment of their faculties in the proper
work of delivery (~ 28-1).
2. Its influence ujcon the speaking is as.follows.
It enables the speaker to forecast his emphatic
passages and words, to graduate the amount of
force and time which may be appropriate to the
several parts of the discourse, to manage his pauses
and transitions with their proper effect, and to
speak with due deliberation and right emphasis.




SELF-CONTROL.              167
3. It awakens the feeling of security in the audience,
and excites their imaginations.
This consciousness of power, or reserved force, in
its natural manifestations, produces upon the audience a great effect. For the feeling of security
in the speaker awakens a corresponding feeling of
security in them. They follow him with confidence,
who leads them with confidence. They follow him
with expectation, because he seems to be leading
them into a region of inexhaustible abundance, of
which as yet they have had only glimpses from a
distance. When they see that he is rather restraining than exerting himself, they feel the greater interest in, and ascribe a higher value to what he
actually says, than they would if they saw that he
was giving out, at every step, all that there was in
him. Their imaginations are more excited, and their
sensibilities are more deeply affected, by what is
veiled or held back, than they would be if all were
openly and fully expressed. For in elocution, as in
rhetoric, partial and judicious suppression is one of
the most powerful forms of expression. The stifled
sob of the bereaved mother, at the grave of her dead
child, is more affecting than the loud and boisterous
wail of uncontrolled anguish.
4. The want of this consciousness of -reserved force
confuses and enfeebles the elocution, and begets distrust
in the audience.
When the speaker feels that he is exerting himself
to the uttermost, and has nothing to fall back on,
this renders him anxious and uncertain, which en



168         THE SOTTrCES OF POWER.
feebles all his faculties. In case he is at no loss for
words, he will speak too rapidly, piling sentence upon
sentence, and paragraph upon paragraph, without
due deliberation, pauses, or discreteness in his delivery. In other cases, his timidity and anxiety will be
so great as to cause hesitation and confusion. His
voice now trembles; his tones, inflections, articulation, emphasis and gesture, are hurried and flurried.
His whole delivery becomes uncertain, confused and
ineffectual. By such signs the audience soon perceive that the speaker is drawing upon all his resources, that he cannot rise, and must soon decline,
consequently their expectations are all unfavorable,
their sensibilities are chilled, and their imaginations
are paralyzed. They now follow him, if at all, with
a feeling of insecurity; he seems to them to have
less and less power the longer he speaks; and they
experience a sense of relief, instead of regret, when
he comes to a close. It is only in his peroration
that the speaker can safely exert himself to the utmost, and leave himself without the consciousness
of reserved force.
~ 89. The loss of the control of himself causes the speaker to
lose control of his audience-when overcome by emotion
he should pause.
When the speaker loses control of himself through
excess of feeling, the sympathetic relations between
himself and his audience are broken up, and thrown
into confusion. His emotions, being so much deeper
and more powerful than theirs, become incompre



SELF-CONTROL.                169
hensible to them; they can see no good reason why
he should be so deeply moved, and consequently
they are unable to sympathize with him. Not only
then does his passion fail to excite in them corresponding emotions, but it produces a contrary effect.
Thus, as we have seen (~ 45-3), weeping, or other
signs of grief or sorrow, in excess, or when there
does not seem to be sufficient cause, has the effect
of drivelling. Whenever, therefore, from such excessive emotion, the speaker loses control of himself,
he necessarily loses control of the audience. He
can no longer grasp them with his mind, nor hold
them in his mental grasp up to the object which he
aims to accomplish.  Excessive feeling, moreover,
soon exhausts the vital forces, and renders the delivery of the subsequent parts of the discourse tame
and feeble, both in itself, and by contrast with that
which has preceded.  If, however, in spite of himself, the speaker should at any time be overmastered
by a flood of emotion, his only safe course is to
pause until he recovers his self-control; in which
case, if the pause be not too long, it may prove the
most effective part of his delivery.
~ 90. Self-control is essential to propriety in speaking, which
consists in the adaptation of the delivery to the character
of the speaker, the sentiments, the occasion, and the circumnstances, and which is of great importance in elocution, as in all art.
1. Propriety, the UT DECENT,, as understood by the
ancient authors, and by Shakspeare, depends upon sefcontrol.




17C         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
(1.) Cicero insists much on propriety, as one of the
chief essentials to power in oratory; but he gives
us little aid in determining wherein it consists, or
how it is to be attained. His directions are often
reiterated in such words as the following: " In most
things [pertaining to oratory] that which is most
useful is, I know not how, the most becoming."
(2.) Quintilian is more full and explicit, where he
tells us, in substance, that propriety consists in the
adaptation of the delivery to the character of tho
speaker, the sentiments, the occasion and circumstances of speaking. This seems to cover the whole
ground.
(3.) Shakspeare teaches us that the chief element
of this excellence has its source in self-restraint, or
self-control. In the passage cited below (~ 91), he
gives us the following direction: " Suit the action
to the word, and the word to the action; with this
special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature.... For in the very torrent;, tempest,
and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you
must acquire and beget a temperance that may give
smoothness."  We see in this that the most glaring violations of propriety arise from the loss cf
self-restrairt, and consist in thus' overstepping the
modesty of nature.'
2. In all art nature requires to be imitated with a
pertain modest reserve.
Truth to nature does not consist in copying her
material forms with servility, or minute particularity. Often this will produce nothing better than a




SELF-CONTROL.               171
caricature. For such is the eternal distinction between nature and art, that we reverence in nature
what we cannot tolerate in any attempt at the imitation of her sacred mysteries. That which in
nature is simple truth, will often, when minutely
copied, become an outrage on propriety. A certain creative freedom is characteristic of all true art.
For nature can be truly imitated only by generous
spirits, who sympathize with her inner life; never
by servile copying of her mere material forms.
3. This modest reserve is one of the most important
lessons of ancient art.
So imbued with it were the Greeks, anrl so keen
was their sense of propriety with respect to it, that
they seem to have regarded it as a fundamental esthetic law. Hence in expressing even the most violent passions, such as the despair of Niobe, the grief
and anguish of the father of Iphigenia at Aulis, and
the physical torment of Laoco6n and his sons, the
whole exhibition is subdued, and kept within the
strictest limits of propriety. The Greek artists
have, indeed, been criticised for the rigor of their
works in this respect, as being untrue to nature;
for nature often expresses herself in very unlovely
forms. Despair, e g. grins, gnashes the teeth, and
tears the hair. Yet the Greeks were right, and
their critics are wrong.
4. The principle applies in all itsforce to elocution.
For it is certain that whoever, in speaking, should
attempt to portray the anguish and despair of lost
souls, by showing us how they grin, and gnasbl their




172         THE SOURCES OF POWER.
teeth, and tear their hair, would'overstep the mod.
esty of nature,' would outrage all propriety, and instead of producing the impression at which ho
aimed, would excite disgust or ridicule; and all this,
for the reason that the sacred mysteries of nature
require to be imitated or expressed in art with a
certain reverent modesty, and delicate reserve.
~ 91. Propriety is the principal point insisted on in Hamlet's
direction to the players.
This whole subject of propriety, in its relations to
self-control, is that which is chiefly insisted on by
Shakspeare, in that masterly direction to the players
which he has given us in the Hamlet, and which for
its own intrinsic excellence, no less than for the
weight of the great poet's authority, ought to be
carried in the memory of every student of elocution,
and of every public speaker. It has, indeed, far
greater value for the orator than for the actor, for
the reason that violations of propriety, that is to
say, violations of truth and nature, ought to be, if
they are not, more offensive in public speaking upon
grave and momentous occasions, than they can be
in play-acting. This whole passage is therefore reproduced here:
"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced
t to you. But if you mouth it, as many of our
players do, I 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




SELF-CONTROL.             173
your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.  Oh! it
offends me to the soul to hear a robustious, perriwig-pated fellow,tear a passion to tatters, to very
rags, to split the ears of the groundlings; who, foi
the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplica.
ble dumb shows and noise. I would have such a
fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant. It outHIerods Herod.'Pray you avoid it..... Be nol
too tame neither; but let your discretion be your
tutor. Suit the action to the word, and 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 [speaking]. Oh! there be players [speakers] that I have
seen play [speak], 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, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed,
that I had thought some of nature's journeymen
had made men, and not made them well, they imitated nature so abominably."
a 92. The means of acquiring self-control in elocution are
the same as in other things.
The means of cultivating the power of self-control do not come within the province of elocution.
They are in speaking the same as in every other
department of life, viz: practice and familiarity, in
the circumstances and sphere of activity in which
we most desire to exercise it, together with the




174         TEE SOURCES OF POWER.
feeling of our moral responsibility with respect to
it, and of its indispensable importance to success,
not only in speaking, but also in everything else
For without self-control, man is not man, but only a
fractional part of the vast and fatal forces of nature.
).93. Conclusion of the sources of power in delivery.
It is hoped that the views which have now been
presented, will tend to obviate the prejudices against
this art, which have arisen out of the attempt to construct it from the nature and laws of the organs of
speech, and of articulate sounds, without reference
to the sources of its power, in the intellectual, moral
and esthetic states and workings of the mind and
soul of the speaker. It is hoped and believed, also,
that the study of this noble and beautiful art, as here
laid down,-so far from having any tendency to gen-?rate coldness, mannerism, or a mechanical style of
speaking, which to some extent have been the fruits
of the study of it, conceived as an art of mere manner, without reference to the states of the soul which
it is intended to embody, symbolize and express,will so stimulate and quicken the faculty of speaking
and of eloquence, that the student will be enabled
to derive the greater benefit from the studies which
are to follow, of the manner and forms which are
characteristic of eloquent speaking, that is to say,
of the Elements of Power in delivery.




PART II.
THE ELEMENTS OF POWER IN LDELIVERY.
I.-ARTICULATION.
II.-ACCENT.
III.-PRONUNCIATION.
IV.-THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICa
V.-THE POWERS OF THE VOICZ.
VI.-PITCH AND INFLECTION.
VII.-TIME AND PAUSE.
VIII.-FORCE.
IX.-EMPHASI.
X.-GEsTUAL








CHAPTER L
METHOD OF TREATMSENT.
9 94. The treatment of the elements of power in delivery ineludes phonology, and the laws of expression.
1. Phonology is the science of vocal sounds.
The principles and laws of this science are exhibited in the chapters on the vocal organism, articulation, accent and pronunciation. It is hoped that
these chapters may have an interest for the scientific
phonologist, independently of their bearing upon
the art of Elocution. For the objects of this art,
however, they of course include a discussion of the
general relations of phonology to expression.
2. The laws of expression include the applications oJ
phonology to the exlpression of thought and sentiment.
These laws are treated of chiefly in the chapters
on the qualities and powers of the voice, pitch
and inflection, time and pause, force, emphasis and
gesture. The Elements of power in delivery, moreover, are properly divided into those of the voice,
and those of gesture; of which the former are beyond all comparison the most important, and constitute nearly the whole of what is commonly included in Elocution.




178        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 95. The following treatment of the Elements aims at more
perfect generalization, and greater simplicity, than have
been hitherto attained.
The Elements, as distinguished from the Sources
of power in delivery, have been copiously and ably
treated, both by European and Amerioan authors.
MIost of these works, however, are characterized by
great minuteness of analysis and detail, and contain
a vast multitude of special rules and precepts. The
author of this work, in addition to the original views
presented, especially in phonology, has carefully reworked, and brought to the test of experiment, whatever he has retained from previous writers. He has
also aimed to effect a more thorough and perfect
generalization and simplification of whatever he has
found wrought out to his hand; whilst, at the same
time, he has excluded a great amount of what, in his
judgment, has been overdone, and thereby rendered
practically unavailable.
~ 96. The treatment here proposed is founded upon Dr. Rush's
Philosophy of the Human Voice.
1. This is a work of the greatest value.
This author, it is believed, has done more to lay
open what was before veiled and mysterious in
speech, and to explain the phenomena of power in
delivery, than any other, whether of ancient or modern times. His work ought to be patiently studied
by every one who would become acquainted with
the nature, powers and adaptations of that wondrous vocal instrument, which is brought into play
in every spoken word. In fact, before it was pub



METHOD OF TREATMENT.              17,
fished, anything like a scientific exposition of the
vocal elements of expression was hardly possible.
Consequently all subsequent writers, at least in this
country, who are worthy to be consulted, have drawn
from it, sometimes with, and sometimes without acknowledgment, both their materials and most of
their results.
2. But the work is ill-adapted to the wants qf practical students.
For those whose only and immediate aim is the
attainment of power in delivery, this work can seldom be of much service. For few persons, except
the most earnest teachers, or physiologists led by a
purely scientific interest, can be expected to master
its difficult and often obscure details; and even
where this seems to have been accomplished, as in
the case of some teachers, the result has not always
been satisfactory. For the author's plan embraces
only the treatment of the Elements, excluding entirely the preceding Sources of power, from which,
as we have seen, the very life and spirit of delivery
must be derived. Consequently the tendency of the
work, if the student be not on his guard, is to displace from his consciousness those mental operations
which properly belong to the giving out or expression of thought and feeling; to render predominant
in his mind the rules and precepts of the art, together with all those other mental actions which, in
good speaking, are carried on strictly as sub-processes; and thus, to cherish and develop the vices of
elocution, rather than to correct them.




180        THE ELEMENTS OF POWE.
3. The evils which have arisen from  the various
attempts to reduce it to practice, are here guarded against.
The great difficulty with the work of Dr. Rush,
then, is not that it is not true, but that it is limited
to the discussion of the Elements of power, and that
it is too minute and abstruse for practical use. The
system here exhibited is founded upon it, for the
reason that otherwise truth and nature must have
been violated: whilst the evils which have arisen
from previous attempts to reduce its minute and obscure statements to practice, are sufficiently guarded
against, it is hoped, by the preceding exhibition of
the Sources of power; by avoiding, as far as possible, the multiplication of rules and precepts, and
by insisting upon comparatively a few general principles.




CHAPTER II.
THE VOCAL ORGANISM IN RELATION TO VOCAL CULTURE.
~ 97. Great importance of vocal culture.
1. The voice is of paramount importance in delivery.
This would seem to be sufficiently obvious. If it
were not, we might refer to the following authoritative declaration of Cicero: "For the effectiveness
and glory of delivery, the voice, doubtless, holds the
first place."
2. It is capable of as great improvement for speaking as it isfor singing.
The wonderful improvement of which the voice is
capable, is well understood, and fully appreciated
by the teachers and proficients in the sister art of
music; but it is not so  generally understood that it
is capable of equal development, by systematic training and exercise, for purposes of oratory. Yet every
teacher of elocution can refer to numerous instances,
in which voices very inferior by nature, have attained, in a short time, by a few simple exercises,
to great excellence; have, in fact, doubled, tripled,
and even quadrupled their speaking power. There
would seem to be no instances in which diligence




182        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
in such exercises, with due care to guard against
overstraining the organs, has not resulted in great
improvement; whilst it may be said, in general,
that the untrained, or uncultivated voice, is worth
little more for public speaking than it is for singing.
3. T/he culture of the voice was highly appreciated by
the ancients.
Among the Greeks and Romans there was a distinct class of teachers, called phonasci, or vocists,
who devoted themselves wholly to the training of the
voice, and who carried their pupils through a most
laborious and protracted course of exercises. In
order to develop strength of voice, e. g. they prescribed declamation whilst walking, running, climbing, and lying upon the back; and in this last position, with weights on the chest. The results which
they attained have been already alluded to (~19)
as exemplified in the thunder-words of Demosthenes,
and in the sweetness, compass and power of
Cicero's voice. Similar pains are taken in vocal
culture, and similar results are obtained by the
great singers and tragedians of modern times.
4. Modern neglect of vocal culture for public speaking is inexcusable.
In consequence of this neglect it is a rare thing
to hear a public speaker with a voice of great purity, compass and power. And this in clergymen
especially, is the more inexcusable, because they
have to rely upon the same instrument, namely, that
of oral speech, which was so assiduously cultivated
by the ancient orators, for infinitely higher and




THE VocAL ORGANISM.           183
holier purposes than were ever conceived of either
by Cicero or Demosthenes.
~ 98. Some knowledge of the vocal organism is essential to
the greatest success in the culture of the voice.
Some general acquaintance with the physiological
structure and functions of the vocal organs, is found
by experience to be a great help in elocutionary
training. We might expect that this would be so,
for such reasons as the following.
1. Many of the organs are strictly voluntary.
A large class of these organs are immediately
under the control of the will. Such e. g. are the lips,
tongue, and breathing muscles. Some knowledge
of these, in their more important functions, is of
great utility. For one of the most common and
fruitful causes of poor speaking, is that these organs
either have never been reduced under the complete
and facile control of the will, or that this control
has become impaired, or well-nigh lost, from careless
or slovenly habits. Hence, in order to attain, or to
recover such control, it is found necessary that the
attention ol the student, in his exercises, should be
directed to their functions and modes of operation,
that the power of his will may be brought to bear
immediately upon them.
2. Many other Qf these organs are semi-voluntary.
It is difficult to impart the necessary information,Aith respect to the voluntary organs, without takLug into view some of the more important of those
which are semi-voluntary. These are such as the




184        THE ELEMENTS OF PO WER.
soft palate, and the vocal chords, which perform
their functions in speaking in part according to
vital laws, to a certain extent like digestion and
nutrition; which, indeed, never operate better than
when the whole physiological process is unknown.
Yet even in the case of digestion, where it has become impaired, the knowledge of its laws is found
to aid in its restoration. Similar aid, but much
greater in degree, do we find in the knowledge of
the structure and functions of the semi-voluntary
organs of speech, which, though not immediately,
are yet mediately and indirectly under the control
of the will. These organs are put-in operation by
acts of the will, directed not immediately upon
them, but upon the utterance' of the sound, or'the
speaking of the word, which is in the mind. When
such a volition is put forth, they instinctively respond
to the action of the will, thus assuming the positions, and performing the actions, which the word
or sound requires, although their functions and
operations, and even their existence, may be unknown to the speaker. But even this instinctive
action of the semi-voluntary organs is aided, in no
small degree, especially where it is imperfect, by a
competent knowledge of their structure and functions. Experience fully verifies this fact, however
difficult of explanation it may be.
3. A minute acquaintance with the physiolcgy of the
organs is not required.
It seems to have been supposed by some authors,
that a minute and technical knowledge of the phy



THE VOCAL ORGANISM.              185
siology of all the vocal organs, was indispensable to
successful training and practice in elocution. But
that this is not the case, is proved by the facility
with which we learn to speak in our earliest childhood, and by the unquestionable success of the ancient phonacsci, who can hardly be supposed to have
had much acquaintance with this department of
modern science.
~ 99. The principal vocal organs are the diaphragm, the
lungs, the bronchial tubes, the trachea, the larynx, the
vocal chords, the mouth, and the ear.
A  complete analysis would exhibit more than
thirty distinct organs, each of which performs important functions in the speaking of every word.
These here enumerated, however, are the principal
ones, and the exposition of them will suffice to impart the necessary information in the training and
practice of elocution. The subject is one of considerable difficulty, upon which physiologists have
not come to a perfect agreement among themselves,
and to them the student is referred for a more full
and. detailed exposition of the vocal organism.
~ 100. The diaphragm is an elastic muscle of the abdomen,
one of the principal organs of breathing, and capable of
being brought under complete voluntary control.
1. The diaphragm is the lowest in position of all the
vocal organs.
This organ is a very elastic muscle which divides
the stomach below from the lungs above. Hence it
has been called, " the roof of the stomach, and the
fldor of the lungs."




186        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
2. Its principal vocalfunction is that of expanding
and contracting the lungs in respiration.
This function it shares with the pectoral muscles,
not necessary to be described here. When the diaphragm is feeble, the speaker is incapable of drawing in a full breath, and of expelling it again with
adequate force. When it is not under perfect voluntary control, he is unable properly to economize
his breath; whence impurity of tone, unnecessary
fatigue, and exhaustion in speaking. When it is
fully developed, and under good control, neither
breath nor voice will commonly be found wanting.
3. It is capable of great development, and of beiny
brought under perfect control.
That this organ is capable of being brought under
perfect voluntary control, any one may perceive for
himself,,by voluntarily distending and contracting
the abdomen, without allowing the air to enter or
escape from the lungs. But apart from the exercise which Elocution prescribes for this object, this
control of the muscle is commonly very imperfect.
It is also capable of great development by the
proper exercises, for want of which it is often very
feeble.
4. The exercise required is that qf expanding a,nl
contracting the muscle by the direct action of the will.
The object of this exercise is to develop the organ
in size and strength, and to bring it under the most
perfect control of the will. The exercise should be
performed, sometimes whilst holding the breath,
at other times whilst drawing in and expelling it;




THEm VOCAL ORGANIS.            187
now, as slowly and equably as possible, in order to
obtain the utmost length or duration of each respiration-again, more and more rapidly and forcibly, in
order to obtain the greatest possible force of breathing. These exercises shouild be performed once or
twice a day, for a half or a quarter of an hour at
a time, with the waist free from stricture, the clothing loose, and the stomach empty, or but little distended with food. From such exercises, the waist
soon begins to increase in size, and this increase
measures the development and increased power of
the diaphragm, and other breathing organs. We
see from this, that hardly any more effectual means
for injuring their voices could be devised, than the
tight lacing of the ladies.
~ 101. The lungs depend for their power as a vocal organ
upon the quantity of breath which they are capable of
receiving.
1. The lungs are composed qf hollow cells.for containing the breath.
This organ is the next in order above the diaphragm. It consists of two lobes, which are composed of a vast multitude of vesicles, or little hollow
cells, into which the breath pours when the chest, is
expanded, and from which it is expelled when the
chest is contracted, by the expansive and contractile action of the diaphragm and pectoral muscles.
The greater or less quantity of breath which the
lungs are capable of containing, is, then, other
things being equal, the measure of their power as a
vocal organ. Large and capacious lungs, therefore,




188         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
as commonly indicated by a broad and full chest,
are a grand desideratum for the public speaker; as
a narrow chest and small lungs are extremely unfavorable.
2. The lungs are capable Qf great development.
The reason of this is that a considerable proportion of the air cells, of which they are composed,
are not, commonly, even in perfectly healthy persons, brought into use; that is, they are not expanded or filled with air in respiration, but they lie
in a collapsed state; and those, moreover, which are
utilized, are not expanded to their utmost capacity.
Now, by the proper exercises, the former class are
brought into use, and the latter are increased in
size and capacity.
3. The exercise required for the development Qf this
organ, consists in inhaling the largest possible draughts
of pure air.
This exercise should be performed whilst standing
in an upright position, or leaning back and thrusting out the chest; also, whilst walking, running, and
declaiming out of doors. In this way the girth of the
chest is much increased; by wlich is measured the
increase in number and capacity of the utilized air
cells, and the development of this organ, together
with the breathing apparatus.
~ 102. The bronchial tubes and the trachea are the pipes
which convey the breath to and from the lungs, and give
resonance to the voice.
1. These organs are shaped like an inverted tree.
They are next in position above the lungs.




TmE VOCAL ORGANIsM.             189
Taken together with the larynx, the next to be considered, they constitute what is called the windpipe,
which resembles, in its external form, an inverted
tree. The bronchial tubes are the inverted twigs
and branches; the trachea is the trunk, and the
larynx, the upturned root. The bronchia are a
great number of little air-pipes, whose lower extremities, the tips of the twigs, are inserted into the
upper surface of the lungs. These tubes, as they
ascend, are all brought together so as to form two
principal branches, which, as they continue to ascend, are finally consolidated-in one main or trunk.
This is the trachea, which ascends through the neck
to the throat, and terminates in the larynx, the root
of the inverted tree.
2. These organs have two vocal functions, that of airpipes, and that of resonant cavities.
Both of these functions are of the greatest importance. The'first is that of conveying the breath
to and from the lungs and the mouth, the second
is that of giving resonance to the lower tones of the
voice. This resonance, or re-echoing of the sound,
in the cavities of these organs, is that which gives
their peculiar character and force to the low tones,
or, as they are often called, the chest tones of the
voice. Hence the larger and more capacious these
organs, the greater the depth, fullness and volume
of the vocal sounds in-speaking.
3. The exercises for their development are the same
as those prescribed for the diaphragm and the lungs,
together with that of sounding the low tones.




190        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
These organs are very liable to become obstructed
by secretions from colds and bronchial diseases,
which soon destroy the powers of the voice for public speaking. In order to guard them from such
injuries, and to develop them to their greatest possible capacity of resonance, they should be much
exercised in breathing large draughts of pure air,
and in sounding the lower and lowest tones of
the voice. In this latter exercise, however, extreme care is necessary not to overstrain the
organs; otherwise the voice may be irreparably
spoiled. Moderately exercised as above, these organs
rapidly attain a great increase of their capacity and
power. Such exercise, moreover, will often cure inveterate bronchitis, which is caused by inflammation
of the tubes, when all other remedies have failed.
~ 103. The larynx and vocal chords are the organs for gert.
erating the sound of the voice.
1. The larynx is a bell-like cavity, in which the
sound of the voice is generated.
The position of this organ is that of the root of
the inverted tree, of which the trachea is the trunk,
and the bronchia are the branches. It is formed
by an expansion of the trachea, and causes that protuberance in the throat which is called " Adam's apple." One of its principal vocal functions is that ol
resonance.
2. The vocal chords are the organ by which the
sound is generated,
The larynx is crossed about the middle of its belllike cavity, by two parallel muscular chords, the




THE VOCAL ORGANISM.          191
chtlrdce vocales, the extremities of which are fastened
to its sides, and which are capable of being lengthened or shortened, with increase or diminution of
their tension, by the muscular action of the organ.
These chords are made to vibrate in unison by the
breath, as it is expelled from the lungs.; and by
these vibrations the breath is converted into sound.
Thus the sound of the voice is generated. The contrivance is precisely similar to that of a doublestringed ~Aolian harp. The sounds thus produced
derive their peculiar human character from the resonance which takes place in the bell of the larynx,
also in the windpipe, mouth, and cavities of the
nostrils.
3. Theforce or loudness of the sound depends chiefly
upon the amplitude or breadth of the vibrations.
When the breath is expelled from the lungs with
greater or less force, it causes the vocal chords to
vibrate through a greater or less breadth; and
these vibrations, according to their amplitude, produce a sound of greater or less force or loudness.
Hence the loudness of sound of which the voice is
capable, depends ultimately upon the strength of
the diaphragm and pectoral muscles, by which the
breath is expelled. It depends also in no inconsiderable degree upon the size of the resonant cavities,
inasmuch as the same concussion will produce a
louder sound in a large bell, than it will in a sm %11
one.
4. The pitch of the sound depends upon the number
of vibrations in a given time.




192       THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
The vocal chords are capable of being tightened
or relaxed by the muscular action of the larynx;
thus the number of vibrations in a given time is
increased or diminished, and the sound thereby
produced, is made either higher or lower in pitch.
The chords in women and children are normally
about a third shorter than in men; and whilst the
common range of the human voice is about three
octaves, the pitch of the child's, and of the female
voice, is an octave higher than that of the adult
male. The lowest tone which the ear perceives, is
due to about thirty vibrations in a second; in the
highest, the vibrations run up to as many as four
thousand.
There are other vocal organs, such as the pharynx
Dr swallow, immediately connected with the larynx,
and sharing, to a certain extent, its function of resonance, but which do not seem to require any exposition.
5. The exercises.for these organs are the same hereafter prescribed for the cultivation of the ear and voice
(~~ 105 4; 174).
These exercises are of great importance to preserve these organs in a healthy state, and, especially,
free from the secretions produced by the various affections of cold. For among other effects of these
is that of aphonia, or voicelessness, in which the
person is unable to speak, except in a whisper, and
which is produced by the inflammation and clogging
of the vocal chords, so that they cease to vibrate.




THE VOCAL ORGANISM.            195
By the action of those interior and exterior organs
of the mouth, which are employed in articulation,
namely, the soft and hard palates, the tongue, gums,
teeth and lips, the volume of sound is still further
differentiated into those elemental sounds of human
speech, which are represented by the letters of the
alphabet, and which compose syllables and words.
The amazing power of differentiation possessed by
these organs, appears from the fact that by their
action the volume of homogeneous sound, which
streams from the vocal chords, is differentiated into
all those innumerable particular sounds, and combinations of sounds, out of which the whole structure of human speech is built up, and which express
all the thoughts, and shades of thought, and all the
infinitely diversified sentiments, of which the human
mind is capable.
4. The exercises required for this organ should aim
to develop its resonant and differentiating capacities.
There is no doubt about it, a large and well formed
mouth is a great advantage to the public speaker.
In general, the larger the internal cavities, the better
the resonance of the voice. Often, however, the resonant capacities are not half utilized; and they are
capable of considerable development by the conscious effort to speak with a full voice. The organs of differentiation should be exercised systematically, for the purpose of bringing them under the
most perfect and facile control of the will, and of
obtaining the greatest possible precision in the formation of all the sounds of speech. More specific




196         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
directions will be given in the exercises prescribed
for articulation (~ 114).
~ 105. The ear is the organ of perception and discrimination of sounds.
1. Hearing is essential to speaking.
The importance of the ear, in its relations to
speech, is evinced by the fact that persons born deaf
are also dumb. This statement hardly needs qual.
ification from the artificial, feeble and confused articulation which such persons, with laborious effort
and instruction, may sometimes acquire. For properly we learn to speak in no other way than by imitating the speaking sounds we hear from  others
(~ 12-3). It is by the ear alone that the mind acts
in the perception, and discrimination from each
other, of those numberless modifications of sound,
of which the speech of man is composed, so as to
enable the other vocal organs to reproduce them at
pleasure.
2. Thefunctions of the ear in speaking are the same
as in singing.
The excellences and defects of this organ, with
respect to speaking and singing, are precisely the
same. Its chief excellence in both consists in fineness, or keenness, or delicacy of discrimination from
each other of the different sounds, with respect to
quality, force, pitch and time. For it is in the infinitely various modifications of sound, with respect
to these particulars, that both speaking and singing




THE VooAL ORGANISM.             197
chiefly consist. To these, however, must be added
articulation, which is essential in speaking, but not
absolutely essential in singing. Accurate discrimi
nation of sounds, therefore, is at least as indispensable in speaking as it is in singing.
3. The most faulty speaking implies the discrimina
tion of sounds.
When in teaching elocution an illustration is
drawn from  music, we often hear from the pupil
some such reply as this, "0, I know nothing of
music. I have never been able to distinguish one
sound from another."  Now this, as we here see, is
always a mistake; and if it were true in any case,
that person could never have learned to speak.
For it is no less an essential function of the ear to
discriminate, than it is to perceive sounds.  Let the
student turn his attention to this point, and he will
find that he has been distinguishing sounds from
each other all his life, with respect to all those mnodifications of them which enter into music, except
that of concord or harmony. For with this exception, all the modifications of sound which belong to
music, are employed in speech, and can be represented by the notation of the musical score (~ 3; 13-2).
4. The training and practice which the ear requirei
are the same for speaking that they are for singing.
The elementary exercises prescribed by the teachers of vocal music, are the best possible for the
training of the ear, as also for the development of the
qualities and powers of the voice, for public speaking. These exercises, moreover, are llhardl of less




198        TmE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
importance in the one case than in the other. For
one of the main causes of feebleness in delivery, is
that the ear is dull by nature, or has become sc
from inattention and careless habits, and requires
to be trained up to discriminate with delicacy and
facility. Many, it is true, fail to recognize the importance of these exercises, from the fact that good
speakers may never have learned to sing, and good
singers are often miserable- speakers. But it must
be remembered that what is here stated and enforced, does not rest upon an assumed identity, but
upon the obvious analogy, between these kindred
and sister arts, and upon abundant experience.
These exercises should be continued at least until
the student is able to ascend and descend the diatonic scale with accuracy, and to distinguish with
facility the principal intervals of the second, fifth
and eighth. Even without this, much may be accomplished in elocution, but it is hardly possible to
attain the best results; and there are few persons
whose ears are so dull that they cannot learn to do
all that is here required with very little trouble.




CHAPTER III.
ARTICULATION.
106. Articulation is the formation, and jointing together
into syllables, of the elementary sounds of speech.
ARTICULATION properly includes both these operations. The above definition is strictly according to
the etymology of the word, which is derived from articulus, signifying both a little member, and a little
joint. The articulating organs come into full play,
both in the formation of the elements, and in jointing them together into syllables; as also in forming
syllables into words; but their use in this last case
belongs under the head of pronunciation, of which
articulation, strictly taken, is the fundamental and
controlling element.
~ 107. The first division of the elementary sounds is that of
vowels, semi-vowels, and consonants.
1. Analysis of the sounds is indtispensable.
In order properly to exhibit articulation as an
element of power in delivery, and to afford the most
effectual aid in acquiring it, we shall find it neces



200         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
sary to analyze and classify the elementary sounds
of the English language, and to determine precisely
by what organs, and by what position or action of
these organs, they are formed. Such classifications
may be made in different ways, with some special
utility belonging to each. The first and most common of these is that which is here given.
2. The principle of this division is that of vocality.
The word,vowel, vocalis in Latin, signifies a vocal
sound, that is, a sound made by simply vocalizing
the breath. The vowels, therefore, are those elementary sounds which have the highest degree of vocality, or a perfect vocality. The semi-vowels, according to the signification of the word, are those which
have a lower degree of vocality. The consonants
are those of such feeble vocality that they are supposed in this nomenclature, though falsely, as we
shall see, to be incapable of articulation by themselves, and to require for, this purpose to be joined
with vowels.
3. Th.is division is neither accurate nor complete.
No strict definition can be given of any of these
classes; they are not distinguished from each other
by any sharp dividing lines, or exclusive differential characteristics. This is evident from the
name, semi-vowels, denoting a class of sounds
which are neither one thing nor the other, but a
mixture of vowel and consonant. The word, consonant, is altogether objectionable, not only because it includes, as we shall see, sounds which are
fundamentally different, but also because it intimates




ARTICULATION.               201
that such sounds cannot be formed or articulated
by themselves, which certainly is not true. In addition to this, a number of the sounds classed as
vowels are in reality diphthongs, or double vowels;
whilst several of those commonly represented as
diphthongs, are nothing but simple vowels. Notwithstanding, this classification is often convenient,
and cannot be wholly dispensed with.
~ 108. A rigorous classification of the elements is impossible,
for the reason that they are a series from the greatest
openness to perfect closure of the organs.
It would seem that a perfect classification of the
elementary sounds upon the above, or any other
one principle, is not possible. The reason of this is
that they constitute an irregular and complicated
series, from the greatest openness to the most perfect closure of the organs of articulation. The
sounds which are made with these organs in the
most open position, naturally have the highest degree of vocality; those with the organs brought
nearer together, a less degree of vocality; and
those with the organs closed, the least, or none at
all. But this series is irregular and involved, so
that the sounds cannot be arranged in an unbroken
order. It is easy, indeed, to fix the extremes.  On
the side of the greatest openness and strongest vocality, we have the sound of a as in far; and on
that of perfect closure, those of b and p. But
these last two letters represent two wholly different
classes of sounds, of which the former have an im.




202         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
perfect vocality, the latter none at all. The extremes in the vowel series are, on the one hand, a
as in far, and on the other i as in pin. All the other
vowels and diphthongs have less vocality than the
former, and greater than the latter; but a as in all is
formed by an openness very different in the position
of the organs, from that of i as in pine. After these
come the sounds which are formed by the organs in
near approach, but not in actual contact; such as y,
w, r; next, those formed by a partial contact, such
s, z, v, sh, th; and finally those formed by perfect
closure of the organs, such as m, 1, g, k, d, t, b, p.
Now there is no point in this irregular gradation
from the greatest openness to perfect closure, at
which the series can be divided with rigorous precision. This difficulty cannot be entirely overcome,
but there are other classifications of much greater
practical utility than the preceding.
~ 109. The second division of the elements is that of tonic,
subtonic, and atonic sounds.
This classification, upon the same principle, is
more nearly accurate and complete, and of far
greater practical utility, than the former. The
principle is the same also with that of the division
into surd and sonant, first established by the native
Sanskrit grammarians, and now of universal application in linguistic science. The tonics correspond to
the vowels and diphthongs, and consequently have
the highest degree of vocality. The subtonics have
a lower degree of vocality, and include the semi



ARTICULATION.               203;
vowels, together with all the consonants which have
any vocality at all. They are the sounds represented by the following signs, y, w, wh, r, 1, z as in zone,
and as in azure, th as in then, j, v, ng, nk, n, m, g,
d, b. Both the tonics and subtonics are included in
the class of sonants. The atonics are altogether
destitute of vocality; they are mere articulations
which check or stop off the whispering breath.
They correspond to the class of surds, and are as
follows: h, th as in thin, sh, s as in see, f, k, t, p.
We shall find that these distinctions will enable us
to simplify the rules of English pronunciation, and
to explain a great number of its apparent anomalies.
~ 110. The subtonics and atonics are again divided into hard,
soft and feeble checks.
The principle of this division is the degree in
which the sound or breath is checked by the organs
of articulation. From the fact that all these sounds
&re more or less checked, as to the outward flow of
the vocalized or non-vocalized breath, by contact,
or a near approach to contact, of the articulating
organs, it is found necessary to classify them upon
this principle. The special utility of this classification is that it directs the attention of the student to
the peculiar checking action of the articulating organs, and thus enables him to obtain a more perfect
control over them, in the performance of this function. The feeble checks are those articulations by
which the sound or breath is checked in the least
degree, either by a very slight contact, or a near




204         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
approach to contact, of the articulating organs.
They are the sounds represented by y, w, wh, r, 1, h.
The soft checks are those in which the contact is
soft or partial, yet such as to restrain the sound or
breath in a sensible manner. They are represented
by z as in azure and zone, th in then and thin, j, v,
sh, s in see, f. The hard checks are those in which
the outflow of the sound or breath through the
mouth is entirely stopped off by the hard or firm
contact of the organs. They are represented by ng,
nk, n, m, g, d, b, k, t, p.
~ 111. The subtonic hard checks are divided into nasals and
subnasals.
The principle of this division is the degree in
which the resonance of the sound is thrown into
the nasal cavities. These sounds are all properly
hard  checks, because the outflow  of the sound
through the mouth is perfectly stopped off by a
hard contact of the mouth organs. But in the nasals, the resonance of the sound takes place along
the whole line of the nasal cavities. They are represented by ng, nk, n, m. In the subnrasals, the resonance is in the back cavities of the nostrils, where
these open into the mouth. They are represented
by g, d, b.
b 112. The number of the elementary sounds in the English
language is forty-five.
The number of these sounds is estimated by Prof.
Day at thirty-two, by Dr. Rush, at thirty-five, and




ARTICULArION.                 205
by Mr. William Russell, a practical elocutionist and
teacher of the art, at forty-three. But none of these
estimates is anything more than an approximation.
In fact the elementary sounds may be regarded as
more or less numerous, according as they are more
or less minutely analyzed. For the shades of difference, especially between some of the vowels, are
often extremely fine, so that it is a nice question
whether they are to be regarded as the same, or different; whether e. g. a as in all, and o as in nor,
whether i as in pin, and y as in folly, are distinguishable or not. The number here given is preferred
not so much for its rigorous accuracy, as for its superior utility in the training and practice which Elocution prescribes. There are, moreover, certain transitional sounds, which enter into the formation of
syllables and words, and which will require consideration hereafter (~ 148-4). The elements, as arranged in the table below, are represented by the
italics.
TABLE  OF THE ELEMENTS.
TONICS.          SUB-TONICS.          ATONICS.,arm.eve     X yet      [sins 7      F.C.  hay'all.not        way      blinkc  
bask   or           n       nay             hn
*hat.old       ray       may -   seed
*care  hut     A lay' gay           it ee'fate  full       azure  m day    B     u,pine  rule                bay  zone  bay  J.pin  use    q   then' @        tell
~err   oil.       joy                       ay
pet  our        Ivile 
20                17                   8




206         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 113. The elementary sounds are all capable of voluntary
modification.
The foregoing anylysis does not pretend to exhibit all the differences between the elementary
sounds, for they are all capable of voluntary
modification. Thus the tonics and subtonics may
all be deprived of their vocality, and reduced to
atonics, by voluntarily stopping off the vibrations of
the vocal chords; in other "words, they may all be
articulated in non-vocal, or whispering breath. If
this were not so, it would be impossible to speak in
a whisper. Again, there are other differences between subtonics and atonics, besides that of vocality; otherwise it would be impossible to distinguish
the cognates, b, p, —d, t,-g, k, when uttered in a
whisper, from each other. For the position of the
organs in the formation of each pair of these cognates, is very nearly, if not precisely the same. So
also the hard, soft and feeble checks may be, and
often require to be articulated in a more or less
hard, soft, or feeble manner; the breath, whether
vocalized or not, requires to be expelled more or
less forcibly, and the organs to be placed in contact, and separated again, more or less abruptly.
This voluntary modification of the elements is of
the utmost importance, in order to express all the
distinctions of thought, and all the varieties and
shades of the gentle, tender, elevated and passionate, or violent emotions.




ARTICULATION.                20 
~ 114. The proper exercise in the elementary sounds consists
in forming them with the utmost precision, botl separately, and in their easier and mlore difficult combina.
tions.
1. These exercises are of great importance.
The student should not fail to exercise his articulating organs in the formation of all the elementary
sounds. These exercises should be continued until
the breathing, vocalizing and checking -organs are
brought under perfect control, and to the highest
degree of efficiency and facility, in the formation of
every sound.
2. The attention should be directed to the position
and action of the organs in the formation of each sound..
For this purpose, the aid of a teacher should be
secured,if possible, to explain the position and action of the organs in each case, and to exemplify the
correct sounds, together with the student's errors
and defects. Where a teacher canot be had, reference should be made to the description of the position and action of the organs in the formation of
each sound, which is given under the head of pronunciation.  For we find by experience that where
all other attempts fail to correct faults in articulation, this method commonly succeeds.
3. The exercises should be upon the sounds in their
several classes, according to the preceding analysis.
The common rule, "Take care of your consonants, and the vowels will take care of themselves,"
lthough it expresses an important truth, is not altogether a safe one. The student should be careful




208        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
to practice on every sound by itself, especially the
semi-vowels and consonants  without vowels attached, paying no attention to the notion, that a
consonant cannot be articulated without the aid of
a vowel, which groundless notion it is difficult to
imagine how people with ears should ever have entertained.
(1.) The tonics should be carefully rendered with
the precise distinctions between those that are most
nearly alike.
(2.) The subtonics should be formed with as full a
vocality as can be given them.
(3.) The atonics, with no vocality at all, i. e. with
the non-vocalized, or whispering breath.
(4.) The hard, soft and feeble checks must be carefully formed, with the exact position and action of
the organs, with the precise degree of contact required by each class, so that the vocal or whispering breath may be perfectly stopped off, or partially,
or very slightly checked.
(5.) The nasals and subnasals require to be practiced on with special reference to the resonance of
the voice in the nasal cavities, and to the different
resonance in the two classes, as being in the former class along the whole line of these cavities, and
in the latter, confined to that portion of them where
they open into the mouth.
4. Exercises in whispering breath are o.f great importance.
There is no more important exercise in articulation than that which consists in speaking in a
whisper. The reason is that thus the distinction of




ARTICULATION.                  209
vocality  and non-vocality is eliminated, and  the
only way of making one's self understood, is by the
strength and precision of the articulation. The
attempt to speak in a whisper to persons at a little
distance thus brings out all the speaker's articulating powers.
5. Exercises in the more dificult combinations of
the elerGents.
In addition to the above exercises, the student
should practice his organs in the more difficult
combinations of the elementary sounds, repeating
them in succession as rapidly as possible. The following are examples of such difficulties.
That morning, thou that slumbered'st not before.
Nor slept'st, great ocean, laid'st thy waves to rest,
And hush'dst thy mighty minstrelsy.
But the best possible examples for this purpose, are
those with which  children  amuse themselves, in
practicing and gaining control over their articulating organs, such as the following.
Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter,
Sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles.
If Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter,
Sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles,
Where is the sieve of unsifted thistles,
That Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter, sifted?
115. A syllable consists either of one elementary sound, or
of several combined.
The sound which is represented by the letter a,
forms a perfect syllable by itself in the indefinito
article; on the other hand, the word, helm, composed




210          TimE E     rNTS OF PowE&
of four distinct elementary sounds, is yet but one
syllable. In the formation of syllables, whether of
single elements, or of many thus jointed together,
the voice obeys certain laws, which depend, in great
part, upon the nature of the elements, as exhibited in
the preceding analysis.  These laws require now to
be unfolded.
~ 116. A syllable is an articulate sound formed by a sing'le
imipulse of the voice.
It is the distinctive character of a syllable, that it
is formed by a single impulse or movement of the
voice.  This is equally the case whether the syllable
consist of a single elementary sound, as a in aright,
or of several in combination, as the word, strands,
composed of seven distinct elements. If this latter
word be incorrectly pronounced in two syllables,
str-ands, as such words often are, it will be found
that it takes two such impulses. This characterization of the syllable we owe to Dr. Rush.
~ 117. The division into syllables is caused sometimes by the
strength of vocality in the tonics, sometimes by the relation of different elements to each other, and sometimes it
is arbitrary.
A great deal has been written in answer to the
question, what causes the division of the elements
into syllables? and much confusion has arisen from
the attempt to reduce this phenomenon to one cause
The truth is that there are at least three suchl,ausest.which operate either separately, or in combi;
nation with each other.




ARTiOULATION.               211
1. The principal cause is the strength of vr clity
which belongs to the tonics.
The strength of vocality in the tonics is such that
no two of them can be fully sounded with a single
impulse of the voice. In the case of a diphthong.
indeed, two of the tonics are blended in one, and
articulated by one impulse; but this is done by withholding from the latter of them its full tonic vocality, and making it coalesce with the former. If the
full tonic vocality be given to the latter tonic, the
diphthong will be resolved, and two syllables will be
the result. Thus oi as in oil is a diphthong; but if
the full tonic vocality be given to i, the diphthong is
resolved into two syllables, and articulated with a
double impulse of the voice. Hence the word, navy,
e. g. is of two syllables, and cannot be of more or
less, because it contains two tonics, and no more,
each with its full tonic vocality. It follows from
this that there cannot be more than one full tonic
in one syllable.
2.. A second cause is the relation of different elements
to each other.
This relation is often such that no single impulse
of the voice can be made to comprehend some of the
elements in combination with others; in other
words, the change of position of the organs, in passing from one to another, is often so great as to
necessitate the closing of one vocal movement, and
the commencing of another. This cause, together
with the preceding, operates in the case of the word
articulation, e. g. which is of five syllables, and can



212              THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
not be pronounced in less, because it contains just
five  tonics  (io  of the  last syllable, representing  u),
and because the relation- between the sounds of ar
and  ti, ti and  cu, cu and  la, la  and  tion  =  shun, is
such that no two of them can be joined together in
a single phonetic impulse. This cause operates on
the most open sounds, i. e. those which are made
with the organs in the most open position, equally
with the closest sounds. Thus in the artificial combination, i o e u a, there are necessarily just as many
syllables as there are elementary sounds, because
these elements are all tonics, and because the relation between them in juxtaposition, is such that no
two of them can be made by a single vocal impulse.
3. The division into syllables is sometimes arbitrary.
This is the case in such words as higher, flower,
goer, mower, and many others, which may be pronounced correctly in two syllables, or incorrectly in
one, so as to be indistinguishable in sound from
hire, flour, gore, more.   Accordingly in poetry, they
are freely used as one or two syllables, according to
the requirement of the metre.*
* It is with no little regret that the author feels obliged to differ here, and
on other still more important points, from that eminent scholar and phonologist, Prof. Wmin. Whitney, from whose masterly criticisms upon the Standard
Alphabet of Prof. Lepsius, valuable aid has been derived in the foregoing analysis of the elementary sounds. Prof. Whitney maintains (Trans. Am. Or. So. vol.
viii. pp. 359-60) that the above characterization of the syllable, as an articulate
sound formed by a single impulse of the voice, "is not of the slightest value."
"Just as much," he says, " is a whole word, or a whole sentence, uttered by a
single impulse of the voice." The true reason why the word navy, e. g, is of
two syllables, he, says, "is clearly this: among the four sounds of which it is
composed, there are two which are of so much more open position, more sono.
rous and continuable, than the others with which they are connected, that the3
make upon the ear the impression of two phonetic impulses." But this impres




ARTICULATION.                          213
Q 118. Every syllable is composed of a radical and a vanishll.
ing sound.
We are indebted to Dr. Rush also for our knowledge of this curious fact. The commencementf ol
every syllable is its radical, and the close is its vanishing sound. The latter naturally rises through a
whole  tone  of the  musical scale  above  the former.
Let the  syllable, fate, e. g. be  spoken without emosion is fallacious, because " the distinction of syllables is primarily made, not by
the mouth of the speaker, but by the ear of the hearer."
COMM ENTS.-1. The learned professor teaches us here that the distinction of
syllables depends upon the juxtaposition of open and close sounds. Now this
is probably the first explanation that occurs to every inquirer, but it is soon
found to be untenable. Take, e. g. the combination given above, i o e u a, which
includes all the most " open'and " sonorous " sounds in the language, and it is
found impossible to articulate them in a less number of syllables than there
are elements. But if Prof. Whitney's explanation were correct, they might all
be articulated as one syllable.
2. In the word navy, the sounds,  and v, are just as " continuable" as a and
y; in fact they are all alike capable of indefinite prolongation. This only remaining reason, therefore, can have nothing to do with the distinction, any
more than those which are expressed in the words "open" and " sonorous."
3. Why should the two syllables of the word navy uniformly "make upon
the ear the impression of two phonetic impulses," if there be nothing in
the manner of their formation which corresponds to this impression? and
why should the ear of the hearer make the distinction of syllables, if no such
distinction is made by the mouth of the speaker? It would seem that here is a
uniform effect without any cause at all. Is not this uniform impression, made
upon the ear, of two phonetic impulses, good evidence that the cause of this
impression is the fact of two such impulses? If not, what becomes of the
principle, which none knows better than Prof. Whitney himself, but which he
seems to have forgotten for the moment, that speech consists wholly of sound,
and that we truly apprehend its nature by the ear alone?
4. In fine, let Prof. Whitney apply his sharp and cultivated ear to the syllabic
distinction between vile and vial, cream and create, and he can hardly fail to
perceive the single vocal impulse in the monosyllables, and the double impulse
in the dissyllables; and consequently that the juxtaposition of open and close
sounds has nothing to do with the matter. Or, to take a still stronger case, let
the sounds pa-a, with a as in far, be articulated in two distinct syllables.
Here now is a simple repetition of the most "open" and " sonorous" sound
in the language, with no close sound to divide the word into two syllableis
and yet the two are just as distinct as those of apple or battle.




214        THEELEMENTS OF POWER.
tion of any lind, and, upon close attention, it will
be perceived that it opens with a full impulse of the
voice, and closes with a vocule, or vanishing sound,
which rises in a continuous slide, a whole tone
above the opening pitch. But on monosyllabic
words, on all accented syllables, and on the last
syllable of every word, this vocule may fall instead of
rising from the radical pitch; and it may rise or
fall through more than one tone or interval
Whether it rise or fall, and whether through one oi
more intervals, depends upon the character and
strength of the emotions to be expressed. This
fact, as we shall see hereafter, is of primary importance in the expression of all the emotions and passions.
~ 119. A tonic, or a strong subtonic, enters into every sylla.
ble, and in no syllable can there be mlore than one such
sound.
1. A full tonic sound forms the basis qf every syllable.
In order that an elementary sound should be
capable of forming a syllable by itself, or in combination with feeble elements, it must be either an
open sound, i. e. one formed without contact of the
organs, or one which, in spite of slight contact, has
nearly or quite a full tonic vocality; consequently,
it must be capable of indefinite prolongation. The
reason of this is that only such sounds can take the
full radical and vanish, with which every syllable
opens and closes. Hence a syllable cannot be
formed of atonic sounds, such as t k s p f, either




ARTICULATION.               215
separately, or in any possible combination with each
other. Hence also a syllable cannot be formed of
those subtonics which, by reason of the strength of
their articulation, or check, have but a feeble vocality, such as b d g z j, either separately, or in any
possible combination  with  each other, or with
atonics. But each of the tonics is capable of forming a syllable; so also are those subtoiics which
are formed without, or with a very slight contact, or
which, by reason of their anomalous nasal character,
have a full and strong vocality. The subtonics
which are thus capable of forming syllables, are y,
w, r,,, n,, which, therefore, are the true and
proper semi-vowels of the language. Examples of
their forming syllables will be given under each of
these elements in pronunciation.
2. There can be but one toiiic irt each syllable.
This is strictly true of the tonics as enumerated
m the table (~ 112). But it must be borne in mind
that several of these are properly compound tonics,
or diphthongs. Thus, a as in fate, i as in pine, and 
oi as in oil, are diphthongs, all closing with the
sound of i as in pin. O as in old is also regarded
and treated by the Sanskrit grammarians as unquestionably a diphthong, composed of a and u;
and hence in French, one of the branches of the
great Sanskritic family, it is still represented by au,
as in baume, pronounced,bome.  Ou as in our represents to the eye the elements of wlich it is composed. With this explanation, there must be as
many syllables in every word as there are tonics
The reasons for this have lbeen already given (~~117




216        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
1, 2); viz. the vocality of the tonics is so full and
strong that each requires a separate impulse of the
voice; and their relation to each other is such thbm
no two of them in juxtaposition, can be formed by
one and the same impulse. Thus no such combination as ao, eo, eu, io, oa, ua, uo, can form a single
syllable. In order that any of these signs should
represent a single syllable, either one of its elements
must be suppressed, as e in euphony and yeoman,
or one of them must represent some other sound, as
u represents w in persuade.
~ 120. All the sounds which are capable of forming syllables
by themselves, are essentially variable in length.
Properly there is no such thing as an essentially
long or short vowel.  For not only all the vowels,
but all the sounds which are capable of forming
syllables by themselves, are essentially variable in
length, and capable of being prolonged or shortened
indefinitely. Thus a as in fate, commonly regarded
as an essentially long vowel, is long in fate and face,
but short in fatu'itous and face'tious. Again, the socalled short vowel i as in pin, is short in minute',
but as long as the longest in sing'ular; whilst the
so-called long vowel u as in use, in the same word,
is as short as the shortest. In like manner, a as in
all, and e as in eve, are long in al'tar, and de'viate
and short in auspi'cious and educe'.




ARTICULATION.              217
4 121. The length and strength of syllables depend upon accent, emphasis, and the number and vocality of their
elements.
We shall find hereafter that syllables are made
long by the temporal accent, and are still further
lengthened by emphasis. But besides these two
causes, the length of a syllable depends upon the
number of elementary sounds of which it is cozmposed. When several additional sounds come after
the tonic, their power to lengthen the syllable gives
us the explanation of the rule in Latin prosody, that
a  vowel is long by position; for even when the
following consonants are not in the same syllable
as written, they often are as it is uttered by the
voice. Thus the syllables, length, strength, starch,
flash, wasp, are essentially long, because they are
composed of a large number of elementary sounds;
whence they cannot properly be made to stand in
the place of short syllables. But, on the other
hand, syllables composed of few elements, are not
necessarily short, because they may be lengthened
by the accent or emphasis.
The strength of syllables, though depending in
part upon the same causes, is capable of being distinguished from their length. A strong syllable is
one which is composed of a number of elements
which have a strong vocality. Thus again, the syllables, length, strength, worm, bang, whang, loud,
wrong, are essentially strong, by reason of the number of vocal elements, tonics and subtonics, which
compose them. On the other hand, pet, pit, kit, sit,




218         THE ELEMENTS OF Pow.R.
are essentially feeble, because their tonics havc tnhe
feeblest vocality, and their other elements are Se,
and have no vocality at all.
The importance of all this in metre and style is
obvious; and the errors which arise from neglect oi
it are frequent and damaging:-in metre, by the in.
terchange of long and short syllables; and in style
by the attempt to express a strong thought in a
word of feeble sound, or an insignificant thought in
a sonorous word.
~ 122. The principal causes of bad articulation are, confusion
of thought, defective organs, want of control over the
organs, nervous timidity, careless habits, and too much
care.
The causes of bad articulation are very numerous
and complicated. Only the most important are here
enumerated.
1. Confusion of thought, or inarticulate thin7cing.
We have seen (~ 27) that the character of the
thinking constantly tends to characterize the vocal
expression of it. Hence clear and articulate thinking naturally forms or expresses itself in clear and
articulate speaking. As soon as a man begins to
think with sharpness and precision, instinctively he
begins to bite off his words precisely. In fact it is
the influence of such thinking which brings the organs of articulation under the perfect control of the
will. It exerts in time a marked influence even
upon the physical constitution, size, and shape of
these organs. Consequently, indiscriminate and




ARTICULATION.             219
blurred thinking naturally forms or expresses itself
in indistinct and blurred articulation. Hence the
articulation of stupid people, and of tribes in the
lowest state of barbarism, is commonly very imperfect. The Boobies of the island of Fernando Po,
communicate with each other in what can hardly
be called an articulate language. Even the physical organs of such people remain unformed and uncontrolled. The coarse thick tongue, and ill-defined blubber lip, of every undeveloped or degraded
type of mankind, seem to be sufficiently accounted
for by the fact that for thousands of years they
have been without any sharp distinctions in their
thoughts, destitute of culture and refinement. Hence
we may expect that civilization and educated thinking will in time purify the organization, and reduce
the size of their lips, tongues, and other organs of
speech, and give them that sharp outline and flexibility, which are so characteristic of the European
and civilized man.
2. Defective organs.
A defective ear, that is, a sense of hearing which
fails to discriminate accurately the different elementary sounds from each other, is a prevalent cause of
bad articulation. Hence the different tonics, and
different classes of sub and atonics, are constantly
liable to be confounded and interchanged. Thus
many persons fail to distinguish a as in far, from a
as in ask, and this latter again from a as in hat. In
this way, also, 1 and r, d and t, b and p, w and wh
f and v, th in then and th in thin, are frequently




220              THE FXTENTS OF POWER.
confounded. The remedy for this defect is the exercises  prescribed   for  the   training   of  the   ear
(~ 105-4). In like manner, undue thickness of the
lips and tongue, enlargement of the tonsils and soft
palate, imperfect circulation of the breath through
the nostrils, and other similar defects, often produce
indistinct and impure articulation. Such defects,
however,seldom  present insuperable difficulties, provided the organs be adequately trained to their
work.
3. Imperfect control over the articulating organs.
There are all degrees of control over the organs
of speech, and few persons have it in perfection.
Yet the very highest degree of it is necessary to articulate with precision and facility the various combinations of the elementary sounds in English, many
of which are extremely difficult.*  Such combina* In some languages,- as e. g. in the Welsh, and other dialects of the Old
Celtic, in the Greek to a very limited extent, and in the Sanskrit perfectly,
such difficult combinations of the elementary sounds are avoided by euphonic
rules, so that whenever two sounds of difficult combination come together,
either one of them is changed, or a euphonic element is inserted between them
just as we change a into an before a vowel or a silent h. The word, Sanskrit,
itself, which is exactly translated by our word perfect, is an example, the s in
the middle of the word having no significance whatever, being simply a euphonic insertion, to avoid a difficult combination. These rules in Sanskrit are so
comprehensive and particular that every combination of sounds, whether difficult of articulation, or unpleasant to the cultivated ear of the Brachman, is eliminated from the language. In English, also, to a far greater extent than is
commonly supposed, euphonic influences have determined the combinations
which actually occur. Thus the word, diphthong, is rightly pronounced dip
thong, in order to avoid the unpleasant combination of ph ==f, and th as in thin.
But the combinations, once established by the authorized pronunciation, are
the same in English, wherever the word occurs; we have to take them as they
come, whether difficult or easy. Nor is this any disadvantage to our mother
tongue for the highest and best purposes of human speech; for the Sanskrit,
though vaunted as'perfect,' is greatly enfeebled by its euphonic over-refine.
ment, as might easily be shown.




ARTICUmATION.              221
tions e. g. as the word,strength (often (in account of
its difficultypronounced,strenth) stept'st, hush'd'st,
ask'd'st, cannot be perfectly articulated without a
high degree-and when several of them  occur in
rapid succession, without the most perfect control
over the articulating organs. Where this is wanting, moreover, the different classes of sub and aton
ics are constantly liable to be confounded and interchanged with each other.
4. Nervous timidity.
The articulation of many speakers is marred by
undue haste or hurry, arising from nervous timidity
and agitation. When thus flurried, instead of articulating every element with deliberateness and precision, they throw out whole mouthfuls of vowels
and consonants, all jumbled up together. For
speaking to a great audience, as the most practiced
and eloquent orators have always felt, is something
terrible; it is like hunting the lion single handed.
But this terror must be overcome by the firm and
steady exercise of self-control (~ 87). "One must
be sure of himself before he can be sure of the lion."
5. Careless habits.
One of the most fruitful causes of bad articulation
is mere carelessness, or slovenly habits, in speaking.
When such habits are once formed, they are, like all
others, extremely difficult to correct. For the speaker becomes entirely unconscious of his faults, even
when they are so numerous and aggravated as to
render a large proportion of his words unintelligible.
But whoever can be careless or slovenly in address



222         THE EiLEMENTS OF POWER.
ing a public audience, may thereby know that he in
naturally incapable of speaking well.
6. Too much care.
Sometimes the articulation is marred by over
nicety, rendering it finical, pedantic and affected.
This fault appears most frequently in sounding silent
letters, the t e. g. in such words as often, soften,
epistle, apostle, thistle (~ 166-2, (5)). Such faults
are worse than many that arise from carelessness,
because they attract more attention, and because
pedantry or affectation in any form is fatal to eloquence.
~ 123. The qualities of good articulation are correctness, distinctness, purity, ease and elegance.
These qualities are not always logically distinct.
but, for the most part, they overlap or imply each
other.
1. Correctness refers chiefly to the formation of the
elementary sounds, and requires that they should
be rendered, in all their combinations, with the
utmost accuracy and precision.
2. Distinctness characterizes that clear and sharp
distinction of the elements from each other, which
necessarily results from their precise and accurate
formation.
3. Purity requires that the vocal elements should
be formed of pure tone (~ 168), without admixture of
noise from the expulsion of non-vocalized breath,




ATImCULATION.              223
or from the unskillful and harsh operation of the
articulating organs.
4. Ease orfacility is, of course, the opposite of a
i4bored or difficult working of the articulating
organs, arising from inadequate voluntary control
over them.
5. Elegance or beauty of articulation results from
all the foregoing qualities combined. It implies
also a certain smooth or liquid flow of the sounds,
and is in fact the crowning perfection.
~ 124. Good articulation is an essential element of power in
delivery.
The importance of good articulation as an element of power in delivery, cannot be overestimated.
This may be evinced in the following particulars.
1. Articulation is the differential character of human
speech.
The word, language, in its most comprehensive
sense (~ 2-1), includes not only speech, but also
written and printed and other symbolical representations of human thought. Hence each of the arts,
such as music, painting, sculpture and architecture,
has its own language. In distinction from all these,
and also from the inarticulate voices or cries of the
irrational creation, articulation is the special characteristic of human speech.  Hence "the articulately speaking men " of Homer, expresses the conception which the Greeks, the greatest practical
masters of speech the world has ever seen, formed




224        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
of humanity. The articulate word of a man is his
rational nature in its most full and perfect revelation
-a revelation which is dim and obscure in the degree in which his articulation is defective.
2. Good articulation is necessary in order to speak
and to be understood with ease.
The question whether the public speaker can deliver himself without exhaustion, so as to be understood by large audiences with facility, turns upon
the quality of his articulation, even more than upon
the strength of his voice. Good articulation will
enable him to speak with comparatively little effort,
or fatigue, or expenditure of vital energy, so as to
be understood with ease by the most numerous assemblies. In such assemblies, and more especially
if they are in the open air, he cannot make himself
understood without great distinctness and purity of
articulation; his speaking will be unintelligible; or
if not absolutely so, yet the effort on the part of the
audience to understand will be so great that they
will soon become wearied, and cease to give their
attention. In the meantime, the strain upon his
own organs, especially those of the breath and
throat, will be so great that it may inflict upon them
irreparable injury, and break down the strongest
health.
3. Distinct articulation is essential to the expression
of the distinctions qf thought; and in this, the consonants
are of more importance than the vowels.
The distinctions of sound made by the articulate.
ing organs, are the most significant of all symbols,




ARTICULATION.               225
whether natural or artificial, for the expression of
the distinctions of thought, i. e. all the various states
and operations of the intellect. For this purpose,
the consonants are of far greater importance than
the vowels, for the reason that the differentiating
action of the organs in the formation of the con
sonants, is greater than in the vowels. Hence the
consonants require to be formed with the utmost
precision and distinctness, and to be jointed together in syllables and words with the utmost purity, in order to symbolize and express the subtle
distinctions of precise and articulate thinking.
Feebly rendered, they express feebleness of the
intellectual operations. The omission of any of
them, as that of f = v in of, or one of them put for another, as b for p in baptism, or w for wh in why
and when, or a confused and blurred utterance of
them, is the natural symbol and expression of the
want of discrimination and precision of thought
(~ 122-1).
4. Good articulation is essential to the adequate expression of emotion and passion; and here the vowels
are of the greatest importance.
It is true, indeed, that the gross and sensual and
violent passions may be expressed, to a certain extent,
by inarticulate cries, such as those of mere animals.
Uncontrollable passion naturally runs into confused
articulation. But all the delicate modifications and
distinctions of emotion, all its nicer shades and
variations, and all passion that is held under control-in a word, all feelings which are distinctively
human, require for their adequate expression, the




226        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
purest and most perfect articulation. Thus anger,
scorn, contempt, hatred, and all such passions, when
not uncontrollable, express themselves by sharpening
and hardening the consonantal sounds; whilst love,
pity, sorrow, and all the tender and gentle emotions,
give these sounds a peculiar softness and smoothness, and a certain liquid flow to the whole utterance. In the expression of emotion and passion
the vowels are more significant than the consonants.
One reason of this is that they correspond to the nature of emotion more closely, as being less sharply
distinguished from each other than the consonants;
which more properly correspond to the sharp and
precise distinctions of thought. Hence it is by
means of the vowel sounds, in all their ever varying qualities of voice, and changes of pitch,
time and force, that the passions of the speaker's
soul pour themselves forth, and are communicated
to the audience, with the greatest fullness and
power.




CHAPTER IV.
ACCENTUATION.
~ 125. AuttuAtdon consists in giving distinction or promi.
nence to particular syllables, by increasing the time, or
stress, or by raising the pitch, of the accented syllable.
THERE are at least these three ways of rendering
any particular syllable more prominent than the
others with which it is immediately connected; and
each of these methods may be employed separately,
or any two, or all of them, may be combined in one
and the same accent.
~ 126. The temporal accent consists in giving an increase of
tmne to the syllable; it is preferred by syllables which
end in tonic sounds.
Thus in the words, dai'ry, ju'ry, vo'cal, it will be
readily observed that about double the amount of
time is given to the former syllables, as compared
with the latter. All syllables which end in tonic
sounds have a decided preference for this form of
the accent; in other words, this is their leading or
predominant form. The reason is that all the tonics,
being open sounds, that is, formed by the organs
not in contact, and having the highest degree of vo



228         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
cality, are capable of being indefinitely prolonged.
This reason applies also to the subtonic feeble
checks, and to the nasals, though with less force,
inasmuch as they have a lower degree of vocality;
and hence syllables which end in these sounds, frequently take this form of the accent, as in the words,
an'vil, bev'el, beam'ing. The temporal accent readily combines with that of increased stress, and sometimes with that of the raised pitch.
~127. The stress accent consists in giving increased stress of
voice to the syllable; it is preferred by syllables ending
in subtonic sounds.
Thus we give about double the ordinary stress or
force of voice to the accented syllables of the following words, bab'ble, mad'der, bag'ging. This is the
leading form of the accent in syllables that end in
subtonic sounds, especially those which cannot be
indefinitely prolonged, and which have therefore a
comparatively feeble  vocality. Instinctively  the
voice seems to make a greater effort, in anticipation
of its being so soon and suddenly checked, or
stopped off, by the strong articulation in which the
syllable ends. Increased stress is the most apt way
of distinguishing syllables which end with such
sounds. These, however, are not incapable of the
temporal accent in combination with their own, for
the reason that the increase of time can be laid
upon the tonic which precedes the closing subtonic
sound.




ACCENTUATION.               229
~ 128. The plitch accent consists in raising the pitch of the
syllable; it is preferred by syllables which end in atonio
sounds.
In this case, the pitch of the syllable is raised a
full tone, or one degree of the musical scale, above
the other syllables. This also may be readily observed in such words as bat tle, capitulate, refrac'tory. This is the leading form of the accent in syllables which end in atonic sounds, for the reason
that such sounds having no vocality, and being
formed by mere articulations of the whispering
breath, are extremely unpleasant when unduly prolonged, where they are capable of it, and when too
much distinguished by increased stress. Yet this
form of the accent may be combined with either or
both of the others, by laying the increased time, or
stress, or both, upon the tonic of the syllable.
~ 129. Accents are of primary, secondary and tertiary degrees of time and stress.
Besides the preceding distinctions, the accent
may be of greater or less increase of time and
force; and from the fact of such variations, we
have the distinctions of primary, secondary and
tertiary accents.
1. The primary is the accent of greatest increase
of time, or stress, or of both these combined.
Words of two syllables take only this accent, as in
the words, man'ly mer'cy caprice'.




230         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
2. The secondary accent is one of less increase
and is, as it were, the echo of the primary. It occurs on words of three syllables, when the primary
is on the first or last, and on words of {our or more
syllables; as in the following, prac"tical', pal"pitate',
pur"ify', accent"uate', facil"itate', com'pensa"tion.
3. The tertiary is of the least increase, and is as
if the echo should repeat itself in a still feebler form.
It occurs on words of five, six, or more syllables, as
in tran"substan'tia"'tion.
This image of the echo, however, is so far inaccurate, that the primary accent does not always precede, but is often preceded by either or both the
others. The primary is, of course, the most important, and is the one always meant when the accent
is spoken of, except when either of the others is
specified.
~ 130. The accent has four functions; it gives unity and variety to the sound of words, expresses their different and
contrasted meanings, and constitutes the principal elemennt of rhythm.
1. It gives to words of more than one syllable unity
and variety of sound.
This is the most important function of the accent.
For every such word in English takes one, and but
one primary accent, which gives distinction or prominence to the accented syllable over all the others,
and draws them into a certain relation of subordination, and dependence upon it. This unifies the
sound of the whole word, and thus enables it to




ACCENTUATION.              231
symbolize and express that unity of thought, which,
as we shall hereafter see, is an essential character
of words. Consequently in the English language,
such words have a far higher degree of unity, and
in so far are more perfect as words, than in those
other languages which are properly destitute of the
accent. The manner in which the different accents,
primary, secondary and tertiary, with their various
elements of time, stress and pitch, contribute to that
full and rich variety of sound, which is characteristic
of English words, is sufficiently obvious.
2. It expresses the different meanings of words which,
uWithout the accent, would have the same sound.
We have a large class of words in English which
are composed of precisely the same elementary
sounds, and are represented by the same alphabetic
symbols, but which differ widely in their grammatical character and meaning. Such are all the words
which are used both as nouns or adjectives, and as
verbs. Now this whole difference of character and
meaning is commonly, and the tendency of the language is such that probably, in no long time, it will
be uniformly, expressed by accenting the words differently. We have examples of this in the words,
tor'ment and torment', fre'quent arnd frequent', in'terdict and interdict', at'tribute and attri'bute.
3. It expresses the contrasted meanings of similar
words.
When the meanings of any two similar words in
the same sentence are contrasted, or opposed to
each other, the accent enables us to express this




232         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
contrast or opposition in a corresponding difference
of sound. This function is of such importance that
it justifies and requires a change of the accent from
its normal position on one or both of the words, as
in the following expressions: "IHe must in'crease,
but I must de'crease;" jus'tice and in'justice, giv'ing
and for'giving, prob'ability not plau'sibility.
4. It is the principal element of rlhylthm.
The rhythm, both of prose and poetry, depends in
English chiefly upon such a distribution of accented
and unaccented syllables as is adapted to the expression of the sentiment, and as makes a pleasing
impression upon the ear. We see this in the followirdg prose sentence from the address of the. Apostle Paul to the Athenian Areopagus: " Whom', there'fore, ye ig'norantly wor'ship, him' declare' I un'to
you;" also in the following words of the Queen in
Hamlet, strewing funereal flowers upon the corpse
of Ophelia.
Sweets' to the sweet'-farewell'.
I hop'ed thou should'st have been' my Ham'let's wife;
I thought' thy bride'-bed t' have deck'ed, sweet maid,'
And not' t' have strew'ed thy grave'.
The change of a single accent in these quotations
would essentially mar their superb rhythm. Accent
enters deeply also into the nature and effects of melody and harmony in discourse, by which the sonnd
of the words is made to fall musically upon the ear,
and to symbolize and echo, as it were, the sense
which they are intended to express.




ACCENTUATION.                233
$ 131. The accent gives the En lish language a great superiority over others which are destitute of it.
This fourfold function of the accent gives to the
English language a vast superiority over the F-rench,
and all others which are destitute of this ele-r ent of
expression.  For it imparts to all words of more
than one syllable, a much greater unity and variety
of sound-it renders them much more precise and
perspicuous in meaning-it renders contrasted words
and phrases far more antithetical and expressiveand it gives to the rhythm, both of poetry and prose,
far greater fullness, richness and symbolical power
— than were otherwise possible.
~ 132. Rules for placing the accent express the tendencies of
the language.
It is hardly possible to lay down precise and invariable laws of accentuation; but there are certain
tendencies of the language, which approach more or
less nearly to the nature of laws, and which require
to be exhibited.
~133. Monosyllables commonly take no accent.
This rule requires to be qualified in the four following cases.
1. Mionosyllables which are essentially long, from the
large number of their elementary sounds (~ 121),
such as dart, harm, realm, are undistinguishable
from syllables which are lengthened by the temporal accent.




234         THE ELEMENTS OF P'OWER.
2. Mcnwsyllables essentially strong, from the strong
vocality of their elements (~ 121), such as mourn,
glean, blaze, are undistinguishable from syllables
-with the accent of increased stress.
3. Empkatic monosyllables include the accent in
their emphasis.
4. Rhythm  sometimes requires the accentuation of
monosyllables.
This is true of the rhythm  both of prose and poetry. In the latter, however, it is very necessary to
guard against error.' For where perfect regularity
in the rhythm requires a monosyllable to be accented, it is often the intention of the poet to leave it
without the accent, in order to secure a more full
and copious rhythmic variety. This remark applies
chiefly to articles, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, adverbs, and all the monosyllabic forms of
substantive and auxiliary verbs. An unskillful reader would be likely to spoil the poet's rhythm in the
following lines, by accenting the words, is and in.
There' is a pleasure in the pathless woods';
There' is a rap'ture on the lone'ly shore'.
g 134. All words of more than one syllable are accented.
The only exception to this rule is that rhythm
sometimes requires an insignificant word of two
syllables to stand without the accent; as the word,
upon, in the following line.
Since' upon night' so sweet' such aw'ful morn' could rise'.




ACCENTUATION.                     235
d 135. Words of Anglo-Saxon origin commonly take th.o
accent on the root syllable.
Of course, these are not the only words which are
thus accented, but this rule applies to them more
generally than to others. This is one of the causes
of the  superior strength of the Anglo-Saxon elements of the language; for it always enfeebles a
word when the accent falls on any other than its
radical syllable.  The following are examples under
the rule.
Above', adown', affright', ba'ker, back'wardly, black'ness, care'ful, death'liness, eat'ing, fear'ful, gable, heart'ily, i'dleness, jum'ble, kindliness, land'less, mar'ketable, nip'ple, own'er, pic'kle,
quiik'ish, rag'ing, scan'ty, thiev'ish, ud'der, wretch'edly, without,'
youth'ful.
~ 136. Dissyllables transferred'* from the French commonly
take the accent on the last syllable.
Also a large number of polysyllables of the same
origin are accented on the last syllable.
Allies', balloon', brocade', burlesque', cartouch', cartoon', conquette', dessert', detail', discourse', escheat', finance', finesse',
grimace', halloo', illume', juppon', lampoon', maintain', morass',
oppose', parterre', research', resource', romance', severe', tinaile',
vendLe'.
~ 137. Dissyllables, which as nouns or adjectives are accented
on the first syllable, are as verbs frequently accented on
tihe last.
This is the case also with a number of words of
more than two syllables.  The analogy of the rule
* Transferred i. e. adopted with little or no change.




236           THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
applies, moreover, in changing the accent on some
words, where it does not transfer it to the last syllaule, as in  at'tribute and attrib'ute, arsenic and
arsenic, coun'terbalance  and  counterbal'ance.  In
the case of arsenic, and some other words, it distinguishes nouns from  adjectives.  It is  necessary,
however, to guard against this clear tendency of the
language, so as not to apply the rule to words
which, according to the best usage, have not yet
been brought under it; such as the words, per'fect
and content', in which the accent is the same in all
cases. Contents, in the plural, will bear the accent
on either syllable. The following words are examples of this change of accent, that is, they are accented either on the first or last syllable, according
to their grammatical character and meaning; thus
ab'ject or abject', and so of the others.
Abject, absent, abstract, accent, affix, augment, bombard, cement, colleague, collect, compact, complot, compound, compress,
concert, concrete, conduct, confine, conflict, conserve, consort,
contest, contract, contrast, convent, converse, convert, convict,
convoy, countercharge, countercharm, countercheck, countermand, countermarch, countermine, counterpoise, countersign,
desert, descant, discount, digest, escort, essay, export, extract,
exile, ferment, foretaste, frequent, import, impress, incense, inlay,
interchange, interdict, insult, object, overcharge, overflow, overmatch, overthrow, perfume, permit, prefix, prelude, premise, pre.
sage, present, produce, project, progress, protest, rebel, record,
refuse, reprimand, subject, survey, torment, traject, transfer,
transport, undress, upstart.
~ 138. Words terminating in ia, iac ial, ian, efy, ify,ety, ity,
eous, ious, sion, tion, athy, acal, ical, fluent, fluous, gonal,
graphy, itude, logy, loquy, meter, metry, parous, phyl



ACCENTUATION.                      237
uons, tomy, (together with tive and commonly ic, preceded
by a consonant) take the accent on the preceding syllable.
There are a few exceptions to this comprehensive
rule, such as ad'jective, ar'senic, arith'metic, bish'
opric, cath'olic, chol'eric, elegi'ac, ephem'eric, her'etic, lu'natic, pol'itic rhet'oric, splen'etic, sub'stantive, tur'meric, and  perhaps, pleth'oric, which, however, according to the best authorities, should be
accented, pletho'ric.
The following are examples under the rule.
Af'fluent, algebra'ic, alphabet'ical, ammo'nia, anat'omy, aph'yllous, attrac'tive, barba'rian, biol'ogy, cheru'bic, climacter'ic, conta'geous, conten'tious, coura'geous, cu'bical, declara'tion, demo'niac,
demoni'acal, diag'onal, dissen'sious, diph'yllous, diver'sity, ed'ify,
epidem'ic, epidem'ical, empir'ic, fanat'ic, fanat'ical, farina'ceous,
for'titude, geol'ogy, geolog'ical, geom'etry, geomet'rical, geom'eter,
geog'raphy, geograph'ical, harmon'ic, harmon'ical, heli'acal, heteroph'yllous, homeop'athy, impe'rial, invec'tive, jacobin'ic, jacobin'ical, liberal'ity, malleabil'ity, merid'ian, metallic, mollify, mu'sical, Noa'chian, ovip'arous, presump'tive, phlegmat'ic, quan'tity,
rar'efy, scientif'ic, scorbu'tic, scorbu'tical, sol'itude, solil'oquy,
super'fluous, sym'pathy, sympathet'ic, triph'yllous, vivip'arous.
139. Words of three or more syllables terninating in eal,
erous, orous, inous, ulous, take the accent on the preceding syllable.
There are a very few exceptions to this rule, such
as cano'rous, sonoArous, and, perhaps, deco'rous, indeco'rous, which, however, on good authority, may
be accented as in the following examples.
Bo'real, corpo'real, carniv'orous, cu'neal, dec'orous, empyr'ea],
ethe'rial, fune'real, herbiv'orous, heteroge'nial, homoge'nial, in.
dec'orous, incorpo'real, lac'teal, lin'eal, or'deal, sed' ulous,vocif'erous, volu'minous.




238             THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 140. Words accented on the first syllable.
Accessary, accessory, admirable, advertise, aggrandizement,
aperture, behemoth, Bernardine, blasphemous, capillary, character,
characterize, compromise, complaisance, corollary., construe, con
trary, contumacy, contumely, deficit, designate, desultory, desue
tude, disputable, disputant, diverse, dynasty, exemplary, exercise,
exquisite, epocha, fallacy, gratitude, harass, impetus, industry,
integral, interest, interested, interesting, judicature, lamentable,
legislative, legislator, legislature, maxillary, mercantile, miscellany, mischievous, oasis, pedestal, perfected, posthumous, presbytery, puissant, recognize, recreate, recreative, repertory, sepulchre, sinister, specialty, speculative, towards, vehement, vehemently, yesterday.
~ 141. Words accented on the second syllable.
Abdomen, advertisement, albumen, alumen, acumen, anchovy,
antipodes, aroma, aruspice, aspirant, asylum, Augean, bissextile, bitumen, camelopard, catastrophe, centrifugal, centripetal, ceramic,
Cerberian, cerulean, clandestine, clandestinely, committee, compensate, component, computable, concentrate, condensate, condolence,
confiscate, consummate, contemplate, contemplative, coquetry, decorum, defalcate, demonstrate, deponent, devastate, diploma, diplomacy, diplomatist, distribute, divertise, divertisement, enervate, exponent, extirpate, fraternize, Herculean, horizon, idea, imbecile, inculcate, inculpate, indisputable, inquiry, irrefragable, interpolate,
interstice, intrepid, liceum, marmorean, misanthropy, museum, obdurate, obduracy, opponent, Orion, pantheon, philanthropy, pilaster, precedence, Promethean, promulgate, pygmean, recital, recusant, remonstrate, respiratory, respirable, restorative, retributive, sequestrate, subsidence, Tartarean, tiara, ubiquist, vesicular, xerodes,
zygoma.
~ 142. Words accented on the third syllable.
Atheneum, Atlantean, acquiescent, bastinado, benefactor, circum.
jacent, coadjutor, coriander, colossean, colosseum, convalescent.
desperado, empyrean, Epicurean, European, evanescent, hyperbor.
san, hymenean, ignoramus, literati, simultaneous, subterranean
ultimataum.




CHAPTER V.
PRONUNCIATION.
k 143. Articulation and accentuation are the tvwo elements of
pronunciation; the former is the more controlling element.
WHEN a word is properly articulated, and properly
accented, it is rightly pronounced. Articulation,
however, is the more fundamental and controlling
element. The formation of the elementary sounds,
and of syllables, is obviously the most essential element of the formation of words. Also the articulating organs come into play in jointing  syllables
together to form words, as truly as in forming the
elementary sounds, and in jointing them together
into syllables. Moreover, a great number of words,in English are monosyllables, in which case, articulation is identical with pronunciation. Notwithstanding, however, that articulation and accentuation, taken together, are precisely equivalent to pronunciation, the propriety, and even the necessity of
treating pronunciation under a separate head will be
obvious from what is to follow.




240         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 144. Pronunciation is the oral speakitg of words.
We have seen that language, in the deepest sense
of the word, is identical with oral speech. Hence it
is that what we have to keep our minds intent upon,
in all linguistic studies, is the sounds themselves, as
distinguished from their literal symbols. This is
the clue which guides us to the true nature, and
inmost secret of language. For the letters of the
alphabet are mere symbols (often extremely clumsy,
and always inadequate) of the elementary sounds of
which words are composed. And even a perfect
symbolization, if that were possible, would be only a
mechanical contrivance, of which the highest use
would be that of serving as a means of reproducing
the sounds represented. But speech is an organic
and vital development of the laws of thoughtthought striving to embody itself more and more
perfectly in oral sounds. When, therefore, the literal
symbols are regarded and treated as elements and
powers in the formation of words, language becomes
incomprehensible.
~ 145. Pronunciation ought not to be conformed to the syrzbolization.
There is no more fruitful source of errors in pronunciation than the attempts, which are constantly
made, to conform the sounds to the spelling of the
words. All such attempts proceed upon a false
principle, and are essentially impracticable. This
may be evinced from the following considerations.




PRONUNCIATION.            241
1. Such attempts reverse the original method of prooclure by which language was reduced to writing.
Every language, before it was reduced to writing,
had its own pronunciation as fully developed and
perfected as it became afterwards. The original
procedure of writing down a language at first, is, of
course, that of conforming the symbolization to the
sounds, not the sounds to the symbolization. The
attempt to conform the pronunciation to the spelling,
therefore, reverses this whole process, and hence it
can never fail, in the degree in which it is successful, to mar and deform the language.
2. Pronunciation cannot befixed in any symbolization.
Speech, because it is an organic and vital development, is always in a process of change; it is
always moving on the line of the development of
thought and life. Hence the pronunciation of a
language can never be permanently fixed; and if it
could, it would tend to arrest human progress. The
symbolization, on the contrary, because it is a mere
conventional and mechanical contrivance, constantly
tends to become indurated, and difficult of modification. Hence the necessary divergence, in the course
of time, of the pronunciation from the symbolization.
The causes which produce this effect are always at
work in living tongues which have been reduced to
writing. Their ultimate result is that the written
becomes a dead language; for the life of a language
always follows the sound, and not the symbol. Under the influence of these causes for thousands of




242        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
years, the spoken language and dialects of China
have become so different from the written and classical Chinese, that the most perfect knowledge of
either is hardly an introduction to the other. For
beyond a question, when'the sounds of the classical
Chinese were first reduced to writing (and for ages
subsequently) the written language was the same
with the spoken; but the pronunciation gradually
receding from the symbolization, the present result
has been at last reached. The case is precisely similar with the classical Sanskrit, and the living dialects of that family which are now spoken by the
people of India. Thus it was also that the Latin
became a dead language, and that the Romance
tongues grew up under it. And the same causes
have been at work for centuries in these last mentioned tongues, until now in French e. g. the spelling is hardly any clue to the pronunciation. What
would be the consequence if the French people
should attempt to pronounce their words as they are
spelled!
~ 146. The symbolization ought to be conformed to the pronunciation.
This is now becoming so obvious to those who
have given the subject adequate attention, as to
leave little doubt that the change, with whatsoever
temporary inconvenience it may be attended, cannot
be much longer delayed. The objections which
have been urged against it are rapidly giving way
in the minds of our ablest scholars, such as Max




PRONUNCIATION.              243
M-fller, and Professor Whitney, before a more full
recognition of the fundamental principle that the
essence of language is significant sound, and before
the urgent necessity pressing more and more heavily
upon us. For it is now demonstrable that if this
change be not effected, we must in time have a written language totally different from the spoken one,
like the Chinese; in other words, classical English
must become a dead language. Our symbolization,
having been radically defective at first, has become
a perfect chaos, which defies all attempts to reduce
it to order, and from which it is not only impossible
to gather the true sounds, or pronunciation of the
words, but which exerts a mighty influence to lead
us all astray. For we have, in the first place, a vast
number of symbols, which represent no sound at all,
that is, silent letters; few of which, if any, were silent
when the language was first reduced to writing. In
the second place, most of the symbols represent each
a variety of different sounds; and, in the third place,
the same sound is often represented by a great
number of different symbols. The sound of i as in
pin e. g. is represented by as many as fifteen different signs; and the case is nearly as bad with each
of the other nineteen or twenty vowels and diphthongs in the language. All the peculiar difficulties
of English pronunciation arise from this chaotic
state of our symbolization. For there is no such
confusion in the sounds themselves. Here  we
shall find law and order and beauty, as in all the
developments and manifestations of organic life-.a




244:        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
regularity and certainty, in fact, like that of instinct,.
For oral speech is a true product of the instincts of
reason in man.
i 147. A word is an articulate sound expressing a single
thought.
A single articulate sound expressing a single
thought, is the differential character of a word.
1. A word expresses a single thought.
A sound which does not express any thought or
sense, is not a word; nor can any word express
more than one thought at the same time, or in the
same connection. This one thought, however, may
be composed of any number of different elements,
but these will always be expressed in a unified or
generalized form, as in such words as horse, man,
world, thing.
2. The means of expressing this unity of thought is a
corresponding unity of sound.
In order that this unity of thought may be adaquately expressed, it requires a corresponding unity
of sound, which, therefore, is essential to the nature
of a word. But this unity of sound, as in the case
of the thought which it expresses, may be composed
of many different elements, as in the words, flail,
education, polysyllable.
1 148. There are four causes of unity of soupd in words, the
single impulse of the voice, the primary accent, the pause
before and after the word, and the transition sounds.
Of these four distinct causes of unity of sound in




.PRONUNCIATION.             245
words, the first is limited to monosyllables, the sec.
ond to polysyllables, and the last t-vo are common
to all words.
1. Monosyllables are pronounced with a single vocal
impulse.
This fact has been already exhibited in the discussion of the syllable (~116). It is the most influential cause of all that contribute to give unity of
sound to words; and taken together with the others
that co-operate with it to produce the same result, it
gives the highest degree of unity to monosyllables,
and thus renders them the most perfect of all
words.
2. Polysyllables take but one primary accent.
This cause gives unity of sound to all words of
more than one syllable. After what manner it does
this has been already explained in treating of the
functions of the accent (~ 130-1).
3. Every word is preceded and followed by a pause.
This is the case in all connected English speaking. The pause may be very slight, so as to be almost insensible, but it is still there, and may commonly be perceived by a good ear, with close attention. It is admirably symbolized in writing and
printing by the little blank spaces between the
words. Its function is to separate each word from
the others with which it stands connected in speech,
to circumscribe it, so to speak, and thus to give it a
defined unity of sound. This cause of unity is, of
course, common to all words.




246        TimHE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
4. The elements of each word are cemented together
by transition sounds.
These transition sounds, which are produced by
the voice in passing from one element to another,
have never been treated of. Professor Day supposes himself to be the first who has ever allude d
to them. Yet they constitute a considerable proportion of the sound of almost every word. We
shall find that they will enable us to explain a great
number of the apparent anomalies of English proiunciation.
(1). Transition sounds are made by the voice in
passing from one element of a word to another.
That there are such sounds becomes evident upon
a little attention.  For whilst the organs are
passing from their position in the formation of one
element to that of the next in the same word, the
voice or breath is not suspended, but continues to
flow out, except in the case of the hard checks, g, d,
b, k, t, p. Thus in the word, ear, the a being silent,
the sound of e passes into that of r by a vocal
transition, which is neither that of e nor r, but partakes of the nature of both. Between different syllables the transition sound is still more sensible, as
between e and a of the word, create. Frequently
these sounds are identical with some of the elements
themselves, in which case they are sometimes expressed. Thus in the word Iowa e. g. w represents
nothing but the transition sound made by the voice
in passing from o to a, and the word is pronounced
exactly as if it were spelled Ioa, Commonly, how



PRONUNCIATION.             247
ever, these sounds are not represented at all in the
spelling. Thus in the words, nature, virtue-pronounced, natshure, virtshue-the transition sound
between the two syllables is precisely that of sh,
but it does not appear in the spelling of either word.
Tlhese transition sounds are aptly symbolized by
the little intermediate strokes which connect the
different letters in current writing; and it would
seem that printing would be a more perfect symbol
than it now is, if its letters were joined together in
a similar manner
(2.) A principal function of these transition sounds
is to give unity to the sound of each word. These
transition sounds are never heard between one word
and another, or only in faulty articulation; otherwise there would be no pause before and after every
word. But between the different elements and syllables of each word they are very frequently, and
often necessarily introduced. The effect of this is to
cement the elementary sounds and syllables together, thus giving wholeness and unity to the sound of
every word, as the bricks or stones of a building
are cemented together with mortar. This cause of
unity is also common to all words.
149. Pronunciation is an important element of power in
delivery.
A correct and elegant pronunciation is an element of power in delivery which can hardly be
overestimated. It has been said that it makes the
words of a speaker like new gold coin, as they drop




248         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
from the mint, bright and clean-cut, with their
legends or superscriptions so plain that they can be
read without effort, and the value of the coin recognized at sight; whilst bad pronunciation makes the
words like old, rusty, defaced coin, with their
legends blurred or worn away, so that it requires the
study and skill of an antiquarian or numatist to determine their value.
~ 150. The pronunciation here given follows the best. English
and American authorities.
English pronunciation, when considered apart
from the totally inadequate and chaotic symbolization, is not of so uncertain or anomalous a character as is commonly supposed. Almost all its apparent anomalies arise from the groundless notion
that somehow the sounds ought to be conformed to
the spelling, instead of the spelling to the sounds.
Considered apart from this cause of difficulty, it is
probably as regular, and as capable of being reduced under general euphonic laws, as that of any
other language. The examples given below to establish such laws, are selected mostly from words that
are often mispronounced, of which the true pronunciation is here given. But it should be distinctly understood that no new or unauthorized pronunciations have been introduced, except in a few cases of
apparent inadvertency of the best English and
American authorities, which, with this exception,
have been uniformly followed. But where these
authorities differ among themselves, and it has be'




PRONUNCIATION.              249
colne necessary to choose between them, the laws
of euphony have been allowed to influence the
choice. What authorities have been followed in
any particular case, may commonly be seen by reference to Worcester's large dictionary; which is
here recommended as, upon the whole, the best exhibition of the orthoepy of the language.
~ 151. The tonics in a, from the greatest to the least open.
ness of the organs, are as in arm, all, ask, hat, care,
fate.
These six tonics are here arranged in a regular
series (except in the case of a as in all) with the
organs constantly flattening and approaching to
contact. The exception might properly be placed
in another series, but is retained here for reasons
given below. The sign here chosen for these sounds,
namely, the letter a, has been found the most convenient for practical treatment, although they are
not unfrequently otherwise represented.
1. A as in arm, represented by a, au, e, ea.
This sound is formed with the mouth simply open,
the organs in their natural position, and farther
apart than in any other sound of the language.
Consequently it is least modified by the action of
the organs, and has the strongest vocality of all. It
is often confounded with a as in care, and in all, and
with o as in nor; as in psaalm or psawlm, for psalm,
and port, stort, for part, start. The signs by which
it is represented in the following examples are in
italic letters.




250            THE EuEMEnrT   OF POWER.
Are, aunt, avant, balm, bath, calf, calm, clerk, craunch, daunt4
dauntless, embark, flaunt, gape, gaunt, gauntlet, guano, guard,
half, halve, haunt, haunch, hark, hearken, impart, jaunt, jaundice, knarl, laugh, laundry, laundress, Ma, maunch, maunder,
nard, Pa, pariah, palm, psalm, qualm, rajah, ragout', saunter,
sergeant, stanch, staunch, sulta'na, taunt, upbar, varnish, yard,
zena'na.
2. A as in all-a, au, aw, oa, ou.
Formed by rounding the aperture and cavity of
the mouth a very little from the position of the preceding a as in arm, and by throwing the resonance
of the voice farther back. The sound is very nearly
related to o as in nor. It is placed here because it
is formed by a very slight modification of tile position of the organs from the preceding, and because
it is most frequently represented by a, either alone,
or in combination with other signs.
Alder, alderman, almanac, altar, alterative, appall, audacious,
auspicious, aught, avaunt, awl, ball, bawl, bought, brought,
broad, call, calk, chalk, daub, enthrall, fall, falcon, fought,
groat, hall, hale, halter, haul, jaw, -law, maw, naught, nought,
ought, pall, paw, paunch, quart, quarter, raw, saucer, sought,
thought, vault, vaunt, want, wrought, yawl.
3. A as in ask-a, au.
Formed by flattening the mouth cavity a very
little from its position in a as in arm, and by drawinr the corners of the mouth a little farther from
each other -an intermediate sound between a in
arm, and a in hat.  It is most frequently followed
by nasal or atonic sounds, except when it ends a syllalde.  An unaccented a at the end of a word usutlt. represents this sound.  In sonme sections of the




PRONUNCIATION.                     251
country it is confounded with a in arm, in others
with a in care.
Aft, after, aghast, alas, Anna, answer, ant, bask, basket, blanch,
brass, cast, castle, clasp, craft, dance, draft, draught, enchant,
example, fast, flask, ghastly, graft, grant, grass, haft, hasp, idea,
lance, last, mask, mass, mast, nasty, pant, pass, passable, pastor.
quaff, raft, sample, slander, slant, task, vast, waft.
4. A as in hat —-a, ai.
Formed by a position of the mouth organs differing from the preceding precisely as that differs from
a in arm. It is about as far removed, on the same
line of change, from a in ask, as that is from a in
arm. It is often confounded with the preceding,
and with the following.
Abba, abbey, apple, actual, adapt, ag'ile apparel, are'na, bade,
band, bank, bland, blandish, blank, cabal', can, cant, dandle,
dandy, er'rant, fan, flank, frank, frantic, gather, glacier, hand,
jam, kra'al, lamb, land, man, maintain', national, or'deal, Orleans, parentage, patent (noun), patronage, plaid, railery, random, rant, rational, sacrament, sacrifice, syllab'ic tandem,
vantage, Zante..5. A as in care-a, ai, ay, e, ea, ey.
Formed by still further flattening the mouth, and
drawing the corners a little more apart-differing
very slightly from the preceding. The distinctive
character of this tonic seems to be mostly due to the
influence of the peculiar subtonic r, by which it is
nearly or quite uniformly followed.
Air, apparent, bare, bear, chair, chary, dare, declare, e'er, fair,
fare, glare, hair, heir, impair, lair, mare, ne'er, pear, prayer,
rare, repair, scare, scarce, stare, swear, tear (verb) there, where,
wherefore, wear.




252            THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
6. A as infate-a, aa, ae, ai, ao, ay, e, eoa, ei, ey.
Formed by carrying the change of the preceding
a little further-the flattest of all the tonics in a,
but differing from all the others in that it is clearly
a diphthong, which terminates with the sound of i
as in pin. Hence, notwithstanding the near approach'of the organs to contact, it has a strong vocality. In words transferred, with little or no
change, from  the Latin and Greek, it is often confounded with a as in arm, contrary to the best English usage.
Aaron, able, aerie, Ate, afflatus, ancient, angel, audacious,
bane, bathos, bima'nous, Canaanite, chamber, change, chasten,
com'rade, date, data, datum, dairy, danger, deca'dence, deca'dency, drama, erra'tum, erra'ta, eyry, feign, freight, gauge, gaol,
Hades, heinous, halo, inveigh, Janus, Kalif, literati, literatim,
MIagi, manage, matins, matron, message, missionary, nation,
orange, Parlan, patent (adjective) patriot, patriotism, patron, Pa'ternoster, Pa'tripassian, Pharoah, plait, pray, quail, range, rail,
ratio, sail, saline, secretary, sol'ace, stain, swathe, tete-a-tete
they, va'demecum, verbatim, vaga'ry, vagrant, voracious, voyage,
yea, weigh, zany.
~ 152. The tonics in i are as in pine, pin.
These two sounds may seem to be very different,
but they stand in the closest relations to each other.
Hence they are interchanged more frequently perhaps than any others. It would take a very long
list of words to correct only the more common mispronunciations which arise from this cause.
1. I as in pine-i, ai, ei, ey, eye, ie, y, uy.
Properly a diphthong or slide, commencing with




PRONUNCIATION.                    253
the organs in a very open state, with the roof of the
mouth raised considerably higher than in the most
open of the preceding tonics, and with the corners
of the mouth drawn farther apart. Thus commenced,
it continues in a slide, the tongue and the roof of
the mouth constantly approaching each other, until
it closes with the sound of i as in pin.
Aisle, ad'vertise, bind, biog'raphy, biol'ogy, brig'antine, buy.
choir, chirog'raphy, col'umbine, crys'talline, cyn'osure, decli'na.
ture, despite', detri'tus, diam'etcr, die, di'verse, dio'cesan, echi'.
nus, edify, ey'as, eye'lash, fe'line, fe'rine, flu'orine, gentile, guy,
height, heli'acal, hydrom'eter, hyper'bole, i'odine, iam'bic, gyra.
tion, kind, lilac, literati, mi'crocosm, mi'croscope, minus, Mithras,
mus'cadine, nihil, ni'hilism, oblige, oblique, pan'tomime, pari'etal,
piratical, prime'val, quiescent, rhinoc'eros, respiratory, sacrifice,
saccharine, saturnine, ser'pentine, sinecure, spikenard, thyme,
tribu'nal, trilogy, tri'lobite, u'terine, vie, virus, wise'acre, zymol'.
ogy.
2. I  as in pin —i, ai, ei, oi, ui, e, ee, ey, iag, e, a, ay,
O, tU, y.
Properly a section cut off from the end of the preceding tonic, the organs being in precisely the same
position in forming this, as at the close of that. It
is one of the feeblest of the tonic sounds, for the
reason that it is formed with the organs very near
together. It will be observed that we have here
no less than fifteen different signs representing the
same sound; and besides this, the sound is often
omitted where the sign remains. Thus the letter i
is almost always silent when preceded by the sound
of sh, or z as in azure, and followed by a, e, o; as iv
anxious, fashion, nation, partial, patient, precious,




254           THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
vision, pronounced, angshus, fashun, nashun, parshal, pashent, preshus, vizun (z as in azure).
Adaman'tine, adver'tisement, agile, aquiline, bargain, been,
breeches, busy, business, carriage, certain, chime'ra, chimer'ical,
chrysalis, cowardice, conduit, dis'cipline, diver'tise, duc'at, England, fa'vorite, fidelity, finance', finesse', forcible, foreign, forfeit, fran'chise, galley, gen'uine, hos'tile, hypochon'driac, irritability, irresistible, intes'tine, ju'venile, lettuce, lib'ertine, mar'itime, mer'cantile, mas'culine, marriage, min'ute, minute', mir'acle, mirac'ulous, mirror, mountain, myr'iad, mythology, nec'tarine, Pal'atine, philanthropy, philology, philos'ophy, prac'tice,
pretty, pu'erile, rally, rallied, ra'pine, Sunday, Monday, etc.
tally, tor'toise, tribune, tyranny, unit, valley, villain, virulent,
whim, women, xi'phias, zinc.
~ 153. The tonics in e are as in err, pet,eve.
These three sounds also are here placed in regular series from the greatest to the least openness
of the organs.  They are all, however, of comparatively feeble vocality.
1. E as in err —e, ea, i, y.
Formed by raising the tongue a little from its
position in a as in arm, by slightly contracting
the mouth cavity, and by throwing the vocal resonance a little higher up.  This sound is very nearly
the same with that of u in but, with which, therefore,
it is frequently comfounded.  Like the sound of a
in care, it is almost always followed by r, the peculiar influence of which seems to determine its character.
Alert, berth, birth, birch, certain, der'nier, dirge, dirk, dirt,
earl, early, earnest, earth, expert, fern, fertile, first, germ, gird,
girl, guerdon, her, herb, heard, hearse, immerse, jerk, kernel




PRONUNCIATION.                  255
learn, mercer, mercy, mirth, mirky, myrrh, myrtle, nerve, perch.
person, quirk, re'pertory, serve, -servant, serpent, sir, sir'loin,
squirm, stir, stirrup, syrup, term, terse, therefore, verge, vernal,
virtue, were, yearn, zerda.
2. E as int pet-e, ea, ei, eo, ey, a, ai, ay, ie, oe, u'.
Formed by flattening the mouth cavity a very littie from its position in the preceding, the tongue
being a little more raised towards the roof of the
mouth. The letter e, where otherwise it would represent this tonic, is frequently silent.  The following are the most important cases, although not
without exceptions.
(1.) At the end of syllables and words, as in ace,
careless, time, sublime, wake.
(2.) In closing unaccented syllables when followed by 1, n; as in drivel, even, grovel, harden,
heaven, mantel, navel, ousel, ravel, seven, shekel,
shovel, shrivel, snivel, weasel; pronounced, drixvl,
evn, gravl, hardn, heavn, etc.
(3.) In ed not preceded by d, t, at the end of
verbs and participles; as in feared, praised, tossed,
pronounced feard, prazd, tost. The e has its full
sound, however, in the following participles used as
adjectives, beloved, blessed, cursed, learned.  Thus
we say, He learnd well, and became a learned
man. It has its full sound also in adjectives ending
in ed, as in horned, naked, ragged, striped, winged.
This tonic is frequently confounded with e in err,
or u in but.  Thus American, error, chicken, children, herald, are mispronounced, Amurica, urror,
chickun, childrun, hurald.




256             THmE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
Again, against, amenity, ate (did eat) assafetida, berry, beryl,
bevel, bury, careless, carelessness (in less and hess, wherevei
they occur) cel'ibacy, ce'ment, cer'ebral, chimer'ical, deficit,
defalcation, deluge, departmen'tal, dep'recate, deprivation, der'o.
lict, descant, des'tine, des'ultory, des'uetude, det'onate, det'riment,
devoir', dreamt, edible, endeavor, enemy, error, errand, evolution,
feof, feofment, felon, fetichism, forget, friend, get, genealogy, herald,
heroine, heroism, imbe'cile, inherit, instead, jeopard, jeopardy, jeal.
ousy, let, lev'ee, many, men'ace, measure, nonpareil', parliament,
peasant, petal, pleasure, poem, prebend, predicate, preface, prelate,
presage, presentee', prestige, question, qucstor or quester, realm,
rec'reant, rec'reate, recreation, reg'imen, ren'dezvous, said, saith,
ster'ile, ster'eoscope, ster'eotype, tepid, terror, treble, very, weapon,
yellow, yes, yet, yesterday, zealot, zealous.
3. E as in eve —e, ee, ea, ey, ae, i, ie, oe, uay..
Formed by carrying the change of the mouth organs, described in the preceding tonic, a little
further. The position of the organs is almost identical with that which they occupy in the formation
of i as in pin; hence there is very little difference
between the two sounds, and they are frequently
confounded.
Ege'an, beard, breach, caprice, chime'ra, courier', deduce', degrade, deviate, devious, east, eel, ear, educe', e'dile, either,
fe'line, fe'rine, fetich, fatus or fetus, fierce, fretum, frequent,
gleam, grega'rious, hear, heat, heave, heathen, heather, implead,
jejune', key, leap, leaped,.leisure, lenient, lever, ley, lineage, lin.
eal, memoir, mien, neither, niece, or'deal, Or'leans, esoph'agus,
petrol, pique, pre'fect, pre'fix, quay, query, quie'tus, ravine', rear,
receive, receipt, recluse', research', resource', seine, sheik, shire,
siege, sleek, treason, veal, weal, yeast, zeal.
i 154. The tonics in o are as in not, nor, old.
In these three tonics, here arranged in series, as
in the preceding cases, there is a constant approach




PRONUNCIATION.                    257
to a circular position of the lips, corresponding to
the form of the letter which represents the sound.
1. 0 as in not-o, ou, ow, a, au.
Formed by rounding the mouth cavity, and the
aperture of the lips, a very little from their position
in a as in arm. There is a large class of words,
chiefly such as have o followed in the same syllable
by nasal or atonic sounds, in which it is differently
pronounced, both by good orthoepists, and good
speakers. Thus the words gone, lost, shone, soft,
are pronounced with the o either as in not, or in
nor. The weight of authority, however, greatly preponderates in favor of the former, which accordingly
is here followed, although the common practice in
this country is in favor of the latter. This letter is
often silent in on without the accent, at the close of
dissyllables; as in bacon, cotton, deacon, iron, pardon, reason, weapon, pronounced, bacon, cotn, deacn,
irn, pardn, reasn, weapn.
Allot, aloft, adopt, atrocity, beaumonde', bonnet, boss, brocade',
broth, caul'iflower, cloth, closet, coffee, col'lier, cough, conserve
(in con always) cost, cross, dem'agogue, dialogue, docile, dog,
dogma, donkey, doll, domine, Donatist, dross, emboss, floss, fore.
head, frost, froth, gloss, gone, gong, grovel, hog, loft, Lombard,
long, loss, lost, mock, Moslem, mosque, moth, off, offer, offspring,
oft, often, omelet, orange, plot, process, product, progress, protest.
prong, quadruped, quality, quandary, quantity, quarrel, scoff,
shone, sol'ace, strong, swath, thong, trough, volley, wallet, wand,
wander, wrong, wroth, yon, yonder.
2. 0 as in nor-o, eo.
Formed by rounding the aperture of the lips a




258           THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
little from  their position in the preceding, and by
enlarging the back cavity of the mouth, so as to
throw the vocal resonance a little further down.
This sound differs hardly in a perceptible manner
from a in all, with which consequently it is often
confounded. It is almost always followed in the
same syllable by r, except when it forms a diphthong
with i, y.
Adorn, born, corn, donor, dormant, effort, for, forfeit, George,
horse, indorse, Jordan, lorn, morn, morning, morsel, mortal, north,
ordain, portion, remorse, resort, snort, sorcery, torn, worn.
3. 0 as in old-o, oo, oa, ou, ow. ao, au, eo, eau, ew.
Formed by rounding the mouth cavity and lips
into a circle. It is properly, however, a diphthong
or slide from  a as in arm  to u as in rrle.  Followed
by r in the same syllable, it is often confounded
with  a as in all, or o as in nor, as in glaury for
glory; and when it is correctly sounded in such
words, there is a sectional tendency to suppress the
following r, as in foth, cose, for forth, coarse.
Adore, alone, atrocious, batteau', bore, bourn, beaufet, bro'cage,
brooch, coat, coarse, corse, core, court, court'ier, couteau, domes'tic,
donor, door, dough, floor, forge, force, fort, four, fourth, forth, goat,
glory, gore, gory, hautboy, hoar, hoard, hoarse, hoary, home,
implore, jowl, jotbler, knoll, loath, loth, low, mellow, mourn, no'menclature, only, opinion, port, porter, portly, portion, portrait,
portray', pour, poultice, poultry, Pharaoh, po'tentate, resource',
revolt, roar, sew, sewer, shew, strew, shore, sloth, snore, soul,
source, stone, sword, to'wards, trophy, trow, uproar, whole, woad,
won't (will not), worn, yeoman, zone.




PRONUNCIATION.                   259
~ 1i5. The tonics in u are as in hut, full, rdle, use.
These four tonics are arranged here in series from
greater to less openness of the lips. They are all
nearly related to the tonics in o, and consequently
most of them are represented by o as often perhaps
as by u. They are distinguished froni each other by
slight shades of difference; hence are frequently
confounded; but the best speakers are careful
give to each its precise value.
1. U as in hut —u, ou, o, oe, eo.
Formed by relaxing a very little the circular position of the lips, from that which they occupy in o as
in old, and allowing them to recede a little further
from each other.  When followed by r in the same
syllable, this tonic is taken by some orthoepists for
a different one; as if u in. burn were different from
u in but.  This distinction, however, seems to have
arisen from  ascribing to the tonic something which
is really due to the influence of the peculiar subtonic
r. The case is somewhat similar to that of a in care,
as distinguished from a in fate, and to that of o in
nor, as distinguished from a in all; but the difference, in this case, does not seem to be sufficient to
warrant a distinction.  This sound is often confounded with o in not.
Above, atom, bulge, burden, burr, column, come, comely, comfit, comfort, companion, conduit, couple, covenant, cover, covetous, Cromwell, does, done, donjon, dost, doth, double, dove, duc'at,
dungeon, dust, emulge, fulsome, glut, govern, grievous, gum, hiccough, hover, journal, journey, joust, love, money, mongrel,
mother, motion, nation, none, of, one (pronounced wun), oven,
plover, ronion, shove, shovel, sloven, smother, some, son, soztthern,




260         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
sovereign, supple, touch, union, wonder, wont (accustomed) word,
world, worm, worth.
2. U as infull —u, o, oo, oo,.
Formed by bringing the lips a little nearer
together than in the preceding-often confounded
with it, and with u as in rule.
Book, bosom, brook, bull, could, crook, good, hood, hook, look,
mistook, pull, pullet, pulley, push, put, shook, should, stood, took,
wolf, wolverene', Wolsey, woman, wood, wool, would.
3. U as in rule-u, ue, ew, o, oo, oe, ou, oeu, wo.
This tonic differs in formation from the preceding
as that differs from  the one that immediately precedes it. The signs u, ue, ew, when preceded by r
in the same syllable, always represent this sound.
Some orthoapists maintain that it is represented by
these signs also whenever they are preceded by 1 in
the same syllable; but the weight of authority is
against them, and in favor of u as in use. A middle
ground appears to be the true one. Accordingly
when these signs are preceded by 1 combined with
another consonant in the same syllable, they are
taken to represent this tonic, as in flute, glue, slew,
pronounced, foot, gloo, sloo. This is the common
practice in England and this country, though it is
different in Scotland and Ireland. The difficulty of
pronouncing such words with u as in use, is such as
to make it nearly certain that it will be entirely
superseded by the pronunciation here given. But
the difficulty is not so great when these signs are
preceded by 1 alone; consequently, in such cases, the
sound of u as in use has been retained, according to
the best authorities.




PRONUNCIATION.                    261
Accou'tre, accrue', amour', behove', blue, bousy, brew, canoe, clue,
courier', couteau', crew, cruel, doom, drew, flew, flue, food, gluti.
nous, groom, hoof, hoop, lose, loose, manoeu'ver, move, noose, ooze,
plume, prove, prune, root, route, rou'tine, rue, ruby, ruse, shrew,
soon, soot, stoop, to, too, tour, tourney, tournure', true, two, who,
whom, whose, wound, you, yours.
4. U as in use-u, ue, ui, eau, eu, ew, ieu, iew.
Properly a diphthong commencing with y as m
yet, and closing with u as in rule. It originated in
the attempt to form, with English organs, the peculiar sound of the French u, introduced by the Normans; which itself is formed by placing the tongue
in the position of i as in pin, and then sounding u
as in rule. The English substituted y for i-two
sounds so nearly related that they are constantly
interchanged-and thus formed u as in use.  Hence
this is a characteristic English sound, unknown in
any other European language; and as such it should
be carefully preserved wherever it properly occurs.
For there is a strong sectional tendency to drop the
y from this sound, wherever it is preceded in the
same syllable by d, 1, n, s, t, th, and thus to confound it with u as in rule. But the force and beauty
of English speaking are greatly marred and enfeebled,
when such words as allure, new, induce, enthusiasm,
assume, tune, are pronounced as if they were spelled,
alloor, noo, indooce, enthoosiasm, assoom, toon.
Adieu, assure, attitude, beauty, collude, constitution, delude, dew,
due, during, elude, feud, few, grandeur, hew, hue, illude, juice,
knew, lucid, lurid, lu'natic, Matthiew, news, opportunity, pew, presume, pur'lieu, purview, pursue', relume', resume', sinew, sue, suit,
suicide, superb, superficial, stew, student, tube, tui'tion, tulip,
Tuesday, value, voltigeur'.




20V2         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
5 156. Tile tonics in ol, ou, are as in oil, our.
These are the only diphthongs in the language
that are represented each by two signs; but they
are not more truly diphthongal sounds than a in
fate, i in pine, and o in old.
1. Oi as in oil-oi, oy.
This sound is vulgarly confounded with i as pine,
as in jine for join, spile for spoil; also with o in nor,
as in oshter for oyster.
Annoy, assoil, boil, boy, coy, coil, despoil, foil, joist, joy, loyal,
moil, noise, ointment, point, quoit, royalty, soil, toil, voyage.
2. Ou as in our-ou, ow.
Formed by a slide from a in arm to u in hut. In
some sections of the country this tonic is vulgarly
mispronounced by placing a, e, before it; as in
haouse, keow, for house, cow.
Account, allow, bough, bow, cow, doubt, doughty, enow, flour,
gown, house, knout, loud, mound, now, owl, proud, prow, round,
rout, shroud, sound, town, wound (did wind).
1 57. The subtonics are formed by a more full and varied
operation of the articulating organs than the tonics.
In the formation of this class of sounds, the organs
of articulation are more active, and their work in
differentiating the volume of sound is much more
effective, than in the tonics. Hence they have a
lower degree of vocality-being formed of the vocalized breath more or less checked, or stopped off, by
a more decided action of the organs.




PaOcNUNCrTION.              263
3 158. The subtonic feeble checks, y, w, wh, re 1, next to the
tonics, have the strongest vocality.
The vocality of these sounds is less than that of
thei tonics, because they are formed by'a near
approach to contact of the articulating organs; it is
stronger than in the other subtonics, except the
anomalous nasals, for the reason that all these
sounds except 1, are formed without actual contact.
Hence they are all, except wh, properly semi-vowels,
and as such are capable of performing all the functions of full tonics, in the formation of syllables
(~ 119,.
i. Y as in yet-y, i, j, u.
This subtonic sound connects itself immediately
with the tonic i as in pin, being formed with the
organs in the same position, except that the middle
of the tongue is raised a little nearer the roof of the
mouth. Hence in a strict arrangement, the i as in
pin would have been the last of the tonics, and this
would have come immediately after it. The two
are so nearly related that the letters i, y, represent
either sound indifferently.
(1.) It is represented by y followed in the same
syllable by a tonic, that is, at the beginning of syllables and words; as in yellow, youth, beyond,
steelyards. In all other circumstances (except in the
word, hallelujah; pronounced, halleluyah), y represents i an in pine, or pin; as in by, my, folly, merry.
(2.) It is frequently represented by i preceded by an accented syllable ending in 1, n, t, and
followed by a, o; as in banian, biliary, bilious, mil



264        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
lion, pillion, poniard, scullion; pronounced, banyan,
bilyary, bilyus, milyun, pilyun, ponyard, sculyun.
(3.) It is represented by u preceded by g, and, followed by a tonic; as in guard, guardian, guerdon,
guess, guest, guide, guile, guise, guilt; pronounced,
gyard, gyardyan, gyerdon, gyess, gyest, gyide, gyile,
gyilt. Exceptions to this are Guelf, guiniad, and
their derivatives.; pronounced, Gwelf, gwiniad.
(4.) It often enters as a transition sound after g,
k (however k may be represented) before a as in
ask, hat, and before i as in. pine, pin, and before e
as in err; as in cat, gat, casket, gasket, girl, gird,
kind; pronounced, cyat, gyat, cyasket, gyerl, gyerd,
kyind. The correct pronunciation of such words
brings the organs into the position in which y is form -
ed, although the dictionaries do not always indicate
it. There is, however, a sectional tendency to introduce this transition sound before a as in arm, anhd vulgarly before e as in err when preceded by p; as in
car, garland, perch, pert; mispronounced, cyar, gyarland, pyerch, pyert.
(5.) The manner in which this consonantal sound
enters into u as in use, pronounced, yoose, determines the point that the indefinite article before it
should stand without the euphonic n. We should
always say, a useful, not, an useful thing. This latter
is as incorrect as, an youth, an yellow flower.
(6.) This sound is often improperly suppressed, as
in east for yeast; and often vulgarly inserted where
it does not belong, as in yearth for earth, yearn for
earn.




PRONUNCIATION.              265
2. W as in way-w, u, o.
This sound connects itself with u in rule, in a manner similar to that in which y is connected with i
in pin. It is formed by the organs in the same
position in which u is formed, except that the lips
are drawn a little closer together.
(1.) It is represented by w in precisely the same
circumstances in which the preceding sound is represented by y; that is, at the beginning of words
and syllables, when it is followed immediately by a
tonic; as in awake, beware, war, well, worth. In
all other cases, either it forms a diphthong with
another tonic, as in cow; or it becomes the full
tonic u, and is so represented in modern English
orthography; or it is suppressed, i. e. the letter is
silent.
(2.) It is represented by u preceded by q, g,
and sometimes by s, when followed by a tonic in
the same syllable; as in assuage, conquest, desuetude, frequent, mansuetude, persuade, quarrel, quiet,
suavity, suite; pronounced, asswage', cong'kwest,
des'wetude, fre kwent, man'swetude, perswade', kwarrel, kwiet, swavity, sweet. It is also represented by
w in buoy, pronounced, bwoy. Exceptions to this
rule are found in words transferred from the French,
as in coquette', conquer, liquor, masquerade', in
which the u is silent.
(3.) It is represented by o in the word choir,
pronounced, kwire; also o is vulgarly prdnounced
w in some sections of the country in such words as
gwine for going.




266        THE ELEMENTS JF POWER.
(4.) As a transition sound, it is, in most cases,
inserted before oi, in such French words as boudoir,
devoir, reservoir, soiree, pronounced, boudwor', devwor', reservwor', sworay'. It is always so inserted
after o, u, before a, e, i, in different syllables of the
same word; as in coadjutor, fluent, going, pursuant,
poem, proem, ruin, pronounced, cowadju'tor, flu'went,
go'wing, po'wem, pro'wem, pursu'want, ru'win.  Foi
in all such cases, the articulating organs, in passing
from o, u, to a, e, i, necessarily come into the position
in which w is formed: we cannot avoid nmaking this
sound, except by a pause, or interruption of the
voice, between the syllables of the word, which
would essentially mar its unity of sound (l 148-4).
(5.) It is always heard before o in one, pronounced
wun; and hence, as in the case of y in u as in use,
the indefinite article should always stand before this
word without the euphonic n. Such an one is as
incorrect as such an wail, or such an wind.
(6.) W is always silent at the beginning of words
and syllables before r, and sometimes before h; as
in wrath, writhe, wrong, who, whom, whose, whole;
pronounced, rath, rithe, rong, hoo, hoom, hoose,
hole; also in the word, answer.
3. WTh as in when.
This sound commences with an expulsion of the
whispering breath, the lips being in the position in
which w is formed; the breath is then gradually
vocalized. The atonic h can hardly be said to form
any part of it. The difficulty of representing it by
any of the letters of the Englis-h alphabet, Leas




PRONUNCIATION.                267
caused it to be differently noted at different times;
formerly by huw, as in huwen for when, afterwards
by hw, as in hwen, and at present by wh, as in
when.
(1.) the w of this sign is silent before o, oo, and
then  the h resumes its atonic character; as in
whoop, pronounced, hoop (~ 158 —2, (6)), except in
whorl, whortleberry, and their derivatives.
(2.) This sound is often confounded with w in
way; as in when, which, why, mispronounced, wen,
wich, wy. This is a very damaging fault, as it
greatly enfeebles English speaking. In the following words, and all their derivatives, the sound of wh
should be articulated in all its strength.
Whack, whale, wharf, what, wheat, wheel, wheedle, wheeze,
whelk, whelm, whelp, where, wherry, whet, whether, whey, which,
whiff, whig, while, whim, whip, whirl, whisk, whisker, whisper,
whist, whistle, whit, white, whither, whittle, whorl, whortleberry,
why.
4. R as in ray.
Formed with the mouth open, nearly as in a in
arm, and with the middle of the tongue raised up
towards the roof, and the tip of the tongue turned
up so as nearly to touch it at the highest point of
the arch.  Sometimes in the formation of this sound,
there is a broken or trembling contact between the
tip of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, which
produces what is called the "roll" of the r, A
slight degree of this is thought by many good
speakers to impart greater force to the words in
which this sound occurs.




268         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
(1.) It has great strength of vocality, because,
like y, w, it is formed without contact of the organs
and unlike wh, its vocality is pure, or unmixed with
the atonic breath.  Hence, in Sanskrit, it is regarded
and treated as a vowel, or full tonic. In English
also it frequently performs all the functions of a full
tonic in the formation of syllables; as in the terminations, cre, chre, in acre, mas'sacre, sep'ulchre, in
which the final e is silent. Thus also its vocality is
so strong in such monosyllables as flour, hire, lore,
more, roar, soar, that careful articulation is required
to prevent them from running into dissyllables, so
as to become undistinguishable respectively from
fl9wer, higher, lower, mower, rower, sower.  It is,
moreover, in consequence of this strength of vocality
that it commonly produces, as we have seen, a
marked effect upon the preceding tonic (~~ 151-5;
153-1; 154-2; 155-1).
(2.) It is sometimes articulated in too hard a
manner, by bringing the root of the tongue too near
the roof of the mouth, and holding it there too
firmly; as in darrk, marrk, for dark, mark.
(3.) It is sometimes vulgarly added to a at
the end of words, as in idear, Mariar, sawr, for idea,
Maria, saw.
(4.) It is often improperly suppressed; as in hoss,
or ho'se, for horse, and in cose or co'se, for course;
and in the following additional examples.
Absorb, adorn, car, corn, core, door, drawer, endorse, effort,
for, forego, force, fourth, guard, hair, jar, learn, mercy, nerve,
observe, pear, quirk, rare, short, tear, vernal, warm, worm, yearn.




PRONUNCIATION.               269
5. L as in lay.
Formed with the mouth open, about in the position in which e as in err is formed, by placing the
tip of the tongue in contact with the front roof of
the mouth, yet so as to allow the sound to escape
freely on both sides of the point of contact. The
fact that there is this actual contact, might seem to
be a good reason for excluding this sound from the
class of feeble checks, and placing it with the soft
or hard. But it is retained here for the reason that
the point of contact is so slight, and allows the
vocality to escape on each side of it with so much
fullness, that, in this respect, it is hardly, if at all,
inferior to r, with which it stands in the very closest
relations, and like which it is regarded and treated
in Sanskrit as a vowel.
(1.) It often forms a perfect syllable by itself, or
with other sub-tonic or atonic sounds, especially in
the terminations el, il, le, in which e, i, are silent;
as in able, addle, bottle, cattle, cradle, devil, diddle,
dingle, drizzle, evil, fiddle, griddle, grizzle, higgle,
jumble, kindle, little, middle, muzzle, pickle, puzzle,
riddle, stickle, wrinkle; pronounced, abl, bottl, devl,
evl, etc.
(2.) It is often suppressed before another consonant in the same syllable; as in alms, balm, calf,
calm, calve, chalk, could, half, halve, palm, psalm,
should, would; pronounced, ams, sam, etc.
l59. The sub-tonic soft checks, z in azure, z in zone, tit in
theen, j, v, have the next strongest vocality.




270         THEm ELEMENTs OF POWER.
In forming these elements, the organs require to
be held firmly in such a degree of contact as allows
of an indefinite prolongation of the sounds. The
breath of which they are formed is very partially
vocalized, which, as it escapes through the organs
in partial contact, gives them all a certain buzzing
character. Their vocality is less than that of the
preceding class, because they are formed by actual
contact; and it is greater than that of the following
hard checks, except the nasals, because the contact
is soft or partial.
i. Z as in azure-z, g, s, ss.
Formed of the partially vocalized breath, by placing the fiat surface of the tongue in soft contact
with the roof of the mouth, with the teeth brought
almost together. The sound thus produced is a
sort of buzz, precisely identical with that of soft g in
French, and that of s in measure.
(1.) It is seldom represented by z, except when z
is followed by u as in use, or by ie in unaccented
syllables; as in azure, razure, seizure, brazier, glazier, grazier.
(2.) It is represented by g in many words transferred from the French, as menage', mena'gerie,
giraffe', regime', rouge.
(3.) It is commonly represented by s after an
accented tonic, and followed by ia, ie, io, iu, u; also,
by ss in the words, scission, obscission, recission.
The following are examples under this rule.
Ambrosia, ambrosial, Asia, brasier or brazier, Carte'sian, clos.
ure, cohesion, collision, composure, contusion, osier, crosier,




PRONUNCIATION.                 271
decision, derision, displeasure, division, ecclesia, ecclesiastic,
Elisian, Elisium, enclosure, enthusiasm, evasion, exclusion, expo
sure, Frisian, grasier, hosier, illusion, incision, incisure, leisure,
lesion, measure, misprision, persuasion, pleasure, preclusion,
protrusion, rasure, rosier, treasure, vision, usual.
2. Z as in zone-z, x, c, s.
Formed of the partially vocalized breath, by placing the end of the tongue in soft contact with the
upper front gums, the teeth being almost closed.
This sound, which is a proper buzz, is closely cognate
with the atonic s, with  which therefore it is frequently confounded.
(1.) It is always represented by z, x, at the beginning of words, as in zodiac, zumic, Xenophon,
xiphoid. It enters also, together with g as in gay,
into the sound of x in certain other circumstances
(~ 162-1, (2)). Both these sounds of x are heard in
Xerxes, pronounced, Zergzez.
(2.) It is represented by c where c stands for s
and s would represent this sound; as in discern,
sice, suffice, sacrifice; pronounced, dizzern, size, suffize, sacrifize.
(3.) The cases in which it is represented by s are
very numerous and complicated, so that they cannot
be reduced under certain rules. The following are
the most important.
(a.) In some derivatives to distinguish them from
their primitives; as in use, abuse, close, grease, rise,
(verbs) usage, greasy, gaseous, gooseberry; pronounced, uze, abuze, cloze, greaze, rize, uzage,
greazy, gazeous, goozeberry.
(b.) In the plural of nouns and third person sin



272          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
gular of verbs, when preceded by a tonic or subtonic; as in arms, bonds, cause, digs, heads, rings,
churches, boxes, prices, charges, teaches;  pronounced, armz, bondz, cauze, digz, headz, ringz,
churchez, boxez, pricez, chargez, teachez.
(c.) Preceded by the inseparable prepositions, ob,
de, pre, re, and followed by a tonic; also in usurp,
and in all its derivatives; likewise in absolve, but
not in all its derivatives.
Desert, deserve, desiderate, design, desire, desist, observe, pre.
sent, preserve, preside, presume, resemble, resent, reserve, reside,
resign, resile, resist, resolve, resort, resound, result, resume, resurrection.
(d.) It should be represented by s in the inseparable preposition, trans, whenever it is followed by
a tonic.  A strong analogy requires this, and it is
thought to be according to the best usage, although
the authorities in orth6epy do not warrant the rule
in a universal form. Following the rule, all such
words as transaction, transit, transition, transitive,
should be pronounced, tranzaction, tranzit, tranzition, tranzitive.
(e.) It is represented by s in the inseparable preposition, dis, when followed by an accented tonic or
subtonic, except sometimes u, w. Under the analogy of this rule we have also discern, dissemble,
dissolve; pronounced dizzern, etc. In the following
words, therefore, and in all their derivatives in
which dis is followed by the accent, s has the sound
of z in zone.




PRONUNCIATION.                        273
I)isarm, disaster, disband, disbark, disbench, disbind, lisburden, disburse, discern, disdain, disdeify, disease, dissemble, disgage, disgarland, disgarnish, disgorge, disgrace, disguise, disgust,
dishonor, dishonest (h silent) disintegrate, disin'terest, disjecta,
disjection,disjoin, disjoint, disjunct, dislike, dislimn, dislodge, disloyal, dismantle, dismast, dismay, dismember, dismiss, dismount, disnaturalize, disorder, disorganize, disown, disrelish, disrobe, disrupt, dissolve, disvalve, disvalue.
3. Th as in then.
Formed of the partially vocalized breath, by placing the end of the tongue between the front, in soft
contact with the upper teeth. Neither of the atonies,
t, h, which in our imperfect symbolization are taken
to represent this sound, forms any part of it.  For
each of these is formed by an entirely different
position of the organs, and they are without vocality,
whilst this is partially a vocal sound.
It is represented by th in verbs ending in the, and
in some without the e; also, in the plural of some
nouns the singular of which have the sound of th in
thin, and in  other words.  It is heard  in  the following, and in all their derivatives.
Bathe, baths, beneath, bequeath, blithe, breathe, burthen, clothe,
clothes, hither, farther, further, lathe, laths, lithe, loathe, mother,
mouth (verb) mouths, oaths, other, paths, rather, smooth, smother,
scythe, soothe, swathe, swaths, teethe, than, that, the, thee, their,
them, then, thence, there, these, they, thine, this thither, those, thou,
thus, thy, tithe, underneath, with, wreathe, writhe.
4. V as in vile-v,f, jh.
Formed of the breath as in the preceding, by
placing the under lips in soft contact with the upper
front teeth. This sound is represented by f in one




274         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
word, the preposition, of; pronounced, uv; by ph in a
few words, such as nephew, Stephen; pronounced
nevu, Steven; and by v wherever it occurs, as in the
following examples.
Avail, brave, cave, dove, eve, five, grave, hive, ivy, Jove, knave,
live, move, novice, oven, pave, quaver, rave, strive, trav'erse, valve,
velvet, vulviform, wave.
5. J asinjoy-j, g.
Formed of the partially vocalized breath, and
with the organs very nearly in the position of z in
azure, except that the tongue is brought a little farther forward, and at first is in harder contact with
the roof of the mouth, which contact is relaxed in
forming the sound. The two sounds consequently
are closely cognate with each other.
(1.) It is commonly represented by g before e, i,
y, in words derived from the Latin, and in some
derived from the French in which g does not represent z as in azure.  It is also represented by g preceded by d in the same syllable, in which case the
d is silent; as in budge, fudge, pronounced, buj,
fuj.
(2.) A slight sound of Aj enters in transition
after d at the end of an accented syllable followed
by u in use, as in the words credulous, educate,
individual, pendulous; pronounced, credjulous, edjucate, individjual, pendjulous. It is a common error
to render this transition sound with too great fullness and strength; also, to introduce it after d before accented syllables, and sometimes even to turn
d into j in such cases: thus dupe, during, obdu'rate,
are often mispronounced, jupe, juring, objurate.




PRONUNCIATION.                2 7 
(3.) It is represented by j wherever j occurs.
Agitate, bourgeon, cajole, dudgeon, enjoin, fiedge, germ, gyra.
tion, hedge, injunction, just, kedge, ledge, majesty, nudge, oblige,
page, rage, sage, trajection, urge, village, wage.
~ 160. The sub-tonic hard checks, m, n, ng, nk. g, d, b. are
all formed of the vocalized breath, with the mouth organs
in a state of perfect closure.
These sounds are formed of the vocalized breath,
with the mouth organs as above, so that the outflow
of the sound through the mouth is perfectly stopped
off. A certain resonance of the voice then takes
place in the nasal cavities, which gives these sounds
their peculiar character. The proof of this is that
no sound can escape from the mouth, and that the
vibrations of the sound in the nasal cavities is quite
sensible upon close attention. This resonance, however, is very different in the case of the nasals from
what it is in the subnasals (~ 111).
~ 161. The nasals m, n, ng, nk, all except the last, have a
very full vocality, and are capable of being indefinitely
prolonged.
In all these sounds, except nk, there is a perfectly
free escape of the vocalized breath through the nostrils. Hence their vocality is nearly equal to that of
the tonics themselves, and, with the above exception, they are capable of performing all the functions of tonics in the formation of syllables. This
capacity is much more fully exhibited in some other
languages than it is in English. In that large and




276        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
interesting family of African tongues, called the
Kaffir or Nilotic, which are spoken by almost all
the African tribes south of the Mountains of thq
MIoon, these nasals form  syllables by themselves
quite as frequently as the tonics. Thus in the
Bake'le and Mpong'we dialects, mpa'ka, mpa'ga,
gift-nto'thi, nto'no, breast-ngu'ba, ngu'wa, shield.
This is the case also in some of the islands of
the Pacific. In English, however, ng never forms
a syllable by itself; m sometimes does, as in yes-m,
the colloquial pronunciation of yes ma'am; and n
very frequently, as in even, heaven, seven; pronounced, evn, heavn, sevn, (~ 153-2, (2.)) The nasals
are properly humming sounds. There is, however, a
false or impure sound, which is called " the nasal
tang," and which is formed by closing or obstructing the nostrils in front, so that a peculiar resonance
takes place immediately behind the obstruction; but
this abominable impurity, which sometimes affects
all the sounds of speech, is no legitimate nasal.
When, moreover, the cavities of the nostrils are
closed or obstructed farther back, in consequence of
which the resonance of the sound is confined to these
cavities at the point where they open into the mouth,
the result is that the nasals are reduced to subnasals; that is, m, n, ng, are perfectly identified
respectively with b, d, g. A person with such an
obstruction, attempting to say, Uncle John made
me sing, will say, Ugle Jod bade be sig. This exhibits the close cognate relation between the nasals
and subnasals respectively, and points out the preo
vise difference between the two kinds of sound.




PRONUNCIATION.              277
1. 1 as in may.
Formed by closing the lips in hard contact, and
allowing the whole volume of sound to pass through
the cavities of the nostrils.  Hence the strong vocality of this sound.
It is represented by m wherever m occurs, except
in the words, compt, accompt, accomptant, comptable, comptroller, comptrollership; pronounced, count,
account, accountant, countable, controller, controllership.
Arm, cram, doom, emmet, fame, groom, hum, impart, jam, limit,
Mamma', namby-pamby, ombre, pump, ram, sum, timber, umbrella,
vim, wampum,,am.
2. N as in nay.
Formed by placing the flat surface of the tongue
at its tip in hard contact with the roof of the mouth
near the upper front gums, the sound passing freely
through the nostrils as before. Its vocality is of
equal strength to that of the preceding.
(1.) It forms a syllatble by itself much more frequently than m, as in most dissyllables ending in
en without the accent; also in many in on-e, o,
being silent in these cases. Examples of this have
been given before (~~ 153-2, (2); 154-1). In the
following words, however, it does not form a syllable by itself, the e of the last syllable being fully
sounded; aspen, chicken, flower, Hymen, hyphen,
kitchen, latten, linen, marten, mitten, mynchen,
omen, patten, platen, pollen, siren, sloven, sudden,
ticken, woolen, women.




278         THE  ELExMENT  OF POWER.
(2,) N is silent when it follows 1, m, in the same
syllable; as in condemn, contemn, hymn, hymning,
kiln, limn, mnemonics; but not in condemning, contemning, nor in such words as government.
An, cannot, dun, enunciate, fan, granny, hunter, in, junto, ken,
lent, man, none, on, pin, rennet, stint, tend, under, vine, wine, you,
went, wend.
3. Ng as in sing —ng, n.
Formed by placing the back part of the tongue in
hard contact with the corresponding part of the
roof of the mouth, the breath as in the preceding.
The sound of n does not enter into it at all, being
formed with the organs in a different position.  It
is represented by n as often perhaps as by its own
proper sign of ng, as in the following cases.
(1.) Where ng is followed in the same word by
another syllable beginning with a tonic, the n has
the sound of ng, and the g retains its own sound;
as in the words, England, finger, longer, longest,
stronger, strongest; pronounced, Inggland, fingger,
longger, strongger. There are several exceptions
to this rule, as where the following syllable is any
of the verbal endings, est, eth, ing, ed, er of the
nomen agentis; as in singest, singeth, singing, singer,
winged; in all which ng represents its proper sound,
(2.) Where n is followed by k, or c, ch, q, representing the sound of k, n commonly represents the
sound, ng; as in ankle, anchor, conquer, uncle; pronounced, angkle, angkur, congker, ungkle.  The exceptions to this rule are the very few words in which
nk, nc, represent the fourth nasal as given below.




PRONUNCIATION.                    279
(3.) Where n is followed by x, as in anxious,
larynx, lynx, sphinx; prono-unced, angshus, laryngx,
lyngx, sphingx.
Under these three rules, n represents the sound of
ng in the following words, and in all their derivatives.
Anger, angle, anguish, angular, anxiety, bank, banquet, blank,
blanket, brink, bungle, cancrine, canker, cinque, clangor, clank,
concord, conger, congress, crank, crink, dangle, dank, donkey,
drink, drunk, elongation, English, flank, frank, function, fungous,
gangrene, giggle, hank, hanker, hunger, ink, jangle, jungle, junk,
lank, language, languish, languor, linger, link, mangle, mingle,
mink, minx, monger, mongrel, monk, monkey, pink, precinct,
prink, quincunx, rancor, rank, rankle, sanction, sanctify, sanctuary,
sanguine, shingle, single, singular, sink, sphincter, sunk, spank,
sprinkle, spunk, tank, thank, think, tinkle, tingle, unguent,
unction, unctuous, vanquish, wink, wrinkle, Yankee, zink.
4. Nk as in blink-nk, nc.
Formed by placing the organs in the same posi.
tion as in the preceding, and then stopping off the
sound with the atonic k. There are only a few
words in the language in which this sound occurs,
among which are blink, kink, shrink, cunctation,
cunctator.
~ 162. The sub-nasals, g, d, b, are incapable of being prolonged.
The principal difference between the nasals and
subnasals, with respect to their formation, is that in
the former, the resonance of the voice takes place
throughout the whole length of the nasal cavities,
from which, except in the case of nk, it escapes in a




)S30       THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
sound capable of indefinite prolongation; whilst is
the latter, the resonance is restrained to the back
cavities, and to the mouth where these cavities open
into it, and where the sound is soon stopped off.
In the case of the subnasals also there is a peculiar
pressure of the breath upon the place of contact of
the organs. The nasals and subnasals are cognate
with each other, and also with the atonic hard
checks, k, t, p, as hereafter exhibited.
1. G as in gay-g., n, x.
Formed by placing the back part of the tongue
against the corresponding part of the roof of the
mouth, and pressing the vocalized breath against
the place of contact. The sound thus produced
seems to be stopped oft by the' closing of the nasal
cavities, where these enter the mouth, by the pressure of the soft palate. This sound is cognate with
ng, and with k; the organs in all three cases being
very nearly in the same position.
(1.) It is represented by g before a, o, u, as in
gave, gone, gun; gaol, pronounced, jale, is the only
exception; also, in most words of Anglo-Saxon origin
before e, i, y, as in get, give, boggy.
(2.) It is represented in x in the inseparable proposition ex, which follows the analogy of dis (~ 159
-2, (3), (e)); that is, the x of this preposition represents the sound of gz (z as in zone) when followed by
an accented tonic; also, in some derivatives from such
words, where the following tonic is without the accent; as in exaltation; pronounced, egzaltation.
Luxurious, and uxorious,pronounced lugzurious (z as




PRONUNCIATION.                    281
in azure), ugzorious (z as in zone), follow the analogy
of this rule. There are a few exceptions to it, mostly
in words transferred, with little or no change, from
Greek  or Latin; such  as exveresis, exangia, exanimo, exan'thema, exan'thesis, exect', exe'dra, exe'sion; pronounced, ekse'resis, eksan'gia, eksan'imo,
etc.; also, a few words in which u is the accented
tonic, such as exude, exudate; pronounced, eksude',
eksu'date.
(3.) For the sound of g represented in n, see
~ 161-3.
(4.) G is silent before n at the beginning and end
of words; also before ht, and commonly before h,
at the end of words; as in feign, fight, gnaw, high,
nigh, right, sigh, sign. It is sometimes improperly
suppressed, as in  recognize, mispronounced, reconize.
In the following words, and in all their derivatives
in which x is followed by an accented tonic, it represents the sound of gz (z as in zone).
Exa'cerbate, exa'cinate, exac'ulate, exact', exag'gerate, exag'itate, exalt', exam'en, examine, exam'ple, exan'gulous, exan'guous, exan'imate, exan'imous, exan'them, exant'late, exar'illate,
exas'perate, exauc'torate, exau'gurate, exau'thorate, exau'thorize,
exec'utive, exec'utor' exec'utory, exec'utrix, exem'plar, exempt',
exen'terate, exergue', exert', exes'tuate, exhaust', exher'itation,
exhib'it, exhil'arate, exhort', exhume' (h silent) exic'cate, exig'ucus, exile' (verb) exist', exi'tial, exolve', exon'erate, exor'bitant,
exor'dial, exor'dium, exos'culate, exot'ic, exult', exul'cerate, exun'..late.
2. D as in day.
Formed by placing the flat surface of the end of




282          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
the tongue in hard contact with the front roof of
the mouth, and pressing the vocalized breath against
the point of contact. The resonance of the voice in
the back cavities of the nostrils, and in the mouth
where these open into it, is quite sensible while it
lasts, but is soon stopped off. This sound is cognate with n, on the one hand, and with t, on the
other-the organs hardly varying in position at all.
It is represented by d wherever d occurs, except
that this letter is silent in Wednesday, and wherever
it is followed by g in the same syllable, as in abridge,
edge.
Addition, bid, creed, deed, edit, fed, grade, head, idiom, jade,
kid, hid, lid, mad, nod, ode, paid, quid, ruddy, staid, toddle, udder,
videl'icet, widow, yield, zed.
3. B as in bay.
Formed by placing the lips in hard contact with
each other, and pressing the vocalized breath
against the place of contact. The resonance is as
in d. The sound is cognate with m and p.
B is silent before t, and after m, in the same syllable; as in debt, doubt, redoubt, lamb, limb, comb,
dumb; pronounced, det, dout, etc.; except in the word,
succumb and its derivatives.  It is silent also in
some other words which do not strictly fall under
the rule, as in subtle, pronounced, suttle.
Abbey, cabbage, dabble, ebbing, fable, gable, habit, inhibit, job.
liberty, mob, nob, oblige, pebble, quibble, rabble, sable, tub, umbrage,
web.




PRONUNCIATION.              283
~ 163. The atonics, h, th in thin, sh, s, f, k, t, p, are distinguished from their cognate sub-tonics by their want of
vocality, and by a different action of the breath.
These sounds are simply articulations, which
check, or stop off, the whispering breath. For even
where they are preceded by a full tonic, and seem
to stop off its vocality, as in the word, hot, it will be
found, upon close attention, that the vocality is limited to the tonic, o, and does not affect the t. They
are further distinguished from their cognate subtonics, by a slight variation of the position of the
organs in some cases, and in all, by a marked difference in the action of the breath. If this werb not so,
it would be impossible to distinguish cognates of
the two classes, when speaking in a whisper; but
any one will readily notice the difference between
the whispering sound of b and p. Upon the same
principle as that applied to the subtonics, the atonics also are divided into the three corresponding
subdivisions of hard, soft and feeble checks.
~ 164. The atonic feeble check h as in hay.
This is the only feeble check of this class. It is
formed by a simple emission of the whispering
breathl, through the open mouth —the shape of the
opening corresponding to that of the tonic by which
h is followed in the syllable. This variation in the
position of the organs in forming this element, might
be exhibited throughout the whole range of the
tonics; as in harsh, high, here, hot, huge, hoist,
house.




284         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
H is frequently silent, as in the following casea
1. Often at the beginning of words, as in the fold
lowing, and all their derivatives-heir, herb, honest,
honor, hostler, hospital, humble, humor.
2. After another consonant in the same syllable,
and before another consonant, or alone, at the end
of a syllable; as in ghost, aghast, light, bright, ah!
3. Before th, as in aphthong, diphthong, triphthong, diphtheria, naphtha, ophthalmia, pronounced,
apthong, dipthong, naptha, opthalmia.
4. At the beginning of syllables preceded by dis,
ex, when pronounced, diz, egz; as in dishonest, dishonor, exhale, exhalation, exhibit, exhort; pronounced, dizon'est, dizon'or, egzale, egzort.
What is called the cockney dialect in England, is
characterized chiefly by sounding the silent h, by
suppressing h where it has its proper sound, and by
introducing it where the letter does not occur; also,
by a similar perversion of the euphonic n of the
indefinite article. It is a very curious phenomenon,
and well worthy of minute investigation.
H is silent in the following additional examples.
Anthony, burgh, cirrhous, delight, Esther, freight, ghastly, gherkin, height, isthmus, John, knight, light, myrrh, night, nigh, pallah, right, sep'ulchre, sirrah, Thames, Thomas, thyme, wright.
~ 165. The atonic soft checks, th as in thin, sh, s, t; are
formed of the whispering breath by soft contact of the
organs.
The principal difference between these sounds
and their corresponding subtonic soft checks, th as
in then, z as in azure, z as in zone, and v, is in




PRONUNCIATION.                285
their want of vocality. The contact and position of
the organs is almost the same.
1. Th as in thin.
Cognate of the subtonic th in then, and formed
by the organs in the same position, except that the
tongue is raised a little higher within the mouth,
and the end of it placed a little further between thie
teeth. The sounds represented by t, h, do not
enter into it. No certain rule can be given to determine when th represents this sound, and when
th as in then; although many nouns have this in
the singular, and th as in then, in the plural; and
some verbs have the latter, to distinguish them
from the nouns with the former, from which they
are derived. Thus the first two of the following
words have the atonic, and the last two the subtonic: lath, mouth, laths, to mouth. This sound is
heard in the following examples.
Athlet'ic, bath, birth, both, breath, catholic, death, doth, ethical,
ethnology, forth, fifth, Goth, hath, heath, inthrall, jacinth, kith
lath, lithot'omy, method, mirth, myth, nothing, ornithol'ogy, path,
pathology, plinth, quoth, rath, something, third, thorn, thrash,
thrush, truths, wrath, youths.
2. Shl as in shun-sh, sc, s, ss, c, ch, t, x.
Cognate of z in azure-organs the same-breath
atonic.  Neither s nor h forms any part of this
sound. For in the formation of h, the organs are
perfectly open, whilst in sh, they are in contact; and
in s, the contact is considerably further forwards in
the mouth than in this sound.  Its symbolization
is peculiarly complicated and difficult, It is represented as follows.




286         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
(1.) By sh wherever both these letters occur toe.
gethei in the same syllable.
(2.) By c, se, preceded by an accented tonic, andl
followed by ea, eo, ia, ie, io, as in ocean, cetaceous,
facial, nescient, precious; pronounced, o'shan, ceta'shus, fa'sheal, nesh'eent, presh'us.
(3.) By ch in all words transferred from the
French with little or no change of spelling, as in
chagrin, chaise, chateau; pronounced, shagreen',
shaze, shato'; except in the word chivalry and its
derivatives, pronounced, tshivalry; also, by ch preceded by n, t, in the same syllable, as in batch, catch,
cranch, ditch; pronounced, batsh, catsh, cransh,
ditsh; and it enters, together with t, into the sound
of ch in all other circumstances, except where ch
represents k (~ 166-1, (3)), as in child, much, such,
pronounced, tshild, mutsh, sutsh.
(4.) By s, ss, preceded by an accented tonic and
followed by ea, eo, ia, io, iu, u (except where s has
the sound of z in azure) as in nauseate, nauseous,
cassia, passion, Cassius; pronounced, nausheate,
nausheus, cashea, pashun, Casheus; and in a few
words which do not fall under this rule, as in sure,
sugar, sumach; pronounced, shure, shugar, shumak
Following the analogy of these few exceptions, in
stead of the rule, many speakers erroneously give to
s the sound of sh in such words as assume, superb,
superstitious, etc. mispronounced, ashume, shuperb,
shuperstitious, etc.
(5.) By t preceded by a syllable with either the primary or secondary accent (except when such syllable ends in s) and followed by ia, ie, io, as in expa



PRONUNCIATION.               287
tiate, sentient, vitious, pronounced, expasheate,
sensheent, vishus.
(6.) By x preceded by n at the end of an accented
syllable, and followed by io, as in anxious, pronounced angshus; also it enters, together with k,
into the sound of x at the end of such a syllable.
and followed by io, u, as in noxious, fixure, pronounced, nokshus, fikshure.
(7.) It enters as a transition sound after t preceded by the accent and followed by u, either with or
without silent letters; also, when the preceding accented syllable ends in s, and t is followed by ia, io;
and before the termination, ure, in all cases in which
it is preceded by t; as in righteous, christian, bastion, fixture, creature, garniture, legislature, nature,
nurture, mixtion, mixture, virtue; pronounced, rightshus, christshan, bastshun, fixtshure, creatshure,
gar'nitshure, legislatshure, natshure, nurtshure,
mikstshum, mikstshure, virtshue. This transition
sound in all such cases should be very slight. It is
a common error to render it with too great fullness;
as, also, to insert it after t in other connections not
covered by the rule, as in beauteous, calamitous,
covetous, duteous, opportunity, perpetuity, Tuesday,
tune, etc. mispronounced, beautsheous, calamitshus,
covetshus, dutsheous, opportshunity, perpetshuity,
Tsheusday, tshune, etc.
It is also a common error to give sh the sound of
s in such words as shrewd, shrink, shrine, shroud,
mispronounced, srewd, srink srine, sroud.
Under the preceding rules, the italicized letters in
the following words have the sound of sh.




288          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
Action, branch, cham'ois, champagne', champaign', chevalier',
chemise', crucial, diversion, enunciation, expulsion, expatiation,
faction, fissure, gracious, Hessian, issue, jaculation, kitchen, Leti.
tia, luscious, militia, negotiate, nescience, osseous, partial, patient,
prescience, prescient, pronunciation, propitiation, quassia, rapacious, ratiocination, satiate, sensual, scissure, social, tenacious,
tensure, tissue, tonsure, voracious, watch.
3. S as irn see-s, c, x.
Cognate with z in zone, the organs being the
same, except perhaps that in this sound a little less
of the surface of the tongue is brought into contact
with the roof of the mouth.   This is a sharp hissing sound, of which also the representation is complicated and difficult.
(1.) It is represented by c before e, i, y, as in certain, acidity, cycle, pronounced, sertin, asidity, sycle;
except in a few words, such as discern, suffice, sacrifice, for which see ~ 159-2, (2).
(2.) It enters, together with k, into the sound of x
at the end of monosyllables, and in the derivatives
from such monosyllables; as in fix, fixation, lax, laxative, laxation, mix, mixture, wax, waxwork, etc.
pronounced, fiks, fiksation, etc. also, in all cases in
which x has not the sound sh (~ 165 —2, (6)), or of
gz (~ 162-1, (2)), or of z in zone (~ 159-2, (1)).
(3.) It is represented by s in the following cases,
and in others not reducible to rule.
(a.) At the beginning of words, as in safe, see, son;
except in a few words in which s represents sh
(~ 165-2, (4)).
(b.) At the end of words terminating in as, is, us,
ss, as in bis, cullis, gas, fas, genius, Marcus, dress
careless, carelessness, fairness; except the plural




PRONUNCIATION.               289
of words ending in ea, as in seas, pease; pronounced,
seaz, peaz; and except the words, as, has, his, was,
together with all their derivatives, such as whereas,
hisown; pronounced, az, haz, hiz, waz, whereaz, hizown.
(c.) In some nouns ending in se, to distinguish
them from the verbs or adjectives with which they
are etymologically connected (~ 159-2, (3), (a)) as in
grease, mouse, rise, use; pronounced, greace, mouce.
rice, uce.
(d.) S represents this sound whenever it is preceded or followed by an atonic, as in acrostic, ask, bits,
caps, clasp, dust, fast, locks, muffs, sister, whisper.
(e.) In the inseparable preposition dis, followed
by an atonic or unaccented tonic or subtonic, as in
disavow, discuss, discred'it, discretion, disfavor, dislocate, dishearten, disperse, displace, dissuade, dissever, disthrone; except in some words in which s
has the sound of z in zone, following the analogy of
~ 159-2, (3), (e).
(f.) In the inseparable preposition, trans, this
sound should be represented by s whenever it is followed by a subtonic or atonic, as in transfix, transmute, transplant, but the authorities do not warrant
this limitation-see ~ 159-2, (3), (d).
S at the end of words transferred from the
French, is commonly silent, as in debris, pronounced,
debree'; also in some other cases, as in isle, island,
pronounced, ile, iland. It is sometimes mispronounced by being unduly prolonged, and sometimes
by giving it the sound of sh.




290           THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
According to the above rules it is heard in the
following words.
Ace, brace, cynic, censure, dice, docility, efface, facility, fracas,
fuss, grass, haste, hostage, ice, industry, justice, kiss, lost, laps,
lots, maps, mast, must, nips, obstacle, postulate, guest, rats, ser.
vile, sorrow, subtle, task, taste, use, vice, whist, yesterday, zest.
4. F as in fee —f, gh, ph.
Cognate of v-lips in the same position. This
sound is represented by f, ph, wherever these signs
occur, except in a few words in which ph has the
sound of v (~ 159-4), and by gh at the end of some
words, and in their derivatives.
Afraid, baffie, craft, cough, chough, draught, enough, fifth, graft,
haft, if, laugh, laughter, muff, off, phantasy, Philip, philanthropy,
philosophy, phlegmatic, phrensy, raffle, rough, rougher, soft, staff,
thereof, tough, tougher, toughest, trough, waft.
~ 166. The atonic hard checks, k, t, p, stop off the whispering'breath by hard contact of tire organs.
These sounds are the cognates of the subnasals,
g, d, b, and of the nasals, ng, n, m; the position of
the organs being nearly or quite identical. These
articulations stop off perfectly the whispering breath.
1. K  as in key —k, c, ch, ck, g, gh.
This sound is the cognate both of g and ng; it is
distinguished from them by its want of vocality,
and further from ng by a harder contact. The difference in the action of the breath, here, and in the
following cases, is also to be observed.
(1.) This sound is represented by k, ck, q, wher



PRONUNCIATION.                   291
ever these signs occur, as in beck, like, quill; pro.
nounced, bek, like, kwill.
(2.) By c before a, o, u, 1, r, and at the end of syllables, as in  car, come, cut, climb, cram, public,
lacteal, pronounced kar, kome, kut, klimb, kram,
publik, lakteal.
(3.) By ch before 1, r, as in chloroform, christian,
pronounced kloroform, kristshan; also, in words derived from Latin and Greek, except in chalice, charity, charter. The prefix, arch, is governed in its pronunciation by the character of the word to which it
is prefixed; i. e. ch in arch has the sound of k in all
words derived from the Greek, except in archdeacon,
pronounced, artshdeacon, and in a few other cases;
whilst in all purely English words, it has the sound
of tsh, as in  archbishop, pronounced artshbishop
(4.) By gh in the words, hough, lough, shough, and
tkeir derivatives; pronounced, hok, lok, shok, etc.
(5.) K enters into the sound of x, together with s,
as in ~ 165-3, (2).
Archangel, archipelago, archiepiscopal, archidiaconal, archives,
architect, architype, architrave, back, bequeathe, bequest, chlorosis,
crime, dyke, eccentricity, fickle, lake, magna-charta, make, neck,
oak, occiput, pickle, poke, quake, quick, racket, ricochet, smoke,
ticket, vaccinate, wake, wicket.
2. T as in tell-t, d, ght, ch.
Cognate with n and d-organs in the same posi.
tion-a mere articulation stopping of the atonio
breath.
(1.) This sound is represented by t wherever t
occurs, except where it has the sound of sh (~ 165




292          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
-2, (5)), and where it forms a part of th as in then o!
thin, and where it is silent.
(2.) It is represented by its subtonic cognate d in
all words ending in ed in which e is silent and preceded by an atonic sound; as in asked, basked,
frothed, placed, scraped, tossed, whiffed, whipped,
pronounced, askt, baskt, plast, scrapt, tost, whift,
whipt.
(3.) By ght wherever this sign occurs in the end
of a word, as in bright, light, might, plight, sight,
pronounced, brite, lite, mite, plite, site.
(4.) It enters, together with sh, into the sound of
ch in all words of pure English origin; also in arch
prefixed to such words (~ 166-1, (3)); as in archfiend,
archrebel, birch, broach, church, larch, lurch, march,
micher, niche, rich, which, etc. pronounced, artshfiend, birtsh, tshursh, whitsh, etc.
(5.) T is commonly silent when preceded by f, s,
and followed by en, le, as in the following examples
and all their derivatives.
Apostle, bristle, bustle, castle, chasten, christen, epistle, fasten
glisten, gristle, hasten, hustle, jostle, justle, listen, moisten, nestle,
often, pestle, rustle, soften, thistle, throstle, whistle, wrestle.
3. P as in pay —p, gh.
Cognate with m, b-all formed with the lips
closed. It is seldom represented by any other sign
than p. In the word hiccough, pronounced, hikkup,
it is represented by gh. It is sometimes confounded with its subtonic cognate b, as in baptize, and its
derivatives, mispronounced, babtise. P is silent
before s, t, at the beginning of words, as in psalm,




PRONUNCIATION.                   293
psalter, Ptolemy, also in receipt, raspberry; pronounced, sam, salter, Tolemy, reseet, razberry. Examples of its correct sound are given in the following words.
Apple, bepaint, captain, deep, employ, flap, grapple, hope,
irruption, jupe, keep, lip, map, nap, open, pale, quip, rip, sap, top,
up, wipe, yelp.




CHAPTER Vt
TIE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.
~ 167. Elocution aims, not to obliterate the personal charac.
teristics'of voice, but to correct the bad, and to develop
the good qualities.
1. Every voice has its own characteristic quality.
This differential character of every voice has no
reference to anything which makes one voice better
than another. It is a quality like those which distinguish the sounds of different musical instruments
fiom  each  other. When e. g. the same note is
sounded upon the flute, violin, and piano-forte, each
of the three sounds has its characteristic quality,
though all of them may be equally good. In the
same way, each person's voice has its characteristic
quality, or general character, without reference to
anything which makes it either good or bad;
whence it is as easy to distinguish different persons
by their voices, as it is by their features or countenances.
2. Elocution does not aim to obliterate these differences.
It is no part of the aim of this art to tone down
aiese characteristics to a common sameness. For




THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.        295
dtwy are founded in nature, as truly as the differences of countenance and expression of the features
and in vocal music, and conversation between several persons, they give a fullness and variety, which
is as much an element of beauty and power, as
variety of instruments in an orchestra. In oratory
it is essential to the greatest power that the speaker's voice should be distinctively characteristic of
his own personality, and incapable of being confounded with the voice of any other person.
3. Elocution aims to correct the bad, and to develop
the good qualities of voice.
In another sense of the word quality, it denotes
the good or bad traits which appear in the same, or
in different voices; such as purity and impurity,
smoothness and roughness, roundness and flatness.
And here, Elocution proposes to teach the methods
of training and exercise by which the bad qualities
may be exterminated or reduced, and the good
developed and perfected.
~ 168. A good voice with respect to quality, is lone whose
tones are pure, full, round, solid, smooth, clear, liquid,
sweet, musical.
The qualities of the voice, which, it will be ob.
served, have no reference either to pitch or force,
are too numerous, and complicated with each other,
to be analyzed. In fact, both the good-and bad
qualities necessarily overlap, and, to a certain extent,
imply each other. Their names are highly metaphorical; and frequently the principal differences




296         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
between them, is that they are various aspects of
the same quality, expressed in different metaphors.
1. Purity of tone is tone unmixed with noise, and is
the most important of all the good qualities.
There are properly but two kinds or species of
sound i. e. tones and noises. Tones are produced by
regular, periodical, isochronous vibrations in the
sounding body; they are such sounds as we hear
from tuning forks, violin strings, and organ pipes.
Noises are produced by irregular impulses or concussions, such as the slamming of a door, or the fall
of a body upon the earth. Of all the good qualities
purity of tone in the human voice is every way the
most important, and may be taken as inclusive of
all the others.
2. It is produced by regular and unobstructed vibrations of the vocal chords, in the resonant cavities.
A  sound thus produced is unmixed with noise,
smooth clear, liquid, sweet, musical. Fullness,
roundness and solidity of voice are qualities nearly
allied to purity, and partly included in it. They
cannot be better described than they are by these
names. They are all exemplified in the tones of a
superior church organ, which seem to come from
each separate stop and pipe in a full, round and
solid form. Hence we speak of the organ tones of
a fine voice.
~ 169. The physiological causes of the good qualities are free
vibration of the vocal chords, healthy condition of the




TmE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.       297
resonant cavities, and facile control of the breathing and
articulating organs.
The physiological causes or conditions of the
good qualities of the voice, are exceedingly numerous and complicated; only the most important and
obvious are here enumerated.
1. Thefree vibration of the vocal chords.
That those chords should vibrate freely and perfectly, is the most indispensable condition, inasmuch
as it is by these vibrations that the breath is converted into tone (~103 —2). In order that all the
breath that is expelled from the lungs, should thus
be converted into pure tone, and none of it be
allowed to escape in an unvocalized or whispering
form, it is indispensable that these organs should
be kept in a healthy condition, well moistened, but
not obstructed or clogged by unhealthy or excessive
secretions.
2. Adequate capacity and healthy condition of the
resonant cavities.
The good qualities of the voice depend also
upon the size, function and healthy condition ol
the resonant cavities of the windpipe and mouth.
It is necessary that these should be of adequate
size or capacity, and that they should present a
clean, firm  and elastic resonant surface.  They
must not be too dry, nor yet obstructed by secretions; and the throat and mouth must not be too
full of the organs which they contain, viz. palate
tonsils, tongue, gums and teeth. The bronchial




298         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
tubes and trachea must be large enough to allow a
full-sized column of air to pass freely through them.
3. Facile control of the organs of speech.
This is especially important with respect to the
diaphragm, and whole breathing apparatus, in order
that the breath may be expelled regularly, and in
such quantities that it can all be converted into
pure tone, and that the sound thus produced may
be full, round and solid. Such control over the articulating organs is indispensable, also, in order that
they should perform their functions smoothly and
without noise.
~ 170. The bad qualities of the voice are impurity, rough.
ness, hoarseness. harshness, wheezing, flatness, hollowness, shrillness and the nasal tang.
The bad qualities of the voice are also extremely
numerous, and complicated with each other. They
are in general the opposite of the good qualities,
and consequently most of them may be regarded
as included in impurity. Roughness, hoarseness,
harshness, wheezing, and the nasal tang, are obviously different forms of impurity. Flatness of voice is
opposed to roundness and fullness; and hollowness
to solidity. Both of these are exemplified in the
tones of a poor church organ, from which thesound seems to come, as it were, fiat, hollow, unsubstantial. Shrillness is a certain sharpness or acuteness of sound, which seems to pierce the ear like a
sharp instrument. There is also a trembling of the
voice, which, when habitual, should be classed with




THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.         29S
the bad qualities. As in the case of the good qualities, many of these names are little more than vari.
ous metaphors presenting different aspects of im-f
purity.
~ 171. The physiological causes of the bad qualities are in
general the opposite of those upon which the good qualities depend.
1. Impurity is due to the causes by which noises are
mixed with the tone of the voice.
These causes are very numerous. When the
vocal chords do not vibrate freely, but are obstructed by excessive or unhealthy secretions, or by alny
other cause, or when the uncontrolled action of the
diaphragm and breathing muscles forces too much
breath over these chords, a greater or less portion of
it escapes in an unvocalized, or whispering, or
wheezing form. When the chords are inflamed and
swollen from the affection of colds, or sore throat,
hoarseness is the result; and, in extreme cases, as
we have seen, aphonia, or voicelessness. In all cases
of hoarseness and wheezing, there is more or less
of unvocalized breath mingled with the tone of the
voice. When the resonant cavities and breathing
tubes are obstructed, the voice becomes impure
from imperfect resonance, and from rattling noises
of various kinds therein produced; when the organs of articulation are too large, or under imperfect control, so that they perform their functions
clumsily, the tone of the voice is confused and
blurred by the noise which they make at their work




300         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
When control over these organs is lost from their
being overtaxed or strained, the noise which they
make, combined with other impurities, is sometimes
like that of the bellows, keys, and other machinery
of a very poor organ, which nearly drowns its feeble
tones. In  shouting, screaming, and  passionate
vociferation, it is almost impossible to prevent a
large quantity of breath from escaping in an unvocalized state, and the organs are most liable then to
make a noise at their work; so that, in these cases,
the voice is commonly loaded with impurities.
2. Flatness is due to the want of a sufficiently elastic
resonance in the vocal cavities.
This want of a sufficiently elastic resonance itself
arises from a variety of causes, such as excess,
fatigue, exhaustion, whether physical or mental.
The want of elasticity and spring in the physical
organism, or mental faculties, in consequence of ill
health, overtaxing the powers, or any other cause,
seems to reflect and express itself in a flat, or dull,
or dead sound of the voice.
3. Hollowness is due to the feebleness of the breathing
organs, and to defects in the resonant cavities.
In such cases, the breathing apparatus fails to
expel a sufficient volume of air to be vocilized by,he chordal vibrations into solid sound. Inadeiuate size, and imperfect construction of the resonant cavities, also, impart this bad quality to the
sound of the voice. It is due, further, to the imperfect action and co-operation of the other vocal
organs.




THE QUAIiES OF THE VOICE.          301
4. Shrillness is caused by too high pitch.
When the voice is exerted on too high a pitch, its
capacity in this respect is strained, and it becomes
shrill. In this case, the resonance is thrown almost
wholly into the arch of the roof of the mouth.
5. The trembling quality is due to a want of control
over the breathing organs.
In this quality, the organs fail to expel the breath
in that steady stream which gives steadiness to the
sound of the voice. The quality may also be voluntarily produced, for purposes of expression, by
alternately checking and expelling the breath.
6. The nasal tang is produced by obstruction of the
front nasal cavities.
Any cause which obstructs in front the free passage of the breath through the nostrils, will render
the voice nasal. When this takes place, there is a
peculiar resonance of the sound apparently about
the middle of these cavities, and the speaker is
said to " talk through his nose." It would be more
correct, however, to say, he talks in his nose. Very
frequently this results from mere carelessness or
slovenliness in speaking, when there is no organic
obstruction; but the habit once formed, is very
difficult to correct.
The above are the principal good and bad qualities of the voice, together with the most important
physiological conditions or causes upon which they
depend. The knowledge of them all in detail is not
essential, but some such exhibition of them as has




302         THE EIEMENTS OF POWER.
now been made, can hardly fail to aid in under,
standing the use and importance of the good qualities, as an element of power in delivery, and in the
training and practice which they require.
~ 172. The good qualities of the voice are the most easy,
audible and agreeable, and some of the most important
elements of expression.
It is chiefly the good qualities of the voice with
which we have to do, as an element of power in
delivery. Their importance for this purpose, as exhibited in the following particulars, can hardly be
overestimated.
1. They render speaking comparatively easy to the
speaker.
One reason of this is that pure tone is formed
with the least possible expenditure of breath and
vital force; all the breath expended is utilized;
whilst, on the other hand, impure tone commonly
implies the escape of a greater or less proportion of
the breath in an unvocalized form, consequently a
waste of the vital forces. It is truly surprising how
little breath is required for speaking when it is all
utilized, and the tones consequently are perfectly
pure. This may be shown by holding a candle
close to the mouth while speaking; when, if the
tones are free from all impurity, the breath will
hardly stir the flame; but if they are impure from
unvocalized breath, the flame will flicker, as from a
draught of air through a broken window. One car




THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.       303
speak, therefore, in pure tones with comparatively
little effort or fatigue; whilst impure tones are very
exhausting. Hence the bad qualities tend also to
generate disease in the vocal organs.
2. They render hearing easy to the audience-they
are the most audible.
One reason of this is that pure tone is musical
sound; and it is well known that music, under anything like favorable circumstances, can be heard at
a vast distance; whilst mere noise, though of much
greater force, or loudness, will travel but a very little way. Hence, in the degree in which the tones of
the voice are rendered impure by admixture of noise,
is its audibility impaired; whilst the good qualities
enable the speaker to make himself heard much
more effectively, and by a much larger audience,
than were otherwise possible. Even in the open
air, a pure, full, round and solid voice, though of
inferior strength, can be heard by an amazing number of persons,
3. They are the sounds which are most agreeable to
hear.
A voice of good qualities is sweet and musical;
and such qualities excite only pleasurable sensations in the audience. Hence they engage their
attention and sympathy, and commend the sentiments thus delivered to their favorable consideration, by the pleasure experienced in listening to the
sounds. On the other hand, impure tones, and the
other bad qualities, produce only disagreeable sensations. Rough, harsh, shrill, or nasal sounds irri



304         THE ELE3MENTS OF POWER.
tate the audience; and, by placing their minds in
an attitude of opposition, predispose them to reject
all that is said.
4. They are some of the most important elements of
expression.
The good qualities of the voice are the natural
symbols, and oral body, or expression of all that is
true and beautiful' and good in thought and feeling.
They are required for the expression of all thoughts,
whether grave or gay, elevated or common-place,and no less of all affections and emotions-that are
true or right, pure or lovely, serene, gentle, tender,
affectionate, faithful, truthful, hopeful, earnest, or
in any way praiseworthy or helpful to man. In fact,
almost everything that a speaker can legitimately
seek to communicate to others, or to excite in them,
requires purity of tone, and the other good qualities
of the voice. Nothing of this nature can be adequately expressed in any other qualities. Pity or
love e. g. expressed in impure, rough, harsh, or hissing sounds, is not expressed at all; elevated or sublime sentiments, expressed in a thin, hollow, cracked,
or wheezy voice, are simply caricatured, and reduced from the sublime to the ridiculous; sentiments of self-sacrifice or devotion, expressed in a
nasal tang, suggest insincerity and hypocrisy. It
is impossible to conceive of our Saviour as speaking with any other than the good qualities of voice.




THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.         305
~ 173. The bad qualities of the voice are an element of power
in expressing the bad passions.
For the elocution of the stage, and perhaps foi
some other purposes, it may be desirable to have
under control the bad qualities of the voice. Foi
they are the natural symbols, and oral body, for
the expression of all the vile and hateful states of
mind. Impure tone is the natural and appropriate
expression of anger, wrath, malice, envy, jealousy-.
of all evil passions and inordinate affections. For
the effective rendering of such evil passions upon
the stage, and sometimes in forensic and deliberative oratory, it may be well to have at command the
different varieties of impure tone; but the art of
Elocution, as here taught, can have little to do with
the training of the voice for such expression.
1 174. The training required for the development of the good
qualities of the voice, consists in exercising it daily in
these qualities.
The particular rules for these exercises, having
for their object the correction of the bad, and the
development of the good qualities of the voice, are
few and simple, but of great efficacy where they are
faithfully applied.
1. The services of a good teacher should be secured.
This rule applies to all the exercises which elocution prescribes.  Wherever it is possible, the student should have the advice and direction of a good
teacher, especially for the purpose of pointing out




306        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
faults and defects, and to exemplify all the good
and bad qualities of voice. For we become so accustomed to our own peculiarities, whether of voice,
or in other respects, that we are, for the most part,
insensible of them  ourselves, however prominent
and striking they may be to others; and it is extremely difficult for us to become conscious of them,
until they are pointed out and exemplified to us by
some other person. W.here a teacher cannot be
had, a judicious friend should be consulted for this
purpose.
2. The ear must be cultivated to distinguish the
qualities.
If the ear of the student be naturally dull, it is
indispensable that it should be trained up by the
exercises already prescribed for it (~ 105-4) until it
oecomes capable of distinguishing the different
qualities of voice from each other with facility and
precision.
3. The exercises required are nearly the same as
those prescribed for articulation and the ear; the attention being specially directed to the quality Qf the vocal
sound (~~ 105 —4; 114).
Under the guidance of the ear, the student should
exercise his voice in forming, with purity of tone,
and all the good qualities, the various sounds which
~onstitute speech, both separately, and in their vari)us combinations. The practice should be first
ipon the vowel sounds taken separately; next upon
these sounds in combination each with a single
Consonant; then upon single words; and finally




THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE.        307
upon connected oral discourse. In practicing upon
the vowels, the student should hold or prolong them
to the utmost capacity of his breath, with all the
good qualities, but especially aiming to prevent any
portion of the breath from escaping in an unvoealized form, and to utter the voice without allowing it
to become tremulous. In practicing upon words and
sentences, he should aim  to work the organs of
speech with neatness and facility, so that they may
perform their functions without noise. By such exercises, the bad qualities of the voice are gradually
corrected, and the good are developed.
4. Great care is necessary not to strain the voice.
The liability to this, in these and in all other elocutionary exercises, is very great; and the inevitable result is that the voice is rendered impure,
rough and harsh. It is believed that a voice once
spoiled in this way, can never be restored to) purity
and sweetness. Hence in all exercises it must be
kept down or subdued; in other words, the vocal
organs must never be exerted to their utmost capacity.
5. Tlhese exercises s7ould be pe:formed once or twice
a day,.for a ]alf or a quarter of an hour at a time.
A single exercise each day for a half hour, will
produce excellent effects in a short time; but for
the best possible results, the exercise should be
twice a day, for a quarter of an hour.




CHAPTER VI.
THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.
175. The powers of the voice are strength, compass and
flexibility.
THESE powers are capable of being sharply distinguished from the qualities of the voice. For as the
qualities refer to the character of the sound, regarded chiefly as pure or impure tone, so the powers of
the voice refer to its degrees of strength and pitch,
and to its capacity of changing from one quality,
and one degree of force or pitch, to another. Consequently there are but three such powers, strength,
compass and flexibility.
~ 176. Strength of voice is the power to utter loud vocal
sounds.
A strong voice is one that is capable of producing
with ease loud sounds, in distinction from a weak
or feeble voice, which is capable only of weak or
feeble sounds. Strength of voice has no reference
to quality, nor pitch, nor compass, but solely to
loudness. Thus e. g. if the same key of a piano be




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.           309
touched first softly, then more forcibly, it produces
two sounds of the same pitch and quality, but differing in their degree of loudness. In this way, the
same vocal organism gives forth strong or feeble
sounds; and in this power, different organisms are
superior or inferior to each other.
~ 1 7 7. Strength of voice depends chiefly upon the strength of
the organs of respiration, and upon the size and capacity
of the resonant cavities.
1. Strength in the breathing organs is essential to expel the breath with adequate force.
We have seen that the sound of the voice is generated by the vibrations of the vocal chords; and
that, whilst pitch depends upon the number of these
vibrations, force or loudness depends upon their
amplitude, in other words, upon the width of the
space through which the chords are made to vibrate
(~ 103-2, 3, 4). Now this amplitude of the vibrations, is due to the degree of force with which the
column of breath is driven against the chords, by
the contraction of the diaphragm, and other muscles
which co-operate with it in respiration. Consequently the stronger the breathing muscles, other
things being equal, the greater the strength of voice.
2. Adequate size and capacity of the resonant cavities
contribute to the strength of the voice.
The reason of this is that vibrations of the same
amplitude, will not produce the same degree of loudness in resonant cavities of different sizes and capa



310         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
cities.  The same concussion e. g. in a bell of large
size, and of superior capacities in other respects,
gives forth a much louder sound than it does in a
small bell of inferior qualities. In like manner, the
same force of breath, which causes the vocal chords
to vibrate with the same amplitude, produces a
much louder sound in resonant vocal cavities of
ample size, and otherwise well constructed, than it
does in cavities of small size, or otherwise of small
capacity. Defects, therefore, in the breathing tubes,
or in the larynx, pharynx, or mouth, whether from
organic malformation, disease, or want of development, always tend to render the voice feeble.
~ 178. Strength of voice, as an element of power in delivery,
enables the speaker to speak with ease, with the good
qualities and natural tones, and it is the natural symbol
of power.
1. Strength of voice enables the speaker to speak with
ease, and without injury to his organs, and to be heard
without effort or weariness.
It is sufficiently obvious that a speaker with a
strong voice, can make himself heard with ease, in
large assemblies, and in the open air, where one
with a feeble voice cannot be heard except with
difficulty, or not at all. For the same reason, one
can speak for a much greater length of time than
the other, without exhaustion or fatigue. For a
speaker with a feeble voice soon becomes exhausted, and all his powers of elocution enfeebled. His
vocal organs, also, from this cause, are liable to suf.




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.          311
fer irreparable injury, and his general health to
break down. This is a principal cause of the ill
health of so many clergymen. Moreover, when the
audience hear with difficulty, they soon become
wearied and discontented; their appreciation of
what they hear is unfavorably affected, and they
cease to give their attention. But where the voice
is of adequate strength, all these and other causes
of feebleness are obviated, and give place to the
opposite elements of power.
2. It is favorable to the good qualities of the voice.
Purity of tone requires, as we have seen (~ 174
-4), that the voice should not be overstrained,
nor taxed to its utmost capacity. But a speaker
with a feeble voice can hardly refrain from exerting
it to the utmost, in order to make himself heard,
especially in large assemblies; and thus it soon becomes loaded with impurities. Hence a speaker
with a strong voice can much more easily and effectually guard its purity of tone.
3. Also, to natural tones, and to variety of tone, in
speaking.
One of the most fruitful causes of feebleness in
delivery, is a certain unnaturalness in the tones of
the voice, which is as far removed as possible from
the tones which prevail in conversation, or common
talking. This is due, in great part, to the straining
and effort of the speaker to make himself heard and
understood. When e. g. the voice is feeble, it tends
to rise in public speaking above its natural pitch,
especially in all animated and impassioned dis



312        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
course, in order to compensate by shrillness for
what it lacks in strength. Also it tends to run
along on this high pitch, with little variation. In
like manner, when it is overstrained in order to
make every word audible, it is incapable of varying
the degree of force, for the expression of more or
less impassioned sentiments. It can neither rise
nor fall in pitch, nor vary in force or quality, according to the ever varying character of the sentiments to be expressed. Hence monotony, and unnatural, impure, and otherwise disagreeable sounds.
On the other hand, if the voice be of adequate
strength, the speaker can deliver himself, even in
the largest assemblies, in his natural, and almost in
conversational tones, which are the point of departure for all good speaking. From this point, he naturally rises and falls in pitch as the sentiment requires, with varying force and quality of voice, according to the degree of animation or passion, and
to the greater or less importance of what he has to
deliver. Strength of voice is thus essential to naturalness, and to that variety of force, pitch and quality of the vocal sounds, which are among the greatest charms and excellences of delivery.
4. Strength of voice is the natural symbol and expression Qf power.
From this consideration, more than all others,
we are enabled to appreciate the vast importance of
this element of power in delivery. For of all the
natural symbols of power, strength of voice is the
most striking and expressive. The African hunters




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.        313
tell us that the roar of the lion in his native wilds,
produces the most awful impressions that are conceivable, of the vastness of his force; and this impression is not more than adequate, for the lion
has the strength of forty men. The voice of the
cataract, and of the storm-tossed ocean, produces a
similar impression of immeasurable force. The
thunder itself, the most sublime of all sounds, is the
voice of the Almighty, i. e. it is the symbol and expression of infinite power. Accordingly, a speaker
with a powerful. voice comes before an audience,
clothed, as it were, with power. Thereby he is enabled to command their attention, and to impress his
sentiments upon them, more powerfully than were
otherwise possible. Hence the great orators and
tragedians have almost always had great voices.
The power of Cicero and Demosthenes in this respect, need not be again alluded to. But it is said
that Garrick could speak with ease to ten thousand
persons. The vast powers of Spurgeon's voice are
certainly one of the greatest elements of his power
in delivery. And it was estimated by Dr. Franklin,
whilst listening to Whitefield preaching in the open
air at the State House in Philadelphia, that he could
be heard on that occasion by thirty thousand persons. In fact, the marvelous effects of Whitefield's
oratory were due, in great part, to his almost incredible powers of voice-intellectually, he seems to have
been a man of only moderate abilities.




314         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 179. The exercises for cultivating strength of voice, are the
same with those prescribed for the development of the
breathing organs, and of the resonant cavities.
By the proper exercises, the human voice is capable of wonderful and rapid development, to almost
any degree of strength. It is rare to find a voice
whose power would not be more than doubled by
two or three months of such exercises. But it is
indispensable to the best results that they should
be practiced daily and systematically; otherwise a
great part of what is gained one day, or one week,
is lost the next (~~ 100-4; 101-3; 102-3; 104
-4).
1. In the exercises for strengthening the breathing or..
yans, the sound should be gradually increased inbforce.
These exercises are those which have been already
prescribed for the diaphragm (~ 100-4), and lungs
(~ 101 —3). In this case, however, it is especially
necessary to hold or prolong the sounds to the full
capacity of the breath, and gradually to increase
them in force or loudness from day to day, yet without straining the voice so as to render it impure.
These exercises should be accompanied also with
what is called the explosion of the voice, which consists in uttering the sound as shortly and abruptly
as possible, and with as great force as the organs
will bear without straining. The danger of injuring
them in this way is very great, so that not more
thail iour or five such explosions should be allowed
each day, until they have become accustomed to




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.          315
the exercise. To these should be added reading
aloud and declamation; and the improvement will
be much more rapid and satisfactory if these exercises are performed in the open air, which greatly
promotes the health and vigor of the vocal organs.
Thus the muscular organs of respiration are increased in size and force; and strength of voice is
developed, on precisely the same principle upon
which the arm of the blacksmith acquires its great
size and force by wielding the hammer, and upon
which the muscular organism of the body is developed by gymnastic exercises. Every one knows how
rapidly this takes place in the latter case, and the
improvement in the voice is not less but rather more
rapid.
2. In the exercises for the development of the resonant
cavities, the immediate aim should be to enlarge their
capacity.
These exercises are in part the same with those
prescribed for the mouth organs (~ 104-4), and for
the good qualities of the voice (~ 174-3). The
result here aimed at takes place by the effort to render the sounds, but especially the lower and lowest
sounds in pitch of which the voice is capable, with
constantly increasing force, purity and solidity. By
every such effort, as any one may observe for himself, nature instinctively strives to throw the interior
organs of the mouth, throat and windpipe into such
a position as to render the cavities as large and
capacious as possible. In this way, therefore, their
size and capacity of resonance is gradually in.




316         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
creased, and strength of voice is correspondingly
developed.
~ 180. The compass of the voice is its range of pitch.
A good compass of the voice consists in its capacity of sounding, with purity and force, both the high
and low notes of the musical scale. The voice is of
small compass when on the high notes it breaks,
or runs into falsetto, becoming shrill or screaming,
and when it is incapable of sounding the low notes
with fullness, force, roundness, or solidity.
~ 181. A much greater compass of voice is required for singing than for speaking.
The highest excellence in singing demands a
compass of at least three octaves, whilst in speaking, the range is seldom greater than one. Sometimes, however, especially in the most impassioned
oratory, a more extensive range can be employed
with good effect.
a 182. The compass of the voice depends upon the action of
the vocal chords, and upon the capacity of the resonant
cavities.
When the vocal chords are so finely organized
that a small number of vibrations will render.a perfect sound, and this sound has a good resonance in
the trachea and bronchial tubes, then the voice has
a good command of the low notes, or chest-tones




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.        317
When the chords are capable of a great number of
vibrations in a given time, and the upper cavities of
the mouth give a good resonance, then it has a
good command of the high notes, or head-tones.
Where either of these conditions is wanting, the
voice is wanting in range, either upwards or downwards.
~ 183. Adequate compass of voice is an important element of
power in delivery.
A great range of the voice upwards is not of so
much importance in speaking, as an ample command of the lower and lowest tones-these, beyond
all comparison, are the most effective in oratory. A
voice full, rich and mellow on the low notes, is a
mighty element of power in delivery. A voice of
good compass, however, in both directions is required, in order to that variety of pitch and inflection, which is essential to the adequate expression
of the ever-varying movements of thought and feeling; otherwise a dull and stupefying monotony can
hardly be avoided. It is indispensable in all animated and impassioned speaking. For deep and
strong emotion cannot be fully expressed on the
middle or common pitch of the voice,, but it requires both the high and the low sounds, often in
rapid alternation. In impassioned questioning e. g.
the voice must rise or fall by inflection through a
whole octave. Hence, as an element of power in
delivery, adequate compass of voice is only inferiot
to adequate strength.




318         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 184. The exercises for developing the compass of the voice,
consist in sounding the high and low notes of the musical
scale.
These exercises are very much the same with
those prescribed for the ear (~ 105 —4). Almost
every voice, however, has a range of pitch, adequate
for speaking, in one direction or the other, either
upwards or downwards. The student should aim,
therefore, to develop his voice in the direction in
which it most needs it. The exercises for extending the range in either direction, consist in sounding the notes of the musical scale, running up as
high as the voice will rise without breaking, or taking the falsetto character, and down as low as it can
be made to descend. It is not necessary that its
lowest notes should be,perfectly pure, or very strong,
at first; it may be practiced at first on notes so low
as to be both feeble and impure; but it should be
the aim of the student to bring out these low sounds
with ever greater purity and force. This practice
should be accompanied with daily reading aloud,
and declamation, on a low or high pitch, according
to the direction in which the voice may require development.
~ 185. Flexibility of voice is its power of changing its pitch,
quality, or force; and it depends chiefly upon facility of
control over the organs.
This power consists in the faculty of changing
from one pitch, or one quality, or one degree of force,




THE POWERS OF THE VOICE.         319
to another. When these changes can be effected
with facility and rapidity, the voice is one of great
flexibility; when they cannot be effected without
difficulty, or otherwise than slowly, it has little flexibility. This power depends upon a neat and smooth
and proportionate construction of the vocal organs;
but more especially, upon a perfect voluntary control
over them, by which only can they be made to
assume those rapid and facile changes of position
and action, which are the immediate causes of these
variations of sound.
~ 186. Flexibility of voice is an essential element of power in
delivery.
This power of voice is a fundamental element of
all animated and forcible delivery; the changes of
sound which depend upon it, are the very life and
spirit of expression. It is required, moreover, in the
utterance of every word and syllable, which do not
maintain the same pitch, or degree of force, throughout. In further illustration of its importance, it may
be sufficient to refer to those numerous occasions on
which almost every speaker is painfully conscious
that his voice is not under his control in this respect;
that it does not answer to the changes which the expression of the changing sentiment requires; in
other words, he does not express what he really
means and feels. The cause of this is that the voice
is wanting in flexibility.




320         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~ 187. The exercises for the development of this powers consist in rapid and extreme transitions from one degree of
pitch and force, and from one quality, to another.
The exercises prescribed for obtaining the most
perfect control of the vocal organs, are the best for
the attainment of flexibility. The references to
these need not be again repeated.  In addition, the
student should practice his voice in the most rapid
transitions from one degree of force and pitch, and
from one quality of sound, to another. He should
select for declamation the most animated and impassioned passages, because they require the greatest
variety of pitch, force and quality of sound. But
probably the best exercise is that of reading aloud
or speaking dialogues, in which the reader represents alternately a number of interlocutors. The
animation which is characteristic of this species
of discourse, and the frequent and rapid changes of
the voice which are requisite to maintain the distinction of persons and characters, afford the most
effective aids to the development of this power.
Humorous selections also are good for this purpose.




CHAPTER VIII.
PITCH AND INiFLECTION.
~ 188. Pitch is the character of sounds as high o Hat grat
or acute.
THE pitch of a sound is something enl ely differCllt both from its force and its quality, being determined, as we have seen, by the numi er of vibrations which take place in a given leng'h of time, in
the sounding body (~ 103-4). The ke is of a pianoforte exemplify, in the simplest mann r, the distinctions of pitch. On the extreme left of the key-board,
we have the lowest bass note, the me 3t grave sound;
as the hand moves to the right, eacE succeeding note
rises in pitch above the preceding, until we reach
the extreme right, which gives u J the highest, or
most acute sound. The variation;, in pitch of which
the human voice is capable, in tb A exercise of compass and flexibility, are very great. The extent,
rapidity and accuracy, in varying the pitch, which is
attained by great vocalists, esp, cially when we consider that the vocal chords, upon which these
changes depend, cannot vary in length more fhan
one eighth of an inch, is one f I the wonders of owu




322        THE ELiMENTS OF POWER.
physiological constitution, and a striking example of
the control which mind or life is capable of exercising over matter.
f 189. Inflection is a function of pitch.
In the books on Elocution, inflection is commonly
treated under a distinct head from that of pitch.
But it is properly a function of pitch, that is, it is
one way of varying the pitch of sounds. For there
are two distinct forms of such variation, which are
characterized as discrete and concrete, each of which
has important functions in the expression of thought
and sentiment.
1. Discrete variations are skips from one degree of
pitch to another.
These variations may be exemplified by sounding in succession any two or more of the keys of an
instrument. This will give sounds of different pitch,
with intervals of silence between them-one sound
does not slide into another. Hence such variations
are called skips, in distinction from slides.
2. Concrete variations are slides from  one pitch to
another.
These may be exemplified by moving the stop-finger up or down one of the strings of a violin, whilst
the bow is drawn across it. A continuous or sliding
sound, from one degree of pitch to another, will
thus be produced. Such variations, called slides, in
distinction from skips, are properly inflections.




PITCH AND INFLECTION.           323
~ 190. In music the discrete variations predominate, in speech
the concrete.
Both of these variations are heard in music and
in speech, but the predominant form in each is
different.
1. In music the discrete changes predominate.
This is evident from the structure of the musical
staff, which is composed of alternate lines and
spaces, on which the notes, one above another, represent sounds of different pitch, with intervals of
silence between them. The notation of the slide in
music, though it frequently occurs, is comparatively
rare. That these discrete changes predominate in
music, is further evinced by the fact that music can
be produced from keyed instruments, which are
totally incapable of executing the slide. Yet the
judicious introduction of the concrete changes of
pitch in music, is one of the most important elements
of its expressive power, for the reason that they impart a certain speaking character to the sounds.
Hence also the acknowledged superiority of stringed
instruments, from their capacity of executing these
speaking slides.
2. In speech the concrete variations predominate.
This is evident to the ear. For if we give close
attention to conversation, especially to the free and
animated conversation of ladies, we easily perceive
that their voices are continually sliding up and down
the musical scale, with amazing rapidity and flexibility; in fact, as we have seen, every syllable ter.




324         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
minates in a slide (~ 118).  Hence, when we speak
of discrete variations in speech, we do not mean
that there is no slide at all in these sounds; for they
all end in a sliding vocule, or vanish; but only that
the slide does not reach from one sound to the
other, and that the interval is reckoned from one
radical pitch to the other. This predominance of
the sliding sounds, or concrete changes of pitch, is,
in fact, the differential character of speech as distinguished from song. Hence very much of that
vicious speaking which is called sing-song, will be
found to arise from the introduction of the discrete,
in place of the concrete variations.
~ 191. Both melody and expression depend upon the variations of pitch.
This is equally true in music and in speech. In
the case of the latter, it is evident from the consideration that, apart from these variations, speech would
consist of a succession of articulate sounds on the
same line of pitch, in which certainly there could be
neither melody nor expression of sentiment. Such,
however, is the nature of the vocal organism, that it
is perhaps impossible to pronounce the shortest sentence in a perfect monotone. But it is easy and
common enough to have so little variation in speaking as to render it powerless. Any one can make
this plain to himself by pronouncing the following
lines with as little variation of pitch as possible.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.




PITCH AND INFI ECTION.              325
But when they are rendered with the proper variations, both their melody and expression are at once
brought out.
q 192. Melody in speech consists in such discrete variations
of pitch in succession as are pleasing to the ear.
If the following extract be properly read, it will
readily be perceived that the several clauses and
phrases range on various degrees of radical pitch,
and that such variations are essential to its pleasing
melody.
It is an impression which we cannot rid ourselves of if we would,
when sitting by the body of a friend, that he has still a consciousness of our presence; that, though the common concerns of the
world have no more to do with him, he has still a love and care
for us. The face which we had so long been familiar with, when
it was all life and motion, seems only in a state of rest. We know
not how to make it real to ourselves, that the body before us is
not a living thing.
Now, in order to attain this melody, the student
will do well to avoid all attempts to apply those
multiplied and minute rules which the elocutionists
have given us, however accurate those rules may be;
for it is more than probable that, by such attempts,
he will lose more than it is possible to gain. The
almost inevitable result will be sing-song, instead of
melodious speech. Ile will best succeed in cultivating this grace of prose speech, by applying his ear,
from time to time, to his sentences, that the ear may
judge for itself, so to speak, whether it is satisfied
or pleased with the successive variations of pitch




326         TmE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
When his own ear is thus satisfied, the speaker
may hope that the melody of his sentences will be
such as to please the ears of his audience.
~ 193. Violations of melody consist in monotony, sing-song,
false changes in the body of the sentence, false cadence,
and too great variations.
According to the principle just laid down, it
would be useless, and perhaps worse, to attempt to
specify all the violations of melo6dy, which are constantly occurring, even in the delivery of good speakers. Yet it may be useful to characterize, in some
general way, those that are the most common and
most damaging.
1. Monotony, or too little variation of pitch.
The voice in speaking may run along nearly on
the same line of radical pitch, through a whole sentence, or paragraph, or even a discourse. This frequently arises from commencing too high, so that
the compass of the voice does not allow of its rising
and falling in melodious variations. The result, in
this case, is a kind of monotonous rant, which is extremely unpleasant, and even painful to hear. In
other cases, the pitch of the voice is too low throughout. This may be due to a want of emotion in the
speaker, or to timidity, or to other causes. The result is a monotonous tameness, which is worse perhaps than rant. In both cases; there is no melody
in the delivery.




PITCH AND INFLECTION.           327
2. Sing-song, or recurrence qf the same or similac
variations.
The too frequent recurrence of the same changes
of pitch, is a very common violation of melody.
The speaker commences all his sentences nearly oi
quite on the same pitch; in each sentence, he runs
over nearly the same routine of changes; at each
change, he delivers a few words as nearly as possible on the same line of radical pitch; an(l he closes
his sentences with about the same cadence. In
such cases, moreover, the discrete changes will
commonly be found to predominate over the concrete, accompanied with an undue prolongation of
the last syllables of the words. The effect of all this
is what is called "the college tone," or "college
sing-song," which turns speaking into singing, or
rather into the dullest kind of chanting, and is extremely difficult to correct when it has once become a habit.
3. False changes in the body of the sentence.
Many speakers end almost every clause in their
sentences with the full downward skip, allowing the
voice to fall as low at the end of clauses as at the
end of the sentence. This renders the delivery, with
respect to melody, extremely harsh and abrupt. It
is always, moreover, a violation of melody to let the
voice fall where it ought to rise, and vice versa,
although the determination o~ these cases belongs
rather.to expression than to melody.
4. False cadences, orfalse changes at the close of the
sentence.




328        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
The character of a sentence, with respect to melody, is most conspicuous at its close. In a sentence
ending with the falling inflection, melody, as well
as expression, commonly requires that the voice
should fall on the last word to the pitch on which it
commenced. This fall, moreover, ought not to be
a skip, but a slide; i. e. the last word should begin
quite or nearly on the pitch of the preceding, and
the voice should slide down on that word to the
initial pitch of the sentence. Instead of which,
many speakers drop the voice on the last word by a
skip, often of two or three degrees of the scale, the
effect of which is always more or less of the singsong. Others close their sentences on the middle
instead of the lowest pitch, the effect of which is
like that of ending a tune on a sound not in full accord with the keynote. Others again, and not a few,
close every sentence with a little rising inflection on
the last syllable, like the upward flourish of a little
dog's tail, which renders the gravest discourse
ludicrous.
5. Too frequent and too great changes of pitch.
When the variations of pitch are too frequent or
too great, especially the slides of the voice, the
effect in public speaking is to render it too conversational. The measure and proportion of the variations to each other, which are essential to melodious speech, are lost; and the delivery is wanting in
dignity, and in respect for the audience.




PITCH AND NEILECTION.           329
~ 194. The principal function of pitch and inflection, is in
the expression of sentiment.
The changes of pitch, both concrete and discrete,
upwards and downwards, are one of the principal
means of attaining to full and adequate expression,
both of thought and feeling. In fact, there are innumerable differences and shades of sentiment
which are incapable of being expressed by any
other means. Hence it is absolutely necessary for
the student to give the subject his attention, bearing in mind; however, that the few principles and
rules which follow, do constantly modify and limit
each other. For although the writers on Elocution
have given us a vast body of rules, some of them as
many as fifty, to determine where the upward and
downward skips, and where the rising and falling
slides, should occur, it is perfectly certain that, except in a few cases, no invariable rules can be laid
down.
~ 195. The sentiment determines the changes of pitch and
inflection.
This is the most general principle applicable to
the subject. It applies to questions equally with
all other forms of expression. For although it is
often supposed that a question mark (?) indicates
the rising inflection, it will be found, upon examination, that questions take either the rising or falling
inflection, according to the sentiment which they are




330         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
intended to express, and the one perhaps as often
as the other. This may be evinced by one or two
examples.
1. The former part of the following sentence requires a high pitch of the voice, reaching the highest pitch on the words, weak, and unable; whilst the
latter part, although a question, because the sentiment gives the principal emphasis to the word, when,
closes with the full downward slide on the word,
stronger.
They tell us, sir, that we are weak, and unable to cope with so
formidable an adversary; but when shall we be stronger?
2. In the followihg questions, the last words take
either inflection, according to the sentiment which
the speaker intends to express. If the sentiment
require the emphasis on the verb, is, both questions
will close with the downward slide; but if the principal emphasis. be placed upon the words, servant
and slave, each will take a strong rising inflection.
Is Israel a servant? Is he a hoine-born slave?
We shall find, in all that follows on this subject,
that the form of the sentence, whether interrogative
or affirmative, has little or nothing to do with determining its changes of pitch and inflection, and
that these depend wholly upon the character of the
sentiment to be expressed.




PITCH AND INFLECTION.            331
a 196. Higher and lower ranges of pitch and inflection express different degrees of emotion and passion.
This is another general principle, and one of the
greatest importance. For if we utter the exclamation, ah! expressing a slight degree of surprise, it
naturally takes a slight rising inflection, running
through the interval of the second or third of the
musical scale; a greater degree of surprise will express itself by an upward slide on the word, of a
fourth or fifth; and for a very strong expression of
this feeling, the rising inflection will traverse a
whole octave. In like manner, the word, no, expressing a mild dissent, will commence on the middle
pitch of the voice, and take a slight falling inflection; when pronounced so as to express a stronger
dissent, it will commence on a higher pitch, and
end in a longer downward slide; and when it expresses a very strong or passionate dissent, the
downward slide will run through a whole octave.
Thus, no, NO, NO.
~ 197. Thoughts without emotion express themselves on the
middle pitch of the voices with the least variations.
Plain explanatory passages, requiring little emphasis, being altogether destitute of any peculiar
emotion, are thus expressed. Also, where the speaker
is supposed to be incapable of human passion, as in
the case of a spiritual being, an apparition or ghost,
his delivery should be as nearly as possible in
monotone, that is, on the same line of pitch.  In




332         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
this way the words of the spectre in the book @A
Job,* should be pronounced.
Shall mortal man be more just than God?
Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
So also the speech of the ghost in Hamlet.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand,
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatched;
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhouseled, disappointed, unannealed;
No reckoning made, but sent to my account,
With all my imperfections on my head.
~ 198. Calm and equable emotions express themselves on the
middle pitch, with slight variations.
In the expression of sentiments in which there is
no peculiar strength or vivacity of feeling, the voice
ranges on its natural or middle pitch, with little
variation, whether of skip or slide, upwards or
downwards. The variations, in this case, will seldom
pass beyond one tone or degree of the scale. This
is the predominant interval in common speech. It
has upon the ear a pleasing effect, analogous to that
produced upon the eye by the prevailing green of
nature.  In the words of Dr. Rush, " The ear has its
green as well as the eye, and the interval of the second is widely spread to relieve sensation from the
fatiguing stimulus of more vivid impression."
* Job, ch. iii. v. 17.




PrICH AND INLECTION.                 333
Writers of every age have endeavored to show that pleasure is
in us, and not in the objects offered for our amusement. If the
soul be happily disposed, everything becomes capable of affording
entertainment, and distress will almost want a name. Every occurrence passes in review like the figures in a procession; some
may be awkward, others ill-dressed, but none, except a fool, is for
this enraged with the master of the ceremonies.
~ 199. Strong emotions express themselves in more frequent
and greater variations of pitch and inflection.
When the emotions are more animated and excited than in the preceding case, the voice naturally
changes  its  pitch  more fre quently, and  ranges
through wider intervals. In this case, the range
both of skip and slide, up and down, will be to the
extent of a third or fifth of the scale.
Is not this crime enough to turn Mercy herself into an executioner! You convict for murder-here is the hand that murdered
innocence. You convict for treason-here is the vilest disloyalty
to friendship. You convict for robbery-here is one who plunder
ed Virtue of her most precious jewel.
~ 200. Violent passions express themselves in the greatest
variations of pitch and inflection.
In fine, when violent and uncontrollable passions
clamor for expression, the voice rises to its highest
and sinks to its lowest pitch, traversing, with rapid
and extreme variations, often the whole octave.
This will be found to be the case in any true expression of the insane remorse and grief of Othello,
over the body of the murdered Desdemona, after he
had discovered her innocence.




334        THE ELEMENTS OF POWEL
O cursed slave! Whip me, ye devils,
From the possession of this heavenly sight!
Blow me about in winds-roast me in sulphursWash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire I
O Desdemona! Desdemona! Dead!
Dead! O0!! O1
~ 201. Subdued emotions of grief, sorrow, pity, desire, loo,
hope, and fear, express themselves in variations of the
semitone.
The subdued and chastened expression of these,
and other similar affections and passions, very frequently consists of semitone variations, in which the
voice rises and falls, both concretely and discretely,
a semitone above and below the middle line of pitch.
Of course, this rule does not exclude other variations, but these are the most frequent, and to a certain extent indispensable.  Hence they are much
heard in the language of complaint, condolence,
and of audible prayer. In this last case, if the
greater concrete variations of the second, third and
fifth, predominate, the result is an irreverent, undevotional, conversational manner, which suggests
that he who is praying feels himself to be almost on
a footing of equality with the Being addressed, and
which consequently is extremely offensive.  It has
been remarked that children cry in semitones.
Hence the pathetic complaint of IDesdemona, after
being charged by her husband with infidelity, cannot be adequately rendered but by means of these
semitone variations of pitch.




PITCH AND INFLECTION.                335
[ago.                  Madam, how is it with you?
Desdemona (with sobs and tears).
Alas! I cannot tell. Those that do teach young babes,
Do it with gentle means and easy tasks.
He might have chid me so, for, in good faith,
I am a child to chiding.
~ 202. Grave and earnest, but not impassioned sentiments,
express themselves in variations of the second and'thirds
and mostly in the falling inflections.
In the following example these variations prevail,
and every clause ends in a downward slide of the
voice.
Be wise to-day;'tis madness to defer.
Next day the fatal precedent will plead.
Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of-life.
Procrastination is the thief of time;
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment, leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene., 203. Sentiments of great animation and vivacity express
themselves in variations of the third and fifth, with fre.
quent upward slides.
As the interval of the second is the green of the
ear, so " these variations of the third and fifth are the
lights and shadows of discourse, and are indispensable to give life and power to the vocal picture."
They predominate in the expression of wit and play.
fulness, and of all sentiments of a highly animated
character. Skips of the fifth, indeed, do not often




336          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
occur in such discourse, but slides of this interval
are not at all uncommon. In animated and playful
conversation, the range of the voice up and down
these intervals, both in skips and slides, is incessant.
When they prevail in what is intended to be grave
and dignified, and, of course, not highly impassioned
discourse, they lower its dignity., and render it conversational in style or manner.  The wit and playfulrness and ever restless vivacity of Falstaff, afford
constant examples of these variations.
A good sherris sack hath a tWo-fold operation in it. It ascends
me into the brain, and dries me there all the foolish and dull and
crudy vapors which environ it; makes it apprehensive, quick,
forgetive (inventive) full of nimble, fiery and delectable shapes;
which, delivered o'er to the voice, the tongue, which is the birth,
becomes excellent wit. The second property of your excellent
sherris, is the warming of the blood; which, before cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice: but the sherris warms it, and makes it
course from the inwards to the parts extreme; it illumineth the
face, which as a beacon gives warning to all the rest of this little
kingdom, man, to arm; and then the vital commoners, and inland
petty spirits, muster me all to their captain, the heart; who, great
and puffed up with this retinue, doth any deed of courage-and
this valor comes of sherris..... Hereof comes it that Prince Harry
is valiant. For the cold blood he did naturally inherit from his
father, he hath, like lean, sterile and bare land, manured, husbanded and tilled, with excellent endeavor of drinking good, and
good store of fertile sherris; [so] that he is become very hot and
valiant. -If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I
would teach them, should be to forswearthin potations, and addict
themselves to sack.




PITCH AND INFLECTION.                337
f 204. Animated expressions of certainty, positiveness, and
determination, range through intervals of the third and
fifth, mostly with falling inflections.
The following passage affords an example of such
intervals, more of the third, however, than of the
fifth, and nearly every clause ends with a downward
slide.
Nay, more-I can, and I will say, that as a peer of parliament, as
speaker of this right honorable house, as keeper of the great seal,
as guardian of his majesty's conscience, as Lord High Chancellor
of England-nay even in that character alone, in which the
noble duke would think i6 an affront to be considered, but which
charact r none can deny me, as a man-I am at this moment as
respectable, I beg leave to add, as much respected, as the proudest
peer I now look down upon.
Q 205. Animated expressions of uncertainty, hesitation, stir_ prise and irony, range through intervals of the third and
fifth, mostly with rising inflections.
The bitter irony of the Prophet Elijah, ridiculing
the prophets of Baal, exhibits these changes of pitch
and inflection in a very striking manner, although
on several of the words, the inflections may be downwards with the best effect. On several of the words,
also, the wave, or double inflection (~ 213) is required.
Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be
awaked:
So also in the bitter irony of Job's reply to his
friends.




338          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
~io doubt, ye are the people, and wisdom will die with you,
Solemn irony, such as that of our Saviour, addressed to his sleeping disciples, more frequently
takes the falling inflection.
Sleep on now, and take your rest; (this is, indeed, a time for you
to sleep!) for the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
In the reply of the woman at the well of Samaria
to our Lord, we have a fine expression of doubt
and surprise, with these strong upward inflections
on the words in italics.
Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from
whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle?
~ 206. Questions which require answers, if the emphasis be
not on the interrogative word, commonly take the rising
inilection.
Of such questions there are two classes:
1. Those expressing a desire.for information, which
is to be furnished by the answer; as in the following
example, in which the words, looked, and frowningly,
both take the rising inflection, but the latter a much
longer one than the former.
What! looked he frowningly?
2. Those intended to draw a mental response from
the audience, but which require no vocal answer.
Thus the following questions are intended to call
forth the most emphatic mental response; conse,




PITCH AND INFLECTION.              339
quently the words, now, and stoop, take the strongest
rising inflections.
What! are ye daunted now? Now will ye stoop?
j 207. Questions which express affirmation, except when the
emphasis is on the last word, commonly take the falling
inflection.
This rule might have been expressed nearly as
well in the form of the converse 9f the preceding,
viz: Questions which require no answer, either vocal
or mental, commonly take the falling inflection. For
the principal reason why questions require no answer, is that they express affirmation. In applying
the rule in either form, it is necessary to scrutinize
the question narrowly, to see whether it does not require a mental response. In the following questions,
the italicized words all close with the falling slide.
Have I not reason to look pale and dead?
Is she not with the dead, the quiet dead, where all is peace?
~ 208. Questions in which the principal emphasis is on a substantive verb, or an auxiliary, commonly take the falling
inflection.
Cases in which the substantive verb or auxiliary
is the last word in the sentence, are exceptions to
this rule, as in the questions, He is? They have?
in which the last words take the rising slide. The
following are examples under the rule.




340           THE ELEMENTS OF PowER.
Did he show himself a brother? Is he not rightly called a sup
planter?  Can I do otherwise? Must I not do it? Have I not
given him enough?
In these, and all similar cases, the questions close
with falling inflections. But if the principal emphasis were on any other words, the questions would all
take the rising slides, as follows.
Did he show himself a brother? Is he not rightly called a supplanter? Have I not given him enough?
~ 209. Questions in which the interrogative words, such as
who, which, what, when, whence, where, why, how, are
followed by other words, commonly take the falling
inflection.
This rule is nearly or quite universal, and one of
great importance. For this class of questions is
probably more numerous than all others taken together; and the attempt to render them with the
rising inflection, mars the elocution of a great number
of speakers. In the following, and all similar cases,
the questions end with falling slides.
From whence then hast thou that living water? For why will
ye die? O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
In the case of such double questions as, When,
did you say? and in case the interrogative is the
last or sole word in the question, it may take either
the rising or falling slide. If e. g. I say, He is
now in Baltimore; and you, not perfectly understanding me, ask, Where? or Where, did you say?
the question will always take the rising inflection




PITCH AND INFLECTION.            341
But if I say, He is now lying very ill, and you ask,
Where? the question will take the falling slide.
~ 210. Double questions, implying a negative it the former,
and an affirmation in the latter, take the rising inflection
on the former, and the falling on the latter.
This rule illustrates the importance of this whole
subject of inflection in a very striking manner.
For such questions as the following,
Was he a poet? or an orator?
are susceptible of a great variety of meanings, which
can be expressed in no other way than by different
inflections. For if in this question, I would ask
whether the persou was either a poet or an orator, or
neither, both words, poet and orator, take the rising
inflection.  If I would affirm that he was neither,
the emphasis being on the substantive verb, was,
then both take the falling slide. But if I mean to
deny that he was a poet, and to affirm that he was
an orator, or if I would learn which of the two he
was, the former question takes the upward, the latter the downward slide; while, to distinguish those
two last cases from each other, we have to resort to
a different emphacis on the word, orator.  Again,
-is a candle brought to put under a bushel, or under a bed r
This question in itself is capable of a similar variety
of meanings. But because its object is to call forth a




342         THi; EIEMENTS OF POWER.
mental response, affirming that a candleis not brought
to be put under a bushel, nor under a bed, the emphasis being on bushel, and bed, both words take the
rising inflection. But now, if the rising inflection be
given to tlre former clause, and the falling to the
latter, the question will express either a desire to
learn which of the two is the proper place for a
candle, or it will affirm that a candle is not brought
to be placed under a bushel, but is emphatically to
be put under a bed.
Let any one try these changes, and he cannot fail
to satisfy himself of the great significance of the
inflections of oral speech.
~ 211. Words and phrases in pairs commonly take, the first a
rising, the second a falling inflection.
This variation is a requirement both of melody
and of expression. It is exemplified in the following.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, not
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
as from the love of God, which is Christ Jesus our Lord.
~ 212. The principal inflections always occur on the emphatic
words.
This is equally true in questions and all other
sentences. It will require more full treatment under
the head of emphasis. In asking questions, it is a




PITCH AND INFLECTION.            343
common error to let the voice rise on an inclined
plane, as it were, equably from the beginning to the
end of the sentence. It is not possible to give adequate expression to the sentiment in this way.  The
principal inflection in questions should always be
given to the most emphatic word; and in order to
do this, the voice must often fall on the preceding
words to a low pitch.
Thus, in the following example, the voice rises by
inflection on the first, seems, through a fifth or an octave, and the following word, Madam, is pronounced
on the high pitch thus attained, or with a slight fall.
Seems. Madam?
Nay, it is-I know not seems.
Again, in the following, the rising inflection on
who, king, father, runs through a fifth or an octave,
and in order to this, the voice must fall from king to
the next word through a like interval.
Saw who?
My Lord, the King, your father.
The King? myfather?
The case is similar in the following example, in
which, after a full rise on the word, dog, the voice
rueis along on the high pitch thus attained to the
word, thing, on which occurs another slight rise.
Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?
(nce more:
Moneys is your suit.
What should I say to you? Should I not say,
Hath a dog money? Is it possible,
That a cur should raise three thousand ducats?




344        THE EIEMENTS OF ]POWER.
HeIe upon the emphatic words, dog, and cur, the
voice should rise in an impassioned slide through a
fifth or an octave, and the words that follow in each
question, should be pronounced on the high pitch
thus attained, with another slight rise on the last
words.
~ 213. The wave, or circumflex variation of pitch, is used to
express drollery, impassioned irony, sarcasm, and sneer.
This variation of pitch is a combination of the
two slides on the same word, and often on the same
syllable. Sometimes the upward movement comes
first, and sometimes the downward. The elocutionists run into great minuteness in the treatment of
this element of expression; what they have given
us can hardly be made practical to any but the
most thorough students. It is true, however, that
these waves of the voice are often extremely effective in the expression of their appropriate sentiments. Those who would see them thoroughly discussed, are referred to Dr. Rush, and Professors
MIandeville and Day. Here an example or two
must suffice.
Hereof comes it that Prince Harry is valiant.
On the word, valiant, the voice runs up and down
through a fifth. So on the word, you,in the follow,
ing.
You Prince of Wales I




PITCH AND INFLECTION.                345
Again, in the words, Daniel and now, in the follow.
ing.
A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew.
Now, Infidel, I have thee on the hip....
A Daniel, still I say, a second Daniel.
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
%1&6 j




CHAPTER IX.
T IME AND PAUSE.
} 214. The time occupied m th, delivery of thoughts and sen.
timents, is an element of their expression.-Pause is a
function of time.
WE have seen that increasing the time of syllables
is one form of accentuation (~ 126); and we shall
hereafter see that it is also an element of emphasis,
(~ 235).  But here we have to consider the time
which is occupied in the delivery of a passage, whether a clause, or sentence, or paragraph, or general
division of a discourse, in its relations to the expression of the meaning and sentiment. For the various
grammatical andlogicalrelations of thought cannot be
fully expressed in speech, otherwise than by corresponding modifications of time and pause. Some
thoughts and sentiments require to be slowly delivered, with pauses of considerable length between the
words and parts of the discourse; others more rapidly, with shorter pauses. When these requirements
are violated, the speaking is either powerless, or its
power is greatly diminished. Only the most g3neral
principles, however can be here laid down. chiefly for




TIME AND PAUSE.                34 7
the purpose of drawing the attention of the student
to the subject, that he may be led to consider and
determine for himself, in each case, what modifications of time and pause may be required by the
character of the thoughts and sentiments which he
has to express.
~215. Elevated, sublime, solemn and sorrowful sentiments
require slow time.
This is one of the most obvious general rules of
expression. Such sentiments naturally prompt to
slow movements of every other kind, besides that of
speaking. A burial procession moves slowly. A
dead-march, or funereal dirge, is performed in slow
time. In the same way, elevated, sublime, solemn and
sorrowful sentiments require to be slowly delivered.
A rapid delivery of such sentiments destroys their
effect, and turns them into burlesque. It is as incongruous as the performance of a dead march in
quick time, or as the galloping of a funeral procession. Yet, however slow the enunciation may be,
it must never fail to maintain a firm and steady
movement; and it must be carefully guarded against
becoming too slow, which would render it dull and
tiresome, or put the audience to sleep. The following
passage affords a good example of slow time.
Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put




348          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?
$ 216. Condensed, abstruse, and obscure passages require
slovw time.
The reason of this rule is that, where the thought
is difficult or obscure from any cause, more time
must be allowed to enable the audience to possess
themselves of it-they must have more time than
otherwise would be required, to elicit the sense or
meaning of the discourse; —if it be rapidly delivered,
it becomes unintelligible.  Here, as before, however,
it is very important to guard against too great slowness, and for the same reason (~ 215). In the following example, very slow time, and long pauses are
required, because the thought is both condensed and
obscure, and at the same time the sentiments are
solemn and sublime.
Thou from primeval nothingness did'st call,
First chaos, then existence. Lord, on thee
Eternity had its foundation; all
Sprang forth from thee; of light, joy, harmony
Sole origin; all life, all beauty thine.
Thy Word created all, and doth create;
Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine.
Thou art, and wert, and shalt be, glorious, great,
Life-giving, life-preserving Potentate.




TME  AND PAUSE.                  349
217. Grave, serious and moderate sentiments require
moderate time.
The delivery of such sentiments should not be very
elow, nor yet too rapid-both extremes are to be
carefully avoided. For if the movement be too rapid, it will be out of keeping with the sentiments,
which, therefore, will fail to affect the minds of the
audience in the proper manner; and if it be too
slow, the audience will be constantly running ahead
of the speaker, and will soon cease to give their attention. Nothing, in fact, can be more fatal to power
in delivery than for the speaker to allow his audience
to keep ahead of him. This, however, is partly a
rhetorical, as well as an elocutionary fault. A deliberate or moderate movement is required in the following extract.
The firmest works of man are gradually giving way; the ivy
clings to the mouldering tower, the brier hangs out from the shattered window, and the wall-flower springs from the disjointed
stones. The founders of these perishable works have shared the
same fate long ago. If we look back to the days of our ancestors,
to the men as well as to the dwellings of former times, they become
immediately associated in our imaginations, and only make the
feelings of instability stronger and deeper than before. In the
spacious domes which once held our fathers, the serpent hisses,
and the wild bird screams.
~ 218. Sentiments of greater vivacity require a quicker
movement.
The following is an example.
When over the hills like a gladsome bride,
Morning walks forth in her beauty's pride,




350          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
And leading a band of laughing hours,
Brushes the dew from the nodding flowers,
Oh! cheerily then my voice is heard,
Mingling with that of the soaring bird,
Who flingeth abroad his matins loud,
As he freshens his wing in the cold gray cloud.
~ 219. impassioned sentiments commonly require a rapid
deWery.
Almost all the passions, except those of grief, sorrow, pity, and the like, when in a high state of -excitement, prompt to rapid motions, both of body,and mind. A man, when thus highly excited, does
not walk nor speak in a slow or stately manner, all
his motions naturally correspond to the excited
state of his nervous system, and of his mental faculties. The audience, moreover, naturally partake of
the speaker's excitement; consequently their minds
act with greater rapidity than at other times. This
is especially true and significant of the irascible passions. Hence the expression of such impassioned
sentiments requires a rapid movement; which, however, must be carefully guarded lest it become so
rapid as to mar the articulation, and render the
speaking unintelligible.  For uncontrolled passion
always tends to indistinctness of articulation. The
following extract requires a rapid movement.
Banished from Rome? What's banished but set free
From daily contact with the things I loathe?
Tried and convicted traitor! Who says this?
Who'll prove it at his peril on my head?
Banished? I thank you for't-it breaks my chain.
I held some slack allegiance till this hour;
But now my sword's my own.-Smile on, my lords.




TIME AND PAUSE.                 351
I scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes,
Strong provocations, bitter, burning wrongs,
I have within my heart's hot cells shut up.
But here I stand and scoff you. Here I fling
Hatred and full defiance in your face.
/here I devote your Senate. I've had wrongs
Yo stir a fever in the blood of age,
Aund make the infant's sinews strong as steel.'A v. The, commencement of speeches, heads and para.
giaphs, require slower time than the subsequent parts.
This is a rule of great importance, and one which is
often violated with damaging effect. The following
are some of the reasons upon which it is founded.
1. Slow tine is necessary to gain the attention of the
audience.
Of course, it is of the utmost importance to fix the
attention of the audience at the beginning of the
discourse; but this can hardly be done, unless time
be given them to master the full meaning of the
opening words and sentences.
2. New matter ispresented.
At the commencement of a speech, the matter presented is altogether new and unfamiliar to the minds
of the audience. Hence it is naturally more difficult
for them to master it. It cannot be anticipated,
nor comprehended in sequence from anything going
before. Therefore it requires to be delivered more
slowly than the subsequent parts.
3. More- general and abstract terms are commonly
employed.
The speaker properly aims at first to communi



352        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
cate to his audience some conception of his whole
subject, and of the object which he aims to accomplish, that they may be able to anticipate, in some
degree, the line of argument, and general drift, of
the discourse which is to follow. Hence the necessity of abstractions and generalizations. In order
to master these, and to form adequate conceptions
of what is to follow, the audience must have time
given them to weigh every word. If the commencement of the speech be hurriedly delivered, the whole
of it will probably be a mass of confusion to the
audience.
4. The mental operations are naturally slower.
At the commencement of a speech, the feelings of
both speaker and audience are yet calm and placid;
consequently their minds naturally operate less
promptly and rapidly than in the subsequent parts,
when their emotions and passions are fully excited,
and the whole mind is kindled into a glow by its
own activity. Hence the speaker requires more
time to express, and the audience to follow the
thought. This is more especially the case with the
speaker in extempore discourse; and all delivery
should be precisely as if the whole thought were
originated and elaborated at the moment.
5. All these reasons apply, but with less force, to the
commencement of heads and topics.
All these reasons apply not only to speeches, but
also to the general and subordinate heads, topics
and paragraphs, only with diminishing force, in the
order in which these divisions are here enumerated




TIME AND PAUSE.              353
Hence the slowest time of all is required at the
commencement of the speech; less slow time, at the
commencement of a general head; still less, at
that of a subordinate head; and still less, at that
of a paragraph; but all these beginnings should
be delivered more slowly than the subsequent
parts.
~ 221. Pause in speech is a function of time.
As inflection is a function of pitch (~ 189), so
pause is a function of time. For it is obvious that
the time given to the delivery of a discourse, or of
any part of it, will be greater or less, and the movement more or less rapid, as the pauses, or intervals
of silence, between its parts are longer or shorter.
This, moreover, is a very important function. For
these pauses are not only very numerous, inasmuch
as they occur between all the parts of discourse
(~ 148-3), except syllables, and thus occupy a considerable proportion of the time; but, also, very
many of them are essential to clearness, and even to
intelligibility, in the communication of thought, an i
to power in the expression of sentiment.
222. The three functions of pause are the grammatical, the
rhythmical, and the rhetorical.
These are all distinct functions, or, as they may
be called, different varieties of pause in speech;
and they contribute in different ways to the result
of power in delivery. The grammatical pauses are




t~54       THE EIEMENTS OF POWER.
intended Lo symbolize the syntactical relations of
words aLd clauses in sentences. The rhythmical
pauses contribute a principal element of the rhythm
of speech. The rhetorical pauses have two functions; first, to symbolize the relations between the
rhetorical divisions of the discourse; and, secondly,
to aid in giving a more powerful expression to the
sentiments.
~ 223. Grammatical pauses indicate the syntactical relation
of words and clauses in sentences, and are of varying
length according to the sentiments expressed.
This rule covers the ground of the period (.)
colon (:) semicolon (;) comma (,) and dash (-) in
punctuation. But the speaker or reader must be
on his guard against attempting to govern his pauses
by these marks. The sense of the words, and the
character of the sentiments, are his only reliable
guides. For the punctuation marks the pauses,
and the pauses indicate the syntactical relations,
only in a very imperfect and defective manner.
1. These signs and pauses symbolize only a more or
less close relation.
They indicate nothing of the character of that relation. Thus the period, the longest pause, indicates that a syntactical structure of words, or a sentence, is completed. The colon, the next in length,
indicates the most remote separation which can
occur between the different parts of a sentence.
The semicolon marks a less wide separation, and
the comma, the least of all that have signs; whilst




TueM  AND PAUSE.             355
the dash properly signifies that the particular syntactical structure with which the sentence began, is
broken off, and that the sentence is to be completed
with another which is inconsistent with it. It is
used, however, for other purpo.ses.
2. All these pauses vary in length.
The causes of their variations are the greater or
less rapidity of the general movement, and the
character of the sentiments expressed. Under the
influence of these causes, a colon, or a semicolon,
or even a comma, may represent a pause longer
than a period; whilst a dash may represent'a pause
of any length whatsoever.
3. Pauses are constantly required that are not
marked in punctuation.
In good reading and speaking, these pauses are
constantly occurring, where punctuation marks
would be wholly out of place.
The foregoing observations may serve to guard
the reader or speaker against undue reliance upon
punctuation, and to impress upon his mind the principle, that his true guides are the sense of the
words, and the character of the sentiments to be expressed.
~ 224. Rhythmical pauses, in connection with accent, produce
the rhythm of speech.
Rllhythm is an element of beauty, consequently of
power, both in poetry and prose. It depends upon
the distribution of accented and unaccented syllables, and of brief pauses. It is, of course, most




356          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
conspicuous in poetry; in which, the pauses upon
which it depends, occur most frequently in or near
the middle, and at the close of the lines or verses.
But a searching analysis of good reading or recitation of poetry, will disclose to the ear a great number of minor prosodial or rhythmical pauses, which
are essential to the perfection of the rhythm, but
which cannot be subjected to any fixed or certain
metrical laws. The rhythm of prose, both with respect to accent and pause, is essentially free, that
is, not subject to any invariable rules; it is governed only by the sense and the sentiment to be expressed. The following are examples from our
greatest master both of poetical and prose rhythm.
Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful jollity,
Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks and wreathed smiles;
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport, that wrinkled care derides,
And Laughter, holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it as you go,
On the light, fantastic toe;
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.
For I am about to discourse of matters neither inconsiderable
nor common; but how a most potent king, after he had trampled
upon the laWs of the nation, and given a shock to its religion, and
begun to rule at his own will and pleasure, was at last subdued in
the field by his own subjects, who had undergone a long slavery
under him; how, afterwards, he was cast into prison; and when
he gave no ground, either by words or actions, to hope better
things of him, he was finally, by the supreme council of the kingdom, condemned to die, and beheaded before the very gates of
the royal palace.




TTmE  AND PAUSE.              357
~ 225. Rhetorical pauses indicate the relations between the
rhetorical divisions of the discourse, and aid in the expression of the sentiments.
These two functions, or varieties of the rhetorical
pause, are quite distinct, in so far, at least, as the
former symbolize relations of thought, and the latter are expressive of emotion and passion. Both,
however, are.of very great importance, as contributing in different ways to the result of power in
delivery.
~ 226. General heads of discourse require longer pauses between them than subordinate ones; subordinate heads,
longer than paragraphs, and paragraphs than sentences.
All the primary and subordinate divisions of every
discourse, require to be delivered with pauses between them; and these pauses vary in length according as the general movement is more or less
rapid, and as the parts are more or less closely connected with each other. Their importance arises
from the fact that they signify to the audience, according to their different lengths, that one general
or subordinate head, or one paragraph, or sentence,
is concluded, and another about to be commenced.
Thus they impart discreteness and clearness to the
speaking; and enable the audience to comprehend
and follow the drift and progress of the discourse.
Hence they constitute an essential element of intelligibility. Where they are neglected, and the several
divisions of the discourse are hurriedly run into each
other, the speaking fails in clearness and intelligi



358       THE ELEENTS OF POWER.
bility, and makes the impression upon the audience
of a crude and confused mass, instead of an organized body of thought. The effect is similar to that
produced upon the mind of the reader by a discourse
written or printed without primary, coordinate, or
subordinate parts, and without paragraphs or sentences.
~ 227. The rhetorical pause is expressive of overwhelming
emotion.
This pause is in place when either the emotions of
the speaker have become uncontrollable, or those of
the audience have been worked up to a very high degree
of excitement. The attempt to introduce it without
either of these conditions, must result in complete failure, and call forth only ridicule. But when rightly
timed, it is one of the highest forms of elocutionary
art. Accompanied with the appropriate expressions
of gesture and countenance, its effects are sometimes
prodigious. Whitefield was accustomed to resort to
it. The awful silence of the thousands whohung upon
his oratory, whose very breathing seemed suspended,
produced impressions which could never be forgotten,
and which were vividly remembered long after the
thoughts of his, discourses had faded from the mind.
The expressive power of this pause is due, first, to
the excited state of the feelings, which only can justify it; secondly, to the fact that it gives full scope
to the activity of the imagination, which it stimulates to run far beyond anything that can be expressed in words. In this latter respect, it is analo(




TImE AND PAUSE.             359
g(us ao that stroke of high art employed by Vl/e ancient painter, who, in order to represent the overwhelming grief and despair of Agamemnon at the
sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia, at Aulis, portrayed him with a veil over his face, that the imkgination might be left to conceive of what no art could
depict.
Such a pause was intended by Shakspeare after
the following words of Anthony; although it mlay
be doubted whether Shakspeare himself has >Qt
erred in giving it so formal an announcement.
My heart is in the coffin there with COesar,
And I must pause till it come back to we




CHAPTER X.
FORCE.
228. Force in elocution is the application of strength of
voice in different degrees, chiefly for purposes of expression.
WE have already treated of strength as one of
the powers of the voice (~~ 176-179).  We come
now to treat of the application of this power in the
expression of thought and feeling. The procedure
here is analogous to the application of the other
powers of the voice, compass and flexibility, which
has been made under the head of pitch and infiection (~~ 188-213).  We have seen also how force
enters as an element of accent (~ 127); and we shall
see hereafter how it constitutes an element of emphasis.
With respect to the application of force, there are
two general rules to be observed.
~ 229. The first general rule is that in the rhetorical divisions
of a speeeh, force varies as the time.
The parts of a speech which require to be rapidly
delivered, commonly require also the greater degrees, and those which require to be more slowly
delivered, the less degrees of force. Accordingly
the beginnings of speeches, heads and paragraphs
should be delivered with less force than the subsequent parts. A distinction is also to be observed




FORCE.                  3t61
between these parts. For the commencement of a
speech should be delivered, as nearly as the size of
the audience will allow, with no more loudness of
voice than that which belongs to ordinary conversation. The speaker should always aim to make the
oonversational tones his point of departure. A
greater degree of force is allowable in commencing
the general heads; but it should be sensibly less
than that which is given to the delivery of what follows under these heads. And still greater force
may be giveu to the commencement of subordinate
divisions and paragraphs, provided the speaker be
able to increase it yet further as the sentiment rises.
These variations are absolutely essential to the adequate expression of the distinctions and transitions
of thought. If they be neglected, the audience will
not be duly informed when one thought is ended
and another commenced, nor of the relations of the
different thoughts to each other.
~ 230. The second general rule is that in the expression of
sentiment, force varies as pitch and inflection.
Those sentiments which require the higher ranges
of pitch, and the greater inflections, require also for
their adequate expression, the greater degrees of
force or loudness of sound. Thus strong emotions
of anger, grief, scorn, joy, hope, fear, and the like,
commonly express themselves in loud sounds. Sometimes, however, the force of the feeling may choke
the voice; at other times, the most intense passion,
under the control of a strong will, expresses itself in
low tones, and with the utmost deliberation and




362        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
quietness. On the other hand, those sentiments
which require the lower ranges of pitch, and less
extended inflections, commonly require also less
stress of voice. Thus calm or subdued emotions of
grief, sorrow, pity, love, hope, joy, and the like, express themselves in soft or subdued tones; whilst
animated expressions of certainty, positiveness and
determination, range through louder sounds.
The relation of force to the expression of sentiment, is touched by Dr. Rush as follows.
"Secrecy muffles the voice against discovery;
and doubt, whilst it leans towards a positive declaration, cunningly prepares the subterfuge of an undertone, that the impression of its possible error
may be least exciting and durable. Certainty, on
the other hand2 in the full desire to be heard distinctly, assumes all the impressiveness of strength.
Anger, in like manner, uses force of voice, because
its charges and denials are made with a wide appeal,
and in the sincerity of passion; and.... the same
mode is employed in uttering those feelings which
are blended with anger, such as hate, ferocity and
revenge. All those sentiments which are unbecoming or disgraceful, smother the voice to its softer
degrees, in the desire to conceal even the voluntary
utterance of them. Joy is loud in calling for conmpanionship, through the overflowing charity of its
satisfaction. Bodily pain, fear and terror are also
strong in their expression; with the double intention of summoning relief, and repelling the offending
cause, when it is a sentient being. For the sharp.,
ness and vehemence of the full-strained cry, arc universally painful or appalling to the animal ear."




FORCE.                   363
~ 231. The different kinds of stress of voice express differ.
ent classes of sentiments and emotions.
There are several varieties of force or stress of
voice, which are distinguishable from each other by
their falling respectively upon different parts of the
sound, and which are expressive of different varieties of sentiments and emotions,
1. The radical stress falls on the beginning of the
sound, and is appropriate to the expression of lively
and startling sentiments, and strong passions.
This mode of stress consists in an abrupt or explosive utterance of the voice on the initial part of
the sound, the latter part being allowed gradually
to die away. It is exemplified in the pronunciation
of the words, go away! as expressive of strong aversion; in which the sounds of o in go, and ay in way,
commence with explosive force, and decline in loudness until they cease. It is much used in the expression of unrestrained and lively passions and
emotions, in startling thoughts, and in animated,
earnest and stirring sentiments; as, also, in confident and earnest argumentative discourse. Too
much of it indicates too much self-confidence.  The
want of it denotes the absence of sharp and vigorous thought.  It has been called "the salt and. relish
of oral communication, inasmuch as it preserves its
pungency, or penetrating effect." It is properly
heard in almost every word of the following example.
He woke to hear his sentry shriek,
To arms! they come! the Greek! the Greek I




364          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
He woke to die midst flame and smoke,
And shout and groan and sabre stroke,
And death shots falling thick and fast
As lightnings from the mountain cloud;
And heard, with voice as thunder loud,
Bozzaris cheer his band:
"Strike, till the last armed foe expires;'Strike, for your altars and your fires;
"God, and your native land."
2. The median stress swells out on the middle of Ite
sound, and is appropriate to the expression of grave,
solemn, sad and elevated sentiments; also, of sublimity,
admiration, authority, and the like.
This mode of stress, as defined above, gives a
swell to the middle of the soand, as in the common
pronunciation of the word, grave. It has nothing in
it of an.abrupt or explosive character. It is adapted to the expression of grave, elevated, sublime, sad
and solemn sentiments; of admiration, pure and
serene joy, and of unquestioned authority and
power. It is peculiarly expressive in the melody of
such poetry as is not characterized by intense passion; and, also, in the reading of the less impassioned portions of Scripture. The following are examples.
Hail, holy light! Offspring of Heaven first-born,
Or of the eternal, co-eternal beam,
May I express thee unblamed? since God is light;
And never but in unapproached light
Dwelt from eternity; dwelt then in thee,
Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will




FORCE.                     365
lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
3. Te vanishing stress falls on the last part of the
sound, and is expressive,for the most part, of violent
and evil passions.
This Amode of stress makes the sound loudest at or
near its close, as in the expression, I won't, uttered
in passion. It is mostly expressive of the evil passions, or those which are evil by excess, such as impatience, contempt, scorn, obstinacy, malignity, anger, wrath, malice, and all uncharitableness. It is
not, however, limited to these, but is often required
by the utmost violence of other passions. The following is an example.
Now bind my brows with iron; and approach
The raggedest hour that time and spite dare bring,
To frown upon she enraged Northumberland.
Let heaven kiss earth; now let not nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined; let order die;
And let this world no longer be a stage
To feed contention in a lingering act;
But let one spirit of the first-born Cain,
Reign in all bosoms; that, each heart being set
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end,
And darkness be the burier of the dead.
4. Thorough stress falls upon the whole sound, and
is expressive of deep and lofty, and, for the most part,
of joyful emotions.
In this mode of stress, the whole sound is filled
out, so to speak, and sustained, as in the word, friend,
pronounced with deep emotion. It is appropriate
to the expression of great joy, rapture, triumph, exultation, patriotism, and the like.  It may be emr




366         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
ployed also with good effect in the expression of
lofty indignation and disdain.
These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty; thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then I
Unspeakable, who sitst above the heavens,
To us invisible, or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works; yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.
V 232. The most common faults, in respect of force, are too
much and too little, and the indiscriminate use of it.
All of these faults are very common, and any one
of them is fatal to genuine power in delivery.
1. In general, the speaking should be only loud enough
to be distinctly and easily heard.
Wheniever the speaker goes beyond this, he should
be very sare that increased force is necessary to the
adequate expression of the sentiment.  For speaking too loud throughout the body of the discourse,
is often due to'"  plentiful lack" of ideas.  Speakers who are deficient in this respect, unconsciously
try to compensate for their want by an increase of
noise, mere "sound and fury, signifying nothing."
But rant is a poor substitute for thought. It is,
moreover, a vulgar fault, most common with speakers who are destitute of culture and refinement.
2. Speaking which is not loud enough, fails in expression, and distresses the audience.
This fault is, of course, frequently due to feebleness of voice, the remedy for which must be sought
in vocal culture (~ 179). But this is not the only




FORCE.                  367
cause; for it is not at all uncommon in men who
have voice enough, but who seem to think it is illbred to speak loud, even where the sentiment most
requires it. Such " playing proper " is utterly inconsistent with true oratory. For when the speaking is
not loud enough to be distinctly and easily heard
by the whole audience, much of what is said is lost
to a portion of them, and all are distressed by their
oral efforts, so that they soon cease to give their attention. The feebleness of sound also expresses
feebleness of thought. Consequently, when the
thought is good in itself, it is inadequately expressed,
and fails of its proper effect, whilst those sentiments
which require peculiar energy in the delivery, are
simply caricatured.
3. The indiscriminate employment f force is the opposite Qf true expression.
Not unfrequently stress of voice is inappropriately
distributed. The speaker seems to feel that some
parts of his discourse ought to be delivered in loud,
and others in soft tones; but be fails to increase
and diminish the sound in the proper places. Sentiments which require the greatest, he delivers with
the least f6rce; and words which require only to be
heard and understood, he bellows out, as if he were
crying, Fire! Fire!  The delivery thus becomes the
opposite of true expression. Frequently also this indiscriminate use of force takes place on corresponding parts of the same sentence; which results in a
painful monotony of increasing and diminishing
sounds.




CHAPTER XL
EMPHASIS.
~ 233. Emphasis is the giving of relative vocal prominence to
particular words or phrases for purposes of expression.
THE word is pure Greek, derived from the verb
emphaino, to show, which, in its rhetorical applications, signifies to express in a vivid, or forcible manner. Hence expression is the characteristic function of emphasis, by which in part it is distinguished  from  accent, which, exceptional cases
(~ 130-2) apart, has little to do with expression.
It is further distinguished from accent in that it
gives prominence to whole words and phrases,
whilst accent affects only particular syllables. Yet
it is to be borne in mind that emphasis itself falls
chiefly, though not exclusively, on the accented syllables, except in the case of monosyllabic words,
which commonly take no accent (~ 133).
All emphasis is relative; that is to say, the degree
of prominence which is to be given to words or
phrases, is to be determined by the connection in
which they stand, and by the occasion or circumstances of the delivery. Where the whole passage
is of a more or less emphatic character, the em




EMPHASIS.               369
phatic words require greater or less prominence.
The highly wrought emphasis of impassioned oratory, would be wholly out of place in a parlor reading of the same speech; and in large audiences, a
much stronger emphasis is in place, than in small.
Propriety requires this relative character of emphasis to be carefully observed.
~ 234. The principal elements of emphasis are force and
quality of voice, time, pitch and inflection.
Any two or more, and, indeed, all of these elements
may be combined in the emphasis of a single word;
in fact, the requisite prominence and significance can
seldom be given to an emphatic word by any one of
them. When used in combination, however, it will
commonly be found that some one of them predominates over the others, and gives a distinctive character to the emphasis. It is of great importance to
recognize and master all these elements of this
mode of expression, because many speakers seem to
think that there is no other way of emphasizing a
word than by increased stress of voice. They simply pronounce every emphatic word louder than the
others, with little or no other variation; the result
of which is a tame and heavy thump, thump, in
their delivery, which soon ceases to have any of the
effect of emphasis, or expression, and becomes insufferably monotonous and wearisome to the audience




370        THE ELEMENTS Or, POWER.
~ 235. The emphasis of stress gives prominence to the wore
or phrase by increasing the loudness of the sound.
This is the most obvious and easy way of empha.
sizing, and therefore the most common, even whe e
it is altogether inappropriate. Hence it is necessary
to guard against the too frequent use of it. The
increase of force, in this kind of emphasis, may be
any one of the various modes of radical, median,
vanishing, or thorough stress; the different sentiments appropriate to each of which have been given
in ~ 231. When judiciously employed, especially
with due reference to these several modes, this form
of emphasis is very significant and expressive.
~ 236. -The emphasis of quality distinguishes the word or
phrase by'some peculiar quality of voice.
The qualities of voice, their importance in expression, and the means of acquiring the comnmand of them, have been treated of in ~~ 167-174.
There are several of these qualities, however, which
are specially available for expression by emphasis,
and which admit of being used separately, or in
combination with each other; such as the following.
1. The guttural emphasis is mostly expressive of the
evil passions, repressed for the moment by a strong ~ffort
of will.
This quality of voice depends essentially upon
pitch, inasmuch as it is produced by the fewest
vibrations of the vocal chords, and the resonance




EMPHASIS.                   371
takes place deep in the guttur or windpipe, whilst
this organ is contracted so as to interrupt the even
flow of the sound, and render it impure. It is exemplified in the angry growl or snarl of a dog. It
is expressive of pent-up or smothered rage, contempt, loathing, and similar feelings; but, especially,
of a deep, vindictive determination to wreak the
malignant feeling upon its object at some future
time, since the present does not afford the desired
opportunity.  "The deep, laboring, guttural enunciation seems to suggest a smothered, pent-up, but
heaving emotion, just ready to burst out, without
restraint or control;" as in the following example.
Desdemona. Alas! what ignorant sin have I committed?
Othello.    Was this fair paper, this most goodly book,
Made to write whore upon? What committed?
Committed! 0 thou public commoner!
I should make very forges of thy cheeks,
That would to cinders burn up modesty,
Did I but speak thy deeds. Whiat committed!
Heaven stops the nose at it, and the moon winks.
The bawdy wind that kisses all it meets,.Is hushed within the hollow mine of earth,
And will not hear it. What committed!
Impudent strumpet I
2. The aspirated emphasis is expressive offear, terror, horror, amazement, and of intense earnestness.
This quality of voice is produced by the violent
expulsion of a greater quantity of breath than can be
vocalized, seeming to overpower and confuse the
delicate  vocalizing  organs.  Hence it requires a
strong action of the organs which expel the breath.
The whisper, without emphasis, is expressive of




372           THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
secrecy or concealment; but the emphatic use oJ
the aspirated quality of voice, expresses great violence of the passions. It is also significant of
intense earnestness, from the fact that it intensifies
the action of the articulating organs, in order to
compensate for the want of the oral qualities of
pure tone. This form of emphasis is frequent in
the following example.
Have mercy, Jesu I-Soft, I did but dream.
0 coward conscience, how dost thou afflict ae!
The lights burn blue-It is now dead midnight.
Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling.flesh....
My corscience hath a thousand several tongues;
And every tongue brings in a several tale;
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree,
AMurder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all, Guilty! guilty!....
Methought the souls of all that I had murdered,
Came to my tent; and every one did threat
To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard.
3. The emphasis of tremor expresses pity, grief, sorrow, desire, hope,joy, and kindred emotions.
This quality is produced by alternately, in rapid
succession, withholding and expelling the sound. It
is easily acquired, and sometimes becomes habitual,
so that almost every  emphasis is given  with  a
tremor; which is a great fault, being significant of a
want of force, and command over the organs.  It is
often heard in prayer. When properly introduced,
which should be sparingly, this mode of emphasis
is very expressive. It may be employed with good
effect on the italicized words in the following passage.




EMPHASIS.                   373
iarewell, a long farewell to all my greatness.
his is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost:
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
HIis greatness is a ripening, nips his root;
And then hefalls as I do.
~ 237. The temporal emphasis distinguishes the word or
phrase either by prolonging the sound, or by a pause be.
fore or after it.
There are thus two modes of this emphasis, the
former of which may be characterized as the telmporal emphasis proper, and the latter, as the emphatic
pause. These require to be treated separately, for
this reason among others, that the latter is appropriate to a much wider class of sentiments than the
former.
1. The temporal emphasis proper, dwells on the
sound, and is appropriate to those sentiments which require slow or moderate time (~~ 215-217).
This mode of emphasis is, as it were, the ground
or condition of several others; for the emphasis of
stress, quality and inflection, all require an increase
of time in order to their full effect. This increase
falls, of course, on those elements of the sound
which are capable of indefinite prolongation; that
is, upon the tonics and subtonics, except, in this latter class, the subnasals (~ lll). The fullest form of
this mode of emphasis, is appropriate to the eipression of elevated, sublime, solemn and sorrowful
sentiments; in a less full form, to such as are of a




374           THE ELEMiENTS OF POWER.
grave, serious and moderate character. It is a very
common and a very damaging fault, to load the
delivery with this mode of emphasis, which renders
it drawling and heavy, and awakens disgust in the
audience. The increase of time on some of the
emphatic words of the following sonnet, will readily be perceived.
]When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide;
And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodg'd in me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chideDoth God expect day-labor, light denied?
I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work, or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
2. The emphatic pause is appropriate to almost all
kinds of sentiments, and may be introduced either before or after the emphatic word or phrase.
This form of emphasis differs from the rhetorical
pause (~ 227), inasmuch as that is expressive of overwhelming emotion, and has reference to the sentiment of the whole passage; whilst this is intended
to give effect to some particular word or phrase, and
is appropriate to all kinds and degrees of feeling.
It frequently occurs where both syntax and prosody
would seem to forbid it. In fact, it overrules the
connections of syntax (and equally the rules ol
prosody) to such a degree that it is often required




EMPHASIS.                     375
between words in the closest regimen; as between
the verb and its subject and object, the noun and its
adjective, the adverb and that which it qualifies.
In the following examples, the emphatic pause is
marked with a dash.
Ye know too well
The story of our thraldom; we are —slaves.
The bright sun rises to his course, and lightsA race of slaves; he sets, and his last beam
Falls-on a slave.
He said, then full before their sight
Produced the beast, and lo  1 — twas white.
Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth; but I have called you —— friends;. for all
things that I have heard of my. father, I have made known unto
you.
" Traitor!" —I go-but I return. This trialHere I devote —your senate....
Look to your hearths, my lords;
For there henceforth shall sit, for household gods,
Shapes —hot from Tartarus.
5 238. The emphasis of pitch distinguishes the word or
phrase either by a discrete or a concrete change of pitch.
Here again are two very different modes of em..
phasis, yet both depending upon changes of pitch.
These are properly characterized by Prof. Day, according as the change of pitch is either a skip or a
slide (~ 189), as discrete and concrete emphasis. In
both, it is to be observed, only the greater changes
can be made available for effective emphasis; and
the strength of the emphasis varies as these changes




376          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
are greater or less; that is, the fifth is stronger than
the third, and the octave than the fifth.
1. TAe discrete emphasis, according as the skip is
upwards or downwards, is appropriate to the sentiments
which require a high, or a low pitch.
The emphasis of the upward skip is mostly appropriate to  light, gay, ironical and  scornful sentiments; also, to doubt, uncertainty, hesitation and
surprise; and often it is expressive of violent passion, and intense anguish. That of the. downward
skip is more appropriate to grave, solemn and indignant sentiments; also, to fixedness of purpose, or
settled  determination; and  sometimes to  violent,
but restrained passion. Both of these modes, however, not unfrequently occur in the same sentence,
especially where one branch is opposed to, or contrasted with the other. In the following example,
some of the upward skips are marked in italics, the
downward, in small capitals; but their different
degrees are not marked.
Brutus. If there be any in this assembly-any dear friend of
Cesar's — to him I say, that Brutus' love to Cesar was no less than
HIs. If then'that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Cesar,
THIS ia'my answer: Not that I loved Cesar less, but that I loved
Rome MORE. Had you rather Cesar were living, and die aD
slaves; or that Cesar were dead, and live all FREEMEN? As Cesai
loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as
he was valiant, I honor him; but as he was ambitious, I SLEW HIM
There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor,
and DEATH for his AMBITION. Who is here so base that would be
a bondman? If any, SPEAx; for HIM have I OFFENDED. Who is
here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, sP'EAK; for him
have I offended. Who is here so vile that would not love his




EMPHASS.                      377
country? If any,  snEx; for him have I offended. I pause for a
reply...
Citizen. None, Brutus, none.
Brutus. Then NONE have I offended. I have done no more to
Cesar than you shall do to Brutus.... With this I depart; that
as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same
dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my
death.
2. The concrete emphasis is expressive qf various
sentiments, as determined in ~~ 201-211.
The various powers of expression which belong
to the upward and downward inflections, have been
sufficiently explained in the sections referred to
above; in which, we have seen also that the principal of these inflections always fall on the emphatic
words. Here then a single example must suffice;
as before, the upward slides being marked in italics,
and the downward, in small capitals.
Brutus. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
Are much condemned to have an ITCHING PALM,
To sell and mart your offices for GOLD
To undeservers.
Cassius.                Ian itching palm?
You know that you are Brutus that speak this,
Or, by the GODS, this speech were else you LBST.
Brutus. The name of Cassius honors this corruption,
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.
Cassius. Chastisement?
Brutus. Remember MAmCH, the IDES of MARCH remember.
Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake?
What villain touched his body, that did stab,
And not for JUSTICE?  What! shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world,
But for supporting robbers-shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honors
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?




378          THE ELEMENTS OF POWERI
I had rather be a DOG, and BAY THE MOON,
Than such a Roman...
Cassius. Urge me no more; I shall forget myself.
Have mind upon your health; tempt me no further.
Brutus. AWAY! slight man!
Gassius. Is't POSSIBLE?
Brutus.               Hear me, for I WILL speak.
Must I give way and room to your rash choler?
Shall I be frightened when a madman stares?
Cassius. 0 ye gods! ye gods! must I endure all this?
Brutus. All this? Ay, MORE. Fret till your proud heart BREWa.
Go show your SLAVES how choleric you are,
And make your BONDMEN tremble. Must I budge?
Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humor? By the GODS,
You shall digest the venom of your spleen,
Though it do split you.
~ 239. The distribution of the emphasis is governed by the
meaning to be expressed, whether emotion or thought.
The right distribution of the emphasis is essential,
both to render the thought intelligible, and to express the emotion or passion which the thought is
intended or adapted to excite. Emphasis, in fact,
is a substantive element of language itself, since by
varying it the meaning of any combination of words
may be wholly changed; whilst a wrong emphasis,
not only fails of expression, but also caricatures or
travesties the sense. The following, with a strong
emphasis on the word, him, is an example of such
travesty.
And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass; so they saddled
him.
Here the emphasis places the saddle upon the
prophet, instead of upon the ass.




E1PHASIS.                  379
Again: let the following question be repeated
often enough to place the emphasis on every word
successively, and in each case, it expresses a different sense.
Do you ride to town to-day?
Do you ride to town to-day?
Do you ride to town to-day?
Do you ride to town to-day?
Do you ride to town to-day?
The regimen of the emphasis varies somewhat
according as it is expressive of emotion, or of the
relations of thought, but only the most general rules
are available here; and these rules constantly affect
and modify each other. The only way a speaker
can be sure of his emphasis, is the perfect mastery
of the thought in its grammatical and rhetorical relations, and by the feeling of the emotions to be expressed.
~ 240. The emphasis of emotion falls on the word or phrase
which is the most significant of emotion.
Under this rule, interjections, exclamations, abrupt
and excited interrogations, and the like, require the
emphasis. But the rule implies, of course, a careful
study of the words to determine which of them are
the most significant of emotion or passion..Ring Richard.       Is thy name Tyrrel?
Tyrrel. James Tyrrel, and your most obedient subject.
K. B. Art thou indeed?
Tyr.         Prove me, my gracious lord.
K R. Dar'st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?
Tyr.  Please you, but I had rather kill two enemies.




380          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
Ki R. Why, then, thou hast it-two deep enemies;
Foes to my rest, and my sweet sleep's disturbers,
Are they that I would have thee deal upon.
1. The signiflcant words are Qften a whole clause;
but every word in such a clause is not commonly to be
emphasized.
Failure to observe this fact often occasions difficulty and mistakes in adjusting the emphasis.
"Boswell tells us that Garrick and Johnson once
disputed about the emphasis in the Ninth  Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor; the one maintaining that it should fall
upon shalt, the other, upon not. Yet both of these
great men were clearly wrong in this case; for the
true emphasis is certainly upon the whole clause,
bear false witness against thy neighbor."
Through the whole line of their march, they did not see one man,
not one woman, not one child, not one four-footed beast, of any de.
scription whatever.
2. When an emphatic word or phrase is repeated
for the purpose of giving it increased signiJicance, it
takes a repeated emphasis; otherwise, not.
This is an important rule, often violated with damaging effect. The following is an example of the
former case.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood
under her wings, and ye would not!
Again:
Leaves have their time to fall,
And flowers, to wither at the north wind s breath,




EMPHASIS.                    381
And stars, to set; but allThou hast all seasons for thine own, 0 death.
The following is an example of the latter case:
Jesus therefore.... said unto them, Whom seek ye? They an
swered him, Jesus of Nazareth.... Then asked he them againj
Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
3. Great care is required to guard against too fre.
quent emphasis.
When there are many words in a passage strongly
significant of emotion or passion, a temptation arises
to load the delivery with emphasis. In such cases,
it must be borne in mind that too frequent emphasis destroys its whole effect, because emphasis consists essentially in distinguishing the most significant words and phrases from the others with which
they stand immediately connected. This temptation is sure to be felt in such passionate words as
the following.
No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well:
Thou cams't on earth to make my earth a hell.
A grievous burden was thy birth to me;
Techy and wayward was thy infancy;
Thy school days, frightful, desperate, wild andfurious;
Thy prime of manhood, daring, bold and venturous;Thy age, confirmed proud, subtle, sly and bloody,
More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred.
~ 241. The emphasis of thought falls on the words and
phrases that are most significant, either in themselves or
front some peculiar relation.
The significance of words and phrases depends
on an almost infinite number and variety of circumstances; so that those which are most significant, in




382          THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
any particular case, can be determined only by care
ful study of the passage. The following general
principles, however, are to be observed.
1. Words are to be emphasized which suggest more
than they express.
This rule includes the principal words in passages
of irony; as in Elijah's mockery of the prophets of
Baal, already referred to.
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said,
Cry aloud, for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or
he is in ajourney, or, peradventure, he sleepelh, and must be
awaked.
An admirable example of words that suggest
more than they express, and thereby become emphatic, is found in the word, committed, which is so
often repeated in Othello's charges against Desdemona, in ~ 236-1. The following is another.
Casca.  Indeed, they say, the senators to-morrow
Mean to establish Cesar as a king;
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land,
In every place, save here in Italy.
Cassius. Ikknow where I will wear this dagger then;
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
2. Words in contrast or antithesis require to be emphasized.
These cases are very numerous and complicated,
requiring close attention to determine them.
Man never is, but always to be blest.
He raised a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.
The young are slaves to novelty; the old, to custom; the middlce
aged, to both; the dead only, to neither. The pleasures of the ira.




EMPHASIS.                      3883
agination are not so gross as those of sense, nor soD refined as those of
the understanding.
3. VWords in close grammatical regimen, with important clauses intervening, require to be emphasized.
This rule is one of considerable importance, in
order to bring out, or make evident the true sense,
or grammatical structure of sentences.
Go, preach to the coward, thou death-telling seer;
Or, if gory Culloden so dreadful appear,
Draw, dotard, around thy old wavering sight,
2his mantle, to cover the phantoms of fright.
4. Articles, connecting particles, auxiliaries, and the
like, take the emphasis only when they have some s2p
cial significance.
He made not only a speech, but the speech of the occasioj,
I did not say man or woman, but man and woman.
Not this man, but that man.
He was going not to, butfrom his home.




CIHAPTER XIn
GESTURE.
~ 242. Gesture includes all significant motions and actions of
the human body.
UNDER this comprehensive definition, we have all
significant motis and actions and actions of the trunk itself,
and of all its members-the head and countenance,
the hands and arms, and the feet. Motions which
have no relation to significance, are not properly
gestures; but there are very few if any motions,
which a speaker can make, which are not significant
of something, or which do not aid or hinder him in
the expression of his sentiments. In fact, it would
be difficult to overestimate the expressive power
of which gesture is capable; and, consequently, the
folly of those who despise or neglect this final and
crowning element of power in delivery, cannot be
and confirm this statement.




GESTURE.                385
1. The expressiveness of figurative language depends
upon its symbolical character.'Just in the degree in which articulate language is
enabled to draw upon the expressive power of symbols, that is, in the degree in which it becomes figurative or symbolical, does it become picturesque,
vivid and expressive.'This is a well-known principle
of style. Hence the wonderful power of our Lord's
parables, of the imagery employed by the Hebrew
prophets, and of all appropriate figurative representations. This power is due to the fact that articulate language is thus capable of laying hold upon,
and of appropriating to itself, some small portion of
the expressive power of the language of symbols.
2. Religious ideas express themselves in symbols.
All the great historical religions of mankind-that
of the ancient Egyptians, Brachmanism, Buddism,
fire-worship, the paganism of the Greeks and Romans,
Druidism, the worship of Odin and Thor, Judaism,
Mohammedism and Christianity, all alike, have striven to set forth the profoundest mysteries of their
faith and life, by means of symbolical representations. None of them have ever been satisfied with
mere words. The only rational account which can
be given of this remarkable fact, is that the language
of words is universally felt to be inadequate to the
expression of those vast and profound ideas, and of
those impassioned sentiments, which belong to the
religious life of man.
3. All profound ideas, and all impassioned sentiments,
require symbolical expression.




386       THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
This is the fundamental principle from which originate all the symbols of art, which embody the
ideas and sentiments of the beautiful in the minds of
their authors, and of the people among whom they
are produced. But this principle is not limited to
religion and art. All profound ideas, and all impassioned sentiments, but most of all, those which
prevail extensively, and generally affect whole communities, can never rest satisfied until they find expression in symbolical representation. This might
be shown by innumerable examples, such as the
following.
(1.) The life and spirit of the ancient Romans was'their unrivalled genius for war and conquest. The
ideas which universally prevailed among these iron
republicans, were that Rome was invincible; that but
one result was ever to be anticipated in all wars in
which she might become involved; that in these
conflicts, other nations must expect to be conquered.
In order to express these ideas in the most striking
and vivid manner possible, it was their custom to
give audience to foreign ambassadors in the temple
of Victory.
(2.) Again: in order to express these same ideas,
in the still stronger form, that other nations were to
the Romans as brute beasts, m'ade to be subjugated,
they sometimes erected upon the field of victory aii
immense wooden frame, in the form of a yoke for
beasts of burden, under which they marched the
remains of the conquered army, and then dismissed
them to their homes. This was called passing
under the yoke. What words, what bulletins of ex



GESTURE.                  387
ultation, could have expressed these ideas with the
life and power of this tremendous symbol.
~ 244. Gesture is a principal element of the symbolical language of nature, and of the passions, which is universally
understood.
1. This language is wonderfully copious and signgicant.
The immense copiousness and wonderful signifi(cance of this language of nature and of the passions,
has been already alluded to in the treatment of
feeling as one of the sources of power in delivery;
and this must have become still more evident from
the preceding discussion of the several elements of
this language, consisting of all the variations of
quality and stress of voice, articulation, pitch, inflection, time, pause and emphasis.
2. Gesture is a principal element of this symbolical
language, and more expressive titan words.
Strong passion, or profound emotion, is never satisfied with any expression of itself that is possible in
mere words; it feels itself to be still pent up, until it
finds an outlet by embodying itself in some appropriate act or motion of the body. Nay, even slight
and transient feelings require action, in order to their
full and adequate expression. Not only does the
tempest raise up the great ocean waves; the zephyr
also ripples the smooth surface of the mountain
lake. Hence nature has provided that certain actions or motions shall correspond to certain feelings;
and that these feelings shall instinctively prompt to




388        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
those actions. Such actions or motions are, in a
peculiar sense, the language of nature for the ex.
pression of such feelings. Here we have the whole
theory of gesture, and the explanation of its wonderful power of expression. Hence it is that anger
frowns, fear turns pale, shame blushes, pleasure
smile%, love sparkles in the eyes, humility bows the
head, and despair grins, gnashes the teeth, and tears
the hair. No words can equal the expressive power
of such symbolical acts-actions, here as everywhere, speak louder than words. To the same effect,
Quintilian teaches us that "gesture is commonly
more expressive than the voice. For not only the
hand, but even a nod is expressive of our sentiments.
A common salute, before the person speaks a single
word, gives us an intimation of his disposition; and
we discern by the face and the walk the workings
of the mind. Nay, even the brutes, devoid of speech,
express anger, pleasure and love, in their eyes, and
by certain movements of their bodies.... Painting
itself, though motionless as well as silent, sometimes
affects us more powerfully than words."
3. This language is universally understood.
Articulate speech has very much in it that is
parely conventional. Some would even persuade us
that it is wholly such; but this surely cannot be admitted. Yet speech requires to be learned before it
can be understood; and our knowledge of the sense
in which others use the words we hear, is never perfect. It is even maintained, and not with mere
show of argument, that we never understand one
another precisely in the sense in which we speak,




GESTURE.                 389
But in this language of nature, as we have seen
(~ 31), especially in this element of it which consists of gestures, there is something which no art
can, or ought ever to undertake to teach, apart from
the feelings by which it is prompted and inspired;
and all that art can do is to aid nature, when these
feelings are in full activity, to express them with
greater simplicity, fullness, freedom and power,
than were otherwise possible. Here therefore nothing requires to be learned before it can be understood. Every symbol has its own natural significance, which all understand instinctively at the same
moment. Not a single person in the largest audience, ever fails to understand the natural significance, or to feel the force of appropriate gesture.
Who ever misunderstood a blush, or a frown, or the
clenched fist, or the eyes and hands raised towards
heaven?  And when a whole audience is thus affected in the same way, at one and the same moment, the effect is wonderfully intensified by all the
mysterious workings of their sympathy with the
speaker, and with each other (~~ 55-58).
~ 245. By gesture the orator is enabled to express his sentiments
to the eyes at the same time that by his words he expresses
them to the ear.
The eye and the ear, beyond comparison, are the
noblest of all the senses; upon which, therefore, all
the arts of expression depend. No attempt has ever
been made to found such an art upon any of the
senses of feeling, taste, or smell. But all these arts,




390        TEE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
except that of oratory, address themselves exclusively to one, or the other, of these two art-senses;
poetry and music, exclusively to the ear; painting,
sculpture, architecture, landscape gardening, dancing, and the art of ornamentation, to the eye alone.
Hence all the effects which any of these arts can
produce, must be wrought through a single sense.
But oratory —with which the dramatic, or more
properly the histrionic art is so closely identified,
that for elocutionary purposes they can hardly be
distinguished from each other-oratory alone addresses itself equally, and at the same moment, both
to the ear and the eye. Consequently its power of
expression is incomparably greater than that of any
other art. Hence in the words of an able, but anonymous author, "there is no earthly object capable of
making such various, and such forcible impressions
upon the human mind, as a consummate speaker."
For as the concurrent testimony of two witnesses
has not merely double, but many times greater force
than that of one, so when a sentiment is addressed
to both of these senses at the same time, it produces
immeasurably greater effects upon the soul, than
when it depends upon either of them alone.
~ 246. The great significance of gesture is exemplified in the
art of pantomime, and in the language of deaf mutes.
We see from the preceding discussion, not only
how much gesture aids in the expression of sentiment, but also that it has a significance of its own,
which is entirely independent of words. So great




GESTURE.                391
is its power of expression that it can be made to
stand in the place, and perform the functions of ar.
ticulate speech. The following are examples of this.
1. The art of pantomime is capable of exciting a
powerful interest.
In this species of dramatic entertainment, the
whole story and action of the drama is represented
in dumb show, that is, by gesture alone. These
representations excited among the ancient Romans
a deep and passionate interest; such, indeed, that
they have carefully handed down to us the names
of their most accomplished and celebrated performers; and such that serious riots sometimes occurred among the people, from the violence of their
partisanship of rival actors. Now the bare fact
that the spectators could be kept together for hours
at a time, whilst not a word was spoken-much
more, that these exhibitions were so popular, and
excited such a deep interest, is abundant evidence
that the art of expressing thought and sentiment by
gesture alone, had been carried to a very high degree of perfection; and that the performers were
able, in this way, to tell the whole story, and to
represent the whole action of their dramas, in a
perfectly intelligible and very affecting manner.
2. Decf mutes are able to communicate by signs alone.
The great significance and power of expression of
which gesture is capable, cannot perhaps be better
illustrated than by the amazing facility and freedom
with which the deaf and dumb communicate their
ideas and sentiments. A very little familiarity with




392        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
their signs, will enable any one to understand and
to converse with them, on all ordinary topics and
occasions. One of the most entertaining and instructive companions the author ever had, was a
deaf and dumb youth, of high literary culture, and
the author of an original work on Greek and Roman mythology,* with whom he was formerly accustomed to ramble, for many hours at a time,
through the woods, and over the hills of the Schuylkill. The principal means of communication on
these occasions, was this natural language of dumb
signs. He well remembers also to have heard, or
rather seen, the whole story of the monkey that
snatched an infant from the arms of its mother, and ran
with it up to the mast-head of a ship, together with
the anguish of the mother, and the stratagem by
which she regained possession of her child unhurt,
told by a mute little girl twelve or thirteen years old,
not only in a perfectly intelligible, but even in an extremely affecting manner. In fact, a better school
of gesture for public speakers, could not possibly be
found, than an asylum for deaf mutes, and familiar
intercourse with its inmates.
~ 247. (Gesture is expressive of passion and emotion rather
than of thought.
This is a general principle, and one of great importance in determining the character, place and frequency of the gestures which are required in public
speaking. It teaches us to distinguish between the
* A Catechism of Mythology. By Wm. Darlington.




GESTURE.                393
orator, and the mimic or pantomime actor. For in
oratory, we ought not to gesticulate as if we were
limited to dumb signs; we must remember that we
have also words to express our thoughts; and,
thereby, guard ourselves against the temptation to
redundant and inappropriate gesture. The orator
should endeavor to express by his gestures his emotions rather than his thoughts or intellectual states.
With due discretion, indeed, he may employ gesture
for imitative purposes, and for the expression of his
thoughts. He may point to the sun, or to a mountain, or river, when speaking of any of these objects,
or he may touch his own forehead, or lay his finger
on his lips, to express meditation or silence; but he
should avoid the frequent use of such imitative gestures, and too great particularity in them; otherwise
he will assuredly enfeeble his delivery.
This principle, with the above, and still other
practical consequences, rests upon the following
reasons.
1. Emotion rather than thought is the immediate
cause of gesture.
Mere thought is naturally quiet and undemonstrative; it does not of itself prompt to action of any
kind; and the more profound the thought, that is,
the more a man becomes absorbed in purely intellectual operations, the more still and motionless
does the body become. The incongruity of delivering a demonstration in Euclid with abundant or
violent gesture, would be apparent to every one.
On the other- hand, passion, or emotion, is essen.




394       THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
tially active and demonstrative; it always prompts
to action; and the stronger it is, the more abundant
and striking does the gesture become. It is not the
mere thought or conception of a shameful, or of a
sorrowful object, but it is the feeling of shame, or of
sorrow, which causes the cheeks to blush, or the
eyes to overflow with tears. Hence, also, the equal
incongruity of the delivery of impassioned sentiments with little or no corresponding gesture.
2. Gesture corresponds to the nature of emotion,
rather than to that of thought.
There is ever a likeness to the cause in its effects;
hence there is a resemblance or correspondence between gesture, and the emotion from which it
springs. Such resemblance might be pointed out
in many particulars; but that one to which it seems
most necessary to direct attention here, is the indefiniteness of both gesture and emotion. For there
is a definiteness or precision in the meaning of words,
in which they correspond to the precision of thought,
and of which gesture is altogether incapable. The
dictionary will give us the definition of a word; but
it cannot give us the emotion which corresponds to
it, and which it is intended to express, in any particular connection. The emotions, especially in
their ever-varying degrees of strength, are essentially
incapable of such definition. They do not reflect
themselves in distinct outlines upon the intellect,
they are the acts of the sensibilities of the soul
They also overlap, involve, or imply each other, in 9
very different manner from the intellectual operations of the mind. The attempt to define precisely,




GESTURE.                  395
in character or degree, any particular emotion,
whilst we are under its influence, would paralyze it.
There is obviously a corresponding indefiniteness in
gesture, which renders it better adapted to the expression of emotion and passion, than it is to the
expression of thought.  Thus tears commonly express sorrow, but they do not tell us, as words would
do, whether that sorrow be for the death of a friend,
or for the commission of a sin; and the hand raised
to heaven expresses recognition of the being and
providence of God, but it does not tell us, whether
in reverence and submission, or in distrust and fear.
~ S 18. Too much gesture, though significant and appropriate,
enfeebles its power of expression; otherwise, too much
is better than. too little.
1. The speaker shoutd be continent of significant gesture.
When the gesture is highly significant and expressive, a very little of it will go a great way; and
too much of it enfeebles its expressive power, and
is to be carefully avoided. It has an effect similar
to that of too much emphasis (~~ 240-3). It
comes so frequently that it does not allow time sufficient for the audience to feel its force. From its
redundancy, it ceases to attract attention. A single
gesture in a paragraph, provided it be one of striking significance, will often produce a far greater
effect than a dozen, in themselves equally expressive. Continence of significant gesture, like continence of words, and of emphasis, is a great element oa power in delivery.




396        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
2. Too much of gesture, not specially signi'ficant, is
better than too little.
On the other hand, a speaker with little or no
skill in the adaptation of gesture to the expression
of particular emotions, need not be afraid of too
much action. In young speakers, especially during
the training period, it ought to be rather redundant
than deficient; for it is much easier to prune it
down than it is to call it forth, after the habit of
speaking with too little has been formed. And, besides, motion as such, even when it has no particular
significance, is expressive; for it shows that the
speaker is not without feeling of some sort. The
want of it makes the impression that he is impassive and unmoved; it is necessarily the want of animation or vivacity (~~ 82-3). He may do something, it is true, to neutralize this impression by
means of the vocal elements of the language of feeling; but it is impossible to compensate by these
for the want of gesture; and all the elements of this
language are so vitally connected with each other
that they are well-nigh inseparable. Hence it is
nearly impossible to speak with animation, whilst
every part of the body is motionless except thi
vocal organs; and nothing can be more incongruous
shan a motionless delivery of impassioned sentiments.
1 249. The normal position of the body in speaking should be
erect, facing the audience, the chest expanded, the head
evenly balanced, the arms and hands hanging naturally
at the sides, and the feet near together.




GESTURE.               397
This is the normal position of the body which is
best for speaking, and to which it should naturally
return after whatever deviations from it the gesture
may require. The erect position is necessary to
the full expansion of the chest; and this, to the free
play and full force and control of the diaphragm,
breathing muscles, lungs and voice.  The body
should not lean back, which seems to say to the
audience, I don't much care for you; its weight
should rest rather upon the front part of the feet
than upon the heels, just a little, perhaps, inclined
forwards; which expresses desire to gain the favorable attention of the audience. There should be no
leaning or lolling down upon anything for support,
as if the speaker were too feeble, or too lazy, to support himself; which also expresses disrespect for
the audience. The front of the body should not be
turned aside or averted from the audience, otherwise than temporarily, in some gesture which may
require such a movement. The head should not be
thrown back, which expresses pride or contempt;
neither should it be held on one side or the other,
which expresses conceited knowingness, or waggishness; nor yet should it be allowed to hang down on
the breast, which expresses sorrow, or distress, or
shame; —but it should stand evenly balanced upon
the shoulders, ready to be moved in any way according to the varying sentiments. The hands
should not be thrust into the pockets, nor under
the coat-tails, nor clasped behind the back, nor held
in front, with the fingers joined together at the extremities, nor with the fists doubled; but they




398        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
should hang open, though not expanded, at the
sides, and not in front of the body. The feet
should be kept near, but not too near together, so
as to avoid everything like straddling. In this position, which, however, may be varied from time to
time, the whole body, and all its members, will be
found ready and apt for whatever gestures or movements the expression of the sentiments may require.
~ 250. The countenance has the greatest power of expression;
it should correspond to the sentiments embodied in the
words.
1. The countenance speaks.
The expressive power of the human countenance
renders it capable of becoming one of the most important elements of power in delivery. It is such,
in fact, *that we can say, a speaking countenance,
almost as properly as, a speaking tongue. In the
words of Quintilian, "this is the dominant power
in expression. With this we supplicate; with this
we threaten; with this we soothe; with this we
mourn; with this we rejoice; with this we triumph;
with this we make our submissions: upon this the
audience hang; upon this they keep their eyes
fixed; this they examine and study, even before a
word is spoken; this it is which excites in them
favorable or unfavorable emotions; from this they
understand almost everything; often it becomes
more significant than any words."




GESTURE.               399
2. It should correspond to the sentiments expre~sed by
the words.
This general and obvious rule is better than any
attempts to describe the particular expressions, or
conformations of the features, which are appropriate
to all the passions and emotions, in all their different degrees, and innumerable modifications. This,
indeed, would not only be an endless task, but also
it would leave nothing to the teaching of nature, in
this department of her own language. The attempt
to govern the expression of the countenance by special and minute rules, telling us where to blush,
where to grow pale., where to frown, where to smile,
and where to weep-there can be no greater absurdity than this. The feelings themselves, nothing else,
can enable us to express them in the countenance;
and these, whenever they are in full and free activity at the moment, will express themselves.
This general rule, however, may serve to remind
the student, that the countenance ought to correspond to the sentiments of the words, as they are
spoken. For by these two modes of expression,
brought to bear upon the audience at the same moment, the power of the delivery is greatly increased.
It should put him on his guard against indiscriminate smiling and frowning. For not unfrequently
the strenuous effort of speaking, is allowed to contract the features in a permanent frown; and some
speakers, even in their most pathetic passages, continue to smile, showing their teeth on all occasions,
which is extremely unpleasant. The rule also should
call the attention to the incongruity of delivering




400        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
grave, solemn, sublime, sorrowful, or compassionate
sentiments, with a scornful, smiling, or indifferent
countenance; and to that of delivering playful, witty,
joyful, or animated passages, with a sober, sad, or
mournfu'l countenance. The rule, however, requires
to be qualified in the expression of what is called,
dry humor, or grotesque sentiments; in which, tilhe
utmost soberness of face will often, by its very incongruity, greatly intensify the effect.
~ 251. The eye is the most expressive of all the features; it
should be directed to the faces of the audience.
1. The eye governs the expression of the other features.
The expressive power of the human eye is so
great that it determines, in a manner, the expression
of the whole countenance. It is almost impossible
to disguise it. It is said that gamblers rely more
upon the study of` the eye, to discover the state of
their opponents' game, than upon any other means.
Even animals are susceptible of its power. The dog
watches the eyes of his master, and discovers from
them, before a word is spoken, whether he is to expect a caress, or apprehend chastisement. It is said
that the lion cannot attack a man, so long as the
man looks him steadily in the eyes. Joy and grief,
anger, pride, scorn, hatred, love, jealousy, pity-in a
word, all the passions and emotions of the human
heart, in all their degrees and interworkings with
each other, express themselves, with the utmost fullness and power, in the eyes. Through thlem  the




GESTURE.                 401
soul makes its most clear and vivid manifestations
of itself.
2. It should be kept upon the faces of the audience.
In order that the speaker may avail himself of this
great and mysterious power of expression, he must
not allow his eyes to become fixed upon his manuscript; nor to assume a vacant expression, under
the influence of the intellectual operations of invention, or remembering; nor to wander around the
walls of the audience room, or up to the ceiling, nor
to follow the motions of the hands, as if the speaker
were looking at them. He must look at the audience, and scan their faces individually, in order to
open a personal communication between himself
and every one of them, so far as this is possible.
He should not allow his eye to wander from the audience, except when. this is required by some gesture.
Thus he will be enabled to command their attention,
and awaken their sympathy; and his eye will naturally express and convey to them all the passions
and emotions of his own heart (~~ 51-2; 52-2).
~ 252. The gestures of the hands are capable of great expression; they are almost infinite in number and variety,
and should be adapted to the words.
1. The expression of the hands is inferior only to that
of the countenance.
Quintilian seems to regard the hands as nearly
equal in power of expression to the countenance
itself.  "Without the hands," he says, "delivery
would be maimed and feeble; for in copiousness of




402        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
expression, they almost equal words. Other parts
of the body aid the speaker; but, if I may so express myself, the hands themselves speak. For
with them do we not ask, promise, call, dismiss,
threaten, supplicate, detest, fear, interrogate, deny?
With them do we not express joy, sorrow, doubt,
confession, penitence, moderation, abundance, number, time? Do they not excite, beseech, forbid,
prove, admire, and express shame?  In pointing
out places and persons, do they not perform the
functions of adverbs and pronouns? And amidst
the so great diversity of tongues, in all races and
nations, is not this language common to all men?"
2. Tke number and variety qf manual gestures is
almost infinite; they should accompany and increase
the signrificance of the words.
"Suit the action to the word, and word to the
action." This is the direction of our great master,
which covers the ground of all gesture. But to do
this-hic labor, hoc opus. Here again almost everything must be left to nature, for the reasons given
in ~ 31. "Let your discretion  be  your tutor."
Yet there are certain points upon which more
special directions may be of service.
(1.) The hand should express variety or animation. For this purpose its normal position in gesturing should be open, the fingers slightly curved, and
touching each other, the thumb somewhat raised in
front of the fingers, pointing in the same direction
with them. When the thumb is too much raised, so as




GESTURE.                403
to point backwards in a different direction, or stands
at right angles to the fingers, it wants ease and grace 
and when it is expanded in the same plane with the
fingers, the hand seems to be dead, or without expression. In gesture, the fingers should move at their
joints, so as to partake of the motion of the arm.
When the gesture is made with the arm, whilst the
hand and fingers remain motionless, it is necessarily
without expression. The hand must show that the
speaker is all alive, even to his finger nails.
(2.) The whole arm should move with the hand.
The gesture should not be made from the shoulder, nor from the elbow, alone; but the wrist joint
and the fingers should partake of the motion.
(3.) The right hand should be most used. Gestures with the left hand alone, should be much
less frequent than with the right. When too frequent, they seem to indicate that the speaker is lefthanded. They are useful, however, to aid in giving
variety of motion, and to relieve the right hand,
that its motions may not be too frequently repeated.
(4.) The double gesture should not be too frequent. The raising of both hands, with the arms
expanded or curved, so as to correspond with each
other; should seldombe employed, except when largeness, wholeness, or universality, is to be expressed.
This gesture, when too frequent, or without special significance, expresses dullness or stupidity.
Whenever it is introduced, both hands should be
raised and lowered at the same moment; one




404         THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
should never be brought up to the other, nor let
fall while the other is held up.
(5.) The index finger demonstrates. This gesture is very effective when some person or thing
is to be pointed out, in sharp distinction from
everything else; also, in exhibiting some precise
point in argument. Otherwise it should be seldom
used. When too frequent, it becomes extremely
insignificant and pointless.
(6.) The clenched fist expresses the violent
irascible passions. The hand should never be
allowed to take this position, without special significance of the passions to which it is appropriate.
(7.) Gesture should begin and end with the words.
The sentiment in the words should so prompt the
gesture that it shall begin and end with them.
WThen it precedes the words, or continues after they
are finished, the effect is incongruous, and very displeasing..
(8.) Gesture should be more or less frequent and
rapid according to the sentiment. In general, a
due medium is to be observed between too great
rapidity and frequency of gesture, and too little.
(9.) After every gesture, the arm and hand should
return to their normal position. Having made a
gesture, the speaker should be satisfied with it, and
end it. The hand should not keep repeating the
same motion again and again, as if conscious of its
feebleness, and impotently striving to give it some
sort of expression.
(10.) Errors in gesture, from Quintilian. "Some
speakers raise the hand so high as to expose




GESTURE.               405
the whole side; others seem to want the power
to draw it out of the bosom; another thrusts it out
to its full length; another stretches it above his
head; another lays about him, so that it is unsafe
to stand within his reach; another describes a large
sweep with his left hand. Some manage the hands
with indolence or tremor; others seem to saw the
air; others use their hands as if they had claws,
pawing with them; others thrust out the arm
almost on a line with the ear, expanding the hand,
and inverting the thumb; and this they call, speaking in a commanding posture. Others again twirl
their fingers whenever they think they have said
something smart; another hems and coughs, as if
something stuck in his throat;.another blows and
wipes his nose without necessity."
~ 253. Gestures with the feet should be seldom used.
It is lawful sometimes to emphasize a sentiment
by stamping with the foot; but such gestures must
not be frequently repeated. Some speakers keep up
a regular stroke of the foot upon the floor, every
minute or two; but this is a mere mannerism, which
means nothing, and is offensive to good taste. It is
lawful also to change the position on the feet while
speaking, and even to walk backwards and forwards,
in front of the audience; but the speaker should not
keep doing this all the time; otherwise he may remind them of a wild beast in a cage. Occasionally
he may rise on tiptoe, and lean forwards; but this
must not be done regularly or frequently. In gen



406        THE ELEMENTS OF POWER.
eral, all gestures which are made with, or which de.
pend upon the feet, should be few and far between,
for the feet are the least honorable, and least expressive, of all the members of the body.
~254. All mannerisms are to be carefully avoided.
A mannerism  in gesture is a motion which is
either without significance, or which is frequently
repeated without reference to its significance. Such
mannerisms are the frequent stamping of the foot,
running the fingers through the hair, adjusting the
clothes, using the handkerchief without absolute
necessity, hemming, coughing, spitting, placing the
thumbs in the armholes of the vest, shrugging the
shoulders, and the like. These, and all similar man
nerisms, whether of voice or gesture, can never fai
to mar and enfeeble the delivery.
TE END.